Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, don't want to. But it's fun to dabble!
Chapter Eleven: After the Fall
He didn't say a word the whole way back to Konoha. Not a word.
He barely moved.
His friends were all very concerned. They'd come so far and done so much just to bring him back, and now it looked like they might have failed.
They were taking turns carrying him. It wasn't that he couldn't walk on his own, but for some reason he just… wouldn't.
He didn't do anything. He didn't react to anything they said or did, no matter what.
The whole way back to Konoha. Nothing at all.
They all tried talking to him. Even Shino and Gaara. Lee told him in great detail about all the missions he'd been on; how he'd passed the Chuunin Exam; and what training he'd done. Hinata whispered some things into his ear as she blushed madly, but said aloud that she knew he'd never stop fighting. Sakura and Ino told him to cut it out if he didn't want to get a beating. Chouji tried to get him excited about the prospect of a good meal, but even that had no effect.
No jutsu Sakura knew could wake up him. Ino had tried to enter his mind only to fail. It was as if he were made of stone.
He was gone. They came to this conclusion, all of them, no matter how much they hated it.
Naruto was gone.
Naruto had stood covered in blood. Tears washed down his face, washing pale streaks through the red. He took a look at his hand still clutched in its round shape. His whole body shook as he stared at his hand as if it was completely alien. His again-blue eyes had filled with fear.
He'd opened his mouth as if to speak or scream, but no sound came out. And instead Naruto had just fallen backwards onto the stone floor. His blue eyes had just stared emptily into nothing.
His friends had carried him and Gaara out from where they'd fallen, thinking it was mere exhaustion. But Gaara had recovered. Gaara had gotten up and started walking on his own.
Naruto had not.
They marched like a funeral procession. Every single one of them was exhausted – mentally, physically and spiritually. None of them could shake the feeling; that this was a funeral procession, that they were mourning their friend.
It had been a tumultuous few days for these shinobi. Naruto had been captured. Most of them had learned his great secret. They had found the base of the Akatsuki. Together with Naruto and Gaara they had defeated the evil organisation.
And they had lost a friend, it seemed.
As they entered the Leaf village they heard the whispers. It would have been hard not to. They were trained ninjas – the best and brightest of their generation.
Some of the whispers were simply curious – wondering what had happened. Some were in amazement at the sight of the Kazekage and the Hyuuga Genius together.
But most were not so friendly. Most were filled with bile and prejudice and unreasonable hatred. Hatred for Naruto. Hatred for what he carried inside of him. And joy at seeing him incapacitated.
It took a gentle gesture from Temari to stop Gaara from unleashing the fury of his sand upon the villagers.
By the time they made it to the hospital half the group were ready to explode with rage and murder the next person who said something bad about Naruto. It was only because of the few - the very few - people who had kind words to say that Team Save Naruto had not.
Tsunade greeted them at the hospital, but the second she saw Naruto the Godaime Hokage had no time for anyone else. She drilled Sakura on Naruto's condition as she began to work. Naruto had been rushed into a ninjutsu operating room where Tsunade had access to anything she might possibly need to cure any disease or mend any wound.
Hours later there had been no change in Naruto. Not at all.
Tsunade was exhausted, every drop of chakra from her extraordinary reserves gone. Every technique she knew tried over and over. Every idea she'd had proven futile.
If Naruto was still in there, he was buried too deep for her to reach him. Which meant there was no medic-nin in the world who could.
They were still waiting when she finally left the operating room. All of them. Gaara of the Sand didn't appear to have budged an inch since she'd last seen him. The Hokage didn't need to tell them what had happened – the expression on her face was more than enough.
"What happened?" Tsunade croaked out, her voice weak.
Gaara told the full story; the first time any of the others had heard it. And only when it was done did they let themselves cry.
"What did that monster do to him?!" Shouted Sakura. "What did he do?!"
"He was a vessel whose demon had taken control. I believe he attempted to force the Kyuubi's personality to the surface and control of Uzumaki Naruto's body. It did not succeed, but the damage to Naruto's mind may have been too much for even him to bear." Gaara intoned slowly, almost thinking aloud.
Tsunade knew that if Naruto did not wake up on his own that he never would. And she knew as firmly as she knew anything in her world that if Naruto was not going to come back then she would damn well right some wrongs. Wrongs that had been perpetuated for sixteen long years.
She called a meeting. Not just any meeting. A general meeting of the village. Normally one would only be held in times of greatest crisis, but as Hokage it was her right to call one whenever she wished.
She stood on a podium, others sitting behind her, and faced the people of Konoha.
"What I have to tell you I'm sure will please most of you. I hope that it won't, but I'm being realistic. I know that it will.
"Uzumaki Naruto is in the hospital. He is in such a deep catatonic state that even I can't bring him back."
There were cheers, which were quickly silenced by the sudden rise in killing intent from Tsunade.
"I am going to tell you very clearly how this came to be.
"Yesterday, there was an organization called Akatsuki. It was composed of many of the world's worst S-Class Criminals, including Uchiha Itachi…"
There was a murmur of surprise and disgust.
"… and Orochimaru."
The murmur multiplied many times over in volume.
"This organization had one goal. To capture and control those few individuals unfortunate enough to carry demons within them. Naruto had the Kyuubi sealed inside him – the very fact that has made you all hate him also made him a target of the most evil individuals on the planet."
There was uproar at this. The Fifth had broken the most secret law of the Hidden Leaf! She had revealed to the whole village the truth about Naruto!
Tsunade did not care. It was a law made by a Hokage. It was a law that could be unmade by a Hokage.
"Naruto knew this. He also knew that there was another child like him – the Kazekage of the Sand. And he knew that Akatsuki had attacked the Sand, killing many and endangering the lives of everyone in that village just to get their hands on the Kazekage. Naruto knew that they would come here to get him.
"So he went to them instead. He let them capture him to give him a chance to rescue the Kazekage. Naruto not only accomplished this goal, but also with his own hands killed the leader of the Akatsuki organization and two of its members. As of today there is no Akatsuki. And the sole reason for this – the sole reason – is because of the brave young man you stand here condemning. He risked his life and walked right into the hands of people who wanted him solely to save your lives.
"So you can go now and cheer because the Kyuubi is in a coma and won't ever bother you again, or you can finally admit that Uzumaki Naruto is a true hero and mourn his loss. It's your choice."
Tsunade turned away from the assembled people of the Hidden Leaf. She would speak no more. But she would not be the only one to speak.
Gaara of the Desert, the Kazekage of the Sand stepped forward. He had the air of royalty, the presence of a man who knows that he will always be listened to no matter what he said.
"I am the Kazekage. I have dedicated my life to protecting my home and its people. But I have not always been so noble.
"Three years ago I was a ruthless killer. I took part in the attack on your village. And I would have destroyed it; except for the first time in my life I was defeated. Your village was saved by Uzumaki Naruto, who fought with everything he had to protect you.
"I wonder how many of you knew that before today. Without the man you condemn as a monster you would all have been killed long ago, and I would still be the monster you think him."
With that Gaara turned away as well. But more people stood up to defend Naruto. Neji reminded them of how Naruto had defeated him in the Chuunin Tournament three years prior, the very same day that he had saved the village from Gaara. He told them how Naruto had taught him that there was no such thing as fate, which was why they could not hate Naruto for the way he had been born.
Iruka told them of how he too had hated Naruto for what the Kyuubi had done. How his parents had died in that attack sixteen years ago. But how he had seen Naruto every day and realised that there was no evil in him whatsoever.
Sakura had a similar story. She told how her parents had always taught her to hate Naruto, though they never said why. She told how she had listened to them blindly. And she told how Naruto had proved himself to her countless times.
And slowly the murmurs began to change. Their prejudices had never been so openly challenged before – the Third's laws had prohibited such an event. They had only ever been able to discuss Naruto in private – the sort of privacy that breeds discontent and malice.
No one had ever stood up in front of them and simply explained why they were so wrong. And to their amazement, the villagers began to realise that their arguments didn't hold up. None of them had ever considered the fact that they might simply be wrong about the demon boy.
Slowly, the murmurs began to change.
…somewhere else, a teenager stood. His body was covered with the blood of his enemy. The blood of himself. He faced a great darkness and the huge monster that lay within it. All that could be seen past the great metal bars of its cage were two red, evil eyes.
With a rumble that came from another world and ten thousand years of eternal life, the legendary Nine Tailed Demon Fox spoke to its captor.
"YOU WIN."
"What?"
"YOU WIN, INSECT. YOU WIN."
"The great and mighty demon lord Kyuubi is admitting defeat?"
"YOU FINALLY KILLED ME. YOUR PATHETIC FATHER COULD ONLY SEAL ME AWAY, BUT YOU'VE FINALLY KILLED ME."
"…eh? You lost me, furball."
"THEY WON'T REMEMBER ME ANYMORE. JUST YOU. AS LONG AS THEY THINK OF YOU AS A HERO I'M NOTHING BUT A BAD DREAM OF THE PAST. YOU WIN."
"What?"
"THAT PITIFUL VILLAGE YOU CARE ABOUT SO MUCH. THEY'RE CHANGING. YOUR WORTHLESS DREAM IS COMING TRUE."
"My… dream…? They're… The people are…"
"YOU'LL NEVER KNOW UNLESS YOU WAKE UP."
"Wake up? But… but… wake up…"
Naruto looked at his hands. The blood was fading away. No, all of him was. He almost felt as if he was in two places at once. Like he was standing there in front of the cage but at the same time lying in a hospital bed. He could feel the hot breath of the Kyuubi on his chest, but at the same time he could feel the sensors and tubes going into and out of him.
As he was about to fade out from his mindscape altogether, one last thought occurred to the boy. "Hey, what did you mean my father…?"
"Aaaaaah!"
Naruto woke from his long rest with a shout and a start, almost jumping to sit upright in his bed. He panted, his whole body covered with cold sweat. It was as if he'd awoken from a long, long nightmare.
He stood, ripping off the wires and tubes that covered him. He bled a little from the rough removal, and the sight of his blood made a peculiar memory flutter into his head. With a thought Naruto healed himself, looking in wonder as the wounds simply closed up.
He tottered to the door and opened it, leaning on the frame to keep upright.
Outside the room his friends slept, their eyes red and puffy, their faces caked with dried tears. All except Gaara, who stood silently and still watching Naruto.
"I knew you'd wake up."
"Have I let you down yet? Hey! Since they're asleep… how about we get a sheet and…"
"No."
"No? But you didn't know what I was going to say!"
"Yes I did. No."
"Bah, you're no fun."
"Perhaps. You should wake them."
Naruto thought for a moment then grinned a little.
The Leaf Seal on Naruto's forehead appeared, and a Kage Bunshin popped into existence. It performed a Henge and a small trumpet landed in Naruto's eager hands.
He flexed his fingers, tested the valves and then blew as long and loud a note as he could. The others jerked awake.
"Guess what - I'm back!"
To a one, they dog piled the blonde boy in a massive group hug.
Naruto had never felt so loved in his life.
Author's Note: I didn't plan on writing this chapter yet, but my deadline was coming and I was feeling a little uninspired… so here it is!
But hey, I actually liked the way it turned out, so what does it matter why I wrote it?
I am manically happy to say that unless every single one of my regular reviewers (I love you guys, I really do) suddenly gets struck by lightning and falls over dead, I will reach my goal of 100 reviews with this chapter! Woo!
Next chapter should, should feature Iruka and his team. With Lee-sensei!
God I love Lee.
Thank you all!
