Naruto slowly made his way down to the village. He knew that it would be impossible for him to save the village. He didn't even know what it was that he was missing. Sure, he was able to get the scroll, but there was something more to it than he believed. Why wasn't there anything on the scroll? Why was it a reflective surface? Letting out a soft sigh, he saw the others walking with him, all of them had a sadness not in just their expression, but in their aura.
None of them had wanted to leave Jiraiya behind, yet what more could they do? Obito was coming, he was going to attack the village and kill everyone unless they escorted everyone out of here. Clenching his left hand into a tight fist, he didn't think it would end up like this. Letting out a soft growl, gaining everyone's attention. Staring at them, he saw the concern on their faces, mostly Hinata. Giving them a sad smile, he said "I'm fine." Okay, he lied, he wasn't fine. He was upset and angry with himself but he wasn't going to tell them that.
Turning away, he started to walk on ahead. Everyone else was going to escort the villagers out while Naruto, knew that he had to focus on his father. "I hope you're okay dad." Naruto whispered to himself as he started to make a break for it to the shop. His body changing back into a human as he got further and further into the village. As he ran to his father's shop, the young man could faintly hear people mocking him. Saying 'Look at the Great Furious Fox, guess he couldn't do it after all.' Oh god how he wished that he could kick their ass, but he had some restraint.
Turning to them for a brief moment, Naruto's eyes were sad and filled with guilt. He felt like he had also failed them, even if their words were meant to hurt him. Taking a deep breath, he calmly said "At least know that I tried to protect this village." Not bothering to see their expressions, the young man ran off as fast as he could. He had to get to his father and quickly, he knew that the others could handle getting everyone out of the village before Obito arrived. He just had to check on his father… he just had to.
Taking a deep breath, Naruto narrowed his eyes. There was just so many people walking through the village. He would have to think of a way to get by without running into anyone. Though, that may be harder than it should be. Looking up at the buildings, he thought that he could just use those like he used to when he was trying to get away from people.
Running over to the building, Naruto jumped up onto the roof as he started to leap from building to building… or, at least he had attempted. Before he could even make it to the next roof, he fell to the ground and let out a scream. "The hell!?" Though, thankfully, he had landed on some bags of trash. Groaning, he rubbed his head as he wondered what had happened. He normally had no problem unless… Turning to the bracer on his arm, he sighed as he remembered… "Right, I can't use demon abilities. Transformation is one thing but abilities… no."
Pushing himself up onto his feet, rubbing his back as he let out a soft groan. Welp, looks like he's gonna have to walk until his healing kicks in. Checking his pockets, he picked up the scroll before he started to make his way toward the shop. What else could go wrong for him? He stopped for a moment, picturing what would happen if he hadn't gotten anyone out of here on time. If he couldn't get his father out of the village. The mental image of Obito coming, killing everyone just to get to him, to the scroll. He caused a growl to rumble out of his chest making those around him run away in fear.
That, had caused Naruto to calm down. No, he couldn't allow his anger to get the best of him. He wasn't going to be a monster, not like Obito. Obito wanted power, Naruto himself, just wanted to protect the people around him. Even if they saw him as a monster, there was no way that he would allow himself to be consumed by the darkness. He just had to think about those who made him happy.
Smiling gently, he thought of his father Iruka, and the woman he loved… Hinata. Letting out a soft sigh of content, the young man went back on his trek home. He just hoped and prayed that his father was still there. Though, so far he didn't smell any signs of his father leaving the village yet, so that had to be a good sign at the very least. Making a sharp turn at the corner, the young man saw the shop in his sights. It looked like it was closed, or at the very least that it hadn't even been opened today at all.
Or maybe he had a lot more time to close up today than usual.
Shrugging to himself, the young man rushed to the shop, ignoring his own pain in the process. "Dad! You there?!" Shouted the blonde and crimson haired man. Hoping, and praying that he hadn't been too late to it.
His heart lifted when he heard a familiar voice reaching his ears.
"Naruto? What are you doing?" came Iruka's voice as he walked out of the shop and stared at his son. Naruto was breathing heavily as he stared at his father. He was happy to see that his father was still here yet, a part of him felt like he had disappointed him in some way. Looking away, Naruto let out a soft sigh as he was about to answer him until he felt Iruka hugging him. "What happened son?"
Eyes widening, Naruto held onto his father as he said "I failed everyone dad. I couldn't finish my training. I couldn't do it! I just couldn't master what Jiraiya wanted me to do! I couldn't master the Rasengan! I couldn't focus on only using my human chakra! I'm a failure!"
Iruka rubbed his son's back, Naruto not even caring that it seemed childish for a grown man to be crying in his father's arms. AT the moment, he didn't give a shit, he just felt like he had failed so many people that he had wanted to protect. "Naruto, what makes you think that you failed everyone?" Asked Iruka. Causing Naruto to pull back, only for his father to hold up his hand. "First off, let's start walking okay? It's best that we walk and talk so we can leave the village."
Even though hearing some of those words only made him feel worse, Naruto knew that his father was right. Looking over, he saw a traveling cart that, no doubt had all of their things. Walking over to it, Naruto set the scroll in a compartment before he started to pull it along as he and his father traveled away from their home. He wasn't even sure if they were gonna talk now, not with so many people around them to hear their conversation. Yet, he was wrong when his father started to speak.
"So, what makes you believe that you are a failure?" asked Iruka.
Letting out a soft sigh, Naruto tried to collect his thoughts. Tried to think on how he could say this to his father yet, he still wasn't a hundred percent sure as to how he could say this in the first place. He frowned a little as he started to speak. "I couldn't finish the training. I was being trained to only depend on my human chakra, I have unlocked it yes, but… I keep depending on my demonic abilities and I can't use it with this bracer on my arm." Running a hand down and over his face, the young man tried to think on how he could keep going with this. All of this was a bit over whelming for him, no doubt about that but he knew that he had so much going on in his mind and his heart. "Because of me, everyone has to leave their home, and Jiraiya is going to lose his life."
Iruka sighed softly as he said "Naruto, it isn't your fault. How were we to know that you were to be chosen as a warrior when, you have never been taught how to fight in the first place?" Okay, his father has a point there, yet he knew that there was still no excuse for the fact that he couldn't finish his training and couldn't stop depending on his power no matter how hard he tried.
Letting out a soft sigh, the young man turned to his father as he said "Dad, do you ever feel like no matter what you do, no matter how hard you try, you can't change anything?" He frowned a little before looking away and looked up at the sky as he was in deep thought. "Sometimes I wonder if there is something that is hidden from me, wondering who my mother was, what happened to her… why you never talk about her."
Iruka stopped in his tracks for a moment. Causing Naruto to stop as well, there was something that had been bugging him for years, as he had gotten older, he couldn't help but wonder if he was even Iruka's son in the first place since, he noticed that they looked nothing alike. Though he just hoped to never speak off that, not wanting to hurt his father regardless.
"Naruto, let me tell you a story from my youth. This was before you came into my life." Naruto turned to his father with a frown on his face. "Before I started my shop, I had tried following recipes for noodles, hoping to make a living on my own though, no matter what I did the taste wasn't special." He chuckled a little, causing Naruto to frown a little more as he wondered what this story had to do with anything. "After so many tries, I gave up following what I was to do, and instead tried my own recipe. After trial and error, I was able to focus on what was needed, instead of what was wanted."
Tilting his head to the side in confusion, Naruto tried to think on what more there was to the story. "People enjoy the soup now, because they know it is an original, and I make it special for everyone. I didn't change what was expected of me, but was just being myself and used my own creativity to create what we have today." Then, his eyes glazed over in his memory as he added "In fact, that was how I first met your mother." Ears perking at that, Naruto stared at him in shock at the first mention of his mother. "She followed the scent from the soup and came here, I was hesitant at first because she was a demon, but… her face…"
Iruka frowned a little as he thought about her. Why didn't he sense love from his father? Was there something more to this? "She was desperate, and even though I, myself was raised to hate demons, the look on her face. So alone, scared and frightened, I did what I could, and did what I knew was right and helped her."
"Dad, what happened after that? And, what is the point of this story?" asked Naruto with a frown on his face.
Chuckling, Iruka turned to stare at his son as he answered his son. "The moral of the story Naruto, is to be yourself. I didn't change who I was, I was raised to hate demons yes, but my heart couldn't turn her away. If I did, I'd regret it for the rest of my life. It was the soup that I created myself, that had made me realise to be my own person and take on so many responsibilities instead of being someone I wasn't. A heartless man."
Naruto frowned a little at those words.
Hearing his father's story… it made Naruto think about everything that had been going on. If the moral of the story was to be himself, then what was it? Frowning a little, he thought back to his entire life. To his childhood, hoping and praying on what he could or should do at this point. As a child, he was hated because he was a demon, and that was all that he thought he was. Yet, he knew that there was something missing for that to have happened in the first place.
After that, he tried to be as human as he could, trying to live a life of a human and avoid hurting people. That was something that had always scared him, scared him to the point where he had been afraid of himself. Closing his eyes, he knew that he had been lying to himself yet, he didn't care at the time. All he wanted was to be accepted by others so if it meant being a human then so be it.
Yet, even that didn't work.
Opening his eyes a crack, he looked down at his hands and stared at his human looking hands. Was he really meant to be a human? A demon? What was he to be? Soon, he felt a hand on his shoulder, causing the younger man to stare at his father in confusion. Iruka's face was nothing but a big smile as he said "Do you know what I am talking about son?"
To be honest, he didn't think he did. He himself, had tried to be human, yet when the others see him, they saw nothing but a demon. Jiraiya tried to get him to focus on only his human chakra so he wouldn't depend on his demonic chakra and lose himself. Wait… losing himself… was that because, even his own mind was trying to tell him something? Sure, he knew that he kept losing himself because of people's hatred to him, but was there so much more to it than that? Maybe a part of him, trying to tell him something important? He had no idea, but he knew that he had to think of everything clearly.
Kurama, he was his demonic chakra, a part of him without a doubt but, a stronger part of himself that he never thought he would need in the first place. Yet, he knew that there was more to the man than just being a powerful demon that had once lived and was trying to keep a promise to his wife all those years ago…
Sachi, she was his human chakra. If he did have a bit of human blood, even if it was limited, than how powerful was she in the first place and how useful was she? Don't get him wrong, she was really nice and had been in love with a powerful demon.
Yet, both of them had tried to tell him something, but wanted him to figure it out on his own. Knowing that if they told him, that it could only harm him or worse, cause him a terrible pain in his heart if it was something that he hadn't heard himself. Taking a deep breath, Naruto closed his eyes as he tried to think on what they had been trying to tell him. Human, demon, both so different yet at the same time they weren't. There had been good demons, just like there are good people. Then, his father was telling him a story about being himself, so if Naruto placed himself in his father's position… that would mean-
Eyes snapping open that was when it finally clicked into his head. "I… have to be myself…" Naruto whispered, only to stare at his father who was only grinning at his son. Iruka just chuckled a little as he stared at his son with soft eyes, hoping that he had gotten what it was that the older man had been trying to tell his son this whole time.
Patting his son on the back, Iruka asked "Did you get what I meant Naruto? What do you mean, 'to be myself'?"
All the blonde and crimson haired man did was stare at his father in shock and confusion for a moment before moving away from the cart. Picking up the scroll from the compartment and looked at the reflective surface once more. He just stared at it, stared at the reflection that the scroll created from its surface. Turning to his bracer, he knew that he didn't need it, this was something that was preventing what he had to do. Acting quickly, Naruto removed the bracer and growled a little before tossing it aside like trash.
"I know the answer… The scroll did have a secret, it had a secret to protect this village, to have an ultimate power for it and… and I finally understand what it is dad." Naruto said with a grin on his face, he couldn't help but stare at his father with a smile, it felt like a great weight had been taken off of his shoulders at long last, after years and years of torment having been removed, he knew that he had done what he should have done in the first place.
"What is the answer Naruto?" asked Iruka, a calm look was on his face as he stared at his son. Hoping that Naruto indeed, got the answer that he had tried to give to his son without just blurting it out.
"I am a demon and a human hybrid. I have the blood and powers of a demon, but with a heart of a human. I won't keep lying to myself anymore. I am Naruto, and I am a Nine Tailed Fox Demon, and I am the Furious Fox, warrior chosen by the great sage that is to protect this village from any and all harm." Naruto had a grin on his face as he looked up at the path that would take him to the palace. He had a destiny to fulfill at long last.