Warning: A pretty graphic chapter full of violence, some language, and an attempt (as in they didn't get very far at all but I'm putting this warning here just in case) at molesting a child.
Notes: Slanted text, like so, means it is either a dream, flashback, or their is emphasis on that word.
Edited and Republished: 06/01/2018
"I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important."
-Ambrose Redmoon.
Sora and him had moved to a new location, away from the growling expanse of red chakra, and to a more secluded spot, on a small wharf next to a large lake. A memory tugged at the corner of Naruto's mind, a flash of jet black hair and a smirk, but it was gone before he could grasp hold of it.
Sora sat with her back to him on the edge of the wharf, feet hanging out over the edge. Both hands lay flat on the wood beside her thighs, bracing her as her feet swung softly back and forth. Her hair blew haphazardly around her, sunset locks whipping like a raging inferno, white dress pooling out around her. A particularly cold breeze rushed by, her hands coming up to clutch both forearms in an attempts to keep the chill away.
"Stupid afterlife" she muttered, irritation lacing her words, "don't even bother to give you any halfway decent clothes."
Naruto chuckled lightly, before going to sit beside her. Once seated, he reached an arm around her shoulders and pulled her gently towards him, warming her with his never ending body heat. She sighed happily, nestling into his warmth. It was strange in a way, to be holding her like this. When she had been alive, he'd only been four years old, nearing five. She'd been a lot bigger than him then. He remembered thinking that her strong arms could protect him from even the most evil things.
Now, holding her as he was, he couldn't help thinking how easy it would be to lift her up and carry her. Casting those thoughts away, he leant down to rest his cheek atop her head.
They stayed like that for a time, blue and green eyes looking out over the seemingly infinite body of water, the setting sun casting shadows across the water that only seemed to draw more attention to the light. It was as if a calm had entered the whole world, vibrating in harmony to the rustling of the trees and the whisper of birds. Neither of them wanted to start, for they knew when they did they would not be able to stop. Because there were so many things left unsaid between the two of them, so many mysteries, lies, and uncertainties. So many questions, left unanswered. Neither of them wanted to broach the subject that hung precariously within their peripherals.
Eventually though, the calm was to be broken.
"So," Naruto began, racking his mind for some way to begin the conversation, only slightly disheartened when Sora didn't acknowledge him, "what was that thing back there?"
He chose to begin with something easy first, something far away from what he really wanted to ask. Something safe.
Naruto waited for a minute impatiently, leg beginning to jiggle up in down in annoyance as the silence spread out even longer between them. When he opened his mouth to repeat the question though, he noticed the small amused smirk on her lips as she eyed his bouncing knee. Realization hit him.
"Sora" he said, his voice almost whining now, "you're doing this on purpose, stop being annoying and just tell me pleeeeease?" and now his voice was definitely whiny, but he couldn't help it. Especially when instead of being annoyed she just laughed, the one that reminded him of trilling bells.
"Always so impatient" she chuckled, though the insult lacked any heat, instead said with endearment.
"That 'thing, Naruto, was the Kyuubi."
Any protest he had at being called impatient left his mind at the realization that Kurama was the one behind the red chakra. Obvious, maybe, but his mind was a little preoccupied. Also, he was currently processing the fact that Sora knew about the Kurama. It shouldn't have been as surprising as it was, seeing as she was old enough to remember the attack, but still Naruto couldn't help the small sliver of betrayal that entered his heart at the realization that she had known and not told him. He quickly cast it to the side however, focusing on the immediate problem at hand.
"Makes sense." Naruto said, to which Sora hummed in reply.
"Indeed. The Kyuubi is tied so closely with your soul that, if you did decide to move on, then the Kyuubi would have to die as well. Usually, with two intertwined souls they would be making this decision together, as it is both their fates they are deciding on."
"Huh? But I thought the Kurama was locked up? How would it have been able to come here?"
"You're right, it is locked up. And even when it came here, seemingly unchained, it would've still been caged. However, this whole 'world' is actually just a manifestation of your subconscious, and also his. So whilst in this plane it would seemingly be free, in actuality it is still imprisoned."
"Ah, okay. So then why isn't it here with me?"
"We decided that this was a decision best made alone, uninfluenced by the Kyuubi, who would be without a doubt heavily biased in the decision making. So, we locked him up in a little mental cage. He shouldn't be getting out of that any time soon"
"We?"
And here, Sora stopped. Withdrawing herself from Naruto's embrace, she brought her legs back up onto the wharf and crossed them, back leaning against one of the supporting beams behind her. She wasn't looking at him, instead at a far off point in the distance, eyes searching. Naruto followed her gaze, and for almost a second he could've sworn he saw a flash of red and yellow, before it disappeared. Turning back to Sora, he raised a questioning eyebrow.
Still not looking at him, she spoke.
"There are many things you don't know, Naruto. Some of those secrets are not mine to tell, so I wont. But, I will say this. You have a lot of people who love you, Naruto, and who would do anything to protect you. Remember that."
Recognizing that Sora was done talking about the topic, Naruto simply nodded, filing that little tidbit of information away to think about later. He also knew them importance of secrets, his hand coming up to clutch at his stomach and his chest. Sora eyed his movement with sad eyes, opening her mouth to speak.
"Naruto," she said. "Those marks, the ones on your body."
Naruto's heart skipped a beat, fear at being discovered almost sending him into wanted to ask her how she knew about them, but decided that that was a stupid question seeing as he was talking to someone that was dead. Logic seemed to have taken a hike hours ago.
Sensing his fear, Sora scrubbed a tired hand over her eyes, before saying wearily.
"Naruto, you don't have to keep bearing those marks. And not only those, but those 'things' you have under the floorboards of your home. Let the wounds heal Naruto, throw away those tools. If being at Hogwarts has taught you anything, it's that you do deserve happiness, more than anyone I've ever known.
Sora's eyes stared beseechingly at him, and he had to fight the urge to turn away, because somehow he knew that if he did so she would be very disappointed in him.
"God, Naruto, I love you. So please, don't keep doing this to yourself. I know you, better than maybe even you do. And I am saying, you are not a monster, and you do not deserve this pain."
And looking into her eyes, Naruto found his heart lighten fractionally. There was still self-doubt and sadness, but maybe this small step could eventually lead to healing. Naruto hoped so.
Uncomfortable with the subject, however, he coughed awkwardly, bringing up a hand to scratch at the back of his neck. Sora smiled at him, and he found himself returning the gesture.
Bringing his legs up over the side of the wharf, Naruto copied Sora's position, soles of his feet resting against hers.
Sora watched their feet for a while, watched as Naruto squished his toes in between hers and pushed down on the smooth bottoms of her feet with the calloused ones of his. Eventually, she seemed to steel herself, green eyes hardening with resolve. At the new look, Naruto stopped his little game, watching and waiting for her to begin.
She did not disappoint.
"Naruto, as I've said before, there are many things you don't know. I know you've probably gone you're whole life wondering why. 'Why me, why now, why why why', and that's okay. I'm about to give you some answers. It's going to be long, and painful, and you're not going to like a lot of what you hear. But I need you to listen, and promise me that you won't interrupt, ask questions, judge, or try to leave until the very end, alright? Promise me."
Naruto had never refused her anything in his entire life. He wasn't about to start now.
"I promise."
Whatever tension she'd held before seemed to drain out of her. And finally, she began.
"It started after my mum disappeared and my dad showed back up in my life."
He was drinking again. She could smell the booze from a mile away. He sat on their moth eaten couch (one Sora had pulled out of the garbage bin and washed down methodically, even hours and hours of work unable to remove the smell of alcohol and gasoline), one hand dangling limply off the side with a bottle clasped loosely in his grip, the other arm thrown across his eyes, mumbling softly in his sleep.
Sora approached the couch slowly, blanket clasped tightly in shaking hands.
It was after she had laid the blanket over his prone form, and as she was slowly working to dislodge the bottle of alcohol from his hand that it happened.
People burst through the small door to their small house, filling the room quickly. Their kunai were all drawn at the ready, and each bore an Uchiha crest on their backs.
'The police' Sora thought absentmindedly, still in a bit of a daze. 'What on earth could they want?'
But the police force all paid no attention to her, instead one hand reached out to pull her away from the couch, whilst the rest of the crew encircled her father. She fought against the hands that enveloped her, arms thumping and legs kicking. Eventually however, she realized the futility of it, and calmed herself down enough to hear what was being said.
One officer, identical to the rest, strode forward and yanked her father to his feet. Her father, now finally beginning to awaken, let out a confused yelp before he began to fight back. More officers joined the first, holding him down as he flailed.
When he was finally subdued, one officer strode forth, and with a booming voice, he spoke.
"Kisaki Chikyū, you are under arrest for the murder of Kisaki Ame. You have the right to remain silent, as anything you say or do can and will be used against you in court."
There may have been more words after that, but Sora was completely dumbfounded. Her mother, murdered by her father? Surely not. It couldn't be, that was just impossible, no no no no no-
"Hey, kid."
She snapped out of her daze to face the concerned look of one of the officers. Unlike the other Uchiha's, his face was kind and open, and his hair sat like a birds nest atop his head. Sora thought, in the way someone thinks when in shock, that he looked absolutely ridiculous.
The boy (for he could be no older than thirteen) frowned down at her, something akin to sympathy in his eyes.
"My names Shisui" he said, extending his hand to shake hers. When she did nothing but stare at the extended limb, he retracted it, hand coming to scratch the back of his head in embarrassment.
Part of her wanted to apologize for being so rude, but she found that the words would not leave her lips.
"Look, kid, do you have a place to stay? At least until your dad either gets out or gets convicted? It's just, you can't stay here because it's a crime scene and also you're too young to be on your own. If not, I'm sure there's lots of homes that'd be willing to have you, or even-"
"No" Sora said abruptly, cutting him off. "I mean yes, I have somewhere to stay. "Don't worry about me." She wasn't going to any 'home', she knew what they were like. Besides, she'd lived on the streets before her father had appeared in her life. She could do it again if need be.
Shisui eyed her doubtfully for a second, but she didn't give him a chance to comment, as she turned on her heel, and left.
Naruto's eyes had widened comically throughout the story, though Sora did not see as she refused to meet his gaze. He nudged her foot in encouragement with his, hoping to provide comfort. Sora acknowledged the gesture with a nudge of her own, eyes finally meeting his.
"I was on my own after that, and my father was eventually convicted of the murder of my mother. I didn't want to return to the sad excuse of a home, so I lived off the streets, stole what I could. Bread was the best thing to steal, because you could eat it in so many different ways that it never got boring and it was really filling."
"You little brat! Come back here!"
Sora simply flipped up her middle finger at the Baker, before taking off down the street, bread clutched tightly in her grasp.
"It was around that time that I met you. I can honestly say that meeting you, Naruto, was one of the best things to ever happen to me."
The little boy stared up at her as if she held all the answers in the world. Not wanting to disappoint him, she took his hand and pulled him through the throng of villagers, bright smile on her face and loud, boisterous words leaving her mouth. Anything to distract him from the eyes that held so much contempt.
When he threw back his head and laughed with her, she felt her heart surge with joy.
"I was trying so hard to run away from my past, and after spending time with you, I even managed to forget about it."
"But your past has a funny way of always catching up to you."
Sora skipped home, a small smile on her face as she thought about her little brother and the dirt angels they had made together on the bank surrounding the lake. They'd both gotten dirty, but a quick dip in the lake had fixed that problem. They'd departed ways when Naruto had suddenly remembered that it was his first day at the academy the following day, and Sora had promised to walk him to school. After a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek, they'd parted ways with promises to see each other tomorrow.
Arriving at the large warehouse that Sora called home, she threw open the large metal door protecting the entrance to her abode, door groaning in protest.
Walking into the warehouse, she froze. There, standing tall and intimidating, was her father.
Naruto listened intently to the story, mouth squeezed shut to stop any words from leaving it. Sora still refused to look at him, eyes instead tracing the lines of her veins up and down her hands, which sat limply, palms facing the sky in her lap.
"It didn't take me too long to realize he was crazy, and the only reason I hadn't realized it before was because of how young I was, and I blamed it on the booze. Now, though, after not having seen him for years, I knew what he was."
And now she paused, teeth worrying at her lip almost subconsciously, enough to draw blood. Naruto wanted to call her out of whatever memory she had fallen into, save her from it, but he had promised he wouldn't say anything. And he never went back on his word.
"Where's yer mother, brat?"
She stared at the man in front of her in trepidation and confusion.
"I haven't seen my mother in almost five years" Sora forced out, ignoring the way her voice broke at the end. "You killed her, remember? Or did you forget that?" She hadn't meant to sound so angry, she'd meant to tread carefully and not say anything to offend him.
However, faced with him now, the overwhelming stench of alcohol lacing his lips and armed with the knowledge she had, righteous fury sprang forth in her chest with no control.
He sneered down at her, now only a few steps away.
"I know she's 'ere, that yer hiding her. She wont have left without you, not after she came to see me all them years ago demanding money to help support you."
And now his smile turned into a leer.
"I offered her a way to get the money" Sora's skin crawled as his mouth darted out to moisten his lips "but the bitch wouldn't take it. So I beat it outta her. Only, ye see she didn't get back up. Silly whore had fallen asleep whilst I was beating her, so I dumped 'er in the ocean to serve 'em right. No way she dead though, because I ain't allowed her to be dead."
His eyes were wide and deranged, insanity seeming to leak from every pore. Sora forced back the tears at hearing of the circumstances of her mother's death.
'See, she didn't leave you. She'd been trying to save you!'
Any relief was quickly swept to the side however as her father finally closed the gap between the two of them, lifting her off her feet by her collar. Her hands hung limply at her side as his breath wafted over her, rancid and foul.
"Now look 'ere, I didn't break outta prison just tah find you, yah snot nosed brat. I know you know where yah mother is, and if you don't bring 'er to me within a twenty-four hours, I'll kill the other lil brat you been hangin' out with."
Sora's heart froze with fear.
"I didn't know what to do. I knew my mother was dead, the police had shown me pictures of her body. But my father seemed adamant that she wasn't, and that only seemed to prove his insanity."
"All I really knew was that I had to protect you."
"Sora?"
She wondered vaguely why he was so surprised to see her, she had promised to take him to school tomorrow. However, a cursory glance over his shoulder to the clock hanging on the wall told her it was two in the the morning. Also, the frog camp sitting haphazardly upon his head and the droopy eyes could have told her much the same. He held only a single candle in his hand to light his way. She cursed herself for not having realized. But there was something she had to do.
"Naru, I have to go away for a bit."
His eyes widened fractionally, more awake now.
"Wha-what?"
She crushed the sadness that vibrated through her heart at the betrayal in his eyes.
"Something came up. I probably won't be coming back."
"Bu-but you promised! You promised me you'd take me to school tomorrow! You promised we'd always be together. You promised, and we never go back on a promise because that's who we are and-"
"Naru, please. Don't cry."
But it was too late, the tears having gathered at the edges before cascading down like a broken dam. His shaking hands were half extended towards her, candle having fallen to the ground and snuffed out, as if he could keep her here if he just grabbed hold of her. The thing was, Sora wasn't sure he was wrong.
She was not expecting the sudden light to enter his eyes, nor the hope in his watery smile.
"He-hey, I can go with you! Yeah, we can leave the village together, eh Nee-chan? Yu-yup, that's what we'll do."
"No." And now her voice was harsh and sharp, hating herself when he flinched. "You can't come with me. I forbid it."
Naruto, not one to be kept down for too long, met her stare with one as determined as her own, hands now clasped into fists at his side.
"Why not!? You can't stop me Nee-chan, I'll follow you if I have to, there ain't no way yer getting rid of me, no wa-"
"Because I don't want you to come." she harshly cut across him. "You, a hyperactive, annoying little brat. Why the hell would I want you to come with me? I'd rather the rats."
Naruto's breath hitched. The tears stopped, and his face blanked. Sora could practically see the shutters closing in his eyes, no emotion on his face at all.
"Right. Of course."
And without another word, he picked up the discarded candle on the floor, and closed the front door softly behind him.
Sora wished he'd slammed it.
Naruto's eyes had closed off again, and Sora hesitantly lifted her gaze to seek out his own.
"Naruto" she said, her voice pleading, "I had to. I couldn't have you following me, as I knew you would if I didn't break it off clean. Please, Naruto, forgive me."
Naruto said nothing. Instead, he continued to stare at her, almost as if he were waiting for something. With a sigh, she continued.
"I met him at our old house."
Sora didn't bother knocking, instead barging straight in. It was her house too, of course. Or at least it used to be. She was not overly surprised to see her father seated on the same couch he had years ago.
The room was dark, except for a small oil lamp that sat on the table beside the couch. It cast the room into an eerie darkness, and her father's face was lit with a demented light.
He smiled at her, showcasing his yellowing teeth.
"Sora. Come sit."
Every bone in her body protested against the action, but she had to be close if she wanted to do this. Checking that her sleeve didn't bulge unnaturally, she came to sit beside her father at the far end of the couch. She noted that the smell of alcohol and gasoline, even after all these years still lingered on the couch. She hated it.
'Too far away' some distant part of her mind told her, and so with much fear and biting back of disgust, she shuffled closer to him. And then she waited. He chuckled at her expression, drawing some kind of perverse pleasure in her discomfort. Grabbing his bottle of alcohol from the table, he took a long drag, sloshing some down his front and face before placing it back. Sora choked back her revulsion.
"So" he leered, voice close to her ear. "Where is she?"
Not looking at him, she spoke.
"Mum can't be here right now, she's busy. She sent me here in here place. Hopefully that's enough" She forced herself to make the words sound formal and without any emotion. It wouldn't be good for her if she angered him.
She saw his eyes harden fractionally, before something flickered within them. It scared Sora, but she fought not to let it show.
"Ah, little bird, but what if I don't forgive 'er? What if I'm still...unsatisfied."
And now, he brought one hand up to stroke across her face, the other playing gently with her earlobe. Sora shivered in fear and disgust.
"Don't touch me." She ordered, her voice coming out more scared then she would have liked.
"Ah, little Sora, that's not how this goes, eh? Me and you, we gonna have some fun. And then after that, you're gonna take me to that mother of yers. Whaddya think?"
Sora knew she couldn't waste anymore time, and that she'd never get another ample opportunity. Left arm plunging into the sleeve or her right, she withdrew a kunai. Before she could talk herself out of it, she plunged it into his eyeball, grunting when blood sprayed across her face. She went to stab him again, however a wild flailing of his arm dislodged the blade and sent it sailing across the room.
Blood dripped down his face, his remaining eyeball bulging in its socket. With a cry of rage, he reached for her throat, his other hand coming up to stem the flow. His weight, heavy upon her, pushed her down into the rancid smelling couch. Her arms flailed to the side, looking for anything to help dislodge his weight upon her.
"You little bitch!" he roared, and Sora was almost glad for the black spots that began to dance across her vision, obscuring her view of his face. "I'm gonna make you pay fer that, yah hear me!?"
Sora wanted to cry, legs kicking and arms flailing at air. Suddenly however, her hands found purchase on something skinny and cool. Grasping the neck of the bottle with shaking hands, she smashed the half drunk beer over his face, the contents spilling over his head and onto her clothing, glass falling everywhere.
The blow temporarily stunned him, and he cried out as the alcohol stung his open wound. He'd released his hold on her throat, and Sora drew in deep, gasping breaths, hands coming up to gingerly nurse her neck. Glass from the bottle cut her arms, blood flowing freely onto the couch, and though the wounds weren't deep they still stung. He fell onto her chest, a dead weight, unconscious.
She tried to dislodge him, but his weight was too much for her. She could feel her heart beating frantically in her chest, and tears stung at the corner of her eyes. She didn't want this, this violence and pain. She just wanted to live with her brother is happiness and peace. This wasn't how she wanted her life to end, bloody, beaten, and bruised.
However, she knew. As long as her father was alive, she and Naruto would never be safe. But, she also knew that there was no way she would be able to dislodge his weight from her, and already she could tell that he was starting to slowly recover from the blow if his low groans and shifting of weight were anything to go by.
Sora wanted to scream, but her abused throat refused, so she settled for weeping silently. Her breath heaved, terror coursing through her like an arrow. Despite that fear though, she knew what she had to do.
Once more, her hand frantically reached out to the side table, thumping frantically for the object she hoped to find. As her father began to shift more and more, she became more desperate, arms straining in her search.
Finally, however, her hand found purchase on a cold, metal ring. She lifted the lamp up off the table by the ring, letting it hang loosely for a second from her hand. And she waited.
When her father finally awoke, he stared blearily up at her from his position resting on his chest, before his eyes drifted to the side and caught sight of what she held. And then he paled.
"That's right" she said, her mouth curling up in vindictive pleasure at the fear in his eyes, "I'm taking you to hell with me."
And without another word, ignoring his screams of protest and anger, she smashed the lamp across his head.
Catching to the alcohol in his shirt, he was immediately lit aflame. The flames crawled out and around him, consuming him in an endless inferno. Crying in pain, he tried to roll off to the side, however Sora grabbed hold of his collar, adrenaline giving her strength as she held him in place.
The fire continued to spread. It climbed up Sora's arms and onto the couch behind her. It whipped with unimaginable fury around the two of them, laying waste to their flesh, but still she refused to let go. His one good eye, somehow untouched by the fire, found hers. She doesn't know what it was he saw in her face, but whatever it was, it was enough to send a final lance of fear through him before that too was consumed by flames.
Sora tried to ignore it, the burning smell of flesh and the pain that seemed to consume her entire being. She thought of Naruto, how he was safe now from her father, but she also mourned the loss of never being able to hold him again.
Flinging her head back, she screamed.
Silence overtook them, thick and heavy silence. Naruto's face had paled considerably, eyes wide in disbelief. Sora had her hands buried in her hair, tugging at roots in the hopes of dislodging any painful memories. Naruto did not know what to say. What could you say, to someone you had held both bitterly and with love in your heart for years. Because though how they departed had hurt Naruto to the core, he still couldn't erase the love he felt for her. But he also couldn't erase the hurt.
Now, though, with answers pouring off her lips, he felt his shoulders lighten and breath flow easier through his lungs than it had in years.
"I'm so, so sorry for putting you in danger Naruto, and for the things I said to you. I know you must hate me, but I only ever wanted to protect you, you have to believe me."
Startled, Naruto's face snapped up to meet the gaze of Sora. With increasing horror, he realized that she had taken his extended silence to mean he was angry with her. Shaking his head in annoyance, he stood up, holding his hands out for her to take. She did so hesitantly, small hands in his, and with a strong jerk he pulled her to her feet and into his arms.
"Oh Sora, I never hated you. How could I? You were my first ever precious person. I'm just sorry I was never able to be there for you when you needed me. But I'm here now. And everything is going to be okay."
Sora's form stiffened, before she relaxed into the embrace, small arms wrapping around his waist tightly. Soon though, she dislodged herself, hand coming up quickly to wipe across her face. Naruto simply smiled down at her, but did not comment.
"Shut up" she said, when she saw his small smirk, "you try summing up the most traumatic moments of your life in thirty minutes, see how you feel."
"Yeah, well, maybe next time try not to get burnt alive, might be better to just stab yourself in the head or something. Much less painful."
Sora glared at him.
"What?" he said, blinking innocently down at her. "Too soon?"
"No, no, keep going, I'd love to here all about alternatives to burning to death. Go on!"
Naruto, deciding it might be better now to keep his mouth shut, just hummed in response. Casting his eyes around, and seeing that it was almost dark, something squeezed at his heart again. Something that he'd buried during the retelling of her story, and was only now being fully addressed.
"So," he said, voice hesitant, "now what?"
"Now?" Sora whispered. "Now, you must decide."
Naruto, having feared that answer, began to pace. Up and down the wharf he walked, teeth worrying at the side of his lip, a trait he'd picked up from Sora but thought he'd long since discarded.
"If I did choose to stay, to move on" he said, coming to a sudden halt in front of her, "what would I do?"
Sora hadn't moved from where she stood at the edge of the wharf, seeming content to watch him pace.
"Well, you're a shinobi, aren't you? So, what do shinobi do when they want to go somewhere far, far away?"
He looked at her for a second, before the answer popped into his head.
"We take to the tree's, jumping from one to the other. Is that…?"
Her nod in affirmative was all he needed. He began to pace again.
"I mean, it's not like they need me, there's lots of people back in Konoha who can fight Akatsuki, and if I die that gives them more time to prepare before the Kyuubi regenerates. And then there's Voldemort, but honestly some other Ninja can handle that problem, surely..." Naruto mumbled to himself. He carried on in this vein for what seemed to be hours, but was only merely minutes. Finally, with a resigned air, he turned towards Sora.
"I've got to go back, haven't I?"
"That's up to you, Naruto."
"There's still so many things left unfinished. So many things that need to be fixed."
"Yes there is."
"And you...you want me to go back, don't you?"
"I think" said Sora, "that if you do decide to return, there is a chance that things will turn out in your favor. I cannot promise it. But even then, know that you have nothing to fear from returning here."
Naruto glanced in the direction of the Kyuubi, where he could still see the red aura drifting above the trees.
"Pity the Kyuubi, Naruto, for a lot of his actions were not his own. However, that is something you will learn later. And don't let your pity for him color you decision. However, I feel that if you were to return, many lives and families and friends could be saved."
Naruto sighed in defeat, hands combing through his hair in sadness.
"Okay then." he said simply.
Naruto wanted to scream at the thought of leaving this place, which was so full of peace and harmony. Returning meant re-entering the chaos and anguish that was his life.
Naruto came to stand in front of Sora, and for a moment they stared into one another's faces.
"I'm going to miss you." He said, voice breaking at the end.
Sora beamed at him, and now her voice sounded loud and strong in his ears, even as a mist began to descend upon them, obscuring her figure.
"And I you, Naruto. But do not be afraid, because when your time comes, I and all those who love you will be here, waiting to greet you."
"You better believe it."
"It is our choices that show what we truly are far more than our abilities."
-Albus Dumbledore.
A/N so guys, I hope you liked it. I certainly had fun writing it. I'm sorry if you don't really enjoy this chapter, I just knew I needed to tie up some loose ends and this was pretty much the perfect opportunity to do so. Please be sure to leave a review, they mean so much to me! And I know a lot of people don't really like OC's, but I have a special place in my heart for Sora and I think she's just awesome, so I hope through the continuation of this story you've grown to love her as well. If not, ah well, to each their own. Don't worry though if you wanted more Team 7 and Wizard folk, there will be plenty of that next chapter. Anyways, thanks for reading, see ya next time!