Chapter: 26

Naruto walked beside Kakashi as they made their way through the forest. He didn't take his eyes off Kakashi for a minute. Kakashi suspected it was because he was afraid he would take off again.

"What was it like?" Naruto asked him, unable to contain his curiosity. "Being under that jutsu?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Not much to tell, really. Looking back, it feels like I was playing a role this whole time. Remembering how I was, it feels like I was a different person. The things I did… I'm so sorry."

"It wasn't your fault, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi was about to say something but stopped. Naruto turned his head and saw the rest of the team walking towards them. Naruto jumped up and down, waving his arm to get their attention.

Kakashi hesitated, ashamed at his behavior. It was awkward having to face them now. He knew he had to face them at some point, but he couldn't shake the feeling of immense shame. Part of him felt like he couldn't go back after this. Another part told him the sooner he got this over with, the easier it would be to go back home. He might as well do it now. Besides, these were his friends. Sure, he attacked them and tried to kill them, but they would forgive him. Wouldn't they?

Half his mind told him to run and never look back, the other told him he was being ridiculous and shouldn't let the emotion of shame control him. He had to work through this. As soon as he did, they could all put this behind them.

Seeing how shy Kakashi was being, Naruto gave his arm a tug. Kakashi numbly followed.

Upon seeing him, Sakura stopped in her tracks. Naruto was with him, so he probably wasn't going to attack. If Neji and Sai were back to normal, then he must have been as well. There was still the uncertainty. She wasn't sure what to expect.

"Guys, he's ok!" Naruto shouted happily. "He's back! Kakashi-sensei's back!"

"The other guys seemed to remember who they were as well," said Kiba. "I guess that means everyone's back to normal, right?"

Sakura stood where she was and waited for Kakashi to say something to reassure her.

Kakashi looked at the faded burn on her arm. The same feeling telling him to run was getting stronger. How could he face her after what he did? It would spare him all this emotion if he just avoided it all together. If he ran the other way, he wouldn't have to face any of this.

The other, more rational part of him encouraged him to step forward and do the right thing, no matter how uncomfortable it was.

"Sakura," he said hesitantly. He looked down out of shame. "I'm sorry." He forced himself to look at her and said more confidently, "I'm so sorry."

Hearing him say those words brought tears to her eyes. "Kakashi-sensei…" He truly was back.

"I'm sorry. I…"

She shook her head, smiling. "No, it's ok. Really. I know you didn't mean it. And I know it's you. I know you're back to normal." She sniffled. "Because the other you would never apologize to me. Only the real you would ever show concern for something like that."

"I didn't mean to…"

"It's ok!" she insisted. "You didn't do it. You would never hurt me. The one who did this was someone else." She put a hand over the mark on her arm. "See? You're even apologizing for what someone else did."

As far as Sakura was concerned, the one who attacked her wasn't Kakashi. It was a stranger. Everyone else seemed to be in agreement with her judging from their reactions. They didn't hold anything against Kakashi. He was forgiven.

"It really was someone else," said Yamato. "You and all those other ninja didn't act like themselves. You had no idea who we were and neither did they. You were under a jutsu. You can't be held responsible for your actions."

"I still feel horrible for what I did. Especially now that I do remember who you are."

"We can sort of relate on some level," said Neji. "Sai and I were hit with a similar jutsu that had us forget everything, even our own names. I have to admit, I feel pretty embarrassed about how I acted before. I wasn't myself at all."

"Neither of us were," said Sai. "Can you really blame us for acting so different when we had no idea what was going on? Kakashi is in a similar position. He didn't know."

"And if we were found by the enemy, who's to say we wouldn't have acted the same way you did?" Neji added. "The enemy could have convinced us that we hated the Leaf and should attack it. Without our memories, we wouldn't have known better. I say this deserves a free pass."

"What about all those other ninja?" asked Kiba. "I let my guy go. Once he stopped attacking me, I figured there was no longer a reason to go after him. He had his own mission to get to. But what about the others? Are they all free to go?"

"I'd say so," said Yamato. "They weren't in control and therefore can't be held responsible for their actions. Once they snapped out of it, they were no longer a threat to us. Basically, they were all hostages. Now they're free."

"But why? Why did everyone snap back to normal?"

"Shikamaru must have succeeded in his infiltration," said Yamato. "I have an idea of where we need to go. The one I was fighting said where it was from our position. We should go there and make sure he's ok."

"I know exactly where it is," said Kakashi. "It's this way."

Kakashi led the group through the trees. Naruto left his side only for a moment to check on Neji and Sai. They also appeared to be their usual selves, but he wanted to make sure. Once he saw that they were indeed back to normal, Naruto threw an arm around each of them in celebration. Sai accepted the one-armed hug while Neji tried to pull himself in the other direction.

"No doubt Lee's going to hug me as well as soon as he finds out," he muttered as he fought against Naruto's arm.

"Yup. You're normal again."

They exited the trees and Kakashi pointed to a small opening in the side of a rocky hill. The group started to move closer to it but stopped when they saw someone coming out of the opening. Unsure if it was an enemy or not, they stood their ground.

It was Shikamaru. He pulled himself out of the opening and lifted his head, looking up at them.

Ino was overjoyed to see him, then stopped, noticing the blood covering most of his body. "Shikamaru, you're hurt! What happened?"

"I'll heal him," Sakura said, rushing forward. Ino joined her and they started to get to work healing his injuries.

"It's ok," he told them. "Not all the blood is mine."

The group gathered around Shikamaru, some asking questions and some just staring. Shikamaru saw Kakashi standing among them wearing his normal expression and knew he had returned to normal, just as Jumon said. Sai and Neji looked like their old selves again, too.

Kakashi saw the long gashes on Shikamaru's flesh and knew what it was from. He grimaced, remembering the whip's sting on his skin. Shikamaru got a worse beating than he did.

"What did you get hit with?" asked Ino. "Look at these scratches."

"It was a barbed whip," answered Kakashi. He knew its sting. "The man I answered to was named Seigi. He was our boss. He carried a barbed whip and used it as punishment if we failed our assignments or did anything to displease him. It was meant to keep us in line."

"Then you must have faced the boss," said Ino.

"Where is he?" Naruto growled.

"Yeah," added Kiba. "I'd like to give that guy a piece of my mind!"

"Don't bother, he's dead," said Shikamaru. "I watched him die."

"Then when you said not all of this blood was yours..?"

"I'm not the one who killed him." Shikamaru looked at the bloodstains on his pant legs. "But I was with the one who did."

He could still see Jumon's head in his lap. His pale, shaking body, using the last of his strength to speak. All Shikamaru could do was hold his hand so he wouldn't be alone.

"Say, Kiba?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you for a favor?" Shikamaru asked him. "Can you and Akamaru go into the woods and find some loose soil? It shouldn't be too far."

"Loose soil? Like when something gets buried?"

"Yeah, but don't dig it up. I know what's buried there."

While Kiba and Akamaru did as they were told, the rest of the group started to make plans. Some of them still had unanswered questions and weren't shy about asking them out loud. When they questioned how Seigi recruited all those ninja and what sort of jutsu he used, Shikamaru had to speak up.

"Seigi wasn't the one who used the jutsu. Like I said, I was with the person who killed Seigi."

The group quieted. "Who else was with you?"

After Kiba and Akamaru found what Shikamaru sent them out for, they returned and pointed it out to him. Shikamaru then asked for another favor. He was too injured to do it himself, so he asked someone to carry Jumon's body to the surface and help bury him. He told them where.

Soon they were all gathered around two piles of dirt. Shikamaru explained that the second mound belonged to Jumon's younger sister. He figured Jumon would want to be buried beside her.

"He went through so much for her," he said as they finished burying him. "At least they can be together now."

"So he's the one who cast the jutsu on everyone?" asked Naruto.

"Yes."

"I know it's the right thing to do, but making him a grave and finding his sister's is a bit generous, don't you think? I mean, after everything he put us through?" said Ino. "After what he did to Kakashi and Neji and Sai and all those other people… All those under the jutsu tried to kill us, and he's responsible. He deserves-"

"Ino," Shikamaru said sharply and she stopped. "He did it for his sister. Seigi said he would heal her if he served him. Jumon didn't have much of a choice."

"But you told us that he was the one who started the whole thing. He cast the jutsu on his village and they attacked them. It's really his fault his sister got hurt."

"Which was why he wanted to do everything he could to save her. He wanted to make amends."

"By using the same jutsu? That doesn't make much sense to me. Why would he use the same jutsu that got his sister hurt and his clan destroyed for a guy, knowing what it could do? He must have known what would happen."

"He was repulsed by the jutsu after what happened," explained Shikamaru. "He only agreed to use it again, knowing what it could do, because it was for his sister. That should tell you how much he cared about her and how sorry he was. To use a jutsu like that again, having the feelings he had about it. He was using the same jutsu that hurt his sister in order to save her."

"Kind of ironic, isn't it?" said Kiba. "There must have been other ways."

"He couldn't think of any. They couldn't go back to his village and they were wandering around in this large forest for a long time. Seigi happened upon them first. Jumon didn't have much of a choice if he wanted to save her. He was really sorry for what he did. He was also grieving over the loss of his whole clan. He was desperate. Everyone keeps saying that there were better ways, but think about it from his perspective. He probably felt lost. Like there was nothing else. His back was against the wall. He did what he thought was best for his sister. Even if it meant other people would probably get hurt by the jutsu, as long as his sister was safe, he was willing to overlook it. Everything he did, he did for her."

"Even after she kind of drove him to use the jutsu on his village in the first place?"

"He didn't mean for all that to happen. He didn't think it would get that out of hand. He was sorry. He wanted to teach her a lesson, not get her and the rest of the clan killed."

"Shows what can happen when you seek revenge," said Kakashi. "You think it's evening the score and you think it's justified, but you don't realize that you could be hurting innocent people along the way."

He thought of Sasuke and his desire to avenge his clan and take down his older brother. Did he not realize what it was doing to Naruto and the rest of them, or did he simply not care?

Jumon was yet another cautionary tale about revenge.

"You bonded with him, didn't you?" asked Sakura. "This Jumon guy you met. I can tell."

"I had to get information out of him. I can't help it if I learned more about him than I intended."

"I'm not saying it's a bad thing."

Naruto looked at the two graves. He never met Jumon, but he did feel sorry for him. He wasn't perfect. He tried to get even with someone, it got out of hand, he tried to save the only family he had left even if it meant using the jutsu that caused it all, and he tried so much to make amends. He tried to save her. He didn't want to use the jutsu but felt he had no choice if he wanted her life to be spared. He didn't mean to hurt them. He was sorry.

Jumon must have suffered so much.

Naruto had seen what the jutsu could do. What it had turned Kakashi into. But it hurt Jumon as well. Didn't the others realize that? They weren't the only ones effected by the jutsu. Jumon was suffering, too.

Even after everything that happened, everything he had gone through with Kakashi and the other ninja, Naruto couldn't hate Jumon. He forgave him.

"So what now?" he asked after paying his respects.

"Well, as far as loose ends go…" Yamato put a hand to his chin, thinking. "I guess, we go back to the village. We can tell Lady Tsunade what went on here and have her decide what to do about the hideout. We also have to let her know that you guys are ok and that Kakashi is back to normal."

"I certainly have a lot of explaining to do back home," Kakashi sighed. "I better get it over with."

"I'm sure the Hokage will be understanding."

"Yeah, Kakashi-sensei. You were under a jutsu," said Sakura. "You can't be held accountable. You didn't do it by choice."

"You weren't in your right mind," added Naruto. "Whenever I do something without realizing and feel horrible about it, you tell me it wasn't my fault. So now I get to tell you the same thing you tell me."

"Nobody likes being given their own advice," Kakashi told him.

"Too bad!"

Neji was still feeling embarrassed about his behavior while he had amnesia. He knew it was beyond his control and there was a reason for it, but he still wanted to avoid eye-contact with the people he knew. Considering how Kakashi behaved and what he had done, Neji knew he had no right to complain. Someone else had it much worse than he did. Neji could get over the mild embarrassment if Kakashi was willing to return to the village after what he had done and face everyone including the Hokage.

Sai wasn't embarrassed. To him, it was as if everything he had done while afflicted with amnesia had been an illusion. It felt like he was stumbling around half-asleep until this point and was now fully awake. He wasn't in a fog anyone wondering what was going on and what he was doing. He could think and see clearly again. For him, it wasn't embarrassing when he regained the memories he had lost and reflect upon his previous behavior, but a relief. He was relieved he wasn't like he was before. He was relieved to be himself again.

"Shall we head back?"

The others turned and started to follow after Yamato. Shikamaru lingered for a moment, staring at the twin graves. He gave a sigh and walked away.

In spite of everything, he was glad he met Jumon and got to speak with him. He hoped Jumon felt the same way. To have someone speak to him like a human being.

It was true, he realized. In truth, when people are first introduced to someone and are given a description of the person before meeting them, then the people have a preconception of that individual. Their minds are already made up about who this person is what what they can and will do. Whereas, if someone was not given an introduction, then people could see the person for who they are and make their own judgments.

Everyone knew Jumon as the wielder of the memory-manipulation jutsu and therefore deemed him as a threat or a valuable asset. People would watch how they spoke around him, plot how they could take him down. Shikamaru just saw him as a boy in a cage and interacted with him as a human being. Only later did he find out that he possessed that jutsu, but by then Shikamaru had already met him as a person and not an enemy. His judgment was different. It must have been a welcomed change for Jumon.

Shikamaru even offered to help him find his sister. Would anyone consider helping an enemy in need? Most wouldn't because they were an enemy. If Jumon had come out and said he was the one who used the jutsu in the first place, or if he hadn't been in that cage at all, Shikamaru might never have helped him.

Notions and perceptions were very interesting that way.

Shikamaru looked at the boy walking in front of him, playfully swatting at Kakashi's head.

So many people hated Naruto because of what was inside him. Those people never bothered to get to know him because their minds were made up as well. People who didn't know were free to judge him as they saw fit. They weren't placed before him with an idea or concept already planted in their heads, allowing him to make friends with them more easily.

This was why Shikamaru felt Naruto would have been a better person for Jumon to talk to. They could understand each other. Naruto would not judge him so harshly. He even saw the look of sadness on his face while staring down at the grave of someone he had never met.

Someone like that…

Someone like Naruto could be…

"Doing ok, Shikamaru?" Naruto asked him. "You have this funny look on your face."

"I'm fine. Just thinking about something."

"Just let us know if you need to rest. You were hurt pretty bad."

Shikamaru smiled. "I'm good, Thanks."

This is a boy with a monster inside him. Most people would fear and hate someone with that introduction.

This is Naruto Uzumaki. This was a different title, free from any preconceived notions.

How would Naruto have spoken with Jumon? Would it have been any different from what Shikamaru had done? The things he would have said. There was no way to know now.

However, Shikamaru had to admit, he did have more respect for Naruto now. Shikamaru may have been a genius, but Naruto knew and understood more things than he did.

He already liked and respected him, but after all this, his respect increased just a little bit.

Shikamaru looked over his shoulder but the graves were no longer in sight.

At least Jumon had one person who neither feared nor wanted to use him.

Shikamaru hoped Jumon knew this.

In any case, Shikamaru wished for Jumon to rest in peace.

Almost done. Just one chapter left.

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