Smoke suddenly filled the area but it soon faded away. When it did, my eyes widen as right in front of us, was standing Kurama. The Kurama, that I have heard about, that I had heard his voice at my mind, was right in front of me. I do not know what I should feel. Excitement or fear? F ear, I could not feel it for an unknown reason. Words could not come out of my mouth and the only thing I could do was to look at him with admiration. I do not know what the others were may think or have already thought when they hear nine tails, Kurama, but I, from now on I will think one word 'Amazing' along with the word 'Beautiful'.
With the tip of my eye, I looked at Sasuke who had the same but more shocked expression on his face as he was also looking with wide eyes. I wish I could read his mind. The transformed Chief charged at Shukaku and dug his giant claws at the sand skin. Then, he bit his shoulder but that caused only Shukaku to laugh.
"Okay, do it now while I have a hold on him," Chief said and I barely made out a figure, who I guess was Naruto, jumping from Kurama's head and land on Shukaku's.
"No! I finally found my chance to come out! Damn it!" Shukaku said as he started losing control because Gaara had started to gain consciousness.
Sand then attacked Naruto, who did not do anything to avoid or protect himself. Damn it, he must be out of chakra and power, I thought and I was ready to shout at him, in case I manage to make him move but I knew that it would not do anything. Thank Kami Chief Toad was faster. He opened his giant mouth and used his tongue to protect Naruto from the sand. For a few seconds, nothing happened and made me worried. A little later, Chief retracts his tongue, revealing mentally, physically, and drained from chakra Naruto and Gaara.
However, Naruto was not over yet as red chakra surrounded him. The same thing happened to him at the land of waves; I thought and bit my bottom lip. He flew like a rocket towards Shukaku's forehead and aimed for Gaara. Sand stopped him, from what I could guess, inches away from Gaara.
I do not know what happened next but Naruto managed to strike Gaara and made him wake up. The sand disappeared and the same happened with Shukaku. At the same time, I noticed two figures falling. I ignored the pain that was coming from my injured thigh and headed towards their direction.
"Naru… Gaara" I said as I landed next to my best friend.
"Akuma… stay back… it is not over yet" Naru said as both Gaara and he managed to stand up.
Then, they charged at each other, fists raised. However, Naruto was faster and managed to land his punch at Gaara's cheek but they both ended up crashing before they fall backwards, leaving a bigger than before space between them.
"My existence… will never be extinguished…It won't be extinguished! There is no way I will let it disappear!" Gaara said.
Naruto tried to stand up, only to fall down again. I knelt down next to him and gave him my hand, in order to help him. However, he simply pushed my hand aside and tried to stand upon himself. Finally, he managed to but he fell down again. This time, he landed on his stomach but this did not stop him as he started to crawl towards Gaara. I did not say nor do anything; I just simply stayed silent and watched.
"Don't come any closer!" Gaara said, panic hearable on his voice. He tried to back off, only for a small cry of pain to escape his lips.
"The pain of being alone is not an easy one to bear… your feelings, why is it… that I can understand your pain? However, I already have people who are important to me now and… I will not let you hurt them… even if you try to kill them… I will stop you"
"Why… why do you go so far for other's people sake?"
"They saved me from the hell of being alone. They acknowledged my existence and that is why they are important to me"
"Love…" Gaara muttered.
"Naru, it is okay. Everything is over now" I said as stood between them. "You both gave a great fight but now, it is time to end it"
"Akuma is right," Sasuke said as he jumped from a tree branch and landed a few feet away from us. "Sakura is fine. This guy is possibly almost out of chakra and the sand that was holding Sakura has collapsed"
"I see" Naru, said with a peaceful expression on his face.
Suddenly, Kankuro and Temari landed on the two sides of Gaara. Sasuke quickly grabbed a kunai and took a defensive post. I left out a sigh and placed my hand on top of his, making him lower his kunai. The two sand siblings were watching with confused eyes.
"It is over now," Gaara said.
"Aright," Kankuro said as he picked him and carried his by the arm.
"You should better go. It will not be long before reinforcement comes. Until the whole misunderstanding is solved, I suggest you return to the land of wind"
"Thank you Akuma," Temari said.
"No problem. Now go and I hope we will meet each other again and hopefully not on the battlefield. Am I right red panda?"
"You bet beautiful" Kankuro said as he smirked, possibly because of Gaara's new nickname. "Come on Panda," he said and I smiled, as they started jumping from branch to branch.
"I turned my attention back to Naruto, who was sleeping from exhaustion and Sasuke, who was also ready to collapse.
"Do not fall for sleep too. I cannot carry all three of you. I will take Naru, you take Sakura and let's go to the hospital" I said and Sasuke nodded before he left to go and pick Sakura.
I knelt down, placed Naruto piggyback all while ignoring the pain that was coming from my injured thigh/ Then I headed towards the direction Sasuke went.
"You did a great job Naru. You definitely going to change the world we know and I will be there for you. Till the very end," I said as he faintly smiled on his sleep.
2 days had passed since the invasion to the leaf by Orochimaru. Speaking of him, Old Man fought him with teeth and claws until his last breath and after all this; he was still alive and roaming free. However, Old Man was not so lucky.
He gave his life to protect us, from what I have heard, wound Orochimaru lethally, and do him permanent damage. Now, it was time for his funeral. Two lines had been formed, on the left all the civilians and on the right all the shinobi. At the centre, a picture of Old Man and at both sides, pictured of fellow Shinobi that died during the attack.
I stood between Naruto and Konohamaru, who both were on the verge of crying. All the rookies were, to be more precise. I grabbed their hands and squeezed them in an attempt to show them that I was there for them. Naruto was covered with bandages, especially on his face. Sakura and Sasuke had minor scratches and wounds. I had my thigh bandaged and many scratches but thank Kami, none of us was seriously injured. I looked back at the sky, who was pitching black, reflecting exactly our mood. The rain was purring down but no one seemed to care. It was as if, the earth and the sky, themselves were weeping for our lost.
"We are gathered here, to remember and honour not only to the 3rd Hokage but to all those who sacrificed themselves in this battle, so our village would survive," the male elder said.
After that, everyone made a line and one by one were leaving his or her white rose in front of Old Man's picture. Soon, my turn came, tears escaped my eyes and rolled down my cheeks as I left the rose and a certain memory of him flashed into my mind.
My 6-year-old self was standing at a branch of a tree, close to the gates. For as long as I could remember and until a certain age, when I had the time and I wanted to be alone with my thoughts, I would climb that tree. From there, I would look at the gate for hours and hours, imagining and mostly hoping that a couple would enter and they would look for the daughter they had left years ago. However, that never happened but that did not stop me from going there.
Therefore, as usual, I was sitting on the branch; lost in my own thoughts, not caring that I was skipping classes.
"Akuma" someone called me and I looked down, only to be met with brown caring eyes.
"Hey Old Man," I said, my voice quiet and sad as I was not in the mood. "What are you doing here?"
"I was just having a nice evening walk. What are you doing here? You were supposed to be in class"
"I know I just… *sigh* I am not in the mood of hearing and tolerating my bullies today"
"I see… come here will you?"
"Have to?" I asked in a bored tone.
He did not answer instead; he gave a nod with his head. I left out a sigh and carefully climbed down the tall tree. When I stopped in front of him, he did something that no one else had done before. He messed up with my hair and gave me a soft smile. I could not help but give him a small smile back. He knelt at one knee so he was at the same height I was and said:
"Now, you know that it is not right to skip your classes. Iruka had told me that you do it a lot lately. So, how about we make a deal?"
"What kind of deal?"
"I will not send you today back to your class nor I will scold you. However, you must stop skipping classes so much. You can only a few times per month"
"I guess I can do that"
"Good," he said and stood up. "Now, how about I treat you ramen?"
"Well, I may hang out a lot with Naru but I am not so much ramen lover. I am more person of barbeque and Dango" I said while rubbing the back of my head and he laughed.
"Okay then. How about we go for barbeque and then for Dango?" he said and I bet my face was shining from happiness.
"Really? Thank you so much, Old Man!" I said and jumped to hug him.
I smiled at the happy memory, left down my white rose and returned to my seat. Thank you a lot Old Man. You were from the few people that accepted me for the way I am and you never stopped caring about the others or me. I promise that I will continue your mission. I will try my best to become strong and protect the village and my friends, until my last breath. I promise you, I said to my mind and looked at his picture with determination on my eyes.
I snapped from my thoughts when Konohamaru, let go of my hand and started crying. Iruka sensei knelt at his height and embraced him on a tight hug while rubbing circles on his back, in an attempt to calm him down. My heart broke at two and I could only imagine how he must felt. He was his grandfather after all.
"Iruka sensei… why do they do it? Why do people risk their lives for other people?" Naruto asked him.
"Well, when someone passes away, it's the end. His past, his future, and all the dreams he had. They all disappear along with him. This is true, even if he dies honourably in battle as so many have, as Hayate did. All the ties that bind him to the living are severed. All but one, the most important of all, people. Parents, siblings, friends, lovers, the people who were important to him. Moreover, these people, the ones left behind, are joined together as a great circle. By their shared memories of him, a circle of friendship, trust and sacrifice that grows larger and stronger as time passes. It is hard to explain it, we remain in the circle together, and we have no choice. It's important to us"
"So, we do it because we have to. I get it, sort of. Still, I am sad he is gone" he said and I was impressed. He was holding up very well for losing someone for the first time, but I knew that he had cried before he came here.
"Think how sad it would be if he died for nothing. However, he left us something priceless. Do not worry, you will understand these days" Kakashi sensei, who was standing behind me, said.
"Hey, give me some credit. That much I get" he joked back and I could not help but smile at him.
Soon, the funeral ended and it was time for us to return to our everyday routines. I looked at the sky once again and smiled faintly as the clouds started to leave and a few sun rays had managed to light up the area. While everyone was leaving, I stayed, walked and stopped in front of the Old man's picture. I still could not stop thinking that he was gone. I was snapped from my thoughts when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up and noticed that it was none other than Kakashi sensei, who was giving me a closed eye smile.
"We were thinking of going to lunch. Are you coming?", he asked.
"Yeah… yeah, I am coming", I said, looked at the picture one more time and followed him and the rest of my team.
