Hi! Second fic in two days! After the Village Hidden in the Weed, I decided to make a more serious one. This one is a one-shot (again) about the fallout after a member of team 7 dying on the Wave mission. (Who could it be?)
Without further ado, welcome to Extinguished. (The name will make sense. I promise.)
Extinguished by Just Spades
Uzumaki Naruto was having a very bad day. He had watched as his enemy, Haku, killed Sasuke, he had been defeated by the aforementioned enemy, and then he used the power of the Kyuubi, which was sealed within himself. Even though Naruto wouldn't admit it, Uchiha Sasuke was Naruto's best friend. They had always competed with each other, true, but every good friendship doesn't go perfectly. Arguments and anger are part of the ride to an unbreakable bond
Right now though, none of that mattered to the Uzumaki. Right now all he needed was revenge on Sasuke's killer.
As Naruto neared Haku, who he had beaten up using Kyuubi's chakra, he saw his face which had been covered by a mask that Naruto had just broken about thirty seconds ago. It was then that Naruto realized he had seen Haku before.
Flashback
Naruto groggily opened his eyes, searching for what caused the noise that woke him up.
Naruto realized he was in the forest just near where he and his team were staying. 'I must have trained all night' thought the blue-eyed boy.
Naruto sat up and turned around, which is when he met the brown eyes of a girl that looked to be about the same age as him.
"AH!" Naruto shouted. "Where did you come from?"
"I just arrived here. My name is Haku," Replied the girl.
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, Future Hokage!" Naruto declared with gusto.
"Oh, so you are a ninja," Haku asked, but it was a little bit rhetorical.
"I sure am Haku-chan!" Naruto said loudly before a few minutes of silence passed over the two. Haku began picking herbs off the ground and placing them in the basket she was holding.
"Why are you out here?" Haku finally asked.
"I'm training to be stronger," Naruto said as if it was obvious.
"Why do you need to be strong?" Haku asked the blonde-haired boy.
"To be Hokage, of course," Naruto answered.
"I believe that true strength comes when you are protecting something precious, something that you love with all your heart. Only when you are protecting something you love do you truly unlock your strength." Haku stated as she finished collecting herbs and stood up. "I must go now. Oh, and I'm a boy." Those words were the last ones he said to Naruto before walking away.
A few seconds later, "Huh?" Naruto said intelligently.
Flashback end
The memory stopped Naruto dead in his tracks. "Haku?" Naruto eventually said.
Haku nodded curtly before speaking. "Naruto, kill me. I am no longer of use to Zabuza-sama, a broken tool. I killed your friend, this shall be your revenge."
Haku pulled a kunai knife out of the pouch on Naruto's right leg and placed the knife in Naruto's hand.
"What? No! I can't kill you, you're one of my prec-"
Naruto was cut off by the sound of chirping birds coming from where his sensei, Kakashi, and Haku's master, Zabuza were fighting.
"I'm sorry Naruto, but it seems I am still of use to Zabuza-sama," Haku said with a sad smile while conjuring an ice mirror and walking into it.
"Haku, wait!" Naruto shouted. He ran the fastest he had run in his life and got a hand on Haku's shoulder at the last second, which caused him to be pulled in the ice mirror with Haku.
When they came out at the mirror Haku conjured beside they saw the scene of Zabuza being restrained by Kakashi's ninja hounds, and Kakashi was about to impale and kill Zabuza with a hand coated in lightning.
Without a second thought, Haku jumped in front of his master to stop him from being killed.
Naruto watched as this happened as one thought went through his head. 'I believe that true strength comes when you are protecting something precious, something that you love with all your heart.' Naruto thought. 'Haku, you are precious to me!'
With that thought, Naruto pushed Haku out of the way, taking the full force of Kakashi's jutsu straight through his heart.
As the light faded from Naruto's eyes, a lone tear ran down his cheek but he allowed himself a smile. In his final moments, Naruto thought about his precious people. Old Man Hokage, Iruka-sensei, Shikamaru, Chouji, Kakashi-sensei, Sakura, Hinata, Sasuke… 'Huh, guess I have more precious people than I thought.'
It took a second before anyone realized what had happened, then Kakashi finally processed that he was standing there, with his hand through the chest of his sensei's son. He had killed Naruto
Zabuza was in shock. This child, Naruto Uzumaki, who was his enemy, had saved his life, sacrificing his own in the process. Mind you, he really did it to save Haku.
Clapping was heard from across the bridge the shinobi were currently standing on.
"Bravo! Quite the performance. Especially the blonde one." quipped Gatou, who had just arrived and was standing in front of an army of street thugs. "Well, Zabuza it seems like your reputation was wrong. Look at you, you pathe-"
Gatou was cut short by Kakashi who had launched a kunai at Gatou, killing him as soon as it hit his chest.
Gatou fell backwards, into the water the bridge was built over. Kakashi then slowly took his hand left hand out of Naruto's body laid him down gingerly.
After he had set Naruto down, Kakashi turned around to face Gatou's thugs and started gathering as much chakra as he could. He then blurred through the snake, dragon, rabbit, and tiger seals in less than a second before shouting. "Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Dragon Flame)"
Due to the sheer amount of chakra forced into the technique, the thugs were incinerated quickly by the dragon of fire. This was also when Sakura, the other member of team 7 called out from the body of Sasuke, who was getting up slowly. "Sensei, Sasuke-kun isn't dead! He was put into that false death state like Zabuza was!"
She was clearly happy about 'her' Sasuke-kun being alive, but when she saw her sensei just standing there beside the still form of Naruto she began to worry and turned to her not-so-dead teammate while asking, "Sasuke, what happened to Naruto?"
Sasuke looked at her for a second. "The fuck if I know," the ever-so-eloquent Uchiha said before shakily standing and walking over to the group of Kakashi, Haku, and Zabuza.
When Sasuke saw the hole in the chest of Naruto he turned to Kakashi and asked, "Sensei, what the hell happened?"
However, that question wasn't answered as Kakashi passed out.
-Hokage Office, Konohagakure no Sato, a week later-
The last week was a blur for the remaining members of Team 7. When Sasuke and Sakura heard about what happened on the bridge, they both left Tazuna's house and went in different directions looking for somewhere to contemplate the fate of their cheerful go-lucky teammate.
Three days after Naruto's death, Haku and Zabuza left Wave after paying respects to Naruto. The villagers of Wave named the bridge after Naruto and decided to build a memorial for the boy who saved their country.
And now, Team 7 stood in front of the Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was wondering why Naruto wasn't there. The Hokage then voiced his question while fearing for the worst, but hoping for the best, "Kakashi, where is Naruto-kun?"
Kakashi flinched. 'Oh no.' Thought the Sandaime when he saw the flinch.
"Hokage-sama," Kakashi began somberly. "Genin Uzumaki Naruto has died on the C-rank turned A-rank mission to Nami no Kuni." Stated Kakashi as professionally as he could. Kakashi then told the Third the entire story.
"Kakashi, even though the decision to continue the mission after being attacked was not a good choice, it is not your fault that Naruto died. He obviously did what he did so that he could stop someone who he considered a friend from dying, and as such died while believing in the Will of Fire to the end." Sarutobi said calmly but inside he was devastated that the boy he saw as a grandson was gone. "Three days from now we will set up a funeral at the memorial stone. Team 7 may invite anyone they see fit to come to the funeral service."
-Outside the Hokage Tower, 3 Hours later-
Cheers were ringing out from the civilians while most of the shinobi had the decency to bow their heads. The Hokage had just released the information that Uzumaki Naruto, the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, had passed away. It was also when the younger generation found out about Naruto's status as Jinchuuriki, however, it did not sway their opinion about the cheerful boy that they had seen him as.
Some of the shinobi who had met the boy had walked away with disgust on their faces at the reactions of the civilians. The next day the villagers awoke to the sight of many shops and buildings with signs and banners declaring how happy they were that they had finally got rid of the demon. Some places had tributes to Naruto set up.
That day, the bars were open from nine am to three am even though they were only occupied by civilians and the odd shinobi.
-With Sasuke-
Sasuke was disgusted. It was ridiculous that the foolish villagers couldn't see that Naruto was just a normal boy.
The death of Naruto had hit Sasuke hard prompting him to look back over his life. That was when he realized he hadn't been living it. Not really. He had lived twelve years and what did he have to show for it? The closest thing to a friend he had ever had was dead. And he had lived his life in hatred. 'Great Job, Sasuke' He thought.
Sasuke also realized how bad he had fucked up. He had followed the advice of his older brother Itachi, who may have been a prodigy, but had also killed his entire family. He had also listened to his father who had never truly loved him. Sasuke had believed that he was invincible because he was an Uchiha. He was wrong on that one too.
But most importantly, he had been such an ass to everyone around him that the only people who talked to him were his fangirls.
So, just like Kakashi when his teammates died, Sasuke went under a transformation. But first, he was going to tear down every single banner that showed happiness about his Best Friend's death and then he was going to work to become Hokage. For Naruto.
-Sakura-
Sakura was sitting in her room, on her bed. When she walked downstairs from her room and saw that her parents were in a good mood, obviously because of Naruto's death. She immediately returned to her room.
She may have been mean to Naruto, but recently she realized that she truly cared for him. He was like a brother to her. Annoying, but a brother all the same.
Another thing the Haruno realized was that she needed to train. Hard. She refused to ever let someone else close to her die, no matter what.
Sakura went to the library and started studying everything she could find about medical jutsu and posions, because if one of her teammates got hurt, they were not going to die in front of her. Not again.
Sakura wiped a tear from her eye and began reading the first scroll she had gotten. She was going to get stronger. For Naruto.
-Kakashi-
Kakashi couldn't do anything right. At least in his opinion.
He had failed as a teammate, a friend, a student, and now as a sensei. He was sitting at the memorial stone, looking at the newest name on there. Uzumaki Naruto.
Kakashi briefly remembered the interactions he had with the boy. He remembered how he hated his tardiness, how he always wanted to get stronger, and how he was always smiling.
He would give anything to see that smile again.
When Kakashi stood up he looked around to see the leaves blowing in the wind and took one last glance at the stone. As he walked away from the stone, he could have sworn he heard the voice of a twelve-year-old say "Don't worry about me, look at yourself!"
It was at that moment that Kakashi realized he needed to stop wallowing in self-pity and become the person that Obito, Rin, and Minato would have wanted him to be.
That Naruto would have wanted him to be.
-Hiruzen-
Hiruzen looked at the photo of Naruto eating ramen with himself. He remembered that day fondly. It was Naruto's sixth birthday and Hiruzen had managed to finish his paperwork the day before, allowing him to spend the day with his pseudo-grandson.
They had gone all around the village that day, having fun. It was the first time Naruto had declared he wanted to be Hokage.
They had been standing on top of the Yondaime's head and Hiruzen turned to Naruto, asking him what he wanted to be when he grew up.
Naruto's exact words were "I'm going to be the strongest shinobi this village has ever seen. I'm going to be the greatest Hokage! Get ready to hand over that hat Old Man!"
Naruto hadn't said it the way he had in recent years. It was full of conviction as always, but it was calmer and more believable. It made Hiruzen believe that Naruto would be Hokage.
Hiruzen pulled out a paper, on said paper he wrote down an order for a new Hokage hat because Naruto would be wearing this one, even if he wouldn't be alive to see it.
The candle that was Uzumaki Naruto had been extinguished, but not before lighting fires in the hearts of many others.
THE END!
I'm not gonna lie, I died inside a little while writing this. I tried to make it so that it wasn't super angsty but… Anyways, lemme know if you wanna see the effect Naruto's death had on other characters. Oh! And thanks for the support on The Village Hidden in The Weed!
Reviews and advice are always welcome!
Peace
-Spades