VI

Drip…

Naruto slowly opened his eyes to the view of pipes running along the flooded hallway. The design reminded him of the basement of a broiler room.

Drip…

The blond pushed himself onto his feet and rubbed his head, hoping to clear himself of the throbbing headache he was currently suffering from. Most likely from the fall and hard hit he received after losing consciousness from training.

Drip…

Trying to gain more of a footing in his ability to manipulate the elements was not coming easy, or even quickly. The more he tried, the quicker his frustration grew. Compared to the other abilities, like the Shadow Clones, his frustration and anger seem to grow at double the pace. He didn't do anything different when training either which stumped him even more on what was happening and the second he gave into his frustration he found himself here.

Drip…

Not knowing where he was or what he was doing he started to make his way down the hallway, the water coming up to his shins. The further he went, the more familiar everything started to feel. Like he had known about this place his whole life.

Drip…

Naruto slowly brought himself to a halt when he entered a room with a giant gate that had a parchment of paper on it with the word 'Seal'. Against his better judgment he continued towards the gate, knowing what was most likely resting behind it. Turning back wouldn't do him any good with his lack of knowledge on the layout of this place and he had the assumption that finding himself here wasn't a coincidence. If he wanted to leave he would have to endure whatever was going to happen.

"It's rude to keep your prisoner waiting, Naruto."

Naruto felt his blood run cold when he felt the deep guttural voice of the Kyuubi reverberated around the room. Before Naruto could think of a reply he found himself staring into a pair of slitted, hate filled, blood red eyes. His mouth clicked completely shut and he stood completely still, not being able to bring himself to make a sound.

"Did my words of incitement fall on ungrateful ears? Isn't that what you craved, Naruto? Acknowledgement? Support? For someone to embolden you towards your goals? To help the fortification of your mind." The Kyūbi savored the silence as his jailer's mind started to piece things together. "What about my gift, Naruto? Was my power not enticing enough? Having a power even the strongest of Shinobi could only dream of having? Was the protection I provided for you with it unappreciated? Not worthy enough to have some of your time and attention? " The feeling of satisfaction washed over him as watched the light in the blonds' eyes flicker.

Naruto stared at the Kyūbi in disbelief. "I- What-… How…- You…?" He couldn't figure out what was going on let alone form a sentence. The words rang truth in his ears, not a trace of lying that he was desperately hoping for.

"You're less like your mother than I thought."

The Blonds mind immediately stitched itself back together with those words ringing through him. "You… You know my mother…?"

The Kyūbi relished in the pain and incredulity that dripped from his container's voice. "Knew your mother. She's dead. Replaced by you."

"W-what do you mean replaced by me?"

"Your mother, just like you, was my old Jinchūriki."

"What the fuck?" Naruto grabbed his hair in frustration. All of his anxiety and fear were replaced by anger and distrust.

"I can tell you now, Naruto, that you have zero reason to not trust me."

"I have every reason not to trust you! You attacked this village! You're the reason everyone hates me! You're the reason my life is complete and utter garbage!"

"You don't know my reasons for attacking this village, and the way you're going, you never will. The reason everybody hates you is because they are human. They would do anything to alleviate that feeling of loss and guilt. Even if it meant putting the blame on an innocent child. Their lack of ability to not let fear cloud their judgement is not my doing. You best remember that if it wasn't for me, you would be dead." The Kyūbi growled out.

Naruto didn't reply as he couldn't find an argument for what had just been said. He never would have survived if it wasn't for him. The more he thought about it, the more it settled in his gut that he had more reasons to trust the fox than he did to trust his own village.

"They aren't the only ones who would do anything to alleviate their feelings, are they, Naruto?" Kyūbi asked. Naruto remained silent as he was pretty sure the fox wasn't expecting an answer. "No. That bubbling friendship you have with that Nohara girl is one of your attempts, isn't it?"

"She doesn't take no for an answer…"

"You've never told her no. You've accepted every advance she has made. You're the one who decided to never let her see the real side of you. What was your thought process? 'You didn't want her to see it. She didn't need to see that side of you.' The only reason you could think like that is because you want her friendship. I could even say you need her friendship. The reality is that you can't have her friendship."

"Who the fuck are you to decide what I can and can't have?" Naruto spat out.

"Who said I was the one deciding? Your friendship with her has always been an evanescent bubble. Time is too fragile for her to be able to stay here. This is not her time and it never will be. Your Hokage will put the utmost effort into figuring out how to reverse that seal. If he can't do it, there is always someone who can."

"She can always choose to stay here. Nobody can force her into going back. In the end it'll be her choice!"

"Foolish of you to think she has a choice. The hope and desperation you humans cling to is disgusting. Reality has a tendency to break the imagination as you will soon find out. Visit the graveyard and see for yourself."

Naruto clenched his fists and shook with rage, ignoring the wicked grin that spread across the fox's face. "I'll prove that you're wrong! I'll make sure she has the choice! Nobody gets to decide the fate of someone else!"

The distasteful chuckle of the Kyuubi shook the room as Naruto felt the feeling of suffocation start to consume him. "Do what you think is best, Naruto. Doesn't matter if you're successful or you die trying. Either way, in the end, I will get what I want."

Naruto shot up right in a panic inhaling as much air as he possibly could. He felt a pair of hands place themselves on his shoulders as he tried to stand-up. "Hey, hey, calm down. You're okay, just relax." The softness of Rin's voice echoing in his ear.

He forced her hands off of him and stood up as fast as he could. "I can't keep putting myself through this." Naruto quickly made his way out of the training field, ignoring Rins frustrated calls of concern.

Rin watched Naruto's retreating form disappear into the forest surrounding them. A feeling of unease forming in her gut.

-M-

The Hokaged lit up his pipe when he heard the door to his office open. "Glad you were able to make it, Rin. We were about to send someone to go find you."

"I'm sorry," Rin apologized, positioning herself next to Kakashi, crossing her arms behind her back. "Naruto and I and we're training and lost track of time."

"Why isn't Naruto with you? I clearly remember summoning both of you."

"He ended up leaving before your messenger arrived. I don't know if he received it."

The Hokage took a drag off his pipe in thought before handing the group in front of him their mission scroll. "I will handle Naruto's absence later. For now I want you three to go over the mission together and simply brief Naruto later when you see him today. You are dismissed." Not the standard procedure for assigning a mission but it would have to do for now. Once Kakashi and his team left, Hiruzen pulled out his crystal ball to find out what happened to the blond.

Rin read over their mission scroll with a raised eyebrow? "City of Chōwa? No Chakra?"

"Only once we reach our destination. The city has seals spread throughout the ground that block the chakra of everyone who enters their boundaries. The city was sealed off after the war and their location kept secret. City of Pacifists pretty much. Oversimplified, but I'm sure you get the gist of it." Replied Kakashi, his eyes never leaving his book.

"Sounds pretty easy to me." Sasuke muttered, reading over the scroll. "Escort there, protect for a couple of days, escort back. When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow morning at 7," Kakashi replied, flipping a page in his book. "If any of you see blondie around, let him know." With that, Kakashi disappeared.

-M-

The sound of thunder broke through the sky over Konoha. The heavy rain soaking everything to the point the whole ground was a giant puddle. Kakashi made his way towards the graveyard, ignoring the citizens who were trying to flee the unrelenting weather. He made as many visits to this place as he possibly could, weather be damned. It wasn't a good enough excuse to skip his visits. His lone eye showed surprise when he noticed a familiar head of blond hair staring down at the grave that was his destination. Kakashi came to a stop right next to his rotated student and looked at the blond who didn't acknowledge his presence with even a twitch. Looking at the gravestone that read "Nohara, Rin" he opted to stay in silence. They both stood there for what felt like hours, the rain not letting up on its excessive downpour. Dark gray eyes met with a pair of curious, hurt, and dull blue eyes, and Kakashi couldn't bring himself to look away or even ask the questions that have been plaguing him since his arrival.

"Life is just one big joke, isn't it, Kakashi?"

Kakashi looked back at the stone and cleared the lump out of his throat. "It feels that way doesn't it?"

Naruto remained silent as a thousand nagging thoughts jogged through his head. Taking their time to make sure he would never forget about them. Make sure he never forgot that this instance of friendship he currently had with Rin was just a fluke. Something to get his hopes up, like every good thing to happen to him in his life, to then just crush him with no ounce of remorse. Everything has always been too good to be true. Couldn't even have a friend that wouldn't betray or leave his side because she was technically dead. How churlish. "I always knew it was too good to be true. I've never had a friend in my life… I always tried my best though. I was always friendly, always willing to help people when they needed it, always tried to be understanding, always looked past the negatives, always hoping I was wrong about people."

Kakashi stayed silent as Naruto spoke. Knowing that if he said something the blond would stop.

"I wasn't."

The Jonin knew when the conversation was over. A short abrupt end when things could've been fleshed out a bit more was a telling sign. "Life was never supposed to be fair. It's more cross than anything."

"Most people would be ecstatic if they got to see their fallen teammate breathing again."

"Some people would rather not suffer for the same thing twice. Especially when they haven't made peace with it the first time." Kakashi sighed and turned to walk away. A time for mourning and clearing the mind turned into a clutter of more emotions and guilt. "You have a visitor. I'm going to leave you both be." Thankful for an excuse to leave as he didn't want to travel down memory lane with any potential questions the blond was guaranteed to dig into.

With a puff of smoke Kakashi disappeared and Naurto found himself temporarily alone again. He knew his uninvited guest had finally arrived when an umbrella made its way over his head.

"It's sickening, you know." Rin said quietly as she looked down at her grave stone. "The ending of your own story being shoved forcefully in your face. The wonder of what if being replaced with how and why. Knowing that I didn't live long enough to fall in love and it being reciprocated. Getting married, starting a family of my own. Growing old with someone…" Naruto stayed silent as Rin let out a mirthless laugh. "I don't even get to keep the blissful feeling of not knowing how the future turns out. I get the weight of that forced onto my shoulders too. My Sensei is dead, his wife is dead, Obito is dead, the Kakashi I knew is gone, and my whole family was wiped out in the Kyuubi attack." Rin wiped her eyes of the tears that had started to fall. "Good news is that the war is over, Konoha survived it, and we are currently at peace so I guess not all is bad. For everybody else at least."

Naruto glanced at Rin who continued to wipe off the tears. The Kyuubi had wiped out her family and her Sensei. Pretty typical. He couldn't have expected anything different.

"Gah, I feel pathetic. I came looking for you to see if you wanted to get Hot Chocolate and strawberries with me so I could apologize to you about how I came onto you so strongly, and instead I'm crying to you about my problems."

"You don't need to apologize."

"I don't, but I just wanted you to understand why I did so you didn't think I was some crazy bitch." Rin let out a sigh and embraced the silence. Get her emotions under control before she could make a fool out of herself even more than she already has. "Speaking of crazy, what are you doing all the way out here? Why are you at my grave?" Well that was pretty depressing to say the least. "I figured you would be visiting a friend or even family…"

"I don't have any friends. I don't know who my family is either. I couldn't visit them even if I wanted to." Naruto answered dejectedly. "I'm at your gravestone to remind myself that this is reality. Can't have hope when you have no expectations for anything you desire."

Rin stood there quietly, not knowing how to proceed. Not really knowing what to say. "…what do you mean? You don't have any desires in life? No dreams or anything?"

"I have desires. I have dreams too. What I don't have is any expectations for them. I've never had friends and standing in front your grave is a reminder that even the one that is literally dropped into my lap is fleeting. I feel like it's better to continue to have no friends instead of making the effort when I'll just be crushed in the end."

"You know, Naruto, there is a saying that it's better to have loved once than to never have loved at all."

"The people who say that are usually the ones who are pretty well off in the first place."

Rin frowned at that. He wasn't wrong, but he wasn't right either. "Naruto… let me know if I'm crossing any boundaries, but why does everyone here treat you so awful? I've seen the glares, the distaste they spit out when they talk to you."

"You'd have to be blind not to see it."

"So why do they do it!? I want to understand your reasoning but I can't when I don't know your side of it!" She didn't mean to let her frustration get the best of her. Never helped when you were trying to get someone to open up to you. Whatever she was about to say next died on her lips when she looked into his blue eyes. Eyes that held no expression and were laced with a false brightness. She suddenly felt vulnerable.

Naruto slowly looked away from her and begrudgingly gave her what she asked for. It's not like she was going to be around long enough for it to matter. "I am the Jinchūriki of the Kyūbi no Yōko." The gasp that came from Rin, no matter how silent she tried to make it, didn't go unnoticed by him. What stunned him was that her features went soft and her eyes were sympathetic. Not full of loathing and disdain like most were. Without even going into detail she understood.

"What… What has your life been like?" A part of her didn't want to know while the other knew damn well how it was. The image of her Sensei came to mind and the striking resemblance between him and Naruto made sense. Her Sensei, Minato, would never seal the demon into any random child. The last name Uzumaki was apparently no coincidence either. She didn't understand how it had taken her so long to connect the dots. Minato's son was standing right next to her and nobody in this village knew? Nobody connected his last name to Kushina, his wife? She could feel the anger and disbelief swell up her stomach and chest.

"Well… As I've said multiple times already I have had no friends or family so for the most part it's just been… Lonely. I was kicked out of the Orphanage when I was little. I think I was six or seven. The Hokage gave me an apartment to live in and an allowance to live off of but apparently as Hokage that was the most he could do." Naruto spat out in bitterness. "I had guards that would follow me around to make sure I was 'safe' but if any beatings started they would only intervene if they became life threatening. The assaults weren't frequent enough I guess to consider them a huge risk. I was spat on, shunned, called a Monster, a Demon, a freak… Businesses would and still refuse me service and if they don't they just jack up their prices to the point that it's not even worth buying. Kind of hard to carry Shuriken and Kunai when nobody will sell them to you." Naruto sighed into hands as he continued. "Even though my peers knew nothing of the attack, their parents' influence trickled down and it repeated itself. It never let up. After so many years of being rejected and shit on, I just stopped caring. I stopped caring if I had friends, someone to come home to, someone to tell me things are going to be okay, comfort me when I was scared, if I was going to be able to eat the next day. Stopped caring to try and get people to recognize me. You know, at one point, I even wanted to be Hokage… Now that's pathetic." Naruto finished with a mutter.

Rin found herself at a loss for words. She hadn't been expecting most of that. She didn't want to believe it was true but the little she had seen and experienced told her otherwise. A lot of it made sense. Little pieces she couldn't quite figure out finally clicked into place. The whisker marks on his cheeks, the constant disrespectful attitude for everyone, never having his own weapons, and her confrontation with Noru at the academy just to name a few. She never expected her village to be so cruel.

"Are you excited to go back?" Naruto asked quietly.

"Yes…" Rin answered, sounding a little unsure of herself. "And no… I mean, I miss my friends and family. A lot. But at the same time, we were in a war. I don't want to go back to that. All my friends are either dead or grown up and it's like they're not even the same people I was growing up with. It hurts. But part of me is okay with it. I don't want to be a part of the war. I don't want to be constantly looking behind me. I don't want to watch my friends die… I don't want to die." Rin pulled the hem of her shirt up to her eyes and wiped away the tears that were threatening to fall. "I know what's going to happen to me if I go back and I'm not ashamed to admit that I would much rather just run away from it. Just call this my second chance and work on making my dreams come true. Live the life that was taken away from me…" Rin took a deep breath in hopes of calming herself down. "But let's not get ahead of ourselves. They aren't even close to figuring out the seal. We'll worry about what happens to me when that time comes, but, for now, I just want to focus on making my time here the best it can be." At Naruto's nod of acceptance her lips formed into a small smile. "Naruto, maybe it's none of my business, but would you tell me what happened at the training ground? You just seemed so distressed and I couldn't help myself but worry about you…"

"I don't think I can…" Naruto sighed out, his features becoming sullen. "I'm still trying to process what happened…" Those conniving red eyes glowing bright with malevolence still made him uncomfortable.

"Some day?" She asked, hopeful.

"Some day..."

She let herself bask in the silence before grabbing Naruto's hand and intertwining her fingers with his. "So… How about getting that Hot Chocolate and Strawberries?"

-END-

Well... It's been awhile. After fixing this and that, experiencing that and this, I believe I have a story to finish. The outline has been sitter on my PC patiently. Mocking me. Hopefully this story still holds the interest of some.

-Huey-