Author's Note: Final chapter, here we go!
Disclaimer: I obviously do not own Naruto, the world, or the characters. All of these belong to the creator Masashi Kishimoto.
—
Memoriae
Epilogue
Kuro gasped as her eyes flew open. Her back had a sharp pain coursing through it, and she hissed as a jagged edge poked her side. The kunoichi's entire body ached, and she was blanketed in dust like some sort of ancient statue. In a daze, Kuro moved her eyes left to right. She was mounted atop a sea of boulders and rocks. The high cliffs of the remaining cave surrounded her like an arena. The sky was completely clear like a crystal rapid.
"I'm alive…" Kuro blearily whispered with a cough. The cavern must've been under one of the thinner areas of the mountain. Otherwise, they'd all been buried alive after Deidara's explosion. The thought of her group causes Kuro to arch her back forward. Though, she curled onto her side at a spiking pain. "Akatsuchi… Gramps…?" Kuro weakly called out, shifting onto her stomach. It felt as if someone had sewn heavy stones into her gut that weighed down her every action.
She decided against repeating Deidara's name. The memory of their last encounter was all too clear in her mind.
Kuro found a flash of red among the rubble, nearly crying of relief upon finding Akatsuchi's unconscious, but alive form. Near him was a similarly asleep Onoki. She smirked, even then Akatsuchi - the infallible shield - had protected their Tsuchikage. Farther away, scraps of dark blue informed her the Kiri nin were close as well. Hopefully, they wouldn't need to explain anything to the fiery Mizukage.
"Come on, Kuro… Get up…" The kunoichi scolded, forcing herself to push past the pain and stagger to her feet. Kuro coughed as she wobbled towards her comrades. She had to get everyone out of the area before Akatsuki returned. If they were all alive that is. Kuro froze as a shiver travelled up her spine. But, she shook the sensation away.
It was time to go.
—
Unknown to Kuro, she was watched from afar. Deidara studied his former comrade with a blank face. His twitching hands still like one of Sasori's puppets. His manic eyes were dull with thought. The criminal's Akatsuki cloak was torn at the hems, revealing his plain clothing underneath. An ugly scar curled around his ankles, though he paid the injury no mind.
"Kuro…" Deidara whispered, an odd tone to his voice. There was something warm inside of him. It struggled through the chains of his thoughts. However, it would fall quiet soon enough. Though, that time was not the one he lived in then.
"Deidara!" Tobi shouted, his annoyingly giddy voice leaping over the wind. He sighed; it appeared Itachi and Tobi were back from their little detour. Both had spontaneously fled the tunnels after half of them were reflected. Though, he supposed it was lucky they hadn't had to fight their reflections. For the others at least. The bomber himself would've loved an excuse to beat those two idiots to a pulp. "Did you find anything over there?" Tobi was yelling.
He glanced behind him, and then back at his former friends.
"It would be beautiful to blow them all up!" His mind rejoiced at the opportunity. However, something was off at the prospect; the lighting wasn't quite right. The reds and oranges and yellows weren't jelling together with the ashes of their corpses.
"Deidara!" Tobi was rambling. If he didn't answer soon the weirdo would come over himself.
"Shut up! There's nothing here, hm!" Deidara yelled back with an aggravated scowl.
Another day.
He'd kill them in a glorious explosion another day.
Deidara took one last look at his former comrade, drawing every detail, colour, and shade in his mind. He shook his head as that warm feeling grew cold. Finally, Deidara left the mountain.
—
A tiring two hours later, Kuro succeeded in dragging most all of their group from the rubble and onto a nearby cliffside. She watched over their injured forms while laying next to her comrades, allowing herself to rest.
"That Kiri scout should be back with help soon… We just got to wait…" The kunoichi murmured to herself, folding her arms across her belly. She took the time alone to think over her day. It had been so short yet felt so long. Kuro sighed while looking at her grandfather, recalling the terrifying face of Kurokuro as she killed her. The young woman was glad to have put that particular incident out of her mind.
Though, she was both relieved and sorrowful that it was over.
"Hello! Is anyone down there!" Another girlish voice rang true from above, disturbing Kuro's thoughts. She tensed, grabbing a stray kunai to defend herself from the possible enemy. Her heart pulsed out of her chest as she feared the worst - Akatsuki. However, those notions were quickly dashed when Hana, the woman who'd pointed them toward the cave appeared. The other woman's delicate features stared down at her from the cliffside's top.
"Miss Hana?!" Kuro shouted as said woman paled, charming eyes dashing from her to the others. Before Kuro could protest, Hana began scampering down the cliffside, a basket in hand. "W-What are you doing here?" The kunoichi questioned as Hana unloaded a roll of bandages.
"I thought something was wrong… So… I came." Hana explained, looking away back towards the rubble. "Is this… everyone?" She nervously pried, patting at her dress that looked odd among the rugged remains.
"Yes…" Kuro sighed, not wanting to trouble the woman with the knowledge that some of their scouts had died. However, a faint groan ensnared both of their attentions. Hana went rigid, and slowly approached the rubble where the sound came from. "Miss Hana! Don't! Please get out of here until backup arrives!" Kuro tried to disuse to no avail, uselessly forcing herself back up.
"Don't worry, dear. I know what I'm doing." Hana calmly replied in an eerily low voice. The woman crouched near one of the stones, struggling to push it away. "Could you please help me with this?" She requested with a small blush. Kuro scoffed, not saying a word as she moved the rock away. Though, the kunoichi hid her sharp intake at the usually easy task.
Kuro gasped as she caught sight of the figure under the rubble, her hands flying to her mouth in horror. She felt a cold dread clump in her heart.
It was the ragged, old woman.
Scarlet blood pooled under her like some kind of twisted bed. Her frail arms were bent backwards, and silver hair stuck to her head like glue. The elder evidently hadn't been spared from the explosion, pained breaths escaping her dry lips.
"Dammit!" Kuro screeched, kneeling. She looked over her shoulder, silently begging for the scouts to have returned so they could help the elder. However, all she saw above was clear skies. Next to her, Hana had a face of reserved grief as she took knelt. However, the other woman seemed oddly unsurprised at their discovery than the kunoichi. To Kuro's confusion, she took the elder's bony hand in a tight embrace. Her confusion only grew when Hana spoke.
"Good afternoon… Ruri." She politely greeted, gently tucking her silver hair away from fading eyes.
"Y-You know each other?!" Kuro awkwardly stammered, suddenly feeling all the worse at the situation. Hana softly laughed at her question, stunning her.
"Of course we do, right, Ruri?" The woman went, tensing when the elder didn't react. "She's… dying…" Hana sadly observed, removing her hands from Ruri. Kuro's face darkened as she slowly nodded.
"Listen, I'm sorry but you really shouldn't be here-" The kunoichi tried to say before being cut off.
"I need to be here with her." Hana interrupted with another quiet laugh. "Out of anybody in this world I need to." She continued, her fingers coiling around her long sleeves. The woman proceeded to roll the fabric upwards, revealing thick blue cracks decorating her arms. The cracks grew wider and tiptoes up her arms with every passing second. Kuro's brow shot up in alarm as she quickly put together Hana's meaning.
"That-Your-How-Huh?" The kunoichi went with an open jaw.
"Ha…" Hana laughed at her reaction. "Of course you're surprised, I would've been too in your shoes." She said with a calm aura. "I suppose I should explain before it's too late…" Hana offered, still smiling her small lovely smile.
"Please do…" Kuro tired nodded.
"Once… upon a time. There was a lovely young woman in a lovely little village named Hana. That's me." The woman faintly glowed from the recollection. "This lovely young woman was adored by everyone she knew. Her family, her neighbours, her friends, the entire village loved her so. However, there was only one she could truly gift her heart and… and that was a young handsome man, her husband. She was so very happy back then…" Hana faintly choked as she paused.
"What… happened?" Kuro asked, looking from her to the elder in shock.
"But… But one day the village was invaded by some very horrible people. One day her husband died, her friends and family were either killed or stolen away. And Hana was alone in the world. She had to do some very horrible things to survive, and called herself Ruri to cope. But one day she found a tool that could let her relive her beloved past. It would let her be with her beloved husband and friends. However, in her excitement she slipped and ruined everything. She was forced to remain in her dreadful present, and I came to be as her past." Hana explained with an uncharacteristic grimace.
"Miss Hana…" The kunoichi whispered pitifully.
"But… it appears out time is up. It was such fun to play pretend." Hana cried, gently wiping her glowing tears. "Memories are beautiful things, aren't they? We spend our entire lives wasting away, desperately wishing to return to the past…" She quietly sobbed, folding her hands over her lap.
Kuro's eyes flashed back to many dreams of her childhood. Silently, she agreed with the shattered reflection.
"Here…" Hana murmured, reaching into a pocket in her dress. Kuro tilted her head as she brought out a small shard of shimmering blue glass.
"Is that…?" The kunoichi questioned in shock.
"A small memento from when I first woke up. And now that it looks like the artifact has been destroyed by your dear friend, this is the only part left." The reflection explained, her radiant smile returned. "Take it…I don't need it anymore…" Hana insisted, pushing the shard into Kuro's palm. "See if you can make it work properly. Put it over your eye and make a wish to go back, and you'll go back." She went, before arching back. The cracks had made their way through her clothing and were close to reaching her eyes.
"Are you okay… with this?" Kuro prompted, holding the shard unsurely.
"I've been okay for a long time. I believe this is goodbye…" Hana smiled as the cracks reached her skull, a bright light engulfed her as the sound of shattered glass filled the air. It was only a moment.
And then she was gone.
Kuro glanced at Ruri, finding the elder had stopped breathing. Her heartbeat was dead as well. She stared at the shard again, pondering whether to try and use it. A part of her felt gleeful at the prospect of going back, to see her Deidara again. However, his reflection's words rung out to her through the ecstasy.
"I need that bastard dead!" He'd spat out, her Deidara. Kuro's expression hardened like stone and she safely tucked the shard away.
"A memory is just that… a memory." Kuro said to no one in particular. "There's no point in trying to go back. What's important is how we honour them." She added, looking back to her comrades with a determined expression.
The next time Kuro dreamed, there were no kids running down the street. There were no explosions or manic smiles; no Onoki chasing them down Iwagakure's streets. Instead, Kuro dreamed of a world where Deidara was at peace. She dreamed of a world where there would be no other Deidara.
She knew what had to be done.
—
Author's Note: This ended up being shorter than what I thought it would be.