Ch. 38
It was now late in the afternoon. The sun was setting as Naruto sat on top of the Hokage monument. As he looked out over the village, he noticed that the sunset gave the village a very peaceful look. There was also a gentle breeze in the air that gave a sense of tranquility. As he took it all in, he let out a small sigh. The village may have looked peaceful, but it was anything but that...
The village was in a buzz after word got out that a bomb had been found. As a result, most areas had been searched to make sure there were no more hidden surprises. The search didn't do much to calm the people though. News of what happened at the Stone had also spread so everyone was on edge anyway. Hikan was out there, and his presence was beyond well known...
As Naruto looked out to the village, he heard footsteps coming up the monument steps. He looked over and saw spiky white hair coming up the steps. Kakashi.
As Kakashi walked over to where Naruto was, he said, "I looked in a few other places before coming here. This is one of Sasuke's usual spots..."
Naruto kept looking out over the village and didn't respond. Kakashi examined him for a second, then looked out over the village as he continued. "Sasuke took a team of medic nin led by Sakura to the Stone... They should be back by sometime tonight." Naruto just gave a slow nod.
Kakashi sat down next to him, and looked out over the village. He knew Naruto probably needed to talk about things, but he wanted to let him start the conversation. It had been a very long day so he just wanted to let him talk when he was ready.
After a few minutes, Naruto softly asked, "Why did you pull that wire Kakashi-Sensei?..."
After a short pause, Kakashi turned to Naruto and said, "Well, I saw that you had an impossible choice to make..." He looked out over Konoha and said, "You're still young Naruto... In my lifetime, I've had to make a lot of choices like the one I made today, and every time I have to make a choice like that, I lose a little something in the process... I knew that if you had to pull that wire, you'd probably lose a little something too..."
Naruto wore a sad smile and said, "So you were protecting me..."
Kakashi softly said, "Yeah, I was... Maybe someday, when you're older..." he wore a small smile then said, "...and the Hokage, you'll have to make a decision like that...but not today..."
Naruto wore a small smile as a moment of silence fell between the two.
As Kakashi looked at Naruto's face, he saw a deep sadness. But not only was there a deep sadness there, it looked like he'd lost some of his resolve. That resolute attitude he'd grown accustomed to seeing was weakening. Naruto just looked tired...really tired... He gave Naruto one last glance then asked in a serious voice, "Naruto...just what happened when you got to the Rain?"
Naruto took a long pause before responding. After a few moments, he said, "When I got to the Rain, I knew something was off. It wasn't even raining when I got there... Hikan acted like he was happy to see me, but I could see past that fake smile... As the day went on, I relaxed a little. I took pictures, he gave me a tour of the village, and the day seemed normal enough. But that all changed when we got to the last stop on our tour...Pain's Tower."
He paused for a moment, then continued in a semi-angry voice. "He took us to the exact room we stole the false intel from and offered his condolences for the 50 people who died... Then on top of that, he served me ramen and started talking about how he knew it was my favorite dish, like he actually cared... I tried to get some info while we were eating, but he shut me down... He knew what was going on from the start..."
He took a short pause, then slowly shook his head and said, "Everything changed when we were done eating. He made everyone else leave, then dropped the act he'd been keeping up all day. After that, I tried to get some information again since we were finally done playing games, but he just started talking about how we failed the village..."
After a few seconds, he wore a depressed expression and said, "After he was done throwing that in my face, he basically started talking how true peace could never be achieved because everyone looks out for their own interests... To be honest, I'm not sure he's wrong..." He looked down in the direction of his house and said, "I ran straight here even though I knew the Stone would lose more people than Konoha..."
Kakashi turned to Naruto and said, "Naruto, the only thing you proved by coming here, was your humanity... Don't let Hikan fool you into thinking you compromised something by coming here instead of going to the Stone. You have connections here. Friends... Family... If it were any of us who had been put in your situation, I'm sure we'd do the same thing."
Naruto sighed and said, "But that just proves his point... We look out for our own before others..."
Kakashi thought to himself and said, "I don't think there's an easy answer to this Naruto... Maybe we do value some lives more than others...and maybe that's wrong...but the reason we value some lives more than others is because of our connections to people. This is a complicated shinobi world. Don't view everything as black and white. Sometimes you have to wander out into the gray areas and do what you think is right. We all need connections and relationships. If we don't have those connections, maybe choices like the one you had to make today become easier...but I also think that not having those connections means we possibly lose what makes us human..."
Naruto let out a long sigh and said, "Yeah, you're probably right..."
Kakashi was glad that Naruto was finally starting to move past the events of the day, but he could tell that something was still bothering him. He said in a quizzical voice, "You said I'm probably right, but why do I get the feeling that something is still bothering you?..."
Naruto paused for a second, then said in a resigned voice, "I know I had an impossible choice to make today, and I understand that Hikan set us up to fail either way, but it still hurts... I'm supposed to be the hero of the war and the strongest shinobi alive...but I had to sit there watching as that bomb went off. I had to watch those people running in fear. I was just like everyone else...powerless... Right now, I just feel like a big failure, Sensei. We lost 50 people. The Stone probably lost around 200. I can't stop Hikan. And I can't even fix this thing with Sakura... Heck, I wish I could go back to just having to deal with that..."
Kakashi let out a small chuckle then said, "If you want to go back to just dealing with that, you're gonna have to stop Hikan."
Naruto looked out over Konoha pensively and said with a sense of desparation, "But Sensei, how do I stop him? And how many more people are going to die before I figure out how to stop him?... Right now, he's probably killed over 250 people..."
Kakashi looked at Naruto for a few seconds, then said, "Naruto, if there's one thing this shinobi world has taught me, it's that you can't save everybody. If you keep believing that, all you'll end up with is a savior complex..."
After a small pause, Naruto said, "...and it's just gonna get shattered every time people die..."
Kakashi slowly nodded and said, "So you do understand..."
Naruto said, "Yeah...but just because I know I won't be able to save everyone, it doesn't mean I stop trying..."
Kakashi nodded and said, "I agree. We need to stop this guy before he kills anyone else."
Naruto let out a small sigh and said, "The problem is I don't know how to stop him, Sensei. He's good... So good that it's scary..."
Kakashi looked up to the sky as he thought to himself. After a full minute had gone by, he asked Naruto, "Do you know what he believes in?"
Naruto wore a depressed frown and said, "He believes in bringing out the darkness in people...and he's real good at it... While I was over there, I hit him...twice. And I was so angry that I just wanted to keep hitting him. The only reason I didn't is because I knew that was what he wanted... He wanted me to give in to my rage. He wants to see everyone give in to their darkness... That's his vision for the shinobi world..."
Naruto paused for a second then said, "How do you stop someone like that? Someone who does bad things just to bring out the darkness in people...the darkness in you..."
Kakashi looked at him for a second, then said, "Do you remember what you used to say about Sasuke when he was a rogue ninja and other people would talk about trying to kill him?"
Naruto tried to think back, but he wasn't sure exactly what Kakashi was talking about. It was a long time ago and he had said a lot of things back then. He asked in a low voice, "What?"
Kakashi looked out to the village and said, "You used to try to stop people from going after him...not because of the difference in power, but because you believed that he wasn't someone you could beat just by being strong..."
Kakashi turned to Naruto and said, "I don't think you can beat Hikan just by being strong either..."
Naruto tilted his head and said, "Then how do I beat him?..."
Kakashi said, "Well, I think you have to start by trying to understand him. I think that if you can find a way to do that, you may be able to find out how to stop him..."
Naruto slowly nodded as he thought about what Kakashi had said. He knew what Hikan wanted in general, but maybe he needed to look deeper than that. Maybe he didn't really understand yet...
After a few minutes, Kakashi stood up and said, "I know this has been a rough day, but we've gotta push through for the village. I can assure you that Hikan wont wait for us to recover from this. We need to be ready."
Naruto thought to himself for a second, then nodded in agreement. Kakashi was right. The village needed them to be at 100%. No more room for mistakes. Naruto stood up and said, "So where are you going now?..."
Kakashi looked out over the village and said, "I was planning on grabbing something to eat before Sasuke and that medic team came back. If you want, we can go to Ichiraku's..."
Naruto snorted and said, "For once, I think I'll pass. I don't think I've had anything but ramen for the last 24 hours. If I have anymore, I think it's gonna start coming out of my nose..."
Kakashi chuckled then said, "I would've never thought you'd actually get tired of eating ramen. I'd think you'd be willing to eat it for the rest of your life..."
Naruto smiled and said, "You wouldn't be wrong...but I need to focus on finding a way to stop Hikan, so I'll just try to scrounge up something at home..."
Kakashi raised his eyebrow and said, "Ahhh, so that's the real reason why you declined my offer..."
Naruto looked out over the village and said, "Something like that..." After a short pause, he said, "Sensei, we have to stop this guy."
Kakashi grew serious and said, "I know…"
As Kakashi examined Naruto, he was glad to see that his resolve was back. And not only that, it looked like his resolve had deepened. Like he was somehow more determined than he had ever been. Kakashi smiled and said, "You're gonna be ok, kid..."
Naruto nodded and said, "Thanks... I'm gonna head back to my apartment."
Kakashi replied, "And I'll go grab something to eat..." then he gave a small wave and said, "See you around."
Naruto waved and said, "See ya..."
As the two went their separate ways, Naruto looked in the direction of the Rain and said, "I'll find a way to stop you..." He wore a grave expression then said, "Believe it..."
Author's Note
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