Disclaimer- I don't own Naruto.

I love the water.

Or, to be more precise, I love what it represents.

That might sound strange, considering how close I came to drowning and dying in it.

I remember that... I remember salty, bitter tears of betrayal, of terror choking me as they slid like poison into my mouth... I remember coldness and the inability to breath and the sudden understanding that I was going to die and that nothing, nothing I could do would change that fact. And I remember the darkness most of all.

But I also remember waking. I remember the golden light and the blazing, inferno sun and the gentle, laughing, dancing fire, the warm, soft taste of fire cooked fish and my father's smile. And I knew then that this was Heaven.

That man was a father to me, but so much more than that.

He was a best friend, a brother, a confidant, a teacher, a mentor, a protector. He was the one I knew could make everything right, no matter what. I could believe in him, could put my faith in him because he saved me when I thought I was going to die.

The water might have tried to kill me, but it brought me to the man who could save us all.

And for that, I am grateful to it.

Afterwards, I could look into the shining water and smile, because He was standing right next to me. He took the time to spend a day fishing with me, even when I wouldn't catch anything at all and he would catch something magnificent.

And even later, the water made him a hero to everyone else, showed everyone else what I could see in him all along. That he was larger than life, that he was Good, when everything else could be wrong and cold.

Even... even when he was gone... I could look at the water with a purpose. I could think that maybe, maybe there was still hope somewhere, even if I couldn't believe in it anymore.

And maybe, if I dived in, and was swept away by the currents, I would find him again.

That, after that terror of the darkness and the cold that Gato brought, the water would bring me to my father, to that warm Heaven.

But I never had the courage to do so.

Every single time, I hesitated.

I just couldn't do it.

The night that Naruto yelled at me... I thought I might just do it, just to end this life, even if I couldn't find my father.

Still... I hesitated.

I thought I was a coward.

But... but you, Naruto, showed me something else.

I wasn't being a coward. I was held back because I still had people here.

People I needed to protect.

My grandfather. My mother.

They're still here. They're still fighting. They're still alive.

I'm still alive.

And as long as I am, I could still do something for them.

Because that's what he would want.

My father would never have forgiven me if I abandoned them for my own selfishness. And I would never be able to look him in the eye and tell him I grew up into a strong man.

You saved me from myself. You saved me from the cold and dark, and taught me to make my own warmth, and stop relying on others. My father might have sheltered me with his warmth and strength, but Naruto, you taught me what my father had been trying to teach me all along.

That the strength to protect was not just in my father's two arms.

They're in mine. In my mother's. In my grandfather's. In everyone's arms.

And most especially, in yours, Naruto. You have the strength to pull through, to make things seem like they just might turn out okay in the end. When everything else can be dark and cold, you can still stand up and fight back, and keep a fire in your heart that never goes out, no matter what.

I really can't believe it, even now, but you really are a hero, a real, honest to God hero.

I couldn't stand you, at first, Naruto. You were too damn good, too damn bright and sunny for this land where all hope is gone. We didn't need your false hope, your dreams.

But you didn't give us a choice, did you?

You were as ruthless as Gato but so much more kind. You bit and scratched and fought with us until we were forced to see the truth- to see that maybe, just maybe, there was something left that was good in this world.

You didn't do it with fists but with words, with determination. Dragging yourself in at unholy hours with that friend of yours, tired and battered but still grinning like a maniac.

If you weren't so persistent, no one would ever believe in you, I think. They'd pass you off as an annoying kid who dreamed too much.

Maybe that's what you're afraid of, since you're not afraid of anything else. Afraid of no one acknowledging you, no one noticing you, and no one taking the time to save you. Is that it?

Are you afraid of falling into the water, Naruto, and having no one to catch you?

No.

That's a lie.

Even if no one caught you, you'd pull yourself out of the water, kicking and screaming, and find a way to get out all on your own. It wouldn't matter how cold or how deep the water would be, you'd pull yourself out and laugh about it later.

You can swim the tide on your own.

I'm really jealous.

Author's Notes

This took longer than I was expecting and is unforgivably short. Sorry. I was contemplating taking the characters out of order, since I have some future chapters written, but decided to stick to the plan and write the series in order.

Thoughts?

The next perspective is the Sandaime.