Kage of the Graves:
Spirited Words in Sadness's Venues

-"Why won't you let me see her again?-

-"Because we have little time. You do realize, that if you are to return, it must be done quickly."-

-"And why is that, teme?"-

-"Have you seriously not considered the fact that your body is rotting?"-

-"Uhm… so?"-

-"Ugh… Kami, I thought I was done dealing with your stupidity after you killed me. Where do you think you're going to go, hmm? Your soul can only be replanted in your body if it is still whole enough to support life!"-

-"Oh. I just uh… kinda figured I'd get a new body like last time. I mean, you gave me one to talk to Ino, right? Speaking of Ino, seriously, just let me see her again… I need to make her eat or something. She hasn't eaten since she found out, and the funeral's today. I know she stays at my gravesite and doesn't leave - not even to eat!"-

-"First off, dobe. You have no idea how much energy that takes to create a body. Second off, those bodies are basically a one time use thing. They're created out of freshly turned soil from a recently occupied grave. Third of all, they are constructs that have no chakra on their own, and to occupy them uses such an enormous amount of chakra, that even with the Kyuubi partially merged with you, you'd run dry in a matter of days. Fourth of.. Oh fuck it. Look. I know you're a little slow-"-

-"Hey! You son of-"-

-"Dammit! Listen to me you fucking idiot! I have indulged you far more then I ever would in life, and it's life you should be concerned about. So we'll stick to that subject. If you interrupt one more time, I swear Naruto, I will leave you alone permanently. Then you can watch over whoever you please until they come to destroy Konoha. I will reappear just in time to watch you curl up in a ball of self pity, hatred and tears as you watch everyone in Konoha get slaughtered! Now you fucking listen to me, and you had better god damned listen well, alright? You have maybe, and that's a big maybe, until tomorrow night before you have to be back in your body or it will be too far gone to repair. After that point, you won't be able to return. If you don't return, the forces of the Dark Legion will sweep across the nations, one by one, killing every man and male child above the age of three. They will rape, again and again, every woman - Kunoichi and citizen alike - until they are dead. The few remaining survivors of the female population will be kept as breeding stock and will have to resign themselves to a life as a lowly, slab of meat that just so happens to possess a fucking cunt - who will only remain in a state of subhuman care so long as they are able to reproduce. When they are no longer able to have children, they will be starved, and subjected to a most ruthless brutalization. They will no longer service the men, they will instead be sodomized by kunai, swords, short blades... Whatever these vile men can come up with. Female children will not exempt from such treatment - no matter the age. They will grow up knowing only rape, beatings, starvation, and mutilation. They will have their legs and arms amputated so that they may never fight back, never run, never comfort one another. Do you want that, Naruto? Do you want the people of Konoha, and then every other nation after them, to suffer through what I have just told you? DO YOU!"-

Naruto could only give a barely perceptible shake of the head. He was struck mute by the horrors that Sasuke had described to him. When Sasuke had calmed himself, he gently hugged his spiritual brother and sighed softly.

-"But you, you can help prevent this. You are to play a pivotal part in this up and coming engagement, because you, above all others, have the power to destroy. The Dark Legion draws their power from their deity yes, but though each of them is imbued with this power, it is so diluted by their numbers that they are only given enough power to make what we would consider a Chuunin level warrior a match for our average Jounin's."-

-"What do you mean me? How could I, just me, have the power to conquer them? I'm only a solitary ANBU in life. Hell, if I don't tap into the Kyuubi's power, I can only beat Kakashi a little more than half the time. Lee still stomps my ass in a physical battle, and I can't even properly recognize a Genjutsu… So how is me being there going to prevent this?"-

Sasuke looked down slowly and sadly. What he was about to tell Naruto would sound like a death sentence to his brother. One far worse than a suicide, far worse than anything Naruto had ever gone through.

-"You're going to have to give yourself over, body and soul, to the Kyuubi. You're going to have to merge entirely until you both are one. In short, Naruto… you will cease to be."-

-"WHAT! How the hell can you say that? Whenever I used more than a small fraction of the Kyuubi's power, I became a furious juggernaut of a monster! I couldn't recognize friend from foe! How can you think my merging with him would be any different! Hell, it'd be worse because then I would have all of the Kyuubi's power. I would.. I would have all the strength I needed to slaughter every living creature in Konoha. And then whoever else I came across! Sure, I might see the benefit in that where the Dark Legion is concerned, but I hardly think annihilating Konoha would be a hoped for outcome either!"-

-"Naruto… Listen to me, alright? The merger that I'm suggesting wouldn't unleash the Kyuubi as you know it to be. What would transpire would be vastly different. Your personality would be evenly mixed with the Kyuubi's. In short, you would become exactly what you need to. Someone who has compassion and love for all who deserve it. Someone who will fight to the bitter end if an allies life is at stake. Someone who is afraid to have the kind of power necessary for this - because you fear what you would be tempted to do with it. Someone who's dream and ambition is to protect, not destroy. You will become someone who, despite these qualities, will possess the power and ability to wantonly slaughter all who dare to inflict suffering upon the innocent. Someone who, in battle, will have no heart for his enemies. Someone who will fight with honor, and yet attack without a shred of mercy. In short Naruto, you will be a demon who lives as a human. You will be death, the destroyer - and you will also be life, the creator. That is what I ask of you. That is what Konoha needs from you."-

Naruto listened, while tears spilt from his eyes. Yes, he understood that all of these things were necessary, but it pained him to imagine what kind of creature he would become. He would have no compunction in taking a life? Would he be so uncaring, that it would no longer matter in the long run who it was he killed? Would it end with the Dark Legion? Or would his people, precious and 'not-so-much' begin to suffer under him as they had long seemed to fear they would? Well… with a sigh, Naruto looked back to Sasuke.

-"I want to refuse. I want to say that I could defeat them some other way. But I know you speak the truth. I know the nations are in trouble… I also know that if I refused… I would become what everyone has feared for so long - a monster. But.. I.. I have one concession to make."-

-"And that is..?"-

-"I want… I need there to be a way to seal my power away, or to kill me. Obviously, it can't be something widely known, but.. Under the right circumstances.. If I should become so cold that I am capable of dispatching even my own people without care, then I want there to be some way to stop me."-

-"I understand."-

-"Then…when do we begin?"-

-"Soon."-

With a soft sigh, knowing how much this decision was costing Naruto, Sasuke gently slung an arm around his shoulders and gave him a gentle hug. With a thought, Sasuke caused the two of them to drift far away, back to the area that had brought them together so many years ago. They arrived within a short time, and the two spectral members of Team Seven settled down beside the still living one at the training field they had all come to one fateful morning in what felt like another life time.

Though there was no way Sakura could have known they were there, she seemed to anyway. For as Sasuke and Naruto took to their respective seats atop the wooden posts, Sakura smiled softly and closed her eyes. "Hey guys… I've missed you both."

(AN: Alright, so I've finally gotten around to letting people in on what the terrible tragedy coming was, happy? -chuckle- I have to say, this fic just keeps getting away from me. Initially, I had planned on just making a few reactionary chapters. Just the people closest to Naruto.. Then I'd wrap it up somehow when I had poured out enough angst. Naruto was gonna stay dead, and Konoha was just gonna be in mourning. The citizenry were gonna realize the errors of their ways.. And so on and so forth. But, when you write something without making any real plans… you find it just keeps getting bigger and bigger. But.. I like not having a plan, y'know? I had Collecting Pieces all planned out, with fifteen pages of notes and timelines.. And when my comp crashed, I lost it. Soooo.. Yeah, not planning seems to keep my fic's alive. Anyway, for those of you wondering how Sakura seemed to know they were there, I have a simple answer. If you've ever lost anyone, you tend to talk to them. Sometimes, I feel almost as if my dad is right next to me, trying to comfort me when I'm stressed out, or scolding me for continuing to drive like an asshole. I talk to him, I used to do it a lot more, but I still do on occasion. So I don't see anything wrong with Sakura suddenly talking to them like she knows they're there. For those of you who do, fuck off. It's my story.)

Dirtwater.