Tale of the Setting Sun
Chapter 42: "My Answer"
The once vibrantly-lit Hidden Leaf Village had fallen into darkness.
The gates were slammed shut, and ninken prowled the perimeter. A new sensing barrier had been erected around the ruined walls. Would-be visitors were turned away by border patrol, while exit permits were put on temporary hiatus.
With the end of the invasion, news had quickly spread of the Third Hokage's death, and the village entered lockdown mode. Within the village itself, uninjured genin were instructed to guide newly homeless citizens toward shelters for aid, while able-bodied chūnin and jōnin were divided into squads and given direction to either assist in rebuilding or gathering intelligence.
As the Torture and Interrogation force, led by the infamously scarred Ibiki, headed off to one block of the Intelligence Division's prison, members of the Analysis Team splintered off to various different sectors.
Their leader, Yamanaka Inoichi, was curiously absent.
"His only daughter just died in the hospital," whispered one agent to another. "Poison, I heard. None of the Sand-nin they interrogated knew what the antidote was..."
With that, they directed a nasty glare towards their cell's solitary inhabitant: A rusty-haired young man with dark-rimmed eyes. When the other cells were bursting to the seams with captives, his special treatment was due to the fact that he was the host of a tailed beast. However, while appropriate measures had been made to contain him if things got out of hand, Gaara of the Hidden Sand had thus far been unexpectedly quiet in his shackles. In fact, he seemed to be spending most of his time meditating.
"The report said he killed his own sister," said the agent. "I guess it's true what they say about these jinchūriki. Makes you wonder why we don't just lock ours up—"
"Shut up," warned his fellow agent, gesturing to the cell.
Gaara's eyes had opened, and he glowered at them now. Even with the bars of the cell separating the young man from the agents, they felt a shiver run down their backs.
"Don't go giving us that look now," said the agent with a scowl. "You're only safe now while the top brass decides what to do with you."
As had become the norm, Gaara didn't respond. His face didn't move; if it weren't for the sheen of the light in his eyes, he would have looked like a corpse.
Through the night, Gaara continued to bide his time.
Thinking.
Clouds filled the sky and hid the moon. It was a dark night, doubly so with the absence of the light that usually emanated from the village. The only lights now were that of the hospital and the torchlights of the sentries pacing the walls.
While your average civilian may have balked, for Jiraiya, it was a more than welcome sight. Less people walking about and limited visibility simply made it easier than ever to leave without attracting unwanted attention. Especially when he'd had a hard enough time shaking the ANBU on his tail as it was.
Sending a shadow clone ahead to distract the nearest sentry, Jiraiya nimbly scaled the wall. Reaching the top, he stood still for a moment, listening to the wind. It was so dark, he couldn't even see the village rooftops anymore. Or at least, whatever remained of them.
The village would be alright, he told himself. He'd done his duty. The village would suffer for a while, but it would be alright. It always was.
"I leave it to you." That had been the Third's final words for Jiraiya. No doubt, he had wanted him to finally settle down as Hokage.
However, Jiraiya thought that, with the fresh blood on his hands, he deserved a break. A long one, where he could write, drink, and enjoy a fair woman's company—not necessarily in that order.
And anyways, he would be a terrible Hokage, Jiraiya tried to reason with himself. He didn't belong in that tiny office, signing papers and ordering people around from afar. He needed to be out there on the field, gathering intelligence for the village, as he'd always done.
He could just imagine the look on the Third's face: Disappointed. Sorrowful.
Still...Sarutobi-sensei would have understood.
"Goodbye," he said.
The wind carried his voice away into the black night. In the distance, a ninken perked its ears, and barked up at the wall.
But there was no one there.
As soon as Ichiraku Ramen came into view, Naruto let out an exhale. Somehow, mercifully, the building had been left more or less intact. Even if it had been destroyed, the popularity of the ramen stall ensured that it would have been rebuilt. Nonetheless, there was something reassuring about it, at the very least, having survived the invasion.
However, as Naruto grew closer, he realized that the lights were off and that a sign had been placed outside:
Closed until further notice during mourning period. Thank you for understanding.
"Cat got your tongue?" came an unfamiliar voice.
Naruto blinked, and looked to his right. It took a moment to place the source—a toad, perched just besides the sign, its pebbly skin blending right into the ground. It was holding a scroll in its tongue, which it offered up to Naruto as soon as he'd spotted it.
After a moment's hesitation, and a quick check to ensure that it wasn't booby-trapped, Naruto opened it to reveal a parchment filled with beautiful calligraphy. He instantly recognized the handwriting; it was Jiraiya's, and he knew in an instant what it meant.
Jiraiya was leaving the village.
While unfortunate for the Leaf, it wasn't difficult to ascertain his reasons. As a jōnin, Naruto had been allowed to read the full report. While stopping Gaara had played a big role in ending the invasion, one of the other main players had been Jiraiya, who had finally slayed Orochimaru. Though Naruto didn't know the entire history behind the rift that had broken up the trio of sages, he knew how difficult the decision must have been for Jiraiya. Against all odds, Naruto had been hoping Jiraiya would stick around afterwards, but the sage wasn't called a hermit for nothing.
From the sounds of it, however, the other ninja had been expecting Jiraiya to take up the Hokage position. The question was, with the man gone, who would step up to take the reins?
The toad that had delivered Jiraiya's message had an interesting body composition. Its own middle section appeared to be made up of a scroll—no doubt, it was related to the other part of Jiraiya's letter. Once he'd committed the letter to memory, Naruto gestured towards the toad, which jumped towards his face. In a single leap, it wriggled into his mouth, and he swallowed it.
Resisting the urge to throw it back up, Naruto wiped the slime from his lips. Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of movement—ANBU? Were they following him?
Acting as though he hadn't seen, Naruto moved on. However, now that he was aware that he was being tailed, he soon picked up on at two others within the vicinity that followed his every move.
It seemed the time had come at last. He would have to confront that which he had been putting off for the past several years—his destiny. But unlike before, Naruto could feel resolve smoldering in his chest. Unlike before, he knew he was ready.
"Who are you?"
"Someone who's going to change this world."
Funerals were a terrible ordeal for everyone involved. While it was their chance to send off the deceased, it also made their absences feel all the more acute.
The entire village had turned up for the massive event. Even the wounded had hobbled out in crutches and wheelchairs to pay their respects. There wasn't a single person who hadn't lost a family member or a friend.
Hinata felt her heart tremble when she caught sight of Menma's pale face.
His own face heavily bandaged, he'd come to find her, begging her to help Ino. Unfortunately, she had already been in her final death throes; the moment Hinata activated her Byakugan, she knew the poison had spread too far, shutting down all her systems. The most she could do for her former classmate had been to ease some of the pain before she succumbed to it entirely.
Ino's teammates, Shikamaru and Chōji, appeared to be at a loss for words.
Ino wasn't the only familiar face staring down at her from the wall of the deceased. Her old teammate, Kiba, and her Academy teacher, Iruka, had also been killed in action.
When Hinata saw Akamaru at the edge of the crowd, his ears and tail drooping, she took him into her arms and finally began to cry.
The orders from above had been abrupt and to the point:
Keep the jinchūriki, Uzumaki Naruto, under constant surveillance. Avoid detection at all costs. Do not engage in combat—target is a trained sage. If target tries to leave the village, alert the Hokage immediately.
Fortunately, their target appeared to be suffering from chakra exhaustion; aside from visiting a jōnin in the hospital, he spent most of his time sleeping. Oddly enough, while most of his colleagues made use of the relief shelters, the target seemed to prefer sleeping outside. That, however, was the only notable observation made after two full days of surveillance.
Though his two fellow Root operatives didn't seem overly concerned, Sai knew better than to lower his guard. Though he hadn't interacted with the target since their mission to Wave country, the target had left a more than lasting impression.
Of course, he kept such thoughts to himself.
That was why, on the dawn of the third day, when Sai suddenly realized he couldn't reach the other two Root members, he wasn't too surprised to feel a cold blade suddenly press itself to the back of his neck.
"Why am I being followed?" said his target into his ear.
"You know why," was his only response.
A pause.
"Where are they holding the captives from Grass country?"
Sai thought about it, and then told him. Idly, as he waited for the finishing blow, he thought about the picture book he'd never managed to finish.
Instead of a searing pain across his neck, however, he felt something hard hit his head. Bright circles filled his field of vision—and then nothing.
As Kakashi left the hospital, he thought he could count himself among the more fortunate ones. While he may have been missing an eye, not only did he still have all four limbs attached, but they were also fully functioning.
Others—some being forcefully discharged by the looks of it, to make room for incoming wounded—were not so well off. Even with medical ninjutsu on hand, there was a limit to what their medics could heal. More often than not, the grim expressions of the discharged indicated a long and laborious recovery, if not outright early retirement.
A man with a bowl cut was waiting for Kakashi outside the hospital.
"48-48," said the man. He reached out and gripped Kakashi tightly by the shoulder.
It had been several months since Kakashi had last seen Might Guy and his team, who had been sent out on a long-term mission.
"Your team…?" Guy inquired. "I didn't see their names, but - "
"Safe," said Kakashi. "Your team?"
Guy nodded. "We're fine. We came back as soon as we heard the news." He shook his head, his face grim. "I can't help but think, if we were here when it happened…"
"The Lord Third considered your case, and made the decision to prioritize your team's mission," said Kakashi. "He didn't expect the village to be overrun like this… Nobody did."
Looking around, Guy drew to the corner, and Kakashi followed. In a low voice, Guy murmured, "I just don't understand. The sensing barrier, our agents on the perimeter—how did something this big get past us?"
"The working theory right now is that the enemy planted sleeper agents among us."
Guy exhaled. "Hence the village being shut down. While it's unfortunate, I see why it's a necessary measure. Still…about the Third's successor…I can't believe it."
Kakashi arched an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
His footsteps sounded quietly through the hallway, attracting the guard's notice. At the sight of his face, the guard jumped to attention.
"Sir—you're back! I didn't get the notice, I thought you were supposed to be out until tomorrow — "
Keeping his face stern, he waved the guard off. "In this time of great need, I cannot vacate my post any longer."
"Of course, sir—if you could just show your identification — "
Fixing the guard with a cool stare, he replied, "Enough. There is no time to waste. I need to examine the captive. Alone."
The guard gulped. He was new to this station, but he'd heard the rumors about the Analysis Team's leader. Though outwardly he didn't strike as imposing a figure as Ibiki, Yamanaka Inoichi's skills in analysis and interrogation were an invaluable asset to the village.
"Yes, sir," said the guard, hastily unlocking the door.
Unbeknownst to him, as Yamanaka Inoichi walked past, he let go of a kunai hidden in his waist holster.
He knew exactly where to go, expertly navigating the maze of corridors. When he finally came to a stop, he stood in front of a lone cell holding a single captive: A young female with crimson hair eagerly pressed her face against the bars, her hands and feet otherwise bound in chains.
"Naruto!" she exclaimed in delight.
Without releasing his henge, Naruto nodded. Of course Karin would be able to see through his disguise—her sensory skills were truly on a different level from anyone he'd ever met before.
"I'm sorry I couldn't come earlier," he said, holding his hands behind his back. "But at the moment, all foreign ninja are being held for questioning."
"I told them everything I know," Karin replied instantly. "Which wasn't much."
"So the Hidden Grass wasn't a part of the invasion?"
Karin shook her head. "No. At least, not that I know of."
"And you don't know anything about the Akatsuki?"
With a look of regret, Karin shook her head again. "No. I'm sorry. Nobody will believe me, but it's true."
Naruto nodded—at the very least, he believed her. With her actions on the battlefield, she had proved herself more than trustworthy.
"I wanted to thank you for saving my teacher. I owe you a big debt."
To his surprise, Karin's eyes filled with tears. "That's the first time anyone's ever thanked me."
That gave Naruto some pause. While he knew now how gifted the girl from Grass country was, he knew next to nothing about her background or her past. But, he thought, he wanted to learn.
He wanted to learn more about Karin, about Gaara, about the other jinchūriki. He wanted to know more about the world—this time, not from his own lonely perspective, but from the perspective of others.
Shouts began to sound a distance away, echoing through the empty halls. Had they finally discovered his ruse?
"You have to leave," said Karin, her tone frightened. "They're coming—not for me. For you."
"I know," he replied.
Everything was so clear to Naruto now.
If his journey with Jiraiya had taught Naruto anything, it was that the world was large and filled with possibilities. If Kakashi's survival had shown him anything, it was that life was fleeting.
After years of searching, he knew now what he wanted:
This system of sealing tailed beasts into innocents and forcing jinchūriki to act under the village's bidding. The world of shinobi, where figures lurked in the shadows and involved innocents in their struggle for power.
This world in which his teammates had perished, in which his teachers suffered daily from guilt and despair.
"We endure."
Naruto had had enough of it.
"Who are you?"
"Someone who's going to change the world."
That was what the masked man had said. But in Naruto's opinion, a world created by such a man would be no better than the current one. And as much as he had once resented being made the host of the Nine-tails, he knew now that it gave him the ability to make a difference.
Naruto extended a hand towards Karin. "I'm going to destroy this world. Will you join me?"
Without any hesitation, Karin reached through the bars and took his hand.
Deep underground, a lone man kneeled in an isolated cell. While he was already practically blind, he had been blindfolded, with a seal written on the cloth, and each limb was bound in chains.
The cell had just enough space for the man to lie down comfortably. The thick concrete walls had no doors or windows, and was further surrounded by two barriers, each manned by four ANBU that alternated on 12 hour shifts. This was just the security visible to the naked eye; numerous hidden seals further surrounded the perimeter, a last failsafe in the case of a catastrophe.
Even with such a system in place, the ANBU appeared visibly on edge. They all knew the history of the man they were guarding; knew he could kill them all in the blink of an eye if he somehow managed to escape.
Oddly enough, the man in question seemed perfectly content to remain in his cell. Indeed, several nights' worth of food and rest appeared to have restored some color to his gaunt cheeks.
A long shadow extended along the corridor. Silently, an older man stepped in front of the cell. He was accompanied by two ANBU; curiously, the ANBU captain currently standing guard had never seen either of their masks before.
"Lower the barrier," commanded the man.
The captain nodded. "Yes, Hokage-sama." Standing back, he signaled to his men.
The flames of the first barrier flickered, lighting up a stern face swathed in bandages. Then it faded away, plunging the cell into darkness.
A/N: Got a mixed response on the last one, like I expected, lmao. I accept the critique, except the ones complaining about nothing happening. Bitch, things happened.
Anyways, I can already sense the incoming outrage so I'm gonna say it beforehand: No, for god's sake, this is still not a Naruto x Karin story. Stop asking about ships.
Thank you to my beta blueandgold.