Forgotten

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Naruto (Shippuden). This is a story inspired by the original made up for entertainment purposes only. - Krystal

Chapter 74: Broken & Cold

"Can everyone hear me?" It was Shikaku's voice, resonating in all their mind. "Together we can do this. With all the information we got, we can stop the Ten-Tails. Before we can get to Madara and Obito, we need to get rid of the monster they are standing on. Listen carefully. Slow down its movement. Kumogakure blind them. Kirigakure and the Aburame clan need to work together to make everyone impossible to be sensed. Iwagakure can now surround the beast and restrict its body. Kirigakure help with the restriction of movement. Sarutobi clan can then cement everything down. As for the rest, you know what to do after."

"I'll give it to you. It was quite impressive that all the different villages came together so well. But… did you really think it was going to be this easy?" Madara said.

"Everybody back up!" Yuki said as the ground began to rumble again.

From the cemented pool created by their joint effort emerged a different monster. No. It was still the Ten-Tails. It just looked different. It staggered as it got out of the cement. Before they knew it, he had already sent an attack in their direction. However, it landed much further away. Meanwhile, from his rise, many had fallen to the ground and had been injured. Yuki looked over at where the first attack had landed. Smoke could be seen from where they were.

"Shikaku-san… Inoichi-san…"

"You figured it out, eh?" Shikaku replied to her thoughts. "It's definitely coming for us. They are trying to get rid of the mind of the Shinobi Alliance and we are about to do the same."

"Everyone huddle together at the Headquarters. I'm coming…"

"You know it's already too late. Everyone listen."

Yuki looked at the Ten-Tails as it launched another attack. This time, there was no question about it. It was headed for the headquarters. She turned around to see Shikamaru and Ino. The loud noise from the attack could be heard from where they were. In their heads, there was only complete silence. There were no longer commands from the Headquarters. Ino's eyes started shedding tears uncontrollably. The silence felt like an eternity. At the same time what happened next happened in a blink of an eye. The Ten-Tails let out a loud cry and began attacking the shinobis present on site. The Hyuugas were able to repel the attack that was about to hit them. Naruto rushed over to Shikamaru and Ino, distraught as he could no longer hear Shikaku.

"Naruto! Don't space out now." Neji said to him as he blocked the next attack.

"It's a war. People are going to die. But if we lose here, everyone is going to die." Hiashi told him.

"I know that!" Naruto said, grinding his teeth in anger.

"I'm sure that Shikaku and Inoichi are happy that, as shinobi, they died before their children… like my father." Neji then said to comfort them.

Just as they said those words, the Ten-Tails showed movement again and began sending wooden spears everywhere. Yuki flashed herself to Shikamaru and Ino and got them away from harm as they were both still frozen from the news of their fathers' passing. More spears came their way.

"Both of you better snap out of it. We can't do this without you two." Yuki said as she transformed all the wooden spears into snow dust.

She tried to cover a larger area with her jutsu, saving many lives, but there were just too many and they were simply too fast. Meanwhile, a little further, the Hyuugas were protecting Naruto. He, too, was essential in the plan that Shikaku had made for them. She tried looking over to see how things were going, but there were too many distractions. Her ears were filled with the cries of pain by the shinobis falling one by one. The spears just kept on coming. And then, the beast stopped. So did her heart. She couldn't sense his chakra any longer. She looked over. He was in Naruto's arms, surrounded by Hinata and Hiashi. He looked back at her before closing his eyes. The seal on his forehead disappeared.

It was all silent around her. The world was playing the biggest prank on her. It had to be. She kept trying to get closer to him, but the few meters that kept them apart felt like miles. The distance seemed to get bigger and bigger even though she was rushing towards him. She couldn't think straight. She couldn't even think of using her Flying Raijin Jutsu. She ran like anybody else. She saw nothing else around other than him.

She got to him. He was bathing in his own blood. Her hands were shaking as she checked for his pulse. Tears couldn't even fall from her eyes. It was as if she had died too. Naruto placed his hand on her shoulder. He was shaking too. Hinata placed her hand on hers to comfort her. Yuki pushed it away. His body was still warm. She could feel it. Why did they act like he had died? She didn't want to believe it. Her hands went cold: a reflection of her heart.

"You promised…" She finally managed to say, her voice broken like her heart.

"Yuki…" Naruto said.

Before he could finish, more projectiles came towards them. Without even looking away from Neji, Yuki changed all the wooden spears to snow. She stood up and glared at everyone around her. The red from her Sharingan glowed brighter than ever, fueled by the anger of losing Neji.

"The war isn't over. Don't just stand around here in a daze. Especially you, Naruto… Don't let everyone die in vain."

She walked away from Neji's body without looking back once. She felt empty. The emptiness couldn't be filled with the rage that was existent. She had already lost in this war. Fighting now meant nothing to her, but she was rational. She knew others depended on her. She would see the end of this. She wasn't going to let him die in vain. He died protecting what he believed it. She was going to do it for him. She was going to do so that, if there was an afterlife, she would be able to answer to him. As for her, fighting meant nothing now. It wasn't the time to feel. It was the time to act. The war wasn't going to wait for them. She was reminded of her days in the Root. Emotions… They were indeed a weakness to a shinobi. Reason and logic were the only things that remained after all. She went back to her own ways when starting out as an ANBU. Emotionless. She just had to get the job done. Hinata grabbed onto her wrist and said:

"Yuki, it's okay to cry."

"Like I said, the war isn't over." She said coldly and left leaving only cold air between Hinata's fingers.

End of Chapter 74

Thank you again for reading.

This chapter is a little bit shorter, but it felt like it had to be. I hope you enjoyed it.

xox

Krystal