Chapter 93 – Breaking Cycle of Hatred
"Talk"
'Think'
Flashback
Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto sensei.
A/N: Hi…sorry to keep you all waiting. Life, you know…broken laptop, works, yadda yadda… … …Before we move on, I want to say that I truly appreciate all of you who read, reviewed, followed and/or made this story your favourite including ACH20, Amor Mio, fagyei305, KiaraNumes, Naminshka, Narutoficlover, Rosalix Archangel and Sonnarutohatake…thank you!
When the three of them entered, pieces of papers flying towards Neji and Sasuke, trying to bind them but failed as Neji used 'Kaiten' while Sasuke used a small variation of 'Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu'.
"What are you trying to do!" Naruto shouted to an emaciated-looking shinobi with white skin and straight red hair. Despite of the sickly-looking, the three Konoha shinobi could feel great chakra emanated from him.
"Capture your friends so I can use them as bargain for the Kyūbi" explained the red-hair shinobi.
"What?!" cried Naruto as Neji and Sasuke took defensive forms.
"That was what happened to me and my friends; Akatsuki was founded by three of us, me, Konan (the three of them noticed the blue-hair kunoichi as she appeared next to the red-hair shinobi) and Yahiko, who was our leader. We aimed for peace, no more war between Hidden Villages. Our idea was considered as a threat by some. One day, we were lured by false promise of peace from Hanzō of Ame and Danzō of Konoha. On that day, Konan was held hostage, in exchange for Yahiko's head. That fateful day taught me that the world will never accept peace unless by force-" the red-hair shinobi held out his right arm and said "-Uzumaki Naruto, will you help me to achieve peace?"
"What do you intend to do with Naruto?" asked Sasuke.
"Extracting the Kyūbi"
"What will happen to Naruto then?" asked Neji.
"He'll die, of course. But his death will bring my goal for peace closer"
"That's…that is…" Naruto tried to find words to describe his feeling.
"Absurd" said Neji.
"Preposterous" added Sasuke.
"Crazy…that is crazy" finished Naruto. He shook his head and said "Not only that, you killed Jiraiya-ojiisan…"
"I take it you were closed to Jiraiya-sensei" said the red-hair shinobi.
"Sensei?" echoed the three Konoha shinobi.
"You were taught by Jiraiya-sama?" asked Sasuke.
"The three of us were"
"Then how could you kill him?!" shouted Naruto.
The red-hair shinobi looked at Naruto squarely and answered "The same reason how a shinobi can kill other people who are in the way of a mission. I am on a mission and Jiraiya was in the way.
"What kind of peace would that be when the path is littered with blood?" asked Sasuke.
"Not to mention revenge attacks from the victims' families" added Neji.
"Yes…yes…yes…that's how the world is now. Konoha colluded to have my friend killed, I retaliated and have Jiraiya killed, now you want revenge, then what?
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"If you kill someone, someone else will kill you…this is our current lives, driven to seek vengeance in the name of justice. However, if there is justice in vengeance, then justice will breed only more vengeance and hence, a cycle of hatred. What I want is to create peace, albeit a short while. For that I need the bijū, any shinobi worth his salt would think twice about attacking Hidden Village with one bijū, let alone many bijū" said the red-hair shinobi.
"Next time someone hurts you, think of this moment. Do you want to be weak like that guy who succumbed to his hatred? Or you want to be strong like Keiko-obasan who not only conquered her hatred, but also turned it into something good?"
"Conquered hatred" said Naruto suddenly when he remembered the conversation he and Noriko had with Shizuka at the hospital.
Naruto sudden words startled Neji, Sasuke, Konan and the red-hair shinobi.
"What?"
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Naruto remained quiet. He was remembering his last words with the Kyūbi.
"You know, I should hate you. You killed my parents… … …one day, I will ask you to be my friend from the bottom of my heart"
"We should be friends" muttered Naruto.
"Naruto, are you okay?" asked Sasuke while Neji looked at him, trying to detect abnormality in him.
Naruto turned to his friends and nodded his head. He took a deep breath, turned to Konan and the red-hair shinobi, and said "You are right, if I take revenge, the cycle of hatred continues…but not if I stop it. So, urm…I don't know your name-"
"Nagato" answered the red-hair shinobi.
"So, Nagato-" Naruto took a deep breath before continuing with his arm extended "will you accept my friendship and stop this cycle of hatred? At least on our ends"
"What?!" Neji and Sasuke yelled in surprise.
"What?" replied Nagato in surprise while Konan looked startled.
"You- you want to be friend with me? After I killed Jiraiya?" asked Nagato.
"Don't get me wrong, I was still angry at you" Naruto clenched his fists "But I also learnt from someone closed to me that you can conquer hatred and turned it into bridge. It's not easy, believe me…I'm still struggling with it…but this will stop the cycle of hatred, so I'm willing to endure it. So…Nagato, will you accept my friendship?"
"He killed Jiraiya-sama!" hissed Sasuke "Few shinobi has died today when he attacked!"
"I know Sasuke! But if we fight, either we or they will die, then others will want revenge and more lives will lose under the name of revenge! With this, the only outcome is people getting angry at me for making the decision; I can handle that. I've been handling that since my birth!"
Sasuke was taken aback at Naruto's outburst.
"Your reason for a friendship is unusual, Uzumaki Naruto" commented Nagato.
"Friends don't fight…If we stop fighting, there'll be peace, right?" replied Naruto.
"Until one party breaks the agreement" answered Neji.
"Still peace, albeit a temporary one" responded Naruto as he looked at Nagato squarely.
Nagato looked at Naruto as his words were thrown back at him. Naruto reminded him of Yahiko: idealistic and the vision in front of him showed that Naruto is the leader amongst the three of them.
'Just like Yahiko' thought Nagato as he remembered his words "Peace… I don't know how to get there… but… but someday I'll break the curse. If there's such a thing as peace, I will find it!"
'Yahiko…did I give up too soon? Was I wrong?' contemplated Nagato.
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After a long silence, Nagato nodded and said "I'll give this friendship a try. Tell your Hokage to send an envoy to Amegakure. We will open our gate this time…and to prove my words-" he performed hand seals.
Naruto, Neji and Sasuke looked tensed.
"Nagato!" cried Konan.
"I'll be alright, Konan" said Nagato reassuringly.
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"What…what are you doing?" asked Naruto.
His question was unanswered as Nagato was concentrating while Konan looked worried.
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"You'll find out soon, Uzumaki Naruto" said Nagato as a doorway appeared, suggesting them to leave.
End Chapter 93
A/N: No. Nagato did not die. In this attack, he did not revive his Six Paths and he the number of dead people being revived was very small.
Hakkeshō Kaiten – Eight Trigrams: Palm Rotation
Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu – Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique