A/N: Hey guys! So here is another one-shot! Thank you so much for the positive feedback and reviews, they made me smile and strive to write again. Warning ahead: this one is sad but I hope you will like it nevertheless.
Naruto was broken.
Deep down, beneath loud proclamations of his Hokage dream and pointless speeches about ramen. Beneath bright smiles and fearsome strength and silly pranks and sincere promises.
He was just like them.
Lonely, sad, desperate. Pitiful and starved for affection. Hopeful and stupid to a painful degree.
A masochist really.
That's what he was. What else could you call his fierce, blatant refusal to give-up? He needed the scars, the wounds, the pain. They let him know he was alive and not a ghost, not invisible. Naruto didn't care how people noticed him.
As long as they did.
...
Sakura was broken.
Beneath chakra infused fists and remarkable ninjutsu, beneath gentle smiles and confidence.
She was just like them.
Hopeless, weak, a waste of space. No longer naive but hating herself for the time that's all she ever was.
They were falling apart. Naruto and Sasuke. Kami knew Kakashi had been for years. So, she buried herself under medical textbooks, working hours on end. Perfect. Her skills couldn't be anything less than that because she had to keep them alive. If not in spirit, then at least in body.
Sakura didn't care that she was the weakest.
As long as they never were.
...
Sasuke was broken.
Deep down, beneath emotionless eyes and arrogant scoffs, beneath the chirping sound of Chidori and the terrifying strength of the Sharingan, beneath hatred and revenge.
He didn't think they were alike. (what do they know of my suffering?)
He was a survivor. (fate had been that cruel) Betrayed, alone, angry, spiteful, bitter.
Responsible. That's what he was. He didn't want to walk the path of an avenger, didn't choose it.
It chose him instead and nothing else mattered after that. How could it? He never saw his father anymore. The office was empty. He never heard his mother sing again. The kitchen and garden were void of her smile and gentle voice. The children that used to play on the streets, the elderly that spoke to him of glorious times and youth they no longer had...gone. In one night, murdered by the one he loved most.
Sasuke didn't care about his own peace.
As long as his family got theirs in the end.
...
Kakashi was broken.
Deep down, beneath the mask, beneath an eye that wasn't even his, beneath his despicable reading material and tendency to arrive late and the mind games he played and the aloof facade he put.
He was beyond repairing, unlike his students, he prayed (don't let them become us).
Numb, a tad bit insane, cold, ruthless. Guilty and guilty and guilty. Everyone dies but you always make it. Why your parents? Why Obito? Why Rin? Why Minato-sensei? He was haunted. Every day and instead of freaking out, he got addicted. Because ghosts or not...they were still the ones he loved. The ones he had he failed.
Kakashi didn't care if he died.
As long as no more comrades of his did.
A/N: If you have any theme or idea you'd like me to do, don't hesitate to ask!
