CHAPTER VIII

To be Someone Else

Naruto's chaotic thoughts didn't allow him to find his senses at first, but then he decided to rely on groping for reality, and rolling it slowly through his head in order understand the seemingly inexplicable incident: earlier on he was sulking somewhere in the forest, drinking his sake and cursing God like some uncouth sailor, when a field of butterflies hypnotized him to drunkenly follow it like a dog to its master— leading him to a mysterious stranger called White Dragon who offered him a second chance… either of life or death. All of it seemed ordinary enough because he knew he glimpsed stranger things than butterflies or eight armed men, but the thing which shocked him the most was the choice the Dragon offered. So it failed to be absorbed in his mind at the very moment the hermit, who was apparently named Bosatsu, answered his question: "I'm not supposed to tell you."

All of these thoughts and yet everything is still blank and ambiguous, as if in a dream where he couldn't control himself, and couldn't see everything completely. Strange, he was never THIS drunk before. What the hell was in that drink, anyway?

"Why not?" Naruto asked indignantly, finally finding his voice throughout all the excitement. Although Naruto was a bit… high, he still remembered what this guy had done to him: he left him to rot in a place while his eyes were awake, until he fell into an apparently perpetual slumber… that bastard, "Are you supposed to kill me or something? 'Cause I'll be glad to comply…"

Bosatsu wasn't surprised by his drunken willingness to die. Standing straight like a form of royalty himself, with his brown cloak like a monk's and his long hair which signified sagaciousness, Bosatsu said with his deep voice: "Don't fall to your disgrace, Uzumaki. You're not yourself—"

"Not myself?" Naruto ferociously barked, "Who said anything about me not being myself, huh? Give me two reasons!"

…

"You're drunk,"

Good point—

"And the second?" he spluttered woozily, his arms and torso starting to go limp,

Bosatsu looked at him, still rigid and stiff as a coat-rack, as if telling himself to hold in the horrible things he must not reveal, "That's something I mustn't tell you."

"Why?" Naruto pressed on, his sight getting hazier by the second—

"Because," Bosatsu said, struggling to pick out the right words, right lines, in order to deliver his upcoming flawless lecture,

Because… because…

Because he'll die a horrible death; because he'll be something he shouldn't; because he will never acquire the things that he must; because HE—the fellow antagonist (who I will hold till the ending) will win this silent battle of wits and war.

Naruto wouldn't be able to protect himself since that SNAKE was now involved in this ruckus; that irrevocable, contemptuous snake. In truth, that vision they both saw together, the so called 'White Dragon' wasn't the REAL great guardian dragon at all. He was known as the Red Serpent: 'Red' for blood and 'Serpent' for his hunger for power and intellect. His cunning was still as bright as ever, but now he was heavily craving for retribution against this man that was Bosatsu's master.

Bosatsu's warm, red eyes looked at Naruto with fatherly affection, but also with disdain because of what he has become: a lazy, morose, suicidal fool, who runs away from all his troubles and destiny… such a disappointment; such an upsetting occurrence. This will certainly not do. In order to survive through life, and to survive for what's coming next, Naruto had to straighten up and become who he was before all these predicaments. He must be awake in order to see the things around him. He must be NARUTO again because he wasn't just a human. Naruto was his master.

"Because…" Bosatsu said, "Because a serious consequence will happen if I do."

"What?" Naruto asked huffily, exasperated because a simple question cannot be answered. His head started to twirl with anger: he MUST be left alone. He MUST find the current of butterflies again… yet he failed realize that those beautiful things were just to lure him into a trap. Foolish, foolish youth.

'Ugh, too many questions,' Bosatsu shook his head infuriatingly, "You don't under —"

"Nope: YOU look, whoever you are, I just ASKED you for who… you are." Naruto said like a blabbering dupe, pointing a shaking finger at the stranger, "What kinda consequence will follow after that, huh? Is it because a LOSER is asking you the question, or are you just an ass?"

"Your foolishness will NOT be the cause of your destruction, Uzumaki!"

"NO! I'm not hearing it," Naruto waved a hand as if dismissing the man and his irrelevant droning, "I'm just gonna go now, but before I do: don't even think about meddling into my life, ever again—"

"You must hear me out," Bosatsu ran after the indignant youth, "You're in GRAVE danger,"

"I wasn't supposed to be 'in grave danger'" Naruto returned angrily, "But because you ignored me back then, all this had to happen… hell, I'm just talking to an imagination! That's it! You're not real… you're just a part of my imagination, right?" Right! He's not real; all of this was just because he was drunk—yeah! And now he'll just get on with his life, running away from his present like a drunken moron. That suited him just fine, "In fact, I think you just ruined my life, TWICE! And you're not even real! Hear that! You RUINED my life TWICE, and you're not even REAL!"

It was only natural that Naruto would become delirious since The Serpent wasn't in his attention. This kind of power was another type of hypnosis which was one of the roots of the chakra's genjutsu, and this particular hypnotic enchantment was all about the victim's loosing of his delirium and listening ONLY to the very demon that provided the wicked curse. That way, the victim would fall prey to the demon without hesitation instantaneously— in other words if The Serpent was not there, Bosatsu would fall into deaf ears. But unfortunately for The Serpent, Naruto has the Kyubi in his stomach.

And Unfortunately for The Serpent, Bosatsu has the perfect trump card for this kind of— jutsu…

Before I explain the further depiction of this forbidden power (the very ancient grandfather of the chakra) and also the history before time—I must get on without spoiling anything for the sequel…

Naruto held out the same shaky finger and jabbed Bosatsu HARD on his chest, like he was some sort of an imagination which he was testing if it was existent or not. Surely enough, Naruto ended up stabbing a finger against a very REAL person. Bosatsu gruffly raised an eyebrow: what the heck is he doing? "And you FEEL real too!"

Amazing, he went from sad and pathetic to an intoxicated douche bag!

The old man's face twisted to a tasteless pout, his forehead crinkling with annoyance, "I AM real, and there's something important that you must know…"

"That you're not real?"

Bosatsu sighed wearily, when will this charade EVER end? "NO! I told you I AM real."

"Then why the hell are you still bothering me? Why don't you just get the hell out of here before I kick your sorry ass!" Naruto sped on, trying to escape from Bosatsu. The elder, after a few seconds of appalling distress, followed after the drunken one to try to calm his folly. If he won't snap out of this destructive bind, then he must turn to drastic measures.

Bosatsu was a master of the song, and definitely a great consulter, that was why his master chose him to be his confidant. He lived for thousands of years, learning many different kinds of forbidden jutsus and the mortal chakra.

"Let this man share your hidden dreams," Bosatsu's voice turned bold and strong, perhaps like a lion towards his prey, and sure enough Naruto stopped on his tracks, "And LEAVE him to his death,"

That sentence… where? Where did he hear that before? Naruto slowly turned at him, his eyes blank and filled with an awakening expression, "I told you what the meaning of the song was before." Bosatsu whispered,

And then suddenly, everything seemed so clear to the reckless blonde, like waking from a nightmare which he thought he couldn't wake, "Who ARE you?" Naruto asked, growing more confident of the words coming from him,

"I'm the seer," Bosatsu said, "And I came to you… years ago. To tell you what you must do once this atrocity happened, but you didn't heed my words. And now it's—too late…"

The seer? He has the ability to see the future? What form of power is this?

"Why didn't you just save me before?" Naruto asked, his face twisting into a furious expression,

"Because it's a part of the rule…"

"WHAT rule?" Naruto hissed,

"The Rules are something that must NOT be heard by mortal ears."

"And you're saying that I'm not good enough?"

"No," Bosatsu said, "What I'm trying to say is that you have become less of who you used to be, and you need to snap out of it and realize that you're the man who holds the string of destiny. It is YOUR spirit which can move things into proportion, not mine, YOURS. Don't let it break because you didn't have your way... or you'll surely be one of the living dead,"

Death didn't matter to him anymore… right? Naruto wearily closed his eyes and felt a headache coming on—this wasn't supposed to happen. He wasn't supposed to stop running… yet all he remembered was chasing the butterflies and then… and then nothing…

"You're insane," Naruto said, "You just followed me here, a complete stranger, telling me what and what not to do—"

"I may be 'insane'," Bosatsu said, "But you're resentful and blinded by everything around you. You must accept everything around you!"

"And what am I supposed to do now, hm?" Naruto sullenly taunted, "Kill Sasuke and his kid and take Sakura for myself instead? If you didn't realize before, mister whoever you are, that I fully respect Rokudaime for what he's become, and I'm even glad to what's happened to him lately— but guess what? He married the WRONG—" Naruto's eyes widened at that,

It was within that very moment where Naruto realized what he had said, and it heavily opposed to his ideas earlier. He never thought about his respect for Sasuke before, and until now he still considered him as a friend, who just got involved in something he POSSIBLY tried to avert. Sasuke told him earlier that he was unaware of the apparent situation Naruto was in, so that meant that… he still wanted to close their miserable past.

"… the wrong… girl…"

And he just carelessly threw it in his face.

Naruto looked down at his worn out shoes with shame, "What's so dangerous about running away from something I don't want?"

"The danger," Bosatsu replied, "Is the threat of being someone you despised once. Sasuke has changed, whether you like it or not. But accept it and he'll accept you like before."

"And what if he does?"

"Then he will… protect you."

"From what?"

"Enough," Bosatsu snapped, "You know what you need to do."

Must he? Must he follow this stranger's words or must he fall into the depths of darkness, like Sasuke had once done before?

Sasuke… what had he done? Why did he viciously confront him? He wasn't supposed to feel this way once Sasuke turned back to them… but…

'No,' Naruto thought, 'I guess I had been a bit of a jerk, lately,'

… Since he pushed everyone away with his sadness…

'I'll get on with my new life,' he thought, 'and then… I'll live again,'

"Yes," he murmured. He finally accepted it. He finally had his closure. He will not die with shame.

He will die with his head high from the grave.

"Then you must let go of her," Bosatsu declared, "You must break your bonds, and let go of Haruno Sakura…"

……

AN: Hmm...Yes... No... maaybe... nope, I ain't gonna answer your questions. You guys just gotta find out on your own ! Yes because: (a) Sasuke's notTHAT of an angel... right? (b) Weird things are happening around Naruto; (c) It would be impossible that Sasuke would gain Rokudaime title AND marry Sakura. No because: (a) You guys haven't read the other chapters, so who knows; (b) If you believe that 'yes' is right and I agreed, that just means that I'm averting you guys to the true ending; (c) Having weird things happen around Naruto doesn't mean that he isn't in reality. Don't believe what an author says, by the way, you have to see the ending first. Anyways, thanks for your reviews, guys. Having these much reviews are really inspiring. So please review!