Man. Haven't updated in a while, so sorry about that. I'm just terribly busy. Plus, for sum reason, I wasn't able to upload my chapter…weird…
Chapter Seven
All of the genin at the gate stood horrified as they watched the forest erupt, an explosion rocking the earth. Most shielded their eyes, preventing the flash of light from damaging their vision, although some wished that they couldn't see so they wouldn't have to witness the insanity before them.
"My God…that must have been…over three-hundred exploding tags…" muttered the awestruck resident weapons master.
Sakura remained motionless, kneeling on the ground, looking horrified out the gates at the spot of land that Naruto had been standing on moments before.
He couldn't have died, right? Not after what had just happened. She had tried to tell everyone his secret, not out of spite or revenge, rather, out of her own compassion towards Naruto. She had decided that Naruto couldn't tell anyone his secret, largely because of his fear of rejection. However, after she found out his secret, she knew that none of his friends would feel that way. Quite the opposite really. Sakura had planned to spill Naruto's secret, and show him that none of his friends really saw him differently. To show him that he didn't have to fear rejection. But he left before they could express it. And now? And now…Naruto could be…might be…dead.
"There's…no…way anyone could survive that…could they?" asked an amazed Kiba.
"Not even…Naruto?" echoed Neji. He had gained a deep respect for the loudmouth after his fight in the chunnin exam. And now, after finding out about Kyuubi, he knew that Naruto was truly one of the few people that actually understood the pain of a seal no one could remove. Naruto had become something of an invincible being, never giving up, always fighting. He had beaten him, Hyuuga Neji, for crying out loud! And now, Naruto could be lost forever. But that was impossible, wasn't it?
At this point, the fire seemed to die down, and several ANBU appeared.
"Come with us please." The request might as well have been a demand, as every person present followed without a thought.
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"What happened!" screamed Tsunade, pacing around the room, much to the distress of several genin standing in front of her. "Naruto goes out on his mission and boom! He dies in a tragic explosion?! Someone had better give me some answers quick or heads will roll!"
"Tsunade-sama, calm down!"
"Calm down?! One of our ninja has been killed! Assassinated is the better word for it! How can I be CALM?"
Cringing, the chunnin, retreated back to the door that he suddenly found very interesting.
Tsunade began to pace again and stopped in front of Hinata. "Talk."
"Ah…Ah…well…"
"Useless." Hinata's head dropped a little from this, but her own lack of confidence seemed to agree with this assessment.
This time Tsunade stopped in front of Shino. "Talk," came the same order, demanding his respect and immediate action.
"We had gathered together at the request of Haruno-san in order to say our goodbyes to our comrade, however, I believe that there were underlying causes for the gathering."
"Such as?"
"The secret of Uzumaki-san."
"WHAT?!" screamed Tsunade, whipping her head up from her pacing, taking a step towards Sakura. She cringed and put her hands up in a weak defense, nothing that could stop Tsunade's insane strength.
"You have ten seconds to explain before I try you for treason and breaking the law of secrecy Haruno Sakura" stated Tsunade very plainly, making it very clear that she could, and would, execute these threats.
"Tsunade-sama, it's not really like that! You see, I found out about Naruto's secret and…I accepted him. More than I had ever accepted him. I understood and admired his struggle, and felt like I was closer to him than ever. Why should Naruto be shunned for a secret that is actually beneficial to him? So I took it into my own hands. They needed to know about Naruto's secret. Naruto needed them to know his secret. They needed to understand his hurt, and he needed to understand that no matter what, we will be here for him. But…but…Naruto ran away before I could explain to him why I did it…." she trailed off, looking down at the floor, too stressed to say anymore.
"I buy it. There will be consequences, but no death for you today Haruno. Continue with the story Shino."
"Well, when Haruno-san revealed Naruto's secret, he emitted pheromones of fear, something that my kikai bugs were able to sense. He then ran out of the gates and an explosion occurred. Why and how are unknown" concluded Shino, as impassive as ever, but one could hear a tiny strain in his voice. Shino didn't particularly have a respect for Naruto, but he did have toleration, something many others were not blessed with. He was often annoyed with him, amused by him, and confused about him, but he kept these emotions to himself. Now, however, knowing about the Kyuubi no Kitsune seemed to bring the puzzle of Naruto together. Or at least, a weak frame of it.
"Kiba! Could you smell Naruto after the explosion?"
"Hokage-sama, there is no way me, or any of my clan for that matter, can smell him! There's too much damn smoke and burning stuff!"
"I see. Hinata, Neji…"
"He was outside our fifty meter range Hokage-sama" cut off Neji.
Tsunade grabbed her temples and massaged them as she sat down behind her desk littered with papers. "Dammit…"
"I want an ANBU team checking the scene for any evidence yesterday!"
A voice came from behind the genins, making them jump No one had felt his presence.
"Hai, Hokage-sama"
"Now I want you all to go home and rest"
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Shikamaru flopped on his bed, lying down in his usual position, on his back, one knee bent, and both arms behind his head. He stared at the ceiling as if it held the keys to the universe.
Sigh…Naruto…you were such a troublesome guy…guess it fits that you would meet your end in a troublesome way too…
Out of the corner of his eye, Shikamaru noticed a paper that was blocking the sunlight that streamed through his window. He sighed and lazily got off his bed and opened the window. He slid his arm outside the window and retrieved the paper. The paper was folded several times, and Shikamaru carefully opened it, revealing the bold block letters that were a defining characteristic of Naruto. They almost screamed "Hey! Notice me!" Sighing, he lay back down and read the note:
"Hey Shikamaru. It's Naruto. I don't know if I'll see you for a while, because I'm going on a super cool mission with Jiraiya-sensei (don't tell him I called him that). I just wanted to say that you're one of the few people that I feel I can count on. Uh, I don't know why I'm writing this, I guess I just wanted to tell you that I really think of you as a friend. So anyway, who knows how long I'll be gone? However long, when I get back, I expect you to be a lot stronger! So, stay cool, stay safe, and get a girl! (man, you have two of them and you don't even know it!)….."
Shikamaru wiped a tear running down the side of his face and quickly put the letter in a metal box, filled only with things that were most precious to him.
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"…so don't lose to Sakura-chan, ok Ino?! Work hard, fight hard, and you'll get much stronger! Oh, and give up on Sasuke-teme, he's a real bastard! Maybe you should look at the things right in front of you…"
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"…and after that, I'll use Rasengan on your ass! So you better be ready to spar after I come back Kiba"
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"…uh, maybe you should open up a little more Shino…"
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"…I'm counting on you to care for all of the precious people in my life! I know you have a big heart and I need you to love Iruka-sensei for me, he doesn't really have much of a life! (get him a girl!) Oh, and you really could stand to lose some weight…"
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"…keep going Hinata! Forget what everyone else thinks and keep getting stronger! When I get back, you had better be awesome! And I'll be just as awesome and we can spar together!..."
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"…lighten up and stop being such a cold-hearted bastard! When I get back, we'll both kick Itachi's ass! Believe it!"
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"…Sasuke needs you, now more than ever. You haven't every slowed us down Sakura-chan, you've only given us fuel to keep going. Sasuke needs that right now…"
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At the end of each of the letters, there was a single phrase. "Get strong so that we can protect our loved ones together!"
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1 week later
The clouds opened up, millions of tears falling on those at the funeral. Several tears were shed by those who attended as well. It was a moving ceremony, though it took several ANBU to keep the rowdy villagers from crashing the funeral. Tsunade had to stop in the middle of her speech, choking on her tears, and had to be led out by Shizune. Jiraiya reluctantly stepped forward and gave a very moving impromptu speech. After a while, everyone departed, except for the rookie nine, minus one.
"Did you guys get one too?" Ino asked, her makeup smeared down her face.
They all nodded in agreement.
"Listen…I…I really was trying to help…" Sakura started.
Chouji put his arm around her, a gesture that actually comforted her. "We know Sakura" he said comfortingly. She turned into his shoulder and began to cry.
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to get stronger"
They all looked up at Shikamaru, surprised at his statement. Kiba nodded.
"Yeah. For Naruto"
They all looked down at the small slab of stone marking Naruto's empty grave. They each pulled out their letters and put them in Shikamaru's special metal box, signifying importance of it's contents. Shikamaru laid it down, resting on the stone.
"These are Naruto's last wishes. Let us try to complete them with all of our power." They all bowed slightly, and left. Except for one.
Sakura looked at him questioningly, but he just nodded to her, and she reluctantly left him. He got on his knees and planted his hands on the memorial stone.
"Listen…Naruto…I…you have always been there for me. And I always pushed you away. You and Sakura. But I swear, that will never happen again. You…were like a brother to me. You…I…loved you." He whispered with his forehead against the marble. Finally, he got up, and bowed. As he left, he made a promise with himself and his dead teammate. I will not allow revenge to take over my life. I will live my life for myself…because of you, Naruto. Thank you.
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He woke up with stars in his eyes, reaching out weakly with one hand. He could see a faint blur of a shape of a person sitting in front of him.
"Hey! Where am I!?" he demanded.
"…"
"Hey! Who are you?!" he demanded once again.
"…"
Irritated by the silent treatment he was receiving, and encouraged by his returning vision, he launched himself at the motionless form of a body. He lowered his shoulder and delivered a powerful blow to the side of the still form. The person, after being attacked, screamed unceremoniously and leapt to his feet.
"Eh!? Oh. It's you…"
"…You just screamed like a woman" accused Naruto.
"What!? That was a manly…holler!"
"Sounded a lot like a scream to me Ero-sennin…"
"How many times do I have to tell you!? It's Jiraiya-sama!"
"Suuuure…so, what happened? All I remember was running because…" Naruto paused, remembering what happened. His eyes widened. I can never return to Konoha now…they all hate me. They know about Kyuubi, and now no one will accept me. Not the villagers, not the parents, and now not even the children!
"Oh, yeah, uhhh…heh heh. Well, sit down kid, this is a complicated story" Naruto quickly obliged the old man and leaned forward showing his attentiveness.
"Well, it all starts like this. The Akatsuki are on the move. I have a feeling that they are going to step up their efforts on capturing you, so I decided to pull something before they could pull something of their own. I told the guards I would meet you at the nearest town, but really I was waiting for you down the road. I knocked you out, and ran for it. I set up about four hundred exploding tags and we almost got fried kid. You see, it was genius! I put a few tags in the front, so when the exploded, no one could see me swing in and take you out of the danger zone! Pretty cool, huh gaki!" he finished, smiling and giving Naruto the thumbs up.
Naruto rubbed his temples. "But…why?" he asked, not understanding why Jiraiya would even do something so strange. The old man was strange, but not strange enough to just randomly try to blow themselves up.
"You see, now everyone in Konoha thinks you're dead! So now the Akatsuki are off our trail for a while, but they'll be back, they're too good to be fooled for long. Sorry kid, but no one back home knows you're alive and well…"
"Not like anyone cares anymore…" Naruto mumbled.
"Eh! What's that? Whatever! We need to get moving!" rambled Jiraiya, spinning on his heel and walking out of the cave they had been in.
"Wha-wha-wait!"
"Don't fall behind brat! Keep up! Left, right, left, right!"
Naruto silently fell in behind the grey headed sannin and followed. As they walked in silence, Naruto began to get lost in his thoughts. Well, if everyone thinks I'm dead…that's almost a good thing! Now everyone think's Kyuubi is dead and everyone will be happy! Hm…except for Iruka-sensei and Obaachan. And maybe Kakashi. But that's ok! I'll come back stronger than ever and they'll have to acknowledge me!
Lost in his thoughts and inattentive to his surroundings, Naruto ran into a wall of flesh and fell down. Jiraiya stood above him, arms crossed and said nothing.
"Hey! Old man, you had better have a good reason to knock me down like that!"
"You little gaki! You ran into me!"
"Yeah?! Well…well…well what do you want?"
"It's time to start your training" At this, Naruto's eyes lit up and he began to rub his hands together.
Alright! I'm going to get stronger than everyone! Even Sasuke-bastard and then I'll be able to become Hokage!
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okok, I know, long time. Srry. Very sorry. I really missed doing this. Next update should be quicker.