AHHHH!! It's been too damn long since I last updated, and it's all my damn fault.
'Course, if you think about it, if writing this was done in my spare time, then that means that I was so busy procrastinating that I didn't have any spare time.
That's too deep for me to think about, but whatever.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer: It might be raining in Shanghai, and someone might have just thrown a shovel at me, but I don't own Naruto.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
He's been broken.
Uzumaki Naruto is not long for this world.
Even now, it hurts to admit it.
Naruto-kun is going to die.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
He was found in the smoking ruins of Otogakure, surrounded by hundreds of decaying corpses.
While there was little damage visible on his body, a diagnosis revealed much more.
Naruto-kun's insides are no longer working correctly.
His heart beat is almost always irregular, hormone levels are through the roof, and I don't think I've even seen that high a level of endorphins before.
While we found the residual effects of many harmful jutsus in his system, it appears that the worst of it was inflicted by his opening of the celestial gates.
Maito-san, after examining Naruto, confirmed this, while theorizing that the blonde had opened up at least eight of his celestial gates.
It's honestly not that hard to guess why he did it either.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the bodies littering Otogakure, the remains of one Yakushi Kabuto and one Orochimaru were found.
Very close to where Naruto was discovered, hundreds of pieces of flesh were found.
In Naruto's right hand, was found the crushed remains of an Uchiha's eye.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why did anyone ever think that the sharingan made genius ninjas?
All it ever did was allow that family to copy everyone else's techniques and styles.
I suppose Naruto-kun did us all a favor by removing that traitor from the face of the earth.
That fool needed to cheat to even come close to Naruto's level.
Without those stupid eyes, the jerk would have been dead long ago.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No! No, no, no, no!
I'm a medic-nin, I should not speak so lightly of life.
But, on the other hand, I've had to kill before, like most medic-nins.
It's just part of the job, I guess.
…
Talk about an irony, neh?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tsunade-sama tries to hide her emotions even more, but most of the tower can hear her weeping late at night.
She must blame herself, I suppose.
Maybe she thinks she could have been more assertive as Hokage, and overruled the council. Maybe it's that she regrets not watching over him more.
And maybe it's something else all together.
Hell, I don't know.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Long before I left Konoha to follow Tsunade-sama, I had believed that the hidden village of leaf was somewhat more intelligent then other villages.
Obviously I was wrong.
I'm a medic-nin, so I don't know too much psychology.
That's what the ANBU are best at.
But honestly, you'd think the people of this village would have figured it out by now.
If Naruto-kun was actually planning to destroy Konohagakure, he would have done so.
He would have done it a long time ago.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Haruno has gone into a state of shock.
It seems that the loss of both of her teammates has caused the bitch's one-track mind to shatter.
It figures; she was never really cut out to be much more then a slut anyway.
She isn't even being allowed into Naruto's hospital room, for fear she might try to kill him to avenge her beloved traitor.
Whore…
Erghhhh!
Calm down,
gotta calm down.
…
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maybe…
Maybe it's for the best if Naruto died.
He wouldn't have to suffer anymore.
He wouldn't need people's approval.
He wouldn't need to carry the world on his shoulders.
…
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When the day finally comes, and Naruto-kun passes away, I wouldn't be surprised to see a smile on his face.
Despite most of the council being against it, Tsunade-sama is going to have Naruto-kun's name engraved on Konoha's monument stone.
On that stone, and in the hearts of no small amount of people, is where the legacy of Uzumaki Naruto will live.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Author's Notes: Okay, I just got myself some time to write some notes up on this chapter.
First off, this is the third version of this chapter, as I found some more mistakes that I didn't see before.
Secondly, after reading a certain review from someone who shall go unnamed, (which doesn't mean that I'm not thankful) I toned down the language significantly, because after examining Shizune's character in the manga and in the anime, I realize that she has too much self-control to swear that much. And that's despite the fact that she hung around with someone who would get drunk frequently, so that's saying something.
And for Naruto opening up the celestial gates, I'm gonna use the classic excuse that he needed to in order to harness all of Kyuubi's chakra. I honestly have no idea if it's true, but I'm gonna say that he only did eight gates because any gate past that would have started releasing the chakra that his body used as fuel to survive.
I finished the epilogue, and as soon as I finished editing it/getting it beta-read, I'll post it on here!
