CHAPTER 28

Day of Reckoning
(で清算の日 Seisan no Hi)

Naruto, who was currently at his apartment was lying down on top of the blankets of his bed. He didn't bother trying to go to sleep, because he knew it wasn't gonna do him any good. The whole time he was laying in his bed, he thought about Sasuke...and what was about to happen. His best friend...he was...when it was all over, he was going to die. Of all the times to be completely helpless, it just had to be this time. This time...he really couldn't do anything to help Sasuke. The blond turned over on his side and faced the open window, where he saw countless birds flying in the sky.

He gripped the pillow out of anger and vexation for losing yet another chance to save the person that literally meant everything to him. Naruto has have everything taken away from him: his parents, his rights for being treated like a human being, and now...he was gonna have the closest bond he had ever made with anyone...taken away. He dealt with severe mental pain in the past, but this...this would be something he would not be able to handle well. The more he thought about it, the stronger the dull, throbbing pain in his heart had became.

This was so frustrating to him and his blue eyes were glossed over with sadness and defeat. For the first time in his life, he could NOT do anything or rescue anyone. It made him feel so weak and sick for not being to try and rescue Sasuke. That defining fact...was slowly destroying his mentality and will power.

A hard knock awakened Naruto from his thoughts and he groggily looked over at the door. He didn't want to see anyone right now and if that person had any kind of respect, they would leave and not knock on the door again. When the blond heard the knocks again, he got up from his bed and trudged his way over to the door. Naruto wondered who could it be this early in the morning. Whoever it was, he was gonna tell them to buzz off and continued to sulk in his bed in peace. When he got to the door, he placed his hand around the doorknob and turned it, letting the wooden door open on its own.

As it continued to open with its creaking sound, Naruto snapped out of it when he was greeted with a familiar face in front of the doorway of his apartment. With his hands resting casually resting in his pockets, his narrow brown eyes locked onto blue ones as the person looked at Naruto with a perplexed expression.

"Shikamaru..." Naruto said, letting out an exasperated yawn. "...what are you doing here?"

Shikamaru had done everything he could for Naruto during the week, but he couldn't just sit by and watch Naruto steadily destroy himself for one person. The genius had so much faith in Naruto and he was not about to let him give up now. For the future king of Konoha, "Giving up" was not suppose to be in his vocabulary. And now...he was about to take on a possible suicide mission for his sake. Naruto more than just a comrade to him, he was one of his dearest friends to him and he was also...

"Naruto...you must save Sasuke...at any cost." Was the strong reply from the shadow user, his eyes filled with a serious expression. The blond shinobi didn't know what Shikamaru was talking about all of a sudden, but he was not in the mood to listen to any kind of talking right now. Shikamaru knew that Naruto couldn't do anything, so why was he trying to convince him otherwise?

"Shikamaru, you and I both know that there is nothing we can do at this point. We've tried everything. The Elders won. We lost. It's over..." Naruto turned away from his friend, letting the blond spikes in his hair hide his eyes.

Shikamaru blinked in shock from the answer Naruto gave him. The usually cheerful and insightful boy that always shining with the strive to never give up...was now throwing in the towel? That was not the Naruto that he knew. The genius had to come up with a way to get Naruto out of his depression before it killed him in the long run and the only way to do that...was to tell him something that he would never expect to hear from him. It wouldn't hurt to try it, though Shikamaru was not up to the idea of forcing Naruto to do something that he didn't want to do. At this point, anything to snap the blond out of it would do some serious good.

"Well, this is a disappointment. I never thought I would hear you of all people say you give up. I honestly thought you were stronger than that, but I guess I was wrong. So...are you really gonna let the person who you cared about the most...the person who you thought about more than anything just die?" Shikamaru said, taking a step towards him and this is where he tested his own mettle. "Are you really...gonna let your most precious person die?"

The blond had paused and his eyes widen from hearing what Shikamaru had said to him. Naruto had turned back to him and faced him with an somewhat surprised expression. Did he...did Shikamaru find out his true feelings for Sasuke? The blond had not shown romantic feelings of any kind towards Sasuke...except for feelings of friendship and when they were alone the night before. So, how did he...figured it out?

"Shikamaru...you..." Naruto started to say, but he stopped right there. "...you mean..."

After the blond spoke, the shadow user just looked at him with a faint smile...a smile that clearly said...he knew all along about his true attachments to the Uchiha...

XxX

A certain raven was sitting up in her hospital bed, watching the golden and crimson sunrise rise across the borders of the village. Her eyes eyes were filled with distress and worry...a feeling that she thought it was impossible for her to feel. She hasn't seen Naruto at all ever since she and Miyuki had returned to the village and that was bothering her. Where was he anyway and why haven't been here to check up on them during the week. That wasn't like him at all.

Looking over her shoulder, Nariko smiled gently at her baby sister was still asleep in the bed next to her. She was glad that Miyuki was able to get some sleep during this situation. Whenever Nariko woke up at an ungodly hour in the morning, something terrible was about to happen. Her nerves would be shaken up and her mind would be in a hazy like state. But this time, the feeling was different. Nariko's heart was now beating irregularly in addition her normal symptoms.

Something is seriously wrong, but I can't pinpoint what it is...'Nariko ran her delicate fingers through her hair and started to wonder...what was it that was making her feel this way...

And then...very softly, an alluring sound interrupted her thoughts.

"Nariko...Miyuki...we're here..."

Nariko gasped when she heard the familiar voice and she knew what she had to do now. Being quick, the raven hurried out of her bed and slipped her white slippers that was near the window. She went by her sister's bed and began to shake Miyuki in order to wake her up. "Miyuki, get up! It's-"

"I know, sis..." Her voice answered dryly as she turned over in her bed to face her sister. "I know..."

Nariko raised her eyebrow in confusion when she saw the expression that her little sister was wearing. Miyuki's cheeks were moist and there were semi-swelling and puffiness around her eyes. Plus, her pillow was stained and wet from the possible liquid that emanated from her soft blue eyes.

"Miyuki..." Nariko questioned, placing her hand on her shoulder. "...were you crying...?"

"Yeah, I was..." Miyuki answered while she wiped away the wet trails from around her eyes. "...but it's not important right now..."

Nariko wanted to get the truth out of her, but now was not the time. Knowing Miyuki, she would tell her eventually and there was no need to try and pry it out of her. "You're right, Miyuki. Let's go...but we'll have to be extremely quiet. You still know how to silence out the sounds when you're running, right?"

"Yes." Miyuki nodded in approval while getting out of bed and putting her slippers on.

Wasting no more time and sending chakra to their feet to mute out the sound, the girls ran out of their room and quickly made their way down the long hallway. The hospital was generally the same as the one back in their time, but the difference was the hospital back home was much more expanded. Almost reaching a dead end, the girls made a left turn and headed up the stairs that lead up to the top of the facility. It wouldn't be long now...that Nariko and Miyuki...would see some nice familiar faces again...

"Nariko, we only have a few more trips around to get to the top." Miyuki told her with a hint of happiness.

"Yeah...lovely..." In all honesty, she was not looking forward to seeing the other female that was on her team. As genin, the two of them would fight all the time and pick on each other ruthlessly. Miyuki would have to be the one trying to stop them from biting each other's head off whenever they saw one another. Over time, the two girls had gotten along slightly better but it hasn't changed much. "She's gonna kick my ass when she finds out I punched her Dad in the face, though..."

"Well, she doesn't know that, now does she?" Miyuki replied with a cute wink. "I just hope you two won't start fighting when you see each other..."

After turning one last corner, the two girls finally made it and they opened the door that lead them outside on top of the hospital. Around this time, the sun was They had slowed down when they got there and they found no one outside. Nariko had sensed their presence and so did Miyuki. So where were they?

"Okay, I know I'm not going crazy. I knew I had sensed their chakra..." Nariko said, slightly irritated and she crossed her arms as she pouted.

"Yo." A young male's voice chided from above them.

Nariko and Miyuki brought their attention to two figures that were standing on top of the hospital entrance. One was a male and the other was a female. The sun was obscuring their appearance and they couldn't see them, but the girls knew who they were. The two figures jumped down to where they were and slowly walked towards them...

"Sarina..." Nariko smirked broadly when she saw the female figure appeared before her, revealing who she was. "...it's been a while, hasn't it, Hime-chan...?"

Sarina had short, curly red hair, smokey gray eyes, and fair skin. Under her left eye is a beauty mark the size of a tiny dot. Sarina was wearing a light blue shirt with a black floral design and a black skirt with normal shinobi sandals.

Sarina pouted from the nickname Nariko called her. The raven knew that the red-head hated that name, but she loved poking fun at her. "Didn't I tell you I hated that damn name?" Sarina hollered in vexation. "Stupid girl...and her stupid nicknames..."

"Stupid...names?" Nariko questioned, slightly offended. Nariko was ready to give Sarina a benefit of a doubt, but I guess that wasn't necessary. Some things just doesn't change.

Tuning them out, the male figure had walked towards Miyuki and greeted her with a kind smile. The young man had jet black hair that stops to his shoulders, pupiless dark red eyes, and a fair skin complexion. He was wearing a black short sleeve shirt with a high collar and dark red trimming around the sleeves, dark gray trousers with black shinobi sandals, and he wears mesh fishnet armor around his wrists. To further compliment his look, he wears black, square-framed glasses that sit loosely on his face and his hitai-ite around his waist through the belt loops of his pants.

"Kei-san...you're here as well?" Miyuki asked with a curious look.

"That's right, Miyuki-san. I couldn't let my little sister come here and try to handle things by herself. Besides, I gotta keep that fiery temper of hers under control...and apparently, I'm failing at doing my job..." Kei explained while he watched his sister and Nariko argue to no end. "So...how have things been over the past 3 months?"

"Well, things have gotten a little crazy. Me and my sister rain into our parents, we stayed with them, then the Bakudai planned an attack, but me and Nariko managed to thwarted them off, and we ended up in the hospital as you can clearly see..."

"I see. You two sure had it rough." Kei blinked at her and he adjusted his glasses from her explanation. "Miyuki, are you really okay? The Bakudai is nothing to sneeze at, you know?"

Miyuki giggled at Kei's concern. He was such a nice guy who was always concerned about other people's well being. It was such a nice quality to have for a guy. "Yeah, yeah, we're fine, Kei-san..."

Kei had glanced over at the two bickering kunoichi. He swear that the two of them act like an old married couple. He remembered the day that they became genin, Sarina and Nariko verbally fought in the classroom and they got suspended for it. He felt bad for them because they couldn't become genin that day and had remained demoted for another six months. "If you two are done making love with your words of distaste towards one another, I have some news for you." Kei announced while placing a hand on his hip and readjusting his glasses to sit more on his face.

The bickering instantly came to a halt and Nariko and Sarina went to stand to where Miyuki was.

"Now that I have gotten your attention, I'm pretty sure that you two know what's going on and why Naruto-sama hasn't come back to the hospital yet." Kei said and Nariko and Miyuki looked at one another with a confused look.

"Ummm...no we don't." The girls said in unison. Sakura hasn't told them where was Naruto or anything for that matter. What wasgoing on?

Kei sighed from the answer. "I figured as much. Well, I might as well tell you girls, but I'm afraid that you're not gonna like what you're about to hear, though. During the week while Nariko and Miyuki were recuperating, Naruto-sama has been trying desperately to try and save Sasuke-sama from dying by the hands of the Elders. Last night, Naruto-sama had went to see Sasuke-sama one last time because...he will possibly die today..."

"..."

"WHAT?" Were the loud outbursts that came from both Nariko and Miyuki simultaneously.

XxX

In the streets on Konoha, many civilians and shinobi were gathering at the Konoha Precinct House and even more so, the Daimyō was being escorted inside of the building. The news about Sasuke's trial had literally spread across the village that it was being publicly filmed for people at their homes to actually see the trial take place live. To some, it was not necessary for the trail to be televised but for others, they had wanted to personally see such a traitor get what he deserved.

Inside the Konoha Precinct House, the courthouse was currently being filled with some of the Jonin and Special Jonin that were given private invitations to the trial. Of course among the Jonin were Kakashi Hatake and Yamato, who were surprised that they were even allowed to come to this trial.

Kakashi thought that because of his strong attachment towards his former student, he would be exempted from attending. That came as quite a shock to him. Yamato on the other hand was worrying about something happening that could cause the courtroom to possibly riot. Then again, he had heard that all the chunin were exempted from coming. Naruto was his main concern. Would the blond shinobi break the exemption code for this trial and come here to try to save Sasuke?

"Kakashi-sempai, should we go ahead and sit down?" Yamato asked as he saw the other shinobi started to settle in.

"I suppose so..." The copy nin just took a deep breath and sat down in a empty spot on the end of the row of seats. This was so depressing. In a few minutes, he would have to see his student walk in a courtroom full of people that wanted him dead and possibly blindfolded. He figured that Elders would take no chances in having him using his Sharingan on everyone in the room and trapping them in a genjutsu in order to try and escape.

"Let the trial of international criminal, Sasuke Uchiha...commence!" The moderator of the trial said out loud and the room had dimmed its lights, leaving only a few of the headlights on. At that moment, everything and everyone in the courthouse had went completely silent...

* * *NEXT CHAPTER SYNOPSIS* * *

The next chapter of Changing Fate is:

Sasuke's Determination
(サスケの決意 Sasuke no Ketsui)

The trial starts and Sasuke defends himself against the Elders and the Daimyō. Meanwhile, Sarina and Kei tell Nariko and Miyuki about new developments retaining to the future. And Shikamaru gives Naruto a life-changing talk...