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"AHHHH!"
"Ren! Ren! Stop it! Calm down, calm down! It's enough!" Kanata tried to calm him down, anything to stop Ren from going on a rampage. It pains him to see his friend like this, to see him suffer so badly. "Shut up! Shut up! If we didn't leave him in the first place, if he wasn't so busy, if the both of you just talked to me about everything; we could have prevented this, Kanata-san! If you just... if you just trusted me..." His voice cracked in the end, filled with pain and sadness. The boy kept sobbing uncontrollably, he couldn't control his anger and grief. He couldn't accept it. He couldn't; not when he could've done something.
Maybe even if he had to change the plot; he only wanted to have Shusuke back.
Kanata's angry tears wouldn't stop either. He was frustrated beyond belief. His best friend and brother and his entire family, aside from Uchiha Sasuke, were wiped out in a single night. "Ren, please!" He dodged an incoming kunai and watched as it embedded itself halfway through a trunk of a tree. He bit his lower lip and tried to get close to his remaining teammate. He doesn't know how to calm him down. If it was Shusuke instead, I bet he would have had an idea how to calm him down. There was nothing more frustrating than knowing that he is incapable of helping Ren. "Did you two even trust me?! Why did you hide the truth?!"
"We did," Kanata insisted. "We did trust you and we still do!"
"Then why!? Why hide everything?! I could have helped you!" Kanata took this chance to grab hold of Ren; to restrain him from further damaging the training ground. He made sure to hold onto his wrists tightly, making sure that Ren can't grab hold of his weapons. "Let me go, damn it!" Ren shoved the Uchiha away and shunshined away from him. "I don't need you, okay?! Just like you don't need me!" The Uchiha got off the ground with a huff, panting from overwhelming emotions swirling like a whirlpool inside of him. "Ren, Ren, listen to me. Don't be unreasonable. Ren, it's okay. Please, just calm down."
Their eyes met and the Uchiha could see how lost, hurt and enraged he looks. It's only then that he remembered that Ren is different from him. Ren was still a child like his cousin. The obsidian eyed boy bit his lower lip as he dodged another kunai that the Nohara sent his way. It was frustrating him how he needed to fight against the boy that he holds dearly. Damn it, what can I do? What can I do?! Kanata shunshined behind Ren. He reached out his hand to grab both of his wrists but the younger boy easily pushed him away. The hazel-eyed shinobi drew several shurikens from his pouched and skillfully flicked them towards Kanata's position.
The latter deflected them using a kunai in each hand and with each deflected shuriken, sparks flew off in various directions. The Uchiha launched himself at Ren, who blocked his attack with his forearms. Kanata puts in more strength in his kick to overpower the Nohara but the latter merely shunshined away from him. With each blow they send, dodge and block, it keeps getting stronger and deadlier. Bruises and cuts appeared with each blow and thrust of their weapon. As much as it pains Kanata to do this, he knows his young friend needed something to take out his grief; something to take out his anger.
And that something was a fight.
Kanata didn't know how long they've fought and when the both of the collapsed near each other, his tired gaze noticed the sun setting. Deep breaths escaped both of their lips. They were exhausted, both mentally and physically. The Uchiha covered his eyes with his sweaty forearms as tears mixed with sweat as he thought of how their life would be from now on. Right now, the both of them are broken but Kanata is certain that it wouldn't take them long to get fixed up. After all, they have their friends and the remaining family they have left to support them. "Hey, Ren..." he whispered when a few moments had passed.
His teammate hummed in acknowledgment and he knew then that Ren was slowly fixing himself from his messed up broken self. "You know that... that Idiot and I care about you, don't you?" His question was carried by the wind as the breeze whispered in their ears. Kanata waited for a response and he had the patience and time in the world to wait for one from Ren. "Yeah, I know, Kanata-san." A ghost of a smile passed through the young Nohara's lips as the both of them stare up the slowly darkening sky. "He'll still be here," the Uchiha reassured. "A person like him wouldn't want us to stay like this forever, right?"
It took Ren minutes to register what he had said and when it sunk it, a chuckle passed through his lips; making Kanata smile in relief. "You are correct, Kanata-san." After that, it was another silent atmosphere but this time, the Uchiha can safely assume that the young Nohara had finally calmed down. The brunet had been out of control because of his emotions earlier and the raven-haired teen was glad that Ren had finally calmed down; even though it had taken a while. "I..." Ren perked up at the sound of his voice. "... need you, okay?"
The Nohara looked at the sky, observing the glistening stars before he sat down. His action caught Kanata's attention as the latter sat down himself. He was caught by surprise when Ren tackled him, embracing him as they lied down on the training grounds. "Me too. I need you... as well, Kanata-san." The Uchiha wrapped an arm around the smaller boy, his other arm covering his eyes as his face flushed bright red. "Yeah.. yeah, I know."
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The next few days went by in a blur and each day feels shorter than the last time. Even though Kanata was stressing himself over what he and Sasuke would do now, he made sure to make some time to give to Eita-senpai and Ren. He would usually bring his cousin with him whenever the three of them would gather and Ren would sometimes bring Naruto with him. He has no complaints on Naruto being there except for when he and Sasuke would argue about every little thing that caught both of their attention.
Kanata was relieved though. Despite going through something a child shouldn't have, he was glad that Sasuke was acting like a child still. However, the person that worried him greatly seemed to be Ren. The young Nohara seemed to be back to normal but Kanata knew better than that.
Ren couldn't sleep.
He couldn't fall asleep no matter what he does because he was afraid of dreaming that nightmare again. It was night time already and his Oyaji was still away on a mission. His friend, Uchito Ouya, hasn't shown up. Now that he thinks about, there was something familiar about him and why was everyone so cautious of him? Especially... Shusuke. Why had his eyes glinted with familiarity? His heart ached at the thought of his friend and teammate. No matter what, it would seem only time would be able to ease his pain.
It has been days since he had been able to sleep peacefully. Every night, he would be haunted by his nightmares and when he abruptly wakes up from one of them, he could never go back to sleep in fear of dreaming it again if he did. He couldn't lie still on his bed and soon, he sat down with a grunt. He couldn't sit still. He wasn't exhausted and he refuses to go to sleep so what he should do now? Contemplate of what he should do now? He had thought the life of a ninja is worth it. But was it really? Was it really worth it? Was everything he decided up until now was only made on a whim?
Did he even think everything through? Ren sighed, placing a hand on his temple in deep thought. Frankly, he was at loss. What should he do now? He wasn't so sure if everything will go according to Canon. There were various anomalies that prevent Canon from happening. Eita, Kanata, Shikanai, Inoue, Chomi and him weren't exactly canon characters, were they? In the original timeline, they didn't even exist. Or maybe they did and they weren't even important or died at birth. Maybe the original Ren died during the release of the nine tails and died in his mother's womb.
"Why am I even thinking about the original timeline? If I think about it, this might not even be Canon. Major events will still happen but... I... I don't know anymore..." a sigh of defeat passed through his lips. He was so, so confused right now. Everything was at a standstill and he has no idea of what could happen... does he even want to know what could happen right now when he's so unstable? A groan of displeasure and confusion came from his throat. The night's still long and he's still wide awake. If this continues, he might overthink everything by tomorrow.
"Honestly, what can I even do? I had thought that becoming a ninja would be worth it because being a normal civilian would mean being defenseless if fights happen. And being in a world where ninjas are treated as military tools, I wouldn't be surprised if fights happen far too often than it did back in my previous world," he rambled silently in the dark night. Sometimes, he even forgets where he had come from and where he had lived before being reborn in this world. Everything became an uncertainty to him. To begin with, why had he been given a second chance to live in the first place?
It wasn't like he had the worst life before, right?
His second life... what had he regretted back then in the first place? What did he regret before he passed away? Was it not being able to do the things he wanted? What did he miss in his previous life? He doesn't know. He just doesn't know. "Crap, this is frustrating," he groaned as he messed up his hair. He shivered; since when did it get so cold? He opened his eyes calmly as a thought entered his messed up mind. Maybe it was because he was a mess right now or maybe it was because the silence was deafening right now but he remembered the lullaby his deceased mother hummed when he was still in her womb.
It was a lullaby he treasured because it was the only thing he received from his mother in this life and the only thing that reminds him of his sister in his previous life. Since when did he forget about such an important thing?
"Tooku ni ite mo kimi ni todoku darou
Kono boku ga kokoro kome okuru messeeji
Kibou koso rashinban sa Ai wo yubisasu yo
Nemure Sotto nemure Asu wa yume tairiku
Kodoku ni obiete ita yuube no kimi
Boku no na wo yonde 'ta ne Mune ni terepashii
Kiseki nanka ja nai Towa ni ai wa enajii da kara
Nemure Sotto nemure Kanashimi wo wasurete
Jidai wa umi ni shizumu yuuhi no you sa
Hoshizora wo tobikoete kimi wo mukae ni yuku
Hoshizora wo tobikoete kimi wo mukae ni yuku
[Perhaps I can reach you, even though you're far away
I send you this message with all my heart
Hope is certainly a compass that points to love
Sleep, sleep gently, for tomorrow is a continent of dreams
Last night you were scared of loneliness
The telepathy in your heart called my name
It's not even a miracle that in the future our hearts will be energy
Sleep, sleep gently, forget your sorrow
The years sink into the sea like the setting sun
I'll jump across the starry sky to collect you
I'll jump across the starry sky to collect you]"
After singing the lullaby, his gaze averted from the wall to the starry sky outside. His shoulders felt a little lighter and his chest feels a little more at ease now. Perhaps what the lullaby meant was true. Even though Shusuke was far away in a place that he could never reach as long as he's alive, he could still talk to him through prayers. He could always treasure and reminisce the happy moments him, Shusuke and Kanata shared together throughout the years they've been together.
It doesn't necessarily mean that Shusuke's completely gone. "Heh, that's right," Ren heartily chuckled. "I became a ninja to survive, didn't I?" He asked a rhetorical question. "And I did not even realize that being a ninja, I was able to meet such wonderful people that I wished I met in my previous life." A jolt of shock hit him hard and as if ice cold water was thrown at him with how wide his eyes were. "I regret," he began with a shaky tone. "Not being able to live long enough to meet this kind of people, didn't I?" He questioned no one.
"That's right," he let out a shaky sigh. "I have a reason for being given a second chance. I didn't choose to be a civilian because I wouldn't accomplish what I unconsciously wanted four years ago. If I became a civilian, would I even meet people like Shikanai-san, Kanata-san and everyone else? If I didn't become a ninja, I would be wasting the life I was given to selfishly grab the chances I missed before. I would be wasting my chance." There was silence before he erupted into uncontrollable laughter. It took him a few moment to calm down as he fell back on his bed with a smile.
"Shusuke-kun must have regretted something... so, would he be reincarnated in another world as well?" That thought put him at ease a little. At the very least, his deceased friend would have another chance to grasp the things he missed in this life of theirs. The silence was no longer deafening as he tuned in the song of the night that he unconsciously tuned out earlier during his thoughts. His eyelids felt heavy and not even a minute later, he fell into a deep slumber free of nightmares. It was one of the best sleep he had in a while.
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A hundred and fifty-four-centimeter tall boy silently landed on a tree branch as his hazel eyes surveyed the surroundings. A few mountain bandits have been causing a ruckus in a nearby small village and his mission was to eliminate them. By eliminate, in his dictionary, it means to hand them over. He had been on vacation for quite some time and he wanted to get back on his feet since the Rookie Nine that would blow everyone away would graduate in a few weeks. A figure landed beside him and it made him look up at the taller figure.
"So, what's the plan, Captain?"
"You know it's just us two on this mission, right?"
"Positive, but it's nostalgic, isn't it?"
"... I guess so."
Their eyes surveyed the camp the bandits made on the outskirts of this village. The owner of the hazel orbs mentally counted he bandits and assumed that there were over thirty of them. There are possibly more resting inside the tents. They must be planning to go to another village to raid them of their valuables. "Cast a genjutsu in a ten-meter radius. Make sure none of the bandits will be able to escape. After that, it's who can do the job faster." The raven-haired teen smirked, ruffled the younger boy's hair, and followed his captain's order.
After casting the genjutsu that both of them were sure that none of the bandits can sense it, the both of them looked at each other with a smirk. "Last one to finish does the paperwork?" The taller figure challenged but it only made the smaller figure pout. "It is unfair. When I win, even though you are the loser, paperwork always ends up being done by me, Kanata." Uchiha Kanata chuckled under his breath as he messed up the younger boy's hair. It annoyed the boy but there was a ghost of a smile on his lips.
"Well, it's not my problem."
And with those words, Kanata ended up kissing the ground with Ren tying up the bandits.
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Author's Note: I just came back battling my writer's block and reviving after being killed by exams so yeah, I'm alive? Barely, even.
And regarding Shusuke-chan's fans, please don't kill me! *hides in a corner*
And I want to say that I love you guys so, so much for reading this fanfic of mine. Whenever I read your reviews, I always feel so giddy. Then again, even when I did, Writer's Block is still too powerful so yeah. Hehe. So I skipped to the present timeline where the Rookie NIne graduate since, well, I'm eager as well to write about this part.
And if any of you have any suggestion, please PM me. It would help me alot and once again, thank you so much!
