Hey guys, welcome back to another chapter of 'Immortalized'! Blows my mind that this is already the 19th installment of an idea that popped into my head one day. I'm super happy that you all are enjoying it so far, and damn! Already over 25K hits! That's awesome, seriously. You all rock. Anyways... On to the chapter!
Chapter 19
Lines in the Sand
It hadn't taken the Yondaime Kazekage Sabaku no Rasa long to subdue the Ichibi, and by proxy, his son, Gaara, and honestly, Naruto was pretty grateful that the redhead arrived when he did. The blonde shinobi had been in a short, but no less harrowing and dangerous fight between two S-Class Nin, which while hard enough to deal with was made several times harder when there was a loosed Jinchuriki thrown into the mix, of who he wasn't allowed to harm unless all else failed. That isn't to say that he couldn't have won against the enraged beast, just that he was grateful for the assistance, however late it had been in coming to him.
It was true that he could have eventually either woken up or completely sealed of the Ichibi and in turn, Gaara, but it would have taken some time to set up the appropriate seals and get everything into place. It came back on him, really. Naruto hadn't anticipated that he would be fighting this mission, and especially not against a kami-forsaken Jinchuriki of all things, let alone Akatsuki. This was supposed to be a strictly diplomatic mission, anyways, meant to do nothing more than inform the leadership in Sunagakure to the worldwide threat if they didn't already know.
And if they didn't know before, or for some reason didn't believe him when he briefed the Kazekage, the Suna council would have no choice to now, with them literally holding the evidence within their walls of the brief conflict with Akatsuki. Naruto sighed as he walked away from the Kazekage's building, the wind at his back and sand upon his feet as he tread aimlessly through the city. He had just come from the man's office himself, the day after the battle with the two men, now identified both as missing nin, and confirmed members of the organization they had feared. Naruto had been happy to collect on the bounty that was posted for both men, and he was also confident that it would raise his standing with the current Wind Shadow, as well, helping to convince the man to join the coalition.
The Kazekage was now meeting with his advisors, and the council of Suna was now looking over his proposal. The blonde was fairly sure that they would accept his request, and join the now budding alliance though, there was really nothing for them to lose in the arrangement, and everything for the village hidden in the sands to gain. Though Konoha had recently come through a war, they were still the biggest military superpower in the elemental nations, and the Leaf would happily prove it again to anyone who dared to ask. It couldn't hurt any nation to have an ally as such, with the Konoha Nin constantly proving that there was no better friend, and no worse enemy to have.
But it could also be shown as a double edged sword. While the Leaf was eager to keep up appearances and still show that they were indeed the strongest of the Big Five, it could be seen as a sign of weakness that they were asking for help and pushing for treaties as they were. The current Hokage however, was fond of the saying 'Do not mistake my Kindness for Weakness', and the Last Hatake fully planned on implementing this mindset into his shinobi and kunoichi. Naruto himself was in support of the mindset, and fully knew the benefits of having a vast array of allies, even across the varying nations and borders. At the end of the day, the border between one land and another was only a line written on paper, so it made sense to keep peace with one's neighbor.
All in all, he could count the trip to Sunagakure as a success, if and when the Kazekage accepted his proposal. And honestly, how could he not? Even his team had been successful in their mission, with Sakura retrieving many useful files on the deadly poisons and antidotes of the region, assisting and helping to renovating and change the Sand-Nin's own medical program in turn. The two male members, Sasuke and Sai, had been helpful in their turn as guards to the pink haired prodigal medic, and Sai had managed to even create a few paintings of the area, one of the few ways he was beginning to express himself emotionally. Sasuke had actually been the most bored out of the entire group, and spent almost the entirety of the time either training himself, or performing his duties with the Haruno girl.
The blonde sighed as he shook his head briefly, walking along the side street back towards the hotel he and his team were staying at. He had the rest of the day off, essentially, and the Kazekage's decision wouldn't be finalized until morning, after which his team would leave the village to return to Konoha, regardless of the decision. He had given his team the evening off, to do as they pleased, and once again Sakura had managed to drag the usually stoic Uchiha out to something or another, though he noted that Sasuke didn't really attempt to fight the girl off. And Sai, though Naruto himself had offered to go out with the pale man, had decided to stay in for the evening.
And that was fine with the blonde Jounin. He had plans of his own, after all. Shortly after his meeting with the Yondaime Kazekage, Rasa, right after he had left the room, he had been stopped by Temari, the shorter girl calling out to him and jogging light to catch him in the hallway. The two had conversed shortly, before the year-older blonde had blushed slightly (a cute sight if he had to say so himself), and then proceeded to ask him out to dinner, as a way of making up her first meeting to him, and to apologize for her father's behavior, attempting to order him around like a Suna nin.
Temari had made it very clear that she was sorry for her initial meeting with the blonde Jounin from Konoha, and had insisted that this was only her way of apologizing for trying to scrape him for information before his meeting with the leader of the village. Naruto had attempted to quell her anxiety over the whole scenario, but to no avail, and after a moment he had accepted her offer, and he was to meet her at her estate tonight to begin her 'apology'.
The blonde shinobi grinned slightly to himself as he walked, he could certainly use the chance to unwind, so he wasn't going to complain about it. And it was nice to be in the company of someone new every once and a while as well.
"…and in conclusion, the Sand accepts the treaty from the Leaf, under the conditions set forth and agreed upon by both parties." The Kazekage finished his sentence, still seated behind his desk as he finished signing and stamping his official on a scroll, before returning it to the blonde shinobi standing in front of him. Naruto couldn't help but grin, his endeavor having been a success with the new treaty that bonded the two villages of Sunagakure and Konohagakure. Things were beginning to look up, if the last few days were anything to go off of, aside from the Akatsuki battle, of course.
But even then, his fight with the two missing-nin could be counted as a plus, as he had been able to eliminate both of them, shortening the roster of Akatsuki even more than it had already been, and all known kills of the organization belonging to the blonde shinobi. Between the successes of his own Kage's proposal to the Sand, and with that of his teams own complete side-mission, things were indeed looking good. Granted, the two villages already had a previously existing treaty, but it still was a fairly large step to take, for all villages.
All of these thoughts raced through Naruto's and his teams head's as they made their way towards the exit of the village, ready to embark on the small journey towards home with report of their completion. The Hokage would be pleased with them, and with any luck, Jiraiya would also be back in the village, maybe even with some new intelligence on the very organization that they would all soon begin hunting. But most importantly, the team of four would be granted some downtime, something that the blonde leader of the group was very much looking forward too. All the politics of merely setting up an arrangement like this hurt his head and stressed him out much more than any battle could.
Maybe it was because in battle the Legacy of the Yondaime ran by instinct and experience alone, ignoring all else in the heat of combat, trusting only in his own guts and abilities, trusting himself. In battle, the lighthearted, if somewhat damaged, blonde became an absolute menace to any enemy he faced, his analytical and evasive mind taking over, planning three, four, five, even six moves ahead in the metaphorical game of chess, while still acting and reacting by the seat of his pants, operating on a level plane the whole time. Such was the mindset that had won him every fight of the war, as also did his immense sense of honor and justice.
Naruto was yanked from his thoughts once more as his team finished filling out the appropriate forms and papers to leave the village, stepping outside of the walls into the heat of the unforgiving desert, out into the immensely bright sun across the ocean of sand. He looked to his teammates, and was about to give the order than would set their pace for the remainder of the day, before once again, for the second time in two days, he heard his name being called, and in a voice he had come to grow somewhat fond of in the short time he had been there. The Last Uzumaki turned around, and was almost immediately greeted by the dusty blonde hair of his fellow Jounin, Temari.
The woman wasted no time in running up to him, stopping just shy of being in his face, a look of ashamed anger written across her features, hands on her hips. The blonde shinobi idly noticed that the woman before his was wearing the same garb as she had the day they had met, absentmindedly noting how it somehow seemed to fit her very well, before she began talking, her words making him blush in slight embarrassment as his team stood by and watched. "So, Naruto."(The girl still put the same emphasis on his name as the first time she had spoken to him, much to his chagrin), "You were just going to leave without saying goodbye? And here I thought you were a gentleman…"
Cobalt eyes met Teal ones as the Naruto looked down into the eyes of the girl he had spent the previous evening with, his right arm coming up to scratch the back of his head in a sheepish manner, his other hand raised in a half-apology as he spoke. "Temari! Great to see you here! I wasn't trying to ditch out on you! No, I just, uhh…" The blonde was grasping at straws as he began to break down, doing all he could not to irritate the girl in front of him who had a reputation for nailing people with her heavy metal battle fan. "I just didn't want to wake you! 'Cause you know, it's pretty early and I figured you'd rather sleep?" Naruto let out a mental sigh as he stammered his excuse out, it seemed to be working as he noticed the girl's eyes begin to soften.
Meanwhile, the trio that was Sakura, Sasuke, and Sai all stood by and watched with varying emotions to the whole thing ranging from one end of the spectrum to the other. The pale faced and budding artist Sai was merely concerned with how long this conversation was going to take, and how much it would affect the groups travel plans, while Sakura was thinking about how cute the two would look as a couple, you know, girl stuff. Sasuke would have smirked and made a snide comment about it, or cracked a joke at the antics of the two blondes before him, had the young Haruno woman next to him not 'gently' elbowed him playfully in the ribs.
"Why don't you two go get a room, and we'll leave in the morning!" Both Jounin's head snapped around so fast it made Naruto's modified Hiraishin look slow, a blush already heatedly formed on both the man and woman as they glared daggers at the pinkette of the modified Team Seven. Sakura only let out a laugh and stuck out her tongue, and even Sasuke was holding in a chuckle, while Sai barely had cracked a smile. Naruto returned his attention, after a brief moment, to the woman in front of him, the blush only just barely leaving Temari's face. He opened his mouth to speak, but was stopped by the very woman herself, stepping close to him and placing a single finger across his parted lips.
"Stop. I'm going to talk for a minute, and you're going to listen, alright?" At the male shinobi's brief nod, Temari lowered her hand, watching in satisfaction as Naruto's mouth remained closed. She had him right where she wanted him, and only now that the blonde had him there, she didn't quite know what she wanted to say, so she took a page out of her counterparts book and just went with her instinct, speaking softly, but strongly enough that her voice only slightly carried. "Naruto… Thank you. For evert" It was Temari's turn to be cut off as Naruto began speaking, slightly over her, one of his hands laid delicately on her shoulder.
"You don't have to say a word." At this, the male shinobi dragged his hand lightly from her shoulder to the woman's cheek, cupping it softly in his right hand, stroking his thumb across it lightly and ever so softly brushing away the tear that was threatening to form in her eye, the teal orbs of the Desert Flower never leaving the azure ones of Konoha's own Demon Fox, their faces only a few inches apart. Temari's lips were parted slightly, and her eyes were nearly half lidden, the light smile on Naruto's face clear as day for her, before she was pulled to her senses as the man let go of her, turning on his heel and heading back towards his team, barking out the order to move out as he did so.
Naruto spared a single, solitary glance over his shoulder at the dusty blonde, before giving a small nod, speaking just loudly enough for her to hear him over the wind, before he jumped off to rejoin his team. "Look out for Gaara, for me. He needs his family, now more than ever." Noticing his words had been heard, the blonde channeled chakra to his legs, leaping across the sand dunes, and taking only mere seconds to rejoin and then lead his team. The team had only been moving for a few minutes before the teasing began, and the leader of Team Seven did his best to take it in stride, enjoying the small moments of peace between missions, before Sakura spoke up, asking a question this time.
"Naruto, what was she thanking you for? It didn't sound like it was about the treaty at all." The pinkette questioned, genuinely curious as to an insight into the man that while was her own age, had seen and experienced so much more than the Chunin. The blonde shinobi merely glanced over to her briefly, giving a soft, yet sad smile as he did so, the woman not missing the small twinkle in his eye that passed, however briefly as he spoke, before turning his head back towards the horizon, and their home, as his thoughts returned to the night before in Suna.
"I helped her brother come home."
Flashback- The Night Before
It was dark in Sunagakure no Sato, the evening light barely piercing the darkness of the void that is night, a soft breeze fluttering through the hot and dry desert air, as the couple walked down the street. Naruto and Temari were on the back end of their 'not-a-date', and ever the gentleman, the shinobi of Konoha was currently walking the blonde woman home. The sandy blonde was currently walking next to him, her arm wrapped around his as the two laughed, Naruto telling one of the many stories that he had from his travels across the elemental nations. It wasn't long before the two came to the large gates the denoted the home of the Kazekage and his children.
The two stood in front of the woman's home, briefly talking quietly amongst themselves, Temari moving to stand in front of her blonde counterpart, gripping her hands together behind her back. It was odd, but if the woman was honest with herself, she had had an amazing time tonight with Naruto, even if it had been her idea in the first place, and built as an apology more than anything else. The teal-eyed woman actually had been quite upset that she had tried to extort the blonde when he first set foot in the village, especially when he had more or less saved her brother, and though he had no obligation to, defended her village from an enemy threat.
The Jounin of Suna was pulled from her thoughts by the proximity that had closed between the two, almost unconsciously in the cool night air. They were mere inches apart now, and still talking rather happily to each other, and the girl was honestly having the time of her life, it had been so long since she had been looked at as anything other than a member of the military, a combatant, and though this evening had started out as a way to make amends, she was surprised to find that the Jounin from Konoha was more akin to treat her as a woman, than as a fighter. A fact which she certainly was enjoying.
Blue eyes met teal once more that night, but before anything more could happen between the two, a feeling of rage, bloodlust, and…confusion fell across the two. Naruto's eyes merely narrowed, while Temari's widened, she would have recognized the aura that was washing over her anywhere. After all, she'd lived in fear of it every day for the last twenty years. Not a lot could shake her, she was a very experienced Jounin, after all, and had faced her fair share of opponents, but this feeling, it shook her to the core, and no matter how much she tried, it would never leave her. Her thoughts of such matters were broken, but this time by the blonde in front of her, speaking softly, yet calmly and full of authority and confidence, not an inch of fear in the younger man's voice.
"Temari, I had a wonderful time tonight, but unfortunately it seems we're going to have to cut this a little short. Please go inside, and I'll see you later, ok? There's someone here I need to talk to." And just like that, he was gone, the chest she had had her hands resting against vanishing in a flash of dull blue, reappearing on the rooftop adjacent to the one she was at. Temari spared him and the figure he was standing across from a small glance, before she heeded the advice of the blonde shinobi, turning and walking inside of her home, doing her best to quell her fear.
With Naruto, things were quite different from the lighthearted way that they'd been not a few minutes prior. The Konoha Jounin stood on one edge of the roof, clad in moonlight, the beams gracing his sun-kissed skin glowing faintly under the moon's rays. Across from his stood the stoic and cross-armed figure of the Jinchuriki of the Ichibi, Sabaku no Gaara. Naruto mimicked him, and the two both took a few steps forward, now standing only a single yard apart, green, pupil lacking eyes staring into the fierce cobalt of his own, orbs that had faced down countless enemies and come out on top.
"Gaara, fancy meeting you here." The blonde began, watching intently as the redhead raised one of his nonexistent eyebrows, opting now to merely listen to the blonde Jounin from Konoha who had bested him, killing both of his assailants, before aiding in tearing him down from his full Bijuu form, returning his humanity. "What's with the death glare? I was having a good time with Temari."
"Why do you fight, Uzumaki?" The redhead began, speaking softly, his voice monotone as he talked, his eyes never leaving those of the blonde. "I know you contain within you the Kyuubi, I can sense it, as can Shukaku. Yet, you did not use its power in the fight, even when I used the full strength of my abilities. Do you fight for yourself, as I do? Proving your existence through erasing others from it? Through their pain, through their death?" The man's voice rose as he spoke, his tone lingering in the air.
Naruto gazed at the man, and for a moment, his eyes softened, seeing a bit of himself in the redhead, before he had been found and taken in by Jiraiya. "It's almost unbearable, isn't it, the pain of being all alone. I know that feeling; I've been there, in that dark and lonely place, but now there are others, other people who mean a lot to me. I care more about them than I do myself, and I won't let anyone hurt them." At this, the blondes eyes narrowed, and he looked back up from the ground to lock eyes with those of Gaara's, before his gaze hardened and he continued. "And I will defend them with my life, from anyone and everyone, I'll never give up. I will face you, your father, all of Suna, even Kami himself if they threaten my loved ones."
Again, his gaze softened, but he never broke eye contact, and taking a step forward, Naruto did something that hadn't happened to Gaara in years. The blonde shinobi reached out, and laid his hand on the redhead's shoulder, squeezing it softly as he spoke, no sand coming to remove his arm. "They saved me from myself. They rescued me from my loneliness. They were the first to accept me as who I am. They're my friends, and god dammit if they're not the only thing I have left." The blonde let a soft smile grace his features, as he lowered his arm, already able to see the gears turning behind the man's head.
"I'm not saying it's easy, Gaara, because it isn't. There's been days where I break, nights where I fall, but when you put yourself on the line for someone, they put themselves on that line for you. Yesterday, when we fought the Akatsuki, I put myself on that line for you, because you and me?" Here, Naruto paused, before he slowly back away from the redhead, turning his back of the Suna Nin before he whispered over his shoulder, so quiet Gaara himself could barely hear him, his voice a hoarse whimper on the wind. "We're the same."
And with that, the blonde vanished for the second time that night in a flash of blue, leaving the redheaded Jinchuriki alone to ponder his thoughts, lowering his head to look at his palm for the first time in a long time able to see past the blood that had stained it, the ravings of the beast in his mind oddly quiet tonight. The redhead looked up to the moon, it the last crescent of is waning, muttering softly to himself before disappearing as the wind blew the sand that had been his form away. "Fighting… for others…"
Later that night, the moon that had watched so many events unfold in the last couple days would find Temari, sitting in the common area of her home, attempting to read a scroll, unable to sleep from the series of events after her 'not-a-date' with the blonde shinobi, Naruto. It would watch as the woman's youngest brother came into the room, startling her, before it walked over to sit next to her, speaking softly, before the girl teared up, and then, unable to hold it back any longer, began crying unashamedly. It would continue to watch as the redheaded Jinchuriki, depraved of human contact for so long, slowly and cautiously wrapped his sister in an uncertain hug.
It would watch, as a blonde haired man watched the two from the rooftop of a building on the opposite end of the street, smiling softly to himself as he watched the spectacle unfold, before vanishing in a small puff of smoke, signature of a Kage Bunshin. And finally, the moon would hear the final two words that the menace of Suna had spoken to his crying dusty-blonde older sister for the night, as she finally let out all of her pent up emotion for the younger boy.
"I'm sorry."
End Flashback- The Night Before
"…And after that, our return trip was safe an uneventful, Team Seven made good time and reports that the envoy to Sunagakure was successful." Naruto finished, him and the modified Team Seven standing at attention before their Hokage, the silver haired cyclops himself idly looking through the report provided by the blonde, the group having arrived earlier that morning, immediately going to their leader to report their finished endeavor. The Godaime absentmindedly reached his hand behind his head, scratching it softly as he looked through it once more.
The blonde shinobi in his office seemed to attract trouble and mishap wherever he went, these days, and it was only through pure skill and dumb luck that he continued to come out on top. Kakashi sighed, this was supposed to be an easy and uneventful mission, merely securing the partnership of another village, and here the man had encountered not just one, but two S-Ranked criminals, of the very organization they soon be hunting. And then, as if the situation couldn't have gotten worse, the Jinchuriki he was supposed to protect turned on him, yet the man had still managed to come through relatively unharmed.
The last member of the Hatake clan opened his eye briefly, before waving his hand and dismissing the ninja from the room, aside from his sensei's son, needing to ask him a few questions. The two men locked eyes, the blonde shinobi crossing his arms over his chest as he moved forward to stand center stage on the Hokage's desk. "So, what do you think?" The newest Kage of Konoha was a smart man, and as such, he knew that sometimes the best intelligence was off of the hunches of others, especially those that he trusted enough to lead missions in the field. A hunch was a hunch, and in the world of ever evolving combat and intense battle, one's instincts was the only thing he could trust.
The Jounin in the room raised his eyebrow slightly, never breaking eye contact with his superior as he spoke, choosing his words carefully, yet speaking with confidence as he did so. "What do I think? I think that we're definitely on Akatsuki's radar, now. When I began fighting the two men, I felt a third signature some distance off, watching us, but couldn't make it out clearly in the fight. They also know that I hold the Kyuubi, though it appears that they don't yet know I can't use its power." Naruto paused, bringing one of his hands to stroke his chin slowly while he was in thought, absentmindedly making a mental note to shave, he had grown some scruff over the last couple days, before he regained his thoughts and as he spoke again.
"The two I encountered in Suna, Hidan and Kakuzu, they looked surprised to see me, meaning that they didn't know I was going to Suna, so their intelligence was lacking before, though now that I have killed three of them they are sure to watch more carefully." The man lowed his hand, raised his head to make contact with the silver haired Hokage behind his desk, before speaking the final piece of information that had gone through his mind over the last few days. "But, it's only a matter of time before they send someone after the Nine-Tails. Sooner or later, they're going to be coming for me."
The silver haired Hokage narrowed his single, visible eye as he contemplated what the blonde had said, having come to much the same conclusion himself. It wasn't exactly good news to hear, that a group of elite shinobi were going to be coming for one of your villages best ninja, Jinchuriki or no Jinchuriki. It also made the news that he was about to give the dull blonde worse, especially combining it with what was already known. He cleared his throat, gathering his thoughts before he began briefing the blonde on what he knew, and what little information the Toad Sage himself had gathered.
"Yes, and it doesn't bode well for you, for us, or for the rest of the Jinchuriki." Here the man stole himself a brief moment, watching and sizing up the young man in front of him, he was truly beginning to look the part of his father, the blonde hair and serious demeanor notwithstanding. Pulling himself out of his thoughts, the Last Hatake began speaking once more, the lines on his brow deepening, had they been visible behind his Hitai-Ite. "While you were on your mission in Sunagakure, Jiraiya had his own run-in with the Akatsuki, and before you ask, yes he is alright. No combat ensued, as Jiraiya was able to effectively stall them until backup arrived, but the two members still got away."
Kakashi and Naruto's eye contact had never been clearer as the younger man's eyes narrowed at the newest revelation, watching his leader intently, yet never speaking, keeping his thoughts directed inwards as the man continued to speak. "The two members he encountered were both quite powerful in their own right, and I'm sure you would recognize them anywhere. The first, was Hoshigaki Kisame, S-Ranked missing-nin from Kiri and former member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, and his partner… His partner was Uchiha Itachi. They were looking for you." The silver haired Kage stopped here, not even needing to go into the profile that he had of the man, Naruto already knowing everything he needed to from his time in ANBU.
The Last Uzumaki closed his eyes as his head lowered, on one hand, both of these opponents were quite powerful in their own right, but at the same time, now he knew who was coming after him, and that gave him time to come up with plans for defeating them, if and when they should come after him. It was more of an advantage than anything else, as the organization was going to be coming for him eventually, that much was certain because of his tenant, but with the proper intelligence he could build a counter for them, and plan around their abilities. For example, now that he knew Kisame was one of the people targeting him, he could create seals that would work against the man's water Ninjutsu, and as for Itachi… That battle would be hard fought and close, no matter how he prepared himself, the man was something of a legend within the ANBU Corps.
Pulling himself from his thoughts, the blonde raised his head, coming into contact with his Hokage as he spoke once more. "If you'll excuse me then Hokage-Sama, I have some preparations to make, now that my enemies are known. If you have nothing else for me?" The older man simply nodded, already pulling out his favored small orange book as he leaned back in the chair, the blonde man having already disappeared in a small yet distinct flash of blue before he had even been fully waved off. Kakashi sighed softly to himself, being the Hokage was boring sometimes, but he had a feeling it was going to pick up soon, and at least he had the blonde and Jiraiya to help take some of the weight off his shoulders.
Hell, the Uzumaki Heir was doing a great job both as a ninja and as a leader, and Kami knew that he was stronger than the current Hokage, perhaps when all this was said and done he'd pass the village onto the younger man, who knew? But Kakashi's mind had already moved on from his musings, his attention now completely focused on the scene with Yuei and Tsuki in the bathhouse after a long and stressful day of work, his sing visible eye tilted upward in a mischievous and lecherous grin as he read.
It was the little things in life that one appreciates the most.
"Come on Boss! Let's go already!"
The words came from Konohamaru, the small boy running out ahead of him as they moved through the forest, the two were the epitome of a typical older and younger brother, out playing in the wilderness, the training ground near Konoha's Ninja Academy. The two boys were currently looking for their young friends, Udon and Moegi, who were hiding and waiting to 'ambush' them in the game they were playing, and so far, the two had done a pretty good job of it. Blue eyes scanned the wilderness, and the blonde couldn't help but to let out a chuckle as the young child in front of him tripped up of his scarf, falling into the ground and landing flat on his face.
Naruto moved to the young boy, a smile on his face as helped him up, the younger one smiling as well as he did so, he always had a good time with his pseudo older brother when they went out. Konohamaru respected the blonde deeply, and had even taken to wearing the goggles that the Jounin himself used to wear when he was a smaller child, before he had earned his Hitai-Ite. The two didn't have a chance to talk any more though, for as soon as the Sarutobi was back on his feet, two figures burst from the shadows of either side, screaming a battle cry as they impacted with the blonde and brunette, sending them all into a pile on the ground.
The Last Uzumaki couldn't hold it in anymore, he began laughing, soon joined in by the laughter and joyous cries of the three children tangled up with him, the two would-be attackers revealed to be Udon and Moegi, having sprung their trap on the other two. But then, all too suddenly, the laughter stopped, and the girl that was in his arms became cold, he felt something dripping along his arms and legs, pooling into his lap, the blondes own laughter dying off rather quickly. The stanch of copper filled the air, and for some reason, Naruto had the worst feeling in the pit of his stomach, right before he looked down, his mouth opening into a silent scream at what he found.
In his now bloodstained arms was the lifeless body of Moegi, her mouth open in a shriek of death that never came, both of her eyes black and without light, wounds littering her body from head to toe. Naruto tore his head away from her, and amid the screams of 'Boss!' he saw the forms of Konohamaru and Udon, clutching each other for support, the latter missing limbs, the former with a wound in his belly so wide and open he could see through it. They were calling out to him, looking him dead in the eye as they begged him, pleaded with him for help, but the blonde shinobi, winner of battle after battle, capable of surmounting impassible odds, couldn't move his body, couldn't look away as his pseudo-siblings bled to death, more and more wounds appearing on their bodies as they called out desperately to him in death.
Their screams haunted him as he clutched the body in his arms, still painfully aware of the blood from the girl seeping into his clothes, past the fabric now and directly onto his skin washing over it in a cascade of crimson flow. The two boys had reached him, both of their cold, dead hands gripping onto his body in a vice, he was unable to shake them off, their sorrow and hurt drowning him completely. And then, just like someone had flipped a light switch, it stopped, all of it, gone. Moegi lying in his arms, asking him over and over to save her, gone. Konohamaru and Udon, desperately calling out to their friend and mentor, pleading for help, vanished.
And then he heard it, and it made the blondes heart sink to a low it hadn't been very many times in his life, a low that was reserved for only few dire occasions, as the sweet, beautiful melody assaulted his ears. It started out soft and subtle, barely reaching his ears over the silence of the forest, before it became louder, and louder, and louder, until it was a full on assault on his ears that would have left them bleeding, had they been able to from the attack. The melody itself was one he would recognize anywhere, he had come home to it being played several times and on more than one occasion had listened to the musician behind it play it in joy. But now, it terrified him to no end.
Finding himself no able to move, Naruto slowly turned himself around, tears threatening to form in his eyes as he moved, his fist clenched as he did so, praying to every god he knew and hoping against hope that it wasn't who he knew it to be. And sure enough, when he finished turning and rose his head, opening his eyes in a mortified panic, he laid his eyes upon her for the first time in over a year. She hadn't changed at all, wearing the exact same thing that she had been when they attacked Otogakure, nothing about her had changed, the woman he had once loved was now standing before him, merely a few yards away.
She wore the now standardized black combat sandals, choosing to keep her feet bare, leaving only a small amount of bandages wrapping her ankles for a small amount of support. Moving up past her long slender legs was a pair of short, and tight black spandex shorts, with a brown combat skirt that had a slit up the center over it, stopping at her mid-thigh over it. The skirt was held up by a thin combat styled black belt that had been custom made, and contained a special sheathe for her combat flute, in addition to the normal pouches for her shuriken and kunai. Her upper body was clothed in a black compression shirt on underneath a gray, slightly looser fitting shirt, the sleeves stopping just under her elbows. Her hair was held back by the Konoha Hitai-Ite that she proudly wore on her forehead, a small tuft of hair falling down between her eyes, the rest of her gorgeous red hair falling around behind her on her shoulders.
There was one addition to the redhead, one that Naruto now found himself unable to tear his eyes away from, no matter how hard he tried- The gaping hole that was in the woman's left breast, directly where her heart should have been. Naruto made no move to hide it now, not that he could as his ability to move was once again stolen from him, but he cried. He balled, his tears flowing out and his voice calling out her name in a hoarse whisper that he himself couldn't even here. He screamed out her name, called to her, anything and everything he could think of, but he was powerless, his voice never reaching the girl over the sound of her flute and his own helplessness. Than man who had killed all who dared oppose his village in the name of its defense, was powerless.
Naruto watched as the blood from her heart wound oozed out from the hole in her chest, so large and deep he could visibly see the void of nothingness behind her, the crimson liquid leaking out and staining her clothing, as Tayuya opened her eyes, and gave him a smile, lowering the flute from her mouth as she walked towards him. Her smile was different though, it wasn't the loving one that he got when he had held her in his arms, or the smirk he'd receive when he'd tease her about something, or even the laughing half smile he'd see when she was still half asleep and didn't even know it. This was a malicious grin, full of anger, resentment, and wrath.
The woman walked close to him, standing mere inches from the powerless blonde, the now fallen and broken hero of the Leaf, and he was forced to look into her eyes. Gone were the loving chocolate orbs he had fallen in love with, and in their place were black, pupil-less ones that were filled to the brim with madness. Tayuya leaned in close to the blonde, the silence deafening as she moved her lips close to his ear, so close he could feel her cold breath falling across his neck, biting like icy daggers as she spoke.
"You didn't save me, Naruto. You let me die."
The Last Uzumaki awoke with a frightening start, sitting up in his bed like a rocket, screaming out the name of his departed lover with hoarse vocal cords. His pupils were dilated, so much so that the fierce cobalt of his eyes was barely visible in the moonlight that pierced the darkness. The man's hands clenched tightly, his knuckles white and blood slowly dripping from his now cut palms. His usually vibrant blonde hair was disheveled and messy, a light sheen of sweat covering his entire body. The man's scream out for Tayuya quickly became just that, nothing but a scream itself, before it finally died off, the blonde man finally coming to his senses, realizing that he was still only in his house, sleeping in his bed, and that the recent events that were so clear in his mind were only a dream.
Naruto slowly forced himself to relax, lessening the tension that had stricken his entire body, breathing as heavy as he would normally do during a tough fight, his entire body poised to deliver or take a blow. He forced himself back down to the bed, noticing angrily that he had bled over the sheets in his dream-induced rage, he'd have to buy more to replace them. He laid there for a few minutes, before he finally grunted to himself in acknowledgement, pulling himself out of the bed, and then walking towards the door, grabbing clothing as he went. By the time he reached the front door to his house, he was completely dressed, wearing his usually ninja garb, but tonight, without any of his weapons, and a long red shirt in place of his usually dark green sleeveless one.
It didn't take him long to reach his destination, not the memorial stone like he had originally planned, but tonight coming to rest on the top of the Hokage Monument, more specifically on top of the Yondaime, his father's head. He stood there for a while, watching the light snow that began to dust the ground. Winter was in season in Konoha, and though it didn't snow much, it was still magical to watch the small flakes flutter to the ground, even if they did melt as soon as they came in contact with it, leaving no trace of their existence. The blonde shinobi absentmindedly reached into his pocket, and with still shaking hands he pulled a pack of cigarettes out, grabbing one and forcing it into his mouth, lighting it with a small and controlled fire jutsu in between the tips of his fingers.
Smoking was a habit, a bad habit that he had taken up recently after one of his very frequent nightmares. It helped him take the edge off, and the smell of the tobacco helped bring him back to reality, to the here and now, and he finally understood why the old Sandaime had smoked as well, after witnessing so much in his long and battle scared life. The Jounin took a long drag of the cigarette, allowing the smoke to build in his mouth and in his lungs, getting the maximum effect from the burning substance, before he slowly and carefully exhaled, in a calm and controlled manner, noting that his hands had finally stopped moving, relaxing himself slightly.
He'd been having these dreams for months, now. At least four times a week he was burdened with them, and while usually he was able to control himself, there were times when he was unable to pull himself from the dream before it got too rough, never able to fall asleep directly after. Tayuya had been able to help quell the nightmares he got from the war, and especially the ones he had about Konohamaru and his friends, but now she was gone, and the blonde was alone. He could fight any battle, climb any mountain, swim any river, but against his own person demons, Naruto was powerless. He was completely unable to fight against himself.
For all he did, for all he had done, the blonde had still failed. He had promised to protect Konohamaru, and Udon and Moegi, and they had all died. He had promised to protect Tayuya with his life, and she was killed before his very eyes. He had promised every ninja under his command that he would bring them home to their families alive and well, and then watched as they died under his charge. He had promised Ebisu that he would not make a fool out of the man's Genin team, and told him to call on him if he ever needed help, but now he too lie dead, the blonde shinobi being the one to find him. He had promised so much, and he failed beyond all belief.
Naruto took another drag off of his cigarette, before he threw it to the ground in anger after noticing that it had run dry, pulling another one from his pack an lighting it as well, puffing on it in the midnight air as he stood atop his father's head, wanting desperately to talk to the man, but no words coming to his mouth. Hoping beyond hope for the familiar, yet alien touch of a mother's embrace, and knowing it would never come. For all the friends that Uzumaki Naruto had in the world, for the honorary title of 'Godfather' that was bestowed upon the great Toad Sage himself, and for the legendary medic that was becoming like a long lost grandmother to him, Naruto had never felt more alone, more isolated, than he did when he returned from the last battle of the war, the lifeless body of his love in his arms.
The Last Uzumaki sucked the final dregs of the tobacco into his mouth, before blowing it out angrily, never noticing, nor caring about the shining star that seemed to sparkle in an almost remorseful manner, falling directly above the blonde shinobi, and watching over him for the remainder of the night, a guardian angel, hiding in the night.
Author's Note:
Well, that's it for another chapter. I'm doing my best to showcase the clear issues that Naruto is struggling with, and though I've never really written before, I think I am doing a decent job of it, Just to clarify, these problems aren't going to be something that disappears overnight, PTSD is a full-time struggle, and it's hard every step of the way. Anyways…
That's all I got. Out.
