Please see the end note for the status of future chapters
CHAPTER RATING: T
…
Chapter 31: The Waterfall of Truth
"Land, ho!" The grizzled captain called out loudly across the deck of the ship. Naruto, Kakashi, Gai, and Sakura busted through the doorway from the bridge. They're eyes gazed through the fog to a large mass of land that lay right in front of them. Everyone of them marveled at the beauty of this seemingly untouched island.
Well, everyone except for Gai, whose head was still spinning from seasickness.
The ship landed with loud crash. The crew began to descend before they heard a massive splash from behind them. Everyone on the deck turned to see eight tentacles emerge wildly from the sea. The tentacles wrapped around the ship, and pulled it back into the sea. The sudden impact knocked everyone down onto their backs.
Naruto's eyes opened, he felt a giant mass begin to wrap around him. It squeezed the life out of him, and began to pull him up.
"Naruto!" Sakura cried out while extending her hand forward.
"S-Sakura-chan!" The tentacle's grip tightened around his body; his own grip tightening around Sakura's hand. The effort was futile, however, as they were lifted into the air with the force of the tentacle. Naruto released his grip from Sakura's hand, as he was pulled up from the deck. He saw her image shrink from his vision while he was being forced up.
He looked back and saw that a squid-not an octopus had taken hold of him. But from out of the blue sea, another mass of tentacles emerged forcefully through the ocean. Droplets from the splash fell upon the deck like rain. Naruto focused again, and saw that this new monster of the deep had a strangely odd look.
Yes, it had eight tentacles.
But it also had two massive arms.
And the head of a bull, with eyes as white as snow.
He watched it deliver a massive fist towards the squid's head. The next thing Naruto remembered feeling was the sensation of air rushing upward as he careened toward the ship's wooden deck.
His head whipped back when his back collided with the deck. All went black after that.
…
He awoke at what seemed hours later, to the voices of people chattering around him. He looked up and saw his teammates, and someone he had never seen before. A man wearing a white outfit with dark shades, bleach-blonde hair, and a multitude of swords strapped to his body.
He turned up and saw Sakura's face. She held his head in her arms, awaiting him to wake up. She smiled at him as his eyes opened.
"Sakura-chan? Wh-Where are we?" he asked with confusion.
"We made it onto the island when you fell." She smiled. "He's the one who saved us." She pointed up, Naruto looked over, and saw a man wearing a white outfit and dark shades; he sported bleach-blonde hair, and had swords strapped onto multiple parts of his body.
He looked over at Naruto and walked towards him. He extended his hand towards Naruto.
"Killer Bee." He said assertively.
Naruto extended his hand, and grasped it onto Killer Bee's.
"Uzumaki Naruto." He took hold of Killer Bee's hand, and smiled as he was pulled up by the massive man. "So…How did YOU…" Naruto asked with curiosity "…save everyone?" Killer Bee gave a disapproving look.
"Fool." He stepped back and began to move his arms while speaking. "I came here to save you and your crew, I can see it in your eyes, I know you. You're one like me…We are, both, Jinchuuriki."
Naruto offered a confused look to Killer Bee's response.
What the hell? Why is this guy talking like this?
"I'm here to teach you, Uzumaki Naruto. Let's see if you can pass this test."
Killer Bee extended his fist. Naruto looked at his fist, looked at Killer Bee, and looked at Sakura. He balled up his fist, and met Killer Bees.
"Good."
…
"Wait, I still don't understand, how can you be…"
He heard a voice echo in his head.
"Uzumaki Naruto!" the voice called out. "Listen to me!"
Naruto saw that the image of the person…or thing that was speaking with him, was the same monster that had punched the squid when he was being held high above the deck of the ship.
"Who…Who are you?" Naruto asked
"I am Gyūki, the Eight-Tails. I can see that you, yourself are the Jinchuuriki of Kurama, the most fearsome, ambitious, and ruthless of us all."
Naruto nodded at how much he could know.
"This man, Killer Bee, will be the one that will teach you how to control Kurama, the least we can hope for is that you can control him, if you cannot establish the same thing that we have."
Naruto's face held as amazed stare as he heard what The Eight-Tails was saying.
"Control? What do you mean?"
"You will see, now then, follow Bee's instruction, and you will achieve your goal."
...
Naruto blinked, and found himself back in reality, his fist still connected to Killer Bee's own. He looked around and found that the entire team that he had come with surrounded him, concern in their eyes.
"Are you ready?" Killer Bee asked.
"I'm ready to do whatever it takes." Naruto replied.
"Good, Now follow me, and I will lead you to meet your destiny!"
Naruto smirked at the cheesy rhymes, and embarrassing hand gestures that Killer Bee delivered. But nevertheless, he followed.
…
Soon, he came across a waterfall, in a small pond; there was a single mass of land.
"This is the Waterfall of Truth." Killer Bee instructed. "One of the first things that you must do is to face yourself in a mirror, see your true self and realize that…" he paused for a second.
Naruto looked at him in confusion. "realize…what?"
Killer Bee tapped his chin with a pen. Sakura leaned over to Naruto.
"I think he's trying to come up with a rhyme." She whispered.
Killer Bee threw his hands up.
"I've got nothin'." He shrugged off.
Killer Bee pointed to the isolated island that emerged from the small pond.
"Sit there, and close your eyes. You're on your own from there."
…
Naruto slowly sat down and closed his eyes. A fog began to overtake him, when he opened his eyes, he saw an image of himself step forward out of the waterfall. Everything about this other Naruto was the same, everything except for his eyes, they were pitch black, except for blood colored pupils.
"Finally. Finally you decide to meet me." The mirror image said sarcastically. Naruto stood somewhat dumbfounded.
"W-Who…Who are you?" Naruto asked in confusion.
"Isn't it obvious? I am you."
"N-No…No you're not. I'm not like you. There's something wrong with you."
"Is there? Really? You know in your heart what I represent."
Naruto nodded solemnly.
"But…There's no way that I-"
"Ha! Don't deny what you know to be true! Denial only makes the truth hurt more!" Naruto's mirror image stepped up to Naruto himself, and looked at him straight in the eyes.
"I know you more than anyone else. More than Kakashi, More than Sasuke, even more that Sakura!" His gaze deepened with resolve and hatred. "Don't you understand?"
Naruto stood silent.
"WHO WAS IT THAT TOOK CARE OF US?!" The mirror image shouted. "ME!...WHO WAS THE ONE WHO MADE SURE YOU SURVIVED?!...ME!"
Every word that Naruto heard chipped away at his heart.
"I KNOW YOU MORE THAN EVERYONE ELSE! I was always here for you. I always cared for you. We survived BECAUSE OF ME! Our Hatred! Our Anger! THAT is what kept us alive!"
Naruto still stood in stunned silence, his head shifted downward. His mirror image grabbed his chin and met his eyes again. "There is no one out there that cares for you!"
"Not even Sakura." Naruto's eye's flinched.
"That's not true." Naruto replied with a deep and rumbling voice.
"NOT TRUE?! What are you, blind or stupid?! Don't you remember? How long have you longed for her?! Huh?! Ever since you were hated by the village, you always wanted her to love you."
"S-She told me that she-"
"How stupid are you? Or is it that you only have a selective memory? Don't you remember the Land of Iron?! SHE LIED TO YOU! SHE HURT YOU. After all those times we stood up for her, after all those times that we protected her…SHE DECIDED TO BREAK YOUR HEART! She's lying to you."
"That's…That's..."
"Admit it. You know it's true." He pushed Naruto's shoulder and mocked him even more. "Stop denying the truth. You want to try and control the Nine-Tails?" He placed his other hand on Naruto's shoulder. "What you need to do is embrace me, embrace the hatred that you hold for those people. Your ultimate goal is to defeat Sasuke."
He looked again at Naruto's eyes.
"To defeat someone like Sasuke…" He turned around. "You must become someone like Sasuke."
After what seemed like ages of silence, Naruto spoke up.
"No, you're wrong." He replied in a still deeper voice. His mirror turned and offered a skeptical look.
"You're wrong…I realize now that if there's enough room for me to love Sakura-chan…I can love myself just as much as I love her."
His image flinched, seemingly weakened.
"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, I TOLD Y-"
"You kept me safe all those years." Naruto gently interrupted. "But now, it's time to go home. We are one person. All you need to do now, if become part of me."
Naruto's image began to disappear at his words.
"You're right, you kept us alive, you kept us resilient, and I will never forget that."
His image began to charge towards him, and pulled back his fist.
"Finally. Finally, I can say…Thank you."
He embraced his image. The blackness in his eyes began to drain, and now Naruto was holding in his arms, an exact image of himself. Slowly, he disappeared, and soon, Naruto was holding onto nothing but air.
…
He opened his eyes, and to his disbelief, he found that he had a smile on his face.
"I can see it in your eyes, you've come to peace with yourself, at least you didn't cry…"
A single tear fell from Naruto's eye.
"…I guess I spoke to soon."
Naruto stood up and wiped at his eyes. Sakura rushed to him and hugged him.
"Naruto, are you okay? What's wrong?" she asked.
"N-Nothing." He replied with a low tone. "In fact, everything is better than ever." He smiled brightly as he answered.
"You've succeeded! Congratulations, now follow me for your final trial, and tribulations!"
Naruto began to follow Killer Bee again.
"Jinchuuriki only, no others, ya fools." He concluded. Sakura was slightly taken aback, but Naruto held her hand and reassured her that everything will be alright.
"I'll be back, Sakura-chan. Don't worry." She leaned over and kissed him. As their embrace ended, Naruto looked around to find that everyone had seemingly suspiciously turned around. He looked deeply into her eyes.
"I'll always be back, Sakura-chan. Always for you."
Sakura smiled back at him, the prediction she had heard earlier, still ringing in her heart.
"Come back soon."
…
A/N: Forgive me if I get some details wrong about the temple, it's been a while since I watched this episode.
…
He followed Killer Bee and soon found himself in a massive room, with headless statues.
"W-What is that place."
"This is the Tailed-Beast Temple, ya fool. This is where we come to contain our Tailed-Beasts, it's been here for a long-ass time."
Naruto temporarily shrugged at his words.
"What's wrong with those statues?"
"Those are the Jinchuuriki who failed the final test."
"Final test?"
"You will see."
They came across a small emblem in the shape of a lion.
"Stick your head in there. That is the test."
"Y-You mean that those who didn't pass the test lost their…"
"That's right. Do you have a pure heart? Is your mind clear? If you're heart is still a wreck, you'll be cut off from your neck."
Naruto took a deep gulp.
"A-Alright." He replied. Naruto stuck his head into the lion's mouth and braced himself. In front of him, he saw a small switch, which he flipped. When he did, he heard the sound of metal closing.
"N-Naruto! LOOK OUT!" He heard Killer Bee call out.
Naruto desperately pushed against the wall, so forcefully that he fell to the ground.
Killer Bee smiled at him. "I was jus' jokin'! Those statues are just old! I was just making sure that you were doing as you were told! It was just a joke!"
Naruto took a deep breath, shot a small annoyed look his way, and then laughed.
It's the exact same thing I would have done.
Killer Bee helped him back up, and pointed to an opened door that lead to a pure white room.
"Okay, for real though, keep your mind clear, and you will pass this final test, and you'll defeat the Nine-Tails' control of fear. Do the same thing that you did back there."
Naruto sat down and closed his eyes. His mind unfocused, the last words he heard was the voice of The Eight-Tails.
"If anything happens, we'll be here. Don't worry."
He opened his eyes again, and before him stood a woman with long, scarlet hair
…
Thank you for reading.