Chapter 15 - The Uchiha's Funeral.
Pairing: Naruto x Uchiha Mikoto.
THIS WILL NOT BE A HAREM
A/N: I'm currently writing this about a minute after I've checked the story stats, and I'm beyond flattered and happy. It's actually quite overwhelming. We have almost 300 reviews, and over a thousand favorites, and to top that off we have 1400 follows! I had no idea that this would get this big when I first started writing it, I just wanted to try and make a good story featuring one of my favorite characters in Naruto, being Uchiha Mikoto. She isn't a character that a lot of people use in stories I've seen, or at least not properly. After reading a lot of other works, I just became fascinated with the character she could evolve to be. And then I started this story, and now I'm rambling but I'm just so eternally grateful to all of you that follows me and encourages me to go on. So thank you, all of you.
I feel like I say sorry quite often about being so late, but I haven't updated in a while since I've been focused on writing a new story idea. That doesn't mean I'm quitting this story far from it, this is my by far most favorite story to write. I'm just taking my time to get the foundations of that story done, then I can focus a bit more on this story again afterward.
Naruto's Family Estate.
As morning approached the estate, Naruto was snoring in his room. He was laying quite uncomfortably in the bed that was a bit too small for him now after all these years, so he was laying on his back with his arms and legs curled around to fit in the mattress with his sheets only covering half of his body in this awkward sleeping position.
Even in his deep sleep, Naruto suddenly felt the sensation of intense danger approaching. With his eyes snapping open, he groaned and sat up in his bed only to hear the violent sound of his door getting flung open so hard that it crashed into the wall with such speed that he feared that the wood would splinter, and in through the door came a black and red blur with intense speed.
Naruto's eyes widened as he started sweating furiously, one tormenting thought racing through his head, 'Oh no! Sasuke taught Karin how to do the Sasuke-bullet!' And with that last thought in mind, the two blurs crashed into him, sending him flying off the bed and onto the floor, head first.
As he laid there twitching on the floor with two heavy burdens on his back, a large tick mark seemed to start throbbing on his forehead. Especially after the intense tinnitus hit his ears when the sudden abrupt yelling started.
"Get off Aniki, Sasuke-baka! I was here first!" Karin exclaimed loudly as she blew a raspberry at the raven-haired boy, who fumed with anger as tried to push Karin off of Naruto's back, thus making them sway back and forth on the poor blond's spine as he laid there in pain.
"Quit spouting nonsense you tomato head! Your hair is even more illogical than you!" Sasuke yelled back as stuck his tongue out at the, in his opinion, extremely annoying redhead.
"Who are you calling a tomato head, duck butt?!" Karin screeched as she grabbed onto Sasuke's shirt and pulled him down and off Naruto with her, the blond still laying seemingly lifeless on the floor.
Sasuke grit his teeth together as he pushed Karin off of him and tackled her, "You! I'm calling you a tomato head, strawberry helmet!"
"I'll give you a strawberry helmet!" She snarled and kicked him in under the belt, causing Sasuke's eyes to almost bulge out of his head.
"Stinky face!"
"Your face is stupid!"
"Your face is poop!"
"I'm telling on you, to your mom for being so stupid and dumb!"
"And I'm telling on you for being such a loud annoyance!"
The two were soon in an all-out brawl, and Naruto could only listen with flinches as he heard them roll out of his room, and so on down the stairs. Very audibly. Each step, down and down, with both of them flinging insults at each other like a pair of hyperactive monkeys.
The most audible thing, however, would be the unison shout of the two mothers downstairs, lecturing and scolding them with enough deadly aura so that he could feel his life fading away from up here.
As he finally got enough courage to get out of his fear dazed state, he sighed with his face seeming lifeless, 'Another day, another headache. Better run away while I still can…' He gulped and scooted over to the window, getting dressed in some clothes before you could even say Hiraishin, and then opened the window, climbed out, and landed on the ground with a thud.
Sneaking a peek in through the window, he looked to see both Mikoto and Akari standing side by side, their hands crossed over their chests while Sasuke along with Karin sat kneeling with their faces down in front of them, both of them shooting a glare in the others direction.
"I see you snuck away from the chaos too, neh, Naruto-kun?" A voice called from his left, causing the blond to turn his head in said direction, his gaze landing on a silver-haired man sitting against the building with his favorite book in hand.
"Kakashi-nii? What are you still doing here?" Naruto asked with mild surprise. He would have expected the scarecrow looking man to have bolted away from here first chance he got, if there had been this much chaos yesterday too, then he wouldn't have blamed him for taking off in a flash.
The older Shinobi clapped his book shut as he stood up from the ground, pocketing the little orange piece of literature in his shuriken pouch as he eye-smiled, "Thought I'd get the chance to check in on you while I could, both of us have had a lot of missions lately. Felt proper to get some time to talk. Especially since you are going through a lot lately."
Naruto sighed and scratched his head, "Yeah, I've been managing. It's just a lot, and I feel like I'm just waiting for it to hit me at the moment. Like, I know all the terrible stuff has happened, but I suppose I'm not ready to actually believe it… I'm still waiting for that asshole to come and punch me on the shoulder, saying something about me looking so glum that it would be looking way too much like Fugaku."
"With your reality being put upside down, it isn't surprising. When it does hit you, then I'll be here. I've had to experience it a time or two." Kakashi sighed himself as he thought back to the moment he had lost Rin, it took him a bit to actually accept it had been his hand sticking through her chest, and that it had all been real. That he had dealt the fatal killing blow to his comrade, after promising he would keep her safe.
Running a hand through his hair, which he noted was starting to get a bit longer than it should, Naruto shrugged, "Thanks… Come on, let's get out of here before we get castrated."
"I second that!" Kakashi instantly agreed, and the two snuck away from the Uzumaki family estate in the best ANBU manner possible. Running as fast as shinobily possible.
As Naruto walked beside Kakashi, who was once again buried in his book, he watched as the scarecrow looked up at him from the corner of his eyes and asked, "Neh, where did your cloak go? Heard you were getting quite fond of wearing one."
"Mikoto-obasan stole it… So I need a new one, along with some clothes for the, y'know, funeral later on today." Naruto mumbled with a depressed look.
"That's unfortunate, perhaps we should go get you some new clothes then. You look kind of boring in all the grey and black you wear. Why not get some more colors?" Kakashi eye-smiled, trying to lighten his blond little brother's mood slightly. While Naruto wasn't unfamiliar with funerals, due to his line of work, it had never been this close to hearts since the infamous October 10th.
Naruto sweatdropped comically at that comment, "You do realize that we're Shinobi, right? I'm not supposed to look like a rainbow when I'm on duty."
"Considering that it feels like you're on duty even when you're sleeping, then I guess it's hard for me to tell a difference," Kakashi commented dryly.
The blond almost fell over his own legs at that comment, and immediately had a replay of every time Mikoto had mentioned him always working, "You too Kakashi-nii? Am I really that bad at taking a break?"
The look on his brother figure was beyond mocking, "What? Do you know what a break is? And here I thought I had to go buy a dictionary and spell the word out for you, and afterward even going as far as to give a very detailed description of the very word!"
"Like you are one to talk, you're probably even worse than I am at taking a break." Naruto glared with a pout, his arms crossed over his chest as the bickering duo made their way to the market, and soon found themselves in front of a clothing store.
Kakashi sighed and ran a hand through his gravity-defying silver hair, "Look, the key difference here is that you're needed elsewhere. I'm an ANBU captain, I've got a lot of duties that I need to do around the clock. You're just a regular member, you do have the luxury of getting more time to yourself. Problem is that you don't take it. And Naruto… You're needed at home."
The blond Uzumaki had gotten this talk quite frequently these days, with a heavy heart he sat down on a bench in front of the clothing store and held his head in his hand with a crestfallen look, "Oji-san said something similar, and I agree with him. I felt like leaving for a while after everything happened, to go train and get stronger so I wouldn't fail again, but then he reminded me of something. Mikoto-obasan needs me, Sasuke-kun needs me, Akari and Karin might not need me as much anymore, but I guess I'm still a preferred present to them as well."
"You are needed. It's not even a question. We'd all miss you, you are a brother and a comrade to the village for many." Kakashi said in all but a whisper, a hand placed on the younger Shinobi's shoulder.
"Thanks…" Naruto however sighed as they ended up in front of the clothing store. It wasn't a regular clothing store, it was one of those places where Shinobi could buy more durable clothes, shuriken pouches, kunai holsters, sword sheaths, you name it.
The place was, as expected, of course, filled with all kinds of clothes. He had never really been much of a shopper, the clothes he had worn were just plain simple ones that every idiot could pull off. 'Then again, why bother getting anything else. It's just clothes.'
As he walked past all the different kinds of clothes, he also just sweatdropped to himself. Maybe if he decided to get something with a bit more color on, without it being too much for his own liking, then people would get off his back about looking so grey. This would also just trigger another type of teasing, he already sighed at the incoming teasing and mocking of him finally having found a fashion sense.
While walking around, his eyes settled onto an orange jumpsuit that was completely orange… He visibly recoiled, with a fearful shiver running up his spine as he promptly turned one hundred and eighty degrees, and almost ran in the other direction.
He was a damn Shinobi, why did he have to be so… colorful? Though as he turned his head, he blinked at something that actually caught his interest. Perhaps if he placed these few things together, then he could compromise a bit with himself and the lack of color everyone meant he had.
Barely even ten minutes later, Kakashi heard the bells of the clothing store's door ring, turning his head up to look if it was Naruto, the sight before him made him chuckle out with an eye smile. His little brother figure was now instead of wearing all dark, was clad in a green sleeveless shirt, a pair of black cargo pants, and to top it all off a dark green haori with a pattern of white diamonds along the bottom half.
"What are you staring at?" Naruto asked with a raised brow, in his right hand a bag filled with the attire he would need to attend the Uchiha clan's funeral later on.
The question made Kakashi blink before standing up from the bench, giving the blond a thumbs up, "I approve. Still a lot of dark colors in there, but it's a start."
"Tsch, whatever. Let's just get out of here before I waste more money." Naruto mumbled, but couldn't help the grin on his face as he moved side by side with Kakashi down the streets of Konoha. The outfit he was now wearing, seemed to also get a lot of approval from the female population.
"Actually, this is where I'll leave. I got a few things I need to attend to for Hokage-sama, I'm already an hour late. I hope everything goes well later on if you need to talk I'll be there. Oh! And Naruto, stay away from the frying pans when you return home," Kakashi commented, the teasing in his tone unavoidable as she shunshined out of the area. Leaving Naruto to tremble in fear, of the possibility of not one, but two frying pans flying his way soon…
Naruto snuck in the same place he had previously escaped, through his window, and climbed into his room and closed the window after him. Placing down the bag containing the funeral clothes for later, he sighed and started to put away the extra sets of clothes he had gotten of the current outfit he was wearing.
He figured there was no point in delaying the inevitable, sometimes he had to be grateful toward Kyuubi for healing his frying pan wounds. Would have been a real pain otherwise. So, after putting the clothes in, he left the room and heard some voices downstairs. It was mostly talking between Mikoto and Sasuke.
When he couldn't hear the sound of Akari's voice, nor Karin's, he figured they simply weren't home at the moment. Shrugging to himself, he went downstairs, and just as he entered the kitchen area he came face to face with Sasuke who immediately lit up at the sight of him. Which was beyond him really, but it was nice to see the kid smile.
"Nii-san!" The boy called out eagerly, and rushed up from his chair and ran over to stand with Naruto, who just reached down and ruffled his hair. Much to Sasuke's dismay, as the raven-haired boy groaned with a pout.
"Why hello there Sasuke-kun, no headbutt this time?" Naruto joked lightly, crouching down to swing an arm around the boy's shoulders with that teasing grin he had learned from his late best friend.
An embarrassed blush spread across Sasuke's face, the pout intensifying as he crossed his arms, pulling off the classic Uchiha "Hn." Making Naruto fall comically to the floor before getting back onto his feet.
"Eh? Don't pull that little Uchiha 'Hn' on me you brat." Naruto growled and trapped Sasuke's head, ruffling the boy's hair with his knuckles making him scream out in protest, kicking and punching his limbs around to get free.
Just as the two were having their little turmoil and fight, they both failed to see the raven-haired woman unable to hide her amusement as she asked dangerously. "Kind of you to join us Naruto-kun, where have you been if I may ask?" The familiar hanya mask appeared behind her body, as the deadly cold aura surrounded her form.
At the sudden feeling of death and terror, Naruto let go of Sasuke making the boy run for dear life so he could hide behind Naruto's legs. "Yeah… where have you been, Nii-san? You disappeared all of a sudden."
Naruto looked at Mikoto's far too kind smile, as the aura emitting off of her chilled down the room. Blinking a few times, a grin spread onto his face, "I was hiding under my bed." Naruto smiled cheekily, with his eyes closed. His hand lifted up to point in the direction of the stairs, signaling for the direction his bedroom was in.
Immediately as he came with that lame explanation, her face dropped and the Hanya mask disappeared. Sasuke too fell onto the floor, the excuse even lamer than the few ones he had heard from that Kakashi guy.
The blond stood there grinning, sweating furiously until he heard a few subtle giggles. Opening his eyes, he watched with surprise as the older woman held a hand up to her mouth. The attempt to stop her laughing futile, as she flew into a giggling mess while clutching at her stomach at the lame excuse, a lone tear falling down from her eye.
While this was happening, Sasuke looked on with wonder and confusion. Sure he had heard his mother laugh subtly before, but this he had never seen before. Turning his eyes up to Naruto, who was just relieved since he wasn't going to meet a frying pan anytime soon, Sasuke looked on with amazement at how his surrogate brother had managed to make his mother laugh hysterically.
Especially on this sad day, his mother had been more distant than she used to. Not that it required any real explanation, he too felt like he was going through a nightmare, but in the middle of the suffocating darkness, there was this sunshine that seemed to cheer people up. It had taken a while before he had understood it, but as he looked at his laughing mother he had finally realized that the sunshine that there had been referred to, was Naruto-nii.
More grateful than ever to have him around, Sasuke smiled and started laughing as well. Because even in the middle of a thought, he had to admit that it was the most unbelievable and hilarious thing he had ever heard.
As Mikoto seemed to have calmed down she wiped her face and shook her head, "Alright, alright, because it was funny, you're off the hook… This time at least." She sighed with a small smile, making Naruto sigh with relief. No frying pans!
The rest of the day had gone somewhat uneventful, but that was because of what was about to happen. As the sun was setting in the west, the group of five made their way up a path leading through the middle of the Konoha graveyard, to each side, there were gravestones lined up as far as the eye could see, well, if you weren't a Hyuuga that is.
At the middle of the graveyard, Hiruzen was standing with two groups of people lined up nicely on either side of him. All of them clad in all black, their eyes closed with lowered heads. As the group, consisting of Karin, Akari, Sasuke, Mikoto, and Naruto, made their way up to take a stand at the front row.
The two older ones took a stand on either side of Sasuke, both of them having a hand placed on the boy's shoulders as Hiruzen began the ceremony. Naruto's eyes lifted up to gaze at the sky, the words of the Hokage zoning out as his focus shifted on the gathering storm clouds in the sky. As if on cue, raindrops started falling over Konoha, making people raise umbrellas to shield themselves from the rain.
Naruto however just stood in the rain, his focus not really there as he just looked at the weeping skies. He was convinced that the skies weren't crying for the Uchiha, the clan had resulted in their own demise. It had been their own fault, all of this. So no, the heavens weren't sad for them, but rather of the few Uchiha who had stayed true to the light. And those who had fallen in their quest for protecting it.
It made his fist clench in anger, his lip slightly trembling as he stared up into the clouds as if he could see the ones he had lost up there. Or at least, what they had looked like the last time he had seen them.
Gritting his teeth in the hidden spot behind his lips, the blond teen clenched his fist even tighter till the point his nail dug into his palm and small droplets of blood ran down to mix with the rainwater, dripping to the ground where the brown dirt would camouflage the spilling blood. 'It's always like this, no matter which country you find yourself in. People's indifference is the best breeding ground for corruption to grow. As long as people don't see eye to eye, the hurt will only spread.'
It was the sad realization he needed to accept. 'Corruption will never stop as long as people willing to hurt others for their own gains exist. Fugaku had decided that in order to bring his clan to glory, he had to make the entire village his and take the seat of Hokage, waging a selfish fight that would merely cause the outbreak of the next great war.'
'The corruption, the pain, and suffering wouldn't even be his problem, it would be the poor and weak that would end up paying for it. Civilians and innocents would feel it, despite having nothing to do with it. Just like in any other war, they are always the ones paying, and they didn't even think of that. The Uchiha was willing to risk all of that, just to prove a statement.' His thought trailed off as he saw it all before his eyes. The smoke rising to the skies, the village on fire as the Uchiha battled the non-Uchiha. The homes of the innocent villagers crumbling and falling to the ground, no one knowing that just behind the forest was an enemy approaching force ready to take out whoever and whatever that tried to stay away from the fighting.
The mental image before him made him clench his eyes hut, letting the images fade before opening again. His palms falling open as the scowling expression on his face fell, and if you could look him directly in the eye, you'd be able to see that in the water running down his face, tears were mixed in. 'I know you tried your best to stop it… Shisui. Itachi he showed me everything, you even tried using such a technique on your clan to save it, but you weren't allowed to. Because of Danzo. Corruption, embezzlement, fraud… these all exist everywhere. It is the very nature of scum, the way they function, whether we like it or not. I despise the fact that we have one of those very people right under our noses.'
As the tears ran down his face, he wiped his face with his drenched sleeve and lowered his face to stare at the Hokage who was still speaking, the sad look on his face was there to stay because no matter what he tried, he couldn't remove the frown off of his face. 'I've had enough, I won't just stand by idly anymore. How can we praise the will of fire when we have the incarnation of mold in the core of your village. One of the elders, forcing one of the village's one to take his own life after his eye was stolen. Ordering another to kill his entire family… I swear that in order to honor your memory, I'll stop him. This time, he dies. Painfully.'
Because who other than him, who knew everything from both sides could do anything? He had demanded the truth after all. So what he was going to do with it, only time would tell. 'Is it really impossible to take out the darkness without first entering it? Perhaps that is just the way it is. In order to slay it, you must first become it...'
The blond was panting slightly as the black lightning disappeared and his eyes returned to normal, his forehead and bangs drenched in sweat as his left hang limply to his side.
Standing up with his guard lowered, Naruto shifted his eyes up to look directly into Itachi's. Red Sharingan eyes locked with blue ones as Itachi's narrowed in surprise at both the actions and the following words.
"I just want the truth, kami damnit…" And there was a moment of silence. No words were said. And Naruto's eyes widened as Itachi's Sharingan spun rapidly, the tomoes morphing into a Shuriken with bent edges before his world went blank.
It was unlike anything he had ever seen, his world disappeared only to reappear but in the colors of red and black. Just like Itachi's Sharingan. Looking around him, he noticed the entire world was like it had frozen in place. In the midst of his confusion, a flock of crows flew past him, upon exiting his line of sight, Itachi was now standing there on the other side.
"You say you want the truth, the true question is whether or not you can handle it. Your mind is already fragile like shattered glass, your newly discovered power should be clear evidence of that." Itachi's monotone voice echoed out throughout this odd domain, which was without a doubt some kind of creation due to the odd Sharingan he had just seen.
Naruto scoffed at that, sitting down on the ground against the porch of the Uchiha estate as he threw his hands into the air before letting them drop to his sides. "I've just seen the entire clan I had grown up among dead, one of my best friends accused of taking his own life, whatever you got I should be able to handle it..."
Itachi looked on for what seemed to be a couple of minutes, "Very well then. In this world, seventy-two hours will pass, but only three seconds in the real world. I'll have more than enough time to tell you everything. The question is where to begin, this isn't something that is easily explained."
"A good place seems to be the beginning, if this… well, whatever this place is, really only lasts three seconds in the real world but three days in here, then go ahead. I'm all ears." Naruto sighed, still trying to figure out what the hell this place was. Knowing a bit about the Sharingan by now, he just assumed it was genjutsu. There had been a word, 'Tsukuyomi', as he had been brought here. That was the single clue he had.
Itachi nodded his head and sat down with his legs crossed. "The beginning of this goes beyond years back. All the way back, to the time of Uchiha Madara. Ever since the creation of the village, the Uchiha haven't been well-liked. We have, since the start, been a clan of isolation, hidden away behind our compound walls. So our ties with the village had always been weak. However, it had never been a major problem until the night the Kyuubi attacked."
"It was the day everything started to crumble, our compound had been lost in the destruction the fox left behind, and thus our new one was built in the outskirts of the village. It only worsened our situation, and our isolation was greater than before, and the clan felt like it was being mocked and shunned. It didn't help that people started to distrust the Uchiha, people thought we could have had something to do with the Kyuubi attack, due to the tales of Madara controlling it with his Sharingan. Something which seems to be the case, yet again." Itachi paused, as Naruto's eyes widened at him.
"W-Wait, you can't possibly mean that the exact same Madara who fought the Shodaime, was the one who made the Kyuubi attack the village and fought my father at the same time?" Naruto asked with disbelief, but Itachi just nodded.
The ravenette's eyes lowered toward the ground, "You've already met him twice, on the night of the Kyuubi, but also today. Madara is the man in the mask, he's the one who has been behind all of this from the beginning."
Naruto flew up to his feet at that, no way in hell… That thing, that effortlessly mocked and taunted him… was Madara? The Uchiha Madara? No way, that couldn't be true. The man had to be a geezer, old enough to make the oldest man he knew, the Hokage, look like a youngster... But he moved so easily, it was like he wasn't a day over twenty at this point.
"I can sense your confusion, I don't know how he is alive, either, but he seems to be. Something must have happened when he fought Hashirama-sama back in the day. His efforts caused the Uchiha to grow ignorant and felt like they were no longer part of the village. Due to this, they started to plan to overthrow the village, using the power of the Kyuubi, and replacing Sandaime-sama with my father." Itachi finished, letting it settle into Naruto's head.
It all seemed to start piecing itself together, the reason the Uchiha had gradually changed ever since the fox had been broken out of the seal holding it, why Fugaku had seemed more friendly, it had all been a plot. A plot to use the Kyuubi against the village. It made him wonder, with his eyes snapping inside the house to look at Mikoto and Sasuke, could she have been part of that plan too?
It made his heartthrob with pain, the one person he had trusted more than Hiruzen through the time he dealt with the pain and loss of his family, could she have used him too? All of this time, all the dinners, all the talks, all the hugs and whispers of comfort. Had it all been a lie? To deceive and use him for the power he held?
He clutched his chest, his face falling with his eyes wide. The look of disbelief and betrayal as evident as the moonlight. "She wasn't part of it, neither was Sasuke."
The sudden word made his head snap up, their gazes meeting as Naruto looked at him with confusion, "W-What?"
Itachi shook his head, getting up from his sitting position to place a reassuring hand on the blond's shoulder, "Sasuke never knew about any of this, he's just a child after all. As for my Kaa-san, she never agreed with the plan, she never wanted there to be a coup d'etat and voiced that opinion along with others until their voices were drowned in the sea of people rushing to follow my father and the Uchiha elders. She felt like it was dishonoring Kushina-san's memory among other things, and she would never go through with using you as a pawn in their play for power."
Naruto still seemed beyond confused, what had been pieced together in his head started to fall apart, nothing fitted together anymore. If there had been people against this, then why was everyone dead? Why would he kill his mother and brother if they had no part of it?
"In order for this to make sense, you'll have to see it for yourself. I have explained the roots of the story from before my time to the best of my abilities, but I can show you the rest." Itachi spoke gently, his Mangekyou Sharingan spinning around wildly, as Naruto's pupils dilating as Itachi and the world around him disappeared, and a whole rush of memories and emotions starting flowing through his head.
As the memories faded from his mind, Naruto found himself back within the real world. In the midst of his line of thoughts, an umbrella had been opened above him. Turning his head, he could see Akari standing with Karin at his side, a sad frown on her face as she placed a hand on his shoulder.
Groaning slightly, he lifted his hand up to cup his forehead. Reliving the memories he had gotten inside the world of Tsukuyomi, always caused a terrible headache for him. It also just reminded him of a pair of simple worlds, that always stuck with him. 'I have one request, which I hope you'll grant me. Please, look after my Kaa-san and Outoto, protect them from Danzo. He can't be trusted.' It wasn't like he needed to be told that, ever since he had seen what Danzo had done to Shisui, Naruto wanted to tear off the seal on his stomach and release the Kyuubi with the sole purpose of erasing Danzo and all he stood for from existence, but there was a smarter way of doing things.
Because he knew everything now. Danzo would one day seize to exist, and everyone else like him. Since the start of this world, people with a quest for greed and power seemed to be left unattended by the nations unless it was close to home. He wouldn't let such boundaries stop him anymore, even if he had to bend the rules and risk the chance of getting branded a traitor as Itachi had been, then he'd do it. It was a risk worth taking. One life was nothing compared to the countless he could save from misery.
Speaking of misery and pain, Naruto gazed down to a sobbing Sasuke with a pained frown. The older teen placed his left hand on the boy's shoulder and tried to rub it reassuringly. He didn't have much experience with this, the last time he had been to a funeral of this size, it had been when his parents died. Back then, he was the one in need of comforting.
He knew what Sasuke was going through, but considering he himself never really got over it, he didn't know what to do. Everyone was in pain, everyone that he had cared most about; Sasuke, Itachi, and Mikoto, they were all suffering in their own way. It made him feel hopeless like he couldn't do anything. Because the mental sheet dedicated for answers was blank. He had flunked the test, and he didn't know what he could possibly do from here.
Lifting his eyes up, he glanced over at Mikoto who stood with her eyes lowered toward the ground. An umbrella was shielding her from the rain as well, but the look on her face just made his heartbreak. Throughout all of his life, he had known Mikoto as a strong and independent woman that was not to be messed with.
So to see her with trembling lips, and desperate fighting of the tears that occasionally spilled from her eyes, made him feel terrible. He didn't know what to do, and as he had mentioned earlier, he never had much experience with this. Just what was he supposed to do? It was painful to watch her suffer like this, to see her fighting off the crying to maintain respect toward the dead. In a desperate attempt to help her, with the only real way he knew he could, he slowly reached over and took a gentle hold of her hand while lowering his gaze to the ground.
Mikoto's eyes that been shut tightly close snapped open, letting a few more silent tears flow down her face as she looked down at her hand that was suddenly engulfed in warmth, and then up at the blond Uzumaki who was looking down at the ground. The comfort it brought through her, made her walls feel as if they were made out of ice. Slowly, but gradually, more and more tears fell from her eyes as her walls melted, and before knew it, she was leaning her face into the crook of his neck.
Before long, she was openly crying beside him. The salty tears stained his clothes, not that he would ever mind in the slightest. She needed this, the strong front she had been putting up ever since that day in the hospital where he had given her a hug, needed to come down. She had to mourn and grieve for the family she had lost.
So with a gentle squeeze to her hand, he leaned his head down to rest against hers, the feeling of her slightly damp raven hair meeting his cheek. It was all he could think of doing, and he just hoped it worked out in the way he had intended it to.
She felt like she was in turmoil. Both nothing and everything made sense, and she had no idea how to even feel. She had refrained from grieving so far, both because of how unbelievable the situation was, but also because of how angry everything had made her, regarding the clan's actions, and the cards that Itachi was dealt with. She despised the fact that the clan had even felt that this was even necessary, but that was only the tip of the iceberg.
More than anything, the one person she was livid at, was herself. She was the wife of the clan head, yet she had done nothing to prevent everything from falling apart. If she was more active in protesting or even persuading the clan. Maybe even finding ways to blackmail them into not being stupid, or maybe working on keeping everything from falling apart. Or maybe by working on repairing the ties between the clan and the village. Or maybe…
If she had only had a stronger resolve. If she wasn't dissuaded so easily, If she hadn't adopted a sheep's mindset. Perhaps if she had stayed as an active ninja, her resolve wouldn't have been so weak. Maybe if she hadn't ignored everything that was going on since Kushina's death. Maybe if she was more proactive if ascertaining the situation. Anything really. If she wasn't so useless… If she wasn't so useless, would the clan have really fallen apart? Would Fugaku had felt that planning a coup d'etat be so necessary? Would Shisui kill himself after seeing the state of the clan, would we be on the path of extinction, all because she was so, damn, useless? Are Itachi and Sasuke going to suffer, all because of her uselessness, will Sasuke hate Itachi? Is everything only going to continue falling apart?
Her eyes widened as the last few thoughts passed through her… Letting out a silent gasp, one which went unnoticed to everyone, save for the blond that she was crying on, she brought a hand to her mouth as a new wave of tears fell down her eyes, and as her her head began to throb in agony, one thought repeated in her mind.
'I failed both of my sons...'
Chapter 15, we are really getting up there. As, y'know, I like asking a couple of questions. So, I really hope you'd like to help me out by answering them because these specific questions are something I'm quite curious about.
What's your opinion on bows? I personally feel like bows could be one of the most neet tools in this world, it would be so perfect for long-range assassinations. And if you added lightning or wind elements to the arrows? That could be amazing. Hell, imagine a wind tipped arrow with fire inside the arrow-head…
What do you think of using wrist blades, like the ones from the Assassin's Creed franchise? This seems like one of the best tools for ANBU, like sometimes they wear these hooded cloaks, and using a wrist blade while wearing one, could make some pretty solid assassinations.
Also, regarding elements, what do yall think of stuff like bioelectricity control, or electric body, or various advanced forms of lightning-based techniques?
Last, and most importantly, how was the funeral? First time writing one, or even an emotionally focused scene like it, so I hope I did it justice.