Captain Blues: A new chapter is upon us so let's cut the foreplay and let's get to it!
Champion of the Dark Moon
Chapter Two: Treasure
The village of Wave.
A small, close-knit village where everyone knows each other's names. Unfortunately, this small village has been plagued by a vicious businessman known as Gatō. It was the village that bought Uzumaki Naruto and Team Seven to rescue it from subjugation.
On the edge of what would become the "Great Naruto Bridge," sat Naruto and Haku, observing the beautiful reflection of the moon in the ocean before them.
"Naruto-kun. Do you think there is an afterlife?" Haku asked.
Naruto turned to Haku with a curious expression and answered, "I am not sure…I mean, there has to be one, I guess…Why?"
Haku gazed at the sea and said, "I've been thinking about my life and where I will go after I die. Will Kami grant mercy on me and allow me into Heaven, or will my sins drag me down to hell? I do not know, but it has admittedly been keeping me up lately."
"Really?" Naruto asked.
Haku nodded. "I do not know why but I am afraid that I will make it to see this village survive Gatō and his insidious plot…."
"Don't say that!" Naruto exclaimed. "Did you forget who your friend was? The great and mighty Uzumaki Naruto! I'll keep you alive, no matter what."
"You cannot promise that Naruto-kun," Haku admonished sadly.
"Sure I can. I promise you that you will make it out of this alive, and I will do all that I can to see it happen, and I never go back on my word. That is my Nindō after all," Naruto confidently said with a wide grin. "And to answer your other question, while I am unsure that there is an afterlife, I think you're nice, and to me, that's more than enough to be Heaven bound."
Haku stared at him for a moment before she whispered, "That was one of the sweetest things anyone has ever said to me…."
A tender smile formed on her face, which caused Naruto's heart to skip a beat.
"Thank you, Naruto-kun. But please, do make it sweeter and become thine champion…"
Naruto's eyes snapped and found himself in a bed that he did not remember getting into. He leaned up only to find a weight on his chest, and when he looked down, he saw Fū. The crazy girl he had met yesterday.
She was sound asleep, her head resting on his chest, their hands intertwined. The memory then floated into his mind. He had broken down at the Akimichi restaurant. Fū had taken him back to her hotel room, and that is where they both fell asleep.
She had stayed with him throughout the night.
Naruto was touched.
He had just met this girl, and yet she decided to stick it out with him when she did not have to. He glanced down at their intertwined hands and let a sad smile form on his face, his eyes watering with unshed tears.
The last person he had woken up beside was Haku after he had broken down about the mental abuse his home had caused him for so long.
Naruto took a shuddered breath. He could not allow himself to cry again, especially in front of Fū.
She had done so much last night to stop his tears. She did not deserve him waking her up to them as well.
Naruto carefully slid away from beneath her to avoid waking up Fū and crept to the open window. He placed one foot on the windowsill and stared at her.
In the short time he had talked to her, he realized that she was a good person. But right now, Naruto did not need a good person. He did not deserve one. He broke his Nindō when he failed to save Haku and get everyone out alive.
He did not deserve someone like her trying to fix his shattered soul.
Especially one as kind as her.
"Thank you, Fū-chan…Goodbye," Naruto whispered before he leaped out of the window.
"Here he is," Kizashi said as he motioned to the drunk Kakashi.
Mitarashi Anko let out a deep sigh as she stared at the hunched-over form of her coworker. How many times had she been through the scenario? She had known Kakashi since she became a Tokujō, and they were good friends.
But lately, things between them had gotten rocky due to something like this. Anko never blamed Kakashi for going to the bottle when things got bad. She did it herself when the memories became too much. But whenever he did it.
Despite his laziness, Anko knew he was a capable and skilled shinobi and even somewhat looked up to him somehow, so to see that image being chipped away by the sight of him hurt her every time she had to see it. "How long this time?" Anko asked Kizashi softly.
"Drank throughout the entire night," Kizashi answered solemnly. "From what Hatake-san explained, a mission went poorly, and this is the result."
"Thanks, Haruno-san," Anko sighed. "I'll get him out of here."
Kizashi nodded, and Anko walked to Kakashi's slumped form and shook his left shoulder. "Oi, Kakashi. Wake up," Anko said.
"Oooooh…Anko-san…" The drunk Kakashi sang. "How did you get here?"
Anko sighed and slipped his arm over her shoulders, and hoisted him up from his stool. "Come on…I'm taking you home."
"Home? Where is that?" Kakashi asked as he leaned his head back and then forward. "Because I don't have a home, I don't think…."
"Just hang on," Anko said with a pitying tone as she nodded to Kizashi, who opened the front door to the Jackrabbit so they could leave. Anko gripped his wrist as she whispered, "Kami…What happened to you…?"
Anko walked out into the morning light, and with assistance from her chakra, she jumped off the street and onto the rooftops.
Anko then leaped from roof to roof until she came upon her apartment. It was too far from Kakashi's home, and his deadweight was heavy, chakra or not.
She dragged Kakashi to her couch and plopped him down carefully. He had fallen back asleep during their trek, and she preferred it that way.
"Looks like another intervention is on the way," Anko murmured to herself as she walked to her open patio door and closed it, locking Kakashi inside before she leaped away.
Anko had been in the middle of searching for Kurenai and Yūgao when Kizashi interrupted her so now she could continue with her search, with some other things to talk about.
"Naruto!" A voice yelled, which caused Anko to stop on the roof. In the middle of the street was a teal-haired girl, screaming out for Konoha's shame.
Anko frowned as the girl walked up to various villagers to ask, but they merely shirked her away or warned her to stay away from him.
As someone who watched over him during the times Kakashi could not, It always pissed Anko off at how poorly they treated Naruto or anyone associated with him. And judging from the girl's headband, she was not even from this village, and they are treating her like a pariah just because she was searching for him.
But Anko wondered.
Why was this girl looking for him?
Was she someone who was trying to hurt him?
Make fun of him?
"Well, no sense in asking myself when I can get the answer," Anko said before she leaped down from the roof and landed behind the girl silently.
"Oi! You are looking for Uzumaki Naruto, right?" She asked.
The girl whipped around in surprise and said, "Whoa, you scared me…."
"That was the intent," Anko said with a cheeky grin. "So, why are you looking for him?"
The girl frowned, her eyes searching for something. What it was, Anko was not sure, but when the girl finished this weird search, she looked Anko in the eyes and said, "He's my friend, and he's hurting bad…I took him to my hotel room, but when I woke up, he was gone…."
Anko had a built-in, certified, bullshit alarm for when she heard a lie. It was one reason she was allowed her job at T&I, but this girl did not set off any of her alarms. She was telling the truth, but then it made her think.
Uzumaki Naruto was Kakashi's student. Kakashi had told her this is one of the rare times he was excited about something. Kakashi was drunk out of his mind, and from what this girl said, Naruto was hurting. Were they intertwined in some way?
"Yeah, I can lead you to where Naruto lives. If he is going to be anywhere, he is going to be at home. Worst case, there are a few places he could be if he is not there," Anko finally said.
The girl smiled. "Awesome. Lead the way!"
When Fū had awakened earlier in the day, she woke up to find Naruto missing and the window open. Admittedly, her feelings were hurt that he would just leave without saying goodbye, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized that something was seriously wrong with him.
His breakdown last night at the restaurant told her about the deep hurt he was going through, and she was worried that he would do something to himself because of it.
And she had to find him because if he did plan something like that, she would be too late to stop it.
Just like she had been before with…
"Mama…Please wake up…."
Fū shook her head, forcing that all too familiar memory from her mind as she followed the Konoha Jōnin across town. She was grateful that Mitarashi Anko, the woman, who introduced herself, intervened, and decided to help her.
Fū had a feeling that there was a deeper reason why the woman was helping her, but Fū was grateful all the same. "So, he wasn't at his house nor at that ramen shop. Where else could he be?" Fū asked, a hint of panic in her voice.
"Only one other place," Anko said as the older woman looked back at her. "The Hokage Monument!" The woman then looked ahead, and Fū saw the large monument, with the heads of what she assumed were the past Hokage.
Fū followed Anko up the monument by a trail, leaping from tree to tree until they were on top of it. And sitting at the edge was Uzumaki Naruto, with what looked like a headband in his right hand.
Anko and Fū exchanged glances before Fū stepped out into the opening and announced her presence with, "You have a mean way of not saying goodbye, Naruto."
Naruto turned his head, and Fū could see that sadness glowing in those blue eyes, which made her frown.
"Don't cry, Mama…."
Fū shook her head, took a deep breath, and walked towards Naruto as she said, "I mean I take you out to dinner, take you back to my place. We were supposed to wake up and go to breakfast. I had a whole thing planned out."
"I'm sorry…." Naruto told her in a whisper.
Fū was glad she had gotten close enough so she could hear him. Otherwise, that apology was going to go unheard. "Hey, no need to apologize. We could always reschedule," Fū said in a joking tone before she dropped it when she saw his tears.
Fū walked closer to him until she stood by his side. She slowly sat down and gazed at the sight. "It's beautiful up here…" Fū whispered. "We don't have a sight like this in Taki…."
"How did you find me?" Naruto asked.
"I had help," Fū replied with a smile.
"You should have let me go…." Naruto told her.
"Nah, I like your company," Fū told him sincerely. "I know right now that's hard to take seriously due to how sad you are, but it's true." Fū then gave him a giant smile and said, "It also helps that you're cute to boot."
That elicited a small laugh and a small smile from Naruto, which caused Fū's smile to shrink into a sincere smile. "That was the first laugh and smile you ever had in front of me…I like it."
Naruto stared at her for a moment then looked down. "This feels wrong. I shouldn't have laughed…I don't deserve it."
"Why do you feel that way?" Fū asked. "Everyone deserves to laugh and smile. It's what makes us human, you know?"
She watched as Naruto sighed and gazed out at the village. "Why are you here? Why are you trying so hard?" Naruto asked. "We met yesterday. We hardly know each other at all, and yet you're here trying to make me laugh and smile…Why?"
Fū stayed quiet for a moment. An image of a woman with long teal hair slumped over appeared in her mind, tears falling from her eyes. Fū banished the thought from her mind and smiled. "I told you that I grew up without friends or family…The last part wasn't true. A long time ago, I had a mom…Everyone treated her terribly because of me. She was always so sad…."
Fū sniffled a little bit. "When I was five years old, she hurt herself badly, and she went to sleep…I wasn't good enough to stop the hurt in my heart. So, on that day, I made a promise to myself. To make sure no one else is alone like I was that day and to do everything that I could, if possible, to bring a smile to someone's face when they are faced with that hurt…Because, to me, smiles are like treasures …."
Naruto turned his head and looked at her with soft recognition in his eyes.
Fū felt tears fall down her eyes, but a smile stayed on her face as she said, "I'm sorry for butting into your life, but when I saw you, you reminded me of my mom. Filled with loneliness and sorrow…I could not help but want to make you smile because now more than ever because that small smile proved to me that you have the brightest treasure this village could ever have."
She closed her eyes but felt his hands wipe away her tears, which caused her to open them, and there she saw a tender smile on his face, which caused her stomach to flutter. "That is one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me…" Naruto told her softly, his eyes sparkling with sincerity.
Captain Blues: I originally wanted this chapter to be about Naruto finding out about this mission, but this chapter came out instead. Isn't it funny when things like that happen?