A/N: I'm baaaaaack~!
Here we are, the full version of what I posted on A03 yesterday due to glitches.
Site is still acting up, the lack of email notifications and stuff breaking is doing my head in. We need our emails!
Hope you enjoy this; my motivation is shot to hell at the moment with all these glitches... Site is still bugged with notifications/email alerts and its driving me mad. No one can get into the login area over there now. One week of this, with no response from the admins, and the problem is getting progressively worse. But hey, the app works right? Only problem is, some of us can't us the app, or don't wish to. That's a lot of people not getting alerts.
Its driving me batty. In all the fifteen years I've been here, its never been this bad.
Alas, in other news, depression's starting to hit real hard these days. Like a sledgehammer paired with concrete. Sometimes I wonder why I do anything at all. can't claim to understand what's going wrong with my head anymore. I don't even know why I'm feeling this way! One moment I'm fine, then my mood craters for a few hours, then I'm back again for a bit, and the cycle repeats. On and on, round the bend, forever and without end! Its rather annoying; as though I've become a prisoner in my own mind sometimes.
Sure, what's one more mental problem on the pile. Not like I don't have enough, what with already being this old. Feels like every day is a battle sometimes. Meanwhile, my doctor insists that I'm fine. Take a health walk he says. Go fishing. You'll be fine.
*siiiigh* Right. Suuuure. Don't bloody feel fine, doc .
Worse, I can't seem to find a better doctor willing to see me. Trying to push through...
As ever, I own no quotes, references, quotes, themes or memes! They're simply tributes to legends far greater than I.
I'm just an old man who writes as a pastime. I don't make any money doing this, not a single cent. This is ALL done for free.
Time and feedback will determine if this remains a story. Simple as that. In other words...its up to YOU, the reader. Do let me know~!
Soundtrack of this chapter is, much like the title...
In This Shirt by the Irrepressibles.
You'll know when it kicks in.
Its quite powerful.
"Memory is the gift that keeps on giving; it is meant to be shared by many, not hoarded.
We go through them, wear them, use them, as one might an old shirt.
Yet no matter how ragged that old thing gets, we cling to it.
Such is the power of memory, the joy of nostalgia.
Open you heart. Unseal your mind...
...see the world."
~?
In This Shirt
"How is she?"
Gloria heard voices swimming in the darkness.
"She's healing quickly. Should be fine in a few days. Might even wake up soon. And Maine...
"Time will tell." A weighty paused followed the words. "I did the best I could."
She had a feeling she knew the reason for her rapid recovery.
Kurama remained smugly silent.
And then quite suddenly:
Awake!
Gloria jolted back to wakefulness with a gasp and immediately clutched at her skull. Fire in her head, heat in her heart, and it hurt, it hurt, it HURT. She thrashed her way upright fell off her cot to the floor, gasping for air, fingers grasping blindly. Water. She needed water. WA-
"Here."
Someone pressed a bottle to her lips.
Aha! Release! Sweet, blessed sustenance at last!
Gloria latched on without a second thought and drank greedily, then regretted that too; because she choked.
Her singed lungs gasped for oxygen and someone thumped her back, clearing her airway. It stroked small circles between her shoulders until finally, the ache receded. She blinked away stars from her vision until she found she could breathe again...and saw a familiar blond bastard beaming back at her.
"Welcome back to the world." Naruto hummed. "How are you feeling?"
"Awful." she croaked. "Chest hurts. Feels like I'm on fire."
He coughed and looked away. "About that...
She squinted at him. "What?"
"Nothing...a bit of heat's to be expected." he swept a glance for the clipboard at her bedside and hummed a little. "Kurama did good work but it was touch and go there for a bit. That was a nasty explosion you took.
She remembered that. Fire and blood. Pain. The awful feeling of her entire body baking in the heat. "About that...what did you do?"
"Not so much me, as Kurama. You have chakra now." he made a slightly exasperated noise. "Not that I had any say in it...
"I regret nothing!" His voice again! It was real! Was she imagining things? Had the dream been real?
Shit, she wasn't going cyberpsycho, was she? She squinted at him. "The hell's chakra?
Naruto grimaced. "Hoo, boy. That's a long explanation."
A fresh ache rattled Gloria's body as she tried to speak and failed miserably. Her throat was dry and scratchy; it wasn't just difficult to speak now, it was painful. She tried for a gasp of air but only succeeded in scorching her lungs further.
"I can't breathe...!"
"Shhh." his face smoothed out. "Just relax. I've got you."
Her smiling savior pressed a hand to her throat and she felt the pain recede, pushed back by that strange golden light of his. No, wait...he wasn't glowing.
This wasn't him.
It was her.
"...?!"
Gloria looked down and her eyes absolutely bulged. A tiny noise of disbelief fled from her lips. Because you see, she was shining, literally burning gold. Had she a mirror she would've realized her eyes were burning like the sun, searing a stark shade of amber red. Her body shimmered with ethereal light, beautiful black marks etched against the flame. And yet, for all that... was no pain.
Tell that to her brain.
She panicked "Fire?! Why am I on fire?!"
"You're not, not really," Naruto caught her hands as she tried to pat herself down and held them. "That's just Kurama at work."
Fear gave way to anger deep within her.
"Explain!" she flung up her arms! "How are you like this?! How am I?! Who even are you, really?!"
Her let her go and scratched the back of his head with a rueful laugh. "Its a bit of a long story."
She grabbed his arm and yanked him close. "Start. Talking."
"Alright." He steered her back to the bed and plonked down beside her. "Suppose I owe ya that much."
Just like that? Wait, what was he doing? And why was she so sleepy...?
He touched his forehead to hers. "Lemme show you...
The world began to blur around the edges.
And she saw Naruto's myriad memories.
All of them. Each bit. Everything.
Gloria fell into them all.
It was a sudden and abrupt thing; one moment she could feel Naruto's forehead against hers; in the next, the world lurched and she found herself tumbling, falling, yelping into the black. A hand caught her and reeled her back. She caught sight of a gleaming golden glint in the gloom, one that rapidly resolved into the blond himself.
"We'll start at the beginning." he granted her a small, sad smile. "Once upon a time, there was a boy and a fox...
The world rippled around them.
One moment there was naught but the void; in the next they stood before a burning village and a familiar massive kitsune rampaging through it.
"Eh." Kurama made an annoyed noise. "Not my proudest moment."
A man and a woman sealed the beast into a boy. The smallest of babes, a lad with blond hair.
...and then they died.
She saw it all. Each painful moment, heard their last, dying words.
It hurt more than she could ever explain; made her think of leaving David all alone.
"No." she stepped back, shaking her head. "I don't wan to see this. I don't want to hear it! Take it away."
...as you wish."
Naruto waved a hand and the scene blurred.
The boy was grown now, sitting alone on a swing, watching from a forlorn distance as other children played without him.
"He was a human sacrifice," Naruto hummed beside her, whiskered face betraying nothing. "In my tongue, a Jinchuuriki. The boy was alone for much of his young life. Many thought him the monster he contained. But he didn't let it break him...
His hand moved again and so too did the scene unfold; like pressing the play button on an old vid.
The boy tried to give a girl with pink hair flowers. It did not end well.
...no matter the circumstance."
She saw the hurt flash across the little lad's face before he concealed it with a cheery smile. Her mothering instinct nearly kicked in then and there; it would have, had she noticed something -someone!- else as the scene played out. Another girl watching him from afar, a shy little thing with dark hair and pale eyes.
Curious.
"Take a walk around if you like." Naruto sounded almost amused. "Its an old memory."
Gloria granted him a quick glance, but did just that.
-don't want anything to do with him." the Pink One was ranting to a blond girl wearing white and purple. "He's the dead last. My mom said he's a monster-
Naruto's younger self pretended he hadn't heard, but he must have, else this wouldn't be in his memories.
She tried to touch him, but her hand passed right through him, as though he didn't exist.
"This was your childhood?" She looked to him. "...they treated your horribly."
"Some of them, did." Naruto turned away with a wistful expression. "Some didn't...though the boy failed to realize it at the time. Maybe things would've been better if he had."
Gloria followed his gaze. Sure enough the shy girl was gone. She'd vanished to parts unknown.
A small sigh slipped from her lips. "She didn't know what she was missing."
The bemused blond waved his hand and the scene wavered rapidly.
She found herself standing in a a forest as the blond boy, there could be no doubting it was Naruto now, stood over a beaten and battered man -Mizuki, his memories cheerfully supplied the name- hoisting a massive scroll under his arm, grinning like a loon. A wounded man wrapped a blue headband around his head, etched with silver.
"The boy wanted to be acknowledged by those who rejected him. So he decided to become Hokage. To prove himself." Here at last, a small, sheepish smile plucked at the corner of his mouth. "It was...an interesting time for him. Events moved rapidly after that."
The images wavered again and she found herself bombarded with sights and sounds she'd never experienced before.
A masked man with silver hair, a bell test, learning to work together with his teammates, one of whom was the Pink One. Gloria knew she shouldn't hate a child, but she felt an ember of anger spark in her chest whenever the Pink One -Sakura!- turned him away, or worse, struck him. As to the other one...
"Huh." Naruto hummed. "I almost forgot how much of a broody bastard Sasuke was in the beginning. Suppose he had a reason to be...
The world rippled again; when next it came into focus he stood over him a younger Naruto, skewered by needles.
...but even so, he was my friend."
What followed frightened her. The boy appeared to die, perishing in Young Naruto's arms. he hunched over him... went berserk. The crimson chakra, the feral transformation, the absolute rage etched across the boy's face. It was but a glimmer of what she'd seen before; the raw cry of a child who'd lost something oh so precious and hadn't realized it until the very last moment. He looked past her, through her, to the masked enemy beyond in a hall of frozen mirrors. She saw his fury. The wrath. The hate.
"I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"
He lunged...!
Naruto stepped between them, waved a hand and the feral scene flitted away.
Gloria gulped and found herself shying behind him. "It doesn't bother you?"
"Not anymore." he shrugged. "The past is the past.
Was it? Was it really?
"Besides, Kurama and I are on much better terms now." he winked her way. "You wouldn't be alive if we weren't."
She almost didn't want to believe him, but it was true, wasn't it? She could feel Kurama's chakra in her, placid and content; not at all like the raging red maelstrom she'd just encountered. It burned within her like a warm flame, powerful and pure; a shield against all the horrors of the world. Clearly they must've come to terms at some point. But how? When? Where? Why?
She...she wanted to know.
She needed to know.
She had to know.
Naruto stood beside her, waiting oh so patiently.
She looked to him, unable to hide her curiosity. "How much more is there?"
"Plenty~!" he laughed, delighted by her. "We haven't even gotten to the Chunin Exams yet."
"Chunin exams?" she wrinkled her nose at him. "What're those? Some kinda test or something?"
"Or something." he looked to be on the verge of a hysteric cackle. "Don't worry, I'll show you." in an instant his body burned golden to match her own. "Ya asked who I am, so I'm gonna show you every bit." he offered his hand, one glowing golden god to another. "Slowly but surely." his gaze met hers evenly and she felt heat creep up the back of her and into her cheeks as she flushed. "No more jumping around, I promise. In fact...
Her heart hitched at those words, beating a mile a minute.
...I'll show you every bit of me, if that's what you want."
Did he even realize what that sounded like?!
And yet.
He still offered her his hand.
Gloria's gaze slowly flitted up to meet his.
Kurama jabbed her. "Remember your promise."
Oh, right. She had said something to that effect, hadn't she?
Then her fingers latched onto his palm and curled within his own.
She blinked once, steeled herself and-
Yoink!
With strength she didn't even realize she had she dragged him forward and smashed her lips against his. It was a brief kiss all things considered, a promise of intent as much as anything else. Yet she felt him respond to her for a moment, his fingers gripping hers before she drew away. Not much, just enough to make her intentions clear. Her lips brushed his as she spoke, looking up at him longingly.
"Show me."
Aw, his face was so damn red.
Ha! Take that! One point in her favor.
"Right, sure." he coughed, a little embarrassed. "I'll get right on that. This way...
This time, when a flustered Naruto turned and strode away, she walked with him through his memories...hand in hand.
(.0.0.0.)
"Well, shit."
David saw them.
Oh yes, he saw them indeed.
He'd stumbled into the room to check on Mom, half expecting to still find her a burned charred mess.
She was not.
Mom had clearly woken up at some point and stranger yet, she'd healed, impossible as that sounded.
Now despite the fact that Gloria Martinez was wearing nothing more than a threadbare gown over her bandages, she was snuggled up against Naruto in bed like he was kinda giant teddy bear or something. And he was holding her right back. Cuddling! Despite that, they were, the both of them, out cold. Dead to the world. Body to body, forehead to forehead; honestly, if they didn't have their clothes on he would've sworn they'd been fu-
RepressrepressREPRESS! Do not think such thoughts! He didn't want to imagine his Mom doing anything like that, EVER.
Like, ew.
.
..
...really, there was only one conclusion the poor boy could possibly make, a sole, singular outcome that sat remotely well with him.
He snorted once. That blond bastard better be good to mom. He'd pop a cap in his ass and chase him down if he wasn't.
In the end, David gave up and stomped forward, unable to help himself, nor contain his own morbid curiosity.
He dragged a blanket over their shoulders to keep them warm. By some miracle the duo didn't stir.
That was his cue to get the hell outta dodge. He didn't want to be around when they woke up.
"Nope, nope, nope." he muttered under his breath, racing away. "I didn't see shit...
A/N: Aaaaaand scene.
Next time: Whatever Comes Our Way, yes, as in the Miracle of Sound song.
Trying to fight off the urge to write Baldur's Gate story, but its becoming damn difficult.
Well? Should this little ficlet remain a story? Would you like weekly updates for tat matter?
Yay or nay! Really need to hear from you, here. If this story is voted into the "yay" category, I can promise faster updates and much more merry madness to come.
Once more, we're sticking with the "Embers" rule for this story, and others. If folks don't enjoy this, it will remain, but won't be continued. Meaning that if the story itself isn't popular? Well, it won't be continued. I'm working two jobs -might need a third soon!- so I barely have time to write; as such, I cannot afford to write something folks don't enjoy.
So by all means, speak up! Your voice matters! Make yourself heard! As ever, reviews are the fuel that sustain me. Without them I cannot write a single word. Simple as that. Working nearly all hours of the day keep me absurdly busy, and I can't bring myself to write something folks don't like.
So in the Immortal Words of Atlas...
...Review, Would You Kindly?
And because its a habit!
POTENTIAL PREVIEWS.
If this story stays off the ground.
If not...well. Suppose it depends on you.
Some of them are pretty far out, others are closer than you think...
(Previews)
The moment the memories were done, she jumped him.
David gagged. "Ugh, mom! I am RIGHT HERE!"
"I heard you've been askin' about me."
"We're having a moment here!"
Japan roiled with rumors. Tales of a golden beast, and its displeasure with the Arasaka name.
As such the company was embroiled in...conflict.
Hanako didn't know what to do.
"You people are soft. Squishy." he bent his attackers arm back. "Its almost sad, really."
His victim screamed. "What do you want?!"
"Answers would be nice."
"So Arasucka wants to pick a fight with me, do they?
David tilted his head. "Pretty sure its AraSAka.
"I know what I said." Naruto slung an arm over his shoulder. "Whaddya say? Up for a little mischief?"
Becca clapped slowly. "Ohhh, you sneaky bitch...
Sasha pushed a finger to her lips. Shhh! I wanna watch."
Both girls titled their heads as they watched the scene unfold. Tilted them more, now.
"Huh. He's flexible...
"Well-fit, too...
Gloria thrashed to her feet. "Again!"
"Again?! We've been at this for hours-
Her fist flashed quite close to his face. His eyes widened.
She grinned at him. "A~ga~in~!"
"Adam Smasher, was it?" he stepped over the corpses, uncaring of the blood on his boots, and lifted his chin to glare up at the machine man. "Not a bad name. Gives me an idea. Wanna hear it?"
The lumbering titan growled down at him. "And who the hell are you supposed to be, meatsack?"
Blue eyes boiled seven shades of searing scarlet, snapping into furious slits.
No. No freakin' way. He wasn't gonna...
.
..
...he was gonna.
"NARUTO SMASH!"
EDIT: Hey, you made it! Thanks for reading!.
I worked really hard on this, and I never have enough time to write these days, even so, I wanted to make folks happy...T_T
So by all means, speak up! Your voice matters! Make yourself heard! As ever, reviews are the fuel that sustain me. Without them I cannot write a single word. Simple as that. Working nearly all hours of the day keep me absurdly busy, and I can't bring myself to write something folks don't like.
Looking forward to hearing from you all when I get back from work~!
Feedback means the world to me. I appreciate you all~!
Warm regards,
~Nz.
R&R~!