章 18: Sorrow and Pain
"If you cut a man's tongue, you don't prove him a liar. You prove the world that you're afraid of what he might say,"
Naruto
As his mother disappeared, the blonde felt nothing but loneliness, the bright sun that seemed to shine his face in the darkness slowly disappeared, the corners disappearing under shadows, darkness surrounded him everywhere.
Naruto's dried tears on his cheek, his blue eyes seemed ice cold on the outside, his hands in front of his eyes, the blood of Mikoto-kaa-chan, he knew his hands were clean, no trace of blood, and yet he couldn't stop himself from seeing that, seeing the Blood, Dark Blood.
He kneeled to look closely at something below him, seeing himself underneath, almost seeing himself in a mirror, yet he could feel the water below his feet, almost like standing in the ocean.
His reflection looked... different, with eyes he had never seen before, it looked like The Rinnegan, but it was red like blood, with three tomoe in each ring.
His reflection looked at him and stretched out his hand, almost inviting him to join him, to feel the power he could have, a Power beyond anything.
Naruto tried to feel something around him, yet he couldn't feel the fresh feeling of water, or the life deep inside the ocean, or any wind caressing his body.
"I'm a Failure," Naruto whispered to his reflection; the memory of Shisui flashed in front of his eyes like a flash of light turning off and on.
Protect Itachi
Naruto fell on his knees, his hands below the water slowly started sinking into the darkness, the dark ocean almost calling to him, to accept the darkness, to accept the reality, this world, what was the point of it? To join his reflection.
His whole body started sinking below, the water ice like cold and dark as a starless night. No moon to shine the road, no Sun to warm him. Nothing.
Half of his body sank until he felt a touch from above him, like a fire suddenly shining on his chest, calling to him; a hand grabbed his hand with the sun symbol, forcing him to see up towards the light.
His blue eyes saw his kaa-chan, his tou-chan, his Uchiha family, Kurama everyone who ever loved him.
"Don't ever give up, my son, no matter how things might change, never forget who you are," his tou-chan grabbed his hand, slowly helping him to stand up and not Sink.
"My Sochi, I will always be with you in every step of your journey; you truly are a kind child," his kaa-chan grabbed his hand, his body almost rose above the dark water.
"Take care of Itachi. A Family always sticks together," Shisui spoke with his goofy tone, a bright smile on his face, grabbing his hand rising him further.
"Remember that family are the people who love you," Mikoto-kaa-chan spoke with a beautiful smile; she and Fugaku grabbed his hand as Naruto finally stood back to his feet towards the light.
Opening his eyes, his right hand stretched out, the light hit his face, he squinted and put his hand in front of his eyes, he saw a small figure sitting close to his bed, slowly adjusting to the light, he moved away his hand to see the Dog ANBU sitting close to his bed.
Naruto wondered why he was here, and his eyes saw a white book lying on his lap, his head almost touching his bed.
Naruto understood he had fallen asleep while reading; he tried to move his left hand when he suddenly felt a sharp strike his entire body, like a sudden surge of lightning.
"Don't move yet, Naruto, you went three tails, your body is tired, you should Rest," Kurama suddenly spoke to him, smiling that Naruto didn't feel different to him; he felt the same Naruto.
Naruto found himself smiling, a true one, his eyes almost watering; he had completely forgotten that he still had Kurama, he would never abandon me.
"Kurama, Thank You for staying with me," Naruto spoke to his friend; he didn't know why but he missed his furball friend's voice; the feeling almost made him forget about last Night.
"I will always be here, Naruto," Kurama spoke with a proud smile on his face.
Flashes of last Night suddenly hit Naruto like a sword, blood on his hands, his kaa-chan, his big brother.
No, No, No
Naruto grabbed his head tightly, desperately trying to stop this; he didn't want to think about last Night, not now.
A whimper escaped his mouth; Naruto heard a gasp, opening his eyes again; he saw the ANBU was awake and looked at him. Naruto, of course, couldn't see his face behind his ANBU mask, but he could feel the positive emotions flowing through him like a river.
Naruto was confused why this ANBU cared about him; it is not that the ANBU hated him, but they mostly were neutral when it came to the Blonde Jinchuuriki, but this one always felt sadness or happiness or a mix of both whenever he saw Naruto.
Kakashi
Kakashi seemed to have noticed that he was actually staring awkwardly at the blonde; Naruto shot him a confused look.
He straightened himself up, clearing his throat before addressing Naruto with a neutral tone, void of emotions.
"Is good to see you're Awake, Naruto; you gave us all a good scare last night," Kakashi spoke. Thinking if Naruto actually remembered accessing three tails, the Hokage told him that Naruto was still too young to know about The Kyuubi, therefore if he indeed remembered it, Kakashi would either need to come up with a believable lie or Inoichi would intervene to make him forget that part of the Night.
"How are you feeling?" Kakashi finally asked, his tone warmer; he put his hand on the edge of his bed.
Naruto eyed him up and down, almost as if trying to see if he was trustworthy.
Naruto looked the other way when he was asked the question; Kakashi saw his eyes looking outside the window near him, almost as if he was trying to remember if he was alright or not.
The ANBU couldn't help but wonder what the blonde was thinking; he knew what it was like losing Family, his Kaa-chan died giving birth to him, and his father...
Kakashi shook his head, and this wasn't the time to think of the past; he needed to think of the future and Naruto; he needed to be there for him like Minato-sensei, Obito, Rin, and Kushina had been for him.
Kakashi wondered what Naruto was thinking about when Naruto turned to look at him again with sad eyes, his eyes almost crying.
"D-did, is the Uchiha Clan g-Gone?" Naruto asked, stuttering, almost afraid to ask the question.
Kakashi wanted to confront the little kid, but he still needed to ask if he remembered the whole Kyuubi thing from last Night; Kakashi still thought that it was simply a miracle that Naruto hadn't blindly attacked them, despite having three tails worth of chakra, somehow he still held a bit of control, enough for the Hokage to knock him unconscious.
"I'm sorry, Naruto, but Uchiha Itachi killed the Whole Clan," Kakashi spoke, trying to sound strong for him.
He hoped Naruto wouldn't focus his entire life on getting revenge; that road would never end well.
Much to his surprise, Naruto didn't have much of a reaction from the outside; he grabbed his sheets tightly, almost tearing them apart; for a moment, Kakashi thought Naruto might access the Kyuubi's Chakra again, but suddenly Naruto relaxed, his grip somehow relaxed. Instead, he just turned around to look at the window again.
Silence took over the room, almost unbearable to Kakashi, who was about to ask what he remembered from last Night, when Naruto suddenly turned his head at him, his blue eyes almost made him exhale, his similarity to his father was almost frightening.
"Can I go to their funeral?" Naruto asked with a low tone, almost whispering, anyone else wouldn't hear him, but Kakashi did hear him.
Walking over to him, he put a confronting hand on his shoulder, giving him his famous eye smile.
"Of course, Naruto, the funeral will be tomorrow; I will come to get you," Kakashi said.
Naruto smiled at him, as big of a smile he could muster right now.
"Naruto, what is the last thing you remembered last night?" Kakashi asked with the same kind tone hoping to ease any bit of tension they might have between them.
Naruto didn't look surprised by his question. "I-I-I," Naruto tried to answer and started rubbing his head, almost trying to remember something.
"I don't remember much. I remember seeing Mikoto-chan lying... dead on the floor," Naruto spoke with a hushed tone before turning to look up at Kakashi.
"That's the last thing I remember," he finished; Kakashi could see no lies and was glad that Inoichi wasn't needed to intervene; he released a sigh of relief he hadn't known he was holding.
"Very well, Rest Here, if you need anything, I will be around," Kakashi spoke before vanishing.
Naruto
Seeing the ANBU leave, he glanced at the window outside again, seeing the blue sky somehow eased the pain on his chest before he heard his friend again.
"Naruto, what is your plan?" Kurama asked, seeing the ANBU had left.
"I plan to unite the Elemental Nations, whenever they like it or not," Naruto told his friend mentally.
"How do you plan to do that, or will you just force them into your will?" Kurama asked, but Naruto shook his head, much to his relief.
"No, Kurama, I won't just go out there and tell them that I'm in charge now the moment I'm strong enough, what I will do is that they will want me to be the ruler; they will see me as the best option possible, I will fox this world, create a better one than the one I was born into, but to do that, I need to get stronger and learn politics, I need to be smart," Naruto spoke mentally.
He knew he was already strong enough to be a Chunin, but that wasn't his goal, he knew he could finish Academy the moment the Academy was open again, but he needed to get stronger without the bother of needing to complete missions, for now.
Naruto kept talking with Kurama before he fell asleep again; he dreamed of his Family at Night, smiling at him.
Tomorrow
The following day, Naruto stood along with what looked like the whole village of the hidden leaf, a new area that had been used to bury every Uchiha that died in 'The Massacre of The Uchiha Clan' as people had started calling it.
Grey Clouds had filled the sky. No sunlight pierced the clouds; darkness had fallen over The Hidden Leaf.
Naruto was wearing dark clothes, he didn't have them, but the Hokage had bought them for him knowing Naruto wanted to attend the funeral.
Holding flowers in his hand, Naruto thought back, when he bought them.
He entered the shop and was surprised to see the Ino girl from the Academy at the counter reading a magazine; Naruto didn't really know her well, she sometimes would talk with Shikamaru and Choji when he was there, but nothing more than a brief 'Hello.'
Ino glanced up briefly when she heard the bell ring before going back to her magazine before glancing back up when she recognized Naruto.
"H-Hey, what are you doing here?" she demanded with a playful tone and with a light blush on her cheeks, leaning closer against the desk.
Naruto noticed her sudden rush of nervousness and... something else through her body.
If it were any other day, perhaps Naruto would have stopped and smiled and maybe started a conversation, but this wasn't the day for that.
Naruto looked at her confused, "getting flowers? This is a flower shop, right?"
Ino blushed more but nodded; she instantly went into gardener mode, "what types of the flower do you want to buy? There are different types of flowers for a certain subject."
Naruto gave the girl a sad smile, "love and loss."
Ino's eyes widened when she realized what it meant and guided the blonde towards a bright pink flower with purple dots, "this is a sweet pea; it represents goodbye to someone we love." Naruto nodded and picked a couple of them out.
Ino led him to another part of the shop where the roses were and indicated a red and white rose "it's a symbol for love while the white represents silence and devotion."
When Naruto had picked up a couple of roses, Ino led him to a row of orange flowers, "these are Marigolds; they represent death and grief." Naruto picked some of the flowers, and he took them to the counter where Ino told him the cost, which he promptly paid.
"May I ask who they were?" Ino asked softly.
Naruto smiled sadly, "family." He then left the store with his mind busy in thoughts.
Naruto escaped his thoughts when people started putting the flowers in the graveyard.
Naruto walked forward but couldn't help but feel the malice directed at him. Almost every civilian was glaring at him. It felt like swimming in a sea of anger and hatred, and he was in the middle of it.
Naruto perhaps should have cared, but he found himself not caring of what they thought of him; they were stupid people.
What they thought of him didn't matter to him.
Stopping at Mikoto and Fugaku Uchiha's grave, Naruto managed a small, sad smile. They had been buried together.
Naruto felt rain pouring down on him, his tears mixing with the rain on his face, his hair not spiky, the muddy ground below his feet.
Naruto heard many crying for the Tragedy, some standing silent.
Naruto thought back at the first time he visited Itachi's house, the dinner he had. The gifts from Mikoto, his big brother Shisui.
His flowers almost fell from his hands; taking a deep breath to regain his composure, he kneeled down and put the flowers near the tombstone.
Fugaku Uchiha
Mikoto Uchiha
Husband and Wife
Father and Mother
Turning around, he started searching through the graveyard until he found the tomb of his big brother.
Shisui Uchiha
Friend
"And Brother," Naruto murmured; he kneeled and gave a small pray for his Big big brother.
Standing up, he started walking away; many looked down on him, their eyes glaring down on Naruto.
Naruto could hear what they said and felt about him, their words, their accusations, and what they always thought of him; despite everything, he saved the Hyuga girl, yet people still saw him as the source of all Evil.
"Did you Hear?"
"Some say the Demon Boy caused Uchiha Itachi to kill his Clan."
"I knew he should not have been Allowed Close to a Noble Clan like Uchiha Clan."
"What Should We Do?"
"He Has caused Enough Tragedy; what if he sets his sight on Hyuga Clan Next?"
"Come on, Don't You think this is a bit too much? He's Just A Kid,"
"He's No Kid. He's A Monster,"
"Why Hasn't The Hokage Killed Him Yet,"
Naruto said nothing as he heard the words directed to him; the Shinobi side of People mainly were quiet.
In a way, Naruto wanted to laugh at how stupid most people were; in a way, he was their punching bag; for every bad thing that ever happens to Konoha, he's to Blame.
Naruto said nothing to them, didn't even bother to glance at them; people like them were not worth the dirt below his feet.
Naruto walked silently towards the memorial stone, the last place he would visit today before starting his Extreme Training.
The memorial stone of Konoha held the names of every single man and woman who had died for their country. It was on this very stone that even the names of Legend Shinobi were carved into it.
After a bit of searching, Naruto found his parents' names, Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina.
He placed the flowers on the memorial stone and silently cried for his parents. He wondered if he would ever feel love again, like when his Uchiha family was alive when his father had hugged him when his Kaa-chan...
Naruto stood silent as he said a small prayer for them, hoping they were watching over him.
"Tou-san, Kaa-chan, I don't know where my life will lead me; the road that I have chosen will be a hard one. I wish to bring peace to this world for something like this to not happen to someone else after me. If I ever lose my way, I hope you are there to show me the True Way."
Naruto finished as he stood, a sudden light streamed down on the stone and Naruto from the sky, turning around he saw the clouds had moved away just a bit to allow the light of the sun to shine through.
Closing his eyes, he left the place ready to face the Challenges of the Future.
The Memorial Stone seemed to shine in the sun's rays while the flowers left there seemed to glow brighter.
Pain and Lose Arc is Completed
Next is 'A Shinobi of The World' Arc
週次パワーステータス
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