Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Blood Stained Hands ❯ And the Dead Shall Return ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter Three: And the Dead Shall Return

 

Days turned into weeks, and weeks slowly turned into months. The green leaves of summer soon turned to the golds and reds of fall, which later blew away in the icy winds of winter. Spring saw the return of green to the land of Fire, but some things - no matter how many seasons passed - could not be healed by the passage of time.

 

The village's defensive wall was rebuilt soon after the Akatsuki attack, and funerals held for those killed in combat. The stone memorial remembering Konoha's fallen saw the addition of sixteen names following that fateful attack, but none as tragic as the name of the youngest ninja of that group - one who years before had unknowingly boasted his name would one day be on that monument…

 

Naruto Uzumaki's death resonated deep inside the hearts of all those that knew him. His funeral was small - less than two dozen people in attendance - but it was certainly the most heartfelt. Eulogies remembering the blond prankster and his more memorable moments were given, and more than a few tears were shed.

 

For many months afterward, the pain of the young shinobi's death remained a lingering hurt for those left behind. But while many were able to come to terms with their loss and move on with their day to day lives, one in particular could not seem to escape the sorrow of his best friend's murder.

 

Although already isolated and a loner by nature, Sasuke became even more withdrawn after Naruto`s death. He continued to go on missions and do his duties like any other Konoha ninja, but as Kakashi noticed in the days following Naruto's death, there was no longer any shine of life in the Uchiha heir's eyes. Like the living dead, Sasuke went through the days doing what he was suppose to do, but nothing more. He got up in the mornings, he went on missions, he trained, he ate, he slept. But that was it. Friendless and alone, not even revenge seemed enough to give the boy a reason to live. Kakashi could never get Sasuke to open up to him or talk about what happened, but he suspected the boy somehow blamed himself for his friend's untimely death. It was almost like with Naruto's death, something had also died inside of Sasuke…

 

Life however continued to move on despite personal tragedy or grief, and a new threat to Konoha arose.

 

After its initial attack, Akatsuki began to more actively threaten the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Raids and small attacks became such a common occurrence along Konoha's borders that many were fearful to venture outside the village's protective walls. The Hokage ordered an increase of ninja posted on the borders and around the village, but Akatsuki always seemed able to sneak past them and make a strike before retreating once again to plan their next attack.

 

To make matters worse, as if sensing Konoha's weakening defenses, the Hidden Village of Sound also began to make threats against the village. Their resources already stretched thin from fighting off Akatsuki, Konoha began to falter under the growing strain of fighting a two fronted war.

 

That spring, nine months after Akatsuki's first major attack, they attacked again, this time destroying a large section of the village and killing more than twenty Konoha ninja in the ensuing battle. The Leaf-nin were able to beat back Akatsuki in time before they could get far into the village, but not without heavy losses.

 

Unable to passively stand by any longer, it was decided that Konoha had to go on the offensive and attack Akatsuki itself. Only a few days after Akatsuki's second attack one of Konoha's scouts in a brilliant stroke of luck happened to discover a small Akatsuki stronghold hidden in the mountains just outside the Fire country's western border.

 

Mustering their weakened forces of all available ninja from chuunin level up, and accompanied by their ally Sand - whose Kazekage, Gaara, had vowed to aid the Leaf Village in revenge for his fallen friend Naruto - Konoha moved out on the Akatsuki stronghold, determined to put an end to the crime organization's reign of terror once and for all…

 

oooooo

 

Iruka Umino angrily kicked the ground. His hands were clenched in two fists by his sides. Around him ninja from both Sand and Konoha moved about tending to the wounded and carrying away the dead. In front of him, like a looming black abyss, stood the entrance of Akatsuki's secret lair. Its giant stone doors were open, offering passage deep into the very mountain it'd been carved out of. But while ninja streamed in and out of the enemy stronghold, none of them were Akatsuki.

 

Iruka scuffed the ground again, struggling to contain his helpless burst of rage.

 

While Sand and Konoha had successfully caught Akatsuki unawares and dispatched a number of enemy ninja in the subsequent battle that`d followed their arrival, none of the ninja they'd fought had been above average jounin level. From what they could tell, if any Akatsuki S-class ninja had been inside the stronghold during the raid, they'd all escaped through some secret back tunnel along with a number of their other agents, leaving their weaker members behind to create a diversion. So even though they'd captured and killed a large number of Akatsuki's forces, the escape of so many important ninja made their victory not as meaningful.

 

Iruka gave a heavy sigh. He'd been so hopeful they'd finally be able to put a stop to Akatsuki, or at least deal it a crippling blow. But all it seemed they'd been able to do was force its more powerful ninja into retreating to a different (and probably even more secure) location. Konoha had put so much of its dwindling resources into mounting this attack it was doubtful they'd be able to do it again even if they did find another Akatsuki lair. It just felt so hopeless. After Akatsuki's first attack on the village, Konoha had been faced with one problem after another. If something didn't change soon, Iruka had no illusions about Konoha eventually succumbing to their enemies' growing power…

 

The academy sensei moved through the crowd of other ninja milling in front of the stronghold's doors. The battle was long since over and a number of Akatsuki's ninja captured. All that remained now was to search the empty stronghold for any remaining ninja, and anything else Konoha might be able to use against the missing-nin crime organization.

 

A large group of Sand and Leaf ninja had begun to form in front of the doors. At the head of the group stood the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade, and Sand's Kazekage, Gaara. The boy's arms were darkly crossed in front of his chest, his giant gourd silhouetting his slender frame. His face was blank of all emotions, but Iruka couldn't help but imagine there was an aura of disgruntled disappointment surrounding the stoic Sand-nin.

 

“Ninja will spread out through the structure and secure all other entrances and exits,” Tsunade was saying, her voice carrying loudly over the gathered coalition of Sand and Leaf. “There is still the possibility of Akatsuki ninja hiding inside, so teams of two or more are recommended. Searches will start in the main chamber and branch out into other passages. Are there any questions?” There was silence from the assembled group of ninja. “Good. Now move out!”

 

“Show no mercy to any Akatsuki-nin you find that try to resist,” Gaara added in a dangerously low voice.

 

A chorus of shouts answered the Kazekage's order, and the group of ninja began to move towards the doors.

 

Iruka followed his comrades through the foreboding stone gates and into a large cavern-like antechamber beyond. On the far side of the chamber, through the inky gloom, Iruka could make out the dark outline of a gigantic statue in the shape of two hands rising out of the ground towards the ceiling, its wrists bound together by shackles. The rough-hewn walls of the chamber, he also noted, were scorched black in places as if by some kind of intense, raging fire. The pungent smell of stale blood lingered heavily in the air.

 

Iruka suppressed a shudder. He did not want to know what kind of things had gone on in this chamber. After what they'd done to Naruto - his favorite student who over the years had come to hold such a large place in his heart - Iruka was not about to doubt what kind of ruthless horrors Akatsuki was capable of. Even now, months after Naruto's death, it still haunted the chuunin sensei's mind to think of what kind of horrors and pain the happy vivacious boy had suffered in his last few minutes of life…

 

The other ninja were beginning to divide and separate down the many other passages that branched off the main chamber. A narrow patch of darkness stood off to Iruka's right - a small tunnel leading down into utter darkness. It didn't look like any of the other ninja had gone to search it yet. He began to move towards it.

 

“Where are you going?”

 

Iruka startled and spun around in surprise towards the deceptively quiet voice behind him. Standing there not half a dozen feet away was none other than the red-haired Kazekage of Sand, Gaara. His arms, as usual, were crossed in front of his chest, his expression emotionless.

 

“I thought your Hokage said to stay in groups of two or more,” he said. His black-rimmed eyes seemed to stare right down into Iruka, as if looking into his very soul. “Agents of Akatsuki might still be here. It's dangerous to be alone.”

 

“My teammates were injured in battle and had to be taken back to the village,” Iruka replied. Despite his best efforts not to, the chuunin shifted uneasily under the Kazekage's piercing gaze, unnerved to be in the presence of the same boy who less than three years ago had entered the chuunin exams expecting to brutally beat out all other competition, and had almost permanently crippled one of the other participants in the semi-finals of the second round.

 

For several moments of endless silence the two just stared at each other. Iruka couldn't help but feel the boy was somehow trying to place his face when suddenly-

 

“You were Naruto's sensei.” It was not a question.

 

Iruka blinked in surprise. “Yes. I was his instructor at the academy.”

 

Gaara gave an almost imperceptible nod. “He mentioned you once to me. He seemed to hold you in high esteem.”

 

For reasons Iruka couldn't quite explain, he felt tears prickle the corners of his eyes. It'd been so long since he'd heard another mention the blond whirlwind. Most that knew Naruto had taken his death so hard that few could speak about him without somehow being reminded of the brutal way he'd died. Even Kakashi seemed reluctant to talk about his old student or what he'd found that night after Akatsuki's first attack.

 

“Thank you,” Iruka murmured, not quite trusting himself to meet Gaara`s eyes. “He was a special student to me. I held him in very high esteem too…”

 

Another almost imperceptible nod from the red-haired boy. “If you plan to search that tunnel, then you will need someone else to go with you. I will accompany you. Naruto would not have wanted you killed while in pursuit of those that killed him.”

 

Iruka suddenly didn't seem to mind the other boy's presence as much, and together he and Gaara started down the passage. A little ways down burning torches appeared along the walls, creating small pools of light at regular intervals along the pitch black hallway.

 

As the two delved deeper into the living heart of the mountain, they came across a series of thick metal doors lining one side of the tunnel. Iruka tried the handle of one, which reluctantly squeaked open on rusty hinges to reveal a tiny stone room beyond. On the far wall a pair of metal shackles dangled ominously from the ceiling. A patch of dried blood stained one corner of the floor a dark, rusty brown.

 

“Dungeons,” Gaara murmured. His emotionless voice echoed eerily though the empty cell.

 

Iruka silently backed back out of the room, a sickening feeling of revulsion churning the bottom of his stomach. He had no desire to know what had happened to the unfortunate soul that'd once inhabited this cell…

 

The two solemnly continued farther down the passage, checking all the doors of the cells they passed. Suddenly, they came across one locked from the outside by a thick iron padlock. Iruka leaned closer to examine it.

 

“This one wouldn't be locked unless there was someone inside,” he murmured thoughtfully.

 

Gaara said nothing in response.

 

Taking out a kunai, the chuunin drew it back over his shoulder and brought it soundly down on the lock. The padlock shattered, falling in pieces to the floor. Replacing his kunai, Iruka pushed the door open and let the flickering light of the torch behind them spill into the room.

 

A lone figure lay in the middle of the room. Its back was towards the door, its wrists and ankles bound. From what Iruka could tell, the prisoner was male, but it was hard to say for sure from the sorry state he was in. Clad in only tattered black pants, the prisoner's emaciated back was covered in welts, burns, bruises, and half-healed cuts - the obvious signs of torture. Matted, dirty blond hair lay beneath the person's head on the filthy stone floor.

 

Iruka quickly hurried inside the room and knelt beside the person. Gaara silently followed after him but stood several feet away near the door, arms crossed, as though indifferent to the poor soul they'd just found.

 

“Oh gods…” Iruka hissed as he reached out and placed a gentle hand on the person's back. “He's freezing.” Undoing the buttons of his chuunin vest, he shrugged it off and draped it over the figure's skeletal shoulders. “Kazekage, please help me. I have to turn him over.”

 

Gaara reluctantly uncrossed his arms and stepped closer. Squatting down beside the chuunin, the two of them gently slid their hands under the prisoner's knees and shoulders and rolled him towards them. The prisoner barely weighed a thing and limply came over in their arms, his head lifelessly lolling back to reveal a pale, dirt-smeared face.

 

For a moment Iruka thought he was hallucinating - that the dim shadows of the room were somehow playing tricks on him.

 

There was no way the one laying there was the one he thought it was. There was just no possible way!

 

Half frozen with shock, Iruka was only partially aware of Gaara beside him. Somehow through his startled daze though, he noticed the Kazekage's eyes widen and his mouth fall partially open - the first true sign of emotions he'd seen on the boy's face since meeting him.

 

Shakily reaching down, Iruka traced a fingertip along one whisker-marked cheek, as if to prove to himself what he saw was really real. The skin beneath his fingers was cold and gritty with who knew how many months of grime. But it was tangible and real, just like the gentle stir of breath whispering against his chest between dry, blood-crackled lips - living proof that what he saw was not some kind of painful illusion.

 

It was then that Iruka let the almost painful hope that'd begun to build in his chest finally surge forward, washing over him like a dizzying tidal wave of happiness, disbelief, and shock…

 

oooooo

 

Sasuke watched the coalition of Sand and Leaf ninja move around the entrance of the cave with distracted disdain. Behind him a number of Akatsuki ninja sat in a small huddle with their hands and feet tied while a team of heavily armed ANBU stood watch over them. Sweeping his eyes over the captured ninja, Sasuke was once again angered to note there was absolutely no sign of his elusive older brother Itachi anywhere amongst them. He'd even checked the pile of Akatsuki dead on the off chance that some other ninja had come across him in battle and killed the murderous rogue, but it seemed Itachi had once again managed to slip away between their fingers…

 

Sasuke's hands unconsciously clenched into fists as he turned and walked away. From what he'd overheard others saying there hadn't been any sign of Akatsuki S-class ninja anywhere during battle. It looked like all of them had somehow escaped before or right after they'd gotten there.

 

Hot boiling anger - one of the few emotions he was still able to feel besides lonely emptiness - welled up inside Sasuke, filling the hollow void that had become his soul. For the first time in as long as he could remember, he had actually felt alive and not like an animated corpse. When he'd heard about the Hokage's plans to attack Akatsuki, he'd felt like he might once again have a reason to live. But now that feeling was once again gone…

 

After Naruto's murder, revenge had suddenly seemed like a luxury he was no longer entitled to. He had failed to be there to stop his brother. Even after years of training to get strong enough to defeat Itachi he still hadn't been able to protect his friend. He was a failure. He didn't deserve to have the satisfaction of ending his brother's life in revenge when it was his fault his friend was dead in the first place…

 

“Sasuke!” a voice suddenly called out. “Sasuke, where are you going?”

 

It was Kakashi. The jounin was coming towards him across the chakra-scorched battlefield.

 

“The Hokage's ordered the cave searched. We could use your help,” he said, finally coming to a stop in front of his student.

 

Sasuke just shook his head, unable to meet Kakashi's eye. “No. You have enough ninja already. You don't need me. I'm going back to Konoha. This was nothing but a waste of time.”

 

“You know that isn't true,” Kakashi said. “We might not have caught any of Akatsuki's higher ups, but we did deal it a major blow. They lost at least a hundred ninja in this attack.”

 

“And how many ninja did we lose?” Sasuke bitterly shot back, his empty black eyes boring into Kakashi. “It doesn't matter how many agents we capture or kill, Akatsuki will just keep recruiting more. We have to get its S-class ninja if we're ever going to stop them once and for all.”

 

“Sasuke…” Kakashi sighed, sensing what was really weighing on the younger shinobi`s mind. “There was never any guarantee Itachi was going to be here. It might take awhile, but we will catch him someday and make him pay for what he`s done.”

 

Like a smoldering fire suddenly roaring back to life, Sasuke's eyes flashed with an almost maniacal look of rage. “Don't you dare mention his name!” he snarled, his hands clenched into fists by his sides. “I don't want to ever hear that bastard's name again!”

 

Reaching out, Kakashi tried to put a calming hand on his student`s shoulder. “Sasuke-”

 

“Don't touch me!” he hissed, leaping out of the jounin's reach. He slowly began to back away, his face warped with angry pain. “I'm going back to the village. There's nothing left for me to do here. This was nothing but a waste of time.” Then leaping into the overhanging branches of the trees, the boy disappeared from sight, almost like a shadow blending back into the night.

 

Left to stare after the angry boy, Kakashi could do nothing more than sigh in hopeless frustration, wondering if anything could ever heal the wounds Sasuke still so painfully bore inside…

 

oooooo

 

“Forty-three of our ninja were injured in battle, Lady Hokage,” one of Tsunade's strategists said as he handed her a report. “All the wounded that could not immediately be treated here on the battlefield are being transported back to the village. Sand's injured are also being taken there for treatment. Between the two villages, there are at least thirty-nine reported dead.”

 

“And Akatsuki?” Tsunade asked. “How many of their ninja did we get?”

 

The strategist unrolled a tiny scroll from his vest pocket and scanned down a list of numbers. “We counted sixty-two Akatsuki dead, eighteen injured, and more than twenty-five captured. It appears many of the ones that died were injured during battle and would have survived their wounds, but chose to bite down on cyanide capsules and commit suicide rather than being taken alive. The ones we did capture were only stopped because the ninja that caught them managed to search them in time for poison capsules. We currently have a team of ANBU watching them until we can transport them back to the village for questioning.”

 

Tsunade sighed and wearily massaged the pinch of skin between her eyes. “Very well. Continue searching the cave for anymore ninja. If we find the exit the rest of Akatsuki used to escape, I want several teams sent after them. We have them on the run, so let's keep up the pressure.”

 

The strategist gave a bow and scurried away into the surrounding chaos to pass on her orders. As teams of Leaf and Sand ninja continued to hurry in and out of the cave around her, Tsunade gave another sigh and rubbed her forehead as if she could feel the twinges of an oncoming headache.

 

“Are you alright, Tsunade?” Jiraiya's voice drifted through her troubled thoughts. The Toad Sage stood close beside her, like a solid pillar of support.

 

Looking up, Tsunade gave her old teammate a wan smile. “I'm fine,” she said, although the reassurance seemed rather weak. “It's just that this attack took more out of me than I thought it would. As much as I don't like to admit it, I can`t help but feel I`m starting to get too old for this kind of stuff.”

 

“You're not the only one,” Jiraiya replied, his expression distant as he stared across the empty battlefield. “You and I, our times are past, yet we keep on living while younger, more able-bodied ninja keep dying around us every day. It's one of life's crueler ironies…”

 

Tsunade studied her old teammate for a moment out of the corner of her eye. “Philosophy doesn't suit you, Jiraiya,” she said, her voice heavy with unwanted memories. “You make too much sense when you talk like that. Stick with your smutty romance novels where you`re better acquainted.”

 

Jiraiya chuckled softly under his breath, but it was empty of any actual mirth.

 

As the two Sannin watched ninja hurry in and out of the cave, Tsunade happened to see Kakashi making his way back across the battlefield towards them, his hands dejectedly stuffed in his pockets.

 

“Kakashi!” she called, motioning him over to her. “Where's Sasuke? I thought you were going to get him to help with the searches.”

 

“I did, but it seems he was rather disappointed by the raid and decided to go back to the village. He's in a somewhat darker mood than usual right now.”

 

Tsunade nodded sadly. “I think we're all kind of disappointed right now by how the raid turned out. But I can understand why he might be more disappointed than most. Itachi has proven to be one of Akatsuki's harder ninja to track…”

 

Despite her initial dislike for the boy, Tsunade's opinion of the Uchiha prodigy had softened somewhat after that night of Akatsuki's first attack. She had heard from several different people how badly Sasuke had taken his friend's death and how Kakashi had had to physically pull the grieving boy away from Naruto's mutilated body to calm him down. She still remembered with heart-breaking clarity the empty look in Sasuke's eyes several days later at Naruto's funeral as he'd stood there staring at the tiny white box that contained the hyperactive shinobi`s ashes. If she hadn't known better she would have almost said they were the eyes of a living corpse…

 

She couldn't explain why the boy seemed so distraught over Naruto's death when he himself had almost killed Naruto two years before, but there was no denying the sincerity of the youngest Uchiha's despair…

 

For several minutes Tsunade stood there in silence, lost in painful nostalgic memories. But just then a commotion near the doors of the cave suddenly caught her attention and startled her back to the present.

 

As Tsunade watched, ninja moving about the entrance separated to either side of the doors, parting like water in their hurry to get out of the way. At first she didn't understand what was going on until she suddenly saw the red-haired figure of Sand's Kazekage, Gaara, appear in the doorway. The boy was breathing hard, his black-rimmed eyes unnaturally round. The strap of his giant gourd was slipping halfway off his shoulder, but he hardly seemed to notice. If Tsunade didn't know better, she would have almost said he looked panicked - or at least what would pass for panic on the stoic boy.

 

“What the hell…?” Jiraiya murmured beside her.

 

Pausing in the doorway, Gaara quickly scanned the surrounding area as if searching for someone. Suddenly, his eyes came to rest on her and his face warped into an expression of even more unfamiliar emotions.

 

“Hokage,” he yelled, his voice echoing loudly over the field of now silent, watching ninja. “Call for medics.”

 

“Gaara, what's going on?” a young Sand kunoichi - the Kazekage's sister, Temari - demanded. “What happened?” Her other brother Kankuro stood not far behind her, his own expression tinged with worry from Gaara`s strange behavior.

 

Gaara however didn't have time to explain, for just at that moment, stepping into the light behind him, appeared the chuunin academy instructor Iruka with a limp body cradled in his arms.

 

“HOKAGE!” the chuunin screamed, gently easing the one he was carrying down onto the ground and kneeling beside it. Supporting the person's upper body against his chest, Iruka hugged the person close, as though trying to offer what little protection and warmth he could. As Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Kakashi hurried towards him, she saw that whoever Iruka had found had been hastily bundled in the chuunin instructor's vest.

 

“Iruka, what's going on?” she demanded, drawing near the distraught sensei and his unconscious charge. “Who is that? What hap-?” But she never got a chance to finish her sentence as she finally saw the face of Iruka's charge - and stopped dead in her tracks several feet away.

 

Jiraiya and Kakashi also froze, struck immobile by the sight of the one they beheld. Tsunade covered her mouth with both hands, stifling a cry of shock.

 

“No…” she whispered, shaking her head weakly as her eyes widened in disbelief. “There's no possible way…”

 

But there was no denying the identity of the one Iruka hugged so tightly to his chest as though unwilling to release his hold on the boy for fear of him suddenly disappearing. Although emaciated and covered with months of dirt and grime, Tsunade recognized the painfully familiar features of the one laying there like the ghost of some distant memory suddenly come back to life.

 

“N-Naruto?” she stammered. She was suddenly able to move again, and before she knew it she was kneeling beside Iruka on the ground, her hands hovering over the frail blond figure in his arms as though afraid to actually touch him. Jiraiya and Kakashi were not far behind her and before long there was a small crowd huddled around the unexplainably alive boy, all of them whispering in stunned tones.

 

“How?” Tsunade demanded, her voice weak with shock as she tentatively brushed a section of dirty bangs from Naruto`s face. “How is this possible?”

 

“The Kazekage and I were searching the cave and came across a number of cells,” Iruka explained, struggling to speak coherently through his lingering shock. He'd begun rocking Naruto's painfully thin body back and forth in his arms as though trying to somehow comfort the unconscious boy. “We found him inside one of them...”

 

“This is impossible,” Kakashi murmured, staring at his old student as though he still couldn't believe what he saw. “He was killed in an Akatsuki attack. We all saw his body...”

 

“It doesn't matter if it's possible or not,” Jiraiya said, stepping closer. With unforeseen gentleness the burly Toad Sage reached out and shakily carded his fingers through Naruto's hair, letting the grimy blond strands reassure him what he saw was really real. “He's still alive…”

 

Her shock slowly beginning to fade into a lingering daze, the more clinical side of Tsunade began to take over. Running her hands over Naruto's face and body she pressed two fingers to the underside of the boy's jaw.

 

“His pulse is weak,” she announced, now peeling back one eyelid to reveal an empty blue orb beneath, “as is his breathing. His pupils are dilated which indicate he's gone into some kind of state of shock, and it looks like he's suffering from mild hypothermia. We have to get him to a hospital now.”

 

Without needing any other kind of prompting, Iruka bundled Naruto's unconscious form to him and lifted him into his arms. The boy's head and legs dangled limply over his elbows. Then turning towards the tree line Iruka took off in the direction of Konoha, his student held protectively against his chest. Tsunade, Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Gaara all followed after him, while behind them a deafening silence of stunned disbelief hung over the heads of everyone else left behind…

 

To Be Continued…

 

I was debating for awhile who should be the ones to actually find Naruto, but for some reason I just couldn't get the image of an unlikely team up of Gaara and Iruka finding him. It just seemed proper that Iruka be the one of the ones to find him after all. Any thoughts?

 

PLEASE REVIEW! It would really make my day…