Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Twelve Years ❯ Chapter 6: Memories ( Chapter 6 )

Chapter 6: Memories

 

 

It was as if Tsunade's revelation had been the pulling of a trigger. Not of a rifle or a pistol, but rather of a machine gun. Memories of the time just before I had fallen into my twelve years of unconsciousness were returning to me with ever increasing rapidity.

 

The Kyuubi had been roaming nearly unchecked for two weeks by the time Yondaime was able to quell the fears of the Konoha residents - especially of the non-ninjas - enough to speak rationally with them and show them his plan. In these two weeks, fourteen adults and eight children had been listed as missing; nearly half as many more had been confirmed dead. We'd had so many requests to act as bodyguards there were no ninjas left to complete the Level A missions.

 

Yondaime had given a moving speech to the whole of Konoha, speaking of his terrible grief for our losses, but also his determination to eradicate this threat to protect the village and the country as well.

 

He gave a separate speech to the ninja population of Konoha, encouraging all of us to contribute to the city's safety by fighting.

 

A third speech was given to all Jounin, informing us that our non-participation or failure were simply not options.

 

The first huge raid on the Kyuubi occurred one day later. We sustained losses, but they were nothing compared to the fallowing night when the demon plundered the village, seemingly unfazed and unhurt by any of our actions or attacks. Among the dead after that dark evening was Yondaime's young wife, my sister.

 

She had just given birth to a beautiful baby with hair as brilliantly golden as his father's and eyes as strikingly blue as his mother's.

 

Yondaime and I had mourned together. Suddenly, we were the only family the other had besides the bright-eyed, innocent Naruto.

 

All grieving was cut short, however, as another series of attacks on the Kyuubi were planned. Yondaime confided in me that he had an attack that was sure to be successful, but it was only to be used as a last resort. He would tell me nothing more whatsoever of his mysterious plan.

 

It was during these attacks that we came to realize that the Kyuubi was recovering far too quickly from the wounds we afflicted. Just an hour after it had been bleeding profusely, the wound would be completely healed.

 

The revelation of the Kyuubi's quick physical recovery coupled with the grave injuries of fifty more ninjas forced Yondaime to reconsider his plan.

 

He gathered every uninjured ninja of any ability and level for a meeting, his face a gray and somber mask compared with the expression he had worn in the previous conference. Now he was even more determined than before. The death of his wife and the pseudo-invincibility of our opponent had pushed him to become the grave, unsmiling man, so different from the Yondaime I had known. He stood before the quiet and uncomfortably shifting crowd, speaking in a low and serious voice.

 

"We are facing what seems an undefeatable foe. We have lost many of our kin and comrades. It is time to put an end to this crisis. I have a jutsu I know will be successful and I beg you to forgive me from now using it before when, perhaps, your loved ones could have been spared, but I believe you will soon understand my reason for waiting this long. My jutsu will take me some time to prepare, and so I request volunteers for a diversionary unit to distract the Kyuubi until I can enact my plan. Are there any of you who are willing to assist me?"

 

All hands were raised and a mix of relief and regret flashed upon the Fourth Hokage's face. He nodded his solemn thanks and began to give instructions as to how everyone was to enact his plan.

 

After the meeting, I walked home a friend who was grieving the loss of her genin son. We stayed together and spoke for over an hour before I dismissed myself in order to gain restful sleep for the next day's battle, the one Yondaime had assured us would end the war for good.

 

I decided to stop by his house on the way to my own to offer my wishes of good luck for the next day. I was surprised when the Third, Sandaime, emerged from the house when I reached the doorstep instead of my brother-in-law. The older man gave me a respectful bow which I returned and he went on his way without a single word of greeting or farewell.

 

I stared after him in confusion but was brought back to my senses by Yondaime's gentle voice. "Keika. Come on inside."

I turned my head to him and nodded, stepping inside the house. We endured some idle talk about what I cannot remember - not due to my loss of memory but simply because it was so meaningless that I forgot it just after saying it - until Naruto made a plaintive cry for his father from his crib in the next room. Yondaime excused himself to tend to his son, leaving me by myself.

 

I walked to the shelf, my eyes traveling over the framed photos placed there. There was my sister and me as children, next a young Yondaime proudly wearing his newly earned Chuunin vest, then a picture taken at his and my sister's wedding. Last was a recent family portrait of two joyful parents holding between them a squirming and giggling blond infant.

 

I must have been more immersed in my study of these images than I knew because suddenly and before I had ever heard him coming, Yondaime was behind me, his hand on my shoulder.

 

"Keika," he said in his quiet, low voice that had been subdued ever since the death of my sister, his wife. I turned to face him, finding in that moment from the look in his eyes the unquestionable truth that we would never see each other on this world again, that one or both of us would positively and without a doubt die the next day. I cannot explain the source of this knowledge, just that it was the most certain thing I had ever known.

 

"Here," he said, speaking in that same voice, extending his other hand to me. In it was a thin plate of metal perhaps three by five inches. I took it mechanically, shaken out of my promotion by my curiosity. I discovered, through my inspection, that it was actually two chrome plates secured together, a thin slit between them. I was turning the metal case over to see its contents when Yondaime gently put his hand over mine, stopping me. "I do not want to know what is inside," he said softly. "It was your sister's. She always wore it under her outer layer of clothing, even before we were married. Clearly it meant much to her. It was of the time when I could lay no claim to her at all, though you could, so it is more yours than it is mine. I want you to have it."

 

I nodded, blinking a few times to stay my tears. "Thank you," I said quietly, tucking the case into my pocket and taking my brother-in-law's hands into my own. "Good luck tomorrow. Please be careful." Let me be the one to die between us, I thought. Naruto needs you.

 

He nodded, unknowingly disregarding my unspoken request. "Get your rest. Take care." He squeezed my hands gently, then let me go. I walked home quickly, though it seemed like an age. When I reached my quiet, dark house, I sat on my bed and pulled out my sister's case. I turned it over, extracting a glossy piece if paper: it was an old photograph of a young teenage Yondaime. It brought to my mind a giggle-filled conversation my sister and I had had seven years ago when she confessed to me her desire to have this young, handsome ninja notice her. She must have carried this photograph with her ever since then.

 

I sighed sadly and tucked the photograph back into the case and then slipped it under my outer layer of clothes, just as my sister had. As it had shown her love for Yondaime, so it would now show my hopes for his and his son's survival through the coming day, even if it meant my own death.

 

In the end, it cost us all three of us our lives, metaphorically. It snatched twelve years from my life and time, took away the respect Naruto should have had in the village as the son of a Hokage and a talented ninja in his own right, and, the worst tragedy of all, stole all of Yondaime's life and soul for all eternity, denying him even the ability to rest with my sister in peace in whatever afterlife there might be.

 

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Thanks for the review, MangaReader. Yeah I know it's a weird time to put the story in. Which is why I did it, actually, for a challenge. Anyway, hope you keep reading and enjoying :)