Changing Times | By : KaiyoNoHime Category: Naruto > General Views: 1087 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0 |
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. |
If I owned Naruto I wouldn't be living off of cafeteria food at my college, now would I?
All other characters are original, and mine. But you can borrow them if you e-mail me and ask politely. ^.^
Changing Times
Chapter Two: The needs of the many
The sixth Hokage stood above the monument, watching the summer sun fade over the village below him, his lips held in a grim line, his eyes in a continuing frown. Only the golden locks surrounding his face showed any sign of cheer upon his dark demeanor.
He had sworn to become Hokage, like so many before him, at a young age. And he had spent his entire life chasing that one goal, sacrificing everything to obtain it. Only to wonder if he had chosen the right path, now that he had crossed the finishing life.
Naruto was quite sure now that he had, indeed, chosen wrong.
Every time he saw his daughter laughing in the park, shouting and waving at his former sensei. Every time she skinned her knee, and went crying to the silver haired man. Every time she cried out for her father, especially then, and would look only for Kakashi.
"Hokage-sama. They told me I could find you up here," the crimson haired man, Kazekage, smirked, approaching his old friend from behind.
"Gaara-san. It's been a long time. What brings you this far North?" Naruto asked, not bothering to address him by his formal title.
Gaara scowled at first, and then laughed. He had learned a lot from Naruto over the years, but now it seemed it was Naruto who was more in need of learning from him.
"Did you forget? The Chuunin exams are in a week. It would be rather odd if I wasn't here," Gaara slung his arm around his friends shoulders, "Now, tell me, what could make you so gloomy on such a beautiful evening such as this?"
"I am merely checking Konoha's defenses, to ensure that there are no nin's resting when they should be on active patrol," Naruto growled, shrugging Gaara's arm from his shoulders with a cold glare.
Gaara slapped Naruto, hard, across the face.
"Shut the fuck up and quit lying! What the hell happened to you!? Six months ago you were cold, but now you're a fucking pile of ice! What the HELL happened!?" Gaara spat, growling at his friends, green eyes flashing dangerously in the sunset, "And don't you dare lie to me!"
Naruto stared at the ground, bringing a callused hand to his face, his eyes wide as blood dripped from his mouth. Tears following the blood onto the ground.
"She asked for her Papa.... and she reached for Kakashi. She couldn't even recognize me," Naruto sobbed, falling to his knees weakly, clenching his fist on the ground as the story from the previous day escaped his lips, tears staining his face.
Gaara sighed, collecting him into his arms with a grim expression, trying to comfort the blonde without knowing how. The red haired boy had never really learned how to deal with other people's sorrow. He had never really known how to express it himself. It was too foreign to him, too odd.
"There there, Naruto, there there. You did what you thought was best at the time. You gave her up to a good man so she could have a normal life, a safe life. A good life," Gaara whispered, running soothing circles on his friends back as the twilight faded, leaving the two in darkness.
"Did I? Did I really? I never even tried to raise her. I held her at Tenten's funeral, and then I handed her to Kakashi-sensei. And I ran!" Naruto sobbed harder, his words blurring with his tears, "And I ran from my duty! I'm her father, and I couldn't even be responsible enough to raise her!"
"You know that's not true, Naruto. You did what you thought was best," Gaara sighed, trying to ignore the chill that was seeping in through his damp shirt, "The life of a child of a Kage is too hard. You and I should both know that. But now she's happy, isn't that for the best?"
Naruto shook his head, bright blue eyes peering up at his friend.
"But I miss her so bad," Naruto hiccuped, trying to clear the tears from his eyes.
"Who do you miss, Naruto? Tenten, or Setsuko? How can you miss someone, something, if you never had it to begin with?" Gaara asked, slapping himself mentally. He knew that showing Naruto the truth would break the poor man's heart, but it had to be done. Konoha would never survive with a weak Kage that was still doubting a decision rightfully made so many years before.
"I...I... I..." Naruto's eyes looked up at his friend wildly as he realized that he didn't know the answer. And then he blinked, bright cerulean shifting to deep, cold twilight, "I miss Tenten."
"I know, but you have to get over her death. She was a ninja, she knew what she was doing. You're Hokage, you know what you must do." Gaara reminded him, his eyes equally as cold.
"I must be strong for the Village, so that it grows and prospers. I must not falter in choices so that it does not collapse," Naruto hissed, standing up, a stray breeze shipping the folds of his robe about in the night air.
"The needs of the many over the needs of the few," Gaara whispered, joining his friend as they both observed the darkness drape warmly across the Village below, their cold eyes protecting the unknowing people below.
Tsuzuku (To be continued)
Author's Note: Before any of the ranting and screaming starts, I can say only this. Yes, Tenten was Setsuko's mother. Get over it.
And no, there will be no Gaara x Naruto yaoi. At least not in this fic anyway. Naruto gave up everything to become the Hokage, including his wife. He isn't going to turn around and decide that having Gaara as his lover would be okay when raising his own daughter isn't even part of his life. ^.^;
You have to love how fucked up responsibility is to some people, eh.
Oh yes, I just realized that the word ninja is read as a misspelled word by my spell check. ^.^
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