Kurenai blinked the sleep out of her eyes as she slowly walked towards the door of her apartment, she hazily saw her clock showing 3'o clock at night. A light chuckle escaped from her lips as she remembered a dark tale her father had told her once, that 3'o clock at night was one of the few hours when the dark forces were at their strongest. That it was the hour of evil...
She had never believed such superstition, remembering that tale as another one of her father's silly attempts to make her sleep quickly at night when she was a kid. And honestly, that trick had worked a lot of times...
As she opened the door, her breath stopped. Even in the darkness of the night, the glow of this person was enormous. His silky blonde hair were brighter than ever, his pale handsome face was almost the same color as that of the moonlight, his eyes were gentle and warm yet she knew they contained an endless sea of sorrow and bitterness.
"It's been a while, Kurenai..." said Naruto calmly,
He was surprised when she jumped straight into his arms, pulled his red scarf down with a quick yank and slammed her lips against his. A small chuckle escaped from his muffled mouth as he happily kissed her back passionately. His heart cherishing this moment for eternity.
Oh, how much he had missed her during the past 3 months.
Realizing where they were and what his status was at this time, she quickly pulled him inside her cozy apartment and slammed the door shut. She continued to stare at him for a few minutes, her eyes trying to believe that he was real and standing in front of her.
When she was finally satisfied a small tear slipped from her eye, as she wrapped her arms around him and snuggled into his muscular chest.
"I missed you..." said Kurenai happily, her voice becoming a little choked.
Only she knew how much she had suffered during the past 3 months, knowing he was lurking around Orochimaru. There was no letter or any kind of communication between them during this duration, and she had countless restless nights due to it. Her mind always wondered whether he was safe, or was he injured, or not dead.
But her heart was firm in its believe that he was alive, and no matter what he would come back to her. Tonight, it was finally proven right...
"Likewise, wow you did put on a few kilos..." joked Naruto, as a horrified look appeared in her eyes.
"What? NO! I'm perfectly fit, I-" blabbered Kurenai, and only stopped when she saw the mischievous glint in his eyes. The bastard was playing with her...
She slapped him playfully on the arm and he acted as if that little blow hurt him, making her roll her eyes. She couldn't help but laugh happily, his little annoying habits like these always kept their rocky relationship alive.
After snuggling close to him for another few minutes, she broke the hug and saw the same calm look in his eyes that she had seen many times.
"Where the hell have you been for the past 3 months? No letter, you simply vanished. Do you even care how worried I was?" asked Kurenai bitterly, as he cupped her chin and silenced her with a soft kiss.
"Sorry. Anbu stuff..." said Naruto sheepishly, making her pout like a little girl as her cheeks flushed a little.
"That's not fair. How can I stay mad at you if you keep doing things like that..." replied Kurenai childishly,
"Like this?" asked Naruto naughtily, as he tickled her belly with his delicate fingers making her yelp in surprise.
She pushed him away as he laughed on seeing her flushed face, his mischievous smile turned into a serene one when he saw pictures lying on her table. The old pictures of Team 7 and many other ones with Kakashi. He didn't know why but he took a few steps forward and grasped the frame in which Team 7's official photo was stores. Kakashi was not a part of their unit, yet he was still there.
Kurenai stepped beside him and saw his eyes were pretty moist, he was trying quite hard not to cry. And somewhere a little part of her heart died too as she felt his pain.
1 year...
The past year had been extremely mortifying for Naruto. From being forced to kill his Root comrades, then to losing his best friend Sai, if that was not enough he also lost his clone daughter Rei.
And all of this was besides the unending hatred he faced from the entire world. Far away from home, performing his duty behind enemy lines against the most dangerous freak of Konoha, bearing the scorn of the villagers and the people of Fire nation. Now, that she thought about it Naruto was practically on his own all this time, there was no one to support him and yet everyone jumped at the first chance to judge him.
She was simply amazed when he suppressed his watery eyes, and in a blink of eye they were back to their happy self. He even gave her a smile when he found her looking at him worriedly, but she knew it was fake.
"How do you deal with it? How can suffer so much pain and still fight?" asked Kurenai, admiration evident in her voice and eyes.
"I've got no choice. Anyway, Kurenai there is something I have to talk about. Something important..." said Naruto seriously,
Kurenai blinked in surprise, suddenly she remembered that had something even more important to say. Something she was not able to say during their past meeting, she lacked the courage to tell him then but now she was determined to go through with it.
"Naruto, I also have to say something to you. Something really important..." said Kurenai hesitantly, and fought hard not to flinch when he narrowed his eyes. She didn't know why but there were a few moments when those eyes scared her, they were so full of hatred and sadness that it made her fear that she would drown herself in that.
"Okay, you go first..." said Naruto patiently, as she shook her head.
"No, it's okay. You can say what you want first..." insisted Kurenai,
She tried to resist, but he shot her protests down with such calm and collected replies that made her finally get tired, and accept his suggestion of presenting her topic first.
Both of them were now sitting on top of her comfortable couch, sitting on the opposite site Kurenai saw for the first time the change in his posture. It was more reserved, disciplined, and business like. Just like a Kage, and with those cold, calculative eyes of his she was sure he could give Hiruzen a run for his money. She dared not imagine Naruto as a Kage...
''Nah, he's a powerful ninja. But a Kage is an entirely different story, I'm just imagining things. My Naruto's too naive and silly for that job, hell he may even hate that job since it would become too much paperwork and sleepless nights..." thought Kurenai bemusedly, as she remembered how Naruto used to complain a lot about filing reports when he was the leader of Team 7.
"Kurenai..." reminded Naruto, his tone was calm yet it contained a commanding aura in it which instantly snapped her out of her dream world.
"Oh, sorry. Naruto, what do you remember about the Root massacre mission?" asked Kurenai hesitantly, and saw his calm expression instantly shifting to a guarded one. It was after all one of the deepest, darkest secrets of his life.
"Where are you going with this?" asked Naruto sternly, his tone sending chills down her spine.
"Just listen to me. Promise me you'll hear what I have to say..." requested Kurenai, as he looked at her suspiciously.
"Fine" said Naruto tiredly, he didn't know why an ill feeling started arising in his gut.
Kurenai sighed in relief when he agreed to her request, it was definitely required if she had to have a snowball's chance at achieving success. The information she was about to reveal may just break whatever soul he had left, but at the same time she could not follow in Hiruzen's footsteps and betray him in this heinous manner.
She was revealing the ugly truth today, no matter the circumstances.
It was her duty to help him cope with this loss and betrayal and assist him in overcoming these harsh times, so that he could return back to a normal life in his village. She was determined to get him justice, to let him be viewed as the rightful hero he was, no matter how long it would take she would stand by his side and help correcting the injustice done to him, and improve his connection to Konoha.
She had to become the link that would bind him again with Konoha, his home.
"Do you remember a Root ninja who was too young? A child, a young girl..." said Kurenai suggestively,
Kurama tensed when he felt a dark, evil, malicious intent arising within the boy's body. It was full of anger, pain, betrayal and was perhaps as much deadly as his own Biju chakra, which itself was a scary feat.
"I don't know what you're talking about..." answered Naruto carefully, his grip on the couch tightening.
"I understand. You see, it's not your fault that you can't remember, But there was a girl that night, a child called Rei..." admitted Kurenai, her ruby eyes searching for any sign of realization dawning in his eyes. She dreaded the moment he came to remember the truth, and judging from the violent twitching of his eyes the process had already began.
"Maybe, I...don't know. What has this got to do with anything. Get to the point..." said Naruto harshly, making her flinch but he didn't feel any sorrow for her. Rei was the most sensitive topic of his life, it was a sharp dagger that had been stabbed in his heart making him feel pain and misery for all eternity.
Rei may have been a clone of him, but he had felt a connection to her. She was his blood, his family. He could accept the way in which Danzo, Hiruzen had twisted his life for the sake of Konoha. But he could never accept or forgive what they did to Rei...
She was so young, even younger than him, Sai and Shin were. And most of the Root child soldiers...
Danzo ruined her life from the day she was born, turning her into a weapon of Konoha. The monster never let her have a shred of normal life, never knowing that she had a family in Naruto, just the thought of Rei enduring the violent Root training sent shivers down his spine. Everyday he wished he could revive Danzo, and murder him over and over again in the same violent manner as that of the massacre night.
Hiruzen was no better either, in fact he proved to be even worse than Danzo. Only Naruto and Sai knew about Rei's existence, apart from Danzo and a few of his most trusted men. Hiruzen had committed an inhuman crime by wiping all records of her existence, burying her body in an isolated location, and even going as far as wiping out his memory of Rei with Itachi's help. The Hokage actually made sure that a person like Rei never existed, trying to make her disappear in the endless stream of time.
He saw the fearful look in Kurenai's eyes and realized his most evil energy was starting to leak from his body. It was merely a shred of the hate in his heart, and it made Kurenai sweat profusely.
"You were saying..." said Naruto tersely, he wanted nothing more than to stop all discussion on this topic or risk attacking this village right now. Besides even if he wanted to, he had made a promise to listen to her.
He had already broken countless promises to her, but he intended to keep this one no matter how painful it might be for him.
"Listen to me carefully, Rei was...Rei was...your daughter" admitted Kurenai, her eyes tightly closed shut as she couldn't muster the courage to look in his eyes. How crestfallen he would be after hearing that he killed his own daughter. A child he never even knew...
"No, I can't leave him alone when he needs me most..." thought Kurenai with determination,
She opened her eyes, courage burning in her heart to face the sadness that her love would be feeling right now. And what she saw shocked her to the heavens,
He was smiling.
A sinister smile.
"So, you know. That's a shocker..." said Naruto darkly, a mysterious chuckle escaping from his lips.
Kurenai's eyes widened in horror, a cold chill going down her spine, the hair on her body straightened up as the air around her turned extremely cold. The look in his eyes, so much hate, so much anger, so much vengeance.
"I must admit, I didn't think Hiruzen had the balls to admit his sin to any other soul. Tell me, how did you come to know this dark secret?" asked Naruto sinisterly,
"Kakashi, he...got...the...truth...out...of...the...Hokage..." stuttered Kurenai, she had never experienced this much fear in her entire life. Neither of them were leaking any KI, but she could see it clearly in his eyes. The thousands of genocide he wanted to commit, this was a man consumed from hate and revenge. One who had been pushed so far into the dark corners, that he became the monster people feared he was.
"Hm, leave it to Kakashi to do something smart and cunning. You don't know, how much this truth has made my confession easier..." said Naruto frankly,
"What do you mean?" asked Kurenai worriedly, her prayers were increasing with every passing moment.
"We'll get there. But first I want your opinion on this question of mine. Did you know the Uchiha clan was eliminated on Hiruzen's orders? Were you aware that the Uchiha's were so pushed back like me that they wanted to rebel against Konoha, but Hiruzen, Danzo and the elders manipulated Itachi Uchiha into wiping out his own clan to save their sorry asses, to hide their failures in governing a village...
...Konoha encouraged Root and its activities in the Second and Third Ninja Wars, and only after Danzo started gaining more power threatening Hiruzen's reign did the Hokage take steps to disband Root. Till that moment, Hiruzen found it quite alright to let Root turn children into monsters like me.
...Hiruzen had an idea that Orochimaru was conducting experiments on the people of this village and the shinobi, yet he put a blind eye to it. When things got worse and the moment to kill that snake came, Hiruzen couldn't do it. Why? Because he loved his student and couldn't do his fucking job as a Hokage...
...Few years later, Hiruzen's mistakes comes to bite him back in the ass. Danzo grew more powerful and planned a revolt, Orochimaru was planning to attack the village from the outside. So, guess what the wise old man did? He found a delusional, hypocritic soldier whose moral compass was so fucked up that he readily accepted the mission that would permanently put an end to all of Hiruzen's failures. Do you know who that fool was? Me..." finished Naruto madly,
Kurenai was shivering by the time he was finished, so many horrors had been slammed on her heart one after another. Looking into Naruto's crazy eyes made her even more scared, as he was the one who had lived through these horrors for years.
"And the funny things is, I didn't care I was being used. I so badly wanted to atone for my failures and my guilt that I accepted a suicide mission. I thought, hell the entire fucking world hates me and nothing is going to change that. Why not do something good for the village for which my friends died, and maybe through my sacrifice things would change. That a new era would come in which more Naruto's were not created, for that dream I had to sacrifice my own daughter. I never wanted any recognition, or medal, or money, or even a few feet of my country's land to bury my body.
...All I wanted was things to change and I sacrificed everything I had for it. My life, my family, my love, I was willing to die being known as a mass murderer, traitor and one of the worst humans to be born in this world. And you know what I got for all of this? The same fucking system coming back to STAB ME IN THE BACK!" yelled Naruto furiously, and smashed his hand on her dining table furiously shattering it into tiny pieces.
"Naruto, calm down we can talk..." said Kurenai worriedly, and took a step back when his murderous sharingan glared at her.
"Talk? You think I will be willing to sit down and talk after what this village did to my daughter. These bastards tried to erase her existence from my heart, Hiruzen knew fully well that Rei was the one good thing I ever did in my life. The Hokage's think they can get away with anything, not anymore. I will destroy this village, this fucked up system!" promised Naruto, his grief struck eyes promising mass genocides.
Kurenai couldn't believe what she was hearing or seeing, this could not be happening. This was not her Naruto, this...
No, this was him. The person this world had made him become.
Was all that calm, collective aura of him a lie? Did he always feel like this? So miserable, so much in pain, betrayed by everyone, a person on whom almost everyone had turned their backs.
The feelings and emotions leaking from his heart were so powerful that it actually made her loathe the village she had loved all her life. She felt herself succumbing and falling into an endless pit of suffering and hatred. She felt herself drowning as she collapsed on her knees.
"STOP IT!"
She screamed with every ounce of energy in her body, tears rolled down her eyes like a river and when she opened her eyes again she was relieved to see that dark aura disappearing. But what came after that broke her heart...
His eyes were dead.
Devoid of dreams, devoid of hope, devoid of joy, devoid of desire, he was a dead man who had nothing more to lose.
"I've said what I wanted to say, now let me hear your answer..." said Naruto seriously, his eyes boring into hers.
"What answer?" asked Kurenai nervously,
"Whether you'll side with me and help in destroying this village, or remain loyal to your home. Make a choice, Kurenai..." said Naruto dangerously, as she got up and glared at him.
SLAP
He was surprised when a tight slap was placed on his cheek, he looked at her in shock only to receive 3 more simultaneous tight slaps one after another.
"Give him back, give him back, give him back, give him back, give NARUTO BACK!" yelled Kurenai desperately, her hands desperately clutching his collars as she cried tears of sorrow.
"This is who I am now, Kurenai..." admitted Naruto honestly,
"I know you have been done great injustice, but there has to be some other way. Naruto, you can't blame the village for the mistakes Hiruzen committed..." pleaded Kurenai, as he looked at her with a betrayed look in his eyes.
"Not hold the village guilty? After everything they did to me, to my comrades? I hate this place, these people so much that I would love nothing more than to see them be burned alive. To make them feel the same suffering they made me go through?" asked Naruto sternly, and pushed her away.
He stomped across the room in a pissed of fashion, continuously moving from one corner to another trying very hard not to break her entire house. When he had learned the truth he was mortified, grief struck, and was inspired to change the system. But coming back to this place, this village had ignited the feelings he had tried so hard to suppress.
The rage he was feeling right now was so intense, he wanted to commit a thousand more massacres right now. To erase this place from the map of the bloody earth!
He needed this, he needed to vent out or his head or heart would explode.
"It's over, Naruto. It's over..." said Kurenai tearfully, and tried to en-wrap him in a hug only to be shoved away.
"Like hell, I'm not some fucking machine whom you can turn on or off as you please. I am not a weapon, I am a person just like you. A human who did everything possible to be accepted into this system, and all these bastards in this village dare to judge me. Who the hell gave them the right to treat me as a freak! Who gave my parents the right to seal a monster inside me! This society is as fucked up as I am, you dare call me a traitor and a hypocrite when everyone of you is the same.
...You fucking ninjas kill for your country. You kidnap, you murder, you run extortion, you torture, you do every fucked up thing I did and then you judge me. Push me around like I'm some kind of animal to fight your wars and toss me aside when you're done. You know what, I've had it with this village, these people, this world and this fucked up system. I'm done" confessed Naruto, and panted as he finished his rant.
"You don't mean that, please no..." begged Kurenai, as he violently shook his head.
''This world is rotting and those who are making it rot deserve to die. Someone has to change this, why not me? Kurenai, you can't possibly understand how corrupt and fucked up this world is because you were fortunate enough to not experience the true nature of the ninja world. This world can't go on like this..." explained Naruto passionately,
"This is not the way, we took vow to protect this village, this nation. From all enemies foreign and domestic, if our system is failing then it is our job to work together and improve it from within. Justice can never always be about revenge..." said Kurenai patiently,
"You're fucking, naive. What can you possibly change in this world from the inside? Even if you can, it will be pointless as violence is the only things that exists in this world. Valkyrie will be the salvation this dying world craves for..." answered Naruto devotedly,
"What...is...Valkyrie?" asked Kurenai fearfully,
His sharingan spinned rapidly as a tirade of images was imprinted in her brain, what Naruto had done in these past 3 months, what he was about to do to Konoha and what his true plan was.
When he was finished, she collapsed on her knees. Her betrayed eyes looked at him in anger, disbelief and hurt...
"You won't do this. It's still not too late, come back to the village. Come back to your family, come back to your friends, come back to me..." requested Kurenai seriously,
"I'm done taking orders. I have told you the truth, now are you with me or against me?" asked Naruto in an equally serious voice,
"This plan is insane, you will destroy whatever little peace that exists in this world. You have to stop right now..." warned Kurenai, anger burning in her heart.
"There was never peace in this world to begin with, my comrades had to die like animals for your fake peace. I can't let that history repeat itself, change is required..." argued Naruto,
"Destroying is the easiest way, but it is not right. If you want to change something, try to work in the system and change it from within. I and everyone else of our friends and family will help you with everything we've got..." said Kurenai sympathetically,
"I have a family, now. I am the leader of a village, and this is just the beginning of my ambition..." promised Naruto,
"Naruto, for the last time come back. Forget everything, I'll do anything you want but just come home. Please..." begged Kurenai,
"Are you with me or not?" demanded Naruto,
For a moment her pleading eyes did their best to change his heart, but he never quit. Sadly, she closed her eyes and when they opened back again they were the ones which he had seen many times.
"You've become a monster, and I will stop you. I will save you from your madness..." pledged Kurenai,
She knew the betrayed look that would arrive in his eyes after she called him that, but it was a desperate attempt to stop him. Kurenai was definitely surprised when instead of getting more angry, he smiled and all anger vanished from his eyes.
"I knew I was right about you..." thought Naruto proudly,
Kurenai loved him with everything in her heart, but she was also a person like him. She had her own set of ideals and beliefs, and he knew it. He had always known from the very beginning as to where Kurenai would make her stand.
They were opposites, who lived on the different sides of the ninja world.
She wanted to expand the light and the little good that was in this world, while he wanted to completely obliterate the darkness and create everything anew. Which was in total violation of her beliefs. And her ideology was in complete violation of his.
"Naruto..." said Kurenai worriedly, she could only imagine what he was feeling in this moment.
She was the last person from his old life that had a strong connection to his heart, and one who had been able to remain by his side when the others couldn't or wouldn't.
He moved forward and grasped her face in his hands, for once he didn't let the tears falling from his eyes to stop. His lips touched hers and in that moment his heart completely broke. Apparently, she understood him too as she was also crying and kissing him.
He pulled away quickly as she still looked at him with those pleading eyes to come back home, and for a moment he wanted to.
But he could never forget the things Konoha had done, nor how many people were suffering due to the fucked up ninja world. He could not forget Rei, Shin or Sai...
"You're not coming back, are you?" asked Kurenai devastatedly, as he gave her a sad smile.
"We're meant to walk different paths and live in different worlds. I tried to bend your will for my ideals and beliefs once, I won't do it again. I've loved you madly, and I always will. But just like you, I have a goal. I have people who look up to me now, a family to protect, a new world to build..." explained Naruto hesitantly,
She was silent for a few minutes, just looking into his eyes with those sad ruby eyes. He could feel the anguish and misery she had experienced for him, how worried she had been for his safety this past year. He doubted he could be as strong as her...
"Then wipe out our memories from my mind. Seal them away somewhere, I can't possibly live with such a fucked up brain and broken heart. I can't protect my people if these memories are there, I can't fulfill my oath if I still love you more than the village. Last time it was you who tried to manipulate me, but I'm asking you to do this now..." requested Kurenai,
It was selfish of her, and she knew it. But she would never be able to stop him if she couldn't control her heart, she had to do this to save him. If her old self had been able to make a bond with him, then her new persona can also form a new bond with him. One that would bring him back to their home, before it was too late.
That was her hope...
He looked in her eyes and smiled on seeing her real intention, she was just as stubborn as him.
"I see, Kurenai. You're also trying to do the same thing..." thought Naruto kindly,
Kurenai blinked when his sharingan morphed into its Mangekyo form, a small tear slipped from his eyes as he made the tomoe swirl in a fast motion.
"Naruto Uchiha commands you, forget everything that happened between us all these years" commanded Naruto,
"Kotoamatsukami"
He cast his most powerful genjutsu, sealing away everything. He could feel it, he could see it with his own eyes as his power slowly wiped out all their memories (Including their current encounter) from her brain. Everything was stored behind a door inside her brain, which was protected by several more layers of shield.
No human could ever break this spell, if they didn't have Kotoamatsukami with them. The soldiers of the Reich were the prime examples of it, they too had their memories altered like her. They believed that all of them had served beside Naruto for years and were his loyal soldiers. And Naruto hoped that Kurenai would never open this door again and live with the fake memories he had planted.
Kurenai would believe that she never knew him or met him, she was a loyal ninja of Konoha. One who has been disgusted and ashamed of his actions of murdering Anbu Blakckops shinobi and stealing the forbidden scroll, thereby becoming a traitor.
Her unconscious form collapsed on the floor, overwhelmed by the entire experience. It was like being reborn again, and sometimes a selfish part of him wanted to do such a thing to himself too. Just to forget everything and run away, but he would never do that.
Taking her sleeping form in his arms, he laid a loving kiss on her forehead as tears continued to fall freely from his eyes. He had finally done it...
She was the last link to his old life and now it was gone, he was sure she would never be able to break through Kotoamatsukami and regain their memories. Not a single person had been able to manage such a feat, she would not remember what they were but he would. It was curse which he would happily bear, if it meant freeing her.
She had already faced scorn, isolation, hatred on behalf of him. For being attached to him, she deserved to be free.
"Kurenai, you are already leading a way of life with your own set of admirable principles, that is why I can walk my own path now..." said Naruto kindly,
"Thank you..."
Gently tucking her inside her bed, he vanished away into the dark night with only one thought burning in his heart.
"I love you, Kurenai..."