Disclaimer: Naruto and all of its characters belong to Shueisha and Masashi Kishimoto. I own nothing but the original characters I create.
"Dialogue" 'Thoughts' -Author notes-
Chapter 47: The Fallen Goddess
He spent the next two weeks looking for that cave, and later on in his life, he would spend many more years doing the same. But he never found it again.
It wasn't until his next session of deep meditation that he found out where the golden book had gone.
It had somehow merged with his soul and was now resting inside his Inner Palace.
He read many books back at the Sect, but never learned about an artifact capable of doing that.
This already gave him a hint of how incredible this book was, but when he touched its surface once more… he learned what it was capable of.
His mind was assaulted by an endless barrage of knowledge.
At first, nothing made sense to him, it just felt like senseless strings of letters and numbers.
But then it started to change. The letters and numbers began to rearrange themselves, forming meaningful messages.
He soon realized he was reading a cultivation manual. One like nothing he had ever dreamed of.
As he read it and understood its contents, he felt like he was seeing something that was meant just for him.
It was a perfect cultivation technique for him, he instinctively understood that. This had been tailor-made for him, and like a pair of gloves created by a craftsman after many hours of measurements… it fit him perfectly.
He ditched his old method, the one given to him by the sect after he became an inner disciple, and he did it without a second thought.
Then, he began to cultivate using this technique given to him by the book…
The difference was like heaven and earth.
It was here that his true journey began.
He would go on living for many more centuries, and the more he lived and the more he learned… the more fascinated he became with the Golden Scripture and its origins.
At some point, he became wise enough to understand that the person he found in that cave, was without a doubt… a fallen Goddess.
In the mortal realm, nothing is eternal. Even the most powerful cultivators will one day… die. And when that happens, their bodies will decompose like anyone else.
They will remain mostly intact during the first months as their accumulated energy leaves their bodies, but then, they will rot and become dust.
Only those who can step beyond the realms of the mortal world and into the one belonging to the Gods… are able to become eternal.
Even to this day, he had no idea how a Goddess came to die in that mortal realm, or how she came to be in possession of that book.
Those were questions that still eluded him up to this day. And he was very unlikely to get an answer unless he could also step into the realm of the Gods.
This had been his goal since the beginning. But his last journey was cut short.
'No… I only have myself to blame for that. I failed and lost my life. But it won't happen again… this time… this time for sure.'
"Ouch!"
Naruto felt something hitting his chest, followed by the voice of someone familiar.
"Sakura?..." He glanced down and saw the girl, sitting on the floor. "What are you doing?"
"What am I doing?!" She glared at him with her usual angry look.
He was getting used to that one.
"You bumped into me, you idiot!" Sakura yelled.
'Was I that distracted?...' He must have been completely lost in his own thoughts while walking through this peaceful village. It was rare for him to be so careless.
"Are you going to help me up at least?" Sakura said while holding her hand out to him.
He thought for a moment that she should be able to stand by herself with no issues, considering she was a female ninja in peak physical shape. But he ultimately decided that this comment would only bring more trouble.
And he owed this girl a favor anyway.
"Thanks… I guess." She muttered after being helped. "Where were you even going?" Sakura asked him. "The training grounds are that way." She pointed in the opposite direction.
"Looks like I was really distracted…" Naruto muttered.
Sakura sighed. "What were you even thinking about? Is this about Hinata? Did you two have dinner together?" Her bad mood seemed to disappear when she thought about that.
"Oh that?… no… I have not seen her since the night when we brought her home." Naruto told her.
Sakura made a complicated expression. "Poor girl… she must have been very embarrassed. Maybe I should talk to her…"
Naruto shrugged. He didn't really care that much about that. He was sure there would be more opportunities in the future.
He began walking again, and this time, in the right direction.
"Hey wait!" Sakura had to run for a bit to catch up to him. "How can you leave me behind?"
Naruto glanced at her. "I didn't think you would want to walk with me."
"I mean… no, but… we were already together. And we are teammates! So it's normal to walk together, you know?" Sakura told him. "Just don't get any ideas! I love Sasuke." She hurried to add.
"Understood…" He continued to walk but this time he kept at her pace.
"You could react a bit at least…" Sakura muttered. "By the way, have you thought about how you are going to repay the favor from the other day?" She gave him an inquisitive face.
"You already said no to ramen." He commented.
"Is inviting me to ramen the only form of compensation you can think of?" Sakura asked. "Maybe you still have a bit of your old self…"
Naruto stopped all of a sudden.
"What are you d-"
He pointed at the wooden wall in front of her. "There is someone hidden there."
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