Categories > Anime/Manga > Naruto > Innocence From Ashes
Chapter 17
0 reviewsSasuke's and Naruto's memories return, and with it, Naruto's demonic mantle of Lordship. Once more the Nine Tailed Demon Lord is poised to destroy Konoha, and it is Naruto, inside and out.
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Innocence From Ashes
Chapter 17
It was a scene straight from the many layers of Hell. The great golden fox towered over the quailing city, tails lashing, a cacophonous hissing flowing out over gleaming fangs. Flames had shot up in a huge circle around the square, leaping and dancing with deadly heat, trapping the murderous mob where they wailed.
Naruto leapt forward, slamming into the ground over Sasuke, legs braced firmly, and utterly crushed the big man that had struck the boy down. One paw swept out, bowling the villagers over, and killing a few, and sliced the chakra ropes that bound Kyuubi like rubber bands. He then gently cradled his Chichiue and brought him to the safety of his bosom, where Sasuke was. Bursts of chakra whirled out, and slew the two men that hovered frozen in their uncompleted lascivious crimes over two half clothed and stricken kunoichi. Ino and Sakura were then likewise brought close to his breast. One by one Naruto claimed his friends, and brought them close to his body. The Konohamaru corps, weary and wounded themselves from battle for their leader’s sake, did what they could to make them comfortable. And then he leveled his furious blue eyes on the rest of the city.
“You are all evil monsters!” Naruto cried in a voice like a locomotive. More windows shattered. “You dare to raise your hands against what is mine! You have the gall to strike down what is kind and good, to take what should only be given in love! I will kill you all!”
The Anbu, mostly outside the ring of fire, darted around, trying to find a way in, to rescue the Hokage now hugged tightly to the demon’s furry breast.
“Stop, Kit.”
Naruto shook his mighty head, then looked down to where Kyuubi was clinging to his foreleg, slowly healing from his injuries. Diminished he might be, and his mantle of lordship passed to he who once was his prison, he was still a force to be reckoned with.
“They deserve to die!” Naruto growled, scuffling his claws in the blood soaked rubble of Konoha’s northern market square.
“Yes,” Kyuubi panted, blood still dripping from his closing wounds. “Many here deserve to die. And just as many deserve to live. And all of them were once yours. Do not travel down the path that I once took. Do not kill what was once your precious people.”
“But Chichiue…” The great gold fox whimpered in confusion. “They hurt you and Sasuke!”
“And once upon a time, I hurt them… because they hurt me… And our Cub hurt you because he thought you hurt him. Do not continue this cycle of ignorance and violence and pointless retribution. Rise above them like you always have before. Be my… Naruto again.”
“Dobe…”
Great blue eyes stared down at the young man that had finally roused, Sharingan still in a six pointed star in his eyes. Visible lines of chakra raced over his body as he began to heal himself.
“Sasuke?” Naruto’s head lowered and a tongue bigger than Sasuke himself gently licked that body.
“Chichiue’s right,” Sasuke smiled into the massive sloppy fox kiss. “Vengeance is a bitter dish, that should never be served at all, much less hot or cold. You taught me that. Naruto… come back to me.”
Soft voices rose from beneath his sheltering body. The chakra emanating from him, intent on protection, was doing its work. Shikamaru’s eyes were open, open and looking up at him in recognition. Neji and Chouji were healing before his very eyes. They were all looking up at him, calling to him. Calling him home.
All his precious people.
The flames died out. And those townspeople still standing scattered to the wind, shrieking and wailing.
And Naruto closed his eyes, shining tears escaping, and lowered his head, and felt the warmth of so many arms around him. He was loved, and he was home.
Memories and events that had whirled so chaotically and painfully in his mind flew to little cubicles, and delicate rice papered doors shut them in. There they would rest, without tormenting him, until he would need them. And his mind and spirit calmed.
In a massive burst of smoke, Naruto was a man once more. He swayed on his feet, eyes glazed with exhaustion. Taller than ever, Naruto had finally caught up to himself. And his equally tall mate’s arms were the first around him, steadying him, holding him close. And then they both were snuggled close to their Chichiue’s body. Warm and close and safe. And home.
They slept.
**************
Tsunade stared drearily around at the aftermath. The northern district would need enormous amounts of repairs before it would be livable again. A dozen villagers lay dead; the most violent of the mob. Somehow, she couldn’t find it within herself to mourn them. They had turned evil so quickly, and had taken such delight in their wickedness. The healing chakra from Naruto had not extended to any of them, even though they had been in range.
“I’m too old for this…” She was utterly exhausted, not having slept or eaten or drunk a drop of sake in almost three days. She felt tired unto death.
“ ‘Nade…” Shizune whispered.
And Tsunade felt a warm strong hand on her other shoulder. Jiraiya.
Tears were leaking down her cheeks. Yes, she really was too old for this. Sobbing quietly, she allowed her two closest people to draw her in and comfort her.
When at last she quieted, Shizune turned her slightly to the right. “Look, ‘Nade. He’s here. He’s home.”
There was the boy, no, the man, she loved like family. A man with the body he’d been meant to have; strong and tall with only a little hint of androgyny. Long and tall, and naked as the day he was born. Curled up in the arms of his once rival, dressed in tattered bloody clothes, and nestled in the fur of the creature that had been the boogeyman of Konoha for so long.
Trust Naruto to pull off something like this.
She turned to Jiraiya. “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to be a temporary Hokage until Naruto wakes up, would you?”
The look of unbridled horror on the male Sannin’s face brought a smattering of laughter from everyone awake.
“Well… hell…” Tsunade muttered. There was no help for it. She would have to stay Hokage for a little while longer.
She took in a deep breath, and called her ANBU, who stood up from their workings of examining the dead and the damage. Watchful and wary of the still great red fox that lay amid the ruin of the square as if he owned it, slowly licking his kit and his cub clean. Bright red eyes watched them back just as warily.
“Gather the dead and take them to the morgue where they will be identified and catalogued.” She instructed one captain. “Take the wounded to the hospital,” she told another. “Get a crew to examine the buildings and make estimates for repair and replacement.“ A third was commanded. White masked ninja leapt away to do her bidding.
“You,” She pointed at yet another. “Get me some goddamned sake.”
But then Shizune pressed a cold bottle into her hand. “Just don’t overdo it, Hokage-sama,” she said with mock severity.
But Tsunade didn’t drink it. She slipped it into her pocket and approached the unlikely trio.
As soon as she stepped too close, a soft warning growl burst from not only the great fox, which stopped its ministrations, but from the dark haired man now with his eyes open, inky stars in a field of blood red.
Tsunade was both repelled and fascinated by the strange, never before seen sharingan eyes before her. She stopped where she stood.
“Uchiha Sasuke,” She began, drawing in a deep breath. “I think I am safe in assuming that where Naruto is, so too you will be?”
“Forever.” Sasuke almost snapped.
“Then welcome home, Uchiha Sasuke. You will be welcome here as long as Naruto is.” The words were bitter on her tongue. It was hard to speak these words, harder still to mean them. But she did both. For Naruto’s sake.
“Thank you,” Sasuke responded curtly. He wasn’t overly fond of her either. He knew that if she had her way, he’d be in the deepest, darkest dungeon in Konoha. “And so I will be, as long as Naruto is.” Privately, he hoped to coax his little gold fox back into the wilds, where they’d been so happy and free before.
Tsunade adjusted her stance slightly. “Kyuubi no Kitsune…”
“Let it go, Hokage of Konoha,” Kyuubi began in a tired voice. “I do not need any welcome, any absolution from you or yours. Even if you were so inclined to extend it, which you are not. Where my kit and cub are, so am I. Deal with it. You may take joy in the knowledge that as long as no one tries to harm what is mine, I will be peaceful. That is all I will give you.”
When Tsunade furiously opened her mouth to extend a blistering denial, Kyuubi went on in a colder voice. “Rest assured, Naruto is mine. I brought him back from death. I breathed life back into him again. And I gave him what was in me to make sure that neither this village nor any other, could never do to him what was done before. Swallow your self righteous pride with the realization that your village started all this. With Naruto, and with me.”
They held angry glances for a very long time, and then Tsunade finally softened. “Very well. I cannot refute you. Stay, and be welcome, Kyuubi no Kitsune, as the father Naruto never had. I will be sure to make it so.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” Sasuke suddenly spoke up wearily. “You saw what just happened. Did any of them listen to you? No. But don’t worry, Kyuubi and I can protect our own just fine.”
Thoroughly nettled by this blatant insubordination, she tossed her head. “Whatever,” She sighed. “But I think someplace else is more appropriate for your quarters than here.” She waved at the last few ANBU. “Prepare quarters for them. Make sure they are safe and the best that can be had.”
“No need,” Sasuke said grumpily. He was tired and wounded, and just wanted to curl up and sleep with his mate. “We’ll just go to the Uzumaki compound.”
“Uzumaki compound?” Konohamaru queried. “There is no such place!”
Moegi just sighed and shook her head. “He’s talking about the old Uchiha district. Uchiha-san bequeathed it to Naruto-sama back in Sound. You were there. Don’t you remember?”
“Oh, yeah, right,” Konohamaru said sheepishly.
Moegi rolled her eyes. Honestly, sometimes he was as oblivious as Naruto. But God, she loved him even more for that.
Despite the fact that the old Uchiha district, now the Uzumaki compound had lain untouched and dusty for seven years, Kyuubi and Sasuke were adamant. There they would stay until Naruto woke, and no place else. Thankfully, the repairs Naruto had made on it before his abduction had been good and sound. It would make a fine temporary nest for them.
Despite his weariness, Sasuke formed the appropriate seals, and all three of them vanished.
Tsunade closed her eyes, and a second later, their chakra popped up exactly where they were supposed to be. She sighed, and opened her eyes. There was a lot of work ahead. Including hated paperwork. She sighed again. Time to get to work. But as she did, she smiled.
Naruto was home!
Chapter 17
It was a scene straight from the many layers of Hell. The great golden fox towered over the quailing city, tails lashing, a cacophonous hissing flowing out over gleaming fangs. Flames had shot up in a huge circle around the square, leaping and dancing with deadly heat, trapping the murderous mob where they wailed.
Naruto leapt forward, slamming into the ground over Sasuke, legs braced firmly, and utterly crushed the big man that had struck the boy down. One paw swept out, bowling the villagers over, and killing a few, and sliced the chakra ropes that bound Kyuubi like rubber bands. He then gently cradled his Chichiue and brought him to the safety of his bosom, where Sasuke was. Bursts of chakra whirled out, and slew the two men that hovered frozen in their uncompleted lascivious crimes over two half clothed and stricken kunoichi. Ino and Sakura were then likewise brought close to his breast. One by one Naruto claimed his friends, and brought them close to his body. The Konohamaru corps, weary and wounded themselves from battle for their leader’s sake, did what they could to make them comfortable. And then he leveled his furious blue eyes on the rest of the city.
“You are all evil monsters!” Naruto cried in a voice like a locomotive. More windows shattered. “You dare to raise your hands against what is mine! You have the gall to strike down what is kind and good, to take what should only be given in love! I will kill you all!”
The Anbu, mostly outside the ring of fire, darted around, trying to find a way in, to rescue the Hokage now hugged tightly to the demon’s furry breast.
“Stop, Kit.”
Naruto shook his mighty head, then looked down to where Kyuubi was clinging to his foreleg, slowly healing from his injuries. Diminished he might be, and his mantle of lordship passed to he who once was his prison, he was still a force to be reckoned with.
“They deserve to die!” Naruto growled, scuffling his claws in the blood soaked rubble of Konoha’s northern market square.
“Yes,” Kyuubi panted, blood still dripping from his closing wounds. “Many here deserve to die. And just as many deserve to live. And all of them were once yours. Do not travel down the path that I once took. Do not kill what was once your precious people.”
“But Chichiue…” The great gold fox whimpered in confusion. “They hurt you and Sasuke!”
“And once upon a time, I hurt them… because they hurt me… And our Cub hurt you because he thought you hurt him. Do not continue this cycle of ignorance and violence and pointless retribution. Rise above them like you always have before. Be my… Naruto again.”
“Dobe…”
Great blue eyes stared down at the young man that had finally roused, Sharingan still in a six pointed star in his eyes. Visible lines of chakra raced over his body as he began to heal himself.
“Sasuke?” Naruto’s head lowered and a tongue bigger than Sasuke himself gently licked that body.
“Chichiue’s right,” Sasuke smiled into the massive sloppy fox kiss. “Vengeance is a bitter dish, that should never be served at all, much less hot or cold. You taught me that. Naruto… come back to me.”
Soft voices rose from beneath his sheltering body. The chakra emanating from him, intent on protection, was doing its work. Shikamaru’s eyes were open, open and looking up at him in recognition. Neji and Chouji were healing before his very eyes. They were all looking up at him, calling to him. Calling him home.
All his precious people.
The flames died out. And those townspeople still standing scattered to the wind, shrieking and wailing.
And Naruto closed his eyes, shining tears escaping, and lowered his head, and felt the warmth of so many arms around him. He was loved, and he was home.
Memories and events that had whirled so chaotically and painfully in his mind flew to little cubicles, and delicate rice papered doors shut them in. There they would rest, without tormenting him, until he would need them. And his mind and spirit calmed.
In a massive burst of smoke, Naruto was a man once more. He swayed on his feet, eyes glazed with exhaustion. Taller than ever, Naruto had finally caught up to himself. And his equally tall mate’s arms were the first around him, steadying him, holding him close. And then they both were snuggled close to their Chichiue’s body. Warm and close and safe. And home.
They slept.
**************
Tsunade stared drearily around at the aftermath. The northern district would need enormous amounts of repairs before it would be livable again. A dozen villagers lay dead; the most violent of the mob. Somehow, she couldn’t find it within herself to mourn them. They had turned evil so quickly, and had taken such delight in their wickedness. The healing chakra from Naruto had not extended to any of them, even though they had been in range.
“I’m too old for this…” She was utterly exhausted, not having slept or eaten or drunk a drop of sake in almost three days. She felt tired unto death.
“ ‘Nade…” Shizune whispered.
And Tsunade felt a warm strong hand on her other shoulder. Jiraiya.
Tears were leaking down her cheeks. Yes, she really was too old for this. Sobbing quietly, she allowed her two closest people to draw her in and comfort her.
When at last she quieted, Shizune turned her slightly to the right. “Look, ‘Nade. He’s here. He’s home.”
There was the boy, no, the man, she loved like family. A man with the body he’d been meant to have; strong and tall with only a little hint of androgyny. Long and tall, and naked as the day he was born. Curled up in the arms of his once rival, dressed in tattered bloody clothes, and nestled in the fur of the creature that had been the boogeyman of Konoha for so long.
Trust Naruto to pull off something like this.
She turned to Jiraiya. “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to be a temporary Hokage until Naruto wakes up, would you?”
The look of unbridled horror on the male Sannin’s face brought a smattering of laughter from everyone awake.
“Well… hell…” Tsunade muttered. There was no help for it. She would have to stay Hokage for a little while longer.
She took in a deep breath, and called her ANBU, who stood up from their workings of examining the dead and the damage. Watchful and wary of the still great red fox that lay amid the ruin of the square as if he owned it, slowly licking his kit and his cub clean. Bright red eyes watched them back just as warily.
“Gather the dead and take them to the morgue where they will be identified and catalogued.” She instructed one captain. “Take the wounded to the hospital,” she told another. “Get a crew to examine the buildings and make estimates for repair and replacement.“ A third was commanded. White masked ninja leapt away to do her bidding.
“You,” She pointed at yet another. “Get me some goddamned sake.”
But then Shizune pressed a cold bottle into her hand. “Just don’t overdo it, Hokage-sama,” she said with mock severity.
But Tsunade didn’t drink it. She slipped it into her pocket and approached the unlikely trio.
As soon as she stepped too close, a soft warning growl burst from not only the great fox, which stopped its ministrations, but from the dark haired man now with his eyes open, inky stars in a field of blood red.
Tsunade was both repelled and fascinated by the strange, never before seen sharingan eyes before her. She stopped where she stood.
“Uchiha Sasuke,” She began, drawing in a deep breath. “I think I am safe in assuming that where Naruto is, so too you will be?”
“Forever.” Sasuke almost snapped.
“Then welcome home, Uchiha Sasuke. You will be welcome here as long as Naruto is.” The words were bitter on her tongue. It was hard to speak these words, harder still to mean them. But she did both. For Naruto’s sake.
“Thank you,” Sasuke responded curtly. He wasn’t overly fond of her either. He knew that if she had her way, he’d be in the deepest, darkest dungeon in Konoha. “And so I will be, as long as Naruto is.” Privately, he hoped to coax his little gold fox back into the wilds, where they’d been so happy and free before.
Tsunade adjusted her stance slightly. “Kyuubi no Kitsune…”
“Let it go, Hokage of Konoha,” Kyuubi began in a tired voice. “I do not need any welcome, any absolution from you or yours. Even if you were so inclined to extend it, which you are not. Where my kit and cub are, so am I. Deal with it. You may take joy in the knowledge that as long as no one tries to harm what is mine, I will be peaceful. That is all I will give you.”
When Tsunade furiously opened her mouth to extend a blistering denial, Kyuubi went on in a colder voice. “Rest assured, Naruto is mine. I brought him back from death. I breathed life back into him again. And I gave him what was in me to make sure that neither this village nor any other, could never do to him what was done before. Swallow your self righteous pride with the realization that your village started all this. With Naruto, and with me.”
They held angry glances for a very long time, and then Tsunade finally softened. “Very well. I cannot refute you. Stay, and be welcome, Kyuubi no Kitsune, as the father Naruto never had. I will be sure to make it so.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” Sasuke suddenly spoke up wearily. “You saw what just happened. Did any of them listen to you? No. But don’t worry, Kyuubi and I can protect our own just fine.”
Thoroughly nettled by this blatant insubordination, she tossed her head. “Whatever,” She sighed. “But I think someplace else is more appropriate for your quarters than here.” She waved at the last few ANBU. “Prepare quarters for them. Make sure they are safe and the best that can be had.”
“No need,” Sasuke said grumpily. He was tired and wounded, and just wanted to curl up and sleep with his mate. “We’ll just go to the Uzumaki compound.”
“Uzumaki compound?” Konohamaru queried. “There is no such place!”
Moegi just sighed and shook her head. “He’s talking about the old Uchiha district. Uchiha-san bequeathed it to Naruto-sama back in Sound. You were there. Don’t you remember?”
“Oh, yeah, right,” Konohamaru said sheepishly.
Moegi rolled her eyes. Honestly, sometimes he was as oblivious as Naruto. But God, she loved him even more for that.
Despite the fact that the old Uchiha district, now the Uzumaki compound had lain untouched and dusty for seven years, Kyuubi and Sasuke were adamant. There they would stay until Naruto woke, and no place else. Thankfully, the repairs Naruto had made on it before his abduction had been good and sound. It would make a fine temporary nest for them.
Despite his weariness, Sasuke formed the appropriate seals, and all three of them vanished.
Tsunade closed her eyes, and a second later, their chakra popped up exactly where they were supposed to be. She sighed, and opened her eyes. There was a lot of work ahead. Including hated paperwork. She sighed again. Time to get to work. But as she did, she smiled.
Naruto was home!
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