Shamera: 25 Themes (Naruto) Consequences (1,884)
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I need to work on my plot for the 3 Day Novel contest. >_O ARG. Yet... blah. This piece sucks. But I wrote. And it should be longer, but I didn't want to write this anymore so I just ended it quick.
SasuNaru, hinted onesided NejiNaru. Being Hokage was Naruto's dream, but it didn't mean that it was an easy job.
Five years since the war between Konoha and Sound had ended.
Three years after Sasuke and Naruto decided they would try out a relationship together.
Fifteen months since the inauguration of the Rokudaime Hokage.
Naruto closed his eyes, wondering where everything had gone wrong. Had it been within the last year, and had he not noticed it? He had been busy, but that was the job of the Hokage to be busy, to constantly be weighed down in paperwork and assigning missions, signing treaties and overseeing the entire village. The people had been hard to please, demanding extra on the Rokudaime as insurance that he would not turn against them like the monster they portrayed him as.
“Hokage-sama.” A masked ANBU captain bowed slightly, laying down a report on his desk. “The mission to Hidden Rock was a success.”
“Casualties?” Naruto asked, his voice hoarse from lack of sleep. He didn’t bother to open his eyes, knowing that his ANBU would take care of any dangers around. He trusted them with his life.
But then, he had trusted Sasuke with his life as well.
“None, Hokage-sama.”
Naruto let out a breath he hadn’t even known he was holding, feeling his spirits lift just a little with the mention that no one had been killed that day. It was the worst part of the job, learning that people would continuously die because of orders that he gave out.
The hawk mask seemed to watch him intently, taking in the rings of exhaustion around his eyes and the white of his knuckles as he received the mission report, lips drawn into a fine line as he read the first few lines.
“Permission to speak freely, Hokage-sama?”
“Granted.” Naruto didn’t look up from the report, even though the lines were blurred together in his eyes and he really didn’t want to read through all the technicalities that were bound to be within those pages.
A quiet shuffling noise, the sound of the ANBU hawk mask being drawn up away from the wearer’s face, and a small sigh. “You should sign the orders, Naruto.”
If possible, Naruto’s fingers grew more tense, and he refused, utterly refused, to look up at his ANBU captain. “Those orders are not valid until they have been inspected by the council of elders, Neji. As such, I don’t have the power to sign those papers yet.”
“This isn’t the first time. Even if the elders refuse, our laws demand his death.”
There was a moment of tense silence before Neji strode forward, looming over the blond and pushing the mission papers away so that Naruto was forced to face his friend. The Hyuuga was frowning, lines of worry showing on his forehead as he took in Naruto’s appearance. Naruto didn’t want to look at his friend, didn’t want to see the vivid lines of the curse seal etched into skin and the worry in those white eyes.
“Sign the orders, Naruto.” The tone was gentle, but the words firm. “The more you delay, the worse it’s going to be for you.”
Naruto was staring at Neji’s fingers rather than meeting his eyes, staring at the pale scarred skin as those hands hovered above his in a concerned manner, and all of a sudden he remembered the time when they had both been ANBU, and those same hands (bloodstained then; completely soaked in blood) had caught him on a mission gone wrong when Naruto had nearly fallen over a cliff. They were comrades. Neji had saved Naruto’s life and preserved his sanity countless times.
But remembering that made Naruto think of a time when he had been twelve years old and on his first dangerous mission, where Sasuke had jumped in front of him to take a life-threatening shot.
It was always other people saving him. Now things were different, and he was Hokage, with the power to save other people.
So why couldn’t he save them?
“Did Hinata put you up to this?” He whispered, knowing that Neji hated confrontations. He didn’t want to think about the orders, because that led to thinking about what went wrong. And he didn’t know what went wrong. Had something gone wrong in the time that he had been Hokage? Should he have been able to fix the situation if he had only been able to read deeper?
Or, even worse, had something gone wrong in the last three years and he hadn’t seen it?
“She didn’t.” Neji denied. “But everyone’s been worried. I’m just the first to talk to you alone. I suspect that you’ll soon be plagued by a mob of worried friends.” His lips were quirked just the slightest bit in amusement, but Naruto couldn’t see that as he still refused to face his friend.
“I should have known ahead of time.” Naruto murmured.
The hand on his tightened almost painfully. “But you didn’t. He promised. He made an oath to serve Konoha once more; to put his revenge behind him. Fifteen people died that day because abandoned them for his vengeance.”
It had been a crucial mission to finally bring down Akatsuki. Sasuke and Naruto had argued deep into the night the day before the mission, because Naruto had felt Sasuke should not be a part of it- because it was too close to home and someone else, someone more detached, should have led that mission. Sai had been appointed.
Sasuke had been furious, and they had yelled at each other until Naruto finally relented against his better judgement after Sasuke had brought up his five years of good deeds and service to his home village. Surely Naruto of all people would know that Sasuke was good enough to take down Akatsuki. Surely he could be trusted again.
“Sign the papers, Naruto.”
Orders. Execution orders for the traitor Sasuke Uchiha, whom had betrayed the village not once but twice. He had been forgiven the first time only due to Naruto’s begging Godaime Hokage for forgiveness on his behalf, and because the village needed the last Uchiha in order to end the war against Sound. But within the agreement for forgiveness was the small print that talked about what should happen should Sasuke ever decide to betray the village again.
Death.
But Naruto should have known better than to have let Sasuke lead the mission to destroy Akatsuki. Nearly twenty years after the Uchiha massacre, and Sasuke was still seeking revenge against the man who killed his family. A revenge Naruto had thought would be second place to the life that Sasuke had finally built in Konoha. With him.
But it turned out that revenge was still top priority to Sasuke.
Was it fair? Naruto didn’t know. Was it somehow his fault? Had he done something wrong, or not seen when something had turned Sasuke’s head back toward the path of vengeance? Had it been because he was Hokage and therefore didn’t have as much time as he used to with Sasuke?
Had there been something wrong with their relationship in general? Or had Sasuke always, always, always placed their relationship second to killing Itachi?
Maybe the stone had started rolling on that day when Sasuke had left voluntarily for Hidden Sound, even before they had been an item.
Maybe this was meant to happen, and events had only been leading up to this the day of the Uchiha massacre, before Naruto had even gotten to know Sasuke properly when they were children.
“He betrayed this village.” Neji was saying. “He betrayed you. Knowing full well what would happen. That is more than enough conviction for me. Death is too easy.”
Those words were heated, and finally Naruto found the courage to look his friend in the face. There was concern there, yes, but there was also a fierce protectiveness of him that Naruto hadn’t expected. He had known, of course, that Neji had been looking out for him ever since their fight during the chuunin exams, and that Neji was one of the very few to fully support Naruto when he searched for Sasuke.
Neji had always stood behind him. Had always been quiet when Naruto ranted about his relationship with Sasuke, and had always endured when Naruto stayed over during one of their arguments. He had always supported Naruto, and had waited patiently for the blond to fulfil his promise to change the Hyuuga traditions. He had been comforting and forgiving when Naruto revealed that he couldn’t change what had already happened, but he could prevent future generations of Hyuuga from being marked with the curse seal.
And now it was Neji who was helping him to back up an inevitable decision. He was right. The elders would most likely force the issue of having Sasuke killed, claiming he was too dangerous to keep alive, having seen twice already what the Uchiha was willing to do for revenge. For a revenge that hadn’t been completed yet.
Even if Naruto begged a second time, Sasuke would not be spared. Those were fifteen lives of fully devoted ninjas that he had allowed to die. Those families would want justice.
I don’t want to do this, Naruto thought. For a moment, he wanted to be a child again, and he didn’t want the responsibilities that came with being Hokage. He wanted Tsunade-sama to make the decisions instead, and let him down gently by telling him that everyone else had decreed it, and he had no hand in Sasuke’s execution.
He wanted to be the one who begged for Sasuke’s forgiveness, not the one who signed the death order.
But he had responsibilities. And he knew without a doubt, as the person who knew Sasuke best, that revenge would not stop there. That in the future there would be more attempts on Itachi’s life as Sasuke recklessly tossed away the lives of Konoha ninjas who were in the way of his revenge. Naruto knew all about it, and he had the power to prevent it.
Neji was staring at him with unfathomable eyes and Naruto is reminded of how other people looked up to him to prevent this from happening. How this wasn’t his fault- Sasuke had sworn allegiance, sworn upon threat of death, and he had broken that oath.
It was inevitable that he would be killed.
And so Naruto reached for his pen with a shaking hand, the one he used for official documents and treaties, and quietly asked Neji if he knew where the execution orders were.
Neji was right, of course. It wasn’t as if Naruto could prevent this from happening. Even if he had refused to sign the papers, Sasuke would have been executed. Naruto would have been going against his own beliefs, against his own promises if he hadn’t signed the papers. Hadn’t he promised when he was inaugurated that he would protect the village from all threats, within and without? This was expected of him.
The ink was wet and gleaming, and Naruto bit his lower lip harshly when he saw his name scrawled on the bottom of those papers; realized that he would be killing his best friend and lover.
It was justice. It was necessary. It was needed. It was inevitable. It was his duty.
But, by all the powers above, it hurt so much to do.
I need to work on my plot for the 3 Day Novel contest. >_O ARG. Yet... blah. This piece sucks. But I wrote. And it should be longer, but I didn't want to write this anymore so I just ended it quick.
SasuNaru, hinted onesided NejiNaru. Being Hokage was Naruto's dream, but it didn't mean that it was an easy job.
Five years since the war between Konoha and Sound had ended.
Three years after Sasuke and Naruto decided they would try out a relationship together.
Fifteen months since the inauguration of the Rokudaime Hokage.
Naruto closed his eyes, wondering where everything had gone wrong. Had it been within the last year, and had he not noticed it? He had been busy, but that was the job of the Hokage to be busy, to constantly be weighed down in paperwork and assigning missions, signing treaties and overseeing the entire village. The people had been hard to please, demanding extra on the Rokudaime as insurance that he would not turn against them like the monster they portrayed him as.
“Hokage-sama.” A masked ANBU captain bowed slightly, laying down a report on his desk. “The mission to Hidden Rock was a success.”
“Casualties?” Naruto asked, his voice hoarse from lack of sleep. He didn’t bother to open his eyes, knowing that his ANBU would take care of any dangers around. He trusted them with his life.
But then, he had trusted Sasuke with his life as well.
“None, Hokage-sama.”
Naruto let out a breath he hadn’t even known he was holding, feeling his spirits lift just a little with the mention that no one had been killed that day. It was the worst part of the job, learning that people would continuously die because of orders that he gave out.
The hawk mask seemed to watch him intently, taking in the rings of exhaustion around his eyes and the white of his knuckles as he received the mission report, lips drawn into a fine line as he read the first few lines.
“Permission to speak freely, Hokage-sama?”
“Granted.” Naruto didn’t look up from the report, even though the lines were blurred together in his eyes and he really didn’t want to read through all the technicalities that were bound to be within those pages.
A quiet shuffling noise, the sound of the ANBU hawk mask being drawn up away from the wearer’s face, and a small sigh. “You should sign the orders, Naruto.”
If possible, Naruto’s fingers grew more tense, and he refused, utterly refused, to look up at his ANBU captain. “Those orders are not valid until they have been inspected by the council of elders, Neji. As such, I don’t have the power to sign those papers yet.”
“This isn’t the first time. Even if the elders refuse, our laws demand his death.”
There was a moment of tense silence before Neji strode forward, looming over the blond and pushing the mission papers away so that Naruto was forced to face his friend. The Hyuuga was frowning, lines of worry showing on his forehead as he took in Naruto’s appearance. Naruto didn’t want to look at his friend, didn’t want to see the vivid lines of the curse seal etched into skin and the worry in those white eyes.
“Sign the orders, Naruto.” The tone was gentle, but the words firm. “The more you delay, the worse it’s going to be for you.”
Naruto was staring at Neji’s fingers rather than meeting his eyes, staring at the pale scarred skin as those hands hovered above his in a concerned manner, and all of a sudden he remembered the time when they had both been ANBU, and those same hands (bloodstained then; completely soaked in blood) had caught him on a mission gone wrong when Naruto had nearly fallen over a cliff. They were comrades. Neji had saved Naruto’s life and preserved his sanity countless times.
But remembering that made Naruto think of a time when he had been twelve years old and on his first dangerous mission, where Sasuke had jumped in front of him to take a life-threatening shot.
It was always other people saving him. Now things were different, and he was Hokage, with the power to save other people.
So why couldn’t he save them?
“Did Hinata put you up to this?” He whispered, knowing that Neji hated confrontations. He didn’t want to think about the orders, because that led to thinking about what went wrong. And he didn’t know what went wrong. Had something gone wrong in the time that he had been Hokage? Should he have been able to fix the situation if he had only been able to read deeper?
Or, even worse, had something gone wrong in the last three years and he hadn’t seen it?
“She didn’t.” Neji denied. “But everyone’s been worried. I’m just the first to talk to you alone. I suspect that you’ll soon be plagued by a mob of worried friends.” His lips were quirked just the slightest bit in amusement, but Naruto couldn’t see that as he still refused to face his friend.
“I should have known ahead of time.” Naruto murmured.
The hand on his tightened almost painfully. “But you didn’t. He promised. He made an oath to serve Konoha once more; to put his revenge behind him. Fifteen people died that day because abandoned them for his vengeance.”
It had been a crucial mission to finally bring down Akatsuki. Sasuke and Naruto had argued deep into the night the day before the mission, because Naruto had felt Sasuke should not be a part of it- because it was too close to home and someone else, someone more detached, should have led that mission. Sai had been appointed.
Sasuke had been furious, and they had yelled at each other until Naruto finally relented against his better judgement after Sasuke had brought up his five years of good deeds and service to his home village. Surely Naruto of all people would know that Sasuke was good enough to take down Akatsuki. Surely he could be trusted again.
“Sign the papers, Naruto.”
Orders. Execution orders for the traitor Sasuke Uchiha, whom had betrayed the village not once but twice. He had been forgiven the first time only due to Naruto’s begging Godaime Hokage for forgiveness on his behalf, and because the village needed the last Uchiha in order to end the war against Sound. But within the agreement for forgiveness was the small print that talked about what should happen should Sasuke ever decide to betray the village again.
Death.
But Naruto should have known better than to have let Sasuke lead the mission to destroy Akatsuki. Nearly twenty years after the Uchiha massacre, and Sasuke was still seeking revenge against the man who killed his family. A revenge Naruto had thought would be second place to the life that Sasuke had finally built in Konoha. With him.
But it turned out that revenge was still top priority to Sasuke.
Was it fair? Naruto didn’t know. Was it somehow his fault? Had he done something wrong, or not seen when something had turned Sasuke’s head back toward the path of vengeance? Had it been because he was Hokage and therefore didn’t have as much time as he used to with Sasuke?
Had there been something wrong with their relationship in general? Or had Sasuke always, always, always placed their relationship second to killing Itachi?
Maybe the stone had started rolling on that day when Sasuke had left voluntarily for Hidden Sound, even before they had been an item.
Maybe this was meant to happen, and events had only been leading up to this the day of the Uchiha massacre, before Naruto had even gotten to know Sasuke properly when they were children.
“He betrayed this village.” Neji was saying. “He betrayed you. Knowing full well what would happen. That is more than enough conviction for me. Death is too easy.”
Those words were heated, and finally Naruto found the courage to look his friend in the face. There was concern there, yes, but there was also a fierce protectiveness of him that Naruto hadn’t expected. He had known, of course, that Neji had been looking out for him ever since their fight during the chuunin exams, and that Neji was one of the very few to fully support Naruto when he searched for Sasuke.
Neji had always stood behind him. Had always been quiet when Naruto ranted about his relationship with Sasuke, and had always endured when Naruto stayed over during one of their arguments. He had always supported Naruto, and had waited patiently for the blond to fulfil his promise to change the Hyuuga traditions. He had been comforting and forgiving when Naruto revealed that he couldn’t change what had already happened, but he could prevent future generations of Hyuuga from being marked with the curse seal.
And now it was Neji who was helping him to back up an inevitable decision. He was right. The elders would most likely force the issue of having Sasuke killed, claiming he was too dangerous to keep alive, having seen twice already what the Uchiha was willing to do for revenge. For a revenge that hadn’t been completed yet.
Even if Naruto begged a second time, Sasuke would not be spared. Those were fifteen lives of fully devoted ninjas that he had allowed to die. Those families would want justice.
I don’t want to do this, Naruto thought. For a moment, he wanted to be a child again, and he didn’t want the responsibilities that came with being Hokage. He wanted Tsunade-sama to make the decisions instead, and let him down gently by telling him that everyone else had decreed it, and he had no hand in Sasuke’s execution.
He wanted to be the one who begged for Sasuke’s forgiveness, not the one who signed the death order.
But he had responsibilities. And he knew without a doubt, as the person who knew Sasuke best, that revenge would not stop there. That in the future there would be more attempts on Itachi’s life as Sasuke recklessly tossed away the lives of Konoha ninjas who were in the way of his revenge. Naruto knew all about it, and he had the power to prevent it.
Neji was staring at him with unfathomable eyes and Naruto is reminded of how other people looked up to him to prevent this from happening. How this wasn’t his fault- Sasuke had sworn allegiance, sworn upon threat of death, and he had broken that oath.
It was inevitable that he would be killed.
And so Naruto reached for his pen with a shaking hand, the one he used for official documents and treaties, and quietly asked Neji if he knew where the execution orders were.
Neji was right, of course. It wasn’t as if Naruto could prevent this from happening. Even if he had refused to sign the papers, Sasuke would have been executed. Naruto would have been going against his own beliefs, against his own promises if he hadn’t signed the papers. Hadn’t he promised when he was inaugurated that he would protect the village from all threats, within and without? This was expected of him.
The ink was wet and gleaming, and Naruto bit his lower lip harshly when he saw his name scrawled on the bottom of those papers; realized that he would be killing his best friend and lover.
It was justice. It was necessary. It was needed. It was inevitable. It was his duty.
But, by all the powers above, it hurt so much to do.