"Justice in the life and conduct of the State is possible only as first it resides in the hearts and souls of the citizens." - Plato

Dante sat against a tree, his eyes watching the sky. The wind blew, uncaring of its effect on his skin or how it fluttered the strands of his snow white hair. He sat some ways from the cabin in which he and his crew were situated, his mind and eyes on the Heavens.

"Ah… it looks it's going to rain again… but it still won't wash away the blood… No rain will kill my pain…"

Naruto's eyes slowly opening, his right eye smoking, bleeding, and producing a searing hot sensation, a sensation like heated rocks on the skin.

"AH!"

THUD!

Naruto recovered from his fall to the floor, scrambled up, and dashed into the bathroom. He wasted no time in switching on the water and splashing his face several times. Droplets flew everywhere as he quickly washed out his eye.

After repeated washings, Naruto's eye finally cooled down to a stinging sensation. His right eye twitching, he slowly glanced at the mirror and his eye left, blue eye widened considerably at what he saw.

"What the hell?!"

"That was the result of our deal."

"You-!"

"Speak quieter, little fox. You're loud enough as is. Hahahahahah!"

KNOCK, KNOCK!

"Uh, one sec!" Naruto reached down and began unrolling several feet of tissue paper before tying it around his head like a certain lazy, silver-haired, ero-Jonin. Naruto then turned back and looked himself over in the mirror.

"Alright," said he in satisfaction. Naruto then opened the door and his eye widened to sauce plates at the second surprise that greeted him this morning.

The person that stood in the doorway was a violet-haired woman with her hair down, light brown eyes, and a long shirt with a Konoha symbol on it.

"Ehhhhhhhh?! Snake Lady?! What are you doing here and why are you wearing Komori-nii-san's shirt?!"

"It was you!"

SLAM!

"Neji, no, stop it!"

"You did this! She was last seen with you! YOU had something to do with this, you son of a bitch! I know you did it! Huh?! Answer me! What did you do?! WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

Neji held the collar of Bruce, pinning the man against a wall and potently glaring at him with his Byakugan activated. Beyond the two were Lee, Sakura, Ino, Hinata, and Choji. They all had frantic expressions on their face.

"Neji-nii-san!" cried Hinata. "P-please, stop this!"

"He had something to do with it! I just know it!"

Bruce made no response, merely bowing his head in shame. His hair shadowed his eyes, while his face remained stoically grim and his chest beat the drums of guilt and regret.

"Answer me or I swear to God, I'll kill you!" Neji, tears building in his eyes, raised his palm.

"Neji!"

"Stop it!"

"Neji-nii-san!"

"Enough." Neji's hand was grabbed from behind, stopping his momentum in its tracks. Livid, the Hyuga spun around only to stop cold when he saw who he least expected.

"Naruto!" exclaimed Sakura while everyone else gaped in surprise.

Naruto stood, different from before. He had an eyepatch on, one that covered his right eye. He wore an all-black shinobi attire, with an olive green trench coat, and black fingerless gloves. His hair seemed wilder and his nails were like claws but his one visible eye was the one that froze Neji cold – it was steel, a blade unsheathed, as it pierced into Neji's flesh without penetration.

"Komori-nii-san didn't have anything to do with this… I heard what happened, Neji. I'm sorry… but he didn't do this."

"Naruto…!" Neji choked, his fist shaking. His entire body switched to trembling before he stopped stiff and then slowly slumped over, sighing softly. His hand slowly removed itself from Bruce's collar as Neji dropped to his knees, sobbing silently. "I loved her… I wish I told her… I loved her..."

Bruce just stared at him with sympathy and nerve-shredding guilt.

"You idiot!" he belligerently shouted to himself in his mind. "Look what you did – something you said, something she thought you implied, got her killed… This is your fault. Another death… on you. This is your fault… you damned idiot…"

Naruto crouched down and placed his hand on Neji's shoulder comfortingly. Hinata ran over and embraced her cousin, allowing the man to cry on her shoulder, her hands going up and down his back soothingly.

Naruto grimaced, glancing up at Bruce, who turned and exited the house without a sound. Naruto rose up and left after him, leaving his Konoha comrades in curious wonder.

"Komori-nii-san!" shouted Naruto after Bruce, who walked down the street but stopped when he heard the shuffling steps of Naruto.

Naruto halted when Bruce did, panting slightly.

"You have a new look," commented Bruce without turning. "What's with the eye patch?"

Naruto smirked. "Heh! Let's just say that I'm a real shinobi from this day on."

Bruce glanced at him over his shoulder, narrowed eyes scrutinizing Naruto. "He does seem different…"

"Oh?" said Bruce. "Is that so?"

Naruto pressed his thumb against his chest, a confident smile on his face. "That's right!"

"I'm surprised you can even act exuberant after your friend's death," stated Bruce bluntly.

Naruto's disposition shifted, his eyes casting downward and his face became solemn, his injured heart beating in his ears. "I am sad… She was nice, at least to me but… we all killed her, you know? None of us were able to save her Dad… or her… but I won't let her death defeat me. I feel it, for sure. I feel like crying right now… but I ain't gonna sit and sulk for nothing." Naruto raised his hand and slammed it against his chest, smirking brazenly again. "I'll keep her memory right here and keep moving forward!"

For a moment, if one were watching Bruce, they would think his eyes widened ever so slightly, ever so speedily, but if one were watching Bruce, they'd cross it off as an illusion of their mind.

"Hn..." Bruce smiled lightly. "There is something different about you."

He turned around and faced Naruto with his arms crossed. "You said something about being a real shinobi now, yes?"

"Believe it!"

"Let's see how much fruit your words weigh. Follow me."

The two shinobi stood facing each other on a spacious, grassy field. Trees surrounded this space, the leaves rustling with each passing wind. Behind Naruto, the Hokage mountain overlooked the field. Blue eyes met blue eyes, both of them facing each other with nothing but their fists as their sides, clenched tight.

Naruto was smirking confidently, while Bruce stood stoically, the wind blowing their hair slightly.

Soon, the two slid their leg behind them, resting weight on one before raising their hands and settling into a stance.

"Ready?" dared Bruce.

"Bring it!" said Naruto.

Vhoom!

With speed faster than a rushing current, they met in the center of the field, arms barred against each other. Jaws tight and gritting their teeth, the two jumped back, tossing kunai and shuriken.

WHISH-WHISH-WHISH! CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!

They sharp projectiles fell to the ground, embedding themselves in the dirt. Bruce and Naruto sprinted towards each other, taking up a kunai from the ground each.

CLANG!

Their blades met, the wind whistling in tune with their melodious slashes. Will met will, neither giving ground to the other.

With a swift leap backwards, the two distanced themselves, Bruce clasping his hands together and Naruto crossing his own.

"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"

Bruce's body became enveloped in a dark aura with a white outline. His eyes became pale and his skin was completely black, veins colored blank. Surrounding Bruce were seven clones, each holding a knife in hand. Single blue eyes steeled, sharp as needles. Bruce exhaled soft, giving sidelong glares from right to left.

"Come on," dared he.

"HAAAAA!"

A unified leap darted forth, punches aimed at Bruce. A shift of his body; snap of his leg; turn of his hips; launch of his fists; a blur he was to the eyes of Naruto.

POOF-POOF-POOF!

All seven dissipated, Bruce untouched.

"Huh?" He glanced up, a whirling sound and a sense of chakra above him. Naruto came down with a Rasengan in hand, thrusting his palm out.

BOOM!

Several backflips and Bruce had created distance. Breathing heavy, his cringed and tightened his jaw, veins popping from his neck. "Ignore it… ignore the pain. Ignore it… ignore it!"

A hand creeped from the ground and grabbed Bruce's leg, rising from the earth with a blue orb in hand was another clone. However, Bruce quickly turned his head, grabbing the arm of the shadow clone and strapping an explosive seal onto his neck.

"Wha…?!" exclaimed the clone.

Bruce threw him towards Naruto, the explosion consuming the clone's body halfway and spreading to the blonde boy. Naruto managed to jump back, but through the smoke came Bruce, charged with energy.

"Ha!"

BAM!

A sharp kick to the stomach and Naruto was sent flying into a tree trunk.

"Oof!" COUGH! "Damn..."

Clutching his stomach, Naruto looked up to see Bruce's aura gone, his breathing rapid.

The two smirked, rising to their feet and taking up their stance.

"Not bad," said Bruce.

"Right back at ya!" Naruto replied.

With a quick breath, the two lowered themselves to their knees and sprinted forward, raising their fists.

Pant…! Pant…! Pant…!

The two laid on the ground, chests rising and sweat covering their faces. Their eyes to the sky, they laid parallel to each other, the top of their heads facing one another.

"Wow!" exclaimed Naruto, shutting his eyes and covering his face. "You're strong as hell..."

"Hm." Bruce offered a small smile, closing his eyes as well. "You're formidable. I guess I was wro-"

"NARUTO!"

"Huh?" He rose up from his feet, watching as Sakura sprinted towards them. She stopped, bending and holding her knees, catching her breath. "Sakura-chan, what's wrong? Are you alright?"

She shook her head, raising her gaze. "Sa… Sa… Sasuke-kun!"

His blue eyes widened. Bruce merely observed. "Sasuke?!"

"We found him Naruto! We know where he might be!"

A/N/: And that will end that. Again, I wanna apologize for any mistakes or even the lacklusterness of this whole thing honestly. Too many things have shown to be of priority in my life and, as such, I can't afford to really write on this site any longer. However, I do want to thank everyone for their kindness and criticism. It's helped me grow as writer with your support and following of my works. It means a lot, it really does. I hate how, it seems, in return for it, I'm leaving you with this mess but I just wanted to do something, at least, before I disappeared for good. But anyway, I suppose that's it. Goodbye, my readers. It's been fun.

Green out.