The Promise of tomorrow

Sort-of Epilogue

A/N: Just so you know, I'm aware of how Nagato got his Rinnegan and how its originally created, or received, for that matter.

Tayua always appeared tough. Always strong, never giving in. Foul mouthed and vulgar to boot she gave of the most suborn presence Naruto could imagine, even more so than himself. She was tough when he first met her in the forest, she was headstrong when they met once more in prison and she was stubborn, even after taking off her mask and opening up to him.

When Naruto told her 'I love you' she cried. She cried her heart out and he let her, holding her close. It would take a long time for her to utter the same words but she showed him how much she loved him all the same. And still, even after letting him inside her heart, she stubborn and headstrong.

And so she was, even when facing the scorn of the village, Orochimaru's goons and finally the man himself. Tayuya always was strong, not matter what.

Even then, when she died. There in the rain. At his feet. Even her dead body, the expression forever etched into her face, appeared unwavering, unyielding. So much like her last moments.

And her last words?

"I love you, Naruto."

XXXXXX

Rain was pouring down on the crater that had once been Konoha. Mud and blood, all the same was washed away by the torrential downpour. In the ruins of building at the edge of the crater, wails of despair, of loss, of agony and pain resounded loudly in the cold September night.

The Rinnegan, they say, is the eyes of a god. None shall stand in their way.

In the very center of the crater, shrouded by the masses of pouring water, were three humans. One was standing a fair bit away from the other two. The second was kneeling in blood soaked mud, cowering over the lifeless form of the third.

These eye are obtained by uniting two special types of chakra and activated by precise condition.

Pain. It was his name. It was what he brought - taught others. Through pain, there would be peace. His despair had opened his path to power, to freedom. And through this pain he would lead them into tranquility.

These two types of chakra are not necessarily blood-bound, though the Uzumaki would always certainly possess one of the two. The chakra of life, of creation and death. A perfect cycle.

His path to peace was drenched in blood, in tears. But that was the way, his way. The only way his eyes could see. Despair had made him strong, despair and pain would make the world strong.

The second type was harder to obtain, but the Uchiha were notorious to possess it. The chakra of control, of action, of power. But it was also present in those who had suffered greatly and stood strong against their pain, taking control.

It was over now. He had broken his will, had showed him pain. It was not unlike how he had been shown despair. When ninja murdered his mother, his father right before his eyes. Eyes that filled with despair. Pain had show him. Now he, too, had seen despair.

But many united these chakras, many held them at the same time before but none ever bore the Rinnegan. They may have had "god's" eyes but they did not have the Rinnegan. For the Rinnegan had another name.The eyes of a god's despair.

He knelt in her blood. It soaked his pants, drenched his skin and burned his heart. She was so still, so very unlike her, yet she still seemed defiant of it, looking so beautiful, so death defying, so just like her. Her last breath had been a whisper, a plea, a promise. It had been her soul.

"I love you, Naruto."

Despair comes easily to humans. They whine over so much insignificance, over so little things. No, it was true despair that woke the eyes of god. True pain, true loss.True despair.

Naruto had lost everything the moment her heart stopped. His life had lost its meaning, its reason. Tayuya had become his everything, his other half. None could have lived without the other, they relied too much on each other. After they kept themselves alive and sane in prison, they built their lives once more. Its center: Their other half.

And it was despair, that caused god to act.

Tayuya was dead. Taken from him. He was alone once more and would not stand to be it but a second longer. But things needed to be made equal. Pain, the man that took her life, the man that took his in the process, he would not live.

She had been pregnant. For just a month, but he could already feel the the new life. It was supposed to be a surprise. Naruto was now just and empty shell. His will had left with Tayuya and all that remained his body was despair.

He looked up at him, through the rain that separated them like a curtain, and Pain's eyes, his Rinnegan, widened.

The same set of eyes was staring back it him.

"Imposs-" he exclaimed, taking an unsteady step forward, but Naruto had already acted.

"Shinra Tensei."

And the curtain of rain was pushed aside. The stage for a new god was set.

And his name was Naruto Uzumaki.

XXXXXX

When Tayuya opened her eyes again, she saw blue. Clear, cerulean blue. It was her favorite color. It reminded her of the sky, a sense of freedom. It looked nice.

It was a kind feeling of Deja Vu when she peered into his eyes again as he loomed over her. It was different though. This time she had no desire to push him away, she wasn't afraid of him. Her arms came up without a word a pulled him down to her, his lips meeting hers with an uncanny eagerness. They both were breathing hard when they parted.

"Hey," she said, smiling up at him, "I love you. You know that, right?"

He didn't answer her. Instead, Naruto's eyes shone brightly, like sapphires in the sun, as he leaned down to kiss her once more. Overhead, before Tayuya closed her eyes in content pleasure, she saw a million green lights explode into the sky, flying away into every direction and the rippling pattern in her loved one's eyes.

XXXXXX

"I'm fucking what!?"

Naruto laughed at her reaction. He laughed wholeheartedly as she sat there on the remains of their house's parlor, eyes so wide they might as well just fall out of their sockets and a hand on her stomach. She sat there, clothes still drenched in her own blood and rain, disheveled and tired and to Naruto, she couldn't have looked anymore beautiful.

"Pregnant!" he laughed, gasping for air as he leaned on the stone pillar that had once stood to the left of his front door.

Tayuya jumped up, mouth agape, opening and closing as she tried to find the words. "But-! We-! We used protection!" she finally shouted, face glowing red as the sun began to rise behind her. "You god damn Uzumaki are way too fucking potent for those measly jutsu!"

He just laughed harder than before.

"Stop laughing you idiot!" she bellowed. "Stop it!" Her lips quivered as she continued. "Don't laugh about this! We don't even have a damn house anymore!" A smile tugged at her lips. "You are going to be a father so top it, god dammit!"

Eventually she hopped over to him, hands around his neck and dragged him down onto one of the few remaining patches of grass in their front yard.

"That's not the time to laugh, Naruto!"

But she laughed just as hard as he did.

"And you better get us a new bed tomorrow!" she managed between her own shrieking laugh, tears of joy in her eyes.

His laughter quieted and he took her face, red from all the laughing an the rising sun, between his hands and dragged her down to him.

"I promise!"

And Tayuya knew that it was so much more than a promise for just a simple bed.