CHRISTMAS FANFIC
DREAMS AND FAMILY
By Elysium/Coca-Cola (pick any)
Disclaimers:
Characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi.
It was again that time of year.
With all his missions completed for the day, Naruto had gone into the small cake shop near Iruka-sensei's house, the one with the old woman who was virtually blind, yet able to run her business by herself.
He liked this shop, and the old woman in particular, because since she was practically blind, it meant that she could not see his face that well. And that meant she didn't know that she was dealing with the cursed child of the village.
As he entered the shop, the old woman's voice gently called out a welcome.
"Good evening, Naruko-chan."
He tried hard to force himself not to grimace. A year back, she had actually asked him for his name, and in confusion, he had tried to give a different name to prevent her from making the connection that he was the one who everyone hated.
And so, he had started off with his own name, and managed to change it at the last moment.
It also meant that she thought he was a girl, but oh well. It was a good thing the shop was devoid of customers at this time of day.
"'Evening, granny! I just came in to pick up my order from last week!" he replied cheerfully, in a higher-pitch-than-normal voice. If his voice was gonna break soon like Sasuke, then he'd probably have to use Sexy no Jutsu to transform just to keep the voice.
"Yes, yes, I remember. Chocolate cake. Spending the holidays with your family this year?"
He couldn't help but wince that time. Before, it was usually by himself. Since learning the truth from the Third Hokage... "I... er... well, yeah, of course!"
"That's good," the old woman replied. "Family is always important, Naruko-chan."
"That it is," Naruto replied, as he gazed around the shop a moment, before turning back to the owner of the shop. "Is... is your grandson returning this year?"
She leaned over to pat him on the head. "I believe so. It may be a dream, but I believe so. But even if he is not, I'm sure he is with his own family to take care of." She smiled at him, putting her hands on his shoulders. "You're a good girl, Naruko-chan. Now, run along before it gets too dark."
With the chocolate cake in a cardboard box, he smiled back, and left for his next location.
- - - - -
"Welcome to... oh, Naruto! Looking for any new plants?"
"Hey Ino. Just flowers today. But not too pricy, and don't try to rip me off like last time!"
"Anything you're looking for in particular? Something for Forehead Girl?" she said, grinning.
Naruto mock-frowned back, refusing to rise to the temptation of defending Sakura-chan. Not today, of all days. "No, Ino. I need some red poppies, if your family has imported any."
"Ah," Ino exclaimed. "Of the papaveraceae family, normally grows in the Northern hemisphere."
Naruto decided not to ask. It made his head spin. "Ino, you hurt my head every time you do that."
She grinned, as she wrapped the poppies into a paper wrapping for him to hold. "Not as much as Shikamaru does when he's trying to teach you the advanced tactics of Go, I bet."
"Oh, don't remind me!" Naruto laughed, as he dug into his pockets to pay for the flowers. "That's only once in a blue moon when he can be bothered! Anyway, I gotta go, so later!"
"Naruto..."
He paused, at the tone in her voice. It was suddenly quiet.
"... Poppies in that region of the world are used for visiting the dead. Are you going to the cemetery?"
"Un." There was no point in lying about that.
"Family?" Naruto could see that she was trying not to pry, but he could see the looks of pity on her face already.
"Sort of, I guess," he replied, as he left the shop. "Closest I got, anyway..."
- - - - -
Arriving at the crematorium, he followed a route only known to him and a few others.
Follow the east path, behind the large evergreen trees. Take the bridge across the river, sixth path on the right. Eventually, he reached the place he was looking for.
It was a simple tombstone, with a urn and some lettering engraved. It wasn't as flashy as some other tombstones he had passed, but that didn't matter.
It was where all the failed containers were laid to rest.
It was a shock to discover that he wasn't the only candidate to house the Kyubi. Other orphans had been chosen, all as young as him, or a little older. A mix of boys and girls. All chosen in an attempt to contain the Kyubi. And all had failed and paid the ultimate price for failure.
While they died, he had got lucky, and succeeded. While they died, he lived. The survivor of the containers. The closest he had to having siblings, he thought.
Cleaning the tombstone with water he had brought in a plastic bottle along with a cloth, he placed the fresh flowers on the gravestone, along with incense. Finally, the cake he had brought was divided into ten equal pieces with a kunai, and placed onto seperate paper plates. Of those ten, he placed nine next to the gravestone and kept the last one for himself.
And with that done, he started to tell his sort-of brothers and sisters of his life this year, along with his hopes, his failures, and his dreams.
He wondered what sort of dreams his dead siblings might have had, had they got the chance to live and grow up. A grand dream like becoming the Hokage of Konoha, perhaps? Having family to visit them, like the old woman in the cake shop?
He had envisioned his new siblings using his imagination. Five boys, and five girls altogether, including him. It would be a even number. What little he was told from the Sandaime, was that he was the youngest. That meant he would probably have been picked on by his older brothers. He frowned a bit at that. No, the eldest would have been the most mature, and stopped it from happening, because he would be a good brother, who's job was to look after everyone.
The girls would be nice too, like Sakura-chan, though there would be a noisy one with a personality like Ino, and perhaps a shy quiet girl a bit like Hinata, who would cling onto him for protection or something. Maybe the oldest one was like that Tenten girl, perhaps, who could boss everyone about.
Everyone would have their own dreams and paths to follow when they grew up. But for now, they would have a single dream of living together and being a better family who could get along better than the Hyuga family, from what little he heard of them, or the proud Uchiha family which used to exist.
A group of ten orphans, living in a house... it was a stupid dream, but it would have been nice. He wouldn't have been alone. He would have people to accept him, to acknowledge him everyday.
He would have known that he existed.
He could feel the tears running on his cheeks.
"I wish that you guys had lived. I wish for it so badly sometimes. Even though I have people now... even so..."
He had to pause to wipe his nose and eyes.
"Even so... it's not fair that I lived and you all died..."
After a pause, he smiled sadly at the gravestone. He could imagine nine faces smiling at him, though he couldn't think of what their faces actually looked like. Nine faces, all smiling at him alone. Nine smiles, just for him.
"I'll carry on all our dreams for us. I'll hold this stupid Nine-Tails forever, because I'm the only one who can." Naruto whispered to the winds, as he shut his eyes tightly, before opening them. A final pair of tears rolled down from his eyes, suddenly glowing red, and blazing with raw power. "But I'm not doing it for the stupid village. I'm doing it for you guys."
Leaving his plate of chocolate cake untouched, he collected his belongings and left the solitary gravestone, the wind being his only companion in the cold night.
- end -
I get the feeling that special events must be a sad time for Naruto...
On another note, I have no idea if poppies mean anything in the Naruto world, so don't blame me!