Symphony (Konoha School Of Arts)

31. Light vs dark; the two faces of Gaara

Naruto awoke to the smell of something burning and the sound of a fire alarm. Mind and vision bleary from his sleep's interruption, Naruto walked out of his room to the kitchen where the smell was coming from. His mother must've left something on fire again.

The kitchen was a mess which was so unusual for his parents. What he assumed was bacon was already smoking, hence the fire alarm and rain of water from the sprinklers. Whisked egg was spilled across the counter with the bowl and whisker askew on the marble top.

The blond walked towards the burner inquisitively, where was his mother? Surely she was supposed to notice all the clamour coming from the kitchen. That being said, where was his father?

The eleven year old's blue eyes widened with shock when he glanced around and saw a glimpse of his mother's red hair from behind the kitchen island. He rounded it only to be met with an even more shocking sight.

There on the floor lay his mother. Her eyes were open and glassy, having lost their original colour to death and her mouth, red with drying blood. Other than her long red locks of hair Kushina was surrounded by the redness of her own blood, seeping from the injury on her abdomen.

"M-mum?" Naruto's voice was small with shock and horror. His movements were automatic as he stumbled over to her side and shook her. Kushina was stiff with rigor mortis already. "Mum!" Naruto yelled. "Dad! Dad! Come help, mum is hurt!"

The boy picked himself up and ran to his parents' room where he hoped his father was.

"Dad-!"

Naruto froze at the sight. Just like his mother, his father was sprawled on the floor of the room but with a knife imbedded deep in his abdomen.

The next few moments were a blur to Naruto. He had no sense of time and lost his ability to recognise and create words talk less speak. He had tried to help his father, had tried to remove the knife but his hands were too shocked to move.

The fire from the burner attracted people who alerted the fire service and that was how Naruto got tagged as a murderer.

Something was new about this bit of memory though. It was still fuzzy but Naruto could see the figure of a man watching from the sidelines. The golden glint of his eyes were the most prominent thing about him. He was looking directly at Naruto as the dazed boy was dragged away by the police.

Naruto remembered crossing glances with him...

-

Naruto awoke with a strangled scream. His heart erratically thudded against his ribcage as cold sweat dribbled down his forehead and matted his hair. His blanket and body pillow were at the end of the bed from incessant turning in his sleep and his pajamas stuck to his skin.

"Naruto."

"Ah!" The blond screamed at the sudden voice.

"Calm down, it's me." Iruka soothed. "I have been trying to wake you up for a while now." The man had heard Naruto's screams from his room and gotten up to assess it. "Nightmare?" He asked.

Naruto shook his head. "I remembered something...from the day my parents died." Iruka stiffened next to him as he said so.

"What?" The brunet asked.

"A man with golden eyes. He was looking at me." Naruto vaguely explained between small pants of air.

Iruka's mind whirred as he thought about what Naruto just said. A man with golden eyes? Who could that be? But first he had Naruto to worry about.

Iruka ran his hand through the boy's golden locks and laid him back down to sleep. "I'll be there when you wake up." He assured at Naruto's scared expression. Iruka left the lights on because the dark might not be comfortable for his ward right now.