The Last Prayer

Part 1 : A Will of Fire

NARUTO

At first, it was just a hum; the kind one might annoyingly swat away, absolutely sure a fat fly was buzzing far to close to the ear.

Mere weeks later and for quite some time, the sound morphed into distant chatter; hazy, like the final incoherent echoes of conversation. It had made, then, potential graduate student, Uzumaki Naruto constantly swivel his head like a whip, dead intent on locating this elusive chatter. He heard it everywhere; in the middle of class, walking through the markets, training in the woods, relaxing in his apartment, and his frustration grew every time he couldn't locate its source. Presently, however, as he drags his feet away from Konoha's hospital, the last thing on his mind was some annoying chattering sound he couldn't identify.

The day was bright and the pure white clouds were large and puffy against the baby blue of the sky. Certainly, a joyous day for many in the nation of Fire, unless you were Naruto and Umino Iruka. The thoughtful and caring chūnin-sensei had selflessly saved his life from the traitor, Mizuki, just days before, using his body to stop a large shuriken that was meant for him. For his troubles, Naruto's favorite academy sensei is now paralyzed from the chest down.

Walking that long sorrowful path toward nothing and no one, the only voice in Naruto's head was the list of injuries the nurse was adamant the young genin had caused that night by needlessly moving Iruka-sensei in a panicked rush to get the injured chūnin-sensei to the hospital.

"Because of your carelessness," the nurse yelled, "his spine, spinal nerve roots, intercostal nerves, ribs, and lungs were extraneously damaged. Because of you, he'll never have a career as an active Konoha shinobi again! He'll be lucky if he can ever walk again. Now, get out! He doesn't want to see you!"

Truthfully, Naruto didn't understand most of what she said. It all sounded terrible, but the part that struck him the most, the thing he blames himself so utterly over, is being the reason Iruka-Sensei can never be a shinobi again.

Before he knew the extent of his sensei's injuries, Naruto was supremely confident the scarred sensei would be fine in a couple of days. Naruto himself recalls being stabbed before and he was always fine in a day or two. He had been so excited to visit the chūnin to show off his brand new hitai-ate, to regale him with how they passed Kakashi-sensei's bell test, only to be yelled that Iruka-sensei doesn't want to see him. The difference in walks to and from the hospital is like a moonless night and a pleasant day.

'Why wouldn't he be fine? He was supposed to be,' Naruto can't help but think. 'That shouldn't happen to good people.'

Lamenting over the grievous injury of his single mentor—his fourth special person after Ji-chan, Teuchi-jiji, and Ayame-nee—he unknowingly found himself on the best spot overlooking all of Konoha. Admiring the robust village, now cognizant of why the majority hate him and the thing inside him, it only fueled his need to make things right again, to desperately fight this horrible feeling in his chest from festering. Jiji had taught him long ago that nothing changes if you stay unhappy about it.

"Smiling is contagious because happiness is contagious," Naruto recites, recalling Hokage-jiji explain to him after another crowd had hurt him. "When we are happy, people can feel that energy, and it can make them happy in return. That is why I think the best weapon against hatred and loneliness is love and friendship." The old man would smile happily at a frightened five-year-old Naruto, and Naruto, though sad and confused, couldn't help a small smile spread his lips. From that point on, Naruto grew to understand the old man's words with every passing day, and tried to fight the village's animosity with his best smiles and goodwill.

'If I became the best shinobi in the village, and then the best Hokage of all time, I just know Iruka-sensei would be happy,' Naruto mentally declares as if combating the guilt within with his sheer determination. He may not be the smartest shinobi in class, but even he knows the steps to take Jiji's white hat; work harder than anyone and protect your village. 'I couldn't stop Mizuki-teme from hurting Iruka-sensei, but I won't let anything bad happen to sensei again! I know it!'