Gone

Chapter 1- My Mother

Naruto POV

My hands were sweating as I passed my boarding pass between each of my hands, imagining handing the pass to the ticket checker, practicing my silence, which wasn't hard. Whilst practicing the silly motion, to most, a newish looking train pulled into the station, making its halt slowly. Soon after arriving, the 2 doors on the side of the train opened slowly, allowing the passengers currently aboard to leave, only a few people filed out of the doors, as this was the smallest town in the main district. After the the past passengers had left, or were still on the train awaiting to go the next stop, two ticket checkers stood at the entrances, one at each. This signaled that the oncoming passengers to the train could now prepare to board. Twenty-ish people stood by one of the doors, split somewhat evenly. I stood up from my seat , gripping my ticket tightly, I stood in one of the lines awaiting nervously. As I focused on the nerves my turn quickly approached. "Sir?", quickly snapped out of my thoughts I took in a deep breath and flashed a wide smile at him and he extended his arm, "Ticket?". "Uh...uhm..", I fumbled with the ticket finally placing it in his hand. He smiled and held out his hand with the ticket in it, "Alright, you may board now.".

My anxiety sparked as I stepped onto the overcrowded train. I stood still for a moment, but soon a strong hand gripped my arm, applying a slight amount of pressure, "Sir.". I turned and looked towards the hand holding my arm so firmly, and then at the owner of the hand. "It's all your fault. Wake up.", a voice said , it hadn't matched the man's voice from before, but matched his lips as he spoke. "W-what?", I stuttered as my eyes were wide. "Sir, I said you left your ticket before, you'll need to keep it with you.", the ticket checker handed me my ticket from before. I took the ticket and went to an open seat by the window. I looked out of the window and took in the last time I would ever see my hometown. The train began moving and I looked at every detail of the small village hidden in the mountains. Four large mountains surrounded the village, one to each cardinal direction, as the mountains acted as a wall of protection for the small village. A steeple sticking straight into the air, could be seen over everything. The steeple marked where the only church for miles, and the center of the town was. My mother and I never attended, she said there was nothing wrong in religion, just the people here who taught it. I shivered remembering what those old men did to me after they claimed the were "cleansing me of my sins and wrongdoings". Moving onto the surroundings of the church was the shopping district, that was filled with many shops and stands that provided the necessities of life, such as food, clothing, cleaning supplies, toiletries, and some others. My mother and I always went to the district on Saturday in the early morning to avoid a large crowd of people. We got food for the week and anything that we had run out of such as toothpaste or toilet paper. On the outskirts of the town, it was surrounded by cottages and small homes for old couples or small simple families. There was no school in the village, so every child that lived here was home schooled. My mother home schooled me for a few years, but gave up on my education and taught me practical things such as cooking, cleaning, haggling, and a few others. I smiled remembering my life here, but my smile fell as we went into a dark tunnel filled with a systematic system of artificial lights, and I was unable to see my village any more.

I looked down to my ticket that I was still holding, gripping it tightly and shoving it into my jacket pocket. As I stuffed the ticket into my pocket I felt another item in my pocket. I let go of the ticket and grabbed the item and brought it out of my pocket to look at it. I felt a stinging behind my eyes as I looked at the picture of my mom pushing my younger self on a wooden swing connected to a large tree, we were both smiling so happily looking at each other. My mother...

»Flashback«

Soft sobs could be heard over the steady sound of machines beeping together, letting everyone know the condition of patient that was hooked up to them. My eyes red and puffy from crying all day, tears falling onto her hand that was latched onto mine. She removed her hand from mine and cupped my chin, she lifted my head so that my eyes met hers. "Naruto...", she called out weakly. I looked at her fragile body and frowned before nodding for her to continue. "Before I...ya know... I wanted to tell you something very important.", she said in a low and heartbreaking tone, "I want you to go live with your father after all this is over. And yes I know I told you he passed away shortly after your birth, but he didn't and is very much alive.". Though I was shocked at this news I nodded, knowing she had some reason for doing this.

"Why hide it from me though?", I asked gently. She sighed, "I did this all for you, to protect you, my beloved son.". "Protect me from a normal life?", I questioned sadly. She looked down as guilt washed over her. Seeing my mother in such a pitiful way only made myself feel guilty, "But,", she looked up at me guilt still there, "I understand.". With that she smiled wide, she taught me to smile the same way.

One of the monitors fell out of sync with the rest, falling to a much slower pace. My eyes darted to the monitor, realizing it was the heart monitor, I looked back at my dying mother, "NO!!". I grabbed her hand and held on for dear life as her pulse weakened. "DON'T LEAVE ME ALL ALONE!!", I yelled my voice becoming hoarse each time I screamed. Nurses ran into the room, one pushing in a crash cart, one checking the falling monitors, two nurses checking on my mother, and one other grabbing my arm, "You need to leave now.". "DON'T TOUCH ME!", I screamed, I held onto my mother's hand, never wanting to let go. My mother looked over to me and weakly whispered, "I love you, now and forever.". The nurse pulled my mother from me while I sobbed, longing for more time with my mother. Before I was fully out of the room, the heart monitor flat lined and was followed by nurses shouting and commands being given, but nothing could stop this moment from coming.

After she had passed away, a nurse walked up to me and handed me a small photo, "She was holding this.". She gave me a look of pity and walked away. I looked down to the photo she had given me, it was a picture of my mom pushing my younger self on a wooden swing connected to a large tree, we were both smiling so happily looking at each other. I smiled sadly at the photo before flipping it over to see a date of when this happened. The back had no date, but a small message on the back for me.

"Naruto,
Go to the district capital, and search out Minato Namikaze, he is your father. Live a full life, and know that I will love you now, and forever."

A lone tear fell down my cheek.

» Flashback Over «

The tear fell off my chin and collided with the photo, leaving a small droplet resting on the photo.

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A/N: I have a great idea for this story, I hope you guys like it.