Meeting Yondaime

Chapter 34

Naruto lay strapped down, tied to a chair. The ropes dug into his skin painfully. He tried to tug loosen them, and get his hands free, but it was no use. 

A figure with a black mask appeared, holding a knife. It gleamed in the dimly lit room. Naruto's mouth opened slightly, but no words could come out. They were stuck in his throat. 

Grief, fury, defiance, and terror all welled up in his throat. The lump continued to grow, he felt trapped in a cage. 

His captor chuckled evilly, the horrifying sound made goosebumps form on his skin, and his mouth goes dry.  "You have nowhere to run..." The voice was deep and evil. 

The man placed the cold knife against his skin. The blade pierced his skin, and blood began to stream out steadily. The pain wasn't the worst he'd ever felt, but it wasn't comfortable. He refused to scream. 

The man pressed deeper, more forcefully, and the pain grew. He clenched his jaw. The man started another, and another, cutting all over his body, legs, arms, chest, and face. His shoulders and back too. Endless kunai were being thrown at him it seemed. His hair was pulled, a headache had formed long ago, became worse. 

He couldn't fight back, he felt useless, worthless. His senses were dulled, except for the pain. His vision was blurry, he couldn't hear much, couldn't smell anything but smoke and fire. Fire... 

Let me go! he wanted to shout. However, it was still futile. The man stabbed the kunai into his arm, he winced and gasped in pain. 

"Will, you do not scream for me?" 

Naruto shook his head, and the man sighed. Then, his sigh turned into a psychotic, maniac laugh. "Just what I wanted..." 

Naruto watched him walk to the end of the room. A fire was lit there. He picked something up, and he smiled wildly like he was the Cheshire cat. He had a fire poker in his hand when he stepped next to Naruto. A hot, glowing yellowish-orange fire poker. The man pressed it against his skin, and tears of pain slipped out of his eyes, smoke clouding his vision, making him drowsy. He fell asleep. 

"Ah!" Naruto bolted upright, panting, cold sweat soaking his shirt. He checked himself. No scars or cuts and he definitely wasn't burned, but the pain felt real. He still felt it. "It was just a dream..." 

He sighed, and lay back down, grasping his hair loosely. "This is a mess..." 

There was a knock on the door. He looked at it, and a head popped in. Sakura. "You have fans waiting outside, Naruto." 

Naruto raised an eyebrow and sat up. "Kay." Sakura closed the door, and Naruto put his jacket on. He walked downstairs, to find it completely empty. He walked outside, making sure his kunai and shuriken pouch was hooked on. He would not be caught off guard after a dream like that. He knew that torture, battle, and death were all part of being a ninja, but that didn't mean he enjoyed those aspects. 

He walked outside, and a large crowd swarmed him. Confetti was everywhere, and there was even a cake that had the Konohagakure leaf symbol on it. The cake was covered in a multitude of different shades of green, and it even had a picture of Minato, Sasuke, Kakashi, Sakura, and himself on it. 

He smiled and looked up at the villagers. The team had each been given a sword as a reward, and the cake was about to be cut. "Thanks, guys." 

"Naruto Nii-san!" Naruto looked down at Inari who tugged slightly at his shirt. 

"Yeah?" 

Inari took a package from behind his back. He lifted it up, and Naruto took the package, cautiously unwrapping it. Inside was a set of dual katanas, a new set of kunai and shuriken, and a picture of his family eating dinner with team seven.  "I hope you like it..." 

Naruto nodded and patted his head. "I love it." 

"Inari came to me and asked me to make a set of ninja tools and katanas. Had to ask Kakashi to lend me some of his to see how they're made... I'm Egyua by the way, the town blacksmith..." 

Naruto nodded. "I'll take good care of these tools." 

Tsunami handed team seven each a slice of cake before Kakashi spoke. "Thank you for the hospitality, Tazuna, Tsunami, and little Inari, but it's time we head back to Konoha." 

"You should come to visit us sometime." 

Sakura looked at Minato and smiled happily. "Yeah! We'd love the company of old friends!"  

The villagers laughed, and Sasuke just made his 'hn' in response.

"We have one more gift before you go..." 

The villagers traveled with the Konoha ninjas back to the mainland across the bridge. Naruto just stared in wonder when he turned around. "How long was I out?" 

"About a week," spoke Sasuke in a bored tone. "Gave us enough time to finish this." 

Naruto looked at the name of the bridge. 'The Great Naruto Bridge' it read. A sign on the ground noted that it was dedicated to team seven- a team who helped save the land of waves and helped built the bridge, and Naruto was the hero who helped the villagers regain courage. 

Tears streamed down Inari's face, and he tried furiously to wipe them away. However, they just kept streaming down. "Dang it... I tried so hard not to cry... You must think I'm a baby..." 

Naruto laughed, and Inari just stared up at him. "It's okay to cry when you're happy, Inari." 

Inari's eyes lit up, and he smiled brightly, tears still rolling down his cheeks. "Thank you, Nii-san!" 

"I'll make sure to come and visit sometime, alright, Inari?" Inari nodded and hugged Naruto. Naruto was surprised at first and then smiled, bending down slightly to hug him back. 

"See you soon, Nii-san!" 

"See you soon, Inari." 

Team seven leisurely walked back to Konoha, enjoying the forest view. "Only two more weeks until the chunin exam finals... You ready, Sasuke-kun, Naruto?"

"As ready as I'll ever be.." 

"Hn. Dobe."

Thank you all so much, my lovely readers! I love you all so much. God Bless!

- Author-chan aka Narutofanninja2