Prophecy (Naruto Neglect Fanfic)

A Sensei's Regret

A/N: Very Short Chapter. Tbh Gai is hard to write for. I may sideline him in favour of Kakashi toward the climax. Hope you enjoy :)

Might Guy carried the still-injured Kakashi as they jumped from roof-top to roof-top. The two stayed in awkward silence as their thoughts engulfed them into dark pits of guilt.

'When I was first introduced to my team... I never thought it would have turned out like this.' Guy thought back to when he first met Naruto, smiling happily without a care in the world. Next to his equally petit team-mates he looked so small and innocent.

"My name's Naruto! I like training and I love my family! I dislike... nothing!"

'How could someone that pure and youthful never feel the warmth of love?' Guy could not wrap his head around the fact that Naruto's parents willingly stopped themselves from loving the boy. 'All he ever wanted was his family's approval. He worked so hard everyday.'

"Hokage-sama wishes to talk with Naruto Namikaze," the ANBU stated. Naruto's face lit up.

"Tou-san wants to speak with me!" Naruto celebrated, "I wonder if he's gonna congratulate me about the mission!" The rest of the team smiled at his enthusiasm. "Tou-san... talking to me!"

'He was that happy that his father was even speaking to him. Only to be demoted, have his dreams crushed and be totally isolated by the one you want to love you more than anything. It makes me sick.'

"Guy-sensei!" Naruto's voice got slightly hoarser, "You wouldn't abandon your old student right?" Guy and his team kept jumping silently, slowly quicking their pace to escape Naruto. "Look I'm sorry for being a weakling. I'm sorry for being useless and for being an annoyance. Just... please talk to me!"

'Maybe if I didn't ignore him that day... Maybe if I just left him a message explaining the situation... Maybe if I didn't abandon him as well... Maybe he wouldn't have turned out this way.'

Kakashi too was in deep thought. Whilst he was moving and clutching on to his rival's shoulder, his mind was elsewhere using muscle memory to perform his physical tasks.

'I... should have seen this.'

"Uh, we haven't met," Naruto pointed out as he got up to see if he recognised the man.

"Oh, maybe it was too long ago for you. But surely your father would've told you the stories about his student right?" Kakashi asked the boy who was the exact likeness of his master. Naruto shook his head.

"My Tou-san never tells me any stories. Anyway, you must've been at Karah's birthday right?" asked Naruto.

"Of course, I would never miss the birthday of my sensei's child."

'How did I not notice that I had not met one of my sensei's children when I had celebrated his others for years?'

"Why did you lie?" Naruto said coldly. Kakashi looked back at him.

"I don't follow," he said.

"Why did you lie? You didn't remember," Naruto said, rage seeping into his voice. Kakashi froze. "Why aren't you going, I thought you were eager to go see Karah-sama." Kakashi never thought Naruto could scare him. "I suppose I was just an annoyance to you, someone you had to get rid of as you tried to get back to the real fun."
"Naruto I-"
"Don't worry I understand. Why try with Naruto? He's useless anyway. I'll just give him a- dirty kunai!" Naruto shouted as he threw away Kakashi's gift. "And you know what's worse, that was my first ever birthday gift!" Kakashi's throat was dry.
"I-I'm sorry," Kakashi managed to let out.

"You lied to me now and you lied to me then when..." Naruto paused as tears threatened to fall, "When you said that they wouldn't ignore me."

'On that day I should have stayed with him. I should have talked to him. I saw him as he looked like he was about to die without having any food or sleep in who knows how long... and I just left to go to his sister's party. I didn't even bother afterwards to talk to him. When I was called in by Minato-sensei, I was more concerned over if I was going to be yelled at than if Naruto was going to be ok. I stood by when he was demoted and I stood by again as another title was taken away from him. I could've stopped his descent.'

"You're not ignored, I mean look at your team! You have a family with us and we will never ignore you!" Naruto smiled slightly.

"Thanks Kakashi-sensei. At least I won't have to go back to training alone," Naruto murmured quietly as he entered the tent. Kakashi then returned to his tent and quickly forgot his thoughts of Naruto as he fell asleep.

'But instead I lied. I lied and Naruto paid the price. I could have saved him many times. There was no decree to stop me but instead I forgot and watched as he fell deeper into the dark depths until the Naruto that we all loved was killed. Killed and replaced by an emotionless tool for a terrorist organisation. The only reason any of this happening... is all because of me.'