Rain To Wash The Blood Away (Nagato x reader)

33. Trust

"(Y/n), wake up!" a familiar voice called, waking you from your slumber. Not being ready to get up, you groaned and rubbed your eyes sleepily. Lifting your head, you let your eyes focus on the teenage boy in front of you.

"Naruto, what is it?" you grumbled, putting in the effort to sit up properly. The blonde grabbed your forearm, suddenly pulling you out of bed.

"Come on, it's super important. We have to go now," he urged, tugging at your arm. Sighing, you got up and quickly put on a jacket and shoes before leaving the tent.

As you walked, Naruto refused to let go, acting very determined to get to wherever it was he was going. You were curious as to what it was, hoping it was actually something worth getting up this early for. But it was only when you were stood outside Tsunade's tent that you realised that this really was something crucial.

Pushing through the fabric door, you entered. There you found yourself within the Hokage's tent, looking down at Tsunade who was now awake. Her eyes widened when she saw you, squinting a moment later to make sure she was recognising you right.

"Are my eyes playing tricks on me or is that you (Y/n)?" she asked, sitting up slightly to get a better look at you. Shizune rushed to her side, telling her to lay back down.

"No, Tsunade. It's me," you smiled, feeling overjoyed that she was awake and showing signs of getting better. Wanting to get closer, you knelt beside her.

"You remember me?" you question, still feeling unsure about it. You had only met her a few times so you had been a little worried that she wouldn't know who you were. Looking up at you, she let out a small amount of weak laughter followed by a cough.

"I've only ever seen you a couple of times but I remember you, Jiraiya used to talk about you a lot," she expressed, resting her hand on her chest. Turning her head to the side, she looked up at Shizune.

"Would you and Naruto mind giving me a moment to speak to (Y/n) alone?" she asked her apprentice. Shizune was hesitant at the beginning but nodded eventually, getting up and taking Naruto with her when she exited the tent. Now it was just the two of you. Tsunade's frail hand reached out to you, you met her in the middle so she could hold onto you.

"The others already know this but we are about to go to war," she informed, giving your hand a gentle squeeze. Your eyes widened at the news, you had hoped you wouldn't see another war in your lifetime but here she was telling you about it.

"With who?" you asked, your voice quiet as you sat in disbelief.

"They say it's with a man claiming to be Madara Uchiha. All we know is that he has connections with what is left of the Akatsuki," she said, finishing her sentence with a strained cough. Hearing that made your mouth grow dry, your gaze falling to your lap. The knowledge that the Akatsuki had something to do with this made you feel guilty.

"Why do you look so down, (Y/n)?" she asked, her thumb softly running ver the back of your hand. You let out a quiet sigh, running your fingers through your hair to relieve a little stress.

"The Akatsuki was manipulated into becoming what it did. If I had been there I could've stopped all of this from happening," you expressed, gritting your teeth in annoyance at the thought of a war being started with the help of your organisation which had originally been formed with the intention of peace.

"Don't think like that, it's not your fault. Naruto told me about how you fell into an abyss and had been there for ten years, only recently managing to get out. The important thing is that you're here and are doing all you can to help. We're grateful for everything you've done to help our village while we rebuild," she admitted with a weak smile.

"But there is something I want to ask you. I know that you're a strong shinobi and will be a good asset for us during the war. Will you stand by the side of the Shinobi Alliance and help us take down Madara Uchiha?" It was flattering to be spoken so highly about by Tsunade, but you were really unsure about this.

"I don't know, I don't think the other nations will accept me because I used to be a part of the Akatsuki. Not only that but I've killed shinobi from their villages, they won't want me there," you expressed, keeping your head lowered. You felt like you had let Tsunade down but there was nothing you could do about it, you didn't have a great reputation in the other nations.

"(Y/n), don't worry about all of that. I want you to be there, especially by Naruto's side. Ever since I woke up this morning, all Naruto has done is talk about you," she recalled, eyes gracing the ceiling as she thought.

Her words made you smile, making you think about everything you had been through with Naruto from your meeting till now. He really did remind you of your little brother, Yahiko. And not only that, Nagato was moved so much by the boy's words that he gave up on the Akatsuki and everything he had been fighting for, putting it all in Naruto's hands.

"That boy, the one with the red hair. What was his name?" Tsunade asked, her gaze returning to you. Her sudden change in topic surprised you, especially since you had just been thinking about him too.

"Oh, Nagato," you said, curious as to what she was going to say about him. After hearing his name, she hummed as she thought back to the times she had come to visit you, Jiraiya and the others.

"Nagato... he was always following you around like a puppy. Did the two of you ever get together?" she asked, catching you off guard. It was something you didn't want to think about, especially after losing him, but for some reason now you felt happy thinking about him.

"Yeah, we did get to be together in the end. It was only for a short time but I'm grateful for it," you smiled, feeling soothed by Tsunade's hand on your own. Reaching her free hand over, she enveloped your hand in both of hers.

"You deservde to live a better life than this," she empathized, "I know the pain of losing loved ones, I was unfortunate and ended up losing both my younger brother and the love of my life. I know that you've just met Naruto but I can tell he means a lot to you. I care a lot for that idiot too and I think that you're the person I want to protect him."

"What do you mean?" you questioned. She met your gaze, giving a soft smile.

"Because he is a Jinchuriki, Naruto can't go on the battlefield. Putting him out there would enable our enemy since we know that they're after all of the tailed beasts. I want you to be one of the people to stay by his side," Tsunade expressed, her eyebrows furrowing to show how serious she was about this. You knew that there was no way you could say no to her and you were actually flattered that she trusted you to stay by Naruto's side.

"Okay, I'll do my best to protect him."

It's been a while since I last updated. I lost all of my notes for this story so couldn't write it the way I had planned out fully. But I finally found the time to rewrite them and so we're on course to finishing the story off. Not sure how many chapters there will be left but there should be a good few. There are going to be a few time skips, cutting out a lot of travel because it's not really necessary to the story.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter :)