Winds of War

Stirring before the Rise 3

Naruto POV

He was unnerved.

No, he was scared.

Blue and purple dominated everything in sight and then he couldn't see past it because it literally climbed on top of him, making him want to scream but he couldn't do that too!

Not being able to see anything was one of the worst things that could happen to a ninja, it's basically having your feet cut out from under you, the way it happened to Naruto. It was so abrupt that it took him a few moments to realize he couldn't see anything, even more that he couldn't move or hear.

Naruto hated being caged or unable to see what was going on around him, it was one of his own fears, to be unable to do anything and be forced to just obey.

Not seeing anything in itself brought bad memories and horrible things back to his mind, it reminded him of the nightmares he used to have as a kid, where he'd be running down a completely dark hallway, no lights, and suddenly something would grab him and pull him into an even darker place, where he was shoved onto a cold floor and couldn't move at all.

Or those times when the Sandaime would pay a women to watch him and she'd tell him a story every night about a tall thin man with long arms and a hollow face, who could fit into tight spaces and would wait every night in a different child's room to steal them and keep them, and then the woman would always turn off every light(no matter how much Naruto pleaded with her because she was bored and wanted to see if he screamed as loud as the other women said he did) and lock the door, forcing Naruto to just sit there and stare at every dark corner in his room, tightly gripping his pencil because the woman had also taken away his kunai.

Being unable to see anything frightened Naruto, it brought back so many fears and made his body tense, because of the memories and the instincts pounded into his body.

He didn't want to the remember times where he would've gladly killed someone, or the times where he had cried and cried and cried because he had been locked in a dark place and couldn't get out.

He couldn't put anymore into it than just fear, nearly as big and biting as Gaara's fear of sleep, so suffocating and loud that it made him want to curl up and lay flat on the ground.

Suddenly a large aggressive voice was in his ear, pulling him out of his memories, 'Hey, brat, pull yourself together! It's not like any of that shit can get to you anymore, and you're not alone.'

Naruto let out a shaky laugh, relief flooding over his paralyzed body, 'Kurama. . . yeah, I forgot, thanks for reminding me."

Thank god he wasn't alone anymore.

Breathing out a sigh of relief, Naruto stared at the darkness around him, not as terrified as before(he wasn't scared of the dark necessarily, he was just scared of not seeing anything). He waits and waits, watching for something to happen, and when nothing happens he sighs, bones feeling tired with now being frozen and muscles aching with the tenseness in his limbs.

How long until he arrived in this supposed new world? How long until his second chance? How long until he could he see bright sunshine and fresh skies again?

(the war had taken that away from him, taken away his friends and allies, his hopes of tasting what it was like to be praised and appreciated, and the beautiful fields of shimmering grass and tall oaks. he had saved his people and given them a way out of death, but still, too much was stolen from him)

Naruto was slightly scared that this was a farce, that the Jinchūriki had been told wrong and he was now trapped in a void and scene-less land, frozen and stuck here, but he pushed away those thoughts. Deep down in his gut he felt they weren't wrong, but a different question bubbled up to the surface.