Tale of a setting sun

Chapter 27: "The Roar in a Rain of Tears"

Another moonlit night swept across the tiled rooftops of Konoha. As always, the village blissfully slumbered under the ever-watchful eye of the ANBU.It was also another late night for the Hokage, who was finishing up the day's paperwork. 

Just as he had scrawled his signature across a trade permit, he paused hissense someone heading straight for his office. A moment later, a red-haired ninja using the Body Flicker Technique appeared in the space before him. 

From the disheveled appearance and the smell, Naruto looked as though he hadn't bathed in days. 

More importantly, he was alone, when Hiruzen had received a mfrom Kakashi informing him that the whole team was on their way back."Naruto, where's the rest of your team?" asked Hiruzen."I'm a clone," said Naruto. "I wanted to know why you sent that missive to Team Shirakumo telling us to stay in Wave country."Alarms started going off in Hiruzen's head.

 "If such a missive was sent out, it was not under my authority. Naruto, what is going on?"The hard look in Naruto's eyes told Hiruzen that this had only confirmed the boy's suspicions."I'm guessing someone intercepted my messenger birds. They must have also forged your seal on a fake missive to keep our teams in Wave country. I tried gettingI could, but I had to conserve chakra... I'm going to report back. I - " The clone broke off. His eyes widening, he fell to his knees.In a cloud of smoke, he disappeared.

 Slowly, Naruto rose to his feet.Everything was very still. And larger, as though magnified. Or was it his senses instead?Taking in his surroundings, he surmised in an instant what had happened. 

While Naruto had fought the hunter-nin, Shirakumo had died trying to take down Hidan,the job, Rai had paid with his life. Further out, Naruto could see yet another body—Sai?—but his chest alone moved up and down, breathing."Kakuzu, you bastard, where are you! Come back here and bring me my body!"

 It was Hidan's head, sitting at least a dozen yards away from its body. Impossibly, Hidan seemed to have survived even a beheading.The earth shook and in a daze, Naruto looked up. Snow drifted serenely down from the sky as a raging battle played out in the background: Jiraiya faced off againswhat appeared to be four black humanoid masses.It didn't seem right to Naruto. His teammates were no longer here. 

And yet the world continued to move.Some of the snow that had been falling had melted, and the ground shimmered with water. Naruto caught a glimpse of his reflection: Crowning a blank face, his hafire and his whisker marks stood out starkly. Droplets of blood rolled off his chin and landed in the water, dyeing it red, and his reflection disappeared.This quiet, burning sensation... He had never felt like this before.No—that wasn't quite right. He had felt it once before. 

He could remember now. It had happened years ago and the memory of it had been forcibly taken from himcoming back.Everything was fuzzy and dim. He could hear the sound of running water. The back of his head throbbed, where they had struck him. He wondered where his captohim. He wished he had remembered to wear his scarf to cover his face. Maybe all this wouldn't have been happening, then.There was someone still fighting his captors. He didn't know who it was.

 They were strong, and several of his captors groaned and fell to the ground. Eventually hocaptors managed to put a sword through their chest. The person collapsed, and their mask fell off.With a jolt, he saw the face of the woman who slammed bowls of rice down on his table everyday. She had never had a kind word for him before and yet she had fNow, she was gone.Something inside him snapped. Everything he had ever felt in his short life came together into a single, black emotion.

 It seethed and roiled. It wanted release. Histurning red. A guttural sound filled the tunnel, and he soon realized it was coming from him.The next thing he heard was the sounds of his captors' screaming. Before long, bodies floated facedown at his feet in a river of blood.Back in the present, Naruto opened his eyes.An immense metal gate loomed before him. Something huge and dark lurked behind it; a single seal on the gate doors blocked its escape. He knew it was the onlypreventing the demon it held captive from devouring him."So you've finally come to me of your own will,"