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Naruto walked through the destroyed village, his nose picking up the putrid smell of the dead, burnt bodies of the decaying humans.
The flames of tomorrow long since died down, only a ghastly smell remaining amidst the tormenting world that it had once resided in.
This was for the better, he mused.
Everything will be reset once he was finished with this damaging war. People will hate him, scorn him for all eternity; but it won't change a single thing.
He knew better than to think they'd have the guts to fight back, against someone as strong as Naruto. He begun to think as the soles of his feet dug deeper into the rough textures of the dirt below.
As the scent of burnt flesh entered his nostrils, Naruto thought of the lives that were being sacrificed for the sake of his goal. He knew that he should be sad, but the regrets did not dare pour in.
Naruto continued walking forward, his ears hearing a slight cry. He turned towards the quivering weeps, his eyes piqued with slight interest.
Along with those cries were the hard coughs that had been due to the flickering flames that had roared mightily throughout the bygone night.
"H-Help..." A child-like voice called out, desperation linked inside of his voice. Naruto walked on top of the rubble, looking through the abundance of trash that littered in the destroyed village.
He hadn't been actively seeking anything out, so he had been taken off guard by the cries for help. His hand dug down, reaching into the coarse concrete and brick walls that had been destroyed by the withering power of Konan and Satsuki.
Putting the hard material aside, Naruto saw a singular person with streaks of tears laced in their faces. His eyes reflected against theirs.
It was a little girl, battered and bruised with many burn running across her arms, coalescing with an intense amount of ash all around her face and body.
"M-My... brother... please." Naruto looked down, seeing her arms around a boy just a bit older than her, tightly clasping around his body as if she was afraid of letting him go.
Naruto looked down, his stoic eyes gazing down on the injury that he was sustaining. There was a large gash running across his torso.
"It was... caused by... shrapnel," she said, a stream of tears crossing down her face. "it was... my fault... it should've been me... my fault." A deep self-loathing reached his ears.
There was a slither of guilt in her voice.
Naruto crouched down, his eyes switching between the boy and the girl. He saw the resemblance between the two of them, the dark brown hair that they both held, and the pitch-black iris'.
Naruto felt for the heart beat of the boy in her arms.
"It's faint, but his heart beat is there," Naruto said, with holding the fact that the boy was on the brink of life and death. He saw a certain relief appear on her face, tears of happiness creating more streaks.
Even in this war-torn world, people found happiness amongst themselves, their hope attaching to the people - person - who gave them meaning.
"I'll take you two to the nearest healing camp. If they ask you who brought you there, just say that it was one of their Shinobi." The girl nodded while wiping her tears away, obeying the request of their savior.
YOU ARE READING
Grace: A Naruto Fanfiction (Book 1)
Fanfiction"I'm just the Son of a Hero and Grandson of a God." Just after he was born, he was taken, kidnapped from the village named Konoha. And since then, he was raised by a God that once tamed the Kyuubi with just his eyes alone. "Nothing more," His talent...
