Namikaze legend

Chapter 43: The Dead and the Dying

Darkness.

Their eyes saw the entire dark corridor that lay ahead of them. A few meters away from them was a small bed, a bright tube light was casting its light on the covered surface of the bed. A human figure could be seen sleeping on the surface of the bed whose body and face were covered by a cloth preventing anyone from recognizing the person's identity.

Minato sadly watched as his wife shakily walked though the dark corridor of the morgue, as the Blacklight members standing in the shadows observed the painful scene without any emotions on their faces. Their dark Anbu masks hiding any trace of feelings they probably had in their hearts for the dead person.

Itachi also saw the special ops soldiers, no emotions, no feelings...just a blank gaze. So, his elder brother was the leader of such a magnificent unit, Naruto really was a great shinobi.

But his thoughts were still being overwhelmed by the memories of the past, those happy times when their family was living in peace. A lot of years had passed since then, and many things had changed...but it still didn't change the fact that Naruto was his elder brother.

The man he respected, admired and loved.

"I leave the village to you..."

A small tear came in his eyes as he remembered his brother's last words. All this time, every single day he had trained himself just to be as good as him...his parents had already told him that they were proud of his achievements...but the person who's opinion mattered to him the most was lying dead in this dark room.

"You always were so kind to me...Nii-san. Only if I..." thought Itachi sadly, as tears started slipping away from his eyes as Minato put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Minato had to use all his strength to stop the tears waiting to be unleashed from his eyes as he neared the bed. He could still remember the day when a tiny baby was given in his arms while Mikoto lay there on her bed with a tearful smile on her face...and now he was walking towards the body of that child.

His child, his first son...he still wanted to believe that this was just a bad dream from which he was supposed to wake up at any moment. But he was nearing the body...and this supposed dream was still going on.

This was all his fault...only if he had done something about Kushina, Naruto would have been...

"Please take care of Kaa-chan and Itachi"

Ultimately his resolve broke on remembering those last words, that last glance which his son gave him just before he jumped in this mad war. All those feelings that they shared, their anger, their pain, their love...everything was conveyed in that last glance, it was as if his son knew that he was never going to return home.

Minato's voice was choked as he tried to say something to his wife but she continued to walk towards the bed. She was just silent...her legs were moving in a robotic way, he could practically feel no emotions from the Uchiha.

A wolf masked Blacklight emerged from the shadows and briskly walked towards Mikoto. Minato recognized the young boy as Izumo Kamizuki, the current acting commander of 1st company and one of Naruto's closest friends.

The boy stood firmly in front of Mikoto and gave her a respectful salute, however she just ignored him and continued walking forward. His eyes softened when for a second he spotted the devastated dark black eyes of the grief stricken mother.

But he steeled his resolve as Minato came towards him. Izumo was a little surprised by the young boy beside the Hokage, so this boy was the little brother that Naruto loved the most. He again gave a firm salute to his leader, as Minato gave a weak nod acknowledging him.