Wish Upon the Night Sky (Naruto Fanfic)

Chapter 73

Usagi 73

>>>>CHAPTER 73<<<<

>>>>Teacher and Student<<<<

"Why don't you give up on me giving up!!"

That was what Naruto had said as he defeated the Deva path, the final path of Pain that remained after their long battle.

Now here he was, jumping through the green forests that surrounded Konoha, or what now was the remains of what had once been Konoha, trying to find Pain. Trying to find his real body.

It didn't take too long for him to come to a pause just outside of a large tree. It was no ordinary tree though, at a second glance it appeared to have been crafted with what seemed like millions of square paper sheets, otherwise known as Konan's signature jutsu.

Nagato sensed the boys' presence outside. Something he wondered though... how would he react when he saw what was inside?

Usagi was there after all.

"Stand back, Konan." Nagato instructed.

The blue haired woman frowned, but did so. She hated that this might be it, it might be the end of everything Nagato and Yahiko had fought so hard to find.

"... Are you the real one?" A blonde boy pushed aside the origami sheets that made up the trunk of the tree, walking inside the dim and hollow structure.

"... So peace has arrived..." Nagato whispered.

The man, the real Pain, had chakra receivers stuck into his back. He was skinny, unnaturally so. Even with only a small glance, Naruto could tell he was sick.

Naruto had his sage mode activated, but even then he couldn't tell that there was a fourth person in the room. He couldn't tell because that fourth person was dead.

"Do you hate me?" Nagato asked. "Now that you see me before you, do you want your revenge?"

Konan couldn't let Naruto kill him. Though she sounded strong, she was almost pleading on the inside. "If you kill Nagato to get revenge, it won't change a thing. It will only make you feel better." She said, only Nagato able to pick up on the slight desperate tone to her voice.

It was at that moment that Naruto caught a certain scent. 

Blood. He could smell blood.

"There's nothing you can do." Nagato said. "Your role is to be the sacrifice that allows me to bring forth peace."

Naruto clenched his fist, almost shaking as he muttered the words. "Sacrifice...? Was that her job too?"

Nagato paused. So he had noticed.

"Was she just a sacrifice for peace? Was my teacher, my friends, my village... were they all just sacrifices?" Naruto wasn't upset. He was mad. Glaring at Nagato dangerously, the red haired man caught sight of some of the Kyuubi's chakra.

The hate dripping from the boy, from the Nine Tails, was extreme.

The look of shock must have shown on Nagato's face, because Konan spoke up. "Nagato, what is it?"

"..." Naruto couldn't take his eyes off the small body in the room. Though her chest had been covered, he knew she had been wounded beyond repair. The way her once radiant lilac eyes were faded over, dull and emotionless... The way her once bright red hair had turned considerably darker, as if it signified her loss of chakra. The dried blood that came from her lips, the bruises that covered her now blue tinged skin.