guardian of the storm | ✓

Chapter Thirty Four ~ Red

~Chapter Thirty-Four~

Winter's heart stopped.

Her eye widened.

Her mouth opened in a silent cry.

Her knees gave out.

She toppled to the ground.

And everything became coated in red.

***

Water flowed down in violent torrents. The waterfall of truth was its given name, what Naruto was told to called it. There was a circle of land with grass growing on top in the small expanse of water in front of the waterfall spilling out of the lip of rock. He sat facing the waterfall; cross legged, his hands pressed together in his lap and his eyes closed. His breathed in and out, his surroundings fading to a muted noise.

"Why?" Naruto's eyes slowly opened and his head lifted upwards. "Why didn't you sign those autographs at Ichiraku's?" The waterfall before him rippled as a figure slowly ventured forward.

"What?" His eyes were now open all the way as the strangely familiar yet metallic voice resonated throughout him.

The voice continued, the figure walking closer. "Those guys. Suddenly they all had a change of heart and started getting overly familiar." The water parted as the figure stepped forward. Naruto felt his breath catch as an exact replica of himself walked out of the waterfall. "Man, they were really irritating." A smirk took form on the replica's face, blood red eyes staring back at Naruto's wide ocean blue ones. "Those damn villagers... even though all they've done, up until now, is shun us." He takes a few steps forward. "And that girl. How can you be so calm about her defecting? After all we've been through and she goes and abandons us just like everyone else. She's worse than the villagers."

Swallowing Naruto looks at the replica, his eyes hardening. "Who are you?"

"Can't you tell just by looking? I'm you."

"Huh?! I don't recall making any shadow clones!"

Water dripped in rivulets down the replica's face. "I am your true self. The true self that lives inside your heart."

Standing up, Naruto points at his 'true self'. "What the hell are you saying? I don't even know you so stop talking crap!"

"This place is called the Waterfall of Truth, right?" The replica spreads his arms out slightly. "To think I could come to the surface like this... this place is great!" His head moves forward slightly, his haunting eyes piercing into Naruto. "In other words I am the true you. I am the real you."

"The real me?"

"Yeah, I am your precious hatred, your dark self."

The bitter truth made Naruto's eyes widen in shock.

"There's one difference though." An even darker look takes over the replica's face. "The Kyuubi has really taken a liking to me!"

With a low snarl the replica dashes forward, the two halves of Naruto facing each other for the first time.

***

Eien was floating. Suspended really, in nothingness. It was black in nature yet not precisely. It was more of a void sucking everything dry and he was the only thing left untouched... for now. It was surreal. Drifting about in literally nothing. There was no inanimate object to keep him occupied, not another human in sight, and it was fairly easy for him to grow bored. How long had it been since he'd blacked out and woken up in this space? No, space wasn't the right word to describe this. Perhaps he should define it as an area.