Something Precious

Chapter One

He had finally done it. Madara Uchiha was dead, his bloodied and mangled body lay limp in front of the one responsible. Naruto stared at the body with lifeless eyes. He felt no joy or relief as he thought he would when he finally avenged the deaths of his many comrades. He felt nothing, Naruto Uzumaki was empty. Not one of his friends had survived the war. No one left he could lean on. A familiar pain filled his chest bringing him to his knees. Sasuke was right, being lonely because all you once loved was lost, hurt a hell of a lot more then being lonely because you never had anyone to begin with. Then again, maybe not. Maybe it was the pain of knowing he had failed to protect them that clawed at the inside of his flesh and agonized him so deeply. Still, he wished he could tell his best friend that he finally understood his pain, but his body too lay amongst the bloody debris of this final battle. The Uchiha's blood fanned from his torso almost serenely. If he looked long enough, he could most trick himself into seeing small, shallow breaths raising his chest. He looked away.

'Hey, Brat.' Growled Kurama softly, sensing the pain of his jinchuuriki. Naruto hmm'd absently in slight acknowledgement.

'Kit, listen to me!' the fox growled a little harsher. He got no response at all this time. Normally this would have pissed the demon off but he couldn't bring himself to be angered at his poor partner who had lost everything and everyone.

'Kit let me take over.' Again he got no response, but the blonde didn't try to stop him as Kurama eased control of the blonde's body. The fox used the blood from one of the boy's many dripping wounds to draw an ancient seal in the dirt.

'Kit give me your remaining chakra. I need every drop I can get.' Naruto did as he said, not in the mind to question it. The fox poured everything there was into the seal knowing it could kill them but also that neither would care much if it did. In fact, he was certain that his jailer would welcome it. The thought made him frown in dismay. He may have teared up a bit, but he would deny it till the end of time.

There was a flash of light that surrounded them. Kurama relinquished control just in time for them to black out.

***

Team Minato was racing through the trees heading back to Konoha after a particularly long and frustrating mission of trying to locate an enemy camp rumored to be somewhere in the Land of Fire.

"I can't wait to get home and eat some dumplings." complained Obito loudly. Minato smiled wryly. Kakashi sighed in irritation.

"What kind of shinobi are you, quit complaining already." he said, annoyed. "Besides, the enemy may still be nearby, you are practically announcing our position. And with all your griping they probably will know that we are exhausted and may try to take advantage of that."

"Kakashi has anyone ever told you that you're a little paranoid?" asked Obito.

"This is war. The question is why aren't you more paranoid?" Kakashi shot back.

Rin sighed, exasperated. "Would you two cut it out for once?" Obito opened his mouth to respond when their sensei, Minato, abruptly stopped and motioned for his students to do the same. They all stood as still as statues and on high alert for enemy nin. But Minato was looking at something on the ground. He hopped out of the tree and approached the strange figure that they could now see was laying seemingly unconscious. The three students followed their sensei's lead and they now stood in a circle around the mysterious person. The stranger was wearing clothes that were probably once a bright orange but were now torn and stained in blood and now showed the color only in scarce patches. They had multiple injuries, but none seemed fatal. Their hair was so dirty it was hard to tell the actual colour, and they had three strange marks on each cheek that looked a lot like whiskers.

"It's a boy." pointed Kakashi as his eyes narrowed on his face, as if hoping to be struck with recognition.

"No really I thought it was a beautiful lady." retorted Obito sarcastically.

"Enough you guys." ordered Minato. He looked to Rin. "Is he alive?"

Said girl kneeled down and placed her palms on the boys chest. They glowed green, a sign that she was using medical ninjutsu. "Barely. His chakra levels are very low."

The blonde hair man noticed something tucked under the boy's body. He gently pulled the object free. His blue eyes widened.

"He's a leaf ninja." commented a surprised Obito.

"We should get him back to the village as soon as possible. Who ever did this may still be in the area."

"Rin is right, let's go." Minato scooped the boy carefully into his arms.

"Wait." objected Kakashi. "What if he is an enemy. He could have easily killed a Leaf Shinobi and stolen that." he pointed to the tattered head band that his sensei now clutched in his left fist.

Minato looked down at the man he now carried. "And what if he isn't?" he retorted before starting once again in the direction of the Hidden Leaf Village with his team in tow.