Naruto uchiha

chapter 18

Naruto gingerly stared at the ground as an uneasy silence reigned around the members of team Ro-Han. He didn't know what to do as the image of Mikasa getting stabbed by that sword kept flashing before his eyes. He could hear Kakashi call out to him and he wanted to respond but could not find it in himself to speak. He shut his eyes closed in desperation, in an effort to make the images of Mikasa's death stop. Alas, even the darkness surrounding his eyes did not help.

He suddenly looked up as he felt Kakashi shake him by the shoulders and the team Ro-Han's captain saw an ocean of sadness dwelling in those eyes. Even though as shinobi they were prepared to handle death, the reality always finds its way to clutch on to the cruelest path. Naruto's gaze then shifted towards Sai who just landed beside them with a young girl on his shoulder. He placed her on the ground and Naruto realized that the girl was Fu, the Nanabi jinchuriki. The blond could still feel her life force and was relatively content that at least she was alive. His eye widened at that thought as he turned back at once and moved towards Itachi. Considering Itachi's deteriorating health and the wound received by the Sandaime Hokage, Itachi was immensely lucky to be alive. Still, Naruto flinched a little on seeing the large stab wound on his shoulder.

Closing his eyes, he calmed his breathing and allowed the nature energy to flow into himself. Naruto had never tried healing someone through senjutsu chakra before and to him, this was still a concept. When he gathered senjutsu chakra within himself, he balanced that amount with his own spiritual and physical energy, so none would overpower the other. So, if he focused on the yang half of the nature energy and focused it within Itachi while also balancing the nature chakra with Itachi's spiritual and physical energy, he should be able to heal Itachi in not time at all. At least, theoretically. Nature energy generally contained a lot of life force and healing properties that should do the trick. Naruto then placed the palms of his hand atop Itachi's wound as a soothing green colored chakra surrounded his hands. A bit of sweat formed on Naruto's face as he concentrated and a few minutes later, he stopped once he noticed that the wound that healed up quite well.

"How do you feel?" Naruto questioned, trying to sound as normal as he could. Itachi gradually opened his eyes to see the worried faces of Kakashi and Sai standing beside Naruto. He grazed his hand over his wound and was surprised to feel that the hole in his shoulder had been healed. He was certain he was going to die, but still sighed in relief. He turned towards the young blond with a small smile on his face but stopped when he noticed Naruto's expression.

"Where's Mikasa?" Itachi asked immediately. Upon seeing the look of despair on Kakashi's face, Itachi knew something was amiss. "How did it happen?" Kakashi and Naruto remained quiet, unable to recall the painful event again.

"While you were down, Orochimaru was about to kill you when Usagi-senpai placed herself in front of you and got stabbed through her heart in the process." Sai gave a brief detail. Yet again, everyone fell silent. Mikasa was an excellent shinobi and more so, a wonderful person, whom Itachi was glad to have known. He would be eternally grateful to her for such an action and Itachi knew that she wouldn't want her team to fall astray without her.

"Get yourself together, Naruto. This is no time to be mopping around." Itachi stated firmly, as he got up. Naruto stared at the Uchiha with shock in his eyes. "She died a proud shinobi of Konoha and that too while fighting the village's enemy."

"But, who will remember her, Itachi? We are Anbu! Her death won't be mourned in the village! There won't be a burial for her! She fought for the village for over two decades in the shadows, without any fame or glory…" Naruto began ranting in his anger but stopped when he heard Itachi's next words.