Chance for a Prophecy

Chapter 16 - Lily for the Living

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Original upload date: 20th of June 2013

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Chance for a Prophecy

Chapter 16. – Lily for the Living

"In sorrow we must go, but not in despair. Behold! We are not bound for ever to the circles of the world, and beyond them is more than memory."

― J.R.R. Tolkien

Attention! The new happenings of the manga have been ignored from the 629th chapter!

The warm beams of the afternoon sun stroked his skin like a tender lover, while the breeze playfully caught his golden locks, twisting, picking and tugging them childishly around his fine features. Uzumaki Naruto silently stood in front of an obsidian stone, his sight locked on the always shiny surface which already held hundreds of names. His blue orbs ran through the names carved into the stone, then unconsciously moved to other empty parts of the memorial that he knew would eventually be filled with familiar names if he failed. His eyes locked onto a particular point, where the black stone was spotted with copper colored flecks and fine curves, the place where his father's and mother's names were or would be carved onto its surface.

His hands locked harder onto the soft stem of the one single, pure white madonna lily that he'd picked up from Inoichi's newly opened flower store. A half smile appeared on his face when the image popped up of the surprised and confused interrogator while he had handed over the flower. He was sure he would receive questions later, but he didn't care this time. He wanted to do this and it had to be done. Naruto squeezed the stem one more time, before he placed it lightly in front of the memorial and gently stroked its cold surface with his hand unconsciously.

His teeth painfully clenched together, while sorrow overwhelmed his mind. Kurama silently withdrew into the deepest part of his mind, leaving as much private space for his mourning as he could manage.

The blond teen silently mourned for people still alive or not even born yet, for people not aware of their own death. He mourned for his still living and breathing parents, for his friends, for his precious people, for the people of Konoha and the other nations, and for the countless nameless shinobi and civilians from all over the elemental countries who had given their lives for only one cause. To live free in a real world, to defeat Madara and the juubi... to defend him.

Naruto spirited away from Konoha and sunk deep into the ink black abyss of his grief to mourn for the living for one last time.

A lean figure stood above an unmoving and lifeless form on the ground, between unnatural forms. The chirping of thousands of birds slowly died down, while the blue glow slowly faded away from the corners and sides of the cube around them. Hatake Kakashi slowly shook his head and let out a long and weary breath, his silver locks following the movement, slowly swinging together with his head in the motion. He could only distantly feel as someone gently placed his hand on his shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly, trying to shake him from his stupor back to reality.

"Sensei... Let's go."

Kakashi slowly nodded with the last sane remains of his mind, showing that despite his blank look he acknowledged his voice.