Fate Wheel | Naruto

𝟗𝟑| "Fatal reminders"

CHAPTER 93 — FATAL REMINDERS
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THE PRESENT DAY

The journey home was pin-drop silent. A silence she created.

Dawn didn't dare to look up, to look at their faces as they grieved the mission they failed, the people they disappointed at the Village now in ruins. Orange and red flares never ceased to dance in her vision like colourful streamers flailing in the air and wrapping itself in the wind's cradle. Not once did she move a muscle to soothe the fire's anger and lull it to sleep, it was restless, disturbed by the current situation. A type of fire that was incarcerated and only when it was released did it finally bask in its freedom.

Freedom. She once got a taste of it, an explosion of everything she ever wanted, emotions she wanted to drown in, dreams she thought to be fruitless. Almost as if she existed in a parallel universe, adjacent to the hell she left behind.

It was freedom that granted her the choice Dawn was never given, but the choices were limited to its liking. It lacked intricacy, its options scarce and broader than the horizons in the distance. That was its ultimate flaw. It overlooked the complexity of human design, human desires and human emotions. It ignored that humans weren't simple beings. That desire could overpower morality, that some were unable to handle an abundance of power or that the things at stake were simply far more important than the power freedom could grant. A double-edged sword that healed you whilst digging deeper into the wound.

Dawn once saw freedom as the solution to all of her problems until she realised it wasn't freedom that she wanted, only a way out of her situation and the peace its absence would bring.

"We need to turn back!" Naruto exploded in frustration, a dark and grave look plaguing his blue eyes. Dawn flinched at the sight, it reminded her too much of herself. "We just left, like cowards! Those people needed us and we just turned our backs on them— all those people! Their homes, lives, all destroyed in the span of minutes! And Benjiro— he's our age, how can he possibly revitalise his nation all on his own?"

"As much as we want to it's not our place." Shikamaru said, glancing at Dawn who kept her gaze on the ground. "An emergency protocol evacuated all the citizens in case an incident like this occurs, they have refuge for now until backup arrives from their allies. It'll be a hard recovery, but they can do it."

"Besides... there's not much we can do." Ino sighed sombrely. "Not right now at least, when it's not safe."

"We should've been able to help." Choji mentioned, his eyes creased with sadness. "It's why we were sent there, to prevent all of this from happening and then... it happened."

"I should've guarded the weapons room properly, it's my fault the blue fire powder went missing." Kiba clenched his jaw in frustration, his head hung low. "We were assigned to monitor things back at the base and we failed."

"No, it wasn't your fault Kiba." Sakura sighed, placing a hand on his shoulder. "There probably had been more stored around the place and it would've been difficult to monitor the activity of all the staff members especially with the Daimyo being dead and an inauguration taking place."

They were nearing the Fire Lands, Dawn recognised its aura instantly; newly turned leaves and a certain, fierce warmth the northeast lacked. Without realising, it sprung energy into her body, her mind more attentive and eager to return. The walk back made her reconsider her plans. Maybe things didn't have to end in bloodshed every time, the reason why Shimo perished in ruins was because of her unwillingness to find a loophole in fate's set-in-stone master plan.