Believer

Chapter 1

Third person pov

"No." Naruto breathed. Smoke hung heavy in the air, but the blonde was so used to it that he didn't even cough as it invaded his lungs. It didn't drown out the metallic tang of blood swimming around in the thick air. It never did. Naruto took another deep breath, blue eyes wide and watery. They were bloodshot, irritated by the smog, but he was used to that too. Too used to it.

"Kakashi, wake up." Naruto's voice trembled along with his body, like a leaf in the wind. For almost a year, it had been just him and his sensei. His sensei, who'd just given his life to end Obito Uchiha once and for all. It was bittersweet, really, because now there was no one. No home to go back to, and no friends to celebrate victory with. Just a war zone in shambles, and a corpse. "Kakashi-sensei, please."

Naruto's entire world tilted as he gazed at Kakashi's pale face, covered barely by his ripped mask. Horror and fear snaked up and grabbed at him, curling around his chest and constricting. His heart thumped wildly against the restraints grief brought. The pressure he felt was overwhelming. Naruto had always hated being alone, even as a kid. He'd had a few friends at a child, even if he was lonely. But now? Now he was really and truly... alone.

There was no one.

"Kit, I'm offended." Kurama chuckled, but it was weak and forced. Naruto swallowed thickly, his throat dry and burning from the ash he was inhaling. He knew he'd need to wash the soot invading his airways away if he didn't want to die. He knew he needed to cover his nose with something before the smoke inhalation became too much. He knew this, and yet he still couldn't bring himself to move. Like he was frozen in place, unable to tear his eyes away from the corpse before him. 

"Naruto, it's not safe here, and you know it. At least get somewhere with fresh air." Kurama urged. The blonde was exhausted. It wasn't often the young man ran low on chakra, but after the fight he'd just had, killing Madara, anyone would be tired. Even someone with the abilities Naruto had. "Kakashi wouldn't want you to go out like this."

"I...I..." Naruto croaked, tears creating clean streaks down his face, washing away streams of blood, ash, and dirt. He would have wiped them away if he wasn't so focused on Kakashi. His sensei, who was incredibly strong, and who had never been one to die easily. He defied the end in every way he could, but in the end, it seemed protecting his loved ones was more important than protecting himself. Jumping in front of an attack aimed for Naruto's heart had blew a hole in the man's chest. 

"Naruto." Kurama's voice was more urgent as Naruto began to panic more and more, his mind going fuzzy and blank with shock. He gripped Kakashi's shoulders, expecting the Hatake's eyes to spring open any moment. Naruto was sure he'd take a wheezing breath any second now, and he'd hack and cough, but be okay. And they'd patch him up, and leave him to rest a few days before he felt good enough to walk around. And th...then they'd play cards, and make fun of each other's cooking. That's what would happen. That's-

"Naruto!" Kurama barked. "Get up! Kakashi is gone. He risked his life to save yours. Get a hold of yourself and stand the hell up."

Naruto dropped Kakashi like he was fire, bolting to his feet. He stumbled slightly, taking a few steps back and away from his sensei's cold, lifeless body. Kakashi, a man who'd been almost like a father to him, or older brother, was gone. He'd jumped in front of that attack, and he'd payed for it. Naruto stared at him with wide eyes.

"Naruto, it will be okay. Come on." Kurama urged. "We can use the jutsu. We can."

Naruto stared at Kakashi's body a little longer, feeling tired and weak. His chakra was near depletion from the fight, Kurama being the sole reason he was still alive. The beast's chakra was warm, preventing his body from growing frigid and shutting down. Naruto's fists clenched and unclenched nervously, sweat pouring down his brow and mingling with the filth on his face. Obito's black flames were still dancing all around him, taunting him. Teasing him, as if telling the Uzumaki that Obito had still won despite the fact that he'd died. 

Naruto knew the jutsu Kurama was talking about. It was one Naruto had thought about using a great many times, but he stopped himself. Neither he or Kurama knew how it worked. It had never been used, after all. At nineteen-years old, Naruto hadn't honestly been too keen on the idea of leaving everyone he knew behind to go into the past. Neither himself nor Kurama knew how far they'd go. It was a risky jutsu. They could go back a few minutes, or maybe a few years. Possibly more. It was random, to Kurama's knowledge, and only himself and Naruto could go.

By the time Kurama had finished developing the Jutsu, it had been just the blonde and Kakashi. Them against the world. Naruto wasn't willing to leave his sensei alone. They both needed each other, and even Kurama could see that bright as day. But now Kakashi was gone, lying dead in a burning field, void of any life save for Naruto himself. The blonde took a shuttering breath. The smoke was making him dizzy.

"Use it." He murmured, clenching his eyes shut and turning away from his sensei's body as a jolt of pain shot through him once more, rattling his spine and piercing his heart. "Just get me out of here."

And that's exactly what Kurama did.