To the Past We Go

We Didn't Eavesdrop!

   "He's late again." Kakashi complained.

   "I'll go get him myself." Naruto had a tick mark and started to walk where Obito lived. He entered through the window in Obito's room and wasn't gentle. He grabbed the collar of Obito's pajama shirt and dragged him through the entire village up til they made it to the training spot.

   "Naruto-sensei! Where's Minato-sensei?" Obito asked.

"Makoto needed help with Itachi so mom went to help, and dad decided he wanted to look after the twins." Naruto explained.

   "What were you doing in my room? And why did you drag me through the entire village?"

   "You're late." Kakashi answered for Naruto.

   "Oops. You still could've let me change and eat first." Obito pouted.

   "Eating is for people who are on time." Naruto said.

   "Rin? You're on my side, right?" Obito looked at Rin with hope in his eyes.

   "I'm on their side. You gotta break that bad habit, Obito."

"Speaking of bad habits, eavesdropping is one of them. You guys really shouldn't eavesdrop on people. It's rude." Naruto looked at his three students with a knowing face.

   "We didn't eavesdrop on you." Kakashi bullshited.

   "Really? So you didn't hear what the doctor said?" Naruto intensely looked at the three of them making them squirm.

   "O-of course not." Rin backed away a bit.

   "So you have no idea that I'm dying? None?" Naruto continued his look.

   "Right. We have no idea you're dying." Kakashi and Rin face palmed at their teammate's stupidity.

   "How did you know?" Kakashi asked.

   "I heard you guys outside the door. Then seeing you all here and giving me these looks while waiting on Obito only confirmed my suspicions." The three looked guilty and sad. "You didn't tell my parents, right?"

   "We left that decision to you." Kakashi said.

   "The doctor said that you're in excruciating pain, so you shouldn't be here. You should be at home, resting." Rin scolded.

   "I'm not in pain. The old fox is like permanent pain medicine. I can barely even feel the pain." Naruto waved her off.

   "Liar."

   "Are you going to tell them?" Obito asked.

   "Eventually. I want them to know, but for now I'd rather not worry them. There's nothing we can do anyway." Naruto shrugged.

"We might be able to find a cure, or something that'll delay it enough to find a cure." Rin suggested.

   "I've seen hundreds of shinobis die from this. They usually die in three days, but I've got Kurama on my side. He can hold it off for a week and then I die. That's my delay. And that's all the delay I could ever hope to achieve. It's a very fast acting disease. Even the legendary Tsunade and her successor, Sakura, couldn't find a cure. Even when they teamed up with the most intelligent Nara, Shikamaru, it was hopeless. There is no cure for it and I doubt there ever will be." Naruto sighed.

   "I'll find one! I'll find a cure for you, and you can't stop me!" Rin stormed away. None of them had ever seen her so worked up before. She was so determined with fire in her eyes.

   "I'll help her. We'll get you back to normal and you'll like it." Obito followed Rin.

   "And you? Are you going to help them or actually let me train you?" Naruto turned to Kakashi.

   "I want you to live." Kakashi went with the others.

   "Well, it's comforting to know they care so much about me." Naruto fell to the ground in defeat.

   "You've saved their lives multiple times by now. Of course they care about you. The question is, why don't you care about yourself? It's weird caring for some human, especially when they don't care for themselves. Don't you want to live? Before you would try your hardest to live. You would do all that you could to survive. This isn't like you."

   "Of course I want to live. I want to see my kids grow up. I want to see my friends again, but I've lived long enough."

   "You're 21. Not long for a human."

   "I've cheated death enough already. All my friends are dead. My wife is dead. My parents are dead. Everyone's dead. I'm the last person alive out of all the people I care about. I've outlived them all. Now my time has come. I've lived longer than I should've. That's just how it is."

   "What about Boruto and Himawari? They can't have a mother, so they need their father. They're still alive. Can't you live for them?"

   "All I seem to bring is death and destruction. Maybe it's best if I'm not in their lives."

   "You're not the same Naruto I became friends with. He would never say something as stupid as that. So come and talk to me when that Naruto returns and tell him I miss him. Bye."

   "Kurama, you can't be serious." Silence. "I guess you are." Silence. "Stupid fox."

   Naruto decided he would return home and spend time with the people he cared for. He would try to be happy until he died and not be afraid. I mean, this was ok, it was supposed to happen, it's not that big of a deal, right?

   Wrong.

———

   Updates will be a lot slower than usual because school is starting tomorrow and it sucks. I'm so not ready for school to happen. I already miss summer and want to cry.

   Well goodbye readers. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and unfortunately this book is coming to an end soon. I'm gonna be sad to see it go, but all good things must come to an end.