The Path of a Shinobi (Reader x various)

Mourning

I pulled my hood over my head which casted a shadow over my (e/c) eyes. I stuffed my hands in the pockets of my sweater and walked over to a place where no one would be.

The riverbank.

It was about a ten minute walk to get there and area was pretty empty and quiet. There wasn't much lighting around except for the lights inside the nearby homes as well as the crescent moon that was illuminating the sky and reflecting off the river. I plopped myself down on the sloped downhill grass with my knees bent and slightly open and my feet planted on the grass. I leaned my body forward and placed my arms on my legs letting my hand dangle.

I had stayed seated there for half an hour either staring at the river or the night sky.

I heard soft footsteps coming not too far from where I was, most likely the trail above me. I didn't expect someone to be walking by here at almost eleven in the night. It was slowly coming closer and closer, but I didn't bother to see who it was.

"(Y/n)." I pulled down my hood and looked over my right shoulder to see Naruto standing on dirt path. Although it was dark, I could discern what he was wearing and looked like. He was wearing a light green shirt with navy blue plants and black sandals. On his right hand, he was carrying a small white plastic bag.

"Oh, hey..." I turned my head away from him and continued to silently stare at the river. "How did you know it was me? You could've called out my name to a random person."

"How could I not?" He walked over and sat down to my right and was seated somewhat close to me.

The atmosphere was quiet between us except for the sound of crickets chirping from a distance and the rippling river. We were both staring at the river before Naruto gasped out of nowhere which made me jump in surprise.

"Oh right! I have something for you." He opened the plastic bag and handed me a blue popsicle inside a plastic wrapper. I gently took it from his hand and stared at it with a small smile.

"Heh, just like the one he gave us."

"Yeah..."

Silence ensued the area again before I spoke up. "...remember when we first met him?"

From the corner of my eye, I could see a smile form on Naruto's lips. "Yeah. Pervy Sage was such a pervert but...he was also really cool."

"Agreed." I let out a sigh as I lifted my head up to face the darkness that washed over the sky. "I still remember when he pushed us off that cliff three years ago."

"Man, I thought for sure I was going to die! That wasn't cool of him!" Our sensei may have almost led us to our deaths but we got a contract with the toads in the end.

"Remember when he was peeking at one of the Hot Springs and had a sandal thrown at his face," he snickered as he began reminiscing about it.

"And a bucket," I snorted as I remembered that it had left a large red print on his face.

"And a pan! Man I don't know where that lady even got it from!" He exclaimed throwing his arms in the air for a moment before placing them down on the grass.

"I remember when he came back drunk that one night to the hotel and ended up cuddling up in your bed!"

"Gah! Never speak of that!" He made an X with his arms and looked like he wanted to vomit. When he saw me beginning to laugh he covered my mouth with his hands. "And don't laugh!"

I removed his hands and I tried to stifle my laughter with my hand but I couldn't contain it and I ended up letting my laughter fill the air between us. As Naruto watched me laugh to my hearts content, he could see that that a genuine smile had finally appeared on my face after the events of today and the previous days.

And seeing my face light up, was enough for him. He joined in on the laughter and let a smile appear on his face.

But my laughter soon started to die out.

During that moment that we began to recall and look back at some of those moments, grief had struck my heart. I felt tears beginning to brim my eyes and my heart break into pieces knowing that we'll never have moments like those again and... that I'll never get to see him again.

The tears started to slip out and I furiously tried to wipe them away but they just wouldn't stop.

"I-it's just hard to accept the fact that he's gone!" I loudly cried out as I clutched onto Naruto's arms and placed my head against his chest with tears streaming down my face and staining his shirt.

"I know it is..." he quietly whispered with a lump in his throat as he placed his chin on top of my head and wrapped his arms around me. "...I wanted him to keep watching over me. I wanted him...to stay by our side. To see you become a strong kunoichi. And...I wanted him to see me become Hokage."

Although I couldn't see it, his lips were quivering and tears were welling up in his eyes but those tears burst forth like water in a dam, silently spilling down his cheeks. He pulled me in closer and tightened the embrace between us not wanting to let go anytime soon.

We stayed in each other's arms for who knows how long that night unclenching our hearts from the pain we were experiencing and letting the grief pour from us like water.

Someone who gave us some of the best memories ended up becoming a memory.