Dream § Eyes of God

[ura_no_ura]

[soundtrack; please listen| Alan - Red Cliff]

A flock of birds
Disperse the clouds
I pray that flowers
Will still bloom

Comments

[wind_and_whirl]

You.

[ The word falls from Naruto's lips like a vulgar curse. That's exactly what it is in this situation -- a vulgar curse. The man -- the monster he's addressing is a blight upon the face of any earth, an eminent threat against the people precious to him. He knows this because he's seen it, the damage he can do. He knows because he's felt it, felt Pain in more ways than he would care to remember were he capable at this moment. All he feels now is anger, white hot hatred boiling in his veins with blue blood and scarlet rage. He hasn't forgotten that face or those eyes.

He has not forgotten
Pain.

And it's a wonder the Hitomi has not broken for the strength of his grip on the tiny device. The hand at his side is clenched into a tight fist. Claw-like finger nails dig into the skin of his hand and draw blood, but he doesn't feel it, doesn't flinch and waver as he stands there, the Hitomi held at an angle in his hand. He can feel the chakra coursing steadily, readily through his veins from the prior surge. It might as well have been instinctual for its suddenness, that surge and the desire that had risen with it immediately before any other.

The desire to kill that man.

It shows in his eyes, pure and unbridled killing intent. It taints the color, painting it red with the blood of that man, of Jiraiya and Kakashi and the people of Konohagakure no Sato who had lost their lives to him and his stupid, stupid ideology. How dare he show his face after all that he's done, all that he did, if his experience with the Hitomi is any indication. It is real to him, to Naruto, his canines bear into his lower lip as he gazes intently, intensely at the false face of that man.

It won't happen again because I won't let it.

The venom does not recede as he parts his lips. ]

I'm not done with you yet.

Next time we meet, it ends.

[callmelegion]

Those markings --

[ Contemplative pause. ]

I see. You must be the Kyuubi jinchuuriki. Yes, I recognize you, even over this machinery.

I don't know what you're talking about. I've never met you before.

But it is fortuitous that you've contacted me, since you are the one I am looking for.

[ Is entirely unconcerned by the jinchuuriki's ill temperament. ]

[ura_no_ura]

*He was not going to respond to this man, especially not after a dream like this, but hearing that threat -- he is not simply going to leave this alone. He flickers on screen, features, expression, hard.*

What do you want with him?

[callmelegion]

[ Has no qualms about discussing his plans: it's not as if any of them pose him any threat, and he's already killed this man . . . once. ]

The nine-tailed fox is the cornerstone of the path to peace. That is my goal.

[ura_no_ura]

*It takes him a while to respond. But he manages. His voice is still hard, edged.*

We are no longer in the same world.

[callmelegion]

So I am aware.

[ Nonchalantly. ]

I did kill you, after all.

[ura_no_ura]

*There's another delay in response.*

This world is new. It's peaceful. If you want peace, you can create it here by living quietly. Peace doesn't require more destruction and war.

[callmelegion]

I see.

So angrily declaring to me that "next time we meet, it ends" will ensure peace.

Human nature does not change, no matter the world.

[ura_no_ura]

Naruto is my student. I will deal with him accordingly.

If you stay away from our village and from him, and leave peacefully, we will not bother you, as there is no need.

[callmelegion]

You Konoha ninja always talk of peace, but there was no need to bother my country, either, and that did not stop it from being destroyed as a battleground of wars based on other countries.

Countries have no need to make war. Great nations do so because it is the nature of things.

[ura_no_ura]

That--

*He stops himself and takes a breath.*

There are no great nations here. There are only empty villages with no electricity or running water and crops to tend. We've been put here in such a peaceful place for a reason. Whoever-- whatever has brought us here -- we've been given a second chance.

[callmelegion]

Second chances are not only limited to your side.

[ura_no_ura]

We all have been given a second chance.

[callmelegion]

This is what you call a "second chance"? Merely being alive?

I have been merely alive for years now. A different setting is not a second chance. It does not necessarily undo years of pain. It does not necessarily return us our childhoods, or our families, or our friends.

[ura_no_ura]

No, it doesn't. But it gives us the chance to not continue to make the same mistakes and to learn from the past and learn what it is we should not have done, and what it is we should do. It gives us a chance to choose. Either we can continue doing what it is we've always been doing, or we can try a different way of living.

It doesn't have to be like it was. You have the choice to either continue making destruction and war, or to live in peace.

[callmelegion]

And who says the way I have been living is a mistake, or a way of life I should abdicate?