Chapter 24: Sickness

Naruto sat in a chair with his eyes closed with Obito, Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Inoichi in a room alone with him. "Speak up!" Tsunade cried out. "You try and kill yourself and you refuse to speak?" 

". . ." Naruto remained silent. There was nothing to say. He knew what he had done. He didn't care. It was his right if he wanted to die. They knew nothing. They knew hints and pieces but nothing else. They knew nothing of his demons. 

And he didn't mean Kurama. . . 

Tsunade sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as he looked over to Inoichi. "Go ahead," Obito placed a hand on Inoichi's shoulder. 

"Take me with you, if the Kyuubi tries anything I'll be able to use my Sharingan to get it to back off." Inoichi nodded his thanks. 

"Don't you dare," Naruto whispered in an angry but also fearful tone. "Don't go running in my head." 

"Why not?" Jiraiya asked, concerned. "Is it because of the Kyuubi?" Naruto shook his head. "Then tell us!" Another shake of the head. "Then you're leaving us no choice." Inoichi performed the hand sign. 

"Prepare yourself," He ordered Obito who nodded, a serious expression on his face as he met Naruto's dull blue eyes, his lifeless blue eyes, and in that moment, he couldn't help but think how he failed his sensei. 

"Let's go," Inoichi spoke as a pulse of chakra erupted from his body as a small blue chakra pierced Naruto's head and Obito and Inoichi collapsed to the floor. Tsunade and Jiraiya quickly situated them in a more comfortable position, their eyes closed and their bodies limp, having transferred their minds into Naruto's in order to see what exactly was going on. 

"It's the war," Jiraiya said as he looked at Naruto's now sleeping form. "I haven't known him for long and he hides it really well, but he truly has a horrible case of PTSD." Tsunade sat down at her desk.

"Glad you aren't ignorant to anything," She muttered in a broken tone. She cared for the little blond brat more than she'd like to admit, and now here he was threatening to kill himself? Trying? It hurt. "I just wish Sarutobi-sensei were here, he would know what to do." Jiraiya shook his head.

"Don't think things like that, it won't help the situation. You have to try to do everything in your power in order to help Naruto, wishing that someone else were here will only do more harm than good." Tsunade shook her head and let out a small snort. 

"Who knew a pervert like you could get so wise?" 

"We haven't run into the Kyuubi yet," Obito began as they walked through a sewer-like place that was Naruto's mindscape. "I'm actually surprised." Inoichi nodded slightly, though he felt his nervousness bubble up from his stomach. He had agreed because he was the head psychologist and it was also an order from his new Hokage. 

"Same," He ended up speaking, trying to fill the void of silence that was almost deafening. They couldn't even hear their own footsteps, just a silence. Just then, a loud boom was heard coming down from one of the pipes that made up Naruto's mind. 

Obito and Inoichi sent each other a mutual nod before running down, chasing after such a sound. Was it the Kyuubi? As they grew closer, they found that they were now walking on dirt instead of metal. Obito rose an eyebrow until they emerged and they saw a disfigured beast with ten tails coming out of his back, swinging in the air with arms outstretched. 

They saw two figures standing on the mighty beast and Obito felt the air leave his lungs. It was him. A different version of him. Half of his face was distorted and he had a Rinnegan in his left eye. The man standing next to this different version was someone that was in the textbooks and even had a statue built in his honor, Madara Uchiha. 

His eyes trailed downward and he saw an older version of Naruto clutching a Hyuga, who looked a lot like Guy's student Neji with an older version of Hinata there with him. There were dozens of shinobi on the battlefield with hundreds dead, impaled by wooden stakes that he deduced came from the hands of the Ten-Tails. 

"What is this?" He whispered to Inoichi, whose eyes were wide at the sight. 

"Memories. . ." He whispered. Obito's eyes widened as he looked at Inoichi with disbelief. 

"How can that be? None of this ever happened!" Inoichi grimaced.

"That may be so, but it seems this Naruto isn't apart of our world, though, is that really possible?" He formed two hand seals and his shoulders only tensed up more. "These are indeed memories and not memories of a dream. These events had transpired at one point in the past. Right now we are looking through Naruto Uzumaki's head and into his memories." 

Obito looked over to his other self and heard him speak. 

"You said, 'I'll never let my comrades die', those were your words! Now look around you, and try to say them again." He said in a mocking tone. After a moment of silence, a look of anger washed over his face. "I said try to say those words again!" He shouted. "As the bodies of your comrades grow cold in your arms, take in their deaths." 

Obito felt sick. Why? Why was this happening? What was this, why did Naruto hold these memories? The image disappeared and Inoichi and Obito saw darkness once again. Then came the flashes. 

With each image they saw the dead bodies of all of Naruto's graduating class, blood spilling out of their mouths, holes in their stomachs with their eyes open and lifeless. Inoichi gasped when he saw his daughter's deceased body with the flashes that kept happening over and over again. 

Then came a silent image of Konoha burning to the ground with a man in the air dressed in white laughing as several meteors descended from the sky, intending on flattening the village completely. 

"No!" Obito shouted, but he was forced to watch as it was destroyed. He grit his teeth in frustration as he turned to Inoichi. "Are these still memories?!" Inoichi reluctantly nodded and Obito cursed loudly. 

He suddenly saw another flash as an older version of Sakura was stabbed in the heart by the man dressed in white. He heard Naruto's guttural scream of anguish and he winced as if he were standing next to the boy. Then he saw a light pierce the dark-haired man's heart, he had thrown Naruto out of the way.

He watched as Naruto cried before the white-clad almost omnipotent-like man killed him too. Everything suddenly went dark before a single spotlight showed on Naruto, who was thirteen-years-old again, his eyes wide and bloodshot, his knees tucked into his chest and his forearms covered his mouth as he rocked back and forth. 

"It's all my fault, it's all my fault, it's all my fault, it's all my fault, it's all my fault, it's all my fault, it's all my fault, it's all my fault, it's all my fault, it's all my fault, it's all my fault, it's all my fault, it's all my fault, it's all my fault, it's all my fault, it's all my fault, it's all my fault, it's all my fault, it's all my fault, it's all my fault, it's all my fault, it's all my fault, it's all my fault, it's all my fault, it's all my fault, IT'S ALL MY FAULT!" He suddenly screamed as he ripped out strands of his own blond hair. 

"Kiba, Shino, Hinata, Neji, Lee, Tenten, Ino, Chouji, Shikamaru, Gaara, Kakashi, Sakura, Sasuke! They're all gone because of me!" He shouted before a twisted grin grew across his face. "We have a chance to save them though, right? No, Kakashi and Sasuke are dead! Replaced by FAKES!" He suddenly began beating himself in the face before he was bloodied mess but he still smiled. 

"It's okay, the world is my oyster and I'm going to destroy the Akatsuki, I'll kill anyone who gets in my way, even myself!" A kunai materialized in his hands as he plunged it down, only to be stopped by Obito. "Why?" That was all he asked in a simple calm tone, in contrast to the scary and sadistic one he was using just seconds before. 

"Because you're my precious comrade," Obito said with a small smile. "I'm not sure where exactly you're from, but I can understand a variety of things now. I'm sorry for all the pain I caused you, Naruto, please forgive me." 

A single tear escaped Naruto's eye. "I forgive you," He whispered. "But not even you can help me escape my demons." With that, Obito and Inoichi found themselves back in the real world, their eyes wide open. 

"H-He kicked us out?" Inoichi spoke in disbelief. Nobody had ever been able to force him out of their mindscape ever before. He was the most skilled Yamanaka and to be forced out without even a struggle? It was mind blowing to say the least. 

"It seems you know some parts of the truth," Naruto said as he stood up, a sad look in his eyes. "I'm from an alternate future where an alternate version of yourself and Madara Uchiha destroyed the world and enslaved everyone else in an Infinite Genjutsu World. Everyone died and when I was finally killed I was transported to this world." 

Obito's eyes widened as everything clicked into place. "And that is all I'm willing to tell you for now." And then he vanished.

"What the hell happened?" Tsunade demanded. Obito stood up from the floor only to slump back down into a chair, massaging his forehead slightly.

"Where do I begin?" 

And done. Short but yeah

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Til next time my lil demons!