Burnout
What happens to the hero when the battle is over, the villain defeated?
"Uzumaki Naruto, you are hereby to return to Konohagakure No Sato within the week under the order of the honorable Godaime Hokage-sama, Senju Tsunade. Do you have any questions, Jounin?"
The lump sprawled out on the bed in the early morning light didn't move.
The ANBU sighed, head dropping slightly.
So this is what had became of him...
He raised both hands into the rat seal, and flared his chakra. Hard.
There was a disappointingly long pause- a chakra flare of that size should have had the person under the covers trying to murder him out of instinct- before the covers twitched.
One corner of the duvet folded back, revealingly one sleepy eye under a fringe of hair.
There was another, significantly longer, pause. The lone eye didn't seem to blink, or even recognize the man behind the ANBU mask.
The ANBU, unseen, frowned, opening his mouth.
"Back... in ANBU already, Kaka-" a yawn split the man's name in half- "shi-sensei?"
The ANBU- Hatake Kakashi- ignored the apathetic and uncaring tone in favor of examining the room. The answer to his question was obvious anyway.
There was once again silence in the hotel room. It wasn't a bad hotel room- messy, but clearly an upscale, expensive suite. It might look better if it hadn't looked as though the tenant just left everything where they dropped.
...Which was probably what happened, Kakashi thought.
He heaved a sigh.
"Do you know why I'm here Naruto-kun?" he asked softly.
The Eye, as Kakashi had mentally dubbed it, only looked steadily at him.
"...Naruto?"
A snore answered him. Kakashi's palm met his mask in exasperation, while his other hand went down to the covers.
Kakashi ripped them off the bed, revealing Naruto sleeping in what Kakashi presumed to be what he wore yesterday.
"Naruto!"
Naruto's head didn't shoot up, but it did loll to the side towards Kakashi. And he could see both eyes now!
Success!
"Naruto, Tsunade has ordered you to return to Konoha before the week is up. Do you understand?"
Naruto just looked at him blankly for a moment, head lolled to the side.
"...Why?"
"You're being given a team."
Naruto sat up gingerly.
"Well then, they fail."
Kakashi rolled his eyes behind his mask, throwing the covers back onto the bed behind Naruto.
"You still have to test them Naruto."
Naruto looked at his old sensei. "Well, then my test is for them to find me. I'll even be nice and restrict myself to this city."
They were in the capital city of Kaminari no Kuni, multiple countries away from the Hi no Kuni. Kakashi himself barely found Naruto in this city.
Kakashi's voice displayed his displeasure with the suggestion. "Naruto..." he started warningly.
Naruto flashed a lazy smirk at his sensei and stood up. "You can even tell them what city I'm in."
Kakashi sadly noted that Naruto was nearly as tall as he was now- and significantly wider in the shoulder.
It made him realize just how long it had been since he had seen his student.
"Naruto, you've been ordered back to Konoha. I'll see you by the end of the week."
Naruto waved his old sensei off as he went into the bathroom, presumably for a shower.
Kakashi shunshined away.
--------------------------------------------------------
"Mission accomplished, Hokage-sama."
"Good job, Kakashi. Did he seem like he was glad to be coming back?"
Kakashi opened his mouth to answer, but stopped. He shifted on his feet, thinking.
"My initial response was a yes, but..."
Tsunade's hands, resting under her chin, unfolded as her eyes darted up. "But...?"
"He... actually didn't seem excited or mad either way. He protested a bit, but his heart wasn't really in it."
Tsunade's head dropped back down into her hands. "Dammit, that was exactly what I was afraid of."
Kakashi unhooked his mask. "Permission to speak freely, Hokage-sama?"
"It's because he's not over it yet, Kakashi."
Kakashi didn't so much as blink at having his question answered outright. He waited patiently for her to continue.
"Kakashi, I'm telling you this unofficially." She paused. "When Naruto left, he wasn't really taking a training trip. He just wanted away. After everything that had happened..."
Orochimaru, Sasuke, Kabuto, Akatsuki, and The War...
"He was just... tired. Of it all. Tired of death, the loss... the destruction of the village hit him particularly hard, I think. He told me..." she trailed off.
"We were standing on the edge of the crater Pein had left, Kakashi."
Kakashi listened intently. It wasn't like Tsunade to stall.
"...He said that he was worthless. All the time he had spent, all the energy. All his power. He said he couldn't stop it, and what use was all his vaunted power now? The Kyuubi couldn't rebuild a village, he said."
Kakashi winced, and Tsunade's eyes cast down.
"And then after that, the war happened. He took each loss personally. We should have seen it coming- that faint attack around the summit should have been a dead giveaway he was cracking under the pressure."
Kakashi sucked in a breath. "He took each loss personally? But there were hundreds-"
"No, Kakashi. Each loss. From every village. Holing him up in that turtle while the war was waging was possibly the worst thing we could have done. Safe and sound while others died for him."
Kakashi stared at her, disbelieving. There had been thousands of deaths in that war on their side alone.
"He was already grasping at straws before this entire conflict, searching for peace. He just... quit after he finally took down Madara. He came back to a new village... one that just seemed empty, he said. He didn't recognize anything."
Kakashi was grasping at straws. "But the acknowledgement-!"
"He felt he deserved none of it. All he did was kill, just like the enemy. He said he couldn't protect. Couldn't stop them except with the grave. He said that he was no better than them, he just wore the leaf insignia."
Kakashi was staring at her sadly. "So he just left?"
"Who was I to say no? We both know how long I had left the Leaf. I thought- I had hoped- that maybe getting out, seeing the world a little bit would pull him out of it. I had gotten addicted to how beautiful the world was. I had hoped he wouldn't."
Kakashi raised his eyes skyward. "I don't think he did. I think he just can't face himself anymore."
Tsunade looked at him sadly. "A loudmouthed brat pulled me out of it. He's getting three."
Kakashi eye-smiled at her. "To the new Team 7, then. I hope they'll pass."
"I'll toast to that, because they will. Trust me."
-----------------
Hiiii!
I'm new here, I found this place trying to find the newest updates to a story.
I decided to try my hand at one, so any help you have would be appreciated! ^.^
What happens to the hero when the battle is over, the villain defeated?
"Uzumaki Naruto, you are hereby to return to Konohagakure No Sato within the week under the order of the honorable Godaime Hokage-sama, Senju Tsunade. Do you have any questions, Jounin?"
The lump sprawled out on the bed in the early morning light didn't move.
The ANBU sighed, head dropping slightly.
So this is what had became of him...
He raised both hands into the rat seal, and flared his chakra. Hard.
There was a disappointingly long pause- a chakra flare of that size should have had the person under the covers trying to murder him out of instinct- before the covers twitched.
One corner of the duvet folded back, revealingly one sleepy eye under a fringe of hair.
There was another, significantly longer, pause. The lone eye didn't seem to blink, or even recognize the man behind the ANBU mask.
The ANBU, unseen, frowned, opening his mouth.
"Back... in ANBU already, Kaka-" a yawn split the man's name in half- "shi-sensei?"
The ANBU- Hatake Kakashi- ignored the apathetic and uncaring tone in favor of examining the room. The answer to his question was obvious anyway.
There was once again silence in the hotel room. It wasn't a bad hotel room- messy, but clearly an upscale, expensive suite. It might look better if it hadn't looked as though the tenant just left everything where they dropped.
...Which was probably what happened, Kakashi thought.
He heaved a sigh.
"Do you know why I'm here Naruto-kun?" he asked softly.
The Eye, as Kakashi had mentally dubbed it, only looked steadily at him.
"...Naruto?"
A snore answered him. Kakashi's palm met his mask in exasperation, while his other hand went down to the covers.
Kakashi ripped them off the bed, revealing Naruto sleeping in what Kakashi presumed to be what he wore yesterday.
"Naruto!"
Naruto's head didn't shoot up, but it did loll to the side towards Kakashi. And he could see both eyes now!
Success!
"Naruto, Tsunade has ordered you to return to Konoha before the week is up. Do you understand?"
Naruto just looked at him blankly for a moment, head lolled to the side.
"...Why?"
"You're being given a team."
Naruto sat up gingerly.
"Well then, they fail."
Kakashi rolled his eyes behind his mask, throwing the covers back onto the bed behind Naruto.
"You still have to test them Naruto."
Naruto looked at his old sensei. "Well, then my test is for them to find me. I'll even be nice and restrict myself to this city."
They were in the capital city of Kaminari no Kuni, multiple countries away from the Hi no Kuni. Kakashi himself barely found Naruto in this city.
Kakashi's voice displayed his displeasure with the suggestion. "Naruto..." he started warningly.
Naruto flashed a lazy smirk at his sensei and stood up. "You can even tell them what city I'm in."
Kakashi sadly noted that Naruto was nearly as tall as he was now- and significantly wider in the shoulder.
It made him realize just how long it had been since he had seen his student.
"Naruto, you've been ordered back to Konoha. I'll see you by the end of the week."
Naruto waved his old sensei off as he went into the bathroom, presumably for a shower.
Kakashi shunshined away.
--------------------------------------------------------
"Mission accomplished, Hokage-sama."
"Good job, Kakashi. Did he seem like he was glad to be coming back?"
Kakashi opened his mouth to answer, but stopped. He shifted on his feet, thinking.
"My initial response was a yes, but..."
Tsunade's hands, resting under her chin, unfolded as her eyes darted up. "But...?"
"He... actually didn't seem excited or mad either way. He protested a bit, but his heart wasn't really in it."
Tsunade's head dropped back down into her hands. "Dammit, that was exactly what I was afraid of."
Kakashi unhooked his mask. "Permission to speak freely, Hokage-sama?"
"It's because he's not over it yet, Kakashi."
Kakashi didn't so much as blink at having his question answered outright. He waited patiently for her to continue.
"Kakashi, I'm telling you this unofficially." She paused. "When Naruto left, he wasn't really taking a training trip. He just wanted away. After everything that had happened..."
Orochimaru, Sasuke, Kabuto, Akatsuki, and The War...
"He was just... tired. Of it all. Tired of death, the loss... the destruction of the village hit him particularly hard, I think. He told me..." she trailed off.
"We were standing on the edge of the crater Pein had left, Kakashi."
Kakashi listened intently. It wasn't like Tsunade to stall.
"...He said that he was worthless. All the time he had spent, all the energy. All his power. He said he couldn't stop it, and what use was all his vaunted power now? The Kyuubi couldn't rebuild a village, he said."
Kakashi winced, and Tsunade's eyes cast down.
"And then after that, the war happened. He took each loss personally. We should have seen it coming- that faint attack around the summit should have been a dead giveaway he was cracking under the pressure."
Kakashi sucked in a breath. "He took each loss personally? But there were hundreds-"
"No, Kakashi. Each loss. From every village. Holing him up in that turtle while the war was waging was possibly the worst thing we could have done. Safe and sound while others died for him."
Kakashi stared at her, disbelieving. There had been thousands of deaths in that war on their side alone.
"He was already grasping at straws before this entire conflict, searching for peace. He just... quit after he finally took down Madara. He came back to a new village... one that just seemed empty, he said. He didn't recognize anything."
Kakashi was grasping at straws. "But the acknowledgement-!"
"He felt he deserved none of it. All he did was kill, just like the enemy. He said he couldn't protect. Couldn't stop them except with the grave. He said that he was no better than them, he just wore the leaf insignia."
Kakashi was staring at her sadly. "So he just left?"
"Who was I to say no? We both know how long I had left the Leaf. I thought- I had hoped- that maybe getting out, seeing the world a little bit would pull him out of it. I had gotten addicted to how beautiful the world was. I had hoped he wouldn't."
Kakashi raised his eyes skyward. "I don't think he did. I think he just can't face himself anymore."
Tsunade looked at him sadly. "A loudmouthed brat pulled me out of it. He's getting three."
Kakashi eye-smiled at her. "To the new Team 7, then. I hope they'll pass."
"I'll toast to that, because they will. Trust me."
-----------------
Hiiii!
I'm new here, I found this place trying to find the newest updates to a story.
I decided to try my hand at one, so any help you have would be appreciated! ^.^
