Chapter no.5

In the heat of the battle, it was easy to forget the details. His legs seemed to be moving of their own accord as he dashed across the ground and threw himself in front of Neji without giving any consideration to the possible outcomes. He did not have enough time to perform a technique, or even to hammer his chakra chains into the ground and create a barrier. He also did not have enough time to chant a spell or change the path of the lightning.

He became disoriented somewhere in the middle, and despite the fact that he was struck directly in the ribcage close to his chest, he did not experience any pain. Kurama let out a scream from deep within his mind, but Naruto's mind was so foggy at the time that all he heard was gibberish.

The memory of sound came flooding back to him all at once. He slammed into the ground and skidded to a halt when one foot caught on a dip in the rock. He had just crashed into the ground. It appeared as though electricity was bouncing off his body, sending waves of pain up and down his spine as he curled in on himself.

"Naruto!"

Naruto gritted his teeth as he lifted his head and pulled himself up a few inches while doing so painstakingly. His vision was blurry, but he saw Neji and Lee running around, lightning bolts chasing after them like homing beacons, and Raiga's maniacal laughter reverberating in his ears the entire time.

Hissing, he uttered "C-crap...Lee- Neji-" just before collapsing into the depths of unconsciousness.

"Naruto-sama, if you would kindly eat this!"

"Ugggh." Naruto averted his head to avoid the sound because it was giving him a throbbing headache.

Someone gave him a violent shake. "Get up, gaki. This is not the time for you to go to sleep."

Naruto's eyes opened with a groaning sound. Madara was kneeling next to him while Karin was on the other, the former appearing as emotionless as ever while the latter appeared agitated for reasons that Naruto did not understand. He remarked that it was "just as shrill as Izuna."

Karin put the plate of curry she was holding down before extending her arm to Naruto and said, "Naruto-sama, please bite my arm." Naruto accepted the offer.

Naruto narrowed his eyes to look at her. "That was the guy's doing. It sucks…ahah pun-" He grimaced in response to the excruciating pain his chuckle caused.

She pressed her lips together and gave him an angry look. "Do it anyway! Right now, I could use your help more than I could use mine."

Naruto muttered something under his breath before biting her forearm. "This feels weird," he said. He noticed that his wounds were starting to heal, and he also noticed that his energy was starting to come back, which made him feel almost completely revitalised.

He sat himself up and brushed his bangs so that they were no longer in his eyes. As she gasped for air, he thanked her in all seriousness.

She commanded him to "just eat this" while shoving the plate further into his face.

Naruto froze. The aroma that was emanating from the curry was more than just enticing; in fact, it smelled even better than freshly made ramen after a seven-hour long workout.

He grabbed the plate with incredible speed and immediately started shovelling food into his mouth, completely ignoring the spoon that was offered to him. She gave him an uneasy look that was similar to the expression Madara had when he was quite literally licking the plate clean and his eyes had a strange sheen to them.

"That was awesome," he exclaimed with a goofy grin on his face.

"Uh…Naruto-sama?"

He shouted "Kage bunshin no jutsu!" out of nowhere, pointing his finger at a rock so abruptly that she was on the verge of losing her balance.

A shadow clone materialised out of thin air, and the only distinguishing feature between it and the original was that its eyes were red. "Did that come with a glass of wine?" The clone, specifically Kurama, asked with a daydreaming tone while gazing up at the sky with a silly grin on his face.

"Uh…" Karin was at a complete loss for what to say next.

"Hello," Kurama told her, still smiling. "I am known as the Kyuubi. Cry out in terror of me."

The effect was completely ruined by his appearance of being zoned out as well as the way in which his head was tilted to one side as if he were unable to maintain its upright position.

Naruto giggled. He flopped forward and wrapped his arms around Kurama's neck as he said, "Wine is like catnip for Kyuuuuu-chan." "Am I drunk?"

Kurama remarked, with his eyes widened in astonishment, "I think we are."

"Ah!" Naruto suddenly stood up, and his swaying was so severe that he crashed right through Madara, who was dumbfounded. "Raira!"

"It's Raiga," Kurama corrected as he awkwardly got to his feet. "It's Raiga."

"Ranga!" Naruto was in agreement. "Let's go get 'im!"

Karin was left staring with her mouth wide open as the two individuals took off at a run, stumbling occasionally along the way.

The fact that Naruto ran headfirst into Lee served to shield both of them from the bolt of lightning that was approaching. He let out a yell of "Woohoo!" as he spun around to avoid being hit by another. "Are you just as intoxicated as I am?" Neji was passed out somewhere on the cliff, and Naruto had seen him while Karashi was attempting to give him the Curry of Life. Karashi was attempting to give Neji the Curry of Life.

Lee gave a grin and bobbed his head from side to side as he responded, "I think so." Kurama came to a stop stumbling and then fell on the ground behind them, landing on his back.

"Hey! That must be the man!" As if Naruto had never seen Raiga before, he pointed his finger in his direction while Raiga was fuming. "He shocked me with electricity once!"

Lee let out a sharp sigh. "What?! What possessed him to act in such a manner?!"

"I dunno! Let's get him!"

"For young people!"

"For blood!"

Lee gave him an uneasy look with his eyes. "To What End?"

"For love, I said," Naruto clarified, radiating flowers in a shojo style.

"YES! For love!" Lee cheered. "Get him!"

The two inebriated shinobi were always going to be too much for Raiga to handle.

"But Neji, I want more!" Naruto whimpered as he pawed at the back of the Hyuuga, who had positioned himself in the doorway between Naruto and the shop.

The young man received a sidelong glare from the child. "Never in a million years. You already have a sufficient level of intoxication."

"Would it be possible for us to take some wine with us?" Naruto shouted above his opponent's head.

Sansho chuckled to herself and said, "Ohoho." Behind her, Karashi and Ranmaru were preparing curry by throwing a variety of spices and ingredients into the pots that were warming on the stove. "You just have to get some rest, my dear, and then you can try again when you're older. I'll prepare a one-of-a-kind batch just for you."

He smiled widely. "Okay!"

Lee had already regained his composure, but TenTen and Karin were forced to drag him away so that the others would not be coerced into consuming another serving of the Curry of Life. "Please?" Naruto gave it another try, this time allowing his feet to dig shallow trenches in the ground as Neji pulled him away.

The Hyuuga scowled and responded with a firm "no."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."\s"Please?"

"No!"

"It's been approved by my Uncle Dara! Don't you Uncle Dara?"

"No," Madara said flatly.

"Aww," Naruto whimpered to himself. In his mental image, the Kyuubi was snoring while passed out in the middle of the field.

Twitching, Neji practically lifted him off his feet and leapt into the trees, and Naruto badgered him the whole way home about getting wine once they got back.

He shouldn't have cared about the boy at all, but he did.

However, upon seeing his body...his lifeless body...

He had lost children and brothers; he had lost Izuna. He had also lost a great number of children.

His body had been motionless for almost ten minutes at this point.

Bandages were wound around Izuna's empty eye sockets, matching the soft white robes he wore to accompany his funeral pyre. Izuna's eyes were removed before his body was cremated. The Uchiha did not practise the custom of burying their dead.

When they finally arrived at the village, Naruto had started to come to when they got there. Neji had put in extra effort to make up for lost time in order to prevent being exposed while he was incapacitated. Izumo and Kotetsu stared in disbelief as their team passed by. Naruto was dangling from Neji's shoulders; his feet didn't touch the ground due to how short he was. What appeared to be one of Naruto's shadow clones was staggering behind them, stumbling all over the road and routinely falling on his face. Izumo and Kotetsu stared in disbelief as their team passed by The hysterical cackling fits, which sounded a little bit sinister, didn't help things at all.

Naruto muttered inaudibly to a passing Senju ghost that he had never dealt with on a personal level before, "You look like a dog regurgitated its dinner."

The man stepped closer while he scowled and whirled around, his expression changing as he did so. "Excuse me?"

When Madara's hand settled around his neck, he began to suffocate, and his eyes began to bulge slightly. Madara hadn't even realised he'd done it, but he found himself staring into the Senju's terrified brown eyes while his Sharingan was activated. The Senju hadn't seen Madara lurking at the back of their group. Madara hadn't even noticed he'd done it. Hm. Therefore, he could still use it despite it being a ghost.

In lieu of addressing his actions in any way, he sneered at the man and tossed him through a passing civilian with the intention of keeping a distance of thirty feet between them. Living in denial was sweet.

Naruto giggled as he finally noticed the Hokage Tower and complimented Sasuke on his attractive eyes. "You have pretty eyes," he said. Madara stared at him. The young boy let out a resounding groan before he tore himself away from Team Gai and began wailing at a volume that was audible throughout the entire street. "I wonder if Jiji's around! BAA-CHAN!"