Akatsuki Sound Chapter 8: The Reason to Go On, a naruto fanfic

Ok guys this will be the more serious chapter. This is the one that truly defines Naruto's character. Hero? Villain? Anti-hero? Your about to find out. Sorry I took so long with the update and I hope you like it! Don't own Naruto or 'Give Me Your Eyes'- by Brandon Heath or 'If Today Was Your Last Day'- by Nickelback

"NAGATO!"

The metal pierced man shrugged.

"Technically it's Amekage-sama, but we can forget the details for the moment." he replied. The Konoha shinobi stood stock for a moment before Tsunade let out an un-kage-like squeal.

"Naga-chan!" she squealed as she rushed the kage and grabbed him in a bone crushing hug, shoving him into her cleavage. Most of the Akatsuki guys chuckled a bit.

Deidra, Naruto, Hidan, and Kisame were on the floor laughing hysterically. Tsunade realized the situation and composed herself with a blush. Nagato seemed to regain his bearings.

"Please....refrain from that in the future. Now you also remember Konan-chan." he said pointing to the blue haired beauty next to him.

Tsunade blinked.

Konana blinked.

"Ko-nee-chan!"

"Tsu-nee-chan!" both women squealed and hugged and jumped in place for a moment. The ones who had been laughing earlier were now sweat dropping and lying on the ground. Jiraiya walked up next to Nagato and held his arms open.

"Don't even think about it ero-sennin." was the pierced man's response. Jiraiya sighed and went back to the place sobbing like a drama queen. The group sighed at the gama-sannin's actions and turned back to the two reuniting 'sisters' to find each back with there group acting like nothing happened. Tsunade spoke first.

"Well it is great to see both of you again. Now please inform us as to why you ALL came here? I highly doubt it is just to see your shinobi compete." she said. Nagato nodded.

"Hai, we did not." he began, Naruto wept, before Tayuya hit her with her flute, " We came to inform you of something much bigger than the chunnin exams." he said. Jiraiya raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? And what would that be?"

"We have very good reason to believe that Konoha will once again be attacked sometime in the duration of the jounin exams." Konan said evenly. All present Konoha shinobi gasped.

"Wha- Who?" Kurenai demanded. Sasori stepped up.

"Zetsu and I have heard rumors that Orochimaru has once again formed an army, mostly consisting of heavily mutated experiments. It also appears that the Tsuchikage will also be aiding with this. We have been unable to discover weather or not Kumo will be involved." he said. Tsunade narrowed her eyes.

"Those are some very serious accusations. What can we do?" she said. Nagato sighed.

"Well as of right now the only thing we can do is prepare for the worst and divide up the men we have. All we know of this invasion is that the enemy will be immensely strong. Something well above normal chunnin and even low level jounin. Sasori and Zetsu also report a rather immense Iwa invasion force as well." he said. The Konoha shinobi entered a serious mode.

"So who's going to actually be on our side?" Jiraiya asked. Konan stepped forward this time.

"We will along with a small legion of Ame shinobi. Also I'm close friends with the Mizukage so she will be helping us as well. But other than that we're on our own." she said. Tsunade just furrowed her brows deep in thought.

"So I take it you have a plan."

She didn't like the mischievous glint all of them got in there eyes.

Tayuya sighed as she strolled down the dirt streets of Konoha. That little 'strategy meeting' had finally ended after four grueling hours of planning. Sure she was all for planning but staying still four four hours....

...that was an issue.

She strolled down the road casually for a few moments before an intoxicating aroma hit her. Following her nose lead her to a familiar Ichiraku Ramen stand. Stepping inside she was instantly greeted.

"Tayuya-chan! Welcome!" came the soft voice of Ayame as she cleaned out the dished. Tayuya smiled.

"Hey Ayame-chan. One miso please." she said. Ayame nodded and jumped to work. The two had met earlier when Naruto had returned and both girls had immediately hit off and were starting to be good friends. Ayame was a little protective of Naruto, but like all older sisters, was more than willing to share embarrassing stories about the blond boy. The ramen burnt her throat as it went down but the sensation of the delicious food far outwayed the burning. Tayuya at in silence for a few moment s before Ayame appeared before her with an unsually determined look on her face. Tayuya looked up.

"Nani?"

She turned around to see Kayku and Kushina step in, followed by Tsunade, Shizune, Princess Yuki, Hinata, Kurenai, TenTen, Temari, and Anko. Tayuya gulped down her ramen and looked around for an exit. Finding none she turned around and gulped.

"Yes?" she said. Tsunade spoke first.

"As of now Tayuya we respect you for one sole reason. Naruto likes you. However to most everyone here you we're a working member of Sound and enemy shinobi that aided in the attempted escape of Uchiha Sasuke. In later reports it is shown that you we're picked up after you had crawled all the way to Naruto, a boy at the time you had never met before, and tried to protect him. Forgive us if we sound a bit dubious but everyone here respects Naruto and wants the best for him, and we're not sure if you are." she said. Tayuya nodded, she new this was coming sooner or later.

"The reason I tried to protect that blond-baka," she began, "Was unlike the rest of the sound four I had a secondary mission." she said. All of the girl's eyes narrowed.

"What would that be?" Kurenai growled. Anko stepped forward menacingly.

"If that snake told you to do anything-" she began but Tayuya cut her off.

"It wasn't Orochimaru." she said plainly. Anko blinked.

"Nani?"

"It wasn't Orochimaru. Something that snake has yet to realize is that his right hand man has never, and will never be on his side. Kabuto-sama does not follow Orochimaru." she said. Tsunade glared.

"Bull shit he doesn't! He tried to kill Naruto-"

"No he didn't," Tayuya interrupted. "Kabuto-sama likes Naruto. He see's what Pein-sama, Hanzo-sama and Kakuzu-sama see in him. He sees the future of the shinobi world. Kabuto is still Sasori-sama's most trusted spies. He has for the past year slowly weakening Orochimaru, developing a cleanser for the cursed seal, and sabotaging the snakes experiments. Kabuto-sama never tried to kill Naruto-kun. Just to push him. He wants to see the greatest shinobi in history get even better." she said. The girls blinked.

"People really think he's going to be that strong?"

"He's the apprentice to the fucking Kyuubi no Kitsune! In a few years he'll be a demon lord! With that kind of power, a demonic sitar, and the blood of warriors flowing through him what the fuck did you expect! You people need to see that! Naruto is the strongest most sensitive man in the whole shinobi world." she yelled at the women. They looked down in shame, had they too be underestimating Naruto? Then Kushina looked up.

"Wha- what does Naruto think of the world? He's been dealt more suffering than anyone could ever imagine. Why does he still go on?" she asked. Tayuya sighed. THAT was what this meeting boiled down to. Sure they we're worried about Tayuya's intentions, but what they really wanted to know was if Naruto was still the great man they all remembered him to be. Tayuya smiled, they would soon find out. She held up a finger to silence them all and pumped chakra to her ears. She then stood up and motioned for all of them to follow. As they walked she began to tell them a story.

"When we were traveling through grass country last year, we met a man. He wasn't a shinobi, but he loved to travel the world. We camped with him for a few nights and we learned that this man had been forced to watch as his wife and daughters were gang raped and murdered before he was lit on fire and left to rot. He only survived by managing to crawl off the pier into a lake. When he washed up to shore he found a small girl and her older brother freezing in the cold weather. He took off his coat, ripping up all of the chard skin, dried it off and gave it to them, ignoring the pain as the open air rushed through his wounds.

Then he set off around the world. He had seen every evil mankind had ever offered to the itself. All of the injustice it fed itself, the lies, hate, and prejudice. Yet you know what? He didn't stop. He saw something better in humanity. He saw each of us we're made by something bigger, something better, something that loved us. He knew that his wife and three daughters we're all in a better place now with their creator who loved them more than they could ever imagine. He saw all of us made out of one thing, love. 'Perfect love is what we should spread to one another' he would say.

His life had been filled with tragedy and heartbreak, but he still saw the good. And he asked his god to never let him loose sight of that. To always see the good in everyone, regardless of who they were or their past. He was the kindest, most holy man we had ever met, yet he still thought himself unworthy of heaven. So he would travel the world, not for his own salvation, but for the salvation of others.

Selfless.

He left our camp after setting us up in a hotel. We tried to find him but never could again. About four months ago we head that the man was dying. We traveled to Kumo to see him. He had been just a simple fisherman, but in caring for others, Kumo almost closed his borders due to the influx of people who came to mourn. That one man had the largest impact on Naruto's life. He fights his anger and hate everyday, but he never lets it win. He is the new Kyuubi, but he wants to change it. He is not the taker of life, he is the defender. Naruto wants nothing more than what Nagato-sama, Konan-sama, and we all want. Naruto wants to bring peace, and make sure no one ever feels alone." she said. Most of the women had tears in their eyes after the story. They noticed that they had been led to a secluded clearing where they saw a bandaged figure sitting on top of the water.

"Before he died, the man told Naruto that he had written a song for anyone who wished to want to be better. Ever since then Naruto wrote it and constantly strives to improve it. It is the anthem of a new age. Not an age of war but one of something better. Peace." she said before motioning for them to watch. Naruto sat oblivious to his audience. He pulled out his sitar and began to strum.

Looked down from a broken sky
Traced out by the city lights
My world from a mile high
Best seat in the house tonight
Touched down on the cold black top
Hold on for the sudden stop
Breath in the familiar shock
Of confusion and chaos
All those people going somewhere,
Why have I never cared?

Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
Ones that are far beyond my reach.
Give me your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see
Yeah
Yeah
yeah
yeah

Step out on a busy street
See a girl and our eyes meet
Does her best to smile at me
To hide what's underneath
There's a man just to her right
Black suit and a bright red tie
Too ashamed to tell his wife
He's out of work
He's buying time
All those people going somewhere
Why have I never cared?

Chorus
Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
Ones that are far beyond my reach.
Give me your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see
Yeah
Yeah
yeah
yeah

I've Been there a million times
A couple of million eyes
Just moving past me by
I swear I never thought that I was wrong
Well I want a second glance
So give me a second chance
To see the way you see the people all along

They all were openly sobbing as he finished his song and just sat there. Tayuya turned back to them.

"No matter how strong Naruto gets, the thing that makes him amazing is that he never breaks a promise. At that man's death bed, he promised to bring peace to the world. Naruto isn't very religious, demon lords aren't supposed to be, but he, like the man, can see something better in humanity. He can see the goodness. Even if he is blind he can see, and that is what Naruto is now. A true hero. That song led to its companion, something he wrote for the man's funeral." she said before turning back to Naruto who had once again begun to play.

My best friend gave me the best advice
He said each day's a gift and not a given right
Leave no stone unturned, leave your fears behind
And try to take the path less traveled by
That first step you take is the longest stride

If today was your last day and tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
Would you live each moment like your last
Leave old pictures in the past?
Donate every dime you had, if today was your last day?
What if, what if, if today was your last day?

Against the grain should be a way of life
What's worth the price is always worth the fight
Every second counts 'cause there's no second try
So live like you're never living twice
Don't take the free ride in your own life

If today was your last day and tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
Would you live each moment like your last?
Leave old pictures in the past?
Donate every dime you had?

And would you call those friends you never see?
Reminisce old memories?
Would you forgive your enemies?
And would you find that one you're dreaming of?
Swear up and down to God above
That you'd finally fall in love if today was your last day?

If today was your last day
Would you make your mark by mending a broken heart?
You know it's never too late to shoot for the stars
Regardless of who you are

So do whatever it takes
'Cause you can't rewind a moment in this life
Let nothing stand in your way
'Cause the hands of time are never on your side

If today was your last day and tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
Would you live each moment like your last?
Leave old pictures in the past?
Donate every dime you had?

And would you call those friends you never see?
Reminisce old memories?
Would you forgive your enemies?
And would you find that one you're dreaming of
Swear up and down to God above
That you'd finally fall in love if today was your last day?

Naruto finished playing again and sighed, deep in thought. Tayuya turned to the women around.

"That is Naruto's new nindo. Live each day like your last. He realizes he has one shot with the world. Don't let your petty differences divide that." she said before walking out to the lake and sitting next to Naruto. Each woman was left in their own thoughts.

Not much fighting but I felt this was very important to show that Naruto is not dark in any way, he has it in him but he wants to save the world, not sit back and watch it burn. Also if I get one message about me being to religious I'm going to ignore it. I don't really care what you think about religion but I think the regardless we ALL need to see the good in humanity that is there, and I just think the song has a very powerful message. I mean COME ON!! Naruto = blind, song = Give me your eyes. It's a show of how great he is. Sorry for no fighting....that's next chapter! So don't you guys worry next chapter is actually the 'big' one I was speaking of earlier.....so you guys will just a have to be patient....also two more stories comin out soon....'Storm Brothers' and 'Project Prototype' (guess the cross over there and you get a cookie) …....well that's about it....WAIT!! POLL TIME!!!!...well less of a poll more of a suggestion time for you guys. No guarantee but I'll consider it all....

I need a good song for Naruto to play during an invasion....and que suggestions! R&R!!!

…..and in case you didn't bother to read that very big author not here's the summary......FIGHTS BEGIN NEXT CHAPTER!!!

-Taco out