DONE! I made it to the end! :D

You wouldn't believe how many times I rewrote this chapter. It never seemed to be right and before I knew it I was scraping the whole thing. But now this tale has come to an end, and I thank all of you have been so patient with my unpredictableness and haves stuck with it until the end.

I hope you all enjoyed this and will come back to find me for more stories. (I have a new one I've already started posting called Pouring Rain, it is a KandaXAllen D. Gray Man fic with nekos, it does have a much different writing style that seems to work better for me)

I hope you all enjoy the last chapter of The Voice of Silence

Disclaimer: I don't own anything and haven't watched an episode of Shippuden in months

Warning: Blood and death

Chapter 16

(Naruto's POV)

Things are moving too fast.

One second I think that Haru is finally winning the battle with the Kyuubi, but the next shows that she is far from in control.

Her eyes blaze a brighter and brighter red until the bloodiness is all that you can see in those once multicolored depths.

The brighter the red, the harder and fiercer she fights.

The brighter the red, the more the Kyuubi takes Haru away.

If only the changes had stopped with her eyes, but the longer this fight with Orochimaru lasts, the more the Kyuubi forces physical changes that may be releasing more of its power, but in the long run, it is hurting its host body, is hurting Haru.

Her ears seem to disappear for a moment as her hair lengthens, only to reemerge as giant fox ears. Her posture changes as her spine lengthens a bit, a three tails currently growing out of the end, masking more of the battle. Occasionally a snarl will escape and I can just make out how her canines are elongating slightly.

She is truly becoming the Kyuubi.

I don't have too much time to dwell on this, as suddenly the battle seems to have disappeared. Neither fighter seems to be present, yet I can sense their chakra. For a split second, one of the chakras disappears only to reappear heading directly towards me!

I turn to face who it is but I can already tell that they are moving too fast for me to stop them if need be. I turn just in time to catch a glimpse of Orochimaru's serpentine eyes before my view is blocked. I am a little stunned to see two people appear in front of me, but to see that it is Haru and Utakata that are before me.

Before I can warn them of the approaching danger, I hear the sickening squish of a sword being thrust though flesh. A tip of a sword comes into sight barely an inch from my chest. Before I can even let out a squeak, the blade disappears and both Utakata and Haru are struggling to stay upright.

I notice that Orochimaru must have left the area for I can't feel his chakra anymore. Though I can sense Gaara rushing towards us. I dare to look at the sight in front of me, and I will never forget it.

Haru is hurt the worst; it looks like she tried to deflect the sword with her body despite how futile the effort. Her right side has a deep cut running across it and into her heart. More and more bloods spurts out covering her pale form with each heartbeat. Her eyes are closed, but I can tell that she is no longer possessed by the Kyuubi even if she has kept most of the features of the change. She seems more calm and peaceful than I ever seen here before.

Utakata holds her gently in his lap despite that he too is bleeding far too much. While the cut to his heart is not as massive as hers, he is still pierced in the same place, and the two of them are very obviously bleeding to death right in front of me.

I can sense Gaara standing by me, observing everything that I have. Yet, I wonder what could possibly be going on behind his stoic mask when he sees this.

He doesn't say anything, just bends down to put his pack behind Utakata to help him remain sitting upright. Utakata doesn't say anything either, just simply nods his thanks as his breathing becomes more ragged.

Gaara sits and stays by their side, knowing he can't do anything else for them. I take a seat by him, trying to come up with something to say. Something that will make this better. Something, anything to save them, or at least ease their passing.

Minutes pass, and it takes a few moments for me to realize that Utakata has passed first. His body stilled, but still holding on to Haru. Almost as if, he knows that she will be free of a life of pain soon, and he wants to be able to show her the door to that freedom.

She opens her eyes just a crack. Their colors have returned, but they are cloudy and her gaze is painfully unfocused, a sure sign that she cannot see anything around her.

Before I can help it, a simple "Why?" slips past my questioning lips.

A ghost of a smile crosses her face. She slightly turns her head in my direction. "Because I was never meant to be. Now you can truly become the Hokage. I can't wait to see that."

With that her breathing slows to a stop and a look of utter peace crosses her features. I small smile decorates her features, something that was never able to be there in life.

Before my eyes I can see her body slowly fading away. A faint reddish tint appears as her chakra becomes visible. Soon all that is left is a faint chakra outline where my sister used to be. The chakra swirls in place for a moment before threading into the ground by Utakata's body.

Slowly and silently, earth covers the body in a visible mound. Flowers the same color of his robes spring up in a loose pattern of the one they now hide.

Even after the earth is done moving, I can't bring myself to move from the spot. I still feel like I could have done more, but now I'll never have the chance.

I can feel Gaara gently take my arm and lead me away from the memories. He is as silent as ever, but now I'm grateful for it. I don't know if anything said would help the situation at all, of if it would just make it worse.

After a couple minute of walking, I turn back and can just see the mound in the distance. I feel a soft breeze pick up and for a moment, it's almost like I feel something caress my cheek, as if to reassure me. It fills me with a peace I didn't think this experience would let me feel. But in some ways, I think that Haru is trying to reassure me, wherever her spirit may have gone.

I turn towards Gaara, and he gives me a slightly confused look. I smile for a second and this time I take his arm and start heading back towards Konoha, after all, we need to let someone know what has happened. Part of our orders were to report back if anything majorly unexpected were to happen, and I think that losing half of your team would fall under that category.

Not even a minute after we start walking again, we are stopped by an Ambu. They inform us that there were recent sightings of Orochimaru in the area and that we needed to stay with our team leader just in case.

When we inform him of what happens he listens carefully and instructs us to follow him back to Konoha. But before we head back he says something that along with Haru's words, I don't think I'll ever forget.

"You mentioned that you had been traveling with someone named Haru in your team, correct? According to our records, there was never a person by the name of Haru even in the Exchange. Are you sure it wasn't a nickname or something?"

Yay we made it to the end! (insert happy dance)

Thanks to all my faithful readers, I don't think I would have finished this without your support.

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