Lethal Poison
After a few months, Naruto has improved greatly with his knife throwing skills as well as walking on the tightrope. After walking on such a thin rope so high up so many times he began to get used to it and felt more relaxed each time he was on it. He’s finally managed to walk on a mile on that thin rope.
Since he’s succeeded in that training, Mayaka has moved him onto walking a tightrope with no water under him. The relaxation and calmness that he had before on the rope over water disappeared quickly. Mayaka reassures him that she’ll be able to catch him if he falls.
Naruto gulps before walking. His walking is shaky, something it hasn’t been for quite a while. Feeling discouraged he falls off the rope. Mayaka, as promised, catches him. Naruto continues to shake after being saved. He was sure he was going to fall to his death.
“Have a little more faith in me,” Mayaka tells him. “I won’t let you die.”
“I fell from thirty feet. With no water underneath me for reassurance. I believe I should be allowed to be a little scared.”
Mayaka chuckles. “You’ll get used to it eventually.”
Mayaka places Naruto on his feet gently. Naruto has the feeling Mayaka’s right and he’s going to get used to it, but that’s because what other choice does he have? Naruto looks up at the rope he was on a few moments ago. It’s just like the one he was training on before. He could walk that one fine. Why can’t he make it across this one?
Mayaka observes his gloomy expression. “How about we do training that’s a bit more fun?”
Naruto’s expression lights up at this. “Yes! Anything but this.”
“We’re not giving up on this but another form of training can be good for you.”
That’s what brought Naruto to the front of a building that was used for dance lessons. Nope, he’s going back to the tightrope walking. Mayaka grabs him and turns him back around and forces him through the front door.
“Mayaka! It’s been a while,” A gray haired lady calls out.
“Asuka. I’ve brought you a new student,” Mayaka replies.
Naruto keeps his head down and refuses to meet Asuka’s eyes. Here’s the thing, Naruto’s an absolutely terrible dancer. And this kind of building seems to teach a graceful type of dancing. Mayaka then leaves him there. Naruto turns to leave the building but Asuka places a hand on his shoulder to stop him.
“What’s your name, young man?” Asuka questions.
Naruto wants to leave but this older woman asked him so kindly that he decides he better reply. “Naruto Uzumaki.”
“Naruto Uzumaki, do you think dancing is dumb?”
Naruto can’t say yes because it’s what this lady does for a living. “It’s not really my thing.”
“Nonsense, dancing is for everyone. And I see you’re a rogue ninja, if you’re a good dancer your fighting style can become better.”
Now that he thinks about it. Mayaka’s fighting style was elegant and she moved gracefully unlike the sharp moves of the leaf ninja. It’s like she was dancing. Maybe learning how to dance like this lady won’t be so bad.
“Um, I’m not very good at dancing,” Naruto adds to his earlier statement.”
“That’s okay, that’s why this is a lesson, you’re here to learn.”
Naruto had to admit the dance lesson was a bit embarrassing on his part. He kept falling on moves he was told to do and his dancing was clumsy and ungraceful. But not even once did Asuka make him feel bad about it, she simply encouraged him each time and gave him tips about how he can improve.
Mayaka also has decided to teach him another thing. How to use the flute to deliver a jutsu. She washed her flute and explained to him how to use it.
“Can’t I use a different flute, Mayaka-sensei?” Naruto inquires.
“You can’t, this is a special flute from the Suzuki clan. They are made from a special type of wood from a tree that was kept under wraps by the clan. One of the older clan leaders had an earth chakra nature and he made this tree and it became the one that made all the instruments of the Suzuki clan,” Mayaka answers him.
“Do you dislike your clan?”
Mayaka’s eyes widened. “What gave you that idea?”
“You became a rogue ninja. I thought you must’ve disliked them.”
“No. That wasn’t why I left. The people of the Suzuki clan had weak immune systems and a virus passed through the village and none of my other clan members survived.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“It’s not like it was your fault. But the reason I left was I was being sent on missions to do horrible things only for the gain of my village. With no clan, I had no reason to stay in such a place.”
“Oh.”
Hearing about Mayaka’s past made Naruto’s view of her change. He felt he understood her a bit better. Mayaka spent some time teaching Naruto how to use jutsus with the flute before he went back to the hideout.
Naruto went to Sasuke to talk about him learning these new jutsus. He doesn’t tell him about Mayaka’s past since it’s not Naruto’s business to share but he tells him about everything else that happened.
“Naruto,” Sasuke begins.
“Hm?” Naruto says taking out of his usual rambling.
“What do you want for your birthday?”
That’s right, Naruto’s birthday is coming up. Sasuke’s birthday passed quite a while ago so he’s now fourteen and Naruto is thirteen. Naruto threw him a small party in the hideout and got him the sword he uses now.
He doesn’t know how to answer Sasuke’s question. He hasn’t given much thought to what he wants. He doesn’t remember ever celebrating his birthday or getting presents so this didn’t come to mind.
Naruto gives Sasuke a sheepish smile. “Anything is fine. I’ll be happy with anything you get me so don’t think too hard about it.”
Sasuke doesn’t look satisfied with this answer but doesn’t try to get a different answer out of him.
—
Sasuke knows what to get Naruto for his birthday. After hearing about Naruto’s training with Mayaka he has decided to get him one of the Suzuki flutes.
He has snuck into the hidden rain village. He’s pretending to be a traveler who merely happened to chance upon this village. When he’s given a tour he finds the familiar triangle sigil of the Suzuki clan.
What he doesn’t expect is how not well taken care of the place seems to be. Shouldn’t the Suzuki clan keep this place clean? It seems so deserted and unkempt.
“What’s this place?” Sasuke inquires to his tour guide.
His tour guide's expression turns grim. “That’s where the Suzuki clan used to live. They were very susceptible to illness so a majority of them didn’t survive.”
Sasuke’s eyes widened. Naruto never mentioned such a thing to him. He doesn’t know Mayaka that well but he understands what it feels like to lose your entire clan.
However, this makes it harder for Sasuke to get Naruto a flute because there’s no one in the Suzuki clan that can build it for him. He’ll have to figure it out himself then.
Once the tour is over and the guide is gone he goes back to where the people of the Suzuki clan used to live. He looks through their buildings looking for papers explaining how they make their musical instruments. Eventually, he finds a blueprint explaining how to build one of the flutes.
There is already chopped up wood from their special tree that he takes to use to make this flute. The paper is difficult to understand but he does his best. It takes him most of the day to put the flute together.
When he’s finished making it, he paints the flute white with some paints he found. The flute turned out better than he thought it would. The paint has dried now and this flute is ready to be used. It’s ready for Naruto’s birthday which is tomorrow.
—
Naruto’s been told to wait while Sasuke brings out his gift for him. It’s his fourteenth birthday and he’s excited because he’s never gotten a gift for his birthday before. He’s sure he’ll like whatever Sasuke gets him.
Sasuke comes back out holding out a flute to him. “It’s a Suzuki flute. I went to the hidden rain village and I made one.”
Naruto takes the flute and looks at it in amazement. “This is amazing, Sasuke. I can’t believe you actually managed to get this for me.”
Sasuke’s eyes glint with pride. “I would’ve wrapped it but I think it would’ve been obvious what it was.”
Naruto chuckles. “Yeah.”
Rio also got him a birthday gift that day. It was food and candy. Naruto was happy with it after all he loves food and treats.
Mayaka gives him a cookie as a gift. It was a good cookie so Naruto was satisfied with it. Naruto told her about the flute Sasuke got her and she nodded in approval.
“I would’ve done that for you but it’s hard to be sneaky when you’re the village's rogue ninja,” Mayaka explains to him.
“That’s okay. I have my own flute now that I can use,” Naruto responds.
After getting the white flute, Naruto’s training on using jutsus with it became easier since Mayaka could show him with her flute and Naruto could copy her. Naruto actually managed to do a rather skilled jutsu where he can use his flute to make everyone around him fall asleep and stay asleep for around a half hour after he stops playing.
This has helped him with many capturing missions Orochimaru sends him on. This jutsu has caused one issue. The flute jutsu will cause those he uses it against to feel completely tranquil and as if they have no worries in life. This has caused many of the people to beg him to play the flute again so they won’t be troubled with so many things.
Naruto doesn’t use this jutsu that often because of this. Now he only uses it in emergencies and when he has no other choice.
Naruto’s still working on being able to walk across that tightrope. He has been going to lots of Asuka’s dance lessons and he can feel himself get better each time he goes there. Mayaka has also taken to sparring with him.
She allows Naruto to use his knives and to attack her that way. He’s learned how to fight with knives from Rio. Even if Naruto gets a small mark on Mayaka she doesn’t react to it. She’s graceful and without even a warning she’ll have taken the knives away from him and Naruto will have lost the sparring match.
After a few months, Naruto can finally walk across the tightrope with confidence and with no worry over falling off. He’s more graceful in his sparring matches because of the dance lessons he took. Mayaka has become more serious in their fights because he has become a serious opponent now.
He no longer stumbles when he fights. He takes a light step back and continues to fight fiercely and with no clumsy movements.
Mayaka has also taught him a couple more jutsus on the flute. One of them is cruel, it’s where he’ll play and the person listening will feel lots of pain and won’t be able to move. It’s not one Naruto ever plans on using and is one not to be used when you are with your comrades as they will also be affected by it.
Then there’s another jutsu that isn’t for a fight. Playing this will give you a screen and show someone memories you want them to see. That way your comrades can understand a situation or observe what the best course of action would be.
“Naruto,” Mayaka starts.
“Yes, Mayaka-sensei?”
“I think it’s time I taught you how to fight on a tightrope.”
Naruto gawks at her. “Fight?! On the tightrope?!”
“Relax. We’ll fight on the one above the water.”
Naruto knows that nothing he says will change Mayaka’s mind so he goes along with it. They go back to the old tightrope that Naruto hasn’t been to in a long time. Naruto and Mayaka both take their places on the rope.
Naruto’s fighting becomes clumsy like it hasn’t been in a while. There’s not much holding him up here. It’s hard to focus on not falling and fighting. He fell several times during this training. Mayaka never falls once or loses her balance at all.
Mayaka is fighting with a sword and Naruto is fighting with knives. He isn't scared of falling anymore but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to fight with basically no space to maneuver himself around.
It takes many more months for Naruto to perfect fighting on the tightrope. Sasuke and his fifteenth birthday has passed.
Now Naruto and Mayaka fight together gracefully and seriously. He doesn’t feel doubt in his skills anymore; he knows he can do this. He’s so focused on his fight that he doesn’t notice someone watching them. Naruto manages to make Mayaka fall this time.
She brings her head up from underwater and begins to laugh loudly. “You did it! Good job!”
Naruto then notices Sasuke relaxing by a tree clearly watching them. He wonders how long the boy has been there.
Mayaka and Sasuke have never met face to face before Naruto has talked about both of them to them but they have never actually met each other. Mayaka greets the boy and Sasuke as usual gives her curt replies to her conversation.
“This one is the complete opposite of you, Naruto,” Mayaka states. “He barely talks and you never stop talking.”
Naruto sticks out his tongue at her. “I don’t talk that much.”
Both Mayaka and Sasuke look like they disagree with that statement.
“Two against one isn’t fair!” Naruto complains.
“We didn’t say anything,” Sasuke says back.
“I can see it in your faces that you disagreed.”
Mayaka smiles. “It’s not necessarily a bad thing. You never let a conversation have an awkward pause, I’d say that’s good.”
Naruto lets it go and Sasuke then tells him they have a mission together. He says goodbye to Mayaka and they set out on their way.
They get back after a couple of days. Something Naruto has realized is his headband has gotten a bit small for his head. Because of this he went looking for something he could make a new headband out of. He found a long black piece of fabric at one of the places he went shopping at.
He took out the metal piece of his old headband and found the strongest glue he could find and used it to put the metal piece on the thin long black piece of fabric. He tied it around his forehead and now he has a marked headband that fits him.
Mayaka informed him that she has a mission for him. But this time she’s decided to go with him because their opponent is rather strong. The goal of this mission is to take down the man named Daiki Makino.
During this mission they infiltrate Daiki’s hideout. The place is like a maze. To be faster, Naruto and Mayaka split up. He runs into several of Daiki’s subordinates and takes them out. He sees no sign of Daiki and none of his subordinates would tell him anything.
He searches each room and finds nothing. He hopes Mayaka is having more luck than he is. Because all he’s finding is Daiki’s minions that are quite weak.
That’s when he sounds a scream. Mayaka’s scream. He sprints in that direction. There’s panic in his heart and he runs as fast as he can. He hopes she’s okay.
When he makes it to where the sound came from he’s smacked with a terrifying sight. Mayaka is on her knees and she’s been stabbed with a sword. Thankfully, it didn’t hit a vital point or Mayaka would already be dead.
Naruto stands in front of Mayaka in a protective stance. Daiki laughs mockingly.
“You think you can defeat me?”
“I know I can,” Naruto replies.
“Cocky are we?”
Daiki and Naruto begin fighting. Daiki has another sword on him so he fights with that. Naruto’s used to fighting someone with a sword so manages to dodge and block his attacks. Mayaka coughs up some blood and Naruto’s attention is briefly distracted and Daiki takes advantage of that to stab his sword through Naruto’s stomach.
“Naruto!” Mayaka shouts.
Naruto falls to his knees. He chokes out a sound of pain. Daiki laughs at him and turns around to leave them both there. Naruto shakily stands up and pulls the sword out of his stomach. He’s felt worse pain and he needs to save Mayaka so he can’t just sit down. He uses the sword to stab Daiki in the back.
It’s Daiki’s turn to fall to the ground. Naruto hurries over to Mayaka the best he can in the state he’s in. Mayaka has become pale and keeps coughing up blood.
“It’s too late for both of you. My swords were layered in a lethal poison. I like people to die slowly,” Daiki grins.
Naruto feels a cold sense of dread overcome him. He doesn’t feel the poison and that’s when it hits him. He’s a jinchuriki, the nine tailed beasts chakra is burning the poison so it doesn’t affect him. He looks over to Mayaka.
She’s not a jinchuriki and she’s been stabbed for a while. She’s most likely not going to make it. Naruto rushes over to Mayaka to help her up.
Mayaka places her hand on his shoulder to stop him. “You’re in no condition to help me up.”
“I can’t just leave you here!” Naruto argues.
“We both know I’m not making it out of this alive.”
Naruto’s eyes begin to water. “No. No, we will be okay.”
“Naruto. I want you to know, you were a great student and I’m glad I accepted to become your teacher. Despite everything you’ve been through you have a good heart and I admire you for that.”
“Don’t say it like that. Don’t make it sound like it’s a goodbye.”
“Remember, your scars show you survived despite going through something terrible. They prove that you’re strong. You shouldn’t cover them up. Yes, people will stare but they are not something for you to be ashamed of. Ignore the gawkers and be yourself unashamedly.”
Naruto is full on sobbing at this point. Mayaka used the last of her energy to say these words and passed out after that. Naruto hurries to check her pulse only to find nothing.
“Mayaka-sensei! Wake up! Please, don’t leave me,” Naruto begs her.
Naruto stands up and can barely see. The blood loss has made it hard for him to see. He stumbles as he walks to get out of the place. He doesn’t know if he’s going to make it. And a part of him doesn’t want to. Not after Mayaka’s death.
He makes it out of the hideout and keeps walking and bumps into someone. It’s Sasuke. Naruto always tells Sasuke where he's going before he leaves so Sasuke must’ve come looking for him.
“W-What are you doing here, Sasuke?” Naruto questions.
Sasuke’s expression is panicked as he takes in Naruto’s wound. “You were gone for so long I figured I’d help you guys out.”
“It’s done. Daiki is gone.” Naruto replies before passing right out.
He wakes up in Sasuke’s room at the hideout with his wound wrapped and treated. Sasuke becomes relieved when he finally wakes up.
“What happened? Is Mayaka okay?” Sasuke asks.
After the events of what happened at Daiki’s hideout, Naruto's eyes begin to water again.
“Daiki poisoned us both. Mayaka died. My nine tailed chakra burned the poison out of my system.”
“What about Daiki then?”
“I poisoned him. He died too.”
“Good.”
“What good is it?!” Naruto exclaims in sudden anger. “Mayaka-sensei died! She’s dead! I couldn’t save her!”
“I know and I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you, just Daiki is gone now so you avenged her.”
“What does it matter if I avenged her or not? She’s still dead at the end of the day. Nothing I do will change that.”
“I’ll make you some ramen,” Sasuke says before leaving the room.
Naruto doesn’t mean to snap at Sasuke after the boy had just saved him but he wishes he and Mayaka never split up. He could’ve protected her if they stayed together.
Everythings been so great since he left the leaf village; this was like a hard slap in the face. He thought life was good and that it was worth living. But everyone he cares about can die at any moment and he doesn’t know if he can handle that. He can’t handle this.
He wishes it was him who had died and not Mayaka. It would be easier that way. He wouldn’t be feeling this way if he was the one who hadn’t made it out alive. Naruto gets out of bed and feels a sting of pain from his wound.
He looks towards the bedroom door. Sasuke would never let him leave the hideout like this. He turns to the bedroom window. That’s his way out. He opens the window and slips out of the room.
He heads straight for Rio’s home. He knocks on the door. Rio opens the door and takes in the state Naruto is in and immediately lets him in.
“What’s wrong, kid?” Rio queries.
Naruto begins to tear up again. “Mayaka-sensei… s-she died.”
Rio’s eyes widened and he pulled Naruto in for a hug. “It’s going to be okay.”
“What if it isn’t?”
“She would want you to live your life to the fullest. I know it’s difficult to believe it will be okay but things will get easier with time.”
Naruto doesn’t believe what Rio says is true. Rio lets him go and Naruto nods at his words.
“Now you should go back home to heal your wound,” Rio advises.
“You’re right,” Naruto agrees.
Naruto leaves Rio’s house but does not go back to Sasuke instead he keeps walking around the town. At some point he found himself on the top of a tall building. He’s standing at the ledge. He can end it here. He’ll never have to feel this again. He’ll never have to fear Kichirou again, he’ll never see another person he cares about die again.
He jumps. His wrist is caught by someone’s hand. Naruto looks up and sees Sasuke with an expression of pure terror on his face. Sasuke is also tearing up.
“The hell are you doing?” Sasuke asks.
Naruto doesn’t respond because he’s sure Sasuke already knows what he was doing. Sasuke begins to cry. Naruto panics. He’s never seen Sasuke cry before and the last thing he wants is to be the cause of it.
“Don’t cry, Sasuke. It’s okay,” Naruto attempts reassurance.
Sasuke uses all his strength to pull him back onto the roof of the building. Sasuke hasn’t stopped crying. His crying is silent but carries so much pain and Naruto feels a sting of guilt seeing it. Naruto pulls Sasuke into a hug.
“I’m okay, Sasuke,” Naruto tells him.
Sasuke reciprocates the hug. “Never do that again.”
“Alright.”
Naruto doesn’t know if he can keep his word but he doesn’t think Sasuke would stop until he got that answer out of him.
“Let’s go back. You need to rest so your wound can heal.”
They go back to the hideout and it only takes Naruto about a day to heal. He does always heal fast.
Naruto hasn’t been feeling great these past few weeks. Mayaka’s death has still been plaguing his mind. He hasn’t really eaten or done much. He’s been rather bad at his missions lately. It’s been a very long time since he’s been bad at missions but he’s been distracted.
Orochimaru has stopped giving him missions so he has some time to grieve Mayaka’s death. This isn’t because he cares, it's merely because Naruto keeps messing things up.
Sasuke has been glued to his side ever since he found Naruto on that roof. He only leaves Naruto alone when he has to go on missions. Naruto likes having Sasuke with him so he doesn’t like when the other boy leaves on those missions.
He also struggles to sleep when Sasuke isn’t there. When Sasuke is there he feels safe but without him he’s scared to sleep. Sasuke has always helped him get through his nightmares but when he leaves for a mission Naruto usually doesn’t sleep.
Sometimes when Sasuke leaves for long missions he’ll stay over at Rio’s house. He trusts Rio and it’s easier for him to sleep there than where Kabuto and Orochimaru are. And Rio is also a great cook so that’s a plus.
Naruto has gone back to the tightrope above the water many times. It doesn’t feel right for Mayaka to never walk on that rope again. Naruto takes his place on that rope and dances around on it. He doesn’t care if he falls. There’s water underneath but even if there wasn’t he wouldn’t care anyway.
He doesn’t fall. His balance and moves are perfect; he doesn't stumble once. He doesn’t feel proud of himself for this; he merely feels empty.
Breaking the noise to Asuka was difficult. The lady was devastated to have one of her most skilled students meet their end. Asuka also tried to comfort Naruto but none of the words reached his heart. Because no matter what words someone may say to him they aren’t going to bring Mayaka back.
Naruto actually went back to the Daiki hideout and went back to the room where Mayaka and Daiki died. Mayaka didn’t smell great and it was a rather terrifying sight. Still he took Mayaka outside to bury her.
He bought her a tombstone. Her name was engraved on it. Mayaka Suzuki. Her death felt real seeing her have her own grave like this. Like it meant that he really won’t wake up and realize it was all just a bad dream.
When Sasuke comes back from another one of his missions Naruto shows him to Mayaka’s grave. Sasuke pays his respects and Naruto lays some flowers by her tombstone.
Sasuke places his hand on Naruto’s shoulder. The boy doesn’t know what to say to Naruto so he doesn’t say anything. They go back to the hideout.
Naruto knows he can’t stay like this forever. It’s not what Mayaka would want for him. She wouldn’t want him to lay around not eating or doing anything the whole day but it’s so hard to do anything but that.
Rio has given him a break from training too. Naruto feels as if he’s never going to get better. He doesn’t even feel like going out for ramen.
Smokey has stayed by him the whole time. He’s cuddled Naruto to try and comfort him. The one thing Naruto can get himself to do is get Smokey food and water but that’s it.
Sasuke will hang out with him a lot. When Naruto doesn’t feel like talking he’ll try and talk about his day. Sasuke says very simple statements about his day.
“I practiced training with my sword today.”
“Orochimaru taught me a new jutsu.”
“I’m gaining more control over my lighting control.”
As simple as they may be, Naruto's happy to hear them. He knows Sasuke is trying and that means more to him than anything.
Sasuke will also bring him food that way he doesn’t have to get it himself. Naruto feels guilty over making Sasuke have to do so much for him. He’ll eat a couple bites of the food for Sasuke but he struggles to finish the food without an appetite for anything.
Naruto stays like that for a couple more weeks. He can’t keep going like this. He needs to get up and live his life again. He can’t keep making Sasuke do things for him and push off his training and missions.
He remembers Mayaka’s words.
“Remember, your scars show you survived despite going through something terrible. They prove that you’re strong. You shouldn’t cover them up. Yes, people will stare but they are not something for you to be ashamed of. Ignore the gawkers and be yourself unashamedly.”
He gets himself some new clothes. His old one’s had become too small anyway. He had a black net undershirt that was basically a tank top. Then wrapped his new black and orange jacket around his waist. His pants are black and orange as well. His arms and shoulders and on full display so his scars can be seen. Naruto walks out and shows Sasuke.
Sasuke’s surprised to see him showing off his scars but he also is happy to see Naruto not covering them up. Sasuke is wearing an outfit that shows off his chest and covers some of his arms. He has a purple thing around his waist.
“You’re showing off a lot,” Naruto teases.
“I look great, admit it,” Sasuke urges.
Naruto would never admit it allowed but he does. He didn’t expect Sasuke to fully have his chest out but he definitely suited that outfit. No wonder all the girls go after him.
“You’re rather confident aren’t you?” Naruto says instead of agreeing.
“You just don’t want to admit that I’m right.”
Naruto laughs. “Whatever you need to tell yourself.”
Sasuke lets a small smile slip onto his face. Naruto’s finally acting like himself again. Naruto catches the smile and gives him a smile of his own back. He wants to make Mayaka proud and he can’t do that if he’s lying around all day.