Wisdom
Fascinated, the fox demon watched his friend search for herbs in the forest, picking berries or mushrooms. If you looked at him like this, you wouldn’t guess he was blind.
The demon was still feeling guilty about the day he hurt his friend and caused his bloody tears. Why? What had he done?
He hadn't been able to find an answer. It wore him down that he hadn't been able to find the answers to his questions.
"Little demon, searching desperately for knowledge and yet you are blind to the truth.", A voice suddenly came out of nowhere. The fox's furry ears rose up steeply, listening. His eyes were scanning the familiar environment.
Who was that? Who taunted him again?
His gaze finally caught on a raccoon, looking at him with a mockingly.
"What do you mean I'm blind to the truth?"
He looked down at the raccoon demanding and finally jumped out of his seat on the branch of a huge tree.
The raccoon just laughed amused, looked like he wanted to make fun of him.
"A demon and a human, what good shall it bring? Isn't it the people who want to shame us and try to rob us of our lives? Why do you care, naive fox? "
"Sasuke is not like that!" Naruto protested outraged and finally leaned down to the raccoon.
"Don't talk bad about him or you will have to deal with me!"
The raccoon laughed again, creeping lazily around the fox.
"Stupid fox, naive and young. Making your judgment blind and hungering to know without being able to decide. Unable to understand yourself, ignorant to what connects you and yet stupid enough to let yourself being guided by the feeling. "
Naruto let out a dark growl. Furious, his tails whipped to the ground, stirring up leaves around the raccoon.
"Don't you dare insulting me! I'm not stupid. If you know something, share your knowledge with me or disappear! “, He said to the raccoon.
"Naruto? Who are you talking to? "
Sasuke's voice tore the blonde from his thoughts. He looked at his friend, at the many supplies he had collected, and finally back again. The raccoon was gone, along with the answers the fox had hoped for.
"Nobody ..." Naruto replied to his friend softly, almost lost in thought.
Sasuke's concerned look, however, caught the demon's attention. He looked into the blind one’s eyes for a moment, but remembered the events that had recently occurred and finally lowered his own gaze.
He would still find out. He would find a way to help Sasuke and free him from all his suffering.
Sasuke's gaze was still on the demon. He couldn't see him, but he felt his friend's restlessness. A restlessness, which had only gotten worse since that event and seemed to have shaken the demon deeply. It was as if he didn't want to take any chances of exposing him to any pain again.
"Listen, Naruto ..."
"Hm?" The fox twitched his ears attentively.
Together they strolled through the shimmering, peaceful forests. Peace that neither of them had ever felt in their lives.
"I think you will only find the answers you are looking for in one place."
Naruto looked at his friend with curiosity. Did he know something he didn’t?
"My father once told me that the gateway to the world of demons can be found on the White Mountain and I think they are the only ones who can offer you the answers you are looking for."
"But there is no white mountain here? Except for when it's snowing. "
Sasuke just shook his head.
"Have you never wondered why people avoid these woods? Even those who use the mountain path don't get too close. ”
Naruto's eyes widened.
"You mean this IS the mountain?!"
He almost dropped the basket he had taken from Sasuke. Should that mean they were already in the demon realm? No. It couldn't be. Humans could not enter the demon world. At least he knew that much.
"But ... then the gate must be somewhere here, right? But maybe the other demons of this forest can tell me what I need to know. That's great!"
Sasuke raised his eyebrows in confusion. Great?
"Don't you understand, Sasuke? If I can find the answers, then I can finally free you from the curse and then you will never have to suffer or to be lonely again. Then when I break the curse, I'll show you everything. All the colors and the places, the animals and the flowers! Then we can live here forever and you never have to think about terrible things again. "
Overjoyed, Naruto accelerated his steps; he could already see it. The two of them, and their bright future. He couldn't wait to show Sasuke all of these things for the first time after all those dark years.
Sasuke's footsteps stopped. Was that why the demon was acting so strange? Because he wanted to free him? Because he was looking for a solution? To help him, and not for a selfish reason? He was speechless.
Naruto paused when he noticed that his friend had stopped.
"Hey Sasuke what‘s-"
With a big smile, he turned and froze at the sight of the blind one, who didn't even seem to have noticed that he was crying.
"... you?", He breathed softly and looked at his friend. Why was he crying?
◊◊◊
"Well I’m off for now. I'll be back tonight. "
Naruto was out of the door before he could reply, on a new and different path through the woods looking for answers. For days he had searched already, tried to get the demons to talk to him and was only mocked by them. They didn’t seem like they cared about helping him.
The Uchiha felt strange. His chest felt tight, he couldn’t breathe and every time Naruto left the house he feared he wouldn‘t come back. When? Since when did he need him like that?
"Damn it…"
He stroked his long black strands back, sighed and finally dropped his hands on the edge of the wide wooden board on which he had placed the ingredients for their dinner.
What should he do? No matter what Naruto did, their time together was limited.
The fox demon just didn't seem to know it.
How should he tell him? How could he have told him that he couldn't stay with him forever? That one day, he would die alone and without him, no matter what he did?
How could he have told him if he knew it would shake the demon's world at its very foundations?
He just couldn't.
◊◊◊
The young demon rushed through the forest, trying to use the remaining time until dawn to find answers. The wind had whispered, showing the direction, driving him from one corner of the forest to the other, but not helping him at all.
Irritated by the foolish game of the wind spirit, Naruto paused and came to a halt on a green mountain section.
"WHAT ARE YOU PLAYING AT?! Stop fooling around! ”, He complained and hit the wind that only hissed around him.
“Getting knowledge is no foolish game. But a foolish game can lead to knowledge. "
"Oh keep your riddles to yourself. You are not helping me! "
Pouting, he crossed his arms in front of his body and let his gaze wander over the mountains. Why? Why wasn't there a single demon here who wanted to talk to him?
“White and cold as snow, burning like the fire of the sun. Eyes as clear as morning dew, knowledge passed down for millennials, hidden deep inside the heart. You have known the answers for a long time but you still cannot see them. "
Startled, the fox demon turned when he heard the strange voice.
It was ghostly and cool, like the first light of the new moon. A white fox.
"What do you mean, I already know the answers?"
"Don’t you feel it? What connects you ...? You and the person you gave your hear? “, The fox asked, sat quietly on a small rock in the middle of the clearing.
Naruto swallowed hard. He pressed his lips together.
"You are young, naive. You don't know anything about our world or even that of the humans. You gave your heart away, even though his life is in your hands. "
Naruto listened. Sasuke's life was in his hands? The white fox looked sternly at him.
"Can't you feel it?"
"What ... what are you talking about."
"You are her child."