Caterpillar

A new Beginning 2

His heart was filled with content and with happiness whenever he looked at his wife and daughter. Furthermore, he could live his days in peace together with his parents, his grandfather-figure, Sarutobi Hiruzen, his auntie Tsunade, his perverted mentor, Jiraiya, and his best friends, Gaara and Sasuke. Diana was happier too, no longer stressed and tormented by responsibilities and she could live together with her mother, away from the oppression of the Olympian gods. What more could he ask from life?

'This is paradise.' he thought as he watched everyone around him having a good time.

Sasuke and Gaara were playing a game of shogi, Jiraiya was trying to flirt with Tsunade, Sakura and Diana were chatting together with Hippolyta and the three genins were having a mock fight against a bear-sized nine-tailed fox while Naruto, his parents, and Sandaime were having a drink.

[...]

"No! This can't be happening!" he shouted, his face livid.

A massive rip in the space appeared above the courtyard.

A pale-white woman with horns on her head and long white hair stepped out of the rift. Her pupilless white eyes stared at the people below with hatred. She raised her hands and said:

"All-Killing Ash Bones."

Time seemed to slow down to a crawl but despite his heightened senses and superhuman powers, Naruto found himself unable to react. Under his horrified eyes, he watched how bone spikes were shot from the Rabbit Goddess' arms, impaling everyone below.

⁂

Softly-murmured words woke her up. She was a light sleeper, sometimes even a whisper could be enough to wake her up.

"Kurama... no... not Thea... no..."

Next to her, in bed, Naruto was talking in his sleep. It was not a peaceful sleep. There was a sheen of sweat on his forehead. He was not loud, nor was he trashing in his sleep but his quiet sleep-talking gave away the fact that he was having a nightmare. His eyes were rolling furiously under his closed eyelids and he was murmuring names in a pained voice.

She shook his shoulders (not vigorously as to not scare him) and said:

"Naruto. Baby, wake up."

He opened his eyes wide, startled. For a second, she saw a haunted look in his eyes. But once he took in her appearance, he quickly calmed down and his eyes were filled with warmth.

"Sorry. I woke you up again." he said and winced.

She laid in bed again and rolled on her side to look at him. She brought a hand to his face and her thumb caressed his scarred cheek with a tenderness that almost brought him to tears. However, he did not shed any. A small smile appeared on his face and he closed his eyes, melting from her affection.

"Bad dreams happen, it's not up to you. Just remember I'm here, ok? I'm always here." she whispered and pressed her lips on his forehead.

Two months passed since Naruto parted ways with Kurama and Diana with her mother. Maybe due to the increased control that she had gained over her emotions after becoming a goddess, Diana was handling it rather well but Naruto was hit hard by it. He and the fox had shared the same body for over 4 decades and they had been together for over 110 years. He had never been truly alone. Being suddenly split away from his lifelong friend had affected him greatly.

Naruto had never forgotten the illusion shown to him by Black Mercy on planet Debstam. Whereas before, he had managed to push it away from his thoughts thanks to Kurama's and Diana's presence in his life, after the fox left, his subconscious fear of loneliness brought that nightmare back into his life. It did not happen very often - about once a week or so - but every time he dreamt about the death of everyone he loved was no less painful.