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// Thinking About the Past 
// Story: Heart Without A Beat 
// by ewejam 
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    Naruto slumped against a tree, next to a hundred or so piled up dead bodies of leaf, sand, and sound shinobi, and sighed inwardly. He could taste the rich, metallic blood in his mouth, and could see a lot of it all over his body, though more than half of it weren't his. ' Why don't I feel pain? ' He wondered to himself. As an answer to that question, he suddenly felt as if there were a hundred Kunai Sticking out of his back and someone stabbed him in the stomach with a sword, though it was true. He remembered the feeling of adrenaline as he battled the sound, not caring at all of the wounds he suffered as the kyuubi took over, slaying hundreds of sound nin without mercy, his comrades trying to stop him, and killing them, if he lived he would never forget the feeling of dread when he realized he killed all his allies in his blood frenzy. Yes, orochimaru and the Akatsuki where now dead, but so where Sakura, Shikamaru, Kakashi, Neji, Lee, Gai, and all his other friends. Hinata, especially Hinata..... He could clearly remember her scream as he ripped her head of her shoulders. He always knew that she had a crush on him, but he ignored her and went after Sakura, though he did start to become lovers with Hinata over the course of five years, he never did take her out on a date, in fact, he rarely talked to her at all.

He chuckled painfully as he realized the irony of the situation. He promised to protect all those presious to him, but at the end, they were slayed by his own hands. He looked down and examined his wounds. He had orochimaru's sword sticking out of his stomach, fifty or so kunai sticking out of his back, a hole in his side form sasuke's chidori, and 2 more kunai sticking out of his left knee. He saw that even if he were to survive the injuries, he would spend the rest of his life on a bed, but that was highly unlikely, seeing that konoha and suna were completely destroyed, not a single sand or leaf ninja left, well.... Except for him of course, though it probably wouldn't be long until he died. His sight started to dim, " so this is it " he said to himself, as he fell forward, he remembered Jiraiya, his godfather, and his parents Minato and Kushina. " Mom, dad.... I can finally meet you.... ". He sighed quietly as he fell forward, his only regret that he couldn't fulfill Sakura's promise of bring back Sasuke and not spending more time with Hinata, though the last one would change once he went to the afterlife. The ground came nearer.... and nearer.... then, everything went black.