The Blessed Realm

Chapter Ninety-Five: Inner Peace

Naruto spoke to Juugo's fostermothers about what he learnt from the books about the Rikudo, and they suggested to him that he might visit the main temple of Music Town, which was nominally still a ninshuu temple.

“It's mainly a tourists' attraction now,” they told him, “but there's also priests who work there, and they may have answers to some of your questions.”

Naruto decided to follow their advice – he still preferred talking to people to reading books, and also he had a lot of time now. He asked Sasuke to accompany him, and Sasuke agreed, even though he did not have much time as he was supposed to study for the entrance test. He had not been interested in the foreign religions Naruto had explored in Music Town, but being a ninja too he took an interest in the origins of ninjutsu.

They had passed the temple many times, as it was only at five minutes' distance from the place they lived at (their new place too), but apart from the first time, when Naruto had played the tourists' guide for Sasuke, they had never entered it. Again they were surprised by comparative darkness, as the temple only had very small windows, and the most important source of light were innumerable candles. Even the tourists' groups, including those from the foreign countries, lowered their voices, impressed by the temple's atmosphere.

The boys went around, looking at altars and trying to avoid the tourists' groups. Most altars were for the Goddess of Peace and Mercy, and they found a small, unspectacular one without artistic merit and consequently without tourists where they lit candles for her. For a while they stood in silence.

“They consecrated the temple to her after the Second Ninja World War,” Naruto said. “They no longer cared about the ancient warrior gods.”

They do care about peace here, he thought, even though they don't appreciate the Gutsy Ninja.

“Let's look for a priest,” he said.

In the temple's entrance area there were books and brochures with information both on the temple's artwork and the Goddess of Peace and Mercy. They took some brochures that were for free and read what they said about the symbolism of the statues of the Goddess, then they asked the people behind the booths whether they could tell them more about their religion.

People declined, saying that they were not fit to explain everything correctly, but they pointed out a priest to them: He didn't wear any special clothes, as the monks in the ninja countries did, but his behaviour distinguished him from the tourists: Leaning against a pillar he was watching what happened around him. He noticed Naruto and Sasuke as they approached him and stood upright to welcome them.

“We'd like to talk to you about your religion,” Naruto began, as he had in various religious communities of Music Town, then he departed from his script. “Actually it's our religion too. We're ninja, and we should have learnt about ninshuu, but no one has ever taught us anything.”

“You're ninja? Then you should know about ninjutsu, shouldn't you, or you wouldn't be proper ninja.”

“We can do ninjutsu,” Naruto said, “but we don't know anything about ninshuu, the religion that was originally founded by the Rikudo.”

“Ninshuu is just an old-fashioned name for ninjutsu. But we in Music Town don't practise it any more. What you see here is all superficial. But we can talk if you want – my shift will be over in twenty minutes, then we can meet in my office.”

People were all the same in Music Town, Sasuke thought. Whatever their actual job, they all had schedules and offices. And he was becoming one of them, he realized, spending several hours a day behind his desk studying for the entrance exam.

In the priest's office they were offered some coffee, then Naruto repeated their request.

“We want to learn about ninshuu, and about the Rikudo,” he said. “We were taught ninjutsu as if it were a set of techniques for figthing, but we don't know anything about the Rikudo's religious teachings, or his ideas about peace.”

The priest took some time before he answered.

“As I've said, people in Music Town don't practise this religion any more either. My colleagues and I try to preserve the tradition, meditating at least once a day, and more often when we find time, but there's only few laypeople who do the same.”

“But there's the Goddess of Peace, isn't there? People pray to her and light candles for her. We did too.”

“People light candles, but when they pray they only pray for themselves. They've become all selfish, and they've become petty merchants: I give you a candle, you grant me a wish. They only think of themselves and their own affairs: Passing an exam, recovering from an illness, hoping that some business plan turns out well. It's got nothing to do with the true spirit of ninshuu.”

“But it's still about peace,” Naruto insisted. “She's the Goddess of Peace after all.”

“They say so, but they say so without thinking about it. They've ceased to care about peace.”

Maybe he was right, Naruto thought. People here took peace for granted, so they didn't appreciate it.

“But you yourself and your colleagues know about the real thing,” he said. “You know about the Rikudo's dream of peace, even though most people in Music Town no longer care about it.”

The priest hesitated before he answered. “Actually it's one of the most misunderstood concepts of the Rikudo. People tend to think of peace as the absence of war, most of all the absence of war between nations. But there's a lot of other concepts of peace, and the most important of them, the one the Rikudo really had in mind, is the concept of inner peace and living in harmony with the universe. When you've found inner peace it no longer matters whether there's peace in the outside world or not. You've learnt to accept whatever happens, and it won't affect your own peace of mind.”

“But the killing in the outside world will go on,” Sasuke said. He had been reserved against religion since the murder of his clan; during Naruto's research on religions in Music Town his reservations had grown, and hearing the priest's words he felt fully confirmed in his scepticism now.

“You need to learn acceptance,” the priest said. “Then you'll understand that everything is part of the great whole, and that everything that happens has a purpose in the greater scheme of the universe.”

“But the Rikudo didn't want people to kill each other either,” Naruto said. “He wanted peace.”

“When you've found inner peace you'll be at peace with other people too,” the priest replied. “That's the true meaning of his teachings. Outward peace comes into being when people find peace in themselves. You should know this, actually, being ninja. Don't you meditate on a regular basis in order to forge chakra?”



“We do,” Naruto answered. He began to feel ill at ease.

“So you should know the peace that comes with meditating and realizing there isn't any boundary between yourself and the outside world. You should know the power that comes from acting in accordance with nature.”

“Partly,” Naruto answered. He remembered his sennin training. “I have learnt to contact nature and merge her chakra with my own. But I only learnt to use it for fighting.”

“You use it for fighting and you use it to create peace. But when you're one with the universe it will all be the same, nothing you do can be wrong and nothing will hurt you.”

Naruto grew restless. Obviously the priest didn't have any answers to the question that had haunted him since Jiraiya's death: how to create peace, and stop people from killing each other.

“I've read a book with legends about the Rikudo,” he said. “Practically every story ended with him telling people to cooperate and live in peace.”

“Legends are for children, and for the uneducated,” the priest said. “We teach ninshuu to grown-up people. We give meditation classes for those who want to stay true to the old tradition, or who want to rediscover it. You're invited to join. Not that you need them, or course. Maybe you can teach us something yourselves.”



“We'll consider it,” Naruto replied, getting up. The priest was just like anyone else in Music Town: Taking peace for granted he didn't know what it meant when the actual killing stopped. Looking for inner peace seemed a project for people who had never seen war.

Sasuke followed Naruto, glad to leave the priest's office. The temple itself no longer seemed peaceful to him, nor did it calm him down, and the Goddess of Peace seemed to mock him. He welcomed the bright daylight outside the temple with all his heart.

(Some days later he lighted another candle for the Goddess of Peace. It was not her fault that the priest's words had been stupid.)

Naruto was thoughtful too: he remembered his time with the toads. There he had learnt to feel the chakra of nature, and to use it for fighting. No doubt the toads were convinced that he was acting in accordance with the universe. He himself was not so sure about it.

“I've learnt the kind of meditation the priest spoke about,” he said. “It gave me a huge chakra boost, but it didn't help me find inner peace.” He took Sasuke's hand. “Finding you gave me peace,” he said. “But being far away from Konoha prevents me from being truly at peace.”

Sasuke considered his words. “My family won't come back to life, so I don't think I'll ever find peace,” he said.

Naruto laid his arm around Sasuke's shoulders, feeling pity for him.

“I can show you the meditation technique I've learnt,” he said. “Maybe it can really help find inner peace, if one does it with his intention, not with the intention of becoming a stronger fighter.”

(Naruto was not hundred percent certain whether offering Sasuke to teach him one of his most powerful techniques was a good idea: He had always enjoyed the idea that his senjutsu was something he could do and Sasuke couldn't. Still his pity gained the upper hand.)

Sasuke accepted. Even though his first reaction to the priest's words had been to refute them they still had made an impression to him. Maybe he was all wrong refusing to find inner peace, and insisting that he didn't need to be in harmony with the universe. Maybe he should let go off his pride and be ready to accept peace.

So when they arrived at their place Naruto showed Sasuke what he had learnt during his Sennin training: entering a state of perfect immobility and letting nature's chakra enter him. Sasuke had learnt to meditate as part of his ninja training, of course, but he had never been good at it. He had mainly seen it as a means to the end of forging chakra, meaning that he had not let his thoughts come to a rest but that he had focused on his chakra. Now for the first time in his life he was meditating for the sake of meditating, and he realized that this was on a whole different level than anything he had done before: Not just being physically immobile, but also not following any of his thoughts and not focussing on anything but letting his thoughts pass his mind and being open to nature itself.

It took him several attempts. Naruto comforted him: “Don't worry, I didn't manage the first time either.”

Sasuke tried again, sitting quietly without thinking of anything, trying to feel the universe around him and be one with it. This time he managed partly – the line between him and the rest of the word became permeable – he could feel nature's chakra – then he broke off. He had finally fallen into the abyss he had avoided for so long.

Naruto only saw that Sasuke was breathing quickly and flatly, that he was covering his eyes with his hands, that his body had lost its tension. He knew that something had gone wrong – he feared that Sasuke might turn into a frog. He hugged him as he had no idea what else he might do, and slowly Sasuke's breathing rhythm got normal again.

“What happened?” Naruto asked.

“I managed – partly. I could feel the universe outside me. I could hear its voice. It told me that it was better off without me – it told me that I should give up my aims and my memories and my personailty as it didn't need them. It was better off if I just merged with the rest of it – if I died.”

Naruto held him tightly. “I need you,” he said. “Even if the universe doesn't need you – I do.”

 

A/N: Thanks again for your reviews and your plusses! You can find my answers at http://www2.adult-fanfiction.org/forum/index.php/topic/14965-blessed-realm/ .It is now possible to access the thread without registration at the forums.