Please read the Author's Note at the end, they might contain some important stuff. Mostly though, it's just going to be me apologizing for my update habits.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

ナルト

On top of a mountain etched with the four faces of the village leaders past and present, a lone figure was lying down on top of the fourth face of the mountain. He was holding a hitai-ate, a forehead protector, that symbolized that a person was recognized as a ninja in the village's eyes. He wore an elated smile on his face as he stared off into the night sky. To be truthful, it had been a while since he had a reason to smile.

His smile turned into a full-blown grin as Uzumaki Naruto, the self-proclaimed prank master of Konoha, tried to contain his excitement as he was one step closer to his lifelong dream of being the Hokage. People had doubted him ever since he started spouting of his promises of his future achievement. Most even doubted he would graduate from the academy, but he did. He proved all of them wrong

All things considered, today was a great day for him. Not only had he become a genin, he also now knew the reason why he was shunned throughout his life. Granted, finding out that he had a monumental fox that was capable of leveling a village with one swipe was stuck in his belly was not in itself a good thing, but at least he knew why he was avoided. He was going to change that though, one person at a time.

Naruto smiled as he thought of what Iruka said about him earlier at the forest. Iruka acknowledging him gave him the assurance that he needed that he could pull off his dream. Before that, he was actually overcome with self-doubt and thought that maybe the villagers were right about him.

He reached out to the stars and made a motion to grab them.

"I'll show them…" He silently, yet determinedly, declared.

There was also another reason for his excitement. Tomorrow was going to be the day that he would find out who his parents were. It had been when he was a kid when he witnessed something that he probably shouldn't have seen. When he brought it up to his grandfather-figure, which was to say the present Hokage, he was given a promise that he would be told after becoming a genin.

He chuckled mirthfully to himself as he wondered silently, 'Had it really been that long?'

As his eyes glazed when he started to reminisce, he noted that the stars in the beautiful night sky looked really similar to the stars he saw on that particular night.

ナルト

(Flashback)

As Naruto scanned over his classmates, he pondered who he was going to get as his opponent in his match. His gaze stopped when they reached the last Uchiha. Hoping against hope that he would get to fight against the most popular kid in the academy, he imagined that once he defeated Sasuke, he would finally be popular.

Naruto was snapped out of his reverie when the unenthusiastic voice of the lazy Nara started speaking.

"…It's fine, sensei. I'm losing by ring out." Shikamaru drawled as he turned and started to walk away from the circle. "Call in the next pair."

A sweat-drop developed at the back of Naruto's head as he admired the lazy genius' determination to opting out on actually working. Yes, this time he did it out of concern for Chouji, and he respected him even more for it, but dammit, he really is incorrigible.

"Next is Uzumaki Naruto," He perked up upon hearing his name, "and Uchiha Sasuke!" Naruto raised an eyebrow as said person stepped out of the crowd and into the circle as the many fangirls screamed the name of the Uchiha.

'Stuck-up bastard! I'll show him! Once I win, let's see who'll be popular!' Naruto declared to himself, narrowing his eyes at the raven-haired boy. His ire grew, however, when all his opponent did was stare back at him stoically.

"Alright! I won't lose this one!" He shouted out as he pumped both his fists determinedly.

"Naruto Uzumaki vs. Uchiha Sasuke!" Iruka announced.

"Prepare to eat dirt teme!" Naruto pointed to the apathetic-looking boy scathingly.

Iruka interjected, "Naruto! It's customary to make the Seal of Confrontation before starting a match!" Naruto, however, just waved his hand dismissively.

"It doesn't matter! I just wanna wipe the floor with this teme!"

"Baka… I'll take you down in one." Sasuke stated confidently. Naruto glared at him even harder.

"Stop it! Both of you," Iruka reprimanded the two children before going into another lecture about the tradition of sparring and how making the Seal of Confrontation was part of the proper etiquette of being a shinobi.

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto said, digging out some ear wax just to irritate his already pissed off teacher.

"Say 'yes' and say it once you little brat!" Naruto scoffed in response.

"Alright, already…" Naruto rolled his eyes and begrudgingly complied with his instructor's previous 'request', bringing up his right hand to do the seal. He scowled at Sasuke as he proceeded to do the seal as well.

Iruka sighed exasperatedly before raising his hand up in the air. He swiftly brought down his hand and declared, "Hajime!"

The two budding shinobis charged at each other, each intent on finishing the match quickly and decisively. As Naruto's fist was about to connect, Sasuke swept his feet from below, forcing him to tumble backwards.

Naruto closed his eyes in preparation for the incoming fist. When the hit never came, he opened his eyes only to see Sasuke on top of him, his fist poised to strike. Although his less-than-favourable position should've been his first concern, there was something else that warranted his attention.

It was the convoluted eyes containing a myriad of emotions.

It was difficult to exactly pinpoint even a single emotion as each one passed quickly through his eyes. That wasn't the only thing that caught his notice, however. Sasuke's stare was… stifling… The way he was looking at him was oppressing and intimidating, yet he felt as if he wasn't looking at himper se. No. It was as if he was seeing someone else in place of him.

When he finally got a hold of some of the emotions that appeared through Sasuke's eyes, he inhaled sharply. Hatred, loneliness, frustration, anger, and confusion were chief among those he could identify. Because of them, he felt a strong sense of familiarity that pulled out so many bad memories from deep within his psyche. The melancholic camaraderie developed from within him threatened to release some tears, but he held it back.

As Sasuke stood up and walked away, Naruto snapped out from his reverie and the feelings of rivalry rose back up again, but he couldn't do anything but just glare at the Uchiha's retreating back.

"Alright, make the Seal of Reconciliation and we'll move on." Iruka said.

When he saw that Sasuke didn't intend to move, he growled and bellowed out, "So I'm not even worth reconciling with? TEME!" Iruka hit him on the head. "Ow!"

"I told you to make the Seal of Reconciliation! It's sacred tradition!" Naruto huffed standing up. He hesitantly approached the equally hesitant Sasuke. When their fingers met halfway, however, both reached out to the other's collar and pulled each other violently holding a contemptuous glare.

"Want to lose again dobe?" Sasuke taunted monotonously.

"Break it up!" Iruka came in between them and forcefully pulled them apart. "Enough already!"

"Tch!" Seeing that he was going to be the target of every one's jeers, Naruto turned around and walked towards the fence. He continued to ignore the jibes of his classmates as he jumped out from the fence and dashed away to his house, intent on doing a prank to calm his ever-growing annoyance.

ナルト

Naruto jumped up on a roof that helped hide his silhouette from the mob that was trying to catch him below. They were always so gullible when it came to chasing him. To his satisfaction, he heard their footsteps getting farther away from his position.

"Hehe, stupid idiots." He laughed to himself, beginning his long trek home. From a distance, he could make out the figure of his earlier sparring partner, Uchiha Sasuke. He seemed to be sneaking around… and that was all Naruto needed for a reason to follow him. Who knows? If he was lucky, he'll find something… juicy about the stuck-up teme.

As stealthily as he could, Naruto dropped down from the roof he was on. He stiffened and cursed when he saw Sasuke stop walking. Not wanting to end his spying prematurely, he immediately hid behind a wall.

After a few tensing moments, he heard Sasuke's footsteps start to fade away. Careful not to make the same mistake again, Naruto resumed his stakeout. As they got deeper down the street, Naruto started to recognize where they were going, the Uchiha district. He supposed it made sense that an Uchiha would naturally go here. Duh!

Naruto smiled nostalgically as he took in all the familiar sights. It was his second favorite place aside from the Hokage Tower. In this district, he was treated as a person and no matter how much pranks he pulled on them, they would never grow hostile… Well, except for the warranted hostility brought by his pranks of course.

They were compassionate to a fault, yet they were strong as they were one of the only people who were able to catch him, so he thought of them very highly. Despite their kind nature, their natural arrogant appearance made it hard for people to approach them thus leading to their isolation. One arrogant-looking, yet unbelievably kind, person he knew very well was the clan leader, Uchiha Fugaku.

Now he was a man he could never forget. He and a boy, who he assumed was Fugaku's son, always helped him get out of a pinch whenever the villagers felt braver than usual and took a more active role to ensure that the 'demon' didn't get too dangerous. Thankfully, it only ever happened on rare nights, but they still happened. They would also regularly invite him into their home for supper or just for company and he would never be able to thank them enough for their hospitality.

It came to happen that three days ago the Uchiha clan was massacred. Remembering the utter despair that he felt as the words kept ringing in his ears made him shiver with dread. He was pushed to the edge, however, when he had heard who did the despicable act.

Itachi Uchiha, the man he looked up to as a brother.

After hearing that, he had wept ceaselessly for a long while. A man so kind that minstrels would have composed songs about his magnanimity had done such a horrendous act as kill his whole family. It didn't make any sense. It still didn't, but there it was, like a piece of a puzzle tremendously out of place.

That night, Itachi visited him with an extremely penitent look, pleading with him to watch over Satsuki before saying goodbye, although at that time it didn't make a lick of sense. When the following day arrived, it finally made sense. He wished that it didn't.

When he had heard of a survivor, he was ecstatic to say the least, even more so when he found out that the kid was the same age as he was. There was someone he could possibly call a friend. He was never more wrong in his life as he came to know the kid named Sasuke. It struck him as weird though. He had never heard of the name before and he was more than sure that he hadn't seen an Uchiha named Sasuke in the academy. He didn't linger on the matter for too long as he wrote it off as the kid's parents not wanting said kid to enter the academy and be a ninja. It was rare but not unheard of.

Speaking of the stuck-up bastard, he was currently going past the yellow lines that barred entry to the district. Regardless of the consequences if he was found out, Naruto followed the boy inside, his curiosity getting the best of him.

When he saw that Sasuke was heading towards the biggest house at the center of the whole district, Naruto's eyes narrowed in suspicion. It was the house of his old friends.

'Whyareyougoingthere?'He asked himself. As far as he could remember, Fugaku-san didn't have any other children besides Itachi and the silent girl who always hid behind him. He remembered always quarreling with the girl, but never in excess. In fact, he thought that they made a game out of it. The other occupants certainly thought so, as they would coo needlessly whenever the girl would stick her tongue out towards him. He would never tell anyone but he had found it adorable and eventually he regarded all of them as his precious people.

He rushed towards the house and peeked inside through a window. Sasuke was walking slowly to where two chalk markings were etched in the shape of a human. When the Uchiha reached it, he kneeled helplessly, his whole figure trembling. Naruto didn't know the specifics as Sasuke's body was facing away from him, but if he were to hazard a guess, he'd say Sasuke was crying.

"Tou-sama, Kaa-san." Sasuke said shakily.

Despite Naruto's confusion about Sasuke referring to Fugaku-san and Mikoto-san as his parents, he cringed in sympathy. While he never had parents before, he could understand the feeling of loneliness and helplessness. He stared at the heaving back of Sasuke. He felt a pang in his heart and stood up to leave. Even if the guy was a bastard most of the time, he would give him a break. He would never wish the experience of loneliness on anyone, even his worst enemy. For it to happen to someone else, especially someone he knew… He was upset.

He turned to leave when something caught his eye. Sasuke brought both of his hands together, forming a seal, and then he uttered a single word that completely shattered his image of Sasuke. Suffice to say, he would never be able to look at Sasuke the same way ever again.

"Kai…" The boy said lifelessly.

Wait… Not a boy.

"The bastard's a… bitch?" Naruto whispered in confusion and disbelief. All the questions he had formed earlier were answered immediately. He had seen Sasuke before, not as Sasuke but as Satsuki. Now his previous questions were answered, new ones came to take their place. Why would she pose as a guy?

"Tou-san, Kaa-san, I fought with someone earlier. I won of course. It was Naruto, he's still as annoying as ever, but I'm thankful for him… At least he has the decency of showing what he really feels about me, unlike those fangirls…"

Naruto couldn't take away his attention from the scene that was occurring in front of him. The snide voice he had come to recognize as his rival's became a soft soprano that sounded incredibly fragile. The silence was deafening but when she started to speak once more, the delicateness of her voice seemed to break even more. The sound that emanated from her didn't suit her one bit and it didn't sit well with him.

"Why? Why did he have to kill both of you? It's unfair." Her body trembled violently as she started to sob. "Why should I be the only one to survive? It's hard…" She wailed softly. "Couldn't he have left either one or both of you alive?" Satsuki asked to no one in particular, sounding so lost and alone. She hugged herself before succumbing to the grief that, Naruto guessed, she had tried to keep in for the past few days.

He unconsciously clenched his fists when he saw this heart-wrenching scene. Even though he wanted nothing more to do than just swooping down there and envelop Satsuki in a hug, he doubted that said heiress would take kindly to that, so he quickly turned around and started to sprint home. One way or another, he will get some answers from the old man.

ナルト

After reaching his house, Naruto immediately set aside all of the leftover paint from his early pranks. After all, if they can't prove it, he can deny knowing about it. Plausible deniability has always been his best friend.

Physically and emotionally drained, he immediately took a shower, deciding to put off interrogating the old man for tomorrow.

An hour passed before he finally finished washing himself. As he started to put on some clothes, he tried hard to quell the ever-growing curiosity that bubbled up inside him, convincing himself that he was too tired to grill the old man, but to no avail.

He sighed.

Perhaps it would be better to get it over with sooner. Cursing his nosiness, he started walking to the door. As he reached for the door knob, he stopped. A knock startled him. He warily stared at his door gauging his options carefully. There were plenty of times in the past those villagers, in one of their more… 'frisky' moods, 'visited' and tried to beat him senseless. The keyword being 'tried'. Whenever they would succeed in getting in, he would always find one way or another to elude them. He didn't call himself a prank master without having contingency plans in case of things going awry. Escape routes were always a must.

"Who's there?" He asked.

"It's me, Naruto." He heard a grandfatherly voice that he identified as the Hokage's from the other side of the door. He relaxed but not by much, he was still not convinced.

"Prove it." Naruto simply commanded. If that person was who he claimed he was, there was going to be two particular words he would say.

"A hokage's word is his absolute truth." Naruto grinned and opened the door. 'Absolute truth', the old man really valued those words highly. No matter what the topic was about, the old man would occasionally brush upon that topic and he would lecture for a good thirty minutes before going back to the previous topic. Needless to say, the concept of never deceiving anyone had been ingrained into Naruto's brain, despite how against the grain the whole idea is. It must be why Iruka always scolded him for being so straight-forward all the time.

Naruto opened the door to reveal the kind old man that he long since regarded as a grandfather.

"Heya Jiji!" Naruto hugged the elderly man enthusiastically. Said elder just chuckled mirthfully in response before going inside with Naruto still attached. "What made you come by?"

Sarutobi amusedly shook his head before responding, "Well, today you were supposed to pick up your monthly allowance, and as I predicted you forgot again." Naruto's face reddened in embarrassment while the old man just laughed. "Spend it wisely now. Good night Naruto." The wizened Hokage turned around and was about to leave.

Naruto took a deep breath before exhaling nervously. This was it. There was no turning back now.

"Jiji." Naruto said in an unusually serious voice. Judging from the old man's surprise, he must have not used a serious tone that often. When the Hokage's surprise turned into rapt attention, Naruto gulped audibly. In his mind, he was frantically trying to formulate the words he wanted to say before finally deciding to go with, "Why does Satsuki henge himself into a boy?"

Silence ensued.

The stiffening of the Hokage to that question was painfully visible and Naruto knew that he touched a slightly sore subject… Who was he kidding? He stepped on a frigging landmine!

"How did you come across that information Naruto?" Sarutobi asked Naruto in a grim tone.

Naruto hesitated.

"I… I saw hi- her… sneaking around on her way home, so I decided to follow her, 'cause it looked really fishy and I also wanted to prank her. Then when she went into the Uchiha district, she went into Fugaku-san's house…" Naruto stopped as if considering whether to tell his grandfather-figure about the heart-breaking scene that he had witnessed.

"Take your time Naruto." The village leader kindly and patiently said.

"At first, I wondered why she was going in there since I remembered that Fugaku-san only had one son and with her being in a henge, I was suspicious. So I peeked in on what she was doing." Naruto absentmindedly scratched the back of his head, looking a bit pained. "When I looked in on her, she was talking to the chalk outlines of Fugaku-san and Mikoto-san… After a while, she removed her henge." Naruto clenched his fists. "She was crying Jiji."

The Hokage sighed before crouching down to Naruto's height. "It's necessary for Sasuke, or rather, Satsuki, to henge into a boy." The village leader seemed to be considering what to say next. "Have you seen the drunkards near the Uchiha district?"

Naruto nodded. Those drunkards came the night after the massacre happened and immediately started defacing the district. He remembered the rage he felt as he saw those people ruining the place he had come to consider a second home.

Before his mind got carried away with his ranting, the implications of what would happen to Satsuki had she remained looking like a girl dawned on him like a ton of bricks. He blanched a little and became even more infuriated.

"They'd abuse her…" Naruto snarled viciously.

Sarutobi winced. Naruto knew why. No child his age should have to know the word. But if considering he was constantly in said state, then it was in his best interest to know what the word meant to look out for it. It also helped that people that were around him were constantly repeating the word.

"Yes…" The Hokage stared at Naruto's seriously. "That's why, I would have to ask you to not speak a word of it to anyone, and preferably, even to Satsuki herself." Naruto nodded. He had wanted to ask another question but he held himself back, silently wondering if he was pushing his luck.

The Hokage smiled tiredly. "I'd turn in for the night, but with your fidgeting I take that you still have another question."

Naruto nodded abashedly. With trepidation he opened his mouth, but he hesitated, knowing that this subject was marginally more sensitive than the previous topic. "Why did Itachi-nii kill his clan?" He finally asked meekly.

The Hokage sighed yet again.

"I know he didn't do it because he wanted to. I saw it in his eyes." Naruto said resolutely.

Sarutobi was quiet for a moment, looking at Naruto's eyes reminiscently before laughing quietly. "You really do resemble him." He whispered to himself which confused Naruto to no end. Who did he resemble? "I don't suppose you'll let me go if I offered you a whole day's supply of ramen?"

Naruto hesitated before shaking his head vigorously. The temptation to accept the offer was great but he needed to prioritize what was important… But wasn't ramen just as importa- NO! He would not be swayed!

The weary shinobi sighed and sat down on a chair, prompting Naruto to sit on his lap. "To start, I want you to promise me that you won't tell anyone what I will divulge to you."

"I promise –ttebayo!" Naruto nodded excitedly despite the somber topic.

"Do you know what happened on the day of your birth Naruto?" Naruto tilted his head in confusion but nodded nevertheless.

"The Kyuubi attacked Konoha and the Yondaime kicked its ass!" Naruto eloquently summarised. He grinned from ear to ear. The Yondaime Hokage was his idol for being a man of great prowess, a highly respected figure, and an all-around badass. Growing up, Naruto wanted to be like him, and even wanted to surpass him. It also helped that whenever he looked at his pictures, he felt a strong sense of familiarity that overwhelmed him. It was comforting him in ways that nothing ever could and it greatly puzzled him. When he looked at that picture, he felt that he didn't need to keep up any pretense and that he could just be his own self. Not the 'demon boy', the 'academy reject', the 'deadlast', just plain old Naruto.

Sarutobi nodded somewhat hesitantly before continuing, "The villagers, thought that the Uchiha clan had a hand in bringing the Kyuubi into Konoha and-"

"But why?!" Naruto cut the Hokage off. "The Uchiha clan wouldn't do that!" Naruto protested.

"Yes, I know." The Hokage patiently acknowledged. "And there were plenty of other factors that made the Kyuubi difficult to just casually bring into the village. But the fact was that only an Uchiha was capable of controlling the Kyuubi and was therefore the primary suspect." The Hokage frowned and shook his head. "All these years, the villagers had blamed them and ostracized them from society. They only respected them begrudgingly because of their highly esteemed position and their duty as the Konoha Military Police Force."

Naruto was engrossed with the knowledge he was gaining. All those years he hung out with the clan, they never even showed any signs of worry or distress. It made him a bit ashamed of himself for never knowing anything about their circumstances. It made him feel selfish.

"Eventually, they reached a breaking point. They were fed up with the people's suspicions and started to plan a coup d'état. Thinking if I didn't do anything, they were going to take matters into their own hand."

"What?! Fugaku-san wouldn't do that!" Naruto exclaimed in protest, obviously surprised at the revelation.

"I'm sorry Naruto, but isolation can do things to people."

Naruto stared at the ground and mumbled, "It didn't do anything to me…" to which, the Hokage smiled sadly.

"You're a strong person Naruto, more than anyone I know. Don't let anyone tell you different." Sarutobi put a hand on Naruto's head and ruffled it softly. "But what was happening was getting out of hand. Something needed to be done as hope was slowly getting lost. We tried everything, but the negotiations were not going as well as I had hoped. So we had to resort to…" The Hokage stopped, his expression pained, as if trying to swallow a bitter pill.

"Jiji?" Naruto asked in concern. The Hokage just sighed, the look on his face accentuating his old age that normally didn't show.

"Naruto, you must know that I was against this and that I wasn't the one who issued the order."

Naruto tilted his head slightly in confusion. "Against what? What order?"

"My advisors thought that the negotiations to be a lost cause…" Sarutobi stared off into the distance with a frown. "They went behind my back and ordered Itachi to kill the whole clan."

Naruto's eyes widened and he felt himself getting angry. The people who were practically his family were gone because some old bats were impatient. The abject horror and wrath that he felt was overwhelming him and an unpleasant feeling started to rise from his stomach. The old man didn't seem to notice.

"But Itachi let me know about the order and pleaded with me to keep his sister safe. I tried my best to dissuade him, but he was resolute in his decision." Naruto's rage was quelled a bit but it wasn't fully sated.

"He followed through with it even though a lot of people will hate him, especially his own sister?"

"Know this Naruto. There are things in life that are imperative that one must do in order to benefit the greater good. Sometimes, it is something that anyone might not want to do; some might even consider it bizarre. That's why a lot of people choose not to do it and take the easy way out. But for the people who, instead, stray away from the norm and actually do that crazy thing, they end up being heroes, even if nobody actually knows of their deeds." The wizened leader lectured sagely.

Naruto listened intently and absorbed every word that his grandfather-figure said, his momentary lapse of anger all but forgotten.

"Itachi, in his young age, was not only wise beyond his years. He was one of the most selfless people ever to be born on this world. He gave up everything in his name in order to see peace prosper. He detached himself from the people he loved the most to ensure what was best for the greater good." Sarutobi finished.

Naruto was silent for a while as he tried to understand what was said to him. While he could now see why, he still could not see how Itachi was able to go through with it. He probably would not be able to bear being separated from his precious people; for Itachi to do it so readily astounded him and it made him respect his older brother figure even more.

They were silent for a while. A plethora of emotions and thoughts were whirling inside Naruto, but the foremost idea and question that stuck out from the rest was: why? Surely, they must have known that he was the village pariah. After all, the villagers were never ones to shy away from loudly announcing their hatred for him. So with his unpopularity in mind, why would they even help him out if they themselves were not liked by the general populace? His presence around them would only serve to increase the distrust and dislike of the villagers for them.

"Jiji… why did they help me out? Why were they kind to me." Sarutobi started at the question, though from the look on his face, it was not entirely out of surprise. He looked a bit sad and pitying. Once again, Naruto knew why. He'd hazard a guess that no other child had ever asked about the nature of kindness. Nevertheless, his gaze transformed into a kind smile.

"It's because they understand the feeling of being ostracized. But, while they at least had each other, you had no one to turn to. So they took it upon themselves to show you that you had somebody. For that, I am eternally grateful to them. They also did it as a favor to your parents." As soon as the last sentence left Sarutobi's mouth, he regretted it. The look on Naruto's face as soon as his parents were mentioned was heart-breaking just from the sheer desperation.

"Jiji… Can't you tell me who they were?" He begged the old shinobi.

"Naruto, I know that you really want to know, but please understand that I cannot." The Hokage looked sad but steadfast in his decision.

"But why?" Naruto asked, his voice wavering. The whole day had already been an emotional roller coaster for him especially when they got into the subject of families. Throughout the years of his life, whenever he'd see a family have a walk in the park, his heart would clench in jealousy. It had dampened somewhat when his surrogate family came into his life, but now that they were all gone, he felt lost and overwhelmed. Now he couldn't even get the identity of his real parents?

"Your parents had made countless enemies when they were still alive."

"Then I won't say anything!" Naruto promised. "Please Jiji, I just want to know who they were…" his voice became quieter towards the end. He lowered his head to hide the tears that were falling from his eyes.

The Hokage was silent for a while before sighing. "Let's make a compromise. Once you become a genin, I'll tell you who your parents are." At that, Naruto reluctantly nodded. "And once again, you must promise that you won't tell anyone who they are."

Naruto nodded once more. He was still upset that he would not be able to find out who his parents were immediately but that was as good as he was going to get at the moment.

Sarutobi finally stood up and ruffled Naruto's hair. "Ok, now go to sleep. Good night Naruto." Naruto nodded as the Hokage finally left.

ナルト

The following day would be marked as one of the darkest days in Naruto's life. When the news of the massacre reached his ears, all he felt was shock, but as he stared at the heart-breaking amount of coffins scattered across the field, the reality crashed on him.

The people that he had come to regard as his family were gone….

He wouldn't let himself appear unhappy before them. That's why he wouldn't sob. And the droplet that he felt streaming from his eyes was just the rain. It was just the rain.

He stood last in a line of people offering their words of farewell and their condolences to the last remaining Uchiha. There were many who came, but far too few actually cared. What surprised him out of all the people who actually did care was the Hyuuga clan leader, Hiashi. Despite his rigid posture and stoic demeanor, if one were to look closely, tears would be seen streaming endlessly. Ironic, considering their long-standing arguments.

He stepped forward as the one before him offered a condolence to the Sasuke. Of all the numerous condolence, only a few actually meant it. And judging from the way Sasuke twitched when it was said, he knew.

When he stepped up the platform, he saw the guy he just passed by shoot him a look of disgust but didn't actually do anything. If there was one thing that he was thankful for that day, it was that nobody did anything towards the 'demon'.

"Hey everyone… I just wanna say… thanks for everything you've done for me… You all took me in and treated me like family even if your already bad reputation would be even more slandered. You were the ones that kept me going and gave me hope when I had no more… For that, I will never forget you." Naruto struggled to hold in his tears but he couldn't keep the quiver from his voice. He turned towards his classmate.

Sasuke was trembling. His bangs covered his face so it was difficult to see if he was crying or not. But Naruto knew that Sasuke's never-ending pursuit to appear strong would prevent the Uchiha from crying, so he held it in. And it wasn't exactly healthy.

After a few moments of deliberation, Naruto sighed and cursed himself. He knew that his next action would probably make the following days a living hell and that it would earn him the ire of a village-worth of people, but… if it was for his precious people, albeit a little unorthodox, he would do anything.

"Hey teme." Sasuke looked up curiously. Then what Naruto did next was probably the dumbest thing that he had ever done thus far. He punched Sasuke squarely on the jaw, making him fall.

Gasps and shouts of outrage was heard throughout the field as Sasuke rubbed his jaw in pain and glared at Naruto, ready to lash out in retaliation.

Naruto beat him to the punch saying, "If you're going to cry, then do it." He held out his hand, offering to help the Uchiha stand up. "There's no shame in crying about losing someone they love right? Besides, I can't have my rival killing himself because of pent-up frustrations, can I?"

Sasuke looked astonished and then he smiled. It wasn't a smirk, but a smile, a genuine smile. It was the first smile he ever gave ever since the massacre.

"Tch, dobe." Naruto heard Sasuke insult him but with an underlying tone of gratefulness hidden. Tears started to well up in Sasuke's eyes as he took Naruto's offered hand and pulled himself up. Once he was standing, Sasuke whispered a very quiet 'thank you' that only he heard.

"Don't think that this is going to be a regular thing teme…" Naruto said smiling. "But for what it's worth, I'm sorry for your loss…" And he really meant it.

As soon as he said his piece, he quickly jumped away from the service, not bothering to stay and wait for the mass burial. Because of his brash actions, he probably won't be even welcome anymore. Really, the absurd things he does to make people happy.

"Oh well." He sighed with a heavy heart. While he won't get to see them off, he was at least grateful for being able to say all he wanted to before not being able to see their faces ever again. "You better be grateful for this teme." He grumbled to himself as he continued to search for a place to hide from the inevitable 'demon' hunt.

No matter how much he whined about what happened however, the peculiar feeling that he had ever since his interaction with Sasuke never faded. It wasn't bad. In fact he was… happy?

Eventually, he found a safe place on top of the Hokage Monument where he lied on the head of the Yondaime. He didn't know why but the place was oddly comforting.

As he stared longer at the stars, he thought he could make out some faces. In confusion, he rubbed his eyes because he could swear that in the vast evening sky, he could make out an image of a spiky-haired man and a long-haired woman smiling down at him proudly, and it made him feel great.

'Maybe' He thought. 'This day wasn't so bad after all.' He closed his eyes as he slowly drifted away with a light heart and a smile on his face.

(Flashback End)

ナルト

He pocketed his forehead protector and gazed back at the stars. He smiled happily when he noticed that the heavens were smiling down at him proudly as they did that night and if he were to be honest with himself, it made all the troubles that he had gone throughout his life worth it.

He sighed contentedly and started to close his eyes. He didn't want to bother going back to his house. That night, he was satisfied with just sleeping under the stars where they would watch over him diligently and lovingly.

ナルト

This was just another fic that popped into my head while I was bored out of my mind and I just HAD to write it.

Constructive Criticisms are encouraged.

Oh yeah, do take note that whenever Satsuki is in a henge, in Naruto's and General POV, she will be referred to as a 'he'. While in Satsuki's POV, no matter what, she will always refer to herself as a 'she'. Just in case anyone would get confused.

Revision: 3/28/2016: Added approximately 2000 words.