A New Dawn

'Naruto...I've always been chasing after you,'

Looking over to his left he watched the sun sink out on the horizon. The sky was slowly swinging from its regular baby blue to a wine red as he waited outside, hoping for someone to come out soon.

'I always chased after you...I wanted to catch up to you,'

When no one came, he turned, walking over to the swing that stood beside him, he had built it for them.

'You helped me find the right path,'

Lowering himself onto the seat he looked over at the tree that held the swing. It towered over him, stretching high up into the sky; it's branches were long and strong, easily capable of holding up a man like Naruto with ease. Putting out his hand he felt the rough bark underneath his fingertips, the coarse texture had built up over the years of the tree's lifetime.

When he was a kid, Naruto would come to this tree, climbing up it until he was hidden away from everyone in the branches and leaves. It was a place where he was safe. No one could find him here. No one, nothing, could hurt him there. Oh how he wished she could have come up here with him.

'I wanted to walk beside you all the time, I just wanted to be with you.'

Taking his hand off the bark he looked over his shoulder as the door to the building opened, revealing a very tired friend of his. Her usual vibrant hot pink hair had flattened and dulled and when he squinted his eyes he could make out her lined and tired face.

Getting up off the swing he watched as she slowly made her way over to him and as she got closer he noticed her eyes, the tears welling within them. But he didn't want to.

"No..."

Unable to utter anything else all he could do was stand in shock as she put her arms around him and sobbed loudly into his shoulder. Her chest heaving as she balled her hands into fists, squeezing tightly on his orange shirt and before she could even say it, he knew.

She was gone.

Pushing Sakura out of the way he ran towards the door. She'll be on the other side and everything will be okay, this is just some joke, a stupid fucking joke, he thought, unable to stop hoping against hope.

Grabbing the door knob he threw the door open and ran straight into...

'An old green coat?'

Sinking to his knees he held tightly onto the hem of her coat and slowly looked up into Tsunade's eyes. Not being able to look away he watched as tears slowly started to well in her eyes and she moved to the side, allowing him to look inside...but he couldn't.

His princess….gone?

"I'm so sorry Naruto, we tried everything we could, but it just didn't work, her body rejected all of it." Her words were like solid, super-enhanced punches she was well known for aimed right for his gut. He couldn't breathe.

Unable to look at her anymore he dropped his head, his heart dropping further and for a moment he was still, then his heart finally broke and a feeling of numbness consumed him.

"S-She has to be alive r-r-r-right Tsunade-shishou?" He already knew the answer, but he wanted her to say otherwise. He knew what it was like to lose people. Yes he knew very well what it was like, but this was different, it wasn't supposed to be her. They were supposed to be together forever.

She could only bite her lip, breaking eye contact with him. "I'm sorry Naruto, I've failed you."

At that moment he truly knew she was gone, and like his lover's, his heart stopped as it had only beaten for her. His mind went black, and his heart followed soon, and loyally, after.

He balled up his hands into fists, digging his nails into his skin until he felt himself bleed. This was nothing compared to how he felt from losing her, his one and only love. It's like all the pain he's ever felt in his entire time on this planet just slammed right back into him, ten fold. It was so painful and yet he felt nothing. It was like a humming in all of the cells in his body. Like even the smallest bits of himself were screaming in pain and agony, and yet he somehow didn't have enough of himself to let it all out.

Letting go of her coat he slowly got up, tiny drops of blood were curving over the coarse texture of his palm and dripping onto his black pants.

"Excuse me..."

Pushing past her he walked into the house where he had brought her earlier. Earlier when she was okay and nothing seemed wrong.

'If only I had known then.'

Rounding the corner into her room he realized something.

'This world is cruel.'

Falling onto his knees he instantly connected with the man that stood next to her body: Hiashi Hyuga.

Slow desolate tears ran from his unblinking eyes and dripped steadily onto his robes.

'Hiashi-sama is crying?' Breaking away his eyes traveled down from the man's face until they rested on her.

'Hinata-chan looks so beautiful...' Was all he could think of think of, and then something struck him.

'Why can I no longer cry...?'

May 25th one year ago today, he was named the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village.

Naruto had exceeded almost everyone's expectations. Iruka had always claimed to have believed he'd make it; if you'd known the late toad sage as well, you would know he had been behind Naruto, too. But who could believe that the boy that the village initially hated would end up beating Neji, the Hyuga Prodigy and saving the village from Gaara, "…then he even saved the village again from Pain!" The young man spoke enthusiastically to his younger brother who had just learned how to speak, catching the attention of a passerby who just smiled as he passed them.

His smile quickly turned to a frown though as he thought of the Hokage in question. 'Yet he hasn't been seen out of his office in how many weeks now? Ever since…' He halted his thought, not wanting to focus too long on such a morbid topic.

Kicking the dirt on the ground up, he scowled, a rare show of emotion from the usually unenthusiastic man as he thought of his own failure. As his advisor, personal guard and close friend, the brown haired strategist felt that he should be able to say something to ease his friend's pain but nothing came to him. At least nothing that was sympathetic, or perhaps delicate, enough for this sort of situation. Shaking his head in annoyance he quickly straightened himself out, making sure his tactical green jounin vest was in place as he made his way into the academy.

Passing by various leaf-nin who had either just come back or were just leaving for missions he silently made his way into the Administrative division of the Academy. Offering a quick knock to let Naruto know he was coming in, Shikamaru Nara opened the door to the Hokage's office, closing it behind him he turned to face the Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki.

Looking around the room Shikamaru noted the multiple books and scrolls that lay opened on the ground, some of the pages in the books seemed to be missing. Crouching down he picked up a book that lay upside down, obscuring the title. Holding it carefully he turned it around and examining the title, it read "The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi…"

"Sorry about the mess Shikamaru." The familiar voice said, startling Shikamaru who dropped the book on his foot, causing him to curse quietly and rub his foot before speaking.

"It's quite okay Hokage-sama, I just-"

"How many times do I have to tell you Shikamaru?" Naruto slammed his fist down on the desk in anger before realizing how he just acted. "Just...call me Naruto, we've known each other long enough." He rubbed his forehead in pain, the yelling not helping his headache.

"Hai Naruto." Shikamaru mumbled before approaching the young Hokage and summoning a large pile of paperwork. "The wife has requested I drop these off, they're starting to clutter the place and her nagging has gotten a bit...troublesome."

"Sorry about that, Shikamaru," He didn't know whether the blond was apologizing about yelling at him or about the papers and he wasn't going to ask. Instead he watched as Naruto came over and picked up the pile of papers, putting them under his desk before taking a seat, motioning for his friend to do the same.

Taking his own seat opposite of Naruto's desk, Shikamaru laid a scroll out, causing Naruto to lean forward in attempt to see what was on it before Shikamaru could read off of it.

"We've gotten word from Iwa and Kumo of increasing attacks on settlements in the countryside, they're requesting assistance in these matters as all possible efforts to eliminate these bandits have so far resulted in no progress being made.

'Click'

Continuing on Shikamaru moved to the next bit of news "Gaara is also requesting a meeting between Suna and Konoha. Their water supply is running low and he is willing to allow us to host the next Chunin Exams instead of them if we are able to supply them with a steady amount of water, at least until their drought has ended."

'Click'

Sighing, Shikamaru continued on from the scroll, noting that he wasn't even halfway down the stupid thing. "The Fire Daimyo is requesting an escort as he makes his way through the…" As he continued reading he turned his attention to Naruto, noting the fact that he wasn't even looking at Shikamaru anymore, instead opting to gaze out the window.

Stopping his exciting job of reading the news he cleared his throat, hoping to grab the Hokage's attention yet failing. It was obvious by the blue eyed man's far away look that he had been zoned out for a while, succeeding in furthering to irk the black haired man. He didn't want to read this off any more than the blond wanted to hear about it. But it was their job and Shikamaru couldn't say anything, he never could, his friend was a lot more volatile now than he was years ago, ever since the loss of Hinata.

Pushing his seat out Shikamaru made his way around the desk, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Hokage's eyes he decided to stand next to him and wait, hoping his friend would notice.

'Those eyes...they've lost what made people infatuated with Naruto, what made people want to support him, they've become...dull.'

Slipping his hands into his pockets he pulled out a lighter, the one he was given when Asuma died and started flipping it open and snapping it back down in a repetitive motion until Naruto's voice broke him out of his own trance.

"What was that Shikamaru?" Naruto looked at his friend who was momentarily startled.

Pushing his lighter into the bottom of his pocket, he pulled his hands out and ran them through his hair in annoyance. "Just some news, nothing special," he sighed as his friend relaxed in his seat, visibly thankful for not having to deal with the daily news and decisions.

"Oh...okay," the Hokage turned his attention back towards the window and Shikamaru knew he wasn't going to get any further today. They were thankfully things that they had a bit of time to wait on before an answer was needed.

Turning away from his friend Shikamaru grabbed the scroll of the desk, sealing it away before making his way out the door.

As he opened the door he was sadly surprised to see Hanabi on the other side, about to open the door that he stood in.

He knew why she was here, to complain, but he appreciated the fact that she hadn't gotten here as early as she did last time. It would always end up a shouting match between her and Naruto, their voices heard loud and clear throughout the entire building, like they didn't care if people heard him, truth be told he could tell they didn't. If Shikamaru didn't care about either one of them he would have stayed and watched, but he instantly made his discomfort evident to her.

Scowling up at him, she pushed past and made her way into the office.

Shikamaru just shook his head and made his way out of the building "How troublesome," he muttered under his breath as he made way back onto the bustling streets of Konoha, the sun setting in the far distance.

Slamming the door behind her she stepped into the Hokage's office and turned to the man. Drilling a glare into his back she walked straight up to him before planting her hands on the desk, knocking a few papers to the floor as she did and most importantly gaining Naruto's attention.

"I want to know why you aren't letting Sai-sensei send me on any missions!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air in frustration.

Naruto crossed his arms in response, leaning back against his chair "Your sensei has reported to me multiple times of your inability to follow his commands."

"How am I supposed to listen to that prick? He's always so cheery and acting like he's the captain." She responded back, frustration evident in the way she was speaking. Twin black eyebrows came together tightly, forming a crease between white eyes.

"He is your captain, and until you can show me that you are willing to listen to him I will not be allowing you on any missions. I mean, who fails in finding a cat?" His own voice starting to show evidence of anger as he rose from his seat, planting his hands on the table.

"Gahh!" Turning around she made her way towards the door, not wanting to listen to his blabbering as her small hands balled into fists "You're just giving these worthless tasks to me because of-"

Before she could finish he was in front of her, books and papers were flying off the shelves as he stopped her from leaving. "Don't finish that sentence…she has nothing to do with this." On one end his voice was as hard as diamonds, his eyes flashing a dark red, on the other his voice was soft, barely audible, and carrying a great deal of pain. It was as if there was an internal war going on in the troubled Hokage, he wanted to be furious with her, but on the other end he never could...

She could have sworn she saw red in his eye for a fraction of a second before immediately reverting back to normal. 'Just like back then...' She cursed under her breath, waiting for him to move out of the way before pushing past him like she did coming in.

"I hate you Naruto Uzumaki."

Watching as she barreled past him, he waited until she was no longer in his sight before shutting the door behind him and sinking to the floor. Putting his arms around his knees he decided to just bury his head inbetween and let silence consume him. 'I'm so sorry Kurama...' He thought remorsefully, not having meant to call upon his friend's rage in his confrontation with the infuriating young girl.

'It's okay boy,' Kurama says, curling up in a ball in Naruto's mindscape. Big black cat-like pupils expand again as his fur settles, the anger from his Jinchuriki all but gone.

Pulling his head up after who knows how long, he surveyed his office, taking in the scrolls, books, ink, and paper that covered his floor, not to mention the broken computer that lay in the corner of the room. 'Guess I should start cleaning.' He thought begrudgingly.

Pushing himself off the floor he began the long process of cleaning the cluttered room up, yet as he started something vaguely suspicious caught his attention. Walking over to the object he bent down and scooped it off the floor before flipping through it. "Huh," he muttered as he flipped through the pages, not one of them was written on but as he flipped the book over to the front he understood why. 'The Tale of Naruto Uzumaki' Inflicted an all too familiar pain onto him.

Leaving the Academy, she turned her thoughts to the Hokage 'Stupid, stupid, stupid man' Kicking the wall of the Academy she hissed out in pain, trying to block it out she ran home until she the pain became too much. Finding a spot to rest, she hid underneath the awning of a storefront.

Taking off her shoe she gently massaged her foot, blowing on it as if it would stop the stinging pain that raged in her injured appendage.

'This is all your fault,' She thought bitterly, looking across the street she noticed an advertisement with the man who she was currently thinking of on it.

'Come and visit Ramen Ichiraku!' It said "It's my favorite place to eat in the whole city!" Was scrawled next to Naruto's mouth, making it seem like he said it, which he did.

'He took Hinata there on their first date.'

She leaned her head against the building and closed her eyes, exhaling as her mind was quickly flooded with conflicting views of the man yet there was one thing she was sure of.

'You killed my sister, and I will never forgive you for it.'

Author's Note

So hey everyone, how are you doing? I hope I was able to grab your interest from this first chapter, as it's probably the one I've gone back and revised the most and I hope it shows in my writing. I hope you enjoyed and that you're looking forward to the rest of this very difficult journey for our main protagonist.

ALSO

Big thank you to my beta who really helped me clean up this first chapter!

AND

Please leave a review and follow if you'd like, no hard feelings either way.

Next Chapter!

Hanabi: What are we doing out here Sai?

Sai: I'll tell you if you can call me Sai-sensei once.

Hanabi: Urgh…..No.

Sai: Pretty please?

Hanabi: No.