Hey there! Thanks for reading what is, as far as I know, the first Naruto story inspired by the band Mumford & Sons. If you haven't already, you should check them out because they're amazing. Anyway, here's how this is going to work. Each chapter is inspired by a different song from their album, Sigh No More. Some will be sad, some happy. Their formats will vary, as will their subject matter. These aren't really connected, they are simply my take on certain aspects of the Narutoverse. Anyway, Chapter 1: After the Storm.

I will die alone and be left there.
Well I guess I'll just go home,
Oh God knows where.
Because death is just so full and man so small.
Well I'm scared of what's behind and what's before.

Three times love did not prevail.

Jiraiya loved Tsunade

He had since they were genin, and continued to do so until he died with her name on his lips. When he was young, he expressed his feelings the only way an unloved orphan knew: insults and annoyances. As he matured, so did his feelings and determination until he started asking Tsunade to date him. She said no. He let her be, and the team's dynamic was more or less unchanged…

…Until the war began again. Tsunade learned to take comfort where it was offered, and so their relationship began. But she never loved Jiraiya the way he loved her, and she was still empty on the inside. So she started seeing a jounin, Dan, on the side. When she realized that Dan was the right man for her, she told Jiraiya. That was when Tsunade did what some of the most powerful people on the continent had failed to do in the past: extinguish Jiraiya's inner fire.

In a way, she created the infamous drunken pervert that Naruto met during his first Chuunin Exam. In a way, she created the impossibly powerful shinobi that he was. Her rejection ate at Jiraiya his whole life, and some part of his mind was constantly trying to figure out what Dan had that he didn't. He immersed himself in the ninja arts to forget his feelings, and created an unrivaled intelligence network and a legend that would live on long after his death, even the fall of Konohagakure.

In a way, she killed him. If she was not the Fifth Hokage, he would have never gone into Rain. If she loved him, he would have never taken that mission, trusting his network; his sense of self-sacrifice would have been for the village instead, leading him to accept the Hokage position himself and serving his nation, not swearing a secret oath to one single person. He would have never felt worthless as he did at his end. Worthless as he felt every single day he saw her.

Hinata loved Naruto

He was her rock. He was her inspiration. When he saved the village from Pein's invasion, the only thing that mattered was that he saved her. He fought for her. He was strong, confident, energetic, and most of all, happy. By the time they graduated from the Academy she knew all the facts about him: his birthday, height, weight, academic record, and even the truth behind everyone's cold indifference towards him. Her Hyuuga logic refused to let her think that he was anything other than a boy. Her admiring infatuation, however, made her think that he was so much more.

But, in the end, she was nothing but a fangirl. She knew his history, but not his present. She knew his record of failure at the Academy, not how he had improved so drastically under Iruka's care. She didn't know how he cried himself to sleep for lack of a family. She didn't know the root of his Hokage aspirations, that he just wanted to make his surrogate grandfather proud. She didn't know how weak he thought he was, his disappointment, his simple confident act. She didn't know the person, only the idea of the person.

When she heard that Naruto died in his final fight, she lost herself. People would often see her aimlessly wandering through the streets, stopping by all of Naruto's old haunts. Hinata resigned from active duty a year later. Hiashi arranged a marriage for her, as was custom for retired clan kunoichi.

As she stared into her reflection in her knife's blade the night before her wedding, she thought of her love and whispered, "You won't be alone anymore."

Neji found the body. Two weeks later, Hanabi found his. Hanabi became the clan Heiress and the Hyuuga clan never ended the use of the Caged Bird Seal.

Sakura loved Sasuke/Naruto loved Sakura

Sakura had always feared being alone. She grew up in the orphanage after her merchant parents were killed by bandits when she was less than a year old. Sakura was well-liked at the orphanage for her low-key demeanor and fantastic cooking skills. However none of her age group left to join the shinobi academy with her, and she was teased relentlessly by groups of children who had known each other since they were toddlers. All from respected families. How dare this unknown orphan intrude on the most respected profession in the village? They thought they were doing her a favor. After all, the academy was serious business. This little pink-haired child would only hurt herself. And for the longest time, she believed them. Sakura would trudge home everyday to the orphanage, miserable and on the verge of all changed the day Uchiha Sasuke walked through the classroom door.

She broke off her friendship with the only person who cared: Yamanaka Ino. Sakura declared that they were rivals for the Uchiha scion's love and could not be friends anymore. At first it was just a silly ploy to become more popular. She didn't even really like the boy. But as time passed, she immersed herself further and further into her act until she could not tell where it ended and she began. Eventually, her act consumed her. She forgot about her first true friend. She forgot about the kids at the orphanage that she left behind when she bought her own apartment on a genin's paycheck. Haruno Sakura stopped visiting her parents' graves. Sasuke was her life now, and she would sacrifice anything and anyone to achieve her goal.

This was something nobody ever really knew: Sakura loved Sasuke so much that when she confronted him on his way out of the village with the Sound Four, she had been planning to leave with him until he knocked her unconscious. Her plan so derailed, she turned to Naruto, begging him to bring her Sasuke back. After that failure she decided that she would have to get strong enough to bring back her love. Even then, after subsequent years of training under the legendary medic Tsunade, she was still unable to bring him back, as proven by the thorough beating she received at his hands. Only Naruto had the power to do anything about it, so she put on a new act, one of love towards Naruto. And, the simpleton that he was, he bought it completely. Then he broke his promise. He killed Sasuke. KILLED HIM. Her love was gone. But Sakura had her revenge. As Naruto's personal medic after Tsunade's passing, she pretended to treat him but really poisoned him. She used his obvious love for her to get in close and she took her revenge for her one true love.

With Naruto gone, she was the only apprentice to the Sannin left, and thus she was selected to become the Seventh Hokage. Her first act was to declare Uzumaki Naruto a traitor to Konohagakure for the murder of the last "loyal" Uchiha. Her second act was to remove his name from the Memorial Stone. Her third act was was to dissolve the position of Hokage, turn all power to the council, and retire as Uchiha Sakura.

When news of this reached Sunagakura and Kumogakure years later the Fourth Great Shinobi War began. The lines fell as Suna, Kumo, Kiri, and Iwa allied with each other against the generally detested Konoha. The greatest village fell in a week and was never rebuilt.