The self proclaimed 'future Hokage' of 12 years found himself standing at the edge of the fourth Hokages' tribute on the Hokage monument, looking down on the village of Konhagakure with an unnatural expression of calm and serenity, that looked oddly out of place on the loud prankster shinobi want to be. His earphones fit snugly in his ears trailing from the handheld radio he was carrying in his hand, the station was playing a slow, unfamiliar tune the boy couldn't have been less interested in. No, all the child could think of now was how he was scared to go home at night, scared of the villagers, the mobs, even the teachers typically meant to protect him at school. Though his face remained an impassive mask, Naruto could feel a tear stream down his cheek as he considered the rest of his life. He knew that becoming Hokage was a joke in the beginning, but now he had come to the point were he could hardly imagine dealing with the rest of his life, at 12 he already had to beg for his life on a regular basis, and shocked many attempted killers that he remained alive. Naruto laughed in spite of himself, he knew that his healing ability wasn't normal by any stretch of the imagination, but though he couldn't understand why, he had to assume it was some kind of divine joke. Some god decided to give him the "blessing" so that he can withstand viscous beatings and mortal wounds so he could experience them again when he left the hospital. Naruto took a deep breath through his nose and released it slowly, the air was crisp, dry and the scenery was beautiful. The sun waited at the crest of the horizon, blessing the day with a majestic display of a pink and purple sky slowly fading into a deep orange border, despite the scenery, another tear streamed it's way down Narutos' other cheek. Though any other time this was what he waited for, he couldn't pay attention to the natural beauties he could always appreciate standing on his sanctuary. Naruto looked down, it was a long way to the ground from here, a long way to what was certainly a quick death. Naruto was unaware of a pair of worried eyes at his back, unaware of a single soul that not only cared about him, but perhaps could have saved him from the depression he felt, though the owner of the eyes was just as unaware they could make an impact. Naruto took one deep breath, one, last deep breath, before he took a step out, and leaned forward as though he was stepping into a solid footing, and fell forward. Time slowed down; the young blonde could feel the wind through his hair, the constant and increasing pressure pressing against his body as he fell faster. Naruto slowly turned his body to face the monument that was steadily distancing itself from him and turned his lip up into a smile. Though he was mildly surprised to see a body stand on the head of the fourth Hokage from where he had just fallen, his smile did not falter, he instead slowly lifted his hand and waved. As he closed his eyes he took a moment to pay attention to the song he was listening to, the last thing he would hear.
I feel myself slowly fade,
Never knowing you,
Perhaps I'll know you,
Perhaps I'll reach you,
In the afterlife, the only life I've left to go to.
Narutos smile deepened.
ooooo
The solid white eyes widened in shock, gradually transforming into a horrifying recognition as they saw the object of their affection slowly step forward to fall from the mountain he was standing on. Tears streamed from the corners of her eyes as she dashed from the nearby foliage to take the position of the boy she was watching only moments earlier. Her heart was pounding furiously but she couldn't seem to make her legs move fast enough, her breathing was labored and slow to her ears, even though her lungs felt like she was breathing quickly, panicking. She reached the monument where her idol was just standing, tears staining her cheeks and panic quickly gripping and freezing her limbs in place. As she watched him drop, slowly, impossibly slowly, she saw his hand raise to flick back and forth as though he was waving goodbye.
"Naruto" Hinata whispered.