Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or even the cover image, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto and mario-reg.

It's me, me who? Me uh…never mind, I'm just the guy who doesn't own Naruto.

Be mindful this chapter is not what it is or what you think it may be, e.g., the fixed ending of the story. It will not even have a bearing on the actual story. It is 'something' but not 'everything'. Get it? So do not jump to conclusions and go 'oh but why start with the ending' on me. If you don't happen to like it altogether, well...

Enjoy if you will. If you wish to you can merely skip it but it will not make much of a difference however. Its just one of those things you know.

●Requiem for sorrow●

A large cloud of dust was picked up, large chips of debris falling in agonizing slow motions as darkness like no other hung overhead.

She stood starkly motionless, the falling slabs of ruffled and destroyed earth reflecting within her dazed orange orbs. Her gaze was honed in on the falling body of a blond young warrior, his spiky haired golden locks ruffling with slow splashing movements against his face, his once hard and weary eyes closed while a peaceful exterior rested on his face.

She just stood there, time seemingly lessened by a few factors for she dared not wish to believe her eyes were deceiving her or playing tricks on her. A short-lived heartbeat was drawn into a long thumping echo, her tense posture and eyes staring on with well found disbelief, a hint of fear and strangely enough, hope alit and burning wildly in them.

Utter sea of utter chaos surrounded her as gargantuan roots and the densest forestry encompassed them, while bonfires and stray remnants of Katon Njinjutsu slowly ate away at wood or charged remains of the deceased and the earth, whilst the phantom tone of angels reverberated across the wide battlefield as a sorrowful requiem hummed along with the darkened atmosphere and grumpy heavens. The smell of death was suffocating, and thousands upon thousands of prone bodies lay strewn across the ground, their numbers terrifying and staggeringly blood-curdling.

The blond man, clad in a long sparkling white cloak with red clouds, a high collar and a darkened interior with the Senju clan marking on his back, continued his descent to the ground, his ruffling hair alit with a bright glow that was in all truth, natural, while his body descended to the ground sedately as if being lowered down by some godly measure or gravity or countless hands of angels.

Just before he could meet the ground with a harsh impact, she moved, her badly torn, dark high collared cloak with red clouds a stark contrast from his own. Drawing her hands, she wound them around his badly bleeding and bruised form. He fixed her with a stare and did the most shocking thing she never expected of him, out of the belief that he was incapable of conjuring up something so humanely, he smiled. It was not the condescending smirk or vicious grin he would spot when relishing a battle or facing down an adversary, but a true heartfelt and glowing smile.

Her once cold heart melted at his smile, feeling her world light up. She caressed his cheek as he just stared up at her, almost as if disbelieving his own actions and forever lost in the bright twitch on his dry lips. "It's over, you did it." She hushed softly as she used her thumb to wipe the crimson stains off his whiskered cheeks.

"H-Heh, O-of course." He said with a hoarse voice, his sentences coming out haggard and broken.

She observed as his smile never faltered, his hand lifting to her own face with great effort, lightly brushing against her milky pale, soft cheek. She leaned into his weak touch, her eyes closing in contentment and sorrow of what was to come. His chest heaved as throat tearing wild coughs escaped his lips, blood splashing against the ground, creating wet patches of glistening red and causing her heart to sink even further as she felt his warm, yet weak touch slowly losing its strength and cooling with each beating second against her skin. She opened her eyes to stare at his young visage, not yet willing to believe the harsh fate he was bound to inevitably meet shortly.

His eyes were only just partly open, sharp azure blues that she could just drown in for endless days; staring up at her with warmth she had always thought him ineffective of mustering, but one which she now recognized belonged there. "I…" another wild fit of coughs disrupted his speech, while she inwardly remarked within the confines of her mind the clearly vulnerable look in his eyes, the sincerity carried in them just further elevating her sorrow. He stopped coughing, forcing and commanding his consciousness to hold on a little bit longer and resisting the will of the soul starved Shinigami through sheer willpower which did not surprise her in the slightest, and it was very much like him. "I'm s-sorry." He began, as his fingers kept brushing against her cheek while he fixed his glossy eyed, sorrowful gaze on her. "I-if….only I could stay longer I would do so…f-for y-your sakes." He gave a bittersweet smile as his eyes closed briefly. "However, m-my journey…ends h-here. My…m-my p-purpose is n-no ll-onger. I nn-ow…have to c-confront my sins a-and repent for my d-deeds."

She listened on entranced by his maturity and wisdom but yet with a heavy heart as he finally unfurled the tight clot of emotions, regret and guilt he withheld for an unhealthy number of years. She was glad to see this side of him, having only glimpsed at it on only a few occasions, intimate occasions that were, but there was just one thing missing. One small thing she wished to hear him admit, to hear him confess.

"I…I do…" he began simply before his hand slumped and his eyes closed as he uttered one final breath as death claimed him. "Love you, Konan." He finished.

Her heart soared with bittersweet happiness as acceptance welled within her heavy heart. She pulled his prone figure flush against her chest while she stared at the man with whom she had shared many memories, unpleasant and scarring ones that is, with. He was an enigma, who had taken her life and whirled it around. He was a student of hers, an enemy who, she had loathed with every fibre of her being and finally a lover. She never understood how it was that they came to be the latter, nor did she comprehend how it was he had commandeered complete anarchy and, tearing her friends' dreams apart ruthlessly and bringing the world to its knees, but he had. She supposed it was because of who he was; a person with the will and heart to accomplish whatever it was he wished. She slowly felt warm tears stinging the corners of her eyes at losing him, while she gripped his cool body tightly against her own and battling to keep the dam of tears from bursting. He had invaded her world, forced himself into her heart and now he had left her.

She glanced up as she felt countless thumping steps edging toward her direction. She didn't bother to look as her eyes immediately returned to the serene features of her deceased lover. She felt as a feminine shadow loomed over her knelt form, before a hand clasped on her shoulder tightly and comfortingly and she looked up with some small amount of surprise to meet the figure of a light-skinned, blonde haired woman with a robust figure and enviable chest regarding her with a solemn and teary brown-eyed stare.

"He's gone…" Konan muttered absently with a blank tone, her voice displaying her uncertainty and denial of that simple fact. Tsunade nodded as she looked at Naruto's motionless figure within Konan's hands, a lone tear trailing down her cheek.

Behind the two women stood a mass of men and women in torn and scarred Shinobi clothing, nearing thousands in numbers who all fell to their knees in the sign of allegiance. "Senju-sama." They all proclaimed loudly, their heads bowed unbelievably low as they faced the ground. Konan knew to whom they were referring to, not the blond woman beside her knelt figure, but herself. It was his name and unofficially hers. He had left her with a daunting task and for that she cursed him. She blinked the tears away as she patted Tsunade's hand to assure her she felt better before she drew on a regal posture. Resting Naruto's head against the ground lightly and gazing at him one last time, she shifted her gaze to the masses of Shinobi all on their knees.

She recognized that this was it, the long awaited moment of truth. They all had done it their duty and now it was time for her to play her part, as the final student of Jiraiya. Her sibling students were children of prophecy, destined to save the world from itself. They were not the ones who would lead it into a prosperous free world however, she was.

It had always been her it seemed, and Naruto recognized that.

Her eyes hardened like the toughest steel as she levelled the thousands of Shinobi forces with a stern gaze, the present morphing into the impending future within her mind, a future paved by the hands of their friends.

"I declare the fourth Shinobi world war officially over."