The rain had fallen heavily the night before, giving the air a fresh smell to it. The clouds still hung low though, still grey and murky. The sky reflected the bleakness that seemed to surround the entire village. Weak sunlight poured through, creating a strange twilight like atmosphere. It was the day on which time itself had stopped. Nothing was happening today, the entire village's day to day activity would restart tomorrow, but nothing would ever be the same. Something would be missing, something that had brought the streets, the whole village to life, and something that would never return, despite how many people wished and hoped. A part of the village had died that day.

A figure dressed in black walked through the silent streets, her pink hair heavily contrasting to the greyness that had settled in the surrounding air. A single tear rolled from her green eyes, down her cheek, splashing onto the pavement below. Her arms hung limply at her sides as she walked up to a door in an apartment block. Her hand reached out for the handle, then fell to her side again. She couldn't face it. She wouldn't be able to go through the day if she did. She felt arms around her as she was pulled into an embrace.

"Ssh." The embracer said soothingly as she broke down into his chest. His hand gently stroked her hair, the tears finally stopping.

"S...Sasuke." She whispered, clinging to his chest tightly. He had returned after he had defeated his brother, but was under constant guard. As she let go, she could see the Anbu Black Ops on the rooftops. He was her closest friend, besides Naruto.

"Come on, we wouldn't want to be late. It wouldn't be right." Not a single tear dropped, not a single hint of emotion in his voice, but as she looked into his eyes, she could see the pain, the loss.

"You're right." Together, the two friends walked towards the centre of the village.


The two red tattoos on his cheeks did seem to fit right with the black clothes. He sighed, his hand rubbing his face again. It would have to do. At least he was wearing the clothes. The last time he wore them was over two years ago when...

"No, don't think that." He said to himself, shaking his head. "It's bad enough today without adding extra." He sigh and turned from the mirror a scratched the large dog that was sleeping in the corner. Said dog woke quickly, licking his master hand then barking gently.

"Yeah I know boy," Said the dog-nin depressed. "It's not going to be the same." He stood, Akamaru standing too. Together they walked outside, nearly walking into a person with their face blocked by the collar of their long coat. Two dark lenses flashed in the shadows.

"Oh. Hi Shino."

"Kiba." Shino replied, his voice exactly the same as it always was.

"Hinata ok?"

"She's already there, we need to get going or we're going to be late." Shino said in that matter-of-fact way that bugged Kiba at the best of times, but did not today.

"Yeah...." The two chunin level ninjas walked on, aiming for the village centre. Other black clad villagers were appearing now, all heading the same way. As the starting time drew closer, more people filled the streets. No-one looked happy; no-one was even smiling. All eyes were downcast, staring at their owner's feet. Kiba looked up at the sky, a feeling of sadness stirring deep inside him. It didn't have to be like this..... he thought soberly to himself as he entered the village cemetery.


The hokage looked out her window at the grey sky. Her usually bright eyes were muted. He assistant, Shizune, was already down in the cemetery. Her black jacket didn't feel the same as her usual green one, but she wore it with pride. Then, looking at the clock she sighed. It was now time to face the music. She left the building and walked quickly to the front of the crowd.

She cleared her throat loudly. "I know you all know why we are here today so I won't go into it much. I just want you to know that I'm very grateful for you to come." She stepped down of the slightly raised platform and walked to the stone memorial. It had a large picture and in front of that there was a small candle that filled the air with a sweet smell.

"I'll miss you brat." The sannin placed a single white flower before the plinth before turning away. Everyone could hear her break down, and watched with pity as Shizune ran up to guide the hokage out of the cemetery.


Hinata walked forwards to the grave with her older brother, Neji. They both placed a single flower onto the already large pile in front of the candle.

"Goodbye...." Neji turned and walked away from this, his head held high. The successor of a noble clan would not cry. But his teammates saw the sorrow in his pale eyes. Hinata stood there, tears cascading from eyes identical to her brother's. She looked around, making sure that no one was watching or within earshot, and gently kissed the picture.

" I....I...l..love y..y..you"


A white haired man stood in a field, in front of a large stone block. Names were etched in it and he traced his fingers over first one, then the very bottom one. It was a memorial dedicated to the ninjas killed in action. His closest friend had joined the list years ago, and now one of his students. A single thought echoed round the copy ninja's head. Why....


Kiba laid his flower down, his eyes not looking at the picture. "You always were the annoying one. Everyone thought so. And everyone never thought you were any good. I'm sorry I even said that back in the exams, you would have made a better leader than anyone."

Akamaru let out a few barks, a pawed the stone gently. Then, with emotional filled eyes, he joined the crowd watching. He watched his friends Shino, Choji, Shikamaru and Ino lay flowers down. But then his eyes turned hard as he watched Uchiha walk forward.


Sasuke felt the emotion build up inside him. It felt exactly like that night that his whole clan had been murdered. His dark eyes threatened to leak as he crouched and placed his flower directly before the picture.

"You had to do it, didn't you? Just to prove how good you were. At least your dream came true. Everyone respects you now." He stood and walked back to Sakura, who walked forward.

Her breath came in small gasps as she knelt by the picture. Tears made her vision blurry and she could barely get the words she needed to say out.

"T...thank you. F..f..for everyt..hing." She took a deep breath and managed to pull herself together. "Thank you for believing in me, thank you for returning Sasuke to us. I'm sorry you had such a bad life to begin with, but I'm glad I was one of your friends. Goodbye Naruto. I won't ever forget you." And with that, the tears she had kept at bay cascaded down her cheeks. As if it was a sign, the rain fell. Drop after drop rained down upon the crowd but none moved. The candle burned brightly for a second, then died. The villagers turned away then, returning to their homes to mourn their hero, their saviour, the boy that changed everybody's lives.


Three people stood in the shadow of a tree. They each had a flower in their hand and as the cemetery emptied, they stepped forward. One by one they placed them down and then started to walk away. Only one, the smallest with red hair and a gourd on his back, turned back to look at the grave. "Goodbye my first friend..." Gaara whispered silently.


Sakura looked out her window that night, her tears finally stopping. The rain had kept falling. It was like even the sky was mourning the loss of the best person in the village. She looked up to the cliff where they were already carving his face into the rock. She smiled at that. He deserved that. A flash of red on the horizon caught her attention, and she glanced over and gasped.

She ran out her house and hammered on the door of her Uchiha friend. "Sasuke!!!" She yelled, pummelling the door. It opened suddenly and she fell into him. Steady hands gently pushed her back upright.

"What is it Sakura?" His voice that had made shiver just weeks ago had no hold over her at that moment. Without saying anything, she grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the village.

They stopped on top of one the hills that were a little distance from the village. She looked around expectedly, searching for something.

"Sakura..." Sasuke tried again, but only to be interrupted.

"THERE!" Sakura was pointing to the tree a few hundred metres away from there. Sasuke turned and gasped; his normally serious face agape.

In the darkness under the trees was a young boy. He looked about thirteen and had bright blue eyes and spiky blonde hair. His entire body was made out of red like energy, which also expanded into nine large tails behind the boy. Sasuke's eyes widened in wonder as he stared at the figure. A strong wind blew up around them and they each heard a whisper in the breath of the wind.

"Sasuke. Sakura."


Well I hope you liked that!!! I was gonna leave it as a sad story, but i decided that it would be better with a slightly happier ending :D Please review, constructive flames allowed and to all those who are reading my other fanfiction, chapter three is on the way, but it is going to take a while due to exam revision. Anyway, please review!!!!!!