Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Simple.
**
The ninja of Konoha stood in near silent ranks, dressed in simple black robes. Almost the full civilian population of Konoha stood behind them. The world around them was still, not a single animal sound or breath of wind stirred. While the ceremony was short, it stretched out like an eternity as the multitude either sobbed or stood stupidly in shock as Uzumaki Naruto, the Seventh Hokage was lowered into the ground. Words were said, telling of the great man that many thought was indestructible, and the far from auspicious beginnings that he had. The ceremony was closed as flowers were placed over the resting place of the blond haired ninja.
As the crowd began to disperse, Kazama Takashi dabbed at his eyes with a sleeve and looked to his teammates. The young man was tall and athletic, with long brown hair pulled into a short ponytail. At the age of sixteen he was one of the rising chunnin of Konoha, a weapon user that few doubted would reach jonin someday. His green eyes, normally bright and full of light, were red-rimmed and glistened with unshed tears.
Akira, the short and powerfully built earth user and squad medic, looked back at him with disbelief in his eyes of no specific color. His close-cut red hair stood at odd angles. Myabi, the normally reserved intellectual, sniffled and tried to hide her tears. Her dirty blond hair that fell to her waist looked like she hadn't even tried to brush it, and her bright blue eyes were puffy. She made a slight movement with her chin, to which Takashi nodded slightly.
The young ninja began to push his way through the milling crowd to the grave site, reaching the front he caught a glimpse of the one he was looking for. Kiyoko, the daughter of the former Hokage, stood next to her mother. The sight of her with her shoulders slumped and her blond head with its shoulder length hair down to the ground killed Takashi as he approached. Her shoulders heaved up and down as she sobbed for her father. Takashi fought his own sadness as he drew closer.
Sensing him, Kiyoko lifted her head and turned to face him. He felt a blow in his stomach as her electric blue eyes met his. Her eyes, normally so full of life and joy, were clouded with grief and made Takashi feel like someone was trying to disembowel him with their bare hands. Taking the last few steps at just below a run, he wrapped her up in a tight embrace and she buried her face in his chest. Her racking sobs resounded in his chest as she wailed, her hands curling into fists on his back.
Looking up, he locked eyes with Kiyoko's mother. Hinata, the daughter of Hyuuga, she studied him with eyes that pierced even through her sadness. It was easy to tell that her stoic face belied the true feelings that ran below the surface. Takashi himself felt the loss drop upon him like the leaden skies above and he buried his face into Kiyoko's hair.
Naruto had been an amazing person for as long as Takashi had known him. No matter how busy the man seemed, he always managed to join in with the kids as they played ninja. As the children grew, he would share his sort of wisdom with the attentive audience. He remembered everyone's name and no one felt the lack of a friend while he was present. If the village came to danger, Naruto would stand before it like a great impenetrable shield to protect his precious people.
The sounds of grief against Takashi slowly began to abate and he felt the girl in his arms start to sag. Eventually he came to look into the Kiyoko's eyes, and tentatively kissed her softly on the forehead. Releasing her from the embrace, he murmured "Come see me later, okay?" with a shaky voice. Kiyoko gave a nod, squeezed him ever so slightly, and slowly made her way back to her mother. Takashi watched the pair leave before turning for home himself.
Entering the small apartment that housed him and his mother, Takashi slipped into his bedroom and locked the door behind him. Walking over to his desk, he checked the small clock that sat there before sweeping most of the items on the surface away. Howling in rage and pain he proceeded to tear apart his room.
"Anyone!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. "It could have been anyone but him! You didn't even fucking stop at just killing him did you!? No! You had to fucking rip him up so badly-AURGH!"
Eventually stopping himself, he began to take stock of the damage he had done. There were several holes punched in his walls and virtually everything smaller than a breadbox had been swept, kicked, or thrown across the room. Sitting heavily on his bed, he began to take out the multiple equipment pouches that lay under his bed. Takashi began to pull the multitude of kunai, shiruken, and various other sundries from the small packs. Laying the gear in neat rows he rounded out the collection with a pair of overlarge kunai and a broad short sword from the back of his heavy vest.
Taking out a cleaning kit, he began to meticulously clean and oil each weapon. The repetitive action began to return him to a more balanced head space. 'Take care of your equipment and your equipment will take care of you' ran through his head as he repacked each deadly piece of his style. Getting to the short sword, he honed the blade to razor sharpness once again. Replacing the weapon to its sheath, he checked the clock that had miraculously not been swept away, nearly three hours had passed since he had returned. The sky outside was dark and a weak moon passed between the drifting clouds overhead.
Despite how drained he felt, Takashi began to slip into the standard uniform of Konoha. Sliding into the heavy vest, he felt the reassuring weight of the heavy fabric and three blades strapped across the back. Making sure that his forehead protector was securely tied as a bandanna over his head, he headed out of his room. Skirting around the dinning room table, he put his hand on the door knob before a voice stopped him cold.
"Where are you going?"
Takashi turned to face his mother, "Out."
"I can see that."
"I just need to check on something."
A moment of silence passed between the two as his mother regarded him. It would be useless to try to convince the woman, she was more stubborn than a mountain, it was much better to let her make up her mind. "Breakfast is at seven." She said finally, giving Takashi a time to be home by to keep himself out of trouble.
"Yes ma'am." the teen answered before heading out into the night.
As Takashi walked down the lighted streets, he saw the bars were full of people either raising toasts, telling stories, or just trying to reach oblivion. Grief hit people in different ways, and for a moment he wished he could join those souls, drinking until he couldn't feel his face anymore. Even if he could, he told himself, he had much more important things to do. Rounding the corner he found himself looking up at the great red building that held the office and home of the Hokage.
Moving into the shadows with practiced ease, he eventually got himself into a position where he was concealed but could observe the area. With his eyes locked on the structure, he settled in for what he hoped would be an all night wait. The moon rolled out of the clouds, bathing the area in a bluish-white light. Takashi sank further back into his hide, and waited patiently until the clouds once again concealed the light.
From across the courtyard, there came the faint sound of a window opening. Takashi leaned slightly out of his hide for a better look, and spotted a dark figure moving away from him and headed across the town. The figure had shoulder length hair and carried a large rucksack. Cursing through his teeth, Takashi dropped quietly from his hide and gave chase.
Takashi was sure he knew who he was chasing, and hoped that he was wrong somehow. Suddenly, his target stopped in a small wooded park, out of sight of almost anything outside of it. The moon swept out from behind the clouds again as Takashi stopped a few yards away. Golden blond hair swayed as Kiyoko turned back to face him. Her eyes locked on his, they magnified the set look on her face with an intensity that could cause fires.
"What are you doing?" she finally asked.
"Stopping you from doing this." despite the level response, Kiyoko's eyes flashed with intent.
"You wanna fight?" she was already dropping into a stance.
"I'm not gonna fight you."
"You can't stop me then."
"Is this," Takashi paused and closed his eyes, bracing himself for how much this would hurt. "Is this what he would want."
"Did...did you just use my dad against me?" Kiyoko demanded in a mix of shock and rage. "You bastard! You fucking bastard! How could you-"
"I'm not using anyone against you," Takashi returned angrily. "I'm asking you if you seriously think that he would want you to abandon the village for revenge. There'll be a mission for that."
"I won't be on it," Kiyoko was near tears and only barely not screaming. "It's the only wa-"
"No goddamn it!" Takashi bellowed, taking her by surprise. "It's not the only way. If you think that you're not going to be on the mission, do what it takes to make sure you are. Con, beg, demand, if you really feel so strongly, you'll be on that mission."
The silence between the two was stone heavy. It was as if the universe had closed in on the two of them. When he finally continued, his voice was subdued. "Don't make me have to drag you back...please."
"You...you don't know what it's like," Kiyoko said in an equally quiet voice. "You just don't know."
"You're right," Takashi admitted. "I don't know what it's like to lose your father...but...I do know what it's like to lose a man that you would follow into Hell itself. The whole village knows it."
Takashi closed his eyes again, against the tears that were slowly forcing their way out. He wasn't grasping for things to say, it was true. Every man, woman, and child that knew the Hokage was felling the keen loss of the man. He had been such a presence to the village that many questioned how they would be able to go on. Opening his eyes again, he once again locked eyes with Kiyoko. "Don't think you are the only one who has to shoulder this burden."
With that said, Takashi crossed the few yards that separated them and pulled Kiyoko into a tight embrace. He felt her arms slowly encircle his waist, and small hands grip him through the thick layers he wore. Once again, she was crying into his chest. "I'm here for you," Takashi's voice shook. "I don't want to lose you too. Not now, not ever."
Kiyoko looked up into his eyes, streaks of tears gleamed in the moonlight. Her glistening eyes searched his. Takashi wasn't sure of what she was looking for, not like what he said was different from what he felt. After several moments, he leaned in to kiss her forehead but she pulled away. She stayed within his arms, not wanting any further interaction.
"C'mon, I'll take you home." Takashi said after several minutes.
Kiyoko nodded, and took a tentative step out of the embrace, but her knees buckled almost immediately. Over the past few days she hadn't been sleeping well and it was pushing the edges of her endurance. She cursed herself, she hated for Takashi to see her like this, looking so weak. Without a word Takashi crouched, back to her and hands out behind him.
Kiyoko sighed, and slowly crawled into a position where he could lift her up. As she left the ground, she leaned her weight across his back. Without a sound of complaint or exertion, Takashi set off back to the Hokage residence. As the embarrassment of her moment of weakness faded, she reveled in her contact with him.
Though she mostly couldn't feel the warmth of him through the many layers they both wore, the side of her face rested against his neck and the scent of his hair was inescapable. There wasn't any real smell to him to tell the truth, maybe that was why she liked it so much. He kept clean and never added the kinds of products that some of the boys that tried to gain the favor of the girls. It might have very well been his lack of girl-pleasing efforts that attracted her to him. Where as the fact that her father was the Hokage had caused some to be interested, or turned away, he had shown an indifference of who her father was and instead was interested in her and her alone. When he went to her father he told him that he wanted to take her on a date, he spoke as if it were anyone else's father, not the leader of the entire village.
Kiyoko's musings were interrupted as she noticed them drawing close to that great tower that had been her home for longer than she could remember. She knew that in less than a week she and her mother would be living in the Hyuuga estate, or maybe they would call a small apartment their own. Another wave of crushing sadness came down upon her and she found herself crying into Takashi's hair before she knew it. He gently set her down, and sat on the ground next to her. For the third time in twenty-four hours, she found herself crying into his chest and his arms tight around her. Despite the fact that she felt weak every time she showed these emotions, it felt far better crying into his chest than into her pillow.
Calming down, Kiyoko looked around and found that Takashi had set her down under the window that she had left from not too long ago. Gathering her up in his arms, he brought her up to the open window on the second floor. Setting her gently into her room, he turned to go, but she grabbed his wrist to stop him. His green eyes met hers and she felt a pang in her heart, another stab for being weak. But she needed someone to be with, no matter how weak it made her.
"Please," she said in a quiet and shaky voice. "Could...could you please stay with me?"
"Yeah." Takashi answered softly.
Kiyoko's heart felt lighter, not by much, but it was wonderful that she would not be alone tonight. Takashi stepped into the room quietly, taking care to not alert anyone that any activity was happening in the dark room. Kiyoko smiled as he turned away so that she could change into he pajamas, he was such a civilly minded guy, even if it was just her taking down her pants and removing her jacket. He, on the other hand, stripped down to his waist and left his gear neatly stacked next to the double bed.
Sliding under the covers, Kiyoko shivered slightly at the cold caress of the soft fabric and reveled in the warmth as Takashi slid in behind her. He gently slid his right arm underneath the pillow beneath her head, and draped his left over her waist, drawing himself close to her. Kiyoko could feel his gentle breathing in her hair, and as much as she wanted to stay awake to enjoy his closeness, she began to drift off almost immediately. She fell into a deep sleep, for once mercifully free of the images that had tortured her for days.
Takashi heard her breathing grow slow and deep, and her hands were limp in his. The faint smell of lilacs filled his nostrils from her hair. Burying his nose into the back of her neck, he felt the warmth of her body flowing through him. The door opened silently, a thin crack of light streamed into the room, and Takashi grew worried that he would have to start explaining real quick.
Uzumaki Hinata peered into the room, much more of a motherly action as Takashi knew that she could have peered through the walls just as easily. She looked at him, her pale lavender eyes staring right into him. Silence held between the two until Kiyoko shifted slightly in her sleep, then Hinata nodded to the young man that held her daughter and closed the door behind her.
Takashi breathed a slight sigh of relief, it was one thing to know that your daughter was dating someone and another to suddenly find them in bed with that someone whether you liked them or not. He listened to the breathing of the girl in his arms, so deep and rhythmic, and suddenly found himself drifting off to sleep. As his eyes closed, he wondered when the inevitable mission of returning the favor to the Hokage's killers would take place, there would be Hell to pay for hurting the one that he held so much.