Naruto Uzumaki was a lot of things to a great deal of people. A perfect son, elder brother, cousin and nephew to his family. A reliable friend to many people young and old whether they be childhood friends, neighborhood kids or elders in the neighborhood if they needed help with anything. An honored veteran of the Konoha military recently discharged due to injury affecting his ability to walk freely, he could still watch but shrapnel in his legs and thigh that was too dangerous to operate to remove left enough in that he required a cane to walk long distances or extended amounts of time. To the general public in the local cafes and bars a pretty good pianist who donated his time to events when could. Overall, summing him up hes a good dude through and through.

"-ruto! Are you even listening to me?" an irritated young woman with pale skin, blue eyes and dyed blue hair asked irritatedly. Her tight jeans and tank top accentuated her athletically slim form.

"Huh? Sorry Konan, was lost in a little thought. Whats the problem this time? My cousin forget yours and his anniversary? Did he forget to book the music for your reception and try to convince you to convince me to play the reception? Did he get you knocked up before he even proposed?!" Naruto asked with mock anger. Konan was a childhood friend he adored as a sister and often teased her about her relationship with his older cousin.

Konan rolled her eyes and punched Naruto on the shoulder. "In order smartass: he only did that once and you chewed him out worse than I did, we're not engaged and why would you need to know that even if that was the case WHICH ITS NOT!" the bluenette said with a twitching brow. "I was asking you if you were ok. You've been a lot spacier lately since you came back from the hospital." Konan didnt have to say that she loved Naruto like a brother, her the blonde and Nagato had been inseparable as kids, and knowing him as long as she had the change in the blond was noticeable to her

"Im fine paper princess" Naruto replied with a snort using Konans pet peeve nickname from when they were kids and she was obsessed with origami. The way she scrunched her nose made him snicker as he relaxed slightly on the piano bench, his fingers rested lightly on the keys. "They just put me on a new medication that my bodies been adjusting to. You know how I am with new meds, its takes me a bit to get used to them." She didnt look too convinced making him sigh.

"And... Its more than new meds foxy" Konan said striking the typical female 'Im waiting' pose with her hands on her hips.

"Im having trouble finishing up a new piece. Its like everything I try just doesnt feel.. right I guess" Naruto said rolling his shoulders in their sockets to relax the tension in his muscles. "Anything Ive tried the last couple of hours has been either too emotional or not emotional enough" he said.

"Let me hear it and maybe I can help" Konan suggested taking a spot beside him and looked expectantly at him.

"Well since you asked me so nicely" Naruto said, his voice dripping sarcasm, while rolling his eyes. Closing his eyes and taking a breath he let his fingers begin to dance across the piano keys. The melody that escaped was ghostly in quality, not quite happy or sad, that sung to a longing that seemed to be wanting of something that lacked substance. His fingers stopped on a high note before his brow furrowed. "Its here that Im stumped on how to finish it. I dont want it to be too emotional or not emotional enough."

"If I can be so bold foxy, it sounds somewhere right between sad and happy longing for something. What inspired this new piece?" Konan asked with a bit frown as she bit her lip thinking how she could help Naruto complete the piece.

"I dunno really if you want the truth. I had this really weird dream last night. Somewhere in the background I heard a really faint melody" Naruto played what he remembered hearing in the dream "and I took inspiration from that. But like I said I dont know how to end it" the blonde shrugging.

"You're overthinking it twerp." Naruto and Konan snorted as they heard his cousin Nagato enter. "The unfinished section ends on a high note so why dont you transition into the end piece you wrote for that dumb art painting Hinata got you" the red headed male said.

Naruto flinched almost as soon as the words escaped his cousins lips making Konan glare daggers at her boyfriend. The subject of the blondes ex was taboo to bring up since her father snapped and murdered his whole family before turning the gun on himself painting the walls with his brains. "I uh.. I uh just remembered I have somewhere to be in an hour and crossing town at rush hour is hell" Naruto said rushing out after grabbing his coat.

"YOU IDIOT!" Konan hissed as she hit Nagato hard on the chest. "Shes been buried for two weeks! Its too soon!"

"He needs to face it! Hes closing in on himself like this whole family does when we face a massive loss like that!" Nagato growled back. "Konan you are my angel and I love you to bits but right now you are blind as bat. Look at Naruto and tell me hes ok. Hes lost a worrying amount of weight, he has bags under his eyes to make his friend Gaara look like he wears light theater paint for a production of little red riding hood and he hasnt completed a single new piece hes started since Hinata died! Hes lost his muse and his light!"

Konan reeled back, not at the fact that Nagato was yelling at her since they argued as all couples do but at the smack to the face that she did look away from the obvious sign of her friends distress. "What do we do..." she asked biting her lip. Naruto was her friend and like a brother to her, she wanted to help him out of his pain and help him heal.

"Step one: somehow get him into grief counseling, he needs to face it head on. He didnt attend her wake or funeral so hes chasing a ghost. He needs to face the reality shes gone and shes not going to walk through the doors and wrap herself in his arms ever again" Nagato said pulling the blunette close and rested his chin on her head.

-Outside with Naruto huddled on the steps-

Cerulean blue eyes glared hollowly at the happy couples that passed in the waning light. His eyes darkened as he snapped a cigarette from his coat and flicked the wheel hard enough to cut the pad on his thumb. "Sonofabitch!" he cursed around the smoke as his blood stained the metal and the flame fluttered in the wind lighting the end of his cigarette. Clenching the filter between his teeth on one side of his mouth he licked the blood off his thumb as he threw the zippo in his pocket and stomped off toward the area of across town. If he could get far enough away from where he lived he could slip into a bar and get shitfaced. "Granny, Im hittjng the bar. Join me if you want to if you arent already there halfway to oblivion" he said reaching voicemail after dialing his grandmother Tsunades number. He had never understood her obsession with drinking before two weeks ago but with the death of Hinata he did, it numbed the soul searing pain and sorrow that clenched at his heart with icy cold hands. Disappearing into the early evening crowd he slipped down a side alley once he was certain he lost his cousin and Konans trail. "Now a hard drink" he muttered to himself and dipped into a seedy bar.

o0o

Perfect friend, brother, nephew, son. Honored vet. Overall good guy to basically everyone he meets. But there ate three other words to be stamped in BIG BOLD LETTERS onto that list that would concern those who truly knew him best: HOLLOW, BROKEN and LOST after the murder of his first true love muse Hinata Hyuuga at the hands of her own father before taking his own life in a fit of madness.