Oops! Yes this is kind of late. This will be the third and final installment of this story.
If you have not read Retrieval and Return yet do not read this! READ THOSE FIRST.
Disclaimer: This literature is purely for recreational purposes. I gain no profit from the story. I do not own any rights to 'Naruto'.
When Kiba shows up at Naruto's apartment he knows it can't be good news. The way the usually boisterous ninja solemnly pets Akamaru as he whines tells him so. Naruto lets him and the dog in and offers him to sit at his kitchen table. Kiba doesn't move.
"What's wrong?" Naruto says. He feels nausea set in. He feels as if a part of him already knows.
"My team found Sasuke." Kiba begins.
"Yea?" Naruto whispers, hand on the wall to support to him.
"Sorry Naruto. He was at the bottom at the lake. Hinata tried to resuscitate him but she failed." Naruto felt the corner of his eyes prickle with tears but he fights it back.
"What are you telling me Kiba?" Naruto whispers harshly, his tongue feels thick and his throat tightens.
"Sasuke's dead." The cry that comes out of Naruto's mouth is almost inhuman.
"Can I," Naruto clears his throat, "Can I see him?" Kiba shakes his head helplessly.
"I don't know. I'd ask the Hokage." Kiba leaves the ninja quickly after that.
Naruto doesn't want to believe it. He furiously wipes away his tears with his sleeve. He shoves on his sandals and leaves his apartment. He practically flies to the Hokage tower. He busts open the doors of the Hokage's office.
"Let me see him!" he hollers. Tsunade doesn't even berate him or show any type of hostility. She gets up and walks around her desk. She walks past him and exits the room. Naruto follows her. He knows a silent command when he sees one. He follows Tsunade through the Hokage tower until they are at the morgue.
"Are you sure?" she hesitates to open the door for him.
"Let me see Sasuke." He says harshly. Tsunade nods sharply and opens the door with a special jutsu only she and a select few know. She didn't mind showing it to her successor.
Without a word, she guides him to the metal table in the center of the cool room and waits. Naruto looks at the sheet covered body before cautiously stepping toward him. He looks at the outline and clenches his fists.
"We'll need to bury him quickly." Tsunade says. Naruto looks at her sharply.
"Why?" he chokes out and tears spill out of his eyes.
"They'll want his eyes, maybe his body too." Naruto feels sick to his stomach as she says this. He curses and steps forward to his friend. Before Tsunade can stop him, he's pulled the sheet off of his friend's face.
With a gentleness Tsunade had never seen the boy have, he lays a hand on his friends face.
"It's like he's sleeping." Naruto laughs out wetly. But the teen does not feel like he's sleeping. In fact, Sasuke was cool and stiff. Naruto takes his hand off of Sasuke's cold hard cheek. He steps back, feeling lightheaded.
"Naruto?" Tsunade asks in concern. Naruto waves the woman off before emptying his stomach over the morgue floor.
A week later.
Naruto stands in front of the burial plot. He's mildly surprised by the amount of people who came. It was not only Team Kakashi who had come but the entire rookie eleven.
"Why'd you do it Sasuke?" Naruto asks the casket and not for the first time that week. After the autopsy, Tsunade had confirmed the death as a suicide. Naruto didn't want to believe it but the more he thought about it- the more he agonized over it- the more it seemed real.
Sakura sobs openly from beside him with Ino keeping her upright, eyes teary as well. Kakashi takes his other side. His only visible eye is devoid of the sorrow he must feel.
Naruto says nothing more and the casket lowers. Naruto leaves as they cover the casket with dirt. He doesn't want to see his friend get buried that way, covered deep within the earth like just another body. No one tries to stop him as he leaves the graveyard.
Once Naruto gets back to his home he doesn't leave for days. Many people knock on his door but he does not move to let them in. Instead he throws himself into the Hokage's scrolls, learning all he can to take up his duty. With a new resolve, Naruto focuses on achieving his dream.
One year later.
"Hello again." Naruto smiles slightly as he pulls his robe closer to himself as the wind blows through the flimsy cloth.
"You're probably sick of seeing me." Naruto says to the grave with a small laugh. The wind picks up and Naruto sighs and lets the cloak go. It billows in the gust of wind.
"Geez. You'd think they'd give the Hokage better clothes." Naruto mutters with a slight pout before he shrugs it off.
"I still ask myself from time to time why you did it." Naruto sobers. "I guess I'll never know."
Naruto eyes are dry as he gazes at the inscription.
Sasuke Uchiha
A Brilliant Warrior
An Irreplaceable Friend
Rest In Peace
"I hope you were able to find peace in the afterlife." Naruto's voice catches this time. He chokes back tears.
"Whatever you didn't find here, I hope you found there." Naruto smiles again, yet this time tears stream down his whiskered cheeks.
"I miss you." Naruto admits before wiping away his tears. Sakura was probably wondering where the hell he was. He had mountains of paper work to sort through. He laughs bitterly.
"I'm just like Kakashi." Naruto grimaces, "Well in a way." He amends.
"Don't ignore your duties dumbass." Naruto jumps as Sasuke appears in front of him. As soon as Naruto blinks, the fallen ninja is gone. Naruto gapes and sticks a pinky in his ear the clean it out.
"Sasuke was that really you or am I losing my mind?" Naruto is in disbelief. He shakes his head as a few minutes pass.
"I'm crazy." Naruto mutters.
"You're stupid." Sasuke appears again in front of him, a look of contempt on his pale face. Naruto doesn't acknowledge the insult instead his body feels new hope.
"Sasuke? Is that really you?" Naruto's voice strains from the emotion. His friend glares at him.
"What does it look like?" Naruto laughs wetly at the harsh reply. That was his bastard. Suddenly, the bittersweet smile drops from his tan face.
"Why'd you do it Sasuke?" Naruto asks his friend. Sasuke curls his lip derisively before he disappeared entirely.
"Sasuke! Wait!" But the ninja was already gone. The dull ache in Naruto's heart sharpens. Would he never receive an answer? Naruto collapsed to his knees and rested his forehead against the gravestone.
"Damn it. Damn it!" he curses into the hard stone.
Suddenly he feels a hand on his back. He looks up at the kind looking lady. She seems to tower over him. The cemetery melts away from him as he locks gazes with her. He's somehow ended up on the floor.
"It's dinner time Uzumaki-kun." Naruto turns away from her and glances at the dying flowers on the window sill. He turns back around and looks at her pained face. He nods and stands as well. Naruto has to admit he is hungry. He pulls his frayed robe across his body.
She exits the room. In his hurry to eat, he accidentally bumps into her, shocking her so bad she jumps. Her badge skids across the floor, alongside the pen that rested in her breast pocket. Naruto picks the items up and hands them to her wordlessly.
She takes a moment to stare down at the words that seems to mock her each day. Sakura Haruno. It reads. Under that, in flowing golden letters is her place of employment. Konoha's Institution for the Mentally Disturbed.
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