The moonlight shone over Konohagakure (Konoha for short) as it did every night, cascading over the carved faces of the four previous Hokage who watched over the village even after death, its citizens feeling safe as they live their lives happily, a great feat in this world of conflict where nothing seems to stay the same for long.
This place, also known as 'The Village Hidden in the Leaves' was home to the biggest population of the five hidden villages and one member of that population just so happened to be Naruto Uzumaki, the leaf's number one knucklehead ninja and host Jinchuriki of the nine-tailed demon spirit Karuma. He was at this time, lying asleep in a hospital bed a few feet from his friend Gaara of the desert, similar Jinchuriki of the one-tailed Shukaku.
Having defeated a powerful enemy the day before from the village of Artisans, the resurrected founder of said village no less, claiming to have been transformed into the 'ultimate ninja tool' and with the power to absorb chakra, Gaara and Naruto had suffered some heavy damage and chakra exhaustion so were recovering in a double room in the Konoha hospital that faces the rising sun.
The evening before, after arriving back at the village, Naruto had been visited by his mentor and teacher, the toad sage, master Jiraiya. He'd made plans with the white haired warrior for a training excursion out of the village borders for quite some time and would be leaving in the morning. In his enthusiasm, Naruto hardly slept a wink but with two elite ninja posted outside his room there was little he could do but stay.
"Can't sleep, hmm?" Gaara's voice was hushed and detached and portrayed the fragmented psyche of one tormented by the insane presence of Shukaku in his mind. Naruto was taken aback by the sudden vocalisation of the usually quiet suna shinobi.
"No... Well there are so many things to do before I leave and I'm stuck in here till morning!" he laid on his side and faced his new friend who was, in turn, staring at the ceiling, processing the information put to him. His new goal to understand friendship would ideally start with the ninja that had defeated him in the past and shown him the meaning of true strength.
With this intent in mind he sat up and, upon realising Shukaku's influence had healed him to near-perfect condition, he stood and retrieved his precious sand gourd from the floor. Strapping it to his back, the cork in the top of the container dissolved into sand and began to flow to the bed he once occupied. The granules shifted into position and slowly took shape in the bed forming a perfect copy of the sand-nin.
"Let's go then" Gaara continued, looking at the confused Naruto with what must have been an amateur grin before heading to the nearby window and opening it silently, letting a cool breeze waft into the room. Naruto quickly caught on and leapt out of bed following suit with a shadow clone and joining the auburn-haired boy at the window.
Using his third eye jutsu Gaara checked out the courtyard beyond the window for other shinobi before giving Naruto an 'all clear' nod. The blonde shinobi put one leg up on the window frame and jumped down to the courtyard, landing with a roll and motioning for Gaara to follow suit, he did so using his sand to guide him down to a more graceful landing than Naruto.
They hid from the moonlight in the shadows of the buildings and slowly made their way back to Naruto's apartment. The streets were bare, as was expected at this hour, sometime between one and three in the morning, the moonlight and silence revealed a subtle majesty of the hidden leaf that was otherwise disguised by the hustle and bustle of the day-to-day of the village. The silence was maintained the whole way back to his apartment where Naruto unlocked the door and let them in, palming the light switch as he entered.
Even the stoic Gaara was taken aback by the sheer abomination that was Naruto's apartment, garbage and dirty clothes littered the floor drawers were open and spilling out onto the floor, his bed was unmade and his covers trailed across the floor.
"You live here?" enquired Gaara, breaking the silence that had accompanied their journey.
"Home sweet home, eh?" Naruto grinned widely "Well for now at least, I should probably clean up before leaving" he glanced around the room until his eyes rested upon the nearby closet, from which he retrieved an old wooden broom and got to work.
They proceeded to tidy and pack away, the task taking until the middle morning hours, the light from the rising sun accompanying their toils as they packed Naruto's life into three trash bags, one cupboard and his travel bag, leaving only the picture frame containing the captured image of a young and happy team seven on the night stand.
He stared for a moment at the picture, a melancholy smile emerging on his face as he remembered the good times before Sasuke left them to run off to Orochimaru those months ago, he left the picture where it stood and slung his back onto his back and turned to face the sand shinobi, with a forlorn grin he motioned Gaara out of the apartment and dropped the trash bags on the outside porch for pickup.
"Where are you going first Naruto-kun?" Gaara inquired, trying the unfamiliar honorific that he'd heard people referring to their friends with while once again practicing his ever improving smile.
"Well Sakura-Chan lives not too far from here and she should have gotten up by now" he lead the way, motioning for Gaara to follow him to which the sand user complied.
The streets of Konoha were eerily quiet for a weekday morning, the people who would usually have been wandering the streets on their way to work or the market but today there wasn't a soul to be seen. Both Naruto and Gaara noticed something was awry when they realised that even the birds weren't calling.
"Have you noticed..?" Naruto was cut off when he saw Gaara nodding at him, his serious expression having returned to his face once more. Nonetheless they continued their journey to see Sakura. They paced through the street quietly, a kunai in Naruto's hand, Gaara on the other hand connecting a sand eyeball to his retinal nerve and scouting out the village.
"It appears the streets are empty" he stated with apprehension, staring at the leaf shinobi as if he should know the answer.
"We should wait till we arrive at Sakura's, she'll know if something's going on"
"Why?" the sand user probed.
"Because she's lady Tsunade's apprentice, she probably overhears this stuff, I dunno" he shrugged casually as they turned the corner around to their destination. Sakura not being a member of any of Konoha's main clans, her house wasn't particularly large or impressive but it had a distinct family charm that Naruto appreciated whenever he'd go around and with the sun rising behind them it looked all the more pleasant and homely.
Gaara leaned against the wall and crossed his arms as Naruto tapped on the red painted door, a look of indifference creeping across the read-head's face as he looked up to the clouds, noting how one to the north somewhat resembled his own sand gourd. Noticing the slowness of the answer Naruto went to knock again just to have the door yanked away from his hand and a hysterical Sakura scream his name and wrap her arms around his shoulders, bawling her eyes out like he'd never seen.
Putting comforting arms around Sakura, he gave the slightly surprised Gaara his what-the-heck-is-going-on look and, having seen that type of crying only once before from his sister at the death of the Kazekage, he entered the house to investigate.
The inside of the house held the same charm as the outside, the family portraits and sentimental objects scattered across the living room painted the picture of a happy lifestyle. Unaffected by the glimpse into the life he never had, Gaara continued his investigation, checking the kitchen in vain before moving upstairs where the inhabitants slept. Poking his head round the first door he noticed the pink walls and white furnishings belonging to Sakura Haruno.
Seeing no sign of distress, while also noting how much of a mess the room was, grinning slightly in amusement as he did, he moved on, overlooking the bathroom and moving straight to the last room of the house.
A contrast to their daughter's room, Sakura's parents slept in a very neat and tidy room, a mixture of white and grey-blue styling with white drawers, bedside table and a large cupboard that sat opposite the bed. The still occupied bed.
"Oh. Sorry Mr and Mrs Haruno-san, I..." He stopped. And that's when he realised. The tragedy that had caused Sakura's reaction earlier. The elder family members were lying in bed. Not moving. Not breathing.