A.N. So, I know what you're thinking. "He said he didn't have time to recover his lost progress for the foreseeable future." Right? Well, a series of fortunate events have gifted with a chance to work on this for the past two weeks or so. Let's just say that I'm lucky my college composition professor doesn't care what he's reading as long as it's presented in the correct format!

I know, I know. It's only about half the length of my regular chapters. Trust me, it's better this way. You'll see why next chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Chapter 4: Shattered

After Flagg fell to Obito's sealing jutsu, the morale of his army plummeted. This, coupled with the arrival of Gaara and his company of soldiers, allowed the meager remains of Konoha's military and Naruto's clone army to route their invaders.

The sun had begun to set when word reached Naruto that the village had been secured. He was once again kneeling next to Sakura's motionless body, his expression downcast. He clutched one of her ice-cold hands in his own; oblivious to the world around him.

"Naruto Uzumaki," a somber voice spoke from behind him. "You have my sincerest condolences."

Naruto looked over his shoulder, noticing Gaara for the first time. "I appreciate it, but I'd rather be alone right now."

Gaara approached, stopping a few paces from where Naruto knelt. "I understand that, Naruto, but you still have work to do. As Hokage of the Leaf Village, you-"

"What village?" Naruto screamed, dropping Sakura's hand and whirling on the Kazekage. "Civilian casualties at over eighty-five percent and shinobi casualties at just under eighty percent," he continued, his voice hushed and angry. "The Aburame clan was wiped out. The Inuzuka, gone. The Hyuuga, survived only by Hinata."

"Naruto, you-"

"The Yamanaka have fewer than a dozen," Naruto pressed on, his face growing red. "The Akamichi only have three survivors and their clan-head was maimed." Naruto gestured wildly towards the general location of the base camp. "In fact, the only clan left with more than a quarter of their members is the fucking Nara clan! I'll ask you again, what village?"

"Those losses are exactly why your people need you now more than ever. They need a leader. They need you."

Naruto collapsed to his knees, hiding his face in his hands. "Goddammit, Gaara, I don't know what to do!" He shook his head as his mind raced. "This is so fucked up!"

Gaara squatted down in front of him, putting a reassuring hand on his peer's shoulder. "You signed up for this job, Naruto. It's always been your dream, and now you have it." He met Naruto's gaze steadily when the blond looked up at him. "Sad to say, it's not always the joy-filled occupation you imagined as a child. That being said, you can't just walk away now."

Naruto felt a dampness on his cheek, and reached up to wipe away tears he hadn't known he was shedding. He tried to speak, but his voice cracked and nothing came out but a tear-strangled croak. He cleared his throat, and said weakly. "I need to...bury Sakura..." For a moment, he thought he would be sick from the mere thought. He took a deep breath and the feeling passed. "After I do, I need to speak to you. Arrangements need to be made." He looked away and cleared his throat once again. "After that, I'll call a meeting at the remains of the Hokage tower."

For a time, Gaara did not say anything. Finally, he nodded and returned to a standing position. "Very well, Naruto. I shall be awaiting your summons to discuss this predicament." The form of the Kazekage dissolved into sand and was swept away by the wind.

Naruto stooped, picking up the remains of Sasuke's sword from where he had dropped it. He slipped the blade through his belt so that his hands were free. He didn't want to think about what he had to do next.

Sakura's face was unnaturally pale, her ashen lips parted slightly in a crude imitation of the way they did when she slept. Naruto's eyes lingered on the yawning gash on the pinkette's throat. His stomach turned as the memory of her moaning his name while he had kissed that very spot almost twenty-four hours ago, flashed unbidden through his mind. He screwed his eyes shut, trying to force the memory out of his head. Trying to make himself forget that he would never hear her comforting voice again. Trying to make himself forget that she was gone. Trying to forget that it was his fault. A high-pitched whistle filled his head and Naruto opened his eyes.

Sakura's eyelids fluttered, and her fingertips were dancing wildly as her body began to spasm. Naruto looked on in shock as the pink-haired woman's eyes snapped open, revealing milky-green orbs that immediately locked with his blue ones. Sakura twisted over onto her belly, her eyes never leaving his. Fresh blood splattered the ground below her as she lifted herself up onto the palms of her hands, her posture similar to a snake preparing to strike. "Where were you, Naruto?" she asked, her voice a raspy, dehydrated whisper. "We needed you. I needed you." She pulled herself towards him with her arms, her legs dragging in the dirt behind her.

Naruto was too afraid to move. He was only able stare at her as she made her way towards him. "I-I-I tried..." he whispered. "I d-did't know. Please..." He fell to his knees, unable to support his wait on legs that felt like water.

"I thought you loved me, Naruto." She was right next to him now, one blood and dirt coated hand outstretched to stroke his face.

Naruto visibly flinched as her cold flesh made contact with his cheek. He could feel bile rising in the back of his throat. "I did- I do! I'm so s-sorry, S-S-Sakura, I wasn't th-there to save you."

Sakura tilted her head at unnatural angle, the gash on her throat opening wider like a grinning mouth. She blinked slowly, her eyelids sliding easily over her glass-like eyes. "Of course you weren't, Naruto. Then again, you weren't there for anyone else; why should I get special treatment? I mean, I wasn't even the only expectant parent. Look at Kiba over there, he was gonna be a father."

Naruto's gaze flickered over to a nearby building, where the Inuzuka was propping himself up. His face was purple and blood splattered from his bloated lips as he spoke. "Where the hell were you, Naruto?" He walked towards Naruto, waving his arms erratically. "I got to choke to death on my own fucking tongue because you can't do your fucking job!"

"I...I..."

A skinless body stumbled out a nearby shop, white froth flowing from the corner of its lipless mouth. It shuffled towards him, moaning low in its throat.

"What about Tenten?" Sakura asked gesturing towards the shambling corpse. "One minute, she's sharing drinks with her lover, content in the knowledge that her village was secure. The next, she's running through streets flooded with enemy ninja that you failed to keep out because you were too busy fucking me. It's not hard to imagine what happens when a ninja who's drunk off her ass runs into a web of incendiary tags, is it?" Sakura had wrapped both arms around Naruto's neck now, and her musty breath blew directly into Naruto's face. "Because you're too much of a screw-up, I had to put her down like a fucking dog!"

When Naruto managed to look back at the severely burned Tenten, Neji had appeared by her side. The prodigy of the Hyuuga clan's branch family was pulling himself forward by his arms. Dragging behind him in the dirt were the useless stumps of his severed legs.

"Tsk, tsk," Sakura tutted, "They were such a cute couple, too." She pulled herself into his lap, sitting sideways across his legs. She gripped his chin with her hand and forced him to look in another direction. "There's Shino, didn't you make him a promise? Something about stopping the enemy before they reached him?"

The Aburame's piercing eyes, no longer covered by his shades, were staring into Naruto's. But he didn't say anything- or couldn't, as the case was. His severed head was in his own hands as he walked towards Naruto, crimson droplets raining from between his fingers.

More and more people began emerging from the houses, all with grievous injuries. Every one of them stared at him with accusatory eyes, walking ever closer to him.

"You see, hun?" Sakura asked, her gaze boring into his. "You're a failure. But, you know, I still love you. Even if you are the reason I'm dead." She pressed her ice-cold lips against his, forcing her tongue into his mouth.

Naruto screamed, pushing Sakura off of him where she landed in a heap. He climbed to his feet, his stomach doing somersaults as he fought the urge to be sick. He back-pedaled away from the group, his eyes wild.

Sakura's head snapped up, her face twisted into a grin. "Where are you going, dear?" She hauled herself up onto her hands, crawling towards him once again. Her lips parted, and two small, white hands slipped out through the gap, forcing her mouth wider. A loud crack exploded from her overstressed jaw as the bone snapped, separating from its hinge. The corners of her lips stretched tight as her mouth opened unnaturally wide, revealing the horror-show within.

The pale, chubby face of an infant was staring at Naruto from the back of Sakura's throat. It hauled itself forward with its tiny arms, making a sickly squelching noise in the process, until it was hanging half-in and half-out of the pink-haired woman's mouth.

Sakura reached up, snagging the baby under its arms, and drew it the rest of way out. She held it up, her voice echoing with perfect clarity from her ruined mouth. "This is your daddy, Son, why don't you go say hi?" She knelt down, setting the bloated infant gently onto the ground.

One pudgy hand reached for him, its eyes boring into his own. "Da-addy?"

The blond screamed, the sound of it echoing around the village. Naruto's stomach heaved as he turned to run, and he only made it a few steps before vomit spewed from his mouth onto the ground before him. The blond doubled over as his stomach divulged its contents, his ghastly followers temporarily forgotten. Finally, the flow stopped, and Naruto took a rasping breath of air, wiping the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.

He whirled, turning back towards his assailants, but they were gone. Only Sakura remained, lying in the same place she had been before the episode had begun; completely motionless. Fighting the urge to hyperventilate, Naruto took a deep breath, his lungs expanding to their maximum capacity, before letting it out through clenched teeth. The images of the hallucination still stood vividly in his mind, but he knew that was all they were; hallucinations. He had spent a lot of his spare time in the last few years reading- or skimming, as the case often was- the many medical texts that Sakura kept in their home. Hallucinations were to be expected after a traumatic experience, but...

But it still took him several minutes to work up the courage to pick up Sakura's body. He felt a sinking feeling in his gut as he hooked his arms under her knees and her torso, her cool flesh bringing back the images of a reanimated Sakura's accusations. The way she stared at him with those dead, judgmental eyes, her flat angry tone, the-

No. He wouldn't let his memory of the woman in his arms be corrupted by his waking nightmare. He turned to leave.

Naruto's legs ate up the distance between him and his destination; his eyes were locked straight ahead, oblivious to the world around him. Had any of the invaders still been in the vicinity, killing him would have been a simple matter. As it was, he arrived at the spot without any problems.

A secluded clearing in the Konoha cemetery. Trees grew sparsely around the area, providing shade without cluttering up the burial sites. The plot was of a medium size, with enough space to hold between twenty and thirty graves. However, the area had only one tombstone so far, planted towards the upper middle of the plot.

Naruto stopped in front of it, staring down at the smooth carvings of the letters that formed Kakashi Hatake's name. "Thank you, sensei," he began, tears clouding his vision. "We stopped the invasion. Not everyone was killed. You're the reason, if you hadn't come to me, I-" His voice broke off and, and he had to pause for a few moments while he composed himself. "Thank you," he repeated, "Just...Thank you."

He turned, stooping to gently lower Sakura onto the grass below. He drew the remains of Sasuke's sword, laying it beside her. He straightened up, pulling his shirt over his head as he did so. He dropped the sweat-soaked fabric and removed his wedding band, placing it on top of the shirt.

He rolled his shoulders, the stiff muscles of his back groaning in silent protest. Next, he formed a hand sign, causing a shadow clone to pop into existence. The clone immediately transformed itself into a shovel, which Naruto snatched out of the air before it had a chance to fall to the ground.

Sakura's grave was dug directly below Kakashi's. It took Naruto over an hour before he was confident that the hole would be deep enough. Reaching up over the edge, he grabbed fistfuls of the lush grass and began to haul himself up, his overtaxed muscles voicing their complaints in the process. He was half-way out when the grass he was using as a handhold ripped out of the ground. He overbalanced; pinwheeling his arms, and fell backwards into the freshly dug grave.

He lay on the bottom for a while, staring numbly up at the sky, whose brilliant blue seemed to be mocking him with its clarity. The events of the day didn't seem real.

"What are you doing down there?"

No...Not again!

The silhouette of a head peered at Naruto over the edge of the grave, its hair blowing slightly in the breeze. "Come on, Naruto, get out of there," her familiar voice chided.

Every instinct in Naruto's body screamed at him to run, but he instead felt his hand reaching towards the one she had offered in assistance. Their fingers grazed, and Naruto's heart skipped a beat, but the expected chill never came. Her fingers were as warm as they had ever been. This is strange. He grasped her hand, and she helped pull him to his feet and then up and out of the grave.

"What are you doing, clumsy? You scared me half to death!"

Sakura's exasperated voice had never sounded so good to his ears. He stared at her slightly flushed face in awe. Her throat, unmarred with a wound of any kind...

"Hello, Earth to Naruto! You in there?" She reached forward, playfully rapping her knuckles on his forehead.

"W-what happened?"

Sakura arched an eyebrow, looking at him skeptically. "You didn't bang your head, did you?" Her voice now tinged with worry. "We came to visit Kakashi. You weren't watching where you were going and you fell into a freshly dug grave."

Naruto blinked, his mind racing. Could it have been a dream? If he had struck his head when he fell, everything else could have been a hallucination. Do you know what happened, Kurama?

No answer, of course. That stubborn fox must be in one of his moods again. He grinned at Sakura, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Uh, no. I'm fine, sorry if I scared you."

Sakura shook her head, "Honestly."

Naruto took a step forward and pulled Sakura into a tight hug, his arms squeezing her against her chest.

Sakura squawked; taken off guard by the sudden show of affection. Her arms immediately wrapped around his torso, returning the gesture. "Geez, Naruto, what's-" The pinkette suddenly became aware of the blond's shaking shoulders. "Naruto! What's wrong?"

"I-I don't know," he stammered through his tears, not loosening his grip. "It was a dream, I think. I wasn't fast enough...You died...I..."

Sakura gently extricated herself from his arms. She reached up, pressing one finger to his lips, "Shh, Naruto, it's okay. Everything will be fine, I promise."

His tear-filled eyes met hers. The corners of his mouth slowly turned up in a grin. "I love you." He leaned forward, pressing his mouth against hers.

Sakura broke the kiss, one hand rising to cup her husband's cheek. "I love you too, Naruto. No matter what, I'll always be there for you." She smiled sadly, taking a step back from him. "It's going to be hard, but I have faith in you. You'll succeed, I know you will."

Naruto stared at her, confused. "What-" His vision blurred, Sakura's face going out of focus. He stumbled backwards, his feet slipping on the crumbling edge of the grave, and fell into the darkness.

OoOoOo

Naruto's aching skull drew him back into consciousness. He groaned, sitting up and putting a hand to the back of his head. His fingers came back slick with blood, and he looked down to see the corner of a rock jutting out of the soil, its tip coated in crimson. A dream... He grimaced, rising slowly back to his feet. Moving gingerly, he climbed out of out of the grave and into early nighttime air of Konoha.

Sakura was still where he had left her, the moonlight reflecting softly off of her pale skin. Naruto made his way over to her, his feet shuffling across the dirt. Even his body rejected the idea of what he was doing. How could he be burying his wife?

Not only your wife. A nagging voice added from somewhere in the dark corners of his mind.

Naruto dropped to his knees next to Sakura, resting one hand softly on her belly. He had lost more than Sakura when she had died today; he had lost his child as well. His throat constricted, but it seemed that Naruto Uzumaki was out of tears to shed. He limply dropped his hand, his fingers grazing the fabric of her shirt. They skittered over the seam of her pocket, drawing the faint sound of crinkling paper as they passed over it.

Naruto's eyes narrowed, reaching into his wife's pocket and drawing out a folded sheet of paper. He turned it over in his hands, the moonlight revealing the words, "Deliver to Naruto Uzumaki," written in Sakura's elegant script. He swallowed dryly, his shaking fingers carefully unfolding the sheet of paper.

Naruto,

I finally have a moment to myself, so I decided to write you this letter. Sasuke's here, too. I know I've given you hell about hanging around him, but...I'm beginning to think he's changed. He opened up to me and...I don't know, he just seemed sincere. Once we run these bastards out of our village, I'll make sure to invite him over for dinner. What do you think?

I'm about to go out with Sasuke and a small group of ninja on a risky assignment. I can't say much here-should this letter be intercepted-but I just wanted a chance to get some things off my chest, should the worst come to pass.

If by chance I die, I want to tell you how much I love you just one more time. You are my everything, Naruto, the idea of living without you tears at my heart. I want to raise a family with you and grow old together. I want...A happy ending...But I know that might not happen, especially with this damn invasion...

These past five years have been the best of my life. My only regret is not telling you how I felt sooner. I love you so much, Naruto, and I know you. You think you have to protect everyone, but no one can do that; not all the time. Those who have died today, and those who will die, passed on knowing that you were going to pull off another amazing victory. We're counting on you, and I know you can do it. You're the strongest man I've ever known.

One way or another, I'll see you on the other side,

-Sakura

As Naruto stared down at the sheet of paper, his vision blurred. Apparently, he wasn't out of tears just yet. The first one rolled down and dripped from the tip of his nose, splashing down on to the paper and making the ink of her signature run down the page. He jerked the letter to the side to prevent any more damage to his last link to Sakura as tears streamed from his eyes.

It took Naruto several tries before he could finally return to the task that had fallen to him. He knelt, scooping Sakura's lifeless body into his arms, and trudged over to the grave he had just dug for her. He jumped down, landing gracefully at the bottom, and gently lowered her to the ground. He squeezed her hand in his, knowing that it would be the last time he would ever do so, then carefully crossed her arms over her chest. He stood up, averting his gaze as he climbed back out of the grave.

He stood on its edge, formed another shovel out of a shadow clone, and set to work burying his wife. He never looked down at her, his eyes set steadfastly on his sensei's headstone.

After what felt like hours, his job was done. Naruto was alone in the clearing, kneeling at the top of the fresh grave. He formed a seal with one hand, and tapped the ground three times. A small rectangle of solid marble grew out of the soil, its white a sharp contrast to the black of overturned earth. The tip of his pointer finger began to glow as Naruto used his chakra to carefully carve Sakura's name into the stone. Underneath her name, he added the words, 'My Love.'

He climbed to his feet, walking over to where Sasuke's blade lay broken on the grass. The other man's body may have been gone, but Naruto intended to give him a proper burial. He grabbed the sword and walked over to the left-hand side of Sakura's grave, where he repeated the same process of before. He drove the blade into the freshly risen piece of marble, securing in with a seal to prevent its removal. The blond carved the Uchiha's name into stone's surface, adding underneath it, 'My Friend.'

Naruto wiped at his eyes, clearing them of their unshed liquid. Next, he formed a clone and sent it off to find Gaara. It was time to work some things out.

OoOoOo

It had been four days since Flagg and his army had stormed into Konoha and decimated its population. Naruto was standing by himself, staring out at the huge expanse of freshly dug graves that covered what had been the residential district. The buildings had been cleared away to make room for the massive graveyard that was required to house the many losses his village had taken that day.

The air stunk of burned flesh, and the buildings that were still standing had a fine layer of grease coating their walls. His people had all been given proper burials, but the same could not be said for Flagg's army. Huge piles of their bodies had been burned, which produced a heavy black smoke that had blanketed the remains of Konoha for hours. Even now, several days after the last body had been disposed of, the acrid odor could still be detected.

He glanced over at the chuunin that had appeared at his side. "My lord," the young man said, his voice crackling with adolescence, "Everyone has gathered, it is time for your speech."

Naruto nodded, "Understood, Kyo, I shall be there shortly."

The young man seemed surprised that the blond knew his name, but why wouldn't he? After all, he only had a handful of ninja left. He damn well better know their names.

"Yes, sir," the boy said, taking his leave.

Naruto took a deep, calming breath. He had prepared himself for what he was about to tell his people, having gone over it a hundred times in his mind. That didn't make it any easier, though. The truth was going to be a hard pill for many of them to swallow, but he and Gaara had both agreed that it was for the best.

He just prayed that the others would see it that way.

OoOoOo

The whole crowd of chattering people came to a complete silence as Naruto approached the podium at the base of the Hokage tower's rubble. When he spoke, his voice didn't rise above a speaking level, but it carried easily across the still air before him. "We have suffered a terrible tragedy," he began, his gaze sweeping the group of people before him. "We lost many good men and women, both soldier and civilian alike. All of you fought hard, and you should be proud of that."

A few scattered ninja cheered at this, acknowledging their fallen brothers.

Naruto waited for silence before he resumed his speech. "I have been in deliberations with the Sand's Kazekage for several days now."

He briefly locked gazes with Shikamaru, whose face was solemn and drawn. He too had been told of Naruto's solution. He hadn't approved, but had agreed after Naruto's insistence that it was the only real option.

The blond took a deep breath; in through his nose and out through his mouth. "With the losses that we took during the invasion, it has become impossible to maintain a stable shinobi village. The threat of attack would be far too high." Several people had begun to voice their objections, but Naruto spoke louder, cutting through them. "It is because of this, that I formally disband the Village Hidden in the Leaves."

The outcry was explosive. Everyone in the crowd below him was shouting at once, trying to give voice to their objections. Naruto stood before them, his face downcast, accepting their harsh words. They deserved to be angry.

It wasn't Naruto's voice that cut through the chaos. "Silence!" Shikamaru shouted, his chakra-enhanced voice overpowering the others.

Taking advantage of the break in noise, Naruto picked back up on his speech. "I understand that this is the last thing you want to hear, but-"

"Damn right, asshole!" a man screamed from somewhere within the crowd.

"...but I believe that the best way for the will of fire to live on is for our people to survive. As long as one of us lives, it doesn't matter where they are, that inner-fire will continue to burn." He paused, but no one else decided to interrupt him. "The Kazekage has agreed to give immediate citizenship to anyone who returns to the Sand with him. Otherwise, you are welcome to move wherever you wish to live."

"You traitor!" a woman called from somewhere near the front of the crowd. She was just the first of many insults that were being thrown towards the Leaf's sixth Hokage.

Naruto cleared his throat. "That being said, I am calling an evacuation of Konoha. Everyone is to be gone by night fall."

The voices rose in volume at Naruto's announcement, several members of the crowd beginning to advance towards the stage. The crowd was beginning to morph into a mob.

All of them came to a sudden, grinding halt. Naruto looked over at Shikamaru once again, his eyes filled with pain. The Nara, and what remained of his clan, were all forming the rat seal, forcing the people to fall under their control. Naruto had hoped that such measures would not have been necessary, but it was clear that he was wrong, just as Shikamaru had warned.

Naruto took a shuddering breath. "I'm so sorry that things worked out the way that they did." Without another word, he left the stage.

OoOoOo

After the people had enough time to calm down, the majority of remaining ninja were able to see the reason in their now ex-Hokage's words. It was unfortunate, but the truth in his words could not be denied. With Naruto's resignation, most of them then turned to Shikamaru on how to proceed. Shikamaru, with the help of the surviving members of team nine, then led the survivors out and towards the outskirts of the village.

Naruto watched this from his vantage point at the top of a building, his expression pained. He had not only abandoned his people, but he had kicked them out of their homes. He felt awful, but if the notes in Flagg's book were accurate, staying here wouldn't be in anyone's best interest.

He sat down, crossing his legs letting his hands rest on knees. His eyes drifted closed, blocking out the high-noon glare cast by the sun. His awareness stretched, searching for any chakra signatures remaining in the village. When he was satisfied that Shikamaru had safely removed all civilians and ninja from the area, Naruto formed a hand sign, activating the seals he had spent the last several days constructing.

The air around the leaf village's border shimmered as a seal placed at each corner sprung into life. It was a complicated bit of work, but Naruto had managed to construct a self-sustaining chakra barrier that would serve the purpose of keeping out any unwanted visitors. Anyone who came upon it would simply be unable to walk further, as if they had struck a glass wall.

Naruto stood, his back popping from the several hours he had spent in that position. He reached into his vest pocket, retrieving the leather bound book that held Randall Flagg's notes on inter-dimensional travel. He flipped it open, his eyes scanning the pages for what felt like the hundredth time that day. Do you really think this will work, Kurama. Can we do this?

The demon was silent for several moments, and when it answered, its voice didn't carry the usual over-confidence Naruto was used to hearing. Is it possible? Yes, I don't see why not. It's time consuming, but it's not too hard of a concept if you have enough energy to power it, which you do. There was another long pause, where Kurama was clearly choosing his next words carefully. But you must ask yourself whether or not it's worth the risk.

What do you mean? Naruto asked, picking at string that was fraying from the collar of his shirt.

Well, I'm concerned about what will happen if two of you or two of me existed on the same plane. Several possibilities exist, not the least of which being that we would be ripped apart upon causing the paradox. Naruto had never heard the demon sound concerned, but he definitely detected a hint of the emotion in its voice. We may simply merge with our counterparts. It's also feasible that nothing will happen, that we are different enough from our other selves that no paradox exists. But there's also the possibility that we could destroy the equilibrium of the universe by adding two variables that weren't meant to be there. We could even destroy that realm altogether.

Naruto was quiet for a long time. When he spoke, it was out loud. "Consider our options, Kurama." He shook his head, a sad smile curling the corner of his lips. "If we don't stop Flagg, they would be doomed anyway. At least this way, we have a chance to stop him." Naruto's gaze darted over to the retreating form of the surviving villagers. "No, this is our only shot. We have to take it."

Kurama didn't argue.

OoOoOo

The sun had long since set when Naruto finally stepped up onto the porch of the house he had shared with Sakura for the last few years. The door opened with a click, a seal stamped into its surface recognizing his chakra signature, and swung inward silently. The blond stepped over the threshold, the floorboards creaking quietly. "I'm home," he called, knowing that no one would hear him.

The light in the kitchen was still burning. He walked into the room, squinting against the glare of the bulb. Two mugs sat in the sink, the remnants of their morning tea. Both were practically full, testament to just how much they were rushing to get out the door. He left the kitchen, his feet shuffling slowly across the hardwood floor, and made his way into the bedroom.

It too showed the signs of a rushed morning. Two pairs of pajamas were piled haphazardly on the unmade bed. The towel Sakura had used after her shower lay in a heap just outside the bathroom entrance. As he trudged over to his bed, Naruto pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it to the side, heedless of where it landed, and collapsed bonelessly onto the mattress, intent on regaining some of the energy he had lost.

He lay there for a while, but slumber was not forthcoming. Something was keeping him awake, and it took him several minutes to figure out exactly what it was. He could smell her. Sakura had slept in this bed for years, and the mattress had become imbued with her scent. He inhaled deeply, the fragrance bringing back a flood of memories that assaulted his mind. He snatched up her pillow and hugged it to his chest, the thick scent of her favorite shampoo dominating his senses.

He rolled over, and drifted into a fitful sleep.

OoOoOo

Yeah...I really tapped into my inner Stephen King for this chapter. I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. Don't worry, chapter five those that follow it will be back up to 10k words.

R&R! You don't know how much I love hearing your feedback. No lie, it really makes my day when I see a new review pop up for this story. (Psst...This is my way of fishing for reviews. Is it working?)