Within the walls of Konoha plenty of people were in a good mood. However, those that weren't were starting to seek each other out for the sake of decent company. This was mostly the remainder of the Rookies that were still in Konoha, which was now just Sakura, Kiba, Shino, Neji, Lee, Tenten, Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji. At first everyone but the pink-haired kunoichi were together outside the academy to mourn their fallen friend Naruto the day after they heard the news. And currently, only Lee, Chouji, and Ino were shedding tears for him, but the others looked no less saddened.

They sat down in the area where they would play during their breaks from class, specifically near the swing they knew Naruto would go to when depressed and lonely. Somehow it made them feel a little connected to him again. They said nothing, having no idea what to say, but inside their heads their minds were going a mile a minute.

Kiba was sitting at the base of a tree with Akamaru on his lap. The dog nin reflected on his small friendship with Naruto back when they were younger. Technically they never stopped being friends. Missions and team exercises just got in the way of their free time and personally Kiba didn't want to spend each afternoon at the same ramen stand, even if he thought the girl that worked there was hot. Kiba wasn't always the nicest friend to Naruto, what with the taunting and everything when they were kids, but they did have fun together at times. And he didn't fret over his lose to Naruto in the chuunin preliminaries either. The blonde beat him fair and square, even if Kiba preferred to forget how he did it.

Shino stood against the tree next to his teammate, looking as stoic as ever but his shoulders were obviously slumped and his sunglasses were down a bit, making his eyes somewhat visible. Naruto was never someone he would call a friend, but he was an admirable ally and someone who made a mission memorable for sure. Probably the most memorable one by far was the one were Shino had been given a drug that made him laugh uncontrollably. Naruto showed a lot more strength than Shino gave him credit for in his role on that mission, and even though the blonde needed some 'convincing' to keep the bug user's behavior a secret, he had done so. Since then he had more faith in Naruto as a comrade; he was one of the few people Shino could completely trust

Neji leaned against the wall of the building, trying to look dignified while lamenting the loss of his fellow shinobi. His first impression of Naruto had not been a favorable one. He only won against Kiba because of chance circumstance and against himself because Neji underestimated his limitations. But in retrospect those were important things shinobi needed to consider. Naruto reminded the Hyuuga that ninja shouldn't rely on talent alone and that you shouldn't give up just because the odds aren't in your favor. Also, Neji could admit that many of the missions he went on recently with Naruto may not have gone as smoothly as liked but always got the intended result, so he had to respect Naruto's contribution.

Lee stood next to the swing set, looking at the ground with his fists balled up, as if ready to hit something. He had always been an emotional guy, seeing no reason to mask himself unless it was vital for the mission or something. Lee respected Naruto because he was a kindred soul, a dead last that few gave much hope for but strove to prove that even a dead last can have great accomplishments. Naruto had almost as much spirit as Lee did and the taijutsu enthusiast knew he could trust Naruto with his life at any time. To hear Naruto didn't have a life anymore... had a big impact on him.

Tenten stood beside Lee and patted his shoulder in an effort to calm his troubled self, a single tear in the corner of her own eye. She understood his pain well. After all, she and Lee were orphans just like Naruto so they had a common bond none of their friends could relate to. Tenten knew Naruto when they were younger and once she got adopted she invited him over for dinner once in a while, fortunately her adoptive parents didn't have a problem with him. In fact, the only reason they didn't adopt him too was because they couldn't afford to support two kids, or at least that was the excuse they gave. So in a way Naruto might have been her brother under different circumstances, so even if he wasn't, the pain of his death hurt no less.

Ino sat on one of the swings, staring off into space with wet eyes. She didn't understand at all why she was crying for the blonde. She never really liked him, but nor did she hate him. She admitted at times he was funny and lively and could make her laugh. His eyes were soothing and his hair was exotic, even if his choice in attire was grotesque. And his behavior often proved irritating, but all the others complimented his skills when on missions. She personally had the least amount of experience with him on missions so she couldn't say for sure what she thought of his abilities, but she did admit what he showed in the chuunin exams made her believe he did have more going for him than she first suspected. So even though she didn't understand why she was crying, she did know she would miss him.

Shikamaru sat down at the base of a tree next to Kiba opposite Shino, looking at the clouds in an attempt to find peace. It wasn't coming, and that was really troublesome. He remembered the mission to retrieve Sasuke, and how much Naruto risked to try and get it done. Shikamaru found it difficult to believe that Naruto could survive that but not whatever it was that got him this time. Maybe Naruto's luck finally ran out. He didn't want to sound apathetic to the blonde's death, because he was anything but, but he did want to try and accept it. Hopefully he could skill over the other steps when it came to dealing with death, steps like denial, anger, depression, and bargaining. He saw the others were all in various stages already.

Chouji sat next to Shikamaru with an open bag of chips but eating slowly for once. He had a few good memories with Naruto, mainly sneaking out to get a bite to eat. The best memories were the eating contests they had together when the meal was ramen, the only time someone outside his own family actually would and could give him that challenge. He remembered the time he, Naruto, and Sakura had to make ramen to help out the Ichiraku's, and the time he, Naruto, and Hinata helped out the princess of Land of Greens. All good times and they did more than just remind him of Naruto.

"Hey, has anyone seen Hinata or Sakura?" Chouji asked all of a sudden, being the first to notice their absence.

The others looked around, suddenly aware of the lack of two kunoichi. Kiba sniffed and spoke up. "Sakura's on her way this way. I don't smell Hinata-chan though."

Ino got up and walked towards the street, where she saw her at-times friend. "Hey Sakura." She said calmly with a light wave.

Sakura headed her way, her eyes red from crying so much, and noticed similar eyes on the platinum blonde girl. "Hi Ino, glad I found you. I really need a friend now."

"We're all here. Come on." Ino told her. Both girls noticed the lack of their insulting nicknames from the other, which told a lot about their mood.

They walked back to their friends. "Hi guys. I take it you all heard the news?" They all nodded. "Where's Hinata? I figured she'd be the first one here."

"We're not sure. Maybe it hurts too much to be out in public now." Shino suggested. "She took the revelation hard and needs time to heal." His voice still as empty as ever

"I'm not so sure." Neji interjected. "I heard from her father that she's gone away for a time to, in his words, 'finally become useful'."

"What does that mean?" Ino asked.

"I don't know, but I'm sure she's working thru her own grief as well."

Sakura sighed. "Guys, I just found out something about Naruto I think you need to know." Everyone turned to look at her. "Only problem is I'm not sure I can tell you just yet. My mother... did say there was a law about it, so I'm going to ask Tsunade-shisou about it soon." Everyone caught how she choked when she mentioned her mother.

"A law against Naruto?" Lee said, shocked by the concept. He like many others knew that Naruto had not been the most liked amongst the villagers. Their current behavior was glaring proof that they had something against him. But a law passed against him specifically, now that sounded insane. As insane as people celebrating the death of a thirteen year-old.

"What law is this?" Neji asked.

Sakura was about to open her mouth when seemingly out of nowhere Tsunade appeared. "I shall answer that." The female Hokage said.

Every ninja there gave a brief bow to their village's leader. "Tsunade-sama, what brings you here?" Tenten asked.

"I've been keeping an eye on especially all of you. I'm not that surprised by the civilian's reactions to the news, but your own were the ones I most wanted to observe."

"Why us?" Shino asked.

The Fifth Hokage looked at each one of teens, closed her eyes and sighed. "Ignorance is bliss I guess, and for thirteen years we have kept the younger generations of this village, i.e. you and anyone younger, in the dark about a topic that was best left closed, but now it is time to know the truth."

Nobody but Sakura knew what she was talking about, so while she sadly looked away they listened intently. "Thirteen years ago the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, battled against the Kyuubi. And the Fourth won that battle; he destroyed the Kyuubi at the cost of his own life." Tsunade told them.

Everyone but Sakura had a confused look upon their face, for this was basic knowledge they had been told when they were children. She might as well have been telling them the story of Santa Claus.

Tsunade sighed once more, as if this was difficult for her to admit, and then continued. "That story is a lie, the Kyuubi was actually not killed. Instead, to ensure it never could hurt anyone again, it was sealed inside the body of a newborn baby. Uzumaki Naruto."

In that moment right there, for nine teens, it seemed as if the entire world had suddenly gone dead silent.

"Rest assured, Naruto and the Kyuubi were and always have been two separate entities. Kyuubi was just trapped inside Naruto unable to do anything to him. The Fourth Hokage designed the seal specifically to ensure the demon couldn't control Naruto but Naruto could make use of it's chakra when he needed it." Tsunade continued. "However, the vast majority of the people in this village felt that Naruto either was extremely likely to be controlled by the fox at any moment, or he was the actual fox from the very beginning." She paused to grit her teeth and continued angrily. "Apparently a bunch of civilians, clan figures, and some shinobi believed they know sealing better than the Fourth himself."

She saw each one of them absorb this information, and could only hope they took it the right way.

Kiba looked like he had just discovered Akamaru had been a cat the whole time. Shino didn't look any different, but the buzzing of his hive gradually got louder. Neji hadn't been this surprised since he read his father's statement to him after the chuunin exam finals. Lee looked like he was about to have a total emotional breakdown, and either shout in anger or punch something until it break. Tenten thought she had run out of tears, but this revelation just proved her wrong. Ino brought her hands to her face, trying to contain a new sob she felt brewing. Shikamaru, for the first time in a long time, felt the urge to hit something. Chouji dropped his bag of chips and felt like vomiting. Sakura just looked down and cried a little more.

Shikamaru spoke first. "Hokage-sama, you mean to tell us that people here believed that Naruto, the same Naruto that could barely pass the Academy, that fought to protect Konoha during the Oto/Suna invasion rather than help destroy it, that constantly strived to become Hokage himself one day, was a mountain-sized city-destroying nine-tailed beast in human form?"

Tsunade sadly nodded. "Yes. Sounds stupid doesn't it?"

"It's beyond stupid. It's downright inhumane." Lee said.

Tsunade nodded again. "Yeah, it is. The Third tried to give Naruto a normal life, by passing a law that said no one would be allowed under penalty of death to say a word of this to their children. Even Naruto didn't know his condition until the day he became a ninja from what he told me."

"Wait a minute." Sakura interrupted. "You mean Naruto had to go thru the mistreatment and loneliness without even knowing why until he was twelve?"

The slug sannin nodded again. "Yes. It must have been really hard on him, growing up with no family, no friends because you were all told to stay away from him, no teachers who wanted him to learn anything, and everyone who claimed he should be killed or turned into a mindless weapon day after day."

The words 'no friends because you were all told to stay away from him' made Sakura have a headache for a moment, like something was hitting her internally. "The law did not die with the Third, but some people may believe it did die with Naruto. I still have to check the law books to confirm this or not."

"Tsunade-shishou, my mother... told me about Naruto-kun being connected to the fox. Does this mean you may have to kill her?" Sakura asked. Everyone caught her new reference to Naruto and was surprised she just said something only Hinata would have said before. Even she was surprised by it.

"I'm sorry Sakura, but it may come to that." Tsunade said, however she sounded a bit unsure.

"Hokage-sama, does Hinata-sama know of this?" Neji asked.

"I don't know Neji. I wouldn't be surprised if she did though."

"Where is Hinata by the way?" Ino asked. "Neji said she's not here anymore so did you send her somewhere?"

"I did, and... she's in good hands." Tsunade answered. She looked at all of the young ninjas and sighed once again. "I guess I will leave all of you, to talk amongst yourselves." She said as she vanished and a puff of smoke.

Everyone simply stood there in utter silence, none of them really knowing what to say until finally Shikamaru broke the silence. "Damn them all." And for once he sounded genuinely angry. "Damn them all, damn every last villager that's celebrating right now! Naruto did not deserve that, he did not deserve such a lonely life!" Shikamaru said as he kicked a loose stone out of the ground.

"No wonder he smiled all of the time, he was probably masking his own pain." Neji added as he leaned against the tree. "And here I thought he was just being ignorant the whole time."

"Well… maybe some of their fears were justified." Kiba said out of nowhere, suddenly all eyes turned to him.

"How can you say that?" Ino demanded.

Kiba held up his hands defensively. "Hey look, I remember the stories my mom told me about the Kyuubi, how it could flatten entire mountains with just a swipe of one of it's tails. I mean, if such a dangerous creature was sealed inside Naruto, sure people would be afraid that it might take over his bo-" However he got no further because Lee punched the dog nin right in his jaw.

Kiba fell to the ground and Lee stood above him huffing, tears rolling down his face. "Say nothing of the sort. Naruto was a good person, and he would never allow such an awful beast to take control of his body."

Kiba sat up and rubbed his sore and possibly fractured jaw. He glared daggers at Lee and when he got up looking like he was about to strike back everyone else moved behind Lee. Kiba stared at all of them and then huffed. "Whatever, I didn't say he was a bad guy, did I? But I bet if he was still alive and you all knew the truth, none of you would be acting as you are now. You would all be avoiding him like before, but with an excuse now." He spat as he turned and left, Akamaru following behind.

When he left everyone began to think. 'Was he right?' It was one thing to think about a dead man, they would never be asked to prove anything regarding Naruto anymore. But if Naruto was still alive and if they all knew the truth, would they still be calling him a friend? Or would their views of the blonde-haired prankster turn into that of a fox demon?

For that none of them could be certain.