Naruko sits next to Sasuke's bed, stroking his hair as he lays in unconscious state. She wishes he would just wake up. After she woke up the day after fighting Gaara, she had rushed to the hospital to check on Sasuke. He had gotten some pretty extensive injuries, and had been out for the past week. He was due to wake up any minute though.
Naruko looked out the window, and she reflected on the gray skies. If Sasuke didn't wake up soon enough, she would have to leave.
Today was the day of Sarutobi Hiruzen's funeral. He had died fighting that damn bastard Orochimaru, and Naruko knew she would be crying today. The man had been a grandfather figure for her. He'd been her stable in life. He was always there, since she was born, he was the only thing that was always there.
But now he was gone.
She sighed and looked back to Sasuke, who was showing signs of beginning to stir. He had been the first to leave the arena once the war broke out. He had chased after his opponent, Gaara, and pursued him far into the world.
He opened his eyes and she gave him a small smile. She couldn't manage more than that. Not today.
"Hey." She said.
"Naruko..." He whispered. "How long have I been out?"
"About a week." She responds.
He clenches his fists and closes his eyes. Why is he so weak? He couldn't even beat his own opponent. He had been knocked out and was out of chakra while the other guy looked like he had barely broken a sweat. Then Naruko showed up, he had seen her mid-battle with him. She was amazing, and had fought tooth and nail until she won. He should be protecting her, not the other way around.
"The Hokage died you know, today's his funeral." She said.
He looked at her, concerned. He knew how much she loved him. "Oh Naruko... I'm sorry."
She drops her head to face down at her lap, and squeezes her eyes shut. "I keep feeling like I'll see him again. Like I'll round a corner, and he'll be there. Or we'll go to get a mission, and he'll be smiling, smoking his pipe, at the desk. But I know it's not true. I know I'll never see him again. But I can't help but wish for it!"
"And it hurts so much!" She continues. "It hurts! He was my one constant! And he's gone..."
"Naruko..."
She stood up and wiped at her eyes. "The funeral is at 1:00... you don't have to come, but they'll let you out of the hospital if you want. I need to go get ready."
And with that, she left. She walked out of the hospital, but then sprinted home. She didn't like people to see her being weak.
Once she got back into her room at the Hyuga Compound, she searched through her closet until she found the traditional black kimono used for funerals. She slid it on and found a pair of black pumps to wear, and put those on too.
She walked into the bathroom across the hall and gripped the sink tightly to stop the tears that fought in her eyes once again. She looked up and saw the red rimmed eyes and tear stains that told of crying. She washed her face off and sighed deeply, before she opened the drawer in the sink.
Her mother had taught her how to use make up, in case she wanted to put it on for dates of anything of the sort, but she wasn't that kind of girl. But she wanted to look special – for her all but blood grandfather.
She took her red locks in her hands and sighed, there was nothing she could do with them other than take them out of the braid she usually kept it in. She unraveled her braid and brushed her hands through her now wavy hair. She let out a puff of air that lifted her bangs, and looked at the make up again.
She started by putting plain mascara on her eyes and then applied black eyeliner and thought that was enough for her eyes. She took out the brushes, foundation, concealer, matte mousse, loose powder, and blush and set to work.
Once she was all made up, she took a step back and looked at her reflection. Her face looked healthily flushed and the whisker lines that mark her as a jinchurriki cease to show on her face. She puts on light lipstick and sighs before checking the clock.
It's time to go.
Naruko stared at the picture of the 3rd Hokage, her normally crystal blue eyes cloudy with tears. The rain had long soaked through her clothes and the cold chilled her to the bone. Her make up had run down her face in a mess, even though she shed no tears. Her hair was bogged down with the water from the deluge. But she had long since stopped caring.
"Many brave ninja lost their lives yesterday, and we stand here today, mourning them. Among those lost, was our always noble Hokage, who died an honorable death, fighting for our village until the final moment. Now is a time for great sadness and reflection. Remember the loss of those important to you. Remember the loss of all those who died during the attack. Their sacrifice is what allows us to stand here today. Fight in their memory and remember them with fondness. They will be dearly missed."
Naruko couldn't tear her eyes from the picture of her Hokage, her grandfather, as the speech went on. This was it, he was dead. It was official now.
The procession started, and people started walking forward to place flowers at the pictures of their loved ones. The line near her finally started moving, and she took a step forward.
He would never smile at her again.
Step.
She would never hear that throaty chuckle again.
Step.
She couldn't yell at him to give them good missions.
Step.
No more 'random' meetings for ramen at Ichirakus.
Step.
There wouldn't be any more grandfatherly hugs.
Step.
No more 'Are you okay?'s.
Step.
She stood in front of the picture, the red and white Hokage robes staring back at her. She reached out and placed her pointer finger on his cheek in the photo. She dragged it down to his chin and her head dropped.
Tears escaped from her eyes as she placed the pure white flower in front of the photo. She closed her eyes tightly and bit her lip to hold back a sob.
"I'll always love you old man." She whispered.
She walked back to her place on the building and found herself standing next to the one and only Konohamaru Sarutobi, the Hokage's grandson. He was full on sobbing and had his face buried in his hands.
No one stood near him from his own family. She knew the only one left in his family was Asuma, and he was sent on a mission. He had nobody anymore. Just like her when she was a small child.
She put a hand on his shoulder and heard his sobs cease. He wiped his eyes and looked up at her.
"I-I wasn't c-c-crying." He says.
She pulled on his shoulder and hugged him close to her, wrapping her arms around the poor boy. He froze in place and went rigid against her. She hugged him tighter and leaned down to his ear.
"It's okay to break down sometimes." She whispered.
His sobs resumed and he wrapped his own arms around her, holding her tightly, almost as if she might leave him too if he were to grip her looser. She closed her blue eyes that were swimming with emotion and let another tear slip loose.
She and Konohamaru stood there much longer than most did, people that had come merely out of respect and that wanted to stay out of the rain. When they finally released each other, Konohamaru turned his head up to the sky, the water droplets falling on his face.
"It's almost like... the sky is crying." He said.
"They say that when the sky opens up like this and drops it's tears so freely, that someone very loved and important has left us. I always thought it was a ridiculous motion, after all, the sky is just a part of nature. Nature decides to do what it wants, it doesn't listen to rhyme or reason. But now... I can't help but believe it's true." Naruko said, facing towards the sky as well.
She put a hand on his shoulder and smiled weakly at him. "Hey, why don't you head home. We don't want you getting sick now."
He nodded and trudged home, his now ruined shoes squelching against the ground. But she remained. She walked forward to the picture again and stared at his profile.
"Imouto." She heard from behind her, but did not turn around.
"Imouto, we have to go home."
"He's gone Nii-san."
"I know he is." She felt a hand rest on her shoulder. "I know it's hard for you, but you need to let him go. You need to move on. It's what he would have wanted. He wouldn't want you to swim in your endless ocean of guilt and sadness. He would want you to move on."
She turned and clutched at her brother, who held her while she cried into his shoulder. He rubbed her back soothingly until she was done crying. He moved her bangs to the sides of her face and smiled at her.
"Why don't we go find you a new rock, ne?"
Naruko sat in the stream in a pair of her normal clothes with her brother beside her. The water flowed freely around them as they picked their way through stone after stone. The rain had cleared up after awhile, leaving only the dark, gray clouds in their wake.
"Nii-san?"
"Yeah imouto?"
"Jiraiya-san approached me today. He said he wants to take me on a training trip to find Tsunade-sama. Apparently they want to try to convince her to be the Hokage." Naruko said, still shifting through rocks.
She could practically feel Neji's gaze on her as she picked up a pink stone. It was rough around the edges and had white lines crackled all over it. Not good enough. She threw it back in and heard her brother pick up his own stone again.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. When I asked him why he would take me when I don't even know him, he said that he knew my father and wanted to pay it back to him for missing all my years." She explained. "Wait, did I ever tell you I found out who my real parents were?"
"No." Neji said, his eye widening. "Who are they?"
Naruko looked up at the Hokage mountain and took a contemplative look at her father's stone face. "Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki."
"You're father was the Fourth Hokage?" He asked, amazed.
"Mmmm." She hummed in agreement. "I didn't believe it at first, since it came from a rather unreliable source. But it all fell into place. Why Kakashi-sensei was yelling at him to stop telling me. Why I have red hair that nearly no one else has, as well as the only pair of blue eyes like this in the village. And-"
"What? What is it?" He asked.
She looked up nervously at him. "You promise you won't hate me if I tell you?"
Neji rolled his eyes. "Naruko, I could never hate you. You're my imouto, I love you. You can tell me anything and no matter how bad it is, I'll help you through it."
She took a deep breath and looked back towards the stream. "You remember the history lesson about the Kyuubi? The one where the Fourth Hokage kills it and becomes the hero of the village?"
"Yeah."
"Well... it's not entirely true. Instead of killing it, which I assume he couldn't do, he... he sealed it into a newborn baby. Into me."
She couldn't meet his eyes, and suddenly, her hand grabbed hold of the perfect rock. It was pure white, and flattened like a pancake. It was completely smooth, all the way around it's rectangular shape, and she smiled sadly at it. For her, it would represent a new beginning. Wiping the slate clean, and purity. For her and the old man.
She stood up, stretching for the first time in nearly an hour, and looked at Neji. When they met eyes, he smiled at her, before taking her hand in his own and standing as well.
"So, you found your rock?"
"Yeah."
"Naruko... I don't care."
Her eyes widened. "You don't? But-But! I have a demon in me! How could you not care?"
"Simple. You're my imouto, always have been, always will be. It's not like you're suddenly different or anything. You're still the same old Naruko that I've always known. All that's happening is you're finding out more about yourself. You're discovering who you truly are. How could I be mad at you for that?"
She felt the familiar sting of tears in her eyes before she hugged her brother tightly, clinging to his chest. "Nii-san?"
"Yeah?"
"I love you. You're my onii-san, and I couldn't have asked for a better one. Remember that. Okay?"
"Okay."
They released their hug and walked back to the main house together, where Naruko painted the date onto the stone, and smiled at it.
She placed it next to the black, round one from the day she got her team and Sasuke back, aligning it just so.
She walked to the door and turned off the light, before turning back once more to look at the row of rocks on her shelf. She smiled and closed the door, leaning against it.
Today would not be a day that would be forgotten.
Hey guys! I know! I know! It's been a SUPER long time since I updated, but I was originally going to make this a Chunin Exam/War chapter, but let me tell you if you haven't read my other ANs in my stories.
I. HATE. FIGHT. SCENES.
Plain and simple, I just can't stand reading them or writing them, some weird habit I have I guess. I can watch them just fine, and get totally into them during the show or manga. I just can't bring myself to do it too often, which is why this took so long. I literally spent months on one page of a fight scene, and then realized that I would probably have to do a few more chapters after that and well... let's just say it would be awhile before I finished this story. I didn't want to make you guys wait, so I just did it like this! Hope you don't mind!
But yeah, I literally spent three months on one fight scene, but I wrote this chapter in under 2 days.
Plus! I'm doing this so I can procrastinate the paper I have to write for Western Civilization! Yay! I make good choices!
How about one of you writes it so I can keep updating like you want?! *nervously looks around as no one raises hand* yeah I thought so...
Anyways! Hoped you liked it! Please follow and review!
PEACE!
~narutoobsessedgurl