The next few weeks in Kohona were hard ones. Most people were able to move on from the deaths of three of their own but some could not.
Seiji moved out of the Hyuuga compound immediately after the funeral, moving into the rooms that were located above Tenten's weapons shop. It had been used for storage originally but it took him less than a day to clear it out and move is stuff in. He refused to go back to his mother's apartment, and he also refused anyone else's help. In fact, he refused to see anyone unless he had to. He was taking his mother's death hard.
Several times Hyuuga elders had attempted to coerce, convince or force him back to the compound until his aunt, Uzumaki Hinata, stepped in. She knew what the clan elders were trying to do. They had thrown up a fuss when she left the clan to marry Naruto, concerned with the fact that someone outside the clan's walls and rules possessed the Byakugan. It had taking a lot of fighting and threatening to get them to allow her marriage with Naruto.
And she knew that they were trying to tie her nephew to the clan's rules and laws.
When Seiji had been born, the clan had tried to seize him, claiming that he was a Hyuuga and must be brought up in the ways of the clan. Tenten had refused, not allowing them to take her precious child from her. When she found out that several of the clan elders from the main house were planning on placing the caged bird seal on her infant son, she lost it. Tenten had threatened to leave the village for good if they even tried it, and to drive her point home she blew up the part of the Hyuuga compound that housed their clan scrolls. She had been arrested but the Hokage ruled in her favor and let her off with community service. Knowing that they still planned to give her son the seal, Tenten was very careful not to leave him alone for long periods of time with any of the clan elders.
And when she was away on missions, Hinata looked out for him.
Hinata knew that neither Tenten nor Neji would want their child to be tied down by the clan's rules, especially since he would belong to the branch family. Hinata knew that Hanabi was fighting with the elders to change some of the clan's rulings, but it was slow going. Until the law was changed, Hanabi could not protect Seiji from it without erasing all of her hard work over the years.
The day after the funeral, Hinata had marched into the hokage's office and demanded that she be Seiji's guardian until he could care for himself. She knew that soon he would graduate from the academy and be a genin, but until he could support himself, she wanted to protect him. He was family, Neji was her brother, Tenten her sister and friend.
Seiji didn't acknowledge her in his life, but she knew that he appreciated it. Every time she brought over food, her dishes would be found, cleaned and stacked neatly, in a basket on her porch the next day. Every piece of clothing that she bought for him was repaid in free babysitting and him fetching her groceries from the store.
Eventually, he began to eat at the Uzumaki house one, two, three days a week. He was still quiet, still angry, but he felt better being around his aunt.
A few weeks after the funeral, Seiji graduated at the top of his class and became a genin, placed on a team with Sarutobi Mirai and boy from the Aburame clan named Jin. Despite having his responsibilities as a genin and the hectic schedule that went with it, Seiji still found the time to work his mother's shop. When he was with his team, a civilian his mother had hired worked the shop. It was the shop's income that allowed him to become financially independent from the Hyuugas.
As the days passed, he became more stoic, more calm, but he still refused to really let go of his anger.
Hinata could only hope that his soul would heal in time.
The Inuzukas had moved on as best they could using the only method they knew; by pretending that nothing was wrong and not speaking of it again. All talk of Kiba and Akamaru was squashed immediately, and their room in the clan house was locked off, no one allowed to enter until Tsume and Hana decided what to do with it. The clan had become more ferocious and rowdy since their deaths, and could once again return to the active duty roster. Their ferocity had rebound tenfold, and they were completing missions with unbridled ferocity.
They were like rabid dogs and wolves, snapping at every enemy in their paths and mauling them to death. They broke more furniture and ninja tools and ran for miles to burn off their grief. But in the end, they too moved on and rejoined civilized society.
Tamaki, however, isolated herself from the clan and village. She continued to work as a breeder and trainer of ninja cats, but she could no longer be found at the Inuzuka gatherings. Following Kiba's funeral, Tamaki had barricaded herself in her apartment, refusing to leave for weeks at a time. Only her cats were allowed into the apartment, and the ninja cats that lived with her could nowadays often be seen walking back and forth from the store, laden bags of food being dragged behind them.
The only people that she had contact with were her grandmother, Nekobaa, whose health was finally beginning to fail her, and the Uchihas, who visited every once and a while. All they did was sit in silence, sipping tea for about an hour before parting ways, but words were unneeded. They didn't need to say anything, all they needed was silence.
The Inuzukas didn't associate with her anymore; both sides had decided that it only hurt to see each other right now. They both knew that even silence would not help them through the pain; only space and time could do that.
Tamaki threw herself into her work, and due to that, the ninja cat population flourished in the Leaf village. She worked almost nonstop and mostly at night, so as to limit the amount of time spent with humans.
She became a machine, living for her work, and working to live. She lost weight and her eyes became sunken and hollow, but she pushed through the pain, though she let no one but her cats help her.
It was unhealthy; it was barely living.
But even that was better than life at the Uchiha's.
Sasuke had retreated back into himself, becoming cold and distant to everyone; he shut out the outside world as best he could. He nearly barricaded himself and his children in the Uchiha compound, spending each and every day training his children. He refused all requests to take missions and stayed inside the compound, keeping all the windows drawn and staying to the shadows when not training.
Naruto and Kakashi were worried about him, especially since he refused to see them or answer any summons to the hokage office. ANBU had showed up at the compound several times in the weeks that followed the funeral, but he still refused to meet with anyone. Sasuke refused to take missions that required him to leave his compound, let alone the village, and with his service history, the village couldn't deny him that.
So he stayed home, and he trained. He trained his sons relentlessly, drilling into them the techniques of the Uchiha and chakra control exercises; Sakura had stressed them early on.
And his sons excelled at them all. They worked hard and diligently, without fail or complaint about the increased workload that topped their training at the academy. They all agreed that they would fight and become strong, for their father, their mother, and for their baby sister. They were all dedicated, and driven almost to the point of obsession.
And when it came to Sarada, Sasuke refused to let her out of his sight. She was his only daughter, and he felt that she was one of his strongest remaining links to Sakura. While the Uchiha sons looked just like their father, Sarada looked just like her mother. Sasuke could be caught staring at her late at night, his gaze sorrowful and his posture stiff. Ever since Sakura vanished, he had kept his baby girl close, and now that Sakura was gone, he was determined to not to lose her too.
He would not lose any more of his family.
Kakashi sighed at the latest reports from his ANBU on the Inuzuka, Tamaki, Seiji and the Hyuugas, and the Uchihas. While thing could be worse, they also could be better. The Inuzukas and the Hyuugas were acting as he expected, but the Uchihas worried him. If Sasuke lost all hope, all reason to stay in this village, Kakashi had no doubt that Sasuke would only put up with the village and its rules for so long. Sasuke had left once before, who was to say that he wouldn't do it again.
Especially since the village had failed to protect his family once again.
Kakashi sighed again and looked up into Naruto's blue eyes, which were eerily serious.
"Don't worry, Kakashi-sensei, I'll keep him company. I don't want to lose him again, and I'm sure that Sakura would want Sasuke to stay here as well."
That Kakashi had to agree with. Sakura had always told her husband that her children would be allowed to travel as they got older, but they would always call Kohona home. Of that topic she was unyielding.
Kakashi nodded to his old student. "Just keep him grounded, Naruto."
The man looked sad. "I can try Kakashi-sensei, but Sakura was always much better at it than I was. I can make sure he doesn't leave again, but how he will be, how he will act down the road," He ran his fingers through his hair. "Kami only knows how he, and his kids, will turn out."
