Chapter One: The Death of Uzumaki Naruto.
Sasuke stared down at the still warm corpse of his once teammate Uzumaki Naruto. The gaping hole in his chest where his heart should have been was bleeding profusely, mixing with the rain and running in rivulets off the stone shore and into the water; staining it a light red.
"It's funny," Sasuke began, talking to the dead body. "I hated you. You were loud, brash, thick-headed, and were about as sociable as a chimpanzee… but you were the closest thing to a friend that I had in that gods-forsaken village." Sasuke stiffened, gripping his eyes as a sudden spring of pain erupted from behind them. "Gah!" Clasping his hands to his eyes he fell to his knees, the pulsating ache of the cursed seal on his shoulder only seeming to exacerbate the sensation of a thousand electric pinpricks shooting out from inside his skull.
Just as suddenly as the pain came however, it went. Sasuke dropped his hands to the ground to keep himself from falling and opened his eyes, only to see the dead, glassed over eyes of Naruto staring back up at him. Naruto's red, slitted eyes had returned to their normal blue, but all semblance of the boundless optimism Naruto had exuded from them was gone. They were empty eyes, looking up at him… judging him.
"Shut up!" He shouted down at the corpse, "I had to do it! I had to kill you to get the Mangekyo! I need this power to kill Itachi! You wouldn't understand! He took everything from me! I have to kill him! It's my duty!"
The glassy blue eyes continued to stare, regardless of Sasuke's justifications. With a loud grunt Sasuke got up before kicking Naruto's body with enough force to shove him off the rock where he stood and into the river, where it began to slowly float away, face down.
Ripping his hitai-ate off Sasuke looked down at the distinct scratch crossing out the Konoha symbol. With a slight smirk he dropped it onto the stone ground, where it hit with a loud clang. Maybe Naruto wasn't as useless as he had previously believed, not that it mattered now. Looking back at Naruto as his body slowly drifted away he felt his breath hitch, looking slightly defeated. "I'm sorry." He whispered to himself. "I had to."
Sasuke shook his head to clear his thoughts. This was childish, and no way for an Uchiha to act. He had wasted too much time ruminating, he had to get to Orochimaru as soon as possible, who knows when Naruto's backup would arrive. Turning on his heel, Sasuke used his remaining strength to run as quickly as he could towards the rendezvous point to the north.
UN:PoA
Kakashi landed without a sound on the hard, stone shore. Picking up the scratched hitai-ate he held it in front of his hound. "Pakkun, what do you smell?" He asked urgently.
"It's Sasuke's for sure, but there's more. The rain's washed most of it away but there's definitely a lot of Naruto's blood here." He stated, "Unfortunately, I can't smell much of a trail anymore, the rain is too heavy."
Kakashi nodded in understanding. "I'll summon some more ninken and we'll spread out, we need to pick the trail back up as soon as-"
"Kakashi-san!" Pakkun interrupted, pointing downstream towards a distinctive orange figure with his paw.
"No..." Kakashi whispered as he dropped the hitai-ate, sprinting across the flowing water towards Naruto. Spanning the distance in just a few seconds he picked up his student, hoping he was merely unconscious. Upon seeing the gaping hole in his chest however, Kakashi knew he was dead.
Scooping the rapidly cooling corpse up in his arms Kakashi closed his single visible eye. "I'm sorry, Naruto, I… I didn't mean to be so late." He sighed, reigning in his emotions in the way that only a hardened shinobi could, before shifting his grip so he could close Naruto's eyes. It was time for the boy to rest.
"Pakkun" He said, turning to his furred friend on the shore. "Pick up Sasuke's hitai-ate and bring it back to the village. We'll see if we can use his scent to train other tracking hounds." Pakkun nodded, picking up the hitai-ate in his mouth.
Without another word, Kakashi began the long journey back to the village.
UN:PoA
"Bring me more deer antler!" Tsunade shouted to one of the bustling nurses, deep bags under her eyes, showing her lack of sleep. She ground together more ingredients in an attempt to counteract the Tongarashigan pill of the Akimichi that Choji had taken. It truly was a fascinating piece of work. By forcing the body to burn through the entirety of its fat stores, the Akimichi clan had discovered how to produce an incredible amount of chakra. The only problem was that the process also produced an extraordinary amount of spiritual heat, throwing the spirit's balance towards one end of the extreme and causing it to spiral out of control, weakening the-
"Hokage-sama!" Tsunade turned to see who interrupted her introspection. A genin she didn't recognize stood before her. "Your presence is requested in the morgue." He said with a bow.
With a deep frown Tsunade responded, "I'm in the middle of a procedure! You can't just barge in here! Who told you to break protocol like this!?" she demanded.
"Kakashi-san did, ma'am. He recently returned with Naruto and ordered me to find you immediately." The young boy explained. He must be fresh out of the academy, that was why she didn't recognize him, and why he was stupid enough to interrupt a medical procedure on a random jounin's orders..
Wait a minute.
Naruto?
Morgue?
"YOU!" Tsunade snapped at another nearby nurse. "I want you to grind some dried lotus root, steep it in a glass of peppermint tea, and force it down Akimichi's throat, understood?" She ordered belligerently before storming off without waiting for a reply.
Tsunade's heart was beating faster than was healthy for a woman of her advanced age as she rushed down the sterile white hallways of the Konoha hospital. After what was arguably the longest 60 seconds of her life she rammed open the doors to the morgue and barged in.
"Kakashi! What is the meaning of this!" She shouted, hoping against hope that her faux anger would change what she knew in her heart had happened to her once again. One of her precious people had died for this gods-forsaken village again. She knew it. She looked only at Kakashi, refusing to acknowledge the obvious orange figure on a nearby gurney.
Kakashi was sitting in a chair in the corner of the room, head resting in his hands and hunched over. Without a word he pointed to the corpse of his dead student. Tsunade slowly turned to look at Naruto. He hadn't been cleaned up at all, he was still covered in blood, sweat, and grime. Stepping closer she approached him and rested a hand on his forehead. All the anger was immediately washed away and replaced with an intense, aching sorrow. She had lost another one. She truly was cursed. Running her hand down his front she found the necklace, the cursed necklace that was doomed to kill anyone she gave it to. She had been a fool to believe that this small boy would be able to change her fate. Gripping the crystal she tore it away from him and shoved it into her pocket, fighting back tears as she did.
Looking lower she stared at the gaping wound in his chest, "Chidori?" she asked simply. Kakashi merely nodded his head in response, still refusing to look up. She closed her eyes, refusing to let tears fall, refusing to let Konoha make her cry for another person it had taken away from her. She failed miserably. Falling to her knees, loud sobs wracked her body. When had Naruto become so important to her? When had she let her guard down? She had sworn to herself she would never be vulnerable like that again, but like an abused lover she had made the excuses she knew she shouldn't have. 'It will be different this time,' she had told herself.
Tsunade bit the inside of her cheek, hard enough to draw blood. She savored the taste, let it bring her back to the now. Standing up there was a fire in her eyes. The village had hurt her all over again. So she was going to hurt it back.
"Kakashi," she started, suddenly back to her 'all business' persona. "make yourself presentable. We'll be burying him next to his parents."
Kakashi's eye shot wide when he heard that. To reveal to the village that Sasuke had killed the only heir of The Fourth Hokage. The village would tear itself apart. Less than 48 hours ago, Sasuke had been the village's golden child. A living icon of the next generation rising from the ashes of the last to grow stronger than the old. The lone possessor of the genes to pass on what was arguably the world's most powerful kekkei genkai. Naruto on the other hand, had been treated as a leper since his birth. To suddenly reveal that he was Minato's son and he had been killed by the treasonous 'last Uchiha?' They would be lucky if riots were all they had to deal with. He personally knew several veterans that had served with Minato who would gladly kill anyone that so much as insinuated Minato wasn't perfect, but finding out the village as a whole had been mistreating his only son? An only son that was now dead, and incapable of receiving any form of reparation?
"H-Hokage-sama!" He cried out before the woman could leave the room. "Are you sure that's wise?" He asked.
Tsunade didn't so much as glance back at him. She was far too tired to justify her actions, and as far as she was concerned he could burn with the rest of them. She had to return to her hospital duties for now, but then she had some arrangements to make.
UN:PoA
Sakura was gently shaken awake. She hadn't gotten much sleep. She had stayed up as long as she could, trying to wait until Naruto brought back Sasuke. It was around 4 PM when she finally conceded to the heavy weights that were pulling down her eyelids.
"Sakura dear, you need to wake up. Hokage-sama has called a village-wide meeting in the coliseum." Said a familiar voice.
"M-mom?" She asked, getting up slowly before she remembered what she had stayed up for. "Mom! What time is it!?" She asked hurriedly, looking towards her alarm-clock.
"It's 8 AM dear, you slept all day yesterday. Now you need to get up though, it would look bad for a ninja to not come when summoned by their kage, wouldn't it? Your father is already gone." Mebuki asked. "You go on sweetie, I have to do some things before I can go, but I'll be right behind you." She smiled.
Sakura gave her mom a quick hug and put a hair clip in to make her hair not look as messy before running off to the village center. "Bye mom! Love you!" She shouted as she bolted out the door with a smile.
She knew what the meeting was for. Naruto had gotten Sasuke back and was probably being rewarded or something. Lucky idiot might even be promoted to chuunin for this. She was sure Sasuke would be upset. After all, he had tried to leave, he would probably be put on probation or something, but she didn't care. She was just happy he was back. They could start over, she could be more considerate of his darker feelings. They might even be put on the same team again.
UN:PoA
Kakashi was tense. The village coliseum was filled to bursting, with many ninja choosing to sit on the rooftops around the edges as the civilian population filled the seats. Looking down at the Hokage, he knew that something had snapped inside her. She wore all black as she stood in the center of the arena. Black robes, black eyeliner, black lipstick, black everything. She was making a show of this. There was something off, something about her eyes. The way they were a little too wide. The way they darted back and forth without blinking. Either she had gone crazy, or she was playing a very convincing role of a woman barely holding onto the edges of her sanity.
"Ladies and Gentleman of Konohagakure!" She began. "I come to you, bearing grim news."
Yep, definitely crazy.
"Today we mourn the loss, of one of our most valued shinobi!" She said, projecting her hoarse voice as well as she could.
In the crowd, Sakura's eyes shot wide. "No." She whispered to herself. "Sasuke, Naruto wouldn't!" She clenched her fists tightly, "I'll kill him." She swore to herself. Naruto had killed Sasuke! That idiot couldn't do anything right! She was stupid to think he would bring Sasuke back!
"Today we mourn the death of the son of the Fourth Hokage, The Yellow Flash, Minato Namikaze." The crowd erupted into murmurs. The Fourth had never had a son. What was she talking about? Sakura calmed visibly. She was obviously saddened that the unknown son of the Fourth Hokage had died, but that was an irrelevant bit of news to be stored away for later. The fact of the matter was that Sasuke may still be alive.
"Today we mourn the death of the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi!" Again, a stampede of whispers emanated from the crowd. This time more loudly, especially among the shinobi population that knew who she was talking about and were connecting the two bits of information together.
'There was no jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi though,' Sakura thought to herself, 'The Fourth had killed it, right?' It made sense though, The Fourth was a master of fuinjutsu. If anyone could seal away the beast, it would be him. If this person was both the only son of The Fourth Hokage, and the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, then it was no wonder he chose to hide existence. He was a prime target. Whoever this person was, he must have been a well-kept secret of the village. Possibly an ANBU agent.
"Today we mourn the loss," Tsunade paused, letting the tension build like a maestro conducting an orchestra before finally releasing the pressure. "of Uzumaki Naruto! Who died at the hands of the traitor and official missing-nin, Uchiha Sasuke!" With a snap of her fingers two men brought an ornate casket out into the center of the arena, it was gilded with intricate carvings etched into the wood. When Sakura looked closely, she could barely make out a mop of messy blond hair, and a bulky orange jacket.
Sakura's mouth opened of its own accord. Eyes shooting wide as she realized what the Hokage had just said. She gasped, taking a deep breath.
"NO!" The cry filled the arena, only it did not come from Sakura. She shut her mouth and immediately turned to the source of the noise, just as many other did. Only to see the quiet Hyuuga girl being restrained by her father as she desperately tried to make her way to Naruto's body. "No! Not Naruto-kun! Not Naruto-kun!" She screamed, tears streaming down her face.
"Hinata! Behave yourself!" Hiashi demanded with a hand on her arm, holding her back and attempting to force her to sit back down. "This is no way for a Hyuuga to act!" The man scolded. Hinata refused to listen, and even attempted to jyuuken her father's hand to loosen his grip. His reflexes were too fast for her however and he moved his hand and quickly struck a point in her neck, causing her to go limp. He caught her limp form and placed it back in her seat. Although she couldn't move she was still conscious, and still sobbing. "N-naruto! N-n-naruto!" She cried, a bit of snot coming out of her nose as she cried, not caring for the disgrace she was making of herself. Losing herself to the sorrow of the death of her idol and secret crush. Hiashi had of course known that his daughter harbored feelings for the young blond boy, but hadn't known they were this intense. He would have to talk to her about this later.
"Yes!" Tsunade continued, acting as if the outburst had never happened. "Naruto, son of Minato, had been killed by the traitor, Uchiha Sasuke. He served us in life, as a proud shinobi, and by keeping the Kyuubi sealed within him. He served us still in death, by taking the monstrosity with him into the afterlife!"
She stepped around the casket, resting a hand on Naruto's cheek for a brief moment. "Those of you who wish to pay respects to the hero, Uzumaki Naruto, follow me. We will be burying him next to his parents." She announced before walking away, the same two men from before closed the casket before lifting it and following her out of the coliseum.
UN:PoA
Sakura was numb.
She knew that her parents had spoken to her about something, but she couldn't remember what. She knew that Kakashi had come to her and said something as well, he had even hugged her, but she couldn't feel the warmth of the embrace. The entire burial had felt like she was watching it on TV. Like it wasn't really happening.
True to her word Tsunade had buried Naruto next to his parents in the Namikaze estate. Although perhaps estate was a strong word. The fourth did not come from a clan, but had purchased a couple acres of land outside the city wall. On it was a simple home one could have expected to find in a nice suburb, except everything was incredibly overgrown and run down. Behind the house were two gravestones that simply read "Her safe harbor" and "His red-hot habanero."
In the back of her mind Sakura noted that the body of The Fourth was supposedly destroyed during the Kyuubi attack. Although it made perfect sense that the official report would say that if he had wanted his burial to be private with his apparent wife. Tsunade had spoken some more as Naruto's casket was buried next to his parents, but Sakura couldn't hear her. While many of the villagers chose not to follow Naruto to his burial site, there was still more than enough to make it so she was crowded on all angles as everyone tried to gather around the rather impromptu ceremony.
She went home immediately after the final bit of dirt was placed over Naruto's grave. After her parents talked to her about friendship and loss or something, she went into her room and sat at her desk. The same desk she sat at when she had done homework back in the academy. It was funny, it had only been what, a year since they graduated? She couldn't remember. It was like none of that was real, like it had happened to a different person. She wasn't the person she was a mere 4 days ago. Her world had changed the moment she realized what she had done. She knew that keeping his promises was part of Naruto's nindo. She knew he liked her. She knew she could use that to get him to go after Sasuke. If she hadn't been so pushy with Sasuke, had been a better friend and less of a flirt, he might have stayed. If she hadn't begged Naruto to go after Sasuke, he would still be alive. If she had been stronger she could have gone with him. If. If. If.
It was her fault Sasuke left. It was her fault Naruto was dead. It was her fault she was all alone.
Sakura was numb.
UN:PoA
The week after Naruto's burial was hectic to say the least. Kakashi was wrong about there being riots, however. So that was a positive. In fact, Kakashi realized that the village was taking the revelation that the pariah was actually a hero rather well. There were plenty of heated arguments, but no one had died yet. Many of the villagers were simply sulking, minds filled with 'I should have' and 'if only.' The melancholy mood was oppressive, even for him. Others, although a much smaller number, actually celebrated. Not for the death of "Naruto the Hero" as some had taken to calling him posthumously, but for the death of the Kyuubi. Kakashi supposed they were somewhat right to celebrate. It wasn't every day a being of pure energy and manifestation of hatred was destroyed.
It was only when the two groups clashed that things became a problem. The mourners believed that the celebrators were not sufficiently upset about the death of Naruto the Hero, while the celebrators believed that the mourners were not sufficiently happy that Naruto had succeeded in the mission given the him by the Fourth. Protecting his people from a grave threat.
They were both partially right. Kakashi had heard both sides of the arguments multiple times while having to defuse rather heated debates on multiple occasions. Battlelines had been drawn, but he knew no actual battles would ensue. Thankfully both sides had come to the conclusion that a civil war in the village that Naruto the Hero had died serving would only disgrace his memory.
"Kakashi-san," A voice spoke from behind him. Turning away from the Memorial Stone he saw a genin looking up at him. He couldn't tell if it was the same one he had sent to fetch Tsunade that first night, or if the many similar genin that had been sent to fetch him where simply blurring together in his mind. "Kakashi-san, there's another altercation at the south gate," the boy said with a tense bow.
With a rather forced eye-smile Kakashi nodded to him. "Of course, I'll be right there," he said, allowing the boy to stand back up and return to the Hokage Tower. Kakashi began to lazily jump from rooftop to rooftop on his way to the gate. He had taken on a rather bizarre role lately. He was the sensei that trained the traitor Uchiha and taught him the technique used to kill Naruto, the Hero. He was also the sensei that trained Naruto, and had cared for him when the village had not. He had expected people to hate him. He had hoped they would praise him. Instead, they pitied him, and that only made things worse. Tsunade was using this role of his to help diffuse any situations as they arose. He hadn't slept in days.
"All right then, what's happening now." Kakashi sighed as he landed between two arguing figures just inside the south gate.
UN:PoA
"What the hell happened here?" Tsunade didn't so much as flinch at the accusatory tone that came from the window of her office. "I take an extra week to check on some contacts in my spy network, and now Naruto's dead and the village is poised to tear itself apart."
"Sasuke betrayed the village for Orochimaru, and Naruto was killed trying to get him back. I told everyone about his parents, and that he was jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi." Tsunade replied to her white haired teammate nonchalantly, taking another shot of sake.
"How did this happen?" Jiraiya asked, stepping into the office. "How did Orochimaru get a hold of Sasuke?"
"Sasuke went willingly, and was escorted out by some of Orochimaru's most trusted lieutenants. I sent Naruto and a ragtag team of genin, and one chuunin, after them at Naruto's request. Each of them barely survived, with Naruto being killed by Sasuke at The Valley of the End."
"The cursed seal couldn't have driven him to do something like that. Anko hasn't shown any signs of wanting to betray the village." Jiraiya scratched his chin as he processed this new information. "Did any of these lieutenants survive for questioning?"
"No."
Jiraiya turned to look at Tsunade, before immediately forgetting what he was going to say. She was a mess. Black eyeliner smearing down her cheeks, in a clear tear-stained pattern. Her hair was a disheveled nest of tangled strands. What made it worse was that her face was completely calm and her eyes were dry. No sign of the obvious grief that had put her in this state. Meaning it had happened a while ago, and she hadn't bothered to clean herself up. Couple that with the frankly irrational way she had announced the situation to the village. From his report, she was taking this worse than when Dan died.
"Are you ok?" He asked lamely, not sure how to proceed. He was a legendary super pervert, not a grief counselor.
"No," She answered back in a flat tone before leaning back into her chair. "but I'm better than I was. I finally collapsed a couple days after Naruto's burial, and Shizune has done wonders in calming me down. I was already running on fumes trying to help the Akimichi boy and the others when the news of Naruto's death came in. If I could go back and redo my actions with a more level head, I would have revealed Naruto's parentage much more..." She paused, searching for a word. "diplomatically."
She had definitely gone over the top. Calling a village wide meeting of both shinobi and civilian alike had been out of line. Not to mention her rather theatrical delivery of the information. She had seen the way Kakashi looked at her throughout the event, and it was a testament to the man's unwavering loyalty that he hadn't lost all faith in her because of her actions. Although maybe he did, and was simply very good at hiding it. His loyalty must feel especially strained now with how she was running him ragged. She simply didn't trust anyone else to handle any Naruto related flare-ups with a level head. Particularly when ninja were involved. Some of these arguments were reaching an almost religious level of zeal. She had wanted the village to share in her pain, not destroy itself.
"But you would have still told them?" Jiraiya asked, interrupting her brief introspection.
"Yes, I would have done it after Naruto was buried though. To put him on display like I did, Naruto he-" She paused again, taking another shot of lukewarm sake. "he didn't deserve that." She finished before gripping the necklace that once again rested around her neck. Wordlessly sending Naruto an apology in the afterlife.
"I think it's already time that I retire Jiraiya." She said, abruptly changing the topic. "This place was barely tolerable with Naruto here, and now that he's gone it's unbearable. Every time-" The clang of her sake dish breaking on the floor after being dropped by shaking hands filled the room. Taking a deep breath to calm herself like Shizune kept reminding her, Tsunade fought back tears. "Every time I go to sleep I feel Dan laying next to me, I see Nawiki whenever I give a mission to a genin, and now I hear Naruto laughing and calling me old with every gust of wind. I can't stay here Jiraiya. I just can't."
The Toad Sage walked around the desk and placed a hand on his Kage's shoulder. "Have Shikaku handle the logistics of the village, get Iruka to hand out missions to the genin, and take some time off with Shizune. Once you feel ready, you two can look through Jounin and ANBU profiles and decide who you think is the best fit for Hokage." He said simply with a smile that somehow managed to not look forced. "Everything will be ok, Tsunade-hime." He whispered before standing up and walking towards the window again.
"What will you do?" She asked with a sniff.
"I'm gonna go snake hunting." He replied coolly before jumping out and onto the street.
UN:PoA
Naruto scrunched his face. His chest hurt like hell. On the bright side, whatever hospital bed he was in sure was comfortable. Opening his eyes finally he saw… nothing. It was pitch black. Trying to sit up didn't do him any good either, as he immediately hit his head on something soft. Blinking several times he wriggled around trying to find out exactly where he was. It was some kind of padded box or something. With a deep frown he started knocking on the roof of the box.
"Very funny, but you can let me out now!" He shouted. He was a prankster but even he didn't prank people in the hospital. "Hello?"
…
…
…
"Helloooo~?"
UN:PoA
Author's Notes
If you're wondering why this chapter feels rushed, that's because it is. I needed to set up a LOT of things as a sort of prologue before I can get to the good stuff, and I decided that rather than spending chapter after chapter going into detail, I would try shifting from scene to scene with a few convenient little time skips to make things move smoothly. I hate the way I made Tsunade act, but think of it like ripping off a bandaid. Best to get it over with and tear it off all at once instead of doing it slowly and extending the pain. I promise her theatrics will stop and her grief fueled insanity will mellow out as we go.
Some of you may notice that I added a Namikaze estate and put "her safe harbor" on Minato's tombstone. That's because I wanted the graves to be anonymous and "her yellow flash" wouldn't be very low profile. Minato means "harbor" in japanese (at least according to the wiki,) and with Kushina coming from the land of whirlpools I liked the idea that she would refer to him as the safe harbor she went to after fleeing the storm. If you're bothered by that kind of stuff then stop reading here. I plan on making many more ever so convenient little alterations to canon as I go. Don't worry I'm not going to go full AU and make Sasuke and Naruto fight in giant robots over who gets to marry Fem!Goku and adopt Harry Potter or something, just make a few tweaks that I think improve the story.
As for the name of the fic, I don't know, it just kind of came to me. Naruto is the last known Uzumaki (for now,) and thereby head of the clan. I always imagined the Uzumaki to be a patriarchal clan that were like a less evil, more well-rounded version of the Hyuuga. Rigid and grounded in pragmatism, but willing to joke and bend the rules occasionally. After all, you don't become fuinjutsu masters by taking an "eat, pray, love" approach to things. You work yourself to the bone and let off steam in your down time. I like to think of the Uzumaki as a bunch of engineering students working for PhDs that prank each other when things get too tense.
On a different topic, most of my author's notes won't be this long either, so don't worry.
