Currently, Naruto could do nothing but feel… ambivalent.

Robin's words have, to his deepest embarrassment, made sense. He was by all intents and purposes — dead. To his wife, to his son, to his best friend… to the world.

Sure, they'd agonize over his death for a while: "Seventh Hokage dies protecting the world," the tabloids would say. People would be in an uproar; sweet sweet gentle Hinata would be inconsolable, Boruto and Himawari would be… would be what? God, he didn't get to know them long enough to even begin to guess their thoughts!

… Heh, what a 'good' parent he's been.

Moving on(he had no choice, any longer reflecting on the thought would've just brought him to tears), Sakura and Kakashi-sensei and… and teme. Would Sasuke mourn his death?

Naruto shook his head.

No. Knowing him, his duties would be far too important to just drop without it bearing severe consequences on the rest of the world.

...And yet, Naruto couldn't help but get the feeling that Sasuke would lament his death in his own way. Just as he had sought revenge instead of closure when they were children.

However, even as the reasons and excuses kept pouring out from one part of his mind to another, like an invading army trying to tear down the door of doubt that stood firm like a bastion amid constant siege, the inevitable question would nag at him, eating him up inside, 'But... would that alone justify taking it easy?'

Because he knew — maybe not consciously — but he knew. He couldn't do this forever. Just like how his loved ones wouldn't be able to grieve forever, so too was it impossible for him to continue trudging on without a care in the world. He hadn't noticed it at first, but the signs were starting to show: his body was quitting on him.

It began with mental slowness, he noticed, when he failed to react to one of Robin's sneakier attacks during one of their bouts. But then, like a silent plague, it spread to his other faculties as well. Soon, he would start to feel physically tired, and before long, lose consciousness every now and again. And when he awoke, he'd find that large blotches of his memories would be lost, as if they'd never occurred in the first place.

The writing was on the wall, as they say. It was because of this 'ailment' of his that prompted Chopper, and Robin just a few minutes ago, to visit after all. One for his medical expertise, and the other for their unusually intimate relationship.

"You should get some rest, nya! I'm no psychologist, but working yourself too hard can't be good for that noggin o' yours, nya!" Chopper had told him after concluding their brief check-up a few days ago.

He was inclined to agree, because the last thing he wanted was to have the reaction speed of a drunkard in the middle of a fight.

Except…

Naruto growled as the traitorous thought reared its ugly head. Ever since he came here, to this world, it's always been excepts with him, always half-assed excuses that failed to make even a modicum of sense, but he'd taken to them anyways because he just needed a reason not to stop.

"Maybe it's time you stop putting your goals on such a high pedestal, hm?" Robin's words echoed in his head once more.

"B-But—!" And there he went, trying his darndest to refute her well-meaning advice, even in his own head.

What a pathetic coward.

"No more buts, Naruto. You must relax; it'd do no one any good if you drop dead, least of all you," And there she went, gently guiding him to the path he knew he needed to follow, but was too afraid to.

"I do! I really want to stop and take a breather, but what if my son gets hurt?! Or worse, what if my village gets caught up in this because of me?!" At this point, Naruto wasn't sure if this conversation even took place, or if he was just making it all up in his head.

Yet even in this hazy world of dreams(?), her soothing never ceased; her laugh never losing its lustre and allure:

"Naruto," If he had to describe it, Robin's voice was akin to a pleasant caress, like a gentle hand wiping away the dirt and grime and sweat on his forehead before telling him it was okay to take a break.

It was okay to just... be.

"Y-Yes?" Suddenly, he found himself unable to speak. His voice had turned hoarse; a scratchy, gravelly facsimile of what it had been.

"Do you remember? When I told you about my favourite book?"

It took him a moment to realize what she was getting at, "Yes..." He replied, "It was a book called 'In Her Absence We Are Distraught' or something like that, right?"

He couldn't see it, but he knew she was smiling then, and when she opened her mouth to speak, "Hmm... close enough," He was even more certain of it.

"What about it?"

"Do you remember? The book's synopsis?" Naruto quirked an eyebrow, but he decided to humour her and began to recall the tale. He spoke after a while.

"There was a boy… or was it a girl? Anyways, the child had gone missing one summer morning, and his entire family was worried sick when they didn't see him come home for lunch," Naruto recounted, his face scrunched up as he tried to remember the finer details of the story, "Then… I think they went searching for him, right?"

Robin made a sound of acknowledgement.

Naruto sighed and continued, "They would go on spending the entire afternoon searching for him, involving the town guards, the city constable, and multiple kind strangers who offered to help in the child's search,"

"And who were these kind strangers?"

"...They were… people from a foreign land. Merchants, or something in that vein. In the end, four squads were formed: one was the parents and the constable, the town guards and the merchant caravan formed two more, and finally, the family's daughter was paired with the caravan's young leader.

Throughout the entire afternoon, she and him would go around asking passersby if they had seen him, and without fail, no one knew anything. Naturally, this distressed the daughter greatly, to the point where she would become irritable and volatile,"

"I see. What happened next?"

"Um… after night had fallen, everyone had given up, and in a unanimous decision, it was decided that they would keep looking for him the next day. However, the daughter, loving her brother dearly, disobeyed her parents and snuck out to search alone..."

"Oh? Was she really alone?"

"N-No I guess not… When she climbed out the window, she was surprised to find the man she was partnered with loitering next to their house. He told her he knows where her brother is and will tell her where he is, but only on the condition that she calms down. Of course, the daughter didn't believe him, thinking he was just trying to show off,"

"Not surprising, seeing as it had been a full day and he hasn't mentioned this to anyone. So, how does this story end?"

"I… don't remember," Naruto answered sheepishly, somewhat afraid that she would be disappointed at him.

"Then I suppose I'll just have to finish it for you. Would you like that?" But contrary to his expectations, she didn't seem to care one bit, and just smiled as if she had expected him to forget.

"Yes, I would like that very much," Naruto returned her smile then waited for her to continue where he left off.

"Now where were we… ah! So, after three hours of searching and no results to show for it, the daughter eventually gave in, and she told the man she had calmed down before begging him to tell her where her brother was. He didn't believe her, asking her to prove it to him by telling him what she did wrong that day.

The girl, now forced to actually consider her actions, was stumped and wasn't able to give him a proper answer.

The man didn't hold it against her, having predicted her inability to explain herself and answered in her stead: he told her he'd been watching the entire day. Being an outsider, it was very easy for him to observe her interactions without bias, and subsequently, it was even easier to deduce her faults.

He spoke of her mania, how her emotional instability had further caused distress and fear in both her parents and the guards. This fear bred a sense of urgency to find the boy, and urgency bred carelessness. They had missed many a place, instead searching in the most suspicious, seediest locations. After all, her panic had made them assume the worst, and what if he really was there? It couldn't hurt to look.

That was why, he regaled, after the search was mostly over, he gathered his caravan and began a separate search. This time though, he sifted through the city with a fine comb, and after a mere thirty minutes, they were able to successfully find the boy, who was playing in the city lord's garden the whole time.

The girl, now thoroughly ashamed, apologized to the man and asked what she could do to repay him for his kindness. In response, the man expressed that he didn't want anything in return, only that he hoped she would learn to keep a clearer mind the next time around,"

There was a brief stint of silence after she concluded the tale, where neither party spoke.

It was Robin who broke the ice, "Did you like the story?"

"Yes," Came the reply.

Robin continued to ease him in, "And did you understand the story?" Naruto knew what she was trying to do, but he let her do it anyway.

"Yes," Again, he affirmed.

Here it was, the moment of truth. "Do you know why I chose to retell you this story now, Naruto?"

"..."

Silence.

So badly — so many times before — he wanted to just admit it to her face. That he'd take it easy, that he'll take what he can get and do things one at a time.

But.

What if.

On the off chance…

Like sturdy gatekeepers, they hold him off. Prevent him from facing his problems directly and force him to take the coward's way out. He lied to himself so many times before, and if they kept sticking around, he'd lie to himself again and again after.

At least, that was until he met her.

"Naruto, I believe in you," She'd imply in their daily exchanges.

"Naruto, you can do it," She'd whisper if only he took to reading between the lines.

And when he found himself in one of his slumps like this one, she'd barge down the door and tell him it was—

"Naruto! It's Robin! She's disappeared!"

Faster than he could think (and faster than the other part could comprehend), Naruto zoomed out of his room and into the winding hallways of the Thousand Sunny, knocking the poor messenger to the ground in the process.

"Hey!" But he didn't have the time to stop and apologize. There was only one goal in his mind: Robin.

"Hey! Wait up, goddamit!" He couldn't be bothered to turn around. However, he knew them by the constant smell of smoke on their person.

"Sanji, I do not have the time. You, of all people, should know," Naruto was mildly surprised. He was running as fast as he could without damaging the ship, yet the cook was easily keeping up with him.

No matter.

"I do know! And that's why we shouldn't be panicking—" Naruto scowled. Again with that accursed word.

He shook himself out of his annoyed stupor. As much as he would love to shove a hand down the person who invented that word, it described perfectly what he should NOT be doing…

"To our left! That's where we found it!"

"Found what?!"

"It was a book or somethin'!"

Book? "Title?"

"I dunno. In Her Absence We are Distraught or somethin' like that," Naruto's eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. How dare the bastard…!

Soon, Naruto could hear the clamouring and anxious murmurs in the distance. Turning the corner, there was the rest of the crew.

Naruto briskly waded his way through, his eyes slowly darkening when he caught glimpses of what lied ahead...

Finally, he made his way to the front, where Luffy and Zoro stood. Both men wore grim expressions. It was easy to tell why, as lying on the floor — along with a pool of blood — was a book.

He recognized it, she had expressly told him it was her favourite book. Both in real life and in his dreams:

In His Absence We Are Distraught.

A/N: Hello! So, this chapter was a stroke of luck for me, really. My school flooded, and I was left with a ton of free time! And so, I was able to finish this pretty quickly.

In regards to the chapter though, I have to admit that my view of Robin as a character is probably very different from how the rest of the fanbase sees her. This could be for multiple reasons: one being that I haven't actually kept up with the one piece manga, and therefore her character may have been muddled for me, or maybe my interpretation is a bit different.

To me, she was always the 'mother' of the team. She is by far the most mature character in the crew, and one of, if not the most intelligent character in the show. This lends credit to her motherly aura, where Luffy and Usopp are… fluctuating in how they're portrayed as dependable, Robin has always been a constant pillar of reliability. And although Luffy is the heart of the team(meaning he basically has to be both an idiot and a magical therapeutic source for everyone else at the same time), and this is a shounen, so mental health issues like anxiety and depression aren't really dealt with, if the chance did come up, I have no doubt that Robin would be the most supportive and most reliable person to help deal with their problems.

She just strikes me as a person who, because she has so much baggage to deal with, would rush for the chance to help someone else that even so much as shows a hint of sadness.

Regardless, it doesn't really matter if you agree with my interpretation, we all have our own opinions, and really, the best part of stories is that unless specifically clarified by the author, you can create your own headcanon! But I hope you enjoy this chapter anyways and ajax… out!