Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Aren't you glad?

Notes: And finally, the pay-off for the title.

Warning: more sap ahead.

Blessed Be Those Who Mourn

For They Shall Be Comforted

The angry buzzing of the alarm interrupted his pleasant dreams and taking that as a personal affront, he slammed down hard on it with his fist. Protesting such treatment with a few pathetic last beeps, the clock finally petered out and died.

When the sunlight hit his face, he pulled the sheets over his head in an attempt to block it out. He really didn't feel like getting up just yet, he was having such a good dream . . .

But then he heard the noises of morning outside, reminding him that the day had arrived and he had things to do and more importantly, people to meet. So he rubbed his eyes, yawned a great yawn, and stretched his back before rolling himself out of bed.

Still stretching, he slowly walked to the bathroom. Looking at himself sleepily in the mirror, he couldn't help but smile because today was one he'd been looking froward to for a long time. He swept the hair from his eyes with his fingers almost absently while he brushed his teeth. Then he got into the shower, allowing the cool water to wash away the last dregs of sleep that held him.

Back in the bedroom, he got dressed, paying careful attention that for once he really looked that part he meant to play. Even though he was now a jounin, he still found a way to wear at least a tiny touch of his favorite orange. He carefully tied and adjusted the hitai-ate around his foerhead, making sure it was straight and sharp. And as he sat on the edge of his bed, a glint off an object on his bedside table caught his eye. Reaching over, he took into his hand allowing a sad sweet smile grace his lips as he once again looked at the item he knew so well.

He always faced it due east at night so when morning came the rays of the sun would light it up. There were many things he held valuable in his home, gifts from his new friends, things that reminded him of those he loved, and of course that old hitai-ate that made it all possible. But this one, old simple object would always be his most precious, the one he held closest to his heart.

Looking at it always brought so many memories both good and bad, each the more sweet by comparison to the other. And as horrible as some of them were, he wouldn't trade a one, each memory was a step that brought him closer to today.

Those were some of his best and worst days, his time as a member of Team Seven. Gently, he glided his fingers over the glass that housed the picture of them as they stood together so many years ago.

Each one of them taught him so much about each other, about himself, about life. They were in their way his most important lessons, his most valuable knowledge, without them he could never be where he was today. Determination and self confidence were all well and good, but they were not enough. In order to achieve anything of importance you needed friends, family, you needed to not be alone. He'd first learned that from Iruka, but it was through them that he'd learned the darker side, the tougher side of love.

And despite it all, he was grateful.

First he looked to the tall, gray-haired strange masked jounin in the back. Kakashi. He'd been the one who'd really taught him about teamwork, that you can't do everything alone. That you needed to trust others, learn from them and understand them. The jounin had made him see that it was OK, even necessary to rely on others. It was because of him that he first saw that real strength comes from working together and accepting both what you can and can't do. It was the acceptance of that which led to his eventual ties to the other two in the photograph.

And there was the second member, a pink haired-girl with the big green eyes whom he once fancied a crush on. Sakura. He remebered when they first met as part of the same team and she said that she hated him more than anything. But there was nothing like that between them now, in all the years that had passed, in all their time they'd spent together, she'd become one of his closest friends. Her lessons were a little different, in some ways they were more about her changes than his. From her he'd learned that someone who once hated you could turn to love you, that certain things, feelings up at the top, could alter. That given the chance, people would and could look beyond the surface and see him for who he really was, and not who they presumed him to be.

Then he looked to the last. He was the one who'd taught his most painful lessons. He was the one whom he'd both loved and hated the most, the one he'd understood the best and yet never understood at all. His best friend, his greatest rival, the one he'd always been closest to, even now, there was none to which he'd felt that strong a bond. Sasuke. There was always a certain amount of regret in his heart when he looked at him. He was the one he'd lost, the one he'd saved, the one who'd hurt him more than he'd once believed possible. The one who above all showed him that bonds do not just bring comfort and happiness, but pain and sorrow as well. And as much as he hated realizing this, he knew it was something he'd needed to know. He'd shown him there were many kinds of pain, many kinds of betrayal, many things from which we need to be saved. From enemies, from loneliness, from hate, from vengeance, from pain, from sorrow. He'd shown him that sometimes the thing we need saving from most is ourselves.

And he'd shown him that no matter how far we fall, no matter how much we embrace our demons, even the most lost and hopeless can be rescued.

But perhaps most of, the most difficult and comforting lesson he'd learned was that the dead do not just disappear. They leave their mark on those they'd known, by the way they died but much more by the way they lived. Sasuke was no longer here, but he wasn't gone. Sometimes he could swear he could still hear him, a voice in the wind, there a moment and then gone. Sometimes he could feel him, standing beside him, like a chill in the air that slowly warms. But mostly he just knew he was there because he'd left his mark, there in his heart and memory.

The dead do not leave us, they just move their home.

He smiled when he thought of this. It had been years since Sasuke had died, and the pain was still there but it no longer hurt. It was a dull, almost gentle pain that he didn't mind. In fact, in his way, he treasured it for the strength and understanding that it ultimately gave him.

Just as he was about to place the picture frame back to the table, he heard an angry pounding on his door.

"Naruto! What are you doing! If you don't hurry up, you're gonna be late!"

Oh, Sakura. Wait, how long had he been sitting there? Quickly putting the picture frame down due west so that the sun would be hitting it when he returned, he jumped up from the bed. Heading to the door, the banging and yelling contined.

"Come on, I know you're in there. And there's no time for this! Get out here now!"

He flung the door open just as the kunoichi was about to punch it down in a very unladylike manner. Unable, or uncaring, to stop herself, she ended up hitting him in the head instead.

"Hey, Sakura, that hurt." He said playfully while rubbing an imaginary bump, a big grin on his face.

"Yeah, right. On that thick skull? I doubt it, " she replied, smiling back. "You better move it."

"I know, I know, I'm coming." As fast as possible, he bent over to put his sandals on.

"So what were you doing that took so long?" The pink-haired woman crossed her arms and took a curious look around the well-lived in apartment."I thought you were really looking forward to today."

"I am." Finishing with his shoes, Naruto stood up, smile still in place but a softer slightly sad one. "I was just remembering."

Sakura's face then changed to wear an expression very similar to his own for she was familiar with 'remembering' as well. It had been a long time since the battle in the land of Sound. Many shinobi had fallen that day from both sides and eventually Orochimaru himself was defeated. But for these two, there was one death they would always recall above all others. Warmly she rubbed his back in understanding and gestured with her head that they should go.

"Yeah, I'm coming," He said, doing any last minute adjustments to his uniform.

"So, do you know whose on the team you get to train yet?" The medic-nin asked curiously.

Naruto stood up tall, a wide fox grin once again in place. "Yup. And I'm really excited! They sound like they'll be a lot like us when we first started."

Sakura scrunched her nose in disgust. "Ugh. That doesn't sound good. I hope they're not."

The blonde jounin tilted his head, looking at her seriously with his clear blue eyes. "Really?" Then he gazed wistfully out into the distance. "Well, I hope they are."

The woman took his meaning and gently brushed his arm comfortingly. "We'd better leave or you'll be late. Do you want to be like Kakashi-senssei?"

Naruto stuck out his tongue in a very mature way and Sakura rolled her eyes as she turned to leave.

Just before following, the blonde jounin leaned his head back into his home one last time.

"Good bye, " The blond man said to no one in particular. "I'll see you later."

And then he closed the door.

"Hurry it up, will you?" Sakura yelled from where she stood in the street, now really losing her patience. "We don't have all day!"

"Coming!" And with that, he ran to catch up.

It just wouldn't do for him to be late for his very first day with his new team.

Later the night, just before the sun completely set, it shone its last rays of light on one lone picture on one lone table, then dipped beneath the horizon and disappeared.

Well, that's it, I'm done. This whole thng was way too stressful! Especially the end. I know, I am, in fact, evil. And I don't think I'll ever write another multi-chapter Naruto fic. Though, I suppose you never know.

And thanks to koriaena, MommyRogers, Magical Poof, susakuru, WolfBane2, Tanuki-dono, and DesperateMeasures - my only reviewers. (sniffle) You're all very sweet and I appreciate it. But this was such a strangely designed story, I'm really not surprised. Ah, well.
To whoever has read this story, even if you liked only one scene, it makes me happy.
Hope you did.

Oh, and I fixed those mistakes, thanks koriaena! Gee, I really need to get a better writing program . . .