Everyone in the audience woke up at the same time. Shanan had no idea what had happened and everyone around her seemed just as confused. She looked around and didn't see Sasuke or Naruto anywhere, but Kakashi jumped up from the center of the arena to check on her and fill her in.

To put it all very simply, Sasuke and Naruto had chased after Gaara. Both were fine. But Lord Hokage had been killed by Orichimaru.

This was their first funeral.

Shanan and the boys met up with Sakura, Neji and Lee. But Kakashi was nowhere to be seen. Which worried Shanan as she hoped he would show up.

It was a sad, rainy affair. Everyone was all in black. There was a lot of crying. Even Kakashi showed up with a few tears in his eyes as he came to stand behind them. Shanan squeezed Sasuke's hand and he put his arm around her to comfort her for the rest of the funeral until it was time to place their flowers on Lord Hokage's grave.

This was the life of a shinobi. And this shinobi had actually lived a long one. He would be missed by all who knew him.

The next day everything almost felt normal again. For the most part, anyway. Everyone was training just a little harder, though. Except for Shanan, who would be going in for a thorough examination and possible procedure to cure her headaches within the next few weeks. She was tired of feeling like a helpless burden and they weren't going away on their own.

Sasuke had opted to spend the day with Shanan since he was too upset with himself for not being stronger anyway and wasn't in the mood to train. He had always thought himself to be somewhat of a prodigy, but he kept being outdone by Naruto. He was very proud of Naruto, but he was still mad at himself too.

Shanan had tried to assure him that he was coming along perfectly and not to worry, but she knew how hard he was on himself sometimes. Both of the boys were too hard on themselves.

"Do you want me to run my fingers through your hair?" she asked him. "You can come and lay next to me. You can talk while I listen or we can just be quiet, whichever you prefer," she said as she smiled softly at him.

He had been pretty quiet all day and she could tell he was deep in thought and honestly, she just wanted to be close to him.

He looked at her and relaxed his face as he got up and climbed into bed with her. He laid next to her and faced her as she put her fingers in his hair and brushed them through.

He hadn't been thinking about anything in particular all day. He was basically just trying to quell any negative feelings or thoughts that the curse mark had been trying to intensify. But as soon as he laid down and saw how Shanan looked at him, as soon as she touched him, all of her calm washed over him and he felt much more content and at ease.

As he looked at Shanan, comforting him, even though she, herself, had been dealing with intense pain for weeks, he had the overwhelming sense that it was time to ask her out. He'd had a plan all laid out for next week, but he couldn't wait anymore. He moved in a little closer to her so he could be sure that she would hear him clearly. "Shanan," he whispered as he smiled confidently at her. "I think we're old enough to date now."

Shanan stopped playing with his hair as she beamed back. She didn't know how to respond in a way that felt special, so she just nodded gently as she placed her hand on his face and caressed his cheek. She wanted to kiss him, but not while they were laying down, as it would feel too inappropriate for their ages.

Sasuke, satisfied with her method of response, turned his head slightly to kiss the palm of the hand that was caressing his cheek and soon fell asleep holding his now girlfriend's hand.

Meanwhile, Itachi and his partner from the Akatsuki, Kisame, had shown up in the village looking for Naruto. So Kakashi, Asuma and Lady Kurenai had gone to fight them. Guy Sensei showed up in the nick of time and Kakashi collapsed and had to be carried away by the Jonin once the duo left.

In another part of the village, while out having lunch, Naruto was approached by Jiraiya and was told he would be taking up the position of Sensei to Naruto. He had a lot of things he needed to teach him and Naruto had to be prepared for the future. It all seemed very vague. But their first mission was to go and find an old friend of Jiraiya's to come back and take up the position of Hokage.

The attack on the village had really changed things, but hopefully they would get back to normal soon.