Fan Fiction Name: Requiem for the Rokudaime

Chapter Name: Cherry Blossom Tears: Sakura

Info: As all in Konoha gather to pay respects to the Rokudaime Hokage as he takes his place on the Memorial Stone, some people take some time to remember his exploits and his quirks. The Rokudaime is not who you think! Rated T for general cursing.

Disclaimers: Well, I do not own any of Naruto, nor do I own the many characters of these fan fictions, save my own creations. It's sad, but all too true. How I wish I owned them….waaaaaahhhhh!

Requiem for the Rokudaime

Chapter 3

The tears keep coming.

I know I shouldn't. I explained it to Tazuna so many years ago: Ninja are not to show emotion. And yet here I am, blubbering like an idiot over something that I should be used to by now. Death is consistently the companion of ninja. It's even in the job description: Ninjas are to kill for their missions, should the mission call for it.

Ninjas are supposed to die for their missions, should their mission require it to succeed.

And here you are, having done just that.

Where was I when you made that sacrifice? I stayed back, healing the wounded and completely safe from harm. Wow, what great peril I was in when the war came? I was in back putting people together while you saved the village.

After all, I am a medic nin. I was in the middle of healing a large gash on the leg of Inuzuka Kiba when all the fighting stopped. Then I heard it. Orochimaru was dead, killed by the Rokudaime Hokage himself! I was so happy that finally, that snake bastard (using Narutos words for him) was finally gone. But then the front line started the calls for medic nin. I was one of the first on the scene and took Maito Gai to the tent. He had a massive gash across his small of the back that looked like it either severed or possibly damaged his spinal column.

I did the best I could with your self-declared "rival", but the chances are he will be partially crippled for the rest of his life. Gai was in terrible shape to begin with, with his back sliced open and his body still suffering the effects of the gates.

There was only so much I could do for him. But even with him, he had survived. Gai would find some way around it, much like his own student had all those years ago. You were not so lucky. When I looked over you, I saw a series of wounds that looked serious, but I could easily gloss over. After all, I was the student of Konohas greatest medic-nin and Godaime Hokage. I know I could get those no problem. When I scanned your body to look over any internal injuries or injuries to your chakra coils, I could have sworn that I made a mistake.

I wasn't surprised that your innards looked like bunt ramen. After a massive fight with a damn Sannin, I would expect someones' guts to look like soup. Your normally robust and thick chakra coils were a little surprising, but after hearing about what had happened I wasn't surprised they had been damaged. But the last thing I saw when I scanned you is what shocked me most.

Your chakra reserves weren't there.

They were gone.

Kabuto tried to help (much to my shock) and at first it looked like he had done some good. I could only watch on as he managed to get your innards relatively healed, but with your chakra damn near gone, and your chakra coils weren't responding to the healing of Kabuto. After Kabuto said he couldn't do anything, I called for Tsunade, letting her know of the situation.

She was with you for almost an hour before she said you were a lost cause. She let us all out of the room as the final preparations were made as you rotted away. I remember crying when she said that, Naruto looking like he was about to. The only two that didn't have any emotions on their faces was Tsunade-sensei and Shizune. But, knowing Shizune as I do now, the way her face was quaking, it look like she was about to start crying herself. I know you and her became good friends during your training.

Well, Tsunade-sensei, was right. No more than an hour after she looked at you, you had died. And as I said with Shizune, she was hurting at the loss.

Naruto is like that too. The normally bright, happy goofball that I have come to know and eventually care about is on the verge of bursting into tears. But at least he has some moral support. Who knew that Hinata cared about him that much? It was fairly obvious that the girl had a crush on him when we were all in the Academy, but when Naruto left to train I thought that all of that disappeared. But when Naruto had gone to fight at the main gates with Sai and the rest, I saw the stupidest grin on his face and her face beet red. It didn't take much to put two and two together.

Speaking of Sai, he isn't here. He was put on a mission to make sure the Sound ninjas went back to Otogakure. Tsunade didn't trust Kabuto to just up and stop the attacks on Konoha by Otogakure. So far, so good, but it's been a day or so since he has been heard from. Well, I guess that is as much as I can expect from the man who came up with those stupid ass nicknames.

Isn't that right, old man?

Now I see Sasuke. In the time between when he left and now, he had changed from the object of my blind affection to a distant friend to redeemed man. When he was leaving to train with Yamato about three years ago now, he took me aside and apologized for what he did.

Little did he know that in saying that, he made me fall in love with him again, like when I was an academy student. This time, it wasn't just some foolishly blind crush on someone who was unattainable. When he told me he was sorry, he wasn't the cold-hearted bastard he became under Orochimaru. Hell, he wasn't the stoic, if slightly unbalanced, young boy obsessed with revenge he was when I was just another stupid fan girl.

He was honest. He was sincere. He was much like a man coming back to a lost love after being a fool. He made me feel like I was cared for. Like what I had hoped for and craved from the time my crush developed. This time, it isn't some hopeless fool. When I look at Sasuke, I feel something deep inside me that I didn't when I was younger. That honest look into him, one that he had never done before, had my guts twisting in ways they never had before.

I wonder if he knows. I wonder what he's thinking right now.

Now I see that adorable couple that had is Iruka-sensei and Anko. Granted, she can be a bit crazy at times, but Iruka sensei had a good effect on her. She has calmed down, and now she's pregnant with a baby boy! I'm glad that even in the face of death there is some life to shine through even when it's at its bleakest. Anko is due any day now, and I won't be too surprised if Iruka-sensei is there the whole time, looking worried.

Iruka-sensei was always the dependable type. Maybe that's why Anko loves him so much. She sometimes acts irritated around him, but whenever she looks at him her eyes shine with something that I have seen when Asuma-sensei looks at Kurenai-sensei. I have seen it when Hinata looks at Naruto.

I'm guessing I have that in my eyes when I look at Sasuke.

Well, I know that Tsunade-sensei is going to take her place as Godaime Hokage again. I know that when Danzo had moved against her she was glad to see that someone had managed to stop him. It was kinda funny, as I found out. Apparently, you and Iruka-sensei were closest to the Hokage tower when he made his move. Iruka-sensei had used that shadow move…uh…Kage Sennpu, that's what it's called…anyway, you and he had managed to get passed all the guards Danzo had set up. When you both went to face him, Iruka-sensei was hopelessly outmatched and put up the Kage Sennpu to defend the both of you. You simply activated the Sharingan and charged up your Chidori.

What Iruka-sensei said happened next was "amazing," using his own words. You went straight through the Kage Sennpu and sent your Chidori through Danzos chest as he was about to kill Tsunade-sensei. I know that she had been really grateful about that, and was partially the reason why she chose you to replace her.

The reason why she had you train with both herself and Jiraiya-sama in preparation to become Hokage.

The reason why you were the first person to lead the fight as Orochimaru came to Konohas gates, looking for Sasuke-kun.

The very reason why you're here now. Why you're about to be buried.

Damn it. The tears are coming again.

END

A/N: Well, now another chapter is done, and some major hinting has been made as to who is the secret chapter and also about a certain pairing.

Here's a hint on the person in question who is the mystery chapter: that person has been mentioned in every chapter to date.