Hello everyone this a series of one shots set in the universe of my other story that may or may not be up as of writing this im writing the other one also each chapter is a separate story and dosen't really connect to the events in the previous chapter before the one your reading or the one after so with that out of the way lets begin.

Konohagakure no sato hours after the third hokages funeral

It was a grim day for Konoha today was the funeral for the third Hokage and all the shinobi and villagers killed in the Sand-Sound invasion lead by Orochimaru.

It was only now setting in that it was real that the village had no Hokage to protect and lead them that parents,grandparents,siblings,and children were just gone and they weren't coming back.

the whirlwind shock of the events from the happy celebratory mood of before the chunin exams to the excitement during it to the terror of those that hadn't been rendered unconscious realizing they were under attack to the numbness of the days following the attack.

All of it was finally real but it was worse in a way no one expected what way was that well it lie in Naruto Uzumaki the Kyuubi Jinchuriki.

See no one in the village had seen Naruto sad or downtrodden since Naruto was five years old except of course for lord third and his assistant Natsume but they were the only people and one was freshly buried and the other swore to take everything Naruto had ever shared with her including emotions to the grave.

So it came as a terrifying shock to the villagers to see Naruto who at the funeral had kept his head up and a neutral expression on his face as he spent the whole funeral comforting Konohamaru Sarutobi grandson of the late Hokage.

Being just that downtrodden and emotionally destroyed the villagers would have taken anything other then this a return of the prankster king of hell with a vengeance would have been way more welcome than to see Naruto in this state as begrudgingly though to admit it Naruto's pranks were funny as hell.

Hell if Naruto had walked into the middle of the village and screamed how he hated the whole village and then freed the Kyuubi they would have preferred that than Naruto Uzumaki Konoha's resident ball of sunshine with the unbreakable will on the verge of doing the very thing he swore to never do again breakdown and cry.

It opened many villagers eyes that indeed Naruto was not the Kyuubi but rather his jailer and that the boy who had just saved the village from a tailed beast like Lord Fourth had done all those years ago just lost the closest thing he's ever had to a grandfather.

They were just praying that the other people in the village who he considered family could reapir his unbreakable will because without it the villagers realized that the soul of the village it's will of fire had grown dim and was fading by the second.

Konohagakure no sato Ichiraku ramen stand

In Ayame's list of worst days of her life this was officially the second worst day only under the day her mom passed away when she was 10.

In all honesty she didn't know why she opened the stand today her father told her just take the day off and mourn for those lost like he planned on doing but she couldn't she knew she would sit there in bed in her funeral clothes staring at the ceiling going insane.

So she got into her work clothes and made her way to the stand to open it and have something anything to do to keep her mind busy but as she expected their was just no customers.

Everyone was home with their families mourning and would probably eat whatever they had on hand then leave the house again to get something to eat.

expect one person of course she knew would come and that's the real reason she was here for him for Naruto.

Ayame has known Naruto since he was 4 years old hell her mom knew him and loved him as the son she never had and she never worked a day in her life at the ramen stand.

But he knew her and loved her as the mom he never had.

He was even at her funeral and got her old shinobi equipment and techniques from when she was a shinobi before she retired and became a stay at home mom.

Thinking back on the day Naruto made genin and got his inheritance from her mom brought back a wave of good memories of Naruto,Ayame,Lord third,iruka,her mother and her father.

The memories flooded in like a dam had busted open and all the water came rushing downstream and Ayame just let it she needed to remember the good time's not just to help lift her spirits but so that the dead recently departed and those long ago would remain alive at least to her.

What Ayame didn't realize was that with that rush of memories came tears as well some of sadness some of happiness but regardless of what kind they came and they came fast and honestly she probably wouldn't have noticed them if not for one blond haired blue eyed shinobi entering the stand.

with Naruto five minutes prior to entering the ramen stand

Saying that the day so far sucked was the understatement of the century it all started with the two hour long funeral for the hokage and those lost in the invasion.

He spent the whole time comforting his little brother Konohamaru as he cried for the loss of his grandfather all the while Naruto kept his eyes and face empty he would let no one know how much pain he was in.

Naruto just kept repeating that he had to focus on his baby brother he needed his big bro to lean one and so he was able to keep everything in check until Asuma-sensei had taken his nephew Konohamaru home to rest which left Naruto wandering through the village.

Naruto had no real course in mind except wherever the wind took him but as he walked aimlessly his blank face and eyes started cracking and like always the villagers stared but this time they saw something different.

Pain,Sadness,Grief,Anger all swirled in Naruto's eyes and it was clear as day if you looked at them that Naruto wanted to hit something and then breakdown and cry until he could never cry again.

But like always he refused he would not cry he would not he promised himself that years ago and he never breaks his promises not to himself not to the ones he calls family not to his enemies.

Which is the only reason he was still walking along the road aimlessly he had no desire to train and both Kakashi and Jiraya had told him to take the next couple day's off to grieve so it's not like he had any missions coming up anyway.

So he walked letting his legs take him wherever they wanted and when he finally looked up he saw a familiar ramen stand.

He had seen both Ayame and Techui at the funeral Techui had given him a hug and told him if he needed to talk he knew where to find him.

As for Ayame though she to gave him a hug but she also saw something her father did not Ayame saw everything Naruto was trying to hide their must have been a brief crack in his blank look because he could see in her eyes that she knew what he was feeling this earned him another hug that was considerably longer then the first one.

So now here he was infront of the ramen stand by habit and to his surprise it was open though he could see even from across the street that the only person in their was the cook and it looked like it was Ayame.

While briefly arguing internally with himself and unable to decide whether he wanted to deal with Ayame who would undoubtedly try to force her way through his armor his tenat made himself known for the first time today.

"Just go in there kit you and me both know your hungry and we both know if she sees you and you dont go in she'll do two things number one run out and drag you in there and number two be deeply hurt and we both know you dont want to hurt your Ayame-neechan" kyuubi said in a tone that to Naruto's ears almost sounded kind.

"Wow Kyuubi didn't know you could sound so kind and caring what's with that i expected you to be trying to take over in my moment of grief?" Naruto asked genuinely confused as to why the mass of malicious chakra was being so kind.

"Two reasons number one you beat my brat of a little brother Shukaku and ensured he knows that even sealed anyway in a scrawny midget of a human I'm better than him" Naruto sweatdroped at that of course it has to do with his ego should have known honestly.

"you know i can hear your thoughts right" the Kyuubi said more than a little annoyed at the blonde shinobi "I know i just dont care" replied Naruto the faintest trace of a smirk on his lips.

"Whatever and reason two kit is just that you're a kit who just lost someone important and so with you having helped preserve my reputation and generally being a fine host for the most part i decided a reward was in order namely leaving your loses from the chunin exams alone and no trying to take you over for a month or two" came the reply of the Kyuubi with his earlier annoyance gone and in it's place that kind and caring tone.

Needless to say Naruto was stunned the Kyuubi was being nice and showing compassion for Naruto this made the gears in Naruto's head stop and opened his eyes a little maybe just maybe their was more to the furball then originally he thought.

"Thanks Kyuubi and you're definitely right about Ayame and me being hungry but i have a question" asked Naruto hoping to push his luck with his tenant.

"you're welcome kit and sure go ahead ask your question" Kyuubi replied back curious as to what the blond wanted to ask as he was actively blocking the fox from just looking through his mind and finding out what the question was.

"Is Kyuubi really your name" that caused the fox to pause for a few second the kit wanted to know if he had a real name hmmm maybe he is different then Kushina after all.

"No my name is not Kyuubi I have a real name" responded the Kyuubi curious how the blonde would respond.

"Thought so I'll have to find out what it is one day but for now sleep well Kyuubi if their is a need for your chakra I'll let you know" Naruto responded and closed the link between him and the Kyuubi for now.

'interesting one this kit is maybe you will know my name one day but until then Naruto Uzumaki i will watch and see what you become' thought the Kyuubi to itself before proceeding to lay down on his massive paws and taking a nap waiting till something of intrest happens.

'Right then I suppose it's time to head in"thought Naruto as he started making his way into the ramen stand.

Just as Naruto was about to call out to Ayame as he entered he stopped dead in his tracks as he noticed Ayame was crying 'Ayame' was the only thought going through his mind after seeing he crying so Naruto did the only thing he could think of.

back with Ayame in the ramen stand just as Naruto enters

Ayame was so immersed in the memories flooding through her that she failed to notice Naruto entering the stand she also failed to notice him gently say her name.

What finally pulled Ayame from her memories was the feeling of two arms wrapping around her and giving her a hug needless to say that shocked Ayame and when she looked down and saw a mop of blond hair she knew who it was hugging her.

"Hey Naruto-kun" came The voice of Ayame sounding like it was breaking.

"hey Ayame-neechan" replied Naruto sounding better than Ayame but only because he hadn't been just crying.

"Can i ask you something Naruto" asked Ayame looking down at her favorite blonde his only reply being a nod of his head.

"Not that i dislike it or anything in fact its quite the opposite but why exactly are you hugging me" asked Ayame curious as to why the first thing Naruto did was hug her.

"Because Nee-chan you were crying when i entered the stand and when i said your name you didn't respond and in fact just cried more so i figured that a hug might get you to feel better" came the reply of Naruto.

"What! don't be ridiculous I wasn't cry--" Ayame started to say before reaching up and feeling the tear tracks on her face confirming that she had indeed been crying and recently to.

"Well I'll be looks like you're right Naruto I was crying sorry about that and sorry for not noticing you coming in to the stand" said Ayame feeling bad for not noticing him entering the stand.

"Its fine Nee-chan are you okay" came Naruto's reply honestly with everything that has happened today her not instantly noticing him was more than okay.

"Yeah im fine Naruto-kun just remembering some better times is all" replied Ayame.

"Ahh well hopefully I was in some of them" said Naruto joking with Ayame.

"of course Naruto-kun how could you not be" Ayame replied knowing what Naruto was doing.

"Anyways sit down and tell me what you want today Naruto" Ayame said directing Naruto to the open seat.

Naruto did as Ayame instructed and sat down at the open seat and thought for a minute about what he wanted before finally just settling for five of the usual while Naruto ate him and Ayame talked about this and that all the while Ayame had something on her mind.

'I know what I saw at the funeral and I can see it in his eyes now Naruto-kun is in pain but he won't talk about it how can I get him to let it all out' wondered Ayame trying to find some way to get Naruto to open up when all of a sudden it hit her.

"Say Naruto how would you like all the ramen you had today to be free?" asked the brunette knowing full well the blonde would jump at the chance.

"Really Ayame-neechan that would be great!!! wait what do you want I know you aren't going to just give me free ramen so what's the catch??" questioned Naruto who knew something was up this deal was to good to be true.

"Good Naruto-kun you didn't just get blindsided and let your excitement control you well the answer to your question is simple" Ayame said while grabbing the stack of ramen bowls and placing them in the sink.

What she did next concerned Naruto very very much she walked around the counter and dropped the metal grate door making it appear to all the village that Ichiraku ramen was closed for the day.

Ayame turned around and took the seat next to Naruto and looked him directly in the eye and said "the gates closed no one is out and about outside dad is home were alone so Naruto-kun let it out" after saying this she wrapped Naruto in a hug and now it was Naruto's turn to have the dam holding his memories back break open and for the tears to start falling.

And their they sat for close to three hours while Naruto for the first time since he meet Ayame let her see him cry and breakdown all the while repeatedly asking her why did this have to happen why did his Jiji have to die all the while Ayame held him close to her chest and whispered kind and gentle words in his ear.

Konohagakure no sato the following day

The villagers of Konoha rose early in the morning the next day still mourning still in pain but feeling at least somewhat better and many hoped that Konoha's resident jinchuriki was feeling a bit better as well.

What greeted the villagers this morning well lets just say the will of fire was once again burning bright.

Up on the hokage monument if one was to gaze upon it you would see that someone had painted it but unlike all those months ago instead of the whole monument being painted and in random designs this time it was one face and what was painted on it was truly beautiful.

There carved into stone looking out over the village stood the stone head of Hiruzen Sarutobi Sandaime Hokage carved when he was only a few months into his reign so it didn't really reflect the man in his final years wearing the hat atleast it didn't yesterday.

Today however the great stone face had been painted over and made to resemble the man as he looked just prior to his death it truly was incredible the grey and brown stone painted in just the right way to make it look no different then the picture in the Hokage's office.

The artist went the extra mile and painted on the hokages hat and even Hiruzen's pipe while making it look as if it was always meant to be there.

Overall the painting of the third on the mountain looked like it had taken months when everyone knew it had happened overnight they also knew of only one person crazy enough to do it and with the capability to get the paint and manpower to finish it in one night.

It would seem that the will of fire was back in full force this lit up the faces of all in the village as they traded stories of those now departed they remembered the good times and promised to make more in memory of those lost.

Of course as with all things the paint would fade due to the weather and elements but for now and the foreseeable future it was their along with a message underneath the stone head a quote that many who had the privilege of meeting the third during their academy days remembered quite fondly.

"Where tree leaves dance... one shall find flames... the fire's shadow will illuminate the village... and once again tree leaves shall bud anew".

Well that concludes this chapter of these side stories I hope you enjoyed im over all pretty happy with it and hope you enjoyed and again grammar and stuff is not exactly my Forte but hopefully it was adequate here for you anyways once again thanks for reading and stay tuned.