A/N: So, in response to the criticism I got for having Hiruzen spare Gaara:

The decision has a bit more to it than just an overabundance of compassion and indecisiveness on Hiruzen's part (which, let's be real, are his biggest flaws in canon, and remain intact here).

Give me some time. You'll understand it better soon enough.

Either way, the next little while will be character stuff. Both pairings, those being NaruSatsuki and HakuMaru (exclusively, at long last) will be getting more development, with a stronger focus on Naruto and Satsuki for obvious reasons. Once that part's done, the final arc begins, and this story comes to a close.

Time for Chapter 53

Enjoy!


Hospitals had never been a particular favorite of Naruto Uzumaki.

They were stuffy, dull, noisy, and generally quite unfriendly in his experience. The nurses and doctors did their jobs, usually quite well, but they hardly ever seemed happy about it. It was the same pattern that defined his public life across most facets. Acceptable service, with a distinctly poor attitude. At the moment, however, his discomfort was not rooted in being surrounded by a petty disdain, but instead the fact that it was horribly crowded. The invasion had ended less than ten hours ago, and the three major medical facilities Konoha had to offer were at maximum capacity. The fighting had been short, but it had been bloody.

Naruto himself was situated in the largest of the hospitals, near the center of the village, and by extension, he was in the core of the aftermath. He had heard whispered rumors that anywhere from two to three thousand had died on Konoha's side alone. It certainly felt that way. The upper-floor room the blonde was sitting in was packed with thirteen people, and the space was only made for five. Konoha was hardly a poor nation, but its infrastructure was not up to snuff, it seemed.

All five of the beds in the lengthy room were occupied, with three more on cots between them. Naruto had opted to sit against the wall. He had been given immediate medical attention, something which countless others had not been fortunate enough to receive. He had given up his cot to a man who had lost his right arm. Sleep sounded appealing, but try as he might, he could not bring himself to drift off. He was tired, but not enough to block out the groans of pain and the smell of blood. War, or rather, the small taste of it he was experiencing, was a hellish thing.

'We learned about the last war in the academy. I think Sensei mentioned serving in it once.' Naruto pondered. Kakashi had kept perpetually tight-lipped regarding his time as an active soldier, and while the Jinchuuriki had always understood it at a baseline, he now fully grasped why. What he had been through that day was platry compared to the true horrors of war. He would never forget the experience. He had been fortunate, in many ways, to have been occupied with a single battle. He hadn't been forced to watch his fellow Ninja be struck down.

Shaking his head and running a hand through his disheveled hair, Naruto leaned back against his wall. His severe injuries had been healed, but it was clear that his procedure had been rushed. He still struggled to put weight on his right leg, and his right wrist was still mildly sprained. None were permitted to return to their homes until the next morning, and even then, the releases would be staggered to prevent a riot. He was stuck for the time being.

'At least I've got some space.' he thought to himself optimistically, looking to either side. Positives were few and far between, so smaller details meant more than they usually did. He had not seen either of his teammates since losing consciousness in the crater. If they were in the same building as him at all was an open question. Shikamaru in particular was a mystery. In the case of Satsuki, Naruto at the very least knew what her condition had been before things had calmed down. The Nara had taken his own path, as far as he could tell.

'He's probably fine.' the blonde decided. Shikamaru was far from reckless. He was anything but, in fact. Beyond that, he had been with Kakashi when the invasion had started in earnest. More so than Naruto or Satsuki, he had been poised to survive regardless of the chaos. Shelving the thoughts for risk of overthinking, Naruto closed his eyes to make an attempt at sleeping again. Night had fallen hours ago. For several minutes, he sat motionless, hoping and praying that his dreams would take him away.

Just as he was on the cusp of achieving the rest he desperately desired, he was nudged from his dreeriness by the feeling of somebody brushing against his shoulder. Opening his eyes slowly, Naruto turned his head left. He was greeted by the sight of Satsuki. She had seated herself beside him, with her shoulder firmly against his due to the lack of space. She had entered the room during his inertia.

"Did I wake you?" she asked quietly, having noticed his stirring. Naruto shook his head, mentally noting that her skin was clear of the black markings. The room was dim and lacked windows, but his eyes had long since adjusted.

"Haven't been able to get a wink. Where've you been?" he replied, answering her question with one of his own. The Uchiha drew her knees up to her chin.

"Hokage-sama put me through a bunch of sealing rituals. They worked, but I think I hate fuinjutsu now." she revealed. It explained the restablized state of the tattoo on her neck. The blonde winced. If her words were to be taken at face value, the process had taken hours.

"I'm surprised you didn't already." he said with hollow humor. Satsuki gave a ghost of a chuckle. Neither had the energy to truly entertain levity. The room had begun to fill with snores. Apparently, its other inhabitants had followed Naruto's example with far more success.

"Kiba died. Both he and his sister." Satsuki eventually said. Naruto felt his chest tighten up. He had never been close with the Inuzuka heir. Their relationship, if one could even call it such, had been one of antagonism for the most part. Despite that fact, Naruto found himself greatly saddened by the news.

"Anybody else we know?" he asked. Thankfully, his teammate shook her head in response. Chewing his inner lip absently, Naruto let out a long sigh.

"It's fucked up that I wasn't really feeling much until you told me that. Thousands died. I should be grieving more." he mused. Satsuki shrugged her lean shoulders.

"I think that's normal. To be honest, I'm more worried about the Uchiha sector. I saw fires in a few places. I'm just hoping my neighborhood didn't burn down." she said, a trace of audible fear in her voice.

"If that did happen, I've got a couch." Naruto offered carefully. Satsuki eyed him silently, seeming on the verge of speech without ever fully committing.

"I'll keep that in mind." she finally said. They then lapsed into silence. Prominent topics were obvious in and of themselves, but all of them were wholly depressing. Both were far too personally invested in all that had happened to speak of other things, compounding that truth. Shifting in place after a minute or two, Naruto flinched at a nagging pain in his ribs. Small as the reaction was, Satsuki caught it. Her expression shifted from shelled and apathetic to guilty and concerned.

"I'm sorry." she muttered, lowering her eyes to the floor. Naruto furrowed his brow and gave her a skeptical look.

"For what?" he asked in a puzzled tone. The raven-haired girl opened her mouth to respond, but shut it again. It took her several more tries to find her voice.

"I wasn't much help. Against Gaara, I mean." she clarified. Naruto exhaled through his nose. She had expressed such guilt during the battle itself, and as with every other idea Satsuki got in her head, she was bound to be stubborn about it.

"You're kidding, right? You kept him out of the village, and you held the line when nobody else could. You saved so many people." he assured her. The Uchiha girl hugged her legs.

"I still lost to him. I couldn't even pick myself up to help you when he had you dead to rights. You got back up and kept fighting. I didn't." she said numbly. She was frustrated. It was obvious in her voice and posture. She was competitive and prideful to her core. As frustrating as Naruto found her reaction, he understood it.

"Look, I get it. I really do. But you've gotta cut yourself some slack. It wasn't your fault. I know you wanted to help me. I know you would have if you could have. Hell, you did help me. I couldn't have finished him off without your chakra." he said, adding a bit more force to his tone to drive to point home. Satsuki relaxed the slightest bit, though she still looked a long distance from satisfaction.

"I hate being saved. I hate needing some white knight to rescue me. I hate that it's always you." she spat bitterly. Not even a moment after the words had left her lips, she covered her mouth.

"Why do I always run my mouth?" she whispered through her fingers. Naruto looked on sadly as his teammate rigidly balled up on herself again. Her self-loathing ran deep. That much was far from new. Laying a hand on her shoulder, the blonde squeezed her arm gently.

"It's alright. I understand." he said, having taken no true offense at her words. Satsuki sniffled slightly. Tears had yet to fall, but they were likely close at hand.

"It's not personal. I swear it's not." she promised him softly, unable to meet his eyes. The Jinchuuriki let his hand slide down her arm to the floor.

"You don't have to justify your feelings to me. They are what they are. I just wish you'd realize that having people there to help you when you're down and out doesn't make you weak. I'd have saved anybody, but especially you. Especially you." he said, letting his own inner emotions shine through a touch. Satsuki finally turned her head to look at him.

"I'm not worth the grief. Trust me." she said. Naruto rolled his eyes and laid his hands on both sides of her face. He then leaned forward and kissed her on the nose.

"Sure you are. You just don't know it yet." he said simply. The Uchiha blinked twice, her cheeks turning slightly pink. Naruto tilted his head off to one side with a grin.

"What? You gave me one on the lips after ghosting me for two weeks." he joked. Satsuki said nothing at all. Instead, she laid her head down on his shoulder and closed her eyes. Accepting the gesture for what it was, Naruto leaned his own head on top of hers.

Spotty as it was, both genin managed to sleep.


Shikamaru squinted as he stared off into the breeze. The weather had calmed significantly from the storm it had once been, but a persistent wind still lingered. He hadn't the room to complain about the chills running down his spine. He was up on the roof of his own accord. Aside from the obvious reason of direly packed conditions, he desperately needed alone time. His entire day had been chaos from start to finish. He had been dragged out of bed far too early, forced to attend a dull seminar, and then with less than two hours of down time between, the final round had begun.

The invasion spoke for itself. Temari's demise had left him torn open and deeply emotional to an extent entirely foreign to him. He had never been immune to bouts of sensitivity, but such an unfettered crisis was an unfortunate first. The lone upside to it all was that he had found his mother quickly. She had been barricaded in the back room of the Nara household, with two dead Suna Shinobi lying in the foyer. The woman was still a force, by all appearances. After ensuring the safety of Yoshino, Shikamaru joined a patrol on the southern border.

Fortunately for his safety, Suna's invading force primarily barged their way through the eastern gate. There had been skirmishes, but none of them had been particularly bloody or violent. Through the patrol, he had learned that the Hokage had been quietly preparing for such an invasion for nearly a week prior. The experience had been a fairly good one compared to the uncensored carnage of the inner-village battle. A small part of him felt cowardly for choosing a less deadly front, but he had not done so to avoid the fighting. It had been a matter of geography.

Dangling his legs over the edge of the roof, Shikamaru rubbed sleep out of his eyes. He was exhausted, both mentally and physically. He wanted to sleep. He needed to sleep. Yet, his fear for what he would see in his dreams kept him from letting it happen. He could feel the nightmares nipping at him even while fully conscious. He was far too stubborn to give in. Not yet.

"There you are. I searched this whole damn building."

Looking back over his shoulder, Shikamaru let out a long sigh. His father had joined him through the same trap door he'd used to reach the roof. The elder Nara strolled across the roof at his usual slow pace. Not even all-out war could shake the man of his nonchalance. Sitting himself down on the edge of the overhang upon reaching his son, Shikaku looked Shikamaru up and down.

"You're not missing anything, at least. How are you doing?" he asked. The genin stared out over his scrambled village. Windows were broken, signs were down, and there were still a few stray bodies scattered and unclaimed.

"I could be dead. So I'd say I'm fine." he replied blankly. His father studied him, his eyes unconvinced and prying.

"Why avoid everybody else, then? Your teammates are cuddled up down below." he inquired. Shikamaru tightened his jaw. Shikaku Nara rarely pressed the issue on much of anything, but he was incredibly perceptive. Frustratingly so. There was no point in hiding behind a mask of white lies.

"I…had my first kill. Just grappling with that right now." he admitted. The elder Nara nodded in understanding, joining his son in watching the dark village. Another cleanup crew had been dispatched.

"It's never easy. My only advice is to never forget their face, because, by no choice of their own, they'll never forget yours." he said sagely. Shikamaru spat off the roof. There was a cut in his mouth that had yet to fully stop bleeding.

"It was the girl I beat in the quarterfinals. Temari." he explained. Shikaku's eyes drifted sideways, intently analyzing his son.

"If you have a story to tell, feel free. It might help you." he suggested. Shikamaru hesitated. He trusted his father. They spoke less than many parents and children did, but the man had always been reliable. What held him back was the sense that he was not fully ready to tell himself his own tale. Regardless of his apprehension, he took Shikaku's advice.

"It's gonna make you cringe, just so you know." he said as a qualification. The older man waved a dismissive hand and gestured for him to continue. Gathering his thoughts, Shikamaru dove back into the memories.

"The night mom kicked me out, I ended up trying to walk across town to crash with Naruto. I got about halfway before her brother stopped me. His name's Kankuro. He told me that I was in danger by being out past dark. He wouldn't tell me why, but he made me come back to their motel room." he started. His father nodded along wordlessly.

"When we got there, he jumped in the shower. It was just Temari and I for a few minutes. She, uh, made a pass at me. More than one, actually. I shut it all down. I managed to get her to talk a little, and I found out why Kankuro was so antsy. As it turned out, their brother Gaara was the one behind the killings." he continued, not quite sure if Shikaku knew of the redhead's involvement in the murder spree. The older man's lack of a reaction suggested that he did.

"I ended up staying the night. I slept on the floor. I left the next morning. I sat on the information for a few days, but I ended up reporting it to Lord Third. He called Gaara in for questioning. Temari and Kankuro showed up too. When the interrogation went nowhere, I took them both out to lunch. Sort of to apologize for the trouble, I guess." the genin said. His father raised an eyebrow.

"You were well within your rights, but go on." he urged. Shikamaru drummed his fingers on the concrete lip.

"The whole point of interrogating him was to get a profile, and mark him as a suspect. He started stalking me. I think you noticed it, too. I waited a few more days, and then I decided it was time. I found Temari and Kankuro, and I went to the motel again. We played chess. She actually beat me, too. Only once, but still." he said, chuckling a bit at the memory.

"Gaara showed up after a while. I threatened him. The guy's a psychopath, no two ways about it, but he's exploitable if you know what you're doing. I had to bluff a little, but I scared him into playing straight and narrow until the final round." he explained. The point of conflict was drawing nearer and nearer.

"Temari walked me home after he left. Said it was too dangerous to go alone. We talked a little. She was actually pretty normal for once. I…liked it, honestly. She offered to play chess again in a few days." the younger Nara said. Shikaku sighed heavily.

"Before you continue, for the future, never take that sort of offer at face value." he interjected. All indications were that he knew exactly where things were going. Though he very much felt like a known quantity, Shikamaru could not help but feel internal pressure. What came next had made today incredibly difficult.

"I took her up on it. I don't know why I chose to come knocking at night. Maybe I knew where it was heading. Maybe I didn't. Kankuro was in another room. We played chess again. I won every game, so that part didn't last long. We got to talking. It was mostly small stuff. She offered me some booze. She'd been drinking the whole time." he said, mentally coaching his way through every word. Emotions were welling up below the surface.

"I didn't want to drink at first. It made me nervous. I knew how it'd turn out if I did. I never really liked how forward she was, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't think she was pretty cool after she beat me at chess. I pushed back for a while, but eventually, I just…decided to do it. I was tired. I was having trouble sleeping because I didn't know if Gaara was outside my window or not. I was…I was scared." he pressed on, wavering several times. The frustration he had buried was leaking out.

"I just wanted to stop caring about all of it. I wanted to stop thinking about villages, fighting, and people dying. I wanted to just be a kid for once. So, I got drunk with her. We had sex, like I knew we would. I barely remember it. I just remember waking up, and feeling like an idiot." he choked out, jaw clenched and tears of frustration threatening to fall.

"And then I buried her under a ton of fucking concrete. I killed her. I did exactly what I did with Haku. The same mistake, for the same damn reasons. The only difference is that I didn't get lucky this time. I had to look my decisions in the eye. Instead of killing an enemy, I killed a friend." he concluded with a strangled sob. He was angry with himself. He felt utterly foolish. He had made his own bed, and slept in it. He had been aware the entire time, and yet, the same road was taken.

He soon felt his father's hand on his shoulder. Meeting the man's eyes, he saw that Shikaku's expression was largely unchanged, save for a light of concern in his eyes.

"Truth is, some lessons take more than one slip up to learn. You're realistic enough to see this for the mistake it is. That's a step most people can't take right away. You might not believe me when I say this, but I've been exactly where you are. I'm not proud of my younger years. You probably won't be either in time. But that's life. You fail, and you learn. That's how you grow." he said. His face softened slightly.

"Don't lose your compassion. Hormones played a role here, but knowing you, something about her resonated with you. You may not act like it, but you try to see the good in people. It got you burned, but that doesn't mean it isn't a good trait to have." he added. At this, Shikamaru fully broke down. Burying his face in his hands, tears soaked his palms.

"That's exactly what she said to me before she died. Word for word." he sobbed. Shikaku threw his arm over his son's shoulders and pulled him in.

"Let it out, kid. All of it. I'll be here." he said. Shikamaru could do nothing but pointlessly bite back his tears.

And so, for the first time in years, he openly wept in the arms of his father.


Hiruzen kept his hands folded neatly behind his back as he stood atop the stone carving of his own face. Damages had been both more and less severe than initially projected. Less, in the sense that property damage was rather low as a whole, but more in terms of casualties. It was a net negative. An entire new cemetery would be needed. Suna had struck brutally. In less than two hours, they had inflicted heavy losses. Of course, Konoha had claimed their fair share of lives in retaliation, but the retreat had given them a pyrrhic victory and nothing more. An emergency meeting had been called several hours prior, with the primary topic being that of extended conflict.

Thankfully, the Hokage had managed to silence the war-hawks. Danzo Shimura, in particular. The bandaged man had demanded a declaration of open war be made immediately the following morning, and while his reasons were obvious and sound at their face, all in attendance had known that things were not so simple. While it was true that the Hidden Sand had indeed staged an invasion, they had done so with a knife to their metaphorical and literal throats. Interrogation of a captured Jonin had revealed that Orochimaru had installed himself in Rasa's place well over a month ago.

That fact alone muddied the waters. Suna's administration could not be held truly responsible for the invasion. They had not had any more of a choice in the matter than the soldiers deployed to do the dirty work. Navigating peace negotiations would be tricky, but it could be done. With the correct political footwork, the conflict could be kept in-house, and not involve neighboring nations at all. That was the ideal outcome, and it would encompass much of the old man's workload for the foreseeable future.

Shifting his mind away from the larger-scale implications of the battle, Hiruzen looked down over his village. The hospitals were overflowing, and the Anbu were working overtime to clean up the broken mess of the aftermath. It would be weeks before things could even begin to feel normal again. That was the nature of war, even short and stunted conflicts. Civilian casualties, from what could be immediately discerned, had been extremely low. As a whole, as awful as such things always were, the absolute worst had been avoided.

Another thought then occurred to the elderly leader. While the Chunin Exams had not been able to run their full course, each of the competitors had been able to fight before the chaos had ensued. What was more, they had all participated in the invasion. Grounds for promotion existed for each and every one of the genin, save for those hailing from Suna, for obvious reasons.

Naruto and Satsuki had taken the monumental task of Gaara on their own backs, and with assistance, had overcome him by the barest of margins. Satsuki in particular had shown an excellent sense of priority in her act of leading Suna's Jinchuuriki beyond the border. Naruto had displayed a sharp intuition in rushing to her aide, though his reasoning for doing so likely stood on more personal grounds as a whole. Shikamaru's contributions had been much different, but in many ways, were equally as impressive.

He had led a group of unarmed civilians to a safety bunker below the arena without losing a single one of them, and had then fought his way through the thick of the battlefield to join an active security patrol for the remainder. Coupled with his ever-impressive display of tactical brilliance in his defeat of Temari of the Sand, the young Nara was a strong candidate. There was still the issue of his less-than-perfect record, but his behavior had been reportedly flawless since.

'All three of them have a case. I'll sleep on it.' Hiruzen decided, turning around and hopping up to the peak of the stone hill from his likeness. He then began a slow walk back to his office.

Tragic as the day had been, tomorrow would still come.


A/N: Okay, not the most exciting chapter, but I felt like skipping over immediate reactions to all that had happened would be a waste, since there's lots to say there.

And yes, I have officially written Shikaku as a Good Dad™

Gave you some NaruSatsuki as well. A little melancholic, but it always is with them, isn't it?

Leave me a review if you're able. Haven't written character stuff in a few weeks, so I hope I haven't fallen off :')

I love you all

Read and Review!