Here is the fifth chapter. It is more than likely something you didn't expect but I thought it would be great to get a look around Konaha still. These are what the secondary characters are doing as of now and how they are getting through things during this time. I may do this again if it is well recieved. If you like any of the character stories let me know and I will put them on a priority list if and when I do it again. Next chapter will advance the main characters and plot line more. Thank you and keep the reviews coming, they are always appriciated and I love the ideas.

Shout Outs:

Narudevilfan: He happens to be one of my favorite characters through the entire series and may have him play a large role in comming chapters with the main characters. Well it is a toss up between him and two others.

KnightOfZaku: I hadn't really thought about that, but I will give it a great deal of consideration.

Artemisa12: I fixed the name already in the last chapter after I saw your review. Thank you for catching that for me. I would like to keep the names and characters the same as much as possible with little interfearance from my created characters.

Without further delay: I do not own Naruto, because Hinata will not let him go.

Konoha

One Month After Naruto's Death

Tsunade

The Hokage tower has been rebuilt and Tsunade has made quick work of making sure it looks as it did before. There were piles of papers stacked on the desk and even piles against the walls. The Hokage sat in her chair facing out the window. The village was coming along well in the rebuild and was nearly twenty-five percent complete. Of course most of the buildings were homes and small shops as the larger buildings were going to take more time. Many of the tents that once dotted the perimeter of the now gone crater have been removed as people moved into new homes. The citizens had made it their priority to build the village better than it was before. She looked down at a small patch of green that was in the center of a residential area. The locals in that area had taken it upon themselves to build a statue of Naruto who had been seen in the park, often to play pranks, in his memory.

Given the demand of her position Tsunade hadn't had much time to grieve the loss of her favorite knucklehead ninja. When she did have a little free time she thought of the special three that all held the same dream. Her younger brother Nawaki, her long ago lover Dan, and her great nephew and godson Naruto had all chased the dream of being in the position she now held. A position she would gladly give up to bring back even one of them at this moment. It seemed people needed her support and strength, but that didn't mean she didn't sometimes have an extra drink or two, or three, in their memory. After a night of lite drinking, Tsunade had wandered outside the newly built walls. There had been a number of raiders and scavengers looking to loot the secrets of Konoha around the area. In a drunken stupor she walked into one of the looters camps.

By the time the patrols found her there was a heap of bodies' piled up, surprisingly all alive, but she kept three awake berating them about how pathetic they were in being shinobi. Shizune arrived just in time to see her teacher crying at the three, stating that if they didn't get stronger they will never become Hokage and they would die. She would then switch and slap them, telling them to give up their dream so that they may live. With a little help from Shizune, Tsunade made it back to the village to sleep it off, and to Ibiki's surprise the largest group of looters and raiders had been captured that night due to one really drunk Hokage.

There had been several attempts by foreign countries to send intelligence operatives into the city to assess their current strengths and weaknesses. This was the most pressing threat that they faced. They even had people attempt to find any deception in the rumors that Naruto Uzumaki had died. There was now a guard posted at the burial site of the two recently departed day and night. On a nightly walk, Kakashi had seen someone in the graveyard near the graves. He almost thought nothing of it until he heard someone grunting next to it. When he went to see who it was and what they were doing, he noticed they were trying to dig up what remained of Naruto and Hinata. Of course they were stopped, but that still put people on edge over the whole situation. When they asked Kakashi what he was doing in the area he claimed to have been trying to do some research and that was easily accepted as the amount of responsibility he was currently holding was immense.

With the death of her longtime friend and teammate, Jiraiya, their effective spy network came to a grinding halt. Tsunade was quickly assessing any possible candidates to re-establish that much needed resource. Konoha had a lot of enemies out there and right now they were flying blind without the toad sage being their eyes. They had a few temporary chunin taking the helm and she had a great amount of confidence in them for their reconnaissance abilities, Shino Aburame and Sai. She knew there would be no problem with Sai taking on the job permanently as he was an orphan and he was already a member of ANBU. Shino on the other hand was a surprise to her when he volunteered for the position stating it was the best way he could serve his village, and his family was honored for the selection.

Sakura

Sakura sat in her office with a stack of papers, not as large as the ones that would occupy Tsunade's desk, but she now knows how her teacher felt all the time. As the new political liaison to Suna her work load has increased. Not only did she have to handle the personal relations between Konoha and Suna but she also held classes in medical training. She understood why Tsunade had sent her, she had been in a constant state of depression since the recovery mission. It is supposed to be a temporary assignment and she did enjoy the time away from Konoha while she situated her life and emotions. She got to spend some time with the Kazekage Gaara. He was a great friend and respected by Naruto and they often talked about the blonde knucklehead. Shortly after arriving in Suna, Gaara had taken her out personally to show her around the sand village. He even went as far as taking her out to dinner which she felt she had ruined. After the mean while talking the night away over their desert she broke down in front of everyone in the restaurant. By the look on Gaara's face she was sure he would have sent her back to Konoha and asked for a replacement. To her surprise he hadn't helped her the entire time. He always seemed to make free time for her when she needed to talk to someone.

It was getting late in the evening and she could only look at the time. She had decided to stay in the office late instead of going to home. She had a late meeting with the Kazekage to discuss some personal relations regarding the two villages. When asked if she could reschedule to the next day he was animate that it had to be tonight as his schedule was book for the remainder of the week. It was about ten minutes before the meeting and she got up and started her way to the fourth floor where Gaara's office was. On her way she wondered how everything was going in Konoha and how much the city had been rebuilt. She was glad she got a chance to get away and keep herself busy, it had been just what she needed to sort things out. It would be over in a couple months, her assignment was only temporary and a replacement would come to fill her spot. As she approached the door and knocked it had opened on its own. That was one thing that had always gave Sakura a case of the willies. Since most of the village had used sand in its construction, Gaara could manipulate it. The room was dark but with the hall light she could see his desk and his famous sand gourd was leaning against it. With her shinobi training she walked carefully into the room and there was no one there. A little further in she could see that the doors to the terrace overlooking Suna were open and there was a faint glow of light coming into the room. When she looked out on to the over stretched balcony her eyes started to water with tears. In the center was a single small table set up for what looked like an intimate dinner for two complete with lit candles. At the door way was Gaara in his formal Kazekage dress bowing to her with an outstretched hand.

"Sakura Hurano, would you please join me for dinner," he said with what sounded like a rehearsed line. She could tell he had been nervous this entire time, more than likely because he had not been too comfortable with dealing with people on a personal level.

She allowed him to take her by the hand and lead her to the table where he assisted her with her chair. She looked over the balcony to the lights below in the city. The view of the city below and the stars in the sky was one of the most breath taking scenes Sakura had ever seen. She looked up at him with a smile as he sat in front of her, "What are the village relations that we have to discuss?"

Shikamaru

The young Jonin walked down the streets looking into the sky as sparse clouds drifted by. Lady Hokage had been working him to the bone. Not only was he assigned to the military shinobi council as a strategist, but now he was tricked into helping with strategic defense design for the city. Since the city had to be rebuilt they wanted to make it more defendable than before. He had pored through books he always thought were more bothersome than useful, tracking back over every attack the village had been under. If designing defenses wasn't enough, they wouldn't even let him get through a single afternoon nap without asking him obvious questions. He would often reminisce about his days in the academy and all the rest he got there. Along with Kiba, Choji, and Naruto.. I wonder how he is doing. He's probably asleep by now, lucky bastard. If he ever comes back I'm going to give him a piece of my mind, no that's too much trouble, I'll let Tamari do it, he thought to himself. Tamari would be coming back soon to check on the supplies that Suna had sent for the repairs. He had better come up with something to do with her; she was always mad when he would take her on a picnic and fall asleep in the shade. Maybe a dinner out would be ok. Shikamaru stopped at the thought, it was strange, and he was actually looking forward to planning an evening with her. He chalked up the thought to being just overly bored and continued his leisurely walk home.

Neji & Tenten

Neji sat on top of the Hokage Monument that had recently been repaired overlooking the village and the construction below. The afternoon was late and the sun was setting to give the sky brilliant splashes of orange and pink. On the other end of the horizon the stars were starting to shine in the coming darkness that was laced with blue and lavender. It was a befitting scene for remembering his cousin and the man that had opened up the possibilities of life to him. He thought back to the capture/recovery mission and the two that gave their life for the love they shared. Leaning back on his arms he looked down at his chest to the weapon wielding kunoichi leaning against him taking in the view. They often did this when they were released from their duties near the same time. They hid their relationship from the rest of the village and his clan because of the mission that claimed two of their friend's lives. The clan was the biggest hurdle they would have to face if they went public. It was not well looked upon for a Hyuga to marry outside of it because of their eyes. Neji had risen within the clan and become a respected advisor and tutor to the main branch family. Something he did not want to lose while he was teaching his younger cousin, Hanabi, the finer points of the Gentle Fist.

Tenten and her family were busy almost around the clock. Her family was well known throughout the village for their craftsmanship of steel weaponry. Her family sent her often through the reconstruction to look for metals of any type or old and discarded weapons. Making weapons wasn't the only thing the family was commissioned for but also metal building supplies as well. They made supports, pipes, and reinforcement bar to help in the efforts. The even made nails if that is what the town needed. She knew of Neji's position within his clan and understood it the best she could, even if she didn't like it. She thought it better to steal moments like this than end up with nothing in the end. In her mind she hopes that one day the Hyuga clan will change some of their more arcane traditions and allow some freedom to the branch families. She was staring at the same sky as Neji, thinking what he was, and enjoying the warmth of him against her back. "They are wonderful aren't they?"

"Yes they are," knowing exactly what Tenten was referring to. "Those two have changed my life and my view of my place in it. Hopefully one day, it is through them that, we can move from what we see now without worry of what people think our place in life should be."

"Neji-kun?" she said sitting up to look at him, "Do you think we, you know, would ever have to go that far?"

He sat up with her and pressed his chest against her back so he could wrap his arms around her waist. Before answering, he inhaled near her neck to take her in. "I hope it would never come to something like that. But maybe with a little time the clan will change and I can be free to choose my bride."

With shock and awe on her face with a blush that reminded her of his cousin, "Would you really?!"

He was a slight bit embarrassed and tried to maintain his composure the best he could, "Well, I want to have children someday. And I thought I would like to have a daughter, maybe with two little buns in her hair". He raised his hand to the side of her face and lifted it up to his to give her a gentle and passionate kiss. She knew he was teasing about the 'buns' remark, after all he poked fun at them occasionally while they were on the same team. She was happy to know that he would take her as a wife, and wished to start a family with her. Thank you Naruto, you brought out the best in him, she thought as she returned the kiss in full.

Lee

The lights in the newly constructed building were out the only thing that lit the rooms were the dusk light that still came through the windows. In a small office there was one light on though where a green tight wearing chunin was busy making a schedule for the days ahead. On the wall were a set of three uniforms that looked a lot like the one that he was wearing now, a testament to youth he was sure everyone agreed to. In the corner there was a shelf with weights of varying size, impact mats, and a large supply of bandages. "Five hundred sit-ups, five hundred push-ups, one hundred laps, twenty laps on your hands, two hours sparring practice, then a fifteen mile run," he said as he reviewed tomorrow's training regimen.

There was knock on the door and a man with a scar across his nose looked in, "Lee-san, what are you still doing here? Why don't you go home? There will be plenty of time tomorrow to do all this".

Quickly Lee stood up straight out of the chair, "Iruka-sensei, I am making tomorrow's lesson plan. I wish to give the children the chance to show off their youthfulness, just as I was given".

"It's fine, you don't have to call me sensei anymore. We work together now, so call me Iruka-san or just Iruka".

"Yes, Iruka-sensei, I will do my best," Lee said totally oblivious to what Iruka had just said. Iruka looked down at the list that Lee was making and he nearly hit the floor. "Are you crazy? This is what you are planning to have your students do tomorrow? This will kill them. They are only eight."

Lee looks at the list again and scratches his head, "Really, this is only half of the training regimen that I did once I got out of the academy".

An obvious twitch could be seen above Iruka's left eye, either he is not human or he's completely insane, he thought to himself. "Even if that was the case they wouldn't have time for their other studies on ninjutsu or genjutsu. You're only going to be instructing them in taijutsu, they do have other classes".

"So, do you think I should take out the twenty laps on their hands, or cut the run to ten miles?" again he said missing the point.

Iruka gave up and settled for a small compromise, "Ok, ok. Just make sure they get to their other classes on time. And make sure they are awake enough to learn something".

Giving his best youthful thumbs-up pose he responded, "Yes Iruka-sensei, after they finish my class you will be able to see their youthfulness shine through".

Iruka shook his head as he began to close the door, as he did so he noticed the small green spandex suits that looked a lot like the one Lee was wearing. Someone better help the world, he is actually trying to make living clones of himself, he thought as he left Lee in the room alone once again.

Ino

While a lot of her friends spent most of their time within the village, Ino on the other hand was spending a lot of time just outside of it. Because of her family's specialization in mental transference techniques she was spending a lot of time with Ibiki. The Intel Division sat just outside of the walls and she was training in the art of information recovery. It was a difficult and horrible process to learn, especially in the beginning. Her first day was to watch Ibiki work a guy over with various tools and jutsu's. She swore that Ibiki could cut a person up with just as much precision as a surgeon while still keeping the patient alive and awake. She had nightmares for the first week at the thought of what they did to the prisoners; this was of course only at first until she heard confessions. It would be two weeks later until she knew this is what she wanted to do to help the village in its effort to protect the people from those who would seek to do it harm. Normally her signature justsu would allow her to enter an individual's mind and control that person. Now she was learning how to enter a person's mind to retrieve their memories. She could also peer into their imaginations, hopes, and dreams. One day, while she was trying to perfect her technique without exhausting herself, she could see the horrible things that the prisoner was there to do. Pillaging had not been the intent of the group's activities. They were there to capture women and young girls who demonstrated blood line traits and a particular individual had ulterior motives as well. Throughout his life he had been a pedophile rapist, the images of dozens of young girls being put through his twisted form of pleasure flashed through her mind. He had the same plans for any young girl he had captured in Konoha. So sickened by this man, whose mind she was in, she tortured him from the inside implanting images of the deepest pain she could ever imagine into him. She also implanted images of his dismemberment and subsequent death thus shattering his consciousness, leaving him in a comatose state. When she withdrew from his mind all she could do was pull her knees to her chest and cry. Her father, out of concern for his daughter, checked the man's mind and found a shattered mess along with images that would have brought Ibiki to his knees.

Most days her training left her drained, but today she was surprisingly in a good mood. A lot of people were interrogated today and they would be tried for their crimes within a week, punishments came quick while the village was in repair. Today she felt pretty, a little out going, and in high spirits. She had a perfume on that was made from a flower only her family grew, it was not the best one she had but it held a deep meaning for her. She decided to walk through the village in the business district; like she had no destination in mind, but if you could see it, there was definitely a destination with a specific person in mind.

Kiba & Choji

Two young shinobi had decided to play catch-up after work at one of their favorite eateries. It had been one of the first shops that was rebuilt after the invasion and ultimate destruction of the village. Thanks to a blonde knuckleheaded ninja the place has seen more business in the last month than they typically would see in a year. The shop was expanded to accommodate eight new seats at the bar, and even placed tables outside to hold more guests. There was also an expansion project to extend the front to enclose it all in. Akamaru lay at the end of the bar while the two talked about the projects they were involved with. The Akimichi clan was in charge of the land reformation project. They were one of the first ones commissioned to start filling in the crater and making the land usable for construction along with resources such as food and water supplies. While Choji was on his eighth bowl of ramen Kiba was explaining that his family was also assigned to resource management and development. They were just working in different manners. With the talent for animal husbandry and extensive knowledge of the local fauna, they were to rebuild the village's wildlife populations as well as a meat supply for the villagers. Most of the food resources they were currently consuming were aid supplies received from other regions around the Land of Fire, with a large chunk of it coming from Suna. As they were talking Kiba stopped mid-sentence smelling something as it came off the afternoon air. Even Akamaru perked his head with a slight whimper to let Kiba know that he smelled it to. With a quick glance to Choji he excused himself, saying that he had to be somewhere right now.

Kiba quickly wandered through the village alleys sniffing the entire way. As he rounded a corner something grabbed him by his jacket, pulling him in. With a surprise he was thrown against a wall nearly hard enough to knock him out. Before he could regain his breath he felt a pair of lips take his forcefully, pushing him deeper into the wall. As the kiss broke Kiba opened his eyes, with a grin he took in the ponytailed blonde. The animal instinct in him took hold and he grabbed her sharply by the hips pulling her toward him again making their hips slam together to return her kiss just as forcefully. When they broke this time Ino finally addressed him, "So Kiba, what are you doing in the area?"

Kiba then turned the tables by turning her until her back was against the wall, "I thought I smelled a pretty flower and I wanted to come and pick it so I may give it to a pretty girl," he said with a wolfish grin. He then lowered his head to Ino's neck to kiss his way down to her collarbone.

"You did, did you? Well you can smell the flower, and even taste the flower, but you cannot pick the flower," Ino replied. She brought his head up to kiss him passionately, teasing him a little with her tongue. She then pressed her chest against his rubbing herself against him so he could feel the firmness of her breasts even through his clothes while nibbling on his neck until he whimpered. She was making herself lightheaded with the roughness of their contact and decided to break it by slipping out of his arms. She started to walk away and leave the awe struck Kiba standing there with a strained face. He looked at her as she walked away, swaying her hips a little for his enjoyment. She looked back at him and blew him a kiss, "Maybe if you take me on a date sometime, we may spend more time like this." With that she disappeared from sight.

Kakashi

Since the start of the rebuild efforts Kakashi has become more of a go-for for Lady Hokage than he ever thought possible, taking on more responsibility. In dealing with the death of his greatest student he has thrown himself into work around the clock. His morning routine started with handing out assignments to patrols and updating them on information received from the Intel Division. Then he would head to the temporary Hokage office to retrieve the daily work orders and supply listing from Tsunade herself. Upon delivering those he would then take a group of genin out on patrols for their assigned duties. After the operations were done for the day he would head over to Kurenai's house to help her rebuild her place. Her pregnancy is rapidly approaching its end, and Kakashi wanted to make sure one of his best friend's would-be wife had a place for the baby. He and Shikamaru would often work on their time off to help her rebuild and the first thing they completed was the nursery. Now that his favorite author was deceased he would stay awake until the early morning hours trying his hand at writing. He had often wondered how Jiraiya had come up with all the details and descriptive wording for his works. When he tried his hand at drawing the female figure, he then realized the master pervert must have had firsthand knowledge. With that he began to ponder who would be willing to offer their services to him in the name of research.