Naruto's body was found the next day by a group of sailors. The police decided that he had been caught up in a mafia gun fight with his teacher, though rumour said that Naruto was in the mafia himself, and Mizuki went there to stop him.

No one knew the truth, other than Pain. Naruto died a villain and Mizuki? A hero.

[}~~~~~~~~~| |~~~~~~~~~{]

The fourteen remaining pilots all attended Naruto's funeral. What shocked them most was not how basic and inexpensive the whole affair was, but that they knew the face of everyone there.

There were each other. Then there was Iruka. Then there was principal Sarutobi. That was it.

It was then that many of the children realised that Naruto had been lying to them all along. He was not happy. He wasn't seeking attention.

He just didn't want to be alone again.

[}~~~~~~~~~| |~~~~~~~~~{]

Shikamaru and Rock Lee went to Naruto's house with Iruka afterwards to sort through his things.

The door had already been broken down.

"HEY!" Iruka shouted, running into the apartment. The two boys followed, and saw their teacher punch a man with no trousers on.

He had been urinating on the dead orphan's furniture.

Shikamaru had to be the one to pull his teacher off the man, who ran as fast as he could, pulling his trousers up with one hand and clutching his bloody face with the other.

"Dammit…" Iruka swore as he sat on the floor. "Is this really what he had to deal with?"

[}~~~~~~~~~| |~~~~~~~~~{]

The three of them found little possessions in Naruto's house. There were bandages, crutches, old casts, paint remover, disinfectant, and doggy bags. Iruka asked himself why Naruto would have those when he didn't have a dog to clean up after, but Shikamaru pointed out that it was probably other people's waste he was cleaning.

[}~~~~~~~~~| |~~~~~~~~~{]

"Hey, I found something!"

Shikamaru and Iruka rushed over to the drawers where Rock Lee was stood.

I leave everything I have to my friends and classmates, Sasuke, Sakura, Shikamaru, Chouji, Kiba, Hinata, Ino and Shino.

Signed, Naruto Uzumaki.

Below it, in a different colour pen,

And Rock Lee, Gaara, Tenten, Temari, Neji, Kankuro and Kurama-san too!

"But… didn't he meet us only a few days ago at the beach?" Rock Lee asked.

Rock, Tenten and Neji went to the same school as Naruto, but were two years above him. Gaara and his siblings, however, went to another school on the other side of the city.

"Naruto was like that." Iruka explained. "Anyone who accepted him in any way, were his only family." He looked closer, "But who is Kurama?"

"He ran the lifeguards post at the beach." Shikamaru told his teacher. "He gave Naruto a free ice-cream once."

Iruka sighed, shaking his head.

[}~~~~~~~~~| |~~~~~~~~~{]

On the way home, Shikamaru talked to Rock about what was bothering him.

"You do know it wasn't your fault." Shikamaru told him.

"But… But I…" Rock Lee was overcome with shame. "I hit him and he…"

"Look, you're strong." Shikamaru pointed out, "But you're no where near strong enough to kill someone with a single punch." Shikamaru look around to check that they were alone. "Look, I read the autopsy report, alright? He was severely beaten before being shot, so even if you did lay the finishing blow, you're not a murderer."

"Not by law…" Rock replied, almost crying.

"Not by anything." Shikamaru told him. "It. Wasn't. Your. Fault." The Nara put his head in his hand. "Man, this is a pain… Look, what would Naruto do if he saw you moping around like this, taking the blame?"

"I… I don't know…"

"That's because you don't know him like I do." Shikamaru sighed. "He'd kick your ass and shout at you to get your head in gear." He chuckled sadly. "He carried everyone else's burden, but never shared his own. That's who Naruto was." Rock Lee stared at Shikamaru in amazement. "He wrote you into his will so he could help his friends after he died. Don't insult him like this."

Rock Lee, nodded his head with a smile. "I'll try. Thank you, Nara-sensei."

Shikamaru groaned. "Troublesome…"

[}~~~~~~~~~| |~~~~~~~~~{]

"Hey kids!"

Shikamaru and Rock Lee suddenly found themselves inside of the Kyuubi with everyone else. "Who wants to drive next?"

No one volunteered.

"No one?" asked the Kitsune, "Really?"

Silence

"Tch. Boring." The chairs began spinning in the ring again, faster, faster.

Shikamaru noticed that one chair was missing. The swing.

The chairs slowed down. Slower… slower…

And stopped on a tree stump.

[}~~~~~~~~~| |~~~~~~~~~{]

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Who will the next pilot be? Find out next time!