Hi, welcome back and as I said in the last chapter, this won't be easy to read as there's tragedy to read through. Though I'm saying this, here goes nothing.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Notes: This takes places a few days after the last chapter; one day after Nawaki's 12th birthday.
A heavy amount of rain poured through Konoha and the village had just survived a brutal attack at the hands of Iwagakure shinobi. The village managed to repel the Stone-Village forces but many shinobi and civilian were slaughtered.
Meanwhile, Tsunade hurried through the streets and headed towards the house where Jiraiya and Orochimaru had contacted her earlier. She had just received word from her fellow Sannin that Nawaki had been in a grievous explosion when fighting with Stone shinobi.
Tsunade's heart raced and she sweated halfway to death as she hurried over to where Jiraiya and Orochimaru said Nawaki was. She finally arrived at the place soaked to the bone and found her teammates.
"Tsunade…" Jiraiya said while Orochimaru casually leaned against a nearby wall and he had a smirk across his lips.
"Where is he?!" Tsunade said and Jiraiya solemnly nodded down a hallway. She looked down the hallway into a room where three shinobi stood over a covered body with several bloodstains on it; exposing only the feet.
Tsunade's irises shrank in complete horror as the body was the same size as Nawaki and judging from how the lower half of the body was bigger than the upper half, it was painfully clear that there was little to nothing left of the higher part. She stood like a statue for a while before beginning to walk down the hall before Jiraiya stopped her by placing his hand on her shoulder.
"It's best if you don't see his remains." Jiraiya said and Orochimaru chuckled.
"Is there really any difference if she sees the body or not? With the condition it's in, she won't even know it's her dear little brother." Orochimaru smirked.
"That's enough, Orochimaru!" Jiraiya snapped.
"This is war and one way or another; all shinobi will end up like this. With no medical assistants on the battlefield, lives will fall one by one." Orochimaru said before digging around his pocket.
"Orochimaru…" Jiraiya said.
"It's a real shame that the poor child became overstimulated in battle and perished; especially just after receiving a lovely present." Orochimaru continued before he pulled out Nawaki's necklace and held it out to Tsunade. After a few passing moments, she dropped to her knees and buried her head in her hands.
Tsunade cried in grief as Jiraiya kneeled down to her and sympathetically placed his hand on her back. Orochimaru stood as he was as the necklace dangled freely about in his hold and though he had no facial emotion, he was deeply disheartened that his student was gone.
Elsewhere later on
Minato sat on his bed and tears fell from his eyes as he held a portrait of his parents while silently weeping. The day hadn't gone any easier for him both since he lost both of them while helping them guide civilians to the village shelter and they were both decapitated by an Iwagakure ANBU before his eyes while defending him.
Although Minato had immediately avenged his parents by slashing the man's ribcage apart, that didn't dull the pain that he no longer had any family. He looked at the picture and rubbed the tears out of his eyes.
He heard the door ring and he got off the bed to head to the door. Minato opened the door and Jiraiya stood there with a solemn look on his face.
"Minato...I just heard what happened." Jiraiya said and Minato simply nodded as his sensei placed his hand on his shoulder. Though the boy didn't cry, he managed to keep a strong face as Jiraiya comforted him and the toad sage knew he was completely torn up on the inside.
"I just can't believe they're gone." Minato said and Jiraiya nodded. Nonetheless, he knew that his parents would both be proud that he survived the ordeal and managed to slay the ruthless ANBU.
Jiraiya, knowing Minato's exceptional intelligence, already could tell his student knew this but he continued to comfort him. Despite the aching sadness his hear felt, he remained calm and stood tall.
Later on at night
Tsunade sat in her living room looking at a picture of Nawaki and though she did what she could not to sob for the umpteenth time; it wasn't enough to keep the tears from streaming out of her eyes. She had only taken the picture yesterday right after Nawaki had received Hashirama's necklace, which now was in her possession.
The buxom kunoichi sadly looked at the necklace and remained silent as she remembered Nawaki's words from the day before.
The day before
Tsunade and Nawaki stood on the wide balcony of their home that overlooked the village.
"Happy 12th birthday, Nawaki!" Tsunade smiled at her younger brother as she held a silver case and he appreciated it with a frown.
"Newsflash: I'm twelve and not a little kid! I don't need presents anymore!" Nawaki said.
"Ha! You're still a kid as far as I can say!" Tsunade taunted and Nawaki slightly pouted in response.
"Anyway, kid or not, you should open it. You'll be pretty surprised." Tsunade said as she leaned against the railing and Nawaki proceeded to do as told. He opened the case and pulled out Hashirama's necklace.
Nawaki looked at the necklace with a shocked face and Tsunade only smiled at her brother's reaction.
"Nee-chan, is this…?" Nawaki asked.
"Yep; the necklace of the First Hokage." Tsunade said before Nawaki sprang at his sister to hug her affectionately.
"I love you, Nee-chan!" Nawaki happily said while Tsunade chuckled and returned the hug.
"I figured that you'd like it since you've had your eye on it for some time. I know you'll take good care of it, won't you?" Tsunade said.
"You bet and it won't just be the necklace! It'll be the entire village, too!" Nawaki said as he stopped hugging Tsunade to don the necklace and proudly looked down at the village.
"Nawaki…" Tsunade said out of surprise.
"Since I'm the Grandson of the man who both created it and treasured it, I'll take care of it just him." Nawaki said and Tsunade only smiled.
"It's like you always say; a man never goes back on his word!" Tsunade said.
"Exactly! I'll be exactly like he was and the title of Hokage will be as good as mine because becoming Hokage is my dream!" Nawaki proudly proclaimed and Tsunade could only smile at her younger brother.
"Nawaki, take off your headband." Tsunade said.
"Why?" Nawaki asked.
"Just hurry up and take it off. I've one final gift for you." Tsunade said as she began to undo Nawaki's headband while he stood still.
"It's a magical charm that'll make your dreams come true." She said before kissing Nawaki's forehead. He didn't move and once she was done, he stood for a while before he grinned and chuckled.
Tsunade only grinned and did the same.
The blonde woman's tears dripped down onto the necklace and she lay down on the couch. With Nawaki dead, she was now the final Senju that existed in Konoha and she curled up in a ball.
While looking at Nawaki's picture, she cried herself to sleep and remained in a fetal position throughout the night.
The next day
Minato donned his funeral garb and headed out the door. He headed to the graveyard and despite going there alone, he understood Jiraiya was comforting Tsunade and he was more than likely to be with her at the funeral.
Once he arrived at the graveyard, he joined a large crowd of attenders and stood with the other genin who had lost their parents. Meanwhile, Jiraiya stood in another crowd with other Jounin alongside Tsunade and Orochimaru while they listened on as Hiruzen gave a eulogy for the shinobi who lost their lives during the attack of the village.
Minato stood with a blank face as the funeral went on and while still feeling the aching pain of his parents' murder, he still refrained from appearing sad or even letting a tear appear on his face. Tsunade, whose eyes were red from the countless crying she had done the day before, managed to keep a strong face herself as she listened to her former sensei speak about the honorable sacrifices the deceased shinobi (that included Nawaki) had made to defend their home village.
After the eulogy, the funeral ended and many began to leave. Minato, however, headed to the memorial stone and stood in front of it while reading where his parents' names where etched.
He pressed his hands together and honorably bowed his head while kneeling. Eventually, he rose and felt Jiraiya's hand on his shoulder.
"Sensei…" Minato said as Jiraiya simply nodded and he headed to the gate. The young boy looked to see Tsunade and noticed her expression.
He easily figured she had been crying harder than him and sympathetically stared at her.
"Sensei, I'll be alright." Minato said and Jiraiya crouched down to him.
"Are you sure, Minato?" Jiraiya asked.
"Yes, sensei." Minato answered and Jiraiya patted his shoulder before the white-haired sage took his leave. Looking back at Tsunade, Minato calmly walked over to her.
"Tsunade-sama?" Minato said and Tsunade looked down at him.
"I'm sorry about Nawaki. He was a terrific shinobi and great comrade." Minato said and Tsunade smiled down at him. She patted his shoulder and sighed.
"Thanks a lot, Minato." Tsunade said.
"As long as the Will of Fire goes on, Nawaki and the other shinobi will always be remembered, no matter how long time goes on." Minato said and Tsunade kneeled down to meet him at eye level. He blushed at someone he found so beautiful being so close and he nearly could stop twitching.
"I know more about the Will of Fire than you, kiddo." Tsunade said to Minato, who stood as he was.
"But, thanks anyway, Minato." Tsunade said.
"No problem at all, Tsunade-sama." Minato answered and Tsunade genuinely smiled at him before standing back up and leaving for home. Though the younger blonde shinobi knew it would be sometime before Tsunade was completely over her depression, he was nonetheless glad she could still smile and that was good enough to him.
Hiruzen watched from a distance and smiled at the young boy's efforts. He watched as Minato turned around and began to head home.
Days later
Minato stood in the field where he normally trained with Jiraiya and stood looking at the sky. Then, he remembered Kushina showing him how she was able to use a Tailed-Beast bomb and he began to wonder if he could make a similar technique.
He placed one hand over the other and began gathering chakra. From this point on, Minato would resolve to grow stronger and protect the village from any more danger; which he viewed as his remaining family.
I told you guys that reading this wouldn't be easy and good luck reading. Though Tsunade doesn't know that Minato lost his parents, this is where she would start to take a shine towards him and this chapter was to show how strong he mentally is; no matter how torn up on the inside he is, he is still strong enough to give comfort to others who need it just as much as him.
As for Minato managing to kill an Iwagakure ANBU, I'm sure most of you can tell this is just the beginning of his animosity with the Stone-Village and though he doesn't exactly hold a vendetta against them for murdering his parents, that isn't at all to say he's gonna allow them to cause harm to his village.
The death of Minato's parents and Nawaki also plays a part for Minato and Tsunade to protect Haruhi and their twins when the time comes. Well, I'll see you guys next time.