"Mr. Uzumaki? Mr. Uzumaki, is everything alright?" Naruto was wrenched from his thoughts as a female voice intruded in his head.

"Huh? Yeah.. Everythings fine, why wouldnt it be fine?"he Naruto asked shaking his head.

"You havent touched you drink in nearly twenty minutes. Not to mention you've been spacing out for the same amount of time staring into the bottom of your glass like you're expecting to find the answer to lifes hardest question" the bartender said with a concerned look.

"Just thinking about something in particular I guess" Naruto said with a sigh. He brought the glass to his lips and shot the liquor back in one go savoring the burn as it slid down his throat. He motioned for another and saw the look of concern on the older womans face as whe poured the second drink. It wasnt like Naruto couldnt hold his liquor, he could give Tsunade a brief contest in terms of how much he could take before falling over drunk, but rather how long it took for the first drink to disappear. Normally he would be around drink six or seven but the fact he was only on two was a red flag.

"Why did I know we would find you here Naruto?" Nagato asked with a sigh. There were few things you could pin to a certainty, death and taxes primarily, but recently finding Naruto in a bar drinking himself to an early grave was becoming as much a certainty. He was worried for his cousins self destructive behavior but the blonde had shut hinself in ever since he heard about what happened to Hinata.

"I dunno, why did you?" Naruto asked swirling the amber liquid in the glass with a tooth pick. "You dont have to wastse your time worrying about me Nagato. I already know Konans pregnant. She tried to deny it earlier but its no use lying to me and we both know it. You should be taking care of her and stop pussyfooting around asking her to marry you instead of trying to keep me from doing something you deem as stupid."

"Hinata wouldn't want you to be like this Naruto. You know this as well as I d-" The glass shattered in his hand as Naruto slammed it on the counter sending splashes of liquor and glass everywhere.

"You dont know what she would want... No one can anymore so dont play that card with me cousin" Naruto said with dangerously narrowed eyes. Getting his wallet out he tossed a fifty on the counter. "My apologies for the mess Maori, keep the change." Getting up from his stool he brusbed past Nagato and stopped for a moment. "Unless you can bring her back to me, back where she belongs instead of rotting in her grave... Dont tell me what she would want Nagato." His words, while angry and cold, felt hollow tired as he acknowledged vocally just what happened to the woman he loved for the first time. He left the bar snatching his jacket off a peg board near the door and left into the nippy early evening air. Pulling out a smoke he lit it up and headed in a random direction away from home. He didnt need to hear how worried his family was about him or how he needed to talk to somebody about his bottled up grief, he thought he was dealing with it incredibly well. Between keeping busy and drinking he was numb most of the time since it forced him to focus on other things.

-Four Aces Bar and Lounge-

Naruto cussed to himself as he felt the first pitter patter of rain drops on his jacket. Ducking into the first doorway he cussed louder as it began to downpour seconds later. "Fuckin great! How else ya wanna fuckin punish me?!" he yelled at the sky. The rumble of thunder made him laugh bitterly. "Fuck you too..." He glanced at the door and saw it advertised a lounge. "If anything maybe they have a piano. Very least I can drink in peace" he muttered.

The lounge was small but cozy with a big enough piano in one corner on a small raised stage. 'At least it isnt too busy' he thought noting on a handful of customers. "Whiskey, two fingers straight" Naruto said taking a seat at the bar.

"Sounds like you're trying to forget something there stranger" the bartender, an objectively beautiful young woman, said pouring the drink. Between her hair like blood, fair skin, violet eyes light with a sense of mischief and a figure most women would kill for the woman had looks in spades.

"Just the opposite" Naruto muttered lifting the glass to his lips.

"Nothing good comes from searching at the bottom of a bottle or an empty glass" the woman said with a soft look crossing her face. She'd seen men like the guy before her come through before searching for someone or something at the bottom of a bottle and meet only heartbreak in the end. It never bothered her before but for some reason looking at the blonde before her, probably no more than a few years older than herself, in the same state hurt her heart badly.

"Its the only place I can see her anymore..." Naruto said quietly as his eyes closed and he hung his head setting the glass on the counter. "Its ironic... I never drank before.. She didn't like people who drank, she said it was a weakness of character." He laughed bitterly for a moment as he heard footsteps come in and sit down at the other end of the bar. "Now I can only find her in my memories at the bottom of the thing she thought made people weak... Shes probably disappointed in me right now and as much as I should be upset by that I can't bring myself to care I'm letting her down by doing this.. It numbs the pain" he said quietly.

The redheads heart clenched at his words. His voice was so broken tired and hollow, something she expected out of an old war veteran who saw too much instead of the young man before her. Looking down the bar to her co-worker to take care of the customer who just came in. "Im sure she would understand" the redhead said in a comforting soft tone placing a hand lightly on the mans arm only to jerk it back when he flinched at the light contact.

"I just wish it would all go back... Before... When we were happy..." Naruto said near silently. He could feel the weight of the bartenders gaze on him making his eyes lift partly to meet her sad but understanding gaze. "I probably look pathetic to you dont I?" he muttered more to himself than seriously asking.

"Heartbroken and depressed yeah but not pathetic" the bartender said witb the softest most understanding look she could muster. "The people we love always want us to be happy whether they can always be there or not for us. She might be a little disappointed but I dont think that eclispes just how much she cared" the woman said trying to lift the blondes spirits if even slightly.

"Maybe..." Naruto finished the liquor in his glass before glancing at the piano on the small stage.

"You can play if you like. Our usual guy who plays just quit" the woman said noticing his line of sight.

"Ill pass but thanks anyways... No muse anymore" Naruto chuckled hollowly. "Cant finish a single piece I try to begin to write these days. Another please." He pulled out a twenty and tossed it on the counter after the woman poures the drink.

"You want to talk about whats got you down?" she she asked walking over to the register and grabbed his chamge about to hand it over to him until he waved it off.

"Split the change with your girlfriend down the other end of the bar" Naruto said swirling the glass in his hand watching the amber liquid.

"Shes not my gir-"

"Your look to her was far too tender to be just friendly with her. Not to mention the loving look she shot you after nodding back to you. Dont lie to me, I hate liars" Naruto said with a blank look.

"S-sorry.. Its just we could lose our jo-"

"Im not judging nor am I going to say anything. All I want to do is drink in piece away from my family who seems to think they know whats good for me and whats not" Naruto said.

"What are you doing that they're so worried about?" the woman asked cleaning a tumbler with a bar rag.

Naruto grinned mirthlessly and let out another hollow chuckle as he shook his head downing the glasses amber contents. "Chasing a ghost they say. I prefer to call it drowning myself in memories" he said resting head on the cool marble bartop.