Thanks to Morcalivan7, InARealPickle, BigfootSighted, injuiin-luna, wolfkun, starlightscribe, drake999, Nightshade-Shinigami, Shikamaru's babygirl, Sesshomaru's Love 1991, Neonlights, and cheekagirl123 for your reviews. I still don't own the Naruto characters. Enjoy!

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Naruto sat just outside the Hokage's office, his stomach twisting and his breakfast threatening to make itself known again. The ninja didn't recall ever being as nervous as he was at that moment. He tapped his fingers on the arm of the chair he was sitting in before standing up and pacing back and forth in the hall.

From his seat next to Naruto, Shikamaru tried his best to hide a smile. He knew he shouldn't be amused, but the more nervous his friend became the more he reminded Shikamaru of his old self. Sit down, Naruto. You'll wear a trench in the floor." The blonde shinobi barely acknowledged that his friend had spoken as he continued to walk back and forth. "How troublesome…." Shikamaru mumbled. "Look, Naruto, if you don't want to do this today you don't have to. Nobody's forcing you to tell us anything."

"I… I'm fine. I have to go ahead and do this," Naruto replied without looking up from the floor in front of his feet. Shikamaru frowned, thinking he sounded less than sure of himself. Both boys jumped when the door to Tsunade's office swung outward. Shizune stepped into the hallway and sent them in, remaining behind as they closed the door.

The Hokage looked up as they entered, and her eyes softened when they fell on Naruto. He obviously hadn't gotten much sleep the night before and he looked like he was about to be sick. "Naruto, it's good to see you again. Shikamaru," she said, nodding to each of them in turn. They both returned the gesture before taking a seat in the two chairs Tsunade had by her desk. Naruto was looking everywhere but at his friends, and he found his eyes being drawn more and more to the open window behind the Hokage. "Well, Naruto, do you want to start or shall we?"

Naruto's eyes widened and he looked at Tsunade for the first time since entering her office. He swallowed hard and cleared his throat, but didn't answer. "Naruto, are you sure you're okay?" Shikamaru murmured, eyeing his friend.

"I, uh… that is, maybe…. I, um… I gotta go!" Naruto leapt to his feet and sprinted across the office, jumping out of the window and making his way across the roof tops of Konoha. Shikamaru made as if to pursue him, but Tsunade stopped him with an uplifted hand.

"Give him some time, Shikamaru. He'll tell us when he's ready. I think this is harder on him than he's letting on. Give him a little while and then go find him." The young ninja hesitated for a moment before nodding and leaving the office through the door. Tsunade turned her chair around and stared out her window in the direction the boy had left. "What happened to you, Naruto?"

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Naruto didn't stop until he reached a training area far away form the Hokage tower. He wasn't sure where he was, so he looked around to try to get his bearings. To his surprise he had ended up next to the memorial stone. He approached it warily, scared of what he might find there.

Naruto took a deep breath and searched toward the bottom of the monument for what he knew had to be present. "There it is. Uzamaki Naruto," he said out loud. He chuckled softly to himself, remembering the time he had told Kakashi-sensei that he would one day get his name on the monument. Of course, that was before he had known it was a memorial to shinobi who lost their lives in battle. He soon sobered, however, as he perused the names written after his own. Some were familiar, others weren't. But it was still tragic how many ninjas had perished while he was gone.

Naruto started as someone landed behind him, barely making any noise. He assumed it was Shikamaru and didn't look, waiting for his friend to say something. The voice that spoke, however, did not belong to the lazy ninja.

"Did you know him?" Naruto's head whirled around at that, recognizing the voice immediately. Kakashi stood behind him, staring past him at the monument.

He realized that he needed to answer but only managed to mumble, "Huh?"

"Naruto. Did you know him?" For a second Naruto thought his old sensei knew who he was, but then he realized that he had only heard what he had said.

"Oh, uh, yeah," Naruto forced out. He was still reeling from the morning's events, and he hadn't expected to run into anyone from his old team yet. They must have gotten back early.

Kakashi finally shifted his eyes to Naruto, a puzzled look in the only visible one. "I don't seem to recall ever meeting you. I'm Hatake Kakashi; I was Naruto's sensei when he was younger. How did you know him?"

"I, uh… met him on a mission." Kakashi looked at him quizzically for a moment before accepting his vague answer and continuing the conversation.

"He was some ninja. But I guess you know that. What brings you here?"

"I was… in the neighborhood." Kakashi nodded, looking back at the monument. Naruto followed his gaze for a moment before snapping his eyes back to his former sensei. "What was he like?"

If Kakashi was surprised by Naruto's sudden question, he didn't show it. The corner of his visible eye crinkled, and Naruto could tell he was smiling mischievously. "He was an idiot." Naruto frowned and opened his mouth to speak, but Kakashi beat him to it. "Naruto was one of the best shinobi I've ever worked with, and by far the most determined. He never quit, and he never broke his word. He wasn't fearless, but he always faced his fears. He never gave up on anyone, and he was quicker to forgive than anyone I've ever met. He had more reasons to hate this village than anyone I know, and yet all he wanted to do was protect it. He was… a better person than most."

Naruto was fighting tears by the time Kakashi finished his speech. He cleared his throat and forced himself to ask another question. "How… how did he die?"

Kakashi was silent for a long moment, and Naruto thought he wasn't going to answer. Finally the older ninja replied, in a voice choked with emotion, "Protecting the village." And with that, he was gone.

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I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter. I think I like it, but I had to do a major re-working of my original draft to get it even this acceptable. Please let me know what you think. And I'm sorry about the wait. I had to sit down and really think about where I'm going with this. I think I have a plan now. Thanks so much for reading!