Memory 6: The Beginning of the End

7:00 am

Naruto grumbled in frustration as he rubbed his eyes. A glance at the only clock in his office caused him to sigh. It was seven in the morning, and he still hasn't gone to sleep.

The paperwork surrounding him was a large factor, but another was the stress of incidents happening all over the shinobi nations. Where was that peace he and Sasuke worked so hard to attain?

Kusa had fires raging, the deadly flames claiming thousands of lives, dark and heavy smoke forcing people and animals to move away.

The Land of Tea was experiencing one of the worst droughts in decades, and Naruto had read many reports of the impending economic collapse.

Even Ame was having trouble with a mysterious serial killer that claimed lives of shinobi and civilians.

The blond just didn't understand how all of these troubles started. It wasn't just the smaller nations that were going through tough times, heck, even Konoha was starting to have problems as well. Mysterious deaths and kidnappings were occurring everywhere.

"You need a break, Naruto. You've been up for three days straight."

Naruto looked up at his bodyguard who looked just as tired as he felt. Throughout the past three days, Genma had been the one to remind him to eat or take a break for at least five minutes. Stubbornly, he shook his head. "Just let me finish this," he gestured at his newest stack of files. "I wanna get through Suna's pile of reports." He paused before quietly adding, "I'm worried about Gaara and Asami-chan..."

"Five minutes won't hurt anyone. You need to sleep," Genma stubbornly replied back, his mother hen side emerging once again.

Naruto scowled as he looked up from his papers. "I can rest later! The Council's not letting me go investigate, so I need to keep up with the reports to see what I can do!"

"You're going to work yourself to death." Genma's face darkened as he pushed himself away from the wall and walked over to Naruto. "You need to rest so that you'll be in better shape to react."

"I'm not a child anymore, Genma! I can make my own decisions! I'm your Hokage aren't I?!" Furious, Naruto stood up and clenched his hands into fists. His usually blue eyes that always lightened up with mischief were now dark in frustration and anger. Can't he be trusted to make some decisions of his own? Alright, so maybe he was shoving his frustration and anger on Genma unfairly since the man was only trying to help, but dammit—he wasn't the type to sit back and wait!

Genma looked unimpressed at Naruto's argument, but inside, it was a struggle to remain calm, not drag Naruto out of his seat and then forcefully taking the unreasonable brat home! Taking a deep breath, he stubbornly continued. "Then take a rest. You're not helping anyone by ignoring your needs."

"How can I sleep knowing that Gaara and Asami could be under attack? How can I eat peacefully if people are starving out there?! They're my friends Genma! The people I swore to protect, and I never go back on my words!"

"And so you'd rather work yourself to death?!" Genma yelled out in frustration. Couldn't the blond see he was only trying to help?! No one wanted to see someone they cared for missing days of sleep, stress piling in heaps on shoulders already full with burdens, and days where their precious person didn't smile or laugh!

Scowling, Naruto slammed his hand on his desk. "It's better than not trying at all!"

"You're not the only one trying to figure things out, Naruto!" Genma angrily replied. "Are you forgetting that you have advisors, the Council, and that Konoha's ANBU and her shinobi are all ready to do your bidding?! Stop trying to do everything by yourself! You've seen and you know how things happen when people do things without help! Your father tried to take—"

"Get out."

Genma stopped, surprised at Naruto's tone. The younger man's face was faced downwards at the paper-covered desk, hiding his eyes and any other hints Genma could use to define what the other felt.

The blond looked up, and Genma steeled himself, refusing to recoil at the fiery anger in those blue eyes. "Get out now!"

Genma's eyes narrowed at the blond before the myriad of conflicting emotions disappeared underneath a mask of apathy. He left without a word, a simple shunshin to a training ground where he knew he could cool off. He was pissed off, they both were, and he knew it'd be pointless to argue when they were both so stubborn.

Naruto's fists shook, his eyes now lowered to his desk again. What was Genma going to say about his father?! Goddammit, so what if he looked like his father?! He was himself, no one else! Not a perfect clone of his father or his mother! He needed space to think, to collect himself.

His eyes drifted to the clock once more. 7:15 am. With an angry sigh, he plopped back down into his chair and continued reading the reports from Suna. Adrenaline and testosterone were now pumping through his veins, and he decided to make use of the extra energy boost he received.

12:00 pm

Sakura sighed in relief as she sat down, the operation had been a success. To be honest, she was worried the patient was going to die of blood lost or an organ failure.

Her green eyes swept across her office, a similar scene to her blond friend's office in that papers were piled upon each other, almost creating a miniature city. The faded green couch was the only space open, but that was because she used it as a bed if she was lucky. These days, with all the strange incidents, her workload had increased to where she'd be lucky if she could sleep for more than four hours.

A soft knock on the door and a quick chakra signature check was all she needed to know that it was Keiko. The older blonde was a result from Orochimaru's experimentation with Tsunade's and Dan's DNA, a test tube baby to be less precise. However, the blonde was nothing like the Snake Sannin. While she had been taught how to fight from an early age, Keiko was a pacifist. That didn't mean that the golden-eyed woman couldn't protect herself though. At the age of 23, Keiko had shown Sakura plenty of times just how medical jutsus could be used to harm others.

"You can come in." Wow, did her voice really sound that tired? Her nose caught the faint whiff of lunch, and her stomach growled just as her eyes zoomed in on the delicious lunch of a chicken sandwich.

Keiko smiled softly, "Lunch?"

Sakura nodded quickly, how long has it been since she ate?! She readily grabbed the sandwich and bit into it, cherishing the juicy meat and fresh lettuce. With a bright smile, she motioned Keiko to sit. The blonde sat gracefully on the green couch and ate her lunch with a happy smile as well.

They chatted about their day like usual, Sakura adding how Lee had started to become more exuberant in his proclamations of love, Keiko with how Sai had been improving greatly with the Root operatives. Sakura had admired Keiko's ability to transfer chakra with emotions, something that greatly helped with Sai's progress. While the pink-haired medic could never see Sai hooking up with someone, she mused that he and Keiko had an unusual but strong friendship. Yet, she didn't think they'd ever become a couple.

There was something about Keiko that made her seem distant, almost like she saw something no one could see or hope to understand, maybe something to do with her upbringing as well? After all, she was raised by Orochimaru. Sakura wouldn't be too shocked if the man never gave her blonde friend more than the basic necessities. As for Sai...well that was pretty self-explanatory. Sai had only started to grasp the concept of friendship; romantic love was definitely not happening any time soon.

"Genma-san seems upset today," Keiko commented thoughtfully.

Sakura tilted her head. "Really? Why's that? Did he and Naruto fight?"

Keiko shook her head. "I'm not too sure what happened. He left before I could talk with him, but someone told me that Training Ground 27 needs to be cleaned up."

The Head Medic hummed thoughtfully. If Genma was mad about something, Naruto probably was as well. Her eyes glanced at the clock before resting on Keiko again.

Keiko nodded. "It's alright, you can go check up on him. I'll hold down the fort until you're back."

Smiling gratefully, Sakura nodded before using shunshin. Within seconds, she appeared outside of the Hokage Tower and walked in, fully intent on finding what happened. Naruto was a precious friend of hers, and she wanted to know if there was something she could do. The horrible events around the shinobi nations were tearing every bit of peace Naruto and Sasuke had strived to create, something she knew was weighing heavily on their shoulders.

She stopped when she reached Naruto's office, picking up a tray of food in front of the door as she entered. As soon as her emerald eyes saw the room, they narrowed dangerously. The room was filled with stagnant air, ramen cups were piled in a trash can, and the stacks of paper were nowhere near to being done. Her irritated gaze fell to the silent blond sitting pensively at his desk, and her gaze softened at the melancholy air around Naruto. She called out softly to him, and he sighed in response, but the sigh itself was tired, exhausted.

His eyebrows rose up in surprise when he noticed it was her. "Sakura-chan?"

She smiled in return and set down the tray of food in front of him. "And food as well," she added. "Eat up Naruto, it's already lunch time, and I bet you haven't eaten breakfast yet."

The blond shrugged, a small smile on his face. "I wasn't really hungry then."

"You better be hungry now," Sakura replied with a tense smile, the hidden threat reached her friend who quickly nodded before digging into the food.

Like earlier, she repeated the small talk but with Naruto. Apparently, the situation outside of Konoha is no better. Everyone's coming up with nothing as to the identity of what's causing the unrest. Simply put, there wasn't anyone to identify the enemy that was still alive. It was a distressing thing, not knowing how to save others.

When Naruto finished, he sighed happily as he pat his stomach. "Thanks for bringing me food, Sakura-chan!" he gratefully told her with a large grin.

Shaking her head, she replied, "I only brought it to you. Someone else left it out there." A silence filled the air with the name of the person they both knew had set the tray outside.

Naruto frowned as he studied the tray. Of course Genma would choose a traditional meal that included all of the nutrients he skipped out on this morning. He leaned over his desk, pushing the tray away as his head laid on the little empty space he had on the desk. His argument with Genma was still repeating in his mind.

What if's filled his thoughts, interrupting him about how to handle this situation. This wasn't the first time he had a fight with Genma, but those fights were nothing compared to this one. Those were over simple things: what to eat, what to wear to bed, which side someone got in the bed, and what time to leave.

His gaze traveled to Sakura who was waiting patiently for him. He sighed and looked away again. "I had a fight with Genma." She nodded, encouraging him to continue. "The stupid Council's not letting me out of Konoha, so I can't go see for myself what's happening, and I have to rely on reports instead. I've been reading these reports for—" he paused, wondering if he should lie to Sakura. In the end, he went with the truth, he'd get an uppercut for lying or telling the truth, so it was a lose-lose situation either way. "—Three days without stop. I took breaks though!" he shouted out as the air around Sakura grew foreboding.

He sighed as she backed down and ran a hand through his messy hair. "I... Genma, he..." Damn, how does he start this? "We just didn't agree on me taking a break or not. I need to know what's happening in Suna! Gaara, Asami-chan, and Karura-chan are all there! I can't just leave my friends and my new goddaughter in danger! I promised I'd protect my precious people didn't I?!"

The image of the happy parents asking him to be their daughter's godfather drifted to his mind. The two redheads looked so happy holding a healthy baby girl with violet eyes and fiery locks. Naruto still remembers his chest swelling up at the request. He's never been given such an honor before but to know that they trusted him so much... He felt like the luckiest person alive.

Naruto shifted in his seat as his gaze lowered. "Genma told me to take a break so that I'd be more helpful. I know he's got good intentions, but I can't just leave my friends alone! I know I have people I can trust, people I know that will do the job, but I want to help too... Then...then he started talking about how people can't take heavy burdens by themselves, and I know that, I really do! Itachi told me the same thing! But I...I'm not my father... I just want to help. I finally achieved my dream of becoming Hokage, but now instead directly protecting my friends, I have to do it through laws, giving out missions, and secrets I have to keep..."

Sakura sighed. It really was amazing how something so small snowballed into such a heated argument. She had a feeling both sides understand each other's reasoning, but they just didn't know it or were too stubborn.

"Let me just say that you both aren't right or wrong, Naruto. You're right, it's important to protect your friends, but Genma-san's right too. You can't forget that your friends can protect themselves as well. Gaara-san is the Kazekage, Asami-chan has an amazing kekkei genkai, and they'd do anything to protect little Karura-chan. You don't have as much direct, face-to-face interaction as Hokage, but now you've got the power to prevent horrible things from happening. Isn't it better to act out and change something instead of reacting after a change?"

Naruto sighed, and leaned against his propped up hands. "I screwed up didn't I?"

"You both screwed up, if that makes you feel any better," Sakura added with a small, amused smile. "There's something else you both need to address, but I'll let you two figure that out. Take care alright? And don't forget to take care of yourself! I'll drag you to your bed or the hospital if you don't—Hokage or not—Uzumaki Naruto!"

8:00 pm

It was awkward.

Really, really awkward.

Why did Genma have to shunshin the same time he did to the their house?

But before Naruto could shunshin away, he noticed the scratches, bruises, and exhaustion radiating off of his bodyguard. In a way, Genma looked just as horrible as he did. Naruto knew he was smelly, had large dark circles that could've rivaled Gaara's, and felt just as tired from so little sleep.

He wanted to joke, saying that they both look terrible, how they were both right and wrong, and how he knows Genma didn't mean to compare Naruto to Minato. But when he opened his mouth, he didn't even get one word out before Genma walked away.

To say Naruto was hurt was an understatement. His chest burned and ached with a foreign emotion. Both of his hands clenched together, creating fists which shook. Gathering himself, his determination strengthened. "Oi! Gen-"

"Hokage-sama!"

Naruto's voice stopped as an ANBU member appeared, kneeling in front of him. The man carried a somber air, instantly putting Naruto on guard. His gaze fell to where Genma had been, keyword been. The man was no where in sight now. "Kuma? What's-"

"Suna has fallen."

10:00 pm

Genma was in bed. Alone. He mentally swore, kicked off the bedsheets, grabbed his signature senbon, and followed the only other chakra signature in the house. When he had appeared at the same time as Naruto at their home, he used shunshin immediately to Training Ground 27 again. He released his frustrations trained for another two hours, arriving home an hour ago, tired and sore, to complete darkness. He figured Naruto didn't want to be around him. He didn't feel completely prepared to talk with the blond again, still licking his wounds in figurative way. Even if he was already in his early thirties, rejection still stings. Especially after his pride and abilities have been built up.

He stopped when he reached the first floor, stopping at the end of the wooden stairs. The house was unusually quiet despite the fact that one of Konoha's most unpredictable ninjas with a prankster background was home. Then again, Naruto was unpredictable.

Genma walked across the dark living room, silently of course, past the dining room with the wooden table fit for four and stopped there, looking out the glass doors to the backyard. In the darkness of the night, Naruto's blond hair was softly highlighted by the full moon, a nostalgic sight to Genma. Then he noticed that the young Hokage's shoulders were hunched over and shaking slightly. That's when Genma realized something was truly, honestly wrong.

Naruto was...crying.

And Genma hadn't been there to help lessen the blow.

The older man's mind reeled in shock at the rare image. Naruto rarely cried, but that could be from the blond crying when no one was there to see. Genma may have been with him for a few years in Naruto's early life, but after that... Well Genma wasn't too sure aside from what he heard. There was one thing that he was sure about though, the sight of the vibrant, radiant blond in tears yanked at his chest.

Guilt flooded him, he shouldn't have left. He should've stayed.

So he did the one thing he knew he could do to make up for his mistake.

Opening the glass door to the back porch, he sat next to the blond and wrapped his left arm around the shorter man's shoulder. He didn't say anything, not even when Naruto tensed up at first, and not a sound left him when Naruto leaned in.

"They're dead, Genma..." Naruto didn't move away from Genma as he broke the silence. His voice was soft, tired, and weary. "Asami-chan and Karura-chan were killed in front of Gaara. He killed the enemies and died in the process. Suna...Suna is gone now."

He took in a deep, shuddering breath before a self-deprecating laugh left him. "And the worst part is, I feel useless. So. Damn. Useless. While Suna was under attack, I was eating lunch with Sakura-chan. When I went to a meeting with Shika, Asami-chan and Karura-chan were killed. When the sun started to set, Gaara buried Suna in sand after the only survivors escaped, burying his precious family and his beloved village with him."

"I..." His voice broke, "I couldn't protect any of them in the end, Genma. People look up to me, admire me for what I've done, but how can I look at myself knowing I let my friends and goddaughter die?"

Genma didn't know what to say. With a soft sigh, his left hand combed through blond locks, ruffling them as a form of comfort. Turning his head, his dark eyes met blue orbs red with tears, and his lips curled into a bitter smile that was closer to a grimace as he made sure his senbon wouldn't poke Naruto by accident.

"Honestly, I don't really know myself," Genma admitted. "I've lost friends, both young and old, but even I'm still not completely sure what I can do to redeem myself. What I can tell you, is that I try to move on, live and grow so that I don't lose anyone else. Years ago, I lost someone...someone who meant everything to me at that time. But then I found something that changed everything. What I've found is that I'm the one who can help myself. If I don't choose to get help, there's not much that can help me personally."

Silence followed after that. With just the two of them, and the ANBU bodyguards at a respectful distance, Genma knew fully well that if he leaned in closer, just a little bit more than the length of a sakura petal, their lips would meet. But he controlled himself, not because he was a saint, but because he didn't want to take advantage of Naruto. Instead, he leaned back and with one last hair ruffle, let go of Naruto. Genma's hands intertwined with each other, making sure he wouldn't do something he'd regret.

"Hey Genma?" The other man hummed in response, turning his head to the blond next to him again. Naruto attempted a small smile and rubbed his eyes dry; the smile wasn't as bright as it normally was, but he was trying. "Thanks, and um, sorry about earlier..."

Naruto looked away, ashamed and embarrassed. "I shouldn't have blown up at you. I...I don't think it'll be easy trying to move on, but I can't sit and be depressed the entire time right?" He took a deep breath, steadying himself. "I gotta find out who did this to Suna before the same thing happens to Konoha."

He wouldn't let the murderers of his best friends go without being unpunished.

Genma nodded. "Ah, I'll do what I can." Stretching he yawned and switched the senbon in his mouth. "Let's go to bed, Naruto. We're probably going to need to wake up early right?"

Nodding, Naruto stood up, a somber air still surrounding him, but his usual confidence was somewhat restored. "Yeah, the second one will be at four in the morning, the Council wanted to get talking about our best steps ASAP, and for once, I agree with them."

The first meeting had lasted for two hours, and it was dismissed so that more information from the survivors could be retrieved. Naruto had a feeling the second meeting was going to last the entire day tomorrow. Suna was an important ally to Konoha, and no one wanted to go down too.

Genma turned to go, but stopped when he realized Naruto wasn't following him. Calling out to the blond, he witnessed a sad, thoughtful smile as Naruto looked up at the night sky. "Did you know," the blond started out softly, "Those two always liked watching the stars—said it made them feel less lonely and reminded them of good memories."

"We can keep the window curtains tied tonight," Genma suggested, trying to help his young Hokage. "Come on, Naruto." He shoved his hands into the pockets of his dark pants and navigated back through the dark house.

With one last look at the night sky covered with stars and a full moon, Naruto tilted his head as a small stream of images entered his mind. A full moon, the shadow of a crouching figure on a roof, and then the cold wind rustling through brown hair. It didn't make much sense, but he got that there was a promise that was made. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he took a deep breath and followed after Genma.

12:00 am

Naruto was asleep. Genma shifted to his side, watching the blond sleep with an occasional twitch every now and then, sometimes tears traveled from the closed eyelids. His dark eyes drifted to the sealed drawer next to their shared bed. It was a miracle he still remembered where and what the Yondaime had done with that scroll. Manami was a blessing sent from the gods. Only a seal mistress like her could ever hope to understand the seals used by the Yondaime. He just hoped Naruto could figure it out with help.

Genma let his hand lightly drift across Naruto's face, wiping away any tear trails, grateful for his trust in him. Any other trained shinobi would've either killed or maimed him by now. His gaze fell to the window, the stars and moon still visible from the heavens. What could the destruction of Suna have in tow for Konoha? But more worrying, what will happen to Naruto? What would he do without the lively blond?

Silently, he hopes he never will have to find out.

-To Be Continued-

AN: And so the mood changes! Next update is the 20th of April! Thanks for following and favoriting this! Hopefully, next time I can tug on some heartstrings! Maybe bring tissues?