This is my tribute to Sasuke.

Things to remember:

A) I began writing this in '06, and it is awkward. I have a beta, but I asked them not to change much because I wanted this story to remain as young as possible, so my readers could watch me grow as a writer.

B) I call this my 'Narutoland' universe. This will be helpful if you read my other stories.

C) This baby will seemingly go on forever. I will update it once a week, and I'm not sure how many chapters it will span.

D) My OC's will appear down the line, please respect them as such.

E) If you consider yourself a talented artist, and wish to visualize some scenes in here, please feel free to do so(but contact me so I can appreciate your amazing artwork).

F) I will insert quotes that are relevant to the Uchiha family inbetween scene changes, so don't ask. You'll find out later.

A funeral…the thing almost everyone on Earth finds to be dreadful. In the wonderful land of Naruto's domain(AKA, narutoland), this holds to be true. These two funerals are different from most. In fact they are almost unique in this world. The couples being laid to rest died at the hands of an unknown maniac. In this ninja ruled world, this is most unsual. This is, perhaps, why nearly the entire village turned up for this two day event.

"Oh Naruto-kun, Ino-chan looks terrible…" Hinata Hyuuga murmured to her boyfried as they entered the soon-to-be resting place of Inochi and Saiyuri Yamanaka. Naruto nodded, gripping her hand tightly. Together, they moved towards the Nara family and Ino, who were standing beside the caskets. Before the two could give Ino their condolences, Naruto spotted Tenten.

"Damn." He muttered in susprise, taking in her deathly pale appearance. Hinata nodded, white eyes darkening. Neji stood beside her, his hand on her back. Together, they went over to greet them.

"Naruto. Hinata." Neji greeted them. Naruto nodded in greeting.

"Have you spoken to Ino yet?" Tenten asked. Hinata shook her head.

"No. We spotted you two, and decided to come and say hello." She explained. Tenten nodded.

"Let's go then. She needs our support." The weapon mistress said, reaching out to take Hinata's hand. When she nearly stumbled, Naruto masked his surprise. He remembered Hinata mentioning she had collapsed last night but…seeing her so weak in person was baffling.

"We're going ahead, Naruto-kun." Hinata said, she and Tenten walking away from the two. He nodded. He and Neji watched as the girls greeted Ino.

"I heard that Kakashi and his wife are expecting a baby. Conragtualtions." Neji said politely. Naruto chuckled, nodding.

"At least there's a light at the end of the tunnel." He said, blue eyes strangely dark as Ino burst into tears and hugged Hinata. Neji nodded, seeing truth in that statement that was almost too mature to have come from Naruto.

"Oh god!" A voice said behind them. A flash of pink hair ran past them to get to Ino.

"Fuck. We were too late." Sasuke sighed, walking up beside them.

"What?" Naruto asked as Sakura joined in on the hug, Shikamaru following.

"Sakura had hoped to get here before Ino started crying." He explained.

"Ah." Neji murmured. The three froze when a bullhorn was blown.

"Ladies and gentlemen, shall we begin?" Jiraiya asked. He and Tsunade were standing a little bit away from the caskets. Ino nodded, pulling out of her friends comforting embrtace.

"Yes." She said softly. Yoshino Nara walked over, wrapped a firm arm around her shoulders, and lead the blond over to the chairs.

"Come with Auntie Yoshino, Ino-chan." She said. Shikaku nodded, patting his son's shoulder as they followed after their women.

- "Fern!" Kida-Asumi, age 24 -

"The pain will ease over time, Ino-chan." Hinata promised softly as the two hugged. Ino nodded.

"Thanks, Hinata." She said.

The ceremony had gone smoothly. Tsunade and Jiraiya, along with Shikaku and Choza, had all given very lovely speeches, and Ino felt that her parents had been honored well.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Sakura said, hugging her next. Ino nodded, sighing.

"Tomorrow." She agreed. The two shared a grief filled look.

"Come on ladies. We need to get to bed." Tenten said, breaking the silence. Her younger comrades nodded, stepping towards their boyfriends. Together, the four couples set out to home.

- "Besides, not even death could keep me down, baby." Yuki Isayo -

"M-mommy…D-daddy…" Ino sobbed.

"Shh, it's okay Ino." Shikamaru said, pulling her closer as she cried her heart out.

"Oh Shika…they left me. All alone. What will I do?" She asked. Her boyfriend sighed, shkaing his head.

"I don't know. Let's just take it one step at a time." He suggested, staring down at her. She bit her lip, gripping onto his shirt.

"Do you…think it will help?" She asked. He nodded, brushing back her hair.

"I do. Remember how it was after sensei died?" He asked. She flinched, nodding.

"Yeah. Those were dark times." Ino said softly, reasting her cheek against his chest. He nodded, rubbing her back.

"Now don't start smoking, you troublesome blond. Just…take things slowly. One day at a time." He murmured. She nodded again.

"Kay. Shika?" The blond asked.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"Thanks. I love you." She said, staring up and into his eyes. He smirked softly.

"And I love you, Ino." He returned the setiment.

- "I hate you!" Aiko Inuzuka -

"Why is it so painful to lose someone you love forever, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked as they watched the rain drizzle across the village. He shrugged, brushing her hair off of her shoulder.

"I wish I knew. It hurt like hell when my parents died." He admitted, resting his chin on top of her head. She looked down at their hands, simply staring.

"I'm sorry you've had to come home to all of my drama." She apologized softly. He shrugged.

"It's not been all that bad. I have a warm home to live and, and someone to keep me company." He teased. She smiled slightly.

"Look at this, Uchiha Sasuke telling jokes. I'm shocked." She returned his teasing, relaxing back against him. He chuckled.

"Imagine. He has a heart." The youngest surviving member of the Uchiha clan said sarcastically. Sakura smiled, and the two sank into a peacefull silence.

"Sasuke-kun?" She asked again.

"Hn?" He replied.

"Thanks for being here." Sakura smiled, bruhsing back his black hbangs. He nodded silently, pulling her closer.

- "I'm your sister, damnit!" Akina Isayo -

"Who was on the phone?" Neji asked as Tenten climbed back into bed. She shrugged, picking up her mug of tea.

"Shizune. Tsunade-sama has assigned us, along with Kakashi and Sasuke, a missing. We leave in about a week to Kirigakure." She explained, curling into the covers. Neji frowned.

"Are you feeling up to travel?" He asked. She rolled her eyes, moving closer to him.

"Neji-kun, I'm fine. So I've been a little tired the past few days. Probably just fatigue." She groaned, plopping down on his chest. When he still frowned, she pouted. "Please? I want to go and not have you worry. What will it take to make that happen?" She asked. He sighed.

"Promise me you won't push yourself." He said. She nodded, brown eyes relieved,.

"Yes! While we're there, can we go and see Haku's grave? We've talked about him so much, it would be weird not to." Tenten explained. Neji rolled his eyes.

"You know Ten, I'm beginning to believe you are actually related to him." He teased. She glared.

"Don't get my hopes up! He's dead and I still have to ask my mother about him." She said shortly. He nodded, hiding his smile as she turned to switch off the lamp.

- "And this is the way we wash our hands" Mikoto II Hikari -

It took a lot to shake up Sasuke Uchiha. In his short life of 17 years, he had watched his entire family, save his older brother, die before his very eyes, killed around 20 people, and had listened to the nightly activities of his ex-teacher and his subordiante. So when Sasuke and Sakura returned home after her parents funeral, he was very shaken to find her so grief stricken and sullen. So he did what his mother always did for him.

Make tea.

As the stove began to heat up, the youngest Uchiha brother sighed softly. The funeral had gone as smoothly as Ino's, with his girlfriend getting hysterical about halfway through. Rin and Tsunade were by her side the entire time, Naruto there occasionally too.

When the tea ketle began to wistle, he took it off the hot burner and went to get tea cups. Sasuke would be lying to himself if he claimed to be okay with leaving Sakura alone for a few days while he, Kakashi, Neji, and Tenten with to Kirigakure. He wasn't sure how she dealt with grief, and was uncertain on what he would come home to. Sasuke turned his onyx eyes to the sky outside of the window.

"Nii-san, Mom, Dad, please let be able to help her." He sighed before heading up stairs.

"Sakura? I brought tea. If you want to be alone, just say so." He said. When she didn't respond after a few minutes, Sasuke entered the room. Sakura was lying with her back to him, curled up around a pillow. Silently, he walked into the room. He sat down the tea on the table and the joined her on the bed. Only then did she turn to face him.

"I don't want to talk about it right now. Just hold me." She whispered, her green eyes swollen. He nodded, quickly wrapping his arms around her.

"Ah." He replied, and she began to sob.

- "Yes, I'm having his baby." Jechiro -

"Kaka-kun, quit pacing." Rin chided, knowing smile on her lips. Her husband was currently walking back and forth at the foot of their bed, which she was lying on. He glared at her.

"And you're sure you and the baby will be okay by yourselves?" He asked for the ten millionth time that evening. She rolled her eyes.

"I promise we will. I'm barely pregnant, and Mom and Dad are around still so we'll be fine. Plus, I plan to have Sakura stay with us. It would do her good." She added. Kakashi sighed, walking over to her.

"Like that eases my worries. My grief stricken pupil and my pregnant wife, alone together in our big house." He said sarcastically. She rolled her eyes.

"You're such a butt, Kakashi. Sit down and listen." She ordered softly. He did, placing his hand over her stomach. "This baby and I will be fine. I'm still as strong as ever, and since Sakura just lost her parents, she will be fiercely protective over her suragate sister. Trust me." She promised. He sighed.

"Okay. But I'll know if you lie to me." He said. She giggled, placing her hand over his.

"Hear that baby? Your Daddy is overprotective of you before you're born." She teased. He rolled his eyes.

"And Mommy is a bit too laid back."