Ceremony: Part One

The ceremony began slowly.

Two ninja walked to the large flame burning at the front. Each held a small candle in their hands. They tilted their candles into the fire, lighting it. Then they returned to the crowd. They each lit another's candle. Then each of those lit the candles of others. On and on, it went.

Eventually, Sakura's own flame was lit, Sasuke quietly placing his candle against hers. She passed the flame on to Ino, who gave her a rare sympathetic look before passing it on to her teammates.

The Fourth Hokage walked onto the stage. He waited quietly before the gathering of ninja and civilians.

Eventually, perhaps when all the candles had finally been lit, he began to speak.

"We are gathered here today to mourn the losses and honor the sacrifices of our loved ones. Sky Country's attack was swift and brutal. And although our revenge was total, we were burdened with the terrible costs of that day. Many of our brave companions lost their lives defending against the attack. Many more innocent civilians lost their lives as well."

Ino looked to Sakura with that same look again. It made Sakura mildly uncomfortable, but not for the reason Ino might have thought.

Sakura's birth parents had died during the Eclipse. Sky country forces had stormed the village with flying machines. Then, their very village, a massive flying island with incredible power, had appeared over Konoha, its size blotting out the sky as its weapon prepared to fire. In a single, terrible strike, much of Konoha had been destroyed. Only hastily erected barriers had prevented its total destruction, barriers that had not withstood the blast.

Then, the machine had fired again.

Of course, Sakura didn't remember any of this herself. She had only been two years old.

She couldn't remember her birth parents at all either. But, well...she didn't really mind. It was sad that they had died, but not because it was personal or anything.

Her family was a few rows ahead of her, looking somber near a large group of Senju clan ninja.

"However, it is impossible to remember this terrible event without remembering one person. Without him, our great village would not have survived. He saved us when all hope was lost. He destroyed their weapon and killed their leader, but...at a terrible cost."

Sakura continued scanning the crowd, her candle flickering quietly beneath her. She couldn't find him.

"Namikaze Minato was the purest embodiment of the Will of Fire that I have ever had the pleasure of knowing, and he made the ultimate sacrifice to preserve that flame, the same flame which burns in each of our hands today. He was a legend of his time and will be remembered forever as a hero."

Sakura turned to Sasuke, gesturing discretely to get his attention. His dark eyes shifted to her. He looked somber too or perhaps just stoic. Perhaps his own loss mattered to him. Perhaps not.

But that wasn't what she wanted to ask him.

"Sasuke," she whispered, "where's Naruto?"

He gave her a small, pained look, then shook his head quietly, his eyes returning to the Hokage.

"He was the Yellow Flash. He was the hero of the Flowing Ridge. He was..."

The man who would have been Hokage!

Naruto scoffed to himself as he left Ichiraku Ramen. He wondered how many times people would throw that one around before the end of the day. Yellow Flash, this. Namikaze, that. What a hero!

His dark mood had barely been brightened by the kindness of Teuchi and Ayame. They had given him multiple large containers of ramen for free. They had apologized for his loss.

That last one probably hadn't helped even though he knew they came from a good place. He wasn't mourning his father.

He hated him.

And for good reason!

The ramen wasn't for Naruto after all.

He kept out of sight as he made his way back to the Uchiha-Senju compound. The streets were mostly empty. Almost everyone was attending the ceremony commemorating the sacrifices that had occurred. It was the ten-year anniversary of the attack.

It was a day of mourning, and it was one of the few days that he saw his mother as he remembered her from his childhood.

He slid open the door to his house but left his sandals on as he walked quietly up the steps.

He wasn't going to stick around. Maybe he'd go train or something—pranks probably wouldn't be a good idea. Whatever. He just didn't want to stay here.

As he reached the top of the steps, the door to his mother's room slid open, and Fugaku walked out. His eyes were dark and pinched tight with grief. The expression remained as the man quietly closed the door behind him.

Naruto didn't move. Fugaku's hand was still on the door. Slowly, Fugaku's expression transformed into something resembling his normal stoicism. He looked Naruto over, his eyes lingering on the boxes he had brought.

Then, he nodded once and walked past him down the steps.

Sasuke's mother had died the same day Naruto's father had.

Kushina had been inconsolable. Fugaku had mourned far longer than appropriate. Then, they had ended up together, finding solace in their similar circumstances.

Kushina had gone from mostly distraught to mostly mothering.

So, even though her relationship with Fugaku had been weird, Naruto was grateful to Fugaku. He had made his mother happier. He'd brought Sasuke and Itachi with him.

Naruto looked down as he passed.

He was there for her even when Naruto wasn't.

Now...

Naruto slid the door open.

The room was a mess. Kushina sat near the window on the other side of the large, unmade bed. Empty ramen boxes were scattered across the floor. Next to her, another box sat half-eaten and cold beside her.

Kushina's eyes were red and puffy as tears fell. Her whole body shook as she clutched her arms tightly around herself. Her hair was unkempt, errant red strands sticking up or covering her face. Her empty eyes stared down towards his feet as he passed. She didn't speak.

He placed the ramen next to her.

"Hey," he started brightly, "I brought ramen! Ichiraku's was real nice, and, uh..." Fresh tears fell down his mother's face. His voice faltered. "It's miso and pork. They even threw in a vegetable one, heh." It was the worst of the bunch obviously. "Maybe we could share it. Or you could just eat it all. That'd be fine too. It's probably what I'd do..."

There was no response. He knew better than to expect one. He really did.

Growing up, it was nearly every day that this was how his mother had been. Crying. Silent. Broken.

He sighed, half leaning, half slumping against the wall as the weight of his memories pressed down on him. He remembered all the times he had tried to get her to feel better. All the times he had failed, that was. Stop crying. Please say something.

Kushina shook her head beside him, holding her arms more tightly to herself.

It hadn't worked.

In time, he had found out what had happened. Minato, with the village on the brink of destruction had sprung into action, grabbing his jacket and rushing towards the battle. He had comforted his wife as she held an artificial jinchuriki in her arms.

And, as he left, he swore to return.

Naruto's eyes darkened.

Despite all the accolades and speeches about heroism, this was Namikaze Minato's true legacy: a broken promise and the suffering of those he left behind.

It was worse when he was younger, filled with confusion and loneliness instead of anger. It was one of the reasons he had started to act out and play pranks. Back then, it was one of the few things that gained his mother's attention. She would retrieve him or scold him or punish him or laugh at the results of his activities. And, in those brief moments, he could guarantee the only attention he craved.

She wasn't totally absent in his childhood. She had taken care of him where she could. She had instilled in him the love of ramen as they shared Ichiraku's or boxes filled of the instant variety. He'd love her for that alone if he had to.

Still...he had done things which really weren't very good. And he had felt so very alone. The cheery reputation he'd had among the villagers had eagerly turned to shame and pity. Just as well, they might have said, that the demon's curse spread to him as well. First, her fiancé's demise and then this brat's delinquency.

They blamed his mother for the death of their beloved, would-be Hokage, but Naruto knew better.

Minato Namikaze was a hero of the village.

And this is what a hero does.

"Or you could...you could just talk." His eyes blinked closed. "Just once! Today, instead of..." Instead of allowing yourself to be broken. Perseverance instead of silence and pain.

But his mother as well had failed one of the only tests Naruto had promised himself to pass. He grit his teeth.

He needed to get out of here.

Kushina shivered.

Yeah. He should go. This was totally bumming him out.

But he didn't leave. He stayed there in that room filled with pain, hoping that something would change. He waited for too long. He knew better. He really did.

That was the thing Naruto believed deep down in his gut: all the hope in the world wouldn't change a thing by itself. You had to work and keep working. No matter what.

Naruto gave a trembling sigh, pushing himself off the wall as he walked towards the door. He almost made it.

It was so quiet that he almost didn't hear it. "Stay."

Nearly out of the room, he half froze, stumbling over his own feet, before turning back to his mother.

Slowly, too slowly, she turned to him. Her tear-filled eyes, for all their redness, were brighter and bluer than his own as she tried and failed to give him a small smile. She was afraid, he realized, afraid that he'd keep walking. She didn't want to be alone. "Stay with me, Naruto-kun," she said quietly, "Please."

He stared at her tear-stained face. He had definitely seen her mouth move. And...heard things too.

He was pinned to his spot, fearing any movement might suddenly shatter this fragile dream.

Slowly, he put one foot forward, then the next and the next, walking stiffly until he was next to his mother. He sat down.

Then, they looked out over the village together. She didn't speak and he couldn't. There was silence, broken only by the soft bustle of villagers moving beneath them.

Finally, Kushina sighed quietly. "You...you look so like him."

"Yes," he said robotically. Not that he particularly liked that fact.

"Except for these," she continued knowingly, a small smile on her lips as she reached out to scratch gently at his whisker marks, "those are all me."

Naruto pulled back, embarrassed, as she pawed at his face, and she laughed quietly at him.

Naruto breathed in harshly at the sight. What was going on? He wanted to shout it from the top of his lungs, but the lump in his throat was in the way.

Kushina looked back out the window. "You know, I remember, just before you graduated, you painted the Hokage Monument, do you remember?"

"I remember," he said automatically. He didn't trust himself to say anything else.

"All the Hokage looking silly except for one, the Fifth," she said, "whiskers and all." She laughed quietly at him again, but the levity disappeared as it trailed off into a small hiccup of emotion. She took a moment to compose herself before continuing, "But, you know, for a moment looking at it, I thought..."

"I'm sorry."

She shook her head, more of her messy red hair shifting over her face. She fixed it back behind her ear as a long, slow breath calmed her. "He was...he was the man who would have been Hokage. But," she said, "He never was."

They watched as the village churned beneath them. A few silent tears streamed down her cheeks.

Then, she smiled.

"So maybe, just maybe," she continued, her fingers reaching threateningly out towards his face, "maybe, you will be instead. I think...that will be enough."

Naruto didn't know what to say. His own eyes felt wet and he hastily rubbed them clear. His mouth opened and closed to no avail.

"It'll certainly be a lot for this one to live up to," his mother said, rubbing her stomach gently.

Kushina's belly had begun rounding in earnest, his half sibling growing inside of her. She was nearly six months pregnant.

Naruto had known she was pregnant of course, but she hadn't ever talked about it. And it was hard to imagine a future with him or her in it.

But, somehow, it suddenly seemed a little bit more real.

Kushina smiled brightly with just the barest hint of a sniffle and leaned towards him conspiratorially. "It's a girl," she whispered.

And that, Naruto decided, was just fine with him.

Uchiha Obito rolled over in his hospital bed. The nurses had left the building or were otherwise occupied.

His Sharingan activated.

Miles away from the hospital, Obito, covered in bandages and still in his hospital gown, gestured to the bartender.

Then, he downed that glass as well.

"Thank you. And may the Will of Fire burn within us all!"

The speech ended to heartfelt applause. The Fourth Hokage was an excellent speaker, mixing pride for the village with respect for the dead and an undying hope for the future that was truly inspiring. The Fourth Hokage left the stage, and the crowd started to disperse.

"If you want to talk about anything," Ino was saying to her.

Sakura shook her head. "I'm fine, Ino, thanks. Sasuke-" she started. Sasuke had started to walk away, and Sakura moved to follow after him.

A hand wrapped around her forearm. She turned around to see Ino watching her with concern. "I mean it, Forehead," she said bossily, "It's not good to bottle everything up all the time. I mean, one day it's fine, sure, the next-"

"It's fine. I'm fine, Ino. Really." She responded. And really, she was fine. No memory. No mourning.

She was more worried about the present than the past.

Ino sighed but let her go.

Sakura immediately turned back to chase after Sasuke. She weaved her way through the crowd after the Uchiha.

Luckily for her, he had stopped on the outskirt of the crowd, his hands in his pockets as he scanned his surroundings.

She hesitated as she approached. She was going to do it: talk to him, tell him how she felt, hear his response. She let out a nervous breath.

She could do this.

Sakura walked purposefully towards Sasuke. He glanced to her as she approached. There was an indecipherable look on his face.

"Sasuke-kun!"

That wasn't her.

Another girl had ran over to the Uchiha, wrapping her arms around his neck and smiling at him. She was a little bit taller than Sakura with brown hair and bright hazel eyes. She looked older than Sakura by a year or two as well, more mature, she thought to herself. She was wearing black like everyone else, but her outfit was cute unlike the practically ceremonial garb that surrounded her.

Sasuke nodded back to the girl, a small smirk on his face.

She squealed at him.

"Are you ready to go?" Sasuke asked. His voice was calm, but there was something in it Sakura couldn't place. He carefully avoided her questioning gaze.

"Always," she said, snuggling close to him as she interlaced their fingers. Sakura's stomach dropped.

Her mouth opened anyway. "Um, hi," she said.

The girl spun to her with confusion. "Oh, hi." She turned back to Sasuke as if to leave. Sasuke stared blankly at Sakura. The girl turned back. "Did you want something?"

She tried to keep her face neutral. "I...I don't think we've met. I'm Senju Sakura."

"Ooh, you're one of Sasuke-kun's teammates! It's nice to meet you. I'm Mineko." They shook hands.

She pouted back to Sasuke in an instant. "Are you ready to go yet, Sasuke-kun?" She cooed to him.

Sasuke grunted in dismissal, his gaze still on Sakura. The girl hummed in acquiescence as if he had asked gently for a moment. "Is something wrong, Sakura?"

Yes! And it's standing next to you. She thought of something else to say. "We're, uh, still training without Obito then?"

"Hn."

"Good. That's good. I hope he recovers well," she paused to find the words, "So, I guess I'll see-"

Mineko wrapped her arms back around his neck. Sasuke's dark eyes spun to the brunette and she pouted again.

He turned back to Sakura. Something on his face faltered. "Ask Naruto, okay?"

She swallowed the lump in her throat. "Yeah, of course." She turned to Mineko. "It was nice meeting you."

The older girl waved her away. "Mhm. See you soon, I hope."

They watched as Sakura turned awkwardly away and started walking. She didn't look back. She couldn't.

Sakura felt a familiar and all too unwelcome emptiness as she walked. Of course, Sasuke would have a girlfriend. An older girlfriend at that with all sorts of experience and qualities that distinguished her from any and all of the girls that had made up their year. Qualities that meant Sakura never had a chance in the first place.

Her eyes started to water and she picked up the pace, rubbing them swiftly to avoid crying in public. She didn't even know where she was going, but she didn't care as long as it was very far away.

Her feet brought her to the doors of the Konohagakure Clinical Laboratory. She tried to open it, but the door was locked. Sakura, still only a genin, didn't technically have access to the building on her own. Yes, despite the fact that she was just as good if not better than many of their chunin recruits, with fewer spills and mistakes and far more skills, her rank was all that mattered.

Because that made sense.

She could look for Ken in the hospital or at home. If he was at the hospital, she would have to help him there. She enjoyed it, but not today. She didn't think she could handle that today.

Hopefully, he would be at home.

Her brother would help shuffle her away into the bowels of the Clinical Laboratory, she knew. He would understand if she buried herself in work to stop the pain. He'd probably be delighted.

The sooner the better.

Sakura wandered into her house. It wasn't Ken in the kitchen.

Her mom looked up as she entered. "Oh there you are, Sakura-chan!"

"Hi, Mom," she said, "Is Ken home?"

"No, working again, I'm sure." She shook her head. "I hope he's okay."

It suddenly occurred to her that Ken might actually be doing what she planned to. She didn't know if anyone he knew had died during the attack.

She wasn't sure if she could imagine it. Ken seemed somehow too invincible to mourn like everyone else did. He would just explain the different ways to handle grief healthily and reassure her he had done so in the half-hour since she'd seen him at the ceremony.

She smiled. She'd believe him.

But that left her with no way into the lab. Her smile faded as she carefully avoided thinking about the past few minutes.

She wasn't successful.

"What's wrong, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura shook her head, rubbing her eyes as discreetly as possible as the tears started to flow freely.

Arms enveloped her, her mother crossing the room to wrap her in a large hug. "Come on, you can tell me, honey."

She shook her head. She hated feeling like this. And she didn't want to talk to her mom about boy problems.

Her mother squeezed her a little tighter. "It is such a sad day," she probed gently before continuing. "It's one of those days where it's alright to cry because everyone's crying at least a little bit. I just try to think about the good things too or else I might just fall to pieces." She laughed a little and Sakura just smiled. Her mother was a remarkably strong person. She was always helping others. "A lot of my friends died ten years ago, and the clan was just as insufferable back then, of course. There were so many orphans, but would they take even one into the family? No! Build an orphanage a day if they had to, throw money at the problem but the thought of 'soiling' the name of the 'Senju?' No way. 'Clan of Love,' bah, they wouldn't know love if it hit them in the face, and I was just about ready to!" Sakura chuckled quietly at her mother's animated speech, sniffling into her shoulder and finding comfort in the familiar story.

"We wouldn't let that stand," she continued more quietly. "We knew we were going to open our hearts up to one of the innocent children paying for the village's terrible wars. But which one? Hm, how were we going to pick? I wonder who we'd go with." She glanced at Sakura. "Maybe someone who looked like us? Maybe someone older? We could only take one, we knew." She squeezed Sakura again.

Sakura remembered this too. She could still feel the anxiety of Adoption Day, standing in the courtyard as grownups streamed past, dressed in her best and only dress, watching other people disappearing behind the gate forever.

And a different older boy she didn't recognize, who walked differently than the orphans around her, speaking to them as he passed.

Until, finally, he spoke to her.

"The three of us spent so much time looking, your father and I hemming and hawing, so nervous. Then," she laughed, "then our little Kenma, our little 12-year old Kenma, returns one of those days with-just holding this little pink-haired girl's hand." There were tears in the corners in her eyes as she recounted the story with a huge smile. "And he introduces her to us as his new little sister! And, oh you know how he can be, no room for discussion with his silly parents!" Sakura knew. "And you were just so cute together. I don't know if we could have said no if we wanted to."

The boy had been nice but talked like a grown-up. He had asked her simple questions like her name, her age, her favorite color perhaps, and then whether she would like to be adopted. She did. She really, really did.

And, suddenly, she was.

"It felt as if it was always meant to be, somehow." She pulled back to smile at Sakura.

What had happened? Sakura wondered to herself now. Her family had given her the thing she wanted most of all. She had been so happy, so excited and relieved.

Sakura hugged her mother tightly as the tears began to fade.

"Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if that terrible machine hadn't shown up. We might never have," she hugged Sakura a little tighter, "Oh, I'm not making much sense, am I, rambling on and on?" She paused for a moment. "It was such a tragedy, but I'm-yes, I'm grateful for that in some ways. Oh dear," she said uncertainly, "That's terrible, isn't it?"

"No!" Sakura said quickly, pulling back to look at her. "No, it isn't. I love you too." She hugged her again. And thank you for everything.

Sasuke had grown up under his father's high expectations. The Uchiha Head's first born had turned out to be an unassailable prodigy, the type of genius legends are made of. Yet, he believed his second born might be just as impressive.

Thus, Sasuke's childhood had been filled with the quiet disappointment that fills the gap between excellence and perfection.

Sasuke wanted to win his father's approval, so he too was disappointed at his own failures. At times, he wanted to hate his older brother. If only he could have been less perfect, Sasuke would have been able to succeed. He would have been able to rest. Instead, he pushed himself from a young age. He tore himself apart trying.

Or, he would have, for there was exactly one person kind to Sasuke in his house growing up. It was Itachi who showed Sasuke kindness, who was genuinely proud and happy, who let him relax. It was his older brother's expectations that were always restrained by love.

So, the disappointment learned from his father gave way to the happiness and confidence of his brother. In time, he was satisfied with being the best in his class instead of the best ever. In time, he was content with an awesome big brother, a stupid younger brother, and a silly stepmother.

Then, Itachi had disappeared, and Sasuke couldn't do a thing about it.

He had learned his lesson.

Once again, he pushed himself farther and harder than before. He put himself into difficult positions and devised complicated plans. Anything, he said, to find his brother.

But...it was times like this that made him reconsider.

Mineko squealed beside him. "Ohmigod, you look so good when you think, Sasuke-kun!"

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he considered an appropriate response. They were walking up the backside of the Hokage Monument to reach the top.

Ishikawa Mineko was everything he remembered the fangirls in the academy to be. How she had become a chunin was beyond him.

Finally, he said, "I know."

She giggled beside him wrapping her arms around him. He did roll his eyes that time—carefully out of sight, of course.

Itachi's mission was a B-Rank, but it was retroactively classified higher due to unusual circumstances. That meant the security around the reports generated from the incident were kept under security too high for Sasuke to retrieve.

It was still stored in the Archives.

"But what are you thinking about, Sasuke-kun?" She asked.

He grunted a dismissal as they navigated a steeper section of the Monument.

"Emotional, that's how I'd describe her."

Sasuke glanced back in confusion.

"Your teammate? Don't worry, I know all about that. My teammate was so emotional. And the other one was super lazy. I'm pretty sure it's why the team didn't stick together, you know?"

Sasuke had a different theory about that actually.

She sighed, replacing a brown strand of hair behind her ear. "It must be hard carrying your team all the time, Sasuke-kun, but don't worry, I understand. And it makes you sooo cool."

Sasuke thought of the burning miasma of power and the frantic hands pushing painful liquid into his chest.

"I know," he said. Then, he smirked, and she squealed again, snuggling into him.

Finally, he had free time from missions, which meant it was time to finish this.

"Here we are," he whispered as they reached the top of the Monument.

"Oh, wow, Sasuke-kun!"

The village sprawled out below them backed by a gorgeous sunset that bathed the Monument in soft light.

Mineko turned to him, a flash of hunger in her eyes that was quickly replaced by coyness. They sat there for only a moment before she decided to kiss him.

Mineko leaned in, her lips pursed expectantly, but he didn't return the favor, staring pointedly off into the distance.

"S-Sasuke-kun?" She said after a moment. "Is something wrong?"

He glanced towards her. "Actually," he began, "I was hoping you could show me something."

She smiled. "Anything."

Naruto's eyes opened blearily.

Sasuke was at his desk, a small lamp on. The window was closed, the blinds drawn shut. It was very late.

Papers were spread out in front of the Uchiha. On the wall in front of him as well, there were pictures of different villages' headbands, reports, and maps. His eyes were red and bloodshot; the sharingan glowed against the dim lamp light.

He wrote, scribbling mechanically as he transcribed the information he had collected. Page after page after page, he recreated without fail.

Apparently, he had gotten what he'd needed. But what?

He already knew that Itachi's mission had been a border patrol on the northern part of the Land of Fire. He knew he had been in a team of four, consisting of Itachi, Yugao, Hayate and Genma. He knew the basic gist of events. They had noticed nothing, resting after a mission with Itachi keeping watch. When they awoke, he was gone.

He even knew that secondary analysis had shown that chakra absorption techniques had been used nearby and genjutsu had been used on Itachi's three teammates.

It was a pretty good picture in Naruto's sleepy eyes. Sasuke thought the mission report would have more.

It had to, he had said. He needed it to.

A frown crossed Naruto's face. He missed Itachi, but for Sasuke...it was more than that. It was something more.

Naruto couldn't find the words, but he understood his brother. That's why he would help him.

No matter what.

He rolled back over, closing his eyes.

Sasuke worked long into the night.

Hyuuga Hinata was not a brave girl. She was too caring for that. Emotional.

That same emotion was part of why she was held in such low regard by the clan. She cared too much, paid too much attention to the emotions of others.

Her younger sister's desire to prove herself. Her father's disappointment.

Always, she wanted to reach out and soothe the desires of those around her. Always, when crushed with the failures of her own weakness, a small piece of her would vanish beneath her guilt forever. Grow a little weaker, meeker. Stutter a little more. Close up a little tighter in a vain attempt to protect herself from the emotions that she by her nature invited.

It was this same attention with which she had seen Naruto over the years.

She had seen the loneliness and confusion of his childhood. She had seen his anger and desire to live up to and surpass a mythical figure. She had seen the pain of failure as he lost out to Sasuke in class, the stigma of his parentage as villagers whispered demon's brat, and his own inability to change them.

She had seen him care, and she had seen him fail.

And so, most of all, she had seen his resilience and determination.

Every time he fell, he got back up. Every single time.

But what made him do it? What made him able to do it?

What gave him the strength that she craved?

So, she watched him always and always from afar. She knew she was too weak to help him, too likely to make a mistake. She was a disappointment and a failure.

But, somehow, watching him made her think she could be different. Maybe she could never give up. Maybe she could be strong if she tried hard like he did. Maybe she could learn. Maybe he would teach her. Maybe they would hug. Maybe they-

But maybe she would mess it up. Maybe he would look down on her. Maybe he would say no. Maybe it would hurt.

She stayed far away.

This was quite fortunate because, whenever she was close, it felt as if all of those possibilities might suddenly become one particular reality.

Hinata pushed her fingers together nervously, fighting down a blush as her thoughts twisted into themselves, jumping anxiously between fantasy and tragedy.

Naruto was sitting beside her.

Then, the Uchiha-Senju Clan Ceremony began.

A/N: Well, this took forever. Many of these scenes were difficult to write, so hopefully they come off well enough. And as you may be able to tell from the title, I've split the chapter into two parts again to keep it from being 10k+ words and to get this out a few days sooner. The second half has one large scene left that's been giving me trouble, but the wait won't be nearly as long.

Thanks for reading!