Memorial

Naruto arrived back at Konoha in the crisp, early hours of the morning. The sun was just rising, and still villagers and ninja alike were re-building the parts of the village that had been destroyed.
Sakura immediately went into the village, her thoughts on her daughter. Sasuke did the same, heading for the Hyuuga compound.
Naruto was left standing at the gates, wondering how he had let this happen.

*

Akane sat up suddenly in her bed; her eyes wide open. She could hear the steady sound of Ichiru breathing on the floor beside her. She'd asked him to stay with her, as she didn't feel she could sleep otherwise. But now another noise disturbed her slumber. Someone was in the house. Hoping it was her family, or maybe Neji, she padded barefoot across her room and cracked the door open a notch. A tall, dark figure silently crept down the corridor, towards the rooms the Uchihas had been staying in. The figure paused outside Kin's room, before placing a hand on the door and pushing it open. Akane glanced over her shoulder at Ichiru, before grabbing her dressing gown and creeping down towards the guest room.
Peeking in, she saw Sasuke sitting at the end of the bed, which quite obviously hadn't been slept in. Looking a little more closely, she noticed that Kin's wardrobe stood open and bare, his drawers pulled out and also empty. It looked as if the room had been ransacked. Sasuke looked up, noticing the girl there.
"Oh, sorry Uchiha-san! I heard a noise…"
"Where are my sons?" Sasuke asked looking up, she noticed, from a piece of crumpled paper he appeared to have been reading.
"Well, um, Ichiru-kun is here somewhere…I…um…"
"I'm here, father. What's wrong?" Ichiru appeared in the doorway behind Akane, fully dressed.
"It's Kin. He's…he's run away." Sasuke held out the note he had found upon his son's bed.

Father,

I'm fed up of being second best. I feel as if I have dishonoured you by not becoming a Konoha ninja. I think it's best if I leave, and maybe go home to Kitamori. Don't follow me.

Kin.

Ichiru crushed the hastily written note in his fist.
"I'm sorry, father, I should have noticed this. His mood swings have been getting worse recently. It's my fault. I should have watched him."
Sasuke shook his head, rising to his feet and resting a firm hand upon his eldest son's shoulder.
"You're not to blame. He's always been impulsive and stupid! I'll have to organise a search party. Hopefully he didn't get caught up in the fighting."
With that, the Uchiha left the room.
Ichiru turned to Akane, his face crestfallen. She reached out to him instinctively, wanting to hold onto him for dear life. Wanting them to share their pain, wanting to find comfort in his touch. But he shook her off, charging from the room and going into his own, and she was left standing in the empty room, alone.

*

Hinata squeezed her husband's hand tightly as they arrived back at their village. Uzumaki Dai ran ahead, yelling at the top of his lungs, "I'm free again!".
He stopped, suddenly however, upon seeing the damage his village had taken.
Haru and Yukio stood either side of him, mouths open in shock. Kiba let out a strangled moan, and sank to his knees at the gates. From there, he could see the Inuzuka compound… or where it used to be. Instead, a gaping hole sat where the buildings had once stood, the ruins smouldering still.
Hinata placed a comforting hand on her husbands shoulder.
"I'm sure they all got out okay." She said, not feeling 100% sure herself.

*

Naruto sat behind his desk, Tsunade standing before him. She had a face like thunder as she explained what had happened, and which parts of the village were worst affected.
"…on top of that, the hospital is half destroyed. And, Hokage-sama…we lost a lot of people."
Naruto hung his head, rubbing his eyes. How had this happened? He sat back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling as if expecting an answer to be hanging there.
"Naruto. Akatsuki is not behind this. I think its Kabuto. And I think he's trying to take Orochimaru's place." Tsunade said, sitting down finally.
"The first thing we need to do is honour the dead." Naruto said, closing his eyes.
"Hai, Hokage-sama."

*

Akane sat across the table from her parents and brother as they hungrily ate the food she had made them. She was full of questions for them, but had not had a chance to ask them anything, as they had been to wash while she made dinner. Kiba was leaving immediately after he'd eaten to check on the rest of his clan, and Haru would be joining him. That left just Akane and her mother.
"Um, mother…?" Akane said quietly once the men had left. "Have you h-heard from Aiko-chan?"
The vision she had seen in the hospital still haunted her as she asked her mother this, hoping that maybe Hinata had seen her, or knew where she was. Her heart skipped a beat as her mother shook her head.
"I was hoping she would be here with you. The group she was sent out with were only positioned as lookouts near the borders with the rain country…" as she said this, she remembered something she'd heard while walking through town, something about a missing ANBU squad, and the rain country.
"Mother. Mother, Aburame Shino's ANBU team were captured by the rain country! They're missing and presumed dead. I can't believe Aiko-chan was sent to that place… Do you think… she's okay?" Akane said, staring across the table at her mother.
Hinata looked down at her plate of food, pushing the rice around with her chopsticks.
"I hope so, Akane-chan." She said, her voice barely a whisper.

*

The evening drew in swiftly, covering Konoha in a blanket of darkness. At the memorial stone, a huge crowd of ninja and civilians alike stood in front of a long table, adorned with photographs of the fallen, and garlands of beautiful flowers. Someone was sobbing quietly a few rows behind Uzumaki Dai, where he stood with his father and sister. There were quiet murmurings as the Hokage left his position next to his family and stood in front of the crowd.
"We are here to remember the fallen, and those we lost in the battle. These people did not die in vain! We have thwarted the enemy, and they have retreated. I will now have my assistant read aloud the names of the dead."
A short woman strode forwards at this point, holding a scroll. Clearing her throat, she began to call out the names, in order of time of death, as people came up to lay flowers by the photos of the dead.
"…Higa Morio, Miyake Taya, Tanaka Seiji, Oonishi Nariko…"
As the names of the genin were called, Akane stepped forwards with Ichiru, to lay a garland of cherry blossoms next to each picture of the smiling children. She gulped as she did so, knowing she was responsible and that she would be faced with their families. However, a small, plump woman came up to her, taking her hand and clutching it tightly.
"I am Nariko-chan's mother. I wanted to say that I don't blame you. Nariko decided at a young age that she wanted to train as a ninja, and we paid a lot of money to put her through the academy. She wanted to succeed. We are proud of Nariko-chan, the first ninja in the Oonishi family! She told me she liked you a lot, from the days when you would help out at the academy. I'm sure she was so pleased you were her sensei for the day…" The woman trailed off, tears trickling down her face.
A tall, lean man who appeared to be her husband put an arm around her shoulders and led her away from the crowd. Akane felt light-headed as Ichiru led her away too, towards a patch of grass a little way down the path from the memorial.
"I should stay…Th-they still haven't found Aiko-chan. I know she's d-dead! I s-saw it. I-I…" Ichiru put a slender finger to her lips, pressing his forehead to hers.
"I hate to see you get upset like this. I'm sorry I pushed you away earlier on, but it looks like we're in the same boat here. I hope, I really do, that Aiko-chan is okay. But my brother's missing too, and I don't know how to deal with that…" Ichiru's voice broke a little as he said this, closing his long-lashed eyes tightly.
Akane put her hand to his cheek, pulling him closer to her. His eyes opened in surprise as she pressed her lips to his, almost hungrily. He broke away, leaning back a little to get out of her reach.
"Akane-chan, don't throw yourself on me like that, it won't solve our problems."
"It might make them go away…f-for a little while." Akane said, as quiet as a mouse.
Ichiru smiled despite himself, almost laughing at her cute expression.
"Lets go home, come on." He said, taking her hand gently.
She nodded, pouting however. She still wanted to kiss him again…