Chapter 8: A Death in the Family

It wasn't until late morning that Sasuke and Gaara returned. So it wasn't for some time that anyone knew the First Golden Hokage was dead. When they did arrive there was quite a scene, but as for Naruto, the day began without him. His wife rose to make breakfast, his son wandered off to see Temari and Shikamaru, and his daughter went out for a morning flight.

The first male voice Usagi heard that day was Kiba. "Usagi-chan!" he called as she swooped low over the street. Catching the wind to go higher, she angled the glider and came around again, skidding along the ground for a while as she touched down and stopping only a few feet in front of Akamaru.

"Good morning Uncle Kiba!" she twinkled, grinning up to where he sat astride his massive dog.

"Morning kid," Kiba grinned, showing his oversize teeth, "was just about to head out with Akamaru, wanna come?"

"Sure!" Usagi replied, folding in the gliders wings and coming up to Akamaru's side. Kiba reached down and grabbed the back of her shirt, lifting her up to sit in front of him.

"Hold on," Kiba laughed as Akamaru bounded forward toward the village gate, Usagi screeching with laughter as she bounced up and down on his back. Not, of course, that they got very far.

The people of Konoha were, by now, used to Akamaru's unusual size, but there had been a time when the great white dog would cause quite a commotion. So it wasn't entirely surprising when Kiba winced slightly and dug his heels into Akamaru's sides at the shriek that emanated down the street. Akamaru bounded forward, but almost immediately skidded to a halt as he found his path blocked by Shino.

"Where are you going?" Shino rasped, the usual two or three insects orbiting his head.

Kiba glared at Shino. "What's the big idea?" he growled, "What's all the screaming?"

"That was Tenten," Shino replied in his standard monotone.

As he spoke Tenten herself came running up to them, very out of breath. "Something's . . . something's happening," she panted, clutching at a stitch in her side, "Sasuke and Gaara seem to have returned from somewhere, and now the Village Elders have some kind of announcement!"

"What announcement?" Kiba demanded, looking confused and a bit annoyed.

"I don't know, but they sent for Neji about a half an hour ago." Tenten looked at Usagi, "Have you seen your father today?"

Usagi shook her head. He had not been at breakfast so she assumed he had either gotten up early or slept in.

Tenten straightened and Kiba turned towards the Hokage Tower. "What are we waiting for?" he patted Akamaru's head, "Let's get to the tower boy, and see what all this is about."

-A Short While Later-

Usagi, Kiba, Akamaru, Tenten and Shino joined the crowd of people under the large balcony of the tower. It normally was used to address large groups or the village at large, Naruto and every other Hokage had been initiated there, and today it seemed the Elders were going to announce . . . whatever it was they were going to announce, from it as well.

Usagi stared up at the old, shriveled woman addressing the crowd as she finished what seemed to have been a very long and monotonous speech. "People of Konoha, The Village Hidden in the Leaves," she called out over the crowd, "I present to you the Second Golden Hokage, as named by the First Golden Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki, in his will."

Neji Hyuuga stepped froward on the balcony, in full view of the crowd.

"Neji Hyuuga!"

Usagi's heart stopped. She had to be dreaming. This had to be some terrible, horrible nightmare. This couldn't possibly, possibly be real. This couldn't really be happening. This couldn't be real. It couldn't.

Kiba had his arms around Usagi's waist before she had even begun to move. "Hold on kid," he stammered, trying to both calm her down and keep his own voice stable, "there must be some mistake. Your dad's not dead, its just . . ."

"Usagi!" Tenten called out as Usagi squirmed out of Kiba's hold and took off.

"Usagi-chan!"

"Usagi wait! Don't rush off before . . ."

"Usagi-chan come back!"

But Usagi didn't hear them. The First Golden Hokage's oldest child and only daughter raced off toward the place where she already knew she would lay her trap. The situation was a clear as day, as though someone had written it before her eyes. She knew what she had to do.

-Another Short While Later-

It seemed an eternity ago that Usagi had waited for her prey in this very spot. She crouched in the shadows, remembering the day, not a week ago, that she had been stalking this very person for a very different purpose. Well, that purpose was over now, and from now on she would never again concern herself with this prey in that respect. He didn't deserve her help.

When Neji came round the corner across from Ichiraku's he wasn't thinking very clearly. No, that was an understatement. Neji wasn't thinking remotely clearly. Only last night he had driven Naruto's oldest child from her late night training session and back to bed. Now, less than twenty-four hours later, Naruto was dead and Neji was Hokage. Neji had not wanted the job, he had not asked for the job, he'd had no reason to believe Naruto was going to give him the job. As far as he could tell he had done nothing to deserve it. He couldn't fathom what he'd done to merit being asked to stand up there on the balcony of his cousin's home and be named the village's leader. He just couldn't understand it. Not for a moment.

So again, the effectiveness of the tripwire was unsurprising.

Neji stumbled forward, barely managing to catch himself before he hit the ground. He whirled around and, cursing, activated his byakugan to scan the surrounding area for his attacker.

"I'm not hiding, Neji-san." Usagi said flatly as she stepped out from the shadows to face him, the end of her glider resting on the ground. "I intend to face you like a true shinobi."

It took a moment for Neji to realize what she was talking about. Then it clicked, and he felt his heart snap almost in two. She blamed him. She had somehow decided Naruto's death was his fault. And she was going to try to avenge her father by killing him.

Neji's brain reeled. First Naruto, now Usagi? Had the whole village gone mad? He stared at the little girl in front of him for a few moments, trying to piece it all together. How could she blame him for this? How could she think he had anything to do with Naruto's death? And how, how had this happened to him?

But Usagi wasn't going to give him time to think it over. Adopting a fighting stance, she channeled her chakra into her glider. "Nine-tails!" she yelled as nine kunai attached to nine strings sailed out of the end of the staff, "Kunai whirlwind!"

Neji leaped into the air to avoid the blades as Usagi rushed forward, the kunai swinging in a great arc and then retracting into the wood before they came back around.

"Usagi!" he cried, finally finding his voice as he landed on the fence. "Little rabbit, what's gotten into you!"

Usagi glared up at him in disbelief. Did he think he could deny it? Did he think she was going to believe, even for a second, that he wasn't responsible for this? Or was he simply surprised that she was going to do something about it? It didn't matter, in the end the outcome was the same. If he thought she wasn't going to avenge her father, he was sorely mistaken.

"You're dead!" she screeched. Another kunai shot out of the side of her glider into her hand, and a second later it was flying at Neji. He leaped off the fence, only to have to dive for the ground as two more kunai were hurled at him.

Neji landed on his feet a few paces away from her. "Usagi, don't do this! I swear, I don't . . ."

"You dirty rotten liar!" she screamed, charging toward him with a kunai held before her.

Neji couldn't help it. It was pure instinct, and there was nothing he could do to stop the reflexive movement. As Usagi ran toward him at full speed, one hand shot out in front of him. It was defensive. He had not meant it as an attack. However, Usagi didn't have time to stop or change course, and she slammed full force into Neji's chakra laden palm and bounced backwards.

And of course at that precise moment Tenten, Shino, Kiba and Akamaru came hurtling around the corner.

Tenten's eyes widened in a mixture of disbelief and horror as she watched Neji slam his palm against Usagi's chest, the basic Gentle Fist move sending her careening backwards.

"Usagi!" Tenten screamed, racing forward to pick Usagi up and cradle the child in her arms. Usagi lay limp in Tenten's grip, not moving or responding. Her eyes were closed.

All four of them stared at Neji.

"What the hell have you done?"

-The Next Day-

Because Usagi was in the hospital, she missed her father's funeral. The entire village gathered beneath the four stone faces, many of them crying. Iruka spoke, and so did Sasuke. It did not rain, but neither did the sun shine. The whole world was just . . . gray.

After the funeral everyone came to see Usagi in the hospital. Hinata and Mizu sat on her bed as all of the aunts and uncles, with of course one exception, came in two or three at a time to see her. They all told her to get better quickly. Choji brought her favorite instant ramen for her, and Ino brought an enormous arrangement of flowers to brighten the room. Lee sat on the bed and sobbed into his sleeve and told her not to let this tragedy dim the light of her youth. Kankuro actually hugged her.

There were two people who weren't actually at the funeral. They watched, of course, but from a distance of some several hundred feet, from a hiding place in the cliff. After the funeral they watched as all of Naruto's siblings filed into the hospital to see his daughter.

"I still can't believe the kid croaked," said the man, and old character with long white hair and an enormous scroll on his back.

The woman beside him, a younger looking blond with an unusually large chest, just shrugged. "I always knew he'd get himself killed one of these days," she said, yawning, "still it is a little strange that he left Neji as Hokage. You would have at least thought Konohamaru, but . . ."

The man shook his head. "For Naruto life was one big joke," he said, "I doubt he could resist getting in one last crack. Or who knows, maybe he always planned it to be this way."

"Didn't Hinata find the will in the pocket of his coat though?" the blond asked, frowning.

"Yeah,"the old man looked pensively out into space, "I guess we'll never know what he was really thinking. Still . . ."

"What is it Jiraiya?" Tsunade turned to him for the first time since they'd begun speaking, curious.

"There is one question that remains to be answered," he told her, still looking fixedly at nothing.

"Which is?" Tsunade demanded, growing impatient.

"The death of a jinchuriki should have caused a massive release of demon chakra, but I didn't sense anything and neither Sasuke nor Gaara said anything of the kind occurred. So if Naruto didn't release the demon chakra when he died . . .

"What has he done with the nine tails?" Shikamaru asked himself quietly, staring out the hospital window.