Quote of the Day: I find that the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand as in what direction we are moving: To reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it— but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor. -Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

Chapter 14: Time Part 2

A/N: So I have decided that I'm going to do two part for every chapter so to speak. Like the previous chapter, now I going to write about what is happening in Konoha within the same time frame. This is what happen in Konoha during the last chapter.

The storm that had come to Konoha had not gone away. While it didn't rain all the time now the black and grey clouds that loomed over head never seemed to go away. After the first few days that the clouds came several ninjas had tried various jutsus to try and part the clouds, but to no avail. It was almost as if the gods themselves made sure that the clouds hung heavy over the Leaf Village. At first everyone thought that it was just some freak weather storm. But when it didn't go away it the rumors started to spread. People where saying that when Naruto left he cursed the village for all the mistreatment he receive. Others say that it is divine retribution for there miss treatment. No matter what the cause, one thing was certain, it didn't look like the storm would go away anytime soon. The glass that had shattered all over the village had been replaced. Other than that the village tried to gone on like usual. But it was difficult, The people of Leaf were not used to this type of weather. But it wasn't like they had much choice in the matter.

When Naruto had left the village had rejoiced. The villagers danced and celebrated in the rain, thanking the heavens that the demon was gone from their lives. They would no longer have to live in fear. They also celebrated by setting fire to his apartment. Many of the younger generation could not understand why it made all the older people in the village so happy that Naruto was gone. Sure he did pull a lot of pranks over the years, but nothing to severe that people would celebrate his departure. Tsunade had made sure that the law the Third Hokage had place stayed in place. She was sure that people would break it, but it was more for her own sake than Naruto's. Right now her only link to Naruto was the law.

The Rookie 9 (minus Naruto), and Team Gai were a bundle of mixed emotions. Sasuke was hateful, but for once his anger was only focused on himself. It was because of him that the person who considered him his best friend, considered him a brother was gone because of him. And not only that the village considered him a hero for driving the demon out. Sakura felt guilty, when Sasuke had regained enough strength to leave the hospital he was furious at her. He asked how she could stand by him after all the things he had done, he betrayed the village, tried to join the man that had caused the death of the Third Hokage, and had almost killed his best friend. He asked how when Naruto, who had endure adversity his whole life, who had sweated, bleed and sacrificed for the village, for her she still saw fit to blame him for fulfilling a promise he had made to her. Sakura with tears in her eyes had ran home and cried throughout the night, when she calmed down she had realized that Sasuke was right. In her eyes he could do no wrong, but with Naruto it was like his every breath was nothing but an annoyance to her.

Shikamaru was saddened, as well as Choji. They were friends with Naruto when they had been in the academy. They had helped on some of his pranks when they were younger. Ino was a little sadden, while she was never really friends with Naruto she felt that Naruto was a good person and something like what had happened to him was something that he did not deserve. Kiba had tried to seem like he didn't care, but Naruto had been his friend, his rival. Now he was gone. Shino remained indifferent, Naruto and him never really interacted. But no the less he was a comrade and didn't deserve what had happened.

Lee had burst into tears saying that the village was now dimmer without the "Burning Flames of Youth" that was Naruto. He said that he would run around the village on his hands until they broke. They eventually did, after the 356th lap. Neji, well you know what happened, and TenTen was the only one that was keeping him from returning back to his old self. Hinata was probably the worst off. While she said that she wanted to get stronger, it was like every little thing she saw reminded her of Naruto and she would burst into tears. No one really knew how to comfort her. They figured that she would have to learn to handle it herself. But it was difficult, she had fallen hard for the loud mouthed blond.

It had been two months since the departure of Naruto. But life goes on, even if we don't want it to. No matter how much we wish it, it will continue to move forward. Which means that you have to move forward as well. That is what Iruka did. He tried to move forward but it was difficult. Right now he was sprawled out on his couch, it was about 8. He was tired. He'll admit that becoming a teacher kind of got him out of shape. Now he was getting back int shape.

A knock on his door brought him out of his thoughts. He rose to his feet and head to the door. He opened the door and in walked Shizune. He was surprised that she just walked in with out permission. Sure when ever she came to visit he would let always let her in, but she would always wait for his permission to enter his home. For her to just enter like that something must be up. Iruka closed the door and turn to face her. Her back was to him, he could tell her arms were crossed. He looked at her, she didn't have her umbrella. Which was strange, everyone in the entire village had one now. She was wet. He could see a small puddle starting to form under her.

"Shizune-san you're soaked, hang on I'll get you a towel." he said as he started to make his way to his room.

"I stopped buy the academy today." she said as she turned to face him. A frown on her face.

Iruka looked at her for a moment, before he made his way to his couch and sat down. This was obviously serious for her not to care if she gets sick or not. His arms rested on his knees as he leaned forward. He said nothing, so Shizune continued.

"I was getting paperwork from the new graduating class, when I decided I wanted see you."

Iruka looked down his hair covering his eyes. Ever since she had helped him with his little drinking problem they had gotten pretty close, they were really good friends. Shizune looked at him waiting for a response. Iruka looked up.

"I wasn't feeling good so I took the day off. Sorry about that."

Shizune scoffed.

"Really that's the best excuse you got."

Iruka got up and headed to the kitchen, he needed a drink. He didn't drink like he did when Naruto left but every once in a while he had a drink or two to sooth his nerves, and right now he really need a drink. Shizune narrowed her eyes when he pulled out a bottle from his fridge. He had told her that he would drink still, Shizune worried that he would go back to his drunken ways, but he had proven that he was handling his drinking better. She had even joined him once or twice, she really wasn't much of a drinker.

"Alright I took a day off, what's wrong with that?" Iruka asked as he came back to his couch and sat down.

"Fine then, you want to tell me why the other teachers there told me that you haven't been to work in the last 4 weeks?"

Iruka stayed silent as he took a swing from his drink. Damn, she found out he hasn't been at the academy. Whenever she would ask how things were going there he would lie and tell her all these stories about student that he had not seen in over a month.

"Well Iruka? Care to explain."

Iruka stayed silent for a moment wondering how he should answer her question. Should he tell her the truth. In all honesty it wasn't really her business why he was not going to his job. He was a grow man he could do what ever he wanted with his life. But Iruka knew that she was only concerned for his well being. Iruka down the rest of his beer in one gulp, he placed the empty bottle on his coffee table and sighed. He looked up and stared at Shizune. He noticed that she was starting to shiver slightly, she had her arms crossed, waiting for his answer. Iruka got up and went to his room to get a towel. Shizune watched him go and waited for him to return. He returned a moment later, he handed her a towel and placed a sheet of paper one the table and sat back down on the couch.

Shizune slowly dried herself off as best she could before walking up the the table and looking at the paper. Shizune was shocked at what she was reading.

It was a letter of resignation. She turned to Iruka who was watching her.

"Why?" was all she could ask.

Iruka sighed before answering.

"I've lost the will to teach. I failed Naruto, I know you are going to say that it wasn't my fault. But I can't help but fell like I could have done more. When I went back to the academy I looked at all of my students faces, and could help but wonder if I would one day fail them to. If I didn't teach them the right things. What if they got killed because of my inability to properly teach them. That is something I just can't handle. So I've decided to resign. I'm going to go back on the active ninja list. That 's why I haven't to the academy. I've been getting back into shape."

Shizune didn't know how to respond. She just stood there looking back at the resignation form. Iruka Stood up and walked over to her.

"Come on you can stay the night, I got clothes you can wear." he told her as he lead her to his room.

Kakashi's eye opened slowly as began to wake. The light pitter patter of the rain outside, along with the sounds of breathing was the only sounds that he heard. The room was dark. His eye slowly adjusting to the lack of light. There was a pressure on his chest. He reached over and turned on the bedside lamp. A dim light shone through out the room. The lamp was set to barely light, only enough to see a few feet. He looked down and saw a mess of hair. He move the hair to the side to reveal Anko's sleeping face. She was fast asleep using Kakashi's bare chest as a pillow. He had just returned from a week long mission. It was strange, when ever he would return from a mission he would head straight to Anko's apartment before reporting in to the Hokage. He never used to break regulation like that. He knew that he was becoming attached. And that was dangerous. But still, it felt nice know that there was someone waiting for him back home. He turned to look at the clock on the night stand. It was 8:30. He had got back over 5 hours ago. He really need to report to the Hokage.

He shifted a bit, trying to get out from under Anko. His sudden movement caused her stir a bit. Her grip on him tighten a bit.

"Mmm" she moaned as she shifted closer to him, her breast rubbing against his side, he suppressed a groan.

"Damn masked." she muttered.

They had been doing this for over two months, and he had yet to remove his mask. She always tries to remove it. To see what it was he was hiding from the world, but he stopped her every time. And he never missed the quick flash of disappointment and hurt that passes over her otherwise beautiful features. He hates that he hurts her. But he feels like, while he can trust her with his life, he can't trust her with his "life". He had people close to him before. And they had all died. His father killed himself, his best friend died saving him, his sensei died saving the village, and his only other friend dead by his own hand. And now for all he knew Naruto could be dead. Although he highly doubted that he was dead, there was always that possibility that he was dead. He wanted to let Anko in but his fear kept her away. He wondered if he would ever let her in, and if he did would she one day leave him like everyone else? Kakashi didn't want to experience that feeling ever again.

Kakashi moved again and this time Anko awoke from her slumber. She looked at him through heavy eye lids. She smiled slightly.

"Hey." she said sleepily as she rubbed her eye.

"Hey" Kakashi answered back.

"You going to report to the Hokage?"she asked as she laid her head back down own his chest and draped her leg over his.

Kakashi chuckled.

"Well that was the plan." he said as he ran his hand up and down her side.

She giggled softly as she tried to swat his hand away.

" You could just stay the night you know, report in first thing in the morning." she said as she traced the scars that where on his chest with her finger.

Kakashi thought about it. He had technically finished his mission early. Two days early, if he reported in he would just take another mission and be off again. maybe a few days of R&R might be good for him. If he kept accepting mission after mission he would burn himself out, and might mess up when it really mattered.

"I don't need to report in for another two days." Kakashi said as he rested his hand on her hip.

Anko looked up at him surprised, usually he denied an invitation to stay longer.

"You serious?" she asked, a hopeful tone in her voice.

Kakashi nodded. With a smile she lifted herself up and straddled his waist, her hair spilling over her her shoulders blocking her breast from view, much to Kakashi's disappointment. The bed sheets pooling around her hips. She leaned forward.

"Well this looks like a call for celebration." she said as she pressed herself against him.

Kakashi closed his eye and groaned, enjoying the feeling of her body on his. Anko saw a chance, slowly she reached up trying ever so carefully to reach his mask. She was a fraction of an inch away when Kakashi's hand gently grabbed hers and stopped her. She pouted, but than realized something this was the closest she has gotten to his mask, usually he stops her sooner. Could Kakashi be trusting her more, or was he just really distracted by her body? Kakashi moved her hand to her back and held it there, his other hand pushing him to a sitting position, before grabbing her other hand and holding it behind her as well. Anko was now aware of how excited Kakashi had gotten.

"What exactly did you have in mind?" Kakashi asked.

Anko could see with the dim light of the lamp that he was grinning under his mask.

"Oh I can think of a few things." she said seductively.

Tsunade was looking over some paperwork. It had been hard to move on for her move on but she did kind of. She still got drunk but she got her work done. She also didn't gamble as much as she did, she lost every time Naruto had left she contacted Jiraya as soon as she could. She had hoped that he would be able to find out where he was, and they would be able to bring him home. But there had been no such luck. Jiraya's spy network had only dead ends, or nothing at all. It was like Naruto fell off the face of the Earth, or chasing a ghost.

She was currently reading over a report on Sand. They were still in the process of selecting a new Kazekage. She hope that they would choose a new one soon. It was almost time to renew their trade agreements. Another report said that the Damiyos of each country wanted to have the a redo of the Chunin exams. The invasion left a lot unfinished business, and unresolved grudges. Tsunade hoped that they would not go through with it. She didn't need to open her village's gate to the other countries. They were still to under powered from the attack from Sound and Sand. The last thing that she need was to have all her enemies in her village again. At least not until they had the proper man power to do so, because having the exams take place in ones village meant that ninja had to be pulled from missions in help with extra security. Which meant less money for the village. And with all the repairs that were still going on she needed all the extra money.

She rubbed her temples as she leaned back in her chair. Her thoughts wondered to the day he left. It was when the rains first came. She found it fitting. Naruto seem to be a ray sunshine where ever he went. Always a smile on his face and determination in his eyes. But when he left it was like he took the sun with him. She had found out what Danzo tried to do. It was then that she did something that she didn't think she would do. She signed and stamped Naruto's resignation letter, and his renouncement of citizenship form. She presented it to the council saying that Naruto could not be branded as a missing ninja since he had manged to convince then that in her drunken state she had signed the forms by mistake before he was marked missing. So he could not be legally perused by any ninja. But she knew that Danzo was going to try anyways. But at least he would not have her ninja to aid in his search.

It was getting late, she figured that she would turn in for the night. She got up and stretched her joints and sore muscles. She took a step when she noticed a figure open her window and enter her office. It was her old teammate.

"What do you want Jiraya? I'm not in the mood for shit right now."

Jiraya closed the window.

"I thought you would be glad to see me. You want to know if I ever found anything about Naruto."

Tsunade looked at him shocked.

"Did you find him?" she asked her voice and eyes full of hope.

Jiraya shook his head, and Tsunade sighed in defeat. She knew that she really shouldn't get her hopes so high. It just made it worse when she got the bad news.

"But I think I may have found out where he went."

"Where." it sound more like a demand than a question.

"I think he made have gone past Grass, and into the wasteland."

Tsunade let out a small gasp as she felt herself go a bit pale. Nothing that has ever gone into the wasteland has survived, or returned with their sanity. She only hoped that he was alright.

Morning

Sasuke was glad that he had been finally cleared for active duty again. This past two months had been extremely boring. With only his training to keep him sane. It also didn't help that the Hokage didn't like him. She never bothered to hide the fact that she blamed him for what happened. He blamed himself to. But there was nothing he could do now Naruto was gone, he was not. He just hoped that the blond would be alright, and maybe one day he could find him and until that day he would just need to keep going. Right now he was going to meet up with his team. He figure it was only a matter of time before they would receive a new teammate, if they hadn't chosen one already, to replace Naruto. Replaced, Sasuke didn't like that word. It meant that anyone can just come in and take his spot. He didn't like it. While he found Naruto to be annoying he was his rival and friend, it made him better himself. He pushed past his limits because Naruto was pushing past his.

They were meeting in one of the classrooms. He reached the class it was his old classroom. Iruka's classroom. Sakura was already there sitting in her old seat. Probably out of nostalgia, thinking back when things were a whole lot easier, a simpler time. Sasuke found himself sitting at his old chair to. They now had two wait for Kakashi, which could take a few hours.

Sakura watched Sasuke, not much of a surprise there. But she couldn't bring herself to talk to him. She tried to think of a way to try and start a conversation, but closed her mouth almost as soon as she opened it. What can she really say, with what she said about Naruto and how fiercely Sasuke defended him, there was little hope they would be on good terms for a while. About ten minutes had past when the classroom door opened. But instead of Kakashi a boy around there age walked in his skin was a unhealthy pale white, like he had not see sunlight for years. He turned to them slowly, in what can only be described as a horror movie scene when a possessed doll slowly turns their head toward the audience. A smile appeared on his face he closed his eyes and tilted his head slightly to the side.

"Hello there, you two must be Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno."

Sasuke and Sakura looked at him with a look of confusion on their faces, and Sakura looked a bit disturbed. When they didn't answer the boy's smile faded.

"I'm sorry I must have the wrong room."

"N-no you're in the right place." Sakura told him not wanting to be rude.

"Thank goodness, I was afraid that I would miss the meeting. My name is Sai, I am your new teammate. I hope that we can be good friends." he said his smile returned and sent chills down her spine.

Sasuke looked at him. While Sakura may not see it Sasuke can tell this newcomer's emotion was fake. He had enough practice with Naruto to know when people are wearing masks, even if Naruto's were extremely difficult to spot. He didn't trust this new one.

"Well come on in you can sit by me." Sakura said somewhat hesitantly, in an attempt to be friendly.

The boy made his way toward her and as he past Sasuke he turned to look at him. Sasuke tensed, it was like a predator staring down its prey. Sizing him up. It was a quick look, but it told Sasuke enough. This boy was dangerous. The minute he took his seat the door opened again and in walked another person. It was a woman She had ebony black hair tied into a high pony tail, with two braids hanging down the sides of her head, what she was wearing was blocked by the black poncho that was protecting from the rain. She was about five foot five, she had hazel colored eyes and slightly tanned skin, she also had a thin scar running along the bridge of her nose and under her left eye. She was a very pretty woman.

"So I'm guessing you are Team 7?" she asked.

"Yes, but who are you?" Sakura answered.

"I'm Migoto your new sensei." She told them.

"What happened to Kakashi?" Sasuke asked before Sakura could.

"Oh right they didn't tell you huh. He has been stripped of his position as Team sensei."

Sakura gasped as Sasuke's eyes slightly widen. Sai had no reaction like he knew that Kakashi was stripped of his position.

Migoto looked at her new team. She was chosen by the Hokage to take Kakashi's place after she had learned that Danzo had go behind her could care less right now, this was her team and she was going to whip them back into shape.

Sorry for the long wait. My job moved me again now I'm "lost in the woods" (Anyone who can figure out were I am get something cool.) So this one was a little over 4200 words. Not my best work, hopefully I'll get my chapters going faster. Not much to say right now Except please R&R. I need the feedback something fierce. So I know if I should improve in certain spots and stuff. So yeah dropped some bombs on you guys with this. Iruka no longer a teacher, Kakashi stripped of his instructor statues. Hopefully You guys will stick around for the rest. Also Bleach is now officially starting to piss me off. The story is becoming really bland. And you can see the "plot twist" coming a mile away. But whatever thats all for now.

Well See Ya Squall Leonhart Out.