"I DO NOT OWN NARUTO, OR EVEN A MOPED FOR THAT MATTER"
AFTERMATH
It was a strange occurrence when all the clan heads along with their children were summoned by the Hokage on such a short notice. Many had been enjoying breakfast or a morning training session when the ANBU had shunshin-ed in front of them informing that they along with the future clan heads had been summoned by the Hokage immediately. This was the reason that confused each of the clan heads as they sat on their respective chairs in the council room. Another fact that confused them was the lack of the civilian council and the Hokage's advisors in the room.
As Sarutobi entered, he was followed by his usual ANBU guard and surprisingly, Hatake Kakashi, the prodigious ANBU captain. The Hokage proceeded to preside over the meeting informing them about the death of a certain individual. Sarutobi requested Kakashi to continue providing the information as Sarutobi held an angry, but still a heartbroken expression.
"I at 7:30 AM today morning had discovered the corpse of a certain individual in the east side of the village. The corpse is currently kept in the morgue and that is one of the reason we have gathered here today. That corpse is of Naruto Uzumaki. As the Thirds law no longer holds, I am taking upon myself to inform the future clan heads why the death of Naruto Uzumaki is of national importance. As you may know that the Kyuubi had attacked our village 12 years ago. The Fourth had sacrificed his own life to 'kill' the Kyuubi to bring peace upon Konoha. This is not the truth. The Kyuubi was a being of pure Chakra could not be killed. So it was sealed in Naruto to protect the village making him a Jinchuriki in the process. The Fourth, Minato Namikaze, had sealed the Kyuubi into his son Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze with the help of Kushina Uzumaki, his wife and Naruto's mother. Now getting to the point, Naruto had reportedly committed suicide due to extreme emotional trauma. The reason why you have been called here is to firstly vote FOR or AGAINST an autopsy as Naruto was the last of two of the most respected and feared clans of Konoha holding not only the Kyuubi's powers of enhanced healing and endless fire natured chakra, but also the Fourth's genes his lightening and wind chakra and his mother's clan bloodline the Rinnengan along with extreme sealing knowledge and water chakra affinity. Secondly we have to decide on the funeral method which has to be performed in front of the village. We also have to decide on the clan inheritance which is of both monetary as well as literary value. Lastly we have a request to help find the reason of Naruto's extreme breakdown because he happened to be all fine two days ago." Kakashi said in an almost emotionless voice while looking out of the window, looking at the Hokage Mountain which was hardly visible in the rain, which was washing away Naruto's last act of passage.
Kakashi's final act in the meeting was to lay down Naruto's letter on the table for everyone to read and left the Hokage Tower, surprisingly through the doors. As he left, almost all the future clan heads had shock on their faces. The one's that did not were Shikamaru who always had a logical approach and had long ago deducted that Naruto was the Fourth's son. Second was surprisingly Kiba. He due to the famous Inuzuka nose had always found Naruto foxy, so the news of a fox demon being sealed into Naruto was not surprising to him at all. Lastly it was Shino, who was informed by his Kikaichu about Naruto's demonic chakra signature, and he never held any prejudice against him because if Naruto was a demon then everyone of the Aburume was nothing but bugs themselves. The only emotion he showed was a bit of seething resentment towards the villagers and their hypocrisy of respecting the Aburume but resenting Naruto to the limit which lead to his demise.
Hiashi Hyuuga was the one who read the letter left by Kakashi. Behind him was Hinata, who surprisingly had not broken-down on the news of Naruto's passing. He believed it was between the fear of her father's anger and the resolve to not weaken for her crush that had lead to her blank face at least in front of the council. Hiashi started reading aloud-
Dear who ever has cared to read this note,
This note is my final act in this world. I do not know if this note will be read by anyone or not so I am painting the HOKAGE MOUNTAIN to be my act of passage. But in case if someone is reading this then please do not feel sorry for me (if you are feeling sorry). This was how my life was meant to be. I ask you, do not punish me with your hardthoughts and pity. Let any gentle wishes go with me to mytrial as I living have no one worth living for. If dead, I shall not hurt anyone, because I have no one to lament me, I will not cause theworld any injury, because in it I have nothing. I only fill up a place in this world, which may be occupied by someone betterwho has a reason to live when I have made it empty.
Hiashi finished reading the letter and looked around. The adults were calm and calculative, even the brash Tsume had kept silent as a sign of respect towards the 12 year old who had never known love a day in his life, the person who probably held the noblest of blood but still lived like a pauper, the child whose mother, Kushina, who was the most loyal and cheerful person was called a nameless whore and whose father, who saved the lives of the whole village was called a worthless drunk, the boy who had no control of the situation, whose faith was sealed mere minutes after he was born. But the children were a totally different story altogether. They all had left the room together, everyone heading a different direction, everyone of them having a different emotion in their hearts and everyone holding the same emotionless face as they retreated in the heavy rain which not only hid their droopy bodies but also hid their emotions as their tears mixed with the rain water, all of them desperate not to let anyone peek into their souls through their eyes.
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The council had decided against an autopsy. They believed that Naruto at least deserved a funeral without a body which had not been mutilated any further, he at least commanded the respect and opportunity of passing without any more pain that he had already had suffered. But this was not to be. The news of his passing had spread like wildfire where the civilians and the shinobi who had lost their loved ones in the Kyuubi attack demanding an un-honorary funeral of not being given the opportunity to be neither being cremated nor being buried. They wanted to take his body and rally it around the village while celebrating the death of the 'DEMON' in a weeklong festival and merry making along with having the chance to spit on the life less 'DEMON' for all the 'PROBLEMS' it had caused. Succumbing to the pressure of the civilian council, the Hokage had no choice but to agree provided all the Clan heads guarded to glass coffin which was to be on display at the village centre while the 'FESTIVITIES' would be going on.
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Konoha had not seen a festival as big as this one since the Fourth had taken up the role of the Hokage, he being the hero of the Third Shinobi War was the strong, young and sentimental leader the village was looking for. This festival marked the end of the task The Fourth had started twelve years ago and the village would celebrate in his name if not for anything else.
Various food stalls were present, along with games but the main 'attraction' was the glass box which was on display showing the dead body of a twelve year old child as if it were a circus animal. They villagers would laugh at it, snicker at it, throw abuses at it even a few daring ones tried to enter the barricade to spit and urinate at the glass box for their own sick pleasure. They would have been successful too had it not been for the vigilance of the Clan heads and the various ANBU who had been mature enough to be able to differentiate between the jail and the prisoner. They understood the fact that harming and breaking the jail would only lead to the escape of the prisoner and they appreciated that even in his death Naruto had managed to keep the Kyuubi from attacking the village, which he very well could have ignored, just for the sake of revenge.
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Kakashi walked through the village utterly disgusted. He refused to believe that this village was the same village Obito, Rin and Minato had given their lives to save. He refused to believe that that this was the same village he had sworn to protect, that it was the same village that thrived on team work and friendship and whose main belief was the so called 'WILL OF FIRE'. He reached the memorial stone near training ground 7 and stood in front of it staring at the three names which were the most important to him. He being a seasoned ninja, was unable to show any emotions, whether they were eating him on the inside or not. He simply stood in front of the stone and kept staring at it. He then slowly uncovered his Sharingan eye, took a kunai and etched another name on the stone- Naruto Uzumaki- Namikaze below the names of his parents while his sharingan memorized the scene thoroughly so that he could relive the scene of his failure over and over again. He finally took off his Hitai-ate and gently placed it on the foot of the memorial, giving up the life of the ninja so that he could finally break down to his knees and cry his heart out, not giving a damn about the consequences of his act as Naruto deserved to have his name on the memorial and he at least deserved to have his heritage proudly attached to his name after all the village had called him- orphan, homeless and unwanted bastard.
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We see a lone figure sitting on the academy swing in the twilight. This time, the time of the dusk was the hour of the defeated. The figure was sitting with both their legs across the swing and both their hand grasping one chain with their forehead resting on the hands that were grasping the chain. If someone had not known better, they would have instantly claimed it to be Naruto sitting on his usual swing while he looked at the happy faces of the rest of the academy students. Thos figure wasn't Naruto, but was a certain Hinata Hyuuga. She was sobbing in her arms, trying to remember all of Naruto's antics at the academy, the only place she was able to meet him and the only place he would find friends. She visibly flinched when she thought of friends and berated herself for not being brave enough to be one. As she sat there alone, drowning in sadness and apathy, she felt heartbroken. She was weak, period. Maybe had she been strong enough to confess her feelings, maybe , just maybe, Naruto would not have felt so alone and would be with her, flashing his foxy grin which lit Hinata's way even in the darkest hours and gave her strength to believe in herself when nobody but Naruto did. She was lost without him and she wasn't sure if she would be ever able to find her way back through the shadows.
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Sasuke was in his clan training grounds. He stood by the pincushions, er training dummies, seething with anger. The class dobe had again showed him up. Though he was an Uchiha, even Sasuke couldn't deny the potential power the Kyuubi could have granted Naruto, the power which he deserved, not the dead last. As Sasuke was standing by the dummies he started to remember all the times Naruto had saved him from his fangirls/stalkers. His sheer presence was good enough to deter any people from coming near them, which Sasuke exploited very well. This was the start of the only friendship Sasuke had and now it was gone and it was the entire villager's fault. Naruto, his brother and best friend had chosen to take his own life, showing that even in death Naruto,, the pauper and pariah was still proud enough not to ask for help. Sasuke was in grief because he had lost his rival, he had lost the only person who could see Sasuke as himself and not some Uchiha royalty which he had been asked to play. He felt betrayed that Naruto had left him without making him stronger as he had promised and had sworn to be a loyalist like Naruto until his last breath left his body and even after. He slowly left the compounds and entered the paint store to buy a few cans of water soluble paint and set towards the Hokage Tower, promising that he would live as Naruto would have liked him to- having fun, learning, playing and protecting his precious people, and Sasuke was about to prove that even though Naruto was gone, the happiness from Konoha would not until Sasuke lived by Naruto's name.
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The other blonde of The Rookie 9 was in her purple room, crying silently trying to go to sleep but failing miserably. She being a Yamanaka of truest blood had endless curiosity. She due to this had done a forbidden task, using her mind transfer technique on a corpse. The problem in doing so was the fact that due to any lack of protection of the dead against mental intrusion, all, every memory, whether good, bad, filthy or black the memory was, all of them would be 100% exposed. When this happened, Ino started to live Naruto's life in her mind, all his life events were relived, only him exchanged with her. She felt pity on herself when she felt Naruto's life to all its miserable extent. She wanted to curl up and die every tenth second of the sheer pain she had to go through. But something clicked in her, she did not live that life. The mental backlash was so strong that she had developed a minor MPD, only to realize that Naruto had faced the all with his million dollar smile always on his face, which faltered only once in his life, and that was the end of the line. Ino started hating herself more and more every second as she vividly remembered memories of her bullying Naruto, throwing away his food on the floor when he barely had any, making a laughing stock of him. She hated herself enough to be ready to give up her own life just to be able to apologise to Naruto, no, that wasn't enough. She pledged to herself that no matter what happens she would lay orange flowers on his grave everyday she was in the village almost like Kakashi pledged at the memorial stone. She hoped that propitiation would help her get over the guilt she had towards Naruto and the hatred she had towards herself. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Shikamaru, the pineapple haired genius had never been so confused his entire life. Being confused was the only thing he hated enough to work hard to get it away with. He was confused as to how Naruto survived for so long while anyone as great as they might be would have succumbed long ago and also the fact that if he had survived this long, why would he break so suddenly. Normally emotional trauma keeps a steady build up until complete breakdown. But what intrigued Shikamaru the most was the fact that there was a complete absence of the tell tale signs of emotional breakdown and depression when Naruto was concerned. Naruto was always happy, always motivated himself and always brought the best out of everybody. These qualities were never associated with one going through any sort of trauma but his predicament and letter said otherwise in any case. Shika considered himself a failure for the first time in his life, as this was the only one time he was unable to comprehend what was about to happen and prevent the worst and that this would surely be the last time this happens as he knew that after Naruto, no one could be unpredictable to him. Shikamaru simply got up from the ground where he lay watching the clouds, taking a kunai and his jacket he tied them to the tree branch saying that he would return here and claim them back only when he would be able to get to the heart of this situation, no matter how long it would take.
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Choji was sitting at Icharaku's, swirling the noodles around in his bowl of ramen. He was not eating at all, the most unusual thing an Akimichi could do. He suddenly looked up from the bowl and quickly asked where Teuchi was. Ayame who was manning the stand was taken aback from the question, and simply answered that her father was running a high fever since he heard the news about Naruto. Choiji being himself gave her a grateful smile saying that Teuchi, being so close, almost a father to Naruto, was bound to get himself sick with sadness and concern. Ayame visibly flinched at this statement as she knew that they were partly responsible for Naruto's current predicament. They of all people knew how fragile Naruto truly was, he never had a secret from them. They were the closest thing he had to a family, where he wouldn't feel any debt on himself on taking any help. She knew that their harsh words would hurt Naruto ten times than the words of the villagers and they debt he felt when he was called a freeloader had ultimately crushed him, it had been too much for him to shoulder. Choji had always been good friends with Naruto, they never discriminated against each other, but Choji was too scared of ever standing up for himself, let alone for anyone else. He felt despair washing over himself as he was unable to help a friend who had helped him so many times, he felt lonely that Naruto was gone, he felt scared on thinking about the cause that could break a strong person like Naruto.
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Shino was sitting on a tree, in the Forest of Death; he being an Aburume had special permission to be able to access all the wildlife in and around Konoha. He wanted to be secluded for the time being. It was true that he wasn't emotional; it was also true that he wasn't heartless. Shino blamed the villagers, period. He did not know Naruto very well, but he knew better than to discriminate against him because the villagers did so. The respect he had for the always cheerful, positive and optimistic Naruto only skyrocketed after he got to know the news about the Kyuubi. He in a way was jealous of Naruto. The Aburume were known as the human hives. They being a clan in Konoha, and a very loyal one at that, were discriminated by the civilians because of their clan techniques, so it was not a shock that they were always reserved and quiet in public not wanting to be a subject to their scrutiny but Naruto was different. Naruto wanted to be in the public eye, he wanted the people to know and recognize him. This was the reason of his jealousy, he wanted to have the strength Naruto possessed and maybe hope that he could one day overcome his inhibitions and become more like Naruto in that respect.
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Kiba Inuzuka was not being loud mouthed as ever. The Inuzuka have a weird tradition of respect. If the 'ALPHA' respected someone, the whole pack would blindly give their respect to that person no matter whom they are. Kiba was always neutral towards Naruto. He used to call him dobe as well as help him in pranks. When Tsume, his mother, and the 'ALPHA' returned from the council meeting and gathered the clan together to announce that no matter what happens, the Inuzuka would hold the sacrifices of Naruto Uzumaki of the highest regard and that the Inuzuka would help guard his grave for as long as their pride lies in their clan. This was the gesture of utmost respect earned only by the First, Second and Fourth Hokages, along with 'WHITE FANG' Hatake. After the announcement of both the S-Class secrets, the clan was not shocked at the gesture of respect but was shocked at the fact that Naruto was practically royalty and still lived like a beggar all his life, avoiding punishments for the crimes he did not even commit. This was what roused a feeling of admiration in Kiba. In a rare moment of intelligence, he understood that the resent for the Kyuubi was the reason why he was probably sabotaged in every aspect of his life. This made him feel bad for calling Naruto things like shrimp, dead last or ramen-freak. His thoughts were broken by cheers of approval from the clan members and his became the loudest voice in carrying out this Inuzuka tradition.
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Sakura could not understand why a festival was being held in Konoha. She being a bookworm had known the dates of all the festivals held that were held in the village in chronological order. She paid no attention to the minor detail as a festival meant an opportunity to get a date with Sasuke. As she got ready and entered the living room to inform her mother of her plan for the day, she saw her mother crying over a picture of her father. When she asked for the reason she was informed that her father had finally got justice. His murderer was finally punished. Both the females shared a hug and a few tears of joy at the news. Sakura was also informed that all civilians were to present at the festival site for an important announcement which was to be made by the Hokage. This news meant that she had to wait before she could get a date from Sasuke.
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As the night approached, all the civilians slowly reached the festival site. When Sakura reached the site hoping to maybe see the rest of the Rookie 9 there joining the festival, she was met with only a huge podium. As the citizens waited patiently for the Hokage to arrive, Sakura saw most of the elders having a mild idea about the announcement, the shinobi knowing more than the civilians.
The Hokage reached the podium and slowly started his announcement, similar to how Kakashi has said:
"As you may know that the Kyuubi had attacked our village 12 years ago. The Fourth had sacrificed his own life to 'kill' the Kyuubi to bring peace upon Konoha. This is not the truth. The Kyuubi was a being of pure Chakra could not be Fourth, Minato Namikaze, had sealed the Kyuubi into a new born baby. The baby, as many of the adults know and a few of you youngsters may recognize goes by the name of Naruto Uzumaki. This festival is to celebrate the death of this innocent boy who never did anything to harm the villagers but still felt their hatred every day until he broke down yesterday committing suicide in the early hours of the morning. Before you hall start saying that his death was not of any consequence as he probably was a bastard and an orphan I will have you informed that you directed all your hatred towards your beloved Fourth's legacy. Yes, that is true; the Kyuubi brat's full name was Naruto Uzumaki- Namikaze, son of the Fourth Hokage. Now that you have refused to let a hero have a peaceful passage to the next world, I present to you on display the body of the so called 'DEMON' and I bid the festivities a go." Sarcasm and repulsion lacing every word Sarutobi spoke, as he quickly left.
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Sakura was shell shocked. After hearing to what Sarutobi said she was not convinced and thought maybe she was confusing Naruto with someone else. But when she saw the corpse in the glass box she could feel the bile rising to her mouth. While the others who looked at the boy in glee others with regret, she only looked at it in disbelief. Sakura could not believe she was seeing the hyperactive boy who couldn't sit still in glass lay unmoving. His usual tan skin was pale and colourless; his happy face was emotionless and tired. Sakura, though she never even liked the boy hadto fight back tears which were threatening to leave her eyes. She never acknowledged the boy while he was alive, and now that he was dead she couldn't help but instantly miss his constant positivity, his constant encouragement and his constant compliments he always had towards her. She was never close to Naruto and borderline hated him, but still he was a classmate who had faced the worst life could cater to him with a smile until he finally could no longer keep it up. Sakura couldn't help but feel that she too was responsible and could only hold regret in her heart.
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TIMESKIP 1 YEAR LATER:
The rookie 8 was sitting in the academy while waiting for their graduation tests to start. They were no longer taught by Umino Iruka who had quit his teaching job describing failure to recognize which was more important- a depressed lonely boy or a 2 hour long endorphin high. Teaching was taken up by retired jounin Kakashi Hatake who taught the students the importance of friendship. This wasn't the only thing that changed. Sasuke became much less broody and even shared jokes with his class mates losing all superiority complexes he had. Shino became very social especially with Sasuke, whom he was best friends with. Kiba became a little more restrained but still remained haughty and impulsive. Hinata who now accepted Kiba's advances had come out of her shy shell and was presently a competitor of Kunoichi No-1 for the year, after she worked with her self confidence and skills. Ino was well out of her fan girl days and took training seriously; she was totally over her crush for Sasuke and had become the softest spoken and caring person in class. She still kept her promise of delivering flowers every morning to Naruto before thanking him for inspiration to train before heading out to do the same. Shika had become the most motivated person ever, actively taking part in all assignments and showing that he was a genius even by Nara standards. Choji too, much like Hinata kept his caring and loving self but traded fear for confidence and was considered the true power house brawler of the class. Finally Sakura had started working way harder. Though she kept her crush for Sasuke, her advances changed from doting love-sick to an occasional and curt invitation to lunch which, more often than once was accepted. Sasuke would not accept this but he was now starting to develop a liking towards the bubblegum haired kunoichi.
Even after his death, Naruto continued to inspire and change the people for the better. He still instilled confidence in the shy; his never say die attitude promoted a sense of hard work and taught people to never give up. He even taught that having fun isn't a bad thing and that it could really help overcome your weaknesses through the help of friends and comrades. Finally he taught the fact everybody needs help no matter how great they may be and the fact that emotions do not make a person weak but that sense of always having a hand on your shoulder for support and as reassurance actually makes one stronger than ever.
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Hey guys it's me again. I really did not plan on writing this story but i did so as a token of thanks towards shikasgirl10 who happened to be the first reviewer of my first story and also the person who nudged me to continue writing from "UNWANTED"'s storyline.
Again I do not know how many of you shall read this but those who do please R&R, as even a single review is highly appreciated but a hobbyist writer like me.