Fan Fiction Name: Requiem for the Rokudaime

Chapter Name: Shadows Perspective: Gaara

Info: As all in Konoha gather to pay respects to the Rokudaime Hokage as he takes his place on the Memorial Stone, some people take some time to remember his exploits and his quirks. The Rokudaime is not who you think! Rated T for general cursing.

Disclaimers: Well, I do not own any of Naruto, nor do I own the many characters of these fan fictions, save my own creations. It's sad, but all too true. How I wish I owned them….waaaaaahhhhh!

Requiem for the Rokudaime

Chapter 11

So this is it for you, Hatake Kakashi. Sharingan no Kakashi, the skilled silver haired shinobi who had one of the most powerful kekkai genkai in the village of Konohagakure and Rokudaime Hokage of said village. Aside from the long walk and the disrespect of one of your worst traitors in recent history, it was nothing to come and say goodbye to the man who had been so influential, both directly and indirectly, to the people who have become my friends…my family.

The best example has to be the one person you oh-so-expertly described as "Konohas number one hyperactive knucklehead ninja." I know that it may be odd for someone like me, the former jinchuuruki of Shukaku and the Godaime Kazekage of Sunagakure. However, seeing your effect on the young man who drove me away from the foolish idea that I was to kill all the humans of the world shows me just how influential on him and therefore on me. It's fitting that it was the jinchuuruki…no, that it was the host of the Kyuubi that defeated me, the host of the Shukaku.

I know Naruto hates that word, and I have come to hate it as well. However, I cannot so easily remove it from my vocabulary.

Now as I look upon the stone, upon the many names that have been left on the stone I see before me, and I can hardly believe that I used to relish the killing. I once thought of it as the only way to vindicate myself, to make myself feel truly alive. And yet here I am on the receiving end of the loss inflicted…and I feel strangely crushed. I know that I was always closer to the individual team members of your team, particularly Naruto, rather than you. But, seeing how much you pushed Naruto, how much you were willing to push yourself to higher levels at the expense of your body and life in order to keep those precious alive and safe. It is what makes a Kage a Kage. It has never been how many ninja you have under your fold or how skilled you are at jutsu. It is the honor of being able to take on all those who threaten those around you, especially when those people see you as a true hero. In my case, I was viewed with suspicion when I became the Kazekage. They thought I would use Sunagakure as my blood grounds…but with my time as Kazekage, I proved them wrong.

When Shukaku was taken out of me, many of the thoughts of me slowly began to change to the positive. After all, I was no longer the host of the Desert Priest.

You may not have had something as drastic as the Shukaku, but you had the genius. You were a Jounin by the time most children are Genin. You were a genius without measure, being able to match one of the Akatsuki who had more experience with a power the person in question had. Uchiha Itachi was a man who would have sent most running, especially when they had skills with your very Kekkai Genkai and went beyond what you even had. Yet you matched him, all the way to when he used the Mangekyo Sharingan. But despite your problems with the Sharingan, you were able to match him.

Your fight with Deidara to save me, even when I had shuffled off of the mortal coil, showed me just how much you had influenced Naruto. You were willing to put your own life on the line in order to save mine, even when I had tried to kill students during the battle in which you lost the Sandaime Hokage.

It was the ultimate show of forgiveness.

It is the ultimate sign of strength that you gave your life to save your village, even when it meant you life. It's odd to think that of my team, only I had made it here. Kankuro is too busy trying to find out where the Aburame rival of his is. Temari is too busy trying to find the Nara boy, although from what I had heard from several people here that the Yamanaka girl has been doting over him since he got injured in the battle. I certainly hope that the whole village doesn't fall under the estrogen induced explosion that would happen from those two meeting.

It's in situations like this, when I attempt humor, I expect Shukaku to rear its head and drive me to internally fight to control my own body.

It was strange to sleep. Granted, I still have chronic insomnia but I am able to sleep. In fact, I even dreamed recently. It was odd, but it involved myself when I was younger, but it included several of my new friends, including Naruto and Lee.

Speaking of Lee, he was one of two people who greeted me at the gates. Oddly enough, the other person was a young woman who seemed to be…well…fawning over him. It was strange to see a woman seeming to fawn over the spandex clad ninja. But what seemed oddest was the fact that he…didn't seem to notice.

It's strange that I'm rambling on like I am now. Maybe it's because of your influence that I have become like this. It's odd.

Maybe it's because of you, either directly or indirectly, that I have become a better person.

It is there that I owe you thanks.

END

Also, some notes (or possibly some ramblings, I don't quite know which):

In case some people have noticed, I have been able to come up with some rather authentic Japanese names, despite the fact I suck at Japanese. That is because I draw most of them from another anime: the delightfully twisted and disturbing Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni. Many of the names of my OCs from both "Tales of a would be Jounin" and this story were names drawn from that show. For example, Keiichi, the name of one of Irukas teammates that I created for Tales, is the name the shows main character. Sonozaki, Keiichis last name, is the last name of Mion and Shion (another name I used in "Tales"), two large characters from that show as well. If you watch it (which I suggest all reading to do) you'll find many more names that I used.

Now, I know all I said about the Uzumaki is all made up. But, there are some things that I have noticed that may have been overlooked by others. One thing is the lack of blonde-haired, blue-eyed characters in the show, the Fourth Hokage being one. Well, after looking over some pictures of Yamanaka Inoichi, I came to a startling conclusion: he shared many physical characteristics of the Fourth himself (Translation: they look a LOT alike). Well, I really didn't want to make the Yondaime part of the Yamanakas (Way too much power for a relatively minor clan), but then I remembered Uzumaki. It was from there that I came up with the blond haired, blue eyed Uzumakis, a clan that shared some traits with the Yondaime but were a separate clan altogether. Two: the meaning of Naruto. Maelstrom. Another word for storm. Combining that with Narutos knack for wind jutsus, I came up with a single coherent vision of the now defunct Uzumaki clan, combining the traits he has (large chakra coils even without the Kyuubi, knack for wind, and blond hair and blue eyes like the Yamanakas themselves) with some creative twists of my own (i.e. Narutos name).

Now, Orochimaru just screams jinchuuruki to me. The snake like look, the love of snakes, and so forth tell me that he is much like Naruto and Gaara. However, the body transferring proved problematic: if he kept changing bodies, the Biju would have to keep being resealed, which would mean the standard seal wouldn't do. But then I remembered that the seals could be different from person to person. After all, with Gaaras seals being so weak the Shukaku could effect him is a far cry from Narutos, so there was room for messing with the seals, allowing the two (Orochimaru and the Hachibi) to be far more uniform then the other jinchuuruki. As for who sealed Hachibi to Orochimaru…well, that's a subject for another day.

I know Gai seemed extremely OOC for his chapter, but with it I touch on a common theme for Naruto: Loneliness. Many of the characters in Naruto known for their odd behavior and quirks often have them developed to stave off the loneliness of being isolated from others. From Narutos nearly inexhaustible cheerfulness to Rock Lees relationship with Gai himself, many of the characters have their own ways to deal with the crushing loneliness. Now, in Gais case, his relationship with Kakashi has never really been fleshed out beyond the rather one-sided rivalry between the two. However, seeing just how much Gai would do for Kakashi when he lost conciousness during the Rescue Gaara arc led to me the possibility that they had been extremely close to one another in the past that would have Gai forget about their stupid rivalry and help him. Seeing Gais odd behavior and the fact that Kakashi didn't seem to care afterwards, makes me see the possibility of loneliness being at the heart of Gais…umm…"delightful eccentricity."

Now, I am working on not one, but three fics at the time dealing with Naruto. Two are currently now on and in progress: one dealing with Naruto pre-two year jump (The Gathering Storm) and the other a future fic (Legends of the Past). I like them, because they allow the creation of new characters that can easily fit into the story of Naruto as a whole, not jammed ham-fistedly in.

The third, which is in the brainstorm phase, is an AU fic that draws upon ideas laid out in the "Guardians of the Flame" series of books. If anyone has ever read them, or if anyone reading has much experience with fantasy role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons, will see many similarities. Others, well, will just have to hop on and enjoy the ride. It'll certainly be interesting, that's for sure.

And for the stats of Requiem:

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Once again, thanks all for reading, and thanks for the feedback with my additions!