Konoha was silent.
Not quiet.
Silent.
There was a difference.
A quiet village still breathed.
Doors opened.
Merchants argued.
Children laughed.
Shinobi landed on rooftops.
Somewhere, someone complained about paperwork.
Today—
Nothing.
Thousands of people stood beneath a blue sky dressed in black.
Civilians.
Shinobi.
Clan heads.
Academy students.
Shopkeepers.
Men and women still wrapped in bandages from the invasion.
Entire families stood together.
No one spoke above a whisper.
At the front of them all stood a portrait of Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The Third Hokage.
The old man who sat behind that enormous desk while Naruto screamed about something stupid.
The old man who'd chased him off the Hokage Monument.
The old man who somehow always knew when Naruto was lying.
The old man who'd bought him ramen.
The old man who had sat beside him when nobody else did.
Naruto looked away.
He wore black.
For once, his clothes weren't loud.
No orange.
No bright colors.
Even the Sage earrings he'd won from the System seemed subdued against the dark fabric.
He hadn't opened the System once today.
He didn't want to.
Today wasn't about levels.
Or stats.
Or quests.
Today was about saying goodbye.
Around him stood nearly everyone Naruto knew.
Kakashi was silent.
Gai wasn't shouting.
Kurenai stood with her hands folded in front of her.
Iruka's eyes were red.
Even Ibiki looked somehow more severe than usual.
Then there was Asuma.
Naruto had seen the man smoke plenty of times.
Today was different.
One cigarette burned between his fingers.
Another waited behind his ear.
The one in his mouth was already nearly finished.
Asuma took a long drag.
Exhaled.
Immediately took another.
The smoke curled around his face before disappearing into the gray sky.
Shikamaru stood beside him.
Normally he'd be waving it away.
Complaining.
Calling it troublesome.
Today—
Nothing.
He simply stood there.
Hands in his pockets.
Eyes forward.
Completely unbothered by the smoke drifting across his face.
Asuma dropped the cigarette.
Crushed it beneath his sandal.
For several seconds he stared at the remains.
Then reached behind his ear.
Shikamaru spoke without looking at him.
"That's your fourth."
Asuma paused.
"Fifth."
"...Oh."
The lighter clicked.
Shikamaru didn't say anything else.
Neither did Asuma.
Naruto looked away.
Hiruzen hadn't just been his old man.
He'd been Asuma's father.
Somehow Naruto hadn't really thought about that until now.
A quiet sniff came from nearby.
Then another.
Naruto turned.
Konohamaru was falling apart.
There wasn't any other way to describe it.
Moegi stood on one side of him.
Udon stood on the other.
Neither knew what to do.
Konohamaru's shoulders shook.
His eyes were swollen.
Tears streamed down his cheeks faster than he could wipe them away.
He tried.
Again.
Again.
Eventually he gave up.
Naruto watched him.
Something tightened inside his chest.
He knew that feeling.
He'd spent three days learning it.
The weird part was that Naruto had always thought crying eventually made you run out.
Apparently that was bullshit as tears streamed down his face as well.
Naruto stepped away from his place.
He walked over.
Konohamaru saw him coming and immediately wiped his face.
"I'm fine."
Naruto stopped.
"...You look like shit."
Moegi's mouth fell open.
"Naruto!"
"What?"
"You're at a funeral!"
"I know!"
"Then don't say that!"
Konohamaru made a sound.
Tiny.
Almost a laugh.
Naruto caught it.
So did Moegi.
Naruto crouched beside him.
Konohamaru stared at the ground.
"Boss..."
"Yeah?"
"Grandpa's really gone."
There wasn't anything Naruto could say to that.
So he didn't lie.
"Yeah."
Konohamaru's face crumpled again.
Naruto placed a hand on his head.
For a while—
They stayed like that.
Then Konohamaru whispered.
"I wasn't there."
Naruto frowned.
"What?"
"When it happened."
His fists clenched.
"I wasn't there."
"Konohamaru—"
"I should've been!"
His voice cracked.
Moegi flinched.
Udon looked down.
"I should've done something! I'm his grandson! I should've—"
"Done what?"
Konohamaru stopped.
Naruto looked directly at him.
"What were you gonna do?"
"I..."
"Punch Orochimaru?"
Konohamaru's mouth opened.
"Throw a kunai at him?"
Silence.
"Sexy Jutsu?"
Moegi stared at Naruto in horror.
Udon pushed his glasses up.
"...Would that work?"
"No idea."
Konohamaru choked.
Then laughed.
Once.
It immediately turned into another sob.
Naruto pulled him against his chest.
Konohamaru grabbed the front of Naruto's clothes.
"I'm gonna miss him."
Naruto closed his eyes.
"Me too."
"He was always working."
"Yeah."
"He never had time."
"Yeah."
"He'd tell me later."
Naruto swallowed.
"Yeah."
Konohamaru cried harder.
Naruto held him.
He didn't tell him to stop.
Didn't tell him everything would be okay.
Didn't tell him Hiruzen was somewhere better.
Naruto didn't know any of that.
Instead—
"He was proud of you."
Konohamaru froze.
Naruto remembered that hospital bed.
That weak smile.
Those final words.
He tightened his hand on Konohamaru's shoulder.
"Your grandpa loved this village more than anything."
Konohamaru sniffed.
Naruto smiled.
"But you know what?"
"What?"
"He was also kind of an idiot."
Konohamaru stared at him.
Moegi gasped again.
Naruto ignored her.
"Seriously. He let me paint the Hokage Monument like six times."
"He didn't let you!"
"He never stopped me."
"He sent ANBU after you!"
"Not enough ANBU."
Konohamaru's lips twitched.
Naruto continued.
"He'd pretend he was mad, then lecture me for three hours."
"You deserved it."
"Traitor."
Another tiny smile.
There.
Naruto saw it.
So he kept going.
"Besides..."
Naruto stood.
He put both hands behind his head.
"You can't stay like this forever."
Konohamaru wiped his nose.
"Why?"
"Because somebody has to become the Sixth Hokage."
Konohamaru blinked.
"The Sixth?"
"Obviously."
Naruto pointed at himself.
"I'm Fifth."
Despite everything—
Konohamaru's face twisted in outrage.
"NO YOU'RE NOT!"
Several people turned.
Naruto grinned.
"Already called it."
"You can't call Hokage!"
"Just did."
"THEN I'LL BE FIFTH!"
"Nope."
"YOU'RE ONLY A CHŪNIN!"
"An awesome chūnin."
"THAT DOESN'T—"
Moegi grabbed Konohamaru.
"Quiet!"
Konohamaru remembered where he was.
His face went red.
"S-sorry."
Naruto covered his mouth.
His shoulders shook.
Konohamaru glared.
Then—
He started laughing too.
Quietly.
Tears were still on his face.
They didn't disappear.
The pain didn't disappear either.
But for a few seconds—
Konohamaru Sarutobi smiled at his grandfather's funeral.
Naruto thought Hiruzen would've liked that.
PING
+2 Charisma
The ceremony began.
Naruto returned to his place.
Words were spoken about the Third Hokage.
His service.
His sacrifice.
His decades protecting Konoha.
His time as a student of the Second.
His two reigns as Hokage.
The wars he'd survived.
The generations he'd taught.
Naruto listened.
But those weren't the things he remembered.
He remembered an allowance.
Naruto's lips trembled.
He remembered paint.
He remembered ramen.
The old man complaining about the bill while Naruto ordered extra pork.
He remembered a swing.
An old man who hadn't asked any questions.
He'd simply sat down beside a lonely boy.
Naruto looked at the portrait.
The Professor.
The God of Shinobi.
The Third Hokage.
Those titles meant something to everyone else.
To Naruto—
He'd just been Grandpa.
Not by blood.
Maybe that didn't matter as much as Naruto used to think.
One by one, people stepped forward.
Flowers accumulated.
White against black.
Naruto eventually found himself standing before the portrait.
He didn't know what he was supposed to say.
He'd already said goodbye.
Hiruzen had heard him.
That mattered.
Naruto placed his flower down.
His hand lingered.
Then he smiled.
Small.
Real.
"I'll keep my promise. That's my shinobi way."
The wind carried the words away.
Naruto stepped back.
Hours later—
The crowds finally began to disperse.
Nobody rushed.
Families walked home together.
Shinobi quietly returned to their duties.
Konoha remained wounded.
Buildings were still damaged.
The hospital was still overflowing.
There were still prisoners to process.
Walls to rebuild.
Names to carve into stone.
But the village moved.
Slowly.
Painfully.
It moved.
Naruto stood beneath a tree overlooking the dispersing crowd.
Konohamaru was leaving with Moegi and Udon.
The kid still looked miserable.
But he was talking.
That was something.
"Naruto."
He turned.
Jiraiya stood behind him.
For once—
The Sannin looked his age.
Maybe older.
Naruto hadn't really noticed before.
There were lines around his eyes.
His shoulders sagged slightly.
Hiruzen hadn't only been his Hokage.
He'd been his teacher.
"You okay, Pervy Sage?"
Jiraiya snorted.
"You're asking me?"
"Yeah."
"Shouldn't I be asking you?"
"I asked first."
Jiraiya looked toward Hiruzen's memorial.
A long moment passed.
"No."
Naruto nodded.
"Me neither."
That was enough.
They stood together.
Then Jiraiya sighed.
"Get some rest this week."
Naruto glanced at him.
"Why?"
"Because we're leaving."
Naruto blinked.
"We?"
"You and me."
"Where?"
"Out of the village."
Naruto immediately became suspicious.
"Why?"
Jiraiya folded his arms.
"We need to find someone."
"Who?"
"Someone Konoha needs."
Naruto frowned.
That told him absolutely nothing.
"Why do I have to come?"
"Because you're my student."
"You barely teach me!"
Jiraiya's eyebrow twitched.
"I taught you plenty."
"You threw me off a cliff!"
"And you learned!"
"I ALMOST DIED!"
"Motivation."
Naruto stared at him.
Jiraiya stared back.
"...I hate your teaching methods."
"They're highly effective."
"They're attempted murder."
"Semantics."
Naruto sighed.
"When?"
"Next week."
That caught his attention.
A week.
Outside Konoha.
A trip with one of the Legendary Sannin.
And they were searching for someone important enough that Jiraiya thought Konoha needed them.
Naruto's Intelligence immediately began producing candidates.
A shinobi.
Someone powerful.
Someone connected to Konoha.
Someone Jiraiya personally knew how to find.
Naruto's eyes narrowed.
"Who are we looking for?"
Jiraiya smiled.
"My old teammate. The only sannin you've yet to meet."
PING
A Rank Mission Quest Received - Konoha's Future
Objective: Convince Tsunade Senju to return to the village with Jiraiya and yourself.
Rewards:
+3 To all Stats except luck!
+1 Luck
+2 Medium Skill Experience Packs
+9 Free Lottery Rolls
+120 System Points
Hidden Objectives available!
Naruto's eyes briefly glossed over scanning the quest
"Pack light, bring sealing supplies."
Naruto stopped.
Jiraiya's smile widened slightly.
That got him.
"...How much?"
"A lot."
Naruto's irritation disappeared.
Now he was interested.
Jiraiya turned away.
"One week, brat."
Naruto watched him leave.
Behind him rested the grave of the Third Hokage.
Ahead—
Something new waited.
Naruto touched one of the strange black earrings hanging from his ears.
A journey.
A search.
Training.
And apparently—
A lot of Fūinjutsu.
For the first time since the invasion, Naruto found himself genuinely looking forward to tomorrow.
Name: Naruto Uzumaki
Village: Konohagakure
Rank: Chunin
Stats
Strength: 132
Agility: 156
Endurance: 151 (+40%)
Intelligence: 146
Charisma: 100
Luck: 15
System Points: 325