An unusual quiet lay over the village of Konoha. Even the most nocturnal residents slept in anticipation of the coming festivities, for tomorrow marked the eighteenth anniversary of the Yondaime's defeat of the kyuubi, a celebration not only for the villagers, but for the shinobi too- a weekend without missions was always a cause for celebration.
There were a few, however, who did not sleep.
One such was the pink haired kunoichi who looked out her window at the darkened streets. Sakura sighed, almost inaudibly, 'just think, tomorrow would be his birthday, just over two years since he disappeared.'. She remembered that she'd agreed to meet with the others tomorrow, their way of remembering their friend.
Sakura gazed out at the moon, tears glistening in her eyes 'Naruto, what happened to you, why didn't you come back...you promised you'd be there for us...for your precious people.'
Two others sat awake, the lights still shining in the window at the top of the Hokage's tower. The fifth looked at the photo she held, the pain of grief and worry evident on her face, making her look that much closer to her actual age. She sighed, carefully placing the photo of a grinning blonde back in the folder from whence it had come.
"He would be eighteen tomorrow you know" she said to her old friend, the white haired sannin who sat across from her.
"I know...one year since I had any lead on what happened to him"
"Jiraiya...if, as your sources suggest, he was captured by Akatsuki...do you think they..." she trailed off.
"It's very likely...though it pains me to say it...after all, if they hadn't he'd have gotten back to us by now"
"I know...but still, it's so hard to think of him as gone...I feel like I failed them" she said, gesturing towards the wall where the portraits of the third and fourth hung.
"There's nothing we could have done, there was no sign of a struggle, they must have caught him by surprise"
"I know that" she snapped "but still, I can't help but feel..."
Jiraiya cut her off "This sort of self pity won't help protect the village, as far as we know they're still out there, and Naruto would never forgive you if you didn't focus your energy on protecting the village"
Tsunade chuckled "that he wouldn't...still just give me a few minutes, at least tonight, he deserves to be remembered by those who knew him"
"Goodnight old woman"
"Goodnight Ero-sennin"
Jiraiya gave a slight smile at Naruto's old name for him, though kami knew how it had annoyed him at the time. With one last nod to the careworn fifth, he left through the window.
Sasuke looked up from where he slept, and saw Sakura staring out the window, and also saw she was dabbing at her eyes. He knew what she was thinking about, who she was thinking about, after all, he was on all their minds at the moment. Sasuke closed his eyes, remembering that night 'I'd finally done it' he thought ' I'd killed the man I'd sworn to kill, and I thought I could finally die...'
"Sasuke you teme, how could you do this to yourself, nothing was worth this" Sasuke was aware of the words, of Naruto's voice, but he couldn't move or respond. He'd fully activated the curse seal, in order to defeat Itachi, and it had burned away his body and his chakra. The curse had left him, that was true, but as he had known it would, it also left him to die of chakra depletion. So how could he still be alive? He tried to feel his chakra, and sensed something unusual, a chakra not his own. 'Of course' he thought, as he felt the deep red chakra of the kyuubi 'that dobe wouldn't even let me die in peace.’
What he regretted was never being able to thank Naruto; he had disappeared before Sasuke had recovered from his fight. It had brought about a change in Sasuke, he had, albeit slowly, begun to open up, it was his tribute to Naruto that he would live his second chance at a life for himself, the way Naruto had wanted him to live his first. It had been hard, but the village had forgiven him over time, and he'd had help from his friends, most of all from her...
"Sakura, come to bed...there's no use in crying, and I promised you I'll find him"
Sakura gave a sad smile, "you sound just like him 'I'll find Sasuke, I promise you Sakura' "
"And he did"
"Yes he did" she said quietly, as she climbed into bed, next to Sasuke.
One, however, did not yet choose to sleep, a silver haired figure looked out over the village from the cliffs above. He raised his nose to the air, taking in the scent.
"Yes, this is the place. I'll camp here now, and tomorrow I'll do what is needed. One night can't hurt now that I'm this close. Soon though, Konoha will get the biggest shock it's had in many years."
He smiled, the moonlight glinting off his teeth, making him look almost demonic as he stood there, 'yes, after tomorrow, things should really get interesting' he thought 'very interesting indeed'.
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Chapter notes: Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, nor any components of Naruto...more's the pity.
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