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"We demand he be demoted! His team not only failed their mission, but lost three members! If he weren't your friend you'd..."
"I'm not refusing only because he's a friend. So he failed a mission? So what? How many missions have you failed? His record is still better than all of yours. It only had a forty percent chance of success anyway! And yes, he lost members of his team, but he acted as anyone would have. He grieves for them. He's responsible for their deaths as team leader, but he doesn't deserve damnation for it," Konohamaru argued.
"Lord Hokage your emotions are clouding your judgment. This petition to have him thrown out of the shinobi corps has three hundred signatures. We plead that you review our case more carefully. Surely, if so many people agree, we must be right."
"Your prejudice is clouding your judgment. I realize you all feel strongly about this, but more than half these signatures are from civilians."
"The civilian council has unanimously called for his demotion, if not his banishment/resignation. The civilian council has say in shinobi affairs, especially when the shinobi in question endangers all the civilians in this village, and the team mission was to protect a civilian caravan. At least demote him, Lord Hokage. We worry for our wellbeing and I know your late grandfather's advisors agree with us."
Konohamaru sighed and rubbed his temples. "Fine. I agree to more carefully evaluate your petition."
"That's all we ask, Lord Hokage. Our sincere thanks."
The door opened and Naruto walked in. The crowd sneered at him, but he said nothing.
"Naruto Uzumaki, you've been," he paused, choking on his words. He felt horrible. Naruto was the better shinobi, better leader, better person. Was this how his grandfather had felt when he demoted the White Fang? "Temporarily demoted until all influencing parties agree you've reached jounin rank. You'll need to retake the jounin exams in seven months. As for your genin team, they'll be transferred to another available jounin. Furthermore..." he noticed the exact moment when Naruto's eyes glazed over, and he knew he'd stopped listening, but Konohamaru kept talking and talking, because if he stopped, he knew the others would take the time to gloat, and Naruto would grin and he'd take the time to prank the village some more. "That is the final decision of the sixth Hokage."
Naruto nodded. "I accept your decision, Lord Hokage. If I may, I'd like to request—"
"You get no requests!"
"—a genjutsu specialist to replace me as my team's jounin instructor. They need more practice with genjutsu, since it's my worst area." He opened his kunai pouch (everyone but Konohamaru tensed) and drew out a small scroll. "I've prepared a report of their individual and team strengths and weaknesses and some other useful notes for their new teacher. I also feel they're ready to take the next chunin exams, allowing their new instructor agrees."
Konohamaru nodded. "As a chunin, you won't be able to take your usual A-ranked missions and as a probationary shinobi you won't be able to take missions outside the village alone, but..."
"Okay Konohamaru. It's okay." Naruto smiled at him, a small, real smile full of emotion he couldn't recognize, and Knonohamaru tried not to feel crushed under the shame.
"Don't interrupt Lord Hokage."
"Sorry, Lord Hokage."
Everyone exited the room.
Knonohamaru put his face in his hands and put his head down. He felt too old and too young for his position. Too young and inexperienced to properly deal with shinobi politics and petty civilian squabbles, too old to enjoy being the most powerful man in the country, too tired, too sick of this job. He didn't want it, not anymore. He'd hand the hat over to Naruto in a heartbeat if he knew the village wouldn't revolt. Hell, he'd give it to Danzou, Koharu, Himura, any ambitious civilian, Gai... He'd give it to Danzou's ghost if it were around.
.
Naruto walked slowly to his apartment, hands behind his head, enjoying the sunlight. At thirty years old, he was all too used to the glares and hateful smirks (that came about whenever they thought they'd one-upped him). He stopped at Ichiraku's for ramen (Ayame's new booth was much closer to Naruto's home) and ordered his usual three bowls of ramen. Today, he went with beef ramen. He bought some packaged ramen from Ayame, who'd started selling packaged ramen after her father (a studious hater of packaged ramen) died. Neither he nor Ayame talked about how Naruto was the only one who bought the half-priced packaged meals.
Naruto called, "See you later!" after Chouji, who had sat two seats away and walked off the moment Naruto sat down, slapping a few bills onto the counter and leaving his half-eaten ramen. Naruto had long since learned to just let him go and not chase after him. He stayed at Ichiraku's Ramen Shop for over an hour, talking and gently flirting with Ayame. Sakura didn't show up. Naruto suddenly remembered she had a late medical conference today and wouldn't be able to meet him for dinner as usual.
He headed home. He'd lived in his apartment almost all his life (he didn't remember the orphanage, though he must have lived in it for the earliest years of his life), but it still never truly felt like home. A home, he'd want to come back to, but here...he went on missions just to get away. He dropped the packaged ramen on the kitchen table, where he sat down on a chair and finally allowed himself to mope just a little. He didn't lack money since he had a lot stashed away, but he wasn't sure if his chunin salary would support his rent, utilities, taxes, and food, when his stash ran dry. He couldn't get a supplemental job inside the village, and he couldn't get a regular job outside it.
When he was younger, he'd imagined adulthood a lot differently. He'd be Hokage, well-loved, famous in all the shinobi countries, a hero like the Yondaime. The closest he was to a national hero was being a national hero's son, though. He wasn't supposed to be a chunin and even more despised twenty years into the future. Being the Yondaime's son was no consolation prize. He was someone neither his father nor his younger self would be proud of.
Naruto ran his fingers through his hair and ordered himself to cheer up. Moping was for bastards like Sasuke; he was not going to turn out like him.
The next morning, he ate a package of ramen and headed to the missions room. On the way, he bought a newspaper and looked through the apartment advertisements for a cheaper apartment. He couldn't afford his current one on a chunin salary, and there was no way he'd ask Konohamaru to establish the fund his grandfather used to give Naruto. Since there was no way he'd be allowed to pass the jounin exams again. Last time, fifty witnesses had gathered for his written exam, and later it was still declared he'd cheated, even if they couldn't prove it, since there was no way a knuckleheaded ninja like Naruto could pass. Hell, he half thought they thought him illiterate. If he hadn't done so well on the physical part, he would have failed the test altogether.
"Raido," Naruto said, nodding to his sometimes-friend.
"Hey, Naruto. I heard about..." he trailed off, noticing Naruto's expression. "Yeah. There's a B-rank in the files, here. You can join Hitoshi Hyuuga at noon."
Hitoshi, who refused to speak to him after her brother had died in Pein's attack.
"Thanks," Naruto replied. He headed to the hospital the short way, not in the mood for hateful stares. He'd get enough of them on his mission.
"Excuse me, I'm—"
"You're not excused, Uzumaki."
"I'm looking for Haruno Sakura. She's supposed to be working this shift, I think."
The receptionist's face softened. "You haven't heard?"
"What?" Being the village's social pariah didn't invite people to tell him the local gossip. "Did she change shifts?"
"No, last night she was treating a man who got back from Zeito. He was under anesthesia, wasn't supposed to wake up... He thought he was still on his mission... We were in such a hurry to get him into surgery that his weapons weren't properly disposed of... She died, Uzumaki."
"Who was it?" he snarled. "What killed her?" He grabbed her shoulders, ignoring her cry of surprise. "Who was the bastard who—"
"Get your hands off her!"
Naruto let go, startled.
Chouji went up to the receptionist. "Are you okay, Aiko?"
She smiled, but her hands were shaking a little. "Yes, dear. I'm fine."
Chouji glared at Naruto. "Get out. You're not wanted here. And stay away from my wife."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—" He paused. "She just told me about Sakura."
Chouji acted as though he didn't hear and he and Aiko talked quietly while he hugged her. His hands rested on the slight bump on her stomach.
Naruto left the hospital without finding out the man's name. The poor bastard's name wasn't as important as the fact that the closest person in his life had died. He was better off not knowing, anyway. If he knew the man's name, he might do something stupid and really get kicked out of the village. After he entered his apartment building, he stood outside Sakura's door for a few moments, hand raised as if to knock, as though waiting for her to let him in. He could've used his key to her house, but that thought felt too final. He went to his own apartment and sat at his kitchen table again, his head in his hands, his elbows on the table.
Things had gotten so much worse after Pein's attack. Now, everyone hated Naruto for something he'd actually caused rather than a vague event when he was less than a day old, and it was much, much worse. Now, neither Tsunade nor Old Man Hokage were here to protect him.
Konohamaru tried, sure, but he was young and new and much too nice for the Hokage's job. Naruto refused to think about how he may have done a better job because it was in the past and he needed to look to the future—a future without Sakura, an ugly part of his mind reminded him. He'd already lost her to Sasuke, then to Lee, and now to death. He'd lived and breathed to become Hokage, to gain the village's acceptance and respect. Now, he did missions and hung out with Sakura and Lee, the cute couple that they were. Sometimes, Gai and Shikamaru came, but he didn't have many good friends these days.
Did Lee know? he wondered. He knew he should go comfort him, but he was barely stable himself, and Lee would no doubt rather have comfort from guy than from the man that was in love with his fiancée.
He wanted to go after the man who killed her. He wanted to tear him to pieces. He wanted to throw his old photo of team seven in the man's face and cry and beat him some more. He wanted to crush him, rip him apart, maybe go after the people in the room who could've stopped him, because dammit, Sakura shouldn't have died in a accident. She should've grown old with Lee and had cute little pink-haired children with bushy brows and too-bright smiles. Sakura shouldn't have died. Sakura was kind, caring, loving, forgiving... Sakura was going to be a mother. She hadn't even told Lee yet, and Naruto would make sure Lee never found out.
What was he going to do with his life now that Sakura was dead? Why did Sakura have to die? Why was he still wearing orange even when he knew he was too old for it?
Maybe... he could leave? Fake his death, go to the mountains, live as a hermit, never come back? He barely loved the village anymore. He still loved Konoha, and he knew he always would, but he didn't love it with the passion he'd had for it earlier.
He heard a knocking sound and went to the door. Hitoshi was there.
"We're leaving," she announced.
Naruto nodded and they headed downstairs. Hitoshi carefully walked so that she wouldn't touch him. Naruto sighed. "I don't have cooties, you know."
"Shut up. You killed my mother, Uzumaki."
Naruto sighed and didn't argue. He went to his mailbox and checked his mail.
He only had one envelope—Sakura's automatic death letter. He wondered when she'd updated it last, hoping he wasn't getting one from an eleven year old Sakura. Naruto used to update his letters every time he made a new friend, but after Pein's attack, he started taking off the names of those who died and those he couldn't reconcile with until the list was very short. Naruto slipped the letter in his pocket, deciding to read it a little later.
As he and Hitoshi ran to their destination, only thirty miles north of Konohagakure, Naruto wondered what his life would be like in another twenty-five years. Maybe he'd be in Sunagakure after finally having taken Gaara up on his offer to be the Suna-Konoha diplomatic official. But he couldn't imagine leaving Konoha. Or maybe he'd have figured out Pein's secret sixth power by then, the power the man had apparently bestowed on him.
The mission was an easy one; bring a secret document to the Fire Country's northern shrines. Naruto hadn't done B-rank missions in years; he'd forgotten how boring they were. The shrines themselves were somewhat attractive, Naruto decided, if one liked shrines. Naruto wasn't the religious sort, so they were mostly old-fashioned blocks of buildings to him.
"I'll take the scroll to the Head Priestess," Hitomi decided, walking off. Naruto wondered if she expected him to follow her, then started walking in a different direction. He was curious; what did people do in shrines? Whom did they pray to? Carefully, he opened the sliding doors of the first little house he came to, and stepped inside.
"This is a little disappointing..." he muttered. Inside the little house was a well, a boring one at that. He had expected paintings and tapestries and religious stuff, but what was a well doing in the very middle of the shrine compound? Did they worship water or something?
"You! What are you doing here?"
Naruto turned around and saw an old man with his cane raised as if to whack him with it. "Sorry?" he offered. "I'm a shinobi from Konohagakure. My comrade is bringing a scroll to someone inside."
The old man narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but rested his cane back on the ground. "What are you doing inside the sacred ground?"
Naruto snorted. "Old man, I'm standing next to a well. It's not like I'm blowing up shrines or anything. I was just curious."
"Hmmm," the old man said. "Would you like to hear the story of the Well Between Realms?"
"Sure." Naruto was a little creeped out by how the old man had gone from angry to accommodating, but it seemed he had a few cool stories to tell.
The old man walked closer, beginning his story. "Very long ago, a portal between worlds was created, but no one has ever had the power to open it..." He opened the well's cover and pointed inside. Naruto only noticed the well was empty until the old man pushed him into the well with his cane.
"You bastard!" Naruto yelled, bracing his arms behind him to catch his fall. Except, as he would later realize, he didn't hit the bottom of the well.
A white light erupted from the well and Naruto was sucked into a place far, far away, long forgotten by all except the old priests and priestesses of the northern Land of Fire shrines.
When Naruto was awake once more, he found himself at the bottom of a deep well. Shrugging off the lingering headache and soreness—that fall had hurt!—he yelled, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" and lifted himself up with his clones. Ready to yell at the old man, he was already opening his mouth when he realized something was very wrong. This… wasn't the shrine he'd been in only minutes ago. Naruto climbed out of the well and stepped onto the grassy ground of a thick forest.
For a moment, all he could do was stare. Animals unlike any he'd ever seen walked around him, with more legs and eyes than he knew what they did with. This wasn't the Land of Fire, not anymore.
But Naruto was still himself, so he began walking, looking for signs of life in this place. He tried talking to the strange animals, but it seemed they weren't able to talk back. Soon enough, he found a village and a woman named Kaede, and decided this strange new world wasn't bad at all. Who knew, maybe he'd get elected Hokage, now that he was far from the only demon around.