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In the rain, crowds queued up to offer flowers at the funeral.
Naruto, supported by Hinata, moved forward. Queued ahead of them were also a man and a woman. The woman had pink hair; the man had only one arm, his other shoulder still wrapped in bandages.
The woman even turned back to glare at Naruto.
Naruto was bewildered.
"Dog-Zero, try to look on the bright side. Life eventually fades, but new life will always arise to inherit its will," the woman comforted, supporting the man with one hand while stroking her abdomen with the other.
Dog-Zero placed his flower before the Third Hokage's memorial portrait, gazing at it for a long moment before saying, "Yes, both the will and the name will be passed down."
"What about experiences?" the woman asked, also placing her flower before the memorial tablet.
"Those will be passed down too."
Dog-Zero wiped the tears from the corner of his eye with his remaining arm. "Let's go, Dragon-Two."
"Mm."
The two had been selected by the Third Hokage from an orphanage when they were young. After training, they joined the Shadow Guard Corps, receiving code names from the Third himself, which also served as their names. They had been childhood sweethearts but missed their chances time and again. They thought life would always be like that, until one day, tormented by the constant sound of explosions from a mission target, she got drunk by the roadside and encountered him returning from delivering a message.
Naruto also placed his flower down. Looking up at the small black dot on the Hokage Monument, he recalled the words he had just heard and murmured to himself, "Will and name, huh…"
"Hinata, you can head back first." Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Naruto told Hinata to go home first; he wanted to check on that little black dot.
"Naruto-kun, are you sure you'll be alright…"
"Don't worry, I won't wander off blindly."
"Okay then."
Watching Hinata's retreating figure, Naruto teleported directly to the Hokage Monument.
"Big Bro…" Konohamaru's eyes were red, his face streaked with what could be rain or tears.
"Go on, keep crying." Naruto ruffled Konohamaru's hair.
Konohamaru burst into tears again.
After quite a while, Konohamaru forced a smile. "Big Bro, I'm okay now."
Konohamaru was a resilient kid. In the original story, the day after the Third's funeral, he was already smiling and telling Naruto he wanted to help rebuild the village. Though still grieving, the child was remarkably clear-sighted.
"Really okay?"
"Yeah."
"Cry a little longer then."
"Waaaah…" Konohamaru broke down again.
Naruto was truly terrible at comforting people, so he could only resort to this clumsy method. Let him cry; crying it out was always better than keeping it bottled up inside.
Long after the sky had cleared, Konohamaru finally stopped crying. "Big Bro, I'm really okay this time." His eyes were swollen like steamed buns.
Naruto took out some ice, wrapped it in cloth, and crushed it. "Put this on."
"Thanks, Big Bro."
"Big Bro, am I being really embarrassing?" Konohamaru asked.
"Not embarrassing at all. Everyone cries when they're young."
"But Grandpa once told me to be strong when facing difficulties, to face them bravely."
Naruto ruffled Konohamaru's hair again. "I believe you'll learn how to do that in the future."
"Really?"
"Konohamaru…" Iruka's voice came from the distance. He had thought the two figures on the Hokage Monument looked familiar, and upon getting closer, saw it was indeed them.
Naruto felt like Iruka was a lifesaver. He was just running out of words for his 'Talk no Jutsu,' and his usual 'brick' method was useless here.
"Iruka-sensei, I'll leave Konohamaru to you. I'm heading off now." Naruto remembered Iruka was pretty good with the Talk no Jutsu too.
"Okay."
Naruto teleported directly back to his bedside. It took quite an effort to take off his clothes and lie down.
Meanwhile, Iruka began his attempt at Talk no Jutsu: "Konohamaru, actually, Lord Third…"
"Iruka-sensei, I'm okay now." Konohamaru flipped the ice pack on his eyes to the other side. Grandpa was gone, but there were still people who cared about him. He had to be strong; he couldn't let them down.
"???" Iruka was completely bewildered. What had Naruto said to the kid?
————————
After another afternoon and night of recovery, Naruto's body had mostly healed.
Having eaten breakfast, Naruto went to the small grove to begin his training.
Just as he was about to start running, he saw Sasuke arrive.
"What are you doing here?" Naruto asked in surprise. Shouldn't you be looking for Kakashi?
"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked, puzzled.
"Nothing."
"Oh."
Naruto didn't practice ninjutsu that morning; the entire day's plan was dedicated to physical training. Although his recovery was fast, his chakra pathways weren't fully healed yet and needed more rest. He estimated another night's sleep should do it.
Returning home that evening, just as he was about to lie down, he saw Jiraiya standing at his window.
"Pervy Sage, what are you doing coming to my house in the middle of the night?"
"Naruto, come with me out of the village tomorrow morning," Jiraiya said, leaning on the windowsill.
"Why?"
"No more questions. Meet me at the village gate tomorrow morning." Jiraiya vanished with a Body Flicker.
Naruto knew Jiraiya's intention: to get him away from Konoha during the power vacuum, away from Danzo, and simultaneously find Tsunade to take over the Hokage position. He knew all that, but couldn't Jiraiya not announce it by leaning on his window late at night? If he hadn't closed the glass cabinet lid, Jiraiya would have gotten a full view of his 'wife'.
Early the next morning, Naruto left notes at the Hyuga compound's back gate and in the small grove, then set off with Jiraiya to find the legendary sucker – Tsunade.
Tsunade: granddaughter of the First Hokage, one of Konoha's Sannin, addicted to gambling. Barring major upheavals, she lost every bet she made. The most terrifying thing was the cursed necklace she wore – whoever she gave it to would die. In the original story, if Naruto hadn't had protagonist plot armor, he likely would have kicked the bucket too.
Under the blazing sun, the two walked slowly. Naruto drank several bottles of ice water before they finally reached a small town.
Along the way, Naruto kept wondering how to handle the inevitable encounter with Itachi and Kisame. First off, he definitely couldn't let Jiraiya run off with some pretty lady. As long as Jiraiya was around, the survival pressure wouldn't be too high. The rest depended on how things played out.
Before even entering the small town's gate, Naruto heard a commotion behind him. Turning around, he saw Sasuke rushing towards them at full speed.
"Where is Uchiha Itachi?" Sasuke panted.
"???" Naruto was completely baffled. Bro, how are you so fast?