9

Disclaimer: I own Naruto.

/~/

Eyes the color of slate peered over steeped fingers, silently regarding the three children in front of him.

No, he corrected himself internally, though his thoughts were clouded. They're far from children now.

Even now, the three sets of eyes staring at the ground in front of them were shadowed. Haunted even. It was never a look that should belong on those their age. He knew without looking in a mirror that his eyes held the same quality.

It wasn't every day you learned you had lost a son.

Unbidden, a lone tear left Sarutobi's right eye. It was quickly removed faster than the eye could blink. He couldn't allow himself to show emotion; not here, not now. He was Hokage. He had troops to lead.

The oppressive silence that hung in the Hokage's office after Naruto had related Team Ten's tale could have been cut with a kunai.

A single sigh escaped the Sandaime, the quiet exclamation being almost deafening in the circular office. "Is that all?" he questioned quietly, voice held steady by an unfathomable force of will.

Nods from two thirds of the team greeted him, while Naruto spoke, "Yes, Hokage-sama." His voice was nearly monotonous, lacking inflection and devoid of emotion.

Not for the first time that day did Sarutobi wish to have the smiling, never ending ball of energy that had once been Uzumaki Naruto back. Despite coping with his own grief over the news of his son's demise, the old man couldn't help but be saddened by the loss of innocence that these shinobi – children, really – had suffered. Naruto especially. Both of his teammates had families to go home to, people to help them cope with the loss of a sensei.

Naruto had no one.

At one time, he might have had the Sandaime to go to with his problems, but hehad voluntarily distanced himself from the Hokage years before.

That, however, was likely for the best. Naruto would need to be able to handle his own problems down the road, and he wouldn't always have the aged Hokage's protection. Even if he did, Sarutobi likely wouldn't have been much of a help to the boy, given that he himself was having to cope with the loss of his second son in silence.

Not for the first time, Sarutobi reflected on his position. The Hokage's hat truly is a curse, he lamented.

In a world where coincidences were heralded as myth, the sad state of affairs that was the Hokage's position could only be considered one. Over time, all the families and clans who had held the seat of Hokage had been whittled down to one. Sarutobi's wayward student was the last of the once great Senju clan, its patriarchs the very founding fathers of the village he now watched over. The last in the Namikaze line, once proud, though small and unheralded until the Yondaime made his mark on the world, sat in front of him, his voice betraying nothing.

Sarutobi himself had outlived his wife, his first son, and now his second. He would be damned before he outlived his grandson.

A single, solemn nod served as Team Ten's dismissal, and the three made for the wooden double doors that led to the rest of the Administrative Building.

"Naruto," the Sandaime called. His voice served to halt the whole team in their tracks. The boy in question turned to regard him, face still expressionless. "I would like a word."

The blond nodded before turning to his teammates, both of whom looked at him expectantly. "Go on. I'll catch up with you later." The other two genin departed without a word, taking his direction without question.

"Hokage-sama?" the boy asked, clearly puzzled though he didn't show it.

"Sit down, Naruto-kun." The boy did as ordered. A weary sigh escaped the aged leader once more, and Naruto couldn't help but notice how frail the old man looked. For all of his life, the Sandaime had been a larger than life figure, thanks in no small part to the role the man had played in his own upbringing. Now though, he looked like just another elderly man, weathered and made weary by the passage of time around him.

Without warning, a cat masked ANBU appeared from nowhere, materializing in between the Hokage and Naruto without a word. A single scroll was placed on Sarutobi's desk, and the man disappeared just as suddenly as he had come, a slight nod being all the prompting he had needed.

Naruto blinked as the man disappeared. Crisp, clean, and professional. The boy gave an absent nod in acknowledgment.

"Right on time, as always," the Hokage remarked, seemingly pleased with the ANBU, though his face remained set in stone. Naruto silently marveled at the emotional control the man had. He had just learned that his son was dead not thirty minutes ago, and he was functioning almost as if it was business as usual. The only evidence of his emotional turmoil was the weariness of his expression, and the genin had little doubt that it could be hidden if the man so chose.

The scroll was pushed to the side, and the old man turned his attention to Naruto.

"I'd ask you how you are feeling, but I know from experience that that is not a question anyone wishes to answer when they're grieving."

Naruto almost smiled in response to the not-quite-a-question. He knew exactly what the Sandaime was asking. "I'm…dealing with it," he began hesitantly, somewhat unsure of his own feelings on the matter. For the entirety of Team Ten's journey from Wave, he had been doing his best not to think about his dead sensei, only succeeding in doing the exact opposite.

It hadn't helped that he had literally been carrying the man's body in his backpack. Naruto had been more than relieved to pass it off to the ANBU Squad that had met and escorted them the last ten miles back to Konoha.

Over and over again on the way back to the village, Asuma's advice about how to deal with his situation with his level of power played out in his mind.

"You'd do well to stop dwelling on it," Asuma began. "There's not much you can change about your situation in regards to other ninja, so you can only focus on getting yourself better."

Though mostly unrelated, the same principle applied to his situation now. Asuma was dead, no matter how painful it was to have to acknowledge it, and there was absolutely nothing that he could do about it now. However callous it was, Naruto knew that there was little use in dwelling on it. As much as he hated to admit it, there was little more that he could have done on the bridge in order to help his sensei. Yes, he could have better restrained Haku – he knew that he wouldn't be making that mistake again – but there was little else. Missions went to hell all the time, events spiraling out of control faster than a person could blink. More often than not, people ended up dead because of small details that no one had any right to expect would mean anything, and the survivors were left to pick up the pieces.

Frankly, if he was honest with himself, the thing that he was most upset with was the fact that he was managing to move on so quickly. He had accepted quickly that there was little he could have done to save Asuma, and dwelling on it now accomplished nothing. It was this almost calm acceptance that disturbed him. Naruto had never lost anyone close to him before – he hadn't had anyone to really lose – and he knew that most people were almost inconsolable when they lost a loved one.

He felt detached from it all, once the initial pain had faded somewhere between Wave and Konoha,a dn it scared him. Despite his recent dealings with the demon in his stomach, he still maintained his fear of someday becoming like the monster. Unfeeling acceptance of the death of someone he cared about was straying close to his mental "danger zone", much like detached killing.

There was no doubt that he'd miss Asuma, but he wasn't about to start weeping again. It seemed unnatural, and he didn't like it.

"I'm dealing with it," Naruto said resolutely once more. The Sandaime regarded him carefully, scrutinizing his face with a penetrating gaze, before offering Naruto his own nod.

"The loss of one's sensei is never easy to deal with," Naruto realized that the old man was speaking from experience, "and we can only move forward, doing our best to live how they would have wanted us to." The Sandaime glanced out the window and over his village. "I called you back for a few reasons."

Slate eyes locked with blue, now greyer than they had once been.

"Firstly, I want you to know that I don't hold you accountable for what happened. Such things happen on missions far more than I would like, but I have little doubt that the events that transpired were out of your control."

Naruto leaned back in his chair, relieved despite himself. The notion that the Sandaime might blame him for his son's death had occurred to Naruto, but he hadn't paid it much heed, so wrapped up he was in his own mental turmoil. There was no doubt that the Hokage could have laid the blame at his feet. That he didn't had lifted an unknown burden from his shoulders.

"Secondly, I would offer you a warning," the Hokage said. The man's face was as serious as it had been the night Naruto learned of his tenant, and the blond had little doubt about what this would be about.

Ah…

"You spoke freely about how you channeled the Kyuubi's chakra in the battle between yourself and Zabuza," the old man spoke. "Despite the obvious boons the power offers you, be cautious with its use. I doubt I need to warn you about the detrimental effects that chakra can have on your body."

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Naruto said, his innermost thoughts in uproar as he fought the urge to tell the man about his deal with the fox. For obvious reasons, he had left the details of his conversation with the demon out of his report, and he now struggled with the idea of withholding information from the Hokage.

Naruto had no doubt that the Hokage would find a way to seal off the beast from Naruto completely, for his own good of course. He couldn't allow for that to happen. That power was to be his trump card, and he wasn't about to let it go. Not only would it help save his own life down the road, but it would be invaluable if he ever encountered an enemy far enough beyond his own skill level. The lives of his team may depend on him, like they had on the bridge, and he would be damned if he let them die like Asuma had.

So he kept his silence.

"Thirdly, is this scroll." The old man gestured to the parchment that had been dropped off by the cat masked ANBU. Naruto blinked as the Hokage unfurled it without flourish, letting the seals inscribed on it be shown.

A storage scroll? Naruto wondered. Why would an ANBU interrupt a meeting of the Hokage simply to drop off a simple storage scroll? Even as the question passed through his mind, the answer came unbidden to him. The Hokage confirmed it not a moment later.

"These are…personal effects retrieved from Asuma," the Hokage finally betrayed some emotion as his son's personal effects were laid in front of him, his voice breaking ever so slightly. The hitch was gone almost as soon as it had arrived, repressed by an iron will born of decades of hard choices and emotional turmoil.

Naruto felt his already enormous respect for the old man go up, even as raw emotions played out in his psyche.

The Hokage bit his thumb and pressed it to the first of the storage seals inscribed on the scroll. A slight application of chakra and a puff of smoke heralded the appearance of Asuma's famous trench knives. Naruto stared down at his sensei's signature weapons, somewhat surprised to see them there, though he had been expecting them.

"May I?" he asked quietly. Asuma had been rather anal about who touched his favorite blades, and Naruto had only gotten his hands on them twice before.

The Hokage nodded with a slight smile. "Of course, they're yours now." At Naruto's startled look, Sarutobi nodded, the smile still playing across his face. "Oh yes."

Naruto was unsure of how to respond. He had never even imagined that he would receive the prized knuckle knives his sensei had been so proud of. He had thought they would go to the Hokage, or at the least reserved for Asuma's nephew, Sarutobi Konohamaru.

"But-" he began, only to trail off. He didn't quite know how to phrase his confusion, and it wasn't like he didn't want the knives. Quite the contrary really. He just wasn't used to receiving gifts, of any sort.

The Hokage shrugged with a sigh. "I certainly have no use for them, Naruto-kun, and my grandson doesn't have the patience to learn my son's art. I'm sure Asuma would have wanted for you to have them, rather than have them gather dust in my estate as some token memento."

Naruto almost chuckled. That sounded like something his sensei would have said. Now that he was actively listening for it, he could see where Asuma had gotten some of his speech patterns, though he doubted the man would have ever admitted it.

He still felt awkward about receiving the knives, but he wasn't about to fight it. Asuma had been training him in the wielding of double blades for months. He wasn't about to turn down the opportunity to use such high quality blades, regardless of how it came to be. As long as the old man was okay with it, he would be too.

It would be like keeping a piece of his sensei with him at all times. The thought almost brought a chuckle to his lips. God, I'm such a fucking sap.

Naruto reached forward confidently, grasping the twin blades in both hands, fingers coiling around the weathered leather that cushioned the handles. Unbidden, he felt his chakra begin to seep into the blades. A quick moment of concentration later, his chakra was changed to wind, and identical three foot, nigh invisible blades had sprung from the knives.

"Impressive," Sarutobi praised. And it was; such high level elemental manipulation was almost unheard of in genin. It appears you weren't exaggerating when you said he had talent, Asuma-kun. Truly, his son's favored student had far more skill than Sarutobi had originally given him credit for – the Hokage took all reports with a healthy grain of salt. It was a pleasant surprise on a day filled with naught but sorrow.

Without saying a word, Naruto retracted the wind chakra, idly noticing how much easier it was to do on specially designed blades, rather than common kunai. He pocketed the knives in silence, making a mental note to have a holster made for them. Asuma had had them clipped to his belt at all times, but Naruto didn't wish to have them hanging out in the open.

"Is there anything else?" Naruto asked numbly, for that was the best way to describe his voice.

The boy thought he might have caught a small grimace on the Hokage's face, but it was gone far too fast to properly tell.

"From my son, there is not," Sarutobi said. He applied another small burst of chakra to the opened scroll on the desk. "From Konoha and Kirigakure, there is."

Naruto raised an eyebrow in confusion, though he knew of what the Hokage spoke. Against what he would have liked – he would have preferred to simply burn the bodies – the corpses of Zabuza and Haku had been sealed in scrolls, much like Asuma's, in order to be brought back to Konoha. Surprisingly – though perhaps not so much, considering his family greatly populated the Hunter-nin corps – Kiba had come up with the idea, stating that both money and secrets could be obtained from the bodies of dead ninja. Both Naruto and Ino had wanted no part of ferrying the bodies of their sensei's killers back to Konoha, but had eventually been swayed by the logic that they might as well make a profit off of their dead enemies.

It was cold, but Naruto could think of nothing more fitting than having Zabuza's body diced up and its secrets unlocked.

The only issue was the Zabuza's head, the remnants of it being naught but paste that had been cleaned off the bridge by Tazuna's workers. To the best of his knowledge, one could only claim the bounty of a person if they had incontrovertible proof of the kill. The head was not the only way, but the easiest and most common way of doing so.

With the head gone, it became far more difficult to identify the body, and, despite the Hokage not doubting Naruto, the boy thought Kiri might be a tad more skeptical of a genin killing a feared jonin.

Ah… The thought struck him like a sledgehammer. "The sword," was all he said.

Sarutobi nodded, not stating outright but looking pleased with Naruto's quick deduction. "Indeed. The Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shu were as renowned for their signature blades as they were for their shinobi skills and brutality. The only way the Mist Seven would have relinquished one of their blades was, and is, in death," Sarutobi said, voice hard. He had a healthy respect and dislike for what had once been one of the most influential shinobi organizations on the continent. That one of its members had killed his last son had only heightened both aspects of his opinion. "Kubikiribocho will serve as all the proof Kirigakure will need of Zabuza's death."

Naruto nodded hesitantly, digesting the information with a grimace and just a touch of pride. Regardless of the circumstances, he had managed to kill a famous ninja, a jonin. A smirk that was entirely inappropriate, given the situation, threatened to break across his face. He might even get a spot in one of Kiri's Bingo Books. The thought very much appealed to the childish, attention-seeking side of him that had dominated his psyche when he had been younger.

Beyond that, however, laid vindication of the sweetest sort.

"Until your names appear in my bingo book, you're not real shinobi in my mind."

Who's the real shinobi now, Zabuza? Naruto thought with relish. With Zabuza's death confirmed, Naruto would likely take a spot in that very Bingo Book the Demon of the Mist has held in such high esteem.

"…the appropriate sum will be deposited in your account," the Hokage was saying, unaware of Naruto's inner thoughts. "The price on the boy's head, while far lower than the one on his master's, will be supplemented by the amount Konoha pays for new bloodlines and information about them. It will be at a reduced rate, of course, as the boy is dead, and split among your team."

Naruto nodded absently, inwardly thanking Kiba to the heavens for the financial windfall he was about to experience. It wouldn't bring Asuma back, but it was nice to have either way.

The Sandaime sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. "Lastly, Naruto-kun, I wish for you to know that my door is always open to you. Should you have any questions, about anything, please do not hesitate in asking me."

Naruto nodded once more, this time with a small smile on his face. "Thank you, Hokage-sama."

A silence hung in the air for a few moments, before Naruto stood fluidly. He was inwardly pleased with the meeting, despite its source.

There was no doubt in his mind that Asuma's death would weigh heavily on him for some time, but there was no use in dwelling on it. He would do as the Sandaime said, doing his best to live as Asuma would have wanted him to.

He would protect his home.

With no prompting necessary, Naruto gave a low bow to the Hokage, and exited the office.

Sarutobi watched the boy leave with a contemplative expression. A small smile graced his features finally, seeing the resolve formed in the boy through his eyes. The boy still had a heart despite the hardship he had gone through as a boy.

Thoughts of his dead son filled his mind for a single moment before being shunted to the side once more. He would have time to grieve after one last bit of business.

A single hand seal was formed, and Sarutobi only had to wait five full seconds before the cat masked ANBU from before materialized from the floor in front of him.

"Hokage-sama?"

Hiruzen waved a hand. "At ease." The man stood fluidly, posture relaxed though still at attention. Sarutobi almost smiled at the crisp professionalism. Kakashi trained him well, he mused.

"Remove your mask Tenzo, I have a new assignment for you."

/~/

Naruto had learned from a young age that the cosmos – the heavens to some, the Gods to others – cared little for the day to day affairs of men. Whoever had created the universe had certainly left it to its own devices, and didn't bother with any one man, no matter how many religious sects argued otherwise.

It was for this reason that Naruto didn't bat an eye at the bright sun beating down on the back of his head and neck, while many black clad figures at the funeral seemed to regard the weather with resentment. His own teammates could be included in that, as more than once he had caught both Kiba and Ino sneaking a glare upwards, almost as if they thought the weather was mocking them and their loss.

Naruto knew better.

Whatever higher power that existed didn't care when one man died. It certainly hadn't cared for a lonely orphan growing up oppressed by a disgruntled populace.

A glance to his left heralded a stone faced Kiba, the dog ninja in a desperate struggle with himself to hold in whatever tears he had. A glance to his right showed Ino, who had lost that same struggle, tear tracks lining her face as the Sandaime made the eulogy.

"…for some, it was a cherished friend taken from our midst. For others, it was a comrade in arms. I myself lost a son, my grandson, an uncle, while three of our brightest young flames lost their sensei…"

Naruto steeled himself, forcing his body not to shift an iota as he felt the gaze of at least a hundred people bore into his back. Such were the perils of being at the front of the precession. He and his team were given the honor of standing at the front, next to Sarutobi Konohamaru and many of the Sandaime's personal associates. The three of them had each been offered the chance to speak, but each had turned it down. Kiba and Ino had been worried about speaking in front of a huge crown, both not confident in doing their sensei justice. Naruto's reservations had been similar, though he was more preoccupied with thoughts of how a crowd of two hundred people, many of them civilians, would react to his presence up on the podium. He knew that no one would try anything, but he didn't particularly feel like fielding the no doubt massive amount of glares that would come with his speech. He had enough to deal with on a regular basis anyway.

That was one result of the botched mission to Wave Country that Naruto just couldn't get over. While there was scarcely a good anything that came from that mission, the villagers' attitude toward him had only gotten even more ridiculous. He hadn't been liked before, but the vast majority had ignored him in favor of doing far more useful and productive things, like living their lives. Now, though, it seemed like things were back to how they were in his pranking days. He couldn't walk down a street without having to deal with the resentment of at least a dozen different people.

They, somehow, managed to blame him for the death of Asuma, one of the most respected jonin in the village and the Sandaime's son.

He supposed that it shouldn't have really come as a surprise. Any bad outcome that happened on any mission he happened to be a part of would inevitably reflect back on him, if only because of the Kyuubi. Heavens forbid that blame actually fall on the guilty party – Zabuza in this case. While Naruto had played a small part in the Asuma's death, by failing to properly restrain Haku, the Sandaime had managed to forgive the boy his mistake, and that was all that was needed in Naruto's mind. The rest of the world meant nothing if Sarutobi didn't hold the genin accountable, general will of the populace be damned.

Still, he would miss being an almost nonentity in the village, as he had been before the news of Asuma's death had been made public. With the reversion of his pranking, most of the villagers had stopped paying attention to the blond, opting to give him wide berths and nothing more. Now, they were all back to their old, charming selves.

A scowl crossed his face at the remembrance of the many harsh looks he had been receiving recently. He had made a promise to himself and to the Sandaime to live how Asuma would have wanted him to, and his sensei would have wanted him to protect the village he himself had served and died for. Already, that goal was becoming far harder in Naruto's mind.

The irony of the situation wasn't lost on the boy. For the majority of his "pre-ten" years, he had done everything in his power to have the people of Konoha notice him, for better or worse. Now, all he wanted was quiet anonymity.

Sometime between the spaces of his thoughts, the Sandaime had finished with his speech, and the crowd was making its way to the casket to pay their final respects to the fallen jonin before the body was incinerated.

Having been caught up in his thoughts, Naruto missed his cue to move, and had to hurry to catch the procession. As he moved, his eyes caught the obsidian pupils of his first friend – Sasuke and the rest of the rookie genin teams having come to pay their respects – and the boy offered him a nod of respect. Naruto returned it quickly, though a bit hesitantly. He could safely say that he could finally understand where Sasuke was coming from with his thought of revenge toward his brother. He might never have the red hot rage that Sasuke held toward Uchiha Itachi – his rage had died with Zabuza and Gatou, replaced by a cold anger directed more at the situation than anything else – but he could completely sympathize with the would-be avenger.

The need to see Zabuza dead had brought on Naruto's Kyuubi induced rage. The stray thought of what might have become of Uchiha Itachi had Sasuke been unfortunate enough to bear the Kyuubi struck him as he grasped a white rose from the pile. Naruto doubted that there would be much left of the nuke-nin.

The thought was banished as quickly as it had come. Pull yourself together, Naruto, you're at a goddamn funeral, he thought viciously.

And yet, despite being at the funeral of the man who had been his sensei, friend, mentor, and the closest thing to a father figure he would probably ever have, Naruto couldn't bring himself to share the same melancholy as the rest of the procession. There was no doubt that he would miss his sensei, but he had come to terms with the fact that Asuma had died on his own terms, despite its abruptness. He had willingly put himself at risk for the people of Wave, and he had paid for it.

Death was a shinobi's constant companion, never more than a step or two behind, and always waiting to lay a hand on your shoulder.

All thoughts fled Naruto's mind as he finally came face to face with his sensei for the final time.

The head had been stitched back to the neck, and all traces of blood and wounds had been removed by the medical examiner. It was standard protocol, so that the friends and family of the deceased could view their loved one for the last time before the body was cremated in order to preserve secrets.

Black hair had been slicked back, the goatee, somewhat scraggly in life, had been clipped and trimmed, and the standard hitai-ate had been polished to a glistening shine. His flak vest had been replaced with a new one, as had the sash of the Twelve Elite Guardians, along with the rest of his clothes. The only things missing were the trench knives he had been known for so well, and his customary cigarette.

It was crisp, clean, professional, all together very nice, and not at all like Asuma had been in life.

Though Naruto had accepted and come to terms with his sensei's death, seeing the man's corpse touched up and put on display was like a slap to the face and a punch to the stomach. It wasn't his sensei lying in that casket. It was just a body.

The blond spared the corpse one last glance as he dropped his flower onto the top of the pile unceremoniously, walking briskly off the raised platform. He passed a few people slowly making their way back to their seats or to places unknown, bumping past them without a care for decorum.

A hand on his right shoulder halted him in his tracks, and he turned abruptly, right hand slapping to his hip in a gesture that would have left a kunai in his hand had he been wearing his holster. As it was, he stilled his impulse to lash out at the offender as he came face to face with a pair of crimson eyes that reminded him oh so much of him.

For all his bravado, Naruto never looked directly into Sasuke's eyes during their spars, for fear of flashing back to that night. Where the last Uchiha held nothing but rage toward his elder brother, Naruto held fear. The fear of a man who's power had brought a once mighty clan to its death and had held him helpless effortlessly. A power that was, at its very core, built around crimson pupils.

But then, these weren't his eyes. They were softer, far softer, and held a compassion and empathy Naruto didn't think Uchiha Itachi had ever been capable of.

Belatedly, Naruto realized that Yuhi Kurenai was speaking.

"…as much as I know you don't wish to hear it. They're all that I can offer you, Uzumaki-san, as well as an ear if you need one," she said, her voice a whisper while they were still in hearing range of the funeral.

Naruto nodded somewhat absently. "I…thank you, but I wouldn't want to waste your time," was all he managed. He wasn't entirely sure of what to say. It wasn't helped by the fact he had missed half of her statement.

A soft smile greeted the genin, and Naruto felt himself blushing a bit in spite of himself. Yuhi Kurenai was stunning.

"Of course, Uzumai-san –"

"Naruto, please."

" – Naruto-san then." The jonin paused for a moment, her eyes appraising. "But I'm sure that I could do far worse for company. Asuma always said as much. He was proud of you – all of you, really – but you most of all."

Naruto scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, the boy feeling awkward with the situation now more than ever. He wasn't used to overt praise, especially from a jonin.

"'Becoming a decent person isn't easy with your background', he said, but you managed it." The woman locked eyes with him knowingly. "Rising above our personal demons is never easy, especially the way you were forced to grow up. He was proud to say that you were someone he would trust with both his own life and those of the villagers, despite your past."

The word demon struck Naruto like a hammer blow, and he lowered his eyes, not able to meet the crimson pupils of his sensei's friend.

Guilt the likes of which Naruto hadn't felt before twisted his gut like a bayonet. Not fifteen minutes ago he had been disparaging the lives of the very people Asuma had sworn to protect, and the people whose lives were now entrusted to Naruto in his stead.

He forced it down, however, and spoke once more, "Why are you telling me this?" he asked quietly.

The jonin regarded him silently for a moment. "Because you should hear it. Asuma wasn't always one for direct praise, and you deserve to know what he thought of you."

Naruto nodded. "What…what was he to you?" he asked, glimpses of a conversation with Ino and Kiba coming back to him. For all he knew, she had lost as much as he had.

Kurenai stopped still for a second, before composing herself with barely visible effort.

"We were…friends, I suppose." She sighed. "Perhaps something more someday, but just friends really."

"Ah…" Naruto trailed off, not sure at all how to respond. She had lost as much as him, though she concealed it well. He had always been good at reading body language, and hers was screaming "discomfort" at him. While it could have just been the topic, the fact that she, a jonin, showed enough body language for Naruto to pick up on it hinted at something more. She and Asuma had been more than friends, whether it had been official or not; whether she would admit it or not.

"Thank you, Kurenai-sensei," he said formally, bringing the odd conversation to a close with a short bow. The jonin lowered her head to him slightly.

"I wish you well, Naruto-san," Kurenai said sincerely, earlier awkwardness forgotten, before turning on her heel and striding back toward the funeral and her team, raven hair swishing back and forth with every step.

Naruto watched her for a few moments before making his own exit, though moving in the opposite direction.

The genin turned his head skyward as he made his way through the village, thoughts of Asuma, Kurenai, and his own ambitions flittering through his head as the sun warmed his face.

More than anything, his thoughts remained on Kurenai's words, and the message they carried from his dead sensei. He had known that his sensei had respected his skills, he had proven that with what he had been teaching the twelve year old genin, but to hear such positive words about himself wasn't something he was used to. From what the pretty jonin had said, Asuma had trusted him out of his three students to carry on his legacy.

Naruto knew full well that it was a legacy of selfless service to Konoha and Fire Country.

That, however, was the sticking point.

As much as Asuma had thought of him overcoming his demons, Naruto truly hadn't, either figuratively or literally, opting instead to push them to side to be dealt with later on. He had done so with the attitude of the villagers, and had shunted true introspective thought about his situation with the Kyuubi away in order to focus on the here and now. In his defense, he had a perfect reason to do so with the latter, but it wasn't really his style, in hindsight.

For his entire life, short though it was at present, he had been a go getter. Whether it had been through his pranks for attention, or his single minded attitude toward training to survive the threat of Akatsuki, Naruto had always been the aggressor, the one who tried to take his problems by the horns and wrestle them to the ground.

He hadn't done so with either of his personal demons. The situation with the villagers had been moved to the side in order to take a back seat to training, and Naruto had convinced himself that he didn't really care about what the general populace thought of him. Looking back, on both today and his life, he knew that this wasn't the case. Their attitude, their intransigence toward anything regarding him grated on him like nothing else.

That had to change. Or at least, he had to find a way to deal with it so it wouldn't interfere with his duty. If Asuma had entrusted him with his legacy of servitude to the village, personal feelings couldn't matter. As a shinobi, and as Asuma's student, he had a duty to serve, and he'd be damned if he didn't follow through on that.

That was a promise, and Naruto never broke his promises.

The Kyuubi issue was something else entirely, and something that Naruto would have to think long and hard on in order to deal with properly. He had no intention of giving up the power the demon had laid at his disposal, but he'd have to find a way to train and use it appropriately. Getting his friends killed because he was relying on instinct to use the chakra was something he wouldn't allow to happen, no matter the results on Tazuna's Bridge.

"You took your time." The sudden voice told Naruto he had reached his destination. He had been so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed.

"Got sidetracked," was all he offered in return. He stared down the stern face of his female teammate until she broke eye contact, electing to turn her gaze to the black, kunai shaped slab of stone that served as Konoha's memorial to those who had fallen in battle.

"So?" the girl asked him.

It was Kiba, sprawled in the grass beside the blond duo, who answered, "So what? We're here right?"

Naruto didn't bother to raise an eyebrow. "You sound like you don't want to be."

The dog-ninja shrugged, sitting up to stare down his teammates. "Personally, this doesn't seem like something sensei would want us to do."

"We've been over this, Kiba," Ino lectured. "This is our memorial, no one else's."

Kiba just shrugged. "Whatever. I just don't think he'd approve of us moping around for a day."

"He's dead now, Kiba," Ino said harshly. "What he would want doesn't matter." Her voice trailed off a bit at the end, cracking as the girl fought back a sob.

Naruto pulled the girl into a quick hug. She buried herself in his arms as she finally allowed herself to break down, tears falling freely from her eyes and shuddering sobs wracking her body.

"He is dead, Ino, and that's why we're doing this. Once," Naruto soothed. "Just this once, we're allowed to mope and mourn, and then we have to move on like he'd want us to."

Ino's response was to cry harder, wrapping her arms around the blond genin even harder. Even Kiba, normally boisterous, was depressed, his own tears starting to leak from his eyes. Only Naruto didn't cry, though he held back more than a few sobs as his teammates broke down.

Finally, the group's tears were spent, and Team Ten lay sprawled on the well manicured grass around the centograph. Naruto was the first to rise, pulling Ino and Kiba with him by the arms as he strode forward, finally taking in the full sight of the memorial stone.

The name Sarutobi Asuma was engraved at the very bottom, as the last name on the stone erected for Konoha's heroes.

Naruto reached into the back pocket of his black funeral attire, withdrawing a plain white, rectangular box.

"You found them?" Ino asked.

Naruto nodded as he opened the box and passed a plain white cigarette to both Ino and Kiba. "Yeah. They're expensive as hell."

The genin withdrew a square metal lighter from the same pocket, clicking it open with a slide of his fingers. A small flame burst forth, and Naruto lit up the ends of Team Ten's cigarettes, the three of them holding them a few inches from their faces between their fingers.

"To Asuma," Naruto declared.

"To Asuma," Ino and Kiba chorused.

All three took a simultaneous drag, and the sound of coughs filled the air around Konoha's memorial stone.

/~/

Two weeks had been the amount of time Team Ten had been granted for leave, and he had used the time to prepare. First impressions were ridiculously important in the world of shinobi, even more so for sensei and their prospective students. Even among them, Team Ten would be a special case. A genin team that had lost its sensei was an anomaly for the greatest of the shinobi villages, and there was no doubt that Team Ten would be even more of a hassle to deal with than an average trio of cadets.

After all, they had some high expectations.

He took a deep breath to center himself as he settled down in the clearing. The two weeks he had had to prepare were strange to him. As an ANBU captain, the best at that, he was far more used to vague plans that were only truly shaped in the heat of high level missions. He had second guessed his testing idea more than once, before finally settling on what his gut instinct had told him to do. It had carried him through years of service to the Hokage. It wouldn't fail him in front of three rookie genin.

Even so, he still made time to drop by his old captain's place for some friendly advice. He had been as surprised as anyone when he heard that the illustrious Hatake Kakashi had finally decided to take on a genin team, but his captain had been even more surprised when the man learned that he was going to take on students.

Sarutobi Asuma's students at that.

He had just laughed off his former captain's surprise; he had been far more shocked when the Hokage had given the order. Tenzo would admit to being a bit miffed at being reduced to an instructor for some fresh out of the Academy brats, the heavens knew how poor most rookies were, as he'd much rather be serving his Hokage on missions.

Still, the Hokage had been insistent, and had assured him that it would only be for a short duration, as at least one, if not more of the team members was a shoo in for promotion to chunin.

That had caught Tenzo's attention, and had prompted him to do some digging through the Hokage's archives – S-rank clearance was useful to have. The results had been almost as surprising to read as his assignment had been.

Inuzuka Kiba had been exactly as he had suspected. The reports said he was loud, brash, and arrogant, much like the rest of his feral clan. It was to be expected of the dog-users, but what came as a surprise had been the boy's abilities with his clan ninjutsu. Academy records showed the boy to be third in his class in taijutsu, as well as more recent investigations showed large amounts of growth in the three and a half months he had been under Sarutobi Asuma. His partnership with his dog was at a high level for his age, which showed a slight inkling of future potential for the Hunter-nin Corps. The Inuzuka made up quite the large population of the shinobi hunters, and it looked as if the clan heir would join them.

Yamanaka Ino had come as a bit of a surprise, though mostly because of the bi-polarity of the reports on her. Her Academy records showed above average skill at every aspect of the shinobi lifestyle, though her attitude was noted as needing work. The girl hadn't taken her time seriously at the Academy, and her teachers had noticed.

That was in direct contrast to the reports Sarutobi Asuma had written about the girl, calling her motivated and driven to excel. The dead jonin spoke of high levels of improvement in her tenure under him, especially in the area of genjutsu. The idea of a genjutsu wielding Yamanaka was a harrowing thought as, combined with their mind techniques, illusions could become all that more potent.

And that left the true enigma.

"Uzumaki Naruto," Tenzo called across the clearing, his voice bland.

The blond boy held the ANBU captain's gaze steadily, his face carefully blank as he took in the scene around him.

By all rights, the clearing was a mess. The ground was torn up in multiple places, the sign of ninjutsu, while branches from nearby trees lay strewn across the grass. Chakra saturated the air and laid heavily on the blond, who had been alerted to his presence being required at Training Ground Eleven by messenger bird.

The centerpiece, however, was the battered, bruised, and bloodied bodies of his two teammates, both lying prone at Tenzo's feet. Above them, clad in black fatigues with a matching vest and a half mask similar to Hatake Kakashi's, stood Tenzo, ninja-to in hand, looking for all the world like the perfect assassin.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" the boy asked, his own voice flat.

Tenzo was inwardly impressed with the boy's poise. He knew of many far more seasoned ninja who would lose all sense of decorum when faced with a similar scene. On some level, the boy probably knew this was a test, but the idea that it might not be halted the boy from calling the jonin on it.

The Academy records were mixed concerning the Uzumaki, the early ones being rather scathing toward the boy's supposed lack of talent and work ethic. Those had lasted a year, before being replaced with far more moderate reviews, ones that indicated substantial growth of skill, before finally settling on comments that bordered on glowing praise. Naruto had been second in his class for the last few years of his tenure, second only to Uchiha Sasuke, a reputed genius in his own right.

Further digging had showed a surprising turn in the boy's training, as he had begun to study under Maito Gai, the experienced and powerful jonin's limited tutelage bringing out the latent talent the Academy had failed to notice.

"That's not important," the former ANBU captain answered. "The only thing that matters is that I'm following my orders."

The reports his deceased sensei had written followed in a similar vein to those of the later Academy years. Sarutobi wrote that the last Uzumaki showed potential befitting of a jinchurriki, the boy possessing massive chakra reserves for his age, as well a ninjutsu talent the man felt unmatched by any of his generation, let alone his graduating class. The boy had a wind affinity, and the jonin spoke of training in elemental ninjutsu in the last report he had written.

All of that, combined with the hearsay about the genin having killed Momochi Zabuza of all people – a rumor confirmed by the Sandaime, though with significant circumstantial details included – made for quite the interesting genin. The former captain would admit to being more than a little intrigued by such a genin.

And thus, Tenzo had his test.

The ANBU gripped his blade ever so slightly in anticipation, and it was all the prompting Naruto needed.

Though the reports had said it clearly, Tenzo was still taken aback when the boy hurled a wind chakra sheathed kunai at him, poised to pierce him between the eyes and howling like a hurricane. That, however, wasn't the appropriate response, the jonin thought with a little disappointment. The kunai, while quick through the air, was no match for Tenzo's speed, which would allow for him to easily land a killing blow on one, if not both of the boy's teammates.

Perhaps his mind needs some exercising.

The sudden absence of the sound of wind was the only indication that his initial assessment was wrong. The former ANBU captain moved faster than the boy could see, using pure speed to escape a dropping heel that would have caved his skull in.

Tenzo leapt backwards out of range, his sharp eyes catching the form of the wind enhanced kunai now buried in the ground where Naruto had first been standing. Kawarimi with a kunai, with the fuuton chakra used as an anchor for the jutsu to better latch on to the blade. Impressive thinking.

Naruto taken his well earned opportunity to grasp both Ino and Kiba by the collar, Shunshin-ing back to where his kunai was stuck in the ground. He dropped the unconscious bodies to the ground unceremoniously, locking eyes and glaring at Tenzo from across the clearing.

"So, did I pass your test?" he called, voice angry. Blue eyes bored into Tenzo's brown, and the new jonin felt a smirk forming beneath his mask.

Quick thinking on the fly and some deductive reasoning to boot. He'd likely make chunin now if the examiners saw that last display. The genin had correctly gathered that the objective was to get his subdued teammates out of harm's way. Tenzo would even admit to being caught off guard. He would bet money that that little maneuver would kill even a jonin, given the right timing.

He, however, was no mere jonin.

"One of them," was his answer. "Your approach was reckless, though, leaving yourself exposed to any enemies that might have been lying in wait."

Naruto's eyes widened as a small spike of chakra served as his only warning. The genin deftly leapt over a slash at his legs, planting his right foot on the offender's head and pushing off out of the immediate kill zone.

Landing, he watched as both of his "teammates" dropped their respective henge's, reverting to clones of the man in black. He clicked his teeth in irritation at his slip in judgment. A mistake like that might cost him were the situation not a test.

Two quick movements had his new trench knives spinning their way to his knuckles, wind chakra exploding down their length and beyond with the force of a tornado.

Tenzo allowed himself a small smile. The boy was certainly eager. Who knew, maybe he'd even be pushed a little?

"When one test ends, another begins, Uzumaki Naruto. Prepare yourself," Tenzo spoke in monotone. "You won't succeed unless you come at me with the intent to kill."

/~/