Author's Note: This is an AU where Sasuke was killed fighting the Juubi. Tsuki: We...just don't want to have to deal with his character at the moment...Sorry. Ruka: Sasuke is DEAD DEAD DEAD DEAD DEAD DEAD DEAD, deader than the dinosaurs (FYI he's dead, just in case you didn't get the message yet). Tsuki: Jeez, harsh much.

Disclaimer: We do not own Naruto.

Chapter 1: Party Hard Til You Fall Backwards

"To Neji, to Sasuke, to Shikaku, to Inoichi, to all the fallen comrades who could not join us today..." Tsunade began solemnly to the hushed crowd, holding up her sake cup in a toast. There was a whooshing as thousands of Konoha shinobi raised their arms in unison. There was an audible silence as many of the shinobi paused, caught up in their personal memories of the fallen, before they downed their sake in one gulp, as if swallowing all the bad memories at once. Tsunade, herself, poured her entire bottle down her mouth and let out a hearty sigh, cheeks flushing.

"Now that the solemnities are over with, let's hear some goddamn good news for a change, " Tsunade roared to a rapidly stiffening crowd. "We won this long and hard war. We're survivors! The Will of Fire still burns strong and it will continue..uhhh...to do so as long as there are leaves...err...children! And now, I am proud to announce my successor." Her arms came up in a wide sweeping arc as she said this before pointing to a tall, lanky man. The man in question looked up at her with a tired eye as if already regretting what will happen next. "Hatake Kakashi, elite jounin of Konohagakure!" Kakashi gave a sad little slump of the shoulders as he grieved for the loss of his freedom. He slowly made his slouching way to the podium that Tsunade was standing. Impatient groans and huffs responded to the already familiar antics. Several thoughts drifted through the minds of the watching shinobi at this point: We're going to have to deal with this for kami knows how long? or Konoha is going to drown in overdue paperwork. or Will we ever get anything done with this guy running the village?!

Kakashi turned to the crowd after accepting the traditional white and red Hokage hat. He held it in his hand briefly. His hands lowered slightly at the weight as if burdened by the heavy decisions and consequences made and experienced by the great people who wore the hat before. There was only one thing that Kakashi could think of at the current moment: Whoever made this decision was definitely drunk and not right of mind. And considering Tsunade and her drinking habits...maa...Reluctantly, he put the hat on. His figure was unrecognizable to many of the shinobi who only knew him by his iconic hairstyle. It did seem to many though, as the sun came out from behind the clouds, that the presences of the previous Hokages could be seen standing next to Kakashi.

There was a great outcry of cheers as shinobi concentrated on the good news in front of them and swept the terrible memories to the back of their minds. Naruto, in particular, gave a loud whoop before exclaiming, "Keep that hat warm for me, Kakashi-sensei! I'm going to take it from you soon, dattebayo!" It went relatively unheard within the onslaught of noise, but her pink-haired companion punched the noisy kunoichi into the ground with mock irritation.

"That huuurt, Sakura." The blonde whined.

Later that night, Konoha was alit with bonfires as shinobi partied with all their might. After an arduous war, it was only right that they relax now that there is peace, however temporary it may be. Naruto watched the firelight cast dancing shadows around her. She clasped her cup between both hands, and observed the merriment before her with only a wisp of a smile. Her mind was a million miles away, lost in the memories of the past few years. So much had changed since she was a genin. People had died, people had mourned, but most importantly, people had adapted to these new situations. She let out a low sigh. People can't help but change, but Naruto sometimes wanted to freeze time and relieve the weights that life continually piled down onto her. An affectionate punch on her shoulder interrupted her mulling, and Naruto looked to the culprit. Kiba gave her an understanding smile and motioned to her still full sake cup.

"You're not one to sulk, Naruto." Akamaru barked his agreement and rested a paw on Naruto's head. Said girl let out an exaggerated huff and expression before letting both taper off into a somber silence.

"It's not exactly easy you know," She began softly. "So many people that we know and love are gone while we're still..alive. I can't stop thinking about them; the laughs, the smiles, even the petty little fights that we get into sometimes. Sometimes, it gets to be too much. I can't just forget them, but I can't think about them either. They won't ever, ever come back, and I can't stand it! I couldn't bring him back to Konoha! He was going to, too and I let him die!" Her voice rose by the end of her sentence and broke off into an uncomfortable silence. Akamaru gave a sympathetic whine and rested his head onto her arm.

Kiba sighed. He was never very good with these situations. If only Hinata were here..But she wasn't, so he had to find a way to break Naruto out of this angsty haze. He awkwardly ruffled Naruto's hair as he spoke. "This is why we have nights like these. We can forget our worries for a bit and let loose so we can bounce back the next day." Blue eyes considered the statement. "So what do ya say?" Kiba raised his sake cup.

After a few moments of hesitation, Naruto's glass clinked against it. "What the heck." She said with renewed vigor. It's just this one night at the very least after all. Naruto grinned and downed the full cup in one go.

"That's the spirit!" Kiba laughed heartily as he refilled their cups from a nearby bottle.

It was Naruto's first time drinking this much. Not even her oath exchange with Gamabunta involved this much sake. She didn't realize that Konoha even had this much sake. She could feel the heady rush and warmth that signaled that she was way past the tipsy stage and very close to just being dead drunk. Regardless, egged on by Kiba and Lee, she threw back another cup before letting out a loud, satisfied "pwah". The Konoha 11 laughed heartily with one another, having gravitated toward each other as time passed.

"You know what this party needs?" Ino slurred in her drunken stupor, "Fireworks!"

Shino answered in an even tone, the little pauses in between his words the only sign of his drunkenness, "We don't have any fireworks..and I doubt Hokage-sama..will sign off on releasing them to us when we're all this drunk. The only feasible solution is to..substitute fireworks with explosive tags. It would mimic the loud bang well enough."

Everyone put their cups down before fiddling around in their pockets looking for ink, paper, and a brush pen. Luckily, Sai had plenty for everyone. They all plopped down on the ground and started inking explosion seals. Naruto, in particular, sat Indian-style and as she held her pen to the paper, she realized that she could hardly distinguish between the marks she made. Oh well...what's the worst that could happen? She gave a happy little shrug and hum before continuing on what she presumed to be the best explosion seal that would ever grace the Elemental Nations. The rest of the Konoha 11 were eager to see the results of Naruto's work. After all, she was a member of a clan lauded for their inherent sealing expertise.

Finishing off her seal with an elaborate whirl around the rest of the lines, Naruto whipped the brush in the air. She stood abruptly and brushed the dust of her jumpsuit, holding the seal out for everyone to see.

Shikamaru felt a nudging in the back of his head as he contemplated the seal Naruto held out for display. That doesn't look like an explosion seal...there are one too many whorls, loops, and spirals. But in his drunken state of mind, he was in no position to act upon his subconscious thought. Troublesome. He watched as Naruto began charging up her chakra. An ominous feeling began dissipating the previous good cheer from the alcohol and festivities.

There was a loud poof sound as Naruto was swallowed up by a huge cloud of smoke. Highly trained shinobi as they were, the Konoha 11 (now 10) thought nothing of it and dismissed it as a failed explosion tag, until the smoke cleared and they realized that there was no sunny blonde heroine standing in the midst of it.

The End.

AN: This is written by two high school seniors who are procrastinating on their college apps :)