A/N: Yeah, it's been a while, but I haven't had the best past few months and really needed a break and time off from writing. I'm sorry I just up and quit writing except for my little side story, When In Rome, which you can definitely go check out and I'd greatly appreciate. But it's been rough, from having my house and car flooded in Hurricane Harvey, to dealing with having to rebuild with no help from anyone besides my family, it's been one helluva ride.

But I have a very big announcement to make at the end of this chapter, which is a rather short one, but it's jammed with a lot of stuff, so please read it all!

Ready? Set. Go!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own any of the characters or locations, those belong to Masashi Kishimoto, but I DO own the OC of Asuka and Asa. Also, I don't own the lyrics in this chapter, they belong to Tim McGraw, of all people.

HINATA-POV

August 7th, 11:00 pm.

Ugh, I was hoping to never have returned to school but unfortunately there isn't much of an option this time. Senior year...man things have came up quickly, in due time we'll be graduating, never required to step foot in those halls, sit in those classrooms and listen to the teachers drabble on and on ever again.

It's bittersweet, the more I think about it, something that's been a huge part of our lives and an integral part in our social expansion is coming to an end in a short amount of time. Well, it seems short to me, but it's really more like nine to ten months away, not including Christmas and thanksgiving breaks, of course.

But now it's time to celebrate my last night as a free woman...well, I'm not getting married but I'm about to have to hunker down and take this year seriously, economics class mainly because if I have any hope of going somewhere with my fathers business and continuing the tradition of the eldest Hyuuga in that gen owning it. Neji turned it down for his sports and I can't really blame him, so he's leaving it to me.

Thanks, 'cuz, you're really the best. This summer with him has been admittedly better than it has been in the past, even he'll say that he's finally woken up, opened his eyes and realized that we're family, and family runs deeper than anything, er, most of the time it does, other times, well, not so much. It's a sad fact of life I have to live with.

I mean, look at Sakura, her family is a bunch of, no offense, deadbeats that can't get their head outta their asses and do the right thing. Yeah sure her father was a good man deep down inside but his life was marred with mistakes and bad judgment calls. Take, for instance, his decision to keep his ailments a secret to all but his bitch of a wife.

Oh well, life moves on, shit happens, things change and lives get rearranged. Like Shikamaru and Temari's, a baby is a huge thing to happen to you and it can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how you take it. I've been to their house for dinner with Naruto once and saw how they are with Asa though, and it brought a tear to my eye.

They took a shitty situation, weathered the stress and the storm and turned a pile of shit into a pile of diamonds, the priceless kind that cost millions upon millions of dollars and you can only buy them in specially certified stores or else they're most likely gonna be fake. Too much detail for a euphemism? Probably, but who cares?

People who spend too much time judging others, that's who, like Ino used to be. Ino and Asuka are just another couple that define what it is to take a terrible situation and turn it around, flip it upside down and turn a hell hole into a heaven...post? I don't know how to reverse that saying honestly, it's one of the weirdest ones. Like, what's a hell hole?

Back on topic though, Asuka and Ino have persevered being kicked out of the place they were living in, had to force themselves to quit a drug cold turkey that no one can do without losing a lot of sleep and getting really sick. That and they've had to find a job and juggle working, paying bills and making it to school. Maybe I'll see em tomorrow...

Then again they may not have been able to balance both, we haven't talked much since the night that I had left Naruto...ouch, yeah, like that's something I wanna think about.

Things have been so well for us that I've tried my hardest to push any of the negative and ugly thoughts of the past out so I'm left with just the good memories of me and him being together. Not that I'm trying to 'deny' it happened, just right now we're both happy and I don't want to bring up those bad memories, they'll just put me in a bad mood.

And bad moods from me lead to him being in a bad mood, he'll think I'm about to do the same thing I did those two months ago, and that's something I don't want him to think right now, we're doing so good and I'm not gonna let anything jeopardize that, bad thoughts or memories be damned, they can die for all I care.

A part of me died when I left, something inside of me, and I don't know what it was but it's finally been resurrected and brought back to life leaving me to bury the part of me that took over when I was being an idiot. What was that part, though? Desire for freedom, desire for the old times to return, where I was safe to do what I wanted without the fear of hurting anyone besides myself?

Funny thing is that backfired and I ended up hurting both myself and Naruto the worst, even Sakura was hurt considering she considered me one of if not her ultimate best friend, someone she could turn to with anything, and that someone just up and walked away. So in hindsight yeah that was the dumbest move I could make. Did I enjoy it?

Well, the answer may surprise you, but both me and Naruto have agreed that this may have actually a good thing...kind of. Hear me out, being apart sucked, yes, and I hurt a lot of people in the midst of this shit storm hitting us, but this has just made our bond stronger and stronger, so maybe there's a silver lining to this black cloud hovering.

My eyes floated down to the promise ring that was dangling from the chain it was on, resting itself snuggly in my cleavage. I can't believe I managed to hang on to this over the times. I have a habit of misplacing things unless I truly care about it, I guess part of me really held onto this through me being a little brat.

I digress, let's move topics again. Sasuke and Sakura have been doing really well, they're ready to get this school year over with so they can start a new chapter in their lives so they can move on from the past as well. Maybe it'll involve marriage, maybe it won't, ya never know with those two. They seem so happy that I don't think they need it.

They'd be just fine without a piece of paper saying 'hey, you two made a legal promise to be with each other for the rest of your lives so don't fuck it up'. Marriage is a weird thing indeed, something I don't wanna think about right now. I know Naruto wants to be married to me, and I to him, but right not isn't the best time. I'd give it a year.

What am I doing up this late though? I have to be up at six thirty tomorrow so I need to get some sleep.

Hinata Hyuuga, signing off, goodnight all...

August 8th, 11:15 am.

I don't think I've been this excited for lunch in years. We have a fifteen minute break before lunch so that gives me time to go and take a leak before eating. The gods have blessed us and giving all of us the same time this year for lunch...either that or the gods don't like this school and gave us these times to torment everyone in the cafeteria.

Making my way to the lunch table where all my friends and boyfriend sat I placed my tray down and sighed happily. "Hey Hina." Naruto said before planting a kiss on my cheek, an act I returned happily. As mundane as a cheek-kiss is I never got sick of getting them from my number one favorite hyperactive blonde and probably never will.

Smiling I looked over at the seniors I was sharing the table with and felt a wave of happiness hit me. Shikamaru was entangled in a conversation with Sasuke about this new album that came out a few days ago, Ino, Asuka and Sakura were chatting it up about a new book that came out that they all read, and that was it.

"How was Hatake's class?" I asked Naruto, who just laughed a little bit before answering me, going on about the horrors of physics. Kakashi reprised his role there, so did Ms. Yuuhi with art, Mr. Asuma with math, Mr. Hiruzen with history, Sensei Gai with PE and sports, Mrs. Nara with Geometry and Tsunade with health.

That was the basic class set we had. My schedule was History from eight fifteen till nine, physics from nine fifteen till ten, health from ten fifteen till eleven fifteen, lunch from eleven thirty till I have PE from twelve thirty till one fifteen, geometry from one fifteen till two and that was it. Two days of the week I had geometry in place of history and art in place of PE so there's that.

One thing I hate is physical activity right after eating but it's not like I had a choice. Art was an elective of sorts I chose, but I selected to keep history this year, even if it's only for three days out of the week. Call me a history nerd if you so please but I don't care personally, it's something I like so bite me.

Still, something felt off about today, like something, or someone, was missing. I scanned the cafeteria and noticed everyone was here except one person. I couldn't quite put my finger on who it was or what his name was but he had an impact enough for me to notice his absence and that's enough for me to wonder who exactly it was.

My eyes wandered over to a door leading to the cafeteria where I thought I saw someone looking through the door, someone that looked exactly like my missing classmate that I was wondering about, but before I got a good look he disappeared. "Oi, earth to Hinata, I asked you what Mr. Hiruzen is covering this year." So much for that.

I turned my attention to Shika, who has asked the question and just smiled. "Sorry, thought I saw someone I knew, and right now the basics but next month we're gonna get into the feudal wars of the early ages, more specifically the sixteen hundreds and before." The pineapple haired man grimaced, he loved history and theory.

Assuming he wanted to learn the feudal wars I figured out his reason for the grimace; he'll be missing history for his internship. "Damn, and just when I thought I might just get a break I find out I'm missing my favorite time era." I know how bad that sucks, sophomore year I missed when they studied the witch trials.

Then again, that is in sixteen ninety two, so maybe we'll cover it this year since it's in the sixteen hundreds...wait...did I just see what I thought I saw? It's like someone just opened a door and rolled something...into...the cafeteria...uh oh..."Naruto, guys get down!" I yelled, right before it hit.

An explosion rocked the lunch room sending debris flying and turning over a few tables. The force of the explosion sent me flying from my seat and onto the floor, knocking my head on it and creating a gash that caused disarray in my head. My eyes fluttered, closing and opening before finally shutting, but not before I saw something I didn't want to see.

Shino, with a gun, and he aimed it at a student, before I saw it happen I lost consciousness, floating away into dream land.

SHINO-POV

August 8th, 11:45 am.

It's time. "C'mon baby, you can do this, all you have to do is just unhook the pin, roll it into the room and watch the fireworks." Uwa whispered into my ear, coaxing me into doing as she wished. I nodded, doing as she said and pulling the pin, letting it roll and watching it land under a table of seniors, none of whom I knew personally.

And as she said the fireworks started, the explosion sent bits and pieces of the table and the occupants flying and sending the room into panic mode, with the numerous men, women and a few teachers trying to make their way to the exits only to find all of them chained and locked shut. All but one. And that's the one I was currently standing at.

Uwa clapped and giggled at the sight, kissing me on the cheek before brandishing her own gun, heading off to one of the exits to do god knows what. It was show time for me though as I grabbed one of the handguns from the duffle bag I brought into school after taking out a security guard with a knife to his throat, leaving it buried in his heart to the hilt. They'd know who I was after today anyways.

Creaking open the door I heard and saw the commotion before walking up to one of the kids who was trying to crawl away from his shattered table. "P-please, please help me sir-oh no!" Bang! And like that his life was extinguished. I turned the gun to a crying couple in the corner before firing into them, landing the shots perfectly in them.

I turned and looked at the door Uwa headed towards and saw her gunning people down through the window with her pistol, smiling like a mad man. Enough of that, I need to focus on my own mission. I turned my gun to a few more prone students and fired, taking them out and bringing my body count up to eight so far.

And then I saw the prone bodies of Shikamaru and his gang, and a bleeding Hinata. I forgot they were gonna be here...fuck, this makes things a little more difficult than it was in the first place. They'll get spared this time, I need to move on to bigger and better targets, like some of my underclassmen still in class.

Making my way down the hall after killing ten more students in the cafeteria I spotted the first classroom, a home economics class being taught by some older lady. "Ready, Shino-kun?" Uwa asked after seemingly ghosting over to me. I just looked at her and nodded, grabbing the shotgun from the duffel bag and lining my pockets with shells.

I made short work of the door, kicking it down after blasting the hinges with a shell each. Reloading I stepped into the classroom, not seeing anyone but hearing movements under the desks. "You can't hide, it's time to atone for your crimes against me." I said with a trembling voice, firing a shell under a desk and hearing that satisfying sound.

The buckshot hit skin, tearing open the wooden desk in the meantime and exposing the two targets I hit, a pair of boys. The thrill of that was almost enough to satisfy me, but my head kept calling for more, so I did the same with three more desks, bringing my body count to twenty seven. Twenty seven lives and it's still not enough...

After everything, everything that I've been through, the pranks...oh the pranks...and this still isn't enough to satisfy my thirst for the blood of my tormentors, I want to hear their life leaving them, see their final moments, read the pain in their eyes like they did all those times they fucked with me. And I am unstoppable.

The next classrooms brought no surprises, but my count rose and rose to fifty five, leaving me no choice but to double back to the cafeteria where more students gathered and tried to huddle out the storm. It's time to bring out the big gun, a fully automatic submachine gun with a forty five round clip. Kicking open the cafeteria door I fired more rounds into it, hitting ten more students and killing five of them immediately.

"Shino! Put the gun down and end this! You don't need to continue this anymore, friend!"

My attention turned to the voice that interrupted me, and it was the Uzumaki kid. I chortled a little bit, laughing at his wanton usage of the word 'friend'. "Ha, don't say that you're my friend, Uzumaki, none of you knew I was hurting, you all knew I was being picked on yet you stood by and watched! Now, now I'm getting revenge." Bang!

Bullets ripped through a student by the blonde headed Hokage's heir, startling him. "I know, Shino, but there's no use in killing anymore people than you already have! All it's gonna do is further your jail sentence, so please put the gun down." He...he's right...at least, I think he's right.

With a trembling hand I moved the gun towards the ground, before something interrupted my train of thought. "Really, Shino-kun? You're giving up that easy? And for this blonde idiot too! I'll take care of this little problem since you seem to not be able to." Wait, no! Before I could do anything Uwa fired three shots, hitting Naruto in the back.

He fell rather quickly, leaving my hands shaking as I saw the now immobile body of someone I know is innocent. "Uwa! This is enough! I've already gone too far and so have you! This ends now, the police will be here soon enough and we'll both be in jail...well, I will, you might be, er, somewhere else." I raised the gun, aiming it at my lover.

A tear rolled down my face as her smiling face went from confused to angry and then desperate. "Shino...wait, no, we can work this out! C'mon Shino-kun, I love-" No, that's enough of that rotten misusage of the phrase I love you. Her words were cut off when a bullet tore through her skull, making her fall back, her lifeless body collapsing with a solid thud, blood spilling from the wound.

And just like that this nightmare...it's over...sinking to my knees I dropped the gun hearing the footsteps of the police get closer and closer. My eyes caught Hinata's and she managed to mouth out one word, and it's one I'm asking myself more and more. "Why?" Her raspy voice breathe out, before passing out again.

Honestly, I don't even know right now..."You have the right to remain silent." Yeah, I know, not like I have anything to say right now anyways. "Anything you say-" Can and will be used against you in the court of law, got it, it's not like I have any chance of getting out of this, I'm on camera and everything.

Just take me away and end this nightmare...please...

SHIKAMARU-POV

September 8th, 5:30 pm.

I can't believe it's been a whole month since the incident at school. It seems like it's been a week, but a whole month? Nah. But it has, and here we are. Who would've known that Shino was living in such a hell, as bas as his crimes were I can't help but feel bad for him honestly.

Fourteen dead, twenty two injured, one of the deaths being the girl who put us all in this situation, but the hardest death to cope with has been the loss of..."Naruto!" Hinata yelled out, tears streaming down her face, thankfully they're tears of joy and happiness as he tackled her in a hug, tickling her sides and smiling like a madman who forgot to take his medicine for the day...or the week.

Chuckling at the two I turned to Temari and smiled, kissing her on the cheek gently and lighting my cigarette, taking a long drag off of it and looking over at Sakura, who was cooing at Asa, holding the girl in her arms and looking at her with a bright smile on her face. It's been rough, admittedly, since the attack, but we've all manage since then.

Naruto got it the worst of the living, but he made it nonetheless. Taking three bullets was not the most fun he's ever had, I can imagine, but he took it like a man and, praise the heavens, the shots only hit him in all of the right spots, making rehabbing easier than any of us thought it would.

Hinata got a few good cuts and a pretty bad concussion but she was, again, nonetheless okay. Sakura was the same, as well as Sasuke, they all got extremely lucky, I admit.

Me? Well, I was the better off of us, admittedly. A concussion and whiplash was the worst I got, which was a lot better than some of the others, especially the ones that lost their lives. A memorial shrine was built in the middle of the small outdoors area that was placed in the middle of the school where students can go to get some fresh air and clear their minds before they went back into the school to further their learning.

As quickly as it started it was over, the majority of deaths coming from the initial blast from the grenade and the first round of shots. "I just can't believe that..." Me either, love, I can't believe that a lot of the things that happened, happened, but they did, and today is a day to try and find closure and rest from the nightmare of a month ago.

Sasuke wrapped his arms around Sakura's waist from behind, laying a kiss on the top of her head as the thoughts continue to swirl through my head, much like the smoke of my cigarette swirling into the soon-to-set sun filled sky. Why did this happen? Well, we know why, it's just not that easy to accept, especially not saying goodbye to...

With a little bump from my finger I flicked the ashes onto the ground, dropping the cigarette onto the ground and grinding it out with my heel, tossing my hands into my pockets and lowering my head as the commotion continued around me, the sounds of my friends conversing, mingling and overall coping filling my ears.

Yet I'm still at a loss..."Shika-kun...it's gonna be okay, I know it's a tough thing to cope with but we're all doing our best to, so...can you please..." Can I please? I wish it was that easy, Temari-chan, but it's not. I know I didn't lose that much that day, but with everything I've recently went through, and now this? Yeah, I'll try, but...

"I'll try my best for you, love, but there's no guarantees. I guess it's a little harder for me to swallow when coupled with all the recent tragedies that have been happening all across Konoha and the other nations." You think it was just here? A week and a half ago a Taki shopping mall got attacked by radical terrorists who killed a hundred people, injuring almost three hundred more, and just before that there was a bombing in Iwa, killing eighty five and injuring two hundred.

This world is going to shit, and we're just additions to the list of victims in this world. "It's not that hard, really..." She muttered, hanging her head immediately after she said it, not wanting to see my reaction to what she said, and rightfully so, as my face contorted in anger, disgust and confusion. Not that hard, yeah fucking right.

"Yeah...not that hard...I need to go clear my head real quick." I said, dipping out and away from the group and leaving the park where we had gathered, the same park that I had ended up at when the law was chasing me, the same place...no, I can't think about it right now. No one noticed as I slipped away and headed to the car.

Opening the door I took a seat in the drivers seat, leaning the seat back and reclining, throwing my head back and sighing deeply. Not that hard. I'm sorry that I find it more hard than others to cope with it. Sure, I wasn't in love with the souls we lost, but it doesn't mean that I'm just gonna be over it in a month, that's not who I am as a person.

Man...I still remember what my dad told me a week or so after the shooting, just like it was yesterday...

Flashback-August 18th, 1:15 am.

I don't know how, but when I find it hard to sleep at night I usually find myself here, sitting in my car and overlooking one of my favorite spots in all of Konoha. It was a little scary for some people, since the only thing separating you and a hundred and seventy foot drop into a river at the bottom of a chasm is a wooden fence.

Unsurprisingly it's a popular suicide spot, but as long as I'm here no one comes and tries 'cuz they know I won't let it happen. Cranking the radio up I let the words of the music I was listening to try and soothe me as I lit a joint, filling my lungs with THC and exhaling it, mouthing along to the words of the song.

He said I was in my early forties, with a lot of life before me, when a moment came and stopped me on a dime.

I spent of the next days looking at the x-rays, talking 'bout the options, and talking bout sweet time.

Country music was never my thing until recently. I don't know why, but it's struck a chord with me, and now I find myself just listening to it, letting the calm and soothing tones and voices wash over me.

Also, at the same time, it's a fucking ridiculous thing that I keep to myself for the most part. I think the only ones that wouldn't absolutely take the piss out of me for it is Naruto and Hinata, cuz they listen to it as well. We have a lot in common, us three, more than I originally thought, honestly, especially now more than ever.

It's funny, at least to me it is, that such tragedy can either bring people together and make their bonds stronger than ever, or it can break them down to a point to where a lot will never be able to recover from. There's a few examples of the first one, the biggest one being the strengthening of a lot of my friendships, specifically the friendship of me, Hinata and Naruto, which was strong before, but now it's stronger than before.

We talk to each other every night, even as Naruto is in the hospital recovering from the wounds caused by the actions of someone I thought was a friend of ours, and he was, but something was going on with him, something he didn't share with anyone, and while I want to blame him for not at the same time it's not exactly easy to mention.

Back to that hyperactive blonde dude that I call friend, he's been okay for what's been dealt to him. Gunshot wounds, a nasty concussion, he really got dealt a shitty hand but he'll manage, surely. Hinata has been as good to him as she can possibly be, and I commend her for that, as she's dealing with the mental repercussions of what happened.

Admittedly, and not by just me but literally everyone we know, I'm the most mentally strong, next to Sasuke, but even this has me shook to my core, which shocked us all.

What about the last one I mentioned? Well, Asuka and Ino handled it the worst. Their physical injuries are minute and minimal, but they're not exactly handling the mental trauma all that good, they've mainly stayed shut in their apartment, barely managing to go to work and pay their bills, which is good enough for them, I guess.

From what I've heard they've been using again, which isn't a good thing, but we've all tried to break through to them, each time it was to no avail. Maybe they'll wise up one of these days and come back to us, but there's always the option that they'll continue on this path and continue to shut us out until it's too late and we all move on.

Sakura has tried the hardest, but..."Fuckin' hell, man..." I sighed out, leaning my head against my steering wheel and resting my eyes, staying there until a tap came on my window five minutes later, making me jump a little before I realized who it was that was disturbing me. "Dad? What could you possibly want so late?" I muttered out, waving for him to get in the car with me.

He opened my door and quickly got in, shutting the door quickly so as little smoke as possible escaped the car. "Hey son, I knew I'd find you here, figured you probably want some company." He said with a chuckle, knowing well that this is where I got to be alone, the exact opposite of company.

I gave him a look that easily read 'no, not really, but it's not like I can say no' before turning the radio down and offering him one of the joints I had rolled. "Is that what you were coming for, or is it to just bug me?" I asked, getting another chuckle from him and he accepted the offer, shaking his head as he lit it up.

"No, son, I'm a grown ass man and can get my own weed, I came here because we really need to talk." About what? "Don't try and fool me, Shika, me and your mom raised you from birth until you were grown enough to leave us so let's just cut the shit and get right to the point." I can already tell I'm not gonna enjoy this very much..."Shika, me and your mom can see it in your eyes, no matter how strong you're trying to act we can see you're just as devastated as everyone else."

A full on laugh escaped my throat as I looked at my dad, and as I was about to do exactly what he told me not to try and do something clicked in me, and I just let out a long and deep sigh. "Yeah...I am...but what can I do? I've been trying my best to stay ad strong as I can, and so far it's been working, but..."

My dad looked at me and just smiled, putting his hand on my shoulder. "I know how you feel, son, even though I've never been through anything like this. But you can't live life always hiding behind a tough façade, you have to let people see that you're not okay. What do you think drove Shino to do what he did? Silence. Silence because he was afraid that people were gonna judge him."

Is he trying to say that I'm gonna go shoot up a school like him? "Now, this isn't to say I think you're gonna do the same thing he did, but my point is that you don't have to hide behind a wall, Shika. Let your walls down, let everyone come in, and let them help build you up, just like you're gonna help build them up." Huh, who'd have thunk it?

Letting my dad's words sink in I looked over and smiled, giving him the best hug I could while in a car. "Thanks, dad, I needed that. I don't know if I can let them down all at once, but I do need to let them down slowly but surely. We need to do this together, not alone, or else...or else you end up like Asuka and Ino." Sad, yet true.

Maybe this'll be easier than it seems.

But maybe it won't.

Only time will tell.

Flashback end, return to present.

Open up, Shika, how hard is that? A lot harder than it seemed at the time, that's for sure, as I still haven't had the courage to open up and tell everyone that I've been in a really bad spot ever since the attack. But now is a better time than never, right? The one month anniversary of the cause of the current topic of mental conversation.

I opened the car door and stepped out, taking steps towards the group of people that are most likely wondering where I am, my feet moving slower than ever. At least that's what it feels like. Eventually I made it to the park, eyeing over all my friends, my child and my wife, as they all slowly turned and looked at me.

Part of me thinks they already know what's coming but they're waiting for me to say something. Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but I held my had up, cutting him off so I could speak. "I'm sorry, Naruto, but if I don't just come out and say this right now then I'll never say it." If that didn't tip them off then I don't know what could. "Guys, ever since the attack I've been having a hard time coping with it, and it's been leaving me sleepless at night half the time, and the other half of the time the sleep I get is so bad that I'm not sure you can even call it sleep, honestly." Well, I've gotten this far, can't stop now.

"And I never wanted to say any of this because I've been doing my best to be everyone's rock, the one person everyone can go to and lean on when they need someone to be there for them, but it's getting harder and harder to be that man when I'm unsure of how much longer I can even support myself. So I'm sorry, guys, I know today we're supposed to be remembering what happened and overcoming it, but this can't go on any more, or else I'll end up just like Ino and Asuka." Phew, that felt...good, actually.

For a moment everything just paused, silence once more upon us, before it all began. "Oh come on, Shika, you really thought we were gonna hate you because you were suffering just like everyone else is?" Well, kinda Naruto, but obviously I was wrong.

"Yeah, I mean this isn't exactly an easy thing to just brush off. Not for me, nor anyone here, nor for Ino and Asuka, albeit the way they're coping and managing isn't exactly the best...but you get the point, pineapple head." Yeah, yeah, I get the point, 'Nata, but the pineapple head thing...ah screw it, I'm pineapple head, loud and proud.

"What she said." Figures Sasuke would just ditto someone else, he's not exactly a strong speaker. "Ow! Okay, damn it, I'll say something else. I'm the stoic one but look at me, it's obvious I'm hurting too, and as you can imagine it's sucked having to come out of my shell, who's to say you can't do it?" True enough, buddy.

Sakura was next, after forcing Sasuke to talk more. "I mean he said it best, but I'm a little baby that cries when someone on a television show dies, so I have no room to talk really. But we're all here for you." I can see that, now more than ever...

"Shika-kun...I don't know why you felt like you couldn't trust me enough to talk to me about this, but I don't exactly blame you. Just make me a promise, not just for me but for Asa's sake, that you'll never bottle yourself up like this, ever again." I think, no, I know I can do that.

And then it happened, one of my least favorite things, but this time I'll let it slide, as everyone closed in on me and wrapped me up in a group hug, capping off what little festivities we had going on. The barbecue, the conversations, they were all a thought in the back of our heads as we all embraced, holding each other tightly.

Ino, Asuka, I wish you were here, but there's one more person that's missing from this...

Mr. Sarutobi.

Hiruzen.

Teacher.

Friend.

You will be missed.

A/N: Am I a dick for killing off Hiruzen? Maybe, but my DM's are always open for you to let me know, or let me know in a review. Granted anyone is still reading this, even after my abrupt hiatus. But this is the end of this part of the series, and I'll be posting the first chapter for part two, The Right Path (cheesy, I know, but if you have a better idea on what to name it get at me.), soon. I know, last time I said soon it took over four months, but I promise it won't be more than a month until I release the first chapter for the continuation of this story.

I want to start part two off right as graduation ends, and in typical 'me' fashion, there will be a party. But once more, I promise it won't be just like any other party. Expect big things to happen, more twists than a M. Night Shamalayan movie (okay, that's stretching it admittedly) and more fun to ensue.

To everyone who has followed this story, even if you started from chapter one to twenty eight, I greatly appreciate it, and to everyone who reviewed you get the biggest tip of my southern hat ever. Stay tuned, part two is coming soon, and as always, favorite, follow and review, Ja fuckin' ne!