A/N : This, like The Veil is going to be short, but will be chaptered simply because of the change in each. I don't think it will go beyond five chapters though, considering the idea, which is very basic.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or other associated characters. This is fanfiction, which implies that fans of the manga/anime are meddling with the characters and having fun with them.

Onward!

When Naruto and Sasuke met for the last time, Naruto was twenty. Sasuke was so far gone that even the one who had longed for him knew that the only way to save him was to kill him. So Naruto did; With three rasengan's that left him so tired he could barely stand up during Sasuke's funeral where he and Sakura mourned the boy who would help unasked, complaining all the while, the boy who had intercepted Haku's needles, and the boy that Naruto had fallen so desperately in love with at that moment.

Sasuke's funeral was quiet and was held outside Konoha. Only Naruto and Sakura attended.

For the next few months Naruto was quiet, and sorrowful. He ddn't laugh, barely smiled and his consumption of ramen increased. Everyone had expected it though, so they didn't say much. They couldn't empathise and cry with Naruto for the death of someone who had betrayed and near destroyed the village they lived in, and they had sworn to protect, and Naruto wasn't one for pity or meaningless platitudes. His behaviour was normal for one who was grieving, and believed that he would soon snap out of it. He was the the no.1-unpredictable-knucklehead-ninja after all. He would bounce back with his cheesy grins and sparkling eyes. He always did.

What everyone else didn't see were the nightmares and the aches that Naruto thought went down to his very bones but hid oh so well behind blue eyes so dull they looked gray. They didn't see him taking the thrashings of drunk and bigoted villagers which he would usually escape with careless ease, and they didn't see his sorrow give way to anxiety and depression. They saw what he wanted them to see, just as they always had. He fooled them all, even his most precious people, because no matter how precious they were to him, they couldn't understand. They never would. They weren't jinchuuriki.

A/N : To everyone who read, thank you, and please do review even if it to just drop a line and say hello. If you have ideas do let me know, and I will consider them. Till next time!