Chapter 16 – Jiraya's Funeral

Disclaimer - Don't own Naruto...

As Hinata awoke, her body still in agony, she knew she was once again alone in bed. This had been the same situation for the past three days: she would awake alone while Naruto stood at his balcony looking down at the village with tears in his eyes. Both their bodies were heavily wrapped in bandages and Hinata knew that it must have caused Naruto's body great pain to move to the balcony on his own, but she also knew that whatever he was thinking as he looked down over the village must pain him even more. Hinata's eyes opened, but she did not get out of bed.

Neither had spoken very much since their arrival back in Konoha as they both mourned the loss of their sensei Jiraya, but this morning was especially somber. Jiraya's funeral was to be held this afternoon.

Hinata slowly lifted herself out of bed and walked over to Naruto; every step felt like walking on broken glass. Just like the previous mornings, she would softly wrap her arms around Naruto's body and press the side of her head against his back. "Naruto-kun… I love you…" she tried to comfort him. There was never a response, but she didn't need one. She knew that he loved her; she didn't need words to understand that. Hinata held on to his body in silence.

"Hinata?" Naruto's voice was soft; this had been the first time he had broken this now-usual silence in three days. Surprised, Hinata's arms pressed a little tighter around his body. His eyes were still directed outside, over the village, "Can you feel my heartbeat, Hinata?"

Hinata knew the answer immediately. Whenever she held Naruto like this she would listen to his heartbeat, feeling it pulsing slowly in his chest. She felt comforted when she listened to it, "Yes, Naruto-kun," she replied into his back.

Naruto's heartbeat remained slow and constant. "Hinata, we both know what's coming." There was a quiet pause; Hinata knew exactly what lay in store for the two who had defeated Uchiha Itachi: Uchiha Sasuke. Naruto's eyes moved away from the village below and up towards the sky; it was full of clouds and they had cast a dark grey shadow on the village. For the first time since Jiraya's death, a smile crossed his face, "I need you to know something Hinata." The sun seemed to peak out through a tiny crack in the clouds, "I need you to know that every beat of my heart… is for you." Naruto turned around in Hinata's arms; her face rose to meet his.

Hinata stared into his smiling face for only a moment before tears started running down her face. Naruto watched as they sparkled in the sun's rays before it faded away behind another cloud. The grey shadow had once again enveloped them as Hinata sunk her face into Naruto's chest and began to sob. Naruto knew that now was her time to truly mourn Jiraya as he had. He wrapped one arm around her back and one around her head as he kissed the top of her hair.

Naruto and Hinata walked, hand in hand, slowly through the village streets towards the site of Jiraya's burial: the top of the mountain bearing the carvings of the Hokages. Both could sense that Jiraya's death seemed to go unnoticed by almost all the villagers as they went along their daily business. When the villagers would see Naruto and Hinata walking dressed in their all-black funeral robes, however, they would stop and bow their heads. Everyone knew what the clothing meant: the loss of someone very dear. After a long walk, they had arrived at the mountain top.

The only funeral that Naruto had ever been to was that of the Third Hokage, and at once he noticed that there were far less people here than there were at the old man's. He and Hinata approached the crowd and he stopped as he recognized some of the others: Tsunade and Kakashi, Iruka, the Jonin leaders of the other squads, the two village elders he had often seen in the Hokage's office, and several of his own friends like Sakura and Shikamaru. There were also several ANBU ninja present, all wearing masks, but he could instantly indentify the three members of S-919: Risho-san, Siro, and Amaro. Those people he could recognize represented about half of the 30-some people on the mountain. The others were people he did not know, but he knew that Jiraya must have touched their lives in some important way. Most looked inconspicuous, but several looked like very important and strong ninja; Naruto could tell that at least two of them were Kage's from other countries he could not recognize.The ones Naruto knew and the ones he didn't were all mixed, having hushed conversations in lowered voices. Tsunade was standing in a group with another Kage and several older people when her eyes caught sight of Naruto and Hinata. She excused herself from the group and walked towards the two; every hushed conversation suddenly stopped.

As Tsunade approached, both Naruto and Hinata could see all eyes turn towards them. Tsunad stopped infront of them and reached out her right hand, "We've waiting for you…both." Naruto looked down at her hand and he thought, 'Tsunade was Jiraya's lifelong friend.' A sudden realization struck him: 'Whatever Hinata or I feel, I couldn't even begin to understand what she is feeling right now.' He looked up into Tsunade's face, but quickly dropped his eyes to the floor, "I'm sorry… I'm sorry…" he started to mumble over and over. Seeing Tsunade's bloodshot eyes and the streaks of dry tears covering her face had completely devastated Naruto. 'How can she look down at me? HOW CAN SHE LOOK DOWN AT THE PERSON WHO LET HIM DIE!' His mind was screaming as he repeated his incoherent apology to the ground.

"Naruto…" Tsunade's voice was very calm but it broke thought the rage inside Naruto's mind. She knew what he was thinking; she knew that he blamed himself. She lifted Naruto's chin so that their eyes connected; Naruto's tear filled eyes were very wide as they looked into Tsunade's. He could see a sparkle in the corner of her eye like a tear that she was trying to hold back; the rest of her face was a sincere smile. "Naruto, it's not your fault," Her words were soft. Naruto knew that she was right. It felt like a huge burden had been lifted off his chest as he tried to smile back at Tsunade.

"Now," Tsunade reached out and grabbed Naruto and Hinata's hands, "It's time to begin." The crowd of people started moving towards the front of the mountain. Tsunade pulled the two through the crowd to the front very easily; the crowd seemed to part as they walked through. When they finally reached the front of the crowd the sight before them almost brought both Naruto and Hinata to tears. Erected between the carvings of the Third and Fourth Hokages' was a small marble shrine: Jiraya's Shrine. Had it not been for the flowers surrounding the tiny marble piece and the many pictures of Jiraya before it, the shrine would have been almost unnoticeable.

Naruto's eyes widened at the sight of the marble piece that marked Jiraya's burial site. 'Is this how Jiraya will be remembered?' He thought silenetly, still grasping Tsunade's hand. 'Is this all that's left of his life?' Lost in his own thoughts, Naruto had not noticed that the every person present was still and silent; everyone save him, Hinata, and Tsunade were in deep prayer. The thoughts became too much for Naruto, 'This can't be how he's remembered!' He wanted to yell out loud; to break everyone from their silence. A dark rage grew within Naruto's body. Just as Naruto's emotions were about to get the best of him he felt a sudden squeeze from Tsunade's hand.

Lost in his own thoughts, he had forgotten that he and Tsunade's hands were still locked together. The gesture forced his eyes from Jiraya's shrine up to Tsunade's face. Her sparkling eyes were focused on Jiraya's shrine and her lips were trembling and. As Naruto watched Tsunade quietly fight the urge to shed tears his rage faded. His eyes turned back to Jiraya's shrine and he squeezed Tsunade's hand.

The heavy grey clouds seemed unwilling to let the sun shine down on Jiraya's funeral as each person walked up to the marble structure one by one. Some said quiet words; others laughed softly; some remained deafly silent; but not one person shed a tear. Soon, only Naruto, Hinata, and Tsunade were left to pay their last respects. The three walked up together hand in hand and stood before the structure. Naruto's eyes studied each picture laid out before Jiraya's shrine before letting his eyes rest on the structure itself; he could not cry. "Tsunade…" Naruto spoke only loud enough so that Tsunade and Hinata could hear him; out of the corner of his eye he could see Tsunade's face slowly turn down to his. With his rage dissolved, Naruto's mind was bothered by one question, "Why here?"

Tsunade stared down at Naruto for a minute, thinking. Her lips formed into a smile as she remembered why Jiraya had long ago chosen this place as his burial site. Her gaze returned to Jiraya's shrine, "Naruto, you know that the Third was Jiraya's sensei right?" She waited for a response but she knew that with all the time Naruto and Jiraya had spent together Jiraya would have told him all about the both the Third and Fourth. "I'm sure Jiraya also told you that the Fourth was his greatest student. These two people were both very important to Jiraya, and one day long ago he stood right there," she nodded towards the marble structure, "he kneeled down and reached into the ground. He pulled out a handful of dirt and told me 'Tsunade, when I die I want to be buried in this spot.'" Tsunade remember the day well, it was the day before Jiraya left the village to chase after Orochimaru.

Tsunade's eyes closed as she lost herself in the memory of that day many years ago; she did not even feel both Naruto and Hinata release her hands. A much younger Jiraya stood before her, his back to her and his long white hair blowing in the wind as he looked down over the city. His body turned and he smiled at Tsunade, that smile that always meant 'no matter what, I'll be fine.' He fell down to one knee and reached into the ground, "TSUNADE!"

Her eyes shot open; it was just like in her memory, but it was not Jiraya's voice she heard. The voice now ringing loudly in her ears was a mixture of Naruto and Hinata's voices. It was not planned; it was an independent, spontaneous gesture that both thought quiet necessary. Each was surprised by the other's actions, but as they looked into each other's eyes it seemed right. Tsunade's eyes were shocked to see both Naruto and Hinata both kneeling several feet in front of Jiraya's shrine, both their right hands were dug into the ground and their eyes were locked on each other. Tsunade was speechless. The two pulled a piece of damp dirt from the ground and held it before them; they didn't need to speak the rest. Tsunade could not hold back her tears anymore as they started to flow from her eyes. Naruto and Hinata's eyes were still locked together, "Hinata, when I die I want to lie here with you." He dropped the dirt and walked on his knees to Hinata, "I want to always be with you."

Naruto wanted to kiss Hinata, to feel her lips on his and her body in his arms, but it was Tsunade's arms he felt. Tsunade fell to her knees, threw her arms around both Naruto and Hinata, and started to sob uncontrollably. She tried talking to the two, but her words were inaudible. For what seemed like forever, Naruto and Hinata waited patiently for Tsunade to regain her self control. The clouds overhead never disappeared.

When Hinata woke the next morning she had wished that she was still asleep. The previous night had come quickly as the two were completely drained from Jiraya's funeral and Tsunade's subsequent tearful explaination about how much the two meant to both her and Jiraya. There was no crying, no mourning, no awkwardness when the two fell asleep together, Naruto's arms holding Hinata close. As Hinata opened her eyes she was still wrapped in Naruto's arms she didn't want to wake him, but Naruto seemed to know that she was awake, "Good morning, Hinata." He kissed the back of her neck and a ticklish shiver went down her spine.

"Good morning, Naruto-kun…" She remained still in his arms hoping that they would not have to get out of bed, but she knew better. Before they had laid down to sleep they had made an oath to train hard every possible moment until Sasuke arrived. They would need to if they hoped to survive the fight.

Naruto gave Hinata one last squeeze before getting up and getting into the shower. Hinata remained in bed; something seemed wrong. There was something missing, something she had forgotten. Her eyes almost exploded as it hit her: the other scroll! Hinata jumped out of bed and reached into her bag, 'The nurses must have put it in here!' She dug around and finally pulled out the blue scroll Jiraya had given her before he died. She held it gently in her hands, 'It must be for Naruto. I shouldn't read it.' Hinata placed it down on the bed and went to make their lunch for later.

When Naruto got out of the shower he noticed the blue scroll laying on the bed. He picked it up and studied it. His curiosity got the best of him and he unrolled the scroll; his eyes grew wide as he suddenly realized that it was from Jiraya. Hinata carefully walked past him and into the shower; she didn't want to interrupt. Naruto read the entire scroll twice:

Naruto, I'm glad that we were able to spend so much time together before… well, before this. I hope that I've taught you more than just ninjutsu. I hope I've taught you about life, about responsibility, and about enjoying one while maintaining the other. You've been the most important person in this last part of my life and don't worry, if you had died before me I would have had a tough time choosing between where I'm probably buried now or being buried next to you. I'm just glad that I don't have to make that choice.

Now onto the serious part. Do you remember when I asked you what you wanted in life? Do you understand what I meant that day? Don't make the mistake I made; don't leave her. Naruto, she is strong and it's because of you. She is your strength and you are hers, and as long as you remember that you two will be able to get through anything together. I know that my passing will not make your life any easier, but I trust that you two will be just fine. I will be smiling down on you both.

Naruto rerolled the scroll and layed it down on the bed. He smiled as he remembered waking up in the hospital with Jiraya long ago. He now understood what his sensei had wanted him to realize. He had finally found exactly what he wanted in life: Hinata.

Naruto dressed quickly and sat on the corner of the bed waiting for Hinata. As Hinata left the shower her eyes shot straight to Naruto, "Naruto-kun, are you alright?" Her words sounded as if she expected him to be sad or troubled. She rushed to him, worried.

Hinata's face was so close to Naruto's that it took very little effort to pull her in and kiss her softly on the lips. "Yes Hinata," he pulled away slightly and looked into her now comforted eyes, "everything is just fine."

Two weeks had passed, and Naruto and Hinata had trained to their limit everyday. This morning seemed different, however, and neither even spoke of training. When they woke, they laid in bed together until the sun was high in the sky. The two had lunch in near-silence and took every opportunity to express how they felt about eachother. As night fell, the two dressed into their ninja gear and waited patiently together on the bed. There was no warning, no prior knowledge; but both knew that Sasuke was near. Both knew that he was coming for them, and both were ready.

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I know it's kind of a short chapter but I wanted to pay my respects to Jiraya...

Spidey - Sasuke broke free of Itachi's Tsukuyomi... Itachi had realized that Sasuke's latent powers would make him the stronger Uchiha so he wanted to use the Kyuubi's powers... hope that answers your questions...

Hope everyone enjoyed... the story is almost at an end... don't cry...

For the record: Jiraya's death has nothing to do with his death in the manga... it was in the plan long ago...