Disclair: Naruto and all of its characters belong to Shueisha and Masashi Kishimoto. I own nothing but the original characters I create.
Dialogue
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 147: The Official Proceedings
Sakura's funeral was held that sa afternoon. She was buried in the ninja section of the village cetery. Nothing elaborate, it was just a simple stone plaque with a few words inscribed on it.
Naruto had been told that her na would later be engraved on the morial Stone that commorates all ninjas who fell in the line of duty, even though Sakura hadn't been on an official mission when she died.
After they ate, Kakashi brought Naruto here.
The Hokage was present, along with most of Sakura's forr classmates, except for Kiba and Chouji, who were still under dical care.
For the first ti, Naruto saw Sakura's parents. Their deanor and posture suggested they weren't ordinary civilians, so they must have had so formal training at so point in their lives.
Her father ignored Naruto entirely, while her mother threw him a few harsh glances.
After the ceremony, her parents spoke briefly with Kakashi before returning to stand by their daughter's grave while they pretended that Naruto didn't exist.
"You think they bla ? Judging by the looks they were giving ," Naruto comnted.
"Don't mind them," Kakashi replied. "Her parents never particularly liked you in the first place. If they blad you for her death, they would have been very vocal about it, trust ."
Naruto couldn't rember ever eting them before, so their dislike of him was likely based on the sa reasons as the rest of the civilians, so as Kakashi suggested, he paid them no mind.
He wasn't sure how many details they'd been given about Sakura's death.
Naruto had given the Hokage a full recount of his encounter with Sasuke. But he'd left out the mont when, as Sakura stepped between him and Sasuke, he could have pushed her aside to save her life...though he'd have been struck by Sasuke's jutsu and might not have survived.
That wasn't a sacrifice he'd been willing to make, especially for soone he hadn't been close to.
He was never asked if he did everything that was in his hands to prevent this from happening, so he didn't have to lie at least.
'Maybe they should bla after all,' Naruto considered.
Not that it would have changed his decision.
"Naruto…"
He turned and saw Ino looking at him with concern in her eyes.
"How are you holding up?" she asked.
Naruto didn't want to seem cold or detached, but it was clear to him that Ino was far more affected by Sakura's death than he was.
Since he had et her, the pink haired girl had only shown interest in Sasuke and he was mostly treated like an annoyance that was in her way.
Naruto had not cared about this at all, but this also prevented him from growing closer to her.
"I'm fine, but what about you?" His eyes drifted to the left side of her face.
A deep scar on her left cheek served as a reminder of her deadly battle with Kidomaru. If it hadn't been for Shino, the outco could have been far worse.
Ino noticed his gaze and used her hand to cover the scar.
Naruto gently moved her hand away. "There's no need for that."
"It's ugly…" she murmured.
He ran his fingers across her cheek. It was already healed, though the pink scar tissue contrasted sharply with her pale skin.
"Battle scars aren't ugly. They're marks of your experiences. Wear it with pride."
Ino smiled, her cheeks turning a little pink. "Thanks…" For a mont, she felt happy.
But then her smile faded as her mind returned to the reality of the situation. "I should get going..."
After the girl left the cetery, Naruto stayed beside Kakashi, receiving condolences from several others. They were expected to receive them as her parents would. For a ninja, teammates were almost like family. Losing one was like losing a sibling.
"I'm so sorry!" Rock Lee stood before them, looking remorseful.
"I should have stopped her. I tried to…"
Naruto noticed that Lee was no longer using his cane, and he seed to be in much better condition, though he still favored one leg.
"There's no need for that, Lee," Kakashi told him. "Sakura was a ninja just like you, and she made her choice to join the mission, knowing the risks. You weren't her caretaker."
"I know… Gai-sensei said sothing like that, but…" Lee glanced at Naruto.
Naruto shrugged. "No one blas you, Lee." He was tired of people apologizing for Sakura's death.
No one had even ntioned blaming Sasuke, though he was the one who had driven a fatal jutsu through her chest.
"I think I'll be taking my leave too," Naruto said. He wanted to get away before he ended up saying sothing he'd regret.
No one tried to stop him as he left the cetery.
He wandered around the village, thinking about so of the words the Hokage had shared with him.
Tsunade had inford him that Sasuke's na was now in the Bingo Book as a B-rank missing ninja, though his bounty was marked as "Alive Only."
This seed like a soft punishnt for a ninja who had abandoned the village and killed a teammate, but the ninja council had likely forced Tsunade's hand. Sasuke was the last Uchiha, and they weren't willing to lose him just yet.
'Huh?...' Naruto stopped in the middle of an empty street. He had heard soone moving behind him.
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