Starting over

#73 Sorrow

Naruto POV

That night neither of us slept. Gaara had gone out to train, something he had done when Kankuro was murdered, too. Baki went to the council to try and maintain order. Temari and I were the only ones home with Temari crying silently into my shoulder while we sat on the couch, doing nothing. Wiping away my own tears, I picked Temari up bridal style and carried her to our bed. Looking out the window I saw that the sun was already rising over the village, but the bed would be much more comfortable than the couch. Since Temari wouldn't let go of me, I was forced to lay down with her. She promptly put her head on my chest and locked her arms around my back, tightening her grip. I couldn't help but smile as I heard her silently cry into my chest. I smiled, knowing that she would always stay by my side and that we would be able to overcome everything, if we stood by each other. 

I closed my eyes and tried not to think about the sad things, but the happy memories that her father had given me.

A few hours later Temari had fallen asleep and let go of me, allowing me to get down to the kitchen to start making some breakfast for me and my girlfriend. 

I knew that the council would inform the village today, officially declaring the Kazekage as dead and recalling all shinobi for a three day period of sorrow. So I knew that we probably would be called to the front of the Kazekage tower around noon.

Making my way to the sleeping blonde, I carefully placed the breakfast I had made on the table in her room, before leaning down, kissing her on the nose. "Good morning.", I whispered, as Temari opened her eyes. She smiled weakly as she sat up and looked around. "Hi.", she whispered, putting her arms around my neck and capturing my lips in a kiss. 

"Our food is gonna get cold.", I commented smiling, when we separated, earning a short laugh from my girlfriend. 

She sat up fully and I took the tablet that I had made, putting it between me and her on the bed. I was glad that I could still make her laugh, even in this hard time. Eating in silence, we smiled at each other occasionally, while we spent the time deep in thought. 

A knock on the door caused me and Temari to break our kiss, as I stood up to see who was at the door. It was Baki and an Anbu. "Hello Naruto. We will make an announcement in two hours at the tower. Please be there along with Temari.", he said, drawing a nod from me. "We will be there.", I replied, before closing the door.

I got back to Temari so was still sitting on the couch, looking through a photo album.

"Two hours.", I just said before pulling her head to my chest, seeing the tears in her eyes. I knew that Temari knew what I meant by that and even if she didn't, it wouldn't matter to me, since I wanted to comfort her and to ease her sorrow.

Timeskip no Jutsu: 1 week

The skies had cleared from the storm that raged at night. I looked outside to see the whole village decked out in black. Today was the funeral of Rasa, the week until now had been spent preparing. The council and Baki, who was acting Kazekage until the successor of Rasa, Gaara, would be fourteen, had put a temporary moratorium on all missions and had recalled all shinobi from their posts, aside from the Anbu and Jonin guarding the borders. I looked at my girlfriend who was sleeping on my chest, obvious tear tracks on her face, but smiling nonetheless. Running my fingers through her hair, I waited for the girl to wake up. A few minutes passed until I felt her stir and she opened her eyes to look up at me. "Hey.", I whispered. "Hey.", she whispered back. I smiled lightly, before pulling her up so that she laid on top of me and gave her a kiss. "I love you.", I said, giving her a kiss on the nose between each word. "I love you more.", she replied, smiling. "Prove it.", I challenged playfully. She laughed a bit before pressing her lips against mine, putting her hands behind my head locking me into the kiss. I let her lead and let my hands wander around her back, while she deepened the kiss. 

I smiled at the blonde girl as we got out of the bed. "We should get ready.", I said silently. Immediately her mood dropped. Her smile dropped into a frown and her eyes went from happily twinkling to almost tearfully sad. "Yeah we should.", she whispered. She went to her closet and got the set of clothes that she had laid out yesterday. I did the same and we changed silently. I smiled sadly at her, pulling her into another hug, seeing that she again had tears in her eyes. 

Going out of the house we were again greeted by bunches of flowers, standing next to our doorstep, just like every day the last week. They usually had a card with them. We didn't know what stood in these cards, since we had yet to open any of them, but we could imagine it.  We quickly put the flowers to the others in the hallway, before again walking out of the house. I took Temari's hand and we walked slowly towards the cemetery. Gaara had been with Anko the last few days, so we didn't have to wait for him to be ready or to tell him that we were already gone. I knew that Gaara had a crush on the former leaf shinobi and smiled, since this was an obvious sign that Anko had maybe the same feelings for the redhead. 

After a few minutes of walking we reached the cemetery where everything was set up for the ceremony and Baki was already there, greeting the guests and showing them to their seats.