Third Person POV___

Naruto growled lowly as he blocked an attack from a Suna shinobi. "I think that everyone has been evacuated from this area." Sakura called out as she moved in to attack the Suna shinobi who had just attacked Naruto.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted as he tried to use his tanto to slice the enemy ninja's tendons. He had left his Bokuto behind because it had too much blood on it and kept slipping out of his hand.

"Shadow clone Jutsu!" Naruto yelled out as his clones joined the fray. He had to stop using his tanto due to the fact that his tanto was coated in blood and it was making it difficult to keep his grip.

"Drop!" Sakura yelled as she jumped over one of Naruto's clones, her kunai sinking deep into the Suna ninja's throat. "Shit!" She hissed out as she was sprayed with blood as she pulled away.

"Are you okay? We will get you to the civilian quarters." Sasuke turned and reassured the Civilian whose face was pale and was nodding slowly.

"Well, there goes my kunai." Sakura grunted as she looked at the Kunai that was deep in the enemy's throat. "Steal theirs. Who knows when all of this will be over."Naruto grunted as he looked down at his hands. He took deep breaths trying to make sure he didn't panic at the sight of so much blood.

Sasuke placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and nodded firmly. Letting out a shaky breath Naruto nodded back as he got ahold of his bearings.

With that team seven led the civilian deeper into the villages safe houses.

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It wasn't long before the sound of the village alarms rang loudly. The ninja were all called to assemble at the village square in front of the Hokage tower. The enemy ninja had all been pushed out of the village.

Sakura noticed Ino, Shikamaru and Choji who were gathering nearby. "Hey." She smiled as she waved at them. Choji's eyes widened and he slightly stepped back as he noticed her. Sakura furrowed her brows in confusion. Even Shikamaru avoided eye contact and Ino looked a bit unease.

She lowered her hand slowly and turned back to her team. Throughout the fighting, she hadn't noticed, but now that the adrenaline had gone down she took notice of the state her team was in.

Sasuke's arm guards had semi-deep gashes and blood seemed to be soaked all the way up to his elbow and specs of blood were all over him. Meanwhile, the front of Naruto's jacket had deep red stains all over them and even on his back where Sakura and Sasuke used him as a springboard to gain some leverage on the taller enemy nin, had large bloodstains and his once bright yellow hair was matted with blood giving it a brownish-red color to it. There were still some blotches of Blonde hair visible on Naruto but it was very little.

She glanced a down and noticed her own attire, she too was covered in blood from her gloves to the front of her jacket, she also noted that there was still some blood drying off on her face from when she stabbed an enemy in their jugular.

Sakura's eyes trailed off her team as she assessed the ninja nearby. Most ninjas looked just like them, covered in blood and with a serious expression on their face. The younger shinobi though were nearly all clean with only a few bandages on or cuts on their clothes. Nobody their age looked like them and it made her feel a bit self conscious.

"Sakura-chan you okay?" Naruto asked as he quirked a brow. "I just, we're covered in blood." She muttered and the two of them seemed to have noticed that they were. "If my face looks like yours I can see why you look uncomfortable." Sasuke stated as he wrinkled his nose.

"Asshole." Sakura grunted as she stepped on his foot. "I'll wipe the blood off your face." Naruto smiled as he pulled out some clean bandages and shrugged as he decided that it was good enough to clean Sakura's face.

She nodded and leaned forward to let him clean her face.

"Do I have blood on my face?" Sasuke asked and Naruto glanced at him. "Not as much as Sakura. I'll wipe your face as well. Just give me a second." He says with a shrug.

"Well, you don't have much on your face. But your hair... well it's coated with blood." Sakura says as she reaches out and touched naruto's hair and then looked at her blood-covered hand. "What? Awe man getting it out is going to be so difficult. he groaned loudly as he noticed her hand.

Sakura couldn't help but giggle at his comment. "Only you Naruto."

Naruto grinned at her as he pulled away and turned to Sasuke to clean his face.

Naruto finished cleaning up Sasuke's face. Sakura grabbed her canteen and gestured him to bend over. Naruto nodded and removed his headband and leaned forward.

Sasuke cocked a brow as Sakura poured water on Naruto's hair to wash off some of the blood.

"Here take mine too." Sasuke grumbled grabbing his canteen and pouring water on naruto's hair as naruto scrubbed the blood off.

"Better?" Naruto asked as he tried to shake the excess water off his hair.

"Yeah, there's still some there but it doesn't look as bad." Sasuke shrugged.

While the two of them were distracted Sakura noticed that the elder council had called for everyone to be at attention.

Everyone paid attention as they declared that due to the involvement of Orochimaru they would not declare war on Suna until the Kazekage was accounted for.

Naruto listened in with mild disinterest as they announced what the main priorities would be, that was until they announced the Hokage's death.

"Wait, What did they say?!" Naruto stammered out as he started paying attention. Both Sakura and Sasuke were in shock from the announcement. Shinobi began murmuring amongst themselves.

The air felt tense, most of the older ninja had a look of horror. The sandaime had been Hokage for so long that to most he was the only Hokage they had ever had and for others, he was a constant presence even with the rise and fall of the Fourth Hokage.

Naruto felt his breath caught in his throat. The third had been like family to him. He was the grandfather figure he had since he was a small child, just the other day he had seen him well and alive. "No, what did they say!" He spoke a bit louder as he gripped Sakura's shoulder as he looked at his two teammates.

"Lord Third was ... he's gone." Sakura managed to stammer out. Even Sasuke was shocked when he had lost his entire family Lord Third made sure he could get an apartment and had made sure he had someone to cook his meals and groceries.

"That's not, Jiji couldn't have. He's the strongest, there's no way that he could have..." Naruto trailed off as he looked up at the Hokage tower trying his best to see if he could see the small figure of Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Naruto closed his eyes and clenched his fists as he tried his best to remember the last time he had seen his grandfather. It had been when he received his uniform. He could still remember his grandfather congratulating him on it.

"Naruto." Sakura could feel her eyes water as she saw Naruto tremble slightly. "There's no way Jiji died." He stammered out as he let out a choked sob. Tears gathered in his eyes and fell freely. How could this happen?

Sasuke frowned as he looked over at Naruto, he hadn't been that close to the old man but he knew for a fact that Naruto had been. He didn't say anything as Naruto cried, he simply placed his hand on his friend's shoulder in reassurance.

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Days passed quickly before Naruto knew it the funeral of the Third Hokage had come and gone. He was at home cleaning his gear. A man named Jiraiya had introduced himself. Apparently, he was naruto's godfather and the man who had been paying for Naruto's apartment as a kid and his academy tuition growing up.

He had been tasked with going with the toad sage to go find Tsunade Senju. "Pup, you okay?" Kiro placed her hand on Naruto's shoulder as she noticed he was staring off into space. "Huh? Uh yeah." He grumbled as he looked up at his mother who simply nuzzled her face against his.

"I know it's hard but it is going to be okay." She says gently as she looks at him. She understood how close he had been to the Hokage. Others might have felt sadness but the Hokage was as much as his grandfather as he had been to Konohamaru. Both boys had always fought to see who could get the old Hokage's attention when they were younger.

"Jiraiya will be here later, are you sure you're ready to go on the mission?" Kiro asked and Naruto nodded absentmindedly. "Yeah, I know the old man would have wanted me to keep going." Naruto muttered as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Kiro hummed as she gently licked his ear. " Here. I'll help you pack." She mutters as she turns into her human form and goes to start packing his traveling pack.

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I think I've tortured yall enough.  I have writer's block.

Rosymalik