"There are different stages of sadness. I think the last stage is the numb acceptance that this is the way it's got to be.

The slam echoes throughout my apartment and my heart beats loudly in my chest. I crawl into my bathroom breathing heavily. It must just be a random panic attack, right? There is no way something must be wrong. I mean everything was finally getting better, wasn't it?

My breathing was speeding up. Heart rate faster than ever. I have to do something, anything. Stumbling around I try to open the cabinet and locate a knife I keep. I haven't used it in a while, but I need to. I feel like if I don't, everything is just going to get worse. I need something to make me feel in control.

...

Dark and horrid were the only words that could be used to describe that day. Without the sunshine that was Naruto, the village was empty; lost. Clouds were heavy with grief as it started pouring. 'How fitting,' anyone who actually cared enough to show up thought, 'Even the clouds weep for Naruto.'

Black umbrellas just seemed to add to the gloom of everything. A single coffin laid at the center of the field, unwavering. Flowers surrounded the small coffin in piles. After the short service, Kakashi went around with a flower classification book; trying to figure out what everyone wished they could say to Naruto but never could.

With the piles of flowers, Kakashi started learning what everyone really thought of Naruto.

Gardenia, a white graceful flower, symbolizing purity and sweetness. They indicate secret love, convey joy, and also tell the receiver you are lonely. Purple lilacs, indicating first love. The last flower in this pile was as an asphodel flower, my regrets follow you to the grave.

The next pile was obviously much more dark minded than the last; mint, suspicion. Bird's-foot trefoil, revenge. Black roses, death and hatred.

A single cypress flower; death, mourning, despair, and sorrow.

The other piles, not that there were many others anyway, were just standard red roses. It seemed not many people actually cared enough to put effort into it. Except, when Kakashi walked around another time there was a small white anemone flower laid on top of the coffin. How he had missed that, he wasn't sure. Flipping back to the anemone page, (he was sure he had seen it briefly before) only found the remains of a ripped page in its place.

Bushes ruffled nearby, alerting him that he wasn't the only one here anymore.

Footsteps. A soft voice whispered in his ear, "Surprised to see me?" Looking around he was only met with broken ocean blue eyes which he thought were buried in that coffin. Kakashi's mouth couldn't form any words. How on earth?

The anemone page floated down into Kakashi's hands. Fading hope and a feeling of having been forsaken.

"It was me who left it; just thought I'd share how I felt with someone who actually cares."

Instantly opening his mouth, "H-how did y-you?" Kakashi stuttered out.

"I'm not as unskilled as I led you all to believe." Looking away with a solemn face, he sighed and closed his eyes. "It's not everyday you get to see your own funeral you know?" Pausing to take an uneasy breath and opening back his eyes,

"I even got to see my own murderers. I feel so special"

...

Pounding; the noise could probably be heard for miles, but no one cared. It went on for minutes until finally the door was knocked down. People flooded into Naruto's house.

Everyone in the village who hated Naruto and Team 7 crowded into Naruto's small apartment. Why Team 7 was there, no one never knew. Searching was the next thing on this group's agenda. It only took 5 minutes until they found Naruto in the bathroom.

He was passed out on the floor, surrounded by his own blood. Self-inflicted wounds could be seen covering any and every surface of his body.

The group, merciless, kicked and beat his unconscious body to a pulp. If he were conscious, screaming would have been heard. Painful, terror-filled screams. After hours of this, they finally left. Assuming he was dead, they started scheduling a pitiful funeral. No one ever knew if anyone in the remaining Team 7 joined in or tried to stop it.

But what the attackers didn't know, was that Naruto heard the footsteps and the pounding. He summoned a clone. and watched everything from the window.

He wasn't surprised by what he saw.