Summary: One year has passed since the end of the Fourth Shinobi World War.
While those left behind are still struggeling to cope with their loss, old foes are not quite as dead as they appeared.
Somewhat KakaSaku - though it's complicated. Also Kiba/Sakura, and some other hinted pairings from between the manga's (hypothetical) ending and the story's start.
There are also suicide-attempts, Shikamaru who has lost his mind and some tribute to the olfactory world.
Rating: 15
Category: Het Romance > Angst, General Fiction > Post-Naruto
Characters: All
Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Mystery, Romance
Warnings: Dark, Death
Challenge: None
Series: None
Chapter: 80 Completed: No
Words: 65814 Read: 72101
Published: 02/09/11 Updated: 18/09/12
1. Dead Friends by nerocorleone [Reviews - 5]
(622 words)This was originally planned as a four-part story - so if you don't want the whole length, and all the drama unfolding afterwards, just stop reading after chapter 4.
Also, if you read this and don't stop reading after the first paragraph, I'd really appreciate it if you left a litte review or comment once in a while. Seeing numbers and statistics is one thing, but hearing what you think and knowing who you are is much, much better!
I especially encourage you all to tell me your speculations regarding the mysteries that will enroll in later chapters. ;)
That said:
All character's and settings are respectfully borrowed from: Kishimoto Masashi
This chapter's title was resepctfully borrowed from: The Coma Lillies
2. Scatterbrain by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(946 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Radiohead
3. The Magician's Assistant by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(745 words)This chapter's Titel was respectuflly borrowed from: Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip
4. Epiphany by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(803 words)Titel respectfully borrowed from: no one in particular, but I've been told that Bad Religion do have a song bearing that name.
5. I found a Reason by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(593 words)This chapter's Titel was respectuflly borrowed from: The Velvet Underground
6. Falling Is Like This by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(542 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Ani DiFranco
7. Damaged People by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(328 words)Title respecfully borrowed from: Depeche Mode
8. Flowers on the Wall by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(458 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: The Statler Brothers
9. We are nowhere and it's now by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(1005 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Bright Eyes
10. Wild is the Wind by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(951 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Cat Power (although she herself borrowed the song)
11. Blood Makes Noise by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(791 words)This chapter's title was respectfully borrowed from: Suzanne Vega (who's pretty up-beat about it)
12. Haunted by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(627 words)I'm sorry for the delay. I had thought rewriting the bits of this chapter I wasn't happy with would take more time, thus avoided doing so. Turns out, it wasn't that hard... that said:
Title respectfully borrowed from: Poe (the singer, not the author, though it wouldn't surprise me if he used this title as well)
13. Possibly Maybe by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(831 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Björk
14. Girlfriend in a Coma by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(1032 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: The Smiths
15. Redefine the Enemy by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(549 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Atari Teenage Riot
16. Possession by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(669 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: The Sisters of Mercy
17. One of a Kind by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1] (499 words)
Title respectfully borrowed from: Placebo
18. Mother Stands for Comfort by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(660 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Kate Bush
19. Rake It In by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(593 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Imogen Heap
20. Virgin State of Mind by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(789 words)Tilte respectfully borrowed from: K's Choice
21. Pure Morning by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(540 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Placebo
22. Disarm by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(941 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: The Smashing Pumpkins
23. She's My Way by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(937 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Frank Black
24. Alone Down There by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(665 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Modest Mouse.
25. From Your Favourite Sky by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(526 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: I Am Kloot
26. Untouchable Face by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(826 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Ani Difranco
27. On My Shoulder by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(1127 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: The Do
28. Believe It Or Not by nerocorleone [Reviews - 0] (671 words)
Title respectfully borrowed from: Stephen Geyer (who apparently wrote the lyrics)
29. Everything's Not Lost by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(665 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Coldplay
30. Pictures Of You by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(1021 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: The Cure
31. Sleep Alone by nerocorleone [Reviews - 2]
(717 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Bat for Lashes
32. Love and Communication by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(945 words)Title borrowed from: Cat Power
33. Because The Night by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(1057 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Patti Smith
34. The Hardest Of Hearts by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(777 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Florence and the Machine
35. Dead Things by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(1094 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Emiliana Torrini
36. A Book Like This by nerocorleone [Reviews - 2]
(1844 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Angus & Julia Stone
37. Between the Bars by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(702 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Elliott Smith (though I highly recomment the cover-version done by Chris Garneau!)
38. The Wrong Band by nerocorleone [Reviews - 2]
(572 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Tori Amos
39. Back For Good by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(744 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Take That!
Also: God bless the simplicity of fictional science!
Lastly: YES - you can do origmai-slugs (google it!).
40. Blasphemous Rumours by nerocorleone [Reviews - 2]
(673 words)Title somewhat randomly, but with all due respect, borrowed from: Depeche Mode
41. Hope And Memory by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(967 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Howard Shore
42. Map Of The Problematique by nerocorleone [Reviews - 2]
(754 words)
Title respectfully borrowed from: Muse.
Additional credits going to: The guys (and girls) from naruto.wikia, especially those who wrote the article regarding Chakra.
43. Waiting for the Miracle by nerocorleone [Reviews - 2]
(852 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: one of the saddest, most beautiful songs in existence, written by the master of heartwrenching melancholy himself, Mr Leonard Cohen!
(If you are going to listen to this song – make sure it is the Album Version, and not the one from the Natural Born Killers OST, which is only half as long and not half as beautiful!)
44. Shadows by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(945 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Au Revoir Simone
45. Green Eyes by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(1323 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Coldplay
46. Twist In My Sobriety by nerocorleone [Reviews - 2]
(652 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Tanita Tikaram
47. Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood by nerocorleone [Reviews - 2]
(1193 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Nina Simone
48. Cannot Contain This by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(659 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Moloko
49. Have To Drive by nerocorleone [Reviews - 2]
(1005 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Amanda Palmer
50. I'll Fall With Your Knife by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(662 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Peter Murphy.
51. Brother Sleep by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(484 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: JJ72
This chapter is ridiculously short. I apologise for that
52. Boys Don't Cry by nerocorleone [Reviews - 2]
(738 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: The Cure
53. Sway by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(935 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Bic Runga
Sidenote: Thank you for your comments! I really appreciate hearing what you think! And, in reply to last chapter - yes she did.
54. And All That Could Have Been by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(972 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Nine Inch Nails.
55. Empty Skies by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(991 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Kosheen
In this chapter, there's the second hinte dpairing-from-before-the-story. It's rather obvious. The first one is/was, I guess, much harder to spot.
56. Comfortably Numb by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(1909 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Pink Floyd
57. Army Dreamers by nerocorleone [Reviews - 2]
(1416 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Kate Bush
This chapter was originally written for Kakashi's birthday, when it was uploaded on FF.net - and it is one of my favourite chapters. That said: I generally love to get feedback, but for this chapter in particular I would greatly appreciate to hear what you think of it! :)
58. We Build Bridges by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(758 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Liz Durrett
59. Breathe Me by nerocorleone [Reviews - 2]
(806 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Sia
60. New Coat of Paint by nerocorleone [Reviews - 2]
(965 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Tom Waits
Did you ever notice, there are very few scenes with two girls being clever togehter in fiction? It's always boy-boy or boy-girl; So here I am, trying to change this.
61. Pretty Girls Make Graves by nerocorleone [Reviews - 2]
(630 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: The Smiths
Another one of those unspeakably short chapters.
62. Solitude Standing by nerocorleone [Reviews - 2]
(506 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Suzanne Vega
63. No Surprises by nerocorleone [Reviews - 2]
(1051 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Radiohead
64. Somethin' Stupid by nerocorleone [Reviews - 3] (698 words)
Title respectfully borrowed from: Carson and Gaile
65. Two Steps On The Water by nerocorleone [Reviews - 2]
(719 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: the lyrics of one of Kate Bush's songs. (Which makes her the most quoted artist so far)
Before this chapter begins, I'd like to point out, that I have never thought or talked about the process of taking a shower using the English language. (Come to think of it, I think I never tried to describe it in German either). Nor can I recall to have ever read/heard someone else describe it. Thus I sincerely apologise, if this first paragraph doesn't read as smoothly as it should.
66. You're The Cup by nerocorleone [Reviews - 2]
(863 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Shannon Wright
67. Help by nerocorleone [Reviews - 2]
(738 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: .... the Beatles
68. Genius Next Door by nerocorleone [Reviews - 2] (1025 words)
Title respectfully borrowed from: Regina Spektor
69. China Bird by nerocorleone [Reviews - 3]
(703 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Patti Smith.
70. Werewolf by nerocorleone [Reviews - 2]
(641 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Cat Power
71. Something Fast by nerocorleone [Reviews - 2]
(709 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: The Sisters of Mercy
72. Bride of the Rain Dogs by nerocorleone [Reviews - 2]
(1091 words)Titel respectfully borrowed from: Tom Waits.
I swear, I had the idea for this chapter long before this/last weeks filler-episode! :D
73. And The Boys by nerocorleone [Reviews - 2]
(1046 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Angus & Julia Stone.
74. Older Chests by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(856 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Damien Rice
75. So Few Words by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(1024 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Archive.
Updates are taking longer and longer.
There is a reason for this: The past few months I had been stuck in my original writing, but now I finally figured out how and where to continue and - I'm sorry - the original work is taking top-priority again.
However, I am determined to bring this story to an end, and I most defenitely will finish it! I just need a little more time.
I'm really sorry that the updating-pace is slowing down, now that the showdown is finally getting closer.
76. Something I Can Never Have by nerocorleone [Reviews - 2]
(783 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: Nine Inch Nails
Finally! I can't tell you how much trouble I had writing this chapter. I'm still not happy with it, but after over a month of trying and trying again, I decided to just... leave it as it is.
Regardless. If you're still with me here – please tell me what you think!
77. Both Sides Now by nerocorleone [Reviews - 2]
(584 words)Title Respectfully borrowed from: Joni Mitchell.
I have a feeling this is all happening too fast, and too chaotic. But as this story will remain unbeta'ed until its finished, you'll just have to deal with it ;p
But please tell me if I'm moving too fast, or if I left out bits of information. (I do that on purpose, but only when I think it is possible to piece together what was left out. If you find there are pieces missing, don't hesitate to ask!)
~ Nero
78. Not Time To Cry by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(741 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: The Sisters of Mercy.
Not much to say about this one, except: Fictional science in Naruto seems a bit wonky to me as it is - it gets even worse when I try to adapt it.
Also, I'd like to thank everyone who's still with me here! Especially those who still take the time to leave a review from now and then ;)
I know I'm dragging it out, and ... ugh ... I'm close to just quitting the story here and now.
You guys really help keeping this one alive, and help me with my determination to bring it all to a decent end. So, yeah ... thanks!
(I sometimes wish I wouldn't post each chapter before I continue to write, or I would have gone back to let some random Hyuga accompany Sakura and Shino. I guess it can't be helped now... from an experimental point of view, I really love that I cannot do things like that.)
79. Chapter 79 by nerocorleone [Reviews - 3]
(600 words)Title respectfully borrowed from: The Red Hot Chilli Peppers.
I've been kind of dreading this part of the story, but now that it's done, I'm happier with it than I would have expected...
What did you think?
Also.. I just realised that that everything I wrote about Madara's body in the last chapter doesn't add up with what was said earlier about it not being in any condition for transport.
Oh well, I guess I'll have to find some explanation for that later... (Any suggestions? Suspicions? Speculations?)
80. Don't Panic by nerocorleone [Reviews - 1]
(743 words)This chapter's title was respectfully borrowed from: Coldplay
I'm sorry - I completely forgot about this site. Not that I got around to finish the story, but at least it continues.
Action-scenes and motivational speeches - not my most favourite things to write, but it was kind of interesting to give it a try.