Keiko blearily opened her eyes. The room she was in was painted white and the only came from the window she was facing. The light streaming through it was grey and cold and through her foggy vision, Keik could see strom clouds already moving in. She groaned and tried to si tup.
"Ow." She wincd and touched her side, only to find it entirely covered in bandages that were quickly being stained with fresh blood. A closer look showed her that both of arms wrapped similarly and the light pressure on her head told her she had bandages there, too.
"I should have known you would open that up again the minute you woke up." Keiko truned to the other side, gasping in pain again, to see a silvery haired girl. The girl narrowed her blue eyes and bent over to re-bandage Keiko. Keiko noted that she was wearing the village funeral clothes and had a somber air about her.
"Tsuki..." It had taken Keiko's sluggish brain several minutes to process the fact that the girl beside her was her friend. Even Tsuki had a few gauzes taped to her cheeks and elbows, "Why are you in funeral wear?" Tsuki held up a finger, unable to speak through the bandages held firmly in her mouth. She ripped them and finsihed repairing the damage Keiko had done. With a siogh, she straightened and stared distantly out the window.
"Because...the Hokage is dead."
Silence. Keiko's eyes grew wide with horror, "But...how?" Then the events of the day before crashed back into her memory. She raised a trembling hand to her mouth as she choked back a sob. Not just Balki, but lord Hokage as well? Tsuki turned back to face Keiko, this time her eyes a bit softer.
"I know..." She murmered, smoothing Keiko's bangs out of her eyes, "The funeral is in an hour or so." Keiko struggled to a sitting position and slid her feet to the ground.
"I'm going." Tsuki looked startled and then set her mouth in a determined line.
"No. You are no conditionto go anywhere."
"I'm going," Keiko repeated, this time more fiercly, "I have more than death to mourn today."
Tsuki bit the edge of her lip, looking undcertain. With another sigh, she stepped from the edge of the bed, "Okay. I'll take you home. But you have to hurry."

******

Tsuki and Keiko were pushed to the front as soon as they got there. Now the storm clouds were jostling each other above the black-clad throng below. In the front was a coffin with a picsture of the Third Hokage on it. On either side was one of the two elders of the village. It would be they who chose the 5th Hokage.
Everyone in the crowd was wearing a similar loose black outfit. As a sign of respect, no one wore their headband. Each person hld a single white lily in one hand. Keiko recognized each of her friends faces in the mob. She was sure her own face was a reflection of the horror and helplessness on their faces. Tai looked upset, an expression that didn't fit his usualy haught expression.
After a few moments of silence, an older gentleman Keiko didn't recognize strode up to the front and turned to face the crow. Rain began to fall from teh sky, only a few drops here and there splashing the faces of the crowd.
"We are here to honor a great man." He said, eyes wet with tears, "One of the greatest men to ever walk the paths of this village: the Third Hokage. He was chosen to lead at a very young age by the First and Second Hokages themsevles. Even when he retrued, he agreed to serve the village again after the tragedy concerning the Fourth Hokage occured."
"Our village recently suffered a terrible loss. Our ally, the Sand Village, made treaty with the Sound. Together, they came to overthrow us. We defeated them, but at the cost of many brave warrior. Even the Third Hokage gave up his life to save us. It is not only for the Third that we mourn, but for the friends, family, and lovers that gave their lives to save us. Lord Hokage would not have wanted them forgotten, not do we."
The clouds begna to douse the mourners below with rain. It mixed with tears, running down cheeks and chins.
"It's raining." Tsuki mused, "Even the weather moutns our loss." The man's speech continued for awhile. At the end, he directed everyone to come up in small groups and present their flower. Tsuki gave Keiko's shoulder a light squeeze and slipped off to join Jackerah and Kaori.
While they were in line, Naruto asked Iruka and Dani why people gave their lives. Keiko hardly listened to the inspirational speech Irauka gave him. One by one, tearful people walked up to pay their last respects.
Tsuki saw herself, younger and dark headed, listening as the Hokage talked her through a permanent gen-jutsu.
Karoi remembered him introducing her to Jackerah and Tsuki after she had refused to join their team.
Jackerah could see him laugh good-naturedly at her fascination with an ANBU mask he was showing her.
Akara could see herself, sobbing with the painr she felt from her father's abuse, the Hokage wrapping her in protective arms.
Kristen remembered how excited she had been when he suggested she get special training in medical-jutsu.
Selina could see the Hokage introducing her to the Academy class, not caring that she was wearing a ridiculous black hat to cover her cat eras.
Tai smiled a bit at the memory of the Third Hokage shouting at Jami for something Tai had done, Jami glaring at him all the while.
Jami remember the Hokage consoling him after his brother's murder.
Finally, as the clouds began to part, Keiko took her own turn. She placed the delicate flower on the coffin with the others, rembering her very first meeting with the Hokage, when she had thought she had to convince him to let her stay in the village.
Before anyone could find her, Keiko went off on her own. She had one more funeral to attend.

******

It had taken quite awhile for Keiko to find Balki's body, espically since she had been loathed to speak to anyone. She finally found him next to a line of human bodies, all covered in white cloth, waiting to be buried. She gave a silent prayer of thanks to who ever had picked him up, cleaned him, and made sure that he wouldn't be buried.
When she picked it up, it was stiff with rigor mortis. Keiko felt like she was going to throw up. She forced the nusea down and walked off towards the gates.

******

She placed the white body down upon the ground and stood up. Keiko hadn't been to this place in ages. It was the hill she and Hinata had speant so much time on growing up. She knew it was the perfect place to cremate her friend. Using some nin-jutsu, Keiko made a make-shift pillar. Her eyes began to fill with tears again as she hefted Balki's body onto it and then lit on fire.
"And we started at zero and went different ways, now we're all out here, wasting away. And if we started at zero, then how did things change? Seems like just yesterday, things were the same." She whispered softly as the fire licked at his fur.
Finally, his body was consumed, leaving nothin but a heap of dark grey ashes where here friend had been only moments before. Taking a small bag out of her knap-sack, Keiko brushed the ashes in and then turned her back on the site.
She wouldn't return to the hill for quite a while.

(Yeah, that was really badly written and sappy. Sorry! By the way, what Keiko says at the end is lyrics from a Hawk Nelson song called "Zero". I actually wrote a different scene with Balki for Balki's funeral about a year ago, and it had the lyrics intertwined in it. I wanted to at least mention it.)