Gaara ultimately never got to see the Third Hokage.
Naruto did bring him back.
But the Third Hokage was gone.
On the day of the funeral, a fine drizzle fell from the sky. No one carried an umbrella. Dressed in black, they each laid a White Chrysanthemum before the Third Hokage's grave.
Death was nothing unusual. For Sasuke, all of this was even more commonplace.
Even so, the Third Hokage's passing still left Sasuke with a peculiar feeling.
When he was born, the Third Hokage had already been like that.
As part of the village, as one of the backdrops of the world he lived in, the Third Hokage always appeared whenever anything important happened in the village.
Then he would deliver a long string of boring, rigid, long-winded, correct nonsense.
Over time, everyone had grown accustomed to his presence.
They had even begun to harbor an illusion.
That old man seemed as though he would sit in that position forever, and life in the village would continue unchanged.
Yet when death came, it came with such ferocity.
Just as it had six years ago.
Peace was slow and drawn out, like a warm dream;
Chaotic times were brief and violent, their marks eternal;
The two advanced in alternation.
System maintenance in progress. Recovery countdown:
14 hours, 26 minutes, 51 seconds.
On the rooftop, Sasuke opened the system again and checked its status.
At last, he would be able to meet his dear online friends again tonight.
Sasuke took a deep breath and lay back down, gazing at the clouds in the sky.
Since the Third Hokage's death, everyone in the village had become exceptionally busy.
He himself could only steal some peace and quiet under the pretense of recovering from his injuries.
First came preparations for the