Word count: 700.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.


If you're in trouble, or you need help, I'll know. If you send me a message, I'll come. If you ever need me, I'll be there.

That was what you always said to us before any mission and every fight; you said it with truth in your eyes, burning behind blue depths to the extent that it startled even me, who had known you so much longer than the other two. You said it like you meant it, like you'd always live up to it.

I don't think you meant to break that promise in the case of every single one of us.

You weren't there when Obito died. You couldn't save him, no matter how much you wanted to. You looked at me and Rin with such empty eyes, staring in horror at my new, mismatched eyes and then looking down to the ground far below in terrified comprehension. Instead of falling apart, you simply picked both of us up and led us back to Konoha. And we never spoke of it again.

It's only been three years since then, and you've failed us once again.

Rin is dying. I stand over her hospital bed, grip her hand when she can barely find the strength to squeeze back and stare into her eyes. Her eyes are the only thing of her that are still her own in her pain-wracked body. Rin stares up at me helplessly, pleadingly, begging me to do something even when she knows that all I can do is hold her hand and wait. There are times when I wonder if what she wants me to do for her is kill her.

She knows I could never do that, not to save my own life. I couldn't raise a hand against her, not to put her out of her own pain, and in a way, I suppose I'm killing her too.

She won't survive this; she won't make it out of this one. There's no medicine that can reverse the process that started two years ago, wounding her, sickening her, and ultimately killing her, when the Kyuubi attacked our village and you left us behind. She will die, wanting to scream but without the ability, struggling to writhe but incapable of the strength. She will die in mortal agony, trapped in her limp and failing body.

I'd give anything to see her smile again. Anything.

She took care of your son, you know. I never understood it, why she would look after him when he housed the thing that was killing her, but she sincerely loved him, proving time and again how I would never deserve her.

Where were you when Obito died? Where are you now, while she suffers?

I don't want to lose her. I've lost Obito, I've lost you, I can't lose Rin too. Please God, everyone's falling away from me, and she's suffering so much. I just want to hold on to her; I don't want her to leave, I don't want her to die. But most of all, I don't want to see her in so much pain.

You couldn't save her, because you weren't there. You said you'd always be there, but you weren't, and she's suffering because of it. Why weren't you there?

You broke your promise, sensei, again and again. I've lost everyone close to me, all because of you. Why did you have to die? Wasn't there another way to seal the Kyuubi than damning your own son to a life of pain and taking your own life?

You've left us alone, and we are disintegrating like pieces of paper caught in the rain. We're fading, warping, tearing, falling apart and dying. You were the only thing keeping us all safe; you were the only one who could keep us alive.

I stand over her, and stroke her hair, saying it won't hurt, lifting the syringe like she wanted me to. Just a little more, just a little more. I can almost see her smile.

You said you'd always be there. But you weren't. You weren't there for Obito; you weren't there for Rin.

And I know, that when I die, you won't be there for me.