Chapter Twenty-Five
Side by side with the strange shinobi that resembled Jin, Kotaro, Raizo walked into Konoha and glanced around silently. In the dark, he could make out a pair of shinobi asleep near the gate, presumably the ones that checked the identities of all who entered.
Raizo didn't think much of them as he walked past; the dead didn't really need identification cards, and he was certain that no one would stop him anyway. More than likely, they would think he was a ghost of some sort.
He looked down at the letter that Jin had given him, his heart heavy. Hatake Kakashi. This was the person that his fiance had fallen in love with after his death, and he was about to meet him in person.
It was a strange feeling, and one that he didn't particularly like. Jin was supposed to be his, but death had stolen their time together. He supposed that he no longer had a claim to Jin's heart, and it would be cruel to even suggest it. As long as Jin was happy, that was all that mattered to him.
Painful as it was, Raizo knew that he had to let go. Not for his own sake, but for Jin's. He needed to start living, and Raizo felt as if his death were keeping him from doing so.
Raizo stopped and turned to Kotaro. "This is where we part. Tsunade should be in that building over there." He gestured half-heartedly and went on his way towards where he was certain that he would find Kakashi and another friend.
Silent as death itself, Jin's first love went to meet his second.
Emi sat on the porch, fiddling with the end of the ribbon tied into her braided hair. Mamoru sat next to her, a frown on his face, sad but resigned. Neither of them spoke for a while, the tension around them palpable.
"Y'know, you don't have to stay here with me. You should stay with the children. They still need you." Emi said finally, watching the sun set behind the horizon, knowing that this would be the last sunset she ever saw.
"I'd never leave my dragoness to face this alone. Kazuma and Kazuto have Tatsumi anyway, and Ryuu looks more Uchiha than Shiraishi, so he'll be just fine with my sister." Mamoru smiled sadly as he leaned against her. "Do you remember what I promised you on our wedding day?"
Emi smiled faintly and nodded, glancing up at him. "I'd never forget. It was the cheesiest thing you've ever said, which is really saying something, considering the things that usually come out of your mouth."
Mamoru laughed and poked at her cheek, running his finger along the scar on her jawline. "I promised you that I would spend the rest of my life with you. I promised that I would die with you, and I intend to keep that promise." He paused for a moment. "It wasn't that cheesy, you know, because you started crying. If it were really that cheesy, you would've punched me."
"I did not cry." Emi denied, puffing her cheeks out. "Don't you dare slander me, or I'll sue you for damages."
"Love, deny it all you want, but there were witnesses." Mamoru laughed as he took her hand in both of his.
Emi huffed, but changed the subject. "I just wish we were going to live to see our children grow up. I'm blessed that I got this much peace, but...I can't help but wish for more. More time for us to be together as a family. I did everything I could to make sure that they wouldn't grow up like I did, but they're still going to have to suffer like I did, and there's nothing I can do about it."
"I wish we had more time, too." Mamoru admitted. "I don't want to admit that the last time I'll ever see our children was this morning. But...we have to be brave for them. We're doing this to give them a chance to live, and...even if we won't ever see them again, I'm certain they know how much we love them."
"You're right." Emi said softly, resting her head on his shoulder and shutting her teary eyes.
"One day, when we're all dead and gone, we'll meet Ryuu and Tatsumi in the afterlife." Mamoru patted her head gently, pulling her close. "We'll see them again, and when we do, we'll never be separated again."
"I know." Emi said softly, ignoring the hateful presence that manifested on the pathway that led up to their quaint house.
"You and your brother killed my mother." A soft, almost gentle voice spoke.
Emi glanced up, hardly seeming interested in the intruder. She frowned faintly at the boy, barely sixteen or seventeen. "Your mother killed my brother, and tried to kill me and my nephews." She retorted without anger. "Your mother made a lot of people suffer. But...I am sorry that you had to grow up without her. It's terrible to have to grow up all alone, with no one to keep you safe." She offered him a small smile. "I wish we could have worked things out peacefully."
The boy seemed taken aback by her words, a frown crossing his face. "There...There's no way you could have ever worked things out with my mother. Your family took everything from her, from me."
"Maybe that's true, but...you can't forget that this hatred between our families started first with love. I've grown weary of fighting a battle that I was forced into." Emi glanced at Mamoru and smiled. "I won't beg for my life. My children are safe, and you will never find them." The fire returned to her eyes, the same as it had been all those years ago, when she had faced Azusa with her brother.
The boy's resolve was beginning to crumble, and his gaze flickered between Emi and Mamoru, finally settling on the Uchiha. "You should go. I have no quarrel with you, and I...don't want to hurt you."
"I made a promise, and I intend to keep it. No matter where she goes, I'll follow her. If that means that I die, then so be it. Life without her, is not a life I want to live." Mamoru glanced at Emi and smiled. "We live together, and we die together. I'd follow her through hell and back, and then do it all over again."
Emi's sad smile wavered, and she glanced at Mamoru briefly before glancing back at the boy that had inherited the majority of his mother's traits; red hair and green eyes. "He's right. We won't be separated."
The boy began to shake, with anger or regret, no one could quite decipher. He stepped up onto the porch and approached them slowly, unsheathing a beautifully maintained katana. With a single swipe, he drew the blade across both of their throats and turned away, wiping the bloodied blade on his sleeve.
He had promised his mother that, should she ever die before completing her goal, that he would complete it for her, no matter how much it hurt him to do it.
