Lady Chiyo had never understood such meaningless and foolish heroics, she never thought she would. But it was true to all shinobi that fighting an opponent told you a lot about the way they lived their life, and the same could be said for the people you fought with. In the short time she had shared with both Naruto and Akane, Lady Chiyo had come to understand they didn't just fight well because they were close, they fought well together because they were family. These were people that had trained together most of Naruto's life most likely, and if that was the case, then Akane's sacrifice made complete sense.

It shouldn't have taken a weathered warrior like herself so aback when she felt Akane's chakra flare once again with the shunshin no jutsu, she had been doing that the entire fight. It shouldn't have surprised her that the girl had sensed Sasori wasn't dead before they did, her sharingan had been draining her all morning, but it wasn't like she could turn it off.

Another thing that took the elder by surprise -something far more concerning- was Naruto's lack of a reaction. His eyes had blown wide when he noticed his sister move, but he was late. And even when Sasori had managed to stab Akane right in the gut, he could only stare. Lady Chiyo would have expected the Kyuubi to come out in a rage and destroy everything, but it seemed she had been underestimating many things these days, and she really should stop making assumptions.

Either way, Akane was fatally wounded, and even if Sasori had stepped right onto her sealing technique, there was a comrade to save and a job to finish. And as an elder of Sunagakure no Sato, Lady Chiyo would do her part.

…

Of all the times you decide to become peaceful, right now is not the most convenient, 'tebbayo.

Naruto had completely zoned out for a few seconds to yell at his unwillful tenant. He was angry. Angry at Akane-nee for doing something so stupid, angry at the annoying giant furball inside him for not helping him destroy Akasuna no Sasori, angry at the world because of all the people he could lose, his sister was not one he felt he could handle.

I like the girl. This is not for your sake, kid.

Now is not the time to be soft 'ttebayo!

Now is not the time to be selfish, Naruto.

That stopped Naruto dead in his tracks. It was the first time Kurama had called him something other than "kid" or a variant of "hairless menace". Kurama was dead serious, he would honor Akane's sacrifice if only out of pure respect for her. And he was right.

Okay then, at least gimme some of your strength to heal her, it's the least we can do since you don't wanna trample over puppet boy over there.

Naruto would not let his sister die, he would transfer Kurama to her if it saved her, luckily for him, it wasn't something he knew how to do yet.

Okay, Kid. Let's save your sister.

…

Kakashi made a mental note not to piss off Sakura, ever. She had single handedly cornered Deidara, figured out the way to diffuse his bombs was to neutralize the earth element in them with lightning and prevented the damned maniac from turning himself into a bomb. Sakura hadn't just grown stronger, she had grown smarter too. Not that she hadn't been the smartest of his students to begin with, but travelling with a Sanin had really broadened her horizons and made her think.

Sakura had neutralized the man who had kidnapped a Kage.

Yeah, he wasn't getting on her bad side any time soon.

He would have let his wounded fragile masculinity show, but he had been around Akane long enough not to have any of it left. Female, gender fluid and non-binary shinobi were just as powerful as any other, some were even more so than him, it was only natural that a shinobi trained by a Sanin developed further.

Suddenly, Skura's head snapped up and in the direction of the cave. This puzzled Kakashi even further. Was she a sensory type now? Had she developed her immaculate chakra control enough to sharpen her senses?

"What is it, Sakura?" he asked with no little trepidation as he finished binding Deidara with ninja wire.

"Akane-san's chakra signature just dimmed drastically. I can barely feel her."

No.

No.

Kakashi's mind started racing. He thought of leaving Sakura to do the cleanup and run back to the cave like death itself was chasing. He thought about killing Deidara on the spot so he wouldn't be a burden and take Sakura with him. He did the math on how long it would take him to return if he attempted to copy Akane's shunshin. But his mind stopped dead in its tracks when he realized his student had spoken.

"Sorry, what?"

"Naruto's chakra changed, he's healing her. And I can't feel Akasuna no Sasori at all."

Oh. That made him feel a little better, Naruto was the best medic in Konoha after his shishou, if anyone could heal Akane right then it was him. And they were no longer in danger, at least because of Sasori. His heart rate slowed down a little. He forced himself to breathe.

"You should really talk to her, Sensei." Said Skura quietly.

The breeze blew around them, making the treetops sway gently and ruffling their hairs. Kakashi grounded himself and forced his mind to center. Yet another thing Akane had taught him.

"Yeah," he whispered before looking up through the canopy and towards the skyes. Maybe Kami would listen now. "Yeah, I should."

…

"Ugh, I hate stab wounds to the gut."

"Shut up, Nee-san. You'll make it worse" Responded Naruto as he wiped sweat off his brow. "It's already a pretty bad wound, you are making my job harder, dattebayo."

Akane groaned in pain again and looked to her right where Lady Chiyo stood over the carcass of her dead grandson. She felt sorry for the old sack of bones. She might have been a handful, but no one deserved to have a family member die by their hand. Akane knew better than most.

"Your friend Sasuke, he's been missing for three years, he was kidnapped by Orochimaru," said the old woman, never looking up from the three lifeless puppets on the ground before her. "Suna has been keeping track of them, or at least, I have."

Oh, so Sasuke's secret was still intact.

"A spy of Sasori's that we've been tracking is supposed to rendezvous with him in three days on Tenchi Bridge. You might find your friend if you can interrogate Orochimaru."

Akane was in no shape to respond, but she would have played along if she had been. Naruto took the initiative in her place.

"Yeah, Sasuke's my best friend. I just want to bring him home. Thanks Baa-chan."

Akane knew Naruto wasn't lying. He knew the entire story, of course, and he wanted Sasuke back not only because he missed him, but because he wanted his friend to make amends with the place that had betrayed him. But it still wasn't safe for him to come back, and Naruto knew that.

Akane grabbed her brother's wrist and squeezed gently. He'll come back one day. NAruto simply nodded and continued to heal his sister. It was a rough procedure, but Kurama was being silently helpful, he really did like Akane.

But Naruto's woes weren't over for the day, because at some point during the healing process, Kakashi-sensei and Sakura-chan returned carrying Gaara's dead body. Naruto's tears started to fall before he could realize it. He finished patching Akane up roughly before his concentration left him entirely. He went to his friend's body and knelt beside it, mourning yet another loss.

Kakashi left Naruto to mourn and walked towards Akane, who sat on the hard ground, roughed up, weak and with her chakra depleted.

"We need to talk," he said lowly, so that only she could hear. "soon."

She smiled sadly at him and put her arm around his neck, hugging him awkwardly one handed. Kakashi wasn't strong enough to resist the urge to hug her back.

"For a moment there, I thought I was done for," she whispered into his shoulder.

"Good thing you aren't. The Akatsuki wouldn't have been ready to deal with me." He answered back.

"It would have been worth it, Naruto would have survived, and you too." She said, pulling back a little and looking at her partner in the eye. He had already covered his sharingan right back, and all she could see was the sea of black in Kakashi's eyes. It was haunting, it was troubled, it promised great violence, but it also brought warmth and comfort.

"Akane, I am going to give you the first and only order you must never break. I am pulling rank on you for this one: I forbid you to die."

Akane chuckled and instantly regretted it when pain shot up from her gut all the way up her spine.

"That's a little hard to do in a shinobi world, Senpai."

"I don't care," he said, cupping her face gently so as not to hurt her any further. "I'll be right by your side, always. I'll have your back, just- don't die on me, you are- you have-"

Akane took Kakashi's left hand off her face and squeezed it gently.

"I know. And right now I can't say the same, Kakashi, not right now, but know that everything you would do for me, I would do for you in a heartbeat."

He squeezed her hand back with a little more strength.

"I know, I won't push it either. I just want you safe, that's it," he said before pondering something for a few seconds. "And I mean that. There is no rush, there is no pressure. If you say no, that will be the end of it, and I won't think any less of you for it."

Akane looked at the man in front of her. Covered in soot and dirt from various explosions, uniform dirty and scratched, hair wilder than ever and tangled. The man had been dragged by one foot through life, kicking and screaming. Almost everyone he loved had been killed, he had almost worked himself to death and had come out the other side a somewhat stable person. Kakashi was the embodiment of strength and resilience, he was the image of self mastery, of loyalty. He wasn't perfect, by any means, but he was safe, and had always been safe. Even now, with his feelings out in the open for the world to judge, for Akane to judge, he stood strong, firm yet never oppressing. He was giving her a way out should she want it, he was giving her the freedom of choice that was hers but not many would have acknowledged.

Akane wanted to take it all back. The years of running after a man who didn't love her. The blood sweat and tears she had shed to help him. She wanted to take her feelings back, regain all the strength and energy she had poured onto Itachi. But she couldn't. In a weird, faded, sore kind of way, she still loved Itachi, and she owed it to the man in front of her to clear that away before she allowed anything to move forward.

"I just need a little time to figure it all out."

Kakashi intertwined their gloved fingers and looked into her scarlet eyes like he had been doing for years.

"That's okay, I'm a patient man."