A/N: This chapter will mark the beginning of the final stretch of this story. If I keep something resembling my current schedule (twice per week at best), I can have this done in a little under three months.
The goal is to be done by chapter 75, including the epilogue. The next three-ish chapters will still be character-driven to a degree, but after that, things are gonna move quick.
Time for Chapter 62
Enjoy!
For all that Shikamaru certainly liked his teammates, they often brought him far more drama than he would have preferred. Naruto himself was broadly inoffensive, the worst he attracted on his own was uncomfortable stares from the older demographic, but he tended to throw himself headlong into whatever horrid tragedy Satsuki found herself neck-deep in. In some ways, it felt fitting. They had done an inordinate amount of bickering during Team Seven's early stages, and it had been mind-numbing. Then, even as they began to argue less, they started to disappear for one reason or another, leaving Shikamaru to wonder on occasion if one had finally killed the other, or if they had gone in the opposite direction and eloped.
Now, with their social batteries seemingly restored, while they argued far less than they used to, something was always going wrong. The blatant and uncomfortable tension that had choked Kakashi's living room during the team's brief reunion, the issue of contraception, and now, more seriously, the arrival of Itachi Uchiha. Tragedy seemed to follow at least one of them at a time, and it was tiring. In his heart of hearts, Shikamaru wished to support them both through it all, but skin-deep, his patience was wearing thin as he struggled to keep pace with Naruto.
The blonde had shown up at Shikamaru's window at seven in the morning, practically dragged him out of bed, and forced him to trek to the hospital. The Nara had planned to visit Satsuki, it had been a priority, but on his own time. He never had never done well with short-notice commitments. He had considered slipping away during the journey, but had decided against it for the lone reason that his gut told him not to. Satsuki was volatile in and of herself, even now. Reintroducing what was essentially the source of her coldness was bound to do unpleasant things to her.
It was clear that Naruto either had not considered that possibility, or did not care. He had not faltered once during their trip across town, and his enthusiasm had not waned upon their entrance into the hospital. Presently, Shikamaru was struggling to keep up with Naruto's pace as they made their way down what he could only assume was the wing Satsuki occupied. Being forced to practically jog would have been irritating on its own, but doubly so while carrying a tray of food. Holding his tongue for the time being, Shikamaru barely managed to avoid sending the tray flying as Naruto stopped short in front of him to read the label on a room's door.
After a short moment, the blonde slowly opened the door they had halted in front of. Rightly deducing that their destination had been reached, Shikamaru waited for Naruto to enter and followed suit. The room itself was drab. White walls, a white ceiling, and a dull tile floor to match. Hospitals tended to be boring aesthetically, but the space the boys had stepped into was so devoid of life that it was almost uncomfortable. No one detail stood out, except for one.
In a way, it was a relief to see Satsuki conscious and seemingly healthy. From what Shikamaru had been told, Itachi had rendered her scrambled and comatose. She was outwardly neither of those things as the Nara and Jinchuuriki first entered her room. In fact, no emotion whatsoever shone through on her face at all. She was seated atop her stark white sheets with her knees drawn up to her chin, staring straight ahead toward the far wall. The only acknowledgement of their presence she offered was a slight twitch of her eyes.
She was wearing her usual outfit, which was scuffed and torn in several places. From the looks of things, despite their best efforts, the staff had been unable to convince her to change. It appeared that no amount of duress could shake the girl of her stubbornness. The dead air didn't last long, as Naruto gestured to Shikamaru to hand off the tray. Obliging, Shikamaru gave his teammate the food and stepped back to the wall near the door. It was not his conversation to have, and he knew it.
'I probably shouldn't even be listening to whatever comes up here. They're a whole lot closer than I am to either of them.' Shikamaru thought to himself as Naruto approached the bed with food in hand. From what he had gathered, his teammates' relationship was no longer 'professional' in any way at all. It showed in Naruto's eyes. Pure, genuine concern. No irritation, no annoyance. Simple care. What Shikamaru could see, however, that Naruto did not seem to, was that Satsuki did not look pleased to see either of them.
It was subtle, but there was a visibly renewed tension in her frame, and her eyes had narrowed ever so slightly. The negative reaction was almost certainly not personal. She was distressed for reasons unrelated to them. Even so, it did not change the atmosphere, nor did it grant Shikamaru an easy way to warn Naruto ahead of time. The Jinchuuriki was at least partially blinded by worry.
"I tried to visit last night, but the staff were being pricks about it. We, uh, brought some food from the cafeteria." Naruto said, offering Satsuki the tray as he reached the side of her bed. The Uchiha stared right through the food. Furrowing his brow, Naruto took a moment to parse what exactly he planned to do.
"Look, I know it probably isn't what's on your mind right now, but you need to eat." he insisted gently. When Satsuki once again did not respond, he set the tray aside on a nearby table and took the glass of water from it individually.
"At least drink something." he said, extending the drink out toward her. Finally, Satsuki reacted, and it was explosive. With a quickness that suggested that she had been restraining herself for some time, the raven-haired girl's hand flew out and swung in a wide, back-handed arc that struck Naruto across the cheek and sent the glass of water flying onto the floor. Stumbling back a step, the blonde touched his reddened face.
"What the hell was that for?!" Naruto demanded. Shikamaru's mouth hung open at what he had witnessed. Satsuki had never been above mean-spirited remarks, but physical violence was a new step altogether. A wholly unwarranted one, at that.
"Take the hint." Satsuki said, her voice near to a hiss. As Shikamaru had initially suspected, she was far from being in a welcoming mood.
"I get that you're upset, but that was uncalled for." the Nara cut in before the blonde could open his mouth and stoke the growing fire. Satsuki sent him a sideways look of apathy.
"Why are youeven here?" she asked. Though no slight could be found within her words themselves, an insult was laced into them, and it did not go unnoticed by either of the two boys. Shikamaru personally cared little, but the same could not be said for Naruto.
"What's yourproblem?" he said incredulously. Satsuki threw her legs over the side of the bed and stood up in a flash.
"My problem? I just had the second worst day of my whole damn life, and here you are, barging in and trying to talk like things are fine." she snapped, stepping well within Naruto's personal space to accentuate her superior height. She then jammed a thumb toward Shikamaru.
"You even went and brought him. I barely even talk to him. I could've put up with you not being able to read the room, but you're crowdingme." she continued. Shikamaru's mouth pulled into a tight line. Apparently, the lengthy conversation he and the Uchiha had shared mere days ago had slipped her mind. He reigned in his offense quickly. She was fuming. Her mouth was moving before her brain could catch up.
"If you wanted space, you should've just told me that. You didn't have to hit me, or treat him like a stranger." Naruto shot back. Satsuki let off a derisive snort.
"You don't take hints, and you barely listen. I still had to spell it all out for you after I left a handprint on your face. Honestly, you should be grateful I didn't hit you harder." she said meanly. Once again, Shikamaru couldn't help but recoil slightly at just how abrasive the girl was being. He had expected her to be upset, but it was manifesting in a form outside of his projections.
Surprisingly, Naruto did not immediately come roaring back with a fiery retort. His face flushed red, and he tensed, but his mouth remained shut. He was doing his best to remain civil, despite his temper. Satsuki attacked the pause with a vicious lack of hesitation.
"Since when are you so sensitive? I figured you had thicker skin. Not like you haven't been getting the same treatment from everybody else." she said coldly. At long last, Shikamaru himself grew angry. Naruto's approach had not been graceful, but it had been good-natured and warm. She was bullying him for it without remorse.
"That was below the belt." Shikamaru said indignantly. Neither of his teammates acknowledged his words. Naruto's hands tightened up into fists.
"I'm not gonna take that. Not even from you." he replied. Satsuki tilted her head off to one side and glowered down at him.
"Yeah? And what're you gonna do about it? Glaring at me doesn't work all that well when you've got tears in your eyes." she said jabbingly, stepping on one of his feet. Naruto held his ground.
"You wanna take a swing at me, don't you?" the Uchiha inquired with an antagonizing smirk. Shikamaru's mind raced. Things were spiraling quickly. A full-blown fight between the two would be an utter disaster.
"Not much space in here, so no." Naruto answered. Satsuki made a short nod up toward the ceiling.
"We've got a roof. You're free to back out if you want. Just leave me the hell alone if you do." she said. In the brief silence that followed, Shikamaru silently prayed that Naruto would swallow his pride and take the high road. His prayers were not answered.
"Yeah, okay. If that's how you want it, then fine." the Jinchuuriki said with a short nod. The Uchiha then promptly stepped back away from him, circled around the bed, and trudged out into the hallway with heavy steps. For a few moments, Naruto and Shikamaru stood in silence.
"Don't make this about your ego. You could both seriously hurt each other." the Nara advised his teammate, who had begun to head for the door.
"Gotcha." he said shortly, exiting the room a beat later. Now alone, Shikamaru heaved a deep sigh and jogged out into the corridors of the hospital.
His intuition had been correct, and for once, he was unhappy about it.
Naruto squinted slightly as he stepped out onto the open air of the roof. The sun was bright, and the sky was clear. By any normal metric, it was a lovely day to be sure. Despite the pleasant weather, the Jinchuuriki's day was not unfolding swimmingly. A poor night's sleep, the early signs of a cold, and a faulty alarm had started it, and now, out of practically nowhere, he found himself moments from a fist fight with the person he had intended to comfort. His thoughts were too bungled by his bruised pride and how genuinely upset he was to see it, but in truth, it was all hardly his own fault.
It took no time at all to find Satsuki, as she had made no effort to hide herself. She was standing near the opposite end of the roof, facing out over the steep dropoff of the edge. She soon turned around to face him, brushing back hair from her eyes as a wind blew across the rooftop. Taking a deep breath, Naruto stepped forward.
"Alright. How do you wanna start this?" he opened, choosing not to dance around the subject at hand. The Uchiha responded by pushing off her rear foot and charging toward him. Formalities meant little to her as of now, it seemed. Putting aside any hesitation he'd had, Naruto met her halfway. When the pair collided in the center of the rooftop, Satsuki swung wide for his head, which the blonde ducked under. When he tried to kick out her legs in response, the Uchiha jumped over his attempt to trip her and slammed the point of her knee into the bottom of his chin.
Naruto stumbled back a step in a slight daze, but his bearings were still with him. As such, when his teammate stepped in to follow up her success, the Jinchuuriki punished her aggression by lacing her across the left side of her jaw mid-approach. The impact momentarily sat Satsuki down, but she popped back to her feet instantly. Unfazed as she looked, the exchange managed to convince her to back up a few steps. They then began to circle one another in a slow rhythm.
After several moments of that steady tempo, Satsuki broke the mold once again by rushing in to begin their fight anew. For the following two minutes, they made use of the wide-open rooftop and struggled against one another in successive engagements. Throughout it all, a slight advantage lay with the Uchiha. She was faster, sharper, and more focused. Naruto had sparred with the girl countless times. Trading blows with her did not feel foreign or uncomfortable in and of itself, but there was something distinctly different about the way Satsuki was treating him in each exchange.
She was taking absolutely every opening. If he made a mistake, she punished him. If he hesitated, she pushed him back. Naruto, on the other hand, was repeatedly pulling punches. He had no desire to hurt her. She had been through more than enough in the past two days, and leaving her bruised would do her no good. Her words had angered him, and they had stung, but not enough to erase his concern. Unfortunately, Satsuki appeared to notice his comparatively gentle treatment of her near the end of their protracted scuffle.
"You could've cracked me ten times by now. What gives? I thought you wanted to fight." Satsuki barked, planting her feet and snapping Naruto's head back with a forceful punch between the eyes. The Jinchuuriki winced as his ears rang. Satsuki was tall, but she was far from bulky. She hit far harder than her build suggested she should. Naruto was afforded little time to mull over the details, as she was right on top of him within the same second.
Rightly anticipating a similar punch, Naruto was able to rip his head off to the side and narrowly avoid being cracked for a second time. As her fist sailed past his cheek, Naruto took hold of her arm and performed a rapid turn-and-step to send his teammate flying up into the air. Having expected a moment to breathe, the Jinchuuriki was fully unprepared when Satsuki vanished mid-air, and reappeared with fist planted in his gut. Coughing painfully, Naruto doubled over and staggered back a few steps before sinking down to a knee.
"Am I just not worth the effort to you?" Satsuki growled. Naruto clenched his jaw and slowly worked his way back up to his feet.
"I don't wanna hurt you." he said. He mentally kicked himself the moment the words left his mouth. They had been terribly chosen. Satsuki's face twisted into an angry snarl.
"That's all I am to you, isn't it? Just some little girl who needs protecting." she said, her voice thick with vexation. Before Naruto could respond, she forced him back into the fray. Being forced to check a kick aimed at his midsection with his raised shit, the Jinchuuriki narrowly avoided a wide punch aimed for his temple and caught her wrist as she tried to retract it. He then punched her in the pit of her stomach
As he had done, Satsuki snatched up his wrist, resulting in a messy tie-up. Pushing back against one another, the pair broke even in terms of physical strength.
"Have I ever treated you that way?" Naruto asked as they strained. Satsuki drew her head back a few inches, and then slammed her forehead into his. The blonde stubbornly maintained his sturdy stance.
"You come running every time anything bad happens to me. You never let me deal with things on my own." Satsuki said, off-balancing him by nudging one of his ankles. She then released his wrist and traded the grip for a hold on the back of his neck that she used to break his posture.
"You act like my fucking lapdog. You treat every little thing like it's the end of the world." she said, driving a knee into his solar plexus and shoving him away. With the wind partially knocked out of him, Naruto was unable to speak for several seconds.
"Half the time, you come to me. Do you expect me not to help?" he questioned, pivoting around a linear charge from Satsuki as he spoke.
"Your brand of 'helping' is just spouting bullshit about how everything is going to be okay. You never have anything useful to say." the Uchiha countered, slamming her heel down into the ground to stop her momentum short. She then rebounded and tried to punch him square on the right side of his jaw. Naruto jerked his head back, making her miss by mere inches. As she crashed through the space in front of him, the blonde clobbered her behind the ear with a clubbing punch that sent her stumbling.
"You don't mean any of that." he said as Satsuki regained her footing and rubbed the side of her head. He had managed to squeeze confidence into his voice, but she had shaken his perception of their prior shared experiences. It was slight, but it had left him less sure than he would have liked.
"I don't exactly have options. You're all I've got for help, so I take it for what it is. That doesn't mean any of what you do or say works." Satsuki said, her face consumed by a scowl.
"Not that I don't get it. You wouldn't know the difference. I give you positive attention. That's all you're after, right?" she added. It took considerable effort for the Jinchuuriki to not show the pain on his face. Born of a tantrum or not, she knew exactly which buttons to push.
"I try to help you because I think you deserve to be happy. I care about you. If I'm doing a bad job, then I'm sorry. But don't try to make this something it isn't." he said, raising his voice involuntarily by the end. The Uchiha said nothing. Instead, she vanished for a second time. This time, however, Naruto was more than ready. When she came back into view, this time off to his right side, the Jinchuuriki turned on his heel and slugged her hard on the forehead. She had gotten under his skin enough to provoke his temper, and it was clear that she could not be reasoned with.
The punch froze Satsuki in place, leaving her right in the Jinchuuriki's line of sight. Now willing to take his opportunities as they came, Naruto kicked her square in the chest and sent her sprawling backwards. When Satsuki landed, she ran right back in for more. The following stretch of fighting was of a very different flavor than their first. Having finally let go of his trepidation, Naruto took firm control of the engagements. Both were upset for different reasons, but of the two, Satsuki's discord affected her skill in combat far more.
She overswung, pursued openings that didn't suit her, and regularly ran face-first into counters a calmer version of her never would have even felt the wind from. For his part, Naruto still managed to hold onto some semblance of self-control. He was no longer holding back his strikes, but he was not throwing them with full force. The tradeoff was not perfect. In exchange for winning the majority of their dust-ups, when Satsuki hit him, she hit him hard.
In between the multitude of short, checking counters he ran her into, she would wallop him with one or two cracking shots that forced him to reset. She was trying to injure him, or at least prove some kind of point. After one particular exchange in which the pair sent one another tumbling down to opposite edges of the roof with an airborne collision, a break finally split up the action.
"You're still going soft on me. Quit trying to be nice about this!" Satsuki yelled across the rooftop. Naruto pursed his lips. Apparently, he had not been subtle in his continued, though lessened, restraint.
"I'm not. I'm just not gonna try to beat up my friend." he said as calmly as he could manage. Satsuki's reaction was to be expected, one of irritation and offense, but its timing was odd. She had looked rather collected, at least by her current standards, up until the very last word of his reply. When it came to pass, her face contorted further. It snapped back to the way it had been before quickly, but Naruto caught it regardless.
"If it's so easy for you…" Satsuki began, leaping up on top of one of the two water tanks connected to the roof in the middle of her sentence.
"...try stopping this." she said. She then weaved a short series of hand signs and dropped down to a knee. Predictably, she had taken his words the wrong way.
"What are you–" Naruto started, abruptly cutting himself short when blue electricity began to crackle from the Uchiha's braced left hand. It was the very same jutsu she had tried to strike Itachi with. One that she shared with Kakashi. His situation then crystallized, as a sound akin to wailing birds echoed over the roof. Gambling on how truly serious she was had far too high a chance of ending in severe injury, and with this in mind, Naruto reluctantly turned his own palm upward.
Within seconds, a spinning blue sphere of chakra formed and stabilized in his hand. Had things gone according to the loose plan he'd had in mind when coming up to the roof, ninjutsu in general never would have seen the light of day. Let alone his single most potent application. By this point, it was almost a matter of self-defense. With their jutsu ready, both genin bent their knees.
After a short pause, they leapt toward one another on a collision course.
Things had become even more extreme than Shikamaru had imagined they could.
An exchange of taijutsu had been unsurprising, even as aggressive and unrestrained as Satsuki had been. Even Naruto's uncharacteristic control and efforts to minimize damage on both ends had made a fair amount of sense given the context. At no point had he expected them to try to kill each other, which was what appeared to be happening at present. It was far more Satsuki's idea than Naruto's, as she had more or less forced his hand, but the Jinchuuriki had still obliged her all the same.
Shikamaru lacked the inherent sensory capabilities to accurately gauge how powerful the jutsu his teammates were wielding were, but the buzz in the air gave him more than enough reason to be terrified by the results of a clash between them. They were already several feet into the air. The approach had begun, and Shikamaru was still across the entire roof. It was incredibly unlikely that he could do a single thing about what was bound to happen.
'I have to try.' he thought to himself in a panic, breaking out into a sprint and bringing his hands together. He felt painfully slow. Every step may as well have taken a thousand years. They were moving faster than he was, and his chakra was not manifesting itself quickly enough. As they drew closer to a head-on collision, time seemed to slow down. He was still too far away, and though his shadow had begun to extend, it was simply too sluggish. He wouldn't make it in time.
Thankfully, more capable hands solved the problem for him.
In a scuffle that Shikamaru could barely register, Kakashi appeared out of absolutely nowhere right between Naruto and Satsuki. In one swift motion, he seized them both by their wrists, spun them once, and sent them flying toward the matching water tanks. They both crashed face-first into the solid metal holding tanks, with their chakra-wielding arms stabbing into them. In Satsuki's case, the front of her tank exploded with a loud shriek of scraping metal and supercharged liquid on impact. Naruto's damage was less impressive, with his arm only driving a small hole into the tank.
Due to her more explosive results, Satsuki was sent ricocheting off the rooftop. She bounced to a stop fifteen or so feet from the tank. Naruto fell down less violently, with his arm dislodging from the water tank and allowing him to land on his feet. Shikamaru had seldom seen Kakashi Hatake bristle beyond mild irritation, but even with his mask on and left eye covered, he could see the anger on the Jonin's face. Much to the Nara's surprise, he was the first to be addressed.
"How did this start?" he asked bluntly. Though his choice of person was strange at the face of it, Shikamaru quickly realized that Kakashi did not trust either Naruto or Satsuki to give a straight answer.
"They got into it back in Satsuki's room. They decided to blow off some steam up here, and…it got a little wild." he said, doing his best to give a generous rendition of the events. Kakashi turned his attention to the two guilty parties. Naruto looked thoroughly cowed by Kakashi's arrival, but Satsuki looked as volatile as ever.
"If I hadn't stopped that when I did, one or both of you would've lost an arm. Working out your differences is fine, but what the hell were the two of you thinking?" he berated them. Naruto looked down at his sandals, but Satsuki glared at the Jonin.
"I don't need a lecture. Screw this." she said, turning around and jumping high up and over the battered water tanks. In contrast to Shikamaru's expectations, Kakashi did not pursue the girl as she bounded away across the buildings. Naruto did make a move to follow after her, but Kakashi appeared behind him and halted him with a hand on his shoulder.
"Give it a rest. You've done enough." he said. He hardly looked happy about it, but the blonde did as he was told and relaxed somewhat. Kakashi then looked to Shikamaru again.
"Keep him occupied for a few hours. I've got my hands full." he said, to which the shadow user nodded. The Jonin vanished into a puff of smoke soon after, leaving Naruto and Shikamaru alone on the roof.
"How's a second breakfast sound?" the Nara offered. Naruto took a long look in the direction Satsuki had run, but eventually shook his head and relented.
"I could go for that, honestly." he admitted. Relieved that he wouldn't be forced to argue with the Jinchuuriki, Shikamaru motioned for Naruto to follow him.
"I'll get my mom to make waffles."
Satsuki finally came to a stop as she reached the edge of a training field. Running through the thick woods had been cumbersome, but it had put a large distance between herself and the hospital. Her mind was still racing. Things had moved so unbelievably quickly that she had not once stopped to consider where she had planned to go. Her emotions were a jumbled mess, her logical thinking was missing in action, and the tattoo on her neck had been badly aching for the better part of an hour already. In short, she was having her second horrid day in a row. Unlike the first, it was by her own hands.
In a different mood, she may have allowed her regrets to creep in and claim her, but she was far too agitated and on edge. Apologies could wait. As could responsibility. She was in desperate need of space to think, and those around her seemed incapable of granting her that one lone wish. Deep down, she knew that she had reacted poorly, and that she was largely in the wrong, but acknowledging the blame would apply a level of pressure to her psyche that she could not currently handle.
Sliding down the trunk of one of the trees rimming the field, Satsuki allowed herself to breathe. She was exhausted. She had not slept in well over a day, and every waking moment had been overwhelming. Itachi's sudden return, the chaotic disaster that had been her arrival at the hospital, and now her freshly-concluded fight with Naruto. It was all bearing down on her like a massive boulder. Crueler still, the lone positive of her present circumstances, that being the fact that she was now alone, was ripped away from her mere moments after she settled.
With a customary wisp of smoke, Kakashi appeared a few feet in front of her. Satsuki made a reflexive, scrambling attempt to stand up and run, but the Jonin shut her down with a single step forward. He was far too close to evade if she tried to escape. She was fully boxed in against the tree trunk.
"Like I said, I don't want or need to hear you preach about 'responsibility' or 'maturity'." the Uchiha said defensively. Kakashi removed his hands from his pockets.
"And that's not what I'm here to do. What I want to know is why?" he clarified. Satsuki glared up at her teacher, but couldn't find the energy to say something snappy.
"I'm tired, pissed off, and I have a headache." she shot back. It was honest, if not comprehensive. The Jonin folded his arms across the front of his flak jacket.
"That's all well and good, but it doesn't explain why you thought it was a good idea to use a jutsu like that on your own teammate." he said. Satsuki rubbed a bruise on her cheek.
"He used one too, you know. This isn't all on me." she grumbled under her breath. Kakashi's expression remained wholly unconvinced.
"Naruto looked relieved when I showed up. You were still raring to go. I think it's pretty obvious who started that fight." he said. Satsuki held her tongue as frustration bubbled up within her. No detail was missed by the Copy Ninja. Even while broadly uninformed.
"Maybe I did. That doesn't mean he didn't deserve it." she said. Kakashi sighed and crouched down in front of her.
"Quit fronting. He can be a little much sometimes, but he's harmless even at his worst. You should know, lovebird." he said. The Uchiha averted her eyes to the grass.
"You know about that, huh?" she muttered. Kakashi absently scratched his masked cheek as he studied her.
"Neither of you are subtle. I wasn't born yesterday." he said. He then stood up again, his eyes never leaving the girl as he did so.
"Which is why this feels so out of left field, even for you. I understand that seeing him again was a terrible experience, but–" Kakashi said. Before he could finish, Satsuki interrupted him.
"But what? You understand? You 'know how I feel'? Don't even start with that bullshit." she cut in. Any composure she had managed to recapture had shattered completely at the mention of her brother.
"You try losing everyone and everything you love. You try flinching every time you look in the mirror. You try waking up in a cold sweat every night." she pressed on, fully leaning into the storm of frustration brewing in her chest.
"When you've been through all of that, then you can talk to me about how I should or shouldn't react to Itachi." she concluded, breathing heavily. Kakashi remained silent for a moment.
"There's some logic to that, but there's just one problem with it." he said vaguely, stooping down to a knee to meet her at eye-level.
"Everybody and everything you just mentioned? It's all gone. Either dead or washed away. Those sleepless nights? I've had more than I can count. I've even broken a few mirrors in my time." he said softly. Kakashi had never been without humanity, but the tired pain behind his words resonated with her to the point that Satsuki at last sunk fully back against the tree.
"I've been around a whole lot longer than you have, kid, and I've seen my share of troubles. You aren't alone in loss." the Jonin said, standing for a second time.
"So take me seriously when I say that things can get better. They always do, if you stick it out. Just don't throw it all away before that can happen." he finished. Satsuki gripped the hem of her skirt tightly.
"Can you please just…give me a few days? I need space. I'll go insane if I have to keep listening to people fuss over me." she requested. The older Ninja stepped away from the tree, allowing her ample space to stand up under her own power.
"That sounds reasonable. I'll let the other two know. Just promise me you won't do anything stupid in that time." he replied. Satsuki dusted off her already-damaged clothes.
"I'll be fine." she assured him. Outwardly satisfied with her answer, Kakashi jumped up into the treetops and vanished. With her solitude restored, Satsuki stood on the border of the field for nearly a minute before turning toward the Uchiha sector.
'I need a nap. Maybe ten.'
A/N: Alright, so I have decided that once per week, on either Friday or Saturday is going to be standard procedure from here on out. I will update more frequently when I can, but work is a decent amount more time-consuming as of a few weeks ago.
Do not fear, my dear readers. I will be finishing this at a consistent pace. Hiatus isn't a word in my vocabulary.
Onto the chapter itself:
Yeah, I made Satsuki pretty fuckin brutal verbally. Keep in mind that she's always been sharp-tongued, even post-romance, and adding Itachi to that recipe would almost guarantee some fire from her.
And yes, I ripped that last scene straight from canon for the most part, but it's so damn good that I didn't dare change it too much. I hope it was good regardless
Please do leave a review on this one. I'm quite proud of how it turned out, and it's a longer one. I read every single one :)'
I love you all
Read and Review!