Waking Up

Naruto sighed, looking at the Hokage monument.

"Naruto-kun" Naruto turned to see Yoko. The woman was wearing traditional meiko clothes as she stood there, waiting for her cousin to respond somehow.

"Ah, Yoko-obasan. Are you trading in your other clothes for those robes" Yoko blinked confused before she smiled.

"Iie. I just got back from sending the last of the dead on their way." Naruto was quiet once again.

"We failed them. We couldn't save all of them." Yoko smiled at him, sorrow clouding her mind briefly. She walked up to Naruto and pulled him into a hug.

"We saved as many as we could."

"It wasn't enough" Naruto snapped. Angry tears blurred his vision as Yoko tightened her hold on him. "Over a third of the leaf is gone! The army Setsuko commanded has been more the halved! So many people! It just wasn't enough"

"Yes it was."

"No" He shook his head, refusing to give up. "No, it wasn't enough. We should have saved them all"

"Please Naruto" Naruto looked up at Yoko and only then did he realize it. Yoko had to do the same as Orochimaru and perform a forbidden jutsu. It wasn't the same but it was close enough. Manipulating souls like that . . . it was not something she wanted to do, ever. Forcing the souls like that nearly broke her heart. Once done, Yoko had sworn to never do it again. Tsunade honored the oath, understanding that it made Yoko feel as though she was like Orochimaru, bringing back the dead like that.

"Naruto." Naruto and Yoko looked over to see Tsunade. The woman smiled as she looked up at the Hokage monument. "Even though Orochimaru fooled us into that war, they died with honor. They fought for the leaf. True, they were manipulated, but they fought and died for the leaf. They left this world with no regrets. And when Orochimaru is punished, the soul of the Third will be put to rest." Naruto looked up at the monument again. It was a sight for soar eyes. Orochimaru's face was gone, the genjutsu he had used to change Tsunade's dispelled.

"But . . ." Yoko shook her head, cutting off his argument.

"Naruto. We were able to save a good portion. We did the impossible. We did enough. Even Setsuko knows that and accepts it." Naruto sighed and nodded. Naruto started to laugh as he thought of his cousin.

"God, she gave us such a scare! I thought she was dead, again" Yoko chuckled at this along with Tsunade.

"I suppose it is our own fault." Tsunade mussed. "Kabuto struck only her heart, nothing else. And with Setsuko something like that isn't such a big deal." Yoko nodded as Naruto pulled away from her.

"I nearly had a heart attack when she asked what I was doing." She blushed at the thought. Tsunade smiled at her own memory.

"I practically pissed my pants from being scared so badly." He laughed at his own memory. "I swear, she's got nine lives" Yoko nodded at her younger cousin's words.

"Yeah, but then again she only died once." Tsunade muttered dryly. "We just thought she was dead those other times." Naruto shrugged.

"Still, I thought she was dead this time. She was lying right in front of us. And it's not just any day you see a dead person just get up." Yoko refrained from sighing.

"Then again, that wasn't just any day." Tsunade nodded, tired still.

"Hai. After that day, I don't think I want to do anything but sleep for a week."

"I know how you feel. Were it not for my worry over the . . . survivors . . . I would crawl into bed and stay there for a month." Naruto looked up at Tsunade, worry craved into his face.

"He's still . . . " Tsunade nodded.

"Hai. The poison was like nothing I've seen before. Kabuto must have made it from some potent herbs. Had she not been there Kakashi would have died." Naruto nodded.

"So, do you think he'll wake up soon" Tsunade shrugged.

"Hopefully. Other than the shock it did to his system, nothing happened because she removed the poison so quickly. He'll wake up soon." Naruto nodded to himself. The hospital was full of shinobi, almost every bed occupied. In case something happened, Konoha needed those shinobi and those shinobi.

"So, guess she's still there."

"Like that was ever a question." Naruto looked up, surprised, at the new comer.

"What are you doing out of bed so soon, Robin-chan" Robin stood there, a faint smile on her lips. She had simply refused to stay in bed, no matter what anyone said.

"I am fine." Tsunade snorted at this.

"Fine for someone who was dead for bit there." Robin was silent, thinking of those moments.

". . . what . . . . what did happen . . ." Yoko smiled at Robin. The question had plagued everyone's mind the second they recovered. No one could truly remember dying. Vague and blurry were their deaths. So much that Tsunade ordered no one be told they died. A widespread panic would filter through Konoha if the truth of the resurrections got out. No one remembered their death or what happened when they woke up for that split second after they were brought back.

". . . Robin-chan . . ." Yoko felt her mind drift back to the end of that battle as Tsunade told Robin that she was only seriously hurt, nothing more. Robin stared at Tsunade once the woman was done telling her she had died.

". . . . you are serious" Tsunade nodded. "I see."

"Robin-chan, if you need to sit down and rest we understand. You would not be the first nor will you be the last." Yoko placed a hand on her little cousin's shoulder. "Please, you can't bottle it up."

"Iie. I am fine. I am . . . overjoyed at the prospect of being saved. Arigatou, Yoko-chan." Yoko nodded, understanding that her cousin was not like most people. She was serious and took her superiors at their word, pushing aside emotions that would cause trouble. However, what Yoko feared was when those emotions came back, exploding in her young woman's face. "And Setsuko-sama"

"Setsuko went through half her chants before she was able to find something useful." Yoko muttered, causing Robin took look at her.

"What do you mean" Yoko sighed as she looked up to the sky.

"Well, none of her chants were really useful to us. Except when the wind just pulled Tenshi's molecules back together so Tenshi was fine after that. It was to be expected. Setsuko-sama had just been through all that fighting. Not to mention she only knew a fraction of the wind chants. Most she knew were not spiritual in nature. However she did find a chant that gave me the chakra I needed to manipulate so many souls. And the chant did stop any side effects that might have happened." Yoko smiled as she turned back to Robin. "She helped in more ways than she knew. Fighting Orochimaru, accidentally bringing Tenshi back, giving me the energy to keep on linking and manipulating souls . . . I don't think I could have saved so many if she hadn't found used the chant to give me energy." Robin smiled at the thought of her cousin.

". . . so no chant could help"

"Other than bringing Tenshi back and giving me chakra, no." Robin smiled as she looked at the sky when a bird flew over head. "But what she did was more than enough." Tsunade nodded.

"Hai. Setsuko was able to help save more people because of her control over blood. Using her Ninjou Shuujuku to keep people's blood flowing . . ."

"Setsuko-neechan was drained for several days after that."

". . . I must go see how my friends are doing." Yoko nodded, letting the girl run off. It took Tsunade a moment before realizing Robin had run off when she had to be in bed.

"HEY" Tsunade ran after the younger shinobi while Yoko and Naruto laughed at them.


A soft gentle humming filled the air. The darkness was warming and comforting as he laid there, listening to the voice. He felt something shift the weight around him as the humming came closer. The gentlest of touches danced over his skin as he felt something being removed. After a few minutes, something was wound around him. A shuffling sound momentarily replaced the soft hum as something was placed over him, surrounding him with more warmth. He began to let his mind drift away again. He would have, had it not been for that touch. He could feel a soft had pressed against the side of his face. Skin to skin. The hand moved and brushed hair from his face. His mask. His form of privacy. Gone. As the hand pulled away he forced himself out of the darkness. Before his eyes were even completely open he had snatched the wrist of whoever had been humming.


Setsuko hummed gently as she sat by Kakashi, waiting. Over a week and still her laid there, motionless. Tsunade would come by once a day and insist that she go home a rest. That once he wakes up they would call her. However, once Uzumaki Setsuko put her mind to something, little could stop her. And right now her mind was set on staying by him until he woke up. Yes, once in a way she would leave briefly, to clean and such, but she would return quickly and wait. She let her eyes wander over to the desk. A folded up blanket sat on the desk. After Tsunade realized that Setsuko would not leave to rest, she had put that in the room. So Setsuko spent her nights sitting in a chair, resting her head in her arms on the desk and slowly drift to sleep. Setsuko shook her mind clear before looking up at the clock. It was time to change the bandages. She was too shy to do anything other than change the bandages on his upper body so latter on Tsunade would come in and change anything else. Setsuko didn't really try to know if there was anything else. She took that time to go and clean herself up. She stopped her thoughts from going any further. The Uindo Bensha took a roll of bandages and sat beside him on his bed. She moved her hands into the form of a bird.

"Kaze." She whispered before doing anything else. With ease she pulled him forward and then a small breeze of wind helped her hold him in place as she changed the bandages. Once she was done she dismissed the wind and gently pulled the crisp white covers over him. She paused as she sat there. Instead of moving back to her seat she cupped the side of his face. Tsunade said no mask. In case they need to put a tube done his throat. She felt her stomach cringe at that thought. It was because of that Setsuko only let Tsunade come into the room and look at him. She knew he liked his privacy. He wouldn't want random strangers coming in and gawking at him. Setsuko brushed some hair away from his face before pulling back. However, before she could pull back completely a hand shot out and grabbed her wrist, in the process pulling her forward. She was barely able to stop herself from falling on top of Kakashi completely. She looked at him, surprised that he was awake and holding her wrist.

"Uzumaki Setsuko"


"Neji-san." Robin greeted the young sleeping Hyuuga as she entered. She sighed as she sat on the window ledge. Robin leaned back alittle and stared out the window. "Ne, it's pretty outside. So many birds out lately." She smiled to herself. "Oy, if you wake up soon, I'll treat you to something." She looked back to him as she pulled one leg up and wrapped an arm around it. ". . . . I remember when you made me play the middleman when you wanted to ask Tenten out. It spent the entire week bugging Tenten about who she liked. I was so annoyed at you for that." Robin wiped away some tears that had managed to make their way down her face. Her mask void of emotion was breaking. The shock of death finally starting to catch up with her. "I remember so many things. But Tsunade-sama said that a lot of people might not be able to break free of the jutsu Orochimaru used." Robin smiled weakly at him. She felt light headed and dizzy but she still pressed on with her talk to her friend. "Please Neji-kun. I really need your advise. I really need my friend." She managed to stop anymore tears as she walked next to his bedside. "Because . . ." She laughed weakly. ". . . you need to play middleman now." It a weak but it was a legitimate excuse.


Naruto blinked as he saw Setsuko walk by him.

"Nee-chan" She looked back, startled.

"Gomen. I did not see you there." He frowned when she weakly smiled at him.

"What's wrong"

"I . . . I just was concerned on when Orochimaru's punishment was going to be decided." Naruto accepted the obvious excuse, believing she just needed to have time to herself after the whole ordeal. Before he could say more she had walked off. Naruto blinked before giving a sigh and leaving.


She could feel it breaking. What little of it she still had was crumbling. She steadily walked out of the village. She let her feet carry her, not caring. Only when she stumbled onto the Uzumaki Estate did she come back to reality.

"When do you plan to leave" She looked back, startled. Yoko watched her with sad eyes.

". . ."

"Setsuko-sama . . . you can not hide this from me. You plan to leave. When" She looked at the ground as sorrow polluted her.

". . . once Orochimaru is officially dealt with."

"That's in two, three days at the most." Setsuko nodded. ". . . why" She was silent to Yoko's question.

". . . I do not have the strength to stay." Setsuko looked at Yoko. "I've cried enough tears." Setsuko smiled sadly. "When my looks changed I forgot how to cry. I lost almost all emotion. I became what many shinobi were constantly striving to be." She turned her back to her cousin. "I . . . I never wanted it. But I never thought about it. I was too angry at the world. Too angry at every human I saw." She brushed some hair back. ". . . when I met him . . . I hated him . . . but then . . . then he started to grow on me. He excepted me. I told him and he still didn't want me to die by the wolf god. I think that's when I started to like him. That's when . . . I felt something more than hate. Something more than anger. I . . . I wanted to cherish that feeling. I didn't want anything to happen because I liked my feelings towards him." Setsuko looked back at Yoko once more, this time fighting tears, forcing them back. "But . . . the man I love is dead. The Hatake Kakashi in the hospital is not my Hatake Kakashi." Yoko nodded, sadden.

"I see. Well . . . you will always be welcomed here." Setsuko shook her head.

"No. I am a threat to the Uzumaki clan. Uzumaki Setsuko is suppose to be dead. It will stay that way." She walked away form her cousin, letting her finally words drift on the air to her. "It is best that I fade away form this world again."