Chapter 5: In the End
Dear Naruto,
I hope this letter reaches you successfully, as I must admit I have found myself missing your presence immensely. Four days was not and may never be enough. I will never regret letting you go to complete your goals though and I hope my contribution to your training has been enough to encourage your sensei to begin teaching you properly.
Sincerely,
Kagami
Dear Kagami,
I miss you too, a lot. Maybe we will either run into each other again or we can plan meeting up in another village before I go back home for awhile. Or maybe you can come see me in my village?
You showing me about my wind element did get my teacher's attention and I even finished reading that book you gave me already. You're right that I'd like it, even though I don't like reading normally anyways. A lot of Asuma's techniques gave me some pretty awesome ideas for stuff that I wanna show you someday, since you're the one who showed me it!
- Naruto
Dear Naruto,
Being a missionary makes it difficult to enter and stay in Shinobi ran villages unfortunately, as I am a shinobi's competition when it comes to being hired.
You are unpredictable however, I can only imagine what your creative mind has came up with for the element known to be most difficult to master. I have found a technique that has reminded me of you quite a bit. It's called the "Gale Palm" where the user can send a blast of wind through their hand as far as their chakra will allow. I believe it requires a bit of form manipulation for you to transform it into something else, but I believe you can learn it quickly.
Sincerely,
Kagami
Dear Kagami,
I'm returning home soon! I've been practicing that jutsu you gave me, I think I'm close to mastering it! Wish ya could see
My sensei also gave me a cool new jumpsuit too, since mine was fallin apart. Its all orange but with some black instead of blue like on my old one that you saw me fix up. But we could still always meet in one of the villages outside of mine, where they don't care bout whether you're a shinobi or mercenary or just a traveler.
- Naruto
Dear Naruto,
I have an extended mission to find a missing person at the moment, I wish I could see you. I have visited several villages and the only thing that motivates me to keep searching is that I would not mind bringing you to these villages for vacation. I know we never made it to the festival, which I only regret as we could not go on a traditional date.
I included a scroll I have found of how several great kunoichi incorporated dancing into their taijutsu. I thought of you and how you could make your style confusing for your enemies. I wish I could assist more in keeping you safe, since your profession is highly dangerous.
Sincerely,
Kagami
Dear Kagami,
Thank you so much for the scroll, its so cool! I watched a few Wind Country women dance their local traditional thing just earlier to see what you mean and thats what Im gonna do!
Sorry I responded so late, I returned to my village and there was an emergency with one of my friends. I wasn't even back for a whole day before being sent all the way to Wind Country to save him! We were in the same spot as kids, ya know, not really liked in our villages, yet he was able to become the Kage of his village.
I dunno, it made me realize how.. easy it can be for someone to lose their life though. Even when I got my ass kicked, I never really knew or cared how close I was to dying cause I thought I was always gonna make it. But a woman gave up her entire life for him to live when my teammates were either going to die of being poisoned or being blown to pieces. It made me realize that maybe I should slow down with some things, always say bye to my friends before I leave for a mission ya know, go and see them more often.
We can meet half way in a village together from whatever country you're in since I'mma be in Wind for a little longer, I got a week saved up for vacation anyways, or if I got another mission going super far away we can meet up there or before it's done? I mean it when I say I miss you, believe it Kagami!
- Naruto
Dear Naruto,
I'm glad to hear your friend is okay and was able to succeed in his dream.
I understand what you mean by feeling as if you were invincible and unable to be truly harmed. Barely scraping by, thinking nothing could ever be worse from what you had already experienced besides death itself. Every goodbye may be the last in the life of a shinobi and I'd hate for ours to have been in that hotel. I'll be in Rain Country though, I don't believe it's the best place for any village-aligned shinobi to visit from all that I have seen.
Until we can meet again, I cannot wait to see all that you have learned.
Sincerely,
Kagami
Dear Kagami,
I was able to find a cool sensei with the wind affinity! And another guy, whos a massive dick, with wind element! The sensei is a sensei of two of my friends, but hes happy to help us out! He can send his kunai right through ROCKS with his chakra, and Im figuring it out still but holy shit its so cool! Stay safe in Rain country, I hope you'll be heading to Fire soon. I still have my vacation days that I want to spend on you.
- Naruto
Dear Naruto,
You seem to have amazing luck to find such trained and helpful teachers. I never knew wind element could be used as such, that sensei must be extremely powerful. You will become even stronger and I am honestly quite proud of you. Surviving as long as you have with the bare minimum, I think of all that you have dealt with and how you must have thought or fought yourself through it as motivation to get me through these difficult times. I am doing my best to stay safe and hidden, there appears to be a jutsu casted to monitor the citizens here, please do not attempt to visit.
Sincerely,
Kagami
Dear Kagami,
I finally figured out this one thing thats been bothering me for awhile. Our letters are so far apart that even my sensei thinks that you or me shoulda found someone else to try and suck face with but I dunno. I feel like I can't replace you. I asked one of my girly friends about why and she only thinks its cause you took my virginity but I don't think so ya know? But it's how she feels to that one friend of mine that ran away a few years ago, even though she never kissed or had sex with him. it's worse now, since we got a new teammate in his spot now too now.
It got really awkward and weird when we actually found that missing friend. He's gotten stronger but he still won't come back to the village with us, still wanting to go kill the guy that killed his family. But if he came back with us, he won't have to hunt him alone or have a creepy pedo-guy trying to use his body, ya know the guy Orochimaru? That guy. Yeah. Super bad news for him, since we think time is up on being able to save him from the guy in the first place.
But ya know, there's only a few times I wish I could go back in time to change the past. The first would be to save my friend before he ran away and to have found you sooner. I don't think I can replace either of you, and just want you back near me.
- Naruto
Dear Kagami,
That wind sensei helped me complete the jutsu I made like Asuma had! With the help of another sensei obviously, not the one who took me on the trip, but this other one is helping me complete a jutsu my idol started! Otherwise stuff has been boring and I've been catching up with my friends. I missed so much stuff thats been going on in their lives, and one of my lazy ass friends actually has a girlfriend that lives 3 days away in another village. It seems to work for them..
I'm sorry if that last letter was a little too weird for you, since you still haven't replied. I still miss you ya know.
- Naruto
Dear Kagami,
So much has been happening right now, but I just want to let you know it all. I know you're still getting my letters or else your crows wouldn't be pickin them up to the seal or they woulda been returned.
I've completed the two jutsus. Had to use them against this old asshole that helped killed my lazy friends own sensei, the guy who taught me some of that wind training to get them done. I think you'd be proud too if you could see them in action, but I just wish you'd reply again.
Its been making me feel guilty, 'cause I left out a lot of stuff about myself that would've scared you away. If it wasn't for me getting help against this guy, I wouldn't have lived. It made a lot of things feel a lot more realer now and if you've heard of them, you'll probably know exactly what I am if you've ever been to Suna or Konoha now.
The Akatsuki are dangerous, more dangerous than Orochimaru ever was when he was alive.
My friend ended up killing that snake bastard and getting away. Has been gathering a ton of people to hunt down the guy he plans on killing, and it hurts that he still hasn't come back to the village to get us to help. We'd do it no problem, since it would be justice for him and Konoha. Itachi Uchiha is a dangerous international criminal, and my friend Sasuke is finally going to fight him. The times I've seen Itachi, he's just a monster. I hope you've never run into him, because even though I wanna believe Sasuke is strong enough, I'm still not sure he's gonna survive against him.
We've been getting a big team together to go hunt Itachi down though. If we force him to come with us to the village, Sasuke will follow and return on his own. We're running out of time.
I hope you've been doin okay though, I've done a lot of thinking and maybe this will be my last letter if you don't respond. I'm not one to give up, but I think I love you. If you don't love me back, then that'll be okay. I need to focus on my training to bring my friend back and to keep myself safe against the Akatsuki.
Love,
Naruto
Gently folding the letter back closed, Itachi could not count the amount of times he had the last paragraph.
But I think I love you.
He didn't mean for her to catch feelings for him and to lead her on. He didn't mean to catch feelings himself for her, but the dried blood in the palm of his hand reminded him that he could never be enough for her. Already dying of his illness, the night of the massacre had signed his own death sentence to be completed by his younger brother.
Both her and the world viewed him as a monster, and would never see him as the one who prevented a civil war inside Konoha by choosing the village and brother over his family.
Even if there was another way for his family to have backed down from the d'coup where he wouldn't be painted as a S-class missing nin, his illness would've killed him before they could've even discussed getting married or how many children they could've had together. He had accepted that it was a last resort with Danzo making threats from the shadows, but the slight irritation at how suddenly unfair it is only showed how much the Kyuubi Jinchuurki had rubbed off on him.
Walking slowly as he felt her familiar radiant chakra come to him, her angry shout of hey made him slowly turn and observe her.
Almost a year since he had seen her, she was wearing the new jumpsuit she mentioned Jiraiya had gifted her as her pigtails were clearly much longer than before.
He had cut all ties so that his death would not be as sad, so no one could manipulate him or those he truly cared for.
His activated sharingan allowed him to memorize her furious appearance, even as he caught her into the Tsukuyomi. He had decided long ago that Shisui's eye would best be safe with her, when the news of her being dragged home with a chidori shaped hole from the Sasuke retrieval mission after he made a run for it. Despite almost dying, she still announced to everyone who'd listen that she wanted and will save him. However after their time in Lightning Country together had him editing the seal to store his eye.
He wanted to go back to that hotel room and never leave it. Lay in bed all day with her with the future and the twisted reality far away, unable to touch them even as they walked to the Tea House with empty stomachs. He wanted to change his mind and for all the half-truths he gave under the name Kagami to be properly true, so he could retire and return to Konoha with her.
Itachi had considered writing one last letter to her, telling her everything she could've ever wanted to know about the Akatsuki members and their techniques. That he was going to miss her and everything he wished could've happened between them.
Like Sasuke though, it was better for them both to hold onto the illusion he had given them.
That to her, he was Kagami who she only met by chance because he thought she was beautiful despite her complaints about no ramen. A chakra using missionary with no ties to any village that never could go on a date and that allowed her to go judgement free with her exploring. That only stopped responding to her letters for no reason, to never be known as anything more than the guy she had lost her virginity to in a hotel in the middle of nowhere.
If she knew who he was the whole time, she'd be more than angry.
She'd be far beyond hurt and that was never his intention.
"What was that?" Laying on the ground in reality, shaking as Shisui's eye entered her system and left her feeling weak for the moment, he wore a small smile she was too distracted to see. "You're after me, aren't you!?" Shouting at him, she finally met his eyes once more, unafraid. "Then let's settle this here, right now!"
"..I'll be going now."
It was the only words he could say to her without giving too much else away.
In a room that may end up being his tomb if it wasn't destroyed in the upcoming battle, Itachi Uchiha waited on the mock throne as he silently began his proper goodbyes that would never be heard.
Posted: 03/03/2019