Once the danger had passed, jounin came filtering into the shelter and let everyone know they were clear to come out. Konohamaru took Beki's hand and helped her keep her footing as the pair stumbled outside, blinking into the light.

"Okay Beki nee san, let's go find you a doctor," Konohamaru started to tug her hand in the direction all the other injured people were heading. At her resistance, he glanced up at her with dark blue eyes clouded in confusion.

"Pumpkin, I'm okay." Beki chuckled. "I just bonked my head a little bit. It's nothing I haven't done before and the doctors have a lot more to worry about than mild concussions right now."

Konohamaru paused, struggling with himself. She was right but at the same time he wanted to make sure she was okay. While he battled internally, Beki leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. That caught Konohamaru's attention. He snapped out of his thoughts and a flush burned at his cheeks and the top of his ears. "Nee san!"

"You took good care of me today." Beki grinned only slightly down at him. "I owe you one for getting me out of that building and for keeping me awake."

Konohamaru shrugged. "I didn't really do much. Your mom did all the heavy lifting."

Beki chucked his chin. Her hands were rough from the leftover debris and Konohamaru felt her leave a trail of grime near his adam's apple. "If you hadn't found her I would have died. Knowing you aren't the guy for the job and getting the guy who is, that's a life skill, Konohamaru. Do you think I felt bad when my mom told me I would be useless out here? I am the absolute worst at medical ninjutsu. I would get in the way and cause more harm. But, if let's say there were some skulls to crack, then the medics would come running to get me." Beki cocked her head and frowned a little, leaving trails in the plaster on her face. "Except Sakura. I don't think she would need anyone's help in the skull-cracking category. But that's beside the point. You saved my life today, Konohamaru. I don't forget debts easily. You need to get home to your mom now because she's probably worried sick. In the meantime, I want you to think of something I can do for you to say 'thanks'."

Konohamaru immediately thought about asking for a kiss but stopped himself before he spoke. Beki gave those out all the time, plus it wouldn't be very good right now. If he was going to ask for a kiss, he would want one on the lips and hers were covered in brick dust. He needed to ask for something else, something better than a kiss. He gave her a confident nod. "Okay, nee san. Are you sure you can get home okay?" Beki looked more lucid than before but there was still a distance to her gaze that raised some concern.

"Yeah," Beki waved dismissively, releasing a small cloud of powder from her hand. "I'll be fine."

Konohamaru nodded and took off towards home. To his surprise, people were already starting to clean up. The other thing he noticed was that everyone seemed pretty okay. There were people receiving medical attention all over the place, but Konohamaru didn't see a single dead body. Considering how bad today could have gone everything turned out well in the end. Buildings would need to be rebuilt and all that. The people of the Leaf really didn't seem to care. As far as Konohamaru could tell, most people just looked annoyed by the situation. He laughed to himself. Maybe that's what everybody meant when they talked about the Will of Fire. Leaflings didn't get sad, they just got angry.

…

It took Beki much longer than usual to get home. Between the streets being closed off and her memory failing her a few times, it was after nightfall when Beki finally reached Hinata's house. The lights were on downstairs which helped Beki get her key in the door. When she stepped inside, Beki saw Naruto and Hinata facing each other on the couch, complicated expressions etched into their faces. Naruto looked a combination of angry and relieved while Hinata's expression was both guilty and happy.

"Good, you guys made it out okay." Beki smiled as she undressed by the door, leaving her filthy armor outside to clean in the morning. For once Beki had worn some clothes under the armor, for which she was grateful. A conversation was coming and Beki wouldn't have to be naked for the most of it.

"Are you okay, Beki?" Naruto asked. His voice lacked its usual vigor. Naruto was drained of color, his posture slumped and his eyes heavy.

"I'm alright," Beki shrugged. "Minor concussion, nothing to worry about. What about you two?"

"Well, someone," Naruto cast an irritated glance at Hinata. "Almost got themselves killed."

Hinata bowed her head, a slight flush coming into her cheeks. Beki turned her attention on Hinata, putting her hands on her hips. "What did you do, Hina chan?"

"It might have been a little foolish," Hinata admitted. "I was just trying to protect Naruto from Pain."

"And got herself stabbed!" Naruto stuck out his bottom lip. Beki's eyes widened in fear but Hinata shook her head.

"Sakura found me and fixed me right up." Hinata laughed softly and raised her arms to prove she was fit. "Good as new. Besides, how about someone going full Tailed-beast mode and single handedly taking down someone the whole village couldn't? "

Beki furrowed her brow. "Tailed-beast mode?"

Naruto scratched his head. "You didn't see me out there? The giant orange fox-shaped ball of rage in the sky?"

Beki shook her head. "No. Konohamaru took me to some underground hideout. I don't exactly remember where it was but all the kids were in there."

Naruto sputtered. "Now you know about our secret hideout! Is nothing in this village sacred?!"

Hinata gave Beki a deadpan stare. "We have to kill you now."

Beki rolled her eyes. "So about the beast mode, is that like when the nine tails takes over and you become the fox?"

Naruto shrugged. "Basically."

"Then I'm glad I was locked up. That tailed beast stuff is a little too scary for me." Beki recalled her run in with the One Tail. She hated to admit it but it would be easy for a person to imagine a quiet loner like Gaara losing it and turning into a monster. Beki imagined Naruto going into giant murder monster mode would be much more terrifying. Hinata nudged Naruto with her foot, her lavender eyes dancing with pride.

"Then he talked the man behind it into bringing everyone back," Hinata explained.

Beki screwed up her face. "What are you talking about?"

"All the people who died," Naruto explained. "Nagato resurrected them. Everyone who Pain killed within a certain time window was resurrected."

"That's...insane. You're telling me one shinobi had the power to bring back, what, I don't know, lowball it at fifty people in the blink of an eye?" Beki wrinkled her nose.

"Nail on the head, Beki, with the eye comment. He did it with some new kind of ocular jutsu no one's heard of before." Naruto was slowly sinking into the couch. "I mean, the window didn't cover Pervy Sage, but I'm glad everyone else was able to come back."

"Sorry, Naruto. Thanks for saving everyone's bacon." Beki gave a weak smile. An exhausted silence fell over the room, and after a moment Beki shook her head and headed for the stairs. "It sounds like you two are working it out okay. If you don't mind, I'm going to go wash the plaster out of my hair."

"Goodnight," Naruto and Hinata said in unison.

As Beki headed upstairs and into her room, she heard the pair's soft voices. She smiled to herself. It was kind of fun seeing Hinata in trouble for once. Beki didn't like that her friend had almost died but it was good to know the girl had a backbone when she needed one. Her clothes were probably trash, which unfortunately was something Beki was used to. Her shirt, bra, and underwear had been soaked with sweat, mixed with dirt and plaster dust, and then dried. The garments felt thick and hard, like they had been permanently set that way. She plugged the sink, filled it with hot water, and then set the clothes to soak. Afterwards, she turned on the shower and waited until it was steaming before Beki climbed in. The hot water felt like heaven. Dirty spirals of gray and black swirled down the drain at her feet. Slowly, Beki's skin emerged from its powdery casing. Her body now washed, Beki set about tackling the bigger issue. Her hair. Beki had to grab a wide toothed comb and work out the tangles and hunks of building still clinging to it before she could even wash her hair. Once that meticulous process began, Beki was left thinking about how much she wished Neji were home. Konohamaru had done the best job taking care of her that he could, but he was a kid. Now that everything was over, Beki would have liked getting to sit down and talk about it with another adult. Normally she would have gone to Hinata but judging by the sounds coming down the hall, her and Naruto were doing important "relationship building" right now.

It had been so nice seeing Neji smile again. Beki hadn't realized how much she missed his arms and how safe he made her feel. Her mind slipped back to when she had eaten curry with Team Gai. Neji had gotten this angry look on his face when Beki defied him and ordered her curry hot amidst cheers of praise from Gai and Lee. Then, she remembered Neji's crestfallen look when Beki didn't instantly get taken out at the knees by the hot curry the way he apparently did. Beki laughed aloud in the shower at the sulky faces he had made. The smile lingered while she recalled how Neji had ultimately been right, that the curry had taken its revenge later and locked up Beki's stomach on the hike back in intense intestinal discomfort. Once they had arrived in Konoha, even though he had said he wouldn't, Neji carried Beki in full armor back to the Hyuga compound. Neji had lectured her the whole way back but Beki loved it. It was nice having him talking to her again, even if that mean he was yelling at her most of the time.

As Beki got out of the shower and toweled off, her heart all aflutter, a small voice tugged at her. You've felt this way before. She paused and considered the message. Slowly, like turning on a tap, Beki recalled how she had felt about Gaara when they first started seeing each other. How she hung on his every word and worried incessantly about what he thought about her; every smile and joke had been more precious than gold. When Gaara was gone, Beki had longed for him so much her bones ached. Now she was starting to feel that way about Neji. Was it because they had been so close and then he had pulled away? Or was it because when everything happened with her father Neji had become like family?

It was with these troubled thoughts Beki went to bed, trying to sort out the complicated and unclear web of her emotions.

...

"For the last time, woman, I'm fine," Kakashi swatted Yuki away as he awkwardly sat down at the table in his kitchen. "I'm still not sure how you talked your way in here."

"You heard Shizune," Yuki pouted at the rejection and headed for the refrigerator. "You actually died and came back. The same thing happened to her and a bunch of other people during the attack. You were all revived with some kind of obscure ninjutsu."

"You were right, is that what you want to hear?" Kakashi leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes. The initial discomfort he felt when he first woke up had spiraled into all out agony in every cell of his body. The idea that he had died and come back to life seemed much more believable now that even his toenails were complaining. Yuki was busily pulling out vegetables and chicken from the fridge. "I thought you said you didn't know how to cook?" Kakashi stole a glance at her, his eyelids screaming at the exertion. "Is this going to be as bad as that time you tried to make toast?"

Yuki ignored the comment. It wasn't that bad; only the toaster was ruined. They didn't even have to call the fire department. "You're in for a rare treat," Yukihana said as she pulled a few cans from the cupboard. "It's true that generally I can't cook to save my life. I did learn how to make soup, though. The anti-inflammatory properties would do you a lot of good right now."

"The medics pumped me full of pain meds and soldier pills, Yuki. I don't need chicken soup." Kakashi sighed. He didn't want to be rude but what the man really wanted was to lay down in bed and try to sleep off as much of the pain as he could. "Why are you so clingy today, anyway? You usually kick me to the curb as soon as you're done with me."

Yuki shot him an impatient look. "I told you already. You died and it scared the crap out of me."

"Why do you even care, Yuki?" Kakashi adjusted and his shoulder let out a sickening pop. Yuki paused, her knife hovering over celery she was about to sacrifice to the pot. It was obvious what her reason was but she did want to say it. The two of them had only been dating officially for about a month. Even if it were true, Yuki would feel awkward admitting to Kakashi that she loved him. It would make her sound desperate and fragile. Truth be told, even if they had been dating for a year it would be hard for her to say it. Yuki hardly even told her own daughter those three words. So, instead of manning up and putting herself out there, risking vulnerability after she'd had to expose so much that day, Yuki opted for the safe option.

"I care about you, stupid." Yuki looked around. "And as far as I can tell, you don't have anyone to take care of you. No parents, no siblings, no close friends other than Gai. One of your students ran away and the other two are so wrapped up in their own lives, you could have died today and they wouldn't figure it out for a week."

Kakashi winced. "Your bedside manner is legendary, Yuki. Why don't you just hand me that knife while you're at it."

"Don't be a drama queen," Yuki scoffed as she cooked the diced chicken in a pan.

"On top of my body feeling like I'll be crippled for life, you're gently reminding me I'm alone in the world and nobody cares about me," Kakashi laughed, which descended into a fit of coughing that sent knives stabbing through his torso. "Please just kill me now."

"Shh," Yuki had simultaneously been boiling a kettle as she cooked. She fished through his cabinets til she found a mug and kept looking until she found a box of tea. "Wow. Are you just cheap or do you like this trash?"

"You know I'm not home often, right?" Kakashi asked.

"I'll take that as 'you like this crap'." Yuki poured the boiled water over the teabag and watched the clock as it steeped.

"Says the woman who just now starting putting pictures up in her apartment when she's lived in it over a year," Kakashi scoffed. "Despite how often she talks about how well off she is."

"Hey, I had no idea I was going to get stuck in this crap hole." Yuki spat. "I came here to murder some guys and maybe pull my daughter out. You don't have an excuse. I'm guessing this is the house you grew up in and you have contact paper in your drawers older than you are."

"Crap hole?" Kakashi laughed. "I've been to Getsugakure, Yuki, and if you're using that as a comparison you don't have much of a leg to stand on."

"Well, I know back where I come from, we don't have angry terrorists flying in out of nowhere and blowing everything up." Yuki pulled out the tea bag and trashed it before setting the steaming mug in front of him.

Kakashi shrugged. "I'll give you that."

"And we have beaches." Yuki shook her head as she went back to work on the soup. "Here it's like, 'Look! Trees! Oh, more trees! Look at this beautiful, wide variety of...wait, no it's all pines. Sorry, no species diversity here. Hope you like pine trees a whole lot."

Kakashi laughed. "Well I'm sorry you're stuck here in the biggest crap hole ninja village in the world."

"No." Yuki said curtly. "That would be Suna."

Kakashi shook his head and pulled down his mask to obediently begin sipping on his tea. "That soup is starting to smell good."

"I can hear your stomach growling from here." Yuki smiled. "If you aren't feeling well enough to eat all of it, just sip on the broth."

"I think I can handle some chicken and soggy veggies." Kakashi sighed. "I haven't been this beat up in a while."

"You died. How often are you beaten that bad?" Yuki cocked an eyebrow.

Kakashi laughed uncomfortably. "More often than you think."

A comfortable silence fell between the two as Yuki became absorbed in her cooking and Kakashi carefully consumed his tea. At last, the soup was finished and Yuki served them both. "I could only find one bowl so I'll eat mine in this cup, I guess." Yuki shrugged.

"I'm a bachelor and like I said, I'm not home much. I don't have extra dishes for entertaining." Kakashi explained.

Yuki blinked. "But didn't your family all live here?"

Kakashi shrugged. "I think I packed up the extra in the attic somewhere."

"In case you suddenly made friends?" Yuki laughed.

Kakashi raised an exhausted pair of eyes to meet hers. "Again with the going for my gut, Yuki. I don't think I can deal with much more of you pointing out how sad and pathetic I am."

Yuki sighed. "I'm just lashing out at you because I'm furious you died."

"Maybe you could lash out at me later and be nice now?" Kakashi suggested.

"I made you soup didn't I?" Yuki looked at him. "You get soup or sex. Those two things are my way of being 'nice'."

Kakashi sighed. "God help me then. I think I would die for real if you tried option two."

Yuki shrugged and gave him a wry smile. "Wouldn't be a bad way to go, though, would it?"

After they'd finished eating and Yuki cleaned up, Kakashi made his way to the stairs. He struggled to get past the first step and sighed with resignation. Yuki was standing behind him, arms folded expectantly. "Okay Yuki. You win. Could you help me, please?" Yuki stepped forward, wrapped an arm around his back and put one of his over her shoulder. The two made the climb slowly, carefully, needing to pause for a few breaks. Once they finally reached his bedroom, Kakashi stumbled forward and collapsed face first onto the bed. "You can just leave me here." He heard the soft rustling sounds of Yuki undressing and turned his head. "Yuki, I don't want to disappoint you but I don't think I could perform right now."

Yuki sighed with frustration. "I'm staying with you tonight." Down to her soft white lace bra and underwear, Yuki started to strip off his clothes.

"Are you going to assault me again?" Kakashi asked as she rolled him over to pull off his pants.

"Could you just trust me for like, five seconds?" Yuki groaned with frustration, waving his pants. Taking off Kakashi's shirt was excruciating. It set fire from his neck down to his fingertips and all over his chest and back. Yuki ignored the soft sounds of pain that escaped his lips, leaving him in just his underwear. He watched her with concern at that point, but instead of mounting him Yuki rolled him onto his side. She pressed up against him and pulled the covers over them both. "Your back really hurts?" Yuki asked.

"Everything hurts-" Kakashi began but stopped when he felt the soothing sensation of ice pressed against his aching back. It wasn't the way direct contact with ice burned and clung to the skin. It was soft and formed perfectly against his body. "That helps a lot."

"Just try to fall asleep." Yuki adjusted. Kakashi's bed was small, barely fitting the two of them as they spooned. It was narrow enough that Kakashi only had one pillow, which Yuki struggled to share. "I'll ice you for ten minutes at a time. If you want, you can roll over in a bit and I'll do the other side."

To her surprise, Kakashi rolled over as soon as she finished speaking and put his arms around her, pulling her to his chest. Their legs intertwined, Kakashi buried his face in her hair and closed his eyes. Within seconds the exhaustion claimed him. Yuki kept her promise, cooling his sore muscles on and off until sleep eventually claimed her, too.