"Guilt is perhaps the most painful companion of death."


CHAPTER FIVE

Over the next few years, Saruna was very busy. While in the academy, she and her classmates had been relatively sheltered from the fact that a war was going on. Now that they were full-fledged ninja, they were thrust into it with little warning of how severe it really was. Some of them had been pushed to take the chunin exams early, because the village was in such desperate need of personnel. Kakashi had taken the exam shortly after graduation as recommended by Minato, and had unsurprisingly passed with flying colors. Saruna had insisted on taking it at that time too even though she was hardly ready, only to find herself with Kakashi's kunai at her throat in the second round. Over the following year, she worked hard to develop an impressive new skill set, and the next time it was offered she and both her teammates passed and become chunin. Since then, they had been in the field on missions for weeks to months at a time. She hadn't seen Kakashi in over a year, although she'd heard he'd become even more of a rule follower and had already been promoted to Jonin which irritated her despite her own massive progress. Saruna was now proficient in both water and earth style jutsu (since wood style was a combination of these) and had also become a skilled archer in order to fill the roll of a ranged fighter to compliment Guy's more up-front fighting style. She imbued her arrows with chakra to release jutsu on impact, coated them with poison, or attached smoke and paper bombs to help her team safely advance or retreat. She'd also finally hit a growth spurt, gaining about 3 inches in height and also starting to fill out her scrawny frame. Since graduation, she spent virtually all of her free time between missions with Lord Third. He'd taught her everything he knew about wood style, and gave her access to top-secret scrolls left behind by her great-grandfather that contained instructions for different wood style jutsu. She would practice under his tutelage in a hidden room beneath Hokage Tower. She had come a long way, and could now make wood clones, create wood bindings that could drain at least half of Lord Third's chakra, and create eruptions of forestry from the ground as well. She had gotten strong in her own right, even without the wood style. She was still not permitted to use wood style outside of their training sessions, with one extremely clear exception from Lord Third; if a tailed beast were to attack the village.

The tension had reached an all time high in the war. Most squads were deployed to borders, as the Land of Fire was facing constant threats of infiltration from Iwagakure and Kirigakure. Saruna's team was sent on a mission to help fortify the southern border of Amegakure, as the village had reprised it's role as a battleground stuck between all of the hidden villages. Choza was unexpectedly put in charge of the border camp shortly after they arrived when the previous commander and a few others were taken hostage somewhere inside Amegakure. Saruna and her teammates were all chunin and leaders in their own right, but Saruna was made captain of their three man squad for a reconnaissance were tasked with crossing the border into Amegakure, determining the location of the hostages, and then returning with that information so an extraction squad could be sent in to retrieve them. They entered the village with ease, but were ambushed just inside the main city gates by three Hidden Rain ninja who couldn't have been much older than they were. Saruna was able to subdue them with some well timed arrows containing some poison that would paralyze the target for at least an hour, which she hoped would give them enough time to get in and out. Guy and Ebisu were both injured in the ambush, but Saruna was able to stabilize their injuries enough to continue. Her mother had taught her some basic medical ninjutsu for, but she was really not that skilled at it despite her ability to heal herself without much effort thanks to her wood style. Drenched from head to toe, they continued tracking their foes until they reached the entrance to an underground sewer, heavily guarded with Iwa nin. They made detailed notes of its location and returned to camp.

Despite Guy and Ebisu's injuries, they were proud to report that they'd located the likely location of the hostages and their mission was a success. Choza was talking in a hushed voice to some other jonin at the camp nearby where Saruna laid down Guy and Ebisu to finish treating their injuries. She pretended not to eavesdrop as she unwrapped Guy's leg to expose the wound, and picked up a few words here and there. "….fallen…Iwa…..got there in time…..Kannabi Bridge…" Saruna's ears perked up. Kannabi bridge was where Kakashi's team was headed last she'd heard, and not far from where they were now. "Choza-sensei, what happened at Kannabi Bridge?" she asked, trying to appear curious rather than desperate for information. "Saruna, focus on healing your teammates. It doesn't concern you." Saruna crossed her arms defiantly while Guy waited patiently for her to address his very painful, still bleeding wound. "Choza-sensei, don't you think if something happened we should know? We're close by, and we could help if we needed too. Or, if we're in danger, it definitely concerns me because I'm in charge of these two and they're injured, so I'll need to move them." Choza waved her away. "They're going to find out eventually," mumbled one of the nearby jonin. "Find out what?" Saruna said, immediately. Choza gave him a threatening glare and then sighed, shaking his head. He looked up at Saruna and her teammates. "Obito Uchiha has been killed in action." Saruna gasped, and felt her heart all the way up in her ears. She could barely form the words she so desperately wanted to. "and Kakashi?" She asked, at the risk of sounding insensitive. "Minato was able to retrieve the others. They were able to make it to Kannabi bridge and complete their mission. The Iwa supply line has been broken." Saruna allowed herself one sigh of relief before becoming overtaken with sadness. Obito and Kakashi didn't always get along, but he was a good friend to the both of them nevertheless. "Saruna. Grieve later. Please, attend to those wounds." Choza said as he placed his hand on her shoulder with the gentle reassurance he didn't give with his words.

After the fall of Kannabi bridge, Konoha bought itself time to regroup and strategize. Most of the active squads returned to the village within a few weeks to recover and so the Hokage could take inventory on who was left and reorganize them appropriately. When most had returned, there was a service for the fallen. Among the many names and faces, Obito's was the hardest to look at. Saruna couldn't quite believe he was gone; she half expected him to be late to his own funeral, goofy goggles in tow. It was the first time Saruna had seen Kakashi in almost two years. He seemed different now. He was broader, stronger, and more stern than the boy she knew. Half of his face was covered in bandages. He stood in the front, with Minato behind him and Rin to his left. Saruna made her way to the front to stand at his right. They didn't exchange a single word. As Lord Third spoke, Saruna felt a squeeze on her hand. She looked down to see that Kakashi had grabbed it tightly, still looking forward with his one remaining eye.

Later that evening, Saruna left some flowers outside of Obito's house and also outside of Rin's house. She was still jealous of her for all the time she had gotten to spend with Kakashi over the last few years, but she knew Obito would be worried about her. Everyone knew he loved her. She stopped at a shop to get a snack, and on her way home found Kakashi exactly where she had found him after his father died. He sat alone on the steps, and she sat herself right next to him. She offered him her open bag of chips which was met with inaction. "What happened to your eye?" she asked. Again, she knew better than to make small talk with him. Kakashi stayed silent for a long time, and Saruna leaned back on her elbows patiently. Eventually, he spoke. "I was going to leave her to die. Rin. She was taken hostage by some enemy ninja. Obito wanted to go back for her, and I didn't...I chose completing the mission over my teammates. I was so determined not to repeat my father's mistakes, but Obito would still be alive if I had gone with him when he asked. Maybe my father didn't make a mistake after all." He slowly unwrapped his face and looked back at Saruna with one familiar slate eye, and one new red one. "He gave me his Sharingan. I have to see the future for him now, and use it to protect my comrades." Saruna forced herself to look away from the unfamiliar eye and out towards the village. She wordlessly offered him the bag of chips again. "You got taller," he said as he reached into the bag.