Days came and went as Kaiya's body healed. Her wound would still hurt sometimes, but with the doctors' help, it healed nicely. It would stop hurting, eventually, but it would leave a mark. That's what they said. Kaiya couldn't say she was happy with another wound mark on her body, but it wasn't like she had a choice. A mark was better than losing a limb.

When the doctors had nothing more to do with Kaiya's wound and she was in a stable condition, Kaiya was finally allowed to go back to her apartment. She was glad for that and she hoped that Danzo could cut her some slack and let her stay in Konoha for the upcoming few weeks. As she entered her apartment, she came to the following conclusions:

-Her apartment was a mess and needed a proper cleaning.

-With the ghost gone, the apartment gave off a very empty and lonely vibe.

-There was a note on her kitchen table.

Kaiya frowned lightly as she took the piece of paper in her hands.

Danzo is dead. Sasuke Uchiha killed him.

-Torune

There were many things Kaiya expected to see, but this wasn't one of them. Danzo's death in that fight could mean one of two things- Sasuke Uchiha was really strong, or Danzo allowed to be killed. Hell, maybe even both. Anyhow, the news of Danzo's death was relieving in a way. No more terrorising of people, especially those poor members of the Root.

A knock on the door made Kaiya jump a little. She opened the door to see the familiar face of a lady with black, short hair in a navy blue kimono and with a small pig in her arms.

'Shizune-San!' Kaiya exclaimed. 'How can I help you?'

'Can you check on Tsunade-sama? The doctors said she's in a more stable state now, but...'

'I'm not a doctor, Shizune-san. I can hardly do a healing jutsu.'

'I know, but you work with the dead, don't you? Tsunade-sama nearly died in her coma. I want you to see if she's becoming more conscious or not.'

Kaiya put her hand on Tsunade's forehead. Even if she could already feel the woman's energy, something she learned through the past years was that you'll get in a much better connection with a person's spirit if you make contact with their body. Kaiya closed her eyes for a moment and focused. The woman's spirit was still inside her body, and she couldn't communicate with it.

'She's alive,' Kaiya informed, 'but tired. She'll...'

She paused for a moment, as she felt how Tsunade's spirit took in a lot of energy.

'What is it?'

Before Kaiya could say anything, Tsunade's hand began twitching.

'She's waking up,' Kaiya said, eventually.

Tsunade didn't hurry when opening her eyes, before analysing the dark tent and the people around her. Confusion appeared as she noticed Kaiya next to her.

'Why are you here?' She asked, directly.

'I was asked to come and check on your state, Tsunade-sama.'

'But you're not a doctor.'

'I know, that's what I said. But they insisted.'

Tsunade frowned. 'Where's Shizune?'

'Right here, Tsunade-sama!' Shizune said, relief present in her voice. Even Tonton, the small pig in Shizune's arms, oinked happily.

'How long have I been out?'

'Three weeks.' Shizune informed.

Tsunade stood in a sitting position immediately, alarmed. 'Who took the lead, then? What happened?'

'Nothing much, Tsunade-sama,' Kaiya said. 'Pain died, Naruto saved the village. The people who died were brought back to life due to a jutsu used by Pain. Danzo took the lead, but he died a few days ago. He was killed by Sasuke Uchiha in a fight.'

Tsunade looked at the girl, amazed. 'Danzo's dead? Sasuke Uchiha killed him? Don't tell me that this foolish old man went after that boy!'

'He didn't. It was quite the opposite, really. Danzo attended the Kage Summit, and on the way back, we were ambushed by Madara and Sasuke Uchiha.'

'Madara Uchiha? We? What are you blabbering about?'

Kaiya let herself drop in a sitting position and crossed her legs...

'Danzo requested me to be one of the four ANBU members to keep him safe at a Summit summoned by the Raikage.'

She told the woman everything and in detail, about how Danzo was accused by using Shisui Uchiha's eye, the alliance between the nations, Madara's attack and the other dimension she and the ANBU members were sent to. While Tsunade listened and cursed under her breath, Shizune couldn't help but feel shocked at what happened.

'This is an outrage!' Tsunade said after the girl finished. 'That boy did right to kill Danzo.'

Kaiya stood up with a sigh. 'Maybe, but that'll only add one more person to his murder list. It only makes it harder for Naruto to find him.'

Tsunade let out an exasperated puff.

'Don't tell me that that boy is still looking for Sasuke. Where is he now?'

Kaiya paused for a moment, making eye contact with Shizune.

'Looking for Sasuke. Sakura-san went after him to tell him something, along with Lee and Kiba. From what I understand, it's something to convince him to come back to Konoha and abandon his mission of finding Sasuke.'

'Although I doubt it, I still hope it works.'

Shizune raised her eyebrows for a moment, as she thought. 'You have a point, Tsunade-sama. Naruto's stubborn, but still. Let's just hope for the best.'

It didn't work. Sakura, Kiba and Lee returned empty-handed. As Kaiya was later informed, Sakura's plan was to confess to Naruto about her love for him and how it was foolish and immature of her to ask him for such great favour of bringing Sasuke back.

'Didn't she like Sasuke or something?' Kaiya asked Kiba as they walked down the street.

'She's been head over heels for that guy ever since I remember. She's still like that, though.'

'Why did she lie to Naruto, then? It's not okay to play with someone's feelings like that,' Kaiya paused, 'Wait, was there anything between Sakura and Naruto?'

Kiba shook his head in disagreement.

'Nah, not really. Naruto had a massive crush on Sakura when we were like, twelve, but he kinda grew out of it. He must've realised there was no way for her to have the same feelings for him.'

'So when Sakura went and 'confessed' to him, he just rejected her?'

'Pretty much.' Kiba nodded, 'He figured out she said that in order to get something from him.'

Kaiya shook her head, lightly.

'It's for a good reason, and the plan wasn't bad, but is it really worth to manipulate someone like that? Naruto's stubborn, and he has a big heart. Even with those good intents, if he'd believe her, it would eventually break him even more, wouldn't it?'

'Yeah.'

It wasn't rocket science- someone with a big heart tended to believe and to be hurt more. Someone stubborn sticks with his ideas. Someone with both tends to be very conflicted between his heart's dreams and feelings. Someone with neither is empty on the inside.

The sky was painted with a plentitude of colourful, warm tones that gave off a peaceful feeling in the cold weather. The first days of spring came around along with its first signs of taking over winter's place. Upon many people's dissatisfaction, the weather had yet to be one of the. The streets in Konoha's centre were now swarming with people who were, just like Kaiya, doing their last errands. As for Kaiya, the only thing she had yet to solve for that day was to do some grocery shopping.

As she walked through the village, she couldn't help but feel how a bittersweet, empty ambience found itself onto her. War was coming. Just as things began to get better, a tsunami of tragedy would come again and destroy everything in its way. She would lose her home again, just like last time. Now, she might even lose people. Last time, she had luck with some sort of miracle that spared her from the pain of losing people, but now might not be the case. People die, and it hurts, but you have to eventually move on. Such a thing was complicated for Kaiya when she lost her brother. Of course, it would be hard for an eight-year-old to deal with death, especially when it feels like it's their fault. It still hurt sometimes, as every death she met had brought up the memory of her brother, but she grew into knowing how to cope with the pain. As a shinobi, there was no other option.

She wanted to settle down, live a simple life. Be a shinobi, help the village with what she could, marry someone, hell, maybe even have kids. But seeing the war ahead, it seemed like those dreams were nothing but a distant hope for survival. As she reached the now lonely streets outside Konoha's market, Kaiya puffed. One day, Konoha might become so lonely, with no people to run on its streets and to occupy its buildings, and with no one to carry on the stories told by the prophets that started this world of light and darkness. It was almost nostalgic. She couldn't help but think about one of the songs she grew up with, in the land of lighting. It was one of her father's favourite songs.

'Lady, running down to the riptide,' she hummed, 'Taken away to the dark side,
I wanna be your left-hand man. I love you when you're singing that song and I got a lump in my throat 'cause...'

'Kaiya! Hello.' A voice behind Kaiya called out. 'How are you?'

Kaiya turned her head around to see the familiar face of a girl with short, pink hair and turquoise eyes. Seeing her face, the pink-haired girl's smile faded away, leaving room for shock to appear on her face.

'Hi, Sakura,' Kaiya smiled, 'I'm good, thank you. What about you?'

The girl caught up to Kaiya and looked at her worryingly.

'I- I'm good. What... What happened to your face? Where did you get those scars?'

'Oh, a family argument.' Kaiya laughed lightly. 'A cousin of mine and I grew up having a pretty bad relationship and during my last visit home I burst the bubble of illusions he lived in. This was the result. Everything's okay now, though, so don't worry.'

The girl's worry didn't leave her face. If anything, it appeared worse now. Sakura sighed as the two began walking.

'Is your family that bad?' she asked.

'Mostly, yeah.'

'Wow,' Sakura said as she kicked a pebble in front of her, making it slide a few meters ahead down the stone pathway, 'No wonder you wanted to leave that place.'

Kaiya closed her eyes for a moment and shook her head lightly. People often make assumptions, but few of them deserved an explanation. After a while, the one who knows the truth grows tired of fighting the many lies ahead. 'Did you have any luck with Sasuke?'

Sakura shook her head. 'No. We found him, but he wouldn't listen.'

Silence fell between the two for a while, as neither of them had anything to say, both of them looking at the ground.

'Sakura,' Kaiya said, calmly, 'You love Sasuke, don't you?'

Sakura raised her head to look at the girl, a confused surprise laying in her eyes.

'I do.'

'Then fight for it. But please, for the love of God, don't push in or hurt other people for it. 'Kaiya paused to look at the girl in the eyes, 'Have you ever tried to put yourself in his shoes?'

'I... I don't think so.' Sakura answered, with honesty.

'Okay. If you ever do, don't go like I'm from a big family, I have the Sharingan, I'm very strong, please. Let's imagine this: You're from a big family with many strong people and a complex Kekkei Genkai you're expected to master sooner or later. You have an older sibling you idolize and love, just like everyone else. They're so smart, loving, so... perfect. Everyone seems to always talk about your sibling, but never you. But you never judge them, though. You still adore your sibling. But one day, you come from a school like any other day, excited to see your family, only to find out they're gone. They're all gone. You want to know who did that, only to find out that the one responsible is your most adored sibling. How would you feel? What would you do? Believe me, if I were in his shoes, a love interest would be the last thing I would think about. So if you ever find yourself with the chance to be next to him, don't force it on him. Give him time, and I'm sure he'll appreciate it a lot.'

Sakura pursed her lips. She sometimes thought about what tragedies Sasuke went through, but never this much. It felt odd, in a way. It was like something so obvious that she was blind to until someone pointed it out for her. Then... it became so painfully obvious that she felt stupid for not noticing.

'Don't stress so much about it,' Kaiya said, 'You're in love. When in love, someone tends to be blind to certain flaws someone has. At least that's what my mother would say.'

'Do you have anyone?'

'Hm?'

'Do you have a boyfriend?' Sakura asked.

She hoped that the girl would be able to relate to her and still be alone. Sadly, fate wasn't on Sakura's side on that matter.

'I do, actually! He's the best person I could ever ask for.'

It was a little disappointing, but Sakura felt somewhat happy for the girl. It seemed like she didn't have the luck this time. She forced a smile. 'Tell me more about them.'

'Well, he's really sweet and caring, and he always works hard. He's striving to be the best version of himself every day. I didn't think a man could be so affectionate as him. He's really special to me.'

Sakura smiled. So love like that really existed, huh? For all she could hope, she would find someone like that.

'Do I know them?'

Kaiya laughed lightly. 'Of course. It's Lee.'

Sakura felt her heart drop for a moment, as memories of a few years back came back to her. The thirteen-year-old boy that once continuously courted her in order to get the smallest crumb of attention was now in a relationship?

'You're dating Lee?' Sakura asked, incredulously.

'Yup. I couldn't ask for a better person, really.'

Sakura took a moment to take it in. Lee grew up. He matured. The green-clothed athletic boy didn't hang onto a silly, childhood crush, but moved on and found true love with someone destined to be his to love and to protect. She didn't.

No matter how hard she tried, something in her heart always returned to Sasuke. She didn't even know what. She knew it was stupid- Sasuke was a missing-nin. He was dangerous. He was a murderer. He was a terrorist. But something in him told her about in how much need of love that he is, and that he needed someone to be there for him, no matter what and to listen to his words without rejecting him. He needed a family, and she was willing to give it to him.

'What's wrong?' Lee asked worryingly as he sat next to Kaiya on the couch of her living room.

That evening was far from alright. Kaiya couldn't do anything but zone out and feel more and more anxious with every minute that passed.

'I don't know,' Kaiya said, softly, 'I think it's this whole war thing. I don't want a war to happen.'

Lee sighed lightly as Kaiya pushed herself in his arms.

'War means losing people,' Kaiya explained, 'I don't want to lose people. I don't want to lose you.'

Lee looked at the girl as he massaged her arm, gently. 'You don't have to worry about me. We might lose people, but it'll be fine. It'll end, somehow. It'll be fine. We'll still be together, and everything will go back to normal. Eventually.'

Kaiya bit her lip as she thought of the boy's words.

'Thank you. I still need some fresh air. I'll be back soon.'

Kaiya grabbed her jacket and exited the apartment. Walking down the dark alleys, it's easy to notice how Konoha gave off a different kind of feeling, especially in those moments. Through the chilly air of the night and the empty alleyways that were lightened by nothing but occasional street lamps and a bright sky full of stars, it felt like a distant home. It was just like when you've been living in a place you started to call home and then returning to your first real home. You know it was your home, but something was off with it. Something in it wasn't your home anymore. As it seemed, Kaiya wasn't the only one who couldn't stay in as a presence could be felt somewhere behind Kaiya, on the fence next to her.

'Can't sleep either, huh?'

A tall, relaxed figure appeared next to Kaiya that greeted her with a curious look.

'Good evening, Kakashi-san.' Kaiya greeted.

'I wouldn't call this evening, but I guess it's fitting. Do you mind if I join you on this midnight walk?'

Kaiya shook her head.

'Not at all.'

'So what's bothering you, kid? I've never heard of anyone that suddenly picks up the habit of walking at night alone without having something on their mind.'

'The war. That's it.'

Kakashi remained silent for a few moments, as he looked at the sky.

'You know,' he said, 'I've also been in the Third Shinobi War. This would be my second war in which I'll have to go through.'

'It must be terrible.'

'It is. A lot of stuff happened in the last war, but I've grown to the conclusion that living in the past really isn't worth it. Whether it is a person, a prejudice or belief, you must always work for the future. Whatever happens, do everything possible to improve yourself. You will lose people along the way, but that's how this works. People come and leave your life. It's painful, but you can't stop others from their own happiness.'

Kaiya nodded.

'Kakashi-san.'

'Yes?'

'Why did you abandon my mother and me?'

It was a question she didn't like that she had. She had a father in the Kobayashi basecamp, she didn't need another one, but even so, with the knowledge that the father figure that raised her wasn't the same as her biological one, she often found herself with the thought, 'why though'? She hoped that some closure on the matter would stop her from questioning it all. That was something she came to terms with only recently. Having two fathers didn't affect her life directly, but seeing the village's views and her sudden discovery, she needed something that would allow her to move on easier.

Kakashi bit his lip. Why did he leave it all behind? Why did he hurt those people? He didn't know either. It was immature. He was immature back then, and he was even more immature at that moment for never considering to talk to Kaiya about it. He always thought about her struggles because of him, but never thought of helping her. What an absolute fool that he was.

'Look. When I met your mother, I was going through a very difficult time. It was not too long after gaining the rank of ANBU. You've been in there too, weren't you?'

Kaiya's eyes widened. 'Yes. How did you know?'

'Let's just say I know a person or two everywhere in Konoha, especially Shinobi,' Kakashi said, with a smile, 'I was going through a tough time where I lost myself. I lived strictly by the Shinobi rules and when I didn't see a future ahead of me that held anything except the strictness I forced on myself. Your family welcomed me during a hard mission and healed me. They didn't look down on me. They didn't know who I was, or who my parents were. For the first time in years, I felt like I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. I was welcomed there which such warmth back then that I kept returning after that.'

Kaiya smiled sympathetically as she listened to the man. Growing up without a family must've been a struggle, especially with the expectations put on him. She could even consider herself lucky for not experiencing this. As much as her relatives used to dislike her, they were always still there for her.

'I got to know your mother and, in time, I began feeling something for her. I took as many solo missions as possible in that area, in order to pass by the Kobayashi to see her. I never got to stay too long if uninjured, but my visits were frequent, and she didn't mind as long as I still passed by. After a couple of months of visits, we became extremely close, and she convinced me to remain the night in the clan. She talked about how it would be a special feast for the moon.'

'The full moon feast?'

Kakashi nodded. The Kobayashi had a feast in the night when the moon was full and shone the brightest.

'You sure had some good luck to pass by that night.' Kaiya said.

The white-haired man laughed lightly as he scratched the back of his head.

'I suppose I did. The feast was beautiful, I remember it perfectly. The people were so nice to me, it felt like I truly belonged somewhere. That night, Fuzasane and I spend a lot of time together, and... things happened. I didn't think much of it at the time. But at my next visit, about a week or so later, she told me about how she was pregnant, with my child. Her family was ready to welcome me as a new member of the family and to raise the child along with Fuzasane, but I... I couldn't. At that moment, I couldn't see myself as anything but a shinobi. There was no way I could become a father at that time. I was sincere with Fuzasane about it, we got into an argument, and I left and never came back.'

Kaiya puffed lightly. 'You were a confused child.'

Kakashi pursed his lips.

'I'm sorry for what happened. I want to apologise for... y'know, never being there for you and not caring enough. I don't ask you to forgive me, but I want you to know that I'm sorry. You don't deserve any explanation from me because there is no worthy explanation for my deeds. I missed an amazing experience because of my fears.'

For a moment, Kaiya looked at Kakashi and smiled sincerely.

'Thank you.'

Kakashi closed his eyes, not being able to hold the eye contact. 'Do you hate me?'

Kaiya laughed.

'I don't, it's far from me. Hate is a strong word, and I can't say that I've experienced hate by its true meaning. What has happened is sad, but no one can change the past. You weren't there for me, but I'm glad I got the chance to talk to you about it. So thank you for doing that.'

'Thank you for accepting me in your life.'

A/N
Hello, everyone! How are y'all doing?

Chapter 25 is here! So, from the next chapter, I'll begin writing the war arc, and am I hyped up about it? Yes. I've wanted to write it for so long, and now it's finally time to do it!

Without giving any spoilers, I'm glad to say that some characters from the OG Naruto will make an appearance, and honestly? Y e s.

On a side note, because I haven't posted in a small chunk of time, I managed to write 3.9K of words in this chapter, so enjoy!

-Avery