It's been a while. Here's a new chapter.

"I feel sort of concerned that you have to drag me out into the forest to remove this," Nayamae told Kakashi as he sat her down in a patch of grass.

"You're just going to have to trust me on this one," he said, walking a few feet away from her. "I just want to make sure there's nothing to interfere and if something happens where you go on a killing rampage again, I can stop you here before you hurt anyone else," Kakashi replied, lifting his headband and making symbols with his hands before putting them to the ground. Nayamae felt his chakra circle around her, leaving a soft tingle on her skin.

"That was one time!" she argued. "And Orochimaru had control of me!"

"And Orochimaru was the one who put that seal on you," he countered.

She looked at the circle as he continued his work outside of it. "Why so elaborate this time?" she asked. "You only had to touch me to get rid of the other one."

"I'm also making sure that there isn't anything else we need to worry about," he said. "Now hold still. This will hurt a little."

She shifted a moment before finally settling. Kakashi put his hand to the circle on the ground, the marks glowing a bright blue. The blue glowed intensely, blinding Kakashi for a moment.

He was suddenly standing beside a river. In front of him, a very large man was scrubbing the hair of a young girl in the water. His hair was brown and scraggly, with a long beard to match. His clothes were bloodied with freshly seared wounds. He looked as if he had just fought a battle. Kakashi recognized the man from the last time he had accidentally entered Nayamae's memories. The girl squirmed uncomfortably, telling him he was rubbing too hard. The water around her had turned dark red. Kakashi suddenly noticed she was bathing in her clothes which were soaked in blood. He wondered why she had been covered in blood.

"I'm so sorry this happened, Naya," the man apologized softly, scrubbing her bloodied arm then dipping it into the water to rinse off. "I will make sure this never happens again," he told her determinedly.

"Abba, does this mean we'll have to move again?" she asked, scrubbing her chest with her other arm.

He nodded. "Most likely. We can stay with Shinjou until we find another place."

She crinkled her face. "I don't like her."

"I know you don't, but you like Ryu, don't you?" he asked with a small smile, gently scraping the blood out from beneath her fingernails. She blushed brightly. "It'll be alright. It won't be for very long." She continued to frown.

The vision blurred and a change of scenery. Kakashi watched the younger Nayamae and Abba approach an ancient building. Nayamae was wearing a clean set of clothes and Abba had patched his wounds. The building looked like a dojo, with its high walls, paper lanterns, and beautifully shingled roofs. They entered the front gate going up to the porch. As they approached, they heard shouting from the other side of the sliding paper door.

The door suddenly slid open. A boy scrambled out onto the porch, falling into the dirt in front of the stairs. A woman with long dark hair and a jagged scar running down her face and neck stood seething in the doorway. "Stupid boy," she spat, staring down at him as he sat up to face her. She looked up, suddenly noticing Abba and Nayamae watching the two of them. "Abba," she said, acknowledging him. "What do you want?" she asked bitterly. Nayamae stood closer to Abba, holding onto the edge of his cloak.

"We'll speak in private, Shinjou," he said, eyeing the boy. "Away from the children."

"Is that what you call her?" she asked, pointing to Nayamae who was now hiding herself in his cloak. "She doesn't belong with us!" Shinjou huffed. "Fine. You're allowed inside. I don't like that fox stinking up my house." She looked down at the boy. "Get up, Ryu! You bring shame to yourself!" Immediately Ryu stood and began patting the dirt from his clothes. She turned around and headed inside, not waiting for Abba to follow her. Abba pried Nayamae's fingers from his cloak, telling her to stay outside, and went after her.

Nayamae immediately ran to Ryu, who was wiping fresh blood from his lip. His blue eyes were filled with anger as he watched Abba follow after his mother.

"Are you okay?" she asked him once the door was closed.

"It's nothing," he replied quickly, pushing her hand away.

She frowned. "Come on," she said, pulling on his other hand. "Let's go play."

Kakashi was suddenly watching a much older Nayamae run alone through a very rocky area. He could feel her anxiety and fear radiating through the memory. Somehow, he knew Orochimaru had been keeping her under close watch for the last few months, warning her that she was getting "distracted" from her "true" loyalty. She was running to warn Ryu before something happened to him. She had to warn Ryu that Orochimaru would kill him if they didn't stop seeing each other.

She went past a small pond, going towards the tall rock formation that hid their personal meeting spot. "Ryu!" she called loud enough for him to hear her.

Ryu looked up to the sound of his name and pushed himself off the rock he was leaning against. Nayamae's heart relaxed slightly at the sight of him, his handsome face forming a bright smile. "Naya!" he greeted, hugging her tightly. "I got your message and brought this," he gestured to the sword hanging from his belt. "What's wrong?" he asked, sounding deeply concerned. He held her by her shoulders. "You're shaking."

"Ryu," she started, forcing herself to look away from his blue eyes, "we need to stop seeing each other for a little while. Orochimaru thinks I'm not loyal to him. He doesn't understand how my loyalty works." She held tightly to his arms, finally looking up into his face. "He's going to kill you if he finds us together again."

"Funny, my mother said the same thing about you."

"This isn't a joke, Ryu!"

"I'm not joking! She thinks I'm not serious enough about taking over for her all because I'm, according to her, 'too wrapped up with that fox' to care." He sighed heavily. "I don't want to stop seeing you."

"We have to," Nayamae said forcefully, pushing his hands away. "I'm sorry, Ryu, I really am. It's too dangerous." She felt her eyes burning from holding back her tears.

He pulled her into an embrace, stroking her hair. Her arms went around his middle, holding him as tightly as she could. Everything about him was more than familiar to her. His scent, his touch, his strength, she could trace him all by memory. She didn't want to let go.

Suddenly, a horrible sound rang in Nayamae's ears. Ryu had cried out in excruciating pain, releasing his hold on her, grasping at the blade that was now protruding from his chest. She jumped back with a scream in terror. Behind him, Nayamae saw Orochimaru pushing the blade up further under Ryu's ribs. He twisted, then ripped the sword out, leaving Ryu fall with a sickening thud.

Nayamae screamed loudly. "RYU!" She fell to her knees beside him, her hands hopelessly trying to cover his wounds to stop them from bleeding.

"I told you this would happen," Orochimaru said casually, flicking the blood off his blade. "He was distracting you." He patted her shoulder as he began to walk away. "I give you permission to bury him and mourn him for a day, after that, you're loyal to only me."

She had hardly heard what Orochimaru had said as he left her alone with Ryu as he continued to bleed out. Kakashi was about to run after Orochimaru, his own anger burning against him, but Nayamae's cries brought him back to the scene in front of him.

"Ryu, please don't die!" she pleaded desperately, gently turning him onto his back. His blood pooled around him, staining his and Nayamae's clothes. He gurgled as he tried to breathe, the blood flooding and dripping from his mouth. He tried to concentrate on her face, but his eyes wouldn't focus. "You're gonna be okay! You're gonna be okay! Ryu, stay with me!"

Desperately, she looked around. No one seemed to be nearby. She couldn't sense anyone either. "This is all my fault, Ryu, I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!" Tears were freely flowing down her face, leaving streaks. He shuddered a final breath as Nayamae sensed his soul leave his body. His eyes had turned to the same color as the greying sky.

"RYU!" she cried. "Somebody!" she yelled to the rock formation around her as she held him to her chest. "SOMEBODY! HELP, PLEASE! RYU!" She rocked him in her arms, but he didn't stir again. "Ryu," she repeated softly. "I'm so sorry." She kissed his forehead, running her fingers through his black hair.

The scene in front of Kakashi blurred and he found himself kneeling in the forest again. He blinked, staring at Nayamae in the middle of the circle he had created. She was sobbing into her hands, wailing horribly as she curled up on the ground. He felt weary from using his sharingan, but got up and knelt down beside her in the circle. He wasn't sure why he was able to get into her memories every time he had removed a seal from her, but he had seen enough. This was exactly why she feared Orochimaru so much. He was absolutely ruthless.

Kakashi picked her up and pulled her into a tight embrace. She didn't seem to mind, or notice, but continued to sob into his chest. It was much later in the day than he thought it was. Judging by the darkening sky above them, he had been removing Orochimaru's seal for hours. They sat in each other's arms for a long time while Nayamae calmed down. Eventually they sat in silence as the night began to surround them.

Kakashi felt himself feeling worse and worse. His vision swirled and he felt sick to his stomach. Nayamae moved to let go of him, looking up at him.

"Hey, Kakashi, are you okay?" he heard her ask, but his eyes drooped heavily. He felt himself falling forwards. When he awoke, Kakashi felt a cool cloth being pressed to his forehead. He opened his one eye to find he was back in his bedroom, suddenly aware his mask wasn't covering his face. Nayamae sat on the edge of his bed, balancing a bowl of water in her lap and gently dabbing the cloth to his forehead. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying. She didn't seem to care that she had taken his mask off while he was unconscious. He felt almost naked without it.

"You were burning up," she told him softly, noticing he was awake. "Fainted in the middle of the forest."

He watched her for a moment, staring at her hands as she dipped the cloth into the water. She wrung it between her hands, letting the water drip out, and put the cloth back to his face. He was glad to see the mark was now gone from her hand.

He saw his mask sitting on the floor beside the bed and attempted to sit up to retrieve it. His head spun.

"Don't do that!" she scolded, pushing him back down. "You must have used your sharingan too much today. You need rest."

"Why are you helping me?" he asked, settling back. "You said you didn't like me."

"What, is that what you've been thinking about? You think I don't like you enough to leave you out in the middle of the woods with a fever?" she replied sharply, offended. "Besides," she continued, her voice turning soft, "you've seen something most people don't even know about." She stared at the bowl in her lap, avoiding looking Kakashi in the eyes. "And since you've helped me so much, I have to say 'thank you' somehow, don't I?" He stared at her. He felt she was trying to be sincere, but it somehow felt weird hearing her say it.

"Nayamae…" Kakashi started, unsure of what to say next. "What happened after Orochimaru killed Ryu? What did you do?" he asked gently after a long silence had passed between them.

She grimaced at the sound of their names, still avoiding his eye by focusing on the bowl. Kakashi thought she looked very small. "I did what I had to," she replied softly. "I took his body to Shinjou. She of course blamed me for death of her son and used any torture method she could think of to hurt me, but not kill me." She took a deep breath, obviously fighting back more tears. "She held me for a week until I could escape. Orochimaru found me shortly after that and found more ways to experiment on me." Her hands began to shake so she held tighter to the bowl. "With everything I had seen and had done to me, it's a fucking miracle I'm even alive!" She paused. "I didn't even want to be alive without Ryu. It was too much. That's why you found me high that one night. I had been trying to drown it all out for months." She looked down at him. "Now you know why I didn't want to agree to help your Hokage. I can't fight them, Kakashi," she said shaking her head. "I can't."

Kakashi was speechless. He wanted to say something comforting to her, but the words never made it past his lips. Her emotions were open and raw. Her pain still fresh as if it had only just happened. He looked her in the eyes, taking in every feeling she had. He wanted to hold her again, to stroke her hair, be close to her, but he stayed put.

He knew how she felt. Rin's and Obito's deaths haunted his own dreams every night. He could imagine the guilt Nayamae likely felt thinking Ryu's death was her fault.

Finally, Kakashi opened his mouth to speak, but she had already begun to leave.

"Anyway," she went on, removing the cloth from his forehead and putting it in the bowl, "I'm staying with Kyrie tonight," she said quickly changing the subject. She stood. "I imagine you can take care of yourself no problem. Have a good night, Kakashi." She turned, hurrying to leave the room.

Kakashi propped himself up on his elbows. "Nayamae, wait." She paused in the doorway. "Tomorrow," he said. She creased her eyebrows. "Tomorrow we'll start reading."

Nayamae nodded, trying to hide her sudden excitement. "I'll be here early then," she said, exiting.

Man, this was a tough chapter to write, I'm not gonna lie. I could not get this ending to this one down for nothing. I hope you enjoyed it anyway!

Thanks for reading and please leave a review!