AN: So sorry for the late update, I have pieced some plot twist I needed to take care of so I'm excited to see the story progress! Let me know what you think.
This chapter might be a little dull, but the next one is going to be cray cray.

18

Age: 18

Ryou stood by the window of the hospital room. She held a newborn baby close to her arms as she gently rolled her weight lulling the child to sleep. The child had a pink face and a little brown hair growing on the top of his head. It was his first day of life and its parents were completely ecstatic.

"He's adorable." Kurenai cooed hovering over the newborn as well, touching his petite, cherub hand. "Yeah." Asuma agreed his eyes slightly wide. "I can't believe I'm an uncle."

"He's a strong boy Saisho-sensei," Ryou said handing the child back to his father. "What are you naming him?" Raito, the Shinnobi who had become the newest member of team Saisho, asked.

Saisho-sensei looked weary from lack of sleep and held his son back in his arms, "Well, my wife and I thought about it for a long time- I'm afraid our names aren't very creative so my father suggested Konohamaru in honor of the Leaf village. It has a nice ring to it. Right?"

His former students nodded. Our protagonist was carrying a bouquet of pink peonies that she had brought for Saisho's wife who was sleeping in the same room behind a curtain for some privacy.

"Where do I put these?" She asked her sensei who had an armful with his child. "Ah… Those are beautiful." He sweat dropped. "I'm afraid my wife has a nasty allergy to pollen, flowers included. I'll tell her about them. It's best you take them home where they can be appreciated," he said with a grateful smile anyways.
'So who can appreciate them? My absent father? Or the ghost of my dead mother?' She felt like saying. Regardless, she nodded and sat by to her former sensei, his newborn and the rest of the team. Her eyes quickly flickered to Kurenai whom she tried to flash a small smile too. Their relationship had improved into a per say decent one since their argument several years ago…

Ryou had learned how to maintain her acquaintances at bay. I was simple:
Keep secrets from them.

Keep secrets from everyone. What people don't know won't hurt them. Ignorance had become bliss. For a minute she looked at the baby's face. So innocent, not a single care in the world.

"Welcome to the world." She wanted to say to him.

The only person she couldn't lie to was Shisui. Not that she hadn't. She had already used her one lying pass with him. Using it more than once would only prove to be disastrous and would tangle them both in a malicious web of lies. Ryou wanted to continue the investigation of her mother and sister's murders, but more than often she found herself blankly starting at the sealed room before her.
She was afraid. Afraid of what she might encounter past those sealed walls. It also didn't help that Shisui disapproved of her obsession with the murder and other occult crimes in the city.

"It's unhealthy" he would say, or "That's a job for the Uchiha task force. Leave it to the experts, they'll know what to do."

Clearly, they didn't.

Besides that, not much had changed. She would spend most of her days training with Shisui and his cousin Itachi.

To this day Ryou felt she was the one to blame for Obito's death. If she hadn't crossed paths with team Minato that day maybe Obito would still be here, and even Rin… She felt her fist clench at her sides in rage.

For Rin- she didn't feel pity.

She wasn't glad she was dead, but at the same time perhaps Ryou's world was a better place without her. She had developed a new hobby. Just like most of her present endeavors it was a secret. It was just something to blow steam at the end of the day. Her nightly activity consisted on hauling a hammer and smashing Rin's insignificant grave. She would stand before it and glare at her name. It's not like she was remembered fondly. Rin hadn't accomplished anything great in her brief lifetime. In a few years her name would be completely forgotten and her grave would become obsolete.

However, for some reason- a week or two later it was rebuilt. Each time built bigger and stronger.

Ryou would still visit Obito's grave. At least once a year. She would look at her mother's from a far with longing. More than ten years later and she had still not figured out just what had happened that dreadful day. She had to admit her faith was faltering she was beginning to loose hope. So much evidence had been lost. So many files had been lost. So many witnesses had gone missing. Maybe it had been the perfect crime. Still had no murder weapon, no witness, no suspects. One body was missing and the other was bone corpse buried seven feet underneath.

When she visited the cemetery she would sometimes see Kakashi there. They would simply avoid each other. There were no death glares, no acknowledging nods in each others directions. She didn't even want to think about him. She had put him in a small mental box, locked him away and tossed him to the darkest corner of her mind. This time she didn't even feel the need to make things right. Things were best for the both of them this way.

Everything that involved him. Memories, events, activities. All of it. Both the good and the bad. She didn't even want to remember what had transpired the last time they had interacted. Just the thought of it made her stomach twist in knots and her throat swell.

Their eyes would not meet during their ANBU missions. He seemed to have returned to his dark days. Bags weighed under his tired eyes and his killing had become merciless.

"It's you! The Copy Cat Ninja!" enemies would cry at his sight.
"Keep on doing that and you'll become famous!" other ANBU team members would pat him on the back.

His mood had become foul and he had isolated himself more than ever.
It seemed like the only one who still had any contact with him was Gai. Who had made it his new mission to restore Kakashi back to his full youthfulness.

Lost in thought Ryou barely managed to dodge the pair of hospital doctors rushing a patient inside one of the emergency rooms. With her body pressed up against the wall she only managed to see a handful of grey hair in the hospital bed that they were carrying. 'Some poor elder…' She said shrugging off her sudden startle. She took a step and then- that's when she realized- that's when she smelled his scent.
That emergency patient was Kakashi. Almost tripping on her own steps she rushed following after the doctors. From the small window on the hospital room's door, she saw he had a breathing mask which covered his face and he was completely unconscious as the doctors quickly removed the rest of his shirt.

She observed the scene cautiously. A burdensome weight formed on her chest. She didn't realize that the color had wholly drained from her face. The lifeline monitor wasn't beeping. A long flat beep was the only sound echoing in her head. The rest was all dust noise. The medical ninja scurried around the room. They quickly painted symbols and signs on his body and all united in holding a seal together at the same time. His body lay limp on the hospital bed. some reason, she was unable to glue her prying eyes away from the disturbing scene.

'We are not good for each other. All we do is hurt each other. We are like poison and venom together. Hurt. Think of the hurting. Think of the pain. Think of Shisui!'

She unconsciously a step back and collapsed against the pale wall in the hallway. The cold floor was jus as numb as her. She held the flowers in her arms simply starring blankly at the opposing white wall before pained, dark eyes briefly flashed through her memory.

"Miss you are not allowed to be here!" a nurse suddenly came rushing to the side of the young woman on the hallway. Her expression remained as if in some sort of trance.

"Miss!" The nurse repeated grabbing onto the girl's arm pulling her up to her feet.

The girl still had a blank look in her eyes and began walking away with the nurse, unsure of where she was going or what she was doing.

For a moment she looked over her shoulder. She looked at the door where he had been brought in for intensive decided she wasn't going to think about it.

White.

Everything was white.

Kakashi blinked twice adjusting his strained vision. His body ached. He was immobilized. There shouldn't be pain in death. He realized he had been starring at the ceiling and felt completely ridiculous. A breathing mask was covering his face and he sighed as he relaxed into his hospital pillow. He shouldn't have overused his Sharingan it had really taken a toll on his body due to excessive use.

"Ah! You're finally awake." It was his nurse, checking on his vital signs. "Your body is somewhat under a paralysis. You should regain movement within the next couple of coming days. Just don't over do it. Your heart almost stopped. With time it could even take a toll on your vital organs." She explained carefully.

He took in the information and simply closed his eyes. The nurse left the room. The only noise greeting his ears was his heart monitor. He enjoyed the rare moment of peace.

It was then that he heard the door once again open. Assuming it was his nurse he remained stiff and with his eyes closed. He heard her footsteps approach him and then suddenly stop. He half opened one of his eyes and was not surprised by what he saw. Of course. She stood next to his bed arranging a pair of gardenia flowers in a vase next to his bed. She seemed to be oblivious to his observing gaze.
It was such a rare sight, Ryou being so close to him and appearing so vulnerable. It was so typical of her to come back to him. He feared that one day she wouldn't…
Maybe that's why he was so infatuated with her, because he knew that deep, deep inside she was always at his side. Just like right now.
His only question was-… he wondered just what terrified her so much

The flowers she was arranging read "Sarutobi family," he guessed they hadn't originally been for him.

His hand itched as he strained to stretch his fingers. He felt as if his entire body was being weighted down by an incessant force. He struggled, it was then that he finally touched her skin. His index middle finger simply brushed a side of her hand and there it was- that familiar spark. She jumped in her skin audibly gasping as she turned to look at him with shocked eyes. Her expression was the one of a child caught in the middle of a shenanigan. Despite that her permanently narrowed eyes held no ill intention. He noted that her attire had changed, it appeared to be heavily influenced by the Uchiha's traditional robes. He couldn't help but wonder how much longer it would be before she was Shisui Uchiha's.

"R-Ryou…" he croaked throat a strained word. He looked at her with his one visible onyx eye.

Before he could even commence a sentence she hustled out of the book.

"Ryou…" He called again, but it was fruitless since she was already gone. He wondered when was the next time she would be this close.

In another year or two perhaps?