At the funeral, everyone noticed how depressed and quiet Michiko had become. She didn't cry, but anybody could see the unshed tears in her eyes. She stood away from the group of people, the white rose in her hands, and she refused to smile or talk, even to chastise Naruto for acting like baka or Shikamaru for being so lazy, or even to tell Sasuke to stop picking on Naruto and calling him 'dobe'. Kakashi knew why, but he didn't say anything about it. 'They'll find out eventually…' After putting a rose on the monument, she felt like her heart was cracking in two as she walked back to Kakashi, hugging him tight as she buried her face in his stomach. Kakashi patted her head, asking, "What's got you do down?" he knew all her friends were nearby, and that they were listening intently for whatever Michiko was going to say. "…It's the anniversary…" with that, she released him, saying, "I'm going to pay her a visit…" before disappearing, the rain still hitting her hard. Most of them were confused, except for Squad 7. They chose to explain what they thought was going on, and all of the guilty-feeling friends went after her…to the monument stone…
They found her sitting there, not moving, even though she was thoroughly soaked, when she turned her head to see them. They saw her tears, even through the rain, and guilt hit their hearts like an iron fist. "Oh…hey, guys…" she wiped away her tears and the rainwater. "What's up?" In a moment, Hinata and Ino were hugging her, guilty looks on their faces. "We never thought you'd suffered so much…" Hinata continued Ino's sentence quietly. "We always thought that nothing like this had ever happened to you…we never would've imagined…" Even Neji hugged her, and she was confused. "We have a huge debt to repay to you, Michiko-chan. You always protected us, trained us, lectured us…you were like our mother…but it's our turn to help you through this…" Michiko couldn't help the happy tears that started falling down her cheeks, and she smiled a real smile, full of joy and innocence, and said, "That's all I've ever wanted…" the rain stopped, and the clouds parted, rays of sunlight catching in her damp silver hair, making a halo of bright light. "Thank you guys…so much…"