A Long Fall
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In another world Hatake Sakumo returns three days before the estimated time needed, a solemn Jōnin trailing and a wounded chūnin in his arms. In that world he would have rushed immediately to the hospital and would have later met the small yet thankful family of the chūnin he'd saved. In that world he would have trusted his Jōnin teammate to report as he waited for his kohai to receive news that she, while alive, would never be able to continue her kunoichi lifestyle and in that world a Jōnin with a seal on his tongue would stand before a grim yet hesitantly hopeful war council and firmly destroy that hope as he spoke of the team leader's choice to abandon the mission.
In that world Hatake Sakumo would return home late, guilty over the failure (in both the mission and protecting his kohai enough to save her career) but overall pleased that he'd managed to return everyone alive. In that world he would return to a dark, quiet house with a covered bowl of Tendon sitting in a crude seal array that had kept it warm enough him to eat immediately and he would grin because he knew how his son hated anything fried so for the little chūnin to make something with Tempura would have been entirely for his benefit and that, that would be enough to ease any lingering guilt entirely. In that world he would eat dinner alone by candle light then quietly clean up after himself, he would take a moment on his way to his room to check on his son- he would see rumpled casual clothes that must have been put on after training and a thin wrap of bandages on the left forearm, he would hear deep breaths and soft snoring that Kakashi only allowed at home (he would also use a little chakra to let himself hear the soft yet steady thump-thump of his son's heart), he would smell the plain Inuzuka-made soap along with dried blood and know that his son was showered and that the bandage was nothing to be concerned about- before falling asleep in his uniform, smile quirking at his mouth with the knowledge that he would be scolded for it in the morning.
In that world a council would be fuming over a lost chance, a Hokage would understand the choice even as he too worried over the lost chance and a Jōnin with a seal on his tongue would be satisfied with a successful mission. In that world a man would be pleased with how his plans are moving along, a chūnin would be mourning as her family rejoiced, a father and son would share the hopes of stealing time spent together before being called away by clashing schedules.
In that world things were not perfect but that night, the vast majority would go to sleep content and happy.
Is it odd that this ending really hurt to write knowing what comes next?
(Also this is really part of something else, a "what if" comparison, but here because I reread it and saw it could stand alone)