a/n: Takes place a week after Full Blossom ep. 53.

Scarlet Justice: Full Blossom - ep. 53.01
"The Reunion"
[Glass Hearts, Part 2.5]

sidestory written by FortePlus and Megacookie

The lonely oasis. A source of fresh water for the Hidden Sand and her people.

On orders from the Kazekage, for now it was now quiet and empty. The stillness was eerie, even in the brightness of the desert sun. Two young kunoichi stood under a palm tree next to it, tall and reaching high into the sky. One leaned against it wearily, while the other stood with her arms folded in the shade of the leaves, nervous and frustrated.

"Aiko, what are we doing here?" Makoto asked, looking at her girlfriend. Aiko didn't answer, looking at a letter as she stood still.

Distressed, Makoto unfolded her arms and tried again.

"Aiko...please talk to me. Ever since you got that letter from Lili, you've been like a zombie. You've barely eaten and you haven't talked to me beyond single word answers! I thought you asked me out here to discuss it." Makoto said, her voice clearly edged with worry. "Even Suketsune and Gaara are worried!"

"Makoto..."

Aiko sighed, sounding weary. She took a few extra moments to gather her thoughts.

"I'm sorry. You're right, I shouldn't have kept quiet but...you'll understand soon. Please...just be here for me."

Makoto didn't know how to respond. It was the most Aiko had talked all week. After a few moments, she managed to speak in a small, weak voice. "I will. I love you, Aiko."

"I love you too." Aiko turned her head to look at Makoto. Her cheerful and peppy face had turned, sullen, eyes gaining dark bags under them from insomnia. Makoto could hardly stand to look at what her girlfriend had become.

All because of that letter.

She clenched her fists tightly, shaking. Friend or not...she was going to have words with Lili Kobayashi. Someone who claimed to care so much for Aiko should never have caused such a thing. She had half a mind to run all the way to the Leaf and-

"Huh...?"

Makoto's train of thought came to a halt. There was a strong breeze that suddenly shook the palm tree. Unusual.

In the next moment, a hooded figure stood a few yards away them. Makoto couldn't quite see who was under the hood, only that it was clearly a man and he was pretty tall.

"Who the hell are you?" Makoto shouted, glaring at the mysterious man. Aiko slowly moved from her position against the tree to Makoto's side, trembling slightly.

"I am..." the man began, his voice weak and terrified. He reached for his hood with both hands. Then he gripped the hood tightly, as if reconsidering, but after a deep breath, he pulled back and let the hood fall downward. "I am S-Sozen. Sozen Uchiha..."

Makoto's body chilled to its core. The heat of the desert was a distant memory.

Aiko had only talked about him a few times since they had known each other. Sozen Uchiha...her father who had abandoned her over a decade ago. A man who looked to be in his late forties, his long and unkempt hair starting to show streaks of gray. He had a similarly unkempt, graying beard.

"You..."

Makoto could barely control herself, starting to sputter in rage.

"You...!"

Aiko straightened up, and Makoto could feel a subtle pulse ripple from her. She snapped out of her fury and turned her head, letting a trembling breath out as she saw what was happening. Aiko started towards her father, eyes blood red as they transformed into the Sharingan. She stared at her father, into him, as she continued to walk.

Sozen spoke again as she stopped near him.

"I see...you have awoken the Sharingan as well," he solemnly said.

Aiko felt something inside of her break.

"That's...all you can say? That's all?"

"Aiko-"

And then, before either Sozen or Makoto could process it, she pulled a hand back and slapped Sozen across the face. The echo seemed to sound out over the entire desert.

Aiko's eyes flashed with unbridled fury. Indignation and rage surged upwards through her vocal cords.

"AFTER ALL THIS TIME AND THAT'S WHAT YOU SAY?!" Aiko screamed, her voice echoing off the dunes. "YOU POISONED YOURSELF WITH ALCHOHOL, TRIED TO KILL GAARA, THEN LEFT ME! AND ALL YOU CAN SAY IS THAT I GAINED YOUR CURSED EYES?!"

Makoto felt herself rooted to the sand, utterly stunned. Aiko had only ever gotten annoyed at most with anyone, and she had never shouted, much less actually struck someone in anger. With her mouth open slightly, she could only continue to watch what was happening.

Sozen barely recovered before trying again in vain. "Aiko-"

"You coward! You absolute piece of garbage! You fucking scumbag!" she roared, bringing her hand back and striking Sozen again. His cheek turned bright red. "Do you know how lonely I was?! Mom died and you turned into an empty shell! When I needed you the most, you left me behind! You fucking coward! You piece of shit! You...you...!"

Makoto didn't know what to do. She didn't even know that Aiko could curse...it never seemed like it was in her. But here she was, doing all of that and screaming at her father, hitting him over and over and over with her open palm as tears ran down her face.

"Aiko..."

Makoto felt her heart chill, and noticed that Aiko's eyes were starting to change. The moments where she turned slightly, she could see it happening. The three tomoe in her eyes were each morphing into a triangle, with a small spike jutting out from where each triangle met.

She had never seen it before. But she somehow knew what it meant. Aiko was losing control. Aiko was going to be consumed by this anger.

"I hate you! I hate you!" Aiko shouted, her voice turning hoarse and raspy. She slapped Sozen once more before drawing her hand back.

Her hand closed into a fist.

Makoto knew she couldn't stand idle a moment longer.

She leapt forward and grasped Aiko's wrist, stopping her from attacking once more.

Aiko turned to Makoto. Her Sharingan had totally changed, and her cheeks were stained with heavy tears. Makoto quickly embraced her girlfriend, gently pulling her away from Sozen.

"Aiko, I know. I know you're angry. It's been over ten years of you holding this inside. You're letting out so much pent up anger, and it hurts. But this isn't you, Aiko. Please...please stop," Makoto begged. "You can't go on like this..."

Aiko shook in fury and frustration, finally raising her head again to look at Makoto. "Lili... it was Lili that sent me...that damned letter. Telling me that my father wanted to see me. I was hoping it was just a cruel joke!" Aiko sobbed. "It should have been just a joke! Just a stupid fucking prank that I would yell at her over! But he's here! He's right here and...a-and...!"

Aiko let out, a savage, wretched scream that reverberated throughout Makoto's body. A wail of sorrow and loneliness, of pain and anger, a sound of primal emotion. Something that no human being should have felt. Makoto hugged Aiko tightly, whispering affirmations to try and release the dark feelings inside.

"It'll be okay...Aiko, you'll be okay...please, let it out...please..."

Makoto sniffled and looked up to see if Sozen was still there.

He was, his cheek now swollen and bruised from Aiko's strikes. A scarred and calloused hand covered his eyes.

She could see him trembling, and hear his sharp breathing. Though he was trying to be considerate and hide his pain, she knew he was crying too.

Sorry for the pain he had caused his daughter.

After a long time, Aiko finally had managed to calm down. Her Sharingan had finally deactivated, revealing bloodshot eyes. Sozen's tears had ceased as well, but he was still shaking slightly.

Aiko slowly detached herself from Makoto, and turned to Sozen. Drained of energy, she gathered herself again and looked directly at her father.

"I want some questions answered."

"I'll do my best to answer them," Sozen replied, clenching his fists nervously.

"Lili. How did you find Lili? How did you set all of this up?" Aiko asked.

"Word spread of Sasori's death and of the truth what happened that night. Lili was travelling at the time, and I sought her out, to give her my thanks in bringing an end to that monster. She quickly figured out who I was and..." Sozen trailed off, memories of their encounter surfacing.

"Did she hurt you?" Aiko questioned, suspecting she knew the answer already.

"In all manner of ways, yes." Sozen let out a breath. "She's...quite protective of you, Aiko. Although there was...something else darkening her actions."

Aiko and Makoto said nothing, knowing exactly what that 'something else' was.

"But that isn't my place to ponder or judge, as if I'd have any right. After...an intense talk, she said she'd arrange a meeting for us," Sozen explained. "She could barely stand to have me in her presence...I was surprised she followed through."

"She probably only did it for Aiko's sake. If it was up to her, you'd probably be in a nameless grave right now," Makoto spat.

"I agree, but...I couldn't die. Not before seeing you one last time, Aiko," Sozen said. "I made my bed long ago, and it's time for me to lay in it."

"Gaara...he told me that you tried to kill him, and then you ran away. Is that true?" Aiko asked, staring straight through her father.

Sozen shuddered and answered. "Yes. I make no excuses about it. The Fourth Kazekage demanded a meeting, despite me being nothing more than a mere drunk at the time. He explained that Gaara was too dangerous and he'd release the bijuu once more. That there would be more incidents. I'm ashamed to say...that I took the job with relish. To avenge my dearest Pakura, and to quell my daughter's fears."

Sozen scoffed at himself.

"What a damned fool I was."

Makoto and Aiko looked at him with surprise. Sozen spoke with such venom and hatred...directed entirely at himself.

"Despite being a jinchuriki, he was still only a child. His sand tried to protect him, but I was too fast. I remember...holding a kunai in my hand, about to plunge it downward into him. Then I saw it. Despite the tough front, Gaara was...he was just a kid. Terrified, frozen, just staring right at my kunai and waiting for his end." Sozen sniffled. "I saw that same fear in your eyes, Aiko. During my worst moments, where I terrorized you. Something in me...broke. I could feel her eyes on me. Judging me. Telling me that I wasn't the man she married."

Sozen turned his head away, fresh tears starting to flow. "Gaara used the opening, pushed me back with his sand. But he didn't need to do that much. I was done. I couldn't stand it. Everywhere I looked, I could see her face. Everywhere in that village, there were memories of her. Memories of us. Every single cell in my body told me to leave. To escape the pain."

"Coward. You're a coward!" Makoto growled. Aiko said nothing, instead gazing at Sozen with tacit agreement.

He nodded emphatically. "I was. I always was. Aiko...you reminded me so much of Pakura. You look exactly like her now, it's like looking into the past, seeing a ghost. I'm so ashamed to say that it hurt to even look at you. But it hurt so much worse knowing what I was leaving behind. My child. Her child. Our child. Our legacy! I abandoned you because I was weak, cowardly, and broken. Aiko...I'm so sorry. Words can never heal what I've done, but...I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I..."

The dam finally broke for Sozen. He sunk to his knees, both of his hands covering his face as he sobbed. In the midst, babbling unintelligble apologies. He bowed, placing his forehead directly on the scorching sand, regaining his voice.

"I don't deserve your forgiveness, Aiko. I don't deserve anything. But I make an oath, I will protect you! I'm sick of running away, I'm sick of my actions up until this point! I...I love you Aiko. Every day I've regretted my choice, and every day I thought about this moment. I'm so sorry for denying you a father's love. My greatest sin...was making you feel neglected and lonely. I will do anything you ask. Even if its to send me away...I will-"

"Stop."

Tears welling up in her eyes, Aiko moved forward again. She knelt in front of Sozen as he raised his head. Aiko gently brushed the sand off his forehead, the look in her eyes changed. No longer filled with wrath, they were the kind eyes that Sozen and Makoto remembered.

"Sozen...no."

She placed her hands on the sides of his head.

"Dad."

Sozen's eyes widened in shock.

"You made mistakes. You hurt me and many others. I don't...I don't think I can truthfully say I forgive you at the moment."

That was only fair. He knew that much.

"But...you came back. I acknowledge what an undertaking it had to be, knowing how ugly it would become. But you steeled yourself and you came back."

"Aiko..."

"I want you to return to the Sand. We'll talk with Gaara, since he's the Kazekage now. You can apologize to him, and we can decide how this will work going forward. Does that sound okay?" Aiko asked, looking directly into Sozen's eyes.

"Yes. I...can do that." Sozen muttered. Aiko got to her feet and held out her hand. Sozen stared at it for a moment before grabbing it and standing up.

For the first time in years, Sozen had a hopeful look on his face. He at least...felt hopeful.

After a moment, Aiko moved towards Makoto and gave her another hug.

"Thank you Makoto. If you weren't here-"

"Don't mention it, Aiko. I'm glad you trusted me to help you," Makoto lovingly said. She gently stroked Aiko's hair.

"Thank you, Makoto..." She closed her eyes, feeling the last of her anger drift away. Her heart was finally lightened. And at least for this moment...she was at peace with herself again.

"Aiko, I'm sorry it took this long," Sozen said to himself quietly. "And Pakura...please watch over us."

He turned and looked into the reflective pool near his feet, feeling a warm and gentle breeze at his back. For just the briefest of moments, Sozen swore he could have seen his wife standing next to him in that reflection, but it was only him staring back.

He felt a weight fall away. And a feeling...a small feeling of praise that he couldn't place.

Aiko stood on her own, looking towards the Hidden Sand once more. The weariness on her face had already started to lessen slightly.

That woman had given her yet another irreplacable thing. When things were sorted out...

For now, she would put this chapter to rest.

"Dad...Makoto. Let's go home."