Getting Lost on the Roads of Life - a KakaSaku Story [CONCLUDED]

Coming Home

Leaving cover was a grave mistake, but the realization came too late.

The strike of lightning was noise before it was fire, crackling before blindness, warning before death. Kakashi knew he had no chance to dodge what was brewing above him. Not without the Sharingan. Not with these new-old eyes he had not quite gotten used to.

And yet, not doing anything was out of the question, like it had always been. He had spent his entire life fighting for that elusive thing called peace, for the dream that future generations would be able to live in harmony with no threat of war. The dream was built on countless sacrifices. Was that dream worth it? Without a doubt.

So he would die fighting for this dream and there would be no shame in that. It was what he had always known his life would amount to. He had done what was expected of someone like him. Had he a right to regret not living longer, not tasting a bit more of happiness? None.

And yet... regret was so strong he felt his throat constrict painfully.

The problem was that he had tasted happiness. That he had allowed himself to dream his own dream, foolish and desperate. A dream of having a family. A dream of having someone by his side to walk the roads of life together.

He regretted keenly that he would not have the opportunity to hold Sakura one more time. That he had not kissed her more often. That he hadn't told her he loved her a thousand times more. That he would not see their children being born, would not hold them in his arms, could not marvel at how tiny their hands and feet were. Would not see their first steps... a whole life of possibilities and love opening up in front of him was cut short, snuffed out.

A dream of peace, but never his.

Boom! Lightning shot down from above, a bolt so thick it looked like a searchlight had been switched on.

###

"Ichika... honey," Sakura murmured, clumsily stroking the heartbroken woman's hair. "He says he will come back. Here. See?"

If he can, she added in her head. She balled her hands into fists, rumpling Micha's letter in the process. Damn him! Why had he wiggled himself into their hearts when he didn't mean to stay? Well, unfair... he had meant to stay, but it was obvious he had obligations in that country of his. Important obligations. Why else would his own father have travelled around the world to fetch him?

"If he comes back, which I hope won't happen, I will rip every hair from his head and his beard one by one, then I'll pull out his fingernails, his toenails, I will cut off his..."

"That's enough, Kaeru," Sakura said sharply.

The young man was dressed in his Anbu uniform and ready to leave the village. Sakura had seen him in civilian clothing for so long his current attire took a bit of getting used to again, but he cut a fine, fierce figure, his frog mask dangling from his belt, his sword secured on his back.

She looked down at Micha's letter again. Next to his missive to Ichika he had sent Sakura some recent scientific notes that she found very intriguing and wanted to follow up on as soon as possible, speculations about how the Uzumaki essence interacted with Uchiha blood and why he thought the Uchihas needed the Uzumaki essence to be well. Kind of like he had thought long and hard about how to make the rest of her insecurities go away: The way he put it, it sounded as if Sasuke had not chosen Karin over her but Sasuke had simply needed that toxin from her skin and had instinctively sought her out. Made sense. Fate wired into genetics.

And what about Sarada?

In her, the forces are perfectly in harmony, Micha had written, if I correctly understand what you have told me about your world, all the good qualities of both bloodlines will be present in her without the bad. Her blood could have healing properties and more - it will be coveted. Guard her well against those strange people.