Everything was quiet at her home – where it had been deathly at the Uchiha Clan, it was entirely peaceful here. None of her Summons bothered her as Yumetsuki set the food in the fridge and went to check on Naruto. He was still asleep, sprawled out on the bed and the sight of him sleeping sent the image of Sasuke in her. He had been sprawled out like that, too, covered in tears and scratches.
Yumetsuki sat in the shower for a very long time, her head set against her knees as she thought about everything that had happened. The sun was heading higher and higher into the sky – a shard of hot summer sunlight hit her head from the open tsukiage-mago in the ceiling.
Naruto was still sleeping even after Yumetsuki had finished showering and changing into clean clothes. She fixed the sleeping boy's posture, tucking him under the summer blanket. She did not want to leave him alone, she felt as if he would vanish if she took her eyes off of him. She laid down on top of the blanket, hugging her godson close to herself as she fell asleep.
When Yumetsuki had woken up again, she found that Naruto was not with her. She tore off the bed in a panic, unable to fathom why him moving out of her arms had not woken her up or why none of her Summons had woken her up. She quite practically flew down the stairs and her Sensor burst through her to locate where he had gone – only to find him in the living room with her Summons.
Blissfully unaware of what he had put her through just now, Naruto was happily munching on the sweets that Yumetsuki had bought home. When his eyes fell onto her with her over-the-top entrance as she came thundering down, he eagerly waved at her with his –
"Meiko-Chan! Good afternoon!"
Torrent of relief rushed through Yumetsuki and she stumbled over to him as if she was drunk, throwing her arms around him tightly and taking his tiny body down with her as she fell against the softness of the carpet. Naruto tumbled with her, unable to free himself from her caged arms.
"Meiko-Chan!" exclaimed Naruto, letting out giggles as they fell together. "Meiko-Chan, you feel so cold!" He still nuzzled closer to her. "Meiko-Chan... are you still tired?"
"A little bit," Yumetsuki mumbled truthfully as she laid there, having no desire to move as long as Naruto was safe and sound in her arms. "No... really... I am so tired... Naruto-Chan..."
"I'll make food for you, dattebayo!" Naruto announced as he slithered out of her arms. "Meiko-Chan, you should sleep! I'll go and make food for you!"
"What will you make for me, Naruto-Chan?" Yumetsuki asked as she turned her head to look at him. "Just come and lay with me... I will make dinner in a little while,"
"No, I want to make you something!" Naruto insisted. "I'll go get Ramen for us, dattebayo!"
"That is not quite cooking..." Yumetsuki trailed off before sighing. "I do not want you to go out by yourself today, Naruto-Chan, and I am too tired to do it... it looks like it will rain in a while, too..."
"I'll go with Amaterasu-San!" Naruto assured her. "Meiko-Chan, please!"
In an effort to convince his godmother of his sincerity, Naruto held out one of the Dango sticks to her to take a bite since he knew she loved sweets, and then patted her head and pressed a quick peck against her cool skin, "I'll get Meiko-Chan's favourite Ramen!"
"Rest, Yumetsuki," Amaterasu told her. "I will go with him – nothing will happen to him in my presence. We will fetch the Ramen and return home as soon as possible,"
"And I'll protect you while they're gone," Raijin said at once, jumping up to walk up to her, his wolfish looks betraying his sly nature. "Nothing will happen to you in my presence,"
There was no way that Yumetsuki could refuse any longer so she passed some money to Naruto, sending him with Amaterasu to make a quick trip. Raijin insisted on sticking next to her but she needed to call the hospital to have a quick check on Sasuke's condition.
"... yes, his condition has not changed your last check-up," replied Mikiko, an old friend of Grandma Chi, and the only person Yumetsuki trusted at the hospital. "Would you like me to administer...?"
"No," Yumetsuki mumbled. "He needs ample amount of rest after what he has suffered. I hope to keep him under supervised, Chakra-induced coma... two days, I suppose... I will see..."
Although she was too tired to do much that day, Yumetsuki figured that she would go earlier than usual for work tomorrow. She was going to be much freer now anyhow. She had been so tough when she had given up her job as a member of the ANBU but even Yumetsuki knew she had reached her limit. She had never had to deal with so many dead bodies in one night before and she was exhausted.
During her service in the ANBU, there had been occasions when Yumetsuki had witnessed much more carnage with wounds much more sinister – but there was something utterly gut-wrenching when seeing young children and their mothers killed so brutally with no regard. It repulsed her.
For far too long in her life, Yumetsuki had not hesitated in taking up any job that would spare another Shinobi's innocence for a little longer. She took every dirty job there was. And the massacre of the Uchiha Clan and the aftercare was just what had done her in.
Just as he had promised, and certainly under Amaterasu's guide, Naruto returned home fairly quickly. He eagerly rushed in, pointing to the bag of food Amaterasu had in her mouth.
"We got Ramen!" cheered Naruto excited. "We got Ramen, dattebayo!" He hurried toward the kitchen to fetch the chopsticks. "Here you go, Meiko-Chan!"
"Thank you, Naruto-Chan," Yumetsuki replied, smiling as she received her metallic chopsticks from the boy. "You work hard... have a treat with the Ramen tonight,"
And that was how Yumetsuki and Naruto spent their evening together. Yumetsuki sat on the carpet with her back against the sofa, gently eating the seafood ramen that sat on the Chabudai. Naruto was sitting nearby, happily slurping his own food and quite practically singing.
It felt nice to see Naruto so happy, and it had been such a long time since Yumetsuki had spent time with him like this. Rain splattered onto the glass windows as the last storm of the spring season hit them hard. Yumetsuki had turned on the heat for the home so it was nice and warm inside. The delicious food and Naruto's happiness only made her feel better.
But the more that Yumetsuki looked at Naruto this gleeful, the more she felt sorry for his classmate. Naruto had himself suffered a lot as a child. And now, another boy had joined him in that suffering. Yumetsuki felt absolutely terrible. She wished... somehow, she could undo everything done to these children.
If I could take their sorrow,
I would wear it around my neck.
The storm continued into the night and there was not much to do so Yumetsuki encouraged Naruto to take a shower and head to bed. She herself finished with washing the dishes and cleaning up the scattered mess that Naruto had made while she had been away on the mission. The storm tonight reminded her of all the times she spent in her old apartment.
In that apartment, there had only been Yumetsuki. She lived alone but she often had the company of Kakashi – all those times they had snacked together and had tea. Yumetsuki let out a sigh but wasn't sure what had prompted it. She was alright as she was right now – living with her godson, Naruto.
Yumetsuki let out another sigh as she finally arrived in her room and fell onto the cold softness of her bed. She could hear the rain hitting her window, the stormy gale thrashing around the trees out. She rolled beneath her covers and stuffed her face into her pillow.
"Meiko-Chan?"
Pulling her face out of her pillow at once and craning her neck around, Yumetsuki found Naruto standing in the doorway to her room. He looked uncertain in the dark and was holding onto his froggy plush that she had gifted him for his birthday, dragging it along with himself.
"Naruto-Chan?" Yumetsuki asked as she sat up. "Is everything alright?" She watched as he hurried over to the direction of her voice. "I just tucked you into bed for the night..."
"Can I sleep with you tonight?" asked Naruto in return, climbing onto her bed. "I want to sleep with Meiko-Chan tonight," He laid down without her explicit permission.
"Okay," Yumetsuki agreed. She moved him over to sleep closer to the wall while she laid down closer to the edge so that he wouldn't roll off. "But you must ask for permission before entering someone's room, Naruto-Chan, alright?"
"Meiko-Chan entered my room without permission as well," Naruto pointed out, and Yumetsuki smiled to herself as he flipped her words onto her.
"Meiko-Chan was wrong to do that," Yumetsuki replied. "Meiko-Chan will knock and ask for permission before she enters Naruto-Chan's bedroom next time,"
For a moment, there was silence between them. Yumetsuki wondered if Naruto was falling asleep but before she could check on it, the boy spoke up once more, "Why is Meiko-Chan so sad today?"
"Sad?" Yumetsuki asked, taken aback by his words. "What makes Naruto-Chan think I am sad?"
"You look sad," muttered Naruto. "When Meiko-Chan is sad, it covers everything in it. The house gets so dark and cold... I don't like seeing Meiko-Chan sad,"
This was not the first time that Naruto had so explicitly told her how her sadness manifested in front of him. And Yumetsuki felt horrible that she had been pulling the boy into her own emotions. He did not deserve to live in a home that would make him uncomfortable and scared.
"I apologise, Naruto-Chan," Yumetsuki replied quietly. "I know I have been sad lately but I promise that I will work hard to be happier. I will make these summer holidays very fun for you,"
Naruto had gotten happen with just that, eagerly asking her if she would have the time to take him to the festivals in the village. Yumetsuki promised that she would her best. No. She promised that she would definitely take him to every single festival this year, regardless of being busy.
I have to do right by Naruto-Chan.
❄️
Although the summer holidays had started for the students of Ninja Academy in Konohagakure, there were still some students who had to attend some classes. Students such as Naruto, who were not doing well enough in their classes and needed extra lessons to get back on track. Yumetsuki was always worried about his studied but the blond just was not interested in them at all.
Numerous tactics had been tried and tests, and Yumetsuki had even talked about it with Iruka in regards to improving Naruto's studies. But Iruka would just blush and get distracted whenever she would suggest that they needed to work together for Naruto's sake. She didn't understand Iruka.
Minato, her Sensei, had been an excellent student and Yumetsuki had work hard to break his records when she had been young. And even Kushina was a greatly exemplary student – her abilities with Chakra control and Fuinjutsu were greatly admired even by the Great Sannin.
It was not that Naruto was stupid or had no desires to learn. He was a keen child who wanted to be strong enough to be the Hokage but he struggled to find a path for himself that would take him there. Yumetsuki wished that he would take it easy but he wanted to be the Hokage immediately.
Yumetsuki knew, of course, why Naruto struggled so much. He lacked a lot of positive attention and love from others. To top it off, in addition to being disregarded, he was also especially loathed. It was natural for Naruto to struggle under such circumstances after all.
I wish my love was enough for him.
Both Yumetsuki and Naruto left their home early that morning, and after dropping the despondent blond at the Ninja Academy, she headed off to the Konoha Hospital. Everything was quiet in the morning so Yumetsuki made her quick rounds on her patients before heading to check on Sasuke.
Sasuke was still in a comatose state but his vitals were doing much better now. Yumetsuki had been supplying him with Chakra and now that she was here, she decided to begin his recovery. She wanted to take it easy and let him slowly regain consciousness rather than being thrust into it. Yumetsuki had a very long day at the hospital that day.
Numerous times throughout the day, Yumetsuki found herself returning to the room where she was caring for Sasuke. She would sit and watch him for several minutes, and upon other occasions, she found herself reaching out to gently stroke his hair to comfort him in his unconscious state. She felt terrible for him.
... such a sad sight...
Lunch break arrived rather swiftly and Yumetsuki dropped into her office share to relax. But before she could have even leaned back to take a breath, there was a knock on her door. Yumetsuki turned her head just as the door slid open – and in came none other than her friend Kurenai.
"Good afternoon!" Kurenai greeted as she walked into the room, swinging a bag full of food on her arm. "I brought some sweet lunch for my sweet Yumie-Chan!"
Even when her days were so tough and exhausting, the mere sight of Kurenai improved Yumetsuki's mood. She stood up to greet the older woman and then the two of them sat together at the desk, "I was not expecting you at all today, Kurenai-Chan,"
"I got off my mission earlier than usual," Kurenai replied, unpacking the food for them. "And what better way to spend lunch than with you?" She held it out. "Here, I got your favourite, Yumie-Chan,"
True to her word, Kurenai had gotten Yumetsuki exactly what she ordered out at the Dango Shop – it was Anmitsu with sweet azuki bean paste, cubes of agar jelly, suama gyuhi, shiratama dango and slices of her favourite winter fruits. Yumetsuki poured the mitsu syrup upon the jelly.
"... thank you very much, Kurenai-Chan," Yumetsuki said as she smiled gently at her, reaching for her metal spoon from her pouch. "Thank you for the food,"
It turned out to be a very pleasant afternoon as Kurenai talked everything but the Uchiha Clan Massacre. Yumetsuki could tell that she was doing this deliberately even when she was curious – and for that, the younger girl was absolutely grateful for it. It was made clear when they parted ways.
"You do know you can always come to me, right, Yumie-Chan?" Kurenai asked. "If there is ever anything you want to discuss, you can come to me. And if I'm not around, you can go to Kakashi,"
That had been very unexpected, seeing Kurenai mention Kakashi's name like that. Yumetsuki had felt a strange sense of heat on her face as she had hidden beneath her long white bangs and nodded. Kurenai had left the girl to work afterwards and Yumetsuki headed out for work outside of the Konoha Hospital. She needed to give a detailed account to the Konoha Archive Library.
Many of the details had been redacted by the Third Hokage, and even more of them were redacted by the Advisors. Yumetsuki felt rather disgruntled as she made her way out of the Archive Library, lost in her thoughts as she quietly walked down the long path carved out of the mountain. There were a lot of questions in her mind but they had nowhere to go.
Summer flowers bloomed along the path as Yumetsuki walked toward the Hokage Monument. She inexplicibly made her way to the monument where Minato's head was carved out of the side of the mountain, and she sat down on a bench rather heavily. Her eyes trailed over to the village.
From this spot, ever since she was a young girl, Yumetsuki had been able to see the entirety of Konohagakure's bustling lives. Even if she could not see them, she could feel their existence. And today, she could feel those who no longer existed.
"Yuren-Chan?"
When Kakashi had arrived looking for Yumetsuki, he knew he would find her here. And he did – sitting on the edge of the monument, with her long white hair covering her petite figure. He smiled to himself at the mere sight of that beautiful girl but he also knew how much she must in pain right now.
"Kakashi-Kun?" Yumetsuki asked in return as she turned to look at him with those eyes of hers. He walked over to her rather quickly. "I was not expecting to run into you here..."
"And I was hoping to run into you here," Kakashi replied lightly, giving her a gentle smile as he sat down next to her. "I may appear quite jolly but I'm sure you know what concerns me,"
"You are concerned about everything that happened in the Uchiha Clan?" Yumetsuki guessed.
"Not quite," Kakashi said, shaking his head. "I'm concerned with the effects of it on you," He watched as she looked down. "I heard what had happened... and that you were assigned as the lead investigator,"
"Lead investigator, medical aid and cremator," Yumetsuki replied, and there was a hint of bitterness in her voice. "I had to do everything... all of it... there were young children, and the elderly..."
"I'm sorry," Kakashi said, reaching out to place a hand on her knee. "I'm sorry to hear about everything. I'm sorry you had to deal with alone. I'm sorry for your loss of Shisui's parents, of Obito's grandmother... and I'm sorry, it must be hard, given that you were close to Itachi as well..."
As Kakashi spoke, Yumetsuki began to realise why she was feeling so terribly sick. She wasn't just upset because of all the death. She was upset because she had to witness it, she was upset because those she cared about were dead, she was upset because the one she cared about had done this – and Kakashi had just made it so clear to her that her being upset was certainly valid.
Her feelings were valid.
He apologised because her feelings were valid.
There was a sense of emotional sensitivity that arose whenever Yumetsuki was with Kakashi. His mere presence could reduce her to tears – to know that there was someone outside of her body who existed, who had unfortunately gone through things very much similar to her but he knew. He knew and he understood her. The relief that she was not misunderstood made her cry.
Upon that very moment, it arose once more and Yumetsuki wanted to cry against the warmth of Kakashi's chest. She wanted him to wrap his arms around her so that she would vanish into him. That the world would no longer be able to see her and no longer be able to hurt her anymore. She would exist free of all burdens. The weight of her own body would not be as heavy any longer.
But there was a time and a place for such emotional nostalgia, and right now was not the time. Yumetsuki mustered herself up and let out a sigh that expelled all of her emotions into the evening air. She needed to talk to Kakashi about her suspicions, even if not everything in detail.
"... there were so many strange things that night, Kakashi-Kun," Yumetsuki spoke up. "I feel as if I would go mad if I continue to keep them to myself like this,"
"What do you mean?" Kakashi asked, turning to look at her attentively at her serious tone of voice.
Yumetsuki told Kakashi in detail about how she had discovered the bodies and how every woman and child except for two had been killed by someone other than Itachi. She explained the killing style to him and Kakashi validated her understanding – that style was certainly not the one Itachi used.
"There was one more thing," Yumetsuki continued. "That night, I had run into Danzo-Sama. He left after his usual comments but I felt this... gaze upon me the entire time I was alone there. It was so dark and quiet, I felt it may have been my imagination but I am certain, there had been someone there. I felt that person. Their existence was... burning hot,"
Both Yumetsuki and Kakashi tried to think of who that person could have been yet they could not think of any possibility. It was hard to think if it was someone from Konohagakure or beyond as she had not been able to pick up any Chakra signature. It felt as if she was being watched by a –
"... ghost, but it cannot be so, can it?" Yumetsuki was saying. "I had felt it may have been one of Danzo-Sama's men from Root but I am well-aware of them. It was not any of them,"
However, with the flow of the conversation, the topic changed as they talked about what could have prompted Itachi to do this in the first place. Neither of them could come up with a substantial answer as they were not privy to the inner-goings of the Uchiha Clan.
"Itachi-Kun was not someone who was prompted spontaneously," Yumetsuki admitted. "And this entire attack was not something that was unplanned. He had done all of this with one thing in mind – to eradicate his clan aside from his own brother,"
"Do you think that he deliberately left him?" Kakashi asked. "Or could it be that the other person did? Rivalry between brothers is greatly valued in Ninja Nations... especially amongst Clans with Kekkei Genkai..."
"I am quite certain that Itachi-Kun was the one who dealt with his family members," Yumetsuki replied. "He was the one who murdered his parents, his crush Izumi, and with Sasuke-Kun,"
"How is Sasuke?" inquired Kakashi and he watched a strange expression came over her face.
"No clue as long as I have in induced-comatose state," Yumetsuki mumbled. "He has no injuries but Itachi-Kun used his Sharingan on him, and well... the Genjutsu has had a terrible impact on him..."
"He spared him yet inflicted Genjutsu onto the boy," Kakashi summarised thoughtfully. "What a strange behaviour... hm... you would expect that he wouldn't let him live anyhow,"
Kakashi was muttering to himself when he felt Yumetsuki lean her head against his shoulder. He looked at her but found her heavy-lidded eyes focused on the setting sun in the distance, the orange-gold hues of which had shrouded them into its dwindling warmth's last embrace.
In the light of dusk, under the dying rays of the sun, Yumetsuki glowed as if she was aureate. Her cool blue eyes would appear strikingly golden and her ice-white hair resembled the red-hot sun. Even in this appearance, Yumetsuki still had the same sense of sadness tied to her.
Yumetsuki stared at the sun as she looked back to everything she had gone through. Her head was leaning against Kakashi's shoulder, and the weight of her thoughts had lessened. She could think a bit more clearly now – she knew what she needed to do. It was not the question of wasting her time only looking into what had happened that night but also prioritising the wellbeing of Sasuke.
I have to do right by Sasuke-Kun.
❄️