Chapter 9 - Loss

(Word Count: 2,144)

Mrs. Hatake absolutely refused to stay in the hospital. "I will not spend the remaining time I have left, confined to a hospital bed! You've already said there's nothing you could do! I want to spend as much time as I can with my family!" She yelled furiously at the doctor.

"But it's not safe! What if you collapse in the middle of the road?" The doctor argued.

Sakumo, meanwhile, was torn. He wanted his wife to be safe and have the best treatment, but as she said they already admitted the futility of it all. In the end, he stood there, angrily.

"Not safe? Not safe! I'm dyi-" And her voice cracked. She took a deep breath to steady her emotions. She was still a bit pale and shaky from before, but when she opened her eyes again, she spoke calmly. "I will spend the rest of my time with my family at home. I highly doubt my husband will let me wander the streets by myself, doctor. Now, what do I have to sign to leave?"

The doctor begrudgingly went behind a counter and fished out a release form.

Everyone was silent on the way out.

Might Dai turned to Sakumo and Aiko. "If you need anything at all, you need only ask. I'm here for you."

Sakumo merely nodded gruffly in response. 

Grandma and I said our own farewell, and left the small family to process.

Days have passed and things have been a lot more somber. Kakashi and I have basically stopped our training in the afternoons. I've been over as often as I could to spend time with both Mrs. Hatake and Kakashi, and I've spent hours pouring through my medical books, and books from the library but I've found nothing.

Apparently, Sakumo sent a runner with a message explaining the situation to Tsunade, but she replied that there was nothing she could do either. It was a shock to learn that not even Tsunade couldn't help. I knew that the doctor at the hospital had said it, but a small part of me had hoped that she had something up her sleeve.

There have been many more dizzy spells, and several instances where Aiko collapsed unconscious. Each time, we thought this might be it, and she would die. It has taken a huge toll on everyone, especially Sakumo.

Two weeks in, and Aunty Aiko is looking gaunt. I was currently at her side next to her bed. Sakumo and Kakashi have gone out to get groceries, so we're left alone. "What’s bothering you, Sakai? What's wrong?"

Even when she was dying, she was still a caring mother. I suppressed the tears that wanted to form, and hugged her. "Aunty Aiko, I'll miss you. I love you so much."

She hugged me back, held me tightly and gently stroked my hair. "I love you too, Sakai."

I didn't really know how to ask this, so I just said it straight. "Can I have a lock of your hair?"

"W-what?" She wasn't expecting that.

I showed her my bracelets that I made from my family's hair. Normally I keep them on my desk in my room, but I took them with me today. "I made these from the hair of my family, as a reminder for them. Ever since my mom died, you've been like a mother to me. I want to make one for you, so I have something that I can always remember you by."

Her eyes softened, full of love. "Of course, dear."

She let me cut a lock of hair from the nape of her neck so it wasn't as noticeable.

I quickly made a braided bracelet out of her hair, and now a black bracelet joined the two others.

Three days later, she died.

Sakumo was distraught and, immediately after the funeral service, went out to the front lines again, saying "I need to kill something." Kakashi was left all on his own, having just lost his mother. Grandma and I took him in, and we grieved together.

My friends came over when they could, Asuma, Ayame, Kurenai, Ibiki, and Genma. They would try to cheer me up during the academy and they were great but they were still 4 years old and didn't really know how to handle it. It still kind of felt like I was just babysitting but it did help keep my mind off of things.

Dai and Guy would come over frequently, and helped out around the house and bought groceries for us. Dai was great to have around. Having that father figure when Sakumo ran off was a blessing. He also helped both Kakashi and I train out taijutsu hard enough where we could fall asleep deep enough not to dream.

One day, as Kakashi and I were training with Dai, Kakashi broke down crying. Dai was immediately there, holding him and rubbing the boy's back gently. "Hey now, Kakashi," Dai said in a soothing voice. "Everything will be okay. Your mother isn't truly gone, she's watching from up above in the Pure Lands."

Kakashi sniffled. "The Pure Lands?"

"The Pure Land is where we go after we die. All of our family members who have passed on are there. They are waiting for us, for after we've lived our life and die our spirits can then reunite with our family. It is a peaceful place, a pure place without war or conflict."

Kakashi seemed to relax at that. I couldn't help but think, 'I'll be seeing them before then for sure. I'll find a way to bring them back for good.'

Finally, three weeks after he left, Sakumo came back from the front lines, but he was drunk. Grandma, Kakashi and I were sitting down at the table to eat dinner when Sakumo threw the front door open. "YOU KNEW?! YOU KNEW THE FUTURE, AND YOU DIDN'T SAVE HER!?" He threw the beer bottle at me, I dodged out of the way. The bottle sailed past me and shattered against the wall behind me. That familiar dread formed a pit in my stomach. "COME HERE YOU LITTLE S***! HOW DARE YOU!"

Even drunk, Sakumo was still an elite jonin ninja. He was immediately on me, and grabbed me by the throat, lifting me up. I couldn't breathe. I tried clawing his hand away from my throat, but it was useless. I was still trying to grasp the fact that Sakumo was attacking me. "YOU KNEW SHE WAS GOING TO DIE, DIDN'T YOU!? WHY DIDN'T YOU SAVE HER? AFTER WE TREATED YOU LIKE FAMILY!" His words were daggers in my heart. Sakumo was a man I loved dearly, he’s been an uncle to me. I felt dead inside.

"Sakumo, stop! Get away from him!" Grandma shouted, she pulled at his arm but he was unmoving. With his free hand, he batted her aside, and she tumbled to the ground with a cry.

An ANBU ninja wearing a white fox mask flickered into the room, his ninjato already drawn. "Sakumo! Stop! Let him go!"

Sakumo glared at me balefully and I could see the murder in his eyes. To see such hatred in his eyes, my uncle's eyes, gutted me. With a disgusted huff, he threw me aside, into the wall. "Come on, Kakashi. He is no brother to you now." He took a shell-shocked Kakashi, and dragged him out.

The ANBU ninja looked at me picking myself off the ground. "I'll go fetch your nurse."

The word nurse kicked me out of my thoughts, and I immediately ran over to Grandma who was trying to get up. "Grandma! Are you okay?" I croaked, my throat hurt too much to barely speak. Getting thrown to the ground couldn't have been good for her heart.

"Curse that Sakumo! How dare he say those things to you?" She was seething, and at the same time holding back tears from pain. "And I think he broke my hip!"

"Stay still, don't move!" I didn't want to think about what he said. He was right, why couldn't I have saved her? I knew Kakashi was an orphaned kid in the series, why didn't I piece it together sooner? If I had given a heads up she was going to die, maybe they could have caught the tumor early? It was my fault. It was my fault. It was my-

"Sakai!"

Grandma’s voice rang out. I looked at her, in shock. "It wasn't your fault!"

"But-" 

"No buts, Sakai. None of this is your fault. Just because you've seen a portion of the future, doesn't mean you can know and prevent everything. Did you know she had a tumor?"

"Well, no." I stammered out.

"Did you place the tumor in her head? Or kill her?"

"No!"

"Then how is it your fault?"

I couldn't answer that. "But, they hate me now. I saw it in his eyes, he was going to kill me if that ANBU didn't show up." And with that thought, all the hollowness disappeared and emotions came crashing down on me, the betrayal, sadness, horror, fear, anger. “He was going to kill me.” I shoved all of those emotions back down. ‘Don’t think about it, Sakai’

Eventually, the ANBU came back, with a doctor and Grandma’s nurse in tow. Together they gave on site treatment before moving her to the hospital. Luckily, her hip wasn't broken, only dislocated, but this encounter really wasn't good for her heart. She stayed in the hospital for 2 days before they let her out.

For those two days, I stayed with Dai and Guy. When Dai heard about what Sakumo did, they had gotten into a pretty serious fight, leaving both of them bruised and bloodied before it was broken up. But hearing Dai sticking up for me was a huge relief. At least he didn't hate me. I had very little energy to do anything really, but Dai dragged me out of bed to attend the academy. I'm grateful he did, talking to my friends about random stuff helped a lot to take my mind off things.

When Grandma came, we had a quiet dinner together. It was a somber time, but I was feeling a bit happier.

~~ WRIN ~~

Danzo smiled to himself. Things were going very well. He had been watching the Norihide boy ever since the disaster at the land of whirlpools. Apparently, the boy was a prophet or seer and saw the future. Such knowledge was too dangerous to be in anyone else's hands, much less in the hands of a child. Now, because of him, another powerful clan is in Konoha that risks taking control. Too powerful for their own good. He could also know about his own plans and that was an unacceptable leak in security. For the good of Konoha and for the success of his plans, Norihide Sakai must be brought in. And now that the White Fang Sakumo is no longer watching over him, it will be easy. He will have his Yamanaka members comb through every inch of the boy's brain before he dies though.

~~ WRIN ~~

Another two days have passed since Grandma came back home. I tried finding Kakashi to talk to him, but it seems like Sakumo is training him hard in his unique sword style. I haven't been able to get him alone, and honestly, I was too scared to try to call him out. I may be an adult mentally, but Kakashi was like a little brother to me. With the current mental state I was in,  I couldn’t muster the courage to call out to him.

Grandma and I were eating dinner together when two figures flickered into the room. Two ninjas in ANBU uniforms. One appeared next to Grandma, one right next to me. As if in slow motion, before I could react, the one next to Grandma almost casually stabbed his ninjato into her throat. I watched in horror as her blood gushed out. Her face frozen in shock, looking each other in the eyes I could see the pain and fear in her eyes.

"GRANDMA!"

Purely on instinct, I dodged the blow coming for my temple, and lashed out to strike. Unfortunately, my enemies were ANBU level ninja. The man grabbed my wrist and struck my temple anyway. My head exploded in pain, and nearly knocked me out directly. Blackness swam in my vision, and I fell limp into the ANBU's arms.

With my groggy consciousness, I barely registered more of them showing up. One of them spoke. "I want this place searched top to bottom. He's most likely written everything down somewhere. I want everything you can find."

They were after the future knowledge I had written down. The scroll. They were Konoha ANBU, but Hiruzen would never order this. Which can only mean they were ROOT ninja. 'Danzo’s behind this!' As I had feared, Danzo wants to kidnap me.

That was the last thing I knew before I fell unconscious.