Komorebi |Uchiha Itachi| Kairos Sequel

chapter v. on every word

"Do you still miss him?"

"Who?"

The dark haired boy glared in annoyance at his guardian. He hated when she played dumb about her feelings and waved off anything that had to deal with her health. Last time he had been told she was hospitalized after a mission and now he caught her sitting a river stream alone. He was confused but also concerned as he stared at Aiko who sat in the water in her street clothes. When he found her, she was staring absently into the ripples as if she was gone from her body.

"I know you get like this when you think about him too much. You need to take a break! You almost died on your last mission!"

She smiled at him from her place in the water. The smile was like plastic and was paper thin. It felt like if he touched it, it would tear and rip in half so easily. The smile did not reach her eyes like they used to. Her usually sterling caramel eyes were nothing but dense tree bark that stood hollowly.

"You can't keep holding out for someone who left you willingly. You'll be devastated at the end."

The soft sound of knocking echoed through the silent room with beige walls and caused heavy amber eyes to blink harshly. Her exhaustion in the dimly lit room so apparent but as was her restlessness.

Aiko's gaze snapped toward the opening door to witness Naruto's cerulean eyes and spiked blonde hair poking through the crack of light that poured in the room. He grunted lowly at the sight of Kakashi resting and mumbled to whoever was behind him that the shinobi was still sleeping. He seemed to prepare to swing open the door before shrieking as he realized Aiko was sitting quietly in a nearby corner of the dim room.

The loud thud of his body hitting the ground after his panicked exclaim shook the floor around him. The sudden sounds vibrated in her ears and caused her to sigh while shaking her head.

She was not mad at the kid, just disappointed.

Glancing to the side and seeing Kakashi had not budged, worsened her disappointment.

The only comfort in the pit of her stomach was that this was not the first time she has kept watch of Kakashi's resting form after overusing his Sharingan. She knew this was simply playing the waiting game and that he was going to be fine. But deep down she squirmed and was stuck in her low thoughts because this scene reminded her of a scene so long ago.

Sitting quietly next to a resting body and playing the waiting game until they woke.

Listening to their whimpers caused by nightmares they were unable to wake up from.

Wanting to tug a dark hair from his sweaty and distressed tanned face.

A scowled twisted at her lips as she realized that she tucked herself away in another memory. The image of Kakashi sleeping after exhausting his body had pushed her back into the memory of healing Itachi in her home. The guilt that made her sick to her stomach while she worked tirelessly to pull the poison from his body.

"Oi! Get out of your head, Aiko." Sasuke called monotonously from his spot at the foot of Kakashi's bed. With hands in his pocket and an impassive expression, he stared with his dark gaze. Based on his trained eye contact, he knew that she got lost in the clouds again. There was no point in arguing or defending.

Instead, Aiko grimaced and looked around at the team that joined her in the room. She felt sympathetic toward the worried faces that shaped two thirds of Team Seven. Seeing your teacher stuck on bed rest was not an easy sight to see.

"I sure hope Kakashi Sensei is okay..." Sakura sighed sadly and Aiko offered a small smile to the young girl.

"This isn't the first time he has done this. You guys will probably be up and training by tomorrow."