Will of Fire: Kakashi Hatake

Chapter 12

Akira was given the next day off. She spent it sleeping in, and when she finally did roll out of bed she got dressed and brushed her teeth, then made her way towards the cemetery. She stopped on her way at a little flower shop, where she bought two small bouquets of white flowers. She carried them carefully, ignoring all of the looks that was was being given.

Once she reached the cemetery, she stopped right outside the gates. The gates were open, but Akira couldn't bring herself to walk through them. She stared up at the sign above the entrance, naming the cemetery.

Akira hadn't been to the cemetery since her parents had died. That was months ago now. It had been too hard, the guilt too crushing. But if she didn't come now, she would feel even more guilty.

She took a deep breath and took a step inside the cemetery. The rows and rows of gravestones laid down in lines stretched the entire field. She made her way down towards the end of one of the closer rows, where she knew her parents were buried. She reached their graves, which were right next to each other, and knelt down in front of them.

Akira carefully laid down one of the bouquets and split the other one in half. She placed each half into the small vases that were at the front corners of her mother's gravestone. She did the same thing for her father with the other bouquet.

"Mom, Dad." She whispered. Akira brushed a tear from her cheek. "I'm sorry for not coming sooner. It's my fault you died, and I couldn't stand to come here. But, I have to tell you."

The wind rustled in the trees, and a few leaves flew down, gently lilted side to side until they came to rest. One on each of her parent's gravestones.

"I won the chunin exams. I don't know if I will become a chunin yet though. I am waiting for Lord Third to call me to his office to discuss the results with me."

She sighed. "I had to fight Somaru in the final round. He almost killed somebody. Just so he could fight me. He wanted to kill me too. He blames his sister's death on me. Well, really he blames it on Aunt Kushina, but since she isn't here, he blames me. I don't think we're going to be friends anymore, which is going to make our teamwork awful. I hope Isamu sensei understands."

The breeze rustled again. It was a soft sound, a welcoming one. As if the trees were whispering to her.

"I've been taking care of myself. I still run, and I train really hard." Akira sniffed, more tears running down her face. "I miss you guys so much though. You weren't there to take a picture with me yesterday. I took one with Kakashi, Yuhi, and Kishi sensei, but it just wasn't the same."

Akira hugged her knees to her chest and put her head down on her knees. She sobbed. "I miss you guys so much. I wish you were still here. I'm so sorry."

Her walls finally broke, and the floodgates came open. The emotions she had been holding back for months finally broke free. Akira sobbed loudly, not caring if there was anyone around to hear her.

"I'm so sorry! It's all my fault, I'm so sorry! I love you guys, please come back to me!"

Akira kicked her feet against the ground. Her chest felt heavy, her heart felt like it was going to fall out of her feet. She beat her fists against the ground beside her and screamed. She wanted her mom. She wanted her dad.

Her sobs wracked her chest, forcing her to start coughing. Her chest seized, tightening painfully.

"Mom! Dad!" She cried. She fell to the side on the ground and curled up, hugging her knees to her chest again and facing her parents gravestones. She continued to sob, violent coughs forcing her to almost throw up every once in a while.

She screamed again, then set her head on the ground. She hit the ground with her left fist.

"I need you, please come back to me! You can't be gone, not just like that, it's not fair!"