Island of Storms [Sakura]

Chapter 16 | Guilt

A chakra enveloped fist ripped through another tree as chirping flooded the air, sending the conifer slowly crashing to the ground.

"I never got you a gift, did I?"

The man put his hands over his ears in an attempt to block out the voice.

"Those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum."

He let out a frustrated wail and threw his fist into the ground, creating an umpteenth crater. For hours he had been demolishing the small area of woods. For hours he had been hearing the voices of his dead teammates, releasing his frustrations on his surroundings. He had ended up in the small stream near the trees that his gennin had once trained on. He watched his reflection in the water as it slowly made its way down to the ocean.

How long had it been since he had lost composure like this? Was it when his teacher had died, or her?

"You killed her." He froze as he felt the familiar and ugly feeling build in him.

"You killed her." He looked down at his shaking hands.

"You killed her." His eyes grew wide as blood covered them. Her blood.

"You promised to protect her." He clenched his fists and brought them to his chest, gritting his teeth.

"Then you killed her yourself." He stood slowly, building up chidori in his arm, ready to strike a tree. Though suddenly, he felt a presence behind him. He spun around and began to launch his arm forward. Within an instant of seeing the fear in a pair of jade eyes, he fell back, creating a splash in the water.

"You killed her." His body was trembling. She took a small step toward him, causing him to throw up his arm to stop her.

"D-don't!" He covered his eyes as he had discarded his headband hours before and only then realized just how low on chakra he was. The left side of his face was moist, though not with water.

"Kakashi," she whispered as she took a step forward. He was surprised when she wrapped her arms around him. In that instant, all of the pain and frustration could have been washed away, had he not almost killed her moments before. "I'm sorry for startling you."

Hesitantly, he removed the hand from his eyes and circled his arms around her, resting his face on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." he choked out. The two sat there for a few minutes, with him apologizing as she assured him she forgave him before his breathing slowed, signaling he had fallen asleep. His grip loosened, allowing her to carefully wrap one of his arms around her shoulders and get him out of the stream.

Knowing she could not carry him all the way back to the village in her tired condition, she looked around the damaged area for a suitable spot to rest. Somewhat in the middle of the small clearing, stood a tree that was untouched. She made her way over and carefully laid Kakashi down before she sat against the tree and moved his head onto her lap.

Noting the blood on his face, she determined he must have used the mangekyo. She took a piece of fabric out of her kunai pouch and gently wiped the blood away from his face. She then set the fabric next to her and began healing his eye as well as restoring his chakra.

"What made you like this?" she whispered to herself. After a few minutes, she looked up while giving a sigh before she blinked at the somewhat familiar view. She looked to either side of where she was sitting, at the two other trees to find nothing but charred stumps and crippled trunks. "The trees they trained on..."

She looked up and gave a soft smile. "He left mine..."

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