The Feral World of Shinobi

The Jacket and the Letter

Time passed, and the village started to rebuild. You were present when Sans, among others, were "buried," though you knew painfully well that Sans' coffin was empty of anything. His jacket still hadn't been found. You tried to press forward despite your loss. Things with the Akatsuki were getting worse than ever, and the village was starting to prepare for war. There wasn't time to mourn like everyone was saying you should do. Kakashi wouldn't even let you go with to the Land of Iron where the Five Kage Summit was being held. With Hizuki acting as your guard dog to make sure you wouldn't sneak off to track them down, you were thoroughly "grounded" from missions until Tsunade came back. So you continued to help in rebuilding the place. "Sans was a big part of your life, I don't understand why you won't give yourself time to grieve." Hizuki commented as you used magic to lift a beam onto a house. "There simply isn't time. We were attacked by the Akatsuki directly. We are going to war sooner rather than later... besides... he wouldn't want me to mope around." You replied softly. Hizuki shook her head.

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The she-wolf kunoichi growled softly to herself as she made sure you were staying home. The mindset you had put yourself in was a terrible one. You had more than enough time to mourn for your father. She would show you that, somehow. Maybe if she found it... Hizuki knew the general location of where Sans died. Kakashi had told her. If she could find his jacket, maybe it could bring you into some sort of healthy mourning state. Or maybe she was getting this all wrong, and this was exactly how you mourned for loved ones. Either way, bringing his jacket back had to do at least a little bit of good. You couldn't be left with nothing... Thus she Hizuki left to find anything on the whereabouts of the lost article of clothing. Maybe some of his dust, if he that's really what happened to him, if it hadn't blown away by now. She believed Kakashi's words. It was just... hard for her to picture someone just dusting away like that. Hizuki sniffed around for Sans' scent, occasionally digging through the rubble ho any trace of it. She had a lot of ground to cover.

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That's how the days and nights were spent while everyone else seemed to be gone. Hizuki roped Yuri and Kasai into the search as well. They were more than happy to help a teammate out. Especially since it regarded you and Sans, who they both loved dearly as friends. You remained ignorant to their nightly searches, though you were starting to pick up on their lack of sleep. Kasai seemed slower than usual, and Yuri started to nap rather than read. Hizuki's senses were starting to dull from lack of sleep as well. It reminded you of Gaara a little and how he didn't sleep often. You briefly wondered if that was still the case and found yourself missing him deeply. You wondered if he knew about what happened to Sans? You wanted to send a messager hawk to tell him how you've been and if you could visit again soon, but you assumed he was busy. You also wanted to tell him how much your soul hurt, losing Sans and how you desperately wanted to curl up in the comfort of his arms and cry until you didn't have any more tears to shed.

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His jacket was finally found early in the morning by Yuri, just as the sun poked over the horizon. An entire sleeve was missing, and there was huge slash cutting from the upper left to the waist on the right, not to mention the dirt smudged into it and the white dust that it was covering. "Just like Kakashi said..." She pocketed a handful of his dust and took his jacket home. Hizuki noted the messager hawk flying in from the Land of Iron and wondered if things were going well at the Summit. "Go home and get rest boys, you did great." Hizuki praised before jumping away and towards home before you woke up. She set down his jacket on the counter and she put his dust in a tupperware container, at least until you got a proper urn or something for him. "Good morning mom..." You yawned as Hizuki sealed up the container. "Good morning, [Y/N]. How are you feeling?" You shrugged. "What's that you got there?" Hizuki grabbed his jacket and his dust. "These belong to you..." You teared up as you were handed his jacket and his dust. Before you could say anything, someone knocked on the door.

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"It's a letter for you, [Y/N]." Hizuki handed that over too. You shifted Sans' things into one arm so you could read whatever was in the letter. It was a message from Gaara.

"My beloved [Y/N],

I wish I was there with you rather than here talking to the other Kage. I heard what happened and I can feel how much you are hurting inside. My deepest condolences, I know you loved Sans deeply. He was a great man. After I am done here in the Land of Iron, I want to come get you. We could hold our own little funeral for him. I don't know. I just know that I want to help you through this. I love you so much and it hurts that I can't be there for you now. I am sorry.

Your Soulmate,
Gaara Yuzawa"

You could no longer hold back tears as you held these precious things close to your chest and choked out a sob. Hizuki was right there to hug and comfort you and you gladly took to it like a pup. You sobbed into her as she rubbed your back and eased you back to your room to make you more comfortable.