Naruto: The Art of Fate

Kurenai turned away, unable to bear seeing Kakashi hold Yuugao so tightly.

Life and death are part of a cycle. Goodbyes come when they will, and when the King of Hell puts down his brush, there's no point in crying to the heavens and pleading that letting go is too hard.

She couldn't bear to see Kakashi lose Yuugao after losing Obito. He had lost so much. One by one, the people he cherished had fallen, leaving him standing dazed amid the universe's current, calling out to heaven and earth with no answer. His desolate face was now just an empty outline. Even if you shook him with all your might, you couldn't hear the soul inside him clattering away.

That's what it means to be a ninja.

Six years ago today, Asuma and Hayate returned wounded from a mission. She and Yuugao hurried to visit them. Gai, Genma, Anko, and Kakashi were there, too, hiding in an empty hospital room to spy on her kissing Asuma.

She had once avoided paying respects to Asuma at the memorial stone, thinking that if she kept refusing, perhaps one day he would suddenly show up, scratching his head and smoking a cigarette, grinning stupidly at her as he told her that he wouldn't die before marrying her.

That was how she managed to face it calmly, shut away in the vast, empty house, letting loneliness sweep over her like a tide while she remained composed.

Intention: