Alive
Keigo's return to consciousness was peaceful. Initially. The he started to understand that he was breathing and he was alive.
Alive.
He had made peace with the idea of his death and that he and mom would watch naruto grow up and dad live. Now he was the one who's still alive and and he has no idea how he will be able to live after everything that has happened.
Sensation began to return in his limbs as he began to move. The mattress he was resting on was hard, different from the futon he used at home, the blankets were stiff and rough and he was resting on his back. Once he opened his eyelids he was greeted by an unfamiliar white ceiling.
"You're awake" Keigo jumped at the sudden voice. Granny Tsunade could now be found next to him. " You made us wait, uh brat? You've been asleep for ten day and before that I had to work on you for two days to remedy the mistakes made by these incompetent people who call themselves doctors " Questions inveded his mind, was Naruto's safe? And dad? When did she return to Konoha? But before he could ask granny Tsunade stated to scream orders to various nurses. " Go find the Fourth and tell him his son is awake" that was the last order given.
"It took him 3 days to at least leave your side to go shower, and I had to lock him out of the room" He knew she was talking about his father, and looking at her he could tell that she was also shook by the time he was unconscious.
"How long before you arrived was I in here?" Keigo asked before she could start rumbling again. "Today marks one month since the attack occurred".
A month.
He lost a month of Naruto's life. A month since his mother died.
The door slammed open, at the entrance there was his ruffled father with an armful of little brother. Keigo has never been happier to see them. Tears were already starting to fill his eyes while he opened his arms to greet them. The action caused him a little discomfort to where he knew was his new scar but ignored for more important matters.
His father wasted no time in welcoming him into his arms, pressing his head into her shoulder and squeezing him till he was breathless. "You're okay, my strong Kei, you got me so worried" dad whispered in ear as he rocked us. Keigo was now sobbing into his father's shoulder while everything that happened fell on him like a brick.
"How's Naruto?" was the first thing he asked once he regained his composure.
The answer was given to him through a one-month-old baby who was placed in his arms. Naruto had his big blue eyes on him and his little body radiated the same warmth that his mother had. Keigo thought that maybe he had the same heat now too.
"You know the first days no one could make him stop crying, only when he was next to you was he able to calm down and sleep" dad told me, he was watching us with a loving smile.
"He already knows that his big brother will keep him safe" I responded, "or has already chosen who is his favorite" I added with a smirk. Dad laughed.
He made his way onto keigo's bed and snuggled beside him, they both saw how tired each other was and now that they were all safe they rested.
Days come and go and finally it's the day keigo gets discharged. He already changed in one of his usual light blue clan shirts, his black shorts and a pair of sandals. I couldn't find my hitai-ate. While he was changing he stared at his naked torso where the scar was. The scar tissue started under the sternum and spreads in all directions like the sun and its rays. He laughed to the pairing he made.
"Missing something?" Dad greeted him, in hand his missing headband. Adjusting himself, he looked in the mirror, and the only thing he saw was the reflection of a stranger.
He couldn't recognize the look in his eyes, as dull as it had never been. He repeated to himself that he was too young to drown and that he will have to learn to live again so as not to waste the life that his mother had sacrificed.
Nodding to his father they hurried down the corridor, except they were directed not towards the exit but towards the maximum security wing. The difference was clear once inside, the corridors were empty except for a few nurses walking around and guards positioned at the doors. Keigo could bet that at least half of the hokage guard was hidden and watching over them.
They stopped outside the last door of the wing. He looked at his father with a strange look, a question in his eyes. "You remember that we caught the masked enemy that freed the nine tails, right?" Keigo nodded slowly. "Well we discovered that he was controlled by a mind justu, stronger than the Yamanaka's, but we managed to free him."
Keigo's mind was filled with thoughts but the moment he dared to speak the door was opened and out came none other than Kakashi.
"He's ready to se him" he heard the older boy says to hi father. "He? Who's insiede that room?" Keigo heard himself ask the question. The other twos had a strange look on their face and a hint of pity in their eyes.
"Kei behind that door there's someone we had long believe dead and even if he did some terrible things you have to remember that he had no control over what he was doing" He wasn't listening anymore, his hand already turning the doorknob and opening the door.
His gaze fell on the bed in the center of the room and more importantly on the occupant of the bed. A one-eyed gaze returned his. He remembered that face even though it was half covered in bandages, it had the same big bright smile that haunted his nightmares.
Obito.
The day he knew about Obito's death was a normal day. He had another boring day at the academy, he spent the hours looking outside the window at the people walking around, got new bruises on the knees and a scratch on the elbow. Walking home he complained to himself about the suffocating heat and drank an iced tea.
As soon as he stepped into the house he already knew that something was wrong, everything was silent even though there were three people inside, mom,Kakashi and Rin. He had seen the sandals at the entrance.
He found then in the kitchen, Mom was leaning on the counter preparing something, Rin sitting at the table with Kakashi slumped on the wall next to her.
"Where's dad?" Keigo asked worried. Mom quickly turned towards him, welcoming him with a hug. "Just in the mission office" she hummed while stroking his hair. She was sad he could it in her eyes.
"Where's Obito?" Her face fell and her eyes glimmered with tears. "He..." She didn't need to finish the sentence. "The mission went badly, didn't it?" She nodded.
Keigo's heart broke, he couldn't think of anything, Obito was like a brother to him, two faces of the same coin. They always had each other's backs both in training and when they were scolded for pranks. They were ramen partners.
Now all that was left was keigo and his broken heart.
Kakashi was now coming towards him. He has his headband across the face covering his left eye. He slowly uncovered his eye, Keigo could see the cut cutting across his eye and cheek but that wasn't what he was focusing on. No, it was the spinning red sharingan that was in his eye.
"Obito sacrificed himself to save me and the left me his newly awokend sharingan. He made me promise that I would look after you and to the future for him."
That was the last straw, Keigo couldn't bear to keep it all inside anymore. In the middle of that kitchen he cried all his tears.
He was alive. His other half was alive and, even though unknowingly, he had ruined his life.