174 -=So this is how it feels like...=-

Abandoned Uchiha hideout

The situation of the place was weird to say the least

4 teens, two looking like they are about to pass out and 2 looking no worse than when they arrived sat in one of the few dry spots on the place

The rest of the place was flooded, entirely

A blue body, mangled and burnt beyond recognition stood close to a decapitated but otherwise uninjured body of an Uchiha

A weird sight, indeed

-=-

"Do you remember that time Naruto ran around the village in his pyjamas because he overslept?"

Surprisingly, Sasuke was the one who asked that

"Oy! We don't talk about that!"

Naruto exclaimed in outrage

"There has been such a thing?"

Luna's eyes sparkled curiously

"Haha... I do..."

Kaede's weak voice soon agreed

"Damn you Sasuke! And what about that time you got caught spying on Kaede?"

Naruto shot back, angry

"I was merely checking up on my clan members.

It is my responsibility as the current Uchiha patriarch after all"

Sasuke lied without batting an eye

"Isn't that the same thing you said last time?"

Luna asked

"Wait... Last time?!"

Naruto was shocked

"Yes, I've seen him do it a few times before"

Luna ignored Sasuke's stare and told Naruto

Kaede laughed weakly

"He wasn't very discreet about it after all"

Hearing her say that, Sasuke looked away

She knew it, he thought

"We did this before, didn't we?"

Kaede's question reminded Sasuke and Naruto of the time they stoped to talk like this before

"It was after Sasuke and I failed to catch that cat, wasn't it?"

Naruto asked

"Hnn! That cat must be a ninja in disguise! Or else how could I... How could we fail?"

To Sasuke's words, Kaede giggled

"Though, I haven't failed in that?"

Sasuke opened his mouth to say something but he couldn't find anything to say

"Haha, true... I still can't believe how Tora just jumped into your arms like that..."

To Naruto's words, Kaede just answered

"I guess I was just always good with animals... Maybe that's why they put me in team 7?"

"Hnn!?"

"Hey! What was that for?"

Naruto and Sasuke complained while Luna smiled at that

"Sorry, sorry... Just...

I think they put me in your team to help you, like...

You two were just like lost puppies at first...

Although... I guess I failed in that, didn't I?"

"Don't say that..."

Kaede turned to Naruto

"But it is true, you're still just as lost as when we met"

To that, Naruto was left thinking

Then Kaede turned to Sasuke

"And you... I guess I couldn't get to you in the end, huh?"

Kaede's words made Sasuke remember the times when she hinted at him about Itachi, and talked about the 'curse of hatred'

"... Or maybe it was me who pushed you into that curse?"

Sasuke wanted to say something to that

But knowing why they were there in the first place, he chose to remain quiet

"I know that look. You know I would end up like this with or without what happened today, do you not?"

Kaede glared at Sasuke as she asked

"But..."

"No buts! If you really do feel bad about it, then live your life in my place.

Let that be my curse to you, hn?"

Kaede's words made Sasuke let out a bitter laugh

"You're a devious one, aren't you?"

To that, Kaede laughed

"What can I do? One of my teammates was a fox after all, I had to step up my game, no?"

They all smiled at that

Looking at the sun slowly setting in the horizon, Kaede's smile slowly turned into a peaceful expression as her eyes slowly closed again

"So this is how it feels like..."

She said, before her eyes closed once again

Luna looked at her and said

"She's still breathing..."

The other two looked at each other

"We should take her to Konoha... Maybe she can get better in the hospital?"

Sasuke said, but Naruto wasn't very convinced

Last time someone he cared was in an hospital, they died, and he wasn't even there to see

"I don't know how much that would help..."

But Luna said

"It's better than nothing, though..."

Thinking about it, Naruto just agreed

It wasn't like keeping Kaede there would do her any good after all

"Okay... Let's go"

-=-

A few days later in Konoha

Hokage's building

"Tsunade! You can't possibly be thinking of not having her eyes studied even now that she is dead?!"

"This is absurd! In your place, I would-"

"You would shut your damn mouth and remember who the Hokage is!"

Tsunade said coldly to Homura and Koharu, the village elders

"You!"

Their disatisfaction with her were in an all time high

Danzo dying mysteriously made them aware of their impending doom

Old age was quickly catching up to them, and they saw in Kaede's new dojutsu a way to save themselves

If it could turn her life force into chakra, killing her each time she used it

It might be able to do the opposite, giving them life force in exchange for chakra

Different from Kaede, who had her ability to use chakra removed by Rimuru, they didn't, after all

"All Uchiha corpses are property of the mew Uchiha clan patriarch, Uchiha Sasuke.

You two have no say in that matter."

Tsunade's words reminded the two elders that as soon as Sasuke came back from successfully 'hunting' the S rank missing nin Itachi, Tsunade immediately made him a jonin, and gave him the right to claim his clan's patriarch seat

"To give that much power to a kid... You must be getting senile Tsunade!"

*SLAM*

Tsunade slammed her hand into the desk, glaring at the two elders

"I have been tolerating you two in the name of my late teacher, but don't expect me to let you two run your tongues like that again"

To her cold glare, they just snorted and left

If she wasn't going to take action, they would

Knowing that, Tsunade called an ANBU to follow them

As the ANBU left, so did the cat that was in her window, unnoticed

-=-

Konoha's hospital

Kaede had just been deemed dead

Sasuke and Hinata stood in the room where she was left at

Sasuke was left thinking about their final moments together a few days ago

While Hinata who knew her eye couldn't really kill her, was left thinking about it

Suddenly, the door of the room was shot open, revealing the two elders, who stormed in and said

"You two, leave the dead uchiha's side"

But they were ignored completely, qs.if they weren't even there

Fuming with anger from their time at Tsunade's, they immediately demanded again

"We are here to take the dead uchiha's corpse! Do not impede our work!"

"Out"

To their words, Sasuke only said one word

"Uchiha! Dont you dare! Just because you're suddenly a patriarch doesn't mean you-"

"I said out, are you two deaf?"

"You!"

Fuming once again, the two elders looked at Sasuke with anger

They couldn't do anything to him, he was stronger than them

Accepting defeat for now they turned to leave, but not before doing one last stupid thing

"Good riddance"

Looking at Kaede's corpse, it was unknown which one of them said that

It didn't matter in the end though, as the unbearable pressure of Sasuke's Eternal Mangekyo and Hinata's unnamed nee Dojutsu beared down on them

While they had their backs turned to Sasuke and Hinata, they could still see their eyes

Looking down upon them as if they were ants being watched by two uncaring gods

They dared not to breathe, not to move, not to exist in such presence of such beings

When the ANBU Tsunade sent after them arrived, they were long dead in the floor, the cause was not breathing

When Sasuke and Hinata left to prepare for Kaede's funeral, they only said two words to the recently deceased elders

"Good riddance"

-=-