Awaken, My Darling

"Hey Kitty-Kat, wonderful morning don't you think?"

The older man climbs through the window into the hospital room greeting his daughter with a raised palm, his pure white spikes glistening with the golden hues of the early dawn. His bright smile softens as he approaches the bed where she lays and sits down at her side. He chuckles softly to himself, she would probably hate that nickname, Please never call me that again, she would say as she tries to stifle her cute snorts.

"You know, you're really missing out," he comments gently tucking some of the loose strands behind her ear, noticing the ones a bit unnaturally short compared to the rest. His hand trembles as his thumb glides along the cut tresses.

He exhales deeply and closes his eyes, "I can't forgive him for this." Jiraiya turns his head so his eyes land on Tsunade's leaning on the doorframe.

"Do you really think he knew," she asks as she approaches the bedside and inspects the I.V line attached at the crook of Katsume's elbow. Then proceeding to check the rest of her vitals, finding them steady as they have been.

"Yes, Katsume caught the spy herself, he must've overheard me call her my daughter." Jiraiya's eyebrows draw in as he recalls her words–a few too many ears. This concern in her features should have been his telling that something like this would happen. Everything about that mission was fishy, he thought, he should've been more cautious.

"I understand you're proud, but her relation to us needs to stay quiet. You and I have far too many enemies, Jiraiya."

"Don't you think I know that, Tsunade? Do you really think I don't know how much I screwed up? Now, look at her."

Jiraiya lets out a shaky breath wiping his hand down his face and leaves it there, shielding his emotion from escaping any further. The woman reaches across the bed and gently places her hand over his pulling it from his face so he can see her. " You saved her, Jiraiya, and you brought our daughter back to us. She's still healing, but she's going to be okay. We just have to wait it out," she assures as she turns to caress the top of Katsume's head. This is the first time she's had the opportunity to show her appreciation, and she realizes her hair has a faint blonde undertone to it. She smiles as her eyes soften in her adoration.

He stares at his hand in Tsunade's and trails to her soft chocolate orbs, finding some comfort in her words and the gratitude in her gentle gaze, and he sighs a more relieved breath. He smiles softly watching as she smooths out their daughter's ivory tresses. "I wish she'd hurry it up, I miss her."

"Me too. Although she probably wouldn't say the same for me," she lets out a hollow chuckle and her features fall, "I don't know if I can ever make up for what I did to her, or you, but I'll spend the rest of my life trying. I won't let her leave this world before me, I'll give my life before I let someone take hers from me. You have my word."

Jiraiya laughs quietly, "Well, that's what it means to be a parent. It'll take a while for us to get the hang of it, but you and I are figuring it out, together. She'll come around eventually, Tsunade. She's been through a lot, just give her time."

Their gazes gravitate to one another and they smile. They just need time. Time to grow, to change, to evolve. To be the parents that their daughter deserves. The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. Katsume took the excruciating first step, and now it is time for them to help her walk, be the shoulders for her to lean on whether she wants them or not. Be her guides–one in the light, and one in the shadows.

They will be with her...every step of the way.

________________________________________________________________________________

Soft steps sound within the sterilized room, a small (obligatory) bouquet of Scotch Brooms swishing lightly with every stride. The owner of the steps sets the bouquet on the bedside table. He should probably get a vase for them, she should get the chance to see them when she wakes up. He felt a bit accomplished with his pick of the blooms. Although, Ino Yamanaka was adamant he get something more...personal, like red roses or tulips. However, they just didn't fit. They didn't feel right, and he was adamant those sorts of flowers wouldn't convey his intention accurately. He was grateful. He wanted to offer his gratitude for accompanying Naruto and Sakura so they wouldn't be marked as missing shinobi. He wanted to display his gratitude for assisting Master Jiraiya with the investigation that eventually guided them to the location of one of Orochimaru's bases–getting them a step closer to finding Sasuke. For protecting and watching over his rowdy group, and according to Master Jiraiya, her strength and intellect were what led them to such a conclusion.

Lady Tsunade had informed him and the rest of his team that Katsume's condition was caused by an overdose of a sedative, two separate ones that concocted and clashed in their symptoms, but altogether slowed activity in her brain, leaving her in a coma. She assured them that she should wake up in a day or two, once her system breaks down the foreign bodies and that they are delivering fluids to flush out the substance quickly. However, it has been more than a day or two. A week, to be exact. The Hokage ensured that it was just taking a while for her system to break it down naturally and she'll just be asleep longer than originally thought. Her heart rate had picked up and her vibrance was returning to her previously cold and pale skin. Katsume was no longer on the brink of death but she was surely taking her sweet ass time to return to reality.

Kakashi exhales heavily, positioning himself to sit in the chair between the open window and the bed where she lays. What is wrong with him? Shinobi get injured on missions all the time, and he comes for an obligatory visit and sometimes brings obligatory get-well-soon flowers, like today. So, how is this one any different? Maybe because it's he's visited multiple times a day for the past week since she's been admitted. "Why?" you ask. Great question, Kakashi would like to know as well. These visits weren't obligatory, he knew that much despite his cognitive contradictions. Guilt? That could be part of it, he felt guilty having not accompanied them, or maybe because he didn't catch the genin acting on their agenda beforehand. All true, but there is something more. Had he just gotten comfortable in her persistent presence? In other words–had he acquired some kind of...fondness for her?

His gaze migrates to the bouquet of flowers on the bedside table. Scotch Blooms–a yellow medicinal flower for regulating the heart and circulatory system. A bit on the nose if he says so. They also symbolize strength, courage, and abundance. Honestly, they are kind of small and odd-looking and by no means extravagant, but he found them oddly charming. Extravagance wasn't really his style anyway, although certainly hers. Originally, he was going to purchase the Morning Glories, for their incessant persistence, because if you are not careful, they are known to completely take over your yard...

Maybe he should have bought both.

He wishes she'd wake up and make fun of him already, but he guesses it's in Katsume fashion to catch him off his guard. Flashes of all of their encounters cross his mind, noting that in every one of them, she had taken him by surprise in some way. The realization makes him chuckle softly. She really throws him off, he thought, and she doesn't even need her chakra suppression technique to do it. The sight of her face hanging upside down centimeters from his nose comes into his mental image. She almost saw what he was reading, he's sure if she had seen it he'd be on the tail end of endless degenerate and perverted jokes. At this point, he'd read the damn book aloud to her if it meant she would wake up and tease him.

He quickly retracted that thought.

He leaned back in the chair by the window gazing out to the courtyard. The perimeter is lined with a variety of shrubbery with little flowers of their own. The sun was at its peak since it was nearing lunchtime, but he had decided to forego the meal today, he'll eat when he gets home later. He wasn't sure why he wanted to be here when she woke up. Maybe to apologize, but she'd probably whack him and tell him he had no reason to apologize. Then probably make a quip about her being domestically violent in their "relationship". That should not be joked about, but he's come to the conclusion that there is almost nothing she wouldn't poke fun at, finding dark humor is a particular favorite of hers. However, her melodic laughter often made it hard for him not to join in, ultimately leading to him being ashamed of himself for laughing at something so insensitive, so he tries his best not to react. But one, in particular, she told him randomly, made him snicker while watching the genin practice at the training field. Perhaps because of the innocence of it compared to the other ones she comes up with.

A man walks into an enchanted forest and tries to cut down a talking tree.

"You can't cut me down," the tree exclaims, "I'm a talking tree!"

The man responds, "You may be a talking tree, but you will dialogue."

He wasn't sure what he laughed at more at the time, the joke itself or her inability to finish it without bursting into laughter herself.

Kakashi smiles as he pulls out Icha Icha Paradise and waits for Naruto and Sakura to make their inevitable appearance. He had run into Master Jiraiya and Lady Fifth in the hallway as they were leaving and Kakashi was entering, feeling incredibly awkward as the older man gave him a sly smile in passing as Lady Tsunade giggled quietly. He probably didn't want to know what it was supposed to imply, but also noticed he'd seen them together more often...

He slinks down in the chair and lays his ankle over his other knee for more comfort as he reads the first line on the page. Then the second, then the third, and then the fourth. Wait...what happened again? His eye trails back to the first line as he re-reads the passage.

As hard as he tried to concentrate on his book, he just couldn't tame his racing thoughts. Maybe he should just close his eyes and try to relax. He does have the day off, after all. However, this proves to be impossible as well, so instead, he lolls his head to the side, planting his chin in the palm of his hand, simply gazing out the window as before. Kakashi allows his thoughts to wander and travel to every end of his mind, bouncing and evolving until his mind has thought every thought and inevitably shuts down in exhaustion. And after over an hour of staring out the window but not really seeing, his eyes finally let him catch up on some much-needed rest.

________________________________________________________________________________

Her eyes flutter and blink once, twice, and a third time before finally adjusting to open and see a bright and endlessly blue sky

...without a sun.

She notices she's lying down on a small clearing of luscious green grass surrounded by dense maple trees and sits up to see a familiar scene–she's in the clearing by her childhood cottage, where the Old Bat always took her to train...she's back home. But how is that possible? She was just on the other side of the country, near Otogakure. Was she attacked and sent somewhere with some kind of transportation jutsu? No, that's much too far. So, maybe she fell asleep and she's dreaming. That is the most logical explanation, she concluded.

"That doesn't look like warming up to me."

A voice sounds out from behind her. Why didn't she notice their presence? She slowly turns to look at the owner of the familiar raspy voice. A heavy gust of wind whips to scatter the five-prong leaves throughout the air of her vision as a short gasp part her lips, her ivory tresses flowing gently with the current.

No. No, no that's not right. Her eyes scan from the bottom of the woman's shoes trailing up along her navy blue kimono and baby-blue sash wrapped snuggly around her waist, then to her wrinkled skin and squinted eyes that were too stubborn to put on some damn glasses. And...the dreaded three-foot bamboo stick in her seemingly frail right hand, which had split from it coming down on Katsume's head so many times that it makes a clacking noise every time it makes contact with a surface.

Shit! Am I dead?! (she thought this incredulously.)

No, she thinks it is highly improbable an enemy could have possibly snuck up on her without her sensing them first, she was on high alert after the encounter with those Fuma Clan members back at the temple, and also the bandits from the village. Not to mention that pesky fly with the wall ears. (Oh, if she only knew she was bested by a twelve-year-old girl a foot away from her.)

"This bamboo stick has been itching...better get on your drills," the woman lightly threatens with a creased smile.

It seems as if she doesn't have any control over this dream because if she did she'd definitely be at that barbeque joint in the village where she met Asuma Sarutobi and his team ten–Shikamaru, Chouji, oh...and Ino Yamanaka– the blonde guy that helped torture her when she first arrived in the village was apparently her father...Katsume isn't one to hold a grudge against someone just doing their job, so it was actually a very pleasant introduction to one of the other teams she will be getting to know.

Whack!

"Fuck!" Katsume flails her arms at the sudden intrusion on her reminiscing to remind her of her current situation–That Old Bat.

Whack!

"Dammit, you hag! What was that one for," she yells, falling into the nostalgic rhythm of her past.

The Old Bat cackles, nearly keeling over at the sight of Katsume's irate expression while she simultaneously pouts and rubs her head. The older woman heaves trying to catch her breath from her self-inflicted hysterics. "Your...language!"

"What?! I got my sailor mouth from you, you sadistic old woman!" Katsume stares at the cackling woman flabbergasted, not only at her presence but the audacity her brain has to allow her to get her ass beat again by this hag!

"Drills!"

Whack!

Katsume rubs her head again and grumbles, at least that whack was lighter, "How did I get stuck working out in my own dream."

She then proceeds to do said workouts. They were simple exercises the Bat had her do to warm up her body and mind for the day's intense chakra control lessons–jogging, push-ups, crunches, and burpees...cursed burpees. Seriously, fuck those. She swears under her breath as she squats, then leans into a push-up, then pops back up to her feet, and jumps as high as she can. Although at her current strength the workout should have been a piece of cake, she was unmistakably exhausted after just the warm-up–like when she was younger. She heaved, her lungs desperately grasping at as much oxygen as they could get their greedy hands on and quell the flaming in her chest built up from the lactic acid. Burnt out already, Katsume flops back onto the refreshing grass, the crisp sensation from the dew cooling her down as she controls her breathing to calm her elevated heart rate. She closes her eyes in utter exhaustion, realizing she hasn't felt this fatigued for a lengthy amount of time.

Whack!

Katsume coughs violently, having been struck in the stomach as she lies. This can't possibly be a dream, because that fucking hurt!

"Push past your mental limits to find your definitive physical one. If you're not dead you can keep fighting. Know your limits and surpass them. That's the only way to get stronger."

The Old Bat looks down over Katsume, watching as rolls over onto her hands and knees while holding her stomach.

"Demented hag! I want to sleep, I don't care about passing my limits! I've passed them long ago," Katsume groans as she shifts to sit on her knees, glaring at the older woman.

"You cannot sleep. And you haven't passed them. There's always something more. Limitations are a conjugation of your own mind, there is ever room for growth. And there will always be limits to exceed. No matter how strong you think you are, you can get stronger, be smarter, operate more suitably–evolve."

"I don't remember you spewing this shit at me when I was twelve, ya old bat."

Whack!

"Screw off!"

Whack!

"Goddamnit! Fine!" Katsume ultimately gives up the senseless argument, she knew she would never win anyway.

The Old Bat smiles cheekily, and bends over slightly to look Katsume in her fiery eyes, "Glad we could come to an agreement."

So that's where I got that from. Damn hag. She thought as she narrows her gaze giving a feigned smile.

Katsume reluctantly stands and the older woman's gaze follows as she stretches to her full height. She's certainly much taller than she was when she was a lousy kid. Standing at a whopping five-eight (and three-quarters) as compared to a woman's average height of about five-four. Katsume hovers directly in front, looking down at her with the old woman's neck craned to continue looking her in the eye.

"Guess you have grown." she smiles up at her.

Katsume doesn't return her smile, her ivory eyebrows furrow, all of her emotions along with the setting finally sinking into her cognitive front as her eyes scan over the woman's face. It's her. But instead of the happiness she thought she should feel, she felt her nostalgic rage bubble and boil within her chest burn hotter, clawing and begging to be released...so she gave it some slack.

"How dare you leave me," she states coldly.

The Old Bat's eyes soften as she tilts her head slightly, "I know, I'm sorry. You knew I was old. You knew it was coming. I could not live forever, my dear, my time was long overdue. But I got to raise you, and that was a hell of a way to end it if I say so." She chuckles softly as she raises her frailty to cup her face, wiping away a tear that had escaped without Katsume's knowledge. "Let go, it's okay."

And gradually...she did. She leaned into the woman's palm as her face contorted from one emotion to another, to another, and her tears fell unrestrained.

"I hated you. I hated you so damn much! I hated your training. I hated your damn bamboo stick. I hated the pain. I hated your cooking. I hated your boring lessons. I hated that I was an obligation. I hated that every damn day when I woke up to your old ass, it was because I wasn't enough!... I wasn't enough for them. I wasn't enough for her. And when I finally came to terms with that I was just enough for you, YOU FUCKING LEFT ME TOO!"

She lets out a loud frustratingly pained cry. Before completely breaking down and collapsing to her knees. Why was she crying so damn much? She thought she came to terms with this already. It doesn't change a thing. She's still gone and has been for over a decade.

However, it changed everything. Because she was finally letting her go, letting out everything she wished she could have said before the woman passed to the beyond. The best way to put this is–Closure. And whether it be a dream, a figure of her imagination due to unforeseen circumstances, or if she was really there in front of her on the grounds that she truly is dead. It was closure all the same. Whether she was real or not. It was still her. That old damn bat. Holding her, entwining her finger through her hair as her tears fall to soak her kimono in her lap. Her frailty wrapped around her pulling her closer to remind her that she is indeed there, held in her frigid embrace.

"I'm so sorry, my sun. My only Sun. I wish I could've stayed, been with you while you grew, but I watched over you. And I'm so proud of how far you've come, all on your own, my dear." She gives her a sorrowful smile. And after a moment of the only sound being her heavy sobs and the whisper of the wind through the trees, Katsume lifts her head from her chest as her hands ascend to cradle her mother's head. The older woman gently does the same as Katsume touches her forehead to hers, blinking away the flowing river in her eyes.

"I loved you. I loved you so damn much. I loved your training and your bamboo stick because it made me stronger, you had me push for myself, not for you. I loved your cooking and your lessons, even though you sucked as both a teacher and a chef. I loved that you didn't make me feel like an obligation. To you–I was enough. And that was enough for me to love you. To mourn you. And to hate you as much as I did. I'm sorry...I'm sorry for hating you after everything you did for me."

The Old Bat hugged her, and Katsume held on as long as she could. Afraid that if she let go she would be gone once again. She pulls away looking at Katsume and cupping her cheeks so she can look into her amber eyes one last time.

"I love you, but you have to wake up now. They're all waiting for you. I'm glad you found yourself a good bunch, so go, don't stay and sulk with the likes of me. Live your life. If you stay here you'll never find what you're looking for."

"What? Who's waiting for me? What am I looking for?" Katsume frantically searches her eyes.

No...I'm not ready yet.

"You'll know when you find it." The older woman strokes the hair from her face behind her ear. Then takes her hands and guides her to stand.

Katsume reluctantly follows her actions, "Wait, who are you...really?"

"It doesn't matter who I am, I have no real identity anyways. I'm just The Old Bat. And that is all I wish to be," she shrugs, giving Katsume absolutely nothing.

She deadpans, "Obscure as always."

The old bat chuckles softly, "It is of no importance, I'm just some old ninja lady that lived past her expiration date."

"Far past, if you ask me."

Whack!

"Ow."

The Old Bat chuckles while rubbing Katsume's head where she smacked her, "Now, go on. I'll always be with you, Katsume. Every time the moon shines down on you, I will be too. I don't want to see you back here for a long time, okay?" She gives her a final hug. Katsume smiles, finally understanding.

"I love you more than the sun shines on a clear summer day."

"I love you more than the full moon shines in the midnight sky"

________________________________________________________________________________

In a crisp and clean room of the hospital lies a man, having shifted in his heavy sleep to lay in a more comfortable position–resting his head on his right arm on the bed with the left laid out haphazardly–snoring softly.

There's a stir within the sheets and after a moment a hand is felt in his hair, gently awakening him from his dozing at the odd sensation. His heavy eyelids flutter to blurrily see the radiant smile attached to the hand entwined in his silver strands.

"Hey, Stranger."