Before Naraku could finish speaking, a red-haired figure rushed in through the door.
Sister Kana shoved the insulated lunchbox into Kakashi's arms, who was stunned with his hand still being held, and buried her head on Naraku's arm, crying loudly.
"Waaah, waaah, waaah… Naraku! Oh, Naraku…"
Naraku awkwardly let go of Kakashi, prioritizing comforting the one who was crying, patting Sister Kana's back to help her calm down.
"Sister Kana… don't cry, it's all my fault… for making you so sad, I'm sorry…"
The more he spoke like this, the louder Sister Kana cried. In a panic, she looked at Kakashi as if asking for help, as if saying, "Help me."
Kakashi shifted the insulated lunchbox to his other hand, pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket, and offered it to Sister Kana: "Wipe your face, the quilt is all wet."
"Wuu…!"
Sister Kana choked back a sob, took the handkerchief, and wiped her face clean. She looked left and right at the two boys who were silently avoiding each other's gaze, feeling despair at their communication efficiency.
She didn't even need to ask; she knew these two still chose to keep things to themselves, only wanting to bear it alone.
They could talk normally with others, so why did they become like a gourd with its mouth sawed off whenever they encountered each other?
"Kakashi, you go eat outside!"
"?"
Kakashi pointed at himself in surprise. After receiving Sister Kana's affirmative look, he hesitated to speak but ultimately obeyed, carrying the food container and walking out the door.
Before he could even open the lid of the insulated lunchbox, he heard Sister Kana's voice coming from inside the room.
Although the volume was much lower, he could still make out what she was saying.
In the ward, Sister Kana calmed her emotions and decided to proceed with the plan, directly breaking the ice.
Naraku didn't have much time left; he couldn't continue living under the misunderstanding with his close friend.
"Tell me the truth, Naraku, after Sakumo-sensei fell into a coma, you and Kakashi had a fight, didn't you?"
The boy on the bed's breathing hitched. The monitoring equipment showed his heart rate suddenly accelerating and becoming erratic, repeatedly blaring alarms.
Driven by panic and pain, he began to gasp rapidly, tears unconsciously welling up in his eyes, seemingly trapped in the memory he least wanted to face.
But even so, Naraku still forced himself to swallow the metallic taste in his throat, trying to answer Sister Kana's question: "Yes… we fought… it was my fault… that's why Kakashi was angry…"
"You fool!"
Sister Kana interrupted Naraku's self-blaming words, wishing she could punch him in the head, tears welling up again and moistening her eyes in anger.
"You've lived with Kakashi for so long, don't you understand him?"
"How could he say such things?!"
"Don't you feel like something was off?"
"But…" Naraku's voice became increasingly fragmented, filled with unspeakable bitterness, "Sensei… he… got hurt because he wanted to save me…"
He looked at the ceiling in repentance, but no tears would flow.
How could a withered heart shed tears? It would only feel endless pain.
"So… it was… my fault all along…"
"If it weren't for me… it wouldn't have turned out like this…"
"Kakashi blaming me… is only right…"
Kakashi, who was eavesdropping outside the door, only then realized what kind of coincidence he had caused.
Under the influence of genjutsu, the "unjust accusation" he placed on Naraku, for him to walk the "correct" path, had pierced the other's heart with uncanny precision.
Kakashi recalled that evening when the sky was filled with magnificent sunset glow. At that time, Naraku thought he and his father were special, that they wouldn't abandon him because he had no value or couldn't provide benefits.
But that trust was completely shattered by that misunderstanding.
In this world, no one would love Uchiha Naraku without expecting anything in return.
Naraku must have thought that way at the time.
Bitter tears fell one after another onto the food container, splashing up tiny droplets.
"You blockhead!" Sister Kana forcefully poked Naraku's forehead with her index finger, raising her voice by two pitches: "Are you even listening to what I'm saying?! I said Kakashi was not right at that time!"
"He was under a genjutsu that altered his perception! That wasn't his true intention at all!"
"He only broke free from the genjutsu when he learned you had died!"
"Then… Kakashi… he… *cough*…" Naraku's voice sounded a bit anxious, mixed with gasps and coughs, "Does he have any after-effects… *cough cough*… Has Tsunade-sensei… examined him…?"
Kakashi felt a pang of pain in his heart.
— That idiot's first reaction was still like this…!
Hearing the coughing grow increasingly violent, Kakashi didn't bother to carefully put down his things; he just flung his hand, turned, pulled open the door, and walked in.
Sister Kana had just helped remove the oxygen mask. Naraku, flustered by Kakashi's sudden appearance, tried to suppress his discomfort but couldn't stop the choking coughs.
"*Cough*… Kakashi… I… *cough cough*…"
"Alright, alright." Kakashi quickly came to the bedside, turned Naraku over, and patted his back, stopping him from trying to speak further: "Naraku, don't talk for now, breathe slowly…"
Sister Kana anxiously said she would go get Tsunade, leaving the two of them alone in the room.
Naraku tightly grasped Kakashi's wrist, frowning in discomfort. It took him a while to recover, and only when he let go did he realize that he had squeezed the other's skin red.
"I'm sorry… did I hurt you…?"
"Don't apologize to me, Naraku, never."
Kakashi lowered his head powerlessly, one hand propped on the bed, the other arm around Naraku's upper body, practically holding him in his embrace.
"I'm the one who messed everything up. I'm the one who said those things to you, and, and even threw away the necklace… I'm the one who should apologize the most. I'm sorry, Naraku, I'm sorry."
Naraku's gaze went over Kakashi's shoulder and back, focusing on the darkness in the corner of the room.
He couldn't smile, so he reached out and touched Kakashi's slightly messy white hair, his voice gentle and ethereal: "I know everything… Kakashi didn't do it on purpose, right…?"
"Do you believe such an absurd reason?"
"I believe, I will always believe Kakashi… and forgive Kakashi…"
"Don't forgive me so easily. At least hit me a few times, scold me a few times," Kakashi looked up at Naraku, as if having made up his mind, "Or, or you don't have to forgive me, as long as you're happy—"
"No… I don't want to do that to you…"
Naraku shook his head, curving his eyebrows and eyes, trying to give the other a bit of a smile: "Because Kakashi is my best friend…"
In the corridor outside the ward.
Sister Kana bit her lip and wiped away tears, her sleeve completely soaked.
Tsunade, on the other hand, sighed helplessly, thinking that these two little ancestors had finally cleared things up, otherwise, she didn't know how long they would torment themselves.
As for the true time Naraku awakened his Mangekyo, let it remain a permanent secret.
Presumably, Naraku would never mention it to Kakashi either.