Chapter 241: The Weight of a Broken World

Suigetsu had left Amegakure a year ago. Not because he disliked the village, but because both Karin and Shigure agreed on one thing, compared to the people in the village, Kakashi needed him more. And that, unfortunately, was true.

It took Suigetsu a very long time to understand Kakashi's repeated mutterings. "Not one hundred fifty left... six hundred forty-three remaining..." That sentence had become a curse. Kakashi occasionally suffered from episodes of mental disorientation. During those moments, he would repeat a single phrase endlessly, unable to respond to anything around him. No, he wasn't simply unresponsive. He was deaf. And worse, when the condition struck, even lip-reading became impossible. His entire body would tremble, and in severe cases, he would cough up blood. These episodes became more frequent after meetings with the Sixth Hokage.

Working with Kakashi during these times was exhausting. So Suigetsu and Pakkun usually left him alone when the symptoms began. The two of them would instead try to decipher whatever fragmented sentence he kept repeating. Sometimes Orochimaru would join them for amusement, but not this time. Orochimaru was absent. Kakashi hadn't been injured during the assassination of the Fourth Raikage or the attack on Killer Bee, so there was no reason for medical involvement, which meant no Orochimaru.

But avoiding communication was even worse, because Kakashi's memory was deteriorating. More and more often, Suigetsu and Pakkun had to remember mission details for him.

"What is the mission this time?" Suigetsu asked slowly, carefully. He added hand signs as he spoke. He had learned sign language long ago, and Pakkun confirmed Kakashi could understand it too.

But Kakashi didn't respond. He only continued muttering, "Not one hundred fifty... six hundred forty-three..."

Pakkun and Suigetsu exchanged a look. Then both nodded.

Pakkun bit Kakashi's leg. Suigetsu slapped him across the face. The infamous scourge of the shinobi world jerked violently, snapping out of his trance.

"I get it, I get it! Not six hundred thirty-four, one hundred fifty, no, not that!" His words collapsed into chaos. The condition was worsening.

Suigetsu sighed. He grabbed Kakashi's messy white hair and forced him to face forward. Slowly, carefully, "What is the mission? Who are we killing?" He mimed a cutting motion across his neck.

Kakashi's eyes focused again. Not on numbers anymore. On death. "Right... right... kill him... kill him... not the Raikage, kill Killer Bee..."

Suigetsu sighed deeply. So we really did kill the wrong target last time. This is bad. We cannot mess it up again. He slapped Kakashi again.

"Raikage is already dead. So who now? Iwagakure? Kirigakure? Land of Iron? Land of Wind? Or Konoha?"

"Not kill Tsuchikage... not kill..." Kakashi shook his head violently.

Pakkun memorized everything carefully. Suigetsu glanced at him. "Go ahead. I used strength earlier."

Pakkun nodded. Suigetsu hit him harder. Blood spilled from Kakashi's nose and mouth. He collapsed. Then suddenly, as if remembering something, he began bowing repeatedly toward empty air, whispering broken fragments of speech. "Not kill Tsuchikage... kill Suigetsu... not kill Chojuro... six hundred thirty-four... not one hundred fifty..."

The pattern was confirmed.

Eventually, when Kakashi could say nothing else, Pakkun administered a heavy sedative. The source of all evil finally fell asleep, hugging a strange stuffed toy shaped like a chibi Pakkun, still murmuring, "...not one hundred fifty..."

Before reviewing the data, Pakkun pressed a paw against Suigetsu's hand. His expression was serious. "Six slaps. You deal with it or I will."

Suigetsu surrendered. He left the cave. Returned one minute later. His right cheek was swollen.

"So... Chojuro or Suigetsu? Who dies, who survives?"

"I vote Chojuro dies."

"You're unreliable. Last time you said Raikage died and we got it wrong."

Pakkun stared. "I vote Suigetsu dies."

Suigetsu pulled out a coin. "The fate of life and death is decided." Heads, Chojuro dies. Tails, Suigetsu dies. The coin spun, fell, silent.

Elsewhere, the aftermath of war. A village of six hundred forty three people: two hundred thirty three blind, thirty seven deaf, twenty nine mute, one hundred six crippled, fifty three paralyzed. Only one hundred eighty five remained physically whole. Of those, ninety seven were bound by cursed sealing needles, and eighty eight bore non-human marks of torture. There wasn't a single healthy person left.

The Sand ninja who came to collect three hundred test subjects for poison research quietly turned around and left. There was nothing usable here.

The Sixth Hokage reviewed the report. Maybe I went too far. Still, he improved rations. Two salted rice balls and seaweed soup became two salted rice balls and seaweed egg radish soup. A small mercy in a war turning everything into starvation.

The world at war. Neji was recalled to Konoha. His replacement did not torture prisoners like Neji, but he did not hesitate to kill. Tenten stopped trying to speak with him.

Before the war began, Might Guy and Rock Lee tried to bring Tenten back. Lee performed his passionate taijutsu demonstrations, trying to reignite her spirit. But Tenten only thought, how many of them will lose everything because of this? So she stayed.

Guy left all his savings with her before departing, and said quietly, "Thank you... for Kakashi."

Hinata came too. She apologized again and again. Tenten apologized too. Neither of them solved anything. Hinata left a boxed lunch. Tenten threw it away. Inside were rice balls shaped like eyes, with "I love you" written in seaweed.

Tenten had no one left. Only fragments of old friendships: Sakura, Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, Lee, Neji, Hinata. But none of them stayed. Only memories. Konoha still had bonds. I don't.

Karin laughed softly. "That's normal. Even Akatsuki's like that. It's all idiots pretending to be scary."

Tenten listened quietly. And somewhere in the broken world, she wondered if she was already the same.