Naruto: Azure Awakening Ch 88 - The Bond

A/N - Thank you, Brian Smith for supporting Azure Awakening!

After the fight, Maki turned to Shin and chuckled.

“This is awkward. A few hours ago, you tried to kill us, and I was all for punishing you… but now you helped us. So what should we do with you?”

“I promised him freedom in exchange for his help,” the Water Daimyo’s relative chid in with a bright smile.

She was a strange one - she was almost killed twice in a single day but still was beaming as if she was the happiest person in the world.

Shin exhaled, adjusting his stance. “I don’t care what you decide, now that I’m free, I won’t let you capture that easily.” His fingers hovered near his blade, ready to defend himself if needed.

Maki studied him for a mont, then suddenly flickered behind him.

Shin instinctively jumped back, drawing his sword, but his focused and determined expression shattered when he saw Maki laughing, not just chuckling, but laughing with her whole body.

His right eyebrow twitched.

‘This girl is even weirder than that Daimyo’s relative.’

“Relax,” Maki grinned. “I was just playing with you. A few hours ago, your eyes looked dead, but now, you seem to actually want to live. Go and enjoy it.”

Her smile slowly faded, her voice becoming quieter.

Shin hesitated.

“…Why did you save when my forr team attacked?”

Maki’s expression turned unreadable.

“Your eyes reminded of… soone I knew.” She paused for a mont, as if weighing her words. “I decided that death wouldn’t be a punishnt for you, it would be salvation.”

Shin’s eyes widened slightly, unsure what to make of that answer.

“But now that we’re on sowhat friendlier terms,” Maki continued, “let tell you sothing. There’s always a aning to life… you just have to find it.”

Shin’s journey to the mory lane was interrupted when he saw Kaoru approaching Maki.

For a brief mont, he considered joining them, but the look on Kaoru’s face made him stop.

The boy was clearly shaken, and from his expression, it was obvious that whatever he was about to say to Maki was serious.

Shin wasn’t the type to eavesdrop on family matters.

Without a word, he flickered away, leaving the siblings alone.

Maki had sensed Shin the mont he arrived, but she didn’t mind. He often watched her train like this, sotis even giving helpful advice based on what he observed. His presence had never made her uncomfortable.

But this ti, she had no ti to spare for distractions.

She was on a deadline. If she could break through her current limit, Takimura’s chances of survival would skyrocket. No number of jonin or chunin could match the impact of a single S-rank shinobi. One S-rank could turn the tide of war, shifting the balance more than an entire army.

She couldn’t fail.

As she focused, she sensed another person approaching.

Her brows furrowed in irritation.

‘What now?’

She was ready to scold whoever was disturbing her training until she recognized the chakra signature - it was Kaoru’s

Her eyes widened in confusion.

Kaoru knew she was training. He wouldn’t have co unless sothing important had happened.

Her heart skipped a beat, a brief flicker of worry flashing through her mind.

The mont she saw his expression, her stomach dropped.

“Ru, what happened?” Maki nearly scread.

Her mind had already raced through every terrible possibility in that fraction of a second.

“Maki I'm sorry for disturbing your training, I just wanted to ask you sothing…”

Kaoru hesitated, struggling to find the right words. Now that he was here, he didn’t even know what to say. It was as if his legs had brought him here on their own and his mind was still catching up.

“…Maki, did you hate … when… you know…”

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He couldn’t say the words.

He couldn’t say when I killed our mother.

He was afraid. Afraid that saying it out loud would make it real.

Afraid that it would reveal sothing he wasn’t ready to hear.

Maki stiffened. She knew exactly what he ant.

Maki avoided even thinking about this topic as much as she could as it was one of the most painful mories of her life.

“Ru… why are you asking this?” Her voice was softer now, but there was an edge to it.

“Please answer ,” Kaoru pressed, but he did not know why.

Maki exhaled slowly.

“Yes.”

Kaoru froze.

“I did hate you,” Maki admitted in a shaky voice. “But it was montary. I just needed ti to realize that it had nothing to do with you.”

She saw it - the flicker of pain that crossed Kaoru’s face at her words.

And she nearly lost it.

“Ru,” she continued quickly, stepping forward, “you are the most important person in my life. I would give up everything to protect you, even my own life. I was just a kid back then. I didn’t understand…”

“Don’t worry, Maki,” Kaoru interrupted, forcing a small, hollow smile. “I don’t bla you. You had every right to hate .”

His voice wavered.

“I’m sorry for bringing this up. I just… I don’t know. I guess I’m struggling to process it, and maybe I was looking for advice. I don’t even know what I expected to hear.”

His eyes darted around, looking anywhere but at her. He suddenly felt awkward standing there, facing her.

‘I ca here, interrupted her training, and for what? To remind her of one of the worst monts of her life? How can I be so clueless?’

But before he could sink deeper into his thoughts, Maki pulled him into a tight hug.

“You’re so stupid, Ru,” she whispered.

Kaoru’s body tensed for a mont before slowly relaxing.

“I might not have realized your importance to when I was seven, but not a single day passes now where I don’t thank the heavens that you exist. So, Ru, don’t ever bla yourself for that day.”

Her voice trembled.

Kaoru felt it - her tears, warm against his hair and cheeks.

His chest tightened.

He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close.

For a few monts, there were no words.

No guilt.

No burden.

Only the unspoken bond between them, pure and selfless.

In the dark world they lived in, there would always be light - a flicker of warmth, a guiding presence.

And for them, that light had always been each other.

Kaoru sat inside his tent, the dim light casting long shadows around him. The conversation with Maki had lifted most of the weight off his shoulders, but in its place, a new burden had settled.

‘This war threatens everything that is dear to .’

His fingers tightened around the scroll Suiren had given him.

He didn’t know what was inside, but it was safe to assu it contained sothing to strengthen the Suijingan.

The temptation was overwhelming.

‘If learning what’s inside this scroll can help us win the war, isn’t it worth it? Even if Grandma would be hurt or angry, isn’t it worth saving even one more life?’

The thought refused to leave him, his mind was drawn toward the scroll again and again.

He kept weighing the pros and cons, but in the end, he chose to follow Suiren’s wish.

Even if he didn’t feel obligated to keep the promise - since Suiren broke her part, she had decided to risk her life, despite swearing to him that she wouldn’t - Kaoru knew that if she died, and he had broken his promise, he would regret it for the rest of his life.

It would be a thorn buried deep in his conscience, sothing he would never be able to remove.

Besides, how realistic was it to learn a technique in a matter of days that would make a difference in such a difficult fight?

No matter how much he tried to rationalize his temptation, the urge to open the scroll lingered.

So instead of staying just to be tortured or swayed, he decided to leave his tent and seek distraction.

Unless it was Maki - the only one who had a real chance of breaking through to S-rank before the war - training was out of the question. No one was allowed to push themselves right before battle, everyone had to be in peak condition, and a few days of training wouldn’t make a difference.

But Kaoru could spar. Honing his kenjutsu and taijutsu wouldn’t drain him, and he knew exactly who to look for.

‘Akane and Sugeru are probably together sowhere.’

He had a hunch that those two would be together and he could use either of them to spar.

Kaoru stepped out of his tent. Each step he took made an unpleasant sound as his feet kept sinking into the damp soil. The camp was much less energetic and lively. The closer they got to the battle, the heavier the air beca. Even if he wasn’t scared, the tension in the camp was impossible to ignore. Now he needed to spar, not just to clear his mind but to shake off the weight pressing on his chest too. Plus, Sugeru and Akane’s bright personalities would be a welco distraction.

But as he neared them, he stopped.

They were sharing a al and laughing as they looked at each other with carefree and happy eyes.

For a mont, soone might have thought the food was actually good, but Kaoru knew better - the army cook’s als were terrible. That ant only one thing: the conversation they were having was good enough to make them forget the taste.

‘Fine, I won’t interrupt you, but you owe .’

He chuckled to himself and let Sugeru enjoy his mont.

Instead, he turned toward the forest, deciding a stroll would be enough to clear his head.

Activating his Suijingan, he let himself enjoy the sight of water flowing through the towering trees, weaving between roots and branches, coursing through the land like veins beneath the surface. It was beautiful, calming in a way few things were.

But sothing caught his eye.

Ahead, Mizuki was kneeling in the dirt, her head bowed.

Kaoru slowed his steps, approaching carefully.

The mont Mizuki noticed him, she shot up instantly, dusting off her clothes, biting the fabric to shake off the soil and leaves.

Kaoru chuckled, moving a small stream of water toward her clothes, rubbing away the dirt with ease.

"That’s a nifty trick," Mizuki muttered, still avoiding his gaze.

"Thanks," he said with a small smile. "What were you doing, if you don’t mind telling ?"

Despite being teammates for a long ti, there had always been a distance between them. They worked well together, got along just fine, but for so reason, they had never managed to beco actual friends.

Mizuki hesitated.

“…I was praying.”

She finally murmured and imdiately moved her gaze toward Kaoru, studying his reaction.

"I didn’t know you were a believer," Kaoru admitted. "I’m not. Actually, I don’t think I was ever even given any information about religion."

Mizuki chuckled faintly. "Are you asking to baptize you?"

She turned and started walking deeper into the forest.

Kaoru followed closer. "Why pray out here instead of in your tent or the camp? Is there no one else who shares your belief?"

She played with a strand of her hair. "I don’t like people watching with weird expressions. I’d rather pray in peace and silence."

She stopped suddenly, turning her head only to et Kaoru’s gaze. "Do you think we’ll survive this war?"

Kaoru blinked, surprised by the sudden question but answered firmly. "Absolutely. We’ll definitely survive."

Mizuki studied his face for a mont, searching for doubt, but she found none.

She chuckled. "Maybe I’ve just beco too skeptical after seeing nothing but loss my whole life."

Kaoru was silent for a mont before asking, "Where are you from, Mizuki?"

She tilted her head slightly.

"How about this," she smiled. "If we survive this war, I’ll tell you. If not, at least I’ll be sparing you one boring story."