Chapter 94

I woke up quite unexpectedly, right in the middle of the night. Not that I had slept well, quite the opposite - with all this turmoil in the hospital, huge anxiety, and sheer physical exhaustion, my eyelids felt like they were made of concrete, and my mind refused to process the signals sent by my body. However, iron embraces, as if breaking bones to an ordinary person, a wet shirt, and quiet sobs next to me definitely didn't contribute to a restful sleep. With a resigned sigh, I lowered my right hand, propped under my head, onto Saya's shoulder and gently stroked.

"What happened, Ma?" - I couldn't get a coherent answer, just some muttering mixed with sobs.

"Ka-chan, why did you wake up in the middle of the night and suddenly decide to suffocate me in your arms and drown me in tears?" - I tried again.

Unfortunately, this time I couldn't make out anything except the word "died". Sighing, I rubbed my eyes and shifted slightly on the bed, pulling Saya closer to me so that she was almost on top of me, and began soothingly stroking her back and short hair (unfortunately, she had cut her braid when she returned to duty). In this situation, all that was left was to wait until she calmed down. After a dozen minutes, the flow of tears stopped, and I could try asking again.

"So?"

"I had a nightmare that I was left all alone, and you died right after Ryuta," Ma whispered quietly, wiping her face with her pajama sleeve.

Not that I saw it, but the bone-crushing embrace loosened, and by the movement of the air, you could tell she was moving.

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere," I sighed, inwardly cursing the Iwa shinobi and the war that had begun.

It seems the head injury didn't just go away, although there were no obvious injuries except for a concussion. Or maybe it's just nervous - not everyone can endure so much time on the brink of death without consequences.

"Uh-huh."

"Well, now that we've established that I'm not going anywhere, we can get a few more hours of sleep until dawn!" - Ma declared with slightly exaggerated enthusiasm.

Without waiting for an answer, I interlocked my hands around Saya's waist and, pressing my nose into the head lying on my shoulder, closed my eyes. Blissful oblivion of sleep came instantly.

***

Persistent sun rays that managed to penetrate through the slits between the closed curtains slowly moved across the bed, illuminating the sleeping couple. As the rising sun moved, bright rays slowly moved across the floor until they reached the woman's face, causing her to squint and try to turn away. Unfortunately, the attempt was unsuccessful, and bright green eyes, clouded with sleep, opened.

Squinting from the bright light shining in her eyes, Saya Nara raised her head and sleepily looked around, trying to understand where she was. But the familiar surroundings and strands of such recognizable red hair on her husband's chest reassured her. With a satisfied sigh, Nara lowered her head back onto his shoulder and sighed contentedly, enjoying the familiar scent and warmth of Ryuta's embrace. They loved to cuddle early in the morning in each other's company, while their son was still asleep.

Something in her recent thoughts seemed very wrong to Saya, but her sleepy mind couldn't grasp the reason. Until memories of the events of the past few days brutally shattered the illusion of happiness, causing tears to well up in the corners of her eyes. Ryuta had long been dead, and now lying next to her was not him, but Ryo, who had been by her side all evening and night. Sniffling, Saya wiped away the moisture on her pajama sleeve and mentally scolded herself for her moment of weakness. Despite the injury she had sustained, life went on, and there was quite a solid chance of recovery, if not with the help of her son, then with the services of more experienced iryo-nin when they appeared in the village. Fortunately, there was enough money saved up, despite the missions being unpaid during the war when everything necessary was provided by the village.

Sighing, Saya pushed aside a few strands of hair that had ended up on her son's face and gently ran her fingers along his cheek. With each passing year, he became more and more like an exact copy of his father and grandfather, inheriting from her only the piercing green eyes that Ryuta had loved so much.

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