A clicking noise jolts him awake. He lifts himself up, supporting his weight on his elbow, his head pounding. He looks around to find the culprit of the noise, and sees a small white bird sitting across from him quietly watching with golden eyes, occasionally pecking at the ants that litter the floor.

"Where am I?." He asks himself, getting to his feet. As he stands he feels a sharp pain in his right eye causes him to stumble forward and the bird flies away. As the pain subsides he notices the room, although it was the same sunroom he had stayed in with Luna it looked much different. Most of the windows had been smashed or cracked, it was filthy like it hadn't been cleaned in decades. The makeshift bed he had been lying on was made up of old tattered rags with small patches of rose print that had decayed over time. He turns to see the bed he had just laid Luna on, it was half broken and leaning down on one side, the blankets thrown about with stains of red blood no longer fresh. Her entire house looks as if no one has lived in it for years.

How can this be? He had just spent the last few days here watching Luna take care of the place, her plants that she had in pots around the room have grown wild over the floors and ceilings, even entangling themselves over the broken windows of the sunroom. None of this made sense, had he been unconscious for that long? He quickly finds a piece of the glass to view himself hoping he hadn't somehow skipped an entire decade.

His appearance hasn't changed at all, the only thing different is a golden glow to his right eye. Has he somehow obtained Luna's mystic eye? He tests it activating his third eye chakra, sure enough his eye glazes over with shining gold and a six pointed star forms in the middle.

"Gods." He whispers, touching his face in disbelief.

If he has obtained the mystic eye, then that would mean he had passed his test and completed his mission. Still it came with a cost he wished with all his soul he could reverse. He continues to look around the room trying to find pieces of Luna, there was nothing left that hadn't grown over or decayed away. He was beginning to think that this was all in his head, that maybe the Divine spirit had smacked his head harder than he thought. Yet he was healed and felt no pain or injuries. None of this makes any sense as he wanders around her house searching for anything that is hers.

He makes his way outside to the broken table and chairs he watched her play Shogi on. But the board was gone along with the crystals. There were no remnants of anything he had just done with Luna. He looks into the clearing before the tree line where the Oni appeared that is now overgrown, even the damage from the battle was gone, but something catches his eyes. A small flicker of light in the middle. He runs as fast as he can towards it, and as it comes into vision he sees a long shard of clear crystal with the same six point star engraved on it lying solely by itself. He picks it up feeling its energy, it felt like her, that warm tingling sensation he would get when he was around her, that feeling that made his heart flutter and long for her. This was his proof that she was real. His proof that all of what happened was true, there is no way he could have made it all up in his head. He takes the shard and tucks it into his chest pocket and thanks the gods for giving him a piece of her to remember by.

It was time to go home, he missed his bed, his cat, and his fellow shinobi. He knows Jaraya will have a ton of questions to ask when he gets back and he is eager to get answers himself. He takes one last look at everything remembering the images of her he had etched into his memory. And he walks into the woods on his way home.

——————————-

He closes the door quietly and walks over to the chair situated in front of Jiraiya's desk. He slumps down into it exhausted, but not physically, it was emotionally. He was heartbroken, and although he had closed the door to leading to Luna he still couldn't get her out of his head. He had spent the entire trek home fantasizing about her. At this point he will never get over her.

"Kakashi Hatake. You finally graced us with your presence."

"It's been a long few days." Kakashi sighs.

"Days? It's been three months! I was starting to get worried."

Three months? That's not possible...

"And from the look of disappointment on your face, you have completed the mission. You have found the rogue?"

He shifts uncomfortably in his chair, and leans his elbows over his knees staring at the grain lines in the wooden desk.

"Kakashi?"

He glances up at him, swallowing back his pain.
"Yeah, I found the ninja."

"Good! And it looks like he taught you a valuable lesson."

"SHE did yes."

Jiraiya's brows furrow.
"She?"

"Yeah..."

"That's strange...my encounter was not female...." Jaraiya says quietly to himself which catches Kakashi's interest.

"What was your encounter?"

Jiraiya examines him inquisitively.
"I'll tell you all about it, but you look heartbroken, Kakashi. Not something I have ever seen from you before...."

Kakashi sighs and leans back in his chair, running a hand through his hair uncomfortably.

"Let's go for a walk." Jiraiya stands nodding at Kakashi.

"Alright." He replies and follows him out the door.

They walk along the cobblestone roads of the temple coming to the gardens where Jiraiya sits him down at a large fountain to talk.

Jiraiya leans his elbows on his knees and stares at the cobblestones as he remembers his time meeting his rogue ninja.

"I had finished my mission years ago, my Sensai telling me the same thing I told you....." He pauses a moment recalling how long it took. "It took a month to find him, I had gone deep into a forest of magic. I hadn't intended to go in there but somehow as I walked my mind was tricked by some type of mind controlling jutsu and I ended up directly in the middle of it."

Kakashi looks at him sharing part of the experience they both had with mind control jutsu.

"After hours of wandering around the forest in the dark I found a lake in the middle. It was a strange lake, which held a blue aura at its surface. Something in the middle caught my eye, and I was drawn into it. Stupidly I went in waiste deep and suddenly I felt my feet pull from under me. Then I was drowning, unable to catch my footing."
Jiraiya stares at the ground unblinking.

"Did you drown?" Kakashi asks.

"No...well...I don't know exactly. To this day I am still unsure. I blacked out watching the moonlight slip away from me as I floated six feet under water. When I woke, I was in a cabin, lying beside a warm fire covered in soft blankets. I was weak, confused, and my mind was cloudy. I had no idea where I was or what had happened and I knew I wasn't alone."

"Who was there with you?"

"A man, someone I am supposed to know but don't. Someone familiar but looks like no one I have ever met before. He reminded me of my father....I don't have much memory of him but there are some things I do remember. The way he smelled of strong spices, his deep laugh, and how he would tousle my hair roughly."

Kakashi smiles at the light memories of Luna.
"Mine was similar... the same feeling like I have known her my whole life yet I have never met her before."

Jiraiya looks sincerely at Kakashi.
"You loved her right away didn't you?"

"Yeah."

"I loved this man like a son to his father. Idolizing him. He taught me so much more than any sensei ever had. He taught me how to overcome myself, my fears, my loneliness. When I came out of this place I was a new man. Obtaining the mystic eye is one of the greatest achievements a ninja can earn in their lives."

"What is it exactly?" Kakashi asks..

"When you close the doors to painful memories, new doors open to greater possibilities. This is the only way to obtain the mystic eye. To master yourself is to master the ways of the spirit. That is what the eye is, it is the essence of your spirit, it cannot be passed on like other eyes, it must be earned along the path of life."

Kakashi sits up and looks to the sky, he realizes what she had been doing the entire time. Luna was healing the wounds from his past. He recalls the conversation with the Oni about correcting life paths and the healing work of an Asa.
"She was a great healer, the Oni we encountered called her a Saigo-nin."

"Oni? You encountered Oni?"

Kakashi nods, trying not to picture how they took her life.

"...Saigo-nin are ninja who have passed away but still work in the spirit realm with Shinobi who need more intense guidance to master their chakras. What happened with the Oni?"

The vision of her bleeding to death in his arms crushes his heart again. He drops his head low, covering his eyes with his hands to hide the tears from his friend.

No further words were needed at this moment. Jiraiya's experience with his own rogue ninja was definitely not as painful as this and he can't bear to put Kakashi through any more torment.

"Don't answer that, there's no need to. I'm glad you learned what was needed from her, Kakashi. Although there is much more once you have received the eye, things will come much easier to you. This pain will pass in time." Jiraiya says and wraps a comforting arm around his shoulders embracing him in a friendly hug.

"Thanks." Kakashi chokes out.

Jiraya pats him on the back.
"When's the last time you ate something? You're looking a little thin."

Kakashi laughs, he can't remember the last time aside from what Luna had fed him. He was so distracted on his journey home his stomach didn't have the chance to speak to him about being hungry.

"The market has some new fresh fruits shipped in today, let's go grab something and take the rest of the day off. You look like you need sleep too."

He is reluctant to go out in public at this point, his emotions are all over the place but the thought of food sets his stomach off and it grumbles at him.
"Alright, but let's not stay long."

"Fair enough." Jiraya answers and ruffles his hair. "Let's go."