It was huge.

Even from where Kaira was standing, the heat that the meteorite was giving off was palpable. She felt her hands getting sweaty. This was just insane.

Kaira looked up to the Hokage Rock, which was right in front of her. What was Kakashi going to do? Should she go up there to help? Even though she was ordered to protect the area beneath the Hokage Rock?

Kaira clenched her jaw and decided to climb the rock when Rock Lee and a few others began to approach the meteorite, covered with a green glow and made contact with it. Rock Lee used his Sixth Gate of Joy in an attempt to destroy the meteorite but he didn't succeed in destroying it fully.

The upper part of the meteorite flew past the group of people and resumed its way to where Kakashi was standing.

Kaira swallowed thickly and began to debate with herself again. Should she go up there, or not? She shook her head. Kakashi entrusted her with this mission, so she should follow his orders. So, Kaira decided to stay where she was. She was assigned to this place, so leaving now would be disgraceful. She had faith in their abilities as well, so she knew that they actually weren't in need of her help.

But when the meteorite kept coming closer and nothing happened, Kaira started to worry. She felt and heard her heart rate increasing and her hands got clammy as she dug her nails into her palms. Why weren't they doing anything? What were they even doing up there? She now regretted her decision to stay here. She should have gone up there after all, but if he went now, she wouldn't make it in time.

Clenching her jaw, she kept watching, hoping that Kakashi would take action in a few seconds. It turned out that she didn't even need to wait because, suddenly, the meteorite was surrounded by lightning and it exploded. The light that was caused by the lightning blinded Kaira for a few seconds and she narrowed her eyes. She wanted to see it all.

Was that Kakashi? Has his Chidori always been this powerful? When the light started to fade and Kaira could see better, she was surprised to see that there were two rocks falling down. They were relatively small but big enough to destroy a house.

She didn't have time to think. Kaira activated her Mangekyou Sharingan and summoned her Susanoo. An almost unbearable pain swept through her body, making her whimper but not falter. Blood that was leaving her eyes like tears worsened her sight, but she had already seen enough to know where the rocks were. Luckily, the two fragments were close to each other, making it easier to catch them.

The Susanoo's fingers wrapped around the rock and she quickly put them on the ground and deactivated her Sharingan. Has using the Susanoo always been this painful? The Susanoo faded away and Kaira felt her whole body go limp. She collapsed on her knees on the ground and buried her face in her hands. The bleeding wouldn't stop, and it scared her.

Her whole body was throbbing, or it at least felt like that. Her skin tingled painfully and her breathing was ragged. A weak chuckle left her lips. She really was out of shape. Just a few seconds of using the Susanoo, and she felt like she barely had any strength left.

Suddenly, she sensed a presence, and she slowly raised her head, relying on her other senses beside her sight to determine who was standing before her. Before she was even able to guess, A voice which made the hair on the back of her neck stand up already gave away everything. ''Using the Mangekyou Sharingan like that after not having used it for a long time.'' He said. ''It's too reckless, or was it your intention to overexert yourself?''

Kaira tried to open her eyes, but the blood wouldn't let her see her surroundings. Desperately wiping her eyes with her sleeves, she slowly got her sight back. She must look horrible right now, but at the moment, she honestly couldn't care less. Just hearing his voice wasn't enough. She wanted to see him.

When her sight was finally clear, she blinked a few times before looking around. Her eyes locked with Sasuke's and the sight of him simply left her speechless. So many indescribable emotions surged through her, mostly positive ones. Of course, she had always missed him, but seeing him again made her realize just how much she really missed him.

It made her break down silently.

She wanted to stand up to go to him, to touch him and embrace him, but the pain in her body prevented her from doing that. Just before her knees hit the ground again, Sasuke grabbed her upper arm firmly and pulled her onto her feet. ''Be careful.'' He muttered, putting one of her arms around his neck.

Kaira nodded and wiped a few tears with the palm of her hand. He came all the way back here and the first things he has to do are saving the village and taking care of her. Kaira bit her lip softly. She wanted to show him how much she had grown. How much she could do things on her own without depending on others all the time like she had to do when she first came here.

A bad first impression.

''Can you walk?'' Sasuke asked as he carefully wrapped his arm around her waist to support her.

''I guess so,'' Kaira said quietly, still not sure of how to face him after all this time. She looked down at the ground so he didn't have to look him in the eyes anymore. She was honestly a bit ashamed of herself.

Sasuke obviously noticed this and sighed, letting go of her waist and taking her hand instead, pulling her with him. ''Then let's go home.''

Kaira's eyes widened slightly and she looked up.

Home

Hearing Sasuke say that word made her feel warm inside, but it also made her feel uneasy. Was it really their 'home', or was it only a place he could return to when he finally decides to stop by? There was a difference.

Kaira clenched her jaw and looked at Sasuke's back. She wanted him to be home more often, although she understood why he couldn't. It frustrated her. She didn't want to come across as selfish, so she had never told him about her thoughts about it before, and she knew she probably wouldn't do so anytime soon. She didn't want to tie Sasuke down more than she already did.

Suddenly, Kaira realized something and she tried to pry off his hand, but his grip was simply too strong. ''I-I can't.'' She stammered, pulling at his hand. ''I'm still on duty.''

Sasuke kept pulling her with him without stopping. ''That big meteorite was the last real threat.'' He grunted. ''There's no need for your assistance anymore.''

Kaira didn't know how he could possibly know that, but she decided to trust him. He just came to save the village, so he wouldn't lie with the possibility that an even greater meteor would come. Kaira sighed and grimaced when her head started to hurt. It made her feel worse than she already felt.

It only took a few minutes to reach the house. Sasuke let go of her and held out his hand. Kaira understood what he meant and took the key out of her pocket and handed it to him. Sasuke swiftly unlocked the door and opened it. He let Kaira go in first, and he followed.

''I'm going to wash my face,'' Kaira murmured, and without waiting for Sasuke's reply, she went into the bathrom. Strenght was returning to her body, but some of the pain stayed. After turning on the faucet, she made a bowl of her hands and let it fill with water before splashing it on her face. She repeated this a few times until all the blood was gone.

Kaira grabbed a towel and dried her face with it. She felt exhausted. She figured that her stamina had gotten worse after not training for so long. Sighing, she threw the towel into the laundry basket and turned around, but stiffened when she saw Sasuke standing in the doorway. ''You look tired.'' He said.

Kaira looked into the mirror that hung above the sink and took a good look at herself. Bags were slightly visible under her eyes and her skin was paler than usual. Grabbing both sides of the sink, she let her head hang and let out a chuckle. ''I may have been overworking myself.'' She admitted. ''I've just been so busy with work and I also have to take care of Daichi.''

Kaira felt her fingers trembling as she still gripped the porcelain. To be honest, she wasn't only tired, but she was also beginning to feel giddy. She knew that was because she used her Mangekyou Sharingan, something her weakened body wasn't ready for. It didn't matter though. She did her job and that's all that mattered.

''He's at the shelter, right?'' Sasuke asked. ''Daichi, I mean.''

Kaira nodded, but didn't look up. ''Yeah.'' She said. ''Sayuri took him with her.''

''You should also have gone there.''

She knew he was probably right, but his comment still frustrated and hurt her. Didn't he try to understand how she felt about this? She gripped the sink tighter and clenched her teeth. ''I'm doing everything I can for this village.'' She whispered. ''It doesn't matter if I get injured. I just don't want to lose my home again.''

Sasuke sighed again and pushed himself away from the door frame, making his way to Kaira, who was still looking down. ''You can't even go home if you're not here anymore.'' He said, making Kaira purse her lips,, ,feeling quite offended ''Just think more of the consequences.''

Kaira nodded silently. She hated to admit, but Sasuke wasn't wrong.

''You're done here, right?'' Sasuke asked.

''Y-Yeah,'' Kaira mumbled as she looked up into the mirror again, but she looked up too quickly. With the feeling that she was falling backward, she began to feel sick in the stomach. After blinking a few time, the feeling left and her surroundings weren't swirling anymore. She looked into the mirror again, seeing Sasuke standing right behind her. Even after all this time, seeing the Rinnegan in his left eye was still something she wasn't used to.

Sasuke was the first one to break eye-contact and he walked at the door. ''Come.'' He simply said as he left the bathroom.

Kaira kept standing there for a few more seconds before she followed him into the living room. She saw Sasuke stand in front of the table, taking off him poncho and the blue sash around his head.

Kaira couldn't help but look at the left sleeve of his shirt, which was empty. She truly respected him for living like that. Having only one arm seemed very troublesome to her and there was no way she could keep it up like he did. Sasuke could just have gotten an artificial arm like Naruto did, but he chose not to, or just not yet.

Before she knew it, she was already standing at his side, her hand reaching out for his left shoulder. When she touched it, Sasuke looked over his shoulder, looking down at her. ''Does it bother you?''

Kaira snapped out of her daze and looked up from his arm to his face, not moving her hand. Sasuke had a neutral expression on his face, but she knew he wasn't showing what he was feeling. ''It doesn't,'' Kaira answered honestly. ''I just thought that it is probably inconvenient for you. Isn't it hard to fight with only one arm?''

Sasuke turned so they were face-to-face. ''I don't need to do any signs for my jutsu anymore, and I also only need one hand for my sword.'' He said, looking at his stub. ''Only taijutsu is a bit difficult sometimes, but I'll get used to it.''

When he turned his head back to face Kaira, his eyes narrowed and he raised his hand, reaching out for her face. Kaira flinched when his fingers touched her forehead. They were cold. ''You really don't look well.'' He mumbled as he retracted his fingers and pressed his palm against her head instead. ''It's not too warm. Are you feeling okay?''

Kaira swallowed lightly and gently swatted his hand away even though she didn't dislike his touch. ''Just a small headache.'' She said. She wasn't lying, but it also wasn't the full truth. ''Nothing major.''

''I've known you long enough to know that you tend to make things seem smaller than they are just not to worry those around you.''

Kaira looked away in embarrassment. She should have known that Sasuke would notice, yet she did it out of habit. At first, she just did it because she didn't like others to see her weaknesses, which was pretty pitiful, it was not really to not let others worry. But now she sincerely put others before her because she thought they were more important than her health. Daichi, for example.

Kaira had to make money to take care of him, so she often worked from dawn to dusk and she also had to give Daichi a lot of attention, which she could not always do. Even though she did so much, she still felt like she was neglecting him sometimes.

And now this. She already made a bad impression and now Sasuke was seeing even more of how bad she was taking care of herself. It was honestly embarrassing. She didn't want him to see this side of her. Especially not when they'd meet again after a long time.

''And how does your body feel?'' Sasuke asked once he didn't get a response from her on his previous comment. ''Does it still hurt?

''It still tingles a bit painfully,'' Kaira muttered as she moved around a bit. ''But it definitely feels better than before.''

Sasuke nodded and looked out of the window. ''Get some rest until the citizens come back.''

Kaira frowned and ran a hand through her hair, wiping the bangs out of her face. He stayed so calm.. It bothered her so much. ''How do you know if everything's going to be alright?'' She asked. ''The moon could destroy the planet, you know that right? It's still approaching.''

Sasuke sighed heavily and stepped forward, making Kaira take a step into the same direction, but then backward. ''You don't think they are able to stop the moon?" He asked. ''Even if they fail, there's nothing you can do anymore.''

Kaira grunted and clenched her fists. ''That might be true.'' She murmured. ''But maybe you ca-'' ''I already fulfilled my role.'' Sasuke interrupted her. ''The rest is up to them, not us.''

Kaira was about to object again but before she could say a word, an unendurable pain shot through her head. This was, without doubt, the most painful headache she'd ever had, and it wouldn't stop.

Of course, this didn't go unseen by Sasuke. Especially when she began to wobble on her feet, he knew for sure that something was wrong. He put his hand around her waist to support her so she wouldn't collapse, and led back to the table, where he slowly let her sit down on a chair. ''You really overexerted yourself.'' He muttered and he looked over to the cabinet, where he remembered the medicines to be. ''I'll get you some painkillers.''

After filling a glass with water in the kitchen, he first brought it back to Kaira before grabbing the painkillers. Kaira didn't waste any time and swallowed a painkiller, taking a few sips of her water after that. ''Thank you.'' She breathed as she rubbed her right temple, waiting for the painkillers to work. ''I really thought I was going to lose consciousness there.''

Sasuke sat on his haunches so his face was almost on the same level as hers. He just had to look up a bit. ''Have you always been taking care of yourself like this?''

Kaira shook her head and heaved a sigh. Sasuke just wouldn't stop about this, would he? ''My working hours became longer. I'm also a replacement for the sick and injured from the other squads because I can make more money that way.'' She explained.

''You need to work less.''

Kaira chuckled and looked up to the ceiling. ''I'd have done that already if I could.'' She spoke. ''But I need the money. I don't get much per hour so I need to work more. It's hard for a former Akatsuki member to get work here so switching jobs is too risky. I don't want to get unemployed.'' She continued. ''Missions aren't an option either. We aren't allowed to get too far away from the village and I'm not going to do some genin-level missions like catching cats.''

''Just work less. You need more rest.'' Sasuke said as he stood up, holding out his hand. ''I'll take care of the money somehow.''

Kaira looked at his face. She could clearly see that he was serious about this. Smiling softly, she took his hand and Sasuke pulled her out of the chair. Even when Kaira was standing steadily on her feet, he still didn't let go of her. In fact, he pulled her closer to him.

Kaira felt relieved. Sasuke was now also supporting their family more, even though he wouldn't always be there himself. This made things so much easier for her, and also for Daichi. She could now spend more time with him.

Kaira smiled and squeezed his hand lightly. ''Thank you, Sasuke.''

''I didn't know you were having such hard time. I should have paid more attention to you from the start.'' He said.

''I guess we both underestimated living here.'' Kaira chuckled. ''It's even harder than living underground in the middle of nowhere, but we'll manage.''

It was indeed harder than living like they did with the Akatsuki. The most important reason for that was probably that they were on their own now, so they had to take care of everything themselves.

''We'll manage,'' Kaira repeated, now speaking softer. She looked up to Sasuke, who looked somehow pretty content even though it was hardly visible on his face. Kaira cracked a smile again. His eyes were very honest.

She let go of his hand and reached out for his face. She wanted to touch him, kiss him. Lifting her heels from the ground, bringing her face closer to his, but before she could make a move, Sasuke dipped down and pressed his lips against hers.

It had been so long since she last felt this, she sparks and this warm, fuzzy feeling inside her. With him here, everything felt so complete, this was what she wanted, but, unfortunately, she knew that this feeling would only be temporary. She didn't know when, but Sasuke'd continue his journey soon.

Pulling away, Kaira rested her head against his shoulder. Despite that, she was glad he was supporting their family in his own way. That showed that he cared, and that was enough for Kaira for now. She just hoped that he'd be here more often in the future.

This was their home after all.