''Thank you, Yuuji,'' Kaira mumbled as she stood outside his house. ''Even though I broke down like that..,''

Yuuji smiled and leaned against the door frame. ''It's fine to let it out once in a while. You needed to, and I needed it, too. Keeping your feelings bottled up isn't a good thing. I think we both noticed that.'' He spoke, chuckling weakly. ''So if anything is ever bothering you, you know you're always welcome here.''

Kaira cracked a smile and nodded. ''Thanks.'' She said. ''I should really go now. I need to pick up Shunsuke and I am already late.''

Yuuji grinned at hearing his name. Just as he looked after Daichi and Kazu, he also looked after Shunsuke a lot, and especially to Shunsuke, he was like a father. He never met his real one after all.

''Even though I see him tomorrow,'' Yuuji said. ''Say hi to him for me.''

~~~~~~~~~~~

''Why were you so late, mommy?" Shunsuke asked as he held Kaira's hand tightly, giving it some squeezes now and then.

''I was at Yuuji's,'' Kaira replied. ''I needed to talk to him about something and completely lost track of time. I'm sorry.''

''I also want to go to Yuuji!'' Shunsuke complained as he tugged at her hand.

Kaira smiled and looked down at him. ''You'll see him tomorrow. I'm going to have lunch at Suki's tomorrow so Yuuji is coming to look after Kazu and you then.'' She told him, and then suddenly remembered what Yuuji told her earlier. ''Ah, I needed to say hi to you for him.''

''I want to say hi to him, too!''

Kaira sighed at his persistence, but couldn't help but be amused by it at the same time. Shunsuke just really admired Yuuji, and he also played a lot with his daughter Aki.

''You can say hi to him tomorrow,'' Kaira said as she gave his hand a weak pull, letting him know that he had to keep walking. ''And how was school?''

''We had shuriken training today!'' Shunsuke told her enthusiastically. ''A few of my classmates are really good at it! They hit all the targets!''

Kaira smiled and put her hand in her pocket, looking for the key. ''And you?"

She heard Shunsuke whine and Kaira looked to the side, seeing him with quite a disappointed expression. "I missed a few." He said, but then his eyes brightened up. "Mommy, can you teach me?" Shunsuke asked excitedly.

Kaira chuckled and put the key in the lock, turning it. "I haven't been training for a while now. I think you're better than me at the moment. Maybe asking Daichi would be better."

Kaira let Shunsuke into the house first as she waited for his reply. After closing the door, she followed him into the living room, where he sat down on the couch. "But Dai-chan is almost never home!" Shunsuke complained as he let himself fall on the couch.

Kaira sighed as she walked into the kitchen. "Then maybe Kazu or Kiba? There are a lot of others who you can ask for help."

"Not Kiba!

His quick response made Kaira laugh lightly. She mentioned his name on purpose. As she took out a few ingredients from the fridge, she turned her face to Shunsuke, and narrowed her eyes when she couldn't see his face clearly. ''Akamaru doesn't bite. He's a very sweet dog.''

An objection came soon after. ''He chased after me!''

Kaira rolled her eyes and took out a knife from the drawer with the cutlery and began to cut the vegetables. ''He just wanted to play.'' She said. ''And that was a long time ago. You're scared of him because you misunderstood. You can ask Kiba to leave Akamaru at home.''

''I'll just ask Kazu-nii.'' Kaira heard Shusuke mumble.

Kaira smiled as she continued to chop. He was really stubborn, maybe even too stubborn. But it didn't matter, not to Kaira at least. She actually found it pretty cute.

Suddenly, a painful shiver ran down her spine and she dropped the knife. It clattered on the tiles before it kept silently lying there. This didn't go unheard by Shunsuke, and he got off the couch once she heard his mother gasp.

Drops of blood fell on the ground, dirtying the floor. Kaira held her hand tightly as she winced in pain.

''Mommy!?'' Shunsuke rushed into the kitchen, which was practically in the same room. He froze when he saw all the blood on the floor.

Kaira saw tears forming in his eyes and gritted her teeth, forcing a smile. ''Hey, Shun.'' She murmured, putting her good hand on his head, stroking his hair. ''I just cut myself. Don't worry about something like this.''

''But there is so much blood.'' Shunsuke stammered. ''You need to treat it!''

Kaira smiled again, genuinely this time, and crouched down in front of him, kissing his temple. ''Calm down.'' She murmured. ''I'll treat it.''

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kaira watched her son closely as he bandaged her finger as she held the ring in the other hand. Kazu came home at the perfect time. He could do a bit medical jutsu, and was also very good with treating wounds. Kaira could still remember when he wanted to become a medical ninja, but after studying a bit, he became bored of it.

''All done.'' Kazu said and he let go of her hand. Kaira looked at her hand. The bandage was wrapped around her finger so neatly, and it was also a thin layer so she could move it around with ease.

''Thank you, Kazu.'' Kaira sighed and she rubbed the side of her face. How did this happen? She wasn't spacing out when chopping the vegetables. Was her sight already this bad? Not only not being able to read the time, but also not able to see where she was cutting or slicing with a knife? She couldn't even see her own children's faces properly, especially if they weren't close to her.

She clenched her fists and felt the ring she was holding in her closed hand. She had to take the engagement ring off because she cut her ring finger and it wouldn't be comfortable with the bandages.

She hated the ring. It had no meaning, not anymore.

Yet she kept wearing it.