Kazuki's final message.

As he would stand there at the gathering of all his friends and family. Throughout the years the noticible difference in the mass of people that had arrived indeed shocked him. He was filled with a sense of pride and joy seeing how loved he was. Kazu would drift off to the times in which he spent with each person.... The good and the bad times that we all had been through.

It brought him to a great sadness when he remembered why he had gathered his comrads together one last time.

"My friends and family. You have provided me with ample opportunity to grow and mature in my own fasion. Allowing failure when appropriate but always close by to help me up when I fell. In your own individual ways you all helped me grow. You made me see the world through new eyes. A clear more brighter world. A world in which peace and prosperity could be possible. My only wish was to achive such a world in which strength was not determined by how many people you could kill. Yet your ability to make an impact in the world around you and the people who care for you.
This time that I had shared with you all was enough to bring me to tears on more then occasion. Together we laughed,cried,fought,protected and even shared the many tribulations and memories that forever stain our hearts and minds. In your own way you made your impact here, and I am so glad that I had the opportunity to meet each and every one of you. Though people tell me that it was because of my help that we changed, or because of my help that we all strived for a better future. This is incorrect.
I did not change the world we live in. I did not change the people we live together with. Instead you all changed yourselves. I am not the man who creates miracles, yet I am the man who will supply you the courage and respect to achive your own. I am not the one who will guide you to your path, yet I will be standing in the sidelines cheering you on every step of the way.
I am the familiar face in the stands. The familiar wind that blows through your hair. The scent of homemade food welcoming you home. The ladder that guides you to the stars. The tree that provides you shade and lumber. The apple that falls to rid of your hunger. I am the one who watches over you forever more. Protecting you from the dangers of this world and the next.
You all made me proud to be who I am. I can now smile every morning and know that I have changed at least one person's life. I can also say the same for each one of you. For we are a family....forever caring even through the annoying times. We may have annoying little brothers, and sisters or the cousin that never can quite down. Though through it all we still learn to love them.
Finally if you ever wish to remember me then look up to the falling leaves in autumn. Watch the colors of the fall. Listen to the humming of the wind. I will always be there in your heart. Forever more your close friend. I hold you all dear to my heart. Sincerely Kazuki Shikimori"

Saying this he turned his back to his friends and family. With akane's hand in his he dissapeared from this world. Moving to the next as his headband fell to the ground. The final rememberance of the last of the Shikimori......

I watched and listened to this heart felt speech, knowing it came from the deep down bottom of his heart. I tried to conceal my tears, but they just bubbled over the top and watered up completely the sections of my eyes. My tear ducts started to become out of control as I finally got up the courage to manage myself. I wiped the tears from my eyes and sucked it up, holding everything back. I couldn't help but remember those lines he spoke, they would ring in my head forever.

I stood up at the end of the speech and seeing and just found myself thinking of the way he phrased certain things. The things he said were pulling at my heartstrings but I knew I had to be strong. I decided that I wanted to speak to them, as well to myself. And so I nodded and ran up to the area where Kazuki was before he turned his back and disappeared. I looked for something, the essence of him he would leave behind. But as I ran up it, it disappeared into sand, nothing material someone could hold onto. Still the memory of Kazuki would remain in all of us, the hearts, the minds, the souls of all the shinobi here who have come to know him. It was time to speak.

"Hello everyone, and I know I shouldn't speak, but I think I have something else to say. Rather something else to add to what Kazuki has said already." I took a pause before getting to what I really had to say, hopefully getting everyone's interest along with my words.

"Now, this is Kazuki's remembrance. Though it is true he is leaving and it leaves us all with many heavy hearts, we should not be sad as he has told to us. His heart warming speech was all I needed to touch my heart so. And some of the lines will ring in my head forever. Kazuki was, to me, not only a great teacher, and a great person, but an amazing ninja, and a friend. A friend that will not be left behind or forgotten. And through the times he's been here and through the times he's not, we'll always remember him right? You all have memories with him do you not?"

"Kazuki Shikimori was an asset to us all. Even though he is modest in his ways, he was still one of the greatest of all. He had a heart, a beating heart, caring for others, and always looking out for them. He found friends, and someone he loves. He obviously had a brain, he could outsmart a lot of us if he wanted to. But he was always kind and he used the knowledge he had for good. But best of all, he was a friend, and a ninja to us. He was there for protection as he has watched us all grow, we have watched him grow. And to know that we are exactly a little too late with these goodbyes, it does cut you deep... but never shall you ever truly say goodbye. For he has stated, he will always be with us. Always be watching over us. The calming autumn breeze that stops you in a moment that you cannot just forget. And always leaves you stunned, wondering what just hit you. That will be Kazuki, that will be how we remember him. Right now, I want all of you to reach deep into not only your hearts, but deep inside yourselves, and in a moment of silence, draw out the good times you have had with Kazuki Shikimori... my sensei... my best friend..." I smiled silently, and holding my fists to my chest tightly, I looked down with my eyes closed in silence. As I felt the slight breeze come around me, the same as thay of the autumn wind. And I smiled, not crying, knowing that he was still there. Kazuki Shikimori... we will always remember you..

Kazuki's chakra signature disappeared in the desert and his footsteps were soon hidden by the heavy silence of the place...

Asako cried. A lot. Not being able to stop her tears from flowing and her body to shake, she had fled directly after her friend had finished his speech.
She had ran, without looking where she went, not realizing where her feet took her.

Memories flashed in her head. Smiles, tears, angry looks, worried eyes, words of compassion, courage, fury, love...
She had seen him suffer, she had seen him love, observed him talk to his students, observed how he fought for his friends, heard legends, heard sincere stories about him.

And now...He was just gone? Just without warning? What about the second Sannin? And all his friends? And all the work they all put together in training? Was that just to be meant to be blown away, in one gust of wind? Wiped from the planet, like a sandstorm makes a whole village disappear under the sand and not to be reminded of?

The young medic stopped.
She was in a small and narrow street, somewhere in the borders of Suna. It was covered with shadows and no one seemed to be there.
Asako punched a nearby wall, making a crack appear.
She wanted him back. That he came back, and said it was all a joke, that the last Kazuki was still meant to be part of their world. But that was impossible...

Asako punched the wall with her two fist, still crying. Her spirit was tortured and she felt the same pain as when Yaka and her parents died. Losing someone precious to you was full of hurt. You'd never be able to hug them, to talk to them, to play with them...Heck, she'd even miss fighting with them...
A slight breeze blew in her face, refreshing the place slightly. Kazuki's presence was like that...Calming, refreshing, soothing. He would always come back in your memories with some words he had spoken before, or with friednly gesture like patting you on the shoulder.
You just couldn't forget him. Neither the was he was, or how his actions.
Kazuki, the last Shikimori was maybe gone...but not in their hearts or memory. He would still be there, smiling and waiting for you to make the right decision.

'...I didn't say goodbye to him...' she thought suddenly.
And without thinking anything else, she let her feet run again. She pumped chakra in them, incrasing her speed, direction to the walls of her village.

Quickly, she climbed the western wall up, close the the entrance of the village and stopped at the border of it, slightly out of breath. She looked over the desert, trying to find his chakra signature in the afar. She activated her Doukengan and looked further in the desert.
She saw a very very small sign in the afar, out of her reach.
But she put her hands around her mouth and screamed:
"Don't you dare to change, Kazuki Shikimori! Take care of yourself and try not to forget us, because, we'll keep you always in our hearts and thoughts forever!"

Asako closed her eyes and waited. The wind suddenly blew harder, letting the sand raise above the walls and hit her in the face. She grinned.
Kazuki's answer would have been as strong as the wind and kinda rough and warm like the sand.

Tears rolled against on her cheeks...But she was smiling again. She knew that Kaz's spirit would always be there, no matter what and that he wouldn't disappear from their hearts.