Atsuko woke up hours later, feeling a lot less exhausted with the excruciating pain that had been torturing her body mostly subsided. Her eyes still hurt an awful lot though, making her grateful for the ice but also very agitated. She just lied there with her eyes closed for quite a while, thinking about exactly what had happened the day before.
She'd seen Susumu again, somehow she'd been able to summon him from the death. It hadn't been a pleasant reunion though, he'd been afraid and angry of her... as he had every right to be. She'd been just as afraid and angry though, afraid of her own power and angry with Oetsu for what he'd done. She hadn't been able to explain her actions to her old genin before he was send back to the netherworld, which was probably the part that bothered her the most. She still hadn't found peace, killing Danzo had brought her no relief... as Oetsu had already warned her.
"You used me. Like a pawn in your game" She spoke up eventually, her voice a soft whisper "You had it all planned out but didn't tell me anything. I was worried sick for you, literally, as I saw you beaten up by Danzo. I thought you were going to die and it all turned out to be an act." She continued, her voice growing harsher and colder. "And I don't even want to talk about that thing you pulled with your sword. Did you even think about how it would make me feel, to have the one person I still loved dying by my hands after being forced to kill all my loved ones before. And don't act like you hadn't planned on it to happen, there was no other reason for you hand me your sword. You knew damn well I could barely lift it and am bad at kenjutsu."
"I never wanted this power" She whispered sadly as she finally opened her eyes to look at Oetsu directly. Her vision was still blurry but had cleared up the slightest bit since the day before, she could take in Oetsu's disappearance a bit more clearly now. He didn't look like Oetsu anymore, he had his face but his face was pale as her summons had been. "And you have yet to explain to me how you're standing here, I killed you. I watched your heart stop beating. Did I summon you?" She asked.