Forgive Me, Naruto

Naruto's Letters

Sasuke's POV (cont.):

"It's someone else, isn't it?" She asks.

My face flusters from her sudden insight.

"I don't know what you mean," I try to say confidently, avoiding eye contact.

Kumi tilts her head. "You love someone, but you can't be with them. That's why you chose to come here, right?"

I widen my eyes, creeped out by her accuracy. "How-"

"I can sense those kinds of things. Love, hatred...each gives off its own unique aura, kind of like chakra. And well...I also read a lot of corny shoujo manga," she says, blushing.

I look up at the sky and sigh.

"He wrote me letters."

She tilts her head in confusion. "Huh?"

"He wrote me letters and I never responded. I told him it was because I didn't want to...but it was actually because I never knew what to say," I say.

My chest begins to feel lighter. I realize that I had never told anyone that before.

Invested, she hugs her knees to her chest and watches me with curiosity.

"Well? Tell me more about this mysterious boy," she says.

I smile, recalling the events.

***FLASHBACK***

I open my eyes and look up at the morning sunrise.

As I stand up and stretch, I notice that my food stash has been broken into. Looking into my bag, I see that almost all of my supply is gone.

Damn raccoons. I have got to stop sleeping carelessly in the woods.

I take out my map and inspect it. I won't be reaching the nearest village for a few days, and I don't think my food supply will last that long.

As I put away my map, I see a...messenger hawk? Who could it be delivering to in an isolated place like this? But then I realize that it's flying closer towards me.

I hold out my arm as it gently lands. I take a small envelope out of the message bag strapped around its neck, and let the hawk fly away.

Feeling a bulk in the envelope, I rip it open with my teeth and see two small granola bars fall out. Cautious, I open the envelope and discover a letter. There was no name, but I could tell who it was just by looking at the handwriting.

I sigh. "So messy. It's Naruto's writing..."