The Last Chinoike [A NARUTO LOVE STORY]

Final Goodbyes

"It looks like we won't be seeing each other too much anymore. Regardless, we're all so proud of you, Hayami!" The cherry blossom-haired young lady spoke kindly to her sister student, making sure she knew that they were proud of how strong she had become.

The brunette looked over toward her friend who had rested a hand on her shoulder. "Thanks, Sakura. But we'll still get to train together, won't we?" Sakura gave her a reassuring squeeze before nodding her head, causing the brunette to flash her an infectious grin. It was an unspoken agreement that the two would always be training partners. "Alright, thank you, Sakura." 

A pink tint fell over the girl's pale cheeks as she looked over at her exhausted friend. "Oh, I- uhh, well of course!" Sakura was feeling a surge of pride for herself; despite not having just displayed her skills, she was proud to say she and Hayami even trained under the same master. "We'll keep training and get even stronger together!"

The girls shared a quick hug, solidifying their friendship and promise to continue to make the other better. "Thank you, Sakura. I'm very grateful to have you as such a close friend. Let's keep pushing each other to be the best we can be, yeah?" The kind words spoken so softly by the exhausted brunette made Sakura blush almost to an incomprehensible degree. 

Sakura had always put herself down and had always seen herself as the second best, the straggler of her team. Yet, here was Hayami, someone she had known for only half a year or so, giving her the much-needed praise and acknowledgement for all the hard work she was doing. This wasn't even something Sakura's parents did for her. 

However, despite not feeling recognized or like she was enough in the ninja world, there was a newfound spark in the pink-haired young woman. That spark was lit by none other than her sister student, the purple-eyed brunette from the Land of Hot Water. 'I'm pretty lucky to be training alongside Hayami, aren't I. She doesn't even understand the impact she's had on me. Of course, Naruto and Sasuke getting stronger right before my eyes and leaving me in the dust gave me the initial push that I needed. But then Hayami came along and, I can't even describe the impact that she's made on not only me, but Naruto, and the others as well.'

Naruto, still filled to the brim with happiness and pride, ignored Lady Tsunade shaking a fist at him and went back over to Hayami. He comically shoved his pink-haired teammate out of the way and replaced Sakura in the hug the two girls were sharing. Hayami let out a soft giggle at the antics of Naruto and Sakura; the purple-eyed lady easily melted into the hug's warmth that the blond provided her.

Sakura began to fume as she looked over at the love-struck boy who had rudely shoved her out of the way. "WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING, MORON!" The tender moment that the two students of the Fifth Hokage were previously immersed in was pushed aside by the rambunctious blond.

Despite the kunoichi's hollering, Naruto paid absolutely no mind to his teammate and continued to focus his attention on the girl that he was embracing. "You did great out there, Haya! I want to work even harder now after watching all the cool stuff you can do. I swear I'll get stronger and become Hokage before you know it!"

"Oh c'mon, you know I'll be right beside you the whole journey to Hokage." The two blushed before separating and smiling at one another. Her purple eyes were packed with joy before speaking with Sakura and Naruto; yet they seemed to brighten up even more when the blond and pink-haired teens came up to sing their compliments to her.

A few meters away, Kakashi's one visible eye looked away from his book and toward where the three teenagers were talking about Hayami's new position. The silver-haired man sighed as he looked back down at his book. 'Naruto sure did luck out with finding such a strong young woman to share his feelings with. I'm almost amazed that someone like Hayami would even be interested in that blond, bumbling idiot.'