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Chapter One

When she was three years old, she met Sakura Haruno. A bright, sunny girl.

Rose colored hair, emerald eyes,

Like a watermelon.

It was a cold day during winter.

"Please, don't hurt me!"

"Why would I hurt you?"

"Because I'm ugly."

"You're not ugly! You're pretty! I like your hair and your eyes!"

"Th-Thank you. I'm Sakura."

"I'm Sayuri!"

The more she hung out around her, the happier she felt. The more naive she got.

She didn't notice sooner that her father, whom had been falling into depression, being in the center of many cruel jokes.

She blames herself everyday.

"I heard you got into a fight with one of the kids at school." Kakashi said as Sayuri threw her backpack unceremoniously on the floor. The walk home was extremely silent, and she already knew he would engage her in a strict discussion about it.

"Some kid talked trash about dad," She said in her low, coarse voice. "I had to defend him."

"Our father doesn't need defending." The silver haired brother ordered as he walked to the kitchen, preparing a sandwich. "He doesn't deserve it."

"He does! What he doesn't deserve is such disrespect from everyone!" She shouted, exploding in a rage of fire, making Kakashi inwardly curse. Always letting her emotions take over her, he thought. "I don't understand why you of all people hate him! He's our father!"

"Yeah, he's a father!" He shouted back stiffly. "And he's a horrible one! Do you know what he did? The mistakes he did? The things he left behind?!"

"He left behind us, to clear his name!" She yelled. "Because he doesn't deserve this crap--"

"He left behind us!"

She froze.

"He left us to fend on our own! Don't you know that?! We almost got separated because of him and his foolish actions! Not only that, but he--"

"He's your own father, he's our father! How could you say such things?!" Tears were running down her cheeks, and now she felt weak.

"Because he's a coward! A traitor!" The pain on her face made his heart ache, but the anger was boiling in his veins. "He was too scared to live on and protect us! He was too tired of all the insults, he didn't have the guts to stick up! He left us! All alone, and look at us!"

He raised his arms around us. "We're stuck in a freaking apartment and everyday we have to scrounge up change for our rent! Because he left us, he didn't bother to think about our future!"

She bawled, throwing the nearest object at the ground. "You're wrong! He was protecting us! He never told us about it because he didn't want us to worry! Because he hid it so well!" Her mind was numb from the emotions flooding her head, the anger, the pain, the sadness, and the guilt. Soon, she was lost in a sea of her own regrets. "He wanted us to live on and be happy while he lived with his guilt! But he couldn't because it was too much! And we never noticed because--"

"Well maybe it was because you were too focused on your new friend to ever care!" He shouted back, making her sob even more. "The villagers weren't the only ones that left him, you did too! You shut down his requests for family time to play with your friend instead! You made him feel like you knew of his mistakes, like you were ashamed of him! And I had to watch that, every single day! Every single freaking day!"

She slid to the ground and hugged her knees to her chest.

She was silent.

"What do you have to say for that?!"

Her eyes were averted to the ground.

"Huh?! Nothing?!"

She whimpered in pain when he threw a crumpled ball of paper at her head.

"Sure! Just lie there and cry! Be silent! Because that's all you can ever do! Just ignore everything and not do a thing!"

Her sobs grew louder as he left, leaving her in an empty apartment.

Her fingers curled around the crumpled paper, unraveling the wrinkles and folds. A small drawing was on the back, making her smile.

Dear Kakashi,

I'm sorry. You might not understand this, but soon, you will.

Take care of your sister for me. And make sure to love her with all your heart.

I love you both.

~Dad