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Chapter Thirty-Four

"You see, Sayuri had always...wanted attention--I don't really know how to put it into words. But she wanted our parents' attention. She tried hard, but the fact that I was older proved it to be difficult. She was envious.

"But, when our father died, she sort of calmed down. At her school, she was pretty silent and such. But, when she got over our parents death, she went back to...her old self.

"She caused a commotion at school. She didn't care if she got in trouble. Or if I had to be called in. She caused all this trouble in school, even at home as well. She even took our father's drawings, just for herself, as well as our mother's only photo. I even found her hiding a stash of money.

"I'd always worked day and night to pay rent and buy food, even an old woman named Kimiko came to deliver food sometimes, but that wasn't enough for Sayuri. She stashed the money, and I had no choice but to take it from her.

"She got angry, of course. I told her it was for the best. That she shouldn't be so selfish. But, she got angry, and when she graduated, she made sure to pick the university more than a short days' travel from our home village.

"It sucked, honestly. To not be loved by my own younger sister? It was horrible. I felt so guilty. And then, I had to get a better job, so I started teaching here. She saw it as an opportunity to cheat, so she demanded a cheat sheet from me. In the end, she took it. Some student found it and she was sent to the office, but I don't know what happened to her after that.

"Then, I saw that she was your roommate. And I noticed that you two were friends...well, Sayuri never had any friends, and I recall her saying that she never planned on having any. She always had a motive. So, I confronted her and asked her what she wanted with you.

"And you know what she said? She said, I'm gonna befriend Sakura. I heard she's really popular, so I can use her to be popular. In the end, I'll just leave her like she did to me back then.

"I was shocked. But then I tried to stop her, and she told me to back off. She threatened my career. And when she took those pills, I guess...she didn't get what she wanted from you. So, she resorted to doing...that for attention. I'm guessing she hoped you would tell your friends and that would spread like wildfire."

With that, Kakashi concluded his speech about 'The Truth About Sayuri,' leaving a shocked, speechless Sakura. She could barely even catch up.

Is this even true? The girl Sakura was being told about definitely did not sound like the one she knew. But the grief and guilt on Kakashi's face made it seem so real, so believable, that maybe there was a small chance--

No. You're supposed to help her.

"I...I can't believe any of that, sorry, Kakashi," Sakura Haruno confessed. She knew it was horrible to not believe someone's brother. "It just...I don't know, it seems like too much..."

"But I have to tell you the truth, Sakura," Kakashi stated. "You may not believe me, but I just want to warn you about her. She is planning more than to just...be friends."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked, confused. What more could Sayuri need? Is this all just because I left her all those years ago? I do feel sorry, but...

"Sakura, she knows about how much you care about her, and...well..."

Kakashi whispered something in the pinkette's ear.

...---...

On one visit to Sayuri's dorm, Kakashi had come across a certain picture frame hidden in Sakura Haruno's drawer.