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Chapter Thirty-Nine

Happy New Year everyone! This book has been here a long time...which is why it'll be ending probably in a month or two! A sappy, but happy ending I will try to make for you readers and I! Anyways, 2018 is going to be a great year, I just hope. :]

"Hey Kakashi, wanna go on a stroll with me?"

"Sure, Asuma."

Kakashi Hatake, at 11 in the evening, leaves with Asuma Sarutobi to take a walk throughout the hospital.

And a girl steps in.

...---...

"Sayuri, I know you're unconscious, but...I don't think I have the courage to talk to you when you're awake."

She feels a hand grasp hers, sharing the warmth of the other's flesh. "I--I just wanted to...Kakashi told me something a few weeks ago, and I just can't get it out of my head. He told me something about you, but it just doesn't seem like...you."

She heard a sniff. "He told me...why am I so nervous? You're not even awake." And then a sigh. "Kakashi told me that he knows I care a lot about you, and so, you were planning to not only use me to get popular, but to...date me. To play around with me. And mess around."

The woman holding her hand took a shaky breath. "I didn't believe him. I couldn't. I just...if you're still mad about me leaving you all those years ago, I really am sorry. I never wanted to. I mean, living in Sunagakure was horrible--I loved playing sports, remember? But in Suna, girls were always focused on guys and looks. And mainly guys played sports. I didn't fit in at all. My parents wanted me to fit in, but I couldn't. I didn't want to.

"I miss Konoha. I miss you. I was thrilled to find that you were my roommate. I thought we could be friends again...but, I knew you didn't want to be friends with me. And then, I saw all...you were throwing up, and you didn't seem so well. I saw everything. I wanted to help, but...you told me you didn't want help. And I figured that I should listen.

"But when you took that bottle of pills, I couldn't handle it anymore. I didn't want to be a bystander and watch you...I just wanted to help you. And then, Kakashi tells me it's all for attention, for your motive? I couldn't...I couldn't believe that. And right then, I realized that maybe Konoha wasn't the way I pictured it to be. And that maybe...we'd never be able to be friends like that again.

"When you were in the hospital, I considered forgetting all about you. That I would just ignore you. Because I believed Kakashi's words. I was crying and breaking down--I have never done that before in my life. My friends were angry, and they told me to just leave you...but then I couldn't turn on you like that. I didn't know why...

"And then I found out. To cut to the chase, Sayuri, I like you...more than a friend. I've never been attracted to girls. But I've never found any interest in guys either; that Sasuke from the Academy? It was something more of an admiration. I confused my feelings for attraction. But for you, it's obvious to me...I mean, I feel the need to be around you. I don't know you all that well, but I just get the urge to know more about you.

"I get it if you...if you don't like me--oh, what am I kidding? Of course you won't like me. And what am I thinking, telling you all this when you're unconscious? Kami, I...I don't think I'll have the will to tell you when you're awake, though. I guess that's why I'm telling you right now.

"But I'll let you be the judge. If you wanna be friends or not. I don't want to force you with my feelings for you. I don't want you to overwhelm yourself with me, because you have your own problems. So, I'll just...i guess I'm gonna leave.

"Bye, Sayuri. And, I think this will be the only time I'm ever gonna confess to you...I mean, I won't even do it later...I guess this is my chance to say what I've wanted to say:

"I love you. A lot. And I hope you get better. Not just with these injuries, but with yourself. And I know that, since I met you in preschool, you'll get better and stronger quick. Bye..."

She heard the door close and the footsteps fade.

...---...

Sayuri Hatake is visited for the first time by Sakura Haruno in the hospital.

Sakura delivers a long speech, thinking Sayuri will never hear it.

But for some reason, the words stick in Sayuri's head, and ring throughout her mind until she wakes up.

The heart monitor speeds up when the pinkette leaves.

She's happy.