Chapter Text
Two and a half years…
Oh my... it’s already been...Two and a half years.
But if I were to count how long I’ve been living in the same building as Naruto-kun...it would be three whole years.
I press my hand on the sheet of paper before me and I write down… ‘three years.’
‘Dear Naruto-kun, thank you for all your kindness for the past three years.’
I tapped my pen on the side of the table, feeling hollow. The letter already sounded bland and very impersonal. Which wasn’t what I was going for.
I could stray and fluff up the letter, going into detail about all the many ways he saved me after I was publicly, and shamefully disowned by my clan.
Despite how terrible I was to him during that mission to the moon...how I had rejected him and caused so many things to go wrong with my selfish actions, he shined through as the true hero again and again. Whenever I needed help, he was one of the first to always always lend a helping hand.
He was there during all the painful moments and all the moments of absolute bliss.
Hero of our sacred village. Hero of many young maiden’s hearts. Hero to his friends, and sometimes even those that once considered him an enemy. The man who was definitely going to be stepping into his dream role of becoming Hokage.
Sooner, now that I will be completely out of the picture.
Really, I should have been writing this letter 2 years ago. I should have never accepted his offer to move in with him when he switched to a bigger and more secure condo, and we spoke ad-nauseam about the plans for me to move to my own smaller place once my standing in the village got better. Once it was safer for me to move out on my own…
Too bad it never got any better.
I let out a heavy sigh that filled up the empty living room.
The rumors were always very unkind. I didn’t mind the fact that people spoke ill of me; I deserved it entirely. But being around the disgraced ex-Hyuuga was hurting Naruto-kun’s reputation. He would occasionally reassure me that he was capable of a few rumors, and that people didn’t really care...
But of course, he was going to be Hokage soon, and he needed all the support he could get from every facet of the village. The civilians, elders, the council members, the daimyos, and the neighboring nations. My vicinity was a black mark on his otherwise flawless record.
My reputation hadn’t been too awful before that moon-mission. I suppose it can’t be helped that I still think of what could have been. Little Hyuuga Hinata, the ex-heiress of a noble clan, front-line fighter during the Fourth Shinobi War. Chuunin. A respectable number of successful missions. Perfectly acceptable eye-sight range and rather advanced in my cartography and flash-memory abilities. I was, at the very least, respected.
And I ruined it all because of a ridiculous prophecy.
I sacrificed my position and threw a wrench in everyone’s plans when I agreed to marry Toneri of the moon. That mission ended with us defeating Toneri, but only damaging the Tenseigan. Only someone of Hamura’s blood could completely destroy it...and Hanabi and I were both incapacitated when we touched back down on Earth.
That’s what made me most unworthy. As if I had a hand at tarnishing the moon’s reputation myself. The moon, from that dreaded night we touched back down to Earth...has never been the same. It never crashed into Earth, but it taunted us with its revealed secrets. It became a symbol of strength and harvest to doom and gloom.
And recently, just a few months ago...the moon had shifted from a silvery white...to an ominous red.
Was it the Tenseigan?
Was it some sort of sign?
I myself had no idea, but that didn’t stop people from throwing around accusations.
Was it you? People started to sneer. Did you sully the sky again?
I had messed with the fate of the moon before. They were right to be upset. I was unworthy of their trust.
Unworthy of my Chuunin rank.
Unworthy of my eyes.
Unworthy of my clan.
Unworthy of love.
Unworthy of the rescue party that dragged me back to Earth.
There I go again...swirling back into my negative thoughts. It was a bad habit of mine. Zoning out to reflect on how much I lost...when I had also gained so much throughout these years.
Independence.
Freedom.
A new purpose.
Even…
"I'm home~!"
I’m shocked to hear him back so early. So shocked, it made me laugh out of sheer habit.
It happened again.
“Welcome back.”
Naruto-kun came into the room bringing in the crisp scent of outside air and a curiously wide grin as he saw the pen in my hand. I was bent over the unfinished letter with his name already printed at the top. I bite my lip and I can’t help but smile as we share a look at each other.
Like a summoning scroll…
Whenever we tried to write notes and letters for each other...it was a very strange coincidence, but before we could finish the note, the person we were writing the message for would appear before our eyes.
I once tried writing a note for Naruto-kun during a mission that was supposed to take him a month to complete, and while writing it, sure enough; I’d look up and he’d be grinning at me.
You called?
He’d always say, but today he bounced by my side and burst through my personal bubble.
“This trick never gets old!” He grinned down at me.
And suddenly he is so very close, and I could smell a little bit of Ichikraku on him and I can’t help but sigh as he pressed his lips on mine. A little wet, and salty. As he pulled away I instinctively licked my lips. Mm.
I idly made note that I don’t have to heat anything up for him to eat. He’s sated. He’s in a good mood. This was the best time to tell him.
Not through a silly letter. But in person.
He deserved that. In fact, clearly the fates were telling me that this was a must.
“What were you writing?” he is already reaching for the note and flicks it open and started to read aloud.
“Hmmm! DEAR NARUTO-KUN--!” he makes his voice almost falsetto but this wasn’t funny to me. I reached forward to try to grab it but he just easily shifted away, his eyes sparkling with mischief.
“Oh, stop,” I said, trying my best not to laugh. “I don’t sound like that.”
“Yeah, ok.” Naruto-kun is standing up again, tossing the letter aside (thankfully) and going about removing his mission gear. “What’s up with the dark? You know you can’t strain your eyes like this--it ain’t good for you!” he flicked on the ceiling light and I had to blink uncomfortably in the new brightness of the room. Naruto-kun brought out a simple kunai from his weapons pouch and got comfortable next to me; sitting cross-legged as he started the task of stripping off his old bandage from his prosthetic arm.
Just by the bounce in his step, and even the light way he just scolded me...I could tell he had a good mission again.
"Woooo, it was a long day, let me tell ya—" he started to say, but the rest of his words started to float away from my ears. He flexed his prosthetic arm as he slices away the slightly tarnished bandage, he doesn’t have to gesture for me before I find myself taking over. I brought the kunai to my own hands and carefully cut away the bandages between his fingers. "You’re up pretty late! I'm sure you're tired from all that teaching…"
"I'm fine," I told him. "Fine—I was actually hoping you’d come home early. I...I missed you." I looked up to meet his eyes, I realized my hair was probably a mess and quickly tried to hide behind a sheet of hair. I was wearing my special new glasses and one of his hand-me-down oversized sweaters. I looked like a wreck.
“You flirt.” he teased, and with a simple move of tucking my messy curtain of hair away from my face, he tore through my defenses. He leaned in and placed another one of those kisses on me--this time he missed and hit just the corner of my lips. He was warm. And wonderful.
I let out a small sigh. Because I was going to miss this. Even if he was one of the main reasons I must go. I knew I was going to miss him the most.
"Hinata." He voiced again; this time a little louder and a touch of suspicion to his voice. "You… feeling ok?"
“I’m ok.” I lied a little, I could see him studying my face. “You shouldn’t kiss me.”
“Why? Oh yeah-- is it because of that small stomach bug or something? You feeling ok?”
I blushed, realizing he did hear me getting sick the other day just before he left for his mission.
“I think that was just food poisoning.” I dismissed, quickly. I wasn’t eating or resting very well the past few weeks as I had shifted my objective to moving out of the village. A small upset stomach was the very last thing on my mind. “You shouldn’t kiss me, because--”
He cut in quickly, "You should get checked out. Want me to go to the hospital with you?”
"Wha--? No!" I flustered and fidgeted under his scrutinizing look. “I’m feeling much better--”
“Sakura-chan said that all those weird jutsus Toneri put on you...they still haven’t figured out the effects that it had on people. You really haven’t been the same since, I keep telling her something’s up.”
“If I suspected something worse, I would have definitely gone to the doctors,”
His fingers are suddenly lightly pressing a pulse by the crook of my neck and I could tell he was testing my temperature and even counting my heart rate.
"You feel funny. A little warm, too." It was strange; nobody knew this side of him. He was like a mother-hen sometimes, fussing over me.
Sometimes it was...flattering.
Other times, like now, it was very unwelcome. He was deliberately interrupting me.
“You shouldn’t kiss me, because it won’t be long until you and Sakura-chan start dating. Actually. Dating. For real. And it’s wrong. What we do...it’s wrong.” I said finally, finding my voice. “We…we can never go public. You say so yourself. You… We’re waisting our time. Together. You should move on to Sakura-chan.”
“Ok, look…” He sounded like he was about to go into his whole speech again about how he was playing pretend boyfriend to his long-time crush for the sake of an extended mission. “About that…”
What he didn’t know was that Sakura-chan herself had come to me personally when Naruto-kun volunteered for the role as her pretend-boyfriend.
‘If it makes you uncomfortable, I totally understand. I’m a little wigged out myself, He’s like a brother to me.’ she said as she revealed why she would need a ‘bodyguard’ type man to shadow her for a couple months. They were even encouraged to act as a couple to discourage a few persistent suitors that wanted to specifically court medic-ninjas.
I assured her I wasn’t; in fact, it would ease off rumors of Naruto-kun and myself having an affair...so that was definitely a plus.
However, I was hurt by the obvious lie Naruto-kun fed me. He made it sound like he had no other choice--that he was the only one available to act as Sakura-chan’s boyfriend.
“Sasuke wasn’t in the village, and I know that if he heard anybody else was sniffing around Sakura-chan, he’d commit yet another crime! I’m doing this for peace!” he had said, quite brightly.
But I’ve seen the way he had looked at her, and spoke of her, and the hundred and one comments he would slip into our day-to-day conversation. I couldn’t blame him either, there were times where I would catch myself staring at the pink-haired beauty. She stole one’s breath with her looks one moment, and could charm you with her wit the next.
“I swear, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about this but it just totally slipped my mind. I’m not pretending to date Sakura-chan anymore! Yeah, it was getting weird. But since Sasuke’s back, he’s been keeping her company. Good thing too, I think Sakura-chan was getting pretty miffed. Everybody believed that she’d settle for me!”
“Don’t say that,” I chide, immediately. “You know Sakura-chan loves you. She wouldn’t…’settle’...You know she wouldn’t ever have to.”
“Haha, sounds like you wanna date her.”
“Well, just know...I’m rooting for you. Whoever you end up dating.” I said softly.
“Why would I date?” Naruto-kun shrugged. “Got everything I need right here. At least people stopped saying that we were an item, right? I know you hate when people think that.”
I can’t help but falter.
“I don’t hate it, that’s not fair.” I whispered. I couldn’t help but pout. “I don’t care what they say about me, but about you…”
“Ok, ok, ok.” Naruto-kun waved a hand in the air, trying to break apart the stiff tension. “Well stop bringing up dating!” he sighed. “I’m seriously not interested in dating right now. You know how busy I am! Can we drop it now, please?”
I bit my lip, looking down.
“You do love her, though.” I felt the need to remind him. He told me bluntly for years now. He had an easy time saying he loved her. He said it often. Loudly. Proudly.
I gasped and suddenly I’m on my back and he’s looming over me--backlit by the ceiling light. Like a playful cat he leaned over me and his cheek pressed up against mine as his large hands dip through folds of his thick sweater and his fingertips find a patch of uncovered skin over my stomach.
“What, were you jealous?” Naruto-kun teased as he started to kiss me along my cheeks, “Hehehe! Even when I give you aaall this attention…”
I was jealous. It hurts to be this jealous. I was sick of it. And I could tell Naruto-kun...just didn’t see my jealousy as anything concerning. He was pestering me to go to the hospital for a simple stomach problem, but when it came to my heart; it seemed he thought I was made of tougher stuff.
“You’re kinda obsessed with me, huh?”
That stung. I knew he was trying to sound like he was teasing me. But it often felt that way sometimes. My love sometimes dipped into unhealthy and obsessive.
His fingers dipped through the layers of clothing, and my breath got pulled out of me as I started feeling warmth spread like fire in my lungs and chest. I caught his wrist before he could curl his hand and disappear between my legs.
“I’m not obsessed with you.” I whispered. I’m trying to fix my glasses, as he kept pressing kisses on my face. “...I love you.” I repeated dumbly as his lips pressed against the shell of my ear and my glasses got knocked fully off my face. I heard them clattering away across the floor. “...But--”
“Heh, always that pesky ‘but’, huh?” Naruto-kun’s voice hummed around my head. I let go of his wrist and angled away from his touch.
“But you deserve better.”
“You like me, but...think I deserve better.” Naruto-kun scoffed. “Why does it feel like you’re always trying to break up with me?”
“It’s not really a break-up, we’re not really going out. You say so yourself.” I deliberately have to angle my chin away so as not to catch his expression. But despite my worsening vision, I could see him slowly work his face into a pout.
“Ok, what did I do?”
“You didn’t do anything.”
“Well, you’re being weird!” Naruto-kun complained, backing off of me and sitting upright. “What’s up?”
“I’m…” I slowly pull myself back up too.
My mouth goes dry. I gulped. I feel my nerves feel like sharp knives under my skin.
He noticed my panicked look and blinked down at me.
“Eh? Hinata?”
“Um.” I pushed him off of me and quickly straightened myself. “I...I just… I have to let you know that…I took that job in Sunagakure. The one Marin-sensei always talks about. I was finally approved.”
Naruto-kun blinked. “Uh...you took a job in Sunagakure? Why? That’s a crazy far commute.”
“Well, I’ll be living there.”
“...for a semester? It’s hotter than the surface of the sun over there…” scoffed Naruto-kun. “Is this because I teased that you could never get a tan?”
I’m not smiling.
Even if he was being kinda funny. His usual teasing doesn’t tickle anything in me.
“I’m not going there for a semester, Naruto-kun. This position is permanent.”
"Huh?" Naruto-kun looked like he didn't understand.
I won't repeat myself—I find the courage to look at him dead-on. I saw how his eyes were slowly widening with clarity. How it seemed to unfurl the truth. I could sense the exact moment he understood what I was saying.
He gripped my shoulder and shook me lightly, "Permanent? Like--forever?"
I closed my eyes and nodded, and my tears took this as a cue to start flowing out of my face and I pressed a hand to my mouth to try to muffle a loud sob.
"Hinata?" Naruto-kun was practically shouting. "What—?" I realize that he knew exactly what I said, but he wasn't trying to accept it.
"The village of the sand… they're short teachers for their Academy, and they need help with better ninja programs." My words were quickly and shortly interrupted by a small sob and a shake of my shoulder. “And...not very many people know the full details of the moon mission outside of Konoha, I was assured it would be safe for me to live on my own over there.”
"No!" Naruto-kun protested like a child, "No way!”
“I want to go.”
"W…What about… us?"
I look up at him—my hands finally started to wipe away tears… I noticed that Naruto-kun was quickly shedding his own tears, breaking my heart a little more.
"Us?" I repeat, "We… won't be roommates anymore."
"HOW CAN YOU AGREE TO THAT?" Naruto-kun screamed out of nowhere grabbing my shoulders and scaring me out of my wits as I stare at his transformed golden-orange eyes. My breath chokes in my throat and I could only look at him in awe as the streaks across his cheeks grew darker in color, and I felt nails digging into my arms. Before I could defend myself though—his act of fury ended, and he dissolved into violent tears into my arms. "You can't leave me in this village alone!"
"Naruto-kun." I said, my voice still shaking from fear of his previous state, "Naruto-kun… you're not alone…"
"Don't go. Stay with me."
"…I can’t."
“You’re like family to me, Hina. You’ve become a part of my home. What am I going to do?”
His eyes, blue and mysterious, are so close to me. Despite my failing vision, his blue eyes always cut through the fog. I can almost see my own pale eyes reflecting back at me. My damaged eyes. My lips are trying to desperately form words.
Words of comfort. Words of apology. Words of gratitude. Anything.
But it might have accidentally beckoned a kiss. I’m pulling away in a daze, realizing my lips felt slightly bruised from the intensity, and my vision blurred as fresh tears pooled over my eyes.
“I...I really care for you, Hina.” Naruto-kun’s voice is a soft croak. “I do.”
This was always what Naruto-kun said, whenever I would tell him I loved him.
I care for you.
You’re an important friend.
I really like people like you.
It was music to my ears in the beginning. Anything to feel like we were back to normal. That he had forgiven me for my wrongs. That perhaps, just for a moment, I could dream what it could have been like if I hadn’t messed everything up.
“I’m going to miss you.” I touch his cheek and trace one of his whisker marks. A gesture I got too comfortable doing. “So, so much.”
He doesn’t smile, or melt, or do any of the warm fuzzy things he normally did. He froze and he looked genuinely upset. His jaw is clenched, his skin around his lips taught, his brows knitted.
He wanted to shout again. I could tell.
I could feel the air come from his nostrils in quick puffs; he was trying to regain himself until he finally started talking very fast;
“Did someone tell you that you should leave again? Who was it, huh? Because--that’s only a few people in the village, ok? We’ll...we’ll get your position back. You said so yourself, you’re feeling better--your vision will come back and--and heck, one day, one day, you never know! Maybe your Byakugan will resurface and you can be an active ninja again, and--”
“One day, I would have gotten a different offer to leave Konoha,” I said quietly. “I told you for a while now, I...feel like I can’t stay here anymore. My old clan...they hate me.”
“So what!?” Naruto-kun sneered. “So what if a few people hate you? I don’t hate you--and your students don’t hate you, and Kurenai-sensei, and Kiba and Shino and Sakura-chan and--”
“I know,” I said as gently, and soothingly as possible. “But I hate it here.”
I know that it was the worst thing to say to Naruto-kun’s face. He loved this village. Despite what this village did to him. How this village used to hurt him. He was one of the few people in the village who knew exactly how cruel they could be when they decided to demonize someone. To hear me say I hate it here. I know it was unkind.
“I hate how I hurt your good name. I know you’ve heard it all too. A fangirl told me the other day...I probably get reduced rent because I let you have your way with me. Some people are already joking that...I’ll be your mistress for life since you pity me.”
“I--! That’s just--!”
“And that’s not fair to your future wife, and it isn’t fair to you.”
“Fuck.” he hissed and turned away. “What the fuck! Why can’t people mind their fucking business--?” He then held up a finger in front of his face. “And I don’t pity you, ok?”
I turn away from him and wipe my face. My eyes were hot, my tears were warm.
“It’s getting harder to believe that.”
I could see Naruto-kun flinging his arms up in the air in offense and he jumped up to stand. He paced behind me, thumping around awkwardly before he swung into a marching pace.
“What, and you were just going to leave a dumb note?” he suddenly brushes against me--reaches right over me to yank at the paper that he had tossed aside in the beginning. He reads over it quickly, and I hear him scoffing and loudly crushing the paper in his hands. “Hinata, what the fuck.”
A loud banging sound forced me to look up at him. He barged through my room’s door, and whirled around, taking in the fact that there were already boxes everywhere and half of my things were gone. The majority of my belongings were donated. The small sentimental things that were too valuable to bring with me on the first trip to Suna were already safely tucked away in Kurenai-sensei’s attic.
“...Were you going to just leave while I was off on my mission?”
“No,” I said this firmly. Because that was the truth. “I-I’m leaving tomorrow by noon. You would have made it back by morning…” The note I was writing was on the off-chance he came back home late… I realize now I might have come across as cold.
“That doesn’t matter,” he said, his voice suddenly very hard to hear. He slowly made a circle around the room, pointing to spots where furniture vanished and sentimental trinkets were nowhere to be found. “You’re seriously leaving.”
It was something we’d occasionally talk about. He shouldn’t have been this surprised, but as he turned around I happened to catch the tears falling from his eyes and I walked up to hold his arm. He draws me in for a deep hug, burying his head against my shoulder and suddenly I could hear and feel every jerk of his chest as he let out a shaky sob.
I pet his hair, his shoulder blades, and rest my head against his. I know I’m crying too, the air is punctuated by my sniffling.
“Thank you,” I told him gently. “Thank you for everything. The past few years...I couldn’t have...I couldn’t have gotten this far without you.”
He didn't respond, he continued to cry.
“I love you,” I tell him. Because I mean it. Every time I let it slip I still love him, I know it also sounded like a small apology. Sorry it’s me.
“It’s just like the time on the moon.” Naruto-kun’s voice was scratchy but loud. “You can’t leave. Not this time. Please.”
It’s a sharp knife, his words. And it hurts even more as I feel him squeeze me closer to his heart and I let out a soft cry.
“I want to go.”
“No you don’t. You’re just--just fed up with the way only a few idiots behave--don’t give up on this place...Hinata, I’m going to be Hokage soon and whatever I say goes, right? I mean… this Village has the potential to be great. To be BETTER. I’ll make it better.”
“Because you’ll be Hokage-sama soon...you need to be seriously thinking of someone that could give you a real family, Naruto-kun. Like it or not, whoever you keep by your side will influence the village in a small way, and...and it absolutely cannot be me.”
This isn’t the first fight we had about this. This wasn’t our first fight about me leaving.
This will be the last one though, thank goodness.
“Things are getting better. Every year, people forget about that stupid mission… and it’s not like we failed entirely! People are ridiculous--we fulfilled our main objectives! We got Hanabi back, and we kept the moon from crashing into Earth. All of this extra drama will be forgotten very soon. Everyone in the village will just--”
“You know the elders and the council members are already upset that we live together.”
“Those old farts are just looking for ways to get offended. They don’t really care. Look at my parents--!”
“They were never allowed to marry,” I said bluntly. “Kushina-sama was very upset about that, you’ve read her journals.” As have I. The politics surrounding their slap-dash elopement was a daring tale that Naruto-kun loved to recount, but the reality of that rebellious move also resulted in Yondaime and Kushina-sama having to keep their relationship a secret until the safe delivery of Naruto-kun.
Of course, it was too late by the time Naruto-kun was finally here...and Kushina-sama was never allowed to carry on the Namikaze name. Nor was she ever mentioned in history books despite how vital she was to our history.
Naruto-kun’s lips twisted to a frown. “Yeah well--she still stayed with my dad! And he was going to announce her as his wife once--”
“Once you were born. An heir. A baby.” I emphasize. “You know I can’t do that. The council members looked the other way since they were already starting a family. I...can never give you children.”
There was a reason the rumors only progressed to me being a mistress. Never Naruto-kun’s wife. Someone as important as Naruto-kun couldn’t marry someone who couldn’t give him children. It was an unspoken must.
It was confirmed many times by the doctors who studied jutsus and the spell I was cast under while I was held prisoner on the moon. It was one of the few things I hoped would be kept secret...but unfortunately, I found out that the village knew of this when I was getting my annual physical two years ago. A nurse refused to give me my annual contraceptive Jutsu that most active shinobi request just for safety.
“It’ll be wasted on you. You know you’re damaged goods.” the nurse had said, surprising me.
It was the final punishment my clan had flung at my feet. After the controversial reinstatement of the cursed seal, and the disownment, I naively thought they had wiped their hands clean of me.
It turned out...they revealed my medical history.
They were essentially making it known that I’d be a horrible bride for whatever future clan was kind enough to take me in. The two most valuable things about me; my eyes and my ability to create more eyes; were useless.
“...Hinata, I’ve always told you...that doesn’t--”
“It matters to me!!!” I quickly interrupted him, my tears feeling like great globs coming out of me. “Please! It matters to me… I...I can’t wait to meet your children one day. You’re going to be a wonderful father.”
He shot a disgruntled look on the ground, blushing. He had thought about children, I know it. There was no use lying about this fact. I had seen the way he brightened around children. How he enjoyed visiting me at the Academy.
“There are so many bright prospects for you. Please...live a good, full, happy life… and just know I’ll always support you from afar,” I leaned forward to try to kiss him...one last time. He pursed his lips shut and angled his jaw away. Instead I pressed a hand on his cheek and we’re back to crying in each other’s arms.
“Please,” he begged again. “Please, let’s...let’s just talk about it some more. I can make things work. Moving out of this apartment was one thing...but moving out of Konoha? That was never the plan!”
“Plans change.” I am proud I’m able to turn his soft coaxing down completely. “Stop making this harder than it needs to be...”
“If you actually loved me--you wouldn’t leave,” he said, so hurtfully; so unkind, it made me feel all the pent-up energy released like a rocket.
“I do love you.” I’m leaving because I’m still hopelessly, obsessively, unhealthily in love that it hurts.
“I hate liars.” Naruto-kun spat out, suddenly taking several steps away from me and making me clutch at the air helplessly. “Hinata, you’re a fucking liar.”
“Naruto-kun…”
“I’m staying at Sai’s place tonight. I can’t be here.” Naruto-kun turned and marched out of my room. I stood awkwardly frozen as I heard him loudly stomp his way through the apartment before he slammed the front door. The sound was so loud that it made me flinch a bit, my hands raised over my lips in shock at how badly that all went down.
I sank to my knees and soaked in the sound of my sobs.
I cried openly until my throat felt raw as I packed the rest of my things.
The next day, I slipped the rent checks I had promised into a simple white envelope and placed it under a fridge magnet for Naruto-kun to find. I was leaving exactly around noon, where I’d make a small stop at Neji-nii-sama’s grave one final time before making my journey to Sunagakure. I didn’t get to say a final goodbye to Naruto-kun, so I turned toward a simple note--one last time.
Goodbye Naruto-kun. I’ll always cherish these last few years and all you have done for me. I hope we can stay friends. I hope to see you again in Sunagakure. From…
I was about to write my name, essentially finishing a note for the first time since we started living together... when something else welled up inside of me.
I slapped a hand over my mouth and rushed to the bathroom and thankfully made it in time to lift the lid of the toilet and say a rushed goodbye to breakfast.
Perhaps I knew in my gut that this move was coming and that I was scared. Lonely. Desperate. I gagged until I was dry-heaving nothing. I continued to feel nauseous and made a mental note to pack extra water on my trek over to Suna if this was how I was feeling at the start of the journey.
I quickly flushed my mess down the toilet and a strange thought entered my mind that I immediately pushed away.
It was strange that Naruto-kun and I could never finish writing a note for each other.
I should have seen that moment as a sign.
To be Continued...