Kakashi sat at the wheel of his car driving away from the airport. Tears lingered in his eyes, but he did not let a single one fall. He forced himself not to cry. He'd done that too much lately……and it wasn't healthy. The radio was off, so he couldn't help but relive what had just happened…
"Just one more time," Kakashi stated pulling into the nearest parking spot, "I have to see her before she leaves…" He ran as fast as his legs would go. He headed for the nearest ticket booth. He pushed past some people in line. They started to protest, but he turned to them with tear-filled eyes and they fell silent. He blinked once and turned back to the ticket person. "Excuse me?" He panted out of breath. "When is the Japan flight leaving?" The young woman smiled. "Let me check…" A few moments later, (after typing extremely quickly), the woman had an answer. "In about twenty minutes sir." "Thank-you!" Kakashi cried. He ran and dodged his way through the crowd. He had to find her. She had to still be there. She must be waiting in the "departures." She had to be. There was no where else for her to go.
He finally made it there. His heart racing and he could hardly breathe. He gazed around. A few Japanese people stared at him as if he was a being from another planet, but he didn't care. He had to find her. He caught something in the corner of his eye. He whirled around and there she sat. Their eyes met. She raised a magazine up in front of her face…almost as if she wished he'd melt away. "Tsunade!" He rushed over to her.
She placed the magazine down and turned her face away from him. "I don't want to talk to you." She spoke coldly. Kakashi sighed. He had to tell her everything. It was now or never. "Tsunade……please listen. I know you can't stand me right now……but I……I have to say this now…otherwise I'll never get the chance." She turned her head back to him. "And that would be……what?!" She practically shouted. Kakashi took in a deep breath. "Tsunade I……I do care about you……a lot. I mean, a lot more than you know. Those Valentine's Day gifts……I didn't mean to upset you with them……I thought……forget what I thought." He paused. He wondered if she knew how hard it was for him to say all this. "Tsunade you can't go!" Suddenly he was in tears. Her face lit up in surprise. He got off his chair and got down on both knees. He held her hands in his. "Don't go! Please don't leave me here alone! You don't understand! Tsunade I'm hopelessly in love with you! Can you not see that?!"
She glanced around the room. She seemed to be searching for an excuse to leave him. "Kakashi this really isn't the time…" "Don't you dare say that to me! If I don't……don't you understand? This is the last time I have to see you! You're going back to Japan for God's sake! Can you not understand that?!" She shut her eyes tight and shook her head. "Stop it!" she screamed. "Don't say that!" "But it's true! Tsunade listen to me!" He squeezed her hands harder. She shook her head. A tear slowly slid down her cheek. He took in another deep breath. "Tsunade I know about your past…I know what your parents did to you! I know they locked you up in a closet when they had friends around! I know no one but your parents knew about you for three whole years! I know you missed out on so many things! I know they hated you! I know they said you were worthless and would amount to nothing, but that's not true! Damnit Tsunade look at me!" She did as she was told.
"I know more about you than you think! Remember? You told me all about your past! You even gave me this!" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small silver key. Her eyes widened. "You actually kept it?!" She seemed on the verge of breaking down. "Of course I did! You told me as long as I had this key, you would stay here in Canada! You promised me! You said Japan had too many horrible memories for you! You can't leave me Tsunade! Please don't go! Please! Please……" His voice faded from a whisper into nothing but tears and sobs. The Japanese people in the departures just watched. They didn't seem to really understand what was going on. But who were they to judge? They didn't know them. They didn't know what horrible memories Tsunade was trying to bury. They sure as hell didn't know a damn thing about Kakashi's breaking heart.
"Look what you're doing to me Tsunade……" Kakashi whispered through sobs. Their eyes hadn't separated. "You've torn my heart to shreds and I can barely function now. Everyone is worried about me and they think you're a total bitch! I don't what them to think of you that way! I hate them for thinking that way, because you're not like that! Tsunade……do you understand now? If you get on that plane…I'm not going to have a reason to live!" Tsunade shook her head. She pulled her hands out of his and stood up. He did the same. "No!" She sobbed. "No! Don't do this to me! I've done nothing! You can't love me! Not this much! No one's ever…" Kakashi suddenly pulled her to him.
She was silent. He could feel her shaking in his arms. Why? Why did she have to suffer? He couldn't believe what her parents had done to her. They hated her. They were ashamed that they hadn't had a boy, so every time one of their friends came over, her parents locked her up in the closet. She had to be silent. If she made a single sound……she was beaten. She had been beaten so badly once, she had bled for an entire week. She had lost a lot of blood and they had no choice but to take her to a doctor. When the doctor had asked what had happened, her parents said that she was a clumsy good-for-nothing retard that couldn't concentrate on what she did. They said she was always hurting herself. They told the doctor they wished she'd never been born…
As she stood crying in his arms, he prayed she would stay. He couldn't deal with losing her. And it wouldn't do her any good either. She had told him everything about her past. After that, they became extremely close. But now……what had happened to all that? He sensed she was hiding something…so he had to ask. "Tsunade?" He asked tenderly. "What did I do wrong?" Suddenly an announcement came on: "All passengers flying on the Japanese flight please proceed……" And it continued on. Kakashi flinched at those words. Tsunade pulled out of his arms. She shook her head. "I'm so sorry Kakashi……but I……I can't……" She snatched the key and she ran from him. She picked up a small green bag and ran after the other passengers. Kakashi didn't call after her. What was the point? She hadn't told him anything. But he had told her everything……and now she was gone. Would she ever return? Would he ever see her face again?
Kakashi wiped the tears from his eyes. She hadn't even told him if it was his fault or not. He would live with that forever. Did she just hate him that much? Was he really such a mean person? His friends kept saying it wasn't his fault. They said she was in the wrong. They were always blaming her……but they knew nothing. They understood nothing. He pulled up into another parking lot. He turned the key and the ignition stopped. He sat there for what seemed like forever and just cried. He screamed and cried. "WHY?!!" That was the only word he could manage to say. It was the only word that described how he was feeling. Why? She hadn't told him why she was leaving. The love of his life……gone. And only four days after Valentine's Day… He cried. Oh how he cried. No one could save him now. He was a lost soul. His heart had gone away with her on the plane. He just existed. He wasn't actually there…