I have been itching to write for a while now and finally got a hold of a computer, enough time to write, and an idea. I do not own anything about Naruto... Ohhhh but if I did...

Hope you enjoy and please comment! I like feedback.

Heroes

"Will I ever be enough for a hero like you?"

She stood there, waiting... Waiting for his reply. Waiting, like she had done for the past five years after she realized that he was everything she had always needed. Waiting for him to realize that even though she was not good enough for him they were inevitably going to fall off the edge. Waiting for him to finally admit the truth.

He stood there, contemplating. Contemplating his whole life, contemplating what he could say to a girl who would never truly realize how much wrong he had done in his life. That was what he loved about her though... the woman in her knew what a horrible place the world was, had seen so much disaster, and still the little girl in her idolized him as a hero.

"I think the real question is...if I tell you all about the horrors I have committed, will you still look at me like I am this hero who will sweep you off your feet?"

Sakura felt her bubblegum ponytail lift off her neck from the breeze drifting through the window of his small apartment complex. She had known this man since she was a pre-teen and it still amazed her how utterly ignorant he could be to the inner workings of his heart. She wanted to be the one to shed light on his bizarre, masochistic tendencies.

He saw her take a step forward... hesitantly, as if she inherently knew that the only thing he felt like he could do was run whenever someone got too close. He almost did too. However, he was so paralyzed by the strange look in her emerald eyes that his curiosity got the better of him.

"You know, when I was young my mother always told me that I was destined to be a healer. She saw that I wanted to save everyone even if they didn't deserve it... and that it would be my downfall." She suddenly looked down in defeat. "Looking back on my life I can see that she was totally right."

When she looked up all she could see was the side of his masked face...a hand in his unruly silver hair. She had come to find that when something truly got under his skin he would ultimately try to untangle the knots of his wayward hair...like if he finally managed to make something on his person presentable his life would follow suit.

When a full minute had past of silence, Sakura could tell that there was nothing left to be said. She had spoken her piece and he would never let anyone in much less a complicated, messy woman-child he had seen grow up. In a moment of pettiness, she wanted to give into her frustration and shake some sense into him. Spell out word for word what their relationship had erupted into. But, in the end, the famous Copy Ninja will never be anything more than himself...which she equally loved and hated.

As she went to turn away, he suddenly grabbed her wrist.

"Sakura, just let me try to explain the best way I can." He took a deep breath and put his hands in his pockets. " The last thing I will ever be is a hero. I am someone that will make you see reality for what it really is. I will never keep you blindly, ignorantly safe. I will not whisk you away from all of your regrets and that's the person you want me to be." A hard glint became apparent in his uncovered eye.

"No one wants a hero that holds them accountable for their actions, makes them face their mistakes. Who would ever love a hero that gives them the tools they need to save themselves?"

Sakura stared at him in shock. Her hands shook with an emotion she could not put a name to. "There you go again with your riddles. Why do you think so little of yourself? You're a god damn hero to this village and you know it! Why is it so hard for you to see that I love you because you have been there for me for as long as I can remember...because I see the hero you really are? Besides, you cannot deny that we have something here. I don't know what, but I know that if you let me I could help you as much as you have helped me! Let someone in for once!"

Kakashi took in her red face and heaving chest. He knew how much she cared for him because he mirrored her sentiments exactly. He loved her. He cared for her. And that is exactly why he would not let her in. He would not let the delusions of grandeur that she had of him be her downfall. With one step he closed the gap between them. He took her in his arms and let himself have one moment of pleasure before he did the right thing...the selfless thing. And isn't that why he was always labeled the hero?

Kaskahi laid his cheek on the top of her head and inhaled her strawberry vanilla scent...for the last time. He would not let himself get so close again.

"You're right to say I have done great things for this village, but I have also done horrible things for this village. These acts will stay with me until I am six feet under and I promise you I will be the only person who will be burdened with them. If you want to call me heroic, call me that because I refuse to let you be tainted by the dark side of my ninja life. This is the last time we will speak of this."

Sakura felt him hold her tighter for a second longer and then felt herself be pushed away lightly. She knew that coming here warm and willing would not change his mind, but just once, she wanted to feel like her love meant something. She wanted to heal him of the darkness that made him so aloof.

Her mother always told her her healing ways would be her down fall. As she walked out of Kakashi's apartment for the last time all that repeated in her head was the slamming of his door and...

You were totally right Mama...

Tired eyes kept staring at the slammed door long after the deed was done.

To the silence, the only companion he would ever allow, he mused, "Now that I think on it...Do you know the term for people who see the truth as it really is. Who make other people save themselves?" The silence gave him no answer, as always, but let him continue as the only thing that he gave his uncensored thoughts to willingly.

"Villains... and we all wonder why there are no more heroes left in this world."