Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.
A Broken Daisy
In her hand was a simple yet fragile daisy. It wasn't perfect since most of its petals were already gone, but that caught her attention all the more. A small smile appeared on her face because for some reason, the flower in her hands reminded her of someone. She softly let out a chuckle when she realized the daisy reminded her of herself, broken and incomplete. With two fingers, she gently tugged a petal off the daisy and whispered to herself:
He loves me.
Memories of him began to flood her mind as she watched the petal fall slowly to the ground. She closed her eyes as his image formed in her head. His dark, raven hair. His onyx eyes that appeared distant and cold. They called him a child prodigy, being the top of the class in the academy. Almost every girl who knew his name was head over heels and among these girls was her. How foolish of me, she thought as she opened her eyes. She pulled off another petal.
He loves me not.
His cold, red eyes stared at her the last time she saw him. She was frozen in her place and she searched his eyes for any sign of his old self, trying to find a sliver of light in the darkness. Shivers ran down her spine for his eyes held only one thing: hate.
He loves me.
Those same eyes stared at her in the Forest of Death during the chunnin exams. With his body covered with foreign black marks and his eyes glowing red, he demanded to know who hurt her. He wanted to know who caused his fellow teammate pain.
He loves me not.
He always ignored her, always viewed her as someone annoying and weak.
He loves me.
He acknowledged her as a bright kunoichi. At one point before the written part of the chunnin exams, he even lifted her spirits when she doubted herself and felt insufficient.
He loves me not.
He left the village, he left her.
He loves me.
It was barely audible, but his words rang loud and clear before she lost consciousness.
Thank you.
He loves me not.
She tried to kill him. She had to. He was too far into the darkness. He wasn't the man she once knew. She was so close, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. After all this time, she still loved him. He turned around and grabbed her neck and used his other hand to grab the kunai out of her hand. Staring at her, this is the second time he didn't hesitate to kill her.
Tears began to stream down her face as she stared at the last petal on the daisy. It was hopeless. There was no point in loving a man who clearly didn't return her affections.
Then why?
Why was she still looking for him, chasing after him?
Why couldn't she kill him?
Why did she still love him?
A bitter smile formed on her tear stained face as she continued to stare at the lie in her hands. If only it was true. Her heart screamed for it, but her mind knew it was too good to be true. She plucked off the last petal and allowed the stem to fall along with the rest of the fallen petals. Broken and incomplete, her hands covered her face as she continued to cry. If only it was true. If only.
He loves me.