In a flash of lightning, all of Hitomi Kaijima's biggest hopes and dreams vanished. All she had ever wanted was to become a shinobi. Now left blind after a horrible accident, she is determined to prove herself to the people of her village. What Hitomi doesn't expect though, is to discover a kindred spirit, who will teach her to smile again.
Disclaimer: Obviously, as this is a fanfic, I don't own Naruto, or Rock Lee (le sob). I also don't own the song "You're Still You"I do however own Hitomi.
Obviously, as this is a fanfic, I don't own Naruto, or Rock Lee (le sob). I also don't own the song ""I do however own Hitomi.From the author of "Worlds Without End", AKA me! Hope y'all enjoy. I've done my best to banish as much Mary-Sueishness as I could from my character, so don't cringe at the letters OC. The pairings so far are LeexHitomi, NarutoxHinata, and NejixTenten. If you have any pairing requests, or heck, an OC you'd like me to stick in, just mention it in a review or e-mail. On a final note; No flames. Thanks in advance.
Chapter Song: You're Still You-Josh Groban
Chapter Seven! Not telling you anything about it, so read and you'll find out:P :)
Well, I have about five chapters left of this story, so the pace is going to pick up quite a bit over the next little while. The lyrics in this song can be directlly tied into Hitomi's thoughts-as in she actually thinks them as this is happening-so please read and think about them.Thanks, and enjoy chapter seven!
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Chapter 7- Confession
/Through the darkness
I can see your light ./
It was mid-afternoon when Hitomi reached area thirteen. It was partially due to the fact that the Konoha girls-who had learned of the her little plan through Ino, who had been eavesdropping on Hitomi and Hinata's conversation the previous night- had insisted on doing her hair and stealing her jacket("it smells like cat hair!" Ino had said). It was also partially due to the fact that Hitomi was stalling for time to gather her courage. As she walked, she had gone over and over the pending conversation with Lee in her mind, adjusting, tweaking and re-evaluating it to the point where she was a nervous wreck. As she closed the steel gate behind her and stepped forward into the training area, the loud, steady rhythm of flesh on wood that drifted on the breeze told her that Lee was nearby, training as always.
/And you will always shine,
and I can feel your heart in mine.
Your face I've memorized.
I idolize just you.../
Whenhis heat signaturecame into view, she took a deep breath, resisting the urge to turn and bolt.
"Hey, Lee-kun!"
She called faux-cheerfully, half-raising one arm in greeting. The faded blue smudge two hundred feet away shifted from the log it had been beating to splinters, and brushed the hair from it's eyes, then waved back vigorously when it realized who she was.
"Hello Hitomi-chan! How nice it is to see you again! Have you come to train with me?"
Lee asked once she was nearer. The blind girl avoided his eyes, fiddling with the hem of her tank-top.
"Ah...well. Not really. I...wanted to talk."
She murmured, managing to lift her eyes for the sake of politeness. Seeing him again was enough to bolster Hitomi's resolve in what she was doing. Lee meant so much to her, far beyond some simple crush or infatuation. She'd never be able to handle keeping her feelings secret forever. It hurt to much to keep wondering about what he thought of her constantly. She needed the closure that only spilling her guts could bring.
Oh god she felt sick.
/I look up to everything you are.
In my eyes you do no wrong.
I've loved you for so long,
and after all is said and done.../
Lee gave her a puzzled look, but nodded with a friendly smile.
"Certainly! What is it you wish to talk about?"
Hitomi took a deep breath, wandering backward a few paces and sitting down in the shade of a large tree. Though her gaze was not directly on him, Hitomi's ninjutsu still picked up Lee's puzzled look as he followed and sat down beside her.
"Hitomi-chan, is everything alright? You look quite uneasy."
Hitomi blushed, trying to hide her terror with a smile.
"Uh w-well...It's just that I... have something I need to say but...I'm not sure how to say it."
Lee struck pose number eighteen in an attempt to encourage her.
"Well that's easy! Just think about what you want to say, and say it!"
Hitomi felt sweat form on the side of her head. If only doing this was as easy as Lee thought it was. He was just so blissfully naive sometimes...She took a deep breath, speaking slowly to help keep her thoughts from running off and making her sound deranged.
"Well, Lee-kun...we've known each other for a while now and... to be honest you've had a really positive influence on me. I mean, in three months I've come so far in my taijutsu it's just amazing. And Tai says I smile a lot more, and...I think that's mostly because of you."
Lee smiled brightly, looking incredibly pleased with himself.
"Well I'mvery gladto hear you say so Hitomi-chan, but I haven't done much."
She smiled back at him.
"You're my friend aren't you?"
"Of course!"
"Well, that's enough."
/You're still you after all.
You're still you./
No, it's not enough, she added mentally. She wanted him as so much more than a friend. She wanted the words to tell him that she felt that he was her encouragement to fight against a world that wanted her to give up. She wanted him to know that she felt such empathy toward him it was as if his struggles and dreams were her own, that just being near him gave her a reason to go on. He was her consistency, her strength...
Being her friend, her training partner, just wasn't enough.
/You walk past me...
I can feel your pain.
Time changes everything,
but one truth always stays the same./
Hitomi took a deep breath, trying to get away from the poetics and think of a way to phrase her thoughts coherently. After a few moment, she spoke up, in a very small, meek voice.
"Lee-kun...I hear you really like Sakura-chan. Is that true?"
There was a very short pause, one that might have been unnoticeably had it not been Lee who was pausing.
"Indeed it is! I have promised to protect her until I die, and strive to one day win her heart!"
He cheered spiritedly, his characteristic look of determination working it's way onto his features. Hitomi stared at the ground.
"Why?"
She asked simply.
"What?"
Lee asked, once again looking confused. Hitomi turned her sightless eyes up to his, hugging her knees to her chest.
"Why do you like her so much? I mean, it's not like she's an amazing ninja, and she's not even that nice to you! Why would you like her so much?"
There was another pause-very unusual for Lee, though it was no doubt caused by his seeing the intensity in his blind companion's stare. He made a small choking sound that might have been an expression of disbelief or simply nervousness.
"H-Hitomi-chan, Sakura is my angel! She doesn't need to be an amazing ninja! She is beautiful a new blossom in spring, and she is very smart, and my world would be shrouded in darkness without her!"
Hitomi dropped her gaze quickly. She felt her heat tug painfully, and her eyes began to sting slightly in the corners. She'd expected no different a response from Rock Lee.
/You're still you after all.
You're still you./
But it still hurt.
"And what am I then?"
She asked, raising her eyes again, her voice slightly more soft and choked.
"Wha...Hitomi-chan?"
Lee asked, clearly concerned now as well as perplexed. Hitomi sighed deeply, closing and re-opening her eyes, trying to remain serene and bite back the feelings of hopelessness that rose in the back of her mind.
"Lee-kun this is what I needed to know. I realize that you're in love with Sakura, but for the last little while, I've come to think of you as more than just a friend. I've been thinking long and hard of how I could tell you and still sound sincere but, after hearing about Sakura from you I'm beginning to wonder if I ever had a chance."
Lee looked nothing short of completely stunned.
"B-but Hitomi-chan...y-you are my friend! You are not Sakura-chan!"
He choked out. Hitomi felt her heart begin to ache again.
"What does that mean?"
She asked, her voice edged with anger as she stared at him. Lee flinched and looked away.
"Hitomi-chan, I don't think you fully realize my feelings for her! They are not something I can just disregard! Sakura-chan is precious to me!"
"But I don't understand!"
She blind girl cried out in frustration.
"How can you feel so strongly for her when she's always rejecting you and putting you down? I mean, at least I'm you're friend!"
I'm you're friend, she screamed mentally over and over. Sakura is barely a friendly acquaintance! How can you love her and barely acknowledge me?
/I look up to everything you are!
In my eyes you do no wrong/
"But that's just it!"
Lee said, raising his voice slightly to match Hitomi's in volume.
"You're my friend Hitomi-chan, but it will always be Sakura that I love! I am deeplytouchedthat you have these feelings for me, but I cannot just forget about her!"
"Then you should understand why I can't just forget about you! She's in love with that Sasuke guy! She hardly gives you the time of day, and yet you still love her!"
By now Hitomi had gotten to her feet and stepped backward, almost in horror of the direction the conversation was going. Lee rose, stepping toward her, holding his arms out in a gesture meant to calm her.
"Please Hitomi-chan you're making this more difficult than it needs to be!"
Hitomi ignored him and continued, tears pooling in the corners of her eyes.
"How can I just forget how much you mean to me, and let you keep chasing after someone who doesn't even want you? I can't Lee-kun! Why can't you just give me a chance?"
At least I can appreciate you for the person you are, she screamed mentally. Why she couldn't say these things out loud she didn't know. Maybe there were just some feelings she couldn't stand to share in such a situation, afraid they would be cast aside as if they were nothing, when really they were so fervent and intense that simply thinking them now left the blind kunoichi on the brink of tears.
/And I believe in you,
although you never asked me to.
I will remember you,
and what life put you through./
There was a long pause, though the air was filled with the sound of Hitomi's barely contained sobs. At lengh, Lee's voice came, uncharacteristically indecisive and soft.
"Because...I...I can't break her heart..."
"But...but you can break mine?"
The girl said, her voice nearly a whisper, the ache in her heart jolting painfully so she couldn't help but let a few tears run from her sightless eyes and down her cheeks. Lee flinched, obviously upset that he was making his friend cry.
"Hitomi-cha-"
The boy'ssympathetic appeal for forgiveness was interrupted by Hitomi's tearful sobs.
"-I mean I know I'm not very pretty or smart, a-a-and you're world might not fall into much darkness without me but...but-"
"Please Hitomi-chan stop! It's not like that! It is...it is very hard to explain!"
Lee's voice was woeful, and almost pleading, but Hitomi was past listening anymore.
"Look, just never mind Lee-san, okay?"
Hitomi choked, by now in full blown tears.
"I-I knew it was stupid but I...I just wanted to ask for a chance. I'm sorry I interrupted you're training, a-and I hope that one day Sakura realizes just how lucky she is."
At that she turned on her heel and started running. She half-crashed into the fence when she came to it, but only cried harder, tearing open the gate and jumping into the nearest tree to run through the forest canopy.
"Please Hitomi-chan, wait!"
She heard the voice echo behind her, but ignored it.That voice hurt to much to hear now. She'd made such a fool of herself back there. How could she ever have expected to compete with Sakura?
/And in this cruel and lonely world,
I'd found one love... /
But she still loved him. What a shame her true love was already hopelessly devoted to another. Why, she might never understand, but she had learned one thing from this whole experience. Lee and Sakura, were more similar than they realized, Hitomi thought. They were both chasing after someone they would never catch, and who would never look back to acknowledge the one chasing them.
/You're still you/
And still she loved him.
/After all/ he was her inspiration.
/You're still you./
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Oh the cruel tragedy or it all!Wow, writing that was depressing! Honestly guys, did you think Hitomi could win him over so easily? Not a chance! Stay tuned for chapter eight, involving a whole lot of self absorbed, broken hearted angst. No bad Goth poetry though, I promise. ;)
Please review! The next chapter will be a while from now since I really have to work on Worlds Without End!
