(The Hero-One Punch Man OP1)

Uchiha District, Konoha

6:23 p.m.

What time was it? Oh. It was still early. Sayoko rubbed her eyes and sat up in bed, and shook her head. Her hair was a mess. No! What would Naruto think!? That Sayoko didn't care about how she looked and that she just threw on whatever wasn't dirty!? No! She couldn't have that. Taking deep breaths, Sayoko stood up from her bed, and folded her blanket and set it atop the lone pillow. Strolling over to the window, Sayoko gazed out her window. Her charred window. Luckily, the Uchiha district didn't get damaged that much.

Sayoko slipped off her nightgown and grabbed a towel from one of the many dressers that littered her room. Honestly, Sayoko didn't know why there were so many dressers in her room. She was pretty sure that the pink one didn't even have anything in it.

The water felt warm against her skin. A shiver ran through her body, despite the heat of the shower. Sayoko ran a hand through her smooth skin. It wasn't like Naruko's which was littered with scars, bruises and burns. Sayoko's skin was spotless. Not a single scar or bruise anywhere to be seen. She made sure of that. A sigh of content escaped her lips, as Sayoko let her hair down. It wasn't as long as Naruko's, which reached her waist. Sayoko's reached slightly lower than her shoulders.

After a good 10 minutes in shower, Sayoko exited and looked at the clock. What!? 7:30!? There was no way she spent an hour in the shower. No way. And then she realized that the clock was 1 hour early. She let out a sigh of relief. Sayoko then slipped on a strapless sapphire blue dress that stopped short of her knees. Sayoko began to apply make-up when the door creaked open.

Standing in the doorway, with his arms crossed was Sasuke, trying his best to look nonchalant. Sayoko sighed and shot a cold look at her twin, who only smirked at her before leaving. Well, that was weird. With another sigh, Sayoko, fastened her ponytail with a large lavender bow.

"Are you done now?" Sayoko rolled her eyes and kicked the wall, inciting a cry from Sasuke. "That's a yes!" She chuckled darkly and cracked her knuckles. It was good to Sasuke actually talking in full sentences instead of grunts and the occasional monosyllabic word.

Sasuke smirked at her from the stairs, as he slid down them. Sayoko sighed again. She hoped that this wasn't going to foreshadow what was going to happen. After all, Sasuke hung around Naruto a lot. Like, a lot. So, Sayoko sped downstairs as fast her tired feet would take her. As she reached the dining room, she checked the time. 7? Sasuke must have caught her looking at the clock.

"I have a mission today. You as well right?" Sayoko glared at Sasuke. "After all, you are dressed for some occasion…" Her twin ducked as Sayoko swung hard at him, the frills of her dress flying in the air, necklace jingling against her collarbone. When she looked up, Sayoko saw Sasuke smiling. If that small curve of the mouth could be called a smile. "So what's today's meal?" He asked, moving to retrieve his meal which had finished heating up.

"Well, I was thinking about going to Hashirama's Garden, I hear they serve really good Sukiyaki there. If you're early enough, they usually run out by 3 or 4 in afternoon. N-not that I'd know from experience or anything. It's just that Naruko's been telling me all about the place." Sasuke nodded, unconvinced and continued eating.

"After that I was thinking of going to Tobirama's Beach…which isn't really a beach but more like a large artificial lake. N-not that I've been there before or a-anything. Ino just won't stop talking about all the hot boys that are always at the beach." Sasuke motioned for to continue. "T-then we're going to go to watch a movie. Don't know which, you see any good ones lately?"

Sasuke raised his hand, and gulped. "Not really. Unless the Fantasy Five counts." Sayoko made a face. "Or how about an actual movie, like Defenders of the Nebula?"

"Is that even still showing?"

"I don't think so, but I think the cinema guys would make an exception for the Hokage's son. Moving on, you guys could watch a romantic movie like Cloth Cities to get into the mood."

"I'm not into romance."

"Okay. Fine. How about an action thriller like Assignment: Inconceivable: Phantom Country? Or Angry Ai: Frenzy Street? Both of them were really high grossing and really good too. According to the critics anyways. And if I remember correctly, you never got to see either of them."

"What about Seized 3?" Sasuke laughed and laughed before realizing that Sayoko was being serious.

"Don't watch it. It's shit. Well, then again, the Seized series never was that good anyways…and where did you get that notebook and what are you writing down?" Sayoko shrugged and put the book back down on the counter. "Okay. Anyways, if you seriously want a good movie to watch, then just watch Triassic Planet alright? It's not the best, but if you turn your brain off…it will be amazing. Got that? Now where do you plan on going after that? Hopefully not something stupid like that waterpark…"

"What's up with the water park?"

"I heard that some asshole summoned a whole colony of piranha. So I'd suggest not going there. You ever been to Senju Park?" Sayoko shook her head. "Then go there. It's the perfect place to go for first dates. Legend has it that if a shooting star appears in the midnight sky…"

"I got the gist of it." Sayoko titled her head at Sasuke. "Speaking of which…" She then moved to behind her brother and enveloped him in a hug. "When are you gonna get a girlfriend?" Sasuke laughed and detached himself from her body. "Come on! It's a valid question!"

Sasuke shrugged. "I don't know. Honestly? I just haven't have her yet." Sayoko smirked and began to heat up her breakfast.

"How do you know it isn't a guy?" Sasuke frowned. "Hehe. Just pulling your leg. Now don't you have a mission to go to? Go! Go!" Sayoko shooed Sasuke away. She stood outside and bathed in the still shining light of the moon. It was still very early. She glanced at the clock. 7:31. Still a little too early…Wait a minute…is that…

Walking up to Sayoko dressed in a red shirt and vest combo with black jeans, with a sheepish grin on his face. His blonde hair was actually combed for once and not a wild mess that went whichever way it wanted to go. Naruto stood awkwardly at the foot of the stairs as Sayoko stared at him.

"So…uh…Fancy meeting you here."

Tobirama's Beach, Konoha

9:02 a.m.

Sayoko had planned to go Hashirama's Garden first, which was next door, but since they were still a bit early, Tobirama's Beach was next best place to go too. Sayoko had changed her clothes, citing it as a little too fancy for a simple walk on the beach. Now she wore a loose white tank top with the Uchiha fan in the very middle of the back, and black short shorts. She didn't bother wearing her sandals and slipped on a pair of flip-flops.

Sitting at the beach, Sayoko watched as Naruto waded out into the lake, trying to catch…something for her. What, Sayoko didn't know and honestly didn't care. She looked upon him with a placid look as she sighed. Normally Sayoko would have been close to paralyzed when left alone with Naruto, but now she wasn't. It was weird.

Something was up though. Naruto looked at with a sort of anticipation. As if waiting for something. And it wasn't the sexual kind either. Sayoko knew that much when she looked into his cerulean pools, which held no trace of lust or anything of that kind. Sayoko brushed it off. It's nothing.

Wanting to get a little wet, Sayoko slipped off her shorts and tank top. Underneath she wore a dark blue bikini and made her way to Naruto, who was clad in nothing but a pair of black shorts. Sayoko felt herself heat up when she pressed herself against his back and hugged him. She felt him stiffen, and no…not in that sense.

Sayoko pulled back after a second or two…or three and splashed Naruto in the face. "Come on!" She dove and swam to the deep parts, with Naruto…walking on the surface, with a mischievous grin on his face. "That's cheating!" She let out a squeal as Naruto picked her up and tossed her into the lake. "Hey!"

"Watch out! A shark's coming to get ya." Sayoko snorted and kicked Naruto in the gut as he lunged at her from the water.

"What am I? 5? As if I'd be scared of something as simple as a shark."

Thirty or so minutes had passed by, and the beach was beginning to get crowded. Naruto didn't like all of the eyes on them, and went to the shower room. Sayoko sighed, leaving her by herself alone at the edge of the beach, with her tank on. Once Naruto would come out, then it was off to the movies! Hopefully Naruto had better taste than Sasuke did. She did not want to watch the Fantasy Five again.

It was weird how the movie theatre was right next to both the beach and Hashirama's garden. But, hey! All the more convenient for them! And Sayoko was surprised when Naruto opted to watch Outside In, instead of the Fantasy Five like Sasuke said he would.

At the end of the movie, Sayoko was in tears. What a great movie. If not for Naruto's constant nitpicking. How come there are 5 emotions! How come blah, blah, blah. Sasuke did warn her about this. Naruto's constant need to poke fun at, find things wrong, and in general, just nitpick at all the little things.

Then it was off to the Garden. Hashirama's Garden wasn't really a garden. It was just called a garden because of all the plant life that the restaurant had. The restaurant was littered with statues of its namesake, to the point where is sickened Sayoko. Not because she was an Uchiha, but because there was so many to point of it being annoying.

Naruto tapped her on the shoulder. "Yeah?" Naruto pointed towards one of the waitresses. She had long gold hair and sapphire blue eyes and a near permanent smirk.

"Yuki-chan!" Yukimura's gaze snapped to them almost instantly. Yukimura was a member of the Black Foxes and Naruto's cousin, on their father's side. Though her father Yu hadn't been in Konoha for nearly 2 decades, leaving Yukimura to be raised by her uncle. She was also one of the highest ranking Anbu operators. So why in the world was she a waitress here at the Garden of places?

As she approached them, the smirk on her lips morphing into a grin. "Well, well, well. What do we have here?" She eyes Sayoko with curiosity, no doubt wondering how she managed to finally get Naruto to go on a date with her after nearly 5 years of pining over him hopelessly.

"Well, I'll have the Sukiyaki, if you still have any." All Naruto got was a fist to the top of his head. "OW! I was being serious you know!" He cowered in his seat when Yuki raised her fist again. "Fine! What's the special today?"

"Glad you asked! The special today is Kumogakure Sukiyaki." Sayoko giggled at Naruto's murderous expression. "And what would you have Yoko? Let me guess, whatever he's having?" Sayoko blushed like the tomatoes that her twin loved so much. "That's a yes!"

Yukimura disappeared and returned after a short while. She leaned was no longer in her waitress uniform, but rather wore her Anbu outfit, her Coyote helmet on her lap. "That was my last order, you guys caught me at the end of my shift."

Sayoko shifted in her seat. "Pardon me for asking, but why are a waitress here? Aren't you a Black Fox?" Yukimura smirked.

"Why yes I am." She confirmed loudly, her gaze on Naruto the whole time. Naruto huffed and pouted and looked away. "To answer your question though, it's only for a short time. Intel has it that Suzuki Hirano has an inside man here in the Garden. So Natsumi sent me in as a "foreigner" looking for a job."

"Oh really? And how in the hell did you fucking pull that off? If you've been in Konoha long enough, they'd know who you are the moment you stepped into the garden and unless the owner of the garden is either retarded or blind-OW!" Naruto sunk back into his seat as Yukimura backhanded him across the face.

"I'll have you know dear cousin that I've already found our target. Found him instantly in fact. He was the only person here who didn't know who I was. Everyone else knew, and when I gave them the good old Namikaze look, they knew to shut their fucking mouths before I did it for them. Normally I'd have to wait for back up and all that shit…but since you guy's decided to show up…" Sayoko and Naruto shared a look.

So much for a normal day.

Edo, the Land of Fire

12:15 p.m.

"You guys have any idea how loud they fucking were the last couple of days? "Oh Menma! Go faster! Ugh! Harder!" Do you have any idea how hard it is to sleep with that literally right above your head? I didn't know Kanade's room was right above mine until then!" Lin resisted the urge to laugh. Ren on the other hand, not so lucky, bursting out in laughter. "Oh shut up! Now get back to work! Your next concert is in a month and guess where it is? Konoha! Gotta uplift the morale and shit! Let's go!"

Lin giggled. "Um…Sao-chan…you haven't given us that new song you said you'd written." Saori blinked a couple of times before running towards her backpack. She pulled out a thick stack music notes. Lin accepted it hesitantly and began to flip through it. "Um….these are all new songs…"

"Yeah. Spent all of last week writing them. Don't worry. It shouldn't take that long to memorize. Now…Let's get to work people! Todou here is your copy. Kaori, hre you go. Here you go Ruri, and try not to break another set of drum sticks alright!?" Lin stood up from the stool and made her way to mic. Ren rose and picked up his guitar. "Okay. Ren, tune that. That's making ears bleed. Now. Everyone else, turn to page 3. We are doing A Ghost of a Smile."

The song was fairly long, it looked to be about 5 and a half minutes long. Seemed to be a ballad of some sort. Lin smiled sadly. It seemed that all of Saori's were tear jerkers as of late. This one was no different. "Alright. You done Ren? Good. And 1…2…3…4!"

"Look up, to the sky. Today is surprisingly so bright. Wouldn't you mind to take a walk with me? I want to make up with you, that's what I've told you…" Lin almost stopped when she saw Saori frown and began to furiously write things down on her notepad. Though of course Lin continued when Saori shot her a glare.

"But with such a face I've never seen, you pretend not to know, I'd like to apologize, to make you so angry. By the way, I wonder why, just nowyou've been crying all the time." Saori let out a noise that could only be described as pure frustration and made a tiny tear in the parchment. She shot a glare at Kaori who missed a note. Kaori of course flinched back.

"As if, I'm not here anymore, always like that, you're so mean. Tightly grasp our united hands. But still, you never notice my existence…" They all flinched as Ren missed a chord and the squeaking sound caused them to momentarily stop.

"Don't fucking stop!"

"Hey, listen to me I need to tell you something, as long as we live, we also have one or two little mistakes no need to concern about that Anytime, I'd be there for you…" Lin wasn't sure what was wrong, yet Saori was still upset.

"Higher. Higher!"

"But if you still can't be satisfiedI'll pinch your cheeks,and if you do that to me so

Then I'll go, I need to tell you,it's a little bit embarrassing butI love you…" Lin wasn't sure if she was seeing things or not, but it seemed that Saori blushed a little. And then again Ren missed a chord.

"And then, if I'm not here anymoreI believe, you can live by yourself,wipe your tears, head up, I'll always pray for your future happiness…" Saori began to shake her head and once again began to write almost violently, almost tearing the paper apart.

"No need to force a smile…For my sake…So, no need to cry…For my sake…Soon, time will heal you…And make this moment...Into a story of the past…" Ruri struck the one of the cymbals a little too hard, and she had to stop the beat for a split second.

"Never mind that! Keep going!"

"Because today is so brightly if you don't mind,let's go for a walk…I miss you,from the bottom of my heart…" Lin tried her best to sustain the note, but her sore voice made that more than a little difficult. "Ah…How was that?"

Saori glared at Ren and Ruri. "Could have been better, but it's your first time singing the song, so I'll cut you some slack. Now…go and take a break, Lin come with me." The rest of the band looked at each other in confusion.

"What? But we only just started!"

"Go. Take. A. Break." She said no more and motioned for Lin to follow. Of course, Lin followed, albeit reluctantly. Ren sighed and sat down, and began to idly strum.

Lin was lead to the garden of the Haine mansion. Ren and her house was not as grand as some of the other celebrities in, but it was still big and massive and even they often got lost, having not fully ventured through all of its winding hallways and crypts. But Lin knew the garden like the back of her hand, with how often she spent her time there.

Saori sat upon one of the many benches that lined the garden. She looked at Lin and sighed. "What's wrong with me?" Lin was confused. What brought this about? Earlier Saori looked like her normal self, now she looked like she someone had stolen her ramen.

"What are you talking about? Where did this…come from all of sudden? There's nothing wrong with you! At least I think so." Saori laughed bitterly.

"I don't know about you…but lately I've been feeling kind of useless." Saori put her head into her hands. "My whole family is made up of the best shinobi and fighters and commanders in the whole world and here I am. The manager of a band. No offense to you of course. But…I just feel so fucking useless! Instead of running out to help my village when it was under attack, I spent the whole fucking night in my room sobbing like a bitch! Hell, I had to have my brother calm me down and tell me that everything would be alright! Hah! I'm so fucking useless!" Her laughter slowly turned into sobs. Lin walked towards her best friend and wrapped her up in a hug, letting the smaller girl cry to her hearts content.

"Why am I so fucking useless?" Saori spent a good 5 minutes or so crying her eyes out before she finally stopped. Either because she finally came to her senses or because she had cried out all the tears. Either way, Lin was relieved. She hated it when Saori became like this. But this wasn't the first time it had happened.

After her moment, Lin and Saori made their way back to the music room. 4 hours later, after Saori nearly blew a gasket when Ren comepletely fucked up the "awesome, amazing, magnificent" guitar solo that she had arranged, and after Lin nearly blew out everyone's ears, when Ruri accidently turned the volume of the mic up to the max, they were finished.

"Alright! That wasn't a complete disaster like the last time we began to rehearse for a new concert, but we made some progress. Remember! We're meeting here at the same time tomorrow alright!? Good! Now go and put your stuff away."

It took some time for everyone to put their stuff away, with Ruri nearly breaking her drum set because of the wire from Ren's amp, and Todou almost choking Kaori out with his stand by accident. All in all, a normal day at work. Lin wondered how they got their shit together for their gigs. It was quite the 180 whenever they were on stage. No mess ups, like 95% of the time, no one screaming bloody murder because of the amp accidently becoming 1000 times louder, and Saori couldn't make Todou piss his pants with that glare of hers, that they called the Namikaze Look.

Lin watched Saori with a smile on her face, when Ren came by and nudged her, a smirk on his face. "Just go for it sis." To which Lin smirked back at him and tugged on his shorts, causing them to fall to his ankles. As he waddled away, Saori strolled up towards Lin. "What's up?"

"About earlier…can we forget that ever happened? Because that was not my best moment, all the yelling, and crying and self-loathing…it's just not the Namikaze way." Lin smiled.

"Of course. Beside, you do it like every week, and either Ren or I have to comfort you, and calm you down and it's just a ton of work you know?"

"Pssh. As if. I only do it like every other month. I think. I'm sure. Now come one! Menma said he would treat us out for some ramen if I didn't make Todou piss his pants!" Lin could only smile sadly at her retreating form. She worried for Saori sometimes, but sometimes, Lin worried more about herself. She moved her hand top her chest and felt her heart beating faster than normal. Please don't cry again Saori.

Hashirama's Garden/ Senju Park, Konoha

6:02 p.m.

By the time the operation finished, it was getting dark out. Sayoko smiled, as the moon shone brightly against the slightly pink sky. A yell permeated the air. The Uchiha looked behind to see Yukimura push the spy onto the ground and grind her boot into the small of his back. Sayoko had to wince as Yukimura roughly snapped a pair of cuffs onto the man's legs and feet. To their right, Naruto leaned against a bench. All around them a squad of Anbu were spread out, searching the establishment for anymore Intel.

"I think you missed a spot Yuki-chan." Naruto called out and stomped his foot down onto the spy's calf. A loud crack could be heard across the park. Sayoko watched as Naruto got blown by a punch to the cheek.

"You idiot! What if he goes into shock!? Then we'd never get any new Intel at all! You moron! Quick! Badger, Racoon, take this guy to T and I before Naruto decided to do something even stupider." A second later and all that could be seen of them, were their blurred forms out in the distance.

"Well that was a job well done I'd say!" Sayoko broke the silence and pulled Naruto up to his feet. "If you need us Yuki-san, we'll be over at Senju Park! Good luck with your report!" Yukimura smirked.

"Go and get em tiger!"

Sayoko smiled and turned away from Naruto, hoping she did it fast enough that he wouldn't notice the blush on her face. Senju Park was as beautiful as the pictures on the brochure did. If not even better. All around were trees that were hundreds of years old. Legend has it that this was the place that Hashirama learned about his wood release bloodline. The park was crowded with trees. Everywhere you looked, trees. Trees that towered over the park like the ancient guardians that they were.

"Over here!" Naruto called out, moving to underneath the shade of one of the many trees that lined the smooth marble pathway. It was bigger than the trees around it and provided adequate enough shade. Maybe enough shade for the rain that would ensue. It was weird, Sayoko thought, not even a minute ago, the skies were clear, and now a big black rain cloud slowly made its way across the sky. There was no doubt that it would rain.

And sure enough, just as Sayoko made it under the safety of the giant leaves and branches, it began to pour. And pour hard too. Sayoko felt her heart drop. This was definitely a sign. A really bad sigh. She gulped and clutched her tank top. A shiver ran through her body, despite the warm summer air. Looking over to Naruto, who, for the first time that day, had a serious look on his face. Oh that was definitely a bad sign.

Sayoko pressed her back against the trunk of the tree as she sat on one of its massive roots. She rummaged through her bag and pulled out two sandwiches. "Figure you'd get hungry." She smiled at him, to which Naruto only nodded stiffly. Afterwards, they sat mostly in silence watching the rain fall from the heavens. It was becoming one heck of a storm. At this rate, the levies would have to be raised to keep the springs, the lake and the many streams that surrounded the village from overflowing. Something which hadn't happened since the birth of the village of itself. Now that was a bad sign if Sayoko ever saw one. She had never seen it rain this hard before, and it only seemed like the rain would intensify.

"It's fitting…"

Naruto stood up and moved to go out into the rain. Nearly tripping, Sayoko managed to pull him back into the safety of the tree's branches which had begun to sway to and fro under the immense speed of the wind. Sayoko had never heard of, let alone seen, a storm of this magnitude happening. "What are you doing!?" The wind picked up even more to the point where Sayoko had to yell over the wind's screaming.

The boy she loved smiled sadly. "Taking a shower. Gotta cleanse myself." This time, Sayoko made no move to stop him, and instead followed him into the rain. She had such a bad feeling about this. The sky had turned into an ugly black now, as the rain fell at an incredible speed.

"Naruto!" He turned around to face her in middle of the path. "What. Are. You. Doing!?" Sayoko's clothes were soaked, the rain dripped down her face and hair and into her eyes, she was wet, she was uncomfortable. Now Sayoko had to deal with this as well. "This wasn't how this was supposed to happen!"

Naruto smiled that smile of his, and got her heart racing. He took a deep breath. "Sayoko…I…" Her eye's widened. Could…could this be it? Would Naruto finally admit that he too was in love with her? Was this it!? A happy smile spread across Sayoko's face.

"I don't love you."

The moment she had been dreading for 5 years. The 4 words that she dreaded to hear. It felt like a thousand suns exploded in her heart. Her legs felt like jelly. For a moment, her heart stopped. Or at least it felt that way. It felt like a dagger had been shoved in between a pair of her vertebrae and someone was twisting the dagger over and over and over again and again and again.

What?

What?

What!?

WHAT!?

What… N-no…no! No! NO! NO! NO! A laugh escaped from Sayoko's lips. "Haha…That's…that's funny! V-very f-funny!" Already her eyes began to water. This couldn't be happening could it!? It couldn't be!? Why did he wait so fucking long to tell her!? Why?

Why?

Naruto wasn't laughing. He slowly walked towards her. Sayoko collapsed to her knees. "Why? Why? Why!? WHY!? Why did you wait this long!? WHY!?" Her sobs were lost in the rain. Sayoko didn't even protest when Naruto wrapped her up in a hug. "Please…Tell me…" She…she wasn't mad….Okay. That was a lie. She was livid. But at the same time relieved. Sayoko had had her suspicions for years. And only now did she start believing what Sasuke told her. Naruto didn't love her. At least not the way she wanted. Sayoko didn't hate Naruto, she was just angry that he didn't immediately come right out the gate with it.

"Because…Because you wouldn't have taken it well."

"Bullshit. Please. I'm begging you…No more lies! Just…tell me the truth." Sayoko sobbed into Naruto's hair. A sigh escaped Naruto's lips.

"Where should I start? I suppose I'll start at the beginning. When Sasuke first told me, I think 4 years ago, that you were in love with me…I didn't believe him. I told him that there was no way you were in love with me. After all, I could recall you saying that Kenji was more attractive and if I remember correctly you were into "bad boys" back then." Sayoko stopped sobbing and began to listen intently.

"Yet he kept insisting that you were in love with me, just smitten with me. It was only when we had our first real mission, back in Wave, that I believed it to be true. When you jumped in front of me to save me from Haku's needles. Not that I needed saving mind you…but when I looked into your eyes that moment, I could tell…I could just tell how deeply in love you were with me. And it was at that moment that I knew that I'd never be able to love you back. Because I knew that you would give your life, for mine. And that's not something I can handle…I…wouldn't have been able to live knowing that I was the cause of your death." She knew it to be true now, but it still stung to hear. And it would forever sting.

"After that…I told myself that it was just an irrational crush, that it would be over soon and that you would find another boy to pine over. I told myself this over and over and over and over and over again and again and again. Yet everything I told this to myself, you proved me wrong. You kept proving me wrong. Like the time Orochimaru tried to give me and Sasuke the cursed seal, you pushed me out of the way and took the cursed seal instead. You're lucky Arashi actually knew how to remove the seal, otherwise…I'd never forgive myself for letting you fall to Orochimaru's hands, albeit it wasn't technically my fault. That moment still haunts me to this day."

"It was only after our mission in Smoke did I finally realize that this wasn't some stupid crush. I was so stupid. I was in denial for so long. I gave you false hope, that I actually felt something for you or something, but I didn't. It was only then did I realize that I couldn't let this go any more. I had to deal with this. I know I should have told you earlier but…"

Sayoko looked up at him. With a tiny bit of shock, she realized that he too was tearing up. "You were afraid of what would happen…to you?"

"To our friendship. I didn't want to risk it. I also didn't want to risk getting killed by Itachi, Shisui and your father."

"What about Sasuke?"

"Oh he would've cut off my balls and found some way to make sure I felt that pain for all eternity." Then they fell silent, with Naruto cradling Sayoko's body. It was like this for a good while. "Look. A shooting star." Sayoko smiled bitterly.

A shooting star huh. What a lie.

Kemuri City

2:01 a.m.

Who in their goddamn minds would be crazy enough to ask for a meeting with him at this late of an hour? Who!? And he was having such a good dream too. Money. Money everywhere. But oh no…someone just had to knock on his door. Hopefully it was Kirei. Nothing would lift his spirits more than knocking a tooth or two out. Even if that was a bad idea. Like, the worst idea one could possibly have had.

With a sigh, Suzuki pulled open the door. An explosion rocked his apartment and blew him back through a wall. One second he was opening the door, the next, he was opening up a compartment containing a small knife. But that would be useless against whoever was smart or strong enough to cause that explosion.

Slowly strutting towards him, was a girl with white-blonde hair. That wasn't too surprising, Kemuri had the highest population of white haired men and women in the entire continent. But those glowing blue eyes…There was no mistaking who this was. Suzuki had heard from Rika before she left, that someone was out for him. He never though it would be Konoha's Snow Queen? Kimiko Namikaze.

"Let's have a chat Suzuki-san. A nice little chat."

(A Cruel Angel's Thesis- Neon Genesis Evangelion Op)