Author's Note: I feel like I rushed this chapter. Of course, I did shove a lot of things in here to get more progress in here, but...

Disclaimer: I, KawaiiTenshiCeres, does not own Hatenai Sora by Arashi/J-Storm, or Naruto by Kishimoto Masashi. I only own the OC characters in the story such as Koyama Sumire.

Hatenai Sora
春風/ Harukaze

"I love you Sumire. I always have."

Sumire slowly pulled herself away from Hiroto and looked at him quietly. The man was always someone she playfully fought with in the past, like a brother. Though...Why did she felt different compared to a few weeks ago, when she heard him boldly saying it in front of Kakashi? Her heart was still thumping inside of her chest. Was it because she wasn't used to those bold confessions?

His face could easily be read when he was joking. Hiroto always tried to hide that smirk...Though... By the way he was talking and the by the way he looked right now...He wasn't kidding this time. It was beginning to worry her.

"Hiroto, I-"

"I know..I know you still love that guy," the man began, cupping her cheek."But... I can't break what we have as best friends and teammates,"

The brunette looked at the blond, noticing that his sudden confession had left the two of them silent. Pulling his hand away, Hiroto began to rub the back of his neck, while Sumire began to fiddle with the end of her hair. For the time being, they tried to think of a way to say something to each other. Only thinking it might be too offensive, or even more awkward than before.

"Hey, you-" "Uhm, I-"

"Y-You go first," Hiroto smiled.

"Thanks for telling me, Hiro," Sumire smiled sheepishly, slowly taking her strides back to the stairwell. "I'll...just head back now, if that's alright with you,"

"Sumire!" the blond called out to her. "Before you go, can...Can you at least tell me what happened to Momoko-chan's dad?"

The kunoichi looked at him with a guilt-stricken look on her face. He knew this wasn't the right time to ask...But he wanted to know. The woman took his hand and pulled her teammate to a nearby bench where they sat there quietly. It wasn't for a while before she looked over at the male, trying to formulate the words to say.

"Momoko's father was the man I was supposed to get information out of. During the mission, I ended up getting captured by my uncle, and I was supposed to be held captive...probably killed after," Sumire began.

Her eyes closed reimagining the sight before her. Koji patting her head. That gloomy look on his face. It was slowly breaking her heart, remembering his last words to her:

"...I don't want someone abandoning her again..."

Sumire was beginning to choke up, which caused the blond before her. However, she needed to continue her story.

"When I tried to escaped, her father helped me escape...But...He was killed right after I left. A-All...I wanted, was to let Momoko know that he was alive...But, I couldn't lie to her like that..."

By the looks of things, the woman was trying her best to hold back her tears. Without hesitation, the blond held her close to him. Her head buried into his chest. For the rest of the time they were there, they were silent. When they left, they had nothing else to say to each other, other than having to pretend like this confession had never happened.

Beep. Beep.

"Yo! Sumire! You awake?"

Beep. Beep.

Sitting up on her bed, Sumire sat there, her eyes filled with tears, her face sweating. It was almost two months since she had gotten out of the hospital, and she's been getting the same dream every night that kept making her wake up each day crying: The face of dead Koji looking at her. Her smiling uncle surrounded by the slain bodies. She never told Momoko yet. It kept haunting her about what might happen to the poor girl if she told her the bad news. However, each day, either Hiroto or Kaimu kept telling her to put herself in her own mother's shoes and wonder what might happen if her mother had told her that her father died...But in this case, this one would've reacted a lot more differently than the child.

Rubbing her eyes with her hand, the kunoichi looked over at the empty spot next to her and let out a brief sigh.

"...I keep forgetting you're not here again," she remarked with a lonely smile. "...I wonder what would you say to me?"

Although it was a month, both Sumire and Kakashi haven't been together lately. Both have been "busy" with their own thing, with Kakashi training and Sumire getting back into training or spending time with Momoko. Out of that whole month, she only saw him a few times, and only exchanged a casual 'Hello' and 'How are you?' to each other during that time.

"SUMIRE! Wake up, ya idiot, before I get in there and-"

Blinking a few times, the kunoichi shuffled to her window to see the sighing Hiroto and the ever-so-smiling Kaimu next to him. She smiled at the two of them, as her red-headed neighbor waved back and the blond slightly blushed. Sumire slowly headed to the bathroom. The woman felt dizzy, and her face was a bit pale. The kunoichi assumed it was from her lack of sleep from the past few days.

"...Just...need a good nap...and I'll be fine," Sumire told herself, looking into the mirror, forcing a smile onto her face.

"Hey...You haven't been lookin' too hot since you got out of the house, you sure you're okay?"

Heading towards the Hokage's office, Sumire eyed Hiroto thoughtfully, ignoring his remark. They were greeted by some other people who were just leaving...Kakashi and his students. As his two students walked out, Sumire politely nodded to the silver-haired male who was leaving from the window. Although it was a sweet greeting, it was clear there was some sort of distance between the two, and Hiroto took a mental note of it.

"Ah...I almost forgot I had summoned you three," Tsunade remarked with a Cheshire-like grin, as the three of them let out a huge sigh. "Sumire, you remembered escorting Okura Satoshi and his grandson, a while back, correct?"

Freezing up in her place, the kunoichi looked away, as her teammates eyed her in curiosity. The Hokage huffed at her delayed response, nearly wanting to chuck something at the dazed woman to get her back into reality.

"Anyways! Okura-san is came back here again for a visit and has requested you to escort him and his grandson again. Although Gai and Kakashi are occupied with their own things, I want you and your teammates to escort him when he leaves later this week,"

Furrowing her brows, Sumire reluctantly nodded at Tsunade. The two shinobi noticed her uncomfortable look towards the Hokage, and looked at each other, trying to formulate a plan. Within a few seconds, the pair quickly smiled at the older woman, blocking Sumire from her view.

"Tsunade-sama, could ya...excuse us for a bit?" Hiroto grinned, adding a playful salute.

"It'll only take us a few minutes to talk with this one about private matters," Kaimu added, with an apologetic bow. "We'll come back,"

Pulling the kunoichi off to the side, the two men looked at Sumire thoughtfully, who batted her eyes at them.

"N-Nothing's wrong!" she stuttered, waving her hands up in the air. "Just...we're going to the same place where I found Momoko...and..."

Leaning on the wall, Hiroto gave a huge sigh. "You want to find her ma, don't ya?" he remarked.

"We can probably look for her once we get there...We'll have the time if we get there safely and quickly," the red-head remarked. "I mean, we can know more about her, and probably get some answers from her,"

Looking up at the two, Sumire pushed back her hair, feeling her vision slowly fading. This was already a bad time for her to feel this way. She took a deep breath, and nodded at them, giving a reassuring smile.

"Let's do tha-,"

"AHEM. I know you three are talking about something 'important' back there, but we need at least finish this briefing first!" the Hokage barked. "I swear, from what I heard from Atsushi-san, no wonder you three were seemed like a handful," she grumbled.

The three of them smiled childishly, towards each other with , before shuffling back in front the Hokage's desk.

"Night, Mama!"

Smiling to Momoko, who was tucked into her bed, Sumire wandered into her room having that sick feeling get to her again. This time, her head was throbbing, and she felt a lot more exhausted compared to earlier. She closed the door behind her, and laid on her bed. Before drifting off to sleep, she heard a knock coming from her balcony window. Forcing herself up, Sumire wandered over, to see Kakashi greeting her with a bright smile on his face.

"...Kakashi-san," she smiled weakly.

"Sorry, for coming in so late," he nodded. "I just really wanted to talk to you,"

Tilting her head off to the side, Sumire looked at him oddly. The older male's face turned a bit serious, as he slowly wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a hug. They were silent for a brief time. She was suspicious by the way he was acting right now. Somehow, this didn't felt right to her. He felt a lot more different, and it wasn't something she shouldn't be happy for.

"I-Is something wrong?" she questioned.

"Sumire, I know...We haven't been seeing each other lately...But," the jounin began. "I really think we should just end this,"

...It took her a while to process what he had just said. Her mind became blank. Were they...Breaking up? Looking up at him, Sumire stared at his serious expression. This...wasn't a dream. She wanted to slap herself awake, hoping that this wasn't some dumb nightmare.

"Huh?" she whispered. "What do you mean?"

"I know," he explained, rubbing the back of his neck. "But...I have my reasons, Sumire, that's it."

Her heart dropped. The kunoichi stood there in silence, still wondering what had happened between the two of them that made him act this way. Slowly, Kakashi turned around and began to walk towards the glass door. Before he could leave, however, he felt the kunoichi tugging on his arm, which forced the male to look back at her.

"We...We can work it out right? I mean...Do..Do you even still love me?" the brunette questioned with a desperate look on her face.

Kakashi closed his eye, easily pulling his arm away from her. He took a deep breath, and gave her a cold look.

"I..." he stopped. "I don't. I'm sorry,"

Sumire stopped in her place, feeling the tears forming in her eyes. As the door slid shut, she knelt to the floor, unable to contain the tears. As Kakashi stood there in the balcony, he could hear her crying on the other side. He felt horrible, and his face could clearly show the pain. Looking down, his eye met with someone quite familiar. Almost too familiar.

Messy blond hair. That smirk.

Kakashi eyed Hiroto, who was feeling a tad bit victorious. The blond saluted to him, before mouthing a cheery, "Stupid~!" to him, which left the other male with a very bitter feeling inside.