Chapter 27: Misconceptions Cleared ~ Lemon

(Part 1)

Yue awoke first the next morning. She could just make out the sun rising over the horizon. She quietly rose from the bed and slipped into her training gear. Early mornings were her favorite time to exercise. Jotting down a quick note letting Kakashi know where she was, she quietly exited the house.

Once outside Yue stretched her stiff muscles, working out the kinks that had formed during the night. With one final stretch Yue was off, jogging towards the forest. Slipping into the covering of the forest, Yue quickened her pace. The crackling of the rocks and leaves below her feet, and the birds tweeting above cheered Yue considerably. Feeling lighter than she had last night, Yue continued to quicken her pace as she leapt over fallen logs and dodged low hanging branches.

Bursting through a wall of hanging branches Yue nearly ran straight into a person who was sitting on a fallen log just ahead of her. Using lighting quick reflexes, Yue just managed to dive out of the way, missing the person only by a few inches. "I am so sorry! I didn't realize anyone would be out here this early in the morning!" Yue apologized. Seeing whom it was made Yue feel like she had been punched in the stomach. "Oh, Shizune. It's you."

"I was pretty surprised myself." Said Shizune. "I never expected someone to come barreling through a wall of branches."

"I love running these trails in the morning." Yue replied wiping the sweat away from her forehead. "What are you doing out here so early?"

"Thinking." Shizune replied. "Do you mind if we talk for a moment?" Shizune asked.

Yue most certainly did mind. Shizune was the person she wanted to avoid right now, but here she was in the middle of the forest wanting to talk to her. Yue inwardly cursed fate for sticking her in this situation. Sitting down on a few feet away from Shizune, Yue prepared herself for the worst.

"I know you heard my conversation with Kakashi yesterday." Shizune said.

This wasn't what Yue had been expecting so it took her a moment to respond. "I did." She finally managed.

"I didn't mean to go behind your back, but I'm not sorry I told him." Shizune stated. "I have loved Kakashi from the moment Lady Tsunade and I returned to the village. I have been waiting for the right time to tell him."

"You are free to do what you want." Yue replied curtly. "It isn't my place to tell you what you can, or cannot do."

"Precisely." Responded Shizune. "And I intend to do just that. You don't know how badly Kakashi has been suffering. Outwardly he looked just fine, but I could tell how lonely he was." Shizune said. "Who do you think is the cause of his loneliness?"

Shizune's words stung. Yue knew full well that Kakashi had suffered a great deal because of her. In spite of this, Yue wasn't willing to give up Kakashi. "I know very well that Kakashi suffered a lot because of me. I will spend the rest of my life making it up to him in any way I can." Yue said seriously.

"But you are going to hurt him again!" Yelled Shizune. "A ninja of your skill level will surely be sent out on dangerous missions, leaving Kakashi behind. Don't you think you have made him wait long enough?"

"That is part of being a ninja." Yue snapped back. "Kakashi knows it, and I know it. Instead, with the moments we have together, I will make sure Kakashi can feel just how much I love him!"

"But I can be with him all the time!" Shizune yelled. "I am Lady Tsunade's advisor so we can see each other far more. Kakashi wont have to feel the pain of separation."

"That is Kakashi's choice." Yue replied. "It is not for us to tell Kakashi who he has to pick based on convenience. The choice is up to him alone. As long as Kakashi wants me, I am going to remain by his side."

"What if Kakashi chose me? Would you let him go then?" Shizune asked.

"If that is what Kakashi wants, then I will let him go." Yue replied. "But until he makes that decision on his own, you better believe that I am going to fight as hard as I can to keep him looking at me."

"Then you have to know that I am going to fight as hard as I can to get him to notice me." Shizune snapped back.

"Like I said, it's not up to me to tell you what to do. Know this though, my feelings will never lose to you." Yue smirked confidently back. Shizune couldn't argue with Yue's confidence. Without replying she turned and stomped away into the forest. That surprisingly made me feel better, thought Yue to herself. With a newfound determination, Yue set off running once again, heading back home where Kakashi was.