-Sad Confession-

Since when was a promise something meant not to be kept? That was the question plaguing Osanai's mind ever since Shuuzen told him about Mei's 'betrayal' – how she spilled his secret.

Shuuzen didn't seem to know it was a secret though, and the doctors were just thrilled that they had new information – and told him that he should be as well, because it could well save his life.

Saving his life is great and all, and he didn't mind them knowing about his illness; he would have told them himself. But she had broken her promise. She had seen him choke on his own blood, watched him swallow the remedy, and then she had promised not to tell anyone. But what did that mean now?

"Shuuzen... how long have I been out?" He asked. It had been an hour or so since he had awoken.

She looked at him for a second before answering. "Almost a week."

"A week..." He sighed. That was how long she had kept the secret. "When do you think the others will be back?"

"They left about five or six hours ago, Waterfall isn't very far from here so they should be back soon."

"Soon?" They heard Jiraiya's deep voice from outside Osanai's room. "Try a few seconds."

"Jiraiya-sama." Shuuzen addressed him politely, as she does for everyone, after she stood up to open the door. "Did you find it?"

"Yeah, I gave it to the nurse." He answered. "How's he doing?"

"He's doing very well." She smiled and stepped aside so Jiraiya could see Osanai.

"Ah, that's good to hear." He folded his arms and nodded suspiciously. "I'll go gather some information for my training. You'll see me later tonight (unless I'm gettin' busy)."

"Jiraiya-sama..." Osanai could hear Mei chuckle awkwardly. "That last part wasn't necessary."

"I'm getting hungry, haven't eaten since yesterday." Shuuzen chimed in with Jiraiya. They were both trying to get the two teens some time alone, and it was dreadfully obvious to Osanai. Mei didn't seem to have a clue, but she didn't even know he was awake yet. The adults made haste and left, leaving Mei with an annoyed expression as she walked into Osanai's room.

But that expression didn't last long. She saw him sitting up on the hospital bed, staring strangely at her. It took a few seconds to register in her head that he was awake. When she realized this, her face shifted from annoyed to shocked.

"You told them." He whispered solemnly.

"Osanai..." She murmured in a quiet voice and closed the door behind her. "I'm sorry, I couldn't let myself..."

"Why?"

"Because you were dying!" She almost shouted this time. "For a week, the doctors weren't even sure they'd be able to keep you alive. It was driving me crazy, there was nothing I could do. I didn't want you to die before I could repay you for everything..."

If he hadn't been in such a bad mood, he probably would have wondered why she cared so much. "But I'm not dead, and they haven't even looked at that medicine yet."

"I couldn't stand to think you'd never wake up... But they said you would die by the day after tomorrow if we didn't do anything." She explained. "I know that I didn't have to, but I wanted to help you."

He was a little surprised. People in her situation would normally be making the "I had to" excuse, yet she claimed full responsibility for her choice.

"Listen..." She slowed down a little. "I've just been dragging my feet all week. I didn't want to admit that you might die, but I didn't want to get my hopes up either. So I just hid from reality and didn't do anything. But I wasn't keeping your promise that way either."

"What do you mean?"

"If I'm just hiding, I'm not choosing to keep your secret. I realized that I had to make a choice." Her voice was barely above a whisper by now. "I could keep the promise and hope you would wake up, or I could break it and hope you would forgive me. When I thought of it like that, I knew what to do. But now you're better..."

He let out a heavy, painful sigh and cringed a little from the sharp pain in his lungs. "Apparently, I'm not better." He groaned. "Shuuzen said that I still only have a few weeks at this rate."

"Are you really okay with that?"

He shook his head. "It's a fact of life, we all die. I want to live a longer life, to serve as Hero a little longer. But this might be where it ends for me."

"How can you accept that? You're only sixteen, you can't say you're satisfied with such a short life! Isn't there anything you've dreamed to do that you haven't done yet? Goals you haven't reached?"

"A few, yes..." He closed his eyes and leaned back into his big pillow. "I have dreams to chase, but I can still chase them in the next life."

"But I'm not in the next life!" She blurted, then immediately turned a little red after grasping what she just said. "I mean..."

"What's that mean?" He asked curiously as his eyes slowly grew wider. "You..."

She blushed a little more. "It doesn't mean anything."

"It means something." He gave her a suspicious glare.

She was taken aback by the look he gave her. It was a sarcastic expression, his impending death really didn't phase him at all. "How can you be so carefree in a situation like this? Sasame said you like me, but if that's true then how could you be able to say things like 'I'm not afraid to die, it's my fate' while I'm right here?"

This time it was his time to blush. "Yeah, I forgot that you knew about that..."

"It doesn't matter what she said or who you like. But you shouldn't give up so easily." Her voice started to gradually grow louder. "You're doing just what I did, you're hiding and doing nothing."

"I'm not..." He sighed. "What other options do I have? Die quickly or prolong it?" He challenged. "I can't just live anymore. My body is falling apart, it's an irreversible process that the best Waterfall medics in the past two thousand years couldn't stop."

"But you can try!"

"What will that give me? I'll only keep living knowing that I could die at any moment."

"A short life is better than nothing..." She was becoming quieter again, more of a sad quiet this time instead of the ashamed quiet from before. "you have to..."

She was surprised by herself, surprised that she wasn't crying by this point. She wasn't sure, but there was probably a tear or two hanging in her eyes. She didn't pay attention to that as she stood looking at Osanai lying in his bed, content to just disappear. Without sending the command to her legs, she stepped forward, then another step, then another.

Osanai sat up again and sighed pitifully. "What's the big deal? Why is it so important to you that I live?"

"You're supposed to protect me, remember?" She slyly avoided the question. "You can't die while I'm here."

"I don't think your dad planned on this happening."

"But..." She gave up, there wasn't anything else she could do to convince him. But something inside her screamed that there was one thing to do. On thing she had to do. "I need you... I need you!"

The tears were finally released. A second later, Osanai was shocked stiff, she wrapped her good arm around him and held tightly. He managed to loosen up enough to look at his shoulder; her long hair covered her face, so the only thing he perceived was the sound of her loud sobs.

"Mei..." He murmured. "Wh..."

Several minutes passed before she was able to speak again. She pulled her face away from Osanai's tear-soaked shoulder and stared at him, pleading through her eyes. "Even if it's only for a little while, even if it only lasts a week, please live... and let me..."

She slowly, ever so slowly, raised her left arm. She cringed the tiniest bit, and he knew she was in pain. An eternity later, her left hand reached his face. He raised his own arm without thinking, to hold hers, to support it so she wouldn't have to struggle to keep her hand up.

"Osanai... Even if you're right, even if you die tomorrow, I'd be happy knowing that you still tried to live. I just can't understand why someone as strong as you could just sit here and do nothing."

"Mei..." His eyes changed a little – with a little more color and a little more hope - as he realized something. "This... is this really that important to you?" He asked as he put her hand down in his lap.

She nodded and smiled.

"And..." He continued hesitantly. "You... like me?"

She had to laugh lightly at that. "Everyone else already figured it out, I had to cry on your shoulder for you to get it."

"So you like me..." He looked a little shocked as he stared forward. "Ever since...?"

"I don't really know." She answered, surprised that she wasn't sure herself. "Maybe I always did."

"So..." He wasn't quite sure what to do. "What now?"

"You need to decide yourself." She gave him a half smile. "Live life to its fullest or sit and die."

"Even knowing I might die soon, would you stay in Waterfall with us if I try to fight it?"

"With 'us'?"

"With me." He corrected himself. "If I live, will you stay in Waterfall with... with me?" Now he felt a little close to crying. Honestly, he wanted to, but to cry in front of Mei? That he didn't want to do, he felt too manly to do that.

"You have the right attitude." She smiled a little and gave him a sly look. "But you're still saying 'if'. That's not the right way to put it."

He rolled his eyes and chuckled. "When I recover, will you... do I even need to ask at this point?"

"Nope." Mei chuckled and looked down a little.

Now you see, she had always hated the paper hospital clothes in the past. They're uncomfortable and just downright embarrassing to wear – but now she wasn't really sure if she hated them or not. She blushed lightly and laughed at him. "You got turned on by all that?"

"Where are you looking?" He shouted and pulled a blanket over himself. "Jeez, a little privacy?"

"This is a hospital, there's no such thing as privacy here." She giggled mischievously. "But you know... I kind of ruined an opportunity just now."

"What's that?"

"I could have..." She blushed intensely. "Um..."

"Ah." He chuckled this time. "You mean this?"

She didn't resist in the slightest, mostly because she was so shocked. She didn't even realize what was happening until their lips had been pressed together for several seconds. Even then, she didn't try to fight it, but made sure she contributed to the kiss as much as he did. It had been what she wanted.

"What now?" Kiba stared at the ground, scratching random scribbles into the dirt with his fingernails.

"I think we should do what he said." Neji answered after a moment's thought. "Jiraiya is much more than he lets others believe, smarter, stronger, wiser. And he meant everything he told us."

"So... what now?" Kiba asked again. "He said we can't go looking for them, but we have to be his opposition somehow."

"I think he meant that we shouldn't just seek him anymore." Neji responded, not really clearing up the question. "I mean, we need to hunt him now. It's no longer a peaceful mission for Hanabi-sama."

"I'm not so sure, it sounded like he was telling us to wait for him to show up on our doorstep."

"We should send a message to Konoha." Hanabi spoke up. "To tell them about the change in plan. They should at least know."

"Yes... but don't tell them why." Neji warned. "Even though something tells me the Hokage knows that Jiraiya-sama doesn't serve Konoha anymore."

"Makes sense to me." Kiba agreed. "I mean, Hokage-sama is the head honcho and all."

"So we'll send a message in the morning." Hanabi declared. "For now though, where do you think they could be?" She looked at Kiba. "Any ideas, you're the expert tracker."

"Yeah... one idea." He scratched his chin. "That rain-nin that we saw in Kazekage's office. He was with Naruto, I told you that right?"

Neji and Hanabi nodded.

"So... I think we should go to Rain country for a little more information. Rain and Konoha might not be on the best of terms, but we should be able to ask a few questions at least."

"In these times of political tension?" Neji asked. "I don't think so."

"Well let's just go dig around a little." He said anyway. "We should at least go take a second look at that house from before."

"So the Hyuuga kids are looking for them now?" Genka scratched her chin. "And you told them to oppose Naruto for the world's sake."

"That's right." Jiraiya nodded importantly. "You understand the situation as well as I do, I'm sure."

"But Naruto and Hinata don't." She shook her head a little sadly. "They know it's something that the entire world is riding on, but they can't wrap their heads around it."

"And I fear that there's more behind this than we first expected." Jiraiya groaned. "I should've stayed in Konoha, that way I wouldn't have to worry about all this."

"That's really inspiring, sensei." Arashi laughed sarcastically. "But I believe in them, they can pull off anything if they try."

"You always were really optimistic, Arashi..." Jiraiya glared at his old student's ghost. "Really, you were."

"But was I ever wrong?" He responded with a challenging tone.

"Yeah, how about that time when you died?"

"That doesn't count." He waved his hand, brushing it off. "Remember when I said 'Don't worry, I'll be fine,'? Yeah, that was totally a lie."

Arashi! He heard a familiar voice in his head - Something that nobody else in the room could hear.

"H-Hana?" He Blinked in surprise. "You just keep showing up at the most random times..."

"Hana?" Jiraiya's eyes widened. "That's the name of..."

"It's really confusing." Arashi grinned nervously. "I still have ties with the other side, so I can see her when she sends her soul to this world."

"She made it to the other side?" Jiraiya was even more surprised. "All that time ago, it really worked?"

"Yep, sure did." He grinned. "Naruto's been there once or twice too, but he left his body here every time, so he had something to come back to."

"Then that means Naruto..."

"Yep, he's got special powers." Arashi grinned. "He's even more special that I thought seventeen years ago."

Arashi! Hana interrupted. This isn't a time to ignore me.

"Oh, Hana. Sorry about that, Jiraiya-sensei interrupted us. What were you saying?"

The Tenshi no Moui bloodline. You know how we thought there were two living seventh generation descendants of it?

"Yeah..."

We were wrong! She screamed in his head. There are FOUR.

"What's the problem with that?"

While we don't have to worry about the Third, the Fourth is likely to activate the Akutenshi form. Do you have any idea how much more powerful Akutenshi is than the normal form?

"No..."

Well, think of it like this. She started explaining. Imagine a Genin, then imagine yourself at the prime of your life, when you were the absolute strongest.

"Yeah..."

The difference in power is something like that. She finished.

"So?"

ARE YOU INSANE?

"Some have said that, yes." He laughed happily for a few seconds, then waved his finger as if correcting her. "But I was thinking of a specific Genin, the one that's already carrying the fate of the world as it is. Besides that, I also know when you're exaggerating."

"This seems a little more dangerous from the top than it did from the bottom..." Naruto cringed as he stood at the top of the intermediate slope. Yes, the intermediate one, one step above the bunny slope.

Hinata giggled from behind him. "You're a ninja, you risk your life every day. Something like this should be easy."

"How are you not scared of this?" Naruto pointed down the hill.

"It's not scary!" She laughed aloud.

"Well maybe not to you, but you didn't get buried in the snow for a day before Ryoku found you." He rattled off quickly. "I don't want to get buried again."

"I'll dig you up, now go!" She shoved him over the edge as the other vacationers laughed at the sight.

Hinata jumped down after him and yelled with glee, this was just plain fun! She laughed even more as she caught Naruto trying to find his balance after she pushed him down. "It's not that hard!"

Naruto wasn't going to let the intermediate slope win. After all, it was the intermediate slope. But unfortunately, he was focusing a little too much on the slope and not enough on the people using it.

Hinata saw a figure flying down from the direction of the 'somewhat more advanced slope' at the very last second. The figure was riding a snowboard. Naruto and Hinata had seen those as well, and were presented with them as an option, but figured they were a bit too extreme for beginners. (even thought they were Shinobi)

Naruto and the snowboarder collided and flipped over in the snow together in a most comical way. Once Hinata was able to tell from her point of view that nobody was hurt, she took the chance to laugh at the sight.

Naruto groaned. He wasn't injured, but that still hadn't been a very enjoyable experience. He opened his eyes and yelped. "Hey!"

He and a brunette girl tumbled into the snow together, landing in a very 'friendly' position, face-to-face and barely two inches away. "You're kind of handsome." She informed him. "And you look a little familiar..."

It was now that Hinata reached the landing site, and immediately she started twitching.

"Get off of me." Naruto complained and pushed the girl away. "What's wrong with you?"

Hinata sighed with relief and sat down next to Naruto, taking his arm and glaring suspiciously at this other girl to make it obvious that he was taken. But after a few seconds, she felt a little silly.

"Sorry, I was just trying to figure out where I've seen you before." She crossed her legs and sat down, staring at him and rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "Wait a sec... You're that guy that stayed with Ryo last year."

Naruto was suddenly interested in what this girl had to say. "Ryo? Ryoku?"

"Yeah, he's my older brother's friend." She nodded. "I saw you there once or twice... but you were real quiet."

"I wasn't feeling good." Naruto laughed a little nervously. "So do you know how to get to his house without freezing your butt off?"

"Most people can't, but I grew up here so I'm used to it." She said simply. "Wait... you can get there too, can't you?"

"I can, but Hinata can't." Naruto answered honestly. "We don't want to get split up - bad things happen whenever we do."

"Well, Ryo's in Rain country for a while anyway." The girl looked at the sky and poked at her chin thoughtfully. "He's been gone for a few months, as a matter of fact."

Naruto looked a little dumbfounded. "We came all this way... all for nothing?"

"Well, you can talk to my brother. His house is a lot easier to get to." She stated happily. "I'll take you there."

"I guess so." Naruto stood up again to find his rented skis. Fortunately, they were still in good shape, so he managed to get to the end of the trail without crashing into anyone else while the girl made riding a snowboard look easier than breathing.

"Oh, yeah." Hinata remembered after returning their skis. "What's your name?"

"Me?" She asked, looking back over her shoulder. "I'm Sasaki."

"Nice to meet you, Sasaki." Naruto grinned. "Thanks for helping us out."

"Oh, Sasaki-chan?" A male voice asked. "You're back already?"

"Yeah!" She shouted. The owner of the voice stepped forward and patted her on the head. "Stop treating me like a kid..." She grumbled childishly.

"Until you turn eighteen, you are a kid." He laughed heartily and took her snowboard. "I'll put this away for you, but who're your frie-" He stopped once he recognized Naruto's face. "You're that quiet kid."

Naruto groaned and dropped his head. "Why do they all remember me like that?"

"That means..." The man turned to Naruto's companion with a curious expression. "You must be that girl that Ryoku was talking about."

"I guess so." She smiled a little. "I'm Hyuuga Hinata."

He looked at her a little harder and stroked his chin in suspicion. "You say Hyuuga, but your eyes look normal."

"I don't really understand why, but they've been like that for about a month." She explained. "I can still use Byakugan though."

"So..." He folded his arms. "Naruto, the quiet kid that was training with Ryoku, managed to get a girl like you. And not just any girl, but a Hyuuga on top of that... I guess it's not really my business." He shrugged. "You guys look like you need a place to stay tonight. Come on to my house.

"It's still one o-clock in the afternoon." Naruto said confusedly.

"Daylight lasts until almost midnight during our summers, but it's winter now, and I live on the east side of the mountains. The sun sets in the early afternoon." He explained. "Oh, I'm Sasaki's older brother. The name's Kentou."

"Thank you, Kentou-san." Hinata smiled. "We appreciate your offer, are you sure it isn't too much trouble?"

"No, no it's fine." He grinned. "Anything I can do to help."

"Wait... I remember you now. Your eyes..." Naruto sounded like he had just recalled something really exciting as he pointed at Kentou.

"Yeah, they're weird aren't they?" He laughed a little. "They've always been red like this."

"Hmm?" Hinata looked a little more closely. "I didn't even notice. Kurenai-sensei had red eyes too, I'm used to it."

"I guess there are others too." He shrugged. "Yeah, I was at Ryo's place a few times while you were living there. When he came back after dropping you off in rain, he told me some interesting things, I need to ask you some questions about that."

"Uh... okay."

"You know, Mei... you're lucky." Sasame said with a somewhat solemn smile and a tear hanging in her eye. They were sitting in Osanai's room as he slept. He was put under some heavy anesthesia by the doctors after they had asked him all the questions they needed. "The one you love... he loves you too. The only reason he's willing to give life a shot is because he can spend it with you."

"I wouldn't go so far to say he loves me..." Mei blushed a little. "I mean..."

"Of course he loves you. He's been in love with you ever since the day he met you. It was all he could think about, he couldn't even sleep because he was trying to figure out how he could make you trust him."

Mei smiled and looked at his sleeping face. "I'd rather hear it from him though, you know? Even if I know his real feelings, I think it would be better..." She giggled and smiled a little more. "I'd give anything to hear him say that, wouldn't you?"

"The one I love?" Sasame asked, caught off guard by the question. "I don't want to hear him say it, because when he does, I know he's only saying it to Hinata." That tear that had been dangling in the corner of her eye threatened to come loose and bring the floodgates down with it. "He'll never love me..."

"How do you know that?" Mei smiled supportively. "Have you even tried to win him over?"

"No, I couldn't do that to her... I couldn't do that to him! They're so happy together."

"Sasame, you love him right?" She asked. Sasame slowly nodded, so she continued. "How do you know he won't be just as happy with you? What if he'll be happier?"

Not the best advice in the world.

"You don't know them. sometimes I think there's never been a happier couple in the world."

"So you can't do anything?" Mei asked slowly. "Are you really okay like that?"

"No..." Sasame confessed. "I don't want to hurt them though."

"You don't? Is that really true?"

Sasame didn't want to think about this. She didn't want to know what her own answers would be, but now that she had been asked directly, she realized exactly what she really wanted. "No... it's not." She whimpered as the tears finally escaped. "I'll do anything to get close to him..."

Mei watched in pity as Sasame started weeping lightly. Sasame... I thought she'd be everything a man would want in a girl. She's friendly and pretty, She knows when someone's feeling down, and knows how to help them... And her breasts are really big... speaking of which, her body seems to be perfect. I'm a little jealous of that.

"Sasame..."

"Hmm?" She asked between sobs.

"You should at least try..." She tried to comfort the crying girl. "You're prettier than any girl I've ever seen, I'm kind of envious. You should use that to your advantage, no guy can resist a sexy girl in the right atmosphere."

"I don't know... If I do it... will you help?"

"Sure."

"So." Sasame whimpered and stared at the floor of the hospital room. "I'm going to seduce him...?"

It looks like things will get interesting when Naruto and Hinata return.

Revised on 2-8-2012