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Paper Heart.
Act III.
The sky fell as liquid droplets, mystically appearing as if mimicing the tears that fell earlier that day.
The annual summer rains of Konoha had come, causing the streets to quickly empty out as people frantically skittered for shelter. The liquid lullaby covered the atmosphere into a quiet vacuum, with no other sound to be heard but the trite melody of splashes. With the exception of the fallen leaves, he was the only one exposed to the rain as he casually walked home. He was in no hurry to cover himself from the shower as the others did, even as he carried a young, unconscious woman carefully in his arms. He merely wanted her tears and his troubles to be washed away with the gentle fingers of the storm.
She slept, her face content with peace as she played with the stars. His brow creased in concern while wiping away the strands of hair that stuck to her face. He didn't want her to slip into another period of depression; locked up in her room without any accordance to the outside world as she spun in a carousel of degrading thoughts. To realize that her first love is set upon a man fourteen years older than her summoned a tidal wave of anxiety and confusion. The situation of being coldy rejected without even realizing what she was being rejected from appeared to come down harder on her than the rain did on her face. He sighed regretfully and hugged her closer in an endeavor to warm her body; sacrificing his own heat to melt the iciness of her skin.
Her body moved, waking up in a shivering clamor as her emerald eyes fluttered open. She was about to clutch her arms in a desperate attempt to regain her body heat, but found that someone else was already doing the job for her. The hazy vision of her eyes turned upward, finding herself staring at a gentle smile.
"Sensei," she whispered, shyly looking back down when she felt her face tint a shade of red. Although she was exhausted beyond words, she still managed to curve a smile when he embraced her tighter.
She found herself in his house, closely cradled in his arms as he sat leaning against the wall. The sound of the gray storm harmonized the melody of silence that peacefully settled between them. Puddles of water scattered in random areas on his floor, secretly reciting the story of a long walk in the rain. Her clothes were soaked, but her hair was gradually drying from lying her head against the heat of his chest. He was drenched as well, but didn't seem to mind much as his hair released droplets of water on his face. His Konoha headband was off, thrown to the side, but she found him still refusing to reveal the bottom portion of his face. She sighed.
Her sensei, mysterious in both looks and reasoning.
"What?" he curiously asked, after seeing her roll her eyes and grin in hidden amusement. She shook her head against his damp shirt, snuggling closer to his body.
He watched her carefully.
Affectionately.
It made his heart ache.
He didn't know how long the illusion will last, but he was sure that they would have to tear it down eventually. After laying his dark eyes upon her sadness and hatred, he found that his sympathy towards her had already evolved into a forbidding emotion. Even when he told himself a million times not to cross the border, his mind recklessly disobeyed. He knew that the consequence would only grow like a cancer as time progressed, slowly diminishing their freedom. Tight embraces would wither down to hugs; hugs to holding hands; and hands left with nothing to hold on to but false pinky promises.
He sighed.
It was an inevitable future of torture, for the less he'll be able to see her, the more he'll long for her. She was his happiness itself, shaped and disguised in a female form. However, the world will eventually rip her away from him without a hint of sympathy upon its face. She was the light of his life, as any helpless romantic would word it.
Was he a helpless romantic? He knew he was helpless, but the world forbid him to be a romantic. He silently cursed time and the calendar for the fourteen years that stood between them, as they secretly held on to one another with one hand. He would never be able to refer themselves as being in a relationship, because they weren't. They weren't allowed to be. He wouldn't be able to call themselves lovers either, for lovers are two souls with the ability to care for one another.
Freely.
"Sensei."
She pulled him from the storm in his mind. She sat up and stared at him, intuitively knowing what his thoughts were looping through.
He offered a sad smile.
She read his mind precisely.
Touching the side of his face in a sympathetic manner, she wordlessly told him it was okay. His arms wrapped around her waist as they they sat for a while, lingering in a moment they knew they would long for in the future. She leaned forward, pressing her warm forehead against his. He closed his eyes momentarily before looking at her, eyes filled with a sense of sadness that made her heart melt.
"Kakashi," she quietly commanded. "Stop thinking about it."
"I don't want to ruin your life," he protested in a whisper. "You could always leave now and--"
He suddenly felt her body press firmly against his, her hands deliberately trailing down his chest. She leaned into his face as her lips furtively brushed against his brow, mouth slightly opening as she slowly trailed down to his cheekbone. He still felt the warmth of her lips hovering over his, despite being covered up.
"Sakura," he persisted, biting the inside of his cheek to try and steady his breathing. "It's not too late to--"
"I told you," her mouth featherly touching his as she muttered. "Stop thinking about it."
"I'm just worried for you. For us," he tenderly added.
She leaned back to sit on her knees between his legs, and for a long while, merely stared at him; hands clinging on the edge of his shirt like a wandering child. She traced the contours of his face with her eyes, noting every detail of his features both hidden and visible. She didn't persist him in revealing the rest of his identity to her, because she already knew he would be breathtakingly perfect underneath. Her heart skipped a beat, finding him staring back at her with the same intensity.
Her hands moved to his sides as she hunched forward, resting her forehead on his shoulder. His arms wrapped around her, holding her closely as they waited for a haunting fate to come whisk them away.
Time slowly passed by, swirling around them in the form of fear and worry towards their future.
They didn't get up to dry their clothes, still damp from the pouring rain.
They didn't speak to each other, murmuring conversations and promises in a hushed tone.
They didn't distract their misery with a moment between white bedsheets.
Instead, they sat there.
A girl.
A man.
And an uncertain future.
"Kakashi, I..."
He hushed her thoughts with a soft kiss on the neck.
If only she were allowed to fall in love with him.