Thirty Kisses Theme 25 - Good Night

Sometimes she wonders what could have happened if they had switched places for that one moment of their lives. However, even though she and Hayate may have loved one another, they were also realists. They were both shinobi, and shinobi led very dangerous lives. Every single mission could be the last. You had to be prepared for your lover's death at any moment. Such was love between ninja.

Hayate had told her quite frankly on their first date that he didn't expect to live past forty. If his profession didn't kill him, his illness would. Yuugao had to keep that in mind even as their relationship got more serious. They talked of death often because it was something they had to do. Others may have considered that morbid, but it was a fact of life for them. Both Yuugao and Hayate had decided to leave all of their earthly possessions to each other for the sake of simplicity. While Yuugao's father was still alive, he didn't need her things, and both of Hayate's parents had passed from illness. Neither had siblings.

"Yuugao, when I do die, I'd like you to move on, okay? You're a beautiful woman, and you don't need to be tied down by my death." He had said once when they sat on the hill watching the stars. Yuugao had been sobered by that thought.

"Are you trying to say you don't want me to remember you?" She had asked, touching his arm lightly. He turned his head from the sky to look at her, a wane smile on his lips.

"Well, I'm not saying flowers wouldn't be nice." She let a small smile grace her features before rolling onto her back and stretching out, watching the stars twinkle distantly in the sky.

"Then, you should move on to. Though, if I die on a mission, I'd want a little more than flowers. A visit every now and then would be appreciated." Hayate coughed, muffling the noise with his hand. A cricket chirped behind them, and for a moment, lying on that hill alone with him, Yuugao had allowed herself the luxury of thinking they could maybe both grow old together. But it was a luxury neither of them could afford.

And it was a night just like that one that Yuugao found herself in front of the memorial that bore Hayate's name, a small bundle of flowers in her hand. Her thought drifted, perhaps picturing what the scene would have looked like had she been the one to die that night instead of him. What would have happened had Sand and Sound spies sliced open her chest and not his. Her name would be the one carved onto that cold stone, and he would be the one standing there with a flower and a cough. But that's just not the way things were.

She bent down to lay the flowers down in front of the stone and then stood, gazing at them forlornly. They were brightly colored wildflowers, picked on her way from the patrol field to the memorial. She supposed Hayate would have liked them. With one last look Yuugao turned to leave, looking up into the night sky and watching the moon kiss the stars.

Goodnight, Hayate…