Three months later

"Sakura sensei, is it ok if I went home now?" Sumire asked.

"Hmm...it's already four eh? Alright, you can go but don't forget to do your revision ok," Sakura replied sternly.

"Ok ok, I will. Bye sensei, see you tomorrow," Sumire said while walking out of the door.

Sakura watches the young girl walking out of the gate towards her home. About a month ago, Sakura decided to take Atsuka Sumire as her apprentice. Sakura started by teaching Sumire different herbs and plants that are useful for medical purposes. They still haven't finish with the plants yet but Sakura is certain that the young girl is capable in the medical field. Sumire is a quick learner and she is really interested in her lessons. Since Sumire is not a ninja, Sakura has to teach her the traditional way of healing people.

After gazing out for a moment, Sakura decided to take a short nap in her sanctuary. Once in a while, Sakura goes to the field that she came across the second day of her stay in this village. She loves that field so much and besides no one else comes over there. Sakura knows that she is healing little by little and by the time her mission is completed she'll be a new person.

Along the way, she greets the villagers that came across her path. The villagers are very friendly and helpful. There is not one villager she has not met before. Not like Konoha, here everyone takes their time to visit their neighbors and chat together. After about seven minutes, she reached the field.

No matter how many times she comes here, she's never bored with this place. After admiring the scenery, she lay down and took a short nap.

Sakura woke up feeling another presence next to her. She got up straight away but unfortunately her brain couldn't take the pressure. She groaned in pain, clutching her head.

"You shouldn't have done that," a deep male voice sounded from her right.

Turning to right, she saw who it was.

"Honda san," Sakura acknowledges.

She was introduced to Honda Takashi when she was on a grocery shopping. Occasionally, she saw him working in his farm or talking to the other farmers. He had never asked for her medical attention before. She doesn't know anything about him but she estimates that he is in his late thirties. She assumed that he is a quiet one and likes to keep to himself. There were a lot of burn scars on his face and arms. She was informed by the other villagers that he got that from a fire accident ten years ago. No one elaborated how it happened.

"I haven't seen you here before," Sakura breaks the silence.

A moment later he replied her.

"I've been busy for awhile."

"I see."

He kept staring ahead of him. Sakura didn't know what else to say.

"Your eyes shows sadness," he told her suddenly.

Sakura's eyes grew large with that remark. She was speechless, if she denied that means she was lying.

"Though it is much lesser now compared to a month ago," he continued quietly.

"How did you?"

"Your eyes remind me of mine," with that reply, he got up and left without saying goodbye.

Sakura continued sitting there, replaying the words in her mind.

"Your eyes remind me of mine."

"What was that suppose to mean?" she asked herself.

After a couple of minutes she got up and stretched herself. She then noticed that the sun was about to set. She turned around and walked back the path she took earlier.

Along the way she kept thinking about what he said, perhaps the fire had not only scarred his face but also his heart. "Note to self: Ask someone else about it", with that thought she continued walking back home thinking what she should cook for dinner.

Unfortunately she forgot about it.

1 month later

"ARGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!SENSEI!!! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!! CAN WE STOP???" Sumire shouted frustratedly.

Today Sakura started with the human anatomy. Poor Sumire, it was too much for her to remember the human organ. Sakura turned and looked at the wall clock, 3.30. Deciding that the young girl will not be able to continue, Sakura closed her book.

"Fine, today I'll let you go home half an hour earlier but no excuses tomorrow. We will start again with the human brain, ok."

"Hai…….I understand," Sumire replied collecting her papers and running out of the house.

Sakura giggled at the girl's antics, Sumire ran as if afraid that Sakura will come after her and tie her down to her seat. Not knowing what else to do, Sakura chose to go over to the field and rest for awhile. Coming upon the field, she noticed that someone else was there before her.

"Honda san?"

The said man turned around and looked at her.

"Haruno sensei," he nods his head in acknowledgement.

Sakura walked towards him and sat by his side. He was again staring ahead at the hills. At that moment, Sakura realized she forgot about the questions she wanted to ask the villagers concerning him.

"I see you came," he continues.

"You were waiting for me?" she asked.

"I wanted to see any improvement," he replied.

"Oh!"

"There is not much change though," he said, now looking at her.

"Ah…ermm…I don't know what to say," Sakura replied.

"Telling someone else your problem helps to heal the invisible scar," he told her.

Angry with his advice Sakura replied fuming, "You don't have any right to meddle with my affair."

He gave a small smile and turned back looking at the hills.

"I speak from experience, Haruno sensei," he told.

"Oh really! Then why do you still have a pair of sad eyes if talking helps heal your heart," Sakura countered.

"Because I have no one to talk to. All the villagers know my story, so to whom should I tell then?" he replied softly.

Sakura was embarrassed with her sudden outburst. She shouldn't have shouted at him like that.

"Tell me, I'll listen," Sakura said gently.

He didn't say anything for a long time. Sakura assumed that he didn't want to tell her. So she didn't pester him.

"I loved her very much," he said suddenly.

Startled, Sakura turned and looked at him instantly.

"She was my neighbor. Ever since I was sixteen, I decided that once I was older I will marry her."

He paused, taking in a deep breath.

"When I turned twenty-five, I had enough money to start a family so I asked her father's permission for her hand. Her father was happy and accepted the proposal. I was happy. Five months later we got married."

He tilted his head up and stared at the clouds.

"Apparently she didn't like me. She was in love with another guy from the neighboring village. She was unhappy. Her family didn't ask her whether she likes me, neither did I. I assumed she liked me since she was friendly to me."

"Our marriage was not a happy one but I never stopped loving her. One day, some of the villagers and I went to town to sell our harvests. It was very late by the time we got back. The village was in a chaos, people were running here and there shouting. I heard a few words regarding my wife and fire. I immediately ran home and saw my house on fire. Some of the villagers were trying to put out the fire and I heard that my wife was still in there."

There were tears running down his cheeks.

"I rushed into the house to save her but I was too late. I saw her body burning in the kitchen. I could hear her screaming but I couldn't reach her. A pole was blocking me. I was trying to push the pole away when some of the villagers came after me and pulled me out."

He wiped his cheeks and pinched his eyes.

"I was fighting with the villagers to release me but they were saying that it was too late to save her. The fire died down when dawn approached and there was nothing left of my house. Everything was burned."

"A week later, my father-in-law gave me a letter saying that he found it in his home. The letter was addressed to me from my late wife. She wrote saying that, she was planning to run away with the man she loved but when he found out that she was pregnant with my child, he abandoned her. She asked me to forgive her for taking away her life and my unborn child's."

Digesting his story she asks him softly, "Have you forgiven her?"

"I'm not sure. The child did not do any wrong. She sacrificed an innocent life because she was unable to accept the rejection."

"When did this happen?"

"Ten years ago," he replied looking at her.

"Ten years is a long time to not forgive someone. Forgive her mistakes, I'm sure you'll be happier after that."

"I'll think about it."

Sakura and Takashi continued sitting quietly, lost in their own thoughts. A couple of minutes later.

"I'll tell you my story the next time we meet," Sakura said getting up to leave.

He turns and looks at her. He nods at her and she turns around and walks away, ready to tell her story the next time they see each other here.

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Author's note: Yay! Another chapter completed. I have the story in my mind but finding it difficult to write it down. I'll start working on another chapter.