Author's Note: Hi, everyone. I'm back with a new chapter. Thank you for reviewing and adding this fanfic to your favourites list. Please enjoy reading this chapter!
Chapter Three
To: Hinata
From: Sakura
Subject: Great news!
I just got back from a long day of school and from the moment I stepped inside through the front door, I rushed to my room and turned on my computer just to write you this email to tell you all this because I think it will make you happy.
During the weeks I was absent, none of my friends from my class went to visit me and told me to get out. They just texted me and asked me why I wasn't going to school. Not even my dad knocked on my door. It was just mom, begging outside the room for me to open the door to let her help me. But last week mom knocked on my door again, begging as always, then her knocking grew harder and louder and she was basically banging on my door, hoping by doing so it would open. Then she started yelling at me words that, she expected, would bring me down. I've stopped listening to her insulting words about me since I was thirteen. They don't work anymore. Then she stopped bringing food to my door, but that didn't bother me either. I sneak out of the room when she's out to work.
One day, I was lying in my bed in the darkness, thinking of nothing in particular, when I heard Hatake-sensei's gentle voice outside my door. I sat up, wondering if I was starting to hear things. I waited for a while and again, I heard his voice. I thought it was a dream—a cruel dream. I got up and opened the door. I wasn't dreaming. Hatake-sensei was really standing in front of my door with a kind smile on his face.
It turned out my mom called the school and told him about me, and he decided to come to my house to pay me a visit. At first I thought he was there just to maintain his reputation as a teacher, but when I asked him again, he admitted it but also told me he was worried about me. I can still see the sincere smile on his face when he told me that. It still makes my heart race to this day.
He asked me what was bothering me. Should I tell him? I pondered this question many times in my head. I finally told him, rather hesitantly, I was in love with someone, but it's impossible for me to have him, because we are worlds apart. I told him I locked myself up in my room to think about it deeper but it's getting me nowhere. Then he asked me if "that person" went to the same school as me. I nodded my head as an answer. He didn't have a single clue it was him I was talking about. Thank God.
He advised me, with a warm smile on his face, if I wanted to deal with it I had to face the music. Love is not a walk in the park, and hiding in my room won't solve anything. He said something like that, I can't remember.
The words that came out of his mouth reminded me of yours.
I asked him out of curiosity whether he had been in love before. I tried to sound as innocent as I could; hiding any trace of embarrassment or jealousy on my tone.
His eyes darkened, but he still kept his smile plastered on his face, which seemed strained. I wondered if I had asked him a very sensitive question, but I pretended not to notice the sudden change of his expression.
He told me he was in love with a girl once, when he was in junior high school. She had been in love with him for quite a while, but when he finally noticed her, it was too late.
I asked him what happened, thinking that she found another. He frankly told me she died in an accident. The pained look on his face made my heart feel heavy in my chest. I can understand from what he told me, he had decided to close his heart since then. He quickly dismissed it, with a forced smile, saying it was now all in the past, but I know he still thinks about her very often. I experienced a sharp pang of jealousy. It was ridiculous, really, but I couldn't help it.
I felt a little closer to him after he shared with me about his first love. I suppose, I was the first one to know about this because he seemed really embarrassed after telling me about it.
I never thought a kind man, like Hatake-sensei, could be so broken.
I finally went back to school today and everybody was surprised—including Hatake-sensei, but he seemed relieved and glad. Knowing that he cared about me (and his students) was what made me able to go back there.
He called me to the teachers' office during recess. I sat before him by his well-organized desk, and our knees almost brushed against each other. It made my heart flutter.
He expressed to me how happy he was to see me at school. I believed him. The smile on his face was genuine, and he did that habit of closing his eyes when he smiles, especially when he's happy.
I thanked him from the bottom of my heart for visiting and talking to me. I tried my very best not to blush, but I had a feeling my body betrayed me.
He's a very nice human being. I've fallen even more in love with him.
I'll write you again when there are more things I want to tell you.
How about you, Hinata? How are you and your family there? I should probably visit you during the break. I really miss you.
Sakura
Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. Don't forget to leave a review. It will really motivate me to continue this fanfic.
