So this chapter got a little long. My apologies. Anyway...its a bit slow, but I hope you enjoy! Please review!
Also- the spell check on my thing is currently not working...so whatever mistakes you see on here...I'll be sure to fix them when I can.
Enjoy!
Chapter Sixteen: Even Heaven Cries
"There's no difference between the tear drops and the rain."
It was like she was 12 all over again.
He was all she could think about. He was the only person she wanted to see. And right now...she was falling in love with him all over again.
She was on her way home, after a long day of work...and was extremely tired. After her crying fit, and dream-like kiss with Sasuke...they ended up staying there for about another, oh hour? And then...much to her dismay, she had fallen asleep on his shoulder, and woken up in her bed this morning. Woken up to a day of work. And now it was 4 and she could go home and relax. Catch up on sleep.
She was about a block away from her house, on a pretty desolate street, looking up at the sky. It was a dark, gloomy gray, making the day seem long and dreary.
Great mood killer. Yay, weather.
She sighed and looked down to see Kalei walking past her. Her head shot up and she eyed Sakura with a look of confusion, and disgust.
Yet another mood killer.
Sakura sighed. She had been wanting to get this over with. It was too awkward between her and Kalei. She hated it.
"Kalei." She said softly. She stopped walking about within about 6 feet of Kalei.
Kalei's eyebrows raised and she blinked thrice, letting Sakura know this was no easier for her. "What do you want?" She asked sharply. She was once again, in normal shinobi attire...and was once again, bearing that same snotty attitude.
Sakura took a deep breath. Don't let her get to you.
"I wanted to let you know that Lady Tsunade officially declared me an ANBU. Apparently, I'm pretty good at working with the impossible." She said calmly, thinking back on her conversation with Kalei the other night.
A small smirk crawled onto Kalei's face. She was holding some piece of paper in her right hand that, absentmindedly, she started crushing. "I'd say congratulation's but it's just from having ties with the Hokage."
Okay. Strike one.
Sakura had been working on controlling her temper, and she had actually been doing a very good job. She'd been all around keeping her atittude down and hadn't been getting angry so easily...but somehow...it felt like it was slipping away.
"It's from hard work." She said through gritted teeth.
Kalei's face twisted into a frown and she forcefully shoved the letter into her pocket. "You think hard work solves all impossible situations? It doesn't...and it won't do you any good in the situation you're in with Sasuke."
Oh yeah. Whatever. Sakura smirked. It was now or never.
"After these next 8 days...leave him alone."
Excuse me? Kalei's face twisted into a nasty glare. Did she really just say that. "What?" She hissed violently.
Sakura nodded. "You heard me, Kalei. Everytime I get closer to him, you go and screw with his feelings."
Kalei rolled her eyes. "It's not my fault he can't make up his mind."
Strike two.
Sakura hadn't really asked Sasuke about what had happened between him and Kalei. She didn't know how to approach that yet...but she did know one thing. Whatever had happened...had been fairly good for Kalei, considering she was being so persistant.
"He has enough to deal with already." Sakura said, eyes narrowing.
Kalei rolled her eyes. "Then stop adding to the load!" Her voice began to rise.
Wow, this was going nowhere. Fast.
"Kalei, you barely know him!"
"You'd be surprised, Sakura...I've learned more about him in this short amount of time than anybody else I know."
"Oh and I'm sure you pry until he breaks."
"He tells me because he wants to."
Sakura bit her lip. She had never been able to get Sasuke to talk about his past. What was so special about Kalei? Was she even telling the truth? Whatever...this conversation needed to end...before things went too far.
"I'm serious, Kalei. Please...you can't be anything to him."
Kalei growled, her glare deepening dangerously.
"Oh and you can?" She started approaching Sakura.
Now, Sakura had to hand it to the girl...if she had anything...it was courage. Everybody knew about Tsunade's dangerous temper, and Sakura had quite a nasty one herself. On top of that, not only did Sakura pick up on her masters skills, but also her ability to get extremely angry...amazingly fast.
"You never were anything to him. Why do you think he left in the first place? He needed to break those bonds...and yet here you are. Trying to rebuild them. You can't make him stay. He won't. You know that. So stop trying to change his mind. It's pointless and the sad attempts to get him...and the pathetic way you still say you love him...just makes you're heart seem so weak."
Weak?
Strike three.
Suddenly, and violently, Sakura lunged at Kalei, her clenched fist colliding with her jaw. She sent Kalei back a few feet, falling to the street, her back slamming on the ground. She let out a grown of pain and Sakura stepped back, shaking. She hadn't meant to do that. It just happened. She was so angry and she absolutely hated being called weak. She wasn't even close to that.
Kalei slammed her fist on the ground. "You bitch." She hissed.
She maneauvered her hands to the street to push herself up, clearly ready to strike at Sakura, but it failed, as a puff of smoke appeared beside her. Once it cleared, Sakura noticed Kakashi, kneeling down next to Kalei, his hand on her chest right below her neck, holding her tightly to the ground. Sakura's eyes widened in surprise.
"Let go!" Kalei muttered dangerously.
In all truth, she should have been thankful. Normally Sakura would have poured her chalkra into her fist and struck...but it took everything she had not to send Kalei flying halfway through the fire country.
Kakashi looked over his shoulder at Sakura. His eye practically screamed 'That was a stupid move'. Sakura's gaze drifted away, her fists still shaking. Damn, she just wanted to walk over there and punch her one more time.
"Sakura!"
She turned around quickly to see Naruto standing behind her, a look of worry written all over his face. She opened her mouth to say something...but now, nothing would come out. She felt slightly...ashamed.
"Sakura...I don't know what you were thinking but-" Kakashi spoke slowly until he was interrupted.
"She wasn't." Kalei broke in angrily, causing Sakura to turn around and glare at her. Kalei squirmed under Kakashi's grip until he loosed up and allowed her to sit up. She would have sprung at Sakura if it weren't for the hand Kakashi had placed firmly on her shoulder. "She's foolish. She's not thinking at all. You can't honestly believe you can change him." She hissed, furisously.
Sakura clenched her jaw. "Shut up, Kalei."
"I'm telling you- you're only hurting yourself...it's pathet-"
"Shut up!" She could feel tears pricking at her eyes. She hadn't gotten this mad in such a long time. Without realizing it, she had attempted to lunge at Kalei once again, until Naruto's arms were wrapped around her.
"You don't know anything!!!" Sakura screamed angrily, causing Kalei to smirk. Sakura's mouth went dry. The look on Kalei's face was enough to upset her...let alone her words.
"I know he doesn't love you."
And just like that...Kalei had won. Sakura's heart fell into her stomach and she stopped fighting against Naruto's grip. Her gaze lowered to the floor, and Kalei stood up, Kakashi standing up next to her. He exchanged glances between the girls and sighed.
"Sakura, I wouldn't have expected this from you. Kalei, you need to stop adding fire to the perverbial flame." He said, shaking his head.
Naruto removed his arms from Sakura. He then looked up at Kalei and gave her a sympathetic look.
For some reason, Kalei felt ashamed looking at him. She closed her eyes and started to walk away. After she was a few feet away she looked up at the gray sky. She wasn't all surprised this had happened.
Any minute now it was going to rain.
"Kalei!" Naruto shouted, walking towards her.
Get away.
She shook her head, trying to fight back the tears that were already forming. After that...she took off running, trying to get away from Naruto.
But it was Naruto. He was just as persistant. And he took off running after her.
It's raining.
Sasuke was standing outside as the rain started falling, drenching his clothes. For some reason, he felt like the rain could wash away every feeling that was consuming him. It was overwhelming.
And he was right. This morning, thinking back on last night...he regretted it. Oh wow, did he regret it. He should have never kissed her. He should have never given her any false hope that there could be something between them. He was always getting caught up in the moment...getting Sakura caught up in his problems. It was sickening. It created problems...that he didn't quite know how to fix. And the worst part was...he had woken up with the something like the same feeling he was feeling last night as he held her in his arms. And she had plagued his thoughts all day long. Sickening...that's what it was.
He really just wanted to rain to wash away what had happened...just like Sakura was washing away his last traces of sanity.
But it was okay...because as the rain pelted against his skin...he started thinking of somebody else.
Kalei.
He didn't know where she was. Actually, they hadn't spoken since the night Sakura had returned. And on top of that...they hadn't really left that conversation on a good note. But right now, he needed to find her.
"I can't make the rain stop...but I can be right here."
He had said that to her. Promised her that. And he felt he needed to keep it. He owed her that much after basically telling her he could never love her. Besides...everytime it rained...he knew he'd be thinking of her. And right now, he just wanted to make sure she was okay. He knew what the rain did to her. He didn't want to see that happen again. But this time he needed to be careful. No misunderstandings. No feelings.
The rain started falling even heavier and he took off, determined to find her as fast as possible.
"You wanted to see me, Lady Hokage?"
"Yes...Kalei, uh...a letter came in for you?"
Her eyes wandered. "A letter for me?"
The Hokage nodded, walked up, and handed it to her.
It was stamped from the Village Hidden in the Sand.
Her mother, probably.
"The Kazekage had sent it. Said it was of importance."
Her eyes wandered over the folded paper stamped shut.
Did she really want to read it? Her mother stopped sending letters.
She wouldn't all of a sudden start now. It had to be something bad.
It always was.
"Thank you, Lady Hokage."
"Well, you're dismissed."
Something in her head was screaming...
You don't want to read this letter.
You just don't.
That conversation was ringing in Kalei's head until...
"Kalei! Stop!"
...Another voice broke in. Naruto's. She came to a dead stop in the middle of an open stretch of land, despite the few tree's surrounding the area. The rain was dancing on her skin, making her cold and insecure. She hated the rain.
Hated it.
"What are you doing? Why did you say those things to Sakura?" Naruto asked, walking around her so he could face her. He was a couple feet away, sure he should keep his distance unless she was touchy.
Well, it's now or never. Lets satisfy the rain.
Ignoring Naruto, she thrusted her hand into her pocket and pulled out the letter, slowly opening and unfolding it.
"Kalei? Why are you so upset?"
She slowly scanned her eyes over the letter.
Dear Kalei Hitsuchi,
This letter is to inform you of a serious, unfortunate event.
I'm very sad to inform you that you're mother, Yoko Hitsuchi, has just passed away.
She had been ill for many weeks now and our medics could simple not cure her.
Despite this passing of time and differences, we at Suna thought it best to inform you immediately.
The ceremony will be held in two weeks.
We need a suitable amount of time to bury her in the memorial cemetery for honorable shinobi,
Next to your father.
Please come, as the Elders and I would like to discuss with you the arrangments of your sister, Kiako.
Our prayers reach you in this time of tragedy.
Lord Kazekage
And just like that...the rain started pouring heavier than before, dousing the letter.
Surprisingly...it hurt. It hurt, bad. Her mother was gone...the last piece of her childhood. The one she had ran from...the one she had kept wanting to go back to. It was gone. Sure, time could create spaces between people...but it was now that she realized...it was always there. Even just a little. Maybe, if you tried real hard...you could erase whatever connections you had with the people around you...but honestly, she had never really tried. It had happened on its own...but it had never completely vanished. And as she read that letter...she could feel every part of her breaking. The sound of the rain hitting the grass...and the feel of it suffocating her skin. It was like her mother was crying. All of heaven was crying. Everybody feels things sometimes...things they don't want to feel. Things nobody should have to go through. She was no exception...and she realized this as she dropped on her knee's, craddling her head in her hands.
It hurt. It really did. So much that she broke into uncontrolable sobs...and part of her didn't even know why. It was probably the rain. It could do that to her. Something so sad...and depressing. It was strong. Strong enough to rip what was left of her heart...into little pieces that she didn't think she could pick up. Wow...wasn't this perfect timing. Her chest heaved as the tears streamed down her face. She didn't really know why she had called Sakura weak...because right now...she felt so much like that herself.
"Kalei..." Naruto whispered quietly through the rain, kneeling down beside her. "I'm here Kalei...it's okay."
He slowly wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into him. She cried against his chest. Harder than she had cried in a long time. And she felt happy that somebody was there. She really didn't want to be alone. Not anymore. She was sick of it...the pain...loneliness. So she pushed herself into him...letting the rain drown them both.
As fast as his feet could take him, Sasuke was running out by the trianing grounds. He wasn't all that sure if thats where she was but that was where his feet were taking him. There was a hill in front of him that lead up into a small patch of land with some tree's covering it. He took off up the hill.
Damn, I'm late.
The rain had been pouring for about 20 minutes now and he hadn't found her. But he was close.
He reached the top of the hill and seen two people kneeling in the grass. After he quickly made out the two strangers, he jolted behind a tree as to stay hidden. It was Kalei...
And Naruto.
He didn't really know why he was hiding...but he was curious as to why Naruto was hugging Kalei.
But sure enough, after a few minutes...it hit him.
Naruto had been the one there to help her. Even from this distance, Sasuke could tell she was crying. He didn't know what had happened exactly...and he didn't really care. The sight of Naruto's arms wrapped around her made his skin crawl.
That was supposed to be him.
He had let her down enough times already. He was sick of doing it over and over again. Even if he didn't feel the same things for her...he did feel like he wanted to be there. For her. With her. But he was too late. And she was crying into somebody else's chest. Letting somebody else be there. To understand her.
Sasuke slowly took a step away from the tree...his heart twisting at the sound of Kalei's sobbing. He took a few steps toward them. He wasn't really sure what to say but...
"Kalei." He said softly, and rather slowly...causing her head to jerk up a little, so you could see her red, tearfilled eyes.
Naruto looked back to Sasuke, a sympathetic look on his face. He knew well enough that Sasuke didn't like it when she was upset. And he knew this probably looked awkward. Truth was...it felt that way too. He felt Kalei's grip tighten on his shirt, and felt her move her face closer to his chest.
"Go away..." She whimpered quietly into Naruto's clothes.
Sasuke's eyes widened. Did she really want him to leave? "Kalei...I'm sor-"
"Please...please...just go away." She said one more time, closing her eyes and turning her head back into Naruto's chest. Naruto looked down at her and sighed as the rain washed over them.
Wow. That was it. He was losing all over again. Just like the ties he had held with his family. That pain was coming back.
His throat tightened and he closed his eyes tightly, hopefully stopping whatever could come out of what he was feeling. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. And he would have never imagined that seeing her like this...in somebody else's arms...would bother him so much.
It was a different feeling than anything related to what he was feeling with Sakura, yes...but nonetheless...it hurt. Like hell. More than any pain he had felt in a very long time.
He slowly turned around and looked up into the sky, letting the rain drown his senses.
And for some reason...he was really starting to hate the rain. And the fact that he had no control over stopping it. But he was learning that some things were just meant to happen. After all...the best thing one can do when it's raining...
...is to just let it rain.
Next Chapter: Whatever Will Be