Chapter 7

In the remote part of the park, there sat a young boy crying his eyes out.

"Hey, what's wrong? Are you okay? Why are you crying?" A small girl with bubbly pink hair came over and asked. At the same time, handing him a handkerchief. Delicate embroidery at the edge. The small letters were H.S.

"HN! It's not your problem! I don't need your pity!" A small boy with raven hair said as he tried his best to stop his tears but to no avail. "And who has pink hair anyway? Pink is a stupid colour for stupid girls!" He said, hoping to drive her away. Like he does to everyone else. Not seeing how this time would be any different to any other.

"I guess you're right! I don't know how I got the hair though, I guess I was just fated to have it," she said with an apologetic smile and sat down next to the boy.

"Hey, go away! Just leave me alone already! I don't need anyone! Just GO AWAY!" He shouted at her, scooting away from her to put more space between them.

She didn't say anything. He didn't say anything. Neither of them said anything.

A few moments passed and the boys sobbing stopped, but now… he was looking at her. Just her, not at anything else. He looked at her and thought she's not talking anymore… why's that? Is she angry? Well it's better that way anyway! He thought triumphantly.

The time around them passed swiftly and it was already around late afternoon. But the girl just sat there gazing at something the boy couldn't see. What is she looking at? Why does it feel like she's so far away even though we're just an arm's length apart? The boy thought to himself.

"Ne, are you feeling better now?" She asked him disrupting his train of thoughts.

"Wh- Why do you care?! I'm my own person! I don't need anyone to care about me! ESPECIALLY if it's a GIRL! I'm a big boy now! I don't need anyone to take care of me!" He said, not entirely understanding the term 'big boy'.

"What happened to you? Why did you cry?" She asked him, ignoring what he had said earlier.

He stood up abruptly, he then screamed at her saying "JUST LEAVE ME ALONE! I DON'T NEED ANYONE! EVERYONE DOESN'T LOVE ME ANYWAY! THE OTHER GIRLS ONLY LIKE ME BECAUSE OF MY LOOKS! THEY SAY 'OH SASUKE-KUN, YOULOOK SO COOL' 'I LOVE YOU SASUKE-KUN' 'I WANNA HUG YOU SASUKE-KUN'!" Tears started to roll down his face, "BUT DO THEY REALLY MEAN IT!? NO! AND THEY NEVER WILL! WHAT MAKES YOU ANY DIFFERENT?! LIES! ALL LIES! JUST STOP IT ALREADY! STOP! Stop! Stop…" His voice getting softer and softer only until his sobs could be heard.

She stood up, walking towards him, pulling out the handkerchief that was neglected the first time she tried. But this time, she wiped his face. He didn't try to stop her nor did he do anything that indicated that he minded.

When she was done, she pulled him into her embrace, whispering words to him like a soothing mantra. "Shhhhh… It's okay… everything is okay… Shhhhh… shhhh…"

"Lies… they're all lies… lies… why won't the voices stop? Enough already…" He said as he sobbed.

"It's all right, it's okay… just listen to my voice and everything will be alright. Listen to my voice and only my voice. Just forget about everything else for now and focus on mine," she said holding him tighter in her embrace.

After a few moments, his sobbing subsided and he was just sniffling.

"Do you feel better now?" She asked. Genuine concern filled her voice.

"I- I am…" feeling embarrassed that a girl was hugging him. Slowly, she let go of him and then altogether.

Why does she look happy? Sensing his question someway, she explained, "Well, you're not crying anymore! That's one thing that's turned out the way I wanted it to!"

"Hn…" His cheeks flared red.

"But, it's okay if you don't wanna tell me what happened anyway, at least you seemed to calm down a bit. I guess that's fine. But my mama says that telling someone how you feel when you're down is better than keeping it to yourself! It's true you know! I've tried it before! I felt better when I was done telling my mama how I felt! You can tell me if you like! I'll stay with you for as long as you like!" She said with her cheerful attitude of hers.

"O… kay…" He said force fully.

"Really? Wow… that's a first! OK! Let's start!" She said with her ever so carefree tone. That smile of hers was actually quite infectious. Even the young boy who rarely smiled wanted to smile with her, but he managed to supress the small twitch at the edge of his mouth.

"Well… I don't really know where to start but… here goes…" He told her his story. His heart wrenching story of a very sad and lonely boy that his parents had no time for. That even when he went home, all he felt was the eerie silence and the ghastly chill that was the indicator that no one had been home for a very long time. A broken family.

He told her about his father and mother and beloved brother.

He said that his father was a man of business. And in his world, business had always come before family and that he had never been home much, He's always travelling the boy said. Yet, there was something in his eyes had told the young pinkette that there was more to the story than he'd be comfortable telling, but she didn't say a word. Not to mention he hates my guts. He told her. She was shocked but she didn't show it. She still sat there quietly, listening to his story.

Next, was his mother. He told her that she had long since passed way. He told her that it was because she had been… unwell, way before he was born. And that giving birth to him was actually a very big risk and that she had him anyway. They thought that she would've survived. But it was short lived, she still passed away. He also said that maybe that was why his father hated him. He had forced the woman that gave birth to him to the brink of death. He also did look quite a lot like his mother, he told her. He was someway, a constant reminder of his mother to his father.

Then came his brother. He said that, aside from teaching him his homework, he had also always played with him. He told her of the times he spent with his beloved brother. His eyes sparked up with pure adoration. He told her about him, his personality, how he looked, how his face always lighted up when they see a cat pass them by and mostly everything about him. Then he paused. He stopped talking and the spark in his eyes had also faded away to a dull grey. She didn't question him, she just waited. He started again, But now… he has to go away for a long time… he said that he had to go and learn in the grown-ups world. But it's been almost 2 years since he came back. I've tried to write to him but he never writes back. I've asked Dad why he never does, but all he ever did was give me a cold look and told me that he was busy. He looked down to his fingers and most likely unconsciously started clenching his hands. A small habit of his that he had developed when he was younger. He was trying to hold back, as if it was the only way to hold on to his sanity.

The girl turned her head to his direction. She could picture everything he said. From having no one to care about you, always having to sleep alone at night with no one to soothe you back to sleep when you wake up from nightmares or to crawl into a warm and accepting hug when you feel scared or just tired, lonely meals at the table and so many other things that she would never have and never will actually experience before.

There were a lot of words stuck in her throat, but she decided to not say anything and just do a very simple but comforting thing. She put her hands on his.

The boy immediately looked up. Tears started to flow down his cheeks, and before he knew it, all those defences he put up had come undone. He cried, hard.

The girl rubbed soothing circles on is back and whispered sweet things in his ear. "It's okay… it's okay… I'm gonna help you forget all the bad things… I'll be your friend. I'll be your bestest friend you ever had. I'm gonna protect you from all the bad things… It's okay… You can always talk to me if you want… here… use this…"

She handed him the handkerchief.

That time, he accepted and have kept it with him ever since.

It's my turn to protect you, Sakura.

Hello people! I have decided to update today :D You must be thinking, what took you so long? Well my dear Watson, that is a question that I shall never know the answer to. But yeah... I'm happy how the chapter turned out, it has been sitting on my computer for quite a while already... But yea, hope you enjoyed~~