Sai's Pen Pal

Chapter Six

Well, I update and no one reviews. I suppose I deserve it...

Fijui: You did, too.

Oh just shut up!

(If you haven't read the previous chapter, do so.)

~Sincerely~

Dear Sai,

I can't come to Konoha. There's no way. I have to stay in Iwa. And you want to know why I pretend to be happy? Because I'm dying. I have a tumor in my heart that's going to continue to grow and I will continue to get more and more sick.

Thank you for the present.

Sincerely,

Fijui

It was by far the shortest letter Sai had ever received. And it was too neat. Fijui's letters were filled with doodles and scratch-outs and practice drawings. This was simply a few neat lines.

He didn't like it at all.

The news of the cancer made him feel light-headed, like Sakura had hit him again. 'Fijui... I...' He wasn't sure what to think. All he could do was take out a sheet of paper. But as he stared at the blank white rectangle, nothing came to mind to write. Suddenly, there was a loud banging from the other side. "Sai!" Sakura shouted. He folded the letter and stuck it in his pocket before answering the door.

"We have a mission," she told him. "Sakura-" He suddenly cut himself off. "Of course." She lead him to the Hokage's office where they met up with the rest of the team. By the time they got there, Sakura was seriously worried. 'He seems distracted. Why?'

All through the details, Sai tried to focus, but his mind kept going back to his dying pen pal. He caught enough to get a vague idea. 'C-rank, three days, escort, meet at the gate in two hours.' He headed home and packed a bag with a few changes of clothes and some paper and pens. He still didn't have any idea on how to respond to her short, curt letter. Maybe an idea would come to him on the mission.

They traveled the whole day. The woman they escorted was old and wanted to get to her son's wedding. She was kind and gave them all cookies. Naruto stole Sai's, but he didn't care. If he had eaten it, he probably would've thrown up. When they stopped to make camp, Sai did anything he could do to help. Fijui still nagged there in the back of his mind, but he ignored it and set to work.

There's only so much work he could do before they turned in, though. As he lay in his sleeping bag, he let Fijui swarm his thoughts. He stayed up for longer than he should've. When he finally rolled over and closed his eyes, it was four hours until they got up.

. . .

Fijui looked up from her breakfast. Her mother was looking at her but not really seeing her. "Mom, can I have some more orange juice?" Fijui asked, hoping to snap her mother out of it. The woman blinked and said, "Of course. Take as much as you want."

They were keeping her home. Fijui wanted to go to school desperately, but she knew that they would treat her differently. She had gone out to a movie with some of her other friends and they had spoiled the hell out of her. She didn't like being treated differently. It hurt because she knew they were only doing this because of the cancer.

She sighed. At least Than wasn't treating her any differently. He still laughed and held her hand and gave her kisses that left her light-headed, but he had grown... darker, almost. Like he was starting to care less and less.

With a sigh, she picked up her barely touched plate of food and was about to put it away, but her mother took the dish from her. "Go on out with your friends. Have fun," she said, kissing Fijui's forehead. The red-haired girl nodded and left, wearing a tee-shirt, a jacket, and some jeans. Than was waiting for her outside. "Hey," he said, wrapping an arm around her waist and kissing her gently.

She smiled. "What do you have planned for me today?"

"Come and find out."

She raised an eyebrow and he said, "Not like that!" With a chuckle, she looped her arm through his. They headed off together, laughing and talking. They headed up the steps of a large house. "I've got five brothers and sisters," he explained. "Five each?" asked Fijui. "No. Three sisters, two brothers." She nodded. She didn't like his brothers nor sisters very much. All of Than's family was beautiful, so they criticized her on her looks. "I'm meeting your parents," she said. "That you are," he agreed.

The butterflies in her stomach started as he opened the French doors that opened into the front room. His family all sat there, looking like they all got ready in their best clothes. Fijui looked down at her clothes and sighed mentally. Why did everyone she meet do everything better than she did?

"Well," said Than's mother, a tall, blond, curvy, and slim woman. "You're the famous Fijui." The redhead could immediately tell what Than's mom thought of her as she gazed at her with nose wrinkled. His father, who had dark brown hair, seemed more friendly. "Hello, Fijui. We've heard much about you," he said, holding out his hand. The sixteen-year-old took it and they shook. His hand completely engulfed hers.

The rest of the time went more smoothly. Fijui tried to be polite and funny. Near the end, his father asked, "So, has our boy been good to you?" She smiled. "Of course he has. A little too good, if you know what I mean!" Nobody's expression changed except for Than's. He narrowed his eyes before saying, "Fijui, I need to talk to you."

She smiled. "Alright." He didn't take her hand and instead brought her outside to the porch. "What the hell was that?" he hissed, eyes angry. She blinked. "I could've been grounded because of that damn comment!"

She raised an eyebrow. 'He's overreacting because of a grounding.' Out loud, thunking about Sai's advice, Fijui said, "Oh, don't be such a baby."

BAM!

When his fist connected with the side of her face, she wasn't expecting it. She fell against the side of his house, holding a hand to her cheek. Then she spit out some blood and realized that she had bitten her tongue. "Don't ever talk to me like that again," Than told her, his voice low and dangerous. A cold wind blew over them and he stepped off the porch.

"C'mon. I'll walk you home."

She followed him, cheek stinging. Two tears fell from each of her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away and straightened up. 'You can handle it. It was just a slap.' when they arrived at her house, Than brushed her hair out of her face and kissed her gently. Then he pulled away. "I'll see you tomorrow," he said, brushing his lips against her forehead.

She watched as he walked away and more tears came. Aggravated, she wiped them, ignoring the stinging that came when she touched her cheekbone. The redhead opened the door and her mother turned to her from the kitchen. "Oh my goodness! What happened?" she demanded upon seeing her daughter's face.

"I... Slipped," Fijui said lamely. "You slipped?" the woman yelped. "Um, yeah. I fell out there and my face hit the railing." Fijui didn't know why she was defending the boy, but it felt wrong just to rat on him. She wasn't a little Kindergartener. After her mother had called her father and he had interrogated her, she asked if her pen pal had written her back.

Sai hadn't.

Feeling even more sad, she took a shower and got dressed in her fuzzy pajamas, curling up and turning on her beside lamp. She wrote a longer letter to him, hoping that maybe he would find something to respond to. Then, with more tears sliding down her cheeks, she fell asleep.

. . .

When Sai got back home, he checked his mailbox.

Dear Sai,

I'm sorry about the previous letter. I was just upset about the news. It's really too bad you didn't respond. I could've really used a friend.

My parents want to see about the surgery, but I'm frightened. They don't have enough money for it, and it still might not work. I always used to joke around with my friends by saying things like, "I'm not afraid of death- what's it gonna do, kill me?" I feel so stupid.

Thank you for the invitation to Konoha, by the way. Your drawing was amazing. And... Wow. This is depressing me. Truly. I feel terrible for not saying anything in the previous letter. You have every right to hate me.

I wasn't planning on adding this, but I called Than a baby. I know, it wasn't what you said to call him, but I'm too nice to say anything like that. He hit me. It still hurts right now. If you ever meet my parents, please don't tell. Please.

Azora hasn't contacted us yet. I wonder what she's waiting for. Mom and Dad are freaking out. I thinks Mom's going to have a nervous breakdown with everything going on.

Write back soon.

Your friend,

Fijui

. . .

I wonder how Sai's gonna react to that.

Sai: Than hit her?

Yup.

Sai: He'll get what's coming to him.

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