Sigh...I almost cried while writing this chapter. That's how much of a sap I am.

I love this story, love it with all my heart and soul, and I hope that you all enjoy this chapter as much as I do.

please, dont review just to say how rushed the romance is...i think it's cute.

PLEASE REVIEW!

Chapter 19

The dark blurry images of the dream seemed so tangible, but when I reached out for them, they slipped away into nothing. A low, familiar voice spoke in my mind, and it seemed to forcibly push itself to the forefront of my thoughts.

Choose your path.

My eyes snapped open with a gasp, and I sat up hurriedly, blinking dazedly at the bright sunshine that flowed in through the window. I saw the pale white walls of a hospital, and looked down to see myself garbed in one of those awful hospital gowns, and reached up to feel the thick plastic oxygen mask on my face.

What had happened?

I remember beating Tenten in the spar...and then…

I had hurt Tenten. I had immobilized her by putting her under a horrible genjutsu. It had been automatic, but that didn't stop the wrenching feeling in my gut at the memory of Neji's words.

"Are you trying to say that you don't have any control over yourself? That is no excuse, Hikari…you knew exactly what you were doing…"

I felt a sob rise in my throat as I hunched over myself, my knees sliding up so that they were pressed against my chest. I felt a calloused hand touch my arm, and my eyes snapped up to stare into dark slanted eyes that were filled with relief.

Kiba sighed, leaning back in his chair. "Thank God…you've been out for a while."

"How long have you been here, Kiba?"

Kiba waved it off. "Only for half an hour or so. You were having some kind of nightmare, it seemed. You kept reaching out to something, and then you'd sigh angrily, as if frustrated. Do you remember what you dreamed about?"

I shook my head, wondering what kind of dream could make me do stuff like that in my sleep. Then I remembered Tenten, and grabbed Kiba's arm frantically.

"Tenten, how's Tenten?"

Kiba smiled in amusement at my hysterical tone, and he flicked me in the forehead with a smirk. "She was fine after a medic nin worked on her for a few minutes. Thankfully she's mentally tough, so she'll get over it in no time. She actually is waiting outside, if you'd like to see her. The Mother Hen is with her, but the worst he'll do is glare."

"I assume by Mother Hen, you mean Neji." I couldn't help but giggle at the image of Neji with a white chicken outfit on, clucking around Tenten in a tight circle. "He is rather protective, isn't he."

"That's an understatement. You should've been there when the three of us were sent on a mission down south, when these drunkards started harassing Tenten! Neji totally we–"

The door slid open to reveal none other than Tenten herself, and she leaned against the doorway, raising an eyebrow up at Kiba, who went silent as Neji glared at the two of us.

I was happy to see that Tenten looked perfectly healthy, and her eyes were bright and warm as they scanned the room until they found me. I shrunk into myself, and was surprised to find that her face was free of any anger or resentment. The girl smiled and bounced over to my bedside, and sat on the edge.

"Hey, Hikari! How are you feeling?"

I swallowed, staring down at my hands. "Fine…thanks."

Tenten sighed slowly, and turned to Kiba and Neji. "Sorry, but do you guys mind leaving us alone for a bit? We need to talk…alone."

Neji gritted his teeth while Kiba nodded and exited the room, but Tenten gave him a stern look, and the Hyuuga growled under his breath before stalking out the room, carefully closing the door behind him.

Tenten turned to me, and before I had a chance to speak, she held a hand up to silence me. "I know what you're going to say, Hikari, and I don't want to hear it. I can't forgive you for what you did, because I doubt that I'll stop having nightmares about that genjutsu for a while. But what I can do is understand why you did it. I could see it in your eyes, Hikari…you were fighting for your life, and you saw me as the enemy. It's only natural that you wouldn't hold back, that you would go to any lengths to make sure that I wouldn't get back up. You obviously grew up in a very…different place than Konoha, and I can't really be mad at you for acting the way you did. So, I just wanted to come here and get that off my chest." Tenten smiled, and held out her hand. "Friends?"

I sighed, smiling as I reached up to take her hand. "Friends. And I know that you may not want my help after what happened, but…I've been exposed to genjutsu similar to the ones that I inflicted on you, some of which were…worse in ways. But my teacher, he taught me ways to recover from them, ways to rid the images from your mind after experiencing them. I…I can teach you, if you like. It's the least I can do, for what I did."

Tenten seemed surprised, nodding slowly in affirmation, and she stared into my eyes for a moment. "You've been exposed…what do you mean?"

"I…where I come from, torture is a favored form of gaining respect, and sometimes just for fun, and genjutsu is often used. In order to survive, you have to know how to detach yourself and know how to recover afterwards, to keep from going insane."

I quickly shut my mouth, because I knew if I said anymore, Tenten would begin to put the pieces together concerning my village of origin. Tenten's eyes were wide as she listened, and she made to speak, but the door slammed open, and Tsunade strode in, rubbing her temples furiously and flicking her fingers to dismiss Tenten. The kunoichi rolled her chocolate brown eyes at the Hokage's sour disposition, and smiled at me before disappearing from the room. Tsunade sighed, and checked the machines before quickly scanning me.

"I think this might be a record…you were in Konoha for what, three hours, and you somehow managed to end up in the hospital. Tsk tsk…" The woman clucked as she flashed a light in my eyes and used a stethoscope to measure my breathing and heartbeat. She then held her finger in front of my eyes and watched my eyes follow the appendage as it moved back and forth in front of my face.

"You seem to be in excellent health, and as soon as I'm done recording my analysis you're free to go. But before I do anything else, I want to know." Her hazel-brown eyes stared at me unblinkingly. "Do you use that kind of genjutsu often in Sound?"

I didn't have to ask to know that she was talking about the jutsu I used on Tenten.

"…Yes." I whispered, and Tsunade's eyes darkened.

"I see."

And then, with a final glance at the machine, Tsunade reached under the bed to toss me my clothes, and left the room without so much as another glance. I sat there, holding my clothes that had been washed and dried, and smelled the clean scent of soap on them.

Why did I get the feeling that Tsunade wasn't asking that question in concern for my health, but in concern for Sakura's?

Maybe because it was true. Sakura – Hana, in my eyes – was her apprentice, and so she would obviously be concerned for her health.

I sighed as I moved the screen around the bed and quickly discarded the plastic-smelling gown and changed into my regular attire. Something green caught my eye, and I saw that someone had placed…uh, a neatly sliced stem in a pretty vase. How…nice. Was there something I was missing? I shrugged, and went back to changing into my clothes.

I had just finished strapping on my kunai and shuriken case when Kiba's voice floated into the room.

"Hey, are you done yet?"

"Yeah, one second."

I quickly snapped on my shoes, and pushed back the screen to find Kiba grinning with amusement. I frowned as I approached him, and couldn't help but smile in pleasure as the teen put his arm around my shoulders, steering me out of the hospital room. It wasn't awkward with Kiba, because the two of us were so alike, and not to mention I was not about to ask an extremely attractive guy to stop holding me like that…I may be crazy, but not that crazy…

"I don't know what you and Tenten talked about in there, but when Tenten came out Neji tried to bash on you, and she totally shut him up. I mean, she really railed on him, like, almost yelling. I couldn't hear what they were saying, I was too far away, but it sounded pretty heated. Is everything cool between you and her now?"

"You could say that, I guess." I sighed, and let my hand slowly come up to loosely wrap around his waist. The two of us must've looked like a couple, because a few ninja stared at us in astonishment as we passed.

I had only known Kiba for like, a day. But again, with this whole connection voodoo thing, I felt like I knew him much better than I did, because not only was he so easy to be around as a person, but he and I seemed to just be so…harmonious in the sense that our personalities just, I don't know, meshed together so perfectly.

But not too perfectly. That was the good part.

Ugh, this is so cliché that it's sickening, but honestly I'm not trying to be. It's not like we're going to get married or anything, it's not like he's going to profess his undying love for me any time soon.

We're just…flirting shamelessly because we both find each other extremely appealing. What's the harm in that?

Kiba didn't move his arm as we entered the street, snow falling in soft flakes to land in my hand melt against the skin of my arms, and I smiled at the looks some kunoichi gave us as we passed. Some were astonished, some confused, and some were terrifyingly bloodthirsty. I looked down at my feet, hoping that none of them would turn into scaled dragons and tear my head off or anything.

Kiba pointed to various shops as we walked, telling me what they sold and who ran them. I watched the breath turn to smoke as he laughed, and felt my heart sighing in contentment. When we reached a tiny ramen shop on the corner, Kiba shuddered.

"That's Naruto's second home, practically. If you value the size of your wallet…don't ever let Naruto take you there."

I laughed at his expression, and we set off once more. But something caught my eye as Kiba was explaining his home to me, the place where Tsunade had asked for me to stay during my time here. My eyes drifted towards the large rocky cliff side that overlooked the entire village. Huge, finely chiseled; five faces were carved there. The first four were unfamiliar, but the fifth one I quickly saw it to be the solemn face of Tsunade. I almost laughed at how different her face looked in real life, but whoever had created the stone imitation had gotten the gist of it down.

It was the fourth face that caught my attention. It was of a young man, handsome and serious as his stone eyes stared down over the village. His hair was longish and spiky, and seeing it sent a flare of ominous recognition down my spine.

That face was so familiar...and my fingers automatically reached up to touch my face. I glanced in the side of a glossy window to see me staring in confusion. I glanced back up at the stone face, and then back at myself.

It must be a coincidence…nothing more.

I sighed, and found that Kiba was staring slightly downward at me – he was a few inches taller than me – as I looked up at the statues.

"Hey, Kiba, who's the fourth statue there?"

"That's the Fourth Hokage. He died protecting the village from the Nine-Tailed Fox fifteen years ago."

I nodded, and glanced at my features once more in the window. Just a coincidence that he died fifteen years ago, when I was born, the same day I was found in the forest by Mom…just coincidence.

I smiled up at Kiba, and let him tug me away from the spot, and taking my hand, we both ran towards the Inuzuka Compound, which was overgrown with plant-life and smelled like the forest after a long rain, even though snow covered everything. I laughed at Kiba's excitement, but couldn't help glancing back at the statues once more.

Surely it was coincidence that the face of the Fourth Hokage looked exactly like mine.

One Month Later

I peeked around the snowdrift, my hair already covered in snow as I crouched behind it, molding a ball of ice between my hands. Team 1 – that was me, Naruto, Tenten, Neji (Tenten forced him to do it, so he was lame at first, but as he got more into it…Jesus, he's like a goddamn pro), and Ino – was losing, which was just plain insulting. Team 2 – Kiba, Shino, Hinata, Shikamaru, and Chouji – had already gotten Neji out, who was our main offense because of his Byakugan, along with Ino, no surprise there, and Naruto. So it was just Tenten and I. Luckily, we were both pretty good, so we managed to knock out Hinata, Chouji, and Shino.

When players got out, they had to go sit outside the boundaries, which stretched across the entire park, which was piled up with the most intricate barriers and little tunnels, which we had created the day before. It was too far away to see what was really going on, and so they couldn't call out to us where the enemy was.

Tenten was somewhere to my right, though she was being a bit risky in her movements towards the enemy base. There was a tiny rock painted blue behind me, hidden in a tiny enclave of snow. And it was surrounded with ten other just like it, so that the other team would have trouble finding the real one.

I was the "guardian" of the stone, but seeing as it was just Tenten and me left, it was getting harder to stay in one place when the other team was advancing.

I saw a flash of green, and heard Tenten swear as something wet and solid hit her in the neck, and she stood up with a huff, holding her hands up in surrender, marching over to where Neji and the others were sitting, specks in the distance.

"Dammit!" I muttered, and slid down in my little tunnel, gathering a snowball in preparation to run out. I made a sign as I sensed a chakra flare behind me. I sent my clone out as fast as I could, and tried to sound defeated as I tried to gather up my snowballs. But then cold hands were around my wrists, and a solid chest against my back as a familiar voice chuckled.

"I guess you guys lose, as usual, Hikari."

I groaned, and waited for Kiba to slam me with a snowball, as he always did. But instead, Kiba's hands were warm and still, and I felt him slowly turning me around so that I faced him. I opened my eyes to see his dark ones smiling mischievously.

"This is the…what, fifth time I've beaten you? I think that I should get something in return, to make it worthwhile."

"No, not the tickets I got from that nice lady around the Compound! Those are worth a free ice cream at the vendor down the street! I earned those fair and square!" I growled, and struggled to free myself. Kiba laughed, and I smirked to myself as I felt my clone getting nearer and nearer to the base. I was too fast for Shikamaru to keep up with, and my clone was no exception. But then my clone was destroyed as a well-aimed kunai slashed through it. Dammit, Shikamaru!

Kiba laughed at my expression, and let his fingers brush the snow out of my hair. "I wouldn't be that cruel, though for the life of me I cant understand why you'd want ice cream in the winter."

I frowned, and Kiba let his fingers trace downward, and I blinked in surprise as his calloused fingertips came into contact with my slightly parted lips. It was such a hesitant gesture, yet such an intense and heated gesture at the same time. I felt my heart beating rapidly as Kiba's other hand touched my neck, and his dark eyes flickered downward to rest on his feet.

"Sorry, I just…I feel…" His words were so soft, and his eyes flickered up to meet my gaze once more before sighing in frustration. He began to pull away, but I moved closer. I felt almost detached from my body as I sat there, the snow ignored by my senses as I leaned forward to tilt his head up to meet my eyes.

There were no words to describe the feeling as I slowly leaned forward, my legs straddling his waist as I let my lips lightly press to his astonished ones. I let them rest there for a moment, and pulled away so I could whisper.

"It's okay…I feel it too."

Kiba let out a gasped sigh, and his eyes met mine before he leaned in to kiss me again, his hands gentle and tentative around my waist. I sighed in satisfaction, and let my arms wrap around his neck.

It was true. Kiba and I were so…I don't even know how to put it. He was what I had always wanted in a guy, and at the same time, he had little quirks and surprising qualities that I wouldn't have been able to enjoy had I fantasized about it beforehand. He made me feel so precious and beautiful, and I loved how free I was to be myself around him. It was so different than in Sound. In Sound, I was so caged, so restricted, and I hated it. Kiba was so wild and confidant, and I loved how sexy and fierce he was without even trying.

But even as I was kissing Kiba…there was this nagging sense to my mind as Sasuke's face flashed before my thoughts. It was so irritating to feel guilty as his onyx eyes burned into mine from within my mind, and I mentally shooed him as Kiba pushed me back into the wall of snow

I'm not yours, Sasuke, so butt out.

Kiba's lips were slowly deepening the kiss, and I flushed as his hands trailed up my ribcage, his fingers so strong and firm, they made my heart stutter and quicken even more. I felt a gasp escape my lips as his tongue lightly traced across my lower lip, and I felt almost hesitant as I felt the bottom of his shirt, and felt the heat coming from the firm muscles of his abdomen. My fingers seemed to move of their own accord as they lightly traced the smooth skin there, lightly tracing upwards towards his chest. Kiba groaned, and pulled away to kiss my neck.

God, this was incredible. Why hadn't we done this sooner?

"Hey Kiba, we – HOLY SHIT!" Shikamaru's face appeared for a split second at the entrance of the tunnel before he immediately retreated, and we heard him banging his head against the wall in an attempt to clear the image from his head. I looked down to see that my hands were completely under Kiba's shirt, and his hands were roaming on my thighs. Ouch, poor Shikamaru.

But I was already blushing like mad, so I couldn't turn any redder. Kiba did it for me, and we laughed nervously as he leaned his head against my shoulder. I lifted my hands so that they were resting in his hair, gently combing through the unruly spikes.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm kind of glad that I didn't throw a snowball in your face like all those times before…" Kiba muttered, and I laughed, blushing at my words.

"You'd just have to warm me up."

Kiba laughed at that, and tilted his head to give me another long kiss. I smiled, and gently pulled away after a moment. "C'mon, we better go try and preserve what's left of Shikamaru's innocence…"

Kiba groaned, and I got to my feet, pulling him up with me. We both smiled at each other, and I couldn't get over how peaceful I felt with him. He brought out the best in me, and I loved him for it.

Funny how one month can solidify those kinds of things, huh?

We walked out of the tunnel, quickly dropping hands at the sight of the entire group staring at us with wide eyes. Shikamaru was still in the ground, his face submerged in snow. Tenten's eyes snapped to where our hands had been intertwined, and Ino rolled her eyes.

"Don't give us that innocent look, you two!"

Tenten smirked. "Yeah, you two are really bad at hiding anything."

Chouji smirked, shoving some chocolate slices into his mouth. "It must've been pretty bad, for Shikamaru to scream like that."

Naruto laughed, and leaned in, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. "Did you guys, you know, do it."

I snickered at the horrified looks of the group, Neji's eyes closing in exasperation. Kiba coughed. "Do I even want to know what's on all of your guys' minds?"

The group slowly shook their heads, and I smiled widely. "Nothing happened, guys! Just a few times doggy-style and we called it good!"

Kiba snorted loudly as the entire group retreated as quickly as they could. Ino giggled impishly as Tenten gasped.

"You guys didn't!"

"Yes. I think we got it on video, didn't we? For the porno we're in part-time, right Kiba?"

But Kiba was beyond all sense of reason, blushing so red that I wouldn't be surprised that the blood in his head blocked his ears from hearing anything but the pounding of his heart. I turned to stare at the group, only to find that they were all staring at us with wide, panicked eyes. Neji was the only one that was calm, and he scoffed at Tenten's disgusted snort.

"They're obviously messing with you all."

Kiba sighed as I grinned. "We have a winner!"

Ino looked disappointed – jeez, disturbing much? – while the rest laughed in relief. Tenten sighed, and leaned against Neji's shoulder in exasperation. I noticed with glee that Neji didn't move to stop her or to dislodge her head from his shoulder.

Can you feel…the love tonight?

Why yes, talking animals from Lion King, I think I can feel the love tonight, thanks for asking!

I laughed as we all made our way back to the streets of Konoha, and I glanced around at the trees, my eyes widening as I saw something that would change everything in that moment.

Oh, please, God, not now…

Not this.

But it was.

The snow was melting on the cherry blossom trees, and if I looked closely…I could see a bud forming on the edge of a branch.

"I'll pass on you two this time, and even leave you two alone for the rest of winter. But when the first flowers appear on the cherry trees outside your window…I'll come to collect."

Kabuto.

I felt tears welling up as I stared at the snow that was slowly but surely beginning to melt. Spring was coming, and that meant one thing.

I had to leave Konoha; I had to leave all of this happiness…this month that has held the most wonderful happiness I've ever known.

And I had to go back into the darkness of Sound, but I wouldn't let myself feel angry or bitter towards Sakura for that fact. Because this was her family, and no matter how long I stayed in Konoha, no matter how close I got to the people here…this would always be her home, and this would always be my fantasy.

This wasn't my world to live in, and as much as it hurt me to say it, Sakura deserved to come back to this family more than I did. I felt like I was cheating almost, letting her rot in Sound while I cozied up to her family here.

I would die in Kabuto's lab instead of her, and I would die knowing that I was giving up my life for someone who deserved it. Kiba would be sad for a while, but I knew that he would move on, that he would one day find a girl who really deserves him. Tenten would soon forget the genjutsu I put her under, and Naruto would forget the warm times we had at that ramen shop of his, laughing and joking in the light flurries of snow. Hoshiko and Sora would soon forget the girl that brought them to their loving aunt, the memories of me playing with them in the snow would slip away with time.

Life would go on…I just wouldn't be there to see it.

But that was okay.

I leaned into Kiba's side; forcing myself to push aside such dark thoughts for this one last day I had with him. I inhaled his warm, musky scent, and hugged him tightly as we walked.

One more day…and then in the night I would leave Konoha forever.

The darkness pressed around me as I hefted my bag over my shoulders, and I slowly moved towards the door of my room. I made my footsteps silent as I walked towards Kiba's room, a small envelope in my hands. I almost started crying when I remembered writing it not an hour before.

Dear Kiba,

By the time you read this, I will be far away from Konoha. Please…don't try and follow me, and tell the others not to bother. I'm going somewhere that you cannot follow; I'm following a path that you can never understand. If I were to have my way for once in my life, I would choose to stay; I wouldn't want to be anywhere but beside you every day. But life's a bitch, as I'm sure you know. I can't tell you where I'm going, or even why, but know that I will never forget you, I will never, ever forget all the times we shared. Please, don't be angry with yourself; don't blame yourself in any way. If you want to be angry, be angry with me. I'm to blame for all of this, and now I have to make it right by leaving.

I just want you to be happy, Kiba, and that may seem impossible after I'm gone, but I know that you'll find someone…you'll be even happier with her than you are with me. We're just fifteen, Kiba. Just kids, still, but that doesn't make our love any less real. It just makes it easier to crush; it makes it easier to forget. Trust me, you have so many years ahead of you…your life isn't a dead end like mine. You're the most wonderful man I've ever know, you're so wonderful that I cant write anymore without going back on my decision to leave.

What I'm doing isn't for my own life; it's for the life of someone very dear to Konoha and its entire people. Please, remember me for the girl you put your arm around that day I got out of the hospital, the girl that you kissed in the snow today, the girl that loves you…and not for the traitor that some will see me as.

Love, now and always,

Hikari

I silently slid open the door to Kiba's room.

Kiba was shirtless, and his pajama bottoms were patterned with dog-bones. He was lying on his back, his breathing even and smooth as he slept without a care in the world. I saw that he had a picture on his bedside table, and I felt a tear escape my control as I lifted it up to examine it.

It had been taken a week or so ago, and it was of me rubbing Akamaru around the ears, my face alight with laughter as Akamaru nuzzled my shoulder affectionately. I didn't seem to be aware of the camera, and a gentle smile was on my face.

The picture was the only photograph in his entire room, and that fact made me wish I had never come. This was going to be the hardest part, ingraining his image into my brain as I left.

I slowly set the envelope down – Kiba's name written on it – beside the picture, and leaned down to stare at his face. It was peaceful and handsome, and his lips parted as he breathed. Why did it have to be this way? Why did I have to find love only to lose it?

I felt tears falling, and they fell on his cheeks like pearls, and I felt my throat tighten as I heard him sigh in his sleep. I leaned down and lightly kissed his lips, pouring all my anguish and regret into that simple action. I let my senses memorize the softness of his lips; I let my senses memorize the smell of his skin as his warmth shot through my entire body.

I pulled away after a long moment, and leaned down to whisper in his ear.

"Goodbye."

He did nothing but grunt and turn over in his sleep, and I laughed quietly at his childish huffs as he shifted so he was more comfortable. I stared at him for one more long moment, and then let myself disappear into a cloud of leaves.

I appeared outside the gates of Konoha, and I stared up at the Konohagakure symbol for a moment before turning to walk down the road.

"Hikari!"

Naruto…oh that pesky Naruto. Only he was persistent enough to follow me from the Inuzuka Compound. Only he had noticed the sadness that permeated my speech and mind as I spent my last day with people who I had grown to consider as my friends.

I slowly turned, and saw that Naruto was standing there, his cerulean eyes pained and confused as he stared at the backpack on my back. I smiled sadly at him, and waited while he walked towards me.

"You're leaving…aren't you?"

It wasn't a question, but Naruto's tone lifted up desperately at the end, as if hoping I'd start laughing and tell him it was all a big joke. I nodded, and his eyes dropped to his feet.

"Why?"

"Because…of a promise I made to myself. We're alike in that respect, aren't we, Naruto? I have someone that needs my help, a person I swore to protect. I need to leave, to help them. Can you understand that?"

Naruto's mouth opened as if he was going to argue, but I moved forward to shush him. I slipped the armband off of my arm, the band that Tsunade had given me a month earlier, and slipped it into his hand.

"I need you to do something for me, Naruto. It's about someone you love, someone who Tsunade sent on a mission a few months ago concerning Sound. Don't say the name if you understand." Naruto's eyes widened, and his hands clenched. "This person is in grave danger, and you need to tell Tsunade that she has to send a team to retrieve this person immediately. If she doesn't…Orochimaru will find out this person's real identity, I won't be surprised if he hasn't already. She needs to send the team to this base." I looked around, and slipped a small map I made to the base where Hana and I had met. "Do you understand, Naruto? Do you understand why I have to go? This person you love, well, this person's the one I have to protect."

Naruto let out a breath, and his eyes were full of sadness as he stared at the map in his hands. "But what about you, Hikari? What will happen to you?"

I placed my hands on either side of the boy's face, and stared at him until he raised his eyes to look at me. "That's not important. I will take whatever comes, but you cannot hesitate when you reach the base. I don't care what you hear; I don't care what you see…you cannot hesitate. You have to get this person out of there, do you understand? Don't look for me…because…I'm one of them."

"One of what?"

"You'll see when you get to the base. But it wont matter anyway, if I get there in time nothing will matter." I looked at the moon, and looked back to Naruto.

"Whatever happens, Naruto, remember that I am your friend. I care about every person in those walls, and I'm leaving to save one of the people of Konoha. But if we ever meet again…you have to fight me like I'm an enemy. From now on…we're enemies. But even if I curse your name and try to hurt you…I will always consider you my friend."

"Hikari, wh–"

I shook my head. "We live in different worlds, Naruto. And now, we have to go our separate ways. Goodbye, Naruto Uzumaki. You'll make this village proud, and I know that you'll be the best Hokage this place has ever seen." I said quietly, and reached up to kiss him on the cheek.

I felt tears welling up again as I saw Naruto's expression, and so I quickly turned and ran away into the night.

Goodbye…goodbye…

Maybe someday, you'll forgive me. Maybe someday you'll come and find where I'm buried, and remember me for all the good things I did.

Maybe…someday…