Reaching
LilacLilyFlower © 2009
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Unfortunately.
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AN EXPLANATION FOR WHY FUMIKO IS IN THE SAME CLASS AS HIKARI: If you remember, in the manga, Naruto was given the chance to graduate at least twice before he graduated with his age group. This means that he could have graduated early, so I decided that in my story, I'll have students of all ages in the same classes, and put in the class that has the most compatible teacher for them.
STRAWBERRY DAYS HAS BEEN UPDATED (WITH AN AU THAT I REALLY LIKE)
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Chapter 5
There are suspicions that it was a homicide by a resentful shinobi. That is all I can tell you.
Shisui.
I will escort you home; the streets are no longer safe.
Dead.
And Hikari-san, please take care from now on.
How could someone so strong and happy be gone, just like that? Why would someone want to kill a person so full of love for others?
Shisui, who secretly doted on his sister. Shisui, Itachi's closest friend. Shisui, who always pretended to lose whenever she and Sasuke wrestled him. Shisui, someone she considered-
An older brother.
Always full of life and care. He would never muss up her hair and call her Strawberry again. He would never try glomping Itachi again, only to fall. He would never breathe, smile, laugh, cry, or do any of the things Uchiha didn't really do again.
Hikari sat on her bed, thoughts racing through her mind with a numbing speed. Soon, her thoughts became a dull wave of shock. She vaguely noted the sound of her lock being picked, but she didn't move to arm herself. What was the point? Shisui, a shinobi far more superior to her, had been killed. Chakra sense (which she refused to use, she couldn't feel Shisui's gritty chakra anymore), mediocre Fuinjutsu, it wouldn't help protecting her against someone who had killed Shisui.
Her bed sagged as someone else sat next to her on it. When a large hand rested itself on her head, Hikari knew who it was.
"You learned," Kakashi said, not really asking.
She didn't respond, didn't even blink. She didn't know if she could speak and translate her halted thoughts into coherent sentences.
Shisui.
Gone.
What?
Not strong?
Gone.
Gone.
Gone.
Why?
Hikari heard Kakashi sigh. "I brought someone. You can come in now."
Tiny footsteps, quiet as if afraid to startle a tense animal. Tan, skinned knees entering her vision. Orange shorts.
"Nee-chan?"
Naruto's call snapped her eyes towards his baby blues. Worry. Creased brows.
"Nee-chan, I brought ramen. Let's eat!"
Precious. Naruto was precious. Shisui was precious too. And he was gone.
Hikari lunged at Naruto, and, ignoring his yelp, wrapped her arms tightly around him and buried her face into his shoulder. Then, she released a shuddering breath as her eyes grew hot. There was a wetness in her eyes.
Shisui won't ever see me cry. He won't see anything now.
Shisui was dead. As the shock faded and the full realization hit, Hikari's form spasmed with explosive sobs. She clung to Naruto's shirt as her legs collapsed, and they both fell to the ground with a thud.
"Um, uh, Nee-chan, don't cry!" Naruto flailed as he panicked. Hikari ignored his awkward attempts to comfort her, because Naruto was safe and warm and bright and his chakra and heartbeat were pulsing steadily and that was what she needed right now. Life.
She cried until her eyes were swollen red and too heavy to keep open, so she fell asleep clutching Naruto to her tightly, as if he would disappear too.
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(Kakashi's POV)
A breakdown, over the death of an Uchiha.
He understood that very, very well.
His mind wandered (but not too far, because an Uchiha died, and no one knew how, so there could be more potential targets if someone really was going around killing others) to his memories of Obito's death.
"I never got you a present, huh? Take my Sharingan."
"No, you're going to live. You're going to be okay!"
"Rin, do it."
"I-I don't know if I can."
"Mister?" a young voice called. Kakashi flicked his eyes over to Naruto, who was staring up at him with apprehension.
Ah, Hikari fell asleep.
He pried her hands off of Naruto's shirt and hefted her onto her bed. As an afterthought, he placed a pillow between her arms.
For nightmares.
"Come on," he said to Naruto. "She needs to sleep now."
Naruto shuffled behind him as they left the apartment (and Kakashi took extra care to set up chakra-identification seals and traps). He turned to leave, but stopped when a small hand grasped at his pants.
"Mister, will she be okay?"
He considered the tiny boy before crouching down. "Hikari is very hurt right now. She can't see one of her friends ever again, so she's sad."
"But will she be okay?"
Grimacing slightly under his mask, Kakashi gave a quick, curt nod. "She will, because she's strong."
Naruto's eyes lit with hope. "You promise?"
Hesitating before answering, he said, "Yes."
Naruto bounded away with a bright smile—so much like Kushina oh Kami—and a whoop. Kakashi stared after the direction he had left in before abruptly traveling to the Stone.
He berated himself for being so weak and returning to this spot so quickly. It was, after all, the reason why Hokage-sama had taken him off the ANBU roster.
"Obito, one of your clansmen died. Hikari broke because of it."
Just like me. And I promised that she would be okay, because she was strong.
I thought I was strong too, but look at me, talking to a stone.
"I'm such a hypocrite, Obito. I pretend that I'm okay, and I teach her things that I used to teach myself, and whenever she asks if it's trustworthy, I just say, 'It must be, since I used it'. I see so much of Sensei and Kushina in her, I don't know what to do."
I'm obsessed, Obito. With you and Rin and Sensei and Kushina and my father and everyone that died and left me behind.
Help.
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(Takahiro's POV)
He didn't want to admit that he watched Strawberry, but she was absent for almost a week now.
That Uchiha girl, Fumiko, returned after a while, and whispers had erupted as soon as she had set a foot inside the door. Takahiro heard snippets of death and brother, so he assumed that Fumiko's brother had died. And Strawberry had been a friend of Fumiko, so she probably knew him.
But to be gone longer than Fumiko? That made no sense.
So after class that day, he'd gone to the administrative building and asked for her address, then ran there.
Takahiro stood in front of the door, wondering what he was doing. This was Strawberry, after all, the girl that his parents always compared him to. The girl who had it all.
But she doesn't have it all. Her friend died. And she has no family.
Resolving to muddle his way through a conversation with her, he knocked on the door three times.
"Hey, it's me, Takahiro!"
There was no response, no sound on the other side of the door.
Scowling, he knocked again, more than three times.
"Oi, let me in!"
When there was still no response, Takahiro felt his anger act up. Rearing his fist back, he pounded the door.
"STRAWBERRY, ANSWER THE—"
The door flew open and his fist was caught by her.
She stood in front of him, shoulders drawn inward. Her clothes were wrinkled, her hair still in two barely recognizable, dirty pigtails and tangled and matted to her face, shadowing her eyes. Her skin was too pale (it was always pale, but she looked like paper), and her body gaunt and smelly.
"Don't..." she rasped. It was clear that her voice hadn't been used for a long time. Her hand tightened around his fist painfully, and her voice grew louder and more enraged with each word. "Don't ever call me that again!"
She lifted her head, and he caught a glimpse of enlarged eyes full of cold fire before she threw his hand back and slammed the door.
Or at least, tried to.
"Move your foot."
"No," he refused. I should just agree and leave.
"Move. YOUR. FOOT!"
She opened the door and pulled her foot back to kick him, but he wasn't first in Taijutsu for nothing. He grabbed her supporting leg and pulled it towards him, causing her to fall down. She quickly retaliated by doing a handspring into his face, but he blocked and grabbed her wrists in one hand, and pulled a kunai out with the other, pointing it at her throat.
"Listen to me! And don't think that I'm not watching your legs," he warned. "If you move I will use this."
She eyed him doubtfully. "You don't have the guts to kill me."
"I can still hurt you."
"You'll get in trouble."
"I won't do it, just listen to me."
"I don't want to. Go away."
His eyebrow twitched. "Come on, you're already up and talking! You might as well! You can go back and mope after!"
She bristled like an angry squirrel. "I do not mope."
Takahiro looked her up and down. "I'm sure. Strawberry," he started, then amended when he saw the cold fury begin to descend into her eyes, "H-Hikari, you're a mess right now. Have you even eaten?"
She opened her mouth, then paused, as if she genuinely didn't remember the last time she ate. "I...don't know."
He stared at her in disbelief. "And you want to be a shinobi? When you can't even take care of yourself? Quick, what's the third requirement to enter the Academy?"
" 'Be healthy in body and mind'," she immediately recited. Then, she faltered slightly before explaining. "But, I don't know if I even want to be a shinobi anymore."
Takahiro felt like he had been punched in the face. Strawberry- Hikari, he corrected- was going to give up? His rival, giving up?
"No," he said. "You want to be a shinobi."
She stared at him. "How can I? How can I when Shisui" - her face twisted briefly- "was killed? He was so strong and brave, I would die too!"
"Then get stronger! Don't die until you're old with grandchildren!" Takahiro shouted, grabbing Hikari by her shirt. "Live and make sure that no one else will die too! Protect! Don't you have people you want to protect? Don't you have people you want to have around you and laugh with? Live and get stronger so you can stay by their side!"
Her eyes widened, and a new resolve (or old, he didn't really know) appeared in her eyes, her face, her stance. She looked down at the ground before chuckling. "I'm kinda stupid, aren't I?"
"Yeah, you are. I can't believe you're my rival."
She abruptly stopped chuckling, and looked him straight in the eye. "Thanks, Takahiro-kun. You're kinda cool when you're all serious like that."
He flushed awkwardly before looking away. "Shut up, I'm always cool." Deeming it safe, he let go of her shirt. "Anyways, you'll come to class tomorrow, right? Fumiko came back."
She hummed in agreement, face slightly darkening after hearing Fumiko's name. "Hey, Takahiro-kun, I'm going to graduate this year," she announced, determination filling the air.
Taken aback, Takahiro gaped, then recovered his senses. "I won't lose to you! I will too!"
Unknown to either of them, Kakashi sighed and smiled, relieved, concealed by a small genjutsu. I guess I kept my promise for once.
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(Hikari's POV)
She returned to class the next day.
Everyone stared at her when she entered the room, head held high. She gazed coolly back as if she had never been absent. They stared even more when she completely ignored Fumiko and instead sat by Takahiro, who was as surprised as everyone else.
"You're not going to sit with Fumiko?"
"No." And that was that.
During break, Hikari raced up to Ichijou, and on second thought, ran back, snagged Takahiro, and returned to her sensei.
"Sorry for the interruption," she said as Ichijou stopped grading papers, "but we'd like to know how we can graduate this year."
Ichijou scrutinized the two of them, remaining silent for some time. When he finally spoke, it was with a voice full of warning and skepticism. "It will be grueling work, with almost no free time, to get up to the level required to graduate."
"We'll do it!"
"Then let's set aside extra time. When are you two free?"
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A/N: I'M BAAAAACK!
This chapter was an absolute monster to write! But I did it! I subdued the monster and tamed it!
Thank you to everyone who reviewed; you are all absolute darlings.
Remember that you can request anything (not just romance, although I do need the practice) for Strawberry Days! I would prefer it if you requested it through that story though, not this, because it would keep things more organized.
And if you read the latest chapter of Strawberry Days, you'll see that it's a High School AU. I was thinking of writing a spinoff of this story in that AU, so tell me what you think!
See you next time!