Red Butterfly

Chapter 108, Upon A Crescent Moon

A small scoff escaped me as my cheeks lifted up into a genuine grin at what she's telling me.

"Now that I recall all that, I seriously thought something was wrong with you", she playfully scoffed.

"Hey!"

My burst of reaction made her shoulders to start shaking as she slapped her other hand over her mouth to cover up her laugh.

"Overtime, I'd eventually come to understand why the village hated the Jinchuriki so much...Naruto carries the demon that gave so much people stigma...", she informed in a bit of a serious tone, "and I forgot all the good about my childhood, Academy days, and the dark-haired boy that wasn't egotistical...I guess I was too busy giving the higher-ups trouble to realize the dark-haired handsome boy that was too busy shouldering the burdens of his clan"

My cheeks flushed red when she said 'handsome'.

"I'm quite flattered", I remarked, to which she smirks and replies, "I can tell"

"You know you can talk about the bad with me, Hanabi", I informed, unlocking our fingers so that I can stroke the scars I grazed into her skin four years ago.

"It goes both ways, Itachi", she responded back.

"Alright then", I breathed out a long sigh then commenced, "I'd think of us like Fire and Lightning. During the span of these lonely four years, I'd think to myself about how a silly bet between us resulted in your demise. I did blame myself all this time and the thought would nag my brain day and night. I fell into a spiral of depression, where I'd see the Uchiha and the village flourish together with love and trust, while I withered away, thinking that if I had one more ounce of strength, you'd be with me to witness this achievement of ours".

"That day at the Final Valley, I was found unconscious near the cliff you fell from by a dispatch team when I eluded a secret meeting. When I fully regained consciousness again, the first thing that happened is that I was investigated by several investigators at once. They didn't even let me register my trauma correctly...all that I recall from that night is the dilemma of not knowing what hurt me most; the bloody scar you left while desperately clawing my wrist, clinging to your life, or the way my heart was set out of pulse when your existence slithered away, past my reach and into the oblivions of the unknown"

"In all integrity, I never knew I could be happy until I met you, and I haven't stopped thinking about you ever since. And while you have your own sorrows to deal with, I hope the past won't intersect our future, I hope we leave this mess behind, I hope there is a way I could scare away those nagging thoughts that kept you up at night and gave you...nightmares"

"We can't live on the remains of the past forever, and so tell me, Hanabi, tell me all that has tainted your once lively spirit, we'll walk down the aisle of these pains one more time so that we can finally put it to rest-"

I was cut off as I softly gasped when Hanabi abruptly intertwined our hands in a tight clutch and pulled it close to her chest for comfort.

"Ha-nabi...", my heart ached when I saw her quivering lips and the slip of glistening tears that eluded her sapphire eyes. She hid her face away to hide her sorrow...

She let loose a breath before whispering, "alright..."

"Unlike you, I don't even know when my misery began. I don't know if it began when I found out the truth about my parents or when I fell off from the Final Valley and was recruited under the Akatsuki's wing...", she trailed off for a curt moment as she tightened her hold on my hand, "I don't even know if it all began when I was born...I just knew that for as long as I can remember there was a missing piece from the puzzle that was my life. And I'd always think that if I found the answer, the missing piece, then I could finally get my closure from the past. I never knew I'd end up in shambles once I'd unlocked the whole picture of the puzzle. I never thought I'll find myself with someone so long gone that he was past recognition"