Forever Mine

Chapter 12

It'd been two weeks.

Two whole weeks since she remembered what happened between her and the raven she could never get off her mind.

The events that happened that night constantly replayed in her head, so did the big argument they had when he broke her door in, as well as how he took her to his family's gravesite, and that time he—

Let's just say Sakura was thinking about him a lot.

Every big or small detail he'd ever done she had on her mind. Starting from the moment they were teamed up together as genin to the moment he left the village for his second long-term.

Although there was more bad than good, the ugly parts never registered to her, and if they did, she would simply brush the thought away.

There was paperwork sitting on her desk in front of her; she was surprisingly able to finish quite a few. Her brain had shifted to work mode in an attempt to free her mind from unnecessary thoughts.

If only they didn't return the very second she paused her work to take a break, her stress wouldn't be weighing on her as badly as it currently was.

I wonder where he is now...

Just when she was about to return to work mode again to distract herself, there was a soft knock on the door. Her head lifted its way, and when no one pushed it open, she called out letting them know it was okay to walk in.

And when they did, she tensed up at the sight of them.

Kai stepped inside hesitantly, taking a moment before finally closing the door behind him. "The lab wants to know if it's okay to use the fifth vile under your name," he asked from across the room, not walking closer after noticing her discomfort. "I have the paperwork. You just need to sign it," he lifted the file in his hands.

The anbu was still learning about antidotes, spending a lot of time in the basement of the hospital; something they used to do together. She could tell he was wary about approaching, waiting for her approval before taking another step closer.

"Just sign the first two and the last one," Kai informed once he set the file in front of her.

Her signatures were done in complete silence—uncomfortable silence. It couldn't have gone by any slower.

When she was done, she handed them back to him, hoping to be freed from the unpleasant tension, but instead of leaving he stood there awkwardly.

"So..." Kai started just as awkward. "How have you been?"

He spoke as if they hadn't seen each other in a long time, when in reality, they still saw each other every day. Only difference was, they didn't approach one another anymore, simply walked by without so much of a greeting.

Ever since she remembered the events of that night, she'd been avoiding Kai as much as she could. She felt guilty for the way they'd been spending time together.

It felt wrong.

Two weeks ago, after seeing her sudden discomfort, Kai had kept his distance to give her time to think about whatever was bothering her, yet still made sure to be close enough around for whenever she decided to finally speak to him again. He was afraid her change was due to her receiving a letter or something from someone who wasn't even worth the wait.

"I've been okay," Sakura answered with a smile. She felt terrible for ghosting him, but she couldn't allow them to continue getting closer. He didn't deserve to be led on. "Was that all?"

It was clear she wanted the conversation to be over before it could truly start, and although it was rude and it made her feel bad, she couldn't bring herself to say something that would undoubtedly make him stay.