The Last: Menma the Book

18 - But I Won't Let Go

"She used up most of her chakra, and did it for days, just to save you"

There he was, standing at one of the entrance of another tunnel of a cave, looking at a dimly lit woman that laid motionlessly at the end.

Neji motioned the blonde to go to the lonely pinkette. Menma simply obliged. The Namikaze sat behind the Haruno as she faced the wall.

What was he supposed to do?

Was she dead?

Suddenly, she sobbed.

"I-It hurts... It really does..."

Menma's eye twitched, "You shouldn't have overworked yourself, then. I didn't ask you to save me, I wanted to die anyway"

"Don't you get it?!" Sakura asked as she laid on her back and glared into his eyes with her teary ones, "I was treated like the village's hero! I threw it away just so I could pursue you! I ruined my own reputation! I worked hard! I never gave up! I let my grades fall dead last just so I could team up with the top one of the class! All for you, Menma-kun!!!"

"I don't love you, I made that clear"

Was that her goal? To make him pity her?
Her tears started to fall freely as she looked away, "You always say that... Always! Even to her! What's so different?!"

Silence...

"... I did nothing but admire you... Love you..." The pinkette croaked "... Wasn't that enough? Did I never reach you? How were we different? W-What was it that she did that I didn't?"

That's it. That admiration he never asked for. Sakura became someone she wasn't just to be with him. Hinata... Hinata never did that. She was herself. That's why it was easier to be himself with her.

~

"Now"

"Aren't you going to bed?" Hinata groaned "You've been hurting with your eyes for a while now"

"W-What? No, I haven't!" Toneri lied, the sweat betraying his lie, "Besides... I don't ever want to leave your side... No matter how much it hurts..."

"Fine" The Hyūga groaned "At least get me some fresh apple juice"

"A-Apple?" The Otsutsuki nervously asked.
The woman had to force herself to stop the smirk, "Yeah, don't have apples?"

"W-We do! Of course! I'll have a marione-"
"And here I thought I'd get one handmade by my," Hinata said with a hidden smirk "Fiancé"

And right on que, Toneri jumped to his feet and yelled "I shall do it for my beloved!"

He quickly jogged out, but Hinata yelled "Quit running! I have really sensitive ears, I don't like the sound of running!"

"R-Right!" He said as he speed walked instead.

And once he was gone, Hinata nodded to herself, "Surprise, mother fucker, I'm a backstabber"

~

"No one ever lived up to how great Hinata is..." Menma didn't know why, but he was upset. Someone was trying to even be as flawlessly amazing as his beloved, "Unlike anyone else, yes, she admired me, and she didn't try to hide that... But she wasn't shallow. She didn't change for me!"

Remembering all the times she saved him from himself...

"She was never afraid when it came to me! She was always honest and told me my faults!"

If he talked with his heart, maybe he could-

"She knows how to talk me to my senses, and she knows how to break me down... Hinata- She... She was real... From the very start..."