"How to Love" Sai x Hero

"It's Hatori..." Sai repeated.

I blinked unseeingly into the twin abysses that were Sai's eyes.

Surely,I had heard him wrong.

My mind,idle and away from the present,slipped inside of itself,traveling back through hundreds upon hundreds of half-bethought memories at just the mere mention of one name. I could only recall bits and pieces now of a certain thing I wanteed to remember. My eyes stared passed Sai unseeingly,as he placved his hands firmly on my shoulders. His voice didn't reach me.

I was too far away.

**Flashback**

"The surgery has proved to be a complete success," announced an amber eyed woman. Shuffling through her day-to-day files,nearly bored to death,she sat behind her desk. "In just a few days though,she's managed to move around on her own. She's completely recovered...just as I'd hoped,"

A humble-looking Shizune stood at the woman's side,whimpering quietly to herself about whether or not she should speak her mind on the matter. Finally,though she knew she'd probably regret it,the dark haired woman decided to speak.

"Uh..L-Lady Tsunade..."

"Yes,Shizune? Damn,I have so much paperwork today. Imagine what the elders would say if they saw this mess! Well? Come on,let's hear it,"

"W-well..it's just...about the Root girl,you see,"

The ageless woman paused in a mid flip of a page,and then set her pen down.

"Hero? Yes,what about her?"

"It's...about the boy she fought during the exam.." Shizune shifted uncomfortably. "M'lady,she wants to know if he's alive,"

Tsunade's spheres of amber narrowed,and she leaned forward in thought against her desk. "The pale one,eh? Hm..." she began tapping her cherry red nails on the edge of her desk.

"Shizune,"

"Y-yes,M'lady,"

"Tell her nothing,"

"Wh-what?! B-but,Lady Tsunade!"

The female Hokage rose from her desk then,letting scatter a few pages as she made her way to the long,wide windows of her office. Her reflection casted upon the spotless glass,while she gazed out at the village that she had grown up in,long ago as a child. Various colored buildings of all shapes and sizes huddled together. It reminded her almost of a small,content little kingdom. 'My grandfather's kingdom..' the woman thought,with a warm smile,and then it slowly melted.

"It's better this way...you see. She has new duties now,"

Shizune shifted uncomfortably at the sudden change in expressions appearing on her best friend's face. "W-well I know that she does,but...don't you think she deserves to know what became of her friend?"

"Nothing has become of him. There's nothing she needs to know," Tsunade answered simply. "And the only memories she needs now are the ones of us,and her new future. As my heir,she will take on the duties of a princess. The ones I abandoned,long before I became Hokage..."

"A...princess?" Shizune repeated. "That is your plan for this young girl?"

Tsunade sighed,and turned from the window. Her eyes strayed away from the woman standing in her office,amber orbs narrowing in concentration on something unseeable. "The elders are nagging me everyday about how I've abandoned my duties to become Hokage. All my drinking,and all of my gambling...I've simmered down,but still...how can they expect me to keep up with both?"

"W-well,that's..."

"So I've decided to take on an heir that will be the heart and soul of this village. And promise to always watch over it,should anything ever happen to me,"

"W-what?" the dark haired woman's face suddenly became panic-stricken. "Now,Lady Tsunande...you don't mean you plan to sponser this girl as the next Hokage? You know that Naruto..."

"No," the woman said simply. "I mean to say that...I want to have someone in my place like that. Someone who is so willing to put another so passionately before herself. Her strong will will keep this village in good spirits. She will obtain every valuable thing that I own,in my passing. And she will stand beside the next Hokage. That girl has a strong heart and a pure soul,despite everything that she has been through. Just like me...that's why I..."

Remembering the conversation she had previously had with her best friend,Shizune gazed across the hospital room,where a young girl stood by an open window. A warm smile spread on her lips,as the sun shined down on her and the wind blew through her buttery locks.

'This girl...every Hokage needs someone with a strong will of fire. A fire that will spread and flow from one heart to another,to give out hope. I no longer have any doubts about your decisions,Lady Hokage..."

~A week later~

"Hey,Mom?"

"Hm?"

The younger blonde smiled,and tossed a draping twin tail over her shoulder. "The will of fire is something the Third Hokage spoke of a lot. Isn't it?"

The older woman sighed,shuffling the piling stack of papers on her desk. "Yes,Hero. We've been over this a few times this week. Is there a specific reason that you keep asking?"

The butter-blonde turned her violet eyes to the woman seated at the desk behind her,a large grin spreading across her face. "Yeah,there is!"

Tsunade's eyes darted up,suprised by the elatedness in the girl's abrupt reply. Startled still,she dropped the paper from her hand,and folded both hands under her chin. "Well,alright. Let's hear it,"

"W-well.." Hero began to tap her chin with a slender,pink nailed finger. "The will of fire is supposed to be within everyone in the village,right? So, I was wondering...A fire has to start somewhere...where does this one start from?"

"Start from?" Tsunade's brows drew in. "Well..It'd have to start with my grandfather,the first Hokage. His will had to be so strong,that it ignited a flame. That flame was passed among everyone it touched,and spread across the village. Even to me,"

"S-so..." the girl tilted her head. "Since I'm your heir,does that mean I somehow inherit it?"

"Not at all," replied the woman with a smile. The girl's hopefull countenance fell,and she dropped her head.

"You already have it,"

"W-what?"

The female Hokage stood up from her desk,piling a completed assortment of files into the drawer of a cabinet. "It's already witin you,it would seem. And it's lit very well. I want you to pass it along for me,Hero. To your treammates,and everyone in the village. Relight the flames of those who's will are slowly coming to dim,"

Hero watched the woman turn around and then face her. "In addition to your own,you will inherit my will,among other possessions,Hero,"

"Um...but is there a reason.." the young blonde pointed slowly to herself. "That you've chosen me?"

Tsunade smiled and placed her hands on her hips. "Hero...of course there's a reason. You're a strong young woman,already putting other's importances before yourself. To understand that putting other's happiness before your own,brings happiness in itself,is something I wouldn't expect someone your age to learn for a long time,"

"I'm...I'm strong?" the princess repeated.

"That's right,Hero,"

Hero smiled. "Alright,then. From now on,I'm not just going to be some dainty princess that keeps an eye over the village. I'm going to take action,and do whatever I can. I'm going to be a protector of The Leaf. A Hero!"

**End Flashback**

"N-no...I don't know you," I mumbled. My hands placed themselves against the chest of the boy standing before me,pushing him away. In that moment,everything about him appeared unfamiliar. His expressionless face. His charcol-colored eyes. The way his lips pressed into a tight,thin line. Who was he? I didn't know.

"I don't know you," I repeated,forcing myself to look at him intensly. Sai's hand lifted to my shoulder,but I brushed it away,as if the gesture had burned.

"Princess..."

"I'm not...I'm the protector of The Leaf. I'm not frail and useless,like.what a princess is. A princess can't protect the things that she cares about. She can only stare at it,while another does what she wishes she can do"

Sai looked at me,opening his mouth slowly,but not a word had come out. "So...don't call me a princess. Sai...Hatori...whoever you are,"

I gathered myself,and then made my way passed him,unconcerned of whether or not he was choosing to follow me. I was headed back to the main path again,when suddenly a cold hand seized my wrist. Sai whipped me around,and my back hit the solid tree behind me.

"Wh-what are you--?"

"We are both still alive ," he told me,lowering his lips to meet my ear. "You know what that means,don't you?"

"Yeah," I growled,struggling to slip beneath his grip. My hands slid back to the bark of the tree,skimming near my waist where something sharp then made a shallow tear into my flesh. With a triumphant smirk,I grabbed the once missing kunai from my left pocket,and raised it slowly to Sai.

"Dont'," the boy said,slapping the newly aquired weapon from my hand. His fingers,cold like ice,curled around my wrist,and pinned it to the tree. He then did the same to the other,before I had the chance to retaliate.

"Get off me!"

"Our world still exists,Hero. Right now...we're both still alive,and so..."

**Flashback**

"One of us will leave here alive. If it can't be you,then our world can't go on,Princess.."

"Hatori..you...I know...there's no way our world could survive if one of us dies..."

**End Flashback**

"You're alive.." Sai whispered. "And so am I. So,come on Princess. Let's rebuild our world together," he released me and gave me a smile.

"S-Sai,you're..."

A strange sensation suddenly errupted from inside of me. Pain spread and stung through to the core of my stomach. I could only see red. My hand then flew out,and slapped the boy hard across his cold face. "No way," I growled. "No way,am I going to rebuild our world with you!"

Sai's eyes became dim for a brief moment,staring at me with amost a bewildered expression. His tongue slowly began to slip through his lips,and I watched,completely horrified,as swirls of what appeared to be black smoke began to snake from his mouth. "Is...is that..ch-chakra?"

"This is..the curse that has been inflicted upon me since the day that you left,Princess," Hatori said in a low voice. "This curse that restrains me from discussing the things of the past--ahh!"

"Hatori!" I screamed. The boy's body gave a sudden convulsion,as a black spark of electricity jolted through his body. After all this,he'd still managed to pull himself up,and continue to speak. "I...I'm not supposed to say this much...not supposed to feel this much...One could only imagine what wull happen to me now..."

I stared at him. His broken form; this weakened state. Who had done such a thing to him? Root? Danzo? His body had become so violently tained by this malicious curse. This was not my Hatori...this was...

"P-Princess...since it's going to end this way,I might as well telll you...Root only got worse since the day that you became free. We suffered greatly in your absense...a plague swept over the entire Foundation. Brother fell ill,and still,we were forced to finish that dreadful exam..."

Unbelievable.

"You mean to say...even with mom supervisint the entire Foundation...Root as a whole...those things never stopped happening?"

Sai gave a slight nod. Another jolt of black sparks flickered from his mouth,and he doubled over,clasping his hands around his throat.

"S-Sai...Hatori..."

"Just..." his voice was barely an octive above a whisper. I couldn't stand to see him this way. Tears stuny my eyes,as every memory I could summon suddenly came flooding back to me with a clairity of ten-fold. All of the things that I'd banished from my mind to bring forth happiness to my new,carefree life.

The rape.

The murder.

The torture and the mind control. All of those things had become seemingly forgotten,stowed away in the darkest corner of my re-enlightened mind.

"How...could I have abandoned you.."

What had I done,all of these years? What had he done? Had he been waiting? I'd left him alive to care for our world. Our world,in pieces,where I was free to walk,unbound into a brand new the one that awaited me.

My legs began to tremble. Unable to hold myself up,I felt my knees buckle,and I slid to the ground. Beside me,Hatori's body had slowly begun to succumb to the curse that had been placed upon him. Long supressed tears glassed over the blank stare in his eyes,and with a blink,the slowly began to fall. My trembling hands found their way to the paleness of his alabaster face. It was then,that I realized.

I was no hero.

I was no savior.

"Still a Princess..." I mumered,wiping the rolling tears that fell down to Hatori's chin. I'd made a promise on the brink of death,and I had lived; I'd failed to fulfil it.

**Flashback**

"I'll be your hero. If you'd rather take my life and leave this place,then do it. I want that for you..."

**End of Flashback**

"I'm alive," I whispered,pressing my lips to Hatori's ear. He shivered violently under my embrace,and another jolt of dark chakra sent him gasping in pain. "Hatori..I've failed. And I was foolish to think that I...that I..."

"It's okay,now," his voice came through,faultering noticibly under his pain. "You see...it's still as I told you. Knowing that you were still alive...our world has been preserved. Maybe I...couldn't be there to help you with it,but...It's the new life that you've built around yourself,Princess. All your new reasons to smile,and laugh. When you talk to the people in this new life in such a way,I feel like I know that you've been taken care of. All of these things...I'm glad that you have them,and I'm glad I was here to confirm that you are living well,"

Hatori's hands slipped from my shoulders,and he pulled me back to gaze into my eyes. His complexion appeared more pale than it ever had. His blood-stained lips trembled,struggling to perform a smile.

"H-Hatori?"

"When you're in a difficult situation...Princess?"

"Yes...?"

I looked at him. His expression remained in tact,as I awaited a response that would never come. The atmosphere had silenced around us.

Hatori was dead.

**Epilogue**

It's been about a week since the death of my friend. Many called him Sai. Some said his true name was unknown.

To me,he was Hatori.

Despite my absence that day,our mission had apparently been a complete success. Mother was pleased with the accomplishment,but I did not appear to be contragulated with the team.

I needed some time. I was grateful though,that at least everyone seemed to understand this.

Team seven wanted to keep me in the absence of their lost team mate. As you can imagine,I promptly told them no. Shortly,within the week,I was returned to my own team. We've been silence then. No one has argued.

Sai; Hatori.

I'm finishing my story now. I guess you'll never see it,but you're definitely a part of it. I'm beginning to see what you meant now,about rebuilding the life around me. Death and losses occur everyday,but people always seem to continue and move on with their lives. The world doesn't stop for the lost life of another. Day still comes. Night still falls,and everyone just keeps moving forward with a smile. It's what you've been trying to tell me all this time,isn't it? With your final,unspoken words,you reminded me of something you once taught me before.

Smile (:


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My first completed fanfic on the site. Hope you liked it ^^ stay tuned for more.

~Hero