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Chapter 38-Tell The Truth First

I heard the crash and tinkling of shattering glass, and my eyes widened in horror. At the same time, my hands shot up to cover my open mouth. What had I done?!

My hands still covering my mouth, I carefully stepped forward and dared to peek around the tree to confirm my suspicions.

I hadn't just imagined it. This wasn't a nightmare I could just wake up from with my heart racing and quickly push aside.

There was the gaping hole and ragged edges of broken window pane. There was Mrs. Kyoyou framed by the aforementioned hole, her face looking as shocked as mine felt. But unlike mine, her face quickly turned a bright shade of red, her eyebrows furrowed, and her mouth set in a grim line from sheer anger.

I watched as her furious face disappeared from the now shattered kitchen window, only to reappear again through the opening of her front door. I braced myself for what I knew was coming. What I wanted to do was to just runaway, but either from guilt or shock or sense of obligation, I stood my ground instead.

But the name she screamed in outrage wasn't mine. It was the name of a boy, and another boy, and another boy who just happened to be nearby.

"You boys! Did you do this?!" Mrs. Kyoyou shouted at them.

"What? No!" they shouted back, becoming outraged themselves at being wrongly accused. "It wasn't us, it was her!" they said in unison as three fingers pointed straight at me.

I shrank and my vision darkened around my eyes as this real-life nightmare continued to get worse.

Mrs. Kyoyou followed the path of the three boys fingers and her eyes widened in surprise to see me at the end of it. I was just about to blubber incessant apologies and excuses about how it was all just an accident, but before I could, her eyes narrowed again and she turned back to the three boys.

"How dare you three pin this on her! I know that little girl and she wouldn't hurt a fly! You three, however, are a different story, and make no mistake that each of your parents will be hearing about this! Not only did you destroy my property, but tried to put the blame on somebody else, too! Now get out of my sight before you really see me angry!" she told them in a warning tone.

It was clear that the boys wanted to argue more about it, but the look on Mrs. Kyoyou's face was enough to send them running back home without another word, but not before each of them shot me a look meant to kill. I looked back at them blank and speechless, too unnerved to do or say anything. As their backs disappeared into the distance, I caught Mrs. Kyoyou's eyes once more. They were softer now as they looked back at me. They were the kind, grandmotherly eyes I was used to. She gave me a warm smile, then softly closed the door behind her.

I shakily gathered up my pack of shurikens and kunais, making sure to pull out the ones that I did manage to lodge into the tree trunk I was using for target practice, and headed back home.

That night, I barely touched my dinner and lay in bed wide awake for hours, my mind playing and replaying the events that probably really only took 5 minutes total from the moment I accidentally sent a shuriken flying through Mrs. Kyoyou's kitchen window to the moment Mrs. Kyoyou smiled at me and closed her door behind her. When I finally did manage to fall asleep, I was so restless, constantly tossing and turning in bed, that when I woke up the next morning, I felt like I hadn't slept a wink.

It was summer, so I didn't have to worry about running into the boys at school, and I could just hide indoors all day. But at high noon, watching through my second story bedroom window, I saw them back at Mrs. Kyoyou's house pulling weeds and mowing the lawn and basically hating life. It was their summer vacation and they had to spend it doing menial work under the unbearable heat of the sun to pay off a crime that they didn't even commit!

Later that night, again I laid in bed forcing my eyes to stay closed and my mind to shut up long enough to let me sleep. Then, somewhere between the hours of very late night and very early morning, I figured out what I had to do. And although it alleviated some of my worries for one problem, it only presented worries for another. But at least now I had a plan and that gave me a sense of peace, even if just a little.

The next morning, before my mother even had a chance to start breakfast, I found her in the kitchen and confessed everything to her.

"Oh, Sakura-chan," she said softly, "I'm so disappointed in you. I thought I raised you better than that! You should've never let those poor boys take the blame! I'm sure Mrs. Kyoyou would've understood if you had just told her that it was all an accident."

"I know, I'm so sorry!" I sobbed.

It'd have been better if my mother had simply yelled at me like other parents would have. I think I would've handled that better, but instead my mother's calm, reasonable words only added to the guilt I already felt, overwhelming me even more, and turning me into the tearful mess I was now.

My mother pulled me into her arms and I wrapped my arms around her waist, crying hard into her stomach until I felt like I couldn't cry anymore. When my sobs finally subsided, my mother gently caressed my hair and said the words I dreaded to hear.

"You have to tell the truth, Sakura-chan. It's the only way you'll be free of the torment you're putting yourself through. I know you don't want to, but you know in your heart that it's the right thing to do."

I reluctantly nodded my head, my face still buried in her stomach, and my arms wrapped around her as if clinging to dear life. In a sense, I was. In spite of this very dark time in my 6-year old life, my mother's scent and warmth and gentle voice comforted me to no end, somehow giving me the strength and the will to do even the unspeakable...fess up and face the music.

"C'mon," she said, kissing the crown of my head, "Let's go to Mrs. Kyoyou and straighten things out. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner you'll feel better."

Then, with her arms around my shoulders and my arm still clinging tightly around her waist, we walked slowly towards Mrs. Kyoyou's house.

~*~*~*~

I could still feel my heart pounding in my chest even though Kakashi had his arm wrapped protectively around my shoulders and my arm was wrapped tightly around his waist.

Naruto, Yamato, Madam Shijimi, Hiraku, and Shinri let their conversation dwindle down as each of them turned to look at Kakashi and me as we made our approach.

"I was just telling everyone that we should probably get going since the sun's starting to ride low in the west." Yamato told us.

"Yes, that's a good idea," Kakashi nodded his head in agreement, "But first, there's something that Sakura and I wanted to tell all of you."

"Oh, really? What is it?" Yamato asked while everyone looked at Kakashi and me curiously.

"Well, you see," Kakashi began, "When I told Hiraku-hime and Shinri-san that Sakura was feeling sick, they knew that Sakura and I were doing it, so they automatically thought-"

My eyes widened in horror and I quickly slapped my hand over Kakashi's masked mouth.

"What the hell are you doing?!" I screamed at him.

"I was just telling them-" Kakashi said in a muffled voice beneath my hand.

"Not like that, you baka!" I yelled.

When I looked over my shoulder, everyone was staring at us with a mixture of confusion, amusement, and shock.

"Ahahaha!" I laughed awkwardly, then turned back around to glare at Kakashi. "I'll tell them!" I said through gritted teeth.

"Okay." Kakashi said with a shrug of his shoulders, his voice still muffled beneath my hand.

I gave him one last glare, then released him. Then, I turned around to face everyone once more.

"Well, you see..." I began, looking at everyone in turn.

So many eyes...So much pressure...

My heart pounded in my chest and I felt like I couldn't breathe. Then, I came to a realization:

No matter how old you are, no matter what the crime, confessions are the hardest thing to do.

I took a deep breath and just came out with it.

"I'm so sorry, you guys, but I'm not really pregnant."

There were gasps and shouts of "What?!"

"I'm sorry! I never meant to lead you on! I was just trying to figure out a way to get Madam Shijimi alone to talk to her, and somehow one thing led to another and everyone thought I was pregnant! I wanted to tell the truth, but the lie was just so convenient...I'm really sorry! I didn't mean to lie!"

I looked around at everyone's faces, hoping that they could see the sincerity on mine, and also to see what their reaction was. I was expecting angry faces at having been deceived, so I was greatly surprised to see sad faces instead.

"Aren't you guys mad at me for lying to you?" I asked confused.

"We're not mad, Sakura-chan," Naruto said gently, "Just...disappointed."

"Yes, I know. It's a big disappointment that I lied to you the way that I did."

"Sakura-chan, we're not disappointed about that, we're disappointed that you're not pregnant."

"What?" I asked even more confused.

"Well, you see, we were all really happy for you and Kaka-sensei. You were going to be the first one of our friends to have a baby. And you should've heard Kaka-sensei, too! He kept saying, 'I'm a father?!' and 'Where am I going to hide my porn?'."

My eyes widened and I turned to look up at Kakashi standing beside me.

"Ahahaha!" he laughed with a happy eye crease and started to nervously scratch the back of his neck.

I just continued to look at him in shock with my mouth dropped open.

"Yeah, it was great!" Naruto continued, his trademark sly grin spreading across his face. "At first he kept banging his head against a tree-"

Somehow, my mouth dropped even lower and my eyes widened even more.

"But then, he realized how much he wanted the baby and how much he loved you, and he got all determined and kickass Kaka-sensei again. It was just the coolest thing ever!" Naruto laughed.

I looked up at Kakashi and this time smiled up at him. He smiled sheepishly back.

"Which reminds me," Naruto said, "He said that since he had gotten you pregnant, that he was going to ask you to - Crap! I'm doing it again!" he said suddenly, and I thought I heard him say "Think before you speak!" under his breath.

Realizing what he stopped himself from saying, my eyes softened and I really had to give it up to Naruto...For as long as I lived, he would always be there, trying to protect me from getting hurt.

"Naruto, it's okay," I said softly, "He did ask me even though he knew he hadn't actually gotten me pregnant. He asked me anyway because he loves me. That was reason enough."

The mischievous smile returned to Naruto's face and before we all knew it, he had jumped up in the air and was yelling "Way to go, Kaka-sensei!" and then was giving both Kakashi and me a breathtaking hug.

Realization dawned on Yamato's face as well and soon he, too, was congratulating us, thumping his sempai on the back and giving me a timid hug.

Madam Shijimi, Hiraku, and Shinri still didn't seem to know what was going on.

"Kakashi and I are getting married." I explained to them with a smile.

"Oh my God!" they all said in unison and then they, too, joined our group hug, raining Kakashi and me with their own congratulations.

In the middle of this circle of friends, Kakashi and I could only laugh and keep laughing because it's one of the greatest feelings in the world: to share good news with friends and feel their hearts and love pouring out to you.

~*~*~*~

I learned something that day, that the truth really is the best way to go.

If I had realized that sooner, then I wouldn't have wasted my time with all the torment I was putting myself through. We really are harder on ourselves than any friend, family, or stranger.

"I know you're a good girl," Mrs. Kyoyou had said, "So I believe you when you say you didn't break my window on purpose. I only wish you had said something sooner. Now I feel bad for yelling at those poor boys!"

As for those poor boys, they eventually forgave me, mostly because Mrs. Kyoyou felt so bad for unjustly punishing them, that she had overcompensated by feeding them all sorts of sweets she had made herself.

And as summer came to a close, Naruto and I found ourselves leaving the old woman's house together, the other two boys having gone the other direction towards their own homes.

"I still feel bad that I made you guys go through all that," I confessed.

"Don't be!" Naruto said. "If it weren't for you, I don't think Kiba, Chouji, and I would've became friends!"

"But weren't Kiba, Chouji, and you already friends and that's why you got in trouble together?"

"None of us were together! That day, Kiba was playing with Akamaru, Chouji was eating potato chips under a tree, and I was just passing by. You're the one who brought us together!"

"By getting you all in trouble and giving you a common enemy." I said miserably.

"Sakura-chan, I didn't mean it like that! What I meant was that I didn't have to do all those chores Mrs. Kyoyou had us do. Kiba and Chouji had to do them because their parents made them, but since I don't have any parents, I chose to do them."

"I still don't understand. Why would you do that?"

"I was there for moral support." Naruto smiled at me. "It gave me a chance to hang out with Kiba and Chouji and make friends with them...and you," he said, waggling his eyebrows at me.

I laughed and found myself feeling genuinely happy.

Yes, the truth really is the best. And sometimes...it'll even surprise you.

To be continued...

~*~*~*~

Mrs. Kyoyou's name means "pardon" in Japanese.

Description
Chapter 38-Tell The Truth First

I heard the crash and tinkling of shattering glass, and my eyes widened in horror. At the same time, my hands shot up to cover my open mouth. What had I done?!

My hands still covering my mouth, I carefully stepped forward and dared to peek around the tree to confirm my suspicions.

I hadn't just imagined it. This wasn't a nightmare I could just wake up from with my heart racing and quickly push aside.

There was the gaping hole and ragged edges of broken window pane. There was Mrs. Kyoyou framed by the aforementioned hole, her face looking as shocked as mine felt. But unlike mine, her face quickly turned a bright shade of red, her eyebrows furrowed, and her mouth set in a grim line from sheer anger.

I watched as her furious face disappeared from the now shattered kitchen window, only to reappear again through the opening of her front door. I braced myself for what I knew was coming. What I wanted to do was to just runaway, but either from guilt or shock or sense of obligation, I stood my ground instead.

But the name she screamed in outrage wasn't mine. It was the name of a boy, and another boy, and another boy who just happened to be nearby.

"You boys! Did you do this?!" Mrs. Kyoyou shouted at them.

"What? No!" they shouted back, becoming outraged themselves at being wrongly accused. "It wasn't us, it was her!" they said in unison as three fingers pointed straight at me.

I shrank and my vision darkened around my eyes as this real-life nightmare continued to get worse.

Mrs. Kyoyou followed the path of the three boys fingers and her eyes widened in surprise to see me at the end of it. I was just about to blubber incessant apologies and excuses about how it was all just an accident, but before I could, her eyes narrowed again and she turned back to the three boys.

"How dare you three pin this on her! I know that little girl and she wouldn't hurt a fly! You three, however, are a different story, and make no mistake that each of your parents will be hearing about this! Not only did you destroy my property, but tried to put the blame on somebody else, too! Now get out of my sight before you really see me angry!" she told them in a warning tone.

It was clear that the boys wanted to argue more about it, but the look on Mrs. Kyoyou's face was enough to send them running back home without another word, but not before each of them shot me a look meant to kill. I looked back at them blank and speechless, too unnerved to do or say anything. As their backs disappeared into the distance, I caught Mrs. Kyoyou's eyes once more. They were softer now as they looked back at me. They were the kind, grandmotherly eyes I was used to. She gave me a warm smile, then softly closed the door behind her.

I shakily gathered up my pack of shurikens and kunais, making sure to pull out the ones that I did manage to lodge into the tree trunk I was using for target practice, and headed back home.

That night, I barely touched my dinner and lay in bed wide awake for hours, my mind playing and replaying the events that probably really only took 5 minutes total from the moment I accidentally sent a shuriken flying through Mrs. Kyoyou's kitchen window to the moment Mrs. Kyoyou smiled at me and closed her door behind her. When I finally did manage to fall asleep, I was so restless, constantly tossing and turning in bed, that when I woke up the next morning, I felt like I hadn't slept a wink.

It was summer, so I didn't have to worry about running into the boys at school, and I could just hide indoors all day. But at high noon, watching through my second story bedroom window, I saw them back at Mrs. Kyoyou's house pulling weeds and mowing the lawn and basically hating life. It was their summer vacation and they had to spend it doing menial work under the unbearable heat of the sun to pay off a crime that they didn't even commit!

Later that night, again I laid in bed forcing my eyes to stay closed and my mind to shut up long enough to let me sleep. Then, somewhere between the hours of very late night and very early morning, I figured out what I had to do. And although it alleviated some of my worries for one problem, it only presented worries for another. But at least now I had a plan and that gave me a sense of peace, even if just a little.

The next morning, before my mother even had a chance to start breakfast, I found her in the kitchen and confessed everything to her.

"Oh, Sakura-chan," she said softly, "I'm so disappointed in you. I thought I raised you better than that! You should've never let those poor boys take the blame! I'm sure Mrs. Kyoyou would've understood if you had just told her that it was all an accident."

"I know, I'm so sorry!" I sobbed.

It'd have been better if my mother had simply yelled at me like other parents would have. I think I would've handled that better, but instead my mother's calm, reasonable words only added to the guilt I already felt, overwhelming me even more, and turning me into the tearful mess I was now.

My mother pulled me into her arms and I wrapped my arms around her waist, crying hard into her stomach until I felt like I couldn't cry anymore. When my sobs finally subsided, my mother gently caressed my hair and said the words I dreaded to hear.

"You have to tell the truth, Sakura-chan. It's the only way you'll be free of the torment you're putting yourself through. I know you don't want to, but you know in your heart that it's the right thing to do."

I reluctantly nodded my head, my face still buried in her stomach, and my arms wrapped around her as if clinging to dear life. In a sense, I was. In spite of this very dark time in my 6-year old life, my mother's scent and warmth and gentle voice comforted me to no end, somehow giving me the strength and the will to do even the unspeakable...fess up and face the music.

"C'mon," she said, kissing the crown of my head, "Let's go to Mrs. Kyoyou and straighten things out. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner you'll feel better."

Then, with her arms around my shoulders and my arm still clinging tightly around her waist, we walked slowly towards Mrs. Kyoyou's house.

~*~*~*~

I could still feel my heart pounding in my chest even though Kakashi had his arm wrapped protectively around my shoulders and my arm was wrapped tightly around his waist.

Naruto, Yamato, Madam Shijimi, Hiraku, and Shinri let their conversation dwindle down as each of them turned to look at Kakashi and me as we made our approach.

"I was just telling everyone that we should probably get going since the sun's starting to ride low in the west." Yamato told us.

"Yes, that's a good idea," Kakashi nodded his head in agreement, "But first, there's something that Sakura and I wanted to tell all of you."

"Oh, really? What is it?" Yamato asked while everyone looked at Kakashi and me curiously.

"Well, you see," Kakashi began, "When I told Hiraku-hime and Shinri-san that Sakura was feeling sick, they knew that Sakura and I were doing it, so they automatically thought-"

My eyes widened in horror and I quickly slapped my hand over Kakashi's masked mouth.

"What the hell are you doing?!" I screamed at him.

"I was just telling them-" Kakashi said in a muffled voice beneath my hand.

"Not like that, you baka!" I yelled.

When I looked over my shoulder, everyone was staring at us with a mixture of confusion, amusement, and shock.

"Ahahaha!" I laughed awkwardly, then turned back around to glare at Kakashi. "I'll tell them!" I said through gritted teeth.

"Okay." Kakashi said with a shrug of his shoulders, his voice still muffled beneath my hand.

I gave him one last glare, then released him. Then, I turned around to face everyone once more.

"Well, you see..." I began, looking at everyone in turn.

So many eyes...So much pressure...

My heart pounded in my chest and I felt like I couldn't breathe. Then, I came to a realization:

No matter how old you are, no matter what the crime, confessions are the hardest thing to do.

I took a deep breath and just came out with it.

"I'm so sorry, you guys, but I'm not really pregnant."

There were gasps and shouts of "What?!"

"I'm sorry! I never meant to lead you on! I was just trying to figure out a way to get Madam Shijimi alone to talk to her, and somehow one thing led to another and everyone thought I was pregnant! I wanted to tell the truth, but the lie was just so convenient...I'm really sorry! I didn't mean to lie!"

I looked around at everyone's faces, hoping that they could see the sincerity on mine, and also to see what their reaction was. I was expecting angry faces at having been deceived, so I was greatly surprised to see sad faces instead.

"Aren't you guys mad at me for lying to you?" I asked confused.

"We're not mad, Sakura-chan," Naruto said gently, "Just...disappointed."

"Yes, I know. It's a big disappointment that I lied to you the way that I did."

"Sakura-chan, we're not disappointed about that, we're disappointed that you're not pregnant."

"What?" I asked even more confused.

"Well, you see, we were all really happy for you and Kaka-sensei. You were going to be the first one of our friends to have a baby. And you should've heard Kaka-sensei, too! He kept saying, 'I'm a father?!' and 'Where am I going to hide my porn?'."

My eyes widened and I turned to look up at Kakashi standing beside me.

"Ahahaha!" he laughed with a happy eye crease and started to nervously scratch the back of his neck.

I just continued to look at him in shock with my mouth dropped open.

"Yeah, it was great!" Naruto continued, his trademark sly grin spreading across his face. "At first he kept banging his head against a tree-"

Somehow, my mouth dropped even lower and my eyes widened even more.

"But then, he realized how much he wanted the baby and how much he loved you, and he got all determined and kickass Kaka-sensei again. It was just the coolest thing ever!" Naruto laughed.

I looked up at Kakashi and this time smiled up at him. He smiled sheepishly back.

"Which reminds me," Naruto said, "He said that since he had gotten you pregnant, that he was going to ask you to - Crap! I'm doing it again!" he said suddenly, and I thought I heard him say "Think before you speak!" under his breath.

Realizing what he stopped himself from saying, my eyes softened and I really had to give it up to Naruto...For as long as I lived, he would always be there, trying to protect me from getting hurt.

"Naruto, it's okay," I said softly, "He did ask me even though he knew he hadn't actually gotten me pregnant. He asked me anyway because he loves me. That was reason enough."

The mischievous smile returned to Naruto's face and before we all knew it, he had jumped up in the air and was yelling "Way to go, Kaka-sensei!" and then was giving both Kakashi and me a breathtaking hug.

Realization dawned on Yamato's face as well and soon he, too, was congratulating us, thumping his sempai on the back and giving me a timid hug.

Madam Shijimi, Hiraku, and Shinri still didn't seem to know what was going on.

"Kakashi and I are getting married." I explained to them with a smile.

"Oh my God!" they all said in unison and then they, too, joined our group hug, raining Kakashi and me with their own congratulations.

In the middle of this circle of friends, Kakashi and I could only laugh and keep laughing because it's one of the greatest feelings in the world: to share good news with friends and feel their hearts and love pouring out to you.

~*~*~*~

I learned something that day, that the truth really is the best way to go.

If I had realized that sooner, then I wouldn't have wasted my time with all the torment I was putting myself through. We really are harder on ourselves than any friend, family, or stranger.

"I know you're a good girl," Mrs. Kyoyou had said, "So I believe you when you say you didn't break my window on purpose. I only wish you had said something sooner. Now I feel bad for yelling at those poor boys!"

As for those poor boys, they eventually forgave me, mostly because Mrs. Kyoyou felt so bad for unjustly punishing them, that she had overcompensated by feeding them all sorts of sweets she had made herself.

And as summer came to a close, Naruto and I found ourselves leaving the old woman's house together, the other two boys having gone the other direction towards their own homes.

"I still feel bad that I made you guys go through all that," I confessed.

"Don't be!" Naruto said. "If it weren't for you, I don't think Kiba, Chouji, and I would've became friends!"

"But weren't Kiba, Chouji, and you already friends and that's why you got in trouble together?"

"None of us were together! That day, Kiba was playing with Akamaru, Chouji was eating potato chips under a tree, and I was just passing by. You're the one who brought us together!"

"By getting you all in trouble and giving you a common enemy." I said miserably.

"Sakura-chan, I didn't mean it like that! What I meant was that I didn't have to do all those chores Mrs. Kyoyou had us do. Kiba and Chouji had to do them because their parents made them, but since I don't have any parents, I chose to do them."

"I still don't understand. Why would you do that?"

"I was there for moral support." Naruto smiled at me. "It gave me a chance to hang out with Kiba and Chouji and make friends with them...and you," he said, waggling his eyebrows at me.

I laughed and found myself feeling genuinely happy.

Yes, the truth really is the best. And sometimes...it'll even surprise you.

To be continued...

~*~*~*~

Mrs. Kyoyou's name means "pardon" in Japanese.