Hiyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa^^ I am sorry the chapter didn't come out sooner, but I am juggling around with School studies, my engagment (wooo hoooo!!!!) and other personal things here and there. This, my dear fellow readers, is the last chapter of "Beyond Fiction". Thank you for all your reviews, your support and your awesome compliments and encouragments until now. It's been a wonderful time writing this story and it has pleased me greatly that it had such a positive impact. I really, really thank you guys and I love you all^^
- Epilogue -
How many years passed until the day I was reunited with my family again? Five years? Or was it six or more? All I know is that now I am 25 years old, a certified interior designer and enjoying a cosy and successful carrier life. Yep. The trip to Konoha left a great impression in my life; it is through the teachings that I managed to transform into the person I have become and was yearning for, an active and professionally successful person.
I am content with everything, my job, my salary, my talent, my social life, everything. Life is going smooth. I literally grew, not only physically but mentally. I've lost interest in Animes and anything that is related to it. To put it simple, I have become plainly realistic. I think it comes when you age, but I must admit that sometimes I do have a peek back into my childhood and teenage hood. Life was so carefree and fun at that time, now as you are maturing you become conscious of your responsibility over your life and your job. It's awfully annoying but you have to persist.
Now back to the time at the hospital, after this I changed in the courses of years. I became open and daring. I socialised incredibly well that I have won many friends and to my dislike won many admirers. Each day I was hopeful and optimistic that Kakashi was going to get me. I was always ready to leave and abandon everything behind me even my friends and my family. My love for Kakashi endured.
However like an idea that appears briskly and disappears quickly, my hope extinguished. In the first three years I was so hopeful, but gradually as the years dragged by loaded with intense studies, exams and other daily worries - I forgotten Kakashi. When it happened it shocked me into tears and gradually it became a habit - this was when I had to depart from my passion for Naruto for good. Yes indeed, I did spill a great deal of tears over the years, the pain of separation was unbearable and I begun accusing Kakashi for abandoning me. What else did I expect from an 18-19 year old kid and a guy of 26?! The anger forced me to abandon this hope for good and it left a hole in my heart which in the courses of the years never healed. The bitterness plagued me.
To separate myself for good from my teenage hood and those lingering feelings and memories, I rented out a flat in the main city, an hour and a half away from my home. This clearly marked that I had outgrown those childish feelings and hopes. Kakashi was abandoned and forgotten. He has become only a vague figment of my imagination.
I haven't revealed any of this to anybody neither to my family or my closest friends. I know if I would, I would be considered crazy and send to a madhouse immediately. I'll take that burden to my grave. It was hard to accept this. I was so lonely and depressed all those years.
Still today, I am feeling like that, which is why I increase my activity with my friends. However it was on one fateful night where everything turned upside down.
My old Uni-classmates invited me to go out with them. My closest friend, Carol came along with me. She was an energetic and eager young woman, on the hunt for hotty guys with sophisticated careers, typical. She had weaknesses for doctors, lawyers and even teachers. The weakness for teachers actually brought me and her together in the first place, since my first love was a teacher. Carol is the only person alive, to know about Kakashi, well not the complete truth, the half-truth. I disregarded the fact of Kakashi being an anime and all supernatural stuff involved in it. She has been a great comfort to me in most difficult times.
The group of ex-Uni students marched into one of the famous bars in the entire city. Despite that I hated such places, I went there to be with my friends and they did respect me for not drinking, which hadn't been the case several years before hand. As usual the atmosphere reeked of alcohol, smoking and drugs and the place was crowded. The tables were filled with drunken business men surrounded by half naked women, while on the bar stool sat depressed men and women or people desperate to find a partner. This place made me want to puke.
Unwillingly I followed the group of ex-uni students to an empty circular table and sat down on the sofas encircling the table. In no time beers were ordered and the drinking begun. Except for me and two other guys out of twenty, all were drinking, Carol as well. From the growing quantity of beer that everybody drank the more laughter and stupidity increased. Everybody planned to get extremely drunk tonight and make tonight a beautiful memory, while I sat beside them pretending to laugh and smile.
All of a sudden while everybody was in a drunken state, the joking and laughing evolved to a-round-of-confession-making. I was ready to slither out of this when my old uni-classmate called for me.
"Saraah, I got a confession to make to you – hicks -"
I had to sit back correctly into the sofa and turned my head to him with a forced smile.
"I loved you since the very beginning!" declared the guy strongly and the group surrounding us whooped and cheered.
"Me too!" jumped another male student.
"Me too!"
"Me too!"
"And me as well!"
I watched them with my smile twitching to a nervous frown. More cheers and whoops followed. More confessions poured out, which were either bizarre or completely random. The desire to run away from this place seemed close at any moment now. However I was held back, when a guy asked a question which made the entire table silence down.
"Sara, did you have a first love?"
Everybody spun their heads towards me, the eagerness shone in their faces especially in those of my admirers. I was looking at Carol for help, but as always she was a helpless case when drunk.
"Come on tell them." She encouraged me and the entire table clapped.
My face turned brick red and the entire table whooped when noticing it.
"He must have been somebody special if you are blushing." Teased one of the guys, which caught my immediate attention.
"Who are you?"
The table focused itself on the guy I was looking at. I never saw him before in my life.
The guy sitting next to the person I was staring at, patted the person beside him.
"This is Kyo Fukasa, one of my working colleagues. We met several years ago, he's from Japan."
A tiny detail attracted my immediate attention.
"You said his family name was Fukasa, right?"
Kyo looked at me and nodded.
"Yes it is my family name, why are you asking?"
I observed the young man, intently. He had a slender face with prominent cheek bones, his eyes were sharp, dark and penetrative and his head was decorated with messed up raven hair. He gave an impression of a sloppy person with a rotten character, perfect for a Yakuza. Yet there was this athletic and strong side of his and this mysterious aura, making him attractive and strangely...Very familiar.
"Did we ever meet before?" I questioned him with doubt and he leaned forward with a provocative smirk growing on his face and there was this familiar glint in his eyes.
"Maybe we did."
His body language shocked me. That glint in his eyes which usual expressed smutty thoughts, the smirk and that air of confidence seemed all too familiar. I opened my mouth and closed it; I didn't know what to say.
"I could have sworn that we met before!" I mumbled and scratched the back of my head, trying to remember desperately.
"Who cares if you did or not? Anyway, Sarah tell us about your first love!" interrupted one of my fellow ex-classmates and already everybody joined into cheering and clapping.
The Asian didn't urge me on like the others; instead he kept an indifferent look and observed me.
"Might as well tell them, don't you think?" suggested the Asian guy with his arms crossed over his chest.
The glint in his eyes gave my heart a lurch. Reflexively I reached for my heart and anxiously sunk into my thoughts. Why was my heart beating so fast for that total stranger, who I never met in my life?
"Come on Sarah, don't be stubborn, you cannot slither out from this, like you usually do." He mentioned once again with a confident attitude.
The last sentence struck me with suspicion and surprise, I stared at him blankly. Who the hell was he?! The sentences hit the nail without fail. I could have sworn I knew somebody talking like this, this typical overconfident and sloppy attitude.
"Tell us Sarah-Sarah-Sarah!" cheered one guy on and then the whole group joined in.
Without looking at the Asian, I raised my palms to show I was giving in.
"Okay, y'all win, I'll tell you." I gave in with a smile.
I kept my eyes down on the table and kept this remarkable smile on my face. Warmth enveloped my heart at the thought of him.
"I was at that time 18, a student and he was 26, a teacher."
The entire group whooped and cheered. The talks exchanged between my ex-uni students, made me blush and they even teased me, wondering how it happened.
"I never loved a man like this before-
-Did you have sex?" bluntly asked one of my male ex-classmates, which followed with a bombardment of the same question by the entire table.
Without looking at them my face turned brick red and I fumbled my fingers. The entire table broke out with even more cheers and whooping. Some patted my shoulders excitedly. I wished to disappear from this place for good; I was so embarrassed and humiliated!
"So are you with him?" asked the girls eagerly.
"And does he love you?" asked another girl and as a result the entire table silenced down to listen attentively.
I folded my hands and only looked at my hands.
"He promised me that he would get me…" I began, but my throat tightened emotionally so that my sentence was cut off.
I took a deep breath and restarted.
"He promised to get me. He-he-he promised me, but that-that…Bastard! He lied! He lied, he didn't-didn't come to fetch me, he ruthlessly abandoned me!" I croaked, the ball of emotions tightening the air passage to my lungs.
All of a sudden across the table, there was a commotion. The Asian guy was standing up, panting and staring at me intensely.
"He hasn't abandoned you! I know he loves you!" interjected the Asian defensively yet desperately.
The tears rolled down my cheeks and I stared at him with shock. Everybody at the table had gone quiet, even a large part of the bar as well. I was confused, what did he mean by this? However I was overwhelmed by emotions that as a response I shouted at him.
"How are you supposed to understand my pain? The pain of waiting seven years for a childish, foolish promise from that good-for-nothing man! Do you believe I can love him, after this? I cannot! I don't remember anything about him! He's just a painful memory which I desperately want to forget! I HATE that man, he destroyed my life!" I grabbed my things and dashed out of the bar into the cool night.
I heard the voices calling after me, but I couldn't hear them under my miserable sobs. I sprinted through the bustling streets. This pain, I cannot take it anymore! Will it please stop! Will it please let me in peace! I don't want to hurt no more, not for a pitiful, childish and imaginary promise made by an Anime figure! Damn, he never existed! All of this was imaginary; I must have been drugged and kidnapped! All of this never was real!
I burst into an empty park, which was known as the main botanical park of the entire city. Under the gloom of the full moon I staggered over to a bench and sunk in it, hunched with my face buried in my palms. My heart was in such pain, I wanted to drive a stake through it to stop the pain. I sobbed overcome by overwhelm with my entire figure trembling strongly. Please, God! Stop this pain, stop it from tearing me apart, stop it from preventing me to love…Please help me!
All of a sudden, I heard somebody approaching and I cocked my head and noticed Kyo, the Asian. He panted, he wiped his sweaty face with the back of his palm, and his eyes never once left me. He was also in an emotional state.
"What do you want? Go away! Leave me in peace!" I exclaimed furiously.
He disregarded my demand and approached me until he stood beside me.
"I won't leave like the last time! You'll have to hear me out!"
I looked at him with bewilderment and anger seething in me. I won't let a stranger lecture me what is right and wrong! I jumped up and readied my hand to slap him, but he caught a firm hold of my hand.
"No matter how much you reject me or hit me, I'll always come back for you." Told Kyo in a stern voice, his eyes staring deeply into mine and his presence approaching mine.
"What are you talking about?! Who the hell do you think you are?! I never met you in my entire life!" I shouted and tried slapping him with my other hand, but he caught it as well.
"I'm telling you the truth! You are the only person who knows me better than anybody else!"
I shook my head, trying to break free from his grip and I shouted at him.
"Stop it! Let go of me, otherwise I'll call the police!"
"Go ahead, Sarah! I'll still come for you, because I am the one who made the promise to you!"
My struggling immediately ceased and I stared at him…What?
For a moment I stared at him, was it really…NO! Impossible, he's from an Anime! This can never happen, not in real life! I wrenched myself away and I went into a fighting position, challenging and threatening him.
"Stay away from me you pervert, I warn you! I'm skilled with martial arts!"
This guy didn't show the slightest fear or alarm, he remained indifferent and walked toward me. I tried to strike him with my fist, but he caught it in his hand and the other soaring fist he caught it as well. Then I raised my leg to kick him but he fended off with his leg and the next kick of mine he repeated the same action.
"You still haven't learned. You're stubbornness and rebelliousness has been one of biggest pain in the asses during my teachings and our missions."
"I don't know what you are talking about! Obviously you got me mixed up with somebody else!"
"Oh no, Sarah, I am not mistaken. It's you that I've been looking for the past years."
I chuckled at this guy's pitiful attempt to woo me.
"Do you seriously think with those speeches, which you heard from me in the bar, will make me fall for your trap, you pervert!"
I back away from that stranger and I went into a serious fighting pose.
"I'll have to knock you out and deliver you to the police myself!" I declared and attacked full throttle with my clenched fist ready to punch him.
However all too suddenly, he appeared in front of me, his hand caught my fist in the last second before it hit his abdomen and he abruptly kissed me. I was too shocked to respond. The familiar soft, yet rough lips and that taste, spurred old feelings which I thought were long forgotten and dead. My heart throbbed. He pulled away and embraced me.
"I cannot believe that you forgot, Sara. Don't you remember your promise to me?" he whispered gently, holding back my trembling fist which was eager to hit him.
"It was seven years ago, we promised each other to wait and I promised to fetch you and I am here."
I stood there struck by disbelief and shock…What? It can't be?! It can't be him, it's impossible?!
"Seven years passed. You grown to a beautiful woman and I have aged. The years altered you so much that I barely could recognize you - you changed so much. I thought I never could find you again!" he expressed with care and desperation.
My desire to beat him melted, my fist softened and relaxed. The man opened my fist and intertwined his fingers in my own and raised them high beside us.
"I know your sufferance, I felt the same, but finally we are together again. After this long search, I found you! You don't know how much I missed you, how much I dreamed of you every single night in the past seven years! I had the single desire to be with you again and because I improved my technique I could travel through a portal to land in your world."
I heard all of this with shock and my heart swelling up.
"I was willing to give up everything to be with you again. I perfected my technique and send myself to this world, abandoning my own world for good."
The more I heard, the more aware I was that I couldn't escape this truth, this truth that was sealed in my heart which weighed so heavily in my chest.
The warmth that I believed was gone forever began to warm up my cold heart, gradually filling the hole in my heart. He pulled back to look at me in the eyes.
"My love for you never ceased, I remained the same guy that made love to you that very night." He expressed to me with sincerity and affection.
He approached my face and captured my lips gently. Then he showed his passion, by deepening the kissing and holding me ever so tightly with his hands caressing my face with care. My eyes observed his face that was absorbed with desire and affection. The memories I seem to have forgotten briskly surged in front of my eyes flashing by, revealing all his emotions, all our clumsy moments and all the profound intimacy of our relationship in that very night.
All feelings, emotions and sensations experienced on that night sent an electric wave down my body. I was reviving the memory, his face was glistering with sweat and he looked at me so intimately, like a true lover that was passionately in love. I remembered every single detail of the scene and the details of his body and how much he repeated how he loved me. He was such a beautiful sight and that memory was one of my happiest in my life.
I returned back to reality, his kissing slowed down and he pulled back with his head leaning against my forehead. Blankly I still stared at him, I couldn't believe any of this?! All the longing pulsed through my system like it never did before, the feelings intensified and the hole in my heart was nearly mended. I looked into his eyes, the longing in his was overwhelming, and he wanted me so terribly and desperately. I raised my trembling hands and cupped his cheeks. My fingers drove over his face, verifying that I wasn't dreaming anymore. The tears shot to my eyes and I croaked:
"Is it really you, Kakashi…?"
Kakashi nodded overwhelmingly, his eyes equally sparkling and I briskly closed the distance between our lips. I laced my arms around his neck and he held me so tightly. I missed him so badly for the passed seven years! I just wanted to stay forever on his side and prayed that we will never be separated again. The taste of his lips, his impatience and eagerness to please me, squeezed my heart with emotions and intense longing to close the distance between us for good.
In the beauty of the nocturnal botanical garden, we turned around in a circle under the moonlight, savouring are reunion to the fullest and expressing our affection to each other. Kakashi was even more attractive to me than he was before; I guess that was normal after such a long separation and the mental changes. His new appearance suited him perfectly.
It was like everything turned back to normal again. I received more colour and vitality from that fateful night. It changed my life so dramatically that we became a couple and no sooner a married couple. Several years later followed the first pregnancy and the first child. Nothing in the world could describe the happiness we felt. To be blessed with this being created from the seed of our love, was the most beautiful and moving moment in our lives. I had always the guarantee that Kakashi was going to be on my side till the very end and I will do the same for him.
We now sat in the garden, I held the child in my arms, cradling it to sleep and Kakashi was beside me, his hands resting on my shoulder and smiling at me affectionately. Nothing could describe the happiness that I felt to be beside this man and to hold this fragile and pure being in my arms created by our love. I could sing and shout in joy, I could dance all night long. I wish our happiness and love can surpass any obstacles and can take wings to the horizon. I wish my child to experience this love that we experienced and pray for it to grow strong and healthy. I want to pass down this message to everybody. Love gives and forgets it has given and it gives without ceasing. Live your life to the fullest, find your great love and become happy. Don't let obstacles hinder your love, be true to yourself and only give your love to the one that has perceived your true self. Believe in yourself and you'll overcome anything, that's how love works. This was my life story, a true story, beyond fiction.
The End