Fate Wheel | Naruto

𝟐𝟓| Questions

"The opposite of love is not hate; it's indifference."
– Elie Wiesel

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DAWN

"Why are you avoiding me?" Dawn questioned, her voice eerily calm.

She had enough of him constantly sneaking out of the house leaving her to worry sick about him. She hated that he refused to communicate about what she had done wrong and what she could do to fix it. She hated not being able to tell Jiro anything anymore. She hated feeling like she was all alone. She absolutely hated it. This time, she refused to let him leave without an answer. She gave him time and space to breathe and think through his thoughts, but now it was getting to the point she felt like she had done something monstrous to make him ignore her like this. It wasn't like they hadn't gotten their fair share of arguments before, so there had to be something else that he wasn't telling her.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Jiro said equally as calm.

Dawn gnawed on her bottom lip. "Don't use that stupid dialogue with me. Just please forgive me. I can handle anyone else ignoring me, but not you. I hate that I hurt you, but you're not giving me the chance to apologise. Just... please, don't leave me." Her voice grew shaky.

"I don't want to be alone again. Please- whatever I did, just say it, I just can't stand not being able to talk to you without you leaving me. I- I promise I'll try to be better, I'm trying, I really am, if that's not enough I'll try even more just-"

"You think I'm mad at you?" He asked, with a confused look in his eye. "Dawn- I can never be angry at you kid."

Her lips quivered. She was overly emotional at the moment, and it only happened around Jiro. She didn't care if he saw her in such a pitiful, vulnerable state.

"Then... why are you ignoring me?" She asked in a small voice, fearful of being abandoned.

Dawn suddenly felt like she was six years old all over again. And she knew that he saw her as what he had seen in her all those years. She peered up at him, her eyes begging for him to answer, what she didn't expect was for his eye to water as he lowered his snout and rested his chin on top of her head. Hesitantly, she lifted her hand up and touched his head, her hands embracing the softness of his black fur once again. This was what she was missing, she was missing her friend.

Her family.

"I'm sorry kid." Jiro sighed, his voice regretful. "Ignoring you for this long was the most stupid thing I've ever done in my entire life. I promised to protect you, but when I saw you dead in the Uchiha's arms I just snapped. I couldn't think properly or concentrate because I failed you. You may hate me, but you can't hate me more than I hate myself for ever letting something like that happen to you. It's not you that I'm mad at, it's me for reacting badly and not making amends sooner."

Her eyes softened. But more importantly, she was relieved. Knowing that she hasn't been the one to hurt him, but it hurt her even more that he was hurting alone. "Jiro, it's okay I-"

"It's not okay." He growled. "Hurting you like this? Is never okay. Even when you get a small paper cut, I have to protect you from that, I have too, okay? And I failed you and my promise to keep you safe. How would I ever be able to trust myself to protect you if I couldn't protect you before?"

"If you let me speak." Dawn glared, a small smile on her lips. "You think you haven't been protecting me enough? Jiro, you've been protecting me my whole life. I'd probably be lying dead in a ditch by now if it weren't for you. It's not your job to protect me all the time, otherwise how will I learn? How will I become stronger? So stop blaming yourself and please return back to normal."