AN: This song is Celine Dion's version. Also, in the song, ignore the words 'dollar' and 'lord'. Since this is japan, it should be yen and kami. Sorry.
Dance with my father
Konichiwa! My name is Hana. I am 16 years old and I'm a jounin. At first glance, you can immidietly tell who my mother is. Until you fight me in battle, you won't be able to tell who my father is. My mother says I am a prodidgy like my father. My parents are divorced and I live with my mother since she has full custody of me. I only see my father once in a while since his ANBU missions take up most of his life. My father's ANBU status is actually the cause of my parents' divorce. I was still young, my mother tells me I was about 6. My mother complained about how my father was never home to help. My father complained about my mother complaining. In the end, my mother tells me, the love they used to have for each other wasn't enough to overcome that hurdle. At first there was a joint custody, but when my father's missions starting taking longer and longer I was at my mother's house for so many weekends I was suppose to be at my father's house that Hokage-sama just ordered that my mother had full custody. I rarely see my father and if I do I don't say anything to him. You may ask why. Sometimes, when I have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night or when my mother thinks I'm asleep, I hear her crying. I know that she misses my father deep down.
One night while I was listening to the radio, a song came on. As I listened a thought struck me. I remember how happy my parents were when they were married and if my mother misses my father and he must miss her too. The next morning I went to the Rokudaime Hokage with a proposal.
Normal POV
"That's brilliant Hana-chan!" the loud Hokage called, "Hopefully your parents will be able to see how this is effecting you through this. Don't worry, I'll make sure that they're both there. In the mean time, don't let your mother know about it and get ready. You're the opening act at the Cherry Blossom Festival."
"Arigatou gozimasu, Hokage-sama!" Hana said.
"Anytime Hana-chan. Have a good day."
"You too Hokage-sama," Hana called as she exited the room.
As Hana was walking down the busy streets of Konoha, she was able to catch some guy's eyes. Hana inwardly snorted. She was just wearing her normal kunoichi clothes. A simple black tang top with her green jounin vest over it and tight shorts with a skirt over it. Nothing special. Yet guys can't get enough of her. Hana decided to train for a while. Grabbing the hair tie on her wrist, she pulled her back length hair into a simple ponytail.
When she arrived at the training fields she usually goes to, she saw someone was already there. It was Konoha's head ANBU captain, Uchiha Sasuke. Sasuke obvioiusly noticed the kunoichi there and discharged the chidori he was using.
"Hana, what brings you here?" the ANBU asked.
"Training obviously," Hana replied in a tone that definatly shouldn't be used towards the head ANBU. If Sasuke noticed, and he probably did, he didn't say.
"How's your mother?" he said, changed the topic, as Hana turned towards the side.
"Why do you care, Sasuke-papa?" The wind picked up and Sasuke saw Hana's glare through her pink hair, which had blown to cover her face.
Hana's POV
Yes, my father is infact Uchiha Sasuke. Since the idiot authoress(me: waaaa! not nice hana-chan) just told you my hair color, I'll tell you who my mother is. She's Haruno Sakura. My full name is Uchiha-Haruno Hana. I'm almost an exact copy of my mother. I have her hair color, eye color, figure, the whole nine yards. Unless, you knew my history, you wouldn't be able to tell who my father is until you see me use a fire style justu or when my emerald eyes bleed into the Sharingan. You may have noticed that I didn't refer to my father as "Tou-san" and there is a good reason behind that. When I was young, I didn't talk too often. I could, but I chose not to. By the time I actually acknoledged my father, other than just looking at him and silently telling him something, the first thing that came out of my mouth was "Sasuke-papa." I heard others call him by his name so I thought I should too. Ever since then, that's how I have acknowledged my father. I call my mother "Kaa-san" though.
Normal POV
"After all, you are the one who broke her heart to many times," Hana continued coldly.
"Hana, she left me. You remember," Sasuke retorted.
"I remember yelling, crying, and loud banging," Hana countered.
Sasuke knew what she was talking about. The night Sakura left with Hana, they were both yelling at each other, and in their fury, they may have yelled at their innocent daughter for no reason. Sakura was probably crying after she left. She was while they were arguing. The loud banging Hana remembered was probably all the things Sasuke and Sakura threw around in their anger. With Sakura's strength, a loud bang was inevitable. Some of Hana's toys might have been one of the things to get thrown. Poor, young Hana-chan, she was standing in the doorway watching the whole thing, grasping her teddy bear like it was her life. Sasuke remembered Hana trying to tell them to stop yelling, that it scared her. The response to her plea was her parents yelling even louder at her. Terribly frightened, Hana fled to her room where she waited for her parents to calm down.
Around midnight, Hana remembered being woken up by her mother. Sakura had told her to pack what she could and that they were leaving. Hana complied, thinking her father would also come. How wrong she was. As Sakura pulled Hana out of the house, the young girl could see her father staring at them like they were diseased.
"It's not my fault you and your mother left."
"Actually it is," Hana retorted, "Maybe if you had been home more often, Kaa-san wouldn't have complained as much."
"Hana..."Sasuke voice had gotten quieter, "Why don't you call me 'tou-san'?"
"You don't deserve the title of my father. I can't deny that you are my biological father but in my mind, you may never earn that title. Be thankful that I say 'papa'."
"And you and I can't deny the fact that you are my daughter. Whether you like it or not. Hana, can't you try to see the divorce my way?"
"Iie. All I need to know is that whatever you did to Kaa-san, it keeps her up all night cryi-" Hana stopped when she realized her slip.
"Sakura...she cries herself to sleep?" Sasuke asked his daughter.
"I'm not in the mood to train anymore," Hana said as she pulled the hair tie out of her hair and left Sasuke to ponder about the information he had just received.
Cherry Blossom Festival
Hana was backstage mentally preparing to sing in front of all of Konoha. Silently, she prayed that her plan would work. She heard the announcer welcome everyone and soon her name was called.
Hana stepped stage to be greeted by shouts and wolf whistles. Hana groaned. The time she gets to wear something nice, it has to be in front of all of Konoha. Hana wore an emerald green halter dress that was knee length and had small slits on the sides. They stopped around mid-thigh. The material was silk, so it shined in the lights.
Taking a deep breath, Hana grabbed the microphone and said, "This song is dedicated to my parents." The crowd went silent. No one talked about the divorce openly anymore in fear that the offspring of two of Konoha's top shinobis would have their heads if they said something wrong, "I remember, and I'm sure you all do to, that my parents were happy together. I had sufficent evidence to believe that they still love each other. I want my family to be together again. P.S. the song relates to my situation perfectly, so what you ear in the song, is what's going on." Hana cued for the music to start. It was only measures away until she could tell Konoha what was going on in her life.
Back when I was a child
Before life removed all the innocence
My father would lift me high
And dance with my mother and me and then
Spin me around till I fell asleep
Then up the stairs he would carry me
And I knew for sure, I was loved
If I could get another chance
Another walk, another dance with him
I'd play a song that would never, ever end
Cause I'd love, love, love
To dance with my father again Sakura stared up at her daughter, amazed. She always had thought Hana hated her father.
When I and my mother would disagree
To get my way I would run from her to him
He'd make me laugh just to comfort me
Then finally make me do just what my momma said
Later that night when he was asleep
He left a dollar under my sheet
Never dreamed that he would be gone from me
If I could steal one final glance
One final step, one final dance with him
I'd play a song that would never, ever end
How I'd love, love, love
To dance with my father again
Sometimes I'd listen outside her door
And I'd hear how my mother cried for him
I pray for her even more than me
I pray for her even more than me
I know I'm praying for much too much
But could you send back, the only man she loved In the audience, Sakura's and Sasuke's bodies stiffened when they heard this.
I know you don't do it usually
But dear Lord she's dying
To dance with my father again Sasuke stole a glance over at his ex. She was wide-eyed at this, like him.
Every night I fall asleep and this is all I ever dream
ohhhhhhhhhh, yeah, yeah, yeah
I know you don't do it usually
But dear Lord she's dying
To dance with my father...again
Hana put the microphone back and left the stage. She was greeted by her mother back stage, "Kaa-san, how'd you like it?"
"It was beautiful Hana-chan, demo..."
"Demo nani?"
"Onegai(please), please don't interfere with your father's and my affairs. We split up for a reason. I don't believe we will get back together any time soon. I'll see you at home, Hana-chan." With that, Sakura left, with her pink hair flowing behind her.
The next person to greet Hana was her father, "Sasuke-papa, what did you think?"
"I think it's nice that you want to help your mother and I but please stay out of it."
"You see! You and Kaa-san told me the same thing. You guys want to resolve your differences yet you don't want to even speak to each other. How do you expect to do it? By talking telepathically? As if! Sasuke-papa, Kaa-san cries for you every night. I hear her. She sobs until she falls asleep. I hear her saying 'How did it end up like this?' and 'Why must it be this way?' I only want what's best for you and Kaa-san. I know you miss her too. Every time we speak, you ask how she's doing. Please, go to her. Help Kaa-san!" Hana was in tears by now.
"Hana, onegai. It's not as easy as you think."
"Onegai! Kaa-san's smiles aren't as bright as they used to be. And she seems like she's dead. Only you can stop that. I've tried so many times over the last decade. Onegai! Tou-san!" There, she had said it. Instead of called Sasuke, 'Sasuke-papa' she had said 'Tou-san'.
Sasuke's expression softened, "I'll see what I can do. But where is she?"
"She said she went home, but I know better. She went to that place."
"What place?"
"I'm sure you know."
Sasuke searched his brain for all the possibilities. Then it came to him. The bench! Of course. Sasuke hugged his daughter before taking off after his ex-wife. He jumped through the trees at speeds he only uses in battle. How right his daughter was. She is overwhelmingly perseptive for her age. Sasuke remembered thinking that Hana would turn out just like Sakura. He was right in some ways but wrong in others. His daughter enherited all of Sakura's qualities as well as his own, including his stubborness. Sasuke smirked.
The raven-haired ANBU landed on the path he took so many years ago. Just like before, Sakura was there. She wasn't crying, yet, just sitting on that cursed bench. Sasuke walked over to his ex and kneeled down in front of her. Sakura kept her eyes down.
"Doushite?" It came out as a whisper, but the next statment gradually got louder, "Why did you come, Sasuke?"
"Because an incredibly bright, young women showed me the truth."
"Oh? And who might this be?"
"Our daughter." Sakura noticed the emphisis on 'our'.
"Hn. So, it takes your child for you to see the truth when the whole village has been telling you for the past ten years?"
"Sakura, you know me. I'm too stubborn for my own good. I like to be right. My stubborness took over when the village said I did the wrong thing but I didn't want to think I was wrong. So I covered it up."
"You became that cold-hearted 12 year old again."
"Hai. I didn't realize until tonight how much this divorce has effected you, Sakura."
"You didn't realize?" Uh-oh. Sasuke did it, "You didn't realize!" Sakura stood up and Sasuke followed suit, "The whole damn village realized 10 years ago! It took you 10 years to realize what this divorce has done to me! And I thought you were a genius."
"Sakura, just because I didn't want to be wrong, doesn't mean that I'm not a genius."
"Cocky bastard."
"That may be, but I'm the same cocky bastard you fell in love with when we were 12. Am I not right? You said it yourself, I became that cold-hearted 12 year old again."
"Sasuke, those things I said that night. I'm sorry. I was angry that you were able to go out on missions and have fun, while I had to stay in the village, heal people who cared more about bedding me that living and taking care of Hana. I understand that your job as an ANBU is what funded our family. I guess I was just tired and jealous. I'm sorry." Sakura turned around and started to leave when Sasuke grabbed her arm.
"No Sakura, I'm sorry. I admit that I did take some of those missions to relieve some stress but I didn't intentionally leave you with all those burdens. I shouldn't have accepted those missions. Even if they were assigned. I'm sure Tsunade and Naruto wouldn't have minded. Sakura, you don't have to be sorry. I'm the one that should be apologizing. I still love you." Sasuke pulled Sakura into a tight embrace, which she returned fully and murmered and 'me too'.
"Sasuke?"
"Hm?"
"If you love me, then why didn't you come after me?"
"I didn't know you wanted me to."(I borrowed this from the Parent Trap) Sasuke leaned down and captured Sakura lips with his own. The kiss lasted about a few seconds, but made up for 10 years of being apart.
"Woohoo!" This broke the couple apart. They looked over and saw their obnoxiously loud friend, "Took you guys long enough to get back together!"
"How'd you know we'd be here, Naruto?"
The couple looked over at their smirking daughter. I guess it was time for the child to take charge of the parents(man, I would love that!).
C'est fini!