Hello readers!
If you've seen my story list you know I mostly stick to one-shots (or a series of one-shots), with the exception of Given a Second Chance to Do Nothing at All my first story-line chapter fanfiction.
I'm still writing that one, but the idea for this story popped into my head and I just couldn't leave it alone.
I DO NOT OWN ANY NARUTO CHARACTERS
P.S. If you want to know exactly what Haruka looks like, she's a mix between Uchiha Mikoto's coloring (Black hair and eyes) with Asuna Yuuki's hair cut from SAO (minus the braid). (=^.^=)
So here it is and I hope you enjoy it!
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New Beginnings
Chapter One
This Isn't My Konoha
Yamasaki Haruka died when she was twenty-two years old.
She went out like any shinobi would want to, in the heat of battle, fighting for her village and saving her comrades lives.
Konoha would mourn her loss after the Third Great Ninja War was over, but not until she doesn't return with her team from the mission that they took, and they tell her fiancé and friends that she stayed behind to protect them.
A body would never be found though, for certain reasons, and they thought the enemy had desecrated her corpse… stealing it away to learn village secrets.
They couldn't have been more wrong.
It doesn't matter though, because even though they would miss her and she them, Haruka couldn't hope for more in this situation. Her team got away safely and the enemy didn't get the information they wanted… they were all dead by her katana.
So as she lay there alone bleeding out, the darkness creeping into her vision she thought one last time of her loving fiancé and fiery best friend before death took her away to sweet oblivion.
She was already too far gone to do anything when the green glow started to surround her.
Haruka didn't know this at the time, because it simply hadn't happened yet, but there would come to be a boy, named Uzumaki Naruto and he would change the course of history. Konoha's Number One Unpredictable, Hyperactive, Knucklehead Ninja would change history as they all knew it… starting with a dying kunoichi in the Third Great Ninja War.
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Three genin stood in front of the memorial stone in training ground seven waiting for their chronically late sensei to show up. If today had been like any other normal day then they would have stood around, unspeaking for at least another two hours.
However, today was not a normal day.
To start off, one Uzumaki Naruto got up early. This isn't completely odd but considering he was awake at five in the morning and did not have to get to the training grounds until seven, it was a bit odd.
He decided to leave the house early and get some extra training time in, so he packed some scrolls and headed out taking the rooftops.
The second occurrence was the jōnin returning from a recent mission. This mission was the retrieval of a scroll that could possibly be the key to a very powerful weapon. An exhausted shinobi returning home after a tough mission would have been completely normal occurrence at five a.m. if it had not been for him passing by a still slightly tired Uzumaki Naruto.
The two shinobi collided on the rooftop and the scrolls the two were carrying went spiraling into the street.
"Oh crap!" Naruto yelped as he started fully awake. The jōnin just stared—more like glared—at him until the poor Uzumaki hopped down and picked up both scrolls before jumping back up and handing the jōnin his.
With a gruff and sleepy "Watch it next time." The random jōnin continued to go on and give his report to his Hokage.
The third and final occurrence that won't be noticed till much later—as Uzumaki Naruto got distracted by ramen… again—was that the two scrolls that he picks up were completely identical.
So no this was not a normal day and as the three genin stood around waiting for their tardy sensei the blond haired Uzumaki got an idea.
"Hey guys!" he started. "Do you want to see the new kunai I got?"
"Naruto! Why would anyone, let alone me and Sasuke-kun, want to see that?" his female teammate yelled shrilly. She had no idea why he would want to show them plain old kunai anyway.
"Hn.' The Uchiha grunted. Although the way his teammate was talking about the kunai made them seem like they might be something interesting. Of course he would never say that out loud.
"But guys they're these super cool kunai made of conductive metal that Jiji gave me!" He pulled out the scroll and went to unseal it, ready to prove to his teammates that he was telling the truth.
But when he unsealed the scroll what popped out wasn't kunai like he was expected it to be instead it was a… green gem?
"Huh?"
"Naruto-baka! I should have known you were lying!"
The pink haired kunoichi went to hit him on the head for his blatant lie when the boy held up his hands, the gem tucked into one.
"Wait! Sakura-chan this isn't my scroll!" He tried to explain. "I bumped into this guy this morning and I guess our scrolls got mixed up."
"Oh…"
"Yeah."
They were quiet for a moment before their curiosity won out and they started examining the gem in earnest. Their dark haired teammate joined them shortly afterwards, his curiosity getting the better of him.
The gem was about the size of Naruto's palm and a bright florescent green. Naruto thought it looked weird, Sakura thought it was pretty and Sasuke was quickly getting bored again.
"So what does it do?" Sakura asked.
Naruto thought for a moment, "I dunno." He said before going over and picking up the scroll it came out of and flipping it over multiple times. "There's no directions of the scroll."
"Hn. Well it shouldn't be in your hands Dobe, what if it blows up because of your stupidity?" The Uchiha reached over and tried to grab the gem out of his teammate's hands. He hadn't accounted for the fact that Naruto would fight him on this and the two began to struggle against each other, the gem stuck between their hands.
"Let go Teme!"
"No you let go Dobe!"
Sakura was shaking her head, not knowing what to do. The boys kept fighting over the gem and none of the genin noticed it begin to glow. They were unintentionally channeling chakra into it and with Naruto's anger starting to grow a certain red chakra mixed in as well.
The gem started to glow brighter and heat up. It became too hot and both boys let go of it with a startled yell… or grunt in the Uchiha's case.
The gem flew through the air and smacked against the memorial stone. It shattered into smaller pieces but before it fell to the ground some of the gem got stuck into a certain name.
Yamasaki Haruka.
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"Damnit Naruto! Look what you did now!" Sakura yelled as began to make her way over to the memorial stone. She intended to pick up the fragments and maybe try to put them back together.
"Me! What about Sasuke? He had a part in it to!" The Uzumaki started to grumble to himself about the unfairness of it all.
That was the precise moment that their sensei appeared in the training ground with them. He had a serious look on his face as his eyes roamed over the situation. They landed on the sulking blonde before he began to speak.
"Naruto, did you happen to run into a ninja this morning?" He asked sternly.
"Ehh." Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Yeah we bumped into each other on my way over here."
"Yes, well, I need the scroll you picked up. It seems there was a bit of a mix up."
All three genin cringed and slowly glanced at the still glowing shatters. "Heh heh… that's going to be a bit of a problem, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto grinned sheepishly.
Just as he had finished speaking the green shards started to move. They merged together in what seemed to be a kind of cylinder and began to spin rapidly. The glow increased so much that the four ninja had to shield their eyes lest they be blinded.
When the brightness dimmed and the shinobi could once again look at the place the shards had surrounded they weren't at all prepared for what they saw there.
There, on the ground, was a woman. She was wearing a standard Konoha jōnin vest, black turtle neck and pants. Her hitai-ate tied securely around her neck. It would have seemed as if the woman had been sleeping if it wasn't for the gaping hole in her chest and the river of blood leaking from it.
Nobody said anything for a moment before Kakashi jumped into action. He picked up the woman, careful not to jar her wounds, and quickly took off towards the hospital.
The three genin stood there for a moment in silence and shock at what had just happened.
"Well I don't know about you two," the Uzumaki began. "But I'm going with sensei!"
With that he took off after his teacher, hoping that whoever that strange woman was, that she would be okay.
The two other genin stood there awkwardly for a moment before racing off after their teammate.
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"MEDIC!" Kakashi yelled as he appeared in the Konoha General Hospital. "I NEED A MEDIC!"
Quickly a Medic-Nin and some nurses appeared beside him with a gurney. He laid the woman onto it as gently as he could.
"What's the damage?" The doctor asked sternly.
Kakashi stood straight. "Stab wound to the abdominal region. Severe blood loss, and a possible concussion."
The medic nodded his head, and began to wheel her down the hallway quickly, addressing the nurses as he went. "Alright, we've got a Code Blue, possibly a Code Grey. Let's go people!"
With that they disappeared through the emergency doors. Kakashi watched them go before turning to the desk to request a messenger. He wrote a quick note on a scroll and but a red band around it.
When the messenger arrived he handed it to her. "Get this to the Hokage immediately." She nodded before disappearing with a Shushin.
"Kakashi-sensei?"
The silver hared man turned to look at his three students. They all had varying looks of curiosity and concern on their faces and Kakashi had to fight back a sigh.
"Who was that lady, sensei? Why was she hurt so badly? Where did she come from? Why-?"
"Naruto!"
The blonde's mouth shut with an audible click. Kakashi knew he was just curious, but seriously, one question at a time!
"In order. As far as I know… that woman's name is Yamasaki Haruka. She was hurt that badly because she was stabbed in the stomach during battle. Where she came from is a bit more difficult—in all manners of speaking, she should never have shown up here."
The three genin looked even more confused.
"Um… why not sensei?" Sakura asked quietly.
"Yamasaki Haruka died fourteen years ago."
All four shinobi turned to the voice that had just spoke. Their eyes came to rest on the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"Hokage-sama." Kakashi said, standing at attention.
"At ease, Kakashi-san." Hiruzen chuckled, "Now," he turned to the three genin. "Why don't you explain to me what happened."
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Haruka was aware of her surroundings the moment she became conscious. It didn't matter that her eyes were still closed
'Where am I?' She thought. 'Hospital, judging by the smell of antiseptic and the excess of medical chakra in the air.'
She just hoped she hadn't been taken into enemy territory. She was fully capable of fighting her way out but with how bad her injuries were she wasn't sure if she would make it far. Her injuries! Keeping her breathing steady and began to assess her body.
Her stomach wound was mostly healed but till a bit sore and if she was right the medics had gone overboard with the bandages again.
"Are you done, my dear?"
Haruka's eyes snapped open and immediately locked onto the figure standing over her hospital bed. He eyes widened
"Hokage-sama" She tried to stand at attention but the sharp pain in her abdomen made her cringe back down onto the bed.
Hiruzen chuckled before helping her into a comfortable sitting position. "Now, none of that. After all, you're still recovering Yamasaki-san."
"My apologies, Hokage-sama."
He looked older then the last time she had seen him, and she wondered if the war took a turn for the worse… or maybe her team never escaped.
"If I may, Hokage-sama… did my team make it home safely?"
Hiruzen was glad he had though ahead and brushed up on her last—and final—mission. It had been a success, all returning except the captain.
"Yes, Yamasaki-san, your team returned with no difficulties." He watched the woman in front of him carefully, eyeing the noticeable relief at the news.
"That's a relief. How long have I been unconscious? Kushina must be angry with me."
The Third sighed before sitting in the chair next to her bed. "My dear, there are some things you should know."
Haruka sat quietly and listened to the Hokage weave the tale of how she had gotten back to the village and the state of things since she had last been there, her horror grew at each word he spoke. When he finally finished they sat in silence for a long moment, until she closed her eyes and sighed.
"Forgive me, Hokage-sama… but I'd like to be alone now."
"Of course."
After the door closed and Haruka could no longer feel the chakra of her Hokage and his ANBU, she finally let her shoulders relax.
'All of that time… just gone.' She thought to herself as the first tear slid down her cheek. 'Kushina's dead and Minato too… I wonder…'
There was a soft knock on the door and Haruka quickly wiped her eyes. "Come in." A man with silver hair and a mask walked through the door followed by three little genin. For a second Haruka wanted to call him her sensei, Sakumo… but she knew he had died long before she did.
That means this could only be,
"Ah, you probably don't recognize me." The man said, "My name is-"
"Hatake Kakashi."
Haruka looked down at the blanket she had been clutching in her hands. "I really must be in the future; the last time I saw you…" she looked back up at him and smiled sadly, "Well, you were barely twelve."
Kakashi gave his famous eye smile before moving slowly towards the bed. "Maa, I'm much older than that now." He turned and gestured for the three kids to step further into the room. "Actually, I'm here because... how do I say this, my students were the ones who brought you here. To the future, that is."
Shock filled Haruka as she took in the three children in front of her. There was a pink haired girl who looked anything but a decent kunoichi, a black haired child who was obviously an Uchiha, and…
"Minato?" she whispered.
"Huh?" the boy asked, rather loudly at that. "Who? My name is Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto!"
Haruka's dark eyes cut sharply over to the silver haired boy—man—she once knew. "Can I speak to you Kakashi." She glanced at the children quickly. "Alone."
"Ah, yes." He turned to his genin. "Training is cancelled for today, why don't you all head home."
There were varying looks of irritation from the genin and with one last glance at her—sans the Uchiha, who had already left—they did as their sensei said.
When the door closed behind the children, the two adults waited until they were fully gone to begin speaking.
"Sit down." Haruka ordered, and Kakashi did as she said without hesitation. He had, and still has, a lot of respect for the woman in front of him, so disobeying wasn't really a thought.
"Kakashi… there is a lot of information that I am lacking, and Hokage-sama only explained so much. You are going to tell me everything, do you understand?"
Grey clashed with black as the two shinobi stared each other down. Kakashi broke first, he should have been expecting it really, she was fresh from war after all… it would take a lot to beat her.
"Alright, what do you want to know?"
Haruka thought for a moment. "That boy." She began. "He's Kushina's son." It was phrased as a statement and not a question.
"Yes. Sensei's as well."
"Does he know?"
"No."
Haruka had to push down the anger that filled her at that. She wasn't here then but she is now and things were going to change if she had any say in it.
"He's like her?"
"A Jinchuriki? Yes."
Kakashi could tell that the pieces were falling into place in her mind. She knew now how Naruto was most likely treated and he watched her suppress the anger as best as she could.
It was a minute before she spoke again. Clearing her throat, Haruka asked the question that she had been fearing most. "My fiancé?"
"Alive." She sighed in relief. "But, Haruka-san… it's been fourteen years. He's married now, and has a child as well."
"I figured as much." She whispered. "I was dead, it's not like he could have waited for me… and even if he had, he would be thirty-six." She chuckled humorlessly. "I'm still twenty-two."
"The Hokage will be announcing to the jōnin and chūnin of your return soon… He'll be there, so I would brace yourself for a visit. He's different now."
"I would hope so." She smiled at Kakashi, but he could see that it didn't reach her eyes. "It has been fourteen years, after all."
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Later that night, after Kakashi had long since left, Haruka stood alone in her hospital room, staring out the window.
The nurses had refused to let her leave, and said she had to wait at least a week before she could be released. The Hokage seemed to agree with this as it would give him time to find her an apartment and to get her money back into her long-closed bank account.
It turns out the money she had saved up her whole life was put into the Konoha Treasury. It made sense, it's not like she had any kin left to inherit it…
Or at least, none she claimed as her own.
There was a quiet knock on the door, and Haruka could feel her shoulders tensing. She didn't have to wonder who was visiting her this late because she would know his chakra anywhere. Even if it did feel different—older.
He didn't wait for her answer, he knew she was awake, and he quietly slipped inside the room. Haruka could hear his sharp intake of breath as his dark eyes drilled holes into the back of her head.
There was silence between the two of them, and she wasn't sure if he was even capable of breaking it. Haruka had left him, after all. Died and left him all alone to mourn her.
So with a deep breath she turned around slowly, and took in all of him. Her eyes made their way from his standard shoes up past the jōnin vest and mesh shirt coming to lock with his piercing gaze.
There was so much pain in his eyes that, for a moment, she couldn't breathe. But, Haruka had to be strong now so in the steadiest voice she could manage—which granted wasn't very steady at all—she whispered,
"Hello, Shikaku."
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Okay guys there it is the very first chapter!
I'm going to try and post like I do every week for Given a Chance to Do Nothing at All but instead of every Tuesday it will probably be every Thursday.
No this is NOT a ShikakuxOC fic. He has a wife and they are kind-ish happily married. There will be romance though! So fear not!
Rest assured that Haruka is NOT a Mary Sue. I mean come on guys she was gonna die for Chuck's sake.
Anyway hope you enjoyed! PLEASE REVIEW! (=^.^=)
Till Next Time,
Ja 'Ne!
