This is late because I just got home! Random one-shot.
Notes: In my personal fanfiction unofficial canon, Karura's and Yashamaru's last name is Kana, and Gaara's father's name is Kaze no Hiro (Kishi won't give answers so I need to make up my own). He was born and grew up in Whirlpool/Uzushiogakure, kind of like Kushina, that's why at the beginning of this random one-shot he has no friends.
I don't own Narutoverse.
Friends and Farewells
"Hello. You must be Kaze no Hiro of Uzushiogakure?"
He nodded.
"I am Kana Karura. It's nice meeting you. May I sit with you?"
He nodded.
"See the kid over there? The one with blond hair like mine?" She pointed at the lone skinny pale boy sitting a yard away, glowering at her. "That's my twin brother. He's not very friendly, but if you stick to me I'm sure you two can be great friends and we won't be lonely anymore."
She smiled.
...
Yashamaru punched Hiro so hard that he was thrown back a few feet. Hiro bent his knees, prepared for the next blow he was not planning to dodge, only that this time Yashamaru punched with the strength and accuracy of a drunken man. His fist hit the air three inches away from Hiro's face, and then he fell on his knees and, disregarding all norms and pride, started crying. "Tell me you're kidding." Like a little boy. "Karura's not dead. You're lying."
Hiro massaged his left cheek, where the first punch had connected. "I need you to inform your mother, and then to tell Temari and Kankuro." He himself couldn't do it, and if Yashamaru didn't do it either then no one would.
Yashamaru was always supposed to be cool and quiet. He was not supposed to ever shed tears. But now his voice drowned in his sobs. "You're kidding."
Yashamaru was a shinobi. "Tell them, Yashamaru. I order you to."
"Hiro, please…."
"Please, Yash."
"Hiro!"
"Please, I'm begging you."
"Please tell me you're kidding for fuck's sake! You're not funny!"
Hiro was a shinobi too— the kazekage. The village before the family, he was supposed to be the strongest and never ever cry for them. Yet here he was, bowed before his brother-in-law, letting his tears flow freely and begging, "Please. It was hard enough to tell you. Now you have to tell the kids."
He just couldn't bring himself to do it.
...
"What do you think is the worst way to die?" Karura asked. She popped an orange slice into her mouth.
"Drowning," said Hiro. "Water burns when it enters your lungs. It's like being on fire, but your nerves don't get burned off so the pain doesn't end until you're dead."
"Good thing we can't really drown in Suna then." Yashamaru took an orange slice from Karura's hand. "The worst thing to me is being tortured and cut to pieces by the enemy. It would be awful to die without leaving a corpse to be buried."
"To die all alone," said Hiro. "To never be found."
Karura considered the answers. "I suppose all ways are a bit scary. Truth is I don't ever want to die."
...
Yashamaru was gone, blown to little pieces, impossible to gather, impossible to be buried.
And Gaara was unconscious after destroying a large portion of the village.
And the villagers were scared, and the Council was angry, and the Daimyo would be furious, and Temari and Kankuro were frightened. And Hiro was worried. That the people would leave Suna, that the council would order Gaara's death, that the Daimyo would cut his village's funds, that his children would hate him for basically killing their uncle. The village and his family were falling apart, and nothing Hiro ever did was good enough to stop it.
He wept, like he had when he lost the woman he loved. Alone in his room, exhausted from stopping the rampage of Shukaku, grieving over the loss of his only friend. 'Yashamaru, forgive me; your sister died because of me. Karura, forgive me, please, for your brother died, too, because of me.'
...
"Yashamaru, can you tell me? If it will be a boy or a girl?"
"No, Yasha! If you know, then don't tell us!" Karura laughed; Hiro frowned. "I want our baby to be a surprise, Hiro. Don't get mad."
"Like it isn't a surprise already," Hiro muttered.
Karura laughed again loudly.
This time, Yashamaru chuckled as well. While Yashamaru had not been amused that his best friend had gotten his sister pregnant out of marriage, and that their wedding had therefore been so rushed, he couldn't help but be excited at the prospect of being an uncle. The larger Karura's belly grew, the happier she turned. The happier Yashamaru turned. He didn't even care that much anymore that Karura was with Kaze no Hiro instead of with a nice civilian man like he'd wished.
"It doesn't matter what it is as long as it is healthy," he told his brother-in-law. "You'll know in two months, and it will not matter at all. Karura and you will both be so happy to carry her, or him, in your arms—"
"Is it a girl? You said her first—"
"Your son or daughter will be much loved."
Hiro groaned.
...
Hiro could only hope in his last minutes of life that Temari was strong enough. He'd known that Orochimaru was up to no good. He had, however, not anticipated to be double-crossed so soon. He had expected Orochimaru to take over Konoha before turning against him. It was embarrassing to be taken for a fool.
He could only hope Temari was strong enough. Suna was going to fall apart, and he could only hope that she would grab Kankuro and get the hell away from that place and manage to survive. She was his favorite kid, the only normal one of the trio, the one that looked like the Kanas, and as he died, he wanted her to live more than anything.
He knew his daughter well. Even when all she did was act tough, Hiro knew that if she lived, then Karura's gentleness would be carried over, as well as Yashamaru's intelligence. If she lived and escaped Suna before its downfall, then Kankuro would probably survive too with her help. Kankuro was a lot like him, so he was not sure whether Kankuro's traits living on was a good thing or not, but he loved the kid anyway. For better or for worse, he wanted him alive too.
Heck, same with Gaara. For all the destruction the boy caused, he had always loved him. Certainly not nearly as much as Karura and Yashamaru had— he had grown to resent both demon and child— but the feeling had always been present.
He really wanted his little ones to live, and unlike him and the Kanas, to find real happiness.
He closed his eyes as his blood kept pooling underneath him and his breathing became labored. He supposed, even though his body would rot away in the middle of the desert alone with those of his guards, that dying was kind of nice. He was tired, of all the bullshit politics in his job, of missing Karura every day since she was gone, of regretting having ordered Yashamaru into what turned into a suicide mission, of hating himself for ruining the lives of his children and everyone he had ever loved.
God, having met the Kana twins was his greatest sorrow. If he hadn't, the children would've never been born; his only friends would've lived some more.
Alas, now he needed to rest. He smirked one last time; it was comforting that at least he was not drowning, burning from the inside. He took one final, shuddering breath and, having recalled his most treasured memory clear behind his closed lids, went to sleep forever.
...
"Honey, why don't you ever throw a birthday party?" Karura asked, putting candles around a vanilla and coconut cake she had baked for Hiro. "The whole village would come to celebrate the birth of our kazekage, and it would be so much fun!"
"It's just my birthday," he said, watching the candles being lit. "And Suna isn't doing so good like to be throwing parties."
"It's not like it would be a yearly thing or we would go all out," Yashamaru pointed out.
"No, but it's nicer this way anyway. Just my wife, my best friend, and my daughter. Your company is more valuable to me than that of every citizen of Suna put together. It makes me the happiest."
When he looked away from the flames, the twins were smiling identically like idiots.
"Please, get over yourselves!"
I wish for my family to always stay like this.
He blew out the candles.
Thanks for reading, and please review/comment if you liked! :)