Natsumi walked with the black umbrella on her right hand, two small bouquets of flowers, wrapped carefully in white paper, which she was paying attention to not let it get too much wet by the rain.

The weather had been merciless in the past days. The clouds were always dark and open, allowing the rain to pound hard on the city; she could hear the distant thunder echoing through the sky.

A chill run across her body as a gust of wind blew in her direction. Her long, curly pink hair flew in nearly every direction. Natsumi held the flowers tighter in her arm and the umbrella in her hand. Perhaps she should have listened to her uncle when he told her that today's weather wasn't inviting to leave home.

But she had insisted in coming. Alone.

She soon reached her destiny's entrance: the cemetery. The pink haired girl had never been there on her own, today was the first time. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the gates open and walked in. She heard another thunder.

Stopping for a moment and placing the cane of the umbrella between her shoulder and her neck, Natsumi reached for the paper she had folded inside her warm jacket's pocket. Her brown eyes scanned the content, numbers that her uncle had given to her. Leaving the paper out of her sight, the girl looked around to see if she was close to the graves she wanted to visit.

She didn't see them. So she walked around, looking at the numbers on the paper and the ones on the graves. Soon enough she found them, standing next to each other. Her eyes though widened in surprise when she saw that she wasn't alone in the cemetery.

Only a few feet away from her stood a boy. Perhaps two or three years older than her. Her chocolate orbs found themselves taking in the boy's appearance. Tousled, short, white-blue hair, golden eyes and pale skin. Natsumi, until now, always found herself pale, she had inherited it from her mother but this boy was paler than her. Blinking, she left her trance.

The boy, just like her, was holding an umbrella in his hand. His face looking down at a grave, a calm expression on his features. Natsumi noticed the fresh-looking red roses set on the grave. Must have been the boy who brought them, she thought. Reminding herself why she was there, the pink haired girl focused her attention at the two graves in front of her.

A small smile painted Natsumi's lips as she looked at them. She read carefully the inscriptions on each grave.

Sabaku Karura

1957-1986

Beloved mother and sister.

Loving wife.

You will forever be remembered by your family,

Rest in Peace.

Her eyes moved to the grave next to Karura's.

Sabaku Rasa

1959-2002

Father.

You were not perfect but we forgive you,

Rest in Peace.

Readjusting the umbrella in her hand, Natsumi squatted in front of the first grave and placed one of the bouquets in front of the stone. Lapis Lazuli.

Patting the white paper protecting the bouquet, the pink haired girl proceeded to move to the other grave. She took the other bouquet and repeated the process. This one was composed by Cactus Flowers.

"Hey grandma, grandpa." she started "It's me, Natsumi. I don't know if you remember me. I was little the last time I was here with mom and dad." she heard the thunder a third time. The rain was still pouring hard. She tried to protect herself under the umbrella as best as she could.

"They miss you, you know…both of you." she continued "Dad, Uncle Gaara and Aunt Temari. They don't say it but I can see it in their eyes whenever you are mentioned." she smiled a little "We made a surprise party for Uncle Gaara's birthday. Me and Tsukiko had the idea and we managed to drag Shikadai into it. Of course he said we were troublesome."

Her legs were starting to hurt due being squatted for so long. She stood up but her eyes never left the two graves. A soft sigh left her lips before she put the cane of the umbrella, once again, between her shoulder and her neck. Then she closed her brown eyes and put her gloved hands together. And she prayed.

A couple of minutes in silence passed until Natsumi opened her eyes again. She readjusted the umbrella and wrapped the warm scarf around her neck. Looking to her left side, Natsumi noticed that the boy from before was still there. In the same position. She blinked. She was curious but he was a total strange, she wasn't going there and interrupt his, possible, mourning moment just because she was curious.

Deciding that it was better to leave him be, Natsumi turned around to leave when a sudden gust of wind caused the umbrella to escape from her hand and fly high in the sky. Gasping, the girl tried to reach for the object but it was too late. The wind had taken it away.

Cursing her luck –oh if her mother heard her- Natsumi grabbed her now soaked wet scarf, to try in vain to protect her head. Great! She would have to find shelter under something and call one of her parents to come pick her up. Just as she was looking for a shelter, a shadow covered her body. Suddenly the rain wasn't wetting her body anymore.

Looking behind, she saw the boy from before, standing behind her and holding his umbrella above her head. Gasping slightly, Natsumi's eyes widened in surprise for a moment before speaking "Oh, um…t-thank you." she saw him smiling gently "But you're going to get wet."

The boy shrugged "I don't mind," he said "Besides, I couldn't let you catch a cold when I can help." She felt her cheeks burn for a moment. She smiled.

"Well, I'm going to feel very guilty if you catch a cold instead." she put her hand on his before straightening the umbrella so it was over his head again. Then she stepped a little bit closer so she too was under it "There. Big enough for both us."

His smile widened "Good idea." his head moved to the left and his eyes scanned the graves "You were visiting your grandparents?"

"Yes," she followed his gaze back to the graves "I never met any of them though. They both passed away long before I was born." she continued. Then she blushed slightly "I'm sorry, I am borrowing space in your umbrella and I haven't even presented myself!" thrusting her hand forward "I'm Natsumi. Sabaku Natsumi."

The boy smiled again and grasped her hand in his "Mitsuki. Shiro Mitsuki."

"Pleasure to meet you." she said. Then she let go of his hand and let her arm fall again at her side. His hand was freezing. Must be because of the cold weather, she thought. The two stayed in silence for a couple of minutes. She broke it "Who were you visiting?" his eyes blinked in surprise "If you don't mind me asking, that is."

He closed his eyes before shaking his head "No, it's alright. I don't mind." he said before turning most of the way around towards the grave he visited "I was visiting my mother."

Chocolate orbs widened in surprise "Oh…I'm…I'm sorry."

"That's okay." he said "It has been a while." he turned back to face her. She could see the hint of sadness in his golden orbs but he was good at hiding it "I can take you home. If that's alright with you."

Natsumi gave him a reassuring smile "Sure. That would be great."

On the way back home, the two decided it would be nice to have a conversation "Are you sure you want to know about me?" said Mitsuki with a smile "It's a little bit topsy-turvy."

She giggled "It can't be that bad."

"Well…alright," he said "I lived and was raised by my mother until I was twelve. Then she got sick and passed away. She had no one else to take care of me so I ended up in an orphanage. Not the best times."

"I'm sorry." she looked down "If you don't want to keep talking about it, it's alright. I understand."

Mitsuki shook his head "No, it's okay." he said "I guess I always needed someone to talk about this." he sighed "I spent…probably two years at the orphanage before I was adopted…by my father."

Natsumi tilted her head to the side "You mean your adoptive father?"

He again shook his head "That's where it gets strange. I wasn't taken in by a foster family. I was adopted by my own father, my biological father. The one I had never met."

"That's…"

"Twisted?"

"Surprising." she continued "But you don't seem to hold any kind of resentment towards him."

"And I don't." he said, shrugging "I was surprised when he said he was my real father. But he told me the story, how he met my mother, why he didn't stay with her and I accepted him. I don't hold any resentment because I understood why he did it and he saved me." Mitsuki looked at the dark grey sky "He took me in when no one else did and he cares about me, in his own way. I have a good life and I can't complain about it."

Natsumi didn't push further, he must have not revealed the reason behind his father's disappearance for a reason and who was she to demand to know, she had just met him "I see."

"Well what about you? What's your story?"

She shrugged "Nothing big. My family holds a business, they all inherited it from my grandfather after he passed away."

He nodded "I had the impression that the name 'Sabaku' sounded familiar to me."

"Yes we are known but not extremely famous." she giggled "That's why I don't need security to come with me wherever I go." the rain was starting to calm down but the roaming thunders could still be heard "According to my father, my grandmother was very kind and a loving mother but at her third pregnancy, there were complications and my uncle was born very early, they didn't know if he would make it but he did. My grandmother however passed away…she was just twenty-nine,"

"My grandfather was always occupied with his business and barely had time for his children. They were practically raised by Yashamaru, my grandmother's brother. Things changed when someone tried to rob the house and Yashamaru got killed in the process, trying to protect the kids. After that my grandfather tried to spend more time at home but it was very hard and that ended creating a gap between him and his children." she continued "He was forty-three when he caught an illness. My father says that on his death bed, my grandfather held his three children's hands and begged them for forgiveness right before he passed away."

"Is that why on the inscription they wrote…'We forgive you'?" asked Mitsuki

She nodded "Yes, that is why." she sighed "The rest isn't anything big, my dad, my uncle and aunt moved on with their lives, found someone, married, had kids…you know, stuff."

He smiled before stopping in his tracks in front of a house "Is this the place?"

Natsumi smiled and nodded "Yes, it is." she looked at him "Thank you again, for the umbrella and for accompanying me home."

"You're welcome." he said. She opened her small bag and took a pen from it. Then she grabbed the piece of paper and wrote on the back of it before extending it between two of her fingers.

"Message me." she said with a smile "Maybe we can hang out some other time." she looked at the sky "With a better weather hopefully."

Mitsuki took the paper and put it in his pocket "That would be nice."

"See you then" she took a few steps back before completely turning around and opening the door. She smiled at him before closing it. "I'm home!" she sat down on the step to take off her soaked boots.

A pink haired and blue eyed woman approached her, followed by a little girl "Welcome back, sweetie." she said with a smile "You took a while, your dad was about to go and get you."

Natsumi stood up "Sorry if I worried you. My umbrella flew away." she explained "But there was this nice boy at the cemetery and he offered me his umbrella and to accompany me home."

"Really now? That was very nice of hi-" there was a noise coming from the living room and a stumble before her father stepped out looking surprised

"Did you just say a BOY brought you home?!"

"Darling, please, he was just being a gentleman." Natsumi rolled her eyes before starting to walk towards her room

"Bu-But…she…!"

"She is fourteen and old enough to get a boyfriend." said another voice coming from the living room, Natsumi looked to see her aunt leaning against the door's frame, giving her a wink and a look that said 'You will tell me about it later' before looking at father "Now Kankuro, stop being an over-protective and dramatic daddy. She is not little anymore."

"And what do you know?! You only have a son!" that was the last thing the pink haired teen heard before she closed her bedroom's door and leaned against it. She sighed and took her bag from around her shoulders and placed it on her desk.

She heard her cell phone beeping with the signal of a new message. She picked it up and opened the new message:

'It was nice to meet you.

Mitsuki'

~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Author Note: Well this is probably my first story for the Naruto fandom and I hope you like it!

A few small notes:

- I raised Rasa's dying age from 40 to 43, so it matched the time Gaara was about sixteen

- Natsumi is one of my Naruto Next Gen OC's

- She is the second child and first daughter of Kankuro and my OC, Naomi. Niece to Gaara and Temari. Cousin to Shikadai.

- If you are curious, you can find my Naruto fanart in my deviantart.

- Please read and review!