Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or anything in Naruto. It all belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. Thank goodness for that, cause I can't draw worth a crap XD. Read and review, please. Reviews make the world go round. Honest. Just like Santa and the Easter bunny exist. Scientific facts! -nod-
"Ah... Much better." I said with a sigh of relief as I stretched.
"Hey! I only healed your rib. Be careful or you'll tear your stitches." Tsunade said seriously, and I bowed to her quickly.
"Sorry. I'll be careful." I said, and Tsunade scowled at me.
"Uh huh. I'll believe it when I see it" She said disbelievingly.
"What room is Kiba in?" I asked, brushing my shoulder free of any lint. I was wearing my short sleeved, lower thigh length, crimson kimono and two no shoes. Under my kimono I had bandages covering my entire chest, shoulders, arms, and thighs. My black jacket was folded and tied around my waist to look like a simple obi.
"Three doors down." Tsunade sighed, and I was out of the room in a second. I went to the directed room, opening the door without knocking to find Hana was tending to Akamaru, a number of ninken in the room, the largest one by far being Akashia, who was hovering near Hana, watching her tend to Akamaru. Kiba was in the corner of the room on a bed, wrapped in bandages.
"Oh, damn it Kiba. If I knew you were going for the mummy look today, I would ahve picked out a different outfit." I said with a pout as I walked into the room, closing the door behind me. Everyone in the room looked up at me.
"You did it, didn't you."Akashia barked, and I nodded.
"Sorry, Akashia..." I mumbled guiltily, the only one in the room who could understand her.
"You idiot! You know how much that takes out of you. Without me there, you would be defeated as soon as it drained you." Akashia sighed, turning away from me and looking back at Akamaru.
"Sheesh... Scolded by a talking dog..." I muttered under my breath.
"Why are you so beat up, Hasu?" Kiba asked tiredly.
"I followed you guys like I promised Shikamaru, Naruto, and Chouji. Who are all fine, by the way. Chouji was in critical condition, but Tsunade-sama fixed him up. Naruto was badly hurt according to Shizune, but there's no danger to his life. Neji was the same as Chouji, but Shizune got him out of danger. Naruto was fighting this Kimimaro guy when I reached him, so I held him off while Naruto chased Sasuke." I sighed, sitting at the foot of Kiba's bed.
"Kimimaro..? But there were only four." Kiba said, confused.
"He must have joined in later, then. But he was strong as hell... He was an inch from impaling me through the head when Gaara came in and saved me. Even Gaara couldn't kill him, though. He tried the Desert Coffin jutsu a bunch of times, but the guy wouldn't die. He even tried creating a sinkhole and dragging Kimimaro over two hundred meters underground, but he still survived. He was about to land a killing blow on us when some illness killed him... But I was still left pretty beat up, as you can see." I said, scowling. "What about you?"
"This guy I fought could split into two different people. He also was able to meld with people, and did that with me. I managed to get him out of my body by stabbing myself and thus him. Thankfully, Akashia got Akamaru and I out of there... but they caught up with us. Kankurou took care of him, though." Kiba said, and I nodded.
"Seems like the Sand Siblings saved our asses, eh?" I said with a smile, and he nodded. "Anyways, I need to go see Naruto. He was utterly convinced that guy would kill me... He was pretty strong." I sighed, standing up. Akashia looked at me, and I sighed again. "You can stay, Akashia. Don't worry." I said with a hint of amusement before leaving the room. "Thanks again for helping her, Hana!" I called as I shut the door, walking down the hallway.
"Hey." I called as I approached the three sand siblings the next day. I was still only wearing the short crimson kimono with the black jacket as an obi sash. My arms, chest, and thighs were wrapped in bandages, and I only wore simple sandals. My shoulder-length crimson hair was tied up in a high ponytail, loose locks of hair framing my face. The three shinobi turned to me, each of them frowning.
"You're Hasu, right?" Temari asked, and I nodded.
"I wanted to thank you guys for helping us out. Everyone would probably be dead if you guys didn't come when you did... I definitely would have been." I said, rubbing the back of my neck. "Anyways, I wanted to offer you guys a free all you can eat trip to any restaurant you want, on me." I said, and Kankurou brightened up instantly.
"Food? Free? I'm in!" He said immediately, and I smiled lightly. Temari shrugged while Gaara was silent.
"Sure." Temari said, and I nodded.
"Great. Just tell me what type of food you want, and I'll find the best restaurant with that food." I offered with a smile.
"I wouldn't mind sushi." Temari said to her siblings, and Kankurou just nodded.
"All right... Hm..." I thought about which restaurant had the best sushi before deciding. "Follow me." I said with a smile, turning around. The four of us went to one of the most expensive and the best sushi joint in Konoha, quickly taking our seats at a booth and ordering.
"This place looks pretty expensive... Sure you can afford it?" Temari asked, and I nodded. I was sitting beside her, while Gaara and Kankurou sat across from us, Gaara in front of me and Kankurou in front of Temari.
"I've got some money saved up. Besides, I owe you guys my life. I think I can manage a simple meal to repay." I said with a soft smile. "When will you guys be leaving?" I asked curiously.
"Probably tomorrow." Kankurou answered and I frowned.
"I see. Eager to get home?" I inquired, and Temari nodded. "Must be nice."
"Hm?" Temari muttered questioningly.
"To have a place to go home to." I explained calmly, and they frowned.
"Isn't Konoha your home?" Kankurou asked, quickly losing interest as the food arrived. Kankurou dove right into his food. Oh man... Another Chouji. I thought wryly.
"To answer your apparently forgotten question, Kankurou, no. Konohagakure isn't my home. I live in a cruddy apartment with just me and my ninken, Akashia." I said, poking at my food.
"If you can't afford a good apartment, how can you afford this?" Gaara inquired calmly, speaking for the first time.
"I didn't say I couldn't afford a good apartment. I just choose to stay in a run down one so I can save up as much ryô from my missions as I can. I can very easily afford this, since it's only a one-time thing. But soon I'll be leaving Konoha, and I'll only have the saved up ryô to keep me on my feet until I can find a good place to live." I said with a shrug, putting some of the sushi in my mouth.
"I don't get it." Kankurou complained as he shoved food in his mouth. "Why not just stay here and get good money?"
"Why would I stay anywhere that isn't and will never be home? I don't belong here, and never will... I don't belong anywhere people are." I said, shrugging. "So one day I'll build a house in the middle of nowhere and will never have to deal with the worlds prejudice again. To do that, I need money. That's the only reason I'm here in Konoha anymore, now that the Sandaime is dead." I said as I bit into another sushi roll, Gaara frowning at me.
"Tch. Why do you think everyone's out to get you?" Kankurou grumbled, and I looked at the bottle of teriyaki sauce, which happened to be glass. Gaara followed my gaze calmly, immediately realizing what I was going to do. I narrowed my eyes as I looked at the bottle, and it floated up. Kankurou and Temari paused in their eating, watching as the bottle harmlessly floated over my tray, tilted so that the sauce flowed out of the bottle onto the wasabi, then floated back into it's place.
"That's why." I said calmly, dipping a piece of sushi into the sauce and wasabi before eating it.
"Oh." Kankurou grunted simply before returning to his food.
"Oh, Temari." I said, and the blonde looked at me. "I spoke to Shikamaru earlier. I'm impressed just hearing about how you fight. I would love it if I could spar with you some time." I said with a smile, and she blinked at me.
"What about me?" Kankurou grumbled, and I laughed.
"We'd be at a never ending standstill. Both of us fight with attack only." I said, and Temari frowned at me.
"If you only use offensive attacks, you're left with no defense." Temari said, and I nodded.
"I know. That's why I almost never go into fights without Akashia, and whenever I do, ninety-nine percent of the time I walk out injured. Akashia defends me from anyone who gets past my attacks. When I went into battle against Kimimaro, I knew that he would probably kill me and I'd only delay him. That's why I made sure Akashia was elsewhere when I did that, so she wouldn't get killed trying to protect me." I said, and Kankurou rolled his eyes.
"Sheesh. You and Gaara would be great teammates. Him with the defending, you with the attacking." Kankurou grumbled, and I blinked at him before laughing.
"Maybe so, but that'd never happen." Even our abilities are compatible. Sand and glass... I thought with a wry smile as I continued to eat. "What is Sunagakure like?" I asked curiously, setting my chopsticks down and leaning back.
"It's in one of the hottest places in the shinobi world, but it's also very dry so it doesn't feel quite as hot as it really is. Since it's in the high desert, the temperature changes severely at night so it gets very cold. Are you done eating?" Temari asked incredulously.
"Yeah, I am. Why?" I asked.
"You barely touched your food." Temari explained, and I shrugged.
"I can't eat much still... I was injured on a mission last week, and I haven't completely recovered yet. Anyways, that sounds nice. In the Land of Water, the temperature changes and fluctuates drastically. It could be burning up one day, and the next it'll be freezing cold. It was completely unpredictable." I said with a small laugh.
"How do you know that?" Kankurou asked, and I looked at him.
"I was born in the Land of Water, and the woman who took me in raised me in Kiri." I explained.
"What about your parents?" Temari asked.
"Abandoned me before I learned to walk. Kankurou, stop looking at me like that." I said with amusement. He was giving me puppy eyes. "I assume you want more food. Here." I laughed, handing him my quarter eaten tray of sushi.
"Thank you!" He said, immediately digging in.
"Still sure you can pay for this?" Temari joked, and I laughed.
"Don't worry. I pay for Chouji's meals sometimes." I said with a smile. I leaned towards Temari until our shoulders were touching, and held my hand to her ear. "He's a little anti-social, isn't he?" I whispered quietly to her, and she seemed to pick up immediately that I was talking about Gaara.
"With his past, can you blame him?" Temari whispered back.
"I don't know his past, but I can guess. No, I can't blame him..." I whispered.
"Well, he's getting better..." Temari whispered, and we straightened up. "Didn't you say you broke a rib when you hit the sand?" Temari asked me in a normal volume voice.
"Ah... Yeah." I glanced at Kankurou, seeing his confused face. "The guy Gaara and I were fighting threw me so hard into a wall of sand Gaara had made that I went through it." I said, wincing at the memory. "But Tsunade-sama healed the rib for me, but decided not to heal the rest of my wounds." I said with a shrug.
"Why wouldn't she heal your other injuries?" Gaara asked with a frown.
"Punishment for me chasing after the team even though I was told not to." I said with a laugh. "Not that I care. It's just a few scratches... Except this one." I said, pointing to my right shoulder, which I'd been trying not to move too much. "This one hurts. The enemy nearly impaled my shoulder. Would have if I hadn't jumped away." I said nonchalantly. "But either way, it was worth going. Naruto would have probably been seriously hurt or killed, and Sasuke would have gotten away sooner... Are you finished, Kankurou?" I asked, seeing Gaara and Temari had finished eating.
"Yeah." Kankurou said, and I nodded.
"I'll go pay." I said as I stood up.
"I'll help." Temari offered, but I shook my head.
"Don't worry. I'm a Chuunin, I get better pay." I said, grinning at Kankurou and Temari's surprise, while Gaara simply looked expressionless as usual. I walked away from them, going over towards the counter. I carefully sorted the ryô and handed it to the cashier, who quickly processed it.
"Thank you for dining here, ma'am." He said formally as he handed me the change.
"Thank you for feeding us." I said with a smile, and he nodded at me. I walked back to the table, slipping the change into my pocket. "All right. It's paid for." I smiled lightly as the three siblings stood up. The four of us made our way outside of the restaurant, stopping on the street. "I'm glad I asked you guys for lunch." I said with a smile, shaking Temari and Kankurou's hand. Somehow I knew Gaara wouldn't shake hands. I winced, putting a hand on my stomach area as I felt a jolt of pain. "I'll see you guys off tomorrow, then. For now, I need to go speak to Tsunade-sama." I said with a smile, bowing to them before turning around to leave.
"Always the adventurer, Hasu." A woman with dark blue hair and bright green eyes looked at a ten year old Hasu.
"Life wouldn't be any fun any other way." Hasu laughed, and the woman laughed back.
"Hasu, why don't you want to stay in one place?" The woman asked curiously.
"Because, Okaa-chan. Shinobi, especially Jounin like me, die all the time. Most die young, without a chance of marrying, settling down, having kids, getting a house, raising them to be shinobi... It's not right, but it won't change. Ever. I don't want to be someone who gets killed on a probably meaningless mission and loses all chances to get their dreams. I don't want anyone to miss out on that." Hasu said, holding her arms out towards the sky. The two were standing on a large cliff over looking the ocean, the sun setting in the distance.
"So you want to see the world before you die?" The woman guessed, and Hasu nodded.
"I do. I would love to do that. Some day, I'll leave Kiri. I'll go to the Land of Fire, first... Maybe the Land of Snow. From there I'll just go wherever I want!" Hasu said cheerfully. "And along the way, I'll help people. If someone's in trouble, I'll fight for them. If I have to, I'll die for them."
"But why? Why would you die for someone when you want to see the world before you die?" The woman asked, confused.
"Because. Everyone should have the chance to live their life to the fullest. Just like I'm entitled to it... and I'd rather give up my chance then let other people lose theirs." Hasu said calmly.
"It's so strange... Most people in Kiri are heartless, and cruel... but you're so loving and understanding. But if you go around the world, you'll never settle down and start your own family!" The woman said with a laugh, and Hasu looked at the sun.
"No. Somewhere along the way, I'll find the person I want to spend my life with. I'll know as soon as I see him. When I do, I'll follow him wherever he goes, even if he never goes anywhere. I'll be happy wherever he is, because I'll love him more then any silly dream. I'll never leave him, and would give my life to protect him. He'll be my home. Hopefully, he'll love me the same way." Hasu laughed, smiling brightly.
"What will you do if he dies, Hasu?" The woman asked.
"Then I'll give him the best funeral ceremony, one that would rival a Kages. I'll bury him with his favorite things, and then I'll spend all my free time every day at his grave, telling him how much I miss him, and probably crying all over the stone. Then I'll live for the both of us, and one day, after I'm satisfied with my life, I'll join him." Hasu said, still smiling happily though there was a hint of sadness in her eyes. The woman stared at Hasu before smiling.
"Don't worry, Hasu. You'll find him, and he'll love you more then you'll ever know. He'll never leave your side, and won't die until you can both go together." The woman said.
"Yeah. You're right. Hey, maybe he'll have crimson hair too." Hasu joked, and the woman laughed.
"I haven't seen a single person yet with crimson hair. Keep dreaming, Hasu." The woman laughed, and Hasu laughed as well.
"Yeah. Who else in the world has purple eyes? Purple pupils as well, for that matter." Hasu laughed.
"Probably no one. You're just one big bundle of weird." The woman grinned. "But I love you for it."
"I love you too. I won't leave you. Promise."
I snapped my eyes open, flinging the sheets off me and sitting up, swinging my legs over the side of the bed so they were on the floor. I hung my head, my loose crimson hair curtaining around my face as I breathed heavily, my hands clutching the sides of the mattress tightly. Small beads of cold sweat tickled my body. Damn it... Why did I dream of that... Why of her? I thought frantically, tears slipping from my eyes into my lap as I hung my head. Why, after all this time? I asked myself as a small, mostly silent sob escaped my lips, my chest jerking with the movement. Akashia shifted from where she had been sleeping on the bed, inching towards me.
Why now? I let out another sob, and Akashia lightly put her head in my lap, looking up at me with her ice blue eyes as she let out a concerned whine. Dammit... I thought tearily as I tried to get my emotions under control. I looked up to see the sun was rising. Hesitantly, I rubbed Akashia's muzzle before slipping out from under her head. I wiped my eyes on my sleeve, quickly slipping out of the sleeping robe and into the crimson kimono, my bandages covering my bare chest, waist, hips, thighs, and arms.
"I'm going to speak with Tsunade-sama... I'm sorry Akashia, but you should get started on saying your goodbyes to the other ninken around here." I said quietly before leaving the apartment, leaving the door open for Akashia to leave. I didn't notice the sand stirring on the ground as I left. I made my way to the Hokage tower quickly, reaching it in less then thirty minutes. I knocked on the door, wondering if the Godaime would even be awake.
"Enter." I heard her call from inside, immediately walking in and shutting the door behind me. "What's going on, Hasu?" Tsunade asked, and I pulled my hitai-ate from my pocket, staring at it. "Hasu?" Tsunade questioned, walking in front of me. I let out a sigh, looking up at the busty woman and holding out my hitai-ate.
"I quit, Tsunade-sama." I said quietly, and Tsunade frowned at me.
"...Why?" She demanded.
"...I made a promise to someone, Tsunade-sama... I have to fulfill it, and to do that, I need to leave. Probably permanently." I said with a sigh.
"You also made a promise to Konoha when you joined us, Hasu." Tsunade said sternly, and I nodded at her.
"Yes, I did. I intend to stay loyal to Konoha as well, though I won't be here. I will never betray the trust this village has placed in me. However, I need to leave, Tsunade-sama." I said seriously, and she narrowed her eyes at me.
"If you are going to, I can't stop you.. However, you aren't technically a citizen of the Land of Fire." She reminded me sternly.
"I know. I'll probably be leaving the Land of Fire all together... I'm not sure where I'll go, though." I said with a shrug.
"All right... You're always welcome in Konohagakure, Hasu. So long as you remain loyal to us... You've done more then enough for us to trust you." Tsunade said, and I bowed to her.
"Thank you, Tsunade-sama. I owe the Sandaime greatly for allowing me here in the first place... I will remain loyal to Konoha. As far as I'm concerned, you all are my second family. If you ever need anything, I will return. Even if only temporary... As soon as I find a place to stay, I'll inform you so you may contact me if needed." I said seriously, and Tsunade nodded.
"You'll be missed, Hasu... Spend as much time as you need to say your farewells." Tsunade said, turning around and walking towards her desk.
"Thank you, Tsunade-sama..." I said quietly, leaving the room.
Later in the day, I walked towards the gate leading out of Konoha. I wore my crimson kimono with the black jacket folded and wrapped around it like an obi. On my hands I wore my black, fingerless gloves with plates on the top of them, and I wore my black shinobi sandals. I had no hitai-ate, and wore bandages instead of the usual fishnet bodysuit under my clothes, as my wounds were still in the process of healing. I also had an over the shoulder cloth bag, which held my small amount of possessions. At my side was Akashia, who was looking around and taking in every detail like it was the last time she ever would be able to, which it probably was.
When we reached the gate, Shikamaru was already there, the three sand siblings in front of him. "Hey there, Shikamaru." I said with a grin as I walked up behind him. He looked over his shoulder at me curiously.
"Oh. Hey." Shikamaru greeted.
"I hope you guys weren't planning on leaving without saying goodbye to me." I said with a smile to the siblings.
"Tch... Maybe if you weren't taking your sweet time." Kankurou complained, and I pouted at him.
"Oh, come on. I've had myself a busy day. I haven't even sat down since five in the morning." I whined.
"Yeah... But we need to get going." Temari sighed.
"I understand. Sorry I didn't get here earlier... Have a safe trip back home. I'll be sure to come visit some time." I said with a smile, and the three of them turned and started walking away after saying goodbye. I watched their retreating forms until they were out of hearing range. I know what I felt... Maybe... I stared at Gaara's back. It must be... I decided, sighing.
"What's wrong?" Shikamaru asked, looking at me.
"Ah... Nothing." I said, adjusting the bag on my back before walking forward out the gate. "Hey! Wait up!" I shouted to the siblings.
"Oi! Where are you going?" Shikamaru called after me, and I turned around and grinned at him, walking backwards.
"I'm going home." I said cheerfully with a happy smile.
Yes, the 'Part I' chapters were few, but that was because I wanted to focus on Hasu during 'Part II'. 'Part I' chapters weren't supposed to be many, and they basically only were to explain what Hasu had done during her time in Konoha.