Hanara Hyuga

Hanara Hyuga

By: Miharu Skii

Chapter 5

My first mission is a simple one. Transport an old woman to Konohoa. I don't necessarily want to go, but Baki is away on another mission and she specifically asked for four ninjas. I don't know why she needs all four of us, but she paid for us, so she gets us.

We set out at night because it's cooler and easier to travel in.

Gaara doesn't seem happy to be here, but then again, he never seems happy. But I can't help feeling that he is even angrier than he has ever been; and I can't help feeling it's my fault. Sometimes, I can feel him glaring at me, the intensity of his stare burning a hole in my flesh.

"Why does he hate me?" I ask Temari.

"He hates everyone, it's just who he is," she says.

"But why? You don't just hate for no reason."

"Gaara does." And we keep walking, not saying anything for a long time.

"You were from Konohoa, before coming to Suna, right?" Kankuro asks that morning when we stop to rest.

"Yeah," I say, looking at the sky. There are birds flying south. It's almost winter already. The birds bring on a memory…

Flashback

'You are caged birds now,' my father tells my brother and I.

'Why?' I ask.

'Because, that is your destinies.'

'Why can't I choose my own destiny?' Neji asks.

'Because your destiny has already been chosen for you,' he says. That doesn't seem fair, but father says it so it must be true.

End Flashback

"Hello, earth to Hanara," the voice cuts through my memories.

"What Kankuro," I ask sighing.

"You look lost," he says.

"Sorry, I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"Birds," I say.

"Birds? Why are you thinking about birds?"

"Because, my father once told me and my brother Neji, that we were caged birds and that our destinies had already been chosen for us, and I believed him."

"Do you still?" he asks. The question makes me think. Do I? Can I?

"I don't know," I answer truthfully.

We sleep in a tent to shelter us from the sun. Gaara keeps watch outside. I can't help but wonder if he ever sleeps. I'll have to ask Kankuro later…better yet, I'll ask Temari, Kankuro always changes the subject if I bring up Gaara.

MMM

"So, like, does Gaara ever sleep?" I ask Temari as we enter the forest. It's amazing how one minute you're in desert and the next in forest.

"No, he can't."

"Why not?"

"I'll tell you some other time, when he's not around." And she walks ahead of me. I spend the rest of the journey enjoying the coolness of the forest. The trees sway gently in the wind, the clouds float high and fat overhead, and the sun is a soft yellow orb in the sky.

"We're here," Kankuro says as we reach the gates. I look up at the tall stone wall I never thought I'd see again, let alone pass to the other side.

Temari showed the guards something and went through. Kankuro, Gaara, and the old woman followed, but I hesitate, what if they recognize me? I keep my eyes down as I walk past them and try to act natural. They don't stop me and when I get to a safe distance, I breathe a sigh of relief.

"Hurry up Hanara," Kankuro calls and I run to catch up.

The village looks almost exactly the same as I remember it. People hurry about buying and selling, delivering supplies and messages to people. We pass the Ichiraku Ramen Stand. There are four people sitting on the stools. A jonin with silver hair and most of his face covered is watching a girl with pink hair stare dreamily at a boy with black hair, and a cheerful boy with blond hair is slurping up noodles faster than I've ever seen anyone before.

As we walk on, we pass a flower shop with a bored looking blonde behind the counter.

When we finally reach the Hokage's tower, I realize my first mission is almost over and we've run into no trouble. I haven't had a chance to see what all my hard work and long hours of training has done. It's somewhat of a disappointment, but it doesn't matter, I've nearly completed my first mission.

The Hokage is an old man who sits behind a desk piled high with papers. He turns to face us and I get a good look at him. He looks nothing like the Kazekage. This man looks kind and caring. He looks me in the eye and I can tell he recognizes me, but then he sees my headband and I can tell he understands.

"You did a good job," he says, "now I understand this is Hanara's first mission."

"Yes sir," Temari says.

"I was wondering is I could have a word with her?"

"Of course," Temari says and her, Gaara, and Kankuro leave, along with the old lady who thanks us again before leaving.

I stand all alone in front of the Hokage.

"Hello Hanara," he says.

"Hello," I say back, trying to sound completely a comfortable even though I'm looking at the ground.

"Take a seat," he says, pointing to a chair. I sit.

"So you live in Suna now?"

"Yes sir."

"Do you like it?"
"Yes sir."
"Why did you do it?"

"Do what sir?" I ask, even though I know the answer.

"Why did you leave?"

"I had to. It was too terrible in that house. I was nothing more than a slave. I was tortured every day, ever since I was four. Ever since father died and Neji turned on me and uncle made me look after lady Hinata and, and, and…" I can't continue through the tears. I gasp for air and he gets up from his desk and hugs me.

"I stole his headband," I say. He only nods and lets me cry it out and then dismisses me, telling me to rest up.

I spend some time wandering through town, looking in all the shops, stopping at Ichiraku to eat a little, and just taking in the sights.

"H-Hanara? Is that you?" the voice is behind me and I know who it is before I even turn around.

"Neji?"

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm on a mission. I'm a ninja now!" I say with a big smile and I hug him.

"How?"

"When I ran away, I ended up in Suna and they let me train to be a ninja."

"But…that's not your destiny…"

"Maybe it is. It's worked pretty good so far." He looks at me confused.
"I'm deciding my own destiny now," I say.

"Hanara," Temari yells, running behind Neji.

"What?"

"We're staying here a few more days."

"Why?"
"We're going to be transporting some important scrolls back to Suna and they need to be prepared." I look at her, unsure what to say. I turn to Neji, "Lets catch-up."

"Okay, but I was on my way to training."

MMM

Neji's sensei's idea of training is nothing like Baki's. The man, Gai, has a clone named Lee and they are both over enthusiastic and most of the training was solely based on taijutsu. There was a lot of running and pushups and other things. Gai and Lee looked like exact replicas of each other except Lee was shorter. They had the same bowl cut hair, the same green spandex jumpsuit, and the same huge bushy eyebrows. The girl on their team was name Tenten and she had brown hair in two buns and she looked at Neji like that pink haired girl at the Ichiraku looked at the black haired angry boy. Gai mistook me for Neji's girlfriend at one point and it took him a while to recover and explain I was his sister.

Later, we sat in the forest and talked about the way things have changed. We laid on the ground and looked at the sky as birds flew south towards Suna.

"I wish I was them," he said.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, it's like I'm caged up, I can't fly, I can't show my true potential, and it's all because of this!" he ripped his headband off to reveal his curse mark I reached back and untied mine and took it off the show him mine didn't disappear.

"They don't go away, no matter where you go," I said.

"No."

"Are you still mad at me?" I asked him one day when we were eating at some barbeque restaurant.

"No. I never had a reason to be mad in the first place. It was just, everything that was happening, you were always there, trying to make everything seem better. I couldn't stand it, mostly because you were right." Tears filled my eyes and I smiled at him.

"I never realized how much I miss that place." I say as we are entering Suna again. When we reach the desert, the sand swirls up around Gaara as if welcoming him home. The sun feels good compared to Konohoa's near winter cold.

When we get to the village we go to the Kazekage so Gaara can give him the scrolls. Gaara carried them because they were safest with him according to Temari.

A/N—Alright, sorry if this chapter seems rushed, my brother wants dinner and I wanted to get done with this first. Now that I'm done with this I can make dinner and watch Cry Baby. You know, that awesome Johnny Depp movie. Love Johnny Depp! The next chapter will have some Gaara-ness in it, and I promise, it will be a lot better.

And because I keep forgetting to tell you…WARNINGS: references to sex, slight swearing, teen pregnancy, possible character death.

Random-ness #1—I support the TWILIGHTGUY.