Chapter Ten
It had been three months since Sakura had come back to Gakure. In that time she went to school, reunited with several old friends, made many new friends, rekindled old rivalries and almost found herself going back to the way things were, as though she had never even left to begin with. Her Shugo Charas, too, had weaved their way into Gakure very smoothly, each breaking away from her sisters and finding their own friends.
Katsumi had become surprisingly well acquainted with Kyuubi, and took great joys in counselling him on how to be the best Chara he could be – despite most of her advice being common sense. Kyuubi himself found her amusing, and the two would come up with pranks to play on the other Charas, with Naruto only adding fuel to the fire. Of course, Katsumi would still complain about a severe lack of Neko Charas, but Kyuubi was always quick to change the subject and get her mind off Yoru.
While the Katsumi-Kyuubi alliance was somewhat expected, Setsuko had formed a shockingly strong bond with Kimimaro, Zaku's Shugo Chara, and would often be seen with him when she wasn't with her sisters. No one really knew what they talked about, only that both were very defensive of their time spent together and would never speak about their conversation with the other with anyone else, even their owners. Of course, Setsuko's friendship with Kimimaro often meant that Sakura was hanging around with Zaku more and more, which her friends weren't too keen on.
Mari had entered into the least obvious friendship, however, by creating a role model out of Hinata's Chara, Juken. She said that she was the perfect example of strength and power mixed with subtle barbs and a regal air that exuded superiority. She knew when to simply glower and when to strike with fists. As such, Mari would merely tag along with her, hanging on her every word and watching her every action in awe. Juken was amused by her antics, but thankfully did not take advantage of her new admirer.
Now Mitsu, as per her nature, had made slaves of Tobi and Karasu almost instantly after meeting them and, though Hiruko – Sasori's Chara – put up a fight, he too ultimately succumbed. It was Pein that she had the most trouble with, as he believed himself to be the God of all Charas and, as such, would not bow to her whims as she was used to. At first, this created huffy fits and tantrums, but after a while she grew to respect him, and he accepted her prowess in getting those of weaker wills under her thumb.
Sakura seemed to have fallen back into the flow of things; hanging out with Naruto and Sasuke, sleepovers with Ino and Hinata, shopping trips with Temari, going to the gym with Tenten, interesting conversation with Neji, and shockingly Zaku. It all seemed to be going rather well, in fact, and she had even created new friendships with those who had moved to Gakure in her absence, like Naruto's new friends Temujin and Menma, though both were rather quiet and kept mostly to themselves.
However, no matter how far she fell into 'normalcy', she always felt that something was missing. Every sound outside her window, every time the house creaked, when the door opened, or when the wind blew through her curtains, she would look up suddenly and expect to see a tall, lithe teenage with messy blue hair. She never saw him, though, and with every passing day Sakura was more and more worried that he had simply forgotten about her.
She knew it was selfish to expect Ikuto to drop everything and travel to Gakure, take her in his arms and carry her off somewhere so the two of them would never be apart again, but she didn't care. It was her heart that was breaking, and she would be damned if she ignored it in favour of forgetting her past. She had to move on, but no one said it had to be quickly. She would take months – years – lifetimes if she needed, and yet she would still probably hold vague memories of the cat-like teen who had first stolen her heart.
She had slowly reunited with all of her old friends. Strangely, the hardest to reconnect with was Gaara, though she probably should have expected that after the way she left things with him. What she didn't expect was his reaction to seeing her again. Gaara had gone to 'hunt her down' after his older brother had told him she was back, but when he saw her he seemed to be at a loss for words.
}-{
"Hello, Gaara," Sakura greeted quietly, afraid that he would be angry or hate her after her wordless departure. He was silent, just staring at her as though he couldn't believe she was really there.
"You're back," he said at last, though his voice was quiet enough for Sakura to doubt he had said anything at all. She gulped, unsure how to proceed, before she nodded.
"I'm back," she confirmed, rubbing her arms in discomfort. He nodded once, thoughtful, and sighed, looking away from her. A frown appeared on his face and he seemed to be in pain for a moment before he turned back to her.
Gaara stepped closer to Sakura, just standing in her personal space. He wasn't overly tall, so he was only a little bit taller than her, but he still had to look down to meet her eyes. She could feel his breath on her forehead, and was sure he could feel hers on his neck, which just made the situation a little more awkward than it already was. They were both quiet, just standing there in the uncomfortable silence, until Gaara looked away and stepped back.
"You haven't changed much," he decided and Sakura frowned, feeling slightly offended.
"I think I have," she argued. "I'm...calmer."
"Not really," he smirked, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. Sakura scowled.
"I'm taller," she added.
"Me too," he retorted, "so I hadn't really noticed."
"Why, you," she growled. "I –"
"Sakura, don't," he interrupted, his face blank again as he cupped her cheek, and rubbed his thumb just under her eye. "It's your eyes," Gaara told her softly, drawing away again, "You're eyes haven't changed much."
"I..." she trailed off, looking away from him this time. Sakura had no idea what to say to something like that. "I'm sorry," she said, her voice barely above a whisper as tears collected in her eyes. Gaara's face twitched with a small smile and he pulled her into a loose hug.
"I know," he whispered back, into her hair, before releasing her. Their eyes met for a brief moment and then he turned and walked away.
}-{
Sakura hadn't spoken to Gaara since that incident, and knew she would have to give him more time. He had been hurt a lot as a child, made to feel like his mother's death was his fault, and ignored by his father. His betray by his uncle had stung him especially hard, since the man had acted like his closest friend for years before the young redhead overheard his uncle's scorn of him. He'd felt heartbroken, and so she knew that leaving without telling him had made him feel abandoned, so she wouldn't push him.
"Saku-chan," Mitsu called to get her attention, "can we go and visit Nagato-san, please? I need to talk to Pein-kun."
"No way!" yelled Mari, "You said we could visit Hinata-san so I could see Juken-sempai!"
"Umm, excuse me," Katsumi cut in with a scoff, "We're going to see Naruto so I can see Kyuubi-chan!"
"You know, I do not think he appreciates you calling him that," Setsuko said calmly, raising an eyebrow at her older sister, "and, besides, it is time to visit with Zaku-san, and therefore time for me to see Kimimaro-san."
"Oh, please!" growled Mitsu, irritated every time the subject of Kimimaro was brought up, "That emotionless idiot won't miss you for one day while we visit Pein-kun."
"And I'm sure Pein would like an afternoon free of you while we all go to see Kyuubi-chan – which he loves being call," Katsumi snapped back.
"We're going to see Juken-sempai," stressed Mari while folding her arms.
"Actually, I wanted to visit Neji," Sakura interrupted before the girls could get too out-of-hand. All four of them visibly deflated – Neji didn't have a Chara, and so they were bored whenever Sakura went to see him, "but I wouldn't mind if you four wanted to go and see your friends, so long as you're back home by dinner."
"Thanks, Saku-chan!" cheered Mari, shooting out of the window towards Hinata's house.
"Thank you so much!" squealed Mitsu as she followed her sister out the window before turning the other way, to Nagato's home.
"I hope you have fun with Neji-san," Setsuko bowed, a wide smile on her face as she left to find Zaku and Kimimaro.
"What they said!" giggled Katsumi, the last to go but the quickest to disappear out of sight. Sakura sighed, alone in her room, and put her head in her hands.
"I wonder if Amu has this much trouble."
{-}
Mitsu flew beside Setsuko, as they were both going in the same direction, when a thought came to her. She had never really spent any time with her sisters, and while she had previously giggles over man-slaves with Katsumi, usually agreed with Setsuko in most situations, and boasted her power with Mari, she rarely actually hung out with them. Most of their time would be spent vying for Sakura's attention, or splitting off to hang out with other Charas – never the same Chara as their sisters, however.
"Setsuko-nee," she said quietly, stopping mid-air. The blue Chara, surprised to hear Mitsu calling her 'sister', stopped also to listen – it was just accepted that they were the siblings of their owner's other Charas, but no one really took it any further than the common knowledge.
"What is it, Mitsu?" she asked, tilting her head delicately. Mitsu was frowning, looking down, and Setsuko grew worried, floating closer. "Are you alright?"
"We're sisters, right?" she asked quietly, looking up. Blue met gold and Setsuko smiled softly.
"We are," she nodded. This just caused Mitsu to frown. "Why do you ask?"
"We never seem to talk – any of us," she muttered, rubbing her arm. "When I see human sisters, they talk and hang out and get along, but we don't do any of that stuff."
"We are not like human sisters, Mitsu," Setsuko soothed. "We are Charas, each born of a different desire with a completely different personality. Were we humans, Katsumi and Mari would never so much as blink in each other's direction, let along speak to one another. It is not possible for us to be the best of friends, because there is nothing we have in common besides being Saku-chan's Shugo Charas. We are sisters because we look after each other and do not allow each other to become upset or feel left out – we are closer than human sisters could dream, because we all understand each other on a deeper level than humanly possible, but we will most likely never find common ground."
"That's why we always split up?" the youngest Chara asked, feeling a little less confused.
"It is," nodded Setsuko, hugging her sister, "but the fact that we have nothing in common and are rarely around one another does not mean we love each other any less than blood-related sisters. We all love you, Imouto," she said softly, and this seemed to be just what Mitsu needed to hear, because the young Chara brightened instantly.
"Thanks, Setsuko," she beamed. "I'm gonna go find Pein-chan – have fun with Kimi-chan!" she bid, floating away. Setsuko shook her head with a bemused smile before flying towards where she knew Kimimaro would be.
{-}
Mari couldn't wait to get to Hinata's house and hang out with Juken. The two had really hit it off, and quickly, too. She supposed it was odd for her to get along with someone so quickly – it usually took a few days for her to get over her initial mistrust and hostility. Even after three months of building her friendship with Juken, she still remembered that it originally only took one meeting for Mari to like the older Chara.
Mitsu thought it was because Juken had green hair and Mari was the green Chara, but the older girl pushed that opinion aside. She supposed the real reason was because Juken was so much like herself, which she liked, but also a lot like Setsuko. Her older sister was someone she really looked up to and, while she didn't want to be just like Setsuko, she also knew that Setsuko was who she looked to when she was troubled.
She knew it should have been Katsumi, as the red Chara was the oldest, but nothing could change the fact that Setsuko was the most mature one out of them all, and therefore the one every Chara turned to when they needed a level-headed opinion. Strangely, despite her manipulative tenancies, it was Mitsu people went to when they just needed to feel loved – though, as Mitsu was the Chara embodiment of warmth and love, this should have been expected.
People went to Katsumi when they wanted to just have fun – when they wanted to be around someone cheerful and happy. Pausing, Mari realised that she was possibly the only one of Sakura's Charas that didn't have a purpose outside of her owner. Katsumi cheered people up, Setsuko offered guidance, and Mitsu was the most comforting Chara she knew; all Mari did was scowl and threaten to punch them.
Shaking her head, the green Chara realised that she had reached her destination, though she wasn't as excited as she had been a moment ago. With a small sigh, Mari put on a happy face and flew through the open window to visit Juken.
{-}
The conversation with the youngest of their Chara quartet had been playing back and forth in Setsuko's mind, and she knew that Kimimaro had noticed. While usually they were never short of conversation, he seemed to know that today she needed to sit in comfortable, contemplative silence. Setsuko was thankful for this silence, but also knew that she shouldn't merely sit there and stew in her sister's words, wasting her time with her new friend.
"So, Kimimaro," she began, gaining his attention quickly, "back to our previous topic of discussion. How do you like the other Charas around here?"
"Well," he considered, recalling every Chara he had met, "I believe Juken and Hiruko are tolerable, while the rest are rather noisy."
"Indeed," Setsuko nodded, "though I do find Kyuubi-san rather charming, in his own way," she smiled. Kimimaro raised an eyebrow and sighed.
"He reminds you of this 'Yoru' you're friend with, correct?" he guessed, and by her flushed cheeks he knew he was right. It was slightly painful to know his first true Chara friend had someone else on her mind, but at the same time he could understand that she was missing her old friend. If Setsuko were to leave, he knew he would miss her terribly.
"I suppose it's because of his care-free, charismatic nature," she agreed, thinking about the cat Chara. "He and Yoru would have probably hated each other, though."
"Yes," Kimimaro smirked. "Two people that similar in one room; they would drive each other insane."
"Undoubtedly," she smirked back, an evil gleam in her eye. Gulping, as this was only one of a handful of times Kimimaro had witnessed Setsuko's evil side, he was quick to change the subject.
{-}
"Oh, Kyuubi-chan!" sang Katsumi when she arrived at Naruto's house, knocking on her friend's egg to wake him up. There was no reply, so she opened the egg, pouting when she found it empty. She pulled back, humming in thought as she tapped her chin, looking around Naruto's empty room as a near-feral grin swept across her features.
This would not be good for the blonde and his Chara.
Closing her eyes, Katsumi focused on locating her wild-haired friend. She quickly found that he was not in the house and pouted, her nose wrinkling as she realised that she would actually have to fly around looking for him, unless she wanted to find Sakura and spend her time alone, listened to her and Neji talk about boring, complicated things that she wasn't interested in.
With her mind made up, Katsumi flew back out of the window, hoping to find Kyuubi quickly. What she didn't expect, however, was to spot Shikamaru – another of Sakura's close friends – on the street, hissing as something beside him. When she floated closer, her eyes widened.
"He has a Shugo Chara?"
{-}
"And so I told him that I wouldn't put up with simple-minded monarchy games, and he totally caved!" giggled Mitsu, sitting beside Pein. He was still sitting in his black throne, but had Nagato purchase a red one for Mitsu to sit in during her visits. As she had enslaved all of his worshipers, it seemed only right that the God allowed her to become his Angel.
"This 'Kiseki' seems a fool to have challenged you," he announced matter-of-factly. "If he were here, I would have him bow down to me. Such an ignorant mortal to believe his claim as 'King' would have any bearing over a God and his Angel."
"W-Well, that's not really fair," Mitsu frowned, jumping to defend her friend from the unneeded criticism. "He's a King Chara, so it's only natural for him to behave like a King. His owner's dream is world domination, anyway, so..."
"Regardless," Pein waved off. "Such a dream is a senseless endeavour. You can never claim the world from a God, so why would this idiotic mortal even consider –"
"Stop picking on him!" she yelled angrily. Pein raised an eyebrow.
"You were just doing the same," he observed.
"I'm allowed to," she said, rolling her eyes, "he's my slave. You've never even met him!"
"You are protective over your old friends," Pein noted with a small smile. Not seeing his expression, Mitsu sighed, looking down.
"I miss them," she admitted quietly.
"Pein!" called Nagato, "Hiruko and Kisame are here."
"Commanding your new slaves should cheer you up," Pein pointed out and Mitsu perked up.
"Oh no, not her!" groaned Kisame before he sighed, defeated. "I'll get the tea."
{-}
"You truly believe that you have no purpose?" Juken enquired calmly. Mari nodded, a downtrodden expression covering her face. Smiling slightly, the green-haired Chara placed a hand on her friend's shoulder. "What makes you believe this is true?"
"Well," Mari began, "all I seem to do is threaten people."
"Why?" asked Juken. Mari started, blinking at the sudden question.
"I guess it's because they're being mean to someone," she explained.
"I see. What else makes you think you're purposeless?"
"I fight people all the time."
"Why?"
"They're picking on someone else."
"That makes sense. Continue."
"I'm always getting into trouble."
"How?" Juken asked quickly.
"Usually, getting someone else out of it," Mari sighed.
"So, what you're saying is, you're pointless because all you do is protect the innocent, defend the weak, and save the careless?" mused Juken. "I don't know if it's just me, but that doesn't seem pointless at all."
"Well, when you put it like that," Mari smiled, feeling a lot better about herself now. Katsumi was the fun one, Setsuko was the mature one, Mitsu was the loving one, and she was the strong one – the protector.
"Everyone has a purpose, Mari," Juken pointed out calmly. "Sometimes it's harder to see, and sometimes someone cannot see their own shining qualities, but everyone is worth something, and everyone had a reason to be. For us Charas; we make it easier for our owners to know who they want to be, but we mustn't forget that who they want to be is who we already are. You're Sakura wants to help and protect people – you already do."
"Thanks, Juken," Mari beamed, hugging her friend.
{-}
Shikamaru scowled at the floating, big-headed figment of his imagination as it hovered in front of him. He had the same brown hair as Shikamaru, but messier, with spiked bangs and a smaller ponytail. His eyes were wide, blue, and full of a natural wonder that Shikamaru often wished he could have with the world. The little thing was wearing what looked like baggy pyjamas, with a light green-grey, long-sleeved top that had a circle with a line through it on it in a darker colour, nearly matching the baggy bottoms.
"So, you're supposed to be my would-be self?" he asked, trying to understand this situation. Even with his genius IQ, however, it seemed near impossible to compared birthing an egg with a mini-person inside.
"Exactly," the little thing nodded. "I'm a Shugo Chara. My name is Cloud, and I'm your wish to be focused and interested in the world around you. You're smart, but bored, so I was born out of your wish for wonderment."
"This can't be happening," the genius groaned. "You can't be real!" he yelled and Cloud flinched at the harsh tone, feeling his presence waver as his owner rejected him.
"Hey!" a new voice sounded as yet another mini-person flew towards him, this one a dark-haired girl in red clothes. "You can't deny his existence, or he'll disappear!" she squeaked.
"Good," the brunette said, "then maybe I'll get my sanity back."
"You're not insane," Cloud told him sadly, "We're real!"
"So, you're mine, too?" asked Shikamaru, eyeing the girl doubtfully. She giggled behind her hand and shook her head.
"No way!" she denied, "I belong to someone else – there's loads of us!"
"Perfect," he sighed heavily. The girl seemed to pause, thinking – which he doubted was a common pass-time for her – until she perked up, floating over to Cloud. His 'Chara' nodded and smiled.
"We'll wait here," he promised.
"Okay! Be back soon!" she said happily before floating off. Shikamaru watched her go and groaned as he began walking away, but Cloud grabbed the back of his shirt.
"We have to wait here until Katsumi gets back!" he yelled. Scowling at the air around him, Shikamaru sighed heavily and stood still, eyeing Cloud contemplatively.
"You're real, huh?" he murmured and Cloud perked up, his eyes lighting up instantly.
"Yes," he confirmed. "Do you finally believe in me?" he asked, feeling a lot more solid than before.
"I guess I have to believe what's in front of my eyes, right?" considered Shikamaru with a hum. "There's a lot more of you?"
"I dunno," shrugged Cloud, "I was only born a few hours ago. Until Katsumi flew over I didn't even know if there were more here, but I guess they have to be all over the world."
"It's strange," Shikamaru noted. "If there's so many of you, how come I've never seen any before?"
"They can only be seen by others with Shugo Charas," a familiar voice spoke up suddenly and Shikamaru turned.
"Naruto?" asked Shikamaru, highly confused.
{-}
Katsumi felt very proud of herself in that moment as she made her way back to Sakura. She had found a newly born Shugo Chara and helped stop his owner from criticising him out of existence. Not only that, but she had passed the mantle of teacher over to Kyuubi – her eyes clouded with tears just thinking about how quickly the student had become the master. She was so proud when she had left Kyuubi to teach Cloud.
After leaving Shikamaru and Cloud, she had darted off to find Naruto and Kyuubi, knowing they would be able to teach the new pair all they would need to know. She would have gone to find Sakura, but she knew it would have been hard to explain to Neji why she had to suddenly leave. Katsumi smiled as she realised that new Charas were being born every day. It was only a matter of time until all Heart's Eggs in the world were either born or realised.
Sighing happily, she floated off to find Sakura.
{-}
On the desk of a nameless estate agent sat a dark grey egg. It was tartan patterned, with a solid light grey stripe running around the centre. On this stripe sat a triskele with a gold centre and red, blue and green spirals. Due to the odd design, the woman who had found it believed it to be some kind of decorative Easter egg and was in the process of contacting the previous owner of the place it was found, but there was no reply.
After looking it up online – and finding nothing but a link to an old children's story called The Heart's Egg – she decided to leave it a while and see if the previous owner called to enquire about it. If not, following protocol, she would put it into storage after two week, and then after three months it would simply be given to the nearest charity shop. It would be a shame to see such a pretty thing go, but she wasn't allowed to keep it for herself.
Luckily, this protocol would not need to be followed through with, as this particular egg wasn't going to be around much longer. A large crack formed around the middle of the egg before the upper-half lifted. A pair of dark grey eyes peeked out, glancing around this new environment, before blinking twice and disappearing behind the closing egg. Securely closed once again, the egg swayed on the desk and bounced three times, out of the window.
{-}
Walking home, a tired figure spotted what was obviously the egg of a Shugo Chara bouncing down the street. Eyes widening as the person recognised the design of the egg as very similar to Hinamori Amu and Haruno Sakura's eggs, they darted forwards towards it. Knowing that Amu have all four of her eggs, the person realised that it had to belong to Sakura.
Sensing another like itself, the Chara stopped and floated up in the air, the egg opening again as the same grey eyes glanced out to find who was nearby. She found the person she was sensing and blinked again, closing her egg as she bounced towards the person.
Picking up the egg, the person sighed.
"I've got you now," they whispered, "and I'll keep you safe until we can get you back to your owner. I promise."
{-}
It had been a fun day for Sakura, hanging out with Neji and being able to focus completely on him without worrying about ignoring her Charas. From time-to-time, she would wonder about them – if they had found their friend, if they were okay, etc. – but knew that she would feel if they were in any kind of real trouble, much like all times before. She opened the door to her house and walked in, catching Tsunade's eye the moment she moved into the hall.
"Hi," she smiled, but the blonde looked guilty. "What's wrong?"
"Just..." Tsunade began, but trailed off. "You'll know soon enough," she stated, grabbing her coat and leaving the house. Frowning, but brushing off the confusion, Sakura moved upstairs.
When Sakura got to her room, she found a stack of enveloped on her bed with a small note on top. Slowly walking to it, she picked up the note and read it, though it only increased her confusion.
I'm sorry
Frowning, Sakura picked up the envelopes, one unseal but the rest intact, all holding her name. Taking the unsealed one first, she pulled out the letter and read.