Chapter 11
Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! Who say yay for new chapter? Who says yay? Hope you enjoy it was… you know what? You guys will tell me how it was
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Lazily I rolled over and stretched out on my bed, repairs to the village had finally winded down to an end. I couldn't be any more ecstatic or sad at the same time. With repairs finally over this meant Gaara had to return with his siblings back to his village. Somehow without him here I had no purpose or drive to watch the stars at night, much less the moon. I sighed sadly and rolled onto my stomach, I had become so accustomed to waking up early in the morning to work on the excavation site that an internal alarm clock had developed, that woke me up at the crack of dawn. Restlessly I shifted to my side, while supporting my head with the crook of my arm. I couldn't help and think about what Gaara might be doing at this hour or if he was missing me as much as I was. Closing my eyes I tried to relax my mind in hope that I might fall back asleep. Memories began to flood my mind. This was the worst possible idea ever! Grunting angrily I opened my eyes and slid off the bed.
Throwing open the window I peered off into the horizon. Flecks of gold streaked across the early grey morning sky, thunder clouds were also rolling off into the distance heading for a neighboring country. The calling of birds filled the sky as they flew out from their nests with their young or by themselves eager to start the day and search for food. With a light smile on my lips I watched silently as the parents soared effortlessly through the sky chirping every now and again almost in encouragement for their young who stumbled along after them in flight. Suddenly an early wind blew, crisp, fresh and slightly chilly. Sticking my head out the window I inhaled deeply at peace with the scene before me. A flurry of leaves were sent flying into the sky, glinting in golden, yellow and orange hues when the sun's rays caught them as they danced their way gracefully back down to the earth.
I caught myself unconsciously fingering the pendant of the necklace which Gaara held the other half to. A familiar sting developed in my eyes.
Come back soon…
Closing the window I willed myself to not cry and began to dress for the day. Most likely I'd be doing errands for today since there wasn't really much for us to do at the moment. Mentally I planned my day, which basically consisted of two things. Number one being, going down to the post office to post a letter of mine to Gaara, unfortunately this was our only means of communication. Messenger hawks were only used for emergency and important documents because of the short space of time they took to reach the receiver. Letters to Suna took a long time to reach Konaha, and just as long from here to there. Over the period of time apart I had only received one letter from Gaara who had responded to a previous letter of mine. I was pleasantly surprised when I got a reply; basically all it had was answers to questions I had asked him. But there was one thing that took me by surprise when I read the letter; it was the last sentence which read 'I miss you.'
With a trained ear I listened to the sounds from inside of my home. My parents were still sound asleep and mostly likely wouldn't wake for another half hour or so and my two elder brothers were off on a mission. In my usual fashion I opened the widow and hopped out onto the neighbour's roof, my letter tucked in the back of my trousers.
The distance of my house to the post office wasn't much so I reached there quickly. As I landed, the owner of the building was now turning over the closed sign to open.
"Ohaio Riku sama!" I greeted cheerfully.
Slowly the old man looked up through the clear glass door, his withered and wrinkled face turned towards me. He squinted behind his large spectacles trying to make out who I was.
I chuckled to myself ", it's me, Haru, Riku sama."
He cracked a toothless smile, his shiny pink gums becoming the focal point of his face for an instant. With a frail, freckled hand he motioned me inside and took my letter, then pulled out from a specially marked box a small stack of letters bounded together by fraying twine.
I gave him my thanks then jumped up onto the roof of a nearby building to sort through the mail. Undoing the knot I sifted through the pile arranging it by who got which letter. The last letter of the pile caught my attention, it was an off white water stained envelope with my home address written on it. Strangely the peculiar letter was addressed to me. Taking the rest of the letters I placed them under my leg to keep them from being blown away by the wind which had just picked up.
Sliding my thumb over the flap of the envelope I ripped it open and removed the contents from inside. It was a letter written on an old yellowed piece of parchment paper.
My dearest Haru,
If you are reading this it means that I'm on my death bed or already dead. You may not know who I am, but I know who you are. Haru, my dear, I am your father. I know I've never contacted you and left you in the hands of strangers to look after you. I want you to know that I am so very sorry and that I've always loved you, but we couldn't be together. Your life would be endangered if you stayed with me. You see your mother died in childbirth and myself being an orphan had no family to turn to, to help me with you when I found out that my life was wanted. I wanted to keep you, I honestly did but, I feared for your life more than mine. So I gave you to my best friend and his wife to take care of you while I disappeared. I do hope they have treated you well.
I only have one regret and that is not being able to spend anytime with you.
Please don't hate me and since this may be the only time I will ever have to contact you.
I love you.
Your loving Father,
Tatsuma.
"WHAT?" I shrieked in horror, so loudly that the birds in the neighbouring trees flew off in fear. I sat there gripping the letter tightly in my hand, reading it over and over and over.
"N- no," I stammered distraught ", t- this can't be… someone i-is playing a really s-sick j joke on me."
Picking myself up I ran home, as quickly as I could, not caring about the people I knocked over or vending stalls I destroyed when I collided into them. The distance to my house seemed suddenly far. I sped up as I saw it come into view. Frantically I jumped over the gate and yanked open the door, I stumbled into the door way screaming for my mother.
"Haru honey what's wrong?" called my mother her voice drenched in concern as she ran down the corridor towards me in her pajamas sleep still on her face, my father not to far behind her with his sword in hand.
I was gasping for air ", th – this, THIS!" I shrieked and thrusted the paper towards them.
My mother caught it in mid air and I watched as their faces went from concern to surprise then worry as they looked at me with glistening eyes.
My mother moistened her bottom lip before proceeding to wrap her arm around me, "come Haru, let's take this in the living room."
I ripped her hand from around me," no! Tell me now! What is this? Is it true?"
My heart was drumming wildly in my chest, I was suddenly afraid I might have a stroke but, that was the least of my troubles at the moment.
My father lowered his sword ", its true, Haru, we're not your true parents."
Suddenly a sick feeling washed over me, the room began to spin. I bent over with my hands on my thigh and heaved deeply; air was not entering my lungs. The ground then turned to jelly, my legs wobbled weakly beneath me. I felt myself falling and two large brawny arms grabbing me from the back just as I was engulfed in darkness.
I became aware of the presence of people in the room before I even opened my eyes. I sensed their anxious anticipation, as they watched over my, the quite shuffling of their feet as they paced back and forth at the foot of my bed. The footfalls were light so I assumed this was my mother. I cracked opened my eyes.
"Mommy?" I croaked.
"Oh Haru!" she crooned, immediately by my side and my father next to her, his heavy breathing more eminent now.
I swallowed ", what happened?"
She gave a tight smile and brushed my hair out of my face ", you fainted dear."
I fainted? Wait… that's right the letter!
I cleared my throat and looked at the faces of my worried parents ", the letter… you told me it was true. I wanna know."
Suddenly my mother glanced at my father, a silent exchange of words between them.
"Alright," my father said his voice husky with emotions.
"Your father's name is Tatsuma Uchii; he's originally from the sand village. As you know way before you were born all the nations were at war together. Your father is what we would've called a double agent, gathering information from the sand and sending it to us. Back then people from different villages weren't allowed to marry or have any form of relationship with each other but, your father fell in love with your mother Saya. Konoha made an exception for him and said if he wishes to marry and stay in this village with your mother who was already pregnant with you, he'd have to get information from Suna. Eventually they caught onto him and me being his best friend, he entrusted you to me because, as you saw here in the letter your mother died in child birth."
"I've – we've loved you like a daughter ever since. Please Haru don't think bad of us or your father. He only did it to protect you," he managed to choke out.
I lay there staring up at the ceiling, wondering if I should hate him, Tatsuma, my biological father. Somehow I couldn't, he did it for the sake of love despite having to betray Suna. Hatred for the Hokage who forced him to do what he did developed the kage that robbed me of the right to be with my real father. I continued to stare at the rotating ceiling fan and let the hot tears stream out of my eyes.
Suddenly my heart ached to find him… my biological father, the one who gave up everything for the sake of love.
"I – I want you to know…," I began my voice cracking with every word ", that I – I'll always love you like my real parents and that love I have for you will never die but… I want y- you," I hiccupped ", to please allow me to look for him."
Suddenly my mother broke down into body wreaking sobs which shook the whole bed violently. My adoptive father, a very proud and strong man was also crying as he held an arm comfortingly around my adoptive mother's shoulders. I sat up and crawled over to the edge of the bed where they both were sitting and hugged them, my own tears flooding my face.
"Yes," croaked my adoptive mother ", go look for him; bring him home if you can… we'll be waiting for you."
I buried my tear stricken face into her hair and breathed a thank you.
"All set?" asked my mother as she peeked into my room. I nodded in response as I shoved the last of my travel items into my bag.
"Oh I have something for you!" she gasped and handed me an old photograph.
I stared at it then looked at her questioningly.
"It's the only picture I have of your father and mother," she said staring at me expectantly.
I stared at it again, watching the happy faces of the two people before me who wasn't even aware of what fate that awaited them.
The man was tall and handsome with dark brown wavy hair and laughing eyes, he looked like he had a good sense of humor and a broad smile which made him look somewhat sheepish in the picture. He was of a tall lean muscular built; the uniform he wore did him no justice. The woman whose tiny waist he held intimately was of a slight built. She was very petite but, there was a hidden strength hidden in her which emanated from the photograph. Dark wavy raven tresses tumbled over her shoulders; her eyes which were staring at my father had an ever so subtle tilt, reminding me of a cat. She had eyes which could bore into the soul of anyone who stared at them. Her full lips were stretched into a small shy smile.
"She's beautiful, isn't she?" asked my adoptive mother recognizing who I was staring at.
"Yeah she is," I whispered, my eyes not leaving the photograph ", it's a shame I'll never know her."
My adoptive mother chuckled as she sat on my bed next to me, the spring in the mattress creaking slightly ", she… she was a lot like how you are… don't think we don't know what goes on between you and the sand village boy. Always doing what you're not supposed to… just like her with your father," her voice cracking faintly.
"We were all best friends you know… you look just like her. It's almost like if her spirit is in you sometimes," she said while affectionately passing a hand through my hair.
She stood suddenly ", come on now! We don't wanna waste anymore time! The sun's going to set soon."
I gazed at her as she walked out the door, slinging my bag on her shoulder, a slight pang of sadness and regret suddenly echoed in my heart. Reaching down I grabbed my other packed bag at the foot of my bed and headed for the front door, sadness beginning to overwhelm my soul.
My adoptive parents were waiting for me at the front door, I smiled sadly at them. I placed my hand in theirs and squeezed it reassuringly. Then hand in hand we walked towards the main gate, my adoptive mother sobbing silently to my right and my adoptive father on the verge of bursting into tears also.
"Well… this is it," I said as we approached the gate.
They both nodded.
"Oh Haru!" my adoptive father called as I began to walk away.
"Take this," he said as he pressed an elaborately intricate designed Sai into my hand ", this was supposed to be for your birthday and for passing the chunnin exams but take them now… and may they protect you."
Daddy…
I couldn't hold it in anymore and I threw my arms around him and embraced him, sobbing, my mother joined us.
Then my father pulled my off of him tears also streaming down his face ", come now, be strong! You have to do this… alright my precious girl? Come back to us and if possible bring home your father too. Bear in mind that the postage stamp came from the Village Hidden in the Mist and that we love you and that we'll always love you. Now go now!"
I nodded and quickly kissed them, took my other bag from my mother and ran; only stopping once to wave to my adoptive parents who were still watching me.
Gaara I'm sorry for not telling you about this… I'm so sorry that our connection will be broken because of this. Forgive me for breaking my promise to you!
"Leave me alone Temari," I snarled.
She huffed angrily.
"Hey!" called Kankuro ", leave Gaara alone he's in a bad mood."
My scowl disappeared as soon as they left the room. The afternoon wind was refreshing, it reminded me of the many nights Haru and I spent together watching the stars and the moon. On the coffee table near to where I sat I spied a small traditional Japanese cup Termai must have left me before leaving the room. I reached for it to inspect the contents inside, Temari was a horrible cook. Suddenly the cup cracked just I was about to touch it, a thin long scar stretched from top to bottom of the cup which allowed the contents inside to flow out. The red liquid spilled out like blood onto the table and off the edge before the scarlet liquid dripped onto the floor.
A feeling of dread swept over me. A cup or glass breaking like that always signified that something bad was going to happen.
"Is something bad going to happen here?" questioned Shakaku, his own curiosity eminent.
Haru…
I found writing this chapter to be a bit sad… well at least to me :/ dunno why. Oh well! Hope you enjoyed it! If you're wondering how I'm going to continue it… I HAVE NOT A FLIPPIN CLUE! Ok ok ok you caught me, I lied. If you're wondering if I'm gonna write the quest where Haru looks for her dad no. it'll take too much time for me to do that and I don't think I'll be able to incorporate the ideas that I have into it. Plus… if it's going to have lemons (I hope that's the correct term) they can't be kiddies. So I need to make a transition somewhere… where? It's still unknown…
Do you all still want me to write it in Haru version then Gaara version so you get both views or kind of incorporate both of them onto like one chapter… I am considering doing the last one. Having both of them together seems a bit easier.
So wait if I put lemons do you want it to be descriptive? O_O oh and I'm serious! ^\O_O/^
BTW longest chapter I've ever written….. =D *naruto style grin* 7 pages on Microsoft word
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