Disclaimer: Naruto isn't mine.
Mission 1: Haru
Author's Note:
Sorry for late chapter, been busy with dramas (Reason: Getting more ideas for the fanfic, nah!) Thanks for all the great reviews!
Futon: I think it's the soft bed that japanese always use. IF I used the wrong word, please correct me.
I used old lady although her name was Mai since it seems more respectful in a sense.
Obaasan/chan or -baasan/chan for short is the term for old lady, can be both used for granny and aunt.
Okaasan/chan or Kaasan/chan for short is the term for mother.
Reuploaded chapter 5 since I mispelt something
♫
If the rain falls,
I will be your umbrella.
♫
"Sakura-chan, why are we following them around, can't we just go and visit ramen shops in Suna?" Naruto whined while flying behind Kankuro, Sakura and Gaara.
"You know you can go back to Konoha," said Kankuro.
"I am talking to Sakura-chan; not you!" Naruto complained.
"Naruto-kun, what he said is true, you are supposed to go back to Konoha," said Sakura.
"But but.. I miss you!" Naruto flied towards Sakura while trying to hug her, "Eh? Why do you feel fuzzy?" Naruto wondered and looked at Sakura and noticed that he was hugging a fierce looking dog, "Aaaaaaaaaaa!"
"Hehe, oh yeah, where are we going today?" Sakura asked.
"I bet you didn't listen to what Temari had said this morning since you were busy talking with that yellow-haired monkey..." said Kankuro. Sakura tried to remember what happened earlier on.
♫
Flashback
"Sakura-chan?" Temari called while watching Sakura unplucks the cactus' needle off Naruto.
"Yes?" Sakura asked while concentrating on the needle.
"I want to tell you that you will go to Sora vill--"
"Ah! that hurts too much Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried before Temari could finish her sentence.
"Stop moving Naruto! You said anything, Temari-chan?" Sakura asked.
"It's okay," said Temari.
End of flashback
♫
"Er.. What is this mission about?" Sakura asked Kankuro knowing that asking Gaara will be useless.
"It's a D-ranked mission; a delivery to Mai-baasan," Kankuro explained.
"Lame mission, they should have sent you guys to an A-ranked mission since I am with you guys," said Naruto in a proud tone. Gaara was annoyed at Naruto and stared at him.
"Shoo Naruto-kun! You have no right to say that," Sakura whispered in a low voice.
"Now that you had mentioned about delivery, is it the package your holding?" Naruto asked while pointing at a box wrapped in blue cloth holded by Kankuro.
"Ye-WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Kankuro was surprised when Naruto took the box from Kankuro and when the box was almost opened by Naruto... "Suna Shuriken!"
A sand shuriken flew across Naruto's face; leaving a slash on his face. Naruto was shocked by the attack and dropped the box; jaw-dropping.
"Are you okay...?" Sakura stopped jumping and asked although she was shocked too but she knew Gaara did that in order to protect the client's privacy.
"YOU KNOW YOU ALMOST KILLED ME!" Naruto shouted at Gaara.
"He can still shout so he is fine," said Gaara in a cold voice with his arms crossed.
♫
If the sun shines your eyes,
I will be your sunglasses.
♫
"Your box, Obaasan," said Sakura while handing the box to an old lady while Naruto was glaring at Gaara behind her.
"Haru..? Is that you?" the old lady asked while touching Sakura's face, "It's really you! you had returned to me,"
"Haru? My name is not-" Sakura tried to explain.
"Come in, come in, it's cold outside, I will get the food prepared for you," the old lady pulled Sakura's hand into the house. Sakura didn't resist her cause the old lady seems fragile to her. She eyed Gaara, Naruto and Kankuro as a signal for them to follow her into the house.
Inside the house, Sakura saw a simple decorated house. Although the house was quite old but it was pretty spacious and well-cleaned.
"Here, go take a bath and I will prepare the food," the old lady said with a pink coloured kimono holded on her hand; handing it over to Sakura.
"But.." said Sakura when she was trying to explain that she wasn't anyone called Haru. The old lady saw Gaara, Naruto and Kankuro standing behind Sakura so she cut Sakura's explaination, "You guys must be Haru's friends, come and take a seat, I will go and make some sushi right now,"
"Sushi! Great! I am hungry from this tiring mission," said Naruto, exercising a little bit as if he was very tired.
"Tiring? you didn't do anything except for causing troubles! I doubt that's tiring," said Kankuro, releasing his angers on Naruto after all the troubles he had caused on the way to Sora Village.
♫
If you are afraid of the lightning's sound,
I will close your ears with both my hands.
♫
"Where are Kankuro-san and Naruto-kun?" asked Sakura, wiping her hair with the towel after taking the bath.
"Outside," Gaara answered which was least expected by Sakura.
"So, you are done with your bath, Haru. You do look good in the kimono, what do you think, young man?" The old lady came in with a tray on her hand and asked Gaara. Sakura stared at Gaara's mouth; waiting for an answer.
"She looks good," Gaara answered.
"Thank..you," Sakura blushed when she heard that.
"Thank you? You are thanking G-A-A-R-A! You must be nuts," said inner Sakura.
"This young man over there, what is your name?" The old lady asked again.
"Gaara, Sabaku no Gaara," Gaara answered.
'He seems polite," Sakura talked to herself, commenting on the way how Gaara answered the old lady.
"You must be dreaming Sakura, wake up! He is a killer, remember!" inner Sakura reminded.
"You must be Haru's.. hehe," The old lady giggled at her own thought.
"No,no, He isn't" Sakura tried to explain.
"Yes, I am," said Gaara, cutting off Sakura's explaination and caused a sudden shock to Sakura after she heard what he had just said.
"You look like such a good guy, I'm happy to see Haru with you," said the old lady again with a smile on her face. After seeing the smile, Sakura couldn't tell the truth because she didn't want the smile to fade away.
Naruto came into the house with Kankuro. He was astonished by Sakura's appearance in Kimono which had caused a ruckus in the house. Eventhough the food prepared by the old lady was simple, they enjoyed the meal although the boys didn't say so.
"Since it is this late, why don't you guys stay here?" the old lady asked.
"We should really get going now to report the mission to Temari..." said Sakura.
"You just came home Haru, why won't you stay for a little while more?" the old lady asked again.
"But..." Sakura looked at the boys, wanting them to give her the sign of acknowledgement that they can stay for the night. Kankuro nodded his head, "I guess it won't hurt to stay for a while more," She told the old lady.
"Good to hear that but... there are only two rooms available... will it be okay if Gaara could share the same room as Haru?" The old lady asked, with a smirk at her plan.
When Sakura was about to reject the idea, Gaara said something which was unusual again which surprised everyone, "Fine,"
"They CAN'T share a room together, if obaasan wants to share, let me stay with Sakura!" said Naruto.
"Nah... I don't think I want a monkey to share the same room with Haru, it will be dangerous," said the old lady. Angry marks appeared on Naruto's head after he heard what she had said and he wanted to punch the old lady for calling him a monkey but was holded back by Kankuro.
♫
If the snow fall,
I will warm your hand by holding it tighly.
♫
"I will blow off the light now," said the old lady, "This room's wall is thick, we can't hear you from the outside," She added before she left the room. Naruto was shouting outside the room, not wanting Sakura to sleep with Gaara but was silenced by Kankuro not long after that. Gaara was laying beside Sakura although they were sleeping on different futon.
"Gaara, are you still awake?" Sakura asked.
"Hmm?" said Gaara as a shortform of he was asking her what's wrong.
"Why did you agreed to sleep with me, I mean you can sleep with Kankuro them, I don't think the room can't fit three of you guys. Oh yeah, and also why did you said you are my boyfriend...?" Sakura kept on asking.
"Fun"
"Fun? That is not fun, you know," said Sakura again. She noticed a little curl on Gaara's face as if he was smiling with the moonlight.
"Nah.. he couldn't be smiling, you must be see-ing it wrongly," She told herself.
Gaara suddenly stood up and opened the door to get out.
"Where are you going?" Sakura asked.
"Out,"
"You are not sleeping?"
"I don't sleep," he said and walked out of the room. Sakura was too tired after walking from Suna to Sora so she didn't follow Gaara and fell asleep instead.
After cleaning up the table after the breakfast, the old lady sat together with Sakura, Gaara, Kankuro and Naruto.
"I wonder what this box is about," said the old lady and opened the box. Inside the box, there were a very old picture with an envelope in it. The old lady took the pic; her tears were dripping down from her eyes when she saw the pic. She placed the picture down and opened the envelope. After reading it for a while, she dropped the envelope to the floor with a stunned look on her face. Sakura was worried and took the letter on the floor to read what had happened.
Okaasan,
I am sorry for leaving you alone in Sora but I wanted to find my own piece of sky outside Sora. Although life was hard without you but I managed to live in Suna on my own. It was fun to meet new friends and also to work as a book merchant but I had an incident not long after that. The medic nin told me that I was infected by a virus that will be taking my life away.The moment I am writing this, my lower part of my body became disfunctionable which is one week after the incident. I believe I won't be able to live long but it's okay since I have no regret in my life. Before I die, I would like to thank you for giving birth to me and taking good care of me until today.
P/S: I am attaching the picture of me infront of my book shop.
Your daughter,
HARU
Sakura turned the letter and saw the date the letter was written, which was 30 years ago.
♫
If you wanted to build a snowman,
I will make snowmen for you.
♫
"Will you be okay to stay alone?" Sakura asked.
"I will be okay, the old lady is still as strong as she was 18," said the old lady whiole trying to show her boney-muscle at Sakura. Sakura giggled, folowed by others' laughter except for Gaara's.
"Oh by the way, what is your name, little miss?" The old lady asked when they were about to walk back to Suna.
"Haru too, but it's Haruno Sakura," Sakura smiled and they headed back to Suna.
A little while later when the old lady was about to collect all the herbs that were being dried under the sun, a knock came in.
"Is that you? Haruno Sakura?" She asked but there wasn't any reply except for another knock.
The old lady walked to the door to see who was it. When she opened the door, she saw a few shinobis dressed in black ninja suit with a mask on their face.
"Who..Who are you guys!" She asked in a shocked tone.
"Have you seen Sabaku no Gaara?" One of them asked.
"Who..Who..?"
"It seems that you didn't know anything," One of the shinobis gave a sign to another shinobi. The other Shinobi raised it's shuriken and aimed at the old lady.
"No..No!"
♫
End of the chapter's note: Lame dialogue in the end .. I did it in a rush, sorry.