(AN) If you noticed that I deleted the "flashback" chapter, it's because the more I thought about it the more I realized I wouldn't keep up with it, and it would kind of take away from the main story. So, it's gone know. I apologize to anyone that may have liked it and wanted me to continue it, but I couldn't do it, sorry.
Vayd: I'm just glad I manage to update, so thanks. I also try because I hate shoving everything in quickly, and I like development. Hopefully I don't make it too slow though ^^'
k: Well what happened was... something... Something happened to Haruka. There, secrets out! And thank you. :)
"And you could just imagine that Shikamaru wasn't interested in it at all." Ino exclaimed, finishing her story.
"Well that sounds like him." Tenten said as she ate another fry.
Ino, Tenten, Sakura, Hinata, and Haruka were all currently taking a break in the food court after they finished shopping. It was the other girls that were really talking, Haruka and Hinata were mostly just eating and watching. Haruka even lost focus for a while about what Ino was talking about.
They were all currently at the mall because Ino insisted on taking them all out to shop for bathing suits because, apparently, when she invited Sai to the new indoor pool park thing, she had to make it sound casual by saying she'll be taking some friends. So, to be ready for the pool trip-that she didn't know when it was-she decided they all had to look cute for it.
...Usually Haruka would have just stayed home for something like this. After all, indoor or not, it was getting colder so she didn't want to go swimming. Not only that, but Ino had just asked Haruka about the shopping trip only that morning. On normal circumstances, Haruka would have just shot her down and end it there-enough was on her plate to worry about as it was. However, to Haruka's own annoyance, Sasuke had overheard Ino inviting her, and answered for her that she'd go.
It's not that Haruka didn't like Ino, it's just that she had work she needed to get done, and she was never really into "girl time." After All, she practically grew up playing with boys-mostly Sasuke and Naruto. She wasn't used to girl things like going shopping, or gossiping. She didn't even know how to paint her own nails.
"Hey, Haru-chan!" Ino suddenly turned her attention to said person.
"Yeah?" Haruka replied with-being shot out of her thoughts.
"Now that I remember, didn't you date Shikamaru for a while?"
Haruka never really felt great whenever she remembered that. "Yeah, but for a week."
Sakura looked at her surprised. "Really? How did that happen?"
Haruka just shrugged, it wasn't really that interesting of a story. "We just hung out a lot during our first year, and everyone said we looked like a couple. We tried dating, but nothing really changed so we just went back to being friends."
"How'd you guys even start in the first place? It doesn't sound like an idea either of you would have." Ino said.
Haruka felt her eyes narrow ever so slightly out of irritation. "Ino, it was your idea."
This made the blonde's eyes go wide with shock. "It was?!"
"You just came up to us in class asking if we'd be against dating each other. When we both said no, and you then said 'great, now you're dating.'" They both were just too tired to deny her and just agreed to it, but it ended as quickly as it started.
"Oh, ok now I'm remembering that." Ino said with a smile.
"I can see Ino meddling in someone else's love life." Sakura stated calmly.
"Speaking of love life, how's yours Hinata?"
"I rest my case."
Hinata turned bright red at the question. It made Haruka a little proud to see that Hinata still seemed functional even after being asked that. She looked down at her half eaten cinnamon roll with a look that was a mix of both embarrassment and happiness-the later half catching Haruka's attention. "Um… It's… good…"
Haruka slightly noticed that Ino wasn't bothered by Hinata's soft way of speaking, but most of her attention was on what Hinata said. They hadn't talked about Naruto lately, so she wasn't aware of how much progression the two have been having behind the scenes. "What do you mean good?" Haruka couldn't help herself from asking.
To which Hinata grew redder, and Ino leaned in closer with an anticipating grin.
"U-Um…!" It only made Haruka more curious that Hinata was having this kind of reaction.
'Naruto what the hell did you do to Hinata?' She couldn't help but think with a mix of excitement and anger.
"Hey, if you're going to bring up love lives you should at least say your own." Sakura said, obviously trying to help the bright red girl from interrogation.
"Yeah, you guys are about to make Hinata blow." Tenten added.
Haruka leaned back in her seat disappointed in not getting the information she wanted, but she decided she'd just ask later over the phone.
Ino, on the other, grinned even bigger at the question. "Well that's the whole reason we're here isn't it?"
"So you're really going for Sai this time?" Tenten asked.
"Yup!"
"I don't get why." Sakura muttered.
"You're just mad because he called you ugly~." Ino sang.
"Shut up!"
Haruka thought back to her first encounter with Sai, and she could see that happening.
"Either way, Sai is so cool. He does some really beautiful drawing and-"
"Naruto?" Haruka cut off the blonde when she spotted the other blonde quickly racing over to the girls.
At Haruka's interruption, the other girls turned to look that it was not only Naruto but, his infamous godfather, Jiraiya that was behind him. Naruto quickly stopped at their table giving them a pleading look. "Guys you gotta help me! Someone's trying to kill me!"
"Naruto we gotta get moving!" Jiraiya pushed.
But before, any of the girls could even respond, in a flash, there was a blonde woman with noticeably large breasts standing behind the pair- as she emitted the aura of hate. "Jiraiya! Naruto!" She said in a voice matching the look on her face.
The two immediately fell down to their knees with looks of fear painted across their faces-Haruka began to notice that people were watching.
"Tsunade-sama I swear this all just one big misunderstanding please understand!" Jiraiya cried.
"The old perv's lying! It was all him! I swear I didn't even know what he was doing until you showed up!"
"You're supposed to be defending me Naruto! What kind of pupil are you?!"
"Shut up you giant pervert-!"
"Tsunade-san, what are you doing here?" Sakura cut them both off as she stood up to look the woman in the eyes.
Tsunade's anger submitted once her eyes fell on the pink haired teen. "Oh, Sakura-chan. I came here to buy some new clothes. Until-" At that her dark aura came back and looked down at the males still on their knees. "I caught a pair of peeping toms at the changing room."
...At the sound of that Ino, Tenten, Sakura, and Haruka all looked at said pair with a blank accusing look.
Naruto shot up to his feet looking at them with pleading eyes. "I swear I only saw Jiraiya and I didn't know what he was doing! I'm innocent really!" None of the girls dropped their look of accusation, so the blonde turned to the only one not obviously doubting him. "Hinata-chan, you believe me right?!"
Said girl turned bright red at the attention, but-surprisingly-kept her composure well. She looked Naruto right into his blue eyes begging for mercy, and she gave him a smile of reassurance. "I-I believe you. You wouldn't lie about something like this."
This caused Naruto's eyes to water and burst with tears as he looked at her forgiving light. "Hinata-chan you're so kind!"
"Wait, Sakura-chan, how do you know her?" Tenten asked said pink haired girl.
"Hm? Oh, Tsunade-san drops by the hospital that I volunteer at."
Haruka looked back to Tsunade as she focused all her glarings onto Jiraiya, and this time there was a worried looking brunette standing behind her… Haruka stared at the blonde woman longer, and she began to feel something in her head turning…
"Um… Tsunade-san?" Once said woman looked over at Haruka curiously, she continued. "Have… Have we met before?"
Haruka couldn't pinpoint it, but she felt as though she'd see this same woman somewhere before. It was almost eerie how familiar she looked.
Tsunade studied her face for a moment, and Haruka saw the way her eyes widened as though she realized something. "You're Fugaku Uchiha-san's daughter."
This took Haruka off guard. 'She knows Oto-san?' "How do you-?"
"I did business with him before. That must be how you recognize me." She said with a smile so confident Haruka just had to go with it… even though something felt off. There was also the fact that her answer alone was just odd. "Hey, since I'm here how about I take you girls to some food better than in the food court, after all," she looked over at a still kneeling Jiraiya with a gleam in her eyes, "it's all on a certain someone."
"Y-Yes mam." Was all the older man could say under her gaze.
. . . . . . . . . . . .
"No one else could make it?" Sasuke said through the phone.
Haruka sighed a little-her breath turning into a light frosty puff in the air. "Well, everyone said their parents were expecting them home soon. Naruto came, but he just left. Apparently he wasn't supposed to be out this late either, but he forgot."
"Figures. Where are you anyways?"
"Some new restaurant on the other side of the city."
"Why did you even go?"
"I've been wanting to try this place, and I thought Naruto was going to be here the whole time."
"And now you're alone with three adult strangers. Do Oto-san and Oka-san know?"
"I called them before I came. They know Jiraiya, and apparently Oto-san did business with Tsunade-san."
"'Business?' What kind of business?" From the tone he had, Haruka could tell he was having similar thoughts to hers.
"I don't know, I haven't got around to asking. Besides, if she really did do something with Oto-san I doubt she'd really be able to talk about it."
"...I guess you're right."
Haruka has been very aware of what her father's 'business' is for a long time, and she was also aware that he didn't expect any of them to follow in his footsteps. She accepted what her father did, but she still couldn't really wrap her head around the details that could go along with it.
"How are you getting home anyways?"
"Shizune-san said she'd give me a ride home when it's over."
"...You told Oto-san about all this?"
"I already told you I did."
"...It's just weird. Oto-san doesn't like us being near people he works with, none the less eat with them and let them drop you off home."
"I thought that too…" Her father never even brought "coworkers" or "clients" to the house. He set up a whole other building for those kinds of things. Haruka also can't remember when, but at one point he fired all the house keepers. So now the only people allowed in their house are family and friends.
"I gotta go now. I still need to study for the test on monday."
"Alright. Study hard."
"Bye."
"Bye."
...Haruka took in cold autumn air, and then made her way back into the restaurant. Once in she noticed that Jiraiya and Shizune were both lingering at the bar, and Tsunade was the only one sitting at the table.
She took her seat at the table, and quietly hoped Tsunade wouldn't try talking to her. "So, how was the call?" She found her hopes were not heard.
"Fine. Sasuke was studying."
"Hm…" Was all she replied with before drinking down another shot. "The other two are over at the bar getting more drinks-Jiraiya's paying of course-so you can go ahead and ask whatever you've been wanting to ask."
At the sound of that Haruka's eyes widened a little. "Wha-" She was cut off with a look from the older woman that suggested she saw right through her… Figuring she did actually have questions Haruka just went on. "...You said you worked with Oto-san, but what did you work on?"
Tsunade didn't look at her when she answered-her eyes were set on the empty glasses around her. "Unfortunately, your Oto-san wouldn't want me telling you details on that."
'I figured as much.' "That makes sense… Do you normally work with men like Oto-san?"
"I work with all kinds of people, but your Oto-san is the only one of his field I've ever worked with."
"...What made you decide to work with him?"
Tsunade gave her a look that was really trying to figure her out, but they fell back down after a moment. "Why would I turn him down?"
"...Most people… they tend to not want to be near Oto-san when they know what he does. They're cautious, and afraid… Not a lot of people work with Oto-san unless they have similar background to his… So, what let you work with someone like him?" 'What let you work with the head of a yakuza?'
"...The kind of job he offered me, was one that if I turned down, I would've had to question my morals." Haruka gave her a questioning look, and-even though she didn't look up-Tsunade seemed to have noticed. "It wasn't something shady he asked me to do. It was actually quite the opposite."
"...When… When did you work with Oto-san?"
Tsunade finally looked right at her, and she had a somewhat fond smile on her face, but there almost looked like there was some kind of strain. "It was when you were about four or five."
That's when it hit Haruka. "Oh, I don't remember much from that time."
To this Tsunade's eyes had an odd look in them. "Why not?"
"I had gotten sick a lot when I was little, so I can't remember it too well. It's all kind of blurry and fuzzy memories and all I really remember is feeling bad." Because she had gotten sick so much her parents had to pull her out of kindergarten. Once she got better she was lucky enough for the school to test her and see she was fine to move on to the first grade.
Tsunade mumbled something under her breath, and when Haruka asked what it was, she just smiled and waved her off before taking another shot.
. . . . . . . . . . . .
"Hello?"
"Who is this?"
"Oh, I'm Shizune. Um, the owner of this phone is a little busy at the moment, but I can take a message."
"Where's Haruka?"
"There's been a drunken mishap and she's helping me clean up the mess-. B-But she hasn't touched liquor I swear!"
"I see… Are you the one that's going to drop her home?"
"Um, about that… I was going to but things have kind of escalated, so I have to take care of the two others here. So can- Oh wait, who are you?"
"I'm her older brother. Itachi."
"Ah, ok. Well Itachi-san, can you send someone to pick her up?"
"...Everyone else is busy… I can pick her up."
"Oh that's great! I really didn't want to leave her alone until I found someone to take her! If you tell me your number right now I can send you the address of where we'll be waiting."
"Of course. Its…"
. . . . . . . . . . . .
Haruka had never seen a bar brawl before, and, to be frank, it wasn't as bloody as she originally thought it was, but it did manage to get them all kicked out of the restaurant. She was just glad she managed to try some of their food though.
They were currently sitting in a McDonald's with both Tsunade and Jiraiya's faces down on the tables since they'd bother passed out from their drinking. Shizune also had her face to the table, but it was because she was tired from having to help clean up their mess, apologize to the owner, get yelled at by the owner, and pay the owner. Haruka really began to pity Shizune.
She wanted to ask them when they were going to start heading back out since she needed to start getting home, but she felt like there had been too much chaos to ask that. So, she just went through her phone and read through some manga online.
They'd been just sitting there exhausted for a good twenty minutes until Shizune's phone vibrated, and she seemed to have come right back to life when it did. She quickly looked down at her phone and a smile of pure relief came across her face. "Oh, he's here."
"Who's here?" Haruka asked curious as to what brought life back to her face.
"Did I not tell you? I guess things really did get hectic. Your brother called earlier, and since I have to take care of these two now he'll be picking you up. 'Itachi' he said his name was."
Once Haruka heard those words go out of her mouth she felt her face pale, and her eyes widened into large orbs. She couldn't stop herself from quickly rising to her feet and slamming her hands on the table. "Aniki?!" She yelled-her voice ever so slightly cracking.
Shizune's eyes widened to Haruka's outburst, and she immediately looked worried. "Is there something wrong with your brother?"
"N-No it's just…!" The words slipped out of her mouth, and she didn't know how to continue her sentence. She didn't even know why she went immediately on the defense to the question, but she also didn't know how to explain it. She'd just met Shizune, so it was harder to explain than to someone that already knew she "couldn't stand her brother." Haruka also mentally slapped herself for having that kind of reaction. "Its…"
"Haru-san, are you really fine with going with your brother? If there's something wrong-"
"No!" Haruka could see in Shizune's eyes what she was thinking. "H-He's not bad! He's just… He's…" 'He's the boy I've been in love with since I was little, have tried avoiding since I was nine, and has been sleeping in my bed with me for more than a week to keep me from waking up in the middle of the night from terror inducing dreams.' "...He's just been gone for so long that… I'm still not used to him being back from college…" Haruka tried to make her excuse sound believable, but she worried Shizune's eyes would burn enough into her to see the truth.
…Shizune stared at her for a while, until she finally just let out a reluctant sigh. "You nearly gave me a heart attack with that reaction." She said with relief in her voice.
Haruka felt her face heat up at her own ridiculousness. "I-I'm sorry." She quiet replied.
"It's fine. He's waiting outside though, so you should hurry. I still need to deal with these two drunks." Was the last thing Shizune said before Haruka just quickly bowed to her and raced out of the restaurant-feeling eyes on her back from strangers that witnessed her display.
Once she felt the cold air hit her burning cheeks her eyes met found his car right at the front. She felt her breath hitch in her throat when she realized what this meant. She really had to be stuck in a small space with him, and she couldn't think of a way out of it. Sasuke didn't know how to drive, her parents were out again for the night, so that meant he was her only ride. She had no money for a taxi on her, she was on the other side of town, so she couldn't just get herself home.
Haruka pressed her lips together when she saw him sitting in the driver's seat looking out through his window. She didn't want to. She really, really didn't want to. She wished she could run away from this situation or just go back into the restaurant and never come out, but there was nowhere else to go. She felt like she was pushed into a corner and now has to go with it.
So, reluctantly, she just pressed down her lips, lowered her head and quickly walked to the passenger seat hoping for the drive to be quick. She also tried to ignore the smallest part of her that felt... almost excited.