Naruto: Children of the Ninja
By Hikari Dohjutsu
A/N: Agh! Another late update! I hope the long chapter makes up for it
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, I do own the o.c's and the plot of this story
"Haruka, you must keep your fingers perfectly straight so as to allow the chakra to pass through your arm smoothly!" Neji instructed as he dodged Haruka's arm.
"Sorry Neji-sensei," she mumbled and attempted to hit one of his vital spots.
Daichi and Hotaka were sparring to the left. Daichi dodged Hotaka's low kick only to be attacked by Taiji from behind.
Neji halted suddenly, causing Haruka to trip and fall on her face. Hotaka sniggered and this gave Daichi the opportunity to punch him in the gut.
Hotaka glared, "That was low, Daichi," he accused.
Neji mentally rolled his eyes and helped Haruka off the ground.
"We will stop here for today," Neji informed them. He then turned on his heal and disappeared.
"Sweet!" Hotaka yelled, "Come on Daichi,"
Daichi turned to Haruka, "Are you okay?" He asked quietly.
She nodded, her eyes taking on a distracted look.
Hotaka waited by the tree.
"There's something wrong," Daichi muttered. Hotaka shrugged, and both made their way back home.
Haruka leaned against the rough bark of a tree.
It was the day.
It was one of the most important days of the year and both her father and Haku weren't there. She sighed, and shuffled down the path.
The day was pleasantly warm, despite the gray and overcast skies. It was still very early in the day and she knew what she was going to do.
Her first stop was the Yamanaka/Nara flower shop.
When she entered, she was met with a burst of colors and smells. At the counter there were three servers on duty.
"Gah, how troublesome,"
"This is soo boring,"
"Shut up we have a customer!"
Of course, the three Nara children
Shikataro was sitting staring longingly out the window. Inomaru was slouched on a chair. A bored expression plastered on his face. Ichie was glaring at both of them.
Haruka stood for a minute, "Umm…hi," Haruka interrupted awkwardly.
Ichie looked up, her eyes bright.
"Hi! Welcome to he Yamanaka/Nara flower shop!" Ichie greeted happily. When she realized who her customer was a look of surprise mingled in with her delight at having a customer.
"Hi Haruka-san, How can I help you?" she asked cheerily.
"Umm…" Haruka started. She really didn't know what kind of flowers she wanted. "I need a bouquet for a very special occasion," she muttered.
"Oh well, then you can never go wrong with lilies, or daffodils are nice too, oh but everyone loves roses!" Ichie was getting very excited.
"Isn't she troublesome?" Shikataro questioned their customer. He was immediately rewarded with a smack upside the head.
"I guess lilies are nice…"Haruka trailed off. She loved lilies herself.
"Ok, now we'll need some smaller flowers to accentuate the lilies, these will do…" She bustled around, adding a touch here and there.
"Soooooo boring," Inomaru groaned.
Ichie glared at her siblings.
"I'm so sorry," she apologized and handed the lovely bouquet to Haruka.
Haruka muttered her thanks.
"Please come again!" Ichie smiled, Haruka nodded and walked out the door.
Hyuuga Neji and Hyuuga Hanabi stood in front of the memorial that honored the ninja's who had lost their lives in battle. Neji stared at the stone, his eyes soft and sad. Hanabi patted the headstone affectionately.
They were there to honor a friend and a comrade.
Neji placed the flowers he had bought carefully in front of the memorial.
They were both silent for a minute.
"Let's go Hanabi-sama," Neji said quietly.
Hanabi nodded and they left.
A few minutes later Haruka stood in front of the same memorial. One name stood out from all of the others.
Uzumaki Hyuuga Hinata
She laid her bouquet next to another placed in front of the memorial. She smiled to herself.
Neji sensei, this is why you let us out early
"Hey mom!" Haruka tried to say as cheerfully as possible, but her voice was trembling slightly.
She looked down at the green blades grass.
"Happy Birthday!" she said in the same falsely cheery voice.
Her chin started quivering a bit, "I'm sorry that Haku and Dad aren't here, you know them they forget sometimes,"
She paused for a minute, "Dad's on a really important mission, Haku's on a mission too,"
"Oh I guess I didn't tell you yet," Haruka said in a quavering voice, "Me and Haku, we're genin now!"
She wouldn't cry
"Oi, Hurry up Shino," a loud familiar voice called out.
Haruka's face automatically hardened into its usual blank expression.
Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino walked briskly, a large dog trotting beside them.
It was the elder Inuzuka who noticed Haruka first.
"Haru-chan! Good to see you," Kiba called out jovially. Shino waved at his teammate's daughter.
Haruka smiled slightly and waved at Kiba and Shino. They had been her mother's teammates and they had taken it upon themselves to raise her and tell her stories about her mother. Haku and her dad were the most important people in her life but Kiba-san and Shino-san were definitely somewhere near the top of the list.
"We've come to say Happy Birthday to our girl," Kiba patted the memorial affectionately. Shino kneeled down and placed his bouquet next to Haruka's. Akamaru sniffed the headstone and bowed his head slightly.
Kiba smiled slightly, "Happy Birthday Hinata,"
Shino, who was usually silent, opened his mouth, "Happy Birthday," he said quietly.
Haruka stood back for a minute; she understood they needed to be alone together as a team once more.
Before they left both men patted the headstone.
"Haruka, do you need a place to stay?" Kiba asked her, concern showing on his face.
"You are always welcome in the Aburame household," Shino said softly.
Haruka kept the smile on her face and shook her head no, "I'll be fine, Haku should be back in a couple of days.
Kiba frowned slightly, "I don't like the idea of you being in that house alone,"
"I'll be fine Kiba-san," Haruka told him firmly.
Shino nodded, "Alright, but if you ever need something you know we'll always be there,"
Haruka nodded, "I appreciate that very much Shino-san,"
Both men nodded, "Take care of yourself, Haruka," Kiba instructed as they both walked away.
Haruka watched them walk away. She then turned to the headstone; she stared at it in silence. She heard peals of thunder coming from the gray sky. The first droplets of rain started falling gently at first, but it quickly morphed into a heavy downpour and yet Haruka stood stoical as ever.
"I'd don't know what to do mom," she finally whispered, "I didn't say bye to dad, what if he doesn't come back?"
The rain soaked through her sweatshirt, and streamed down her face, it almost looked as though she was crying, but Haruka Uzumaki did not cry.
"I don't know what I'd do without Haku and dad," she choked.
"I want to make you, and dad and Haku proud, but I'm failing miserably on all my missions,"
The rain was pouring down even harder; her hair hung limply clinging to her face.
"I'm not meeting Neji-sensei's expectations,"
The only sound was the rain smacking against the ground.
"I'm so worried…"
"I'm scared, scared and lonely,"
Haruka pushed away her wet hair from her face, "I know I'm being silly, I have no reason for being like this, I'm happy and I have a good family, and I know you'd be upset if you saw me like this,"
Haruka shivered slightly.
"I just have a question mom," her voice trembled.
The wind howled and the trees groaned.
"Am I a good daughter? Sister? Friend?"
She swallowed hard.
"Do I make you proud?"
She shivered even harder. She had to get home and change into some dry clothes.
She sloshed through the wet streets, making her way home. She was feeling light headed, and exhausted. She had been training like a mad person lately. She opened the door to her house. Her vision was getting blurry and her forehead felt like it was burning up. She probably had a fever.
She collapsed on the couch wet clothes and all, leaving her front door wide open.
A/N: As always I would like to thank those who reviewed it's you guys who keep me going on with this story!
Now I believe it would be a good time to talk about pairings, Yes one of the best parts of a story. Now there will be pairings and some will be obvious soon enough, some will take longer than others but pairings will definitely be in this story. So I'm just curious as to what people think the pairings will be. I've already received a few guesses. I have all of the pairings planned out. So what do you guys think the pairings are going to be?
Also I'm getting the oneshot prize for Haruka done, it will be out soon enough.
Chapter 2 of Missing Chapters from Children of the Ninja is up!
Please review!