NOTE: You MUST read the previous chapter to understand this one
Friends and Further
by thatreevesgirl/Lemon Drops
Chapter 12: Regret and Disappearance
It was difficult to stand in this spot. The ground was still scorched and burnt, and some of the sand had hardened and melted. It had the beautiful sheen of glass as Kari stood atop it. Mikoto walked behind Kari and hugged her slightly. "Don't worry, they'll find him," the young Uchiha girl told her friend.
It was exactly one year ago today that Kari had almost died at the hands of her father. She had heard the whispers of dissent from some of the sand shinobi since she was a little girl. That man is dangerous, they would say. The Kazekage should know better than to trust such a person with his daughter. Those were the people who had strongly disapproved of the Kazekage until the removal of Shukaku. There was no separating the person from the demon to those residents of Suna. Kari always disagreed with those people. Never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined her father actually causing her injury.
Kari never held a grudge against Naruto. She loved her father so much that seeing him such an emotional wreck was even more painful than her physical injuries. Kari loved Naruto, he was the one who taught her that every person has the capability for good or evil, and that there is always hope for those who people thought were lost to the ways of the wicked.
Naruto had told her exactly those words shortly after she discovered that her other father, Gaara, had been a renowned murderer and weapon for Suna. Kari had only been five years old at the time, and she had been so frightened by the thought of her papa Gaara being a cold blooded killer that she shunned the Kazekage for weeks. That had hurt Gaara greatly. Naruto took her aside and told her stories of how Gaara changed, how love could change a person with no hope, how the strength of love could be stronger than any jutsu.
Naruto was sitting at her bedside crying when Kari woke up a week after Mikoto and Sakura had healed her, he cried even more when he realized she had regained consciousness. There was such an obvious pain in him, something that Kari had never seen before. Naruto seemed to be sad and broken, not the strong, proud man that she had always imagined him to be. The first words she whispered were rough and scratchy, "Don't cry dad, I forgive you. I love you."
When the anniversary of Kari's injuries approached Naruto disappeared. Both Gaara and Sakura were frantic, but Mikoto's father, Sasuke, calmly packed a mission bag with clothes and rations and slung his sheathed katana around his waist as he told them, "He brought me back a long time ago. I suppose it is time for me to return the favor."
Sasuke had left three days ago, so Kari was beginning to get a little concerned about Naruto's disappearance. Mikoto brushed aside a long strand of Kari's wheat colored hair that had tinges of red in it. The Uchiha girl smiled warmly at her friend. "Don't worry," she said assuredly, "My father is strong. He'll bring back Naruto, you can be sure of that."
Kari hoped so. She desperately wanted to believe in Mikoto's words, but there was a certain unease in her heart. Kari wondered if her father was strong enough to battle the demons inside himself anymore. There was not only the fox, but also her father's personal inner-demons. The ones that seemed to taunt him mercilessly for nearly killing his own daughter.
Kari refused to let her heart give in to such tumultuous thoughts, and chose instead to believe in the ones Naruto had instilled in her. Love can change a person with no hope. Love is stronger than any jutsu. If there was one constant in Naruto's life, it was love -- love from his husband and daughter, love of friends and comrades, love to protect the villages and the people within them. Kari had a feeling her father had become blind to the love that surrounded him, and he only needed to be reminded of just how much he was cared for.
Kari smiled sadly at the open expanse of desert stretched out before herself and Mikoto. A tear slid down her cheek as she whispered into the wind, "Come home, dad, we miss you and love you."
Kari hoped that somehow her father would hear those words.
A/N's: Just to let you know that there is a reason why chapter 10 is listed as 11 here on and chapter 11 is listed as twelve. XD It is because there is a smutty chapter on my livejournal that I can't post here. There are now two smutty chapters which aren't posted here. If you want to go search them out the links are on my profile or you can just go to thatreevesgirl (dot) livejournal (dot) com. Just remember to turn the (dot)'s into periods/dots.