CHAPTER SEVEN
News From Abroad
The day, it seemed, was going to be interesting - which, in itself, suited the red-head just fine; she felt she could use a distraction from her own troubles. The subject of the ruckus about town, however, was one that struck something of a chord for her. Yet another altercation between Leaf and Grass had sent the people of Kusa into an uproar.
A little over a month had passed since her conversation with Tenmei took place on that afternoon in one of Konoha's subdivisions; she'd since returned to Kusagakure, back to her job and her appartment - without her baby.
Giving up Souta had been every bit as hard as she'd know it would be - even if it was only temporary. To hell with those Hyuuga bastards; she wasn't about to roll over and let them take her child away. She fully intended to gain her citizenship to Fire, after which she would take on whoever she had to in order to get her son back. Thinking and focusing on these things was all that kept Takara going through most days - that and keeping herself busy working at the diner.
Since coming back, she'd given up her place beside the Village Wall - opting for an appartment next door to Hiro and his mother. She'd needed the change of scenery, and having the support of her friends helped her to keep up a positive demeanor in the face of all the overwhelming adversity currently taking place in her life.
"I wish we could see what was going on," huffed Hiro, craning his neck toward the shouting taking place further down the road near the courthouse.
"Why, it sounds like it's just an angry mob," the woman replied as she stacked bowls disinterestedly.
The tousled-haired brunet whipped around to gape at her, "What are you saying; those arrogant Leaf scum think they can get away with murder - literally, and that we Grass-nin aren't going to do anything about it!"
With her back turned to him, Takara silently rolled her eyes. Ever since the arrival of the Hyuuga leader and Hokage, and the subsequent taking of Souta, all of Grass Village's collective ire had begun to reawaken against the powerhouse that was Konohagakure. While the waitress deeply appreciated the outpouring of support that she'd recieved upon returning home, any reminder of the large ninja village or her experience while there still felt like salt rubbed in her emotional wounds.
Takara's own mis-encounter with Leaf policies aside, Grass' already growing antipathy toward their neighbor and ally had abruptly exploded when a Konoha shinobi had been recently apprehended for assasinating a prominent politician from Kusa. According to the buzz about town, the preliminary hearing for the accused was being held that day. A team of Leaf-nin escorting a criminal defense lawyer had already arrived earlier.
More than likely due to the fiasco taking place over at the courthouse, business had been slow all day. She wondered if they were going to get any customers at all, if not there wasn't much reason for them to remain open.
Just as she was getting ready to tell Hiro to start shutting down the kitchen, the sound of distant shouting suddenly seemed to grow louder. Takara glanced up from cleaning even as Hiro clambered out ot the kitchen for his long awaited better look. From a distance down the road, a small crowd emerged through a gap in the surrounding buildings.
"Go home, Leaf-nin," a voice shouted distinctly.
Unwillingly leading the procession, strode an anxious-looking shinobi wearing the familiar Leaf-style flak jacket - a large wolf-like dog trotted close beside him. The more the ninja attempted to ignore the jeers flung at him, the more it seemed to inflame the aggression of the antagonists.
Even while the woman held little love for Leaf ninja in general, she found the display before her to be in very poor conduct unbefitting of any self-respecting Grass-nin; she only hoped that she didn't know any of the participants. Upon their approach, she noticed (unsuprisingly) that the majority of the group was made up of genin and youths - the target himself appeared to be only a teenager a little older than Hiro. Was this, she wondered, one of the guards sent to escort the Fire attourney to Grass?
Violence seemed imminent, and at last broke out as one of the young ne'er-do-wells picked up and lobbed a stone at the lone foreighner. The rock flew fast and accuratly, colliding with the back of the boy's neck and sending him crashing to the ground. His dog companion immediately leapt on the defensive; hunching protectively over the downed shinobi it growled menacingly at the unruly crowd. The struck nin, however, brisquely picked himself back up and now faced his atttackers with a ready stance of his own.
"Get out of here," he snarled, posing as if ready to take on the whole group along with his dog.
"Hiro," Takara gasped, grasping the young man's shoulder, "this is getting serious; what should we do?"
Hiro grunted darkly, but before he could think of an actual response the problem seemed to already be resolving itself. The foreighner's sudden aggression effectively dispelled whatever bravado the collective youths posessed; they ceased thier taunts and slowly began backing off.
With a smoldering expression the Leaf ninja watched the mob disperse. Takara couldn't be sure but she thought she noticed something strange like veins running across his face. She pondered this as she watched the young man turn away in order to retrieve the hitai-ate that had fallen from his forehead upon his impact with the ground. The gathering of genin now thoroughly scattered, he and his dog started walking once again.
"Well," Takara relased the breath she'd been holding, "that was close."
"Don't look now, but he's coming this way," muttered Hiro, turning to head back into the kitchen.
She returned her glance toward the strange ninja who indeed seemed to be headed for their cafe. "Well that's good: he'll be our first customer all day."
Hiro stuck his head out to stare at her incredulously, "Are you kidding; you're actually gonna serve him?"
"Sure if he's got money - why wouldn't I?"
Takara watched as the young man approach and it soon became even more apparent that she hadn't been mistaken about what she'd thought she'd seen earlier. A pair of eyes the color of palest amethyst peered back from the face of the quickly advancing visitor; this kid was definitely a Hyuuga.
She hesitated only a second before hastily plastering on a smile, "Good afternoon, sir."
"Yeah, hi," he responded somewhat distractedly, giving his surroundings another cautious glance before taking a seat at the furthest end of the counter. He looked briefly down, presumably at the large dog by his feet, before raking the fingers of one hand through his medium brown hair. Takara could plainly see the ominous green manji adorning his forehead before the whispy locks fell back down to cover it once again.
"Would you like a menue," she asked him.
"Um, do you have ramen," inquired the Hyuuga, now refastening his forehead protector.
"Sure, what flavor?"
000
The young man (whose name was Soushi as it turned out) was different than others of his clan that she'd come into contact with so far. Perhapse it was because of his age, but he seemed considerably less pretentious and austere; instead he was down to earth and sociable - more like the people of Grass. Much to her suprise, Takara was actually enjoying talking with him.
"This guy here is the companion of my team mate," he currently gestured to the beast sitting calmly beside him on the other side of the counter, "she let me borrow him, and now I'm kind of glad she did." He reached down and ruffled the dog's shaggy head affectionately.
"Well, I have to appologise on behalf of those delinquents, people in this village usually aren't so badly behaved."
The youth shrugged dismissively as he slurped up the end of his noodles, "It's a controversial trial I suppose."
"Even so," she insisted, "It really has nothing to do with you."
From the kitchen she thought she could hear Hiro slamming dishes around a little harder than usual. She wondered if it had anything to with the Leaf ninja's presence.
"Ah well, I probably should be heading back to my post now, but I'll be sure and let everyone else know that they can eat here."
"Definitely," she smiled, "we could use the business."
With one final wave, the shinobi turned to head back the direction he'd come in, his shaggy, wolfish dog trotting close beside him.
"I really don't believe you," commented Hiro, having suddenly emerged from the kitchen the moment their patron was no longer in sight. "How could you treat that guy like he was just another customer; I doubt any other self-respecting eatery in this entire village would allow the likes of him to even darken their doorway, but here you are - the person who should be most angry at Leaf - feeding and engaging him in friendly conversation!"
"Don't be rediculous, Hiro, why would I turn away any business at this point; besides that, every person that happens to be from Leaf isn't automatically evil."
"Are you kidding me," he cried, flinging his arms dramatically into the air, "I saw those vacant white eyes - he's a part of that clan!"
"So, who cares; I can hardly blame him for their actions."
"Why not - he's one of them after all."
"Hiro," she huffed, "I really don't need you reminding me of what happened; I was there."
"Well, I know but-"
"Then just drop it."
"Okay, sorry!"
Takara returned pointedly to cleaning off the counter. She didn't want to be curt with her co-worker, but she had a difficult enough time coping without Souta; she couldn't deal with the current conversation as well.
Meanwhile, if Hiro had been in a bad mood after the arrival of the Hyuuga, then he was more or less beside himself by the end of the day once all of the young man's consecutive teammates had come by to eat as well. All three seemed to Takara like decent, friendly people - especially considering the treatment they'd recieved during their stay in Grass so far. She noticed a few disapproving looks from various passers-by as well as a few less customers, but she didn't see any reason to deny service to perfectly respectable people. To his credit, Hiro managed to keep most of his opinions to himself.
Her mind was still silently reviewing the events of the day as the two of them walked home. As if sensing her pensiveness, or perhapse still too peeved to speak, Hiro remained silent as well. She found herself repeatedly returning to the Hyuuga youth of earlier - he'd given her a good indication that he planned on returning tomorrow. Takara desperately wanted to ask him about Souta, but the likelihood that he would know anything, she realized, was slim. Even so, what could it hurt?
"Mom wants to know if you'll have dinner with us tonight," Hiro now spoke up as they reached the small row of tenant houses that they both occupied.
Takara thought about it for a moment, "Tell her I appreciate the invitation, but I think I'm just going to have leftovers at home," she finally replied.
Hiro frowned, "Are you sure?"
"Yep," she smiled, continuing toward her own door, "I'll see you later, though."
Sometimes she felt as if she depended too much on the two of them since she'd lost Souta; she knew that she had to eventually face the reality of her solitude instead of constantly trying to avoid lonliness. Perhapse she'd even used Souta to some extent as a distraction from that unpleasant feeling she'd carried with her for close to half her life.
On top of everything, there was something else she also needed to do, and she wanted to get started as soon as possible. As soon as she came through the door, Takara immediately made a beeline for her hall closet. Rummaging through boxes and under blankets, she graudually began pulling out odds and ends. The entire process took around forty-five minutes, but finally she'd recovered all the pieces she needed. With a growing urgency, the redhead collected her things and dove into her work.
000
Takara awoke with a jerk at her dining table the following morning to the shrill beep of her alarm clock.
'How far did I get', she wondered blearily as she gazed around at all the scraps scattered over the table. She'd spent the entire evening working to finish the piece; fortunately, she'd bought all the necessary items months ago and had already started preliminary piecing. The finished product was a very simple, small block quilt made up of alternating patterned fabrics which she'd batted and backed last night. Her fingers were still sore from the enourmous amount of stitching she'd completed in such a short period of time.
Takara continued to stare at the baby quilt for a long time; something still seemed to be missing, but she couldn't decide what. She suddenly realized that it was too plain - if she was going to put so much time and love into one object, somehow it needed to have some personal meaning. Her sluggish brain, however, still numb from concentration and sleep deprevation, only drew a blank.
With a long sigh, she stood to stretch her stiff limbs. Strips of little fabric orphans littered the entire area around her. Disliking to leave a mess before she left the house, she slowly began collecting the small shreads off the floor and table before starting to get ready for work. She took the larger scraps and carried them back to the closet where she tried to find the box they'd come from.
While attempting to dislodge one of the containers beneath a larger box, Takara suddenly had to leap out of the way as a small avalanche decended out the door. Grunting laboriously, she stooped down to pick up the mess, tossing it carelessly back into the box when something in particular among the wreckage grabbed her attention without warning.
A disquietingly familiar scroll sat in her palm like a long lost girlhood trinket. Cautiously, as if handling a jagged shard of glass, Takara unrolled the paper and read the words she already knew were there: 'promise kept'.
'...So don't expect anything else,' she added bitterly in her head. Her heart thudded fast for several moments as she recalled Tenmei as he'd looked before the entrance to the village. She'd been full of warm feelings when she'd first recieved the cylinder in her hand, now all she felt was biting dissappointment and resentment. Takara considered what she should do with the obsolete message - throw it away... burn it? As if for practice, she cast it carelessly into the brown box with a loud thud, but the action felt hollow and unsatisfying.
She turned back to the little quilt she'd spent all night stitching and thought of her son - what did she want to bestow on Souta through her work? She'd already pored all of her love into the process, but she still needed a finishing touch to personalize it. The realization suddenly dawned on her that she hadn't named the quilt - that must have been what was missing! Any important quilt had to have a name, after all. However now she really had very little time to think of one.
Takara hurried about getting ready and finished with time to spare. She'd tried to come up with something to call the blanket while she was preparing for work, but she couldn't find anything that satisfied her. After wracking her brain, the young red-head finally snatched her curls in both hands with frustration.
"What would I want to say to my baby right now if I could only tell him one thing," she asked aloud. The answer came almost immediately: I love you (obviously) but also she wanted to assure him that she'd be with him once again as soon as possible.
Takara briskly switched tracks on her train of thought before she allowed herself to become too bogged down by emotion and set a bad mood for the entire day. However, the following thing to automatically come to mind once again was Tenmei's message to her - a promise. Without warning, inspiration seized the Grass woman and she instantly knew what to dub Souta's quilt.
000
Hiro was the first to greet the visitor from Leaf before she had the chance.
"You again; why do you keep coming back here, anyway?"
Takara jerked quickly to attention, jutting her head out the entryway of the enclosed kitchen. There, only several feet away, stood the hesitant young Hyuuga of the day before.
"Hiro, why don't you take over in here while I see to our customer," said the woman sternly behind the dark-haired youth.
The teenager flinched ever so slightly before reluctantly turning away from the other young male he'd been antagonizing. Wordlessly, he brushed past his boss and stomped his way into the kitchen. Takara rolled her eyes before turning a reassuring smile on the uncertain ninja.
"Welcome back, would you like something to eat?"
"Actually, I was kind of hoping..." he trailed off, returning a grin of his own.
"What'll it be, then?"
"Just the same as yesterday is fine," the young man responded as he finished making his way over and took a seat up at the bar once again.
"Great, I'll get right on that." She turned to tell Hiro the order.
"I got it," he barked at her before she could say anything.
"Great!" And not having any other customers or tasks to take care of, Takara happily turned back to Soushi. "Well, how are things at the court house going this afternoon?"
"Ahh," the youth sighed, "not terribly eventful, but I suppose that's a good thing."
She laughed, "Yeah, especially after yesterday I'd imagine... how is your head by the way?"
Soushi uncosciously brought a hand to the base of his scull, "It's fine; one of my teammates is actually a medic-nin - so she fixed me up pretty good."
"Oh, is she the one with the dogs?"
"Yeah, that's Hana."
From within the kitchen came suspicious grunts and mutters descreetly covered by the occasional clanging and scraping of cookware. Takara shot an irritated glance at the doorway, but the boy she was speaking to merely chuckled.
"Somehow I get the feeling that guy doesn't really like me too much."
"Don't mind him, he has some social issues," she said to their customer in a low voice so as not to be overheard by her irritable co-worker.
The other snorted appreciatively in a very adolecent manner that only reinforced Takara's growing fondness for the kid.
"Thanks again for actually being willing to serve us," said the Hyuuga sincerely, "I just hope we don't hurt your business too badly."
The waitress beamed, "Don't worry about it." She leaned back and took a long, thoughtful look at him - which the young man seemed to notice as he shifted somewhat uncomfortably at the counter.
"Soushi-kun, may I ask you a personal question?"
The teenager looked uncertain but slowly nodded, "I suppose so."
"Well, I was wondering if possibly you'd heard about something that happened recently between our two villages." She fixed him with a scrutinizing look, which he merely returned, and she hesitantly continued, "There was a baby born here from a ninja of Leaf; he was born with a bloodline inheritance and had to be taken to be raised in Leaf Village. Does that sound familiar to you by any chance?"
There was a long pause. "It does sound familiar," The young ninja replied at last.
Takara felt her heartbeat quicken; from within the kitchen she suddenly noticed that Hiro had become quiet.
"It had to do with a member of my clan after all..."
She found herself leaning toward him without intending to, "You really are a Hyuuga, then."
"Uh, y-yeah," he blinked, "how did you know?"
"I've actually met a few people from your clan," she admitted.
"Really?" He seemed suprised.
"Well, only briefly," the woman quickly rectified, "I was just curious if - since you are a member of the same clan - you knew anything concerning the current situation of that baby?"
Soushi's piercing white gaze met her own expectant blue eyes squarely for a brief moment before he finally spoke, "Do you have some sort of special relationship with the baby?"
Takara could feel her throat tighten; she merely nodded her scarlet head.
A small smile appeared on the boy's thin lips as his eyes shifted up to the locks tucked securely into the scarf she held them back with. "I can see now where he gets his hair from."
"Have you seen him," she asked hoarsely.
He nodded. "As a matter of fact, I see him pretty often...my sister, she and her husband, they've adopted him."
Her vision was blurred and for several seconds Takara could say nothing. The only thing keeping her steady was her firm grip on the counter top. Without warning, she felt a hand press against her back and Hiro was suddenly standing beside her. With all of her might, she struggled to compose herself.
"They have?"
"Yeah...they've wanted a baby for a while now, you see; they're really happy they could get him."
"W-what about," she swallowed hard, "him; how is he doing? Is he happy?"
"He smiles a lot - I'm sure he's happy...and he's healthy: Sayuri - that's my sister - says he hardly ever cries."
Takara stared back down at the counter; Hiro's hand still rested between her shoulder blades, sending his silent support into her.
"That's nice to know - thank you - you have no idea how much it means to me to hear that." She looked tearfully up at the boy on the other side of the bar; he was smiling back.
000
Soushi ate his meal, which Takara insisted was complimentary, and prepared to head back to the courthouse once again.
"How much longer do you think you'll be in the village," she asked him.
"I'm not sure," admitted the teen, "possibly until tomorrow, possibly longer, it all depends."
"Well in that case," she scurried out from behind the counter and around to the back of the hut, "I have something to give you; please wait right there!"
She returned a minute later carrying a paper bag, "This is just something that I made for Souta...I was wondering, since you're his uncle now, if you could please make sure he gets it."
The brown-haired boy took the package from her, "may I see it," he asked.
She nodded.
Carefully, he slid the small quilt out of the bag and unfolded it, holding it up for examination.
"I was wondering what was in there," mused Hiro, also staring at patchwork of squares.
"The Promise Keeper," Soushi read aloud from the patch at the top left corner, "what's that?"
"The name of the quilt," explained Takara with a smile.
"Oh. Well, I'll definitely be sure he gets it."
"Thank you so much, and please thank your sister and her husband for taking such good care of him for me." She bowed deeply to him.
The ninja thanked her as well for her hospitality and was soon on his way. Not long afterward, his successive teammates began arriving one after another to take their own lunches and Takara was kept busy once again.
She would not see Soushi or his fellow Leaf-nin the following day.
000
"Turned out to be another suprisingly big day in earnings," commented Takara quietly as she and Hiro walked home together later that evening.
"I'm not suprised," the young man remarked dryly, "the way that one fat Leaf-nin was putting away stew he almost made up for the amount of business we lost because he was there."
"I'll say he did," agreed the woman with a laugh.
"I couldn't cook fast enough; I thought we were going to run out of food!"
She looked smugly at her companion, "So, maybe it wasn't such a bad thing they came after all, huh?"
He gave a loud snort, "Hardly!"
"Well," she sighed, still smiling, "I'm glad they came..."
There was a long pause; finally Hiro replied, "I'm glad you were able to learn news about Souta today."
"Yeah... me too."
She could tell that the genin wanted to say something else, but was still deliberating it in his head. "Do you," he finally began, "still plan on moving to Fire Country?"
Takara gave a deep sigh, the events of the day had certainly put a new perspective on the circumstances surrounding her son. On the one hand, simply knowing what had become of Souta - that he'd been placed in a loving home with good people was the greatest releif she could feel. However, she couldn't help but wonder where exactly she would fit into his life now were she to show up in Konohagakure one day. Things had suddenly become so much more complicated!
"I don't know...I mean, I'm happy that Souta is being taken care of, but I still just miss him so much," Takara did her best to keep her voice steady, "I mean, I want him to know me, and I want to know him too; I want to be able to see my own child grow up, Hiro!"
Hiro stared soberly at the ground in front of him as he walked beside her, "Yeah, I know."
They continued in silence for a few minutes before he spoke again, "But you know, if for any reason you didn't get to live in Leaf or raise Souta - things'll still be okay."
She turned to him in suprise, "What do you mean by that?"
"Well," he shrugged, still not looking her in the eye, "I mean he'll be okay, and he'll still become a talented ninja one day - and I think that he will want to know you too. I guess what I'm saying is, you don't have to worry; he's got a bright future."
"I'm not so much worried about that," she exclaimed, "not anymore...but I still can't help being sad and lonely for him in the meantime - it feels just like a piece of my heart has been ripped away!"
The fourteen-year-old simply nodded. He seemed to have spontaneously sprouted bright red blossoms over both his cheeks, while his mouth hung slightly open like a coin purse with a loose clasp, ready to spill its contents.
"I only wish there was something I could do to help," he finally muttered ruefully.
"It isn't your responsibility," Takara told him.
"But I don't like to see you feeling like this," he insisted, "it bothers me!"
"Look, don't let my problems bog you down; this is just something I have to deal with on my own."
"But your problems are my problems - at least, that's how I feel," the crimson on the boy's face deepened as he abruptly turned to look at her, "I want to see you happy again, Takara!"
The woman stopped short, taken aback by the vehemence of the sudden outburst, "Woah, where did this come from all of a sudden? Are you okay, Hiro?"
The youth began to scrunch up his face and shook his head furiously as if to knock something loose. He then shoved one hand through his pate of unruly dark hair before taking a deep, frustrated breath, "I really hate that white-eyed bastard for treating you like this - you deserve a thousand times better than him!"
Takara blinked in suprise, she hadn't even told him about her unexpected meeting with Tenmei while she was in Konoha. "This doesn't have anything to do with that, though."
"I know that; I'm just saying you do!"
Growing increasingly uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was taking, she thought it wise to quickly change the subject. "We'd better hurry and get home - I have some things to prepare before I come over for dinner tonight."
"Ye-yeah," sighed the youth, rapidly deflating. He faced away from her once again, shuffling several steps ahead.
She watched his stooped back loping steadily in front of her for a moment. "You know, Hiro," she said stepping a little faster to catch up, "you've really done so much to help me - I could never say how much it means to me that we're friends." Lightly, she placed a hand on his lean shoulder and smiled warmly up at him, "So listen to me when I say I really don't want you to be worried about me, okay?"
"Hmph," Hiro crossed his arms, his hardened exterior, which always served him so well, already back in place, "Don't think that you're going to get rid of me anytime soon; I'm here to stay."
Takara laughed, "You say that now, but what happens when you find a cute girl your own age to hang around with - I bet I'll never see you anymore."
Hiro did not laugh. "That won't happen," he declared with such gravity that the smile instantly vanished from her face and she was left staring blankly back. Without another word, the genin, twelve years her junior, continued marching forward.
000
After dinner with Hiro and Hakuai,Takara sat at home with her tired feet soaking in a tub of hot water several hours later. The house was silent as a tomb, leaving her long supressed thoughts free to finally rise up from their dormancy and haunt her with avengeance. The day had indeed been particularly full of enlightening events that now demanded to be processed.
Images of her red-haired, pale-eyed baby flooded her mind, however, in her place, she inadverdently pictured a mysterious Hyuuga woman cradling and caressing her son. She didn't exactly doubt that what Soushi said was true: Souta probably was happy and being well taken care of in Konoha - regardless of how difficult it was for her to concede. Consequently, though, the same troubling question kept recurring: where did she fit into the lovely scenario?
Was it merely her plight to have birthed and loved this child for barely the very first part of his life simply to have him whisked away to be raised and cared for by strangers? Would some other woman be there to see him off on his first day of school, or tend to his scraped knees, meet his first girlfriend? Would she never again be able to stare adoringly into Souta's large, wondering baby gaze? The thought was almost unbearable - she didn't know if she could ever accept that possibility, no matter how selfish it might be.
Truthfully, Takara had no idea what she was supposed to do any more; she felt adrift on a sea of confusion. She only knew what she still wanted more than anything else in the world - to be with Souta. Gradually, her thoughts also turned to Hiro and what he'd said to her earlier that evening - she didn't know what to make of his bold declaration. Letting out a long and very weary sigh, the woman wondered if life would ever be simple again.
A knock at the door suddenly roused her from her inner turmoil, and Takara jumped.
"Be right there," she called, removing her feet from the cooling water and drying them on an awaiting towel. Hastily she padded over to the door and pulled it open a crack, a warm pair of brown eyes under a shock of messy brunet locks greeted her on the other side.
"Hi there, Hiro, is everything alright?"
"You forgot your bag at our house," he replied, holding out a canvas tote that served as her purse/all purpose bag.
"Oh, thanks," she smiled as she took the cloth sack from him. He nodded, but made no move to head back toward his own house; instead, he merely stood in her doorway, akwardly shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "Um, would you like to come in," she finally asked after a moment.
He shook his head mutely, casting his eyes off to the side as he continued to occupy his spot on the welcome mat.
"Okay, well, in that case I guess I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah," he answered still without moving. For a few moments, they stood that way in the uncomfortable silence before the grungy young man abruptly cleared his throat, "I just wanted to say - about earlier today - I'm sorry."
"Huh; what are you talking about?"
"When I said that stuff about you not having to move to Leaf, it was selfish of me; you should be with Souta - I guess I just don't like the idea of you leaving." Having blurted out the statement, he finished speaking with another brisk clearing of his throat before he hastily turned on his heal to leave.
"Hey Hiro, wait!"
He paused and turned slowly back around to look at her.
"It's okay; I understand," she sighed, leaning against the door post, "don't worry about it anymore - besides, no matter what happens, we'll always be good friends, I promise."
The young man's face split into a slow grin and he gave her a wave before turning briskly toward home once again.
Takara, smiling herself, shut the door behind her; while still contemplating what she'd told Hiro, she headed back into the small living area. All at once, as she stood in the middle of the tatami, she was struck to the core of her being by the strongest sense of certainty she'd ever felt: instantly, Takara knew she would be with her son again. The red-head couldn't say when or under what circumstances, but somehow, beyond a shadow of a doubt, she was utterly aware of it as fact.
Tears were streaming down her cheeks without her having realised it. She touched her fingertips to them now, unable to wipe the smile off her face even if she'd wanted to. Takara felt the happiest she'd been in over a month, and with the new feeling of peaceful certainty still flowing through her, she quickly rushed over to the kitchen counter and grabbed a pad and pencil. Scribbling furiously, she began to write a letter to her son and his current parents, filling it up with everything she could think of to tell them about how grateful she was to them.
Folding the piece of scrap paper into three sections, the woman clasped it to her chest - having no idea what she should do with it now; it simply felt good to have poured out some of the joy that continued to overflow from the depths of her heart. Tomorrow would be just another day of work, she knew, but she didn't mind, the warm feeling of certainty fortified her.
The futon was calling, so Takara got ready for bed and slid herself between the sheets. She carefully set her writing excercise on the small table beside her before lying down and closing her eyes. Within minutes, she was asleep. She spent the rest of the night dreaming of Souta, of them laughing and living happily together in a little yellow cottage.
And that's the last chapter! I might also try to write an epilogue. Anyway, just a few interesting tidbits: Kiba's sister is Soushi's teammate (obviously) and the other one mentioned is an Akamichi (I didn't say anything about the final team member...not that it's really important to the story.)