Olivia- I know you were all expecting Em to give you the finalle, but I dont think she minds if I go ahead and take this one. Thanks to all who have read, be sure to check out my continuation of our Naruto fics on my account 'MaidenOfTheMoonlight17'. Read and Review kiddies! ^^
Naruto; Hidden
Chapter 10- Barefoot Cinderella
Luna returned home with a faint grin after her confrontation with Gaara. The redheaded Kazekage never would clearly admit to it, but he was rather smitten with the Ditto heiress. But that didnt matter right now, Luna knew he cared deeply for her new best friend, so she was happy. The blue eyed kuniochi sighed tiredly, tucking her long raveness hair behind her ear and turned the door knob to her compound. Quietly making her way through the dark hallways, heading to her room. She heard her father's soft snores as she passed his room and peeked in on Melody. The little raveness sat upright in the bed, gazing out the window at the moon. Her hair and eyes painted silver from the moon's light.
"Mel?" Luna called into the dark room. "Why are you awake at this hour?"
"Insomnia is such a bother sometimes." Mel replied, not looking away from the window.
"Want me to stay up with you?" Luna asked, moving to sit on the bed across from Melody. "It's only a few hours till daylight anyway." Navy eyes peeled away from the moon to catch Luna's sleepy sapphire gaze.
"No, I can tell you're tired. Besides, what if Lady Tsunade sends you on a mission tomarrow? You'll be too exhausted to concentrate."
"I hate that you can catch me on technicalities..." the elder girl grumbled under her breath. "But before I retire for the night, mind telling me what's soo fasinating about the moon outside?"
Melody sighed somewhat sadly and returned her focus to the shining orb in the sky. "You might think me crazy...but I can feel my family whenever I see the moon. And sometimes I can swear I see your mom smiling at me in the moon's reflection."
"Well, her name does mean 'moon beam'." Luna laughed softly. "My mother and I were alot alike. Everyone in my clan says I look just like her, but I was too young to remember."
"That's one of the reasons why she named you Luna." Kurok chuckled from the doorway. This was the first time Melody had seen Luna's father. He was a fairly tall man with shoulder lenght onyx hair, a few shades lighter than Luna's. His eyes were coal black but still quite bright dispite thier dark colour. He wore a faint smile as he leaned against the doorframe.
"Dad? Did we wake you?" Luna asked, rising from the bed.
"It's kindof hard not to be awoken by someone talking in this house. The walls are paper thin."
"I'm sorry, Lord Avalon." Mel appologized, afraid she was in trouble. "I was just seeing Luna off to bed." Mel bowed her head in respect for the head Avalon but he only laughed softly in responce to the gesture.
"You don't have to use formalities with me, Melody. What kind of Godfather would I be if I allowed that?"
Melody's navy eyes widdened to what both Avalon's thought was an almost impossible angle. "A...w-what?"
"You mean you don't know?" he asked, his onyx eyes clearly showing surprise and shock.
"Know what, dad?" Luna replyed, equally shocked.
"Melody's mother, Mana, and Livanna were best friends." Both kuniochi stood star struck, two pairs of light and dark eyes staring intently on the head Avalon. "Mana was originally from Kohona. Quite a weaponress, if I do say so myself. She and Livanna were best friends since early childhood and even fought on the same team together. But when Sotaru Ditto, Melody's father, came here on a mission, Mana fell head over heels for the man. Sotaru was a brilliant wind elementalist, much like Naruto and Asuma's talent. The two were soon married and moved away to Suna. Mana returned upon hearing of Livanna's pregnancy. She was even one of Livanna's midwives during Luna's birth and was named her godmother. The same instance was applied to Melody when she was born. Due to the long trek to and from Suna, Mana's visits decreased over time seeing as she was a wife, mother and active shinobi. When Livanna heard about the bandit raid upon Mana's village, she immediately volunteered to go help out. But by time she arrived, it was already too late. The bandits had distroyed most of the village and killed off the entire Ditto clan, save for Melody. They wanted to harness the Ditto's unique control over wind elemental weapons. And they would've succeeded if it had not been for Livanna. After she rescued Melody, she found and distroyed any and all documentation on the Ditto clan, all except for the one scroll Luna found in her mother's things. She kept that as a reminder of her best friend. Livanna begged the Suna and Kohona elders to let her adopt Melody as her own, but they refused. Saying that if the bandits should find out Melody was alive, they would come looking for her,and possibly kill off the Avalon clan in the process. The Third Hokage ruled it too dangerous and kept Melody under the supervision of the Suna elders. Livanna died protecting Kushina Namikazi, Naruto's mother, during his birth. When Madara Uchiha released the Nine Tails from it's confines, the beast ran amok, killing almost everyone. Mana and Livanna were very brave, loyal and valuable kuniochi and i'm proud to be the father/godfather of thier children."
Kurok's story had the two girls in rapture. They could hardly believe that thier mothers had known eachother let alone they were godsisters. Kurok then kissed both his daughters goodnight and retired back to bed.
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The next morning, Gaara, Temari and Kankuro arrived at the Kohona gates to retrieve Melody. The redheaded Kazekage more than eager to bring his beloved back home.
"Do you really have to go?" Naruto asked with a cute pout, having grown quite fond of the Ditto girl.
"I'm afraid so." she smiled somewhat sadly. "As much as I like it here, I really should get home."
"Just be safe on your journey back." Luna replyed, hugging her newfound Godsister.
"Don't worry about a thing Lady Avalon." Gaara rasped. "We'll protect her." Temari and Kankuro smiling reassuringly behind him.
"You guys make it like I can't protect myself!" Mel huffed.
"Naw, it's nothin' like that." Kiba chuckled from behind Naruto. "You're one of the pack now." The navy eyed girl couldn't express in words how that mere sentence made her feel. All her life, she had to wear a mask of lies, just to protect who she was trying to cover up. But now that the mask had been broken off, she was happy to be excepted for who she truely was. With tears in her eyes, she waved good bye to her newly found family.
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A month after her return to Suna, Melody had adapted quite nicely to her new life. She was given an apartment just a block away from Kazekage Tower, paid for by Gaara. She and Luna stayed in constant comunication through letters and the occasional visit. Today, she'd been called to Gaara's office and she was nervous as hell because he said it was quite important. She had no idea what to think. Was she in trouble? Did the bandits hunting her rear thier ugly heads again? Did he want to break up with her? She had no clue, but kept up a poker face as she entered his office.
"You wanted to see me?" she asked soothly, getting the attention of the insomniac sitting behind the desk. He looked up at her with feirce aqua eyes.
"Yes, I did. I wanted to talk to you about your possition as my body gaurd."
'Crap! He wants to fire me!' Mel all but screamed to herself.
"I would like to request that you resign."
"I understand, Lord Kazekage." Mel spoke softly, tears threatening to spill from her navy eyes. "My resignation will be on your desk first thing tomarrow. And i'll be out of the apartment by next week." she turned on her heel, sprinting down the hallway, no longer able to hold back her tears. She rounded a corner only to smack into something warm and solid, feeling arms encircle her, preventing her from moving. Gaara's blood red hair was the first thing she made out through her tears.
"You didn't let me finish, Melody." he ground out lowly. "I want you to resign from your position as my body gaurd...and take the new title as my wife."
"...w-what?" she asked, not sure she heard correctly since her heart was beating soo loud in her ears.
"I asked you if you would be my wife." he repeated without skipping a beat. "I may not know alot about love, but I know how I feel about you, Melody. I love you, and I want you to be mine, because i'm not taking the chance of someone else whisking you away."
"Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes!" she cried into his robes. Not even feeling his sand slip a diamond ring onto her left hand's fouth finger.