Iruka had given up on getting Sakura to come in for afternoon classes when a reminder that it would be the end of her perfect attendance record was only met with mumbles about lunch-thieves, and she was still standing there as the end of the school day arrived, though the red on her face was more sunburn than blush by then.
It wasn't until classes were released and Sasuke stopped to stand in front of her that she did more than mumble and quiver occasionally - not that he cared how she was doing at all, but he was mildly curious despite himself, and it was a distraction from the stomach turning feelings of inadequacy that had dogged him throughout the second half of the day.
He was slightly surprised but not alarmed when the girl snapped to awareness, and not at all prepared when she suddenly grabbed him by the shoulders.
"C'MERE!" Sakura shouted maniacally, jerking her crush into range to deliver a boneshaking headbutt. Somewhat woozily and exhibiting rarely seen strength, she hauled the last Leaf Village Uchiha over a shoulder and started running off with the stunned boy, cackling, "My first kiss may have been stolen, but the next ones are all for Sasuke-kun, shannaro!"
Ino, who'd started to feel a bit bad about laughing at Sakura the way she had after the fact, was just a bit too slow to react. She'd just started to dash after her former friend and now love rival before abductor and abductee alike vanished around a street corner, a taunting cry of "Go suck on a lemon, Ino-pig!" drifting back drifting back on the breeze. Try as she might, the blonde could find no trace of of either for the rest of the afternoon, until she had to head home for supper.
Naruto was lying on the roof of his apartment, staring up at the sky in shock. He'd been doing it all day, since being called out of classes that morning by one of the Hokage's aides... since running away from the office and ducking away from the admin-nin who tried to catch him before he escaped the tower.
He had family.
The Old Man had been in his office when he arrived, waiting with woman who had spiky hair about the same color as Sakura-chan's, and he'd immediately started asking if she was related to his crush, there to set up an arranged marriage for the two of them like the characters in the manga he found under a bench last week. It was such an obvious fit, after all, him being an awesome fighter and Sakura-chan over-reacting and hitting him when he said stuff that came out wrong. Then Hokage-jiji had managed to get a few words in when he stopped to inhale and introduced her, introduced her as Uzumaki Haruko.
His family had left him here, left him for years while she went on some long trip outside the village.
All that time alone... All that time with NO ONE, he could have had someone to come home to, someone to tell him it was all right, someone to hug him when people acted like jerks and he couldn't hold back the tears when he tried to get to sleep. He should hate that woman for abandoning him like that! He should just tell her to stay away from him, if she couldn't bother to be around before! Who did she think she was? He'd gotten along then, and he could keep going on his own just fine! He could make everyone recognize him and become Hokage without any help from her!
He knew why everyone hated him. About the kyuubi.
The first words out of her mouth had been, "Aw, you've grown so much, Naruto-bozu. How's my little demon-tamer, you kicking that sealed-up fox's ass?" Gramps had been furious, shouting about how that was some big S-rank secret and she could be executed for talking about it, but he'd cut off like throwing a light switch at Naruto's stammering demands for an explanation. In the end Hokage-jiji had explained about how the Kyuubi couldn't be killed and had to be sealed instead, sealed into a newborn baby. Haruko had added that she'd agreed it should be him out of the many births that day, not trusting that power to anyone else. At least she'd taken care of him for the first few years, until she'd worked out an even better sealing method and left on her quest. When he'd asked why the hell she thought it was a good idea to leave a little kid behind by himself, she'd pouted and replied, "Maa, you had Flying Monkey here, didn't you? Besides, it was important..." Then she'd pulled the goggles off her forehead with a giggle, and a seal glowed into visibility, like a Y with a gear behind it, glowing bright red even as her eyes flared with energy like the entire sky full of stars condensed into two pools of liquid fire. She'd offered only a single word of explanation, something foreign sounding. He sounded it out again to the sunset-painted clouds floating high overhead. "Ah-to-mo-su-ku..."
Even with the fox-demon sealed inside him...
Even if she hadn't been there for him since he was three...
He wasn't the only Uzumaki. He wasn't the only one with a demon inside him. He didn't have to be alone any more...
... if he could just forgive her for being alone up until now. He wondered if the Old Man had told her what his life was like after he escaped. Probably, he guessed... Families were supposed to know about that kind of stuff, right? With a sigh, the blond boy kicked his legs and flipped up to his feet and scrubbed his fingers through his hair. He wiped the broody frown off his face as he jumped down to a balcony in favor of something approaching his usual grin. No use acting like some mopey emochiha, after all. Tomorrow he'd go see Gramps again and ask him to have her come...
"AAH! WHAT THE HELL!?" he demanded, pointing at Haruko as she stood at the stove, hair up in a bun and wearing an apron as she stirred something steaming in a pot.
"Fury?" Haruko vocalized questioningly, turning to look at him. Something red-orange and bubbling dripped off the ladle when she waved it in greeting, prompting another outburst.
"AND WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU MAKING IN MY SUPER-EXTRA-HUGE SPECIAL OCCASION RAMEN POT?" demanded Naruto.
"Curry?" she replied, almost uncertainly. As if unsure herself, she dipped out a spoonful and tasted it, then nodded in approval. Several spice bottles stood empty on the counter beside her, none of which had contained pre-made curry mix.
Hopping up and down with reawakened anger, the boy dropped that line of questioning in favor of his real grievance. "DAMMIT, WHY THE HELL DID YOU LEAVE ME HERE WHEN EVERYONE BUT ME KNEW ABOUT THAT FURRY BASTARD AND MADE MY LIFE MISERABLE?"
"Furry?" she paused, holding a knuckle to her lips contemplatively.
"FOX! THE FUCKING NINE TALES FOX, THE THING THAT MAKES ALL KONOHA TREAT ME LIKE THE CHESTNUT THEY FOUND IN THEIR SHOE!"
"Kuri?" (Japanese for chestnut)
"SPIKY AND INCONVENIENT AND ONLY PAID ATTENTION TO UNTIL THEY SHAKE IT OUT, AND CAN GO BACK TO IGNORING me..." he trailed off, snorting mucus back from dripping out of his nose, and scrubbed at his eyes with the palms of his hands. He would NOT cry! Never again! Nothing would get solved by tears!
Haruko took him into a hug, promising, "Well, now I'm here and you won't have that kind of furry kuri anymore, Naruto-kun."
He clung tight, despite how the spicy stains on the apron made his eyes water. It's not like there could be any other reason, after all, and it wasn't like he'd forgiven her already just because she gave him a hug and was there to greet him when he came home and was cooking a meal to eat together. No way.
Though Sasuke had managed to get over his concussion after a couple of hours and escape, Sakura still giggled happily to herself as she sauntered home. 'That takes practice,' that freaky woman had mocked her, after stealing her precious first kiss! Well, Sakura had shown her! "I practiced all right, practiced with my hunky Sasuke-kun, and now I'm ten times better at kissing than that crazy violent pinkie! Call me flat and scrawny will she? Hah! It's not like she had that much more, and she's OLD! Hahaha, Haruno Sakura will know no defeat in looks or love, SHANNARO!" she proclaimed to the dusky evening sky. Now if only the bruise from that headbutt would stop swelling; it was like she was growing some kind of giant freaky horn for crying out loud...
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(Posted Tue, 22 Sep 2009 10:15)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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