Something to Fight For (Naruto)

Bonding

The doctors had exaggerated when they gave Haruka's hospital sentence. When she had woken up, much more coherent, she used Medical Ninjutsu to hurry the process up, letting her leave after two days. Her team came to check her out of the hospital, all of them nervous.

They weren't quite sure what to expect from their teammate. Would she freak out and attack them? The four had nothing to worry over, though. Haruka simply apologized for her actions the day before and thanked them for picking her up in her own fashion. That was the last they ever spoke about it, but definitely not the last time they thought about it.

Haruka was still extremely uncomfortable around Kurenai. She walked as far from her as possible, sticking to the outside edge of their group. Kureani noticed this, as did Shino, but the other two saw nothing out of the ordinary.

Even though Haruka had just left the hospital, they were to go on their first mission, and Haruka's three teammates were excited. It was only a D rank, of course, and involved them picking up trash, but it was a mission all the same. Kiba didn't even complain on the stupidity of it, too caught up in the novelty of a mission.

Haruka couldn't concentrate at all since she wanted to go check up on her Nii-san. The doctors had explained that the genjutsu she had been in was a test the second she calmed down a bit, but she was still a tad worried. Logically, it was very unlikely that anything had happened to him, but she still felt the need to check.

They finished picking up the trash in no time, and went to the Hokage's office to receive their money and next task. There, they met up with Team 7. Kakashi's team had just finished a babysitting job, and were there also for their next one. Haruka, upon seeing her brother, quickly flashed beside him.

Sakura and Sasuke had heard about her break down a few days before, and weren't sure what to think about their teammate's sister. Naruto, however, knew nothing about it. So he simply glared and crossed his arms when he saw her.

Ignoring his 'subtle hints, Haruka still approached. "Hello, Nii-san. How are you?" She looked at him with a worried frown, not noticing Sakura's attempts to warn her off.

"I was fine until you showed up! Believe it!"

Haruka immediately got depressed, her body slumping. She nodded to him, and replied "I am sorry. I shall take my leave then." Walking back to her team, she put a senbon in her mouth.

Everyone sweatdropped. It had been a week since Naruto found out about Haruka, and he still acted this way. Sakura and Team 8 felt sorry for Haruka, watching her be so dejected. Kakashi and the Hokage were wondering when he would stop being so stubborn. Sasuke, on the other hand, was pissed at Naruto. He was jealous that such a selfish idiot had a second chance with a family, and was being so ungrateful. It made him hate Naruto all the more.

The Hokage hurried up with the mission assignments, seeing the tension caused by the siblings' feud. He gave Team 8 a simple one, where they only had to babysit a sixteen year old dog for a few hours. The owner was a bit over protective, and hated leaving it alone, even though it rarely even moved. Team 7 was given a much less desirable one, where they had to fertilize a garden. With very fresh fertilizer.

They all went their separate ways to complete their given tasks. Team 8 was thankful for such an easy job, where all they had to do was make sure the dog didn't die while they were there.

To pass the time, they all decided to talk and get to know each other for real this time, instead of during a test. Kurenai stayed to the side, watching. She didn't want to get in the way, knowing that a good team bond would be important in the future.

Kiba, of course, was the loudest and most boisterous, dominating the entire conversation. He asked all the questions, bragged about Akamaru and even started one or two small arguments with Shino.

"Hey, Nee-san?" He had asked at some point.

"Yes, Kiba?"

"Do we gotta call you Nee-san all the time?" Haruka thought about it. She supposed as long as they called her Nee-san part of the time, it would count for her tallies. Once she told Kiba and the other two so, they all showed their happiness in different ways: a wide grin, a small smile, and a slight nod of the head.

Kiba, seeing that she was a bit more open, decided to ask another question in the time they had. "Hey, Haruka? Why're you so afraid of Genjutsu?"

There was a pretty long, awkward silence. Haruka just stared at a wall to the right of Kiba's head. Hinata was just about to speak up when Haruka answered, voice more bland than usual.

"When I was younger, I lived in a... unique enviroment. I was trained daily on techniques and given task to do." She paused as all three teammates leaned close, intrigued. They knew very little about Haruka since she had just showed up a little over a month ago. Kurenai even played closer attention, thinking carefully on what she said.

"Whenever I made a mistake or refused to do something, I was punished. My... 'master', I suppose you could call him, was very fond of genjutsu. Often, he would put me in one for a punishment. It had made me very adverse to them."

They all looked at her, wide eyed. None of them could have guessed that such things had happened to her. Kiba asked another question, pressing his luck. "What kind of genjutsu?"

There was an even longer silence than the first one, and they all started to think Kiba had set her off. Before they could intervene, though, Haruka broke the silence.

"Different kinds. He would practice new ones he made up on me sometimes. One was where someone precious to you died over and over. Another where you felt like a monster was trying to find you and you could not hide. One where you burned alive." Haruka paused, seeing Hinata's overly pale face. "Shall I continue?"

Kiba gulped, looking ashamed for asking the question. Shino spoke before he could tough, just in case he decided to press the issue even more. "No, thank you. We've got the idea."

Haruka nodded, not showing any emotion. She was back to herself, it seemed. There was only a slight pause before Kiba started up again, though no where near as loud as before.

Haruka started thinking a bit, remembering Rioko-sama's genjutsu. In the first one he mentioned, he would chose one of her newly adopted pets, be it a bug or a small animal, and kill it in the end. The second he had only used when she was younger, when all children dreamt of the monster under their bed. It was always used after she had woken him up during her nightmares. The third was only used once, when she had refused to burn a house down for him.

Even though she was young, she still had jobs she had to do. They were all with another member to make sure it went smoothly, of course, but she had specific tasks: burn a house, kill this child, steal this item, and more. Soon she did whatever he asked without flinching, but never went more than a month without getting in trouble.

The dog's owner arrived, very loudly, knocking Haruka out of her thoughts. She followed them all to the office to send in the mission statement. It was already a bit late, so they weren't given another, and were sent on their way.

Before her teammates could disperse, Kurenai spoke up. "How 'bout we all go out to eat? My treat." Kiba started fist pumping and shouting in joy, Akamaru barking with him. He dragged them all to the nearest bar-b-que restaurant, not giving anyone time to say anything. Haruka was going to decline, politely of course, so she could train on the Chakra Scalple and work on the deal, but was forced along.

When she saw the place he had taken them, she froze, body tensing.

Oh, why here, she thought. Why here, of all places?

 

Current Count: 8

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~'

Sooooo...

These last few chapters have been heavy... Like a dump truck. Sorry 'bout that...

I've got something fun planned, though. And I think they were a little necessary for Haruka, you know? Ah, well... ^.^

The Song is like one of the genjutsus she was talking about. Very disturbing, If I do say so myself.

Love? Like? Dislike? Hate?