Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Leaf in the Desert ❯ Chapter 11

Chapter 11

 

"Haru," Gaara announced hoarsely. "You… are now… the Sixth… Kazekage."

 

Sakura and Safaia both gasped in shock and Haru frowned slightly at him.

 

"I think not, Father."

 

The two women turned to the young man who was still allowing his younger brother to cling to his waist. Sora looked up at Haru with a look of complete confusion in his watery dark blue eyes.

 

Gaara actually managed to glare at his eldest child. "I have… made all… the a-arrange…ments," he growled. "If some… thing… were to happen…to me… then you-"

 

"You are still a powerful Kazekage," Haru interrupted. "I will not usurp your position because of this. You will remain Kazekage for many more years."

 

A long, tense moment passed. Black-rimmed eyes flickered to Sakura and Safaia. "Leave us."

 

Safaia gestured for Sora to release his brother, which he did but only reluctantly. He instead took his mother's hand and allowed himself to be escorted from the hospital room. Sakura gave one concerned look to her old friend as she stood in the doorway.

 

"Don't get too riled up," she reminded him with a soft smile. "It took a lot of work to patch you up and I don't relish the thought of having to try again." With a nod, she closed the door behind her.

 

Silence.

 

"You… do not want to be Kazekage." A statement, not a question. And a weary one at that.

 

"It is not that I do not want to be Kazekage," Haru replied, "but that I do not want it like this. I want to earn it, not be forced into it because of your incapacity to be so at the moment."

 

Gaara turned his head and gazed out the window at the clouds floating through the azure sky. "You have more than earned it," he finally whispered. Aquamarine eyes locked with their mirror images in the young man. "I am tired, Haru."

 

Haru stared at his father, realizing for the first time that his father looked… old. He'd been so caught up in other things that he hadn't been aware of how his parents were getting older. And now, Gaara was severely injured, possibly on the brink of death…

 

"I have been Kazekage… for nearly thirty years," Gaara murmured, his pale eyes turning back to the window. "It has become so difficult… to control my sand now. I cannot… protect Suna as I should."

 

The young man remained silent- he could sense his father was in a strange mood.

 

"I almost died, Haru. I could… still die… from these wounds."

 

"I know, Father."

 

"I would like… to live to see you married. I wish to see… my grandchildren."

 

Haru choked and blushed furiously. "Father…"

 

A smile that looked entirely too Naruto-esque appeared on Gaara's lips. "You have… found a girl… already?"

 

The reddish-brown-haired boy rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, his face nearly as red as his father's hair. "Uhhh…"

 

Deciding on mercy, Gaara returned to the subject at hand. "The elders… will have already… declared you Kazekage… by the time the messenger hawk… arrives in Suna. You must… be Suna's new leader."

 

Haru glared at him. "And if I do- who will go after Aikou? Who will rescue my sister from Iwa? Not you, and not the Hokage. I must go, and I will take a team of Leaf shinobi with me."

 

"Haru…"

 

"No, Father," came the firm dismissal- in a tone that was pure Kazekage. Haru's aquamarine eyes blazed with determination. "I will save my sister and Uzumaki from Iwa and destroy Kanaye and his ambition while I am there. Then- and only then- will I accept the title of Kazekage."

 

Gaara gazed at him with so much pride he thought he'd die on the spot from heart rupture.

 

"So be it."

 

-------------------------

 

In the Hokage's office…

 

Sakura gazed at Haru neutrally, but she had to admit- she was impressed with the young man's intelligence. "As you have requested, I came up with a list of potential team members for your mission to Iwa."

 

He took the proffered list and scanned it carefully. "You even listed their special abilities and techniques," he remarked. "That is appreciated."

 

Safaia looked worried as she ran her fingers through Sora's brown and blonde hair as his head rested in her lap, the rest of him curled up on the bench next to her. "I still think you should have more than just four shinobi accompanying you," she said. "What if someone gets hurt or killed?"

 

"Less is better for a mission like this one, Mother," he reminded her yet again. "But I will have a second team prepared and on stand-by, should an emergency arise. Trust me- I have thought this out very carefully."

 

He turned back to the list. A few names he recognized, but others were completely new. The techniques listed helped him to analyze compatibilities, yet…

 

"Sakura-sama, can you give me your advice? I am afraid I do not know your shinobi well enough to know who would work well together."

 

The pink-haired woman beamed. "Of course." She took back the list and read it over thoughtfully. A few moments passed as she pondered and calculated.

 

"Your main team should be well-balanced with both ninjutsu and genjutsu," she finally said. "I recommend Shourai Uchiha because of both his strength with Chidori and his fire jutsu, and because he possesses the Sharingan. He will be quite valuable."

 

Haru nodded. "I, too, thought of him- but would he be willing to go rescue Kohaku?"

 

Sakura chuckled. "Those two are just like Sasuke and Naruto used to be. And still are, I suppose. They argue and fight and annoy each other, but they're best friends- not that either one would admit it out loud. They're brothers in all but blood… and they'd die to save each other."

 

He nodded. "Very well, then." He gazed down the list and recognized two names. "Gin and Kin Hyuuga- they possess the Byakugan, correct?"

 

She blinked in surprise. "Yes, they do. Although if you're looking for a talented user, you should chose Haishen Hyuuga- he's got more experience."

 

Genjutsu… Haru's mind returned to that night when he got caught in the kunoichi's spell- in more than one way. Gin's listed techniques and abilities don't mention that. Could it be that no one except her sister really knows about her talent with genjutsu? "I think I should like Gin and Kin on my team, and Haishen on my backup. He would make an excellent squad leader."

 

Sakura looked slightly surprised at his choice of the Hyuuga twins, but wrote it down anyway. "Gin is one of the top students in our med-nin training school. Kin is nearly as talented as her brother with the combination of hidden weapons and the Byakugan."

 

She picked up the list again and perused it. "Your cousin, Shikazu, and Shido were both found unconscious but otherwise unharmed and tied up in a shed near the Academy. I'm sure you know that Shikazu is a marvelous tactician, just like his parents.”

 

“I have not spent much time with him, but I would have wagered he would be. Just like Akina.” Haru pondered for a moment. "Who does he work best with?"

 

"Inoko and Chouichi Akamichi are his best friends, and their parents and grandparents have all been on the same teams. Kind of a family tradition." She tapped her pen against her lips, thinking. "And Inoko knows medical jutsu. That would round out the team nicely."

 

"And I think Yura Aburame should go," Haru added. "She made it to the Jounin exams- she should be extremely useful, combined with Haishen."

 

Sakura nodded and made the note. "We shall notify them, then," she agreed. "So your backup team is chosen, but you need another shinobi for your own team…"

 

"Oi, pansy," came a familiar voice from the doorway.

 

Haru turned to see Kisho leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed and a mischievous smirk on his handsome face.

 

Immediately Haru's entire demeanor relaxed and he actually grinned. "Oi yourself, doll-boy."

 

"They're puppets, not dolls."

 

"I grow roses, not pansies."

 

The cousins allowed themselves a brotherly whack-on-the-back style embrace after their standard greeting of insults. "So you need some help saving your sister and that orange-haired dork those assholes from Iwa went and hid under a rock, eh?"

 

Haru gave his cousin a perfect bored-look-that-promises-pain-later expression learned directly from Gaara himself. "Useful help, doll-boy- not the loud, smart-ass excuse for help that you specialize in."

 

"Hey… I can be useful help too. When the occasion warrants it."

 

"And you feel that this serious of a situation warrants your direct involvement?"

 

"Damn right."

 

Haru ran a hand through his reddish-brown hair, ignoring the bangs that fell back over his aquamarine eyes afterwards. "All right. But you realize that this could quite possibly mean our deaths."

 

Safaia gasped in horror but Haru and Kisho ignored her for the moment. This was something that shinobi lived and trained for.

 

"Of course. Wouldn't have it any other way."