Something to Fight For (Naruto)

Realizing

He was graduating in a month. And that meant she needed to make decisions. He would get a jonin instructor, and a jonin instructor would quickly notice someone following them on their missions. Everything she worked for would be ruined. Rioko-sama would come, she would most likely be kicked out from the village, and Naruto would get hurt. So what to do?

The way Haruka saw it, she had limited options. She could come out to the village and expect the best, but was fairly sure that would lead to them assuming she was a spy and interrogation or complete banishment. Or she could enter the academy. It would mean huge risks, but she would have an excuse to protect him. The problem with that would be hiding her appearance, and somehow gambling with the chance she would be on Naruto's team. Both could lead to disaster.

Naruto and the rest of the village were sleeping, so she was able to take more liberties with her movements. Swiftly, Haruka ducked into Naruto's room, and paced the length of his bed, her footsteps those of a ghost. She used to feel like a stalker, following him around all the time and watching over him as he was sleeping, but got used to it. It was necessary to ensure his well being, and seeing him always calmed her nerves, and reminded her why she was doing all this.

She had to choose now, and it had to be what was right. But she had no clue. Tell the truth and hope for the best, or rely on her deception skills? Haruka thought of the village. They had shunned Naruto, hated him even, and would not want another one of him living there. And she would definitely not be allowed to be a ninja, with so many already against Naruto's entering of the academy. Not only that, but there was her previous living arrangements to consider. She was fairly sure that they would not take kindly to her having been trained and lived with criminals. So that left one option.

She left and headed out of the village, just on the outskirts. Once there, she went to work. Haruka knew how to make a hair dye strong enough to last for months without fading, and set to work mixing herbs. It would look fake on her hair, but was the best she could do. She traded her clothes for her other set that was a bit bigger (she had grown a little bit in height over the years, but had never bothered to change seeing as she was never in public) and cleaner. Once she had made her hair black, she took her arm knives from their hiding places in the tree hollows and strapped them on her hips, hilts facing up.

Now, for the problem of her face. She was Naruto's twin, so of course their faces were extremely similar. People would have to be blind not to notice, and her hair color would not throw them off long. In the end, she just decided to wear a mask. It left her mouth uncovered, but that was it. She had gotten it at a carnival a few months after she had arrived. It was a fox mask and reminded her of her brother, so she decided to indulge once and buy it. Now, she was thankful.

The disguise was rushed so she would not be able to second guess herself. She knew if she did, she would postpone the ordeal and wait until the last minute. Of course, she was dimly aware of a few things that could not be helped. Her clothes were skimpy, but she couldn't afford new ones, she had lethal weapons, and she refused to give them up, and, the worst of all, she may seem similar to an ANBU at first glance, but it would be obvious that she was concealing her appearance to even a civilian. She hoped for the best and approached the gate.

The whole process had taken a few hours, and morning had just settled. Two guards were at the gate, asleep. Starring for a minute, she decided the best thing to do would be to wake them.

"Excuse me..?" Her voice was husky and soft from disuse, but was just enough to wake the men. They startled, grabbed their weapons, blinking rapidly. Once they saw Haruka, they froze. At first, they thought she was a visiting ANBU, but she had no head band. Then, all they could think was her clothes were very minimal, and finally noticed the lethal weapons.

"Uhh.. Yeah.." The one with bandages on his face muttered. "We were just..."

"Fooling any enemies!" His friend interrupted, nervous.

"Yeah! To, uh drop their guard." Haruka listened to the their ranting confused. They were asleep, not pretending. She wasn't quite sure what to say, this being her first human contact in years, and was fairly sure it was not going well.

"May I see the Hokage?" She interrupted. Both of them stopped ranting at her voice, and looked at each other, shrugging. She may have weapons, but was obviously young. Nothing one of them couldn't handle. And if she was a spy, Ibiki would take care of her. The one with bandages on his nose looked around trying to find a nearby jonin to escort her while his companion gave the usual questioning (what's your name? Where are you from? What do you want?). All he saw was Kakashi heading to KIA stone with his book while she answered (Haruka, a small village, to talk to the Hokage).

"Kakashi! Come here!" Kakashi, hearing his name, lazily looked up and rolled his eyes. All he wanted was a peaceful morning, but, of course, this had to happen. With a sigh, he strolled over.

"Yes?" Haruka sized the new comer up, and was automatically on guard. It would be easy to get past two chunin guards, but a jonin, as this man seemed to be, would be a bit more suspicious.

"We need you to escort, uh, Haruka, to the Hokage." Kakashi looked at her a frowned. She had weapons and a ANBU-like mask, but no headband. She may have been young, but something was up. He nodded, flashing beside her.

They started to walk, Kakashi still reading but with an eye on Haruka, and Haruka trying to calm her nerves. Kakashi spooked her. He had one eye covered, but she could still feel him analyzing her, watching her as he read. Her heart went double, and her palms were sweaty. She had never been seen by so many people, having only interacted with a select few at the base, and had no idea what was sociably acceptable at this moment. If it hadn't been so early and the streets still fairly empty, she would have had a panic attack. She made a mental note to fix this as they arrived at the building.

"This way," Kakashi said, leading her to some stairs. He would have tried to interrogate her on the way if he had not seen her discomfort. She hid it well, but the slight sheen of sweat on her hand gave her away. They traveled up the staircase, arriving just outside two large double doors. Nodding to the ANBU guards, he left, knowing that they could handle her.

Haruka knocked, guessing that this was the right thing to do, while the ANBU stood, seemingly impassive, on each side of the door.

"Come in." An old voice rasped. She pulled the doors, but they wouldn't give. Thinking it was jammed, she tugged harder. When that failed, she braced her feet against a door, and pulled as hard as she could. Nothing. "I said, Come in!" The voice rasped again.

Haruka had great emotional control usually, but these doors... They must be evil, she concluded.

The ANBU stared incredulously as the small girl clenched her fists and growled at the door. Their thoughts were strangely in synch, both thinking What the hell is wrong with this girl?

Haruka, still not being able budge these stupid doors, did what any frustrated person would do: She charged at them, still growling, and attacked. When her body weight them, they slammed open, and with a yell, she face planted in front of the Hokage's desk, the ANBU beside him tensing and getting out some Kunai.

Well, damnit. Haruka thought. Not only have I been horrible to that poor door, but now they think I am a baka. And who wants a baka to use kunai?

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