Hearts Torn Asunder ღ [Modern Naruto Story]

Haruka Uzumaki | Side story

*Note: This follows the first/real ending of the story. Enjoy :3

            Kids do the darndest things. They are sometimes brutally honest. Their minds are like sponges. They are some of the world's biggest, so to say, adventurers. Needless to say, that when a child belongs to [Name] and Naruto Uzumaki, it is bound for some trouble.

            Little five years old Haruka seemed curious about everything around her, so she couldn't help it when she wandered off in search for a cure for some of her boredom.

            When Naruto got home from work and seen a frantic, and very pregnant [Name] running around the house, throwing things, moving things, screaming and crying, his eye twitched and he stopped breathing.

            "[N-name], babe?"

            "NARUTO, OH MY GOD I CAN'T FIND HARU ANYWHERE! I'VE LOOKED EVERYWHERE AND I CAN'T FIND HER! NARUTO WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?! I'M A HORRIBLE MOTHER!"

            Naruto chuckled, which caught her attention, she glared at him. "Why are you laughing, Naruto?! This is a serious matter!" When her bottom lip trembled and her eyes watered up, he moved forward. He gently grasped her hands and pulled her over to sit beside him on the couch, smile on his lips all the while.

            "Babe, first of all, you're not a horrible mother. Things like this happen all of the time with kids. They're small and they can hide in places that we normally wouldn't give a second thought to. Haru is half mine and half yours, this was bound to happen. I'm surprised it hasn't happened more often, to be honest." He laughed again and she punched him in the arm. "Ow! What was that for?! I'm trying to console you." When [Name] pouted and averted her eyes to the carpeted floor, Naruto cupped her face with his hands. "I'm sure Haruka is completely fine, [Name]. Let's go look for her."

            Meanwhile, a curious Haruka was in search for her Uncle's house. For a young child she had an exceedingly great memory and she found the place in no time. Her little hand reached out to knock on the door a few incessant times and when her Uncle finally opened the door she beamed a semi-toothless grin at him.

            "I came to visit you, Uncle Shika!!"

            Shikamaru stood in the threshold of his door, silently staring down at the little menace. A billion different thoughts swirled in his mind, but he finally voiced his concern.

            "Haru, what are you doing here? Where are your parents?"

            The small [h/c] haired girl giggled and moved forward to wrap her tiny arms around his leg and she smiled back up at him. Shikamaru's face was expressionless, but underneath his stoic exterior he was extremely worried. The way Haru talked, Naruto and [Name] had no idea that she was here. [Name] was probably frantic and she and Naruto were probably out searching for her now.

            Shikamaru didn't utter a word as he moved sideways, motioning little Haru in with a wave of his hand. She giggled again and ran inside. As soon as Shikamaru closed the door and lazily plopped himself down on the couch he reached for the phone to call her poor parents. Haruka was running through his house like a small tornado, giggling all the while, throwing things, grabbing books. Shikamaru's eye twitched as his fingers dialed Naruto's cellphone.

            "Naruto, do you happen to be missing a certain someone that has [h/c] hair, blue eyes, and the energy of a squirrel on crack?" He made sure to whisper the last part.

            "You have Haru?!" Naruto yelled, which caused [Name] to hear and freak out.

            Shikamaru could just imagine her trying to pull the phone away from Naruto.

            "Where's Haru?!"

            "[Name], c-calm down, would ya?! We'll be right over, Shikamaru."

            Shikamaru sighed and hung up the phone. If he acted now, he may be able to save the rest of his house, and himself when his wife Temari came home from work. Why did he have to be off today?

            Shikamaru reached under his couch and pulled out his shōji board and brought it out to set it on the coffee table in front of him. When he set it up, he noticed Haruka had wandered over and was watching him with intensely curious eyes.

            "Haruka, do you want to be smarter than your parents?"

            "Yes! I want to be as smart as you, Uncle Shika~!"

            Shikamaru smirked, they could work on it.

* * *

            About thirty minutes later, [Name] and Naruto came bursting through Shikamaru's door without even knocking. They were furious and [Name]'s arms were thrown up in the air as she yelled her disagreement about Haruka's travels. When neither she nor Naruto could get Haru or Shikamaru's attention, they finally realized that they were playing a match of shōji. Not long after Haruka threw her tiny arms in the air in excitement.

            "Yay~! I beat Uncle!" She giggled and Naruto and [Name] watched as Shikamaru smirked. He'd let her win at the end, but he wasn't going to voice as much. Naruto's face turned inquisitive as he got closer to his daughter and looked down at the board.

            "I'll be damned Shikamaru. You'll have to teach me how to play, too."

            "Daddy, what's 'damned' mean?"

            "NARUTO I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!!"

            Ah, the excitement of bringing up a child.