'Everybody simply wants to be reunited with their family members, their loved one'
-Gary Locke
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I continued running.
I wanted desperately to escape; to be somewhere other then here. I wanted to kill myself but I can't do that. I have to take care of Naoki, and my friends will be devastated. I stopped running and panted heavily as I leaned against a building; trying to catch my breath.
I have to calm down!
I have to be strong!
Not only for everyone else's sake, but for my own.
He'll come back, I know he will. I exhaled deeply and closed my eyes as I let the cold evening breeze swish my hair back and forth.
I would need a miracle now to make me happy again....
I heard rapid footsteps running in my direction and I turned to see Shizune running towards me with Tonton tightly in her arms.
"Shizune" I said in surprise as she stopped in front of me, breathing heavily "what's wrong?!"
"There's....these....um....woman....boy" Shizune stuttered between breaths.
I stared at her anxiously; waiting for her to finish her sentence and she looked me dead in the eyes.
"Ruka" she said slowly "you need to come see this!"
*****
I followed Shizune as she walked me to Tsunade-sama's office and I couldn't help but feel nervous. My stomach kept churning like there were thousands of butterflies in it and I exhaled deeply.
What does she want me to see so badly?
What's going on?
We stopped in front of Tsunade's office and Shizune glanced at me before opening the door. I stepped inside and immediately my jaw fell open and I gasped. There, standing in front of me was Kakashi Sensei. Tightly hugging a woman with long brown hair as he cried into her shoulder, muttering something about lost memories.
Next to the woman stood a boy, about Kuro's age of 14 or 15. He had brown hair like his mother, and his eyes were golden....like mine. He turned towards me and his face was emotionless for a while.
His name....I knew his name but it was stuck in the back of my throat. It wouldn't come out no matter how hard I tried. He continued to stare at me with that emotionless gaze, waiting for me to speak and tears fell down my cheeks as I finally forced the name from my throat.
"R-Ryuku?"
He slowly smiled and I felt my legs start to buckle underneath me.
Ryuku....my....
More tears streamed down my cheeks and I couldn't bring myself to say the word. The woman that was hugging Kakashi Sensei pulled away from him and turned towards me as she smiled.
"Ruka" she said softly, her voice sounding like the sweet chime of a bell on a silent night "do you....do you remember me?"
I took a small step back as I stared at the woman in front of me.I do remember her. I remember her from my flashback. She erased my memories and sent me to the forbidden world for my safely because she....she's....the woman before me right now is my....
"M-Mom?"
She smiled and nodded as tears streamed down her cheeks and I felt my heart give a sharp tug in my chest. Ryuku stared at me and smiled deeply as his eyes watered slightly.
"You don't know how much I've missed you" he said "little sister!"
Tears of joy poured down my cheeks and I hurriedly ran into Ryuku's arms, hugging him tightly and crying deeply into his shirt.
Ryuku....my brother! My big brother!
He slowly rubbed my head as I cried into his shirt; unable to hold in my emotions any longer. I turned towards Ruu, towards my mother, and hugged her tightly as well as she hugged me back just as hard.
"My sweet little baby girl" she said as she cried "I'm so glad! So glad!"
I pulled away from her as she smiled happily and wiped the tears away from my eyes.
"Give your father a hug too" she said pushing me towards Kakashi Sensei.
Father?!
I stared at Kakashi Sensei in utter shock and disbelief as he knelt down and tightly gripped my shoulders.
"It would seem" he began slowly "that I also had my memories erased. I'm sorry that I never realized we are related. Had I known, I would have treated you more like a father then a Sensei."
"No" I said as more tears escaped me "you were already a fatherly figure to me Kakashi Sensei. You helped me and trained me, and taught me to never give up. I'm glad....I'm very glad you're my dad!"
He smiled and embraced me in a tight hug as I hugged him back.
~Third Person POV~
Tsunade simply watched the whole scene from behind her desk; a small smile hidden. She had done well in locating Ruka's family. It made her feel like a proper Hokage; bringing families together.
Ruu, Kakashi, Ryuku, and Ruka all grouped into one large hug and embraced each other; all of them crying and smiling deeply. Ruka was still suffering from Naruto's departure, but being reunited with her family helped ease some of that pain.
"I thought I didn't have any family" Ruka admitted "I thought I was an orphan."
"No" Ryuku said shaking his head "that's no true Ruka. You have us, and do you know what that means?"
"What?"
"It means....you're not the only one."