This art of Haru with mother in law/Auntie Mikoto has me going thru sad girl hours pls JFKJNFF Thinking of making a filler in my extra scenes book where Mikoto and Luna hang out with the babies because of this!!
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Walking around town after so long filled Haru with ease.
Although she was definitely getting many looks and greetings She could tell that out of respect for her two little ones, peoples weren't coming up to her as often as before.
So it was much easier to stroll around with Katsuro holding onto her hand and Hiko perched on her hip.
She was intent on heading to Tsunade as the first thing she did, knowing that if she procrastinated for this appointment during her trip she wouldn't be able to sleep at night wondering how it'd go.
Plus....she really just wanted to relax at dinner tonight!
However, she couldn't help but stop midstep as she passed by a sweets shop, one she often frequented as a child that helped nurture her love of dango. She glanced down at Katsuro, and the fact that he's staring at the shop curiously has her changing course immediately.
She has to stop by and get some sweets for her babies! (And herself, of course)
Haru walks into the shop, smiling brightly at the waitress before going and ordering some servings of dango and beverages.
Upon sitting down and placing Hiko on her lap, she giggles at how excited Katsuro looks. She watches his big red eyes dash around the quaint restaurant as he smells the yummy sweets being cooked up behind a cloth that separates the customer area from the kitchen.
"Mommy? Are we gonna get umm.....candy?" He asked curiously, tilting his head as he tried to find the right words.
Katsuro was amazingly smart for his age and very eloquent, but at the end of the day he's only two, and it shows in his little mispronunciations and confusions while speaking.
Haru smiles down at him, running her hand through his silky hair as she nods. "Yes! You're gonna have some yummy dango okay?"
Katsuro nods with a dimpled smile, squeaking out in excitement when the waitress approaches the table with two platters serving dango, one of which came with some extra mochi on the side!
Haru's eyebrows furrowed as she didn't order the mochi, and just as she's about to let the waitress know, she's promptly beat to the task.
"The owner of this restaurant recognized you and wanted to offer some free mochi to the little one, she said you really liked it when you were little as well, Haru-hime." The waitress claimed with a nervous smile to which Haru's eyes widened.
She perked up to look around in search of the owner, only to gasp when she found her. She's far older than Haru remembered her being, and she waves at Haru, to which the Senju waved back appreciatively.
"Alright, let her know I thanked her a lot, Even I forgot that I liked these so much." Haru sheepishly laughed, to which the waitress quickly agreed and left to give the princess some space.
Haru held a dango piece of tango and handed it to Katsuro. "And what do we say?"
"Thank you mommy!" Haru watches as the raven-haired boy munches on the soft sweets before enjoying her own serving of green tea.
"Give some to your brother," Haru instructed softly, taking one of the dango's and holding it up to Hiko's lips. She giggles when he takes a tiny bit and chews on it slowly, testing the taste.
His expression then sours after a few seconds to which Haru can't help but laugh. "Oh, you're just like your daddy aren't you?" She asked amusedly, taking a napkin and wiping his mouth with it.
When it came to things like this, despite being Sasuke's mini-me physically he definitely proved himself as Haru's son. He loved dango and sleep time just as much as she did!
She could only hope he wouldn't love alcohol as much as she does
Hiko on the other hand.....yeah he's Sasuke's alright.
Katsuro looks up at Masahiko and Haru curiously.
" Mommy! More for me?" He asks mischievously, already sneaking away some of the other dango just in case Hiko changed his mind and wanted another one.
Haru's chuckles at Katsuro's obvious attempts to hide his motives before taking another napkin and cleaning his cheeks.
"You can eat them honey Hiko doesn't want anymore." She smiles, seeing as his eyes light up and he returns to the sweets in his hand.
She then stands from the booth seeing as she finished her tea and serving of sweets.
Propping Hiko on her hip and reaching a hand out for Katsuro, she watches fondly as her firstborn perks up from his seat and immediately goes over to her with one hand occupied with his favorite sweets and the other grabbing onto hers.
"Thank you for the serving!" Haru smiled at the owner before leaving a generous tip and walking out of the small restaurant, letting her eyes roam the casual streets of Konoha.
"Alright, let's go see Tsunade" Haru murmurs to herself, walking in the direction of the hospital.
Katsuro looks around Konoha with large eyes, taking in the new scenery curiously as he chewed on his sweets.
Haru was highly amused to see the way that Katsuro would wave back at the many villagers who would smile down at him and wave cheerily from afar.
She was so thankful he wasn't as reserved as Masahiko, her younger son had zero interest in new people, reserving a straight face and unimpressed gaze for just about everyone and anyone.
Which really sucked, because his smile was absolutely precious!!
He would giggle and smile the most when interacting with Katsuro which warmed her heart every time she witnessed the two being soft with one another.
It warmed up Sasuke's heart too, seeing the younger of the two cling onto Katsuro much like he would with his own older brother when he was younger.
Although Sasuke definitely wanted his second child to be a boy, he couldn't help but grow a little scared within himself when he realized he was going to become a father to two kids.
He knew what it was like to have a father that always compared you to your older sibling, and he was terrified of becoming that figure for Masahiko when they grew older.
He knew that Hiko was a momma's boy, but it only worried him further. What if their relationship was already strained? Would they grow further apart as Hiko aged? Would it look like he was favoring Katsuro?
Sasuke knew it was rather silly, Hiko was only one, but the thoughts kept him up at night sometimes.
He once opened up to Haru about his fears as she fed Hiko at their bed late at night. He watched silently as she fed Hiko with a bottle, her own eyes opening and closing slowly because of her sleepy and drowsy nature.
Sasuke gazed down at Hiko, noting how he looked more and more like Haru as time went on. He and Haru already had this immense connection, and Sasuke couldn't help but feel like there was this awkward disconnect between himself and his own son, and that terrified him.
Did his father feel this way with him when he was born? Sasuke Didn't know the answer to that question but it was definitely keeping him up at night.
He really hoped that he didn't look like he was choosing favorites with his kids, that was the last thing he wanted to do, but his bond with his firstborn was already so much stronger at this age than it was with Hiko.
After he opened up to Haru about these tumultuous thoughts, she was quick to assure him that he was being a good dad and it was clear to her that he loved both kids equally. She admittedly added some comfort to the situation, but Sasuke still wasn't so sure.
For some reason as Haru was walking hand in hand with Katsu and the extra little one perched on her side, her mind drifted to Sasuke and his own struggles as a parent.
She felt so sad for him, knowing his backstory and his internal struggles were affecting how he viewed his relationship with the two boys, and he wished he could believe her when she said that the two kids were both happy with him and loved him very much despite Hiko's aloofness.
Haru effectively snaps out of her thoughts when the hospital reaches her line of vision.
As she walks towards the main doors, softly greeting anyone who passed by her and waved at the kids, Haru's eyebrows shoot up at the sight of a long-haired man who just passed by her.
If it weren't for her directly looking at him, she would've missed his presence entirely!
"Hey stranger!" Haru called out, arching a brow at her older brother as he walked by her unknowingly, he froze, turning to her with widened eyes.
"Haru?!" He asked, his shocked expression morphing into a smile. He quickly brings her in for a hug, and Masahiko can't help but raise his head from the crook of her neck and glance up at his uncle through narrowed eyes.
"What were you doing in the hospital?" Haru asked after separating from the embrace, now standing across from her older brother.
"Huh? Oh, I was just walking around!" Shinji smiled, his eyes glancing between the two kids curiously.
Well, especially the white-haired one since he had never seen him before. Just as he was about to ask to be formally introduced to his one-year-old nephew, Haru arched a brow at him.
Uh oh, he didn't like the look.
".....You were just walking around the hospital?" She asked, and now that it was said out loud they both realized how stupid it sounded.
"......"
"......"
After staring at each other contemplatively for a short moment, Shinji breaks the silence.
"Hehe anyways, look at you, little man!" Shinji laughs, leaning down and picking up Katsuro with a big smile on his face. Katsuro smiles whilst in his uncle's arms, and although the visual is adorable, a small frown starts to form on Haru's face.
Why'd he just ignore her question?!
"Are you okay?" She asked, concerned that he was hiding an illness of sort from her. Why else would he be at a hospital?!
It's not like he was dropping off someone who worked there.....no of course not!
Shinji turned to her, confused by her words. "I hope so? Are you okay?" He asked, reaching a handout and playfully yanking on a strand from her ponytail.
Haru isn't too amused but lets the topic go nonetheless, now a bit more vigilant as she senses that he's hiding something from her.
"Well I missed you, and you weren't there to greet me at the gates!" Haru says to which Shinji's heart suddenly drops in guilt.
Fuck....he had forgotten
"I'm sorry! I lost track of time and completely forgot, what about we hang out today all day? To catch up! I have some things to talk to you about anyway." Shinji claims, running a hand through Katsuro's hair as the two-year-old leans on his shoulder.
Haru feels more concerned the longer he speaks.
She wasn't mad that he forgot to go and greet her, shit happens and she gets it.
What she is concerned about is this weird hospital fiasco. What on earth does he have to tell me? Oh no, maybe he really is sick and is just stalling on breaking the news to me!
"Sounds good, but I gotta attend an appointment right now so we can just meet up later. Unless you wanna crash my appointment?" Haru asked, looking up at him expectantly.
He didn't have it in him to say no, already feeling guilty for forgetting to greet her at the gates, and he's awfully curious, is Haru going in for the boys or?-
"I'll come with." Shinji hums, smiling to himself when Katsuro starts playing with his long dark locks. Haru returns the smile, excited by the prospect of hanging out with Shinji again after such a long time apart.
"Okay! Let's go in then." She takes the lead, walking into the hospital doors and hugging Hiko closer to her body when she sees little goosebumps arise on his pale skin due to the sudden change of temperature because of the air conditioning.
Shinji follows behind with Katsuro in his arms, the uncle-nephew duo making some nurses swoon as they pass by. Shinji snorts at the sight, turning to Katsuro.
"I can't believe that shit doesn't just happen in the movies." He muses, shaking his head to himself.
"Hi, are Tsunade and Shizune in?" Haru asked as she ran a soothing hand over Hiko's back.
His face was nestled in the crook of her shoulder and it was clear that unlike Katsuro, he wasn't very keen on all of the new environments and people.
The nurse at the front desk nodded, smiling at the two babies before pointing a finger at one of the many elevators as you passed by the front desk.
"Yep! They're on the third floor and should be on the sixth room to the left!" she replied, knowing who the Senju was just by looking at her distinguished features.
Haru thanks her before she and Shinji make their way over to the elevators. Haru sighs once inside, and Masahiko finally lets his small face peek away from her shoulder. He looks around curiously before his eyes land on Shinji.
"Oh Woah, he looks just like you dude! I think he's got our nose." Shinji acknowledges as he reaches over and ruffles Hiko's fluffy white hair. Haru scowled as he messed up her son's hair, quickly slapping his hand away to run her fingers through it and fix it herself.
"I think so too, but he's just like his dad. He doesn't even like sweets like Sasuke!" She claims.
Shinji tilts his head at Masahiko, expecting his nephew to have any sort of reaction to him, but no, the red-eyed baby just stares at his uncle, almost looking unimpressed?!
Shinji pouts at the face "Oh yeah that weird 'I'm better than you just because' Uchiha stare, mhm I see it." Shinji snorts, ignoring the way Haru rolls her eyes.
Once out of the elevator, the brother-sister duo make their way towards the door, laughing amongst themselves because of some silly thing Shinji mentioned.
All seems well, that is before she opens the door. Haru nearly coughs out in shock when she looks in the room.
Tsunade and Shizune were there like she expected, but so was Sakura.
And Haru was not too excited to see her.
Sakura stood by one of the screens as she analyzed some reports, but when she turned to see who had opened the door, she was met with someone she hadn't seen in years.
Haru.
The Senju stands at the doorway, her feet frozen to the floor as Shinji stands behind her with widened eyes.
Oh, he did not want to be in the same room as any of these people all at once.
Sakura seems to be frozen as well, staring at Haru awkwardly.
Tsunade glances between the two girls before double glancing at Haru seeing as she's holding the white-haired baby Tsunade hadn't seen in so long.
"Oh, my Kami look at how big they've all gotten! Come inside Haru I want to see the kids." Tsunade orders.
Wow....no hi Haru?!
These two kids really have been stealing her thunder as of late.....
Tsunade's words manage to snap both Haru and Sakura out of their little limbos, and Haru is immediately walking into the room, patting Hiko's back so that he'd get the hint and look back up since he's hidden his face in her shoulder again.
Sakura immediately silently goes back to work, not knowing if she should address Haru or just act professionally or what to do...She wanted to talk to Haru but she didn't even know how to start.
Her curious eyes peek over to see just how much Katsuro has grown since the last time she saw him and felt herself marveling at how strongly he resembled Sasuke (The only major difference really being the color of his eyes)
She glances up at the man holding Katsuro, gulping at how intense his stare is.
If looks could speak, Sakura knows Shinji would practically be screaming at her to 'not say a single word.'
Haru doesn't notice the subtle stare off her brother is having with her former (Well not former? Technically current.) Teammate, too enwrapped in helping Hiko interact with his aunties.
"C'mon Hiko say hi!" Haru urged softly, fixing up his hair as she kneels by his side. God, she still can't believe he could already stand on his own!
Masahiko stares up at Tsunade and Shizune silently before shuffling over subtly into his mother's arms once more.
He doesn't fling himself into hiding like she expected him to, but instead, he does lift his tiny hand and waves a little much like he had seen Katsuro wave earlier to all of those people who passed by.
Wow.......Haru doesn't think she's ever been more prompted to squeal in her life.
"Oh my god, he's so precious Haru!" Shizune smiles, waving back kindly as Hiko curls back into Haru's hold.
Tsunade smiles at the adorable display before taking her sights elsewhere and noting the little staring moment the Oshiro and her protege are having.
She clears her throat, interrupting the two before Haru could notice before smiling over at Shinji. Well, the kid in Shinji's arms.
"Katsuro is that you honey? Come here." Tsunade called out, to which Shinji put his nephew down so that he could walk on his own.
Katsuro is quick to oblige as he runs over to Tsunade excitedly, his dark locks bouncing with every step he takes. "Yes?" he asks with a tilted head, smiling sweetly at Tsunade to which the former Hokage feels her heart melt.
"Well, haven't you grown up to be such a big boy! Here, have this." Tsunade chimed, placing a little raspberry red lollipop in the two your olds hand.
Haru chuckles at the way Katsuro's red eyes practically start sparkling at the sight of candy, immediately using his tiny hands to unwrap the candy and plop it in his mouth.
"So, who am I checking up on?" Tsunade asks after handing Katsuro the lollipop. Haru sighed, sitting on the medical bed with Hiko on her lap.
"Me. I wanted to talk to you about the chakra drainage issue." Haru admits, her tone turning serious as she addressed the medical kunoichi. She notices the way Tsunade's cheerful expression drops, to which Haru sighs.
"Tsunade, I'm serious. I want to try and have another kid." She goes on to say, toying with Hiko's hair as she avoids Tsunade's serious gaze.
"Wait wait, chakra drainage issue? What's going on?" Shinji asked, furrowing his dark brows as he stands by where Haru's sitting.
"Haru inherited a rare disorder in which during pregnancy, instead of only retrieving the proper nutrients, the baby also takes in the mother's chakra. It doesn't affect every single pregnancy, but the chances are very high, and the amount of chakra the baby takes in varies from pregnancy to pregnancy."
"Due to its rarities, we haven't found any patterns or reasons for this, all we know that the numbers are much higher with women from the Oshiro clan." Tsunade explains.
Shinji's eyes widen and his gaze snaps down to Haru. "What are you insane?! You can't try for another kid! That sounds dangerous as hell." Shinji scolds, crossing his arms over his chest.
Haru sighs, shaking her head at her older brother. "No! Didn't you hear her? It doesn't affect every single pregnancy! And Hiko also took in my chakra but I'm still here!"
"Yes well, you were extremely lucky in Hiko's case, Haru. As for Katsuro, he must've drained your chakra at an extraordinary rate, you would've died had Orochimaru not taken him out at three months, that's a fact." Tsunade states seriously.
Sakura glances between Haru and Tsunade and shock. This seemed so serious, why was Haru pushing so hard for another child when the risks seem so high?!
"Okay, I get that. But I'm still here today. And I want another baby in a couple of years. Are there any options for me?" Haru asks rather nervously as she's terrified of hearing that there really were no options.
As if they could sense their mother's unease, Katsuro runs up to Haru, climbing up on the medical bed with Shinji's help to sit with her, and Masahiko silently turns in her lap to hug her closely.
"Haru honey, you're the only the second woman in my entire career that I've seen with this issue. My last patient was over ten years ago, and she had to terminate her pregnancy before it was too late.
There's not enough research to guarantee a safe pregnancy next time around, you'd really be gambling at that point. I can try to figure something out, but as of right now we're stuck." Tsunade says sadly, hating the fact that there wasn't much she felt like she could do.
Haru visibly deflates, sagging her shoulders and lowering her head at the news.
"Wait, I might have a suggestion." Sakura hesitantly claims, walking from her corner in the room towards everyone.
Everyone turns to her with raised brows.
Sakura had been listening intently, brainstorming over Haru's issue. It was odd, Haru had insane amounts of chakra, it'd have to take a lot to kill her from chakra exhaustion, but according to Tsunade it didn't matter, and was still a large possibility. That's when she realized...
She turned to Haru, bracing herself for the strained eye contact since Haru had first walked in the room.
"Haru, don't you have that wolf sealed inside of you that helps you with sage mode from time to time?" Sakura asks, noting how Haru's eyes light up in realization.
"I do!" She responds brightly, turning to Tsunade hopefully.
"Tsuna, what about Okami? Lat's say I fall pregnant and the baby does the same as Katsuro. Like the same amounts of chakra drainage. If it gets to critical points, won't Okami's chakra be able to save me?!"
"Well, in theory, you'd have to be very unlucky for a baby to be able to exhaust all of your chakra plus the extra chakra Okami could provide you with. It's not impossible though. At the rate Katsuro was going, you would've died by five months. The most we could say is that death would be very unlikely, but again, take this with a grain of salt." Tsunade says, noting Sakura's suggestion seriously.
While it was true that with Okami's added chakra Haru should be fine, more chakra means more for the baby to take in, Hence Katsuro's immense presence chakra wise already despite being an untrained two-year-old
Okami's extra help would not mean that Haru is risk-free, it just means that it'd be a bit more difficult for the baby to take in so much chakra within the span of a full-term pregnancy.
However, this seemed to be enough for Haru. Her eyes were practically glittering as she smiled at Tsunade, cherry-picking what she was hearing so that she could go to Sasuke and tell him that they had found a safer way.
"Haru, I told you to take this information with a grain of salt-"
"Yeah yeah, thanks Tsuna! Sakura you really came in clutch for once!" Haru laughed, not noticing the way her teammate and brother both tensed up as she finally acknowledged her.
"N-no problem." Sakura smiled awkwardly, taking a small step backward as Haru got up from the bed.
"C'mon Hiko it's time for your check-up." Haru groaned, trying to pry his arms away from her neck as softly as possible.
He lets up, staring up at her innocently as she places him back on the bed, but this time without her.
"Damn, and I really thought none of your kids would look like you." Shinji snorts, flinching slightly when Haru glares his way.
"Sasuke's genes aren't that strong."
They all take a moment to glance down at Hiko who seems to be glaring fiercely at the wall across from him.
The light blue pacifier on his lips adds to the cute image, but Haru just knew that if she took out the binky they'd all be looking at a big pout on his grumpy expression.
".....You sure about that?" Shinji smirks to which his sister elbows him harshly.
"Shut up."
After Tsunade does her little routine checkup on both boys, Shizune enters the room with some paperwork. "Looks like we finally have Hiko's chakra nature affinities!" Shizune smiled, to which Haru perked up curiously.
She had been wanting to know for quite some time now and with new DNA technologies, In today's day and age ninja no longer has to wait for the traditional testing method, using blood samples instead to figure out a person's chakra affinities if their parents were interested.
"Really? What is it?" Haru smiled, picking Hiko back up from the bed as he reached out for her.
"Water and Lightning, with an even bigger affinity to Lightning," Shizune responds as her eyes scan over the results.
Sasuke had fire and lightning natures, with a larger affinity towards lightning.
Big sulk lines instantly surround Haru's slumped over figure.
Shinji barks out a laugh at the results, patting his sister's back teasingly. "His genes aren't that strong huh?" He smiled, shaking his head at her.
Sakura smiled softly from the side, eyeing the two siblings' strong relationship as they joked around.
Shinji's bright blue eyes lit up even more whenever he was around Haru, and was constantly smiling unlike his usual much more intimidating disposition.
She was really nervous about Haru finding out about them.
They weren't in an official relationship or anything as Shinji didn't seem interested in one from what Sakura could garner, but to say that they weren't involved with one another romantically would be a straight-up lie.
It was odd, Shinji had been the one to initiate anything with Sakura just about a year after Haru and Sasuke left the village.
Sakura was immedeatly against it as she thought that he was already in a relationship with his son's mother, but she found herself sitting in shock when he admitted to her that they had broken up months ago.
It was Yuki, Reiji's mother who initiated the breakup.
She wasn't a kunoichi and didn't really understand the lifestyle as Shinji did, so it was stressful for her whenever Shinji went on long missions and left her at home with their son.
On top of that, while Shinji was away, false rumors would swirl amongst the young women of the village.
Shinji was very popular amongst the female population in Konoha due to his striking looks, so all of the toxic lies and claims from jealous women involving Shinji sleeping around and cheating had gotten to Yuki's head.
She really wanted to believe that he would never, but his faraway trips, the constant arguments between the two because of the faraway trips, and the rumors had all been enough to form a wedge between the couple, so Yuki decided that it was for everyone's best interest if they had just broken things off.
Shinji still saw Reiji, he was by no means an absent father as he knew what it was like to live life longing for his parents and would never dare place that feeling upon his own.
However, Yuki had already moved on to another man so any thoughts Shinji had of returning to a family unit had been crushed.
At that point, he was then single, young, and a very big fan favorite amongst many girls, so it shouldn't have been a shocker that he started sleeping around a bit.
He honestly hadn't expected to look at Sakura the way he did as he knew of her tumultuous relationship with his own sister, however, he noted that Sakura had definitely changed for the better since Haru left.
For one, she managed to work on herself and get over Sasuke, and once she did she had to go through the process of realizing how terribly she fucked up in terms of her relationship with Haru.
No longer even thinking of Sasuke, Sakura was riddled with guilt for weeks over how she treated Haru ever since they were placed in team seven.
So it was to her major shock when Shinji of all people had approached her asking if she wanted to drink with him later.
Of course, she initially denied it, thinking that he was taken. But when he told her that wasn't the case? She fell into his charm and went out with him that night.
It was weird, very weird.
At the time Shinji thought he was doing this out of curiosity as he wanted to know more about the girl his sister disliked so much, but he found himself genuinely enjoying her company? She seemed so different from how Haru portrayed her, and very much a changed woman at that point.
It wasn't like Haru was around to see them, and he wasn't looking for anything serious anyway.
So, Shinji didn't really see the harm in sleeping with Sakura once.
Once turned to twice, then twice turned to three times, and before either one of them knew it, they had this friend with benefits relationship that confused the hell out of all of their friends.
Ino was absolutely appalled by the relationship, screeching to Sakura one night during a sleepover with the rest of the girls (Hinata and Tenten) that this wouldn't end well.
Sakura had just gotten over who she thought was the love of her life and finally started living for herself, becoming an independent woman, and ridding herself of her toxic traits as she wanted to atone for everything she had done to hurt Haru.
Due to Sakura's current emotional vulnerability, Ino and the other girls would have strongly opposed this type of relationship with any man.
So to enter this type of relationship with Shinji Oshiro of all people?!
The same Shinji who was STILL sleeping around with other women as he was doing with Sakura?
The brother of the woman who ended up with Sakura's first love?!
The man who was only really doing any of this because his girlfriend broke up with him (Hence, the rest of the women following him for quite a period of time afterward being rebounds?!)
THIS was the man who took Sakura's first everything?!
Ino just knew this would end terribly for everyone involved.
For Sakura, for Haru, if she were to find out, and for Shinji because he would have to face Haru if did end up finding out.
Yeah, it was safe to say that Sakura's friends didn't approve.
However, this didn't deter Sakura from this controversial friends with benefits relationship, both her naivety and inexperience in actual relationships letting her fall prey to Shinji's charm despite all of the warning signs.
He would sometimes walk her to work and take her out to eat, even let her hang out with him and Reiji sometimes! But other times he wouldn't seek her out for days despite having just showered her in affection.
It was becoming more and more toxic on Sakura's end as time went on as she began harboring genuine feelings for him months ago, but he didn't seem to return the same emotion.
And she would just let him do as he pleased, not having much of a backbone in telling him how she truly felt in fear of rejection.
Ino hated to see it, to say the least.
Now that Haru was here, Sakura wanted to be able to apologize to her genuinely, for everything. She didn't even have Shinji in mind for doing so, but seeing Haru and Shinji stand side by side, reality hit her like a freight train.
How on earth was she going to genuinely apologize to Haru while seeing her brother behind her back?
Does she tell Haru about the relationship amidst her apology?
Does she break things off with Shinji and pretend nothing ever happened?!
The thought of the last option hurt, a lot. But Sakura didn't know what was right, and the look on Shinji's face when he walked through the door told Sakura that he would not be happy if she told Haru.
God, what should she do?!
Amidst her heavy thinking, she nearly misses Haru and Shinji leaving the room with the kids, and she's quick to follow after them once they're out in the hallway.
Building up courage, Sakura leans outside the doorway and looks out to see the sibling duo walking side by side towards the elevators.
"Haru!" Sakura called out, to which the duo freeze in their tracks. Haru turns around first with widened eyes, Katsuro in her arms as she stares at Sakura.
Sakura gulps lightly, ignoring Shinji's heated stare and stepping fully outside the room.
Haru tilts her head the slightest bit as Sakura walks over to her, both confused and intrigued by her teammate's actions.
"Haru I- I know that we didn't have the best relationship or anything, and it's completely fine if you don't want to. But I'd like to talk to you and apologize, alone." Sakura says rather nervously, wringing her hands out of habit as she faces the taller girl across from her.
Seriously taller, Everyone had grown since the last time that Haru was in the village and yet Haru was still easily the tallest girl amongst all of their old female classmates.
Sakura was 5 feet and 4 inches tall whereas the Senju was 5 feet and 8 inches tall, her height being a trait she easily inherited from her father's side as Oshiro clan members were traditionally on the taller end of the scale.
(Shinji was literally 6 feet and 2 inches tall, so it shouldn't have been too much of a surprise)
Sakura didn't know if she said the right words or if she had somehow already messed up the moment she had been waiting for to try and fix all of their issues, but the blank stare on Haru's doll-like face almost had her sweating.
Haru was always so intimidating when she wanted to be.
Haru then closes her eyes for a moment, weighing the options in her mind before sighing.
"When do you get off work?" Haru asked, shifting Katsuro around in her grasp as he was growing antsy.
Sakura's green eyes widen, about to answer when suddenly the two are interrupted.
"She can get let off early today, I've been waiting for you two to talk things out for years," Tsunade says, smiling as she walks out of her office doors and towards the group.
Haru shifts her gaze from Tsunade back to Sakura, seeing the pink-haired girl bite her lips and nod slowly.
Haru arches her brow, turning to Shinji and gesturing that he take Katsuro in his arm that wasn't occupying Hiko.
"You're gonna play with uncle Shinji alright? Mommy's gonna pick you up later." Haru claims, sighing when Katsuro's eyes widen at her.
She's never left him alone with someone other than Sasuke, so she was a little concerned about how he'd take this sudden turn of events.
To her surprise, Katsuro smiles softly, nodding obediently and letting his head rest on Shinji's shoulder as Hiko's bright red eyes darted between Katsuro and his mother.
"Oh? Looks like he might not be struggling as much as I thought." She murmurs to herself, patting Katsuro's back softly as Shinji chuckles.
"Well, I'm their perfect uncle, of course they'd be chill with me." He claims confidently, completely ignoring the blank stare Hiko sends his way.
Haru rolls her eyes, waving off Shinji's ridiculous claims before turning back to Sakura.
"Well? Where'd you wanna talk?"
•••••••
Oop...Helloo my lovely readers! JFKAJSAN
I hope you enjoyed this chap, lmk what you thought!
Theres so much to go over, did you guys enjoy the cute little sweets shop scene? I had to add some fluff before shit started going down lolol.
What'd you think about Sasuke and Hiko?!
What'd you think about what Tsunade had to say about Haru's disorder?
And Sakura's suggestion about Okami?
Speaking of Sakura...What'd you think abt her relationship with Shinji?!
They are NOT boyfriend and girlfriend, although Sakura wishes they were, tell me how you feel about that?!
Does Shinji even really like Sakura?!
How do you think her talk with Haru is gonna go down?!
How is Haru going to find out about Sakura and Shinji?! And how will she react?!
(Is she gonna find out before, after, or during the dinner later tonight?!)
We're also gonna see Shinji babysit Katsuro and Hiko plss I'm so excited LMFAO
Haha pls enjoy this Shinji x Sakura art that I thought was very fitting to post for this chap!!
As always, tysm for reading and I hope to see you all next chap!!