Haruna Kazue

(This character if a fancharacter/original character created by KarunaKitten@deviantart aka MaddiKitten. The character, her info, and anything applied is under copyright protection and will not be tolerated to be in use of others unless written permission if clearly given by Maddi herself. Thank you!)

Haruna Kazue (晴成 かずえ, Kazue Haruna) was a young woman who came from the Village Hidden in the Oasis (沃地, Yokuchigakure no Sato) where the culture is based on pacifism, and Buddhist influenced traditions. She was classified as a support class special Jonin after her promotion to head of the communications division; her duty was to be sure communication was kept up, along with other important necessities, between her village and Suna, before later on expanding to other villages. She was killed by an attack from the Ten-Tails during the war after having made plans to marry the young Kazekage months before the war.

Background
Haruna grew up very sheltered with her little pup, Ame at the age of 8. She grew up in a diminutive village home in Yokuchigakure after her mother returned with her from Sunagakure hospital. She later had to deal with losing her mother to illness at the age of 5, yet was more worried for her father more so than herself due to not understanding the concept of death at such an adolescent age. After this, she was cared for by her father who was forcefully ordered by the council to develop her abilities as a ninja when she became a genin. They authoritatively mandated him to sanction her to become a member of the council upon turning 12, so they could manipulate her as they saw fit. Despite his wanting to detest their orders, her father complied and grew more stern with her while she grew up; and even though she was on the council, she was not old enough to even have a say so in her own village's affairs, even though she'd be appointed to such a consequential role. She grew up timid and afraid of her father when he raised his voice to her during training; as well as still adjusting to the life chakra within her which often made her feel unusual and sickly while she got used to it. Even when she matured as a Shinobi - up to becoming a genin - she was often very doubtful of her own abilities and physically weak to some extent because of what little she got of her mother's illness as a baby. Her emotional state was withal rather sympathetic and she was reluctant to kill any enemy shinobi yet perpetuated to study and pushed herself to accomplish her goals. Upon turning 15; she was pushed further into the political endeavors of her village, yet was still gainsaid any verbalization in her own village's affairs; she was just denoted to be their puppet. Prior to age 15, she grew remarkably and became more confident and reliable of her own abilities and assured of her opinions after finding an unlikely friendship with Gaara who encouraged her by giving her a choice to remain, or not, remain her council's puppet; as well as collaborating with her to make a difference in both of their communities. After making progress in this field, she was allowed to speak more freely within the council meetings and her supporters developed a division within the village which branched out into several subdivisions to sustain knowledge of biological studies and plant life, and the political standpoints of Yoku and other villages - plus communication. After, having earned the respect she'd worked so hard for in the end - and much more - she was promoted to be head of the political and communication subdivision and raised to the rank of special Jonin.

Personality
As a child, Haruna was very sheltered and resulted in her growing up to be timid. She often couldn't handle things as bluntly as most adults wanted her to and didn't until she grew to the age of 16. As she was growing, she was allowed more freedom and became so excited in meetings that she would speak out of turn. To solve this, she trained herself to have more patients and wrote down any ideas she had during the other council members' speeches. Haruna also had a tendency to spread herself too thin when it came to helping others with everyday tasks and would end up having to reschedule things and become more organized, or just learn to say "no".

By Shippuden, Haruna had grown to be very calm, caring, compassionate, and more mature than she was as a child and due to her compassion for others, she still tended to be overly hesitant when it came to trying to end a person's life; this changed during the war. Haruna never had many trust issues as a child until she grew more aware of her surroundings and was later targeted by others for her being a council member at such a young age. With Haruna's relationship with Ame, it was obvious she deeply loved her pup and often collaborated with him in training and singular combat. She relied on her own gut and Ame's instincts in battle and she used her intelligence more so when others' lives were on the line. She and Ame were more than willing to help whomever they could to the best of their ability. This devotion and bond between her and Ame is what led her to cope with her death on the battlefield as her pup laid with her to the very end and refused to move even after she'd passed. Ame even mourned himself to death over the years of losing her.

Haruna's relationship with her father was very balanced when her mother was still around. After her death and the council's influence, she was treated harshly and with tough love by her father rather than him being the caring and loving dad she once knew. He made her train rigorously, which ended up in her fear of failure, and becoming less dominant in Taijutsu because of that and what bit of illness she carried from her mother.

Haruna's hobbies included singing, sketching landscapes, cooking, and training (mostly with Ame). She enjoyed being around many individuals and disliked being alone and felt unsafe in dark rooms. She was very trusting and would give others the benefit of the doubt, but outspoken enough to scold those who did wrong to others when she caught them in the act. She believed she was ready to sacrifice herself if she had to and wanted no one to regret not being able to save her if she ended up doing so and wanted others to be happy, cared for, and cherished her relationships with her friends and Gaara. She often became rather outspoken in front of Gaara and his siblings and was unaware of her mistakes due to her enjoyment; it often resulted in her talking a bit too much and not knowing she was doing so or was being too outspoken. On top of many things, she was rather intellectual and had slight social disabilities, becoming anxious and getting herself into trouble with her father at home, talking too much when having one on one conversations with others in everyday activities, and never acknowledging her own feelings above anyone else's when she desperately needed comfort. She often hid her fears until she would break down in Gaara or her father's arms or against Ame and couldn't bring herself to admit when she needed help the most; in battle or in life. Yet with all this accounted for, she died with only one regret; not being able to be with Gaara for all the things they promised to become together as a couple.

Despite all of Haruna's flaws, she worked well in the field, had high intelligence and was a good tactician on the sidelines, could run down enemies to exhaustion alongside Ame, would bind and capture enemies, and even stopped incoming attacks with roots. She was indeed a valuable asset to many of her allies and a curious personality to match, her own curiosity allowing her to get in trouble, yet,  helped her find things others could not without it; which had greatly benefited many till her death.



Appearance
In Gaara's flashback of meeting Haruna, she had posterior length, curled brown hair, fair skin, and blue eyes. She was often seen wearing her hair down or loosely tied with a blue band, and short sleeved mesh top. The rest of her attire consisted of a brown desert scarf, and a skirt which started from beneath her breasts to her mid outer thigh with a slit down the mid left. She wore a brown strap which carried the pouch she put her petals and flowers into as well as long white shorts, mesh to her shoes, and simplified, black kunoichi heels. Lastly, she wore a pair of black gloves similar to Sakura's.

When she first appeared in Shippuden, she wore her hair down longer, had it parted by pigtails in the front that rested along her breasts with her bangs covering one eye and two to the left side, hair tied near the bottom. She wore a long red dress that was short on the right side, slit, and dropped down as long as an average dress on the left side; slanting back up in the back as it was connected as a single piece. Her dress had a stitch pattern from her right breast down to the beginning of the slit, while having a black strap around under her breasts, which carried her red pouch on her back under her hair. She wore her headband on her forehead - mostly covered by her bangs - while she wore average black, shin high boots, black shorts, a shuriken holster full of petals, wrappings above her left boot, a heart-shaped locket, and fishnet from her knuckles to her neck in a V-neck shape.



Chakra and Physical Prowess
Haruna had grown up with a slightly weak physical disposition due to the slight illness she had contracted from her mother while in her womb. She also didn't inherit her father's large chakra reserves and due to stress in her training as a child, and this physical state, she based her fighting style around support rather than trying to excel in physical aspects; this greatly disappointed her father. Upon Ame and Haruna's training, Ame became known as the brawns, while Haruna had developed her intellect and became the brains. In her younger years, Haruna often became uncomfortable in various situations of serious combat when nothing was planned out, yet, this was later drilled out of her by her father, and even, herself. Through her determination and Ame's support, Haruna fought her own emotions and state of mind to force herself to push through her fear and rely on Ame instincts - and especially her own - rather than her intelligence 100% of the time since no plan was perfect. If Haruna and Ame were in a tight situation, Ame helped her to pursue her target till backup arrived or the target became physically exhausted and/or injured to the point of immobility; if the situation got out of hand or looked to dangerous, they avoided it altogether or used avoid and evade tactics or tried to find a safe spot till backup arrived. These exercises and experiences of tracking and hunting brought her to have abnormally high stamina for her gender, and higher speed stats than most females; even ones older than her.

Due to Haruna's adaptation to Life Chakra, she could utilize two elemental chakra natures and became one with her natural surroundings; this developed her sensory type abilities as well. This allowed Haruna to become a sensory type and trained Ame to be the same, even learning from him as well. From lack of natural skill, Haruna could not walk on top of water or climb trees using chakra till she turned 15. This included her going through rigorous training sessions day in and day out; even some all night sessions. Out of personal preference, Haruna trained herself to swim and learned to swim a lot faster, more efficiently, and more skillfully than many and practiced often due to her love of water.

A spiritual side effect to the Life Chakra she harbored was she could not use the mystical palm technique and relied on the Yoku Oasis to provide for her healing needs for others. She could use the following chakra natures; Life release, earth release, and water release. Using life and water releases, Haruna could utilize Yoku's flowers or other flowers in a way that produced a status curing or ailing mist that either harmed or cured a target due to what flower she used; this required some heavy study on many types of plant life to ensure she didn't harm anyone with the wrong flowers. With her life release she had the ability to manipulate the life energy within the atmosphere and in petals and flowers of many types of flora, to move them and relied on yang release and yin release to strengthen her abilities and jutsu which sometimes gave them a new form. Haruna only had one major life release technique that utilized earth release and life release to manipulate roots and rocks in the earth to tunnel roots through the ground and even open potholes in order to trap someone in the clutches of her roots. (This jutsu is why the council found her worth keeping in the beginning and still after she supposedly changed their opinions on what she had the right to do or not do. She could also create a pod around a target by twisting the roots together to form a gap-less cage around them.

Haruna used a much smaller version of senbon, a peculiar type of bell, and even flower petals as her choice of weaponry if she wanted to harm someone and keep them from moving/getting away. She often hid the senbon within flower blossoms to attempt to hit and numb enemies chakra points, or dispersed the petals from flowers to send chakra-sharpened petals at enemies. The bells were often used against sensory types who based their tactics which relied heavily on the sounds they heard. The bells used a unique sound wave that would hurt their ears enough to immobilize them temporarily and render them useless. One last weapon she used was ammonia bombs which rendered smell sensory types to become unable to track them and made sure to keep it far away from Ame when used.

Overall, Haruna wielded an average level of skill and made out to be a very devoted partner to Gaara throughout the war and anyone else she supported. She even did well with just herself and Ame alone; let's also not forget her innate curiosity, which, allowed her to spot many things others didn't which was her most admired, yet unintentional, ability.

Kekkei Genkai
Life Release is a kekkei genkai that is known only to the people of Yokuchigakure who had already lived there for over 10 years. Children often inherited this life chakra found in the village's Life Tree from a parent who'd lived in the village for the average time mentioned. Life release is simultaneously used by Yang and Yin release in which it allows the user to manipulate the life energy within plants or objects of all sorts while risking their bodies of the side effects of the life chakra the tree gifted them. The most powerful known form of this release, utilized by Haruna so far, allows the wielder to utilize and manipulate roots through earth and life release and also increases their connection to the atmosphere and other natural things around them (Not to be mistaken for Senjutsu).

Fragrant Release is a sub-release kekkei genkai connected to the Life Release which is also only found in Yokuchigakure. It is a combination of life and water release in which one, compresses and spikes chakra, to give off a burst of perfume or mist from flowers that can have different status effects or healing properties based on what flower is used; this ability, sadly, died with Haruna.

Kazekage Retrieval Arc
Haruna had stationed herself in the sand village of her own accord out of concern for the Kazekage's well being. After hearing he'd been abducted by the Akatsuki; she made an effort to arrive quickly and ended up there a day and a half before Team Kakashi even arrived. Throughout the time, she felt useless due to being unable to provide any service out on the field because she had to keep communications open between her village and Suna of the mission's status. Upon receiving a very strong gut feeling that the Kazekage had died, she hid herself away in his office, crying at his desk and holding herself; Ame nuzzling her hand and whimpering for her well being all the while. Haruna was already prepared to set up a funeral  before the villagers insisted she follow them to see the Kazekage; she wondered why they wanted her to suffer further and have to see his dead body, too. Upon seeing him alive and well, she shed tears for him before falling to her knees. Gaara went to her side and knelt with her, stating that everyone should pray for Lady Chiyo after helping Karuna to her feet and wrapping an arm around her. Later on, after team Kakashi and Gai had left, she took him by surprise by suddenly hugging him out of excitement and tears of joy in the privacy of his office; this deeply embarrassed him, but made him happy to be able to see her again. It suddenly occurred to him how worried she must've been and looked her in the eyes. He insisted that he was sincerely sorry that he couldn't protect her from the pain she had to go through and insisted she try to understand that things like this would happen and she'd have to cope with it sooner or later. The two argued as she had become upset with the way he worded his response before he held her tightly in his arms. She grew frustrated and struggled, crying and telling him how careless he was, before he noticed she stopped moving. Haruna was now asleep in his arms with a peaceful expression upon her face and made him smile.

Fillers & Offscreen
When next she visited Suna, Haruna was sent for a day and a half to discuss the state of the villages as they did monthly and talk about what changes needed to be made, especially after the incident a couple months before. The two had an in depth debate before bringing their ideas to a conclusion. Haruna insisted she'd stick around for a bit longer, and the two began to reminisce about how they first met. She felt inclined to repay him for encouraging her to better her life, yet didn't know how at the time. Once their talk was finished, she insisted she would be staying at a small inn till the next day's noon until Temari boldly insisted that she bunk with her at the siblings' house. Temari stated that she wanted a chance to hang out with a girl for once and offered her whatever she wanted. The boys didn't exactly know how to act about their sister's bold outburst of kindness, but Gaara smiled and agreed it would be a splendid idea; Kankuro wasn't so sure, however.

Haruna continued to return to further discuss matters, and the two often went back to her village after the business was finished to have alone time on top of the roof of Yoku's council hall. This began the start of their relationship as they both nervously stood together, and once the other started to realize the feeling they were both experiencing over the past day and a half, Gaara had grown a bit quiet, while she started to stutter slightly as they spoke to each other with small talk. To Ame, Haruna seemed to be in some sort of emotional distress and responded by nudging her; she accidentally fell against Gaara as a result. Gaara had caught Haruna in his arms, the two locked eyes with a blush on their faces, then she held him tightly and kissed him. The two were shocked as it parted, both unsure of what just happened, before she began to laugh at how silly they must have seemed. She couldn't help but laugh; it was too funny that for as long as they'd known each other and been around each other, they still were so innocent. She spoke with him about when she first started to realize her feelings for him; this being when he opened up a road to her own path by showing her the way out of the dark of the council. Gaara often checked up on her more than necessary and seemed rather unsure of what to do about her the more they met up. His stomach had butterflies fluttering around as he stated, the very first time he saw her smile at him and had thanked him for all he'd done to help her, he knew she was the one for him.

Give Kage Summit Arc
Haruna traveled with Gaara to the Five Kage Summit to represent her village incase anything caused any trouble and to help escort Gaara by Kankuro's request. She always very cautious and Ame kept an ear out for danger as did she. When Gaara spoke with Naruto, she had been concerned for both him and Gaara as well, giving Naruto a hug before being brushed off; she followed Gaara and his siblings to the summit afterwards. The moment Zetsu had emerged from the center of the summit meeting, she had to hold Ame back while she readied herself to let go and attack. While Gaara fought Sasuke, he insisted she stay back and protected her when Sasuke tried to aim an attack at her since he knew she was obviously important to him.

4th War Arc
Haruna traveled with Gaara to the Five Kage Summit to represent her village incase anything caused any trouble and to help escort Gaara by Kankuro's request. She was very cautious and calm, while Ame kept an ear out for danger as well. When Gaara spoke with Naruto, she had been concerned for both him and Gaara as well, giving Naruto a hug before being brushed off; she followed Gaara and his siblings to the summit afterwards. The moment Zetsu had emerged from the center of the summit meeting, she had to hold Ame back while she readied herself to let go and attack. While Gaara fought Sasuke, he insisted she stay back and protected her when Sasuke tried to aim an attack at her since he knew she was obviously important to him.

Haruna and Gaara shared their final endearing moment together; everything became deadly serious and she wasn't used to that. Before they left, he looked her deeply in the eyes with concern of his own. She was crying before he held her close and consoled her. The fear in her eyes made him begin to worry as well, and then remembering what she told him, "Smile through the hard times and a blessing will reward your faith. Grin from ear to ear because it's the only life we have, why not be happy through it?". Ame was nuzzling her palm as Gaara insisted she not show him her tears, and show him her beautiful smile in its place. She started petting Ame as he whimpered for her emotional well being, while Gaara reassured her that everything would be alright, and that they'd get married before she knew it. It was only 4 years after all; in response she showed him that smile of hers and they put his plans in motion. When the fighting started, she was often his support for a majority of the time.

Birth of the Ten-Tails Jinchuuriki Arc
Haruna was already struggling to keep herself alive, while Obito and Madara encouraged the reborn Ten-Tails next attack. She panted and wheezed before realizing she wasn't going to be able to hold out much longer. Suddenly, she was pierced through the abdomen by a wooden needle released from the beast. She fell back with Ame nuzzling her and hoping for her to get up and fight, but she was losing blood too fast. To her dismay, Gaara was not around when it happened and Ame curled up next to her as she passed away upon falling asleep. When everything had ended, they began moving the bodies off the battlefield for proper burial to which Temari and Kankuro motioned to Gaara, saying he wasn't going to like what he saw after he was wondering where Haruna was. Putting two and two together, his face grew pale and shocked as he quickly went with them to see Haruna's body, Ame next to her and whimpering while not moving from his spot. Upon seeing her body, he knelt down and held her in his arms, tears streaming down his face as he couldn't believe he'd let this happen to her. Naruto came up to him and told him to bulk up and respect her memory, not cry over it. Naruto stated that she lived and fought for her village, she was a true shinobi and deserved a smile in her honor, not tears of sorrow and guilt. Once Gaara thought it over, he agreed and wiped his tears, smiling softly before picking Haruna up and taking her to Yoku for a proper burial while the others helped get the other Sunagakure shinobis' bodies.

The Last
Gaara was sitting with Naruto, and they discussed the lack of communication between his village and Yokuchigakure; the village had grown somewhat distant to the sand after Haruna's death. Naruto proposed they send a shinobi out there to help bring back balance to the villagers after having lost such a valuable asset. Gaara then looked towards Ame, lost in thought, before mentioning he was currently looking to arrange Ame's funeral after he had been mourning himself to near death over the years. He was seeming to be fading with each passing day; so the transfer would have to wait.

Gaara Hiden
Upon the council's decision that Gaara was to be wed in an arranged marriage, he had no choice in the matter to which he agreed to the arrangement. When meeting Hakuto, he thought of Haruna off and on and how he couldn't protect her, which at first, brought him to feel a strong need to protect Hakuto to make up for his mistake. He then comes to understand Hakuto's desires and remembered how Haruna wanted to find her own path as he did. Upon Hakuto being with her new fiance, Gaara smiled, thinking of himself and Haruna and what they would've been if she were alive to this day.

Trivia

 * Haruna liked purring at the red foxes and sables in the village and making little squeaks to try and communicate with them. smiling, singing, sketching landscapes, arranging flowers while she dislikes Sleeping when shes nervous or excited, snakes, mice, crows, being in a room all by herself especially if its dark.
 * Haruna often continued sentences with "so" and starts refutations with "well".
 * Haruna had habits such as; making little whimpering sounds in her sleep, smiling, tapping her fingernails against a flat surface when angsty or agitated.
 * Haruna's most favorite foods and drinks were; lobster tail, ramen, mitarashi dango with sweet lemonberry sauce, sweet tea; and least favorite foods and drinks were; natto, raw fish, fish roe, and sour drinks.
 * Haruna wished to fight no one, her favorite word was compassion, and her love interest was Gaara.
 * Haruna's name is written like this "晴成" in kanji. Her mother wanted her to be successful and bright so she was named with this kanji for such wishes; "晴, Haru" for "Bright" and "成, na" for successful. "Kazue" or "一枝" is her clan's last name meaning "一, Kazu" for "one" and "枝, e" for "branch" which states they are but one branch of the entirety of the village or the first branch started among the village clans.
 * Haruna was given her mother's surname due to the tradition of matrilineal last naming of the daughters from generation to generation in her mother's clan.
 * Haruna appeared as a support character in Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations as one of Gaara's supports and had an easter egg of her looking back at Gaara with a smile and a giggle to which he smiles and says "Thank you, Haruna." after using his ultimate with them as a two man team.
 * Haruna actually had two methods of healing; the oasis for others, and would utilize some animal behavior in her personal healing technique for her own body or Ame's.

Reference
Art by KarunaKitten@DeviantArt.com aka MaddiKitten! :3

All Character rights of Naruto characters goes to Masashi Kishimoto while Ame and Haruna are all mine as are her parts in the story. If anyone steals, please notify me. Thank you!!! <3