Uncertainty

Haruka

She yawned as she typed the translation she was doing at the moment, she didn't like to let her work pile up but given the change in her plans everything had changed as well. It wasn't just the paperwork she was doing for her trip but the fact that her client companies already knew she would be leaving, and wanted her to translate a thousand things before she did. She had explained to them that it would take her a couple of days to get everything in order and she could continue working for them after she moved, but they had insisted anyway.

She couldn't complain, working as an interpreter was profitable and since it was something she did mostly remotely from home no one had cared that she was pregnant when she started offering her services. She had a slow start the first month, but her name was quickly positioned among businessmen as she had the added bonus of knowing the business jargon and the knowledge she had acquired both in her career and in all the years she had worked for Neji.

She stopped typing for a moment as she thought of Neji, of the look on his face when she had met him by chance, of her having been a fool and a coward that day. She was going to make it right, she was going to finally make things right with a very small hope not only that he would forgive her but that maybe, just maybe, they could try to be a family.

Despite knowing from Kiba and Hana that they had seen him dating, there were days when she felt completely hopeful that her return would change things and they would get back together, for example just remembering that look as he demanded an explanation from her, behind the pain and his words she could see that precisely such a claim was because his feelings were still there. Other days, like that one specifically, she felt that the reality was going to be not only that the dates were because he had already forgotten her completely, but that he was going to hate her and never want to see her again for what she had done to him.

It wasn't worth wasting any effort trying to guess what would happen, it was a Schrödinger's cat or flipping a coin. As long as she didn't talk with him directly and without running away, she wouldn't know if the cat was alive or not when she opened the box. She sighed, she hadn't resumed typing and now she had to pause directly, it was noon and she had to eat something. As the date of the trip approached she could feel her stomach getting tighter and tighter which made her appetite decrease, but she still forced herself to eat because she was breastfeeding and had to guarantee the nutrients for her daughter's diet.

She left the empty plate on the counter, pouring a glass of milk for herself as it was a good thing and something she had grown fond of during pregnancy. She drank almost half of it before setting the glass down on the table, Haruka was next to her in the bassinet completely asleep, though it wouldn't be long before she woke up because right after she ate lunch it was time for her daughter to eat. She smiled at the sight of her, she loved her little girl and was proud of herself to know that she had been able to raise her on her own. Haruka Ama, in fact, Haruka Hyūga was about to turn 4 months old and she was simply beautiful. Proving that no matter what circumstances they were conceived in, babies were always perfect.

She was about to concentrate on her work again after her break when the doorbell rang, her mother was coming home from work starting the evening and the neighbors rarely knocked, she saw once again her daughter who was still asleep despite the noise before standing up. She opened the door and it was almost instinctive to step back as she saw the people standing there.

"I'll write you if I need you, you can go," the words were directed to the man who she knew was Neji's new interpreter. The Hyūga without waiting for an answer or asking her permission walked into the apartment, closing behind him, "Tenten."

"Neji," her heart had accelerated and she was afraid, only once had she seen that expression in the Hyūga's gaze and it had been when Shion happened.