For those who wanted a new story, this is it! It took me quite a while to finally decide on what I wanted to do.
Title: Grave Of The Fireflies
Type: Multi-chaptered
Chapter: Prologue
Ch. Title: Waltz Of The Blossoms
Disclaimer: Agh, I don't own anything… (Sniffles)
Legend:
"Talk"
'Think'
Flashback
Lyrics
Summary: They'd met that fateful night under the stars and fireflies, in that grove of cherry and plum trees. Together they'd developed a special relationship of love, only for it to be destroyed by their opposing families, killed under those same trees and fireflies. Re-born into modern day Japan, they reach the age of 21, when they had first met. Flashbacks strike behind their closed lids, and they go on a search to find what was missing from their hearts; each other.
You'd never believe how long it took me to finally come up with this story! It was… really hard. Until one day, (that happens to be today) it hit me! I finally came up with a good summary! I seriously, dreamt bits and pieces of this story. Creepy eh? Oh well!
Dressed lavishly in golden and red robes, woven by precise old hands with years of experience, Sakura walked as her robes trailed after her, her pastel pink hair swishing behind her. Her hair reached mid-back and was a beautiful color, the moonlight hitting her face as it filtered through the canopies of cherry blossoms that were as bright, yet pale, as her hair.
Plum blossoms flew down, and mingled with the scent of cherry blossoms, as they danced in a graceful waltz beneath the stars. She sighed in bliss, before coming to where a small pond was, the occasional koi fish flipping up then back in. She settled down against the thick, rough trunk of a plum tree. Sakura glanced upwards, her face to the moonlight.
It was a crisp, clear, beautiful night, the kind that'd only seemed possible in fairytales. Everything was perfect. Fireflies laced and dazzled with their light shows, floating and glittering all about. Sakura gasped with awe as they lit up in front of her face, occasionally one landing on the hem of her robes.
Her clan's symbol was etched onto the fabric at the bottom, just a mere white circle. It symbolized her family was apart of the Hikari side, or gang, rather than the opposing Keir (1) side. She smoothed her robes, humming to herself.
"(2) Tou-san ga nokoshita atsui omoi… Kaa-san ga kureta ano manazashi…"
She sang quietly to herself, before hearing the sound of a twig snapping. Sakura whipped her head in the direction of across the pond, and the moonlight revealed a man no older than her, that bore the symbol of a fan at the hem of his gray yukata.
An Uchiha.
Sasuke ambled aimlessly through the grove of plum and cherry trees. He wandered further into the depth of the grove, paying no attention to his surroundings. He could see the moonlight sitting on a clear surface, and heard a pleasant voice humming and singing quietly to herself. He approached a bush, hiding behind it, watching a girl with hair as brilliant as the cherry blossoms straighten her robe and sing.
"Tou-san ga nokoshita atsui omoi… Kaa-san ga kureta ano manazashi…"
She stared at her hands in her lap, smiling slightly to herself. Sasuke took another step forward, before snapping a branch from underneath his foot. The girl whirled her head towards his direction, and he stood and walked under the moonlight to the edge of the pond.
She looked at him, and Sasuke could clearly see her pupils dilate. He saw her stand quickly, and he noticed the visible white circle that was plain compared to the woven threads of her golden and red kimono.
She was a Haruno, and judging by her appearances, she was the only daughter named Sakura.
Sakura stood up quickly from her spot, eyeing the Uchiha carefully. She slowly backed up, but only resulted in slamming into a tree. She winced, as she felt a small, pointy branch tear her kimono and into her skin. It ripped the careful strings of silk apart and dug straight into her skin.
She could feel her blood streak down her back, and she saw the man look at her with alarm. Sakura watched as he walked around the pond and over to her. She had already moved away from the tree, and looked back, noticing the blood that had slid onto the tree. It was barely visible in the darkness, but she could see where it darkened from the trunk's brown skin.
She winced, feeling some small pieces of bark in her skin; it was stuck between her skin, wanting to enter into her bloodstream and body, but could not, snagging onto the ends of her ripped skin.
"Are you alright?" She heard a deep baritone voice from above her. She glanced up and attempted to move away from the man.
In her hysterics, she tripped over her robe and fell straight into the pond, the koi fish scattering wildly while fireflies flew far from the water drops that flew near the ponds edges.
"Ah!" Sakura's meek voice cried out, when she rose to the top of the water. She stood in the small pond, the water only up to her dainty waist.
Sasuke quirked an eyebrow at her, and she glared as she attempted to drag herself and her soaking wet, heavy robes up with her. Her obi was lost in the water; it's golden, see-through threads glinting in the light.
Fireflies had floated and settled onto leaves, as if being an audience to Sakura and Sasuke's encounter.
Sasuke didn't bother to offer a hand to Sakura; he was too amused with her tries of getting out of the water.
Sakura whined a small "Mou!" to him, as they both forgot about their families, focusing on only each other.
"So your name is Sasuke, is it?" Sakura peered at Sasuke's impassive face, smiling cutely.
"…" Sasuke remained silent. He simply grunted in reply, which Sakura took as a yes. She giggled at this.
"And you're Sakura, of the Haruno family." Sasuke said with a taciturn voice, and he simply looked at her from the corner of his eyes. Sakura had noticed that his demeanor seemed to have changed. She settled against the tree, her back bandaged from the sleeve of Sasuke's yukata. Her robes were still wet, her obi floating leisurely as koi fish surrounded and swam underneath it.
Sakura stared at her hands sadly.
"I don't approve of all the fighting from the Hikari and Keir clans…"
Sasuke glanced at her, masking his surprise. Sakura smiled brightly at him. He watched as she turned her head towards the sky, watching the stars and moon twinkle at her, as her obi rippled and disfigured the moon that sat on the waters (3). Sasuke turned his head as well, intrigued at what she could have found in the sky so curious.
"…Why do you think the Hikari and Keir clans are so against each other?" Sakura stared at Sasuke with large, innocent green eyes.
"From what happened when the two clans were first formed." Sasuke replied, shrugging.
"You mean that old story is true?" Sakura scrunched her nose up in disgust. Sasuke simply shrugged and nodded to her face that was twisted up with abhorrence. He smirked at her face.
Morning was slowly approaching, the first hues of light rising over the trees. Sakura stood face to face with Sasuke, and she twiddled her fingers slightly.
"I know Mother and Father wouldn't approve, but could we talk again, maybe?" Sakura hung her head, blushing wildly. Sasuke allowed himself a rare smile.
"Sure." Sakura raised her head to him, eyes shining with joy and happiness.
"Thanks! Can I meet you here tonight then?"
"Alright." Sakura gave a soft smile to Sasuke, and he blushed, but turned his head away so she wouldn't see. She turned and began walking down the path out of the forest, but stopped and turned her head.
"I'll see you tonight, then." She smiled, waved before running off, her robes trailing after her.
He looked to the pond where her obi once lay. Sasuke looked up to the dim colors of the sun begin to brighten up the world.
But ironically, Sasuke's light only shone in the dark hours of the night, when the sun slept and the moon ravished the black sky.
A very short chapter, I know, but already almost around 1,500 words.
Review, please?
(1) Keir means "Black," while Hikari means "Light." Not complete antonyms, but I'll live.
The idea of the name "Keir" came from my friend EternalxBlackness.
(2) Translation: "Father left me his burning desire… Mother gave me her eyes…" from Laputa, Castle In The Sky. I used part of those lyrics for my KCK story. It's called "Kimi Wo Nosete" or, in English, "Carrying You."
(3) This basically is a very bad description of the moon's reflection meeting the water. Yeeeah.
I hope you all enjoyed this pretty bad prologue! (At least I think it is.)