Disclaimer: Another year, another story, another unintelligent question to be asked…

Part 1: Childhood

Chapter 1: A Sudden Move

A young woman stared at her reflection on the water spattered windows as lightning momentarily lit up the night. Her dull green eyes glanced over her pale form on the transparent surface, noting that even her silver hair looked lack-luster in the wake of the anniversary of her brother's death. Looking past her reflection to the rain, she couldn't help but feel that the weather mirrored her feelings. A storm was brewing.

Another reflection joins her on the windowpane. "Haruka, what is wrong?"

"I can't take it, Shin." she whispers to the glass, "Everywhere I look, I see him…" Turning around slowly, the woman looks at her husband as tears strain down her face. "This house, the park, the store…everything reminds me of Li, and it's tearing me apart! I hate it! I hate all of it! I just want to get away and leave it all behind!"

Shin's gray eyes softened, "You do not mean that."

"I do too!"

"No, you do not." he answered calmly, "You love Konoha as much as your brother did, and he loved it so much that his last wish was for his daughter to be raised here. You do not truly hate Konoha…and you most certainly do not hate Sakura, even though she constantly reminds you of her father…it is just the date that has you down."

Haruka looked down, "I know… I know I don't hate it… but…" More tears fell from her typical Haruno eyes, "I thought I'd be fine if I got rid of all his possessions, all his photos…but he still is haunting me." Looking up, she added before her husband could interject, "It's every day, not just today. Every time I look about me, I'm reminded of him. Konoha's just too full of memories. I can't stand it anymore!"

Shin's red-brown hair covered his eyes as he watched his wife break down weeping. Slowly he asked, keeping all emotion from his voice, "Are you saying you want to leave Konoha?" Haruka froze. Never before had she contemplated leaving. Maybe he shouldn't have said anything.

After many minutes of silence, Haruka unfroze, wiping her tears away as she looked at her husband. Her green eyes flared with determination, "Yes."

Eyes still shadowed, Shin pressed, "Even though it would mean going against your brother's last wish to have Sakura raised in the village he died for?"

Haruka hesitated, but slowly she nodded. "Yes…" her voice was quiet, barely a whisper, but she repeated it louder the second time as she started to walk across their bedroom, "Yes. We're leaving. Tonight!"

Shin raised his eyebrows stoically, "Tonight? And where do you think we would go?"

Haruka didn't even turn around to look as she started pulling clothes from the closet and thrusting them in a large bag. "I don't care! I have an uncle in Kiri-the Mist village, or we could go to your family's place in Suna. Heck, we could go to some little place in the middle of nowhere where no one knows us for all I care!" Shin placed a hand on Haruka's shoulder in an attempt to calm her down; she brushed it off and continued packing. "My mind's made up. Go get Sakura ready. We leave as soon as we're packed."

With a sigh, Shin turned just in time to see a flash of pink disappear from the doorway. Another sigh escaped him as he slowly exited the room and headed down the hall to the room whose door had just been thrown open. Entering the room, he thought he saw the five year old stuff something into her pajama pocket, but his attention was stolen by the look in her eyes as she turned around and asked, "Do we really have to go away, daddy?"

Bending down, he hugged the pink haired child. "Haruka has decided that we are leaving, so yes." As he pulled away he added softy, "And what have we told you about calling us that? You know we are not your parents." Her large green eyes, the exact copy of her aunt's, stared up at him blankly, as if asking why she couldn't call him daddy. He shook his head. "Let us get your stuff put together. Who knows how long we have before she is ready to go."

Sakura held her aunt's hand tightly as they neared the large earthen buildings sprouting from the sand. They had been traveling for days, and she was tired of sleeping outside, but this new village scared her. The way the buildings loomed over her, not at all like buildings in Konoha, made her feel insecure. Why hadn't her uncle said no? She'd wanted to ask, but she just couldn't bring herself to. Besides, her aunt hadn't cried since they left…Sakura didn't want her to start crying again…so she decided not to talk about it.

They neared an opening in the looming wall, which was momentarily hiding the earthen buildings from Sakura's sight. She felt safer in its shadow, that is, until a deep voice called out roughly, "Halt!" Sakura clung to her aunt as a mountain of a man appeared in the middle of the gateway, "I don't recognize you, madam. Where are you from and what's your business?" Sakura's uncle was the one who answered calmly, though, stepping up beside his wife.

"Come now, Ryu, surely you have not forgotten me."

'Ryu' glared at him, but a moment later he exclaimed, "Shin? Shin Kaneko?" Sakura watched wide eyed as her uncle smiled with a nod, causing the moving mountain to burst out laughing-something which frightened Sakura even more. Her fear increased ten-fold when the giant turned his eyes back on her and her aunt. "I take it that this is the woman you left Suna for?"

"Yes, Ryu, meet my wife, Haruka. And this is Sakura. Now, Sakura, do not hide, Ryu will not hurt you." Sakura just shook her pink mop of hair no as she clung desperately to her aunt. "I am sorry." She heard him apologize, "She is not very good with strangers." After a pause, he added, placing a hand on Sakura's back reassuringly, "It is great seeing you again, but we should be going. Come along, Sakura." Sakura didn't loosen her grip on her aunt's hand until after they were well out of sight of the huge man.

They walked on until they came up to a round house that looked like all the other houses that Sakura had seen. They had almost reached the door when it was thrown open and a young woman with the same hair and eyes as Shin burst out with a squeal, "Baby brother!" The woman flung herself at Shin, nearly tackling him to the ground. "It's been forever!" Releasing her brother, she exclaimed, "Haruka, you look well! I haven't seen you since the wedding. What's it been, ten years? And you must be little Sakura! Oh, what am I doing, keeping you all out here in the noon sun? Come in, come in."

The house was small, but cozy, and was definitely cooler than outside. Sakura was thankful for that. She wasn't sure she liked the dry heat of this desert village. As their host brought drinks and asked questions of the adults, Sakura slowly relaxed. Maybe it was the welcoming atmosphere, or maybe it was the fact that their host resembled her uncle so much, but when the energetic woman addressed Sakura, she wasn't as bashful as she normally would have been.

"So, Sakura, what do you think of Suna so far?"

Sakura said the first thing that came to mind, "Hot." The woman's gray eyes danced as she pressed for Sakura to say more. "Well…uh…" Sakura looked around the room, feeling nervous again, "I…" she knew she couldn't say it was scary, that would be mean. What could she say? "Uh, I…" The woman was looking at her so expectantly. The bashfulness returned. Looking at the floor, Sakura hid behind her pink hair as she mumbled, "I don't know…ma'am…I'm sorry…"

"How adorable!" The ear-piercing squeal reverberated around the room as the woman threw herself on Sakura, hugging her tightly and nearly scaring the girl to death. "You're just too cute!" She exclaimed as she released a petrified Sakura. "Oh and just call me Auntie Youko!" Sakura, at a loss for words, just nodded.

"Sis…" Shin trailed off with a sigh, shaking his head. Rather than remarking on her over exuberance, Shin tried to appeal to her common sense, "I know you are excited that we have come, sis, but do you not think it is a bit too soon for Sakura to have made an opinion? We only just got here."

Youko pouted, "Yeah, I guess you're right…" Turning back to Sakura she said, exuberant once more, "You'll just have to tell me later! Oh!" spinning back to her brother and sister-in-law, she queried as if the thought had only just hit her, "How long are you here for? I mean, I only got your messenger bird saying that you were on your way this morning."

Haruka, always the direct one, answered, "We were hoping we could live here with you, at least until we can find a house of our own."

Youko's eyes widened, "Of course you're welcome here, but…what's the reason? I mean, you were so dead set about staying in Konoha when you married Shin, so…?" Sakura didn't catch the glances sent her way first by her aunt, and then by Youko; she was looking out the window. Youko nodded to Haruka, "Sakura, dear," Sakura turned, looking at Youko through her bangs, "there's a park nearby. Some of the local children should be playing there about now and I'm sure they'd love to meet you. Why don't you go make some new friends while we adults talk? Just go out the door and turn left. It won't be long before you see it."

Well, that's the first chapter of Kindred Spirits, sister story to A Continuous Circle/And The Circle Comes Round. You don't have to have read them to understand what's going on, so don't worry (though, if you want to read them you are welcome to it). For those who have read them, this is set in a separate, but connected, world, if that makes any sense.

Anyhow, my life has been hectic as of late, and school has been overbearing, so I can't promise that chapters will come out often or on any set schedule. However, the few people that voted on my poll said they would like this posted whether or not I updated often, and so here it is. I have enough written out so far to make another two chapters (that's also a part of why this chapter is so short). After that, since it's not written yet and I can't see the future, when updates will come is an unknown; though I promise to finish this eventually. I have plenty of ideas scribbled down, I just need to get them incorporated into the story itself.

As with all my stories, reviews and constructive criticism is welcome to join the new-year bash, but flamers would just ruin the party, so they are a no go. All who review, whether they be anonymous or signed in, shall be given a place of honor on my pretty list, so look forward to it!

I hope everyone enjoys Kindred Spirits!