prologue

The mid-afternoon sun shone through the petals of the pale pink cherry blossoms, which covered the many trees surrounding the elegant Uchiha estate. Their clusters stretched all the way from below its curved roof to over half of one se, or the size of fifty tatami mats. Before Sakura and her mother had arrived at the outskirts of town, it had appeared, from a distance, as though the castle was growing out of a large mass of clouds.

Sakura herself had never been outside the city during a time that wasn't for flower viewing, so even after her seven years of life, she still had trouble picturing the large samurai manor with ordinary trees, like those in woodblock prints without spring themes. This idealized view was most likely a large contributor to the fairytale-like way she always envisioned it, though, admittedly, it's a challenge to not idealize such a beautiful place.

She peered at the large crowd of people from behind her mother, feeling intimidated. She would've preferred it if it were just the two of them… However, the wife of the Haruno innkeeper was a talkative woman, particularly during festivals, and was currently cheerfully conversing with the wife of a local fisherman.

"Yoshino! I feel like I haven't seen you in forever."

The dark haired woman chuckled, with a kind smile. "Kotoko… I know what you mean. We've all been so busy…"

After an exchange of pleasantries, Yoshino began telling her friend about some ordeal or another she'd had with her husband, and Sakura's mother shooed her away to go play with a nearby group of children about her age.

At this, Sakura paled. She hardly knew any of them particularly well, but she'd recognized a couple from a earlier that week, when they had teased her. She hesitantly began walking over to their direction, raising her hand self consciously towards her forehead. The small girl had never really seen anything wrong with that feature of her face before, but the embarrassment still hung over her from the boys' jeering remarks.

Her eyes began water at the bitter memory of one particularly rude comment about her having a squid-like head, and she quickly began walking away from the group, changing her direction instead to a dense group of trees. Maybe if she sort of hid somewhere in there, she could avoid all of these people, and just quietly enjoy the festival by herself. She would've preferred staying with her mother, but she wasn't sure what to say if she asked why she didn't go with her peers.

With a resigned sigh, she took a seat leaning against the dark trunk of the cherry tree, her eyes cast downward. It wasn't as if she didn't have anyone in the world. She loved her parents, and a confident girl she'd recently met had seemed really nice.

Ino… Maybe I should look for her.

She lifted her gaze, and was about to get up, when she suddenly fell backwards with a surprised shriek.

A young boy was sitting across from her, a curious expression on his unusually serious face. Apparently, in all of her staring at the ground, she'd accidentally rushed right past him without even realizing he was there. She anxiously noted his deep blue silk kimono, which was of a far better quality than anything she owned, and hurriedly spoke, stammering slightly.

"Ah! Um… I'm sorry… I didn't realize you were there!"

He gave a slight shrug, his dark and solemn eyes looking back down at the extremely tasty looking sweet rice dumpling he held in his hand. "Don't worry about it."

Sakura slowly sunk back down into a sitting position, wondering if he was the son of a particularly wealthy merchant. She didn't recognize his face, and felt as though she probably would've remembered his sharp and handsome features. In fact, he looked almost like a young prince, albeit not the typical flowery and poetry spouting type she'd heard of in stories. Were there serious princes, too?

Most likely feeling her stare, he glanced back over to her. "What…?"

"N-Nothing!" She looked back down, with an awkward laugh. "Sorry… I was trying to figure out if I recognized you from Shinakawa."

The riverside lodging district where her family's inn was had a tendency to always bustle with people from all over the country, and she'd already seen far more people coming and going in her young life than she could count. It wasn't unusual for her to spot familiar faces around Edo.

This answer seemed to confuse him for a moment, but he quickly regained composure. "No…," he began, carefully. "I've never really been there."

This struck her as slightly odd. After all, if he was a merchant's son, he would've spent a large amount of time traveling, right? Maybe he just lives in the city, with his mother… She adjusted the red ribbon in her light hair, frowning. She wanted to know, but it seemed like a nosy thing to say. Her parents had always chided her for asking visiting patrons too many questions.

They both sat in silence for several minutes. Eventually, Sakura got used to his strange presence, and finally took a moment to admire the beautiful blossoms above them. She pointed out a couple of the different kinds of flowers she knew to him and cheerfully explaining that she was named after one, as he stayed silent, occasionally nodding. She wasn't positive if he actually cared, or even if he was listening, but he didn't object, and patiently watched her gesture to each kind.

At one point, she gathered the courage to ask what his favorite was, but he just gave her a vague answer about not having one. After that, they stayed silent for some time, just sitting quietly in the haze of light pink and spring scents.

Starting to feel like she might outwear her welcome if she stuck around too long, she pulled herself to her feet once again, dusting off her pink cotton yukata and giving him a shy, nervous smile. "I guess I should go back to my mother now… It was nice talking to you?" She dipped into a polite bow.

He gave her a slight nod, getting up at the same time she did. However, to her surprise, he reached out, handing her his dumpling. He hadn't even taken a bite of it, and its paper wrapping was only slightly opened.

She gawked at it, holding it up to give it back to him. "Are you sure I can have some…? It looks really expensive!"

He was already walking away, and gave her a slight glance over his shoulder. "Just keep it. I don't eat sweets."

"Wow… Thank you very much!"

Sakura admired it, very impressed. She loved dumplings, but they were a rare festival delicacy, and she hadn't had them very often. After a moment's pause, she shouted back.

"I didn't catch your name!"

Without even looking back, he stopped. For a moment, her heart sunk, and she thought he might not respond.

"Sasuke."

---

Sakura ran back to the main festivities, finishing her dumpling on the way. She tugged on the hem of her mother's kimono excitedly. "Mom! Mom!"

Haruno Kotoko turned, crossing her arms.

"Sakura! I've been looking everywhere for you! Don't go running off like that, okay?! You had me worried sick!"

Sakura lowered her head, apologized, then quickly perked up.

"I met a really nice boy! He gave me a dumpling!"

Features softening, her mother smiled. "Well… I'm glad you had fun. Just be more careful next time, will you? And tell me if you're going to wander off!!"

Sakura promised she would, and her mother took her hand.

"Good, good… We should start heading home though, okay? It's getting late."

Kotoko said goodbye to a couple families they passed, and the two of them walked down the dirt road in the direction of home. It took nearly two hours to get through the city and to Shinakawa, and by the time they arrived it was dark, and Kotoko had to carry her daughter.

They entered the wooden inn, and Sakura's mother gave her father a kiss on the cheek, filling him in on how a few of their neighbors were faring. Sakura sleepily pointed out that she made a friend, and got a sweet, and he laughed.

"Well, I'm glad you had a good time!"

Her parents talked a bit more about the castle, and some sort of complicated politics about brothers and clans that she didn't really understand, and she began to drift off. She nearly fell asleep right there in the hall until a snatch of worried conversation ("I wonder how the Uchiha are going to do now… They had that son, Sasuke, right?") caught her attention, and she immediately awoke.

"That was his name! Sasuke!"

Her mother gave her an odd look, and pursed her lips, shaking her head.

"Someone was trying to play a joke on you, sweetie. The Uchiha would be in the estate…"

Sakura shook her head, adamant.

"I'm sure he wasn't making it up…"

With a sigh, her father began leading her to the quarters of the inn where their family lived.

"Sorry, Saku. Kids can be brats, you know?"

She gave him a sullen look, though her annoyance dissipated as she stopped to wonder about Sasuke. So he was probably an heir to a noble clan then? She could scarcely believe it! She'd never even seen a person of such high rank before, and now it turns out that she'd actually met one…

Her father slid open the rice paper door and tucked her in to her futon, wishing her good night. She answered the same to him, distractedly, still deep in thought, and barely noticed as he left.

I guess that explains why he looked so much like a prince then… But I wonder why he was off by himself? Sakura relaxed against the coarse mattress, her eyes fluttering shut.

I wonder if I'll meet him again some day.

Eventually, she fell asleep, and dreamt of flowers, dumplings, and towering castles in the sky.