Hey guys. I hope my prologue was good enough to convince you to read my stories. Sorry if it was too vague…or boring. I couldn't give out too much or I would have to revamp the whole thing each time I wrote another act. If you haven't heard (read, whatever) I advise you to read 'Prologue to Who Loves Sayuri' first before reading this. It explains the character a little and sets up the scene for what's going to happen in all my stories.
Well…I guess I'll start now.
"Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does. Love is a battle, love is a war; love is a growing up"-James A. Baldwin
Papers were stacked in disarray around her desk. Legal documents, treaties, and missions lined the corners while a bottle of sake and saucer had the immediate attention of center.
Filling her cup to the brim once again the proud hokage basked in the ambiance of knowing her day was almost over, relinquishing her, if only for the night, of her duties.
"Lady Tsunade."
A young woman carrying a small pig entered the office, a befuddled look covering her faced. She still couldn't quite get, or put together, what the sanine had told her days ago. It just didn't make any sense.
"Yeah," she slurred.
'She's already drinking, the afternoons not even over yet. Knowing her though this isn't going to be her last bottle for the day…'
"I'm still confused."
"About what?"
"A week ago I told you about how the sand siblings helped our young ninjas in attempting to retrieve the Uchiha boy back. You said you would personally thank them and then you had me bring up the transcripts and profile of a ninja from the village of the hidden clouds. I don't understand."
"Shizune…Didn't I give you that letter of transfer?" she replied after taking another sip.
"Yes, why?"
Getting up from her desk and to the small sofa, the hokage settled in, knowing it was going to take a while to explain.
'You would think she could put two and two together but I guess I'll have to elaborate on my little plan.'
"Did you read the file on the ninja I asked you to bring up?"
"No, all I saw was her name, Sayuri."
"Do you know the legend of the Red Dragon?"
"Yes but very little…wait, is this the girl who has the curse of the red dragon?"
"Yes."
"If this is true then why would you want to bring her here and I still don't get what this has to do with the sand siblings?"
Getting frustrated the older woman gave out a small sigh. It wasn't because of the fact that she had to explain it but rather that her friend couldn't process the information.
'Do I have to explain everything around here?'
"You've heard about… or seen that Garra child from the sand tribe."
"Yes why?"
"Well…"
A long silence broke the conversation.
"Don't tell me you're trying to play matchmaker and pair those two together because their past is remotely similar. If that's true then wouldn't this girl be better off with the Uzumaki boy? Their lives are almost exactly alike and she has a"
"Relax shizune. Just because two people are exactly alike doesn't mean they'll get along. Its opposites that attract remember."
"Yes I know, in the field of science and chemistry opposites attract but how do you know this same statement works in love? And more importantly what if this relationship doesn't work out, which I highly doubt it will, you've never even met this girl and we know very little on the sand child."
Taking another sip from her saucer, the hokage pondered this new found information.
"Well, I guess that's a chance we'll have to take."
"But the girls two years older than him. Don't most girls her age like older men?"
'So you did read the papers. I wonder how much she read about this ninja'
"Hmm…I didn't think of that."
A sigh escaped the younger woman's lips as she thought of all the ways this would go wrong.
'You should really consider these things before playing cupid lady tsunade.'
"Well if it doesn't work out then oh well. We tried. The girl can just go on her way then."
An awkward silence filled the office this time.
Glancing around the room, trying to erase the current problem arriving soon, she noticed a few documents sprawled around the desk.
"Lady Tsunade shouldn't you be finishing your work."
"I should be but…I have more important things at hand." She replied while holding her bottle.
"Lady Tsunade."
'Sometimes I wonder how she ever became hokage.'
"Alright alright I'll finish them."
With that said shizune and pig left the office while a reluctant tsunade went back to work.
A small breeze blew, blowing at her bangs and the long strands of her hair that managed to escape her bun. Her silky raven tresses were pulled back in a tight twist, yet somehow a few strands of her wavy hair managed to fall around her ears.
'When will I ever reach Konoha….It feels like I've been going in circles the past few hours.'
A sigh escaped her lips as she stared blankly ahead.
'I wonder how far away I am…'
Is it possible to walk away from our past? Or will it forever follow us like a ghost?
Can we ever really escape our problems?
Turning around a corner the young girl could just see the outline of a small city. Looking closely, she could make out the entrance. Konoha itself looked very small from afar, yet somehow the city portrayed more immensity than shown.
A small sigh escaped her lips. 'Finally, I'm here.'
A wise man once said, "Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment."
Maybe we aren't meant to know what lies ahead of us, but rather find out for ourselves and learn from our mistakes.
As the young nin passed through the grand gates of Konoha she paused, noticing her surroundings seemed very alien.
'I wonder if anyone in this place knows who…or what I am.'
Walking around the city she noticed a few key differences between her home town and this one. Konoha itself seemed larger from the inside than what the city showed. The people here seem fairly nice, although she hasn't really started a conversation with anyone so she could be wrong. The houses of said people were scattered across the vast area and a large forest seemed to encompass half the city. The town also had a large mountain with what seemed to be faces etched onto the front. The only thing sayuri couldn't see was the kazakage's office.
'I wish I had a map of this area. Now I'm gonna get lost again. I guess I should ask someone for directions.Uhh, I feel really stupid for doing so though. But I guess I have no choice unless I want to keep aimlessly wandering around here.'
Still contemplating the level of stupidity for asking a question of that nature the raven-haired girl glanced around, as if waiting for someone to magically come up to her and give her directions.
Lucky for her, a certain someone ran right into her…literally.
"Ow! What the hell was that for!"
Slowly gathering herself, sayuri sat up, rubbing her back from the impact and staring at the young boy who was still lying in her lap.
"You know, you should really watch where you're going, or at least warn someone before impact."
Blinking a few times before registering the current situation, the boy quickly scrambled off of her lap, apologizing as he helped sayuri up.
"Sorry for running into you. I was just on my way to iruchgura and I guess I wasn't paying attention."
"Well…that's ok. By the way I didn't get your name."
"Oh my name is Naruto Uzumaki and I'm gonna be hokage some day!"
'So this is naruto. I've heard rumors about him and the nine-tailed fox.'
"Well naruto I'm sayuri."
Staring at her for a few seconds, trying to remember if she looked familiar, the young boy gave up.
"Hmm, I don't remember you. Are you new here?"
"Somewhat… Hey can I join you for lunch? I don't know where anything is around here and I could really use a person like you to tell me where to go."
A short silenced passed between the two before one of them spoke.
"Okay, but lets have a race. Loser buys." Replied the boy with a smirk.
"Fine you're on!" Added sayuri coyly.
As both ninja broke out in a mad dash bystanders were blown away as the two flew by in a blur, one thankful to have made a friend, who didn't know who she was, in a new place, the other excited at the prospect of free raman.
Well thats all I'm writing for now. Its late and I'm tired, Jaa.