A/N: This was a fun one to write, and the very idea of this story thrills me. I hope that it comes together, and that others enjoy it as much as I plan to. However, those who have read my stories in the past may note the 'T' rating—this is not in place because of profanity or anything suggestive. The rating is there because of disturbing scenes/flashbacks, possible character deaths and something else that I shouldn't really give away yet. But I promise that there is nothing explicit, and this should be as clean as my other fics, if more intense and/or dramatic.

The story is set several years in the future, and I have warped the storyline a good deal. Much of it will take place among the Hyuugas, a group which I love but know little about as a whole.

Fasten your seatbelts; this may be a bumpy ride. (I promise, I'm trying my hardest to ensure that that is the last cliché' in this entire yarn.)

Hyuuga Hiashi-sama

Hyuuga Manor, 758 Hidden Valley Drive

Konohagakure, Land of Fire

7th of June

RE: Cherry Tree Shipment

Hyuuga-sama—

It is with deep regret that I inform you all orders of cherry tree saplings have been placed on back order. We at the Hidden Leaf Nursery send our most sincere apologies, but our supplier writes that it has been a bad year for the sakura, and few of the young plants made it through the winter in their storehouses. Trees that were strong, healthy and beautiful simply withered and collapsed, despite 'all of the care they were given' (as we have no real understanding on treatment of plants by our supplier, I cannot say to what extent the attention reached).

The saplings that survived, small in number, I am sad to report, are all frail, needy plants that would require the highest maintenance and most particular care, rendering them utterly unmarketable, especially for venerable Hyuuga-sama. Once again, I personally make an apology for this gross neglect on our supplier's part, and assure you that the first suitable saplings we receive will be yours.

Sincerely,

Yamanaka Ino

Hidden Leaf Nursery, 626 South-Central Konoha

Konohagakure, Land of Fire

18th of June

Yamanaka-san--

In your last letter to my uncle, regarding the shipment of cherry trees he requested this past fall, you spent much of the note explaining why the unfavorable condition of the saplings was not your fault. This is irrelevant to Hiashi-sama, and he tells me to notify you that no additional order is to be made. The trees would arrive at a late and inconvenient time for planting, and he has little patience for inconvenience, as you well know from our last business transaction. He desires instead one of the original trees; as they were hardy enough to survive in the hands of your most incompetent supplier, they can certainly thrive under the care that our gardeners alone can provide.

Send us a koshi sakura.

Formally,

Hyuuga Neji

P.S. He also makes the suggestion that you stop making excuses and find a new source nursery—there are several established names that he could recommend.

The cherry trees, or sakura, of the Hyuuga clan are almost as legendary as their unique bloodline among the villagers of Konoha. Only the most talented and precise are allowed to become caretakers for their beloved trees, and rarely will an applicant for said position measure up to their impossibly high standards. As a result, the task often falls to those of Hyuuga itself, and so, on this crisp autumn morning, the clan leader's youngest daughter herself strolled through the empty grounds, carrying a large pair of pruning shears.

It was miserably early, and there was a brisk chill in the damp. Hanabi kicked at a small stone, dragging her feet along the path, hoping half-heartedly that she would wake the whole accursed brood of them up. She was a night owl, not an early bird, for the love of Sandaime, and she could not possibly imagine a more stupid, boring, worthless chore than tending to those dumb trees. It was the beginning of fall; they didn't need pruning, and as for her father's insistence of removing bird nests and worms, there were no birds or worms left in Konoha that were fool enough to mess with Hiashi's trees.

"Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb," she growled at nobody in particular, having lived too sheltered a life to know any stronger insults for her irritatingly fastidious father.

She walked on, trying groggily to think of something really awful to say to him at breakfast. Not that she would have ever been able to, even if Hiashi hadn't ordered complete silence during meals. Nobody said anything bad about her father even behind his back. He gave off a haunting omniscience that, as the Rokudaime Hokage had once put it long ago, "scared the crap out of everybody." (He had stated this very quietly, of course, in a tone that was not like the boisterous blonde.)

Scattered leaves were already beginning to blanket the ground, in premature preparation for the cruel season they were to face. Although she would never admit it, not even to herself, Hanabi loved the peace of the early morning; the quiet that would only last until the rest of her enormous clan began waking up. From that time on, the entire manor would be alive with dozens and dozens of distant cousins performing various tasks, from training to toilet scrubbing, although only the disgraced were forced to do such revolting menial work.

Dozens and dozens of distant cousins, huh? Hanabi enjoyed the rhyme and rhythm of the phrase, and drummed it against one leg with her fingers. Do-zens and do-zens… and dozens. Sometimes, she wished that her crazy family was smaller, or at least scattered in separate homes throughout Konoha. It was troublesome having so many names and faces to keep up with all the time.

Tch. Troublesome indeed. She sounded like the lazy genius of the Nara family. But what did he really have to complain about? Sure, his mom was an overbearing, loud-mouthed, nagging, pain-in-the-butt, but at least he had just one: Hanabi could name several overbearing, loud-mouthed, nagging relations that could only be classified as 'pains-in-the-butt.'

A playful breeze stung at her nose, and she wished for a thicker robe. It wasn't that they didn't have enough money for warmer clothes—Lord knew Hyuuga had money practically dripping out their ears—but Tou-san had decided that as the life of the shinobi was full of discomfort, so the life of a Hyuuga clan member would be.

Thankfully, she was almost to the end of her route. "It's so stupid," she griped to a nearby sparrow, who stopped pecking at the cold ground long enough to stare at her. "I mean, these trees are hardly on our property anymore. This wall is the borderline between the town and the plantation. I swear, the man's got OCD!"

The sparrow decided to go back to pecking, and Hanabi turned her attention to the final stop before she could head back. The growling of her stomach was enough incentive for her to hurry.

"Well, whaddya know," she said, standing at the base of a large tree, staring up into the spreading branches that were still thick with blossoms. Her avian friend had made a small nest up there. She felt a little sorry for the diligent creature, and hoped that it wouldn't be so foolhardy again.

Dropping the shears, she clambered up the wall as best she could, knowing she would be as good as dead if caught climbing a sakura. "I'm taking your house down now," she called to the bird, who continued to ignore her. Fine. As she pivoted back to the nest, her sharp eyes caught a slight movement from somewhere over the wall.

Hanabi activated her already powerful Byakugan and scanned the area. On her side of the protected boundary, the only waking creatures were herself and the bird. But on the other side, on the street leading from Konoha—there it was again! She couldn't clearly discern who it was, but in the white outlines of her enhanced vision, she detected a stirring form on one of several benches lining the drive.

Without a second though, she slipped over the wall, forgetting caution in a burst of curiosity. As she came closer, she released Byakugan and studied the prostrate girl intensely. Something in her memory was triggered by the long strands of light pink hair that fell across her back. If only she could get a look at the face!

Hanabi put out a hand to turn her over, but as her small fingers brushed against a dark welt on the young woman's shoulder, a strangled cry stopped her in her place.

"Sasuke-kun!"