(A/N): Hiii everyone!!! So.... this is my first chapter to my first story ever published!!! I really hope you guys like it!!!
Just to clarify, the main character in the story is in fact my own OCC. Her bio is on my profile if you really want to look at it. Sadly, I don't have any pictures of her but if anyone with really good drawing skills wants to draw her for me I would love that person for eternity!!!
Also, I kind of need an editor ^^; if anyone wants to take on that task. If not, I'll just do it myself. But with my crazy life and what not, I lack the time to do more than just simple word spellcheck.
Anyway! Enjoy! Don't forget to comment or fave if you think it's good enough. Feedback is always accepted!!!

Disclaimer:
Me: Hey Camellia! Can you believe we are actually submitting this!?
Camellia: I know! But, we need to get ahead to the story...
Me: Ahaha right... Anywho, I don't own Naruto. Nope. Not at all.
Camellia: -snickers- But I own-
Me: Don't give it away!
Camellia: Sorry... Enjoy the story everyone!

Dear Reader. I don't much care what village you are from, what kind of ninja you are, or whether you even are a ninja or not. I am writing down my journal for two reasons: so people know the truth of my life, and so people can learn from my mistakes. I will warn you, reader, that this is not a happy love story, or a story of a difficult journey that has an accomplished ending. This is not a story of a ninja who has worked hard to obtain a goal that no one thought possible, hell; I may not even be considered the good guy of this whole thing. This is a story about my life. No lies, no cutting corners, this is the real deal. Of course, it's not entirely bad. There is some good in what I have to say. But when it comes right down to it, if you don't want to know the hardships of being an outcast, the tortures of slavery, badly chosen and life changing decisions, or the never ending loss that must be faced, I would advise you to close this journal now and go back to whatever you were doing prior to picking this up. This, reader, is the story of Falling Leaves.

I don't really remember much of the details of my childhood. The only day I really remember was the day that a disaster happened; a disaster that was put in place by the Hokage himself. It was a day that never really hurt me or crushed my spirit, but it certainly changed my life drastically.

It was a normal, sunny day in the Uchiha Compound. I had woken up to warm rays of sun that filtered through my window, and the noises of everyday town life set me in a good mood. I stayed in bed another minute to try and name some of the noises I heard. One vendor was opening his shop, lifting his wooden canopy to reveal his goodies. Many voices echoed into the room, including laughter and my father chatting nearby. A few birds chirruped as they flew overhead and young children shrieked with delight to be outside and running around.

I quietly arose and made up my bed, then stalked over to Sasuke's bed, where he was sleeping soundly. Normally, I would have pushed him off, or ripped away the covers from his bed. Today, however, I was in such an ecstatic mood, I just simply could not bring myself to do so. I simply shook him gently on the shoulder and let his eyelids flutter open. He yawned and stretched before acknowledging me.

"Ohayou, Sasuke-kun! Come on, get up. Don't you know what today is?"

"Ohayou, Camellia-chan… Hey, Camellia-chan! Is it really today already? Today's the first day at the Academy, isn't it? Get ready, sis! We need to go!"

The two of us bounded about like rabbits getting ready for the day. Our mother prepared for us a lovely breakfast that we quickly munched at. As Sasuke helped to pack our lunches, I tried to construct two decent braids in my hair.

In reality, I wasn't Uchiha born. My hair was not dark and short, but long and golden red. My eyes were not deep, onyx orbs, but soft, sapphire ones. My skin was a few shades darker than most of the Uchiha's, but still pale. I was about the same size in height and structure as Sasuke, but my movements were slightly more graceful and nimble. As I looked at myself in the mirror, I remembered the day my mother told me I was different.

~* FLASHBACK – AGE FIVE *~

"Mother, I've been wondering," I knelt at the table and stared inquisitively into my tea.

"Yes, Camellia-chan, what is it?"

"Why is it that I look different from everybody else? I'm the only one in the whole clan that looks like I do."

"Do you mean your hair and eye color?"

"Yeah. I don't look Uchiha at all. It's like I don't belong." My features had sagged a little and my mother gave me a reassuring hug.

"I guess you are old enough now to know the truth. You see, when you were born, your parents were great ninja who fought valiantly in battle. They both died, however, during a certain battle a few years ago. The Third Hokage knew I was expecting a baby soon, and knew how much I had wanted a daughter even though I was expecting a second son. I adopted you as my own to be able to achieve that goal." She smiled warmly, and I tried to understand what she told me. I said the first thought that popped into my head.

"So you love me more than Sasuke-kun cause I'm a girl." I giggled, though I was partly serious. My mother giggled along with me and told me she loved us both the same, which I wasn't surprised to hear.

~* END FLASHBACK *~

Sasuke and I nervously entered the classroom and looked around at the other kids inside. A pile of girls turned their gazes to Sasuke and immediately were fantasizing about him. I laughed as the fangirls questioned him and gawked at him, and soon he was lost in the sea of attention. Most of the boys just scoffed and continued on with their lives. One kid, a blondie with large eyes the same color as mine, waved me over. He and his friends were planning some shenanigans to use throughout the year and invited me to join them. I was more than delighted.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I'm gonna be Hokage one day, you know. These are my friends," the loud and knuckleheaded blondie said. He gestured towards three other boys.

"Hey, nice to meet ya, I'm Nara Shikamaru," said one boy with chocolate brown hair that was pulled up to make it look like a pineapple. He raised one hand lazily in the air in greeting. I guessed that he was always like that, lazy and uninterested, but he had a sharp quality about him that made me wonder if he was as dumb as he led on.

The boy next to him crunched noisily on some potato chips. His hair was the same color as Shikamaru's, but it was styled differently. There were spirals on his cheeks that indicated he was from a clan. He was somewhat overweight, but seemed to care very little about that fact. He was very kind and shy, and seemed to be closet to the pineapple haired kid. "Akamichi Chouji, ohayou," was all he said.

"Heh, look, a girl in the group. This'll be interesting. Yahoo! I'm Inuzuka Kiba, and this is my buddy Akamaru!" This boy had spiky brunet hair and red triangles on his cheeks, also indicating he was a member of a clan. He had one fang that stuck subtly from under his lip and his eyes were narrow. He seemed extremely outgoing and almost crazy. A small, white dog with brown ears yipped as his master said his name. Out of all the guys in this group, Kiba definitely stood out the most to me. I didn't figure out why until many years later.

"My name is Uchiha Camellia. Pleased to meet you all. Hey, anyone know how to make a rice pudding bomb?" The guys' eyes lit up as I explained a way to fill a thin balloon with rice pudding and throw it at someone so it explodes all over them. We planned to try this on our teacher next week.

As our instructor, Iruka, delivered the role call, I was able to learn the names of my future team mates and Rookie Squad. Some were more expressive and always easily noticeable, like Naruto, Kiba, Ino, Tenten, Lee, and of course, myself. Others were quieter and more withdrawn, like Shikamaru, Chouji, Hinata, Neji, Shino, Sakura, and Sasuke. Just looking at all of these kids for the first time that day, I knew that we were going to grow up to be a close knit and strong group of ninja.

It was lunch break when I next saw Sasuke. He looked like he had gotten in a fight; his shirt and hair all messed up. I couldn't help but laugh at what seven year old girls were able to do to the poor boy.

"At least you're having a good time. Your friends seem like fun. Maybe you can introduce them to me later," he smiled.

"Okay! Oh, would you mind telling Mother that Kiba invited me to dinner tonight? His family is making a dinner for all his friends as congratulations for the first day of school, and I really wanna go." Our mother was pretty good about letting us be social, as long as there was some sort of adult supervision around. Sasuke agreed, and the bell rang for class. I was very excited for what was to come this evening… or at least, that's what I thought.

The guys and I were sitting in the kitchen, telling stories and laughing, generally having a good time. Kiba and Naruto were in the middle of a rice and soy sauce eating contest when the doorbell rang. I secretly turned my attention to the door, watching Inuzuka Tsume, Kiba's mother, open the door. By the darkness outside I guessed it was getting pretty late. The next thing I noticed was two ANBU, one was pointing to me, probably talking. Tsume looked to me and called me over. The others got quiet as I reluctantly approached the ANBU.

"You are Uchiha Camellia, correct?" I nodded. The ANBU looked down slightly to my level. "We have some tragic news. Your entire clan has been murdered, with the exception of Sasuke and Itachi. According to our records, these two are your brothers, no?"

I don't know if it was the fact that I had eaten my weight in food just minutes ago, or the fact that I was imagining how in the world my whole family had been annihilated, but either way, I found myself pushing past the two ninja and throwing up all over the Inuzuka's doorstep. I felt a hand on my back and it held me up until I was done. I looked up and met eyes with Kiba, who looked at me utterly shocked as we tried to understand what had just happened.

The second ANBU placed a hand on my shoulder, and told Kiba to head back inside. "Please come with us. Sasuke is resting in the hospital for now, and it would be beneficial for you to be with him. We can only imagine how you must feel about this." With that, the three of us headed for the hospital. I thought about it after, and realized how wrong the ANBU was. You can never come close to imagining what it's like to lose a whole clan in one night, your whole family swept from under your feet, and knowing it was your eldest brother was the one who committed this crime.

Sasuke awoke a few hours after my arrival, screaming and sweating from some excruciating nightmare. I had not yet fallen asleep, so I was quick to respond. I pushed him off the bed, as ordinary custom to waking him up, and he turned his wide, terrified eyes towards me. He wrapped his arms around me and cried. I hugged him back, but didn't seem to share the same sadness as him. I guess knowing they weren't my real family, and only truly being close to my younger brother, it didn't matter so much to me as it did to him. Still, I offered him solace, and we didn't speak. I waited until he fell asleep before I moved. I wasn't strong enough to lift him onto his bed, so I leaned him onto the nightstand and retrieved a nurse. When he was tucked in and calm, I finally relaxed and tried to sleep. These episodes happened three more times during the night, so I never really got the chance to rest properly. I however, didn't care. My brother was my number one priority right now.

I remember that these nightmares haunted Sasuke for almost a year of his life before he finally started the long journey to facing Itachi in battle. The only person he kept close to him through the years was me. Of course, as we got older and were divided into two separate teams, our bond had lost its shape, but I still felt like I had to be the older sister that took care of him and watched over him. That's what got me in a lot of trouble about six years ago.

(A/N): So... what did you guys think!? I know, there's a ton of better stuff out there... but I hope this wasn't too bad! Feedback anyone?
I'm most likely going to submit the next chapter sometime within the next week. I'm already pretty far into it. The chapters will prolly get longer as the story goes... more work for me!!!
Camellia: Plus, I don't remember much about my childhood.
Me: Your life has been really scrwed up. If I were you, I sure wouldn't want to remember it.
Camellia: -_- Tell me about it...
Me: Anyway, until next time...
Both: Ja ne!!!