For Lynette, may stories like this one continue to inspire you with your own journey.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, It is the creation of Masashi Kishimoto.
秋の涙- AKi No Namida
Kyoto, October 1922
A series of gay laughter filled the air as streams of students in their royal blue yabane-patterned Hakamas from the Joshi Gakuen came out from their afternoon class. A young woman with long dark hair and pale-lavender eyes was among them, she came out clutching a few books and envelopes handed to her that morning by the head mistress of her residence on her way to the institute. The postal mark of its origins indicated it had come from Paris where her male relative was undertaking further military training for the Teikoku Rikugun while the other envelope was marked from Osaka.
She walked leisurely in the narrow road flanked by gingko and maple trees with flaming hues of yellow and red as she neatly tore open the mail from abroad. She was immediately beset by a strong flowery fragrance and found a tiny cluster of dried lavender as she unfolded the letter and read the poem intricately written on it
夢ぢには
あしもやすめず
かよへども
うつつにひとめ
見しごとはあらず
"ん"
Though I go to you
ceaselessly along dream paths,
the sum of those trysts
is less than a single glimpse
granted in the waking world.
"N"
A smile played in her lips as her eyes darted on the signed initial. She gently brushed the flower against her nose to inhale its sweet scent while an image of him smelling the same flower came to her mind. A warm flush crept in her face as she took notice of her surroundings; she had entered the hanamachi area and was now by the wooden bridge leading to a temple.
Memories flooded her mind as she recalled their time together in their hometown of Hyūga and how their relationship had steadily grown over the years. It was a nameless feeling though fully understood between them remained subdued until the day before his departure for Tokyo. He brought her to Hyuga-misaki thinking that it was simply a last attempt for him to enjoy the majestic view of the ocean from the cliffs, but had turned out to be much more for him as he recited Mibu No Tadami
恋すてふ
我が名はまだき
立ちにけり
人しれずこそ
思ひそめしか
It is true I love,
But the rumor of my love
Had gone far and wide,
When people should not have known
That I had begun to love.
A confession that ended with him reaching out to her with his hand, the ocean breeze gently wafting through their tresses and robes as they fell into an embrace finally affirming that unnamed affection they kept inside their hearts.
It was not long after when she had gone to Kyoto for her studies and they would see each other during the winter, a routine that would be broken for the first time since he went abroad. She felt a tinge of sadness at being reminded that it was already autumn and his coming absence will be painfully evident.
A deep sigh escaped her as she quietly continued over the bridge, she remembered the other missive and surmised it was from her father and saw the words "Urgent" stamped in red at one side, something she failed to notice since there was no mention from the headmistress when it was given to her. She hastily went through it and suddenly felt everything seemed to rapidly spin around her, she steadied herself by the bridge railing, while her vision blurred from the tears welling in her eyes. She remembers the words she never imagined would befittingly describe her one day as she slowly descended into the dark unconsciousness that engulfed her
秋山の
黄葉を茂み
惑ひぬる
妹を求めむ
山道知らずも
The mountains in autumn
there are so much fallen leaves,
-looking for my lost lover
I cannot find the path.
A monk passing by had witnessed her fall and immediately ran and carried her to the nearby temple. The letter in her hand softly slipped from her fingers and was swept by the wind. Inside it was a message that would forever haunt her:
"Take the next train to Osaka, Neji has passed away"
"Who travels for love finds a thousand miles not longer than one"
惚れて通えば千里も一里
-Japanese Proverb-
Footnotes:
Aki No Namida - literally "Autumn's Tears is the name of the prologue
Yabane-Pattern Hakama - originally yabane was popular as a motif on men's clothing due to its close association with kyudo, Japanese archery, but has always been popular with women as well. During the Edo era small scale kasuri yabane was popular as servants' livery. By the Meiji era it had become highly associated with the "Meiji schoolgirl" look- a yabane komon worn under hakama with a modern hairstyle held back with a ribbon. (Source: Immortal Geisha)
Joshi Gakuen – "Women's Education Institution" and originally inspired by "Kyoto Joshi Gakuen" founded in 1920.
Teikoku Rikugun – "Imperial Army" which is derived from the "Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun" meaning "Great Army of the Japanese Empire", the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan, from 1871 to 1945.
Hanamachi – literally means "Flower streets" which are the Japanese Geisha districts typically found in Kyoto which is termed as "Kagai" instead of Hanamachi.
Hyūga – a place in Miyazaki Prefecture, Kyuushu region. It had undergone several demarcations over the years as different feudal lords took over these areas. Please see Miyazaki prefecture history for further reading.
Ono No Komachi – early Heian period waka poetess who wrote the first poem in this fiction. The poem appears in Kokin Wakashu as No.658 .
Mibu No Tadami – middle Heian period waka poet and nobleman who wrote the second poem in this fiction. The poem is from Hyakunin Isshu poem anthology of the same period.
The last poem - No.208 (anonymous author) is taken from the Manyoushuu ("ten thousand leaves") was the earliest anthology of Japanese poetry, dated back ca. 759 with the text originally referring to "wife/lover" but was used by Hinata in her own point of view in expressing the demise of Neji during that autumn time.
Taishō Era – reference for Japanese History during the 1900-1920s period.
