I don't own Naruto, any of its characters or devices, or any songs/books/etc mentioned; no money's being made here. I do own Tanaki, Riko, Mizuchi, Suzaku, Shiracha, & all my other OCs...and venus flytrap that appears to have gone vegan.

Welcome to the world of Homeless Hearts! Just a few words of warning here. This is not at all canon, but an AU in which the Ninja war was narrowly averted, the Akatsuki turned on their leader, and the nations are finally, FINALLY on good terms with one another. Nobody who died after the start of Shippuden is dead; it's BS that they killed off so many fan-favorites, then LAUNCHED INTO UMPTEEN SEASONS OF FILLER! (Seriously! I usually ENJOY filler episodes, but what the HECK?!) Lastly, the prequel is OC only - no canon characters, but that will be fixed with the upload of chapter 1. (...whenever that happens.) Hope y'all enjoy, and have a great week! This chapter dedicated to my awesome beta DarkAvenger1506 for inspiring me to 'get on with' writing up HH. Here's to you, Hon!

Suggested listening: RUSH, "Afterimage," & Kelly Clarkson, "Breakaway"

Prologue

Another hot summer day was fading into dusk, and the Village Hidden in the Grass was at peace. Fireflies danced on cool breezes, crickets chirped, tree frogs sang, and in the village square, the people of Hidden Grass village sat around a large bonfire, celebrating the summer solstice. At a nearby sweet shop, a young woman with short straw blonde hair received a large box of dango dumplings with a grin.

"Shiracha!" she called out excitedly to a lithe white-haired woman who stood nearby, tapping a folded ebony tessen against her hip while watching a house intently. "Come on! Tanaki said she'll catch up later—stop worrying, or I'll eat all the dango and leave you none!" Shiracha's bright violet eyes crinkled in uncharacteristic worry; she fidgeted with the long sleeve of her plum-colored kimono.

"Apologies, Riko," she stated quietly. "Something's wrong…I know it is." Balancing the box on her head, Riko weaved through the crowd surrounding the shops to meet Shiracha.

"What do you mean, 'something's wrong?'" she grinned excitedly. "I got plenty for all three of us…what could go wrong?"

"It's not the dango, Riko." Shiracha's eyes again drifted to the front door of the house Riko and her sister Tanaki lived in with their mother. "I just can't shake the feeling that Tanaki was lying to us earlier…She's a terrible liar, you know." Riko frowned, tightening her grip on the box.

"So, what? You think she really did want to stay home, instead of attending the festival with us? She promised to meet us at the tea house—"

"—an hour ago." Brow furrowed, Riko cast her navy eyes to a clock on the wall of the nearest shop; sure enough, they'd been waiting on Tanaki for over an hour.

"So, was she lying about wanting to attend the festival with us?" she asked, remembering the far-away gaze in her older sister's brown eyes that night. Tanaki had spent the previous month searching for work, then suddenly stopped going out…at all. The hyperactive brunette had begun spending hours locked in her room, filling a notebook with her usual scribblings — a few numbers here and there, a handful of simple words she could spell and several she attempted but butchered, and numerous ambiguous scrawled pictograms that seemed to only make sense to her. Her usual cartoony drawings of tanukis, turtles, squirrels, and flowers were put aside for an almost endless parade of what seemed almost like lists — lists Riko couldn't read for the life of her. "Why would she change her mind out of the blue like that…? We've talked of nothing but this festival for weeks, and she seemed to look forward to it!" Shiracha caught Riko by the shoulder, urging her out of the road to the front steps of the tea house where she worked.

"I'm sure she wanted to come to the festival, Bright Eyes," Shiracha explained, the childhood nickname comforting Riko. "I worry she was lying about actually coming to meet us…her eyes seemed distant and they wouldn't meet mine." Riko shot her a concerned glance. What in the world was keeping Tanaki at home when her sister and best friend were waiting, with a great evening planned to boot?

Without a word, Riko and Shiracha started for the two sisters' home. The small house was quiet in spite of the rowdy festival, and dark in spite of the young woman supposedly still at home. Riko cringed as they snuck past her mother's bedroom; honestly, their father was barely three months in the grave, and she was yet again raising a ruckus with one of her usual men…or from the sound of it, two of them. Her vows to their father had never been worth their salt; he'd finally given up hope that she'd change, but had refused divorce to save face in the village. "Note to self," Riko groused under her breath once they'd turned the corner. "Earplugs." Shiracha's mischievous nature finally showed in a perverse leer.

The door to Tanaki's room was shut; no light seeped out beneath it, and no sound issued forth. Fear built in her stomach as Riko knocked, but didn't receive an answer. Hoping, fearing, Riko slid the door open.

"TANAKI!"

Many miles away, a woman paused at a crossroads near the boundaries of Grass Country and Earth Country, considering her options. Her long, sleek brown hair hung in a neat ponytail, her overlong bangs pulled back with a dark green cloth headband. Somber brown eyes regarded a sign decked with moss and lichens. Just below it was a leafy plant with a long, coiling stem lined with odd heart-shaped pink and white flowers. She smiled weakly, crouching to tug loose two of the tiny blooms.

A polite cough broke Tanaki's dubious concentration; she turned to greet a small family piled into an open wagon with a cage of chickens, a cage of ducks, an incredibly well-fed cat, and two snoring dogs. A young girl with frizzy navy hair hid bashfully behind her grandmother's skirts. When had they arrived? She hadn't even heard the oxen. "My apologies," she said with a weak smile. "Am I in your way?"

"In our way?" an elderly woman beamed from bright blue eyes. "No, Child. You seem lost."

'I've never been more lost,' she thought seriously. "Yes. Do you know of any villages nearby who welcome strangers? I'm searching for Home." The elder blinked at the odd phrase but nodded sagely.

"The closest is Sounding Stone, some fair distance from here. We're heading there ourselves—Aoi and Sora's father found work there. They don't seem fond of ninjas, though." She eyed the wooden staff on her back curiously.

"I'm no ninja," Tanaki smiled sheepishly. "Just a lost dropout too illiterate to even read a sign." The driver, a young man with impressive biceps and eyes like an October sky, laughed warmly; leaning over the side of the wagon, he offered her a hand up.

"Hop in," he grinned. "We'll give you a lift." For a moment her eyes welled with tears, overwhelmed by the kind gesture. Before he could misunderstand, she broke into a bright grin, drew the staff from her back, and planted the end firmly in the dusty road. Aoi laughed in delight as Tanaki dramatically vaulted up into the back, landing with deceptive ease on one of the musty hay bales lining the back.

"Thank you so very much..." She focused on settling her staff and rucksack at her feet, knowing that they'd be concerned if they realized she was choking up. "You won't regret it. If there's any way I can be of assistance, ever, I'd be only too glad to help."

"If you want to keep Aoi entertained, we'll not argue," the elder winked cheekily. "She gets bored quite easily." A soft tug of the reins and the oxen lurched forward; Aoi peered over the side of the wagon, admiring the plant with pink flowers.

"What a pretty flower," she murmured in awe. "I've never seen anything like it!"

"It's called 'Bleeding Heart,' Chibi," Tanaki smiled warmly, showing her the unopened bloom she'd plucked. "Look at the bottom there — see the little drop? As the flowers open, the pink petals curl back, and what once seemed a drip of blood from a heart..." She slyly reached up to Aoi's ear, 'pulling' something from behind it. The girl's eyes lit up in glee at the remarkable, fully bloomed flower Tanaki pressed into her palm. "...becomes a delicate white gem."

As Aoi admired the tiny bloom and the faint lavender and yellow markings on the tiny white 'jewel,' she gazed back in the direction of Grass village. "My father always said that the gods created Bleeding Heart to give us hope. When our hearts are heavy with sorrows, they seem to break and bleed; if we have patience, have faith, before we know it the hurt will heal and we'll be stronger for it."

As Aoi gushed happily about the flower to her grandmother, Tanaki considered the explanation. She'd hit hard times, and her heart was bleeding. Gods willing, though, her homeless heart would soon cease bleeding and instead, begin to bloom.

~*~#~*~