Disclaimer: Woman, please, I don't need to own Naruto or Samurai Champloo to write fanfiction.
Penname: LiveLoveLaugh
FanFiction Story: Sunflower Samurai
Summary: (Naruto X Samurai Champloo) Sakura had stepped into a spellbound when she fell asleep in a garden of sunflowers, in a strange event she was taken in a coma where she dreamt she lived in a world not her own, traveling with three other wanderers.
AN: I had recently discovered this great new anime show, Samurai Champloo, when I was watching Adult Swim with my younger brother and I fell intensely in love with the complex artwork and the fluid movements of the characters. I was absolutely delighted when I found yet another modernized martial arts series, and it was so much better than Rurouni Kenshin! I was so completely happy, that I had to write this one even though I never read any other Samurai Champloo fanfiction stories and with my combined love and obsession for Naruto, I decided to make a crossover. Hmm, I know many of you don't know what 'Samurai Champloo' is but it's an excellent anime and I highly recommend it. I may be spoiling the general plot so far, but it's what it's about:
Fuu, a fifteen-year old girl, had worked in a tea house as a waitress trying to live her life without a mother and a father who had been missing in her life. When two polar opposite samurais, named Mugen and Jin, had both engaged themselves in a public fight, and were put up against execution in the morning, she had decided to rescue the two of them if they had promised to come with her on a journey to look for a 'samurai who smelled like sunflowers'. That's if they didn't kill each other first.
I will expect only a few would review, but I hope a few more who enjoy the story for the plot and not for the cross-over. Enjoy!
Prologue: Reckless Girl
The sweet laughter of children had caressed the summer waves of hot air, their sweat pouring into their tee shirts and shorts as they ran around like idiots chasing one and other to compete against cleverness and speed. The large group of girls watched giggling blushingly at the boys who kicked the rubber ball around the large field. Their shouts and cries had only filled the happy sunny atmosphere with their chatter of their sandals, the other guardians were scolding the kids who scraped their knees and the flowers around her were blowing in the light breezes as the golden orb of the sun had arise in the blue sky streaming with white puffy clouds.
She was one of the substitutes for today, she watched over the kids for her old Academy teacher who was on an errand for the Hokage. Sakura giggled at the intertwining feet shuffling at the red ball until it smacked against the tree and bounced off, toward the faraway fields that held the tall flowers with their giant colorful petals and green stalks. The kids raced towards the flower field, only ending up groaning with impatience.
"Aw man, you idiot! You kicked the ball so far away!" one of the rough boys snarled, placing his hands on his hips grudgingly.
"My fault?" the other tyke scoffed disbelievingly, "I wasn't the one who kicked it!"
One of the girls on the team moaned, "You can't see it! The damn sunflowers are blocking it!"
"I'll get it!" a kid cried bravely, puffing up his chest.
"It's too deep into the field, we're not allowed to go there, remember?" his friend replied, slapping a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey! You can play with another ball!" one of the Academy teachers perked, holding up another one, "Forget about that one!"
The kids all around screamed with delight and ran towards him, Sakura glanced lightly from her place underneath the willow tree. The children began another game, the girls cheered off while teachers shout for authority and their responsibility. The pink-haired Jounin stepped up to the older educators with a smile.
"My, my, Sakura-san, you seem to be in a good mood today," a teacher remarked friendly, clapping his hands against his thighs.
"Well, I barely get out of the hospital to see the kids play," her green eyes gleamed in the direction of the sunflower fields, "I didn't expect this summer to be so hot either."
"Ah," he said, squinting his eyes through the lens of his glasses when he looked at the valley, "The flowers are coming in very nicely, I can see the Yamanaka flower shop would be pleased. Tell Ino-san she should get the better ones before the other women do. You know how much she likes her flowers fresh."
Sakura fluttered her eyes at the mere memory, "Yes, I do."
A shout was heard, the two shinobis turn to the noise. A child had accidentally fall down and was crying while other kids surrounded him. The male teacher groaned frustratingly at the students he had to handle. Before he ran to scoop the kid up, Sakura placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"I'll get the ball," she suggested, "In the fields…I think I can pluck some flowers for Ino."
The man nodded, murmuring, "Alright, alright, just hurry up. I don't want parents complaining to me that there aren't enough guardians around for their tykes."
She nodded slowly, running off. Her white sandals had clutter against the bumpy green grass, her short skirt had carried off with her as she ran fast enough to create any sloppy trips. She stepped up to the tall cluster of sunflowers, the yellow and brown shapes of suns had sparkled her curiosity. Something about this field had called for her, something strange and exotic had made her come closer. Usually this field was quite useless for interesting sights when the villagers took their times looking at bamboo or cherry blossoms. The scent of them lingered in her face, a kind of smell she never had the time to contemplate about long enough. She breathed into the wavy earthy smells, and lifted some of the fallen flowers that frail on the short broken stalks where the ball had crushed against.
She maneuvered her body through the stalks, the yellow petals had combed through her unbound hair and her eyes completely camouflaged with the green of the plants. The air was thick and the scent of the flowers was intoxicating to her. She began to sweat quite unnecessarily, quite thanking herself for wearing her favorite color white. Her snow-white hooded tunic clung loosely on her eighteen-year old body with a maroon belt tied closely around her trim waist, her black short skirt was velcro at the sides with crimson shorts underneath. She had long since worn her forehead protector around her right arm, leaving her forehead to be exposed only by itself with small pink bangs hanging loosely at the sides of her pale face.
Sakura walked further into the fields, unsuccessfully finding that red rubber ball, she frowned slightly. A bead of sweat dripped from her nose as she walked warningly through the fields. She realized the tall towering stalks of the sunflowers had closely began to shorten in size and expanded in width of bunches of more than a few miles of the giant yellow sunflowers. She grimaced uncomfortably when streams of burning sunlight had lightly baked her pale skin as she roamed recklessly through the fields.
Soon she began to know that her curiosity had gotten far enough, and the ball didn't seem to matter to her anymore. Hell, she didn't even know whether or not she still was in the Hidden Leaf after a long while of walking aimlessly by her sixth sense. Her inner self was yapping on and on for the pros and cons of continuing the walk, but like always she ignored it. When she couldn't seem to be able to find the red ball anywhere, she decided to head back before she got anyone to worry over her missing presence.
"Now I can see why Kakashi-sensei calls me reckless," Sakura muttered to herself, combing a bunch of hairs over her ear.
Before she twist on her heel, she was stricken with the echoing loud velocity had had vibrated through the back of her body, no longer was she able to move anywhere away from the area. Her eyes were wide and her entire body began to struggle like she was caught in a body bind.
"W-What is h-happening to m-me…?" she gaped, when her voice in her throat began to cease, "I-I…can't…s-speak…o-or b-breathe…" she nearly choked, clasping her wildly fidgeting hands on her pale slender throat. She slumped forward drastically, her mind darting. She was in a dangerous position, her entire body was weaker than usual and her heart rate was slowing down frighteningly. Her lungs began to tighten painfully against her clasping ribs, a prison chamber than held all her exhalation in.
She felt her body possessed forcibly, the sun rays began to shower over her heavily.
Like strong invisible hands had gripped tightly on her forearms and legs had pulled her only forward, bringing up her chin to look towards an unknown destination, a place she didn't really want to know about.
Something made her keep going, something kept her from walking back, going back to the Academy class, it made her walk closer to somewhere hidden away. She somehow found out she moving involuntarily and she had regretted going so far, because right now she going too far. She couldn't breathing no matter how much she gaped for air, her voice was gone. She wanted to go to this place now. All she could have breathed in was the scent of the sunflowers and all she could say was the rough noises she made through her nose when the smell was too exhilarating. Sakura felt her feet collide painfully against the brownish green roots of the flowers, her hair was being caught into the restraints of the plants. The road was becoming scarcer and the moment she walked out of the tall garden, she fell forward on her knees. Her knees had landed on the gravel and brown dirt.
She gasped for the precious air that soon arrived into her lungs, she breathed harshly and greedily. She fell forward on a patch of grass, she breathed into the oxygen her body begged for and she felt sleepy and tired, exhausted. She had no idea how long she had been walking in that field. She had no idea how long she had lasted without air, and she felt all the muscles in her system had almost malfunctioned. What happened?
"Where am…I?" she whispered, biting her lip when she pushed herself off the ground. She looked up from the dew grass which dirtied and stained her white training blouse, clustering it with smears of green and brown. Her face was sweaty and her hair was messy with leaves. When she looked up, all she saw were the yellow sunflowers and she smelled that irritating smell.
The moment she breathed into that scent, her head fell limply on the grass. She gripped the pasture in her strong hands, gasping for more air. She saw the skies from the sideways glance, the lopsided picture of the grass and the orange black butterfly that hovered its beautiful wings over her prone form. She felt the wind, she felt the air in her sensitive nose and mouth, and the longer she looked in the direction she had spotted what she thought was a mirage of three dark figures, but it couldn't have been, could it?
"…help me…" she whispered, closing her tired green eyes.
And she no longer knew anymore when she fainted on the garden of sunflowers.
To Be Continued
Here goes your prologue, I suppose. It's very short, I know but thank you for reading!