A/N: So, this is the edited version of the prologue. Since my old computer kicked the bucket, I've decided to go back and edit all chapters and replace them as I recover my stories by getting them off of . It's going to take awhile. So that means no updates whatsoever. Sorry. Anyway, enjoy the edited version.

Disclaimer: No, I do not own Naruto, obviously.

Prologue:

Once, as my heart remembers,

all the stars were fallen embers.

Once when night seemed forever

I was with you.

Sakura ran down one of the many streets of Kyoto, breath coming in short gasps. Flurries of snowflakes fell all around her as she ran, tears streaming from her eyes.

Once, in the care of morning

in the air was all belonging.

Once, when the day was dawning,

I was with you.

'Stupid, stupid, stupid, how could I have been so stupid?' she thought to herself.

She passed the Minamiza Theatre and tripped. Her legs collapsed hard beneath her and she skidded onto the ground, scraping the skin from her palms. She lay frozen on the cement for a few moments letting the snow fall around her; hot, angry tears flowed from her eyes. She choked on her tears. Why hadn't she listened to Kakashi?

"I'm so stupid." she sobbed to herself.

Sakura pushed herself to her feet again. Her petal pink hair was flecked with white droplets. She ran, feeling tired, but pushed on. Something within her tried to force her to see reason, but refused to listen to that tiny voice. Sakura's heart was winning.

How far we are from morning,

how far we are

and the stars shining through the darkness,

falling in the air.

Her friends had told her to stay home. He didn't want her to come. He specifically told them to keep her there in her home. How could he have done that to her? She wanted to help him. Why couldn't he see that? Sakura paused in one of the narrow alleys close to the Pontocho district of Kyoto knowing full well that her small pauses could mean that Sasuke was coming closer to death. A sob wracked her chest as she clutched at the stitch in her side. This was all her fault.

She could hear them shouting her name, but she didn't care. Sakura only had one person on her mind and it wasn't herself: it was Sasuke. How could she have missed it? Sasuke had dropped many hints that someone was going to come after him. Even Kakashi had warned her that Sasuke's temporary safety would not last. She mentally slapped herself for being so brainless.

Sakura continued running, her feet pounding on the ground beneath her as she ran to the shrine. Her last hope was that he was alive. That he would turn around and show her that smug little smile.

Once, as the night was leaving

Into us our dreams were weaving.

Once, all dreams were worth keeping.

I was with you.

She ran up the stairs, the snow falling heavier, and her tears were slowing with the hope of seeing Sasuke alive. Reaching the top step, she froze at the sight before her eyes.



Sasuke was standing before a man with a pale white face and purple make up with his knife plunged into his chest. His opponent held a katana made of silver that glinted dangerously in the pale moonlight. The tip of the blade was visible through his left shoulder.

The katana had plunged straight through Sasuke's heart. Sakura felt her voice catch in her throat. She saw Sasuke cough and blood come out of his mouth. Her feet were cemented to the stones beneath the feet; her body was paralyzed. There was nothing she could do.

A pained scream tore through her lips as she saw the sword being yanked from Sasuke's chest with a sickening sucking sound. It felt like her heart had been cut in two. Her heart was ripped in two as she watched him fall back, his ivory skinned face turning towards her with surprise in his onyx eyes.

The man that had killed him ripped the knife from his chest, throwing it to the ground and staggered away. He fell with a dull thud in front of the temple bell, dead.

Sasuke staggered as he tried to right himself. He coughed again, blood spilling from his lips. Crimson liquid stained his black clothes.

Sakura choked on her sobs as she ran forward to catch him.

"Sasuke-kun!" she screamed as caught him before he fell.

Sasuke collapsed into her arms, legs giving out under his weight, his eyes growing distant. They were like black stones that were losing their luster to time.

"Sa…ku…ra…" he whispered.

"Don't talk Sasuke-kun," Sakura begged, her hot tears falling onto his face. "Please, hang on. Don't die, Sasuke-kun…kudasai…"

Blood soaked into her clothes and turned the falling snow and stone beneath them red. It soaked through his clothes as he lay dying in Sakura's arms; she was unable to do anything but hold him.

Once, when our hearts were singing,

I was with you.

His hand reached up and brushed away her tears gently. Sasuke's hands felt like ice that would never unfreeze. He had always felt that way to her.

"Ai…shi…te…ru…Sakura…" he breathed.

Sakura felt her breath catch in her throat again. He loved her, he really truly loved her. The corners of his mouth twitched as he smiled at her, blood staining his teeth red. Her chest heaved as she sobbed harder.

"I love you, too." she whispered in between the sobs, touching his face.

His hand brushed her cheek gently as it fell to his side. The rise and fall of his chest slowed and then stopped, black orbs losing their gleam as he stared at the sky. Sakura screamed his name begging him to wake up. She rocked back and forth as she cried. Her hand stroked his hair, as she clutched his body to her chest, refusing to let him go.

The snow thickened, the flakes growing larger. Sakura didn't care. He was gone. He had taken her heart with him, and she felt hollow inside. A part of her was missing.

"You promised that you would never leave! You promised to stay with me!" she sobbed.

She could hear the shouting of her name. Her friends, no – their friends, stopped shouting as they saw Sakura wailing, Sasuke dead in her arms. She didn't pay any attention to them.

"You promised…" she sobbed, cradling his head to her chest.

Polaris…the north star…it is the only star in the sky, besides our sun, that never moves. It hangs above the North Pole as a guide to lost ships and travelers, guiding them home. All the stars appear to move around it as if it were the center of the world. That was what he told me. Polaris…He told me…to look at the North Star if I was ever lost. To whisper a small prayer to the North Star and he would hear 

me. And when he heard me, he would come for me. He would always be there…or so I thought…until that day when the snow fell heavier than any other day in the year.

I remember seeing a dance that told a story about the Snow Princess…how her tears happen are the snow and when it snows a tragedy is about to happen. I disagree. The snow, it isn't the princess' tears. They are the tears of man.