Oh My Budda, I am slow on updates. x) Song in Profile.
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I continued to walk around the shrine grounds for awhile, until I saw something that caught my eye. It wasn't something people would normally care about at this time of year, but every time I see one, I stop and stare. It was a cherry blossom tree. Of course being winter, it was bare…but it still caught my eye. I never really cared for these trees. I could never understand why people would picnic underneath them for hours and just stuff their faces.
Even today I still think its wrong to simply eat under a cherry blossom tree during the hanami. The tradition is to admire the beauty of the trees. This tradition is becoming more forgotten, but they're still some realistic people out there who admire them.
Life is like that I guess. We lose the real meaning behind events and things and parallel it with things we think are real. Take someone's death for instance. Sure, we're told to move on after they die, but isn't it right to mourn? People have big impacts on our lives…is it right to forget what they've done for us, how they made us feel? We should be mourning their loss, their presence in us. Of course, we shouldn't be crying and being in a depressed state all the time, but we should remember what they did for us. We should smile and be grateful for their presence in our lives, more then we should just forget them. they deserve at least this much.
I began to turn away, when something shiny caught my eye. I bent down and saw a 100 yen coin on the ground. I picked it up and admired the heads part of the coin. Such an ironic symbol. I flipped the coin with my thumb back into the snow, and walked away.
"Sometimes we lose everything before our eyes, or it's taken from us, but nobody can take away the words you gave me."
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Map the Soul
Chapter Three
My Sadness will Surely…
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Even if a grief I didn't create somehow chooses me,
Or someone shoulders me
With some lottery of destiny
I don't want to be someone who avoids it and just lives
Even though I know it's painful
Tomorrow I will smile.
My Sadness Will Surely… - UVERworld
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As you've probably seen, I'm not a people person… so then you should know I hate really crowded places, but when I have nothing better to do, I don't mind walking aimlessly around. Anything beats being at home. I could go see Naruto, but I don't want my ears to ring.
Being a holiday week, everything is much more crowded–much to my dismay. I walked down the busiest street in Konoha so I could get to my spot by the Konoha river. I have my own little spot where I like to doze off. it's something I learned from Nara Shikamaru back in middle school.
Families were walking down the streets with picnic blankets and baskets heading towards the Konoha park. Its flower viewing time by the looks of things.
I click my tongue in annoyance. Flower viewing–Hanami if you will–is yet another stupid practice the hopeless fall into. Everyone goes to watch the flowers but more-or-less forgets about them and stuffs their fat asses.
As I continued to walk down the street my phone suddenly went off in my pocket. pulling it out I noticed the caller ID belonging to Naruto.
"Dobe." I said opening the phone and talking the call. I held the phone away from my ear in preparation for the oncoming scream.
"TEEEEMMME! Where are you right now?"
"Far away from you."
"hey, that's not cool. Want to come to the Konoha park and watch the flowers with everyone? Hinata-chan is bringing a big picnic basket with delicious foods, and Ino is bringing a bunch of games and–"
"No."
"ah come on teme! You need to socialize more! Do you want everyone to think of you as the walking ice cube?"
"Whatever. Ja."
"Oi Chotto! Tem–"
I hung up before I could hear him babble on more. Naruto just helped prove how the flower viewing has lost its meaning. It's just a reason to stuff your face.
I was almost down the street when someone caught my eye. A few stores down I saw Sakura. she was outside a flower shop, looking at flowers. She was crouched down, looking at each bouquet with great interest. She was wearing a green Lace Up Chiffon Top with jean shorts and a black pair of flip-flops. She has a little black bow in her pink hair. She looked like she was going somewhere–the flower viewing no doubt.
She finished looking at the row of flowers and looked to her side, where I was down the street. She noticed me and smiled, waving. "hey Sasuke-kun!"
My legs seemed to have a mind of their own as I began to walk towards her. I just nodded at her as she stood up.
"What brings you to town? are you going somewhere?" she asked. I shrugged, "Hn, not really."
She giggled a little bit and then turned back to the flowers, looking at them again. "ne Sasuke-kun…which bouquet looks the best?" she asked. I looked at them all and shrugged. They all looked the same to me. I don't really care for flowers.
"I want to find a really nice bouquet. I'm going to go visit someone. Since today is the Hanami I want to get a bouquet that reminds them of the Hanami since they can't go to it."
I just nodded. She turned back to the bouquets and folded her arms, thinking hard. I just stood beside her, looking at the flowers. Since it was the hanami, I thought of the cherry blossoms–Sakura blossoms–which are pink. I looked down at Sakura for a moment and chuckled to myself. It had just really occurred to me the significance of her hair and her name. they go hand-in-hand.
She said she was looking for flowers that were like the hanami…which made me think pink. I looked at the vast arrangement until I saw pink roses. I pointed to them. "Those."
She cocked a brow, "Those? Why?"
I lowered my arm slowly and put my hands in my pockets. "cherry blossoms are pink. You said you wanted flowers that were like the hanami."
A big grin appeared on her face. "Your right! Good idea!"
She went around the stand and grabbed the bouquet. She then went into the store and paid for them. I just stood outside, unsure if I should just leave or wait. I figured I should just leave, but she came out before I could go anywhere.
"Arigatou." She said bowing with the flowers in her hand. I just shrugged.
"Are you going anywhere now?" she asked. I was going to the river, but I don't really consider it a destination. I just wanted to go somewhere other then home – or the Konoha park.
"Not really." I said plainly. Sakura smiled yet again. if I had a hundred yen for every time she smiled, I'd be rich and not needing to take over my otousan's job.
"Want to come with me?"
I raised a brow, unsure. She just smiled, "I'm just visiting someone. It won't take long."
I'm not in a social mood right now. I don't even know why I stopped when I saw her. It just happened. Is it even okay for me to go with her uninvited?
She began to walk in front of me. she stopped and turned to me, "come on! its fine!"
And I don't know why I did, but I followed.
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When she said we were visiting people, I wasn't expecting this.
I was expecting living people. Not dead people.
We went to a gravesite not too far from the Shinto temple she lives at. We walked in silence mostly, but it wasn't awkward. It felt kind of nice having company that doesn't talk all the time.
Once we entered the site I followed behind Sakura as she led the way. I was unsure of whom we were here for, but I had my suspicions.
We walked down a path until Sakura stopped and turned to a large tomb stone. I read the label on it and my suspicions were correct.
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Haruno Family
Haruno Kenta
Haruno Saki
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Sakura looked at it for awhile, a blank expression on her face. I just watched her as she stared at the tomb with great interest. A gentle breeze blew by and her hair lightly fluttered in the air. She walked slowly up to the tombstone and placed the flowers on a resting place. She took a few steps back and put her hands together in a praying position. She bowed down slightly for a few moments, and then came back up. she smiled.
"konnichiwa Okaasan, Otousan. I hope you two are doing well. I'm doing well I guess. I'm doing well at school and I've made a lot of new friends since the year has started. Chiyo-san is taking good care of me at the shrine, and I'm working hard, helping her."
As I listened to her basically talk to herself, I couldn't help but have a small smile on my face. I can't figure Haruno Sakura out. She's different every time. She can be rebellious, gracious, kind, strong, aggressive and many other things. She's not like a typical fangirl, admiring me and filling my locker with cards. She doesn't flirt around with all the guys either. She doesn't act like someone she's not–She's her own person. She may be annoying, but she's not fake. She may talk too much, but she talks the truth.
"…are you listening Sasuke-kun?"
I blinked twice and looked at her. She instantly giggled, "zoning out? Sorry if I'm boring you."
I shrugged. She wasn't completely boring me. She turned back to the grave and said a quick prayer. She looked up at me, "want to say something to my parents?"
I blinked twice at her, surprised by her bizarre question. She giggled again, "I'm kidding. Come on, lets go!" she said as she began to skip away. I smirked and walked behind, hands in my pockets.
As we walked out and into the streets, Sakura turned to me and bowed, "thanks for coming! Its less eerie when I'm not alone." I simply nodded, hands in my pocket. Sakura looked up at the sky and sighed. There was a silence between us, myself waiting for her to continue. I've noticed that whenever she looks at the sky, she's about to get all philosophical on me.
She took a deep breath, then spoke, "they died during an earthquake, ten years back." she calmly said. I just stared at her back as she spoke. She looked down at the ground, biting her lip no doubt. "Our house was an older style traditional Japanese house, that couldn't withstand the strength of the earthquake. They quickly pushed my under the kitchen table, which was barely able to withstand the crumbling house above it." She loudly sniffed, indicating she possibly was crying.
As she said this, it made me remember how the other day she spoke to me about her family. About how she didn't want to be sad about it, and just move on and be happy. Her actions were now confusing me.
"Didn't you say the other day you weren't going to dwell on the past…on your parents deaths?" I said. she looked at me and nodded slowly. "Then why don't you just forget about them? doesn't visiting them at the cemetery just bring you more pain?"
She stared at me for awhile, cherry blossoms dancing in the wind around us. She blinked, and began to smile. "I did say I don't want to dwell on the past and mourn over them, but I don't want to forget people who gave me life. Yes I did say I am past crying over their deaths, but I don't want to forget. Mourning…in a sense is a good thing. We shouldn't just move on from people who mean so much to us. We should cry once in awhile over them…they deserve that much. I am over being depressed and crying constantly over them…but once in awhile, reflecting on their presence in my life…mourning them, is the best thing."
She paused for a moment, and then chuckled and rubbed her arm, "sometime's I don't make much sense. I contradict myself too much."
Again, I didn't know what to say. I wanted to say something, but I didn't know what. She seems to always have this effect on me.
"Don't you think its right to at least cry one in awhile over someone? To miss them, to long for them?"
Her question struck me. I just shrugged, "Hn. I guess…"
She just smiled at me, "one day you'll understand." After she said this, she quickly changed topics, "ne, ne, are you going to the hanami with everyone?" Initially I was struck by her change in mood, but I moved past it. I simply grunted, "Its not my thing."
Sakura pouted, "Nothing's ever your thing. Come with me to it!"
"I don't want to go somewhere where people rather stuff their faces and not notice what's going on around them."
Sakura smirked, "aaah, you believe that whole Hana Yori Dango thing, don't you?"
Dumplings over flowers. Precisely the meaning. "Hn." I muttered. She just smiled and put her ands behind her back. "Your right about it… but I want to go watch the cherry blossoms fall. I want to see their beauty." She spoke. She then turned to me. "and you should do the same."
She dug into her pockets and pulled out a 100 yen coin. She faced the tails to me, "we'll flip a coin. Heads, you come with me, tails, you can do what you want."
I didn't even have time to say my opinion on the coin flip, as she quickly flipped it. She flipped it skillfully with her thumb, the coin spinning gracefully in the air. It fell down into her left hand, to which she flipped over on the top of her right hand. She slowly pulled her hand away.
Slowly a smile formed on her face. Looking at the coin on her hand, it was ironic enough that the heads side of the coin had cherry blossoms on it.
She put the coin in her pocket and grabbed my arm. "Lets go!"
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we started off as perfect strangers
boy meets girl, infatuation to love
now you're my whole entire world
destiny taps me on the back -- saying hello
but really it was your touch
no and I'll never let you go
Map the Soul
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Song is by UVERworld. Looking for vid with translations.
Shellzonfiree.
