Chapter 3

Sakura's Garden

Hey! Wuz up? This is Chapter 3, Sakura's garden. This is burning a hole in my pocket, waiting for the SakuLee goodness, but it is on the way. NaruHina, NejiTenten, and ShikaIno too! So enjoy this chapter! And this fic is for my good friend Magical Kitty, cuz she rocks, and she helped me once, so this is my way of saying thank you.

Thank you, MK. May I call you MK?

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

'Almost there, almost there.' Sakura repeated in her head over and over again, trying to drown out the past moments with that Sasuke, keeping also to her vow that fairy-tale loves didn't exist.

Sakura hurried down the hallway to her garden, moving faster than before, praying that nobody else would stop her from reaching her destination.

Left, right, another left, and she was at the back door of the palace, the only thing that stood in her way of achieving her goal of finding her sanctuary.

Sakura progressively opened the door and exposed herself to the outside air.

The rush of the atmosphere was cleansing, it was like the monster insider her craving the freshness calmed and crawled back into dormancy. The light was intense, Sakura had to shield her face to break away from the burning daylight, but she speedily adapted to the rays of the sun.

Her garden was now only feet away from her grasp, so since Sakura was free of the castle, she ran to greet it.

The feeling of the wind through her tresses was restful; it gave her a strong sense of independence and purity.

Her haven was now in full view, she could see every inch of it, but Sakura did not like what she saw.

The cherry trees, the flowers, the fragrance that they equally created, it was all evaporating.

Cherry blossoms, pinker than her own hair were littered all over the earth and the trees were only bare branches. The flowers, most of them still in full flourish, but some entirely withered and lifeless, shriveled to a dry leaf-like substance.

'This is proof that fall is coming…I hate winter…'

That was one of the reasons why Sakura dreaded winter, the impermanent demise of her beloved garden. Even though it was only temporary, if felt like it would be forever before her garden would fill the castle and herself with life again.

But Sakura had to make due with what she had; it was one of the life lessons that was mandatory of a palace maid, to make the best of a bad situation.

'Okay…' She thought

So Sakura mustered all of the joy in her core and spirit she could generate and sent it flooding into her garden, making its inner light shine brighter than any man-made illumination or sunlight glow. This radiance came from inside Sakura, because of a simple fact.

She and the flowers were one, and not only because she was named after a cherry blossom. This garden was hers, her secret place of peace, and even though it was succumbing to winter, the garden grew on within her heart.

Sakura begun tending to the roses first, which all remained intact. The petals felt of gentle velvet, silkier than any of the carpeting in the palace. Her water pitcher rested patiently on the boundary of the angel fountain, so she retrieved it a begun nurturing her creations, the blossoms.

After checking for weeds and fully watering the rose flowers, Sakura did the same with her sunflowers and sunlit golden lilies. Next she moved on to her personal favorite flower,

The Lotus.

Sakura could not distinguish why she cared for the lotus flower so, when her preferred flower should be the cherry blossom, because she was named after them, sharing the same color locks as well, but there was something about the lotus that drew her to them so affectionately to them, like moths to a flame.

Maybe it was because they only bloomed twice.

Yes, that was the gloomy fact of the lotus, that it only bloomed twice in this land of Konoha, and this was only the first blossoming. But the lotus flowers were beginning to wilt; scarcely few left still alive, and those particular lotuses had been there for as long as Sakura could remember.

And now they were dying.

"They'll only…only bloom once more after this" Sakura said to herself aloud. "After that, they'll never…never bloom again."

On the outside, Sakura was frowning from sadness, but on the inside, she was weeping from total misery.

Just three lotuses lingered with life, to Sakura's small hope, so she watered them plentifully and made one-hundred percent sure that the ground was clear so if they blossomed in the near future, they wouldn't die an early death because they could not grow properly.

The lotus had beauty and a sweet perfume, but the cheery trees the flowers grew under added to their flawlessness and perfection, constructing them into a beautiful, dare we say, romantic setting in the springtime.

The Lotus and the Cherry Blossom, what a…passionate combination.

In spring, when the blossoms were dancing in chorus with the wind, weaving through the large plot of lotus buds. It was beyond doubt and awe inspiring moment.

But the cherry trees were nothing but exposed brushwood, the buds that had been born upon them were now scattered about the soil, and the wind was sweeping them like garbage away to only the breeze knew where.

What Sakura had anticipated to be her rejuvenation, had became her depression.

'Oh my precious garden…this is what you become when the wintry time sets in. This is why I hate the cold seasons …'

Sakura desperately looked around for any signs of hope, but only flowers on their last legs and faded cherry petals could be seen, causing the garden to seem infertile and departed.

Then a bird perched itself upon a stripped limb of a tree.

It was simply a young adult male blue jay, but it was all Sakura needed to have small trust for her and her garden.

She crept to the tree at a snail's pace, as to not frighten the bird. Sakura cautiously held her finger up to the tree next to the bird, hoping it would fit two and two together and inch upon her hand.

The bird did so.

As soon as it sat upon her index finger, the bird burst into great song, a sweet chirping noise that reminded Sakura of a bell, ringing clear and strong through the dead silence.

The melody was so intoxicating; Sakura joined the creature in song.

Angel, my angel

Speak no reply

Open your winds and descend to the sky

The heavens are calling

Softly and Sweetly

'Come home to us now

My angel, my baby'

Sakura's faultless voice chimed louder than the birds own cry, sweeter and lovelier as well. Her tone was pure poetry; beauty and gorgeousness itself could not even come close to describing it. Sakura's indescribable voice flowed into the deteriorating garden, bringing it to life with every note that escaped her throat.

Alone in her garden, Sakura's voice was stunning, because she could never have toe courage to sing in front of anyone but her flowers.

By herself, alone in her garden, Sakura could find peace and tranquility with herself, among the cherry trees she was named of, Sakura was overwhelmed with love and comfort, even though she knew that the outer reality would soon be creeping back to her, so Sakura did her best to escape that cruel actuality where fairy tales and happy endings didn't subsist.

As long as she had her garden, Sakura would never be unaccompanied. She would never need anyone else.

But little did Sakura know that she wasn't really all alone, but she would find out soon enough.

As soon as she turned around.

To be continued…

A/N

Okay, yeah, kinda short, but this was one of my more descriptive chapters. I was grinning as i wrote this, the parts with the lotus and the cherry flowers and it blooming twice and stuff, yeah, i am a total genius.Yes, we are approaching the SakuLee, NaruHina and NejiTenten goodiness! Hooray! Hooray!

Yeah…anyway!

Next Time: Chapter 4; The Beautiful Voice

Teaser: 'It was beautiful. The most gorgeous flower could never compare to the sweet music that was produced by this voice. The woman's voice drew him in closer, his heart leaping from the wonderful song she hummed.'