Tittle: Flowers Bloom, Hearts Shatter
Author: Inu-Angel Z, Rosethorn Li
Anime: Naruto
Couples: undesided at the moment
Warnings: shojo-ai / maybe shounen ai (depends); OC (but not a Mary-Sue)
Ratings: PG-13 / maybe some R (will be warning before chapter)
Genres: Humor / Action / Adventure / Romance(?)

Summary: 'She wasn't trained as a ninja; she wasn't even supposed to be here! So how in the Seven Hells did she get roped into this?' Lopeona Talance is sent from the mystic Flordina Plains (across the ocean from the Forbidden Lands of Elements) to a familiar, misty bridge... And why does she keep mumbling about a Hero of Time named Kitsubi?

A/N: This information will only be in the Prologue so it doesn't take up too much space. ' Man! It's been so long since I wrote a fanfiction...

(1) means to see the ending notes or glossary

"Foreign language."

Spirits and Gods

Flashback is like this.

--mind speach--

Prologue: Bright Day, Blue Sky

On the bright day of midsummer's newbirth, the sun shone especially bright in it's cloudless sky as birds sang happily in celebration. Everything was still -peaceful even; a perfect day for a family outing. Anyone would have thought, that a perfect day like this would be...well...perfect. All except-

"Lopeona-girl! Get your half assed lazy self down here!"

The cry went unheeded as said girl, now climbing a tall beech tree, laughed mockingly. She'd been chided -struck repeatedly- enough times to know what her Grandmother hated and disapproved of her doing. She only (purposefully) did such things that made the older woman angry when she was around, just to sadistically piss her off. It was fun (to herself and a few others) seeing the normally calm woman turn many shades of purple before calling for assistance.

A lithe figure ran up to the enraged woman as her granddaughter watched from the highest branch that would hold her, curious -but not for long.

Red hair -uncommon enough in this part of the Flordina Plains()- flew back as it's owner turned her bronze features to face the sitting girl. Clad in the classic navy blue (button down) T-shirt and loose canvas pants (for protection at work, the watcher remembered) of the Main House servants, the slight firgure began to climb the easily-scaleable tree on her Grandmother's orders. No doubt ordered to pursuade her to come down.

"No way in Hell," the girl answered before the red-head could even speak. "You know what they want me to do today, Soran?" she asked her servant friend.

Soranya Solance, Main House odd-job maid and only friend of Lopeona (she winced every time someone called her name) 'Auron' Talance (5th heir to the Main House Branch as well), shook her head 'no'.

"They want me to supervise the servants!" the chestnut haired girl exclaimed, almost falling from the tree as she raised her arms to dramatize the rant. Her friend, however, saved her by wrapping long arms around her waist to keep her from plunging into the ground. Not that anything much would have happened, since the spells cast on the pale girl every morning prevented any harm from befalling her at any given time. (She couldn't get sick, either.)

"Soran, girl! Bring her down this instant!"

Mistress Savannah Howaks was enraged yet again at her troublesome granddaughter.

Sighing to herself with a muttered "bothersome", Auron jumped from her branch to a lower one, startling her Grandmother another shade of purple (closer to red this time). Grinning mischieviously to herself, the 5th Heir of Main House Branch jumped into a deep swan pond below the tree, causing it's residents much confusion and panic.

Upon resurfacing, the now-wet girl was scolded -smacked a few as well- perfusely by Mistress Savannah and send off to her 'desolate wing', a giggling maid just behind.

Auron sighed as she bonelessly fell onto the cloud-like substance covered in cloth (her bed, mad with high-level magic) used for sleeping and relaxing purposes. (Atleast, that's what the mage-merchant had explained to her it was, but he could have been wrong.) Sighing to herself, the girl lay a pale arm over tired eyes.

Soranya stared at her charge, used to the girl's laziness. The only thing that seemed to motivate her as of late was annoying her Grandmother, the Researcher of Wing House Branch, and studying the tomes in that vast library the woman was in charge of. Years ago, when her friend was younger and easier to please, she'd sit through her wife-lessons patiently just for the chance to visit the older woman she now annoyed to no end. Soran wondered what had happened to that obedient girl.

The brown haired girl sighed again, her pale blue -sometimes almost white- eyes closed as she leaned forward and onto her sitting companion, head nested in the crook of her neck. The red-head's eyes widened for a moment before patting the back of her young Mistress's head, not sure what had come over her friend who usually avoided as much physical contact as possible.

Warm breath tickled her neck as the Mistress drifted off to sleep in the arms of her loyal servant, feeling more secure than she had in a long while. Rest was a luxury she usually couldn't afford to have, seeing as a court mage at any moment could come and cast a Spell of Obedience on the delinquent girl, even if it was illegal and punishable by torchured death. (Some people never seemed to learn.)

Laying Auron across the now-heated bed (it was midautumn, after all, and even with all the spells, no one wanted an Heiress to catch a cold), Soranya studied the usually troublesome girl. Servant as she was, being the 5th heir's maid and almost constant companion was a tough job. The girl, now close to marriagable age (60 seasons () as she was), caused much trouble between pranks (though seldem nowadays), breaking honorary rules, and ditching important lessons.

It was Soran's turn to sigh, but she quickly smiled at the figure muttering in her sleep, shifting slightly in a seemingly pleasant dream. You just couldn't stay irritated at a usually tense girl finally relaxed after many a stressful month.

Now she just had to figure out a subtle way to tell Auron about the arranged marriage with the 3rd heir... But knowing the girl sleeping before her, Auron would already know. And she had been more tense and snappy these past few days...

Mumbling something Soranya couldn't make out, the light-clad figure rolled over in her sleep, toward the Main Branch servant. A pale hand, now closer to the musing girl since her body's shift, grabbed hold of the closest fabric, which happened to be dark, navy and canvas-hard material.

"Yuki...eh...natsu..."

The serving one heard that mumble and outwardly winced, inwardly filled with so much concern and worry, if she'd thought about, it would shock even herself. After that incident...Auron hadn't talked for twenty seasons, even to her close friend Rhanji Talance, the one she was now engaged to.

Shaking her head to rid herself of past thoughts, the now-blushing girl tried to pry the delicate but firm fingers but to no avail. Auron was infamous for her near-indestructable grip -once she got hold of something she wanted, there was no releasing until either punishment or she grew bored (which was usually the case).

Tugging and prying didn't do any good, so maybe...

Whispering something in her Mistress's ear, face still bright red, the girl gently released her captive and grabbed onto the soft down blanket usually covering her tense, half-asleep form.

Chuckling softly to herself, the deep red of blood-touched cheeks dying down, Soranya watched her Mistress for a moment longer. Turning the warded curtains in exit, the bronze woman allowed herself a small smile of contentment as she disappeared around a bend and into her own chambers.

She felt like thanking Inari-sama(), her patron god, for the plan that had just come to mind.

'stupid stupid stupID STUPID! Bakabakabaka teme Soran!'

Auron cursed over and over in her mind, storming down the aisles of priceless, fireproof scrolls that usually calmed her upon sight, but this time did nothing to quell her anger at a certain red-haired maiden. That-that baka had just told the now-enraged girl of her engagement, the wedding to take place in 5 seasons, when she awoke from the first good rest in ages. What's more, the servant even had the nerve to congratulate her!

The woman knew her too well, had been with her too long, and the sadistic side of herself must have been rubbing off on that damn servant. If she was half-asleep, drugged (which only happened once) or extremely tired, another part of herself would take over so the conscious mind could rest. This side (called Sukien by most3) had two parts: the nice, calm, smiling one who avoided some questions and acted perfect; and the other, nasty one that only came out if something angered the nice one, which was hard to do.

'My split personality has a split personality,' as she'd once phrased it and laughed.

And as she had been the nice one when Soranya's told her, instead of being angry as the conscious mind would have and lashed out, Sukien had actually been excited! Even told the woman so, then went on to list possible wedding presents she would like.

'Stupid teme Sukien! Baka Soran!'

She felt like crying. That or tearing someone limb from limb -she never could tell which. And Savannah-baka had said the homocidal-when-angry urges would go away as she grew older...

Sighing to herself, Auron realized her anger, rage and hurt would be wasted on the red-head, and on the subject in general. She hadn't read the recent, as well as long-past, theories on psychology for nothing.

There was one good thing about another persona actually having two: you could give the emotions you didn't want to either one. She could, at least. And when she had ever been in trouble, supposedly knocked out (before the precautious spells), Sukien would take control. It was new to the Flordina Plain's Ruling Houses as well as servants; it must have been her father's blood.

'Don't think about it...Just ask Obaba-sama for advice like you normally do.'

Her Obaba-sama was Kandai Arishi's, her foreign father, eccentric mother who took a job in the stock of Wing House's expansive library, helping Savannah-baka with just about anything. The ironic thing was, both old women hated each other with a vengeance. The Howak's reason was simple: she thought the House's blood would be tainted by foreign, unbreed blood. Obaba-sama just didn't agree with the way everyone else was raising her only grandaughter, and welcomed every chance she had to put ideas in the young girl's head and spoil her with knowledge of the outside world.

'The Forbidden Lands of the Elements,' the ice eyed girl reflected. That's what everyone called the land-across-sea, her father's family's home. She didn't know (nor did she want to, really; Obaba-sama would have told her if she'd asked) why the man that came from such an interesting place chose to stay in this peaceful Plain full of too many restrictions for House families and workers alike.

'-sigh- Such a waste. But if he hadn't come, I wouldn't have Obaba-sama, eh?' Even if Lalon Talance (her mother, always busy) hadn't married Kandai Arishi, Auron would still be the same as she was; maybe not as light haired and eyed, but still the same internally. The father or mother didn't really matter to a person's birth, here. They only made a child when an Elder had died, and the soul needed a new body. ()

Two more turns around packed wooden shelves and Auron came face-to-face with the silverish oak door (fireproof like everything else) leading to orderly office the old woman occupied. Smiling gently to herself, the 5th Heir pushed the heavy door open with little trouble.

"Obaba-sama! I came to see you!" the girl called into the huge, dark room.

Like all the other offices for high librarian officals, the room was two stories, connected by three stairwells and separated by light illusions and sturdy wooden fences, usually from the same tree the door had been cut from. The upper levels were used for storage of things being researched and filed, then placed in the public or personal library when complete. The first floor varied with the kind of work the librarian did: desks layered with half-bound books still being copied for different House families or schools were called Conner clerks; and dusty records of past finds being researched by a seemingly unfortunate woman (most librarians were female, for some reason) were known as Sergect searchers.

As things regarding her father's mother were, the lady was eccentric to the core and did nothing the Hawoks way. She did both the Conner clerks and Sergect searcher's jobs, the things no one else would usually bother to do. Proving people wrong (the Wing prophets, in this case) with blind determination, and if possible, annoying them to no end in the prossess was something Auron and her Obaba-sama had in common.

Shadowed dark recesses, as most of this Wing compound amounted to, greeted her daylight eyes. For some reason, the older female preferred to work in dimly-lit areas, claiming sunlight and any other brightness besides what an oil lantern provided hurt her aged eyes, even if it was not so. Personally, Auron felt quite at home in the darkness, liking the way firelight reflected off hidden-by-shadow objects and making everything so...mysterious.

"Bout time, youngone! Come, what look what I just found!" As usual, the woman's youthful enthusiasms made the chestnut haired girl smile. Somethings never changed.

"What is it, Obaba-sama?" the Talance Heir asked, curious.

She stalked forward, toward the place the librarian's voice had come from, greatly wishing for a lantern.

"An old scroll! Reminds me of home..." The last was whispered, but Auron hadn't trained in prankster's steath for nothing; she had know when someone was coming, after all.

"You really miss them, don't you?" Quiet as it was, the foreign woman heard.

Lopeona Talance saw her shadowed Obaba-sama's back slouch over a back table, crystal windows around her painted black, pretending to concentrate solely on her work. But Auron knew the woman's mind was in turmoil, too many thoughts and feelings only resulting in confusion. Auron was by no means selfish -far from it, in fact- but the ice eyed girl wanted her other, nicer grandmother to stay, even if the aged woman had found a way to go back to her original home. She was the only bright spot in a boring life, so could you really blame the girl?

"Yeah," a breathed whisper.

Auron sighed and nodded, drawing closer to the crouching woman, smiling ever so slightly.

Putting her current train of thought to the darkest recesses of Sukien's mind (the angry one, who would rant about it later), the 3 House hybrid () drew closer to see just what fascinated the woman so.

Slight of figure but well-muscled for a woman of her age, Obaba-sama turned to her only grandchild, dusty skirt swishing the floor. The oil lamp reflected a grandmother's smile and the directed-at's returned one, flickering at it's perch over the female couple. Hugging the aged woman tightly, the younger glanced over the librarian's thinning shoulders.

Laying on the desk innocently was a Forbidden Scroll (meaning it came from the Element Lands), familiar scrawl to Auron. She'd read other tomes as such, having learned the language at an early age when in Obaba-sama's care, decribing something called ninjutsu and genjutsu performed by hand seals (which she didn't know). What had a horse and rabbit to do with creating replicas of the user with water? The mages could just create for her a charm to do as such.

This scroll, though written in the same hand as the others, was inked in red and described-

Auron blinked. She didn't recognize that character. And those seils; to hold something in?

Lopeona released her grandmother, confusion plain as day even in the flickering light. The older woman just smiled with a slightly sad tint, leading the girl closer to the table.

"This scroll is original," the librarian explain, "and was thought to be lost long ago." A pause. "Do you trust me?"

The still-confused girl nodded. Why would her only interesting relative question something as such?

"The do as I say and forgive me latter on." The aged woman's lined face held much remorse, eyes a not-so-hidden sorrow.

Realization hit home. Maybe it was growing up around to cultures, one in stories she knew were true and the other a not-so-ordinary life, or the books she so favored (gifts from her God-friends from other worlds, or so they said) made Auron's imagination run wild, but she suddenly knew what was coming.

Sighing, relaxing a body she hadn't known had tensed, Auron eyed the scroll she now saw was written in blood warily. "What am I to do?"

Obaba-sama blinked, surprised by the girl's solemn formality. Her eyes softened at Auron's set jaw and determined eyes, impressed with her granddaughter's maturity. She hadn't realized just how much she'd had grown up, and was still growing.

"Will the spells allow you to knick your finger?" inquired a suddenly hyper grandmother.

Auron pulled her switch knife out, the folded sheath made of uncommon steel and decorated by a jeweled white tiger (her father's signature animal, here) and various floral scenes, and pulled the near-unbreakable blade from its ornamented holder. Trying to slice the skin of her left index finger didn't work either; her skin just hardened to diamond-tough rock and dented the silver blade slightly. She'd have to remember to get that fixed, later...

Obaba-sama stared at the transparent (to normal eyes, but a cloudy-orange swirl to those who saw magic) second-skin barrier, then turned away, deep in thought. The woman started to pace the enclosed-by-desks space, too familiar with the room to bump into anything.

A thought popped into the waiting girl's head, a candle (they didn't have light bulbs, they used magic or natural fixtures) appearing above her chestnut hair. Wax dripped as she mentally bumped it, burning the poor thing, and she mentally winced as well.

'The Spells prevent self-harm by outside objects, such as blades and power illusions, but maybe not my own natural weapons...'

She tried to bite her index finger, she couldn't get a good grip on the skin. Her thumb would have to do, then.

Nipping down with her sharper-than-standard canines, Auron sucessfully broke the skin of her left hand's thumb. It began to bleed as she looked at the still pacing woman expectantly.

And waited a few moments more.

Obaba-sama still seemed to be thinking, the worried scowl telling her granddaughter that. The only way to stop her:

"NEXT!"

The shout echoed slightly, but it succeeded in its purpose.

"Eh?" Comic relief, it seemed.

"What next, Obaba-sama?"

"Oh. Yes...yes..." Scratching behind her ear as the woman always did when nervous, Auron sighed internally. Sometimes the old lady just acted like a forgetful kid.

The elderly female leaned over the scroll, grabbing Auron's wrist as she did so. Glancing her way, Obaba-sama instructed, "Trace the characters for Spirit and Travel with your blood, then repeat after me." The woman continued with a complex sequence of Eternal-words that she knew the other female would remember, as she did everything else.

Auron blinked in confusion as she began to trace the symbols. "Wait. Divna is mist...I thought you were from Risan?" The spell was activated before the elder woman could do a thing, and her only grandchild was sucked from floor to scroll in a flurry of raining sparks.

"No!" Auron heard before blacking out.

Had she done something wrong?

"Ughn..."

The pain in her head was immence -the pounding as though a thousand bells rang in her sensitive ears. Eyes unfocused, she took in her surroundings as best she could:

concrete blocks
wooden and metal ladders
hammers, saws and electric drills
various other tools

Alright, she was on her side, laying in the middle of a construction sight. And by the puddles of water around her, likely by a huge lake or the sea. But exacly where was she, how's she get there? And most important of all, why the Hell was it so damn foggy!

Owari Prologue

E/N: Hope you enjoyed the first installment. Chapter One should be coming within the week or the next (soon, and not a month).

1-...Flordinese Appearence...

In the Flordina Plains, there are three common types of appearence (excluding build): black or dark brown hair, choclate eyes and pale or tannish skin; blonde (white or yellowish) hair, deep blue eyes (like the sea or flowers) and tanned skin; brown hair (with highlights) and green-blue eyes. Red hair is fairly uncommon (1/100) and so is bronze skin (1/1000). There is only one place to find either: Dorchester District.

There are also people with odd color hair, eyes and skin, but most are mages or have demon blood. (The Flordinese people discriminate against no more, including people called 'freaks'.)

2-...Seasons and Age...

Two Seasons 1 year. So if Auron's 60 Season's, she's really 30 years old. But since Flordinese bodies are more durable and have longer life times, she appears around 15 or so. (explained in greater detail in the Glossary.)

Later,
Li