Naruto is the work owned by the author and artist Kishimoto.
Life; everything in it is preordained…
We are all born to live what was destined for us.
It doesn't matter if you wanted it or not.
Fair? Who said any of our lives were going to be fair?
All men were not created equal…
Only those who were destined to claim happiness will live happily…
While all the rest of us are trapped in misery like caged birds.
Just waiting…waiting for the only thing in life…
Every man shares…
[his death
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Himawari: Like the Summer Flower
Chapter 4: A Summer Flower in the Middle of Winter
While I stood there in that unfamiliar room…
I suddenly felt the whole world standing perfectly still…
…just like it did that hot summer day…
the footsteps of the many maids who were shuffling around the mansion grew silent,
and the voices that echoed from the banquet hall were suddenly hushed.
I stood there, perfectly still.
…that sweet scent…
…the one I remembered from the garden…
…from that day…
…the blazing summer sun…
…the cicadas…
…and the beautiful sunflowers…
All those familiar images came rushing back into my mind as the fragrance grew stronger and closer to where I stood.
Now, all I was able to hear was my unbelievably loud heartbeat…
ba-bump
Then, I saw her.
ba-bump
Coming down the hallway being led by her elderly care-taker.
ba-bump
This time, she was wearing a beautiful light green kimono magnificently trailing behind her as she walked. Even though it was in the middle of winter, and all of the plant-life outside were either dead or dying, her kimono made it look as though she brought back the spring season.
ba-bump
I could not see her face since she was hiding it well underneath a large veiled cap.
But I just knew.
It was [her.
ba-bump
She was coming closer…
ba-bump
to the door where I stood watching.
ba-bump
But, right when she was about to pass by my door,
"Oh, Miss Hibari, there you are."
A maid came rushing out to greet the two in the hallway.
They stopped walking as the maid came shuffling towards them and bowed her head deeply.
I hid myself behind the door just in time.
Did they see me?
No, they couldn't have.
I thought. I even stopped breathing for a moment so they couldn't notice that I was listening in.
"Yes? What is it? We were just about to head over to the banquet hall."
said Hibari to the maid.
"I'm sorry, Miss Hibari. But Lord Hiashi would like for you to wait in the hanare."
"The hanare?"
The care-taker Hibari's voice suddenly grew unsteady.
"Yes. If you would let me show you to the hanare, Lord Hiashi and Hinata-sama would meet you there shortly."
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There was a moment of dead silence in that hallway.
Then, it was Hibari who broke it.
"H-How dare you…Do you understand who you are speaking to!?"
Hibari's voice and silhouette against the shoji door trembled both with anger and embarrassment.
"Forgive me, Miss Hibari."
"My lady has waited far too long to see Lord Hiashi for this sort of treatment! She deserves to be in that banquet hall right beside all the members of the Main Family the most! How dare you shun us into the hanare! Shame on you!"
"Hibari…that is enough."
Suddenly, a delicate but strong voice came from right behind me.
Her silhouette was standing there right next to me. Only the thin sliding shoji door was keeping us apart from each other.
My heart stopped.
So did Hibari's yelling.
"Hii-sama…"
Hibari's voice was no longer filled with anger.
"We did not come here to cause any trouble."
Her voice was so close to me.
"It is true…I have been anxious to see both Lord Hiashi and Hinata-sama for quite a while now."
So soft and soothing…
"But…I fully understand my position."
She suddenly sounded a little disappointed.
["Are they too strange?"
…just like that other time…
"So if Lord Hiashi wishes to meet me in the hanare…I will gladly wait for him there."
"Hii-sama…"
Hibari's voice trembled.
"I thank you for your kindness, Himawari-sama, please, follow me this way."
and the three of them began walking towards the end of the hallway.
ba-bump
My heart seemed to have suddenly started beating again.
And her scent started fading away.
I suddenly felt my legs grow weak under my own weight and I had to sit down in that spot.
"Himawari-sama…"
So that was her name…
And she seems to be part of the Hyuga clan.
I wonder if she's part of the Main Family…
["But…I fully understand my position."
I slid open the door even more this time and stuck just my head out first to check the hallway if anybody was around. The hallway was empty. All I heard were the faint voices from the banquet hall.
"You must never enter the far west garden…"
my father's voice echoed inside of my head.
"Because everybody says not to! Duh!"
then what that one child said to me after I asked why.
Ever since I can remember, I knew that as a Hyuga, I was to obey many rules of the family.
Maybe it was because I was too young, or maybe it was simply just in my nature to be so obedient.
I never thought of questioning those rules. Or asking, "why?"
But, while I snuck out of that room and ran down that hallway, past the noisy banquet hall, and towards the hanare, I wasn't thinking about obeying any Hyuga rules. Nor was I thinking about disobeying any or asking "why?"
I was simply running.
Not thinking about anything.
…just chasing after that faint fragrance she had left behind…
After word—
Argh. It feels like my chapters are just getting longer, and they're not really accomplishing anything. So sorry! But, thank you if you read this far. Please comment and give me some feedback. :-) Or if you have any questions about parts that confuse you, go ahead and ask away!
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