Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Ichi-go Ichi-e
One Time, One Meeting
Memories and a Photograph
Every dream Hinata ever had seemed like the echo of a memory she'd long since forgotten-save for one warped and discolored photo. It used to sit high on a shelf in her wardrobe, pushed to the back where she couldn't see it; a box collecting dust. In this box were memories she'd thought lost years ago.
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A week had passed since the attack on Konoha. Everyone, villagers and shinobi alike, worked diligently to restore the former glory of the Hidden Leaf. Hinata sighed. Only a week, yet it seemed like a lifetime. Had life really changed so dramatically in such a short time?
A week ago, she'd been in Hokage Tower with her comrades, Shino and Kiba, discussing their next mission. Now, seated on the ruins of what once was the Hyuuga Compound, she gazed upon the rubble and dust. What sort of memories was found here now?
She toed a small pile, hesitant to rummage through. So many things she'd kept dear to her in this place were lost. The garden she'd begun long ago with her now deceased mother, the private grounds where Neji and she had begun their relationship anew after the Chuunin Exam, and the secret places she used to play when she was younger.
She closed her eyes, trying to recall some small figment of those alien times. For the most part, it was fairly easy. The heady scent of flowers in full bloom, wafting in the thick humid summer evenings. She almost heard her mother's soft laughter as Hinata frolicked and hopped around in her attempt to get as many fireflies as plausible.
She remembered the exhaustive hours she'd spent with Neji. Her breath rasping in her dry throat, her chest heaving with the effort it took to just breathe. Not once had she ever succeeded in besting him, but even then, she knew it wasn't a goal she'd ever achieve.
Those sorts of memories were easy to recall, but other's evaded her. Dreams, like an echo of a memory, came in a flash of déjà vu, leaving her breathless and frustrated. What should have been fully formed memories, seemed to slip through her mind in figments, only a small trace of what they were resonated in her mind's eyes. Almost like snatches, clips, from a movie film fading with age.
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"No! You can't get the pink one! Those are for girls!"
"But Ouji-chan, I am a girl."
"But you're not a girly girl. Girly girls are like the ones that follow Kaa-san and me around when we're at the market. They have long hair with ribbons in them and make kissy faces at me when Ha-Ha isn't looking. You are not a girly girl."
"But if I'm not a girly girl, then what color should I get?"
"Get the purple one. It suits Hime-chan better and goes well with my blue one."
"Ouji-Chan…"
"Yeah?"
"Your face is turning red…"
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Hinata shook off the half formed memories and started to get to work when a great gust of wind rolled across the landscape, dragging debris with it. One such piece of debris, a stiff, crumpled square paper, bounced along the ground, until it caught on the hem of her pant leg.
A picture it was.
Always the curious spirit, she plucked it free and smoothed it out as best as she could, to examine it. The photograph itself was yellowed with age and coated with a fine layer of dust and dirt. She wiped it free and squinted as she tried to make sense of it.
It was what looked to be a boy with dark hair, spiked and untamed, with equally dark eyes and a broad smile, foretelling of a hidden mischievousness. Palpitations jarred her heart with a sense of déjà vu. She squinted harder as she tried to make out the rest of the picture. Then she stopped, her world tilting and fading to black at a sudden realization.
In the picture was a girl, a bit shorter than the boy, a soft smile tilting her mouth as she gazed at the picture, her left hand gripping the blue fabric of the boy's kimono. This was funny, because the picture itself was so old and yellowed that it was hard to tell just what color everything was originally. Nevertheless, Hinata knew, oh yes, she knew…
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11 years ago…
"Hinata-chan, Sasuke-chan and Itachi-kun are here to take you to the festival!"
"Okay, Kaa-san, I'll be right there!"
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(To Be Continued…)