Author's note: Hi to my returning readers, and hello to my new friends. To my returning readers i've got another tear jerker for you here. For my newer guests the majority of my works are tragic romance. If that's not your thing i get it, truly i get it. This work was inspired partly by the song 'Death by a thousand cuts- Taylor swift.' I have some other Wips that i am aiming to work on but sometimes pieces like this come to me and I can't help myself. This story is an 8 part plan. 7 parts have been written out so far, and i guess depending on the response is how quickly i'll get everything released. If you guys hate it i might not bother posting the rest lol. I was in the mood for a sleepy beachy town kind of story, and Sasuke is one of my favorite characters to write in the perspective of. Kure beach is a real place btw. (I added the lighthouse on a random limb in this story, to give more beach vibes) the actual closest lighthouse to Kure in reality is the Oak island lighthouse. I've been many many times to Kure beach and it is a place of real significance in my life. The younger i was visiting Kure the more bored i was, but as i got older i found the magic in it. Much like Sasuke does in this story. A word of caution if you will. I am planning to leave things untagged because about halfway through there is a BIG plot twist. After that bit is posted i'll go back and switch the tags to what is appropriate. Allright well all that said i hope you enjoy, thanks for reading!

Year 12

It happened that first summer when he turned 12. When he saw her for the first time. That summer something like magic must have been in the air, because there wasn't any other way Sasuke could have explained it. Everything that happened after year 12 was just magic. Pure unyielding magic.

Sasuke was only 12 when his parents died. His brother Itachi remained as his soul caretaker and provider but during the summers Sasuke was sent to their grandmothers house. Itachi didn't say why except that it was a good way to get to know her. They never spent much time with her while their parents were alive.

Sasuke and Itachi grew up in a big city. The smog made it so Sasuke never saw the stars until his first summer by the coast.

Their grandmother lived in a city right up against the shore. You could see Kure beach right across the street from her tiny little cottage. Her house consisted of one bedroom and one bathroom. Sasuke spent the summer sleeping on her couch. It was green and lumpy and reminded Sasuke of the pudding he once left under his bed.

When Itachi drove up to drop him off for the summer Sasuke stared at the wind-chimes on the porch. They were made of shells and crystals and they glinted when the sun caught them. They were pretty little baubles and Sasuke wondered if his grandmother had made them.

"Sasuke." A tall woman with wrinkles smiled a him from the screened in porch. "You can call me Gran. Or nothing at all." She seemed like a no nonsense kind of person so Sasuke nodded and greeted her. He looked back at Itachi who looked apologetic but encouraging.

"I'll see you in a few weeks." His brother ushered him up onto the porch. "Don't get into to much trouble, now."

Sasuke didn't want to be her in this little house, with pretty windchimes, and lumpy pudding couches. He longed for his family home back in the city. The one with tall white columns, and marble counters. Even after their parents died the only consolation Sasuke found is that Itachi had been allowed to keep the house. At least they hadn't had to move out of the city permanently to a place like this. Their parents left them well off.

"There's a girl that lives next door, she's a bit older than you but if you get bored maybe go over and introduce yourself. I reckon the both of you might need a friend this summer." Gran told him while she loaded a plate for him. It was something called goulash, and the first night she made it Sasuke feigned having already eaten so he could escape that meal.

Gran told him there was a bike in the shed behind her house he was welcome to. It was rusted but it had been his dads 20 something years ago. She said he was allowed to bike as far out as the light house, but she'd prefer if he didn't go passed the wildflower fields.

Sasuke spent his first day in Kure aimlessly biking up and down the road paths, and learning the lay of the land. It was cozy around there, and everyone seemed to know everyone else. Regardless of what Gran wanted him to do, Sasuke didn't have any intention of introducing himself to the girl next door. He had packed his duffle down with at least 20 different classics before Itachi left him with Gran. The great gatsby, Frankenstein, lord of the flies. This summer Sasuke was going to read them all. He didn't like most things, but one thing he loved was reading. Sasuke planned for a summer of peace, and reading. He didn't account for anything else.

That was what was so annoying about it. He had been biking fast, seeing how hard he could push the bike before something gave. Then he saw a blur of pink dashing out in front of him heading across the street straight into the field of flowers. Sasuke lost control of the bike and crashed into a tiny thicket.

"Oh shit!" He said right before he flew over the handle bars.

Sasuke stared up at the sky for a few minutes allowing his lungs to recuperate the air. Sasuke might need to break out his allowance and invest in a helmet he decided. He sat up rubbing his elbows. He found one of his knees was bloody, and he had a few thorns sticking out of his palm. Unbelievable. Honestly the nerve of people.

Sasuke got up and left his bike abandoned in the dirt. He pushed through the barrier of wildflowers in pursuit of the person who jumped out in front of him. He was going to give them a piece of his mind-

Then he stopped dead in his tracks unable to form a single coherent sentence in the face of unfathomable beauty. Sasuke didn't think people like her existed outside of fashion magazines or movies. And yet there she was. Cotton candy colored hair, wrapped in a delicate bun, and wearing an old fashioned kimono made of silk. Was she even real, he wondered.

The girl looked up from a gathering of lavender. She had a handful of sprouts. The purple of the flower complimented her piercing green eyes he noted.

"Hi." She said head titling up at him amused, her lashes were dark and they fluttered in the salty wind as it picked up.

"Hey-" Sasuke was never at a loss for words. He didn't talk alot to be sure, but he never failed to think of a response. He thrived on sarcasm, but something about this girl made him hold his tongue. 'Are you blind?' Died before it reached his lips. "What are you doing?" He finally settled on when nothing else came. Lame. He was so lame.

She giggled, but pulled a couple more shoots of lavender out of the ground. "Picking flowers." As if that wasn't completely obvious. He felt like those 2 words were now his dismissal. She probably already thought he was a loser.

Then he got a bout of courage from somewhere because instead of tucking tail and heading out he asked another question. "Why?" It was a fair question Sasuke reasoned. It was a million degrees out, and well passed the time most parents wanted their kids home.

The girl looked him over curiously. "Why not?" She started weaving the shoots of lavender together. "It's something to do."

"So this place is as boring as i thought, huh?" Sasuke rubbed the back of his head really just because he didn't know what to do with his hands. "My brothers a liar."

She smiled at that. "He tell you what a wonderland Kure was? How there's a million things to do, and every second here is filled to the brim with magic?" She mocked but it was playful.

"Pretty much." Sasuke kicked the top of his shoe and ground it into the dirt.

"Yeah, your brother lied." She admitted. "There's not a thing to do here but die." She was smiling but she was looking up like she was looking for something in the sky.

It was quiet for a moment but Sasuke didn't want their conversation to be over just yet. "What's with the get up?" He eyed her Kimono which was definitely out of place in a place like this. Her outfit belonged in a place with shrines, and golden statues, not out here where you could see the lighthouse and smell the salt in the air.

"My mom made me wear it today." She rolled her eyes. "Have to look perfect for family photos you know?" Sasuke did know. Back when she had been alive his mother had been a stickler for family photos and their perfect curation. No hair was out of place, and there wasn't so much as a cat hair in sight when Mikoto got done with them.

"It does look nice." Sasuke admitted and his cheeks grew pink when she gave him that little smirk older girls always gave the little boys who pined after them. The look that said no way in hell, but i enjoyed the ego boost.

"Thanks, kid."

Oof. Then Sasuke was decidedly heading back to Gran's. He stomped over the lavender not caring as the purple flowers squished beneath his tennis shoes.

"Wait!" The girl called out and jogged to catch up to him on the sidewalk. She fell into step with him as they both headed in the same direction. "Here have this." She handed him a crown woven from the lavender shoots she had picked. She had a matching crown on her head.

Sasuke hesitated. This was something he had worn on playgrounds in grade school, but as a 12 year old he rather thought he would die of embarrassment if he put a flower crown on. "I don't know-"

She rolled her eyes again, and she stopped him from moving any further on his bike by standing in front of him. She looked down at him as she placed the crown on his head.

"You should be a kid for as long as you possibly can, it'll be over with before you know it, and maybe you'll look back and be glad to have done some silly things like this." She adjusted the crown just so, and then when she was satisfied she stepped away. "Are you always this grumpy?" She teased as they started moving again.

Sasuke made the extra effort not to bike fast, he was going as slow as humanly possible. He was afraid the slightest misstep on his part would send her running off somewhere. He was enjoying himself, and he hadn't thought he'd enjoy anything while at Kure.

"If you asked my Gran she would probably say so. My brother wouldn't."

Her kimono rippled as a bit of wind caught it, and Sasuke spotted a pendant lying against her chest.

"I'm Sasuke by the way." He offered.

"Sakura." She was back to staring up at the sky with those green eyes, and if Sasuke had to pick the exact moment he decided Sakura hung the moon it was that one.

They kept going along the path and Sasuke expected any moment she might turn off on her own street but she didn't. Instead she walked next to him the entire way back to his Gran's.

"So you're the boy my mom says Old lady Uchiha keeps going on about." She said opening the white picket fence in front of the house next to his Gran's.

"Guess so." Sasuke smirked. "Gran said we'd be good friends for each other this summer."

She looked like she was deliberating. "How old even are you?"

"14 at the end of the year." Not a lie, he just hadn't said which year.

The tinkling of the wind-chimes caught Sasuke's attention. "I made those for your Gran you know." She told Sasuke with a pleased expression.

"Beautiful." He responded but he wasn't looking at the wind-chimes any longer.

Sakura pulled her flower crown off and hung it on the white fence in front of her house. So Sasuke wanted to do the same. He pulled the bike out of the entryway, and he hung his own flower crown up beside Sakura's but on his Gran's fence.

"I'll see you tomorrow then." Sakura waved behind her as she wrenched open her front door. "Sasuke."

"Yeah. Tomorrow." Just like that and he forgot all about Frankenstein and his other piled up classics. He figured he would be up for just about whatever Sakura suggested to keep boredom at bay this summer.

When he put the bike back up in Gran's shed Sasuke felt a gentle hum around him. Like something had been kicked up in the air around him. The stars were starting to come out, they hung neatly in the sky, and they twinkled. He finally understood all of the fuss. The constellations were breathtaking.

They spent the rest of the summer riding bikes and seashell hunting when they were together. They talked alot. About sports, and celebrities, and it turned out they liked they even liked the same bands.

Sasuke wondered why Sakura never seemed to have any friends around. Then he thought back to what his Gran had said. About both of them making good friends for each other that summer. Sasuke found the prettier the girl the less friends she seemed to make. Girls could be catty like that, they didn't like keeping competition around. Selfishly Sasuke was glad there wasn't anyone else around that he had to compete with Sakura's time for.

Sakura's bike was shiny and purple. Green and yellow tassels. It looked brand new. Her house also looked at least 2 decades younger than his Gran's house. Only it wasn't. Gran had told him the houses had been built around the same time. Sasuke figured Sakura's family was just better able to keep up with it. The paint on their house wasn't peeled, and the porch didn't dip inwards when you walked across it. Sasuke was a bit embarrassed. He wanted to tell Sakura that this wasn't how he was accustomed to living. He didn't want her to think he was poor, but at the same time he didn't want to sound like a pompous jerk bragging about the money his family left him and Itachi. So he didn't say anything. He let Sakura draw her own conclusions. She had to wonder he knew. Because when they went for ice cream on the boardwalk Sasuke always pulled his wallet out to pay.

Once when the sun had barely just risen, and Sasuke couldn't get back to sleep due the sound of his Gran snoring he grabbed a book from his pile meaning to read it on the front porch. The screen door banged behind him, and as soon as he saw her sitting on her own porch Sasuke abandoned the book on the railing.

"Morning." He said leaning against the white fence, he tried to smooth his hair down.

"Morning." She said back, inspecting her nails. She had a bottle of nail polish by her feet, it was purple. Sasuke could smell the chemicals from where he stood. "What do you think?" She asked walking over to her side of the fence with the bottle of polish in hand.

"Nice."

"I think maybe it needs some glitter."

"No." Sasuke said. "I think they're perfect this way." He grabbed her hand to inspect them further, and smiled to himself at the warmth he found in her touch. It felt like that time when he was 8 and Itachi took him on his first roller coaster. His stomach flipped.

"Can i do yours?" Sasuke pulled his hand away.

"I don-"

"Hmm-" Sakura crossed her arms. "you aren't some kind of sexist or-"

"No. it's not that." Sasuke defended. "Just you know boys don't wear crowns or paint their nails is all." Did he seriously have to explain that?

"Who says?"

"What?"

"Who says boys can't wear crowns or paint their nails?"

"Everyone."

"Not me." She defended and he saw fire in her eyes. "I think it's silly, that we have all of these rules of what a boy should do or what a girl should do. We're all people aren't we?"

They stared each other down for a minute.

"Fine." Sasuke caved. He leaned back over the picket fence between them. "Make it quick." He brandished his hand to her dramatically.

She smiled down at him, and Sasuke started looking forward to the days when he would be taller than her.

She painted his nails purple, and if Gran ever saw them over the summer she never said a word. She seemed glad Sasuke had found something to occupy his time. That he and Sakura became friends.

When it came time to go back to the city Sasuke found that he didn't want to go. He'd sleep on a moldy pudding couch the rest of his life if it meant being only a few feet away from Sakura at any given time.

"Here." Sakura said as she pushed a bracelet made of flowers onto his wrist. "A little something of me to take back to the city." The flowers were little pink buds. Cherry blossoms. He wondered where they had come from. He hadn't seen any nearby. The wildflower field was mostly lavender, dandelions, and what Sakura called shooting stars but Sasuke was pretty sure were just marigolds.

"Thanks." Sasuke said as Itachi was loading down their car with Sasuke's stuff. "I'll be back next summer." He promised. Even though he didn't know if Itachi planned to do this again. Sasuke had already made up his mind though he would come back.

"I think i'm going to miss you alot." He admitted shyly.

"Me to." She said staring at the flower crowns they had left on their fences. They were brittle and dried out now but no one had made to throw them out. Sasuke quite liked looking at them side by side on that fence. "More than you'll know." He thought he heard her mutter. "See you around kid." Then she was walking off down the road, probably back to the flowers she enjoyed so much.

Sasuke thanked his Gran for having him, and then they left. Sasuke watched Kure beach disappear from his rearview and he couldn't put his finger on it but something felt wrong about leaving.

Almost like something bad was going to happen...