The Kekkei Genkai Curse

The Kekkei Genkai Curse

By Shiroihato

(Chapter 8: Gothic Lullaby)

A/N: Well, for once I don’t have much to say, not in my opening note anyway. My closing note is a different matter… but, then, you have to get there first, don’t you? I guess I’ll put in a quick disclaimer:

I do not own Naruto or any of its characters, other than my OCs. I’m not brilliant enough to have come up with Kishimoto-sama’s incredible plot or characters. However, I do own, once again, my OCS, my plot, and my titles… oh, and I have about 400 Naruto trading cards… but I don’t think that counts… TT

W A R N I N G:

If you don’t like OCs, I’m afraid you won’t like the story from here on out. Don’t flame me because I use them; I either won’t pay attention or I’ll flame you right back. And don’t pull any of this “Mary Sue” stuff on me. I don’t even know what a Mary Sue IS; much less do I care if I have one.

Haruno Sakura walked slowly down the streets of Konoha. All around her people would stop and stare; then blush and turn away when she caught them looking.

“Poor girl,” the lady at the sushi booth whispered to a customer, “did you hear? She only has a few months left.”

“And right after loosing her clan, too, the poor thing,” the customer agreed, clucking and shaking her head.

“My little Ai practically adores her,” a mother carrying a sleeping toddler added, “I don’t know how I’m going to tell her that her “Hana-hime” won’t be around to baby-sit for much longer. “

“Don’t tell her, then,” the man in the next booth selling lotto tickets spoke up.

“She’ll find out at the funeral soon enough,” his wife agreed shrugging.

The sushi woman started to concur, when Sakura walked by. Instantly, the whole party clammed up. She ambled on; ignoring the whispers pouring from the market place as she walked up to a booth selling hot drinks, the same one she and Naruto had been to the day before.

The clerk instantly stopped her conversation with her neighbor.

“H-how can I help you, dear?

“One small hot chocolate, please.”

“Sure thing, honey.”

Waves of sympathy poured off the woman, but at the same time, she didn’t seem to want to be close to Sakura, as if the grief that had toughed the kunoichi’s life was somehow contagious.

“It’s on the house,” she said, putting the drink on the counter and not looking her customer in the eyes.

Sakura was about to refuse, but then decided there wasn’t much of a point.

“Thanks,” she sighed, taking the drink, and walked off, trying not to notice all the murmuring that was going on.

“I don’t know how she takes it; she’s handling everything so well. To well, actually,” Temari thought, as she silently tailed her friend to the now snow-less park.

------break

Sakura sat down on the same snow cold bench that she had sat at with Ino, Tenten and Temari. Gingerly, she traced patterns in the snow with her foot, while questions raced through her mind like wild fire. Most of them started with “why?”. She shook her head as if to clear it. She sat there for a moment, but found the silence unbearable.

Softly she started humming, and then began to croon.

“Amuuru, watashi hitokoe mimiwosumasu

Amuuru, kikoemasu ka?

Aki no kage suruha tsuiraku desu

Tsuiraku

Watashi tsuiraku desu

Kokoro wo soto

Won’t stop beating

Kokoro wo soto

Won’t stop bleeding

Do you hear me now?

Hikarakuyou

Yukkuri hanashindeimasu desu

Shindeimasu desu

Watashi soko hana desu

To Haru to naku toorimasu

Genzai Amuuru, watashi shibomu.

Amuuru, kikoemasu ka?

Hikarakuyou

watashi nakiiru

Watashi nakiakasu

minna soto kikimorasu

Kokoro wo soto

Won’t stop beating

Kokoro wo soto

Won’t stop bleeding

Who is it that I’m crying for?

Konoue wakaran.

Kokoro wo soto

Won’t stop beating

Kokoro wo soto

Won’t stop bleeding

So it seems…

Watashi no yume

Keep tearing me apart”

“That’s almost like a lullaby, the way you sang it, kid,” a voice said softly, “But I wouldn’t go singing that to anyone; it’s a very gothic lullaby.”

Sakura spun around to see a girl a few years older than she was, wearing a baggy, thread-bare coat, and faded jeans. Both joy and sorrow glistened in her violet eyes.

For just a second, there was quiet, the only sound being the wind rustling through the stranger’s dark hair. Sakura’s eyes widened in shock as she managed to place those eyes, that voice.

“Kumo-neesan?!”

A/N: Another cliff hanger! Yep, I’m evil. I already confirmed that, okay. A few notes:

1. The song is something I made up, called “Kokoro wo Soto” It’s far from perfect, and I probably made a lot of translating errors, but by the time I got to where I was, I just didn’t want to mess with it anymore. The translation of the lyrics goes like this:

“Love, hear my cry

Do you hear me calling?

Autumn shadows fall through the leaves

Falling

I’m falling

This heart

Won’t stop beating

This heart

Won’t stop bleeding

Do you hear me now?

Hikarakuyou

(Hikarakuyou is a Japanese expression that basically points out the evanescence (impermanence) of mortal things. Literally it means “Blossoms fall and leaves scatter” but I don’t feel like typing that out a million times.)

Hikarakuyou

The flowers are slowly dying

Dying

I am that flower

Spring and summer fade away

Now I, also, fade, my love

Do you hear me calling?

Hikarakuyou

I weep

I weep the night away

But everyone fails to hear

This heart

Won’t stop beating

This heart

Won’t stop bleeding

Who is it that I’m crying for?

I don’t remember anymore

This heart

Won’t stop beating

This heart

Won’t stop bleeding

So it seems…

My dreams

Keep tearing me apart”

2. Okay, on the last chapter, Master of Fanfics asked:

“Oh, and can you explain the thousand cranes thing, please?”

Here’s my reply (skip if you already knew where this came from:

I got the idea from a true story called "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes". Sasaki Sadako was a toddler when the bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War two, 1945. She, being as young as she was when the incident happened, didn't remember it, and it didn't seem to have any effect on her. However, when she was 12 years old, in 1955, she was diagnosed with leukemia. (As far as I can remember, the book said that this was somehow related to the bomb. Wikipedia doesn't say.) The doctors hospitalized her immediately (on Feb.21), and her family was told she had a year to live.

On August third, Sadako-san saw a "Get Well Gift" from the people of Nagoya donated to the hospital, which consisted of a thousand paper cranes.

An ancient Japanese legend promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by a crane, such as long life or recovery from illness or injury.

So, she too, became one of the many patients to fold Origami cranes. Whenever her family worried about her, she would simply tell them that she had a plan.

Sadako-san never actually finished her 1,000. Popular belief says she completed only 644, when she died on October 25, 1955. Her classmates folded the remaining cranes, to be buried with her.

Wikipedia says:

"After her death, her friends and schoolmates published a collection of letters to raise funds to build a memorial to her and all of the children who died from the atomic bomb in Hiroshima. It was also a popular cause for children and others in Japan. In 1958, a statue of Sadako holding a golden crane was unveiled in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. At the foot of the statue is a plaque which reads, This is our cry. This is our prayer. Peace in the world.

There is also a statue of her in the Seattle Peace Park. Sadako has become a leading symbol of the impact of a nuclear war. Sadako is a heroine for many young girls. Her story is taught in some Japanese schools on the anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing"

Apparently, children all over the world still send cranes to those statues, in hope of peace.

This story was really touching to me; it’s always been one of my favorites. So, when I started writing the Kekkei Genkai Curse, I thought of Sadako, and the similarities between her position and Sakura's. When I decided to do a Christmas chapter, I thought it would be cool if her friends folded a thousand for her; it's kind of like their way of showing their support. Granted, if the legend were true, it probably wouldn't work the same, but it’s really the thought that the ninja are willing to try anything for her that counts.

Also, Sadako and Sakura are both dying as victims of violence. I'm not saying I agree or disagree with the WW2 bombings, but I'm sure you agree that in the case of the Haruno massacre, the violence was unnecessary. It makes that, after seeing what that same violence did to her friends, to her family, and her self, she might want peace just like the people who send those cranes do/did. Which is why, I'm trying to decide if maybe Sakura should start her own 1,000...

Anyway, I like the symbol of the crane. To the Japanese, and those of us who are Japan- obsessed, it symbolizes long life, beauty, compassion, peace, and good fortune.

Okay, overly long explanations over. The next chapter is “Kumo”. Please, review!!!

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