It Continues

Chapter One: It Was Long Ago

Chapter One: It Was Long Ago

Word count: 545

~Haruno Sakura~

We kissed, once.

It was so, so long ago that I don't think he remembers it, I barely do.

But it happened, even if the memory has faded for the both of us.

~

Neither he nor I could've been much over three, stumbling about the village with no focus. The icy winter had settled in with ease and presented us with our first real snow.

That day, it was almost idyllic. I'd grown lost in the Leaf Village, turn after turn the same as the last, and was on the edge of tears. But, the foreign, frozen world was such a stark contrast to my cotton-candy pink hair, it was inevitable; I was to be found.

And he helped me.

This was long before he grew up. Long before he had reason to.

Back then, I would randomly spot him and his nii-san together, the two laughing. I had no idea what a rarity that would become. I had yet to age with him, to discover his frequent -  standoffish - disposition where he peered down his nose at me, through his ebony hair.

So, when I became lost that day and ran into him, I expected little of the harshness I am now familiar with. I expected that which I did with other three-year-olds; a kindness untouched by the truths of the world, a hand which was still soft - fingers new to life's hardships - and a face curious and void of judgement. His was so.

That's why it happened, I suppose.

Much like other firsts, it was by accident. A big accident. He found me after I'd fallen through half a metre of snow and had approached with little caution.

''Re you a'right?' He mumbled, the words caught behind the threads of his tightly wrapped scarf.

Not even a second after our eyes had met he was stretching out his hand. But, he made my mistake and stepped on the thin sheet of ice - as inconspicuous as a clear piece of tape - and came crashing down. Our faces, still directed at the other's, met a moment after and our three-year-old selves shared our first kiss, still so unaware of its significance (or, at least how so, had our ages were in a later decade).

His startled body was in such a rush to remove itself from mine that it fell again, a little to the right. And though he was surely as cold as I, he turned, meeting my eyes with his, and started laughing, his face scrunched so perfectly. I had no other option but to join in, regardless of how alike my skin was becoming with my hair.

Our laughter grew so loud his nii-san was able to find us, turning the street's corner in no time. His face contorted from concern to amusement. It was a moment for the ages; laughing with an unbeknownst future.

But, our three-year-old selves forgot history quickly. And now the day has been lost like the words written by poets who left their work in the sun for a hundred years.

That's why it never surprised me when Sasuke thought of Naruto as the one who stole his first kiss. That's why, I never truly recognised Itachi. And, that's not why I came to love him years later.

~~~

Hiya folks, here's a new Naruto story of mine! There's one thing I haven't really included in my works thus far . . . romance! So, I'm going to attempt it, wish me luck!

I think I'll have each chapter centralised around a single couple, obviously they'll still have interactions with others . . . Then, once I've gone through them all I'll repeat! But, who knows . . . The plot still needs to make sense too. Either way, I'll make it clear at the start of the chapter for you.

And, sorry this is short. It's just an introduction, so the following ones will definitely be longer, though it'll be a few weeks before I start publishing – on a regular basis. I just reached one hundred followers(!) so I felt I owed you all something.

Reads: non-existent!

Votes: zip!

Published: 14/04/17

Next chapter will be published eventually . . .

Gabrielle xx

~

Glossary

Nii-san: Elder brother [as they so often say in the dubbed version of the show (>_<) ]

Otōto: Little brother.