Lily of the Valley

Chapter 1: Flower Crowns

If you love a flower, don't pick it up. 

Because if you pick it up, 

it dies and it ceases to be what you love.

~Osho

I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. 

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Long pink hair drifted into her face, obscuring her view of her sister (twin to be exact), picking only the most beautiful flowers to make into a crown. 

"Which flowers are your favourite, Suzu?" The brightly smiling pinkette asked her sister who was cloud-watching, and couldn't be bothered to pick flowers. 

After glancing between her choices, lilies or tulips, the young girl made her choice. 

"Lilies." She nodded purposefully, as if to confirm her own decision. 

She watched as her sister, Sakura, proceeded to pick out all the lilies from the collection of flowers on the ground.  

Suzuran and Sakura Haruno are twins, enjoying their last summer before joining the ninja academy. The girls were easily noticeable as sisters. Both were nearly the exact same size and stature, and both sported pink hair, however, Suzu's was not quite as bright. This was not what set them apart from each other when telling who's who, rather, it was their eyes. Sakura had bright, sparkling green eyes and Suzuran had blue. Their faces also had minor differences in features, so overall it was no difficult feat for family members and close friends to tell them apart.

Although similar looking, the girls could not be more different when it came to their personalities. Sakura was bubbly, shy, and loved all things cute, pink and sparkly. Suzuran, on the other hand, was not quite as lively. She had a much more calm demeanour, preferred reading over playing, and was always overthinking.  

Sakura and Suzuran's parents had asked them many times if becoming a shinobi was what they wanted to do. They would, after all, be the first shinobis in the family, and business was normally the profession that Harunos chose. Suzuran would do whatever Sakura wanted to do, since she just wanted her sister to be happy. When Sakura announced to her parents that she wanted to join the academy this year, Suzuran followed suit. Wherever Sakura would go, Suzuran would follow to make sure her other half was okay. always.

It would be important to note that Suzuran is what people would say is years beyond her age. No one knows why the little pink-haired girl looks at people with more analytical eyes than other children her age, or how she understands things that even children years her senior fail to grasp. Don't let this discredit Sakura though, as she is quite the bookworm and practically absorbs information like a sponge. The Haruno parents are quite proud of their genius children but only wished that they decided to put their smarts toward business and politics. 

"Hold still!" Sakura demanded as her chubby fingers attempted to place a misshapen flower crown on her sister's head. 

Suzuran let her and when she was done, Sakura stepped back and clasped her hands together as she looked at her masterpiece. 

"Suzu-chan you look like a princess!" Sakura exclaimed before turning around to the flower pile to make herself a crown. 

Suzuran smiled and went back to picking shapes out of the clouds and pulling at the grass beneath her fingers. 

"Are you excited to become a ninja?" Sakura interrupted the silence as she sat down next to Suzuran, sloppily weaving a flower crown with her not-so-nimble fingers. Suzuran shrugged as she thought of an answer.