Sacrifice and Surrender

25: Beginnings

Sana Nara was tall. Her hair was longer than most Nara and coloured a dark brown that she styled in a high ponytail with points that spiked out in all directions in the familiar style that the Nara hair did. Her eyes were slanted and dark, her expression was usually without much emotion, but her eyes were curious. She wore a traditional kimono of brown and pale green and didn't wear jewelry. She was normally quiet and subdued, her voice was polite and feminine, and she looked the most comfortable around her younger sister.

The only reason that Shouta knew her at all was through Shikata, who had been forced to be the middle-man and introduce Shouta and Hikari to more people in the village on orders from his father and Lady Sakura. Shouta was glad that he had been able to meet Sana, who was seventeen like he was, and Chojime, who was a year older. Lady Sakura was his peer in age alone, in all other manners, Shouta was a subordinate. He hadn't managed to bridge the gap to proper friendship like Hikari had managed to do with her as yet. The only thing that Shouta knew for absolute certain was that Sana Nara was the complete opposite of Hikari Shimura.

Hikari's hair, for starters, a far more vibrant brown with an almost red tone to it. She had a fringe that parted in the middle and hung to her eyebrows, and her hair was usually braided back on either side of her head and tied back into a long ponytail, with a strap and a ribbon that changed colour almost daily. But he'd noticed that she'd taken to wearing a red ribbon more often, which Shouta knew was because of her admiration for Lady Sakura, whose own headband was red. Hikari wore her shinobi headband, which had a black band, around her head as Lady Sakura did, and he didn't think she'd grow to be much taller than Lady Sakura either. Hikari was pretty short.

Shouta always thought her head looked busy, but it suited her. Her eyes were brown, but not dark. In the sun they were closer to amber than bark, and they were large and round, opening even wider when she was surprised, scared, happy or amazed. Her cheeks were always tinged with a little pink, but she blushed at everything, and when she was especially embarrassed her entire face went a deep shade of red. Shouta didn't think he'd met anyone as expressive as she was before. 

In general, Hikari was the kind of person who could walk into a room of people in a low mood and lift the entire place up with her smile. She had a cheerful disposition that people responded too positively. But Shouta had seen her shutter that part of her away in favour of focus. She was dedicated, determined, and when she felt strongly about something, she wasn't afraid to speak her mind - a trait that Shouta was both frustrated by, and strongly admired.

Since their odd fight the last night of the festival, he'd barely been able to speak to her. Hikari had avoided him as much as she could, and Shouta was sick of it. He hated to say that he missed her, but Hikari had been a central person in his life for six months and her presence meant something to him. His hand froze in the air as his entire body jolted with the realisation that struck him. He shook his head and drew his hand back.

"That's not - I don't - " he muttered under his breath.

"Shouta?" Lady Sakura called out to him from down the aisle.

He looked up and saw she was looking at him with concern. She put down the potted plant she was holding onto the workbench and quickly walked over to him.

"Are you all right? You're pale."

"Fine, fine," he said quickly.

She kept frowning. "You're not okay."

She took his arm and led him to the wooden seat in the corner of the greenhouse. "What happened?"

He looked at her strangely. "I don't think I should say," he said after a moment.