New Beginnings [Konan]

[sakura]

School was over for the day, which was a relief for Sakura Haruno. She was a new student at La Campana--in fact, she had only arrived the day previous. The female hadn't had the best couple of days. Everything was new and different, and there was really no one around to help her find her way. Somehow, she had gotten through both school days, but it hadn't been easy. So, after the bell had ended the day, she stuffed her belongings into her locker, then took off outside. She had heard about a trail that went around the school, as well as out into the woods. It sounded like the perfect place for her to think things over. Her footsteps scuffed along the dirt path, as she began to get lost in thought. Why had she decided to go to La Campana again? Her mind turned, as she began to think back to what had started the whole thing.

Constant rejection really had done a number on the pink-haired girl. She was persistent and usually patient, but there was a limit to that. The girl had tried to win a boy named Sasuke for years, but nothing she ever did had been good enough to win his love. She was never good enough for anyone, it seemed. If that alone hadn't been enough, when she had tried to soothe her wounded heart, she started taking interest in...well, other girls. It was something that was deeply troubled Sakura, since it went against the way she was raised. She was supposed to grow up, get married to a man with an honorable status, start a family, and take care of said family. Sure, her parents encouraged her to do well at school and seemed to be pleased that she was interested in medicine, but she didn't feel they expected her to be successful in that regard. Instead, she thought they wanted her to be a mere housewife. Hell, she had thought that's what she wanted to be for a long time, too. Sakura remembered the countless hours she spent doodling her name along with Sasuke's on every spare scrap of paper she could find. She had silly fantasies of getting married to him someday, and fulfilling her parent's expectations.

She had finally come to realize that it wasn't the life she wanted. If things turned out that way someday, then that was a different matter. However, Sakura wasn't going to aim for that any longer. Instead, she wanted to pursue her interest in medicine, so her life would have some meaning to it. To be able to help others, well, that would be better then sulking around for the rest of her life, chasing the unattainable. Love wasn't something that was guaranteed in life; it wasn't something she could bank on. Of course, it would be nice, and she certainly hoped to find someone to share her life with, but she wasn't going to waste away waiting for it anymore.

It all seemed so simple--just move on and be useful. Her heart still ached though, and she now feared failure more then ever. She was scared to be rejected again, she didn't know if she could take much more of that. What would her parents think, if they ever found out the true reason as to why she had decided to transfer schools? She had never told them that the school had anything to do with 'fixing' those who took interest in people of the same gender. They had gone on her word alone because she was usually a very truthful person, and had agreed to let her go when she told them that the school had a prestigious reputation. Sakura had provided information about the school, but it was things that she had researched and typed up herself. She didn't know how they would handle the fact that she wanted to come to figure out if she really was interested in girls, or if it had just been a stage she was going through. Deep down, she knew it wasn't just a stage, but she was in denial. All in all, if she fell in love with someone and they loved her back, the gender of that person would be the least of her concern. That's what worried her though...she didn't want to be a disappointment to her family.

It was only when Sakura narrowly avoided running into a tree branch, that she realized that she had strayed from the path. She stopped walking and glanced around, a light frown setting on her face. If she had been back at home, it wouldn't have been a big deal, because she knew the forests around there like the back of her hand. However, she had only arrived at La Campana two days before, and so her knowledge of the surrounding area was very minimal. Actually, she had zero knowledge of it, to be more specific. Sakura plopped herself down on a fallen tree, and decided to rest and take in her surroundings for a few minutes. She was really in no rush to get back, since there was nothing waiting for her anyway. Besides, the scenery around her was quite beautiful, so it certainly didn't hurt for her to spend some time enjoying it.

[konan]

There was little in the world more calming to Konan than getting lost. She would be the first to admit that this philosophy seemed counter-intuitive--what with the general concept of being lost usually carrying a tone of panic, but she didn't see things this way. It was a chance to wander where no one could find you, unless they stumbled upon you with sheer luck. In this way, getting lost was much like relinquishing control over your fate and your surroundings. That, to Konan, was the true beauty of it.

Only within the week she'd been at school had Konan rekindled her love for wandering. She could remember getting lost frequently as a child and loving it then, too; she could aslo remember being heavily scolded for it once she was moved to England, and abandoing the once loved habit.

Now, however, things were a tad different. She wasn't thick-skinned and tomboyish as she had been in her younger days. Years of pampering had seen to the extinction of that. She was frailer now, gentle and elegant. Roughing it and wandering through brambles was harder than she could remember, and the small cuts and bruises certainly hurt more than they had.

Still, the girl had come out after school, as she had every day for the past week, and wandered off the nature trail when she was certain that she was out of eyeshot from any other students. It wasn't that she was expected anyone to necessarily tell on her, but her conditioning wouldn't allow her to be seen breaking any rules.

The violet-haired girl stepped over a fallen tree, stopping for a moment to marvel at the sheer volume of moss and other vegetation growing on the tree. Even in death, the tree was still providing for the world around it. It made Konan sad, in a way, that a tree was more helpful and important in death than she was in life.

She continued onward, her knee-high brown boots absorbing much of the damage that stray bushes and branches had certainly intended for her legs. Though Konan was more more fond of beautiful, intricate clothes, the ruined dress in her closet from her first bout of wandering had taught her that it simply wasn't practical to wander the woods dressed like a fairy-tale princess. No, instead she'd chosen her boots matched with a green, denim mini-skirt, and a plain lavender tank-top. Nothing she would want to be caught wearing, but Konan obviously wasn't expecting to run into any people as she wandered aimlessly through the woods.

Konan craned her neck upwards after walking for a while, squinting as the retina-scarring rays shone into her eyes through the outlets provided by the trees' canopy of leaves. It was truly a beautiful sight, and she inwardly noted that the trees in Spain were far prettier than the ones she'd grown accustomed to back in England.

It was only when turning her head back towards Earth that Konan realized, with a shock, that she'd wandered into a section of the forest she'd never been. This however was not the reason for her shock--her shock came from a figure seated on a fallen tree, similar to the one she'd seen earlier. Dumbfounded, Konan merely stared for a moment. Her steel-gray eyes first focused on the girl's pink hair. A part of her almost wanted to blurt out and tell this girl that she had beautiful hair, but Konan's self-control kicked in enough to save her the embarassment. Her eyes navigated the rest of the girl's body, before snapping back up to her eyes. I'm staring...she must think I'm terribly rude...or some sort of pervert. Konan thought to herself. She could feel blood rushing to her cheeks at the embarassment of her actions. To avoid such detection, Konan bowed to the girl. Though her adoptive parents had tried to teach her that girls were supposed to curtsey, Konan had always preferred the Japanese method of bowing. "Good Afternoon" Konan said in greeting. Her voice, though soft and feminine, also held a powerful under-current--much like a once raging river that had been dammed, Konan's voice was one of the clues to what she had once been. "Are you lost?" She asked Sakura. In truth, Konan wasn't terribly concerned with the girl's situation or what she was doing here. It was more of a formality to her, to make sure that the girl wasn't in any trouble.

She took a moment to look around their current setting. There was nothing particularily interesting about it, just a normal section of forest, as far as Konan could tell, but she still wondered if perhaps she'd wandered into the girl's 'secret spot', or something of that sort. With a bit of a start, Konan wondered if the girl had come here to do something...questionable. She had heard that drug trades went on between the students in certain areas of the forest. A quick glance at the girl crushed these doubts. She didn't seem the type to sneak into a forest to do drugs anyways...and besides, it seemed illogical that a drug trade would be taking place in full daylight.

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