AN:

Darling readers,

TWTS is currently under construction. :) I will be diligently editing and correcting spelling, grammatical and formatting errors and hopefully, together with your unending support and love, I will be able to gain enough strength, courage and inspiration to once again pick up where I left off. It's been quite a long time and I fear most of you might have given up all hopes on me- and I will not blame you, nor do I wish to blame myself. Things have been rough. ;;

To those who have stumbled upon this for the first time, I welcome you. :D Please do not let my somber tone deter you from a long-ish journey. Don't forget to leave a comment at the end- it means the world to all authors.

Cheers and happy reading.

This way to the Stars

godofcontradiction

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything but my dreams. I pretend to own the stars, until someone else would claim them.

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Wish

“She had to gather her wishes like coins.

She drowned them in a wishing well.”

-Clairvaux

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“Naruto! Get your lazy ass down here and help me move my stuff!”

Naruto tossed his blonde locks out of his eyes and scowled; quickly dropping the many boxes he was carrying. He had just been going up the winding staircase leading up to the attic, which was to be his room- and had not heard the girl calling for him the first time.

“I’m coming already!” he yelled, as the pink haired girl screeched for him to ‘hurry up before I tell father!’.

He sighed, skipping down the last three steps and making his way down to the main floor. It was a beautiful morning, really. The sun was shining and birds were singing… a perfect day to cross country and lug heavy baggage’s up the Victorian house they were currently moving into.

That’s right. The Haruno’s had strike gold winning a lottery (entirely by luck of course) and had quickly used the large sum to buy the large mansion that they had been eyeing all the way in Konoha.

Uzumaki Naruto had no choice but to move. Not that he loved his life back in the country- the neighbors despised him, his classmates stayed clear away from him, his teachers loathed him and basically ignored him. But he had lived there all his life, and he was not willing to be wrenched up from his lonely routine and into a foreign wonderland where everything would be alien to him.

But he had no choice. Sakura had threatened him thrice already not to ruin the trip, and he understood why. It was, after all, every country girl’s dream to go the city. He really had no choice.

For as far as he can remember, Uzumaki Naruto had no parents. All he was told was that they died when he was three and had left him nothing but a will for the Haruno’s to take him in. The Haruno’s were his last living relatives, a branch family from his mother side. And so Sakura was his cousin- a distant one, but a cousin nonetheless.

The Haruno’s weren’t particularly pleased, but they took him in. They took care of his needs and made sure he stayed alive, but that was the end of it. Naruto was treated with very little liking, and he was forced to reside in the servant quarters rather than share a room with a very reluctant Sakura. Once he was old enough to hold a broom, he was given household chores to ‘pay his keep’ as the Haruno’s put it, and it had been this way ever since. Naruto did not complain, but he was, for his part, thankful that they sent him to a decent school.

“What now?” Naruto tiredly said, pausing in front of an annoyed Sakura.

“Carry these to my room and BE CAREFUL. They’re breakable. If I hear so much of a tinker you’ll be out sleeping with the dogs.” Sakura said this as if this was an ordinary thing to do.

“Whatever.” Naruto grumbled, picking up the said boxes. He had to follow orders alright- but that didn’t mean he had to like them.

“What was that?” Sakura glared at him.

“I said, yes, oh precious lady bug.” Naruto inwardly smirked with satisfaction as Sakura turned red. ‘Lady bug’ had been a (hated) pet name for her by her overly zealous parents, and Naruto always used this to his advantage.

”Shut up, you monster and carry those up to my room. NOW.” Sakura snapped.

Naruto wanted to roll his eyes. ‘Monster’ was a nickname as old and as hated as ‘ladybug’. Mumbling about insects and disembodied creatures, he slowly climbed up the stairs feeling much better than he had before going down. Pissing Sakura off was probably the best form of relaxation ever.

Naruto put down the last of the boxes on the floor with a triumphant sigh. It wasn’t that he had a lot of belongings to start with- but he had been carrying boxes in and out of the house all day, and he was ready to take a rest. Ripping the tape off the first box, he rummaged around for his favorite blanket and his small pillow and placed them neatly on the small bed by the window.

Naruto looked out the dusty panes and grinned, deciding that he liked the view. It was in no way as beautiful as the country of course, where you could see proud mountains and starry skies on cloudless nights; but it was beautiful in its own sense as well. He glanced up at the darkening sky and spotted the first star winking at him as if saying ‘you caught me!’. Grinning back, he put his hands together and made a wish…

He was never one to believe in fairy tales, or wishing stars for that matter. But that night, he forgot everything he had built for himself and wished for the first time, like the child he forgot to be.

It would have been nice to tell you what Naruto had wished for that night… but then, it might not come true. He fell asleep with his hands still clasped as if in prayer. And if you think of it, maybe he was.

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Cheers.