Hello!

So this is story my baby. I love it and I actually want it to succeed more than any of my other stories. For some reason though, my earlier writing just hasn't really been that great. So, after scrapping a whole chapter and rewriting chunks and editing throughout HERE is A Never Tale Remixed.

I have so many bits and pieces written that I've put my heart into and I can't wait to share. I just have to Practice, Improve, and bring you to them.

So here's the new begining of A Never Tale.
Read on and hopefully one day you'll fall in love with it as I have.

xoxo
Rose

A Never Tale

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Glowing cerulean, awe.

Warm hands wiped tears from her cheeks and salt air rushed against her skin.

They were running. Chasing one another through the soft blackness, bare feet spinning across grass and sand. She breathed happiness and exhaled laughter.

She was wrapped in peace; her heart beat thumped full and heavy with rightness, reverberating in perfect harmony with gentle beats that thrummed though her soul.

She was standing alone, hands reaching up to the sky, trying to pull back the beloved shadow even as it disappeared among the stars.

Pain. A ripping sensation that left in her gasping and in tears from the agony of the hole in her chest.

Don't leave me…..

A pale young woman lurched upright in her bed, clutching at her heart, pink hair falling in tangles around her face. Her eyes flew wildly around black space but found only her dim bedroom surrounding her, not the night or stars or a figure disappearing into the sky. Moaning, she fell back onto her pillows. That dream again...

Yeah that damn dream again! How many times have you had it in the last few months?

The girl groaned at the obnoxiously loud outburst from her Inner persona. I don't know...alot.

She trailed imaginary fingers over the past months dreams and tried to count how many times it had been. The dream had been a reoccurring one since she was seven and she had woken from it uncountable times since. She didn't know what caused them but after jerking awake, heart racing, sticky with sweat and close to tears almost every night this week she was getting pretty tired of the whole thing. Just damned tired in general.

And let me tell you you're starting to show it. Have you looked at the bags under our eyes lately?

Thanks so much for the confidence boost IS. I really appreciate it.

Hey you have a second personality for a reason Miss Sakura. One of those reasons is to keep you in touch with reality.

You're reality is way too bitchy for this time in the morning. Sakura grumbled back.

Oh it's never too early to irritate you dear.

Sakura struggled internally for a moment, warring with the primal desire to stay in bed and the common sense that whispered dryly in the back of her mind that her Inner Self was going to keep annoying her if she didn't get up, before finally heaving her reluctant body upright with a groan. She untangled herself from the pancake layers of blankets and staggered over to the glass paned doors on the far side of the circular room.

The doors were partially opened and unlatched, just as they were every night. No matter what the weather or temperature outside she always kept them, if only a crack, open. Sakura couldn't really say why she needed to do this, only that any time she had ever tried to sleep with those doors closed she woken near tears, filled with a panicked knowing that, by closing those doors against the world she was doing something terrible.

Stumbling groggily across the room Sakura fumbled to push the curtained doors fully open. Keeping her eyes closed against the soft sunbeams that glowed inside her lids she stepped blindly out onto the familiar boards of her balcony and walked forward until her hands met with the cool silkiness of the terrace railing.

Sakura leaned against the wood and opened her eyes slowly as they adjusted to the morning light. She was greeted with a dawn that was just coming to an end and by a sky that was a pale, gold tinged blue, the same blue of her bathroom and bedroom walls and the same gold that she had scattered accents of everywhere else. Sakura loved these colors, she loved the mornings that they brought with them, when everything was cool and clear and all she could hear were the waves breaking on the sand far below.

She ran her hands over the satin wood of the balcony wall; it was worn smooth from that same action being repeated almost every day over the past thirteen years, ever since she and her family had moved into the enormous, seaside house. The tower had been hers from the very first day of their move. Her mother had insisted she would need her own space as she got older but Sakura was pretty sure it was because mother thought she would be less likely to hear her father's drunken ravings during the nights he was home, nights that had become increasingly less over the years. She was grateful though. Not only was the tower up higher than any other part of the building, she had her own bathroom and, from her beloved balcony, she could see all along the coast and far out onto the ocean. More than that though, the tower was her sanctuary, the one place in the house that felt somewhat safe from the instability of her family.

Sakura sighed and breathed in the cold, salty air. It was mid February so there was a frosty nip to it as it filled her lungs, waking her like vaporized caffiene. She stretched out her arms, purring happily in the back of her throat.

Drumbeats and an accompanying wailing guitar suddenly split the quiet and Sakura ran her hand through her hair grumbling; who could be calling her this early in the morning?

Still mumbling under her breath she trotted back into her room and picked up her phone off of the bedside table. The caller I.D. read Tenten. Sakura flipped the phone opencuriously and wondered where the fire and brimstone was because the apocalypse had arrived. In Tenten Land non-sporting-event-Saturday's were strictly sleeping-until-noon-days and it was, Sakura looked over her shoulder at the glowing blue numbers on her alarm clock, 7:21.

"Good morning Sakura!"

Sakura winced at the screech that had just pierced her eardrum. "Hey there Tenten...is everything ok? It's a little early for you to be up..."

"Pssh early? What's early? I don't know what you're talking about, nothings early for me."

Sakura's brow creased in confusion, "Ummm ok...?"

"So are you going to be ready for us when Hinata and I get there to pick you up?"

"Huh?"

Tenten sighed theatrically on the other end of the line. "Remember? You agreed to go shopping with us today!"

Sakura thought back...and didn't remember ever agreeing to do any such thing, let alone this early on a Saturday morning... "Uhhh I don't really remember agreeing to that...I don't even remember you asking actually."

"Well I did." Tenten snapped, "And Hinata will tell you I did too. Now go get ready for some store roaming! We'll be there in an hour and you better be ready!"

"Wait but Tenten-"

"No buts!" Sakura jumped and pulled the phone away from her throbbing ear, "We'll be there in one hour and you better be sexy and shopping ready!"

There was muffled static and Tenten was gone.

Sakura stared at her phone for a second. She knew if she didn't get ready and go with Tenten that her friend wouldn't give her a moment's peace all day. Really, it was inevitable that she would end up going so she might as well look good. An hour didn't leave her much time though...she would have to be fast.

Sakura snapped the phone shut. Aright, mission mode time!

Operation Shopping Hotness! ACTIVATE!

The pink haired girl strode purposefully over to her chunky, wooden armoire and flung open the doors. "Hmmmm, let's see...nope that'll be too difficult to get on and off...that's too dressy...maybe that?"

Nononononononono…just no. Why do we even OWN that?

Sakura reappraised the shirt she had been eyeing; when it came to clothes she trusted IS's taste more than anyone's. This was probably because IS actually remembered the fashion advice they read. "I dunno; good question."She ran her eyes over everything again.

Oh oh! THAT. THAT is what we are going to wear today.

"What?" Sakura looked back towards the end of the rack she had just skimmed. "That? Oh that! That should work.

Inner Sakura nodded in conceited satisfaction. Yet another reason why you couldn't live without me. If you got dressed on your own you would embarrass us both.

Sakura chuckled at her Inner self's cockiness and with one hand threw the dress back onto the bed behind her while she opened a drawer with the other. After a few seconds of riffling and properly supplied with a fist full of undergarments she reached over to another cupboard door within the armoire. Opening it she revealed two of her very favorite possessions, her Ipod and her Ipod dock. But this Ipod dock was no ordinary dock; it was a particularly special dock. It was special because it was attached to surround sound speakers throughout her room and her bathroom, making the rooms into her own personal jam area. There was nothing quite like the resonating power of her stereo system and Tenten frequently burst out into rants of jealously over it.

Once she got the music pumping she jumped back onto her bed and threw open the blue curtains of her windows, the curtain rings making fabulous, metallic swishing noises that added to the good morning music. Sakura froze for a moment and just basked in the happy pre-shopping, loud music, sunlight soaked, beautiful morning. Today was going to be a good day.

With a cheshire grin on her face she hopped off the bed and danced over to the far corner of her room where she stopped and pulled open a trapdoor. She dropped her bundle through the hole and turned around to clamber down a ladder after it.

Halfway down the ladder she leaped down, landing in the middle of a blue and gold circular bathroom, the wide, curved windows lighting the walls with a surreal glow. It was an interesting bathroom because it was on the second story of the tower, nestled under the stairs leading up to her bedroom, but there was no actual door into it. The only way in or out was through the trapdoor in her floor. Sakura frequently wondered...how on earth the original owners had gotten her massive bathtub into the room? However they did it, she was grateful to them for having decided against an actual door because having her own, truly private bathroom was a marvelous thing.

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Forty five minutes later Sakura popped back up through the trapdoor, her pink hair bouncy and gleaming, skin fresh and rosy, and clad in a sweet, dove gray ruffled dress that brushed along the tops of her calves. She quickly slipped on a pair of sparkling red flats and grabbed a pair of tiny silver rose earrings out of a small bowl on her nightstand before dancing over to the bedroom door.

She had her hand on the knob when she stopped. "Opps," almost forgot again. She turned back and ran to grab her Ipod from its dock and her purse from its hook besides the armoire. There, she thought. NOW I'm ready.

Tsh you're the spaciest person that ever lived you know that?

Sakura laughed lightheartedly as she flung open the door and started down the stairs, thumping down them two steps at a time.

No I'm serious...I feel like we're forgetting something REALLY important...

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Three sets of stairs later she arrived in the sunlit, ground level kitchen where her mother was sitting at the table with a cup of tea and her new novel. "Good morning Mamma!" Sakura chirped and leaned down to kiss her mom on the cheek.

Sakura's mother looked up at her and smiled, her eyes and mouth crinkling around the edges. "Morning sweetie, how'd you sleep?"

Sakura's thoughts flashed back to the dream, "Oh, fine I guess." she said as she turned away and busied herself with her own cup of tea and some waffles, "I had that dream again."

Sakura heard her mom's voice dip in concern, "Really? That's the fourth time this week; do you think we should call the doctor?"

Sakura sighed in mild exasperation; Sousa Haruno thought that the solution to every problem was a visit to the doctor. "No Mamma," she said as she popped the frozen waffles into the toaster, "there's really no reason to call the doctor. It's just some weird dream. It's not like it's hurting me."

Her mother sighed a little, "I guess I'll let you be the judge then."

She returned to her book and the room was quiet for a few minutes as Sakura bustled around, humming to herself as she poured her tea and slathered more than generous amounts of Nutella onto her waffles.

"So are you going somewhere this morning?" her mom asked as she settled at the table.

"Yeah, apparently the girls and I are going shopping." Sakura said, biting into a sinfully delicious, buttery, crisp Nutella covered waffle-of-goodness. "I kinda feel like they're up to something though...Tenten never gets up this early and she sounded pretty sketchy on the phone when she called this morning."

"Tenten is already awake?"

Sakura laughed. Tenten had slept over so many times over the years that her mom knew just as well as she did what an earthquake causing event Tenten being awake in the AM on a sportless Saturday was. "Yeah I know. That's why I'm so suspicious."

She lifted her mug to take a deep, cleansing swig of tea and closed her eyes as her taste buds took a quick trip to Nirvana. "Oh," Sakura heard her mom rummage around and set something onto the wooden table with a rustle of paper. "I got you something."

Sakura set her cup down and looked towards the end of the table, "Why did you get me..." her eyes widened in horror, "something..."

Sitting in front of her mother's seat was a little, heart covered, pink box, a red ribbon sitting jauntily on top and a pale pink envelope besides it. Sakura recoiled from the thing and stared at the package like it was a slime oozing gremlin poised to spring at her and suck her brains out through her nose.

Sakura's mom looked at Sakura's horrified expression with concern. "Sakura honey? Are you ok?"

Instead of responding Sakura sprang up from her chair and ran over to the pantry door. She threw it open and came face to face with a large day by day calendar page covered in black sharpie skulls that danced around the date: February 14.

"Oh no..."

I TOLD you we forgot something important

There was the sudden sound of a door banging open at the other end of the house. "Ohhhh Saaaaakuraaaaaa! We're heeeeeeere!"

RUN!

Sakura sprinted out of the kitchen, her mother calling after her in alarm, and bolted for the stairway that would lead to the next level of the house. As she passed the main hall she saw a flash of her two friends and pumped her legs faster.

"Hinata she's getting away!"

Sakura heard the sounds of Tenten's feet pounding on the wooden floors behind her and tried desperately to increase her speed. But Tenten, the pride of the track, soccer, lacrosse teams, was not to be outrun. When Sakura had reached the bottom of the staircase and begun leaping up the steps Tenten launched herself through the air with a much practiced spring and tackled Sakura, bringing them crashing to the bottom of the staircase together.

"Let me go! Let me go! I won't go! You can't make me go! Let me go!"

"Just hold still will you! Stop squirming! Quick Hinata hand me a zip tie! Sakura for the love of God hold still!"

Sakura's mom stood a few feet away, watching the two girls wrestling viciously as Tenten attempted to shackle Sakura and Sakura bit and clawed at her with a beastlike ferocity.

"G-good morning Mrs. Haruno."

Sousa looked over to see Hinata standing beside her with a friendly smile on her face. "Oh, good morning Hinata." She looked back anxiously at the two battling girls; Sakura appeared to have somehow bitten through a zip tie and Tenten had now produced a roll of duct tape that she was trying to wrap around Sakura's upper arms. "Ummm...do you know what's going on?"

Hinata looked over towards the pair as well. "O-oh well you see Mrs. Haruno, Sakura has never gone to a Valentines D-day dance and since it is our senior year and our last chance to go we thought she should g-go with us. But when we asked her about it she was very adamant about n-not attending so Tenten decided we should bring her by f-force."

"Oh? Why so early? The dance won't be until tonight will it?"

Tenten had managed to tape Sakura's biceps together and had moved onto zip tying her legs. "O-oh well we have to go get dresses for the dance still and since we knew Sakura was going to be-

"Get off of me you nutcase!" Tenten let loose a shriek of pain. "Holy shit!!...damnit, Sakura you did not just coot boot me!"

"And I'll do it again if you don't get off of me! Take that! And that!"

"God damn it!"

"Sakura! Tenten!" Mrs. Haruno exclaimed, outraged, "you will not use such language in my house!"

"Raaaaaa! Freedom!"

-d-difficult" Hinata continued over the sounds of battle, "we thought it would be a good idea to start early so that we have t-time to find dresses and have our hair and nails done as well."

Mrs. Haruno and Hinata watched Tenten throw Sakura over her shoulder and start down the hallway towards the front door. The pink haired mother's expression was still concerned and a little cross but there was approval in it as well. "Well, this is very nice of you girls" Sousa said, "She might not want to but it'll be good for Sakura to go to the dance. Will you need any money?"

Hinata smiled again and shook her head. "O-oh no thank you Mrs. Haruno, we have it covered, don't worry. B-but do you know where her purse is? I'm sure she'll want to have it later." Mrs. Haruno went back to the kitchen and retrieved Sakura's purse. Hinata took it from her with another sweet smile thank you and followed the unearthly caterwauling to the front door, "And thank you for letting us t-take her!"

"Just make sure you all have fun! And stay safe!" Hinata heard the motherly call from behind her as she let herself out through a pair of regal wooden doors onto the shaded, front patio. It was full morning at this point and the air was briny and the sun was bright; perfect weather for a day out.

At the edge of the deck were Tenten and Sakura, the latter of the two who was now clinging to one of the white painted posts that held up the patio roof with all her strength, while Tenten tried to drag her away, still screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Lies! Deceit! Trickery! Coercion!" Sakura's face was cherry bright from her carrying on and the exertion of the still continuing battle. Her hair was a tangled mess and her flannel dress had been shoved up so high you could see the leopard print of her underwear. "Blackmail! Oppression! Treachery! Kidnapping! Rape! Rape!"

Hinata sighed and went over to the pair. She pulled a pretty purple hankerchief out of her pocket and rolled it up before stuffing it into Sakura's mouth and deftly tying the ends around the back of her head. Sakura stared at her, bug eyed and aghast. Hinata looked back at her sternly

"N-now see here Sakura." she said firmly, "We're trying to do a good thing for you. You will cease this uncivilized s-screaming and come with us calmly and you will act like the elegant young lady that I know you are or so h-help you." She tugged Sakura's dress back down towards her knees and then started down the patio steps towards Tenten's green van. She opened the passenger door and turned back to stared regally at her two best friends, "Are you coming?"

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Tenten leaned towards Hinata as they drove away from the Haruno residence. "Hinata," she whispered over Sakura's sniffling, "how did you do that? I didn't think you had a mean bone in your body!"

Hinata leaned over and whispered back, "I just tried to pretend I was my etiquette teacher from when I was little. I was terrified of her but I behaved better for her than I did for any of my other tutors so I thought maybe if I acted like her Sakura would listen to me too. Was I really mean?"

Tenten started laughing at Hinata's wistful tone. "Yeah Hinata." she choked out through the giggles, "meaner than a hippo with a hernia."

Hinata sat back in her seat and sighed in contentment. Today was going to be a good day.

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All critiques are WELCOME! Thanks for reading!