There are certain established rules of decorum in a house where people can see through walls. When you have eyes that can see everything, it’s surprising how much time you spend not looking.
Blindness, confinement—two of the prevailing themes that weave together intricately yet seamlessly in Sintari’s Shakespearean masterfic Rosemary for Remembrance.
Set in the Naruto universe, Rosemary chronicles the angst-ridden lives of ninja first cousins Hinata and Neji, who belong to the powerful, ancient, and somewhat nefarious, Hyuuga clan. The former is the clan’s duty-bound heiress, the latter its curse-sealed servant. Both cousins possess their clan’s fearsome bloodline trait—the Byakugan, a ninjutsu that grants them superhuman sight.
Blessed and cursed, our two star-crossed protagonists are beset by death, despair, and betrayal at every turn in this dark and twisty tale. It’s a true Shakespearean trial-by-fire, and before you squick at the idea of a cousin-cousin romance, hear me out.
This is so much more than just a love story.
Like Hamlet, it’s the story of a family, with all the drama and heartache that that entails. Between the lines and behind the images, we see glimpses into the Hyuuga clan’s dark and bloody past, feel the crippling weight of its legacy come to bear on Hinata and Neji’s young shoulders. As the patterns of history threaten to play out once again, can they break the cycle of centuries, or will they, like their parents before them, fall victim to fate?
Kind-hearted and soft-spoken, Hinata is the epitome of the saying, “Still waters run deep.” She is described in the story as taking after her noble mother, and it is fascinating how Sintari contrasts and compares them throughout the fic, as she subtly reveals the dimensions of Hinata’s character. Though weak by ninja standards, Hinata possesses a remarkable inner strength and adaptability in the face of tragedy that is truly compelling to read.
Neji, in many ways, is the foil to Hinata. A genius in the ninja arts, he is taciturn and inflexible, a prisoner of his own heart and mind more so than even the curse seal he bears. It’s a bitter irony that is reinforced time and again when Neji refuses to take action. Where Hinata is brave, her cousin is fearful, and it’s in the small doses of courage, the small steps he eventually takes outside his cage, that propel the story to some of its most poignant and dramatic heights.
And then there is Hanabi. It wouldn’t be a Shakespearean tale without a Shakespearean villain, and Hinata’s younger sister fits the part to a tee. Born with a chip on her shoulder, Hanabi is obsessive, jealous, and cruel. It’s a combination that could result in a flat, cookie-cutter antagonist in the wrong hands, but Sintari portrays Hanabi with such a depth of history and feeling that you are left to wonder: is she truly evil, or much the same as Hinata and Neji, a victim of circumstances beyond her control?
So if you’re looking for a story that will make you experience a whole spectrum of emotions in every chapter, that will leave you in awe of the poetry of its telling, and that most of all, will make you think, then this is a fic you sure as hell don’t want to pass up. Check it out even if you’re not a Naruto fan—and you can thank me later. 😉
Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto