Roses are Red

Never Severed

Note: This was my first complete series. It's been rewritten once already in 2009, and although it's set in a Shippuuden-type of time frame, I wrote it before I saw or read anything Shippuuden. Also, the very idea of Sasuke falling in love is OOC in the first place because of this; if he were, at the time, this is how I thought it would be. Guess you could say this is "what if." Oh, and I apologize for the amount of times Naruto says "believe it" >.>' Anyway, this was one of my more popular creations on the other sites I've posted; Quizilla in particular. I hope you enjoy :) Thanks for reading, God bless.

Chapter One: Never Severed

A sigh escaped the lips of Krystal as she stared into a pair of charcoal eyes. Being a Hyuuga, her eyes were of an opposite shade, pale and reflective with her skin only being a slightly darker tinge of peach. Black locks of straight shoulder-length hair blew softly in the wind, brushing against her mint green jacket with sleeves reaching her elbows. Although a genin of Konoha, no Konoha headband could be seen, kept safely in the kunai pouch attached to the butt of her dark blue capris.

"Sasuke-kun . . . ." The name left a bitter taste on her tongue, but not out of contempt. It came out as a plea to the raven-haired shinobi standing in front of her.

As an Uchiha, Sasuke had dark eyes and hair, though the back of it stuck out in a cockatoo-like fashion. He stared at Krystal as she stared at him, callused and alabaster hands being tucked into the pockets of his white shorts. His forearms were covered by white arm-warmers lined with blue, and the Uchiha symbol on the back of his blue wide-collared turtleneck was covered by a purple backpack; part of Krystal‛s concern

"Please, don‛t go. No matter how much power Orochimaru can give you . . . . Is it really worth it?" she pleaded.

"What would you know about it?" Sasuke questioned coldly, his eyes narrowing.

"More than you think I do! Orochimaru‛s only going to use you, don‛t do it! No matter how much you want to kill Itachi . . . ."

He turned away, "I can‛t believe this . . . you‛re DEFENDING him, now?"

"Itachi? What the heck makes you think that I‛d be defending him? Give me more credit than that, Sasuke!"

"You had a crush on him . . . ."

Krystal shook her head. "But I don‛t now! And exacting your revenge is only going to make you just like him! Is that what you want-?"

"What do you care if I stay, anyway? We train together, but we haven‛t exactly been friends for a long time, now! Why would you want me to stay?" Sasuke said angrily, cutting off Krystal‛s statement. His eyes darkened, seemingly colder than they were moments ago as he stared ahead, wondering what was making him stay now? He‛d had no problem when knocking Sakura to unconsciousness before he bumped into Krystal. What was stopping him from doing the same to her?

". . .," Krystal felt a warm sensation rush to her face as she opened her mouth, biting her lip before speaking. "I . . . I love you. More than a friend and in a different way from a brother. There‛s no way I‛d ever be able to let you go. If you leave, it‛s not just going to affect you, or me. Sakura . . . she and many other girls also like you and would be devastated if you left." Tears cascaded like a waterfall down her face.

"Naruto-kun, you‛re like a brother to him and his inspiration to become stronger as you are to me. Before meeting you, I never wanted to be a ninja; my mom forced me into the program because I am a Hyuuga and I have the byakugan. That‛s also why I don‛t wear my headband . . . .

"And even Kakashi-sensei! He‛d feel somewhat responsible because you think he can‛t teach you what you need to know!" Her voice began to rise as tears became more intense. "Konoha just wouldn‛t be the same without you, so please, don‛t go!" she pleaded once more.