Roses are Red

Since You've Been Gone

Recappy From the Last Chappy: But the more the battle went on, the more she could feel the three little words rising out of her voice box and through her vocal cords until she could no longer hold them back."I hate you! You and everything you've become—I take back what I said about loving you! You want broken bonds, then there! Ours is broken! But that's not going to stop me from stoppi—"

Her rant was cut off by Sasuke's fist connecting with her stomach, forcing small tears from her eyes. Blood coughed from her mouth. Quietly, she murmured his name before slumping against him, and he could barely hear a frail, "Don't go . . .," but ignored it as he carried her bridal style underneath a tree to shield her from the light fall of rain that soaked him within minutes. Eyes devoid of emotion, he wiped away blood from her mouth with his thumb, seemingly in thought as he lingered for a moment.

"Our bond . . . can never be severed."

Chapter 2: Since You‛ve Been Gone

"Three years . . . . Uchiha‛s been gone for three years to this day . . .," Krystal pointed out sadly as pale lavendar eyes absent of the mirth they had years ago mirrored the cloudy sky above. Over the course of time, her hair had not grown any longer nor been cut any shorter, but there seemed to be a slight curl to it as she rested her head against her arms like a pillow. The hem of her jacket had risen to the point that it now reached just passed her rib cage, the rest of her torso being covered by fishnets. She wore a more summery and feminine style of ninja sandals.

Nara Shikamaru, her cloud-watching companion for the day grimaced. Just when he thought he had met a woman whom knew how to be quiet. Women . . . . "You‛re point?" he asked, although he hoped there was not a point to be made. A lazy boy, Shikamaru had come to watch clouds in hopes escaping work and his small almond colored irises normally read "how troublesome." He wore his dark hair in a spiky ponytail that gave his head a pineapple-like impression and had a pair of stud earrings pierced into his ears. Like many jonin or chuunin, he wore a forest green vest with a red swirl on the back and many pockets meant to hold scrolls. His capris and long-sleeved shirt were a dark blue.

"Nothing, really. Just thought about it . . . ."

Troublesome, he thought while looking back up to the sky in a silence that carried on for a few moments after, until Krystal sat up. "What now?" he asked.

"My ‛Naruto senses‛ are tingling . . . ."

A sweat drop formed on the chuunin‛s forehead, but he sat up as well, looking in the same direction as Krystal down the slope, now hearing the approaching footsteps. Not from only one person, however. A head of pink hair and a head of blonde hair could be seen walking up the slope of the Hokage Faces to them.

The former was a female medical ninja of chuunin rank with green eyes and a troubled expression. Her red and sleeveless shirt used to be part of a dress she would wear as a genin, but she instead wore a tan apron-like skirt over blue shorts fitting to the form of her fifteen-year-old body. A red Hidden Leaf headband separated her bangs from the rest of her hair.

The spiky-haired blonde was Uzumaki Naruto, the one Krystal had sensed coming. Although he was still a genin like Krystal, a great energy was within him, one that showed in his blue eyes and whiskered face. He looked boyish still even at the age of fifteen and wore an overabundance of orange on his pants and the majority of his torso; his Konoha headband and sleeves were black.

"Krystal-chan!" he called, running across the short distance between. Krystal had to crane her neck in order to see his face.

"What do you want, Naruto-kun?" she asked, squinting against the glare of his headband.