Roses are Red

Devil Beside Her

Recappy From the Last Chappy: The pain she had felt in that memory stabbed at her heart a little, but she soon smiled, smally. "Believe it, everything worked out for the best. . . . " Everyone looked at her. "But even if we seemed to get stronger when we were apart, I still don't want to be." Her eyes met with Sasuke's. "I want . . . to be with you." Then, she moved her eyes to look at the other two. "All of you, hopefully forever."

Sasuke did not look away from her. Him, Naruto and Sakura were silent. Naruto then smirked and put his fist in the center of their cove. Krystal grinned and put hers in, too. Sakura was next. When Sasuke did not put his in, they all looked at him expectantly. A few moments of being under their stares seemed to be enough to coerce him into slowly touching his fist to the center. His teammates smiled with closed eyes. He showed no emotion but to let the corner of his mouth turn up about a millimeter.

Later, when they were back in the Village, they carved the letters "NU + KH + SU + SH" into a tree permanently right below "TEAM SEVEN."

Chapter Thirty-two: Devil Beside Her

Naruto stood in front of the mirror with half-opened eyes, drowsing from the lingering feeling of a previously unconscious state of mind. He felt obliged to fix himself up in some way, actually take time and effort to look nice. Today was the day, hopefully, when he would be single no more.

Yawning, he scratched through his bed-head and reached for his toothbrush. First mission: tackle morning breath. Girls do not appreciate morning breath. The mint flavor of the toothpaste, its intensity, began to help wake him up.

He did not wake fully, however, until after he had the orange capris covering his lower half and was splashing water onto his face. Next, he let the water pool into his hands and wet his hair, helping along neater spikes when he shook his head like a dog. He grinned at himself. What a foxy beast. A real lady killer. Hinata did not stand a chance.

The finishing touch to his facial appearance included his headband, proudly tied around his forehead. He pulled on the rest of his normal outfit with finesse, so as not to ruin his look, and was on his way. Before he was far gone, withal, he briefly returned for a green sac containing his "princess" outfit, seeing as he did still have his "assistant-assistant" duties.

He did not know, though, that he would not be making it to the Hokage Building so soon. Just as he passed by an alley, he was unexpectedly pulled in. A blunt, heavy force challenged the back of his skull; Naruto had been too late in reacting. Mumbling something about "Hinata-chan," his body hit the floor.

From the shadows, Sasuke stepped forward to the blonde and lifted him by his armpits, dragging his unconscious body deeper into the darkness. That way, people passing by would not see him. His wrists were bound together with twine. That twine was put through a metal loop Sasuke found in the wall and tied to a long plank of wood. It was unlikely to keep Naruto for long, should he regain consciousness, but it would possibly buy some time.

Sasuke adopted Naruto's appearance and picked up the green bag. Once he looked inside at its contents, a grin that was too wide for Sasuke and too malicious for Naruto crossed his face. He left that alley as "Princess Uzumaki Naruto."

.:Xx♥xX:.

You know, it probably hasn't even been a month since you were running errands around here . . . so why the hell can't you remember where the Old Hag keeps all the mission requests? Yin snapped as he kicked a stack of files on Tsunade's desk. They trembled, but he evidently had not hit them hard enough to knock them over. How lame can ya get?

Now now, Yin, his opposite crooned. Yang was unusually serene, sitting with her legs crossed and upturned palms laid on her knees. Her pointer finger and thumb touched. She had her eyes closed and she floated in mid-air. Calm yourself. . . . Thy words are harsh. You should be more calm- Gasping, her eyes lit up and she began clapping her hands together. Let us meditate together! I and you, harmonious and peaceful-hum with me, Yin! Aum. . . .