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.
"We brought Sasuke back, believe it! He‛s in Konoha Prison right now though, but Tsunade baa-chan‛s letting people visit! Isn‛t that awesome?" he said excitedly, once crouching down to Krystal‛s level and getting in her face.
Her eyes widened and she backed away a little, and not just because of Naruto and her nearly bumping heads. He‛s . . . back? Silence stretched on, the words taking moments to sink in and Naruto awaited her reaction, one she did not necessarily give. She stared at him blankly, as if completely clueless as to what he was talking about until a shadow crept over her eyes. His expression became less bright at Krystal‛s reply. "Thanks for telling me, Naruto-kun." She looked back at the clouds.
Not quite comprehending the situation, the blonde looked back to Sakura in hopes that she could explain, but she had the same questioning expression. ". . . . Aren‛t you going to come with us to visit him?"
"No."
"But . . . . Why not?"
"I have better things to do."
"But I thought you missed him," Naruto harped.
"Maybe I did, but that doesn‛t mean I want to see him, though."
"But—" both Naruto and Sakura chorused.
"Shikamaru? Aren‛t we supposed to meet Chouji and Ino at the Korean barbeque soon?" Krystal said, cutting them off abruptly and bringing Shikamaru into the conversation for the first time. "It‛s getting a little bit too crowded up here for my tastes."
"Since when were you—" he started, seemingly confused.
"Good. Let‛s go then," she interrupted while rising and paying no mind to how stunned Naruto and Sakura seemed to be. Stretching, she began to leave the area while Shikamaru lagged behind, annoyed that Krystal was dragging him into her problems.
Troublesome . . ., was his last thought while rising himself. He then looked at Naruto and Sakura, giving a sort of telepathic message Naruto could understand. Sorry . . . .
"HURRY YOUR LAZY BUTT UP, SHIKAMARU!"
With a sigh and one more look at the clouds, Shikamaru followed Krystal in the same direction Naruto and Sakura had arrived in, mumbling "troublesome woman."
"What was her problem?" Naruto wondered aloud as him and Sakura exchanged looks.
"I don‛t know . . .," Sakura said as she began to walk in the opposite direction of whence she and Naruto came. "But I don‛t think I‛ve seen her that angry since Sasuke-kun left."
"She was mad?"
"You couldn‛t tell?"
"Er . . ."
"Forget I asked . . . ." On the inside, Sakura smacked her forehead. Idiot!
.:Xx♥xX:.
Meanwhile, Sasuke himself was in jail, having changed over the years, as well. For one thing, his eyes had become less gentle, if they ever were. Beneath the light blue uniform worn by all residents of Konoha prison, his muscles had increased in size and strength, but at the same time seemed lean.
How long are they going to keep me in here? he wondered when in the confines of his cell. For two weeks, unknown to others besides select ANBU black ops and Tsunade, he had been inside the same cell and just now they were letting people visit him. He was beginning to feel restless, since in jail there was absolutely nothing for him to do . . . except occupy himself with thoughts of her.
How much had she changed since he had last seen her? Was she still angry with him? What was she doing now? Had her feelings changed any . . . .
Every time thoughts such as those crossed his mind, he would mentally kick himself as he turned to his side, keeping his back to the bars and staring at the wall. Normally emotionless, his eyes were filled with bitter anger towards himself as she kept popping into his mind.
"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."
He had to stop getting his hopes up. The chances of her still being mad at him compared to her forgiving him were greater, and he needed to face that. He was being careless, just as he had been when ending up in here in the first place when he should be tracking down his brother to complete his ambition.
"Sasuke-kun?"
And so it begins . . . . Even so, he kept his mouth shut and hoped that they would leave, being fooled by the illusion of him being asleep. He did not wish to speak to Naruto and Sakura at the moment.
"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura called again, only to be answered by more silence. "I think he‛s sleeping, Naruto-kun. Maybe we should come back—"
"Hey! Sasuke! Wake up!" Naruto yelled in a loud enough voice to wake up the dead. Sasuke realized this, and cursed the blonde, and he turned to face them unenthusiastically. A long and uncomfortable silence followed.
"It‛s . . . been a long time, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said awkwardly, trying to relieve some of the tension.
". . ."
Sakura became slightly discouraged, looking at Naruto for help, but he only shrugged, for once not having anything to say.
"We tried to bring Krystal . . . . But she was . . . busy," she tried, but did not manage to receive any sort of response except a slight twitch of his eyebrow. Realizing what she had actually wanted to say, she turned to Naruto. "Naruto-kun? Could you leave Sasuke-kun and I alone for a minute? It‛s obvious he doesn‛t want us here, but I‛ll only be a minute. Meet you outside?"
Naruto stared at her for a moment before nodding and leaving Sasuke and Sakura alone. Sakura waited for the color of orange to fade from view before turning her attention back to the ninja behind bars.
"Sasuke-kun . . . ." She placed her hand against the bars, gaze to the floor with a far-off look, trying to form her thoughts into words worthy of being heard, and not just the random and fast gibberish they had taken the form of in her head. "I . . . I just wanted you to know that . . . . Ever since you‛ve been gone, my feelings for you never changed. Not one bit."
"And you haven‛t changed, either," the other ninja replied boredly.
"Eh?"
"Sakura . . . . You‛re still as annoying as ever."
Her eyes widened with the slightest intake of breathe, both surprised and slightly angered by Sasuke‛s response. "I . . . I shouldn‛t keep Naruto-kun waiting . . .," she said. "I‛ll come back later, Sasuke-kun," and left the prison in a sort of huff.
Finally . . . she left.
.:Xx♥xX:.
So . . . he‛s back, Krystal thought bitterly as she, Shikamaru, and Chouji sat in one of the few Korean barbeque places in Konoha. Chouji was munching happily on meat he grabbed from the grill before him and Shikamaru. Sitting across from him and next to Krystal, he did the same, at a slower and less eager pace. Krystal had once been doing so as well, but was driven to distraction.
He‛s back, and Naruto somehow expects me to be happy? she thought when looking out the window and rested her left cheek into the palm of her hand, using the other in gripping her tea. Then again, Naruto doesn‛t know about the fight, and I never exactly told him I was angry about Uchiha leaving . . . . She took a sip of her tea and set it down with an audible thump.
It doesn‛t matter! Expression turning sour, she picked up her long ago abandoned chopsticks and reached for the last piece of meat on the grill, grabbing it just before Chouji.
"Hey, that‛s the last piece!"
"Be quiet, ya big baby/ You know you were gonna order more, so just go ahead and do it." I woulda been happy if I never ever ever ever ever ever ever saw him again! She popped the piece of meat into her mouth and chewed angrily, hearing another mumble of "troublesome" from Shikamaru. By the time she swallowed, her gaze was distant as she seemed to stare at her chopsticks.
I . . . would have been happy . . . right?
End of Chapter Two
Next Time on .:Roses are Red:.! Chapter Three: Not Your Krystal
"Erm . . . Sa-sasuke-san?" called a small and tentative female voice Sasuke only just barely heard. He lowered his gaze until his eyes met pale and gentle ones. From the dim lighting in the prison, she seemed to have dark hair, a Hyuuga definitely. His eyes narrowed as he was not sure if the girl on the other side of the bars was in fact whom he thought it was and leaned forward slightly to get a closer look.
". . . Krystal?"
.:Xx♥xX:.
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