I'm gonna keep this one short. I'm looking for a sparring partner. Someone who knows what they're doing and who won't hold back.

Someone who's not afraid of a little blood.

[There's no mention of Sakura, or whether Naruto's search efforts have yielded any results. There's no talk of recent events either. Nothing at all. Perhaps those omissions ( Read more... )

She's gone.

[For all the words imply, his voice is perfectly calm. He keeps it simple. When it comes to Naruto, it should be obvious who he's referring to.] I'm going to look, but sometimes... [Sometimes, you just know.

Quietly then:] If anyone sees Haruno Sakura, give me a call. Anytime, it doesn't matter when.

Iteru, right? Anyone want to go back down there? The roses are still dead but they're not the only plants in this place.

[ Past the introspection in Naruto's voice, there is a pause. ]

There's something I want to drop off. Seems like the right thing to do.

( Screened to Sakura )

So, it turns out that they do stop wanting to replace these things after a while. [Naruto sounds somewhat wry, if a little awkward as he says that.] Even if you explain that it wasn't your fault the damn thing broke ( Read more... )

Ten claws on your fingertips, one for every finger, inhuman and sharp. They're blood covered. It's not your blood. It's hers.

( cut for blood & Sakura-death )

It's been a while.

... if you don't have a Forge, I don't think it can send out those dreams. [Naruto sounds calm and quiet.]

It sucks getting a new one, but the dreams always happen around the same time, don't they? Not that there isn't other stuff we don't want the world to know about ( Read more... )

[The camera cuts in on a face, features sharpened by the heavy contrast of light and dark.]

Haruno Sakura is dead.

[It is Naruto’s face and Naruto’s eyes to be true, but in those silent seconds the shadows on those cheekbones and around those eyes make him look older and leaner. Like someone else. Despite the oranges and golds in what ( Read more... )

[Forge clicks on with a rustle, a thump-]

Hah. Twins. ...should'a known. This place is so fucked up.

[-and a groan.]

Y'know, nothing nice ever happens this time of year. Must have somethin' to do with the dates. This old guy on Atia gave me a name for it, but I can't remember it. [Naruto's voice is muffled, exhausted.] Something to do with dead ( Read more... )

-d Tsuchikage is gonna to pitch a fit if I miss that meeting. So will Shikamaru.

...Is the date on this thing right? That can't be right.

[Have a sheepish Naruto. A sheepish twenty-seven year old Naruto who looks almost the same except that his face has become more angular, mature and there are faint beginnings of laughter lines around his eyes ( Read more... )

[Forge clicks on. There is a young man with an ashen face, hair shadowing eyes that are a shade of violent red.]

They're gone.

[He stares at the Forge, expression blank. Broken. Minutes pass.] M'supposed to say somethin'. [A whisper. He stops. Is silent again. Is very very still.] They're gone. Mom. Dad. ... Sasuke.

They're gone. I can't-- [He ( Read more... )