A/N: I know I should be working on my latest chapter of This World Can't Tear Us Apart, but this whole idea would just not leave me alone. It's been bugging me for days! I don't know how I should classify this, although I'm pretty sure it should be a crossover. This particular pairing however is not crossover, but other characters will come into play. This is Bleach and Naruto; let's see how it works out. I hope you like it.

This story is AU and will focus on Bleach and Naruto characters; their relationships, their heartache, their everyday life in general. Almost all of the characters are entering or are already in college. Somehow I think that college life and "the real world" will give them a whole other level of obstacles to overcome. Other side fics will branch out from this one, but this one is about Renji and Orihime. Many more are to come.

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Bleach OR Naruto. Just borrowing them temporarily; they belong to Tite Kubo and Masashi Kishimoto, respectively.

CRIMSON

Broken

She had survived. She had made it through high school and she had never felt more satisfied than she did then. To say that those years had been her most trying and difficult years would not do them any justice. She had endured many things in her short life and had come out a better person in spite of everything, but somehow they all seemed trivial somehow. She had been raised by her older brother Sora before he could even fend for himself; they lived in an abusive household and had no other option but to escape. Both their parents abused them physically and emotionally until one day Sora had had enough. He stood up to them and fled with a young, barely conscious Orihime in his arms. She could still remember that night vaguely; it had been raining heavily and the sound of thunder and flashes of lightning prevented her from succumbing to the oblivion that called to her, welcomed her with open arms. Later Sora would tell her that it was as if heaven itself had been weeping for them that night, for the injustice their parents committed against them, the children that they should have protected yet only knew how to hurt. He told her that the lightning was guiding them, lighting their way to the place where they would finally be free.

Sora had been right for they ended up at the one place where they would finally be safe. He ran and ran with his beloved sister in his arms until he came to a house that as soon as he laid eyes on, he had to fight his body with all the strength he had left in order not to collapse. He banged on the door and was quickly answered by just the person he had wanted to see, but was not even aware he had been looking for; his only intention had been to get Orihime to safety. A woman opened the door. Her blonde hair almost looked like a halo surrounding her and her eyes were the most honest and purest shade of blue he had ever seen. She had been shocked at the arrival of her sister's children in such a condition at her doorstep, but she quickly snapped out of it and barely had a chance to grab Orihime from Sora's arms when he collapsed on the floor in front of her.

Rangiku Matsumoto was their mother's younger sister, she is Sora's age. Their mother had always been rebellious and had gotten pregnant at a very young age. She ran away from home with their father and they married; 15 years later they had Orihime. Rangiku had searched for her sister for a long time until she found her; she knew she had a nephew and wanted to be close to him even if the relationship she had with her sister was not the best. Shortly after she found them, she noticed that things weren't going well in the marriage. She knew they were both alcoholics and suspected they abused Sora but never found or saw any evidence. A few years later when Orihime was born the family fell apart even more. Rangiku also suspected that Orihime was abused and neglected, but there was nothing she could do, especially if neither Sora nor Orihime reached out. When she questioned him about it he always closed up and changed the subject quickly.

Their grandparents had passed away and had left Rangiku with a hefty sum of money; she had been the sole benefactor of that fortune since their mother had been disowned. Rangiku loved them both dearly and helped them until Sora was able to stand on his own two feet and provide for the both of them, much to Rangiku's disappointment. She stuck around; not once did they feel as if they were alone. After that Sora raised Orihime as if she were his own daughter. He never complained about the sacrifices he had to make— not once. Now she felt that it was her turn to repay him in some way even if it was only by pursuing that higher education he wanted for her so badly. He never demanded she follow in his footsteps and take over the company he proudly built on his own, for Inoue Corporation was one of the four leading financial companies— along with the Uchiha, Hyūga, and Sabaku corporations. He always told her to follow her heart and it would never lead her astray. She could study anything she wanted and he would support her every step of the way. So when their parents passed away when she was twelve, she didn't feel sorrow for the loss. For the longest time she felt like there was something wrong with her… like she was committing one of the most horrible sins known to man for not feeling… anything. She finally came at peace with herself after an emotionally draining conversation with Sora and Rangiku, after they made her realize that it was due to the fact that she did not see them as their parents— she never had— for in her eyes her big brother Sora and her aunt Rangiku had always been her real mother and father.

During her younger years she had always been picked on by other girls her age because of her burnt orange hair, she stood out too much from the rest. It had always been something she was extremely proud of, Sora and Rangiku loved it, so she did too. It happened on a day that the bullying had gone too far and the girls snipped away at her beautiful hair. She was horrified that they had done something so cruel and could not stop crying when she heard an angry shout. It was another girl and she was standing up for her. She used a little too much force in her opinion, but ever since that day that girl had become her best friend and they were inseparable. She would never forget the day Tatsuki Arisawa came to her aid.

Two years later, when she was eight, they met a very unique girl. She had the most unique eyes that Orihime had ever seen— a beautiful shade of lavender. She had a boyish, pixie-like haircut but what got her attention was her midnight blue hair that stood out as much as her own burnt orange. She had pale, porcelain skin that made her look like a delicate doll and Orihime thought she was just the prettiest girl she had ever seen. All eyes were on her when she was introduced, making her pale cheeks turn a bright shade of red. "H-Hinata H-Hyūga," was what she stammered out and Orihime felt bad for her, the poor girl was extremely shy. Hinata was very clumsy as well, making her an easy target for bullies and it was during one of those times that Tatsuki had decided she had had enough. She defended Hinata, much like she had Orihime, and beat the group of boys into a pulp. The fact that an eight-year-old Tatsuki had beat up the two notorious ten-year-old bullies got her the reputation that had stuck with her for the remainder of their school years. Tatsuki was the kind of girl that stood up for what she believed in and took absolutely no— B.S. — from anybody, but she was also kind hearted and the few that she allowed to get close had no qualms about her friendship. From then on Hinata joined the duo. She was extremely kind, unselfish, and caring to a fault. Hinata was very shy and quiet too, but over the years being around Tatsuki and Rangiku had all but forced her out of her shell.

When they entered high school things changed drastically for them. With high school came the oh-so-dreaded puberty, and with puberty came the physical changes in their bodies. Orihime was blessed with a rather ample top half, slender waist, legs that seemed to go for miles, and a very curvy bottom. Hinata, although a few inches shorter than her, had a similar silhouette; full but slightly smaller bosom, shorter yet still slender waist, and a curvy bottom, curves that were all the more noticeable with her shorter height. Tatsuki, being the late bloomer in the group, had been unofficially assigned the task of beating off both males and females from her two best friends with a stick. It hadn't been until their junior year that Tatsuki blossomed and it was only until then that she experienced the constant harassment first hand. Tatsuki grew several inches finally being able to catch up to Orihime's height; Hinata remained the shortest of the three. Her body was slender but more toned due to the years of martial arts training; her long toned legs were the center of countless girls' envy and the object of desire for many boys. She finally let her short, boy-like hair grow to her waist.

It was during her first year when she first met him— the misunderstood boy with orange hair— Ichigo Kurosaki. At first everyone had been afraid of him; he had a bad reputation and was rumored to have taken out Karakura's most dangerous gang Ragnarok single-handedly, which he later confessed was not true… Chad had helped him. But not her… she had never been afraid of him and had been drawn to him from the moment she saw him, like a moth to a flame. For three years she loved him. For three years she admired him and became one of his closest friends, but it had never been enough. She never even had a chance… On their junior year a new girl transferred to Karakura High, a petite girl with violet eyes, fair skin and black hair— Rukia Kuchiki, she would never forget that name. When she passed by Ichigo to take the only empty seat next to her, warm brown met cool violet, and that's when Orihime knew that Ichigo would never be hers. In that brief exchange, she saw that the petite girl accomplished what she had not been able to do in years as his friend; he was looking at Rukia the way she had always looked at him.

When Ichigo and Rukia became an item nobody was really surprised. They spend a lot of their time together and they would flirt so much with each other that their friends had assumed they were together long before they made the official announcement. Several people in the group— Tatsuki, Hinata, Sakura, Uryū, Chad, Sasuke, Tenten, and Mizuiro (the most intuitive ones) — knew about her feelings for Ichigo and they all offered their support in their distinct ways. She would never be able to repay them for being there for her when she needed them most. To say she had been devastated would not do the hardest time of her teenage life (emotionally that is) justice; at times the sadness seemed to consume her whole and she was glad when she finally came out of it. It had been thanks to Rukia that she finally came out of that depression that was so out of character for her. In front of her friends Orihime pretended she was fine, but they knew her better.

Rukia at times wondered if Orihime's feelings of friendship towards Ichigo were more than that, while he remained oblivious. They learned about it in a rather unorthodox way. They had been eating lunch together at school like they always did. That day the new couple decided to show a little more affection towards each other than they often did. Ichigo leaned in to give a small, tender kiss to his first girlfriend and held her in an affectionate embrace, temporarily forgetting about their audience. Orihime didn't handle the public display of affection very well, of course she knew that these were things a boyfriend and girlfriend would do, but she didn't want to see them… it hurt too much. She quietly stood up and slipped away. Hinata knew immediately what had upset her and quietly excused herself, quickly going after her; Hinata had been having boy problems of her own and knew the feeling all too well. Tatsuki all but jumped to her feet, she was furious! She understood why Orihime had stayed quiet and never voiced her feelings to Ichigo, but she felt that it did not give them an excuse to hurt her friend like that. Ishida and Chad held on to an arm each trying to calm her down but she was past her limit.

As if finally realizing they weren't alone, Rukia and Ichigo broke apart, a blush visible on their faces. They immediately noticed Tatsuki's anger, and Ichigo took a step towards her, reaching out to her. At first he thought that she was upset with them for being inconsiderate and engaging in a very personal act in public. "Sorry Tats-" was all he was able to get out before she snapped and took a step towards him, ready to attack.

Uryū and Chad moved fast enough to hold her back and she struggled to break free. The more she fought the stronger their hold became. Her eyes were red and watery with anger; she wanted to hurt Ichigo so badly for hurting Orihime! "I've had enough! I've had as much as I can take! Seeing you two sickens me! How can you be so dense? How can you not see what you're doing to her? All these years Ichigo she has stood by you, not once saying anything, suffering over you in silence!" At this point she was trembling visibly.

"How could you not have seen what she felt towards you… all this time?" She was trying very hard not to cry for what her best friend had to endure each and every day. She then turned towards Rukia and the petite girl flinched at her accusatory gaze. "And you! How dare you? How dare you call yourself her friend when you couldn't even see…?" Her voice was breaking and she had to stop before she broke down herself. "Wasn't it obvious? She wears her heart on her sleeve for crying out loud!"

Her pained expression dropped to the ground. "We all knew. We've known all this time…" she looked up at Ichigo with renewed rage "… except you! You've hurt her for the last time!" She freed herself from the two males holding her then lunged and punched Ichigo on his jaw with all the strength she could muster, making him lose his balance and drop to the ground. She breathed heavily, looked back and forth between Rukia and Ichigo— who had not even picked himself up off the ground as he hung his head in shame— before she turned around to go look for Orihime.

When she turned around she almost crashed into someone with bubblegum pink hair. "Tatsuki, what's wrong?" She tried to stop the martial arts expert but she just stormed off, not once looking back. She quickly assessed the situation from the tension surrounding the group: Ichigo was on the ground with a quickly forming bruise on the right side of his jaw, Tatsuki was pissed beyond reason so that meant that she had been the one that punched him and that could only mean one thing. She turned to look at Uryū and Chad who had a worn expression on their faces. She sighed audibly, "Look Ichigo, none of us wanted to get involved in your relationship because to be honest it's none of our business."

Ichigo looked at her with widened chocolate brown eyes. "Sa-Sakura… you knew?" He was in total disbelief. They had all known.

Sakura chuckled humorlessly, "Of course I knew, we all did which makes it really hard to believe that you never realized it. Seriously Kurosaki, you can be as dense as Naruto sometimes." She said affectionately but quickly steeled her voice and looked at him with cold emerald eyes. "We all agreed to stay out of it for Orihime's sake, but it's because of her that we are not going to stand idly by. When you hurt her it became our pain as well. There is no excuse for the pain you have caused her. You need to fix this." She turned to look at Rukia with the same coldness and saw her visibly shudder. "You owe her that." She stormed off intent on finding Orihime.

Ichigo finally rose to his feet but refused to look up, never before had he felt so ashamed of himself. He had hurt Hime for chrissake's! How could he have done that? How could they have done that to her? Things would never be alright. He finally looked at Ishida with a pained expression, "How- why…?"

Uryū adjusted his glasses with his index finger and sighed audibly, "It wasn't our secret to tell. She had finally worked up the courage to at least confess, but once you and Rukia started dating she promised she'd never tell you and made us promise not to do so either. We have all tried to look out for her… to take care of her, but we've all failed miserably. This is gonna be difficult for her to get through. I'm sorry Ichigo but she needs us right now." Ishida walked away, leaving them to search for his friend.

Chad stayed quiet throughout the ordeal, but now looked at the state Ichigo and Rukia were in. "Don't worry, we'll get through this. I know neither of you hurt her knowingly. Everybody's just angry because of how all of this came about, but the truth was bound to come out sooner or later. We're all friends and have been for a long time so this will not come between us; it will only make our friendship stronger." Chad saw Rukia was on the verge of crying. "You've been a part of our group for a year, but we consider you a valuable friend Rukia. Orihime is forgiving that's just who she is. She's not capable of hating anybody much less her friends. Just take the first step and let time deal with the rest."

Chad didn't speak much but when he did it was always words of wisdom. Rukia sincerely hoped she would be able to fix things with Orihime. 'I'm sorry for hurting you, Hime.'

Later on that day, Rukia went to look for Orihime, she couldn't deal with the fact that she had caused the kind red head pain. Orihime had been her first female friend. 'I have to make things right!' When she got to her house she rang the doorbell. No matter how many times she came over she'd still feel speechless. Orihime was well off— much like Rukia was, the Kuchikis were a distinguished family— her brother had become the owner of one of the most successful companies in the country, but they had always been vey humble about their status. Their home was not extravagant in any way, but it was still beautiful. It was large and had enough rooms to accommodate several of their friends or relatives; due to the life they had lived Sora would offer a helping hand to those who needed it.

The door was finally opened by none other than Tatsuki who glared daggers once she saw who was at the door. "Who is it Tatsuki?" She heard Orihime's muffled inquiry from inside. She could see Tatsuki's reluctance, she didn't know if she was gonna tell Orihime that it has her at the door. The internal battle finally ended and she stepped aside giving her entrance. Rukia quickly walked in before Tatsuki could change her mind and immediately took off her shoes before she took the step leading into the actual house. She saw Orihime sitting on the couch with her head against the armrest. She felt like she had been punched in the stomach when Orihime looked up— her eyes were red and puffy from crying. Orihime's peachy complexion quickly drained of color when she saw her.

"I'll be outside if you need me Hime." Tatsuki's voice sounded so gentle when she spoke to the red head. Orihime was her soft spot… Tatsuki's Achilles' heel… and she knew why. Orihime could warm up even the coldest of hearts. 'Why hadn't Ichigo fallen in love with her?' She was interrupted of her thoughts when she heard the door close quietly behind her.

This was it. Now they were alone and she had to make things right— except she couldn't say anything. Not a word came out. What do you say to one of your closest friends when you've taken that which she held dear to her heart? What do say when you've taken the love of her life and shattered her heart into a million pieces?

Orihime could see the turmoil within Rukia and spoke up first. "I'm sorry Rukia. I'm sorry for clouding your happiness with Ichigo." Orihime looked down and Rukia knew it was because of the tears that were threatening to fall again. Rukia wanted to stop her, 'Why is she the one apologizing?' But chose to stay silent and let her continue to let everything out. "I- I wasn't going to say anything… ever. Tatsuki shouldn't have reacted like she did." Rukia was slowly shaking her head; did her kindness know no bounds? Of course it didn't.

Orihime stayed quiet for a bit then finally looked up and their eyes met. Rukia felt like crying out. She could see, no she could almost feel, Orihime's pain and sadness and knew that she was the cause of it. "I- I have… loved Ichigo for three years. I have always admired him and supported him. I have been his friend." Her gaze turned distant as if she were remembering those days. "I- wasn't gonna tell him how I felt, I've always known that he doesn't see me as more than a friend. But a year ago I started thinking that maybe- maybe I should tell him, not because I was hoping he would return those feelings but because I felt that I needed to— just to get it out in the open and be free of it. I didn't want to be left with 'what if's, wondering for years to come if I had made the right choice in keeping it to myself."

Orihime kept her sight set on her hands resting on her lap, she was rubbing a set of blue flower shaped hair pins between her fingers. "Then you transferred to our school, and that very first day I knew that Ichigo would never return my feelings." Rukia looked at her questioningly and Orihime continued. "You see, I saw when your eyes first met and I saw the look in his eyes… he looked at you and saw you the same way I would see him…" Rukia's eyes widened exponentially for she clearly remembered that day. That moment had been when she knew they were meant to be together. Everything that had happened to her before she moved to Karakura had led her to him… her soul mate. The irony of it all was that she had never believed in any of those silly things— destiny was something she laughed at— that is until she met him.

Tears were streaming freely down Orihime's face. "That's when I decided I couldn't say anything even if it tore me to pieces. All I want is for Ichigo to be happy… I just want you to be happy… and I know that your happiness is one and the same." Her body was now trembling visibly and Rukia didn't know what to do, didn't know what to do to make everything alright. She knelt by her feet and held on to Orihime's fisted hands. She finally looked up and when Rukia met those slate eyes she felt whatever strength she had crumble away. Orihime was broken and it was all because of her. Orihime attempted to speak but her voice cracked, "I-I just d-don't know h-how to deal with this. H-how can I make it go a-away? Why won't it s-stop?" She had finally broken down and was sobbing as she clutched desperately at her chest.

At that moment Rukia fell apart. She had stripped Orihime of whatever strength she had been hanging on by. Rukia held Orihime in a tight embrace as they both wept. "I'm sorry Hime! I'm so sorry!" She said between sobs. "I-I can't be with him. I won't stay with him! Just please forgive me!"

Orihime snapped out of it momentarily and pulled away from the smaller female, holding on to her by the shoulders. "No Rukia, you can't leave him. Don't you realize that if he's unhappy because of me I would never be able to forgive myself?" Unaware that Ichigo had been let in by Tatsuki, the two continued their emotional discussion. "His happiness is you and you're only happy with him. I can't tear you apart like that."

Ichigo took in the emotional state they were in and felt a pain constrict his chest. 'I have caused this… this pain?' Without being able to stop himself, he approached them and knelt down in front of Orihime and next to Rukia. He held on to their hands, one in each of his, "I'm sorry Orihime. I was so stupid! I was so blind this whole time and never realized it. I'm sorry I hurt you instead of protecting you." He dared to look at her and noticed the fresh tears that had begun to flow. He turned to look at Rukia who had not stopped looking at him. He saw in those violet eyes he loved so much what he had been thinking. She nodded briefly when she came to the same conclusion.

Orihime understood what they intended to do and began to shake her head. "N-no, don't even think about it." Rukia and Ichigo both turned to her abruptly. "You have to stay together, that's the only way we can all be happy and stay together as friends. Don't you see? That's the only way we'll be happy… all of us. You- you can't break up because of me! I would never be able to forgive myself. You have to promise me you'll do that— for me. That's all I ask... I- I just want you to be happy. Promise me…"

The desperation was clear in her voice and they look at each other once again. Leave it to Orihime to sacrifice her happiness for everybody else's. They knew what would happen if this ended badly and it would tear the whole group apart. They didn't want to hurt Orihime anymore, but she wanted them to stay together. They finally gave in and answered simultaneously. "I promise."

Leave it to Orihime to sacrifice herself for the sake of those around her… even if doing so would leave her so broken that she'd wonder if she would ever be able to pick up the pieces.

A/N: There's the first chapter. What do you think so far? There will be other stories in the series being updated along with this one. They will all eventually overlap, such as events happening in one will also happen in another if the characters are involved. They will just be seen from a different perspective or will focus on another event happening at the same time. Okay so now about the updates… I will update according to reviews and PMs, meaning the more reviews a story gets the more I will update that story. The same also applies to my other story This World Can't Tear Us Apart. I already have several chapters for the stories finished. So that being said, if you want the story to be updated please be kind and review! Virtual hugs for everyone!

-Wyvernhail