Cracked Glass
Summary: …and sitting there on the dusty counter was a picture with cracked glass, and the picture was seared, and blood was splattered on it —But Naruto can't bring himself to care as he lights a match. Team Seven themes, before, during, after the defect.
I don't own Naruto.
A.N: Thanks to Rin-neechan, for her ideas for themes #11, #13 (the lucky number), #14, #16, and #17. Aynone who wants to add a theme, contact me and I'll see what I can do. Then I'll post it on this this story, if you want.
#1: Weak
He was weak, that Naruto Uzumaki, failing the test three times (when he, if he had the chance, could pass it in one), and so was that pink-haired girl that always asked him out—but seeing that Naruto beat the 'Hunter nin' and not him, he acknowledged his strength—but only so he didn't call himself weak ('And,' he reluctantly recognized, 'It is a tragedy that nobody will acknowledge his strength, only their own, and that he'll never ever get his…dream to come true.'); Sakura was a bit smart, he supposed.
#2: Spring
The cool, breezy springs were mostly spent on missions for team seven, and training was next on their to-do list, but when Sasuke and Naruto were finally tired, and Sakura done with her chakra control training, she would get flowers and politely ask Naruto to braid them for her, and made the worn out Sasuke weave some for Naruto, and put herself to work for Sasuke; and he ended up with ten necklaces, and a bruise for making Sakura-chan cry, Sakura ended up with three irregular bracelets and tears because Sasuke tore her gifts into pieces, and Naruto only got a small ring made of grass; and so what if it was falling apart, and so what if Sakura ripped his hard-earned gifts in a fit of rage; he only got a ring once upon a time in spring.
#3: Pyro
"Hey Sasuke?" the blond asked, panting as he collapsed from a long day of training, "Hn?" The dark haired boy asked, exhaustion more hidden, but still noticeable, "Are you some pyro… whatever it's called? Because your jutsus always seem to burn something," he said, motioning to his charred jumpsuit, "Especially me," Sasuke just smirks at Naruto, and says it's because he's special.
#4: Sand
Gaara scared her, Sakura supposed, and not because of his strength, his power, or his willingness to kill—no, killing was what being a shinobi was all about—it was the familiarity of his eyes and Naruto's; and Sakura liked to think that Sasuke was scared of that when he shivered and tried to hide his uneasy look at his teammate's eyes.
#5: Mist
'It's dark,' he deliriously notes, 'and I can't see anything,' but he can hear, and when Naruto mentions something about friends Sasuke wonders if he has been dead so long that Naruto has replaced him; he can feel too, he can feel the needles piercing his skin, feel the blood spilling out in contained amounts, and he can most certainty feel the betrayal stinging through his heart—and he continues to be dead even though he can see, and he forgets about his moment in shadows—but he can't feel anything, not anymore.
#6: Sound
Naruto didn't really have a taste in music before it happened, but after it you can find him and Sakura edging away from any kind of music, (whether it be humming, singing, or otherwise) disgusted.
#7: Rain
Kakashi looked at the puddle of water, mentally noting that it hadn't rained in weeks because if it had, he would've noticed because—Naruto jumped in the puddle, feet which were usually clumsy gracefully swaying to the rhythm of the rain, and Sakura danced along with him, wind guiding her moves, while Sasuke stood in the middle of their antics, lightly tapping his kunai to the beat of his teammates—and Kakashi watched in awe.
#8: Summer
The hot, dry summers of Konoha were mostly spent in the deep, wooded grottos of Konoha's ancient forests; Naruto would talk animatedly to the both of them, and they would answer, Sakura would help them with their chakra control, and they would listen, and Sasuke, albeit unwilling, would let his hair go into a short braid; but only in the summer.
#9: Blue
To Sasuke, the color blue meant a lot of things, whether it be the dark navy of his clan, or a symbol of carefree, if lighter, and maybe sadness or depression, be it the color of his shirt; to Sakura, it meant serenity, peace, and quiet, and calm—but that didn't matter, because blue and yellow means Uzumaki Naruto is coming, and you'd better watch out—and Sasuke, along with Sakura, agrees with this.
#10: Green
Sasuke doesn't really care about the color green, it being symbolizing nature at what he considerers easily burnable, and it being the ever-so disgusting color of puke, but to Naruto—well, it means the same thing—but nonetheless, when it's with Sakura, Sasuke can tolerate it, and Naruto will worship it until he finds a better color to obsess over.
#11: Promising (Trash)
He was destined to be great, that Sasuke Uchiha—it's why he trained him, to have the fame, the glory of being his sensei—Naruto has Jiraiya, so he's okay, and Sakura needs to get stronger before he can even consider training her; but Kakashi finds out that Sasuke was promising to be great—but a great evil—'And a great failure,' Kakashi thinks, mind echoing in disbelief as he clutches the blond in his hands, 'Those who betray their friends are worse than trash, which in turn, is worse than a failure,' –but a student is what his sensei teaches, so Kakashi is worse than trash.
#12: Red
It seared into his soul, and yet it was the color of the liquid spilling out of his chest right now, and Naruto can no longer see the envy he had for someone with demon eyes, as it was the very destiny he was trying to escape; not he was scared of the pain, the hate, the utter torment of being cursed as a demon—as he likes to think he isn't a coward.
#13: Loyalty
Konoha shinobi prided themselves on being the most loyal ninja of the five great shinobi villages—though the reluctantly acknowledge that when there is a defect, the missing nin is usually very powerful—Naruto knows that Sasuke will forever be a missing nin of the village Konohakagure, since he even considered leaving the village for something as pathetic as power—that, and he would be different from other Konoha missing nins.
#14: Naïve (Idiocy)
Sasuke was idiotic, naïve, and just plain retarded; if you only lived for yourself, for power, then who would mourn you when you're dead—(There is one thing Sasuke hates more than Itachi—being ignored)—and nobody cares for the hated dead, and nobody pays attention to those they don't care for.
#15: Fall
"Ring around the rosie!" The two chanted, tears poring down their face, taste bitter and disgusting on their singing tongues, "Basket full of posies!" The blond sung, collapsing on himself as he viciously tried to grab for someone who simply wasn't there, "Ashes, ashes," the other continued, seemingly oblivious to the boy as she skipped around the field, knife in hand, "And we all fall down!" They both harshly whispered, watching the weapon pierce a picture and it's frame, and, weeping, they watched the trees cry their precious leaves for them; "It's okay to cry, Sakura-chan," he whispered to the girl, hypocritically holding back his own tears, "Fall only happens once in a while."
#16: Failure
Naruto may have been a dead last, She surmised, but he was everything Sasuke wasn't, the blond being strong emotionally, physically—and maybe not so much mentally, but that wasn't the point—the point was that he was oh so much stronger than Sasuke, who was clearly insane (What sane person would want to give up such a good friend as Naruto?), and what little power that was his own would be his undoing, and he would run no matter who would die because of that, the coward; so Sasuke is a failure, and has no one who'd be stupid enough love him, and Naruto is loved by anyone who has a silhouette of a heart—the feeling is mutual, and he is truly, truly strong—but it seems that even shadows of emotions are becoming rare in Konoha, and the war is destroying whatever is left—and Sakura is a failure for not doing her job as a medic nin, not saving the souls of Konoha—but Naruto doesn't care, and that's what makes him strong.
#17: Genius (Idol)
Sasuke doesn't care that he's no longer a prodigy, no longer the smartest, most resourceful Genin, no longer a Genin—he's perfectly fine with being average in the village of sound, and he doesn't ever, ever miss the lavish life style he had in Konoha, especially when he has to sleep outside in the snowstorm, and he doesn't care that Orochimaru yells when he doesn't win, and he doesn't care when losing seems to be normal these days, and he doesn't care that power is getting further and further out of his reach as time goes on—he also doesn't particularly care about being truthful, and Itachi doesn't care about anything—not even his little brother who continues to unwillingly, yet consciously, do what his hated aniki says.
#18: Memories
Kakashi would always, always cherish the memories he had with his only team, (even as he runs, and runs, and runs…)—as photographs don't last forever, they will get worn out, and they will fade into nonexistence, but Kakashi decides that if he wrote down his memories, and gave it to someone else, then it, would last forever—if someone else lived to pass it on.
#19: Photograph
…and sitting there on the dusty counter was a picture with cracked glass, and the picture was seared, and blood was splattered on it—but Naruto can't bring himself to care as he lights a match and believes that Kakashi's theory might be right.
#20: Illusion
They were on a mission in the Wave, an assassination mission, to be exact, and Sai's smiles (they were so different that they blinded him…), Naruto believed, finally made him snap—he closed his eyes; and at first all was all right, the black coolness of his eyelids soothing him—and the second he opened his eyes, slipping between reality and dreams—monsters, with no skin their hearts not pumping and easily seen—he saw Sai's fake grin, and so he blinked—and they were beckoning, beckoning, beckoning!—but Sai was gone, and he was alone, no Sakura, no teammates…
#21: Monster
…but Sasuke was there, and black sin was winded around his body, and his red eyes were glowing in the dark—so Naruto decided to make the monster go away.
#22: Nightmare
He had them every night ("Aniki, why!?" Corpses spread out in the courtyard, his father's once proud eyes dully accusing him of betrayal, so he looked into his brother's eyes instead and silently asked thosered rubies—) since he saw him again, and they, he supposed, (—and found himself being stabbed, over and over and over, and his parents—they were dying, and he was screaming—) is what drives him to stay missing nin—but one night he has a different dream, and Itachi is dead, and then Naruto wipes the blood off his kunai and goes after him instead (—"No, no! Stop it! Please!").
#23: Reality
Tears silently streamed down her face as she watched the village of Konoha fight for their lives, corpses strewn about the battlefield, strong ninja and weak citizens alike pleading for her assistance—but she'd much rather help the pretend Sasuke and Naruto destroy Konoha so that they can be a team again—so Sakura punches a weak woman in her temple and doesn't cry when she finds out that her mother's skull has been torn out of her head.
#24: Replacement
Sai was a replacement for Sasuke, pathetically striving to be his equal—so he defected when Naruto told him to, and he helped destroy Konoha when Naruto told him to, and the fact that Sasuke would never listen to Naruto goes unheard as he suddenly isn't a substitute anymore.
#25: Winter
Together, they watched the black charcoal fall out of the sky, lit ashes spinning in inferno, dancing with the onyx, acidic rain that used to be pure white snow—and as the few snowflakes that survive fall upon Naruto, Sakura, and Sai, they allow the deathly cold ash to live upon their alive corpses, before Sai coolly smiles, and Sakura giggles dementedly, and Naruto licks the blood off of his fingers, and they walk away from the village of the leaf, the only evidence they were there in the first place being the destruction and the sound of 'Mist next?' and a 'But of course,' carrying serenely in nonexistent wind; and winter lasts forever.
A product from the twisted mind of theinsane, whom wishes for reviews.