Dude, yes. I know this has to be the most clearly overused, overworked and down-right corniest title to have ever existed but it just fit, so sue me. Lol. Um, wrote this at like two o'clock in the morning. Totally exhausted after walking around Salem for an entire day...(chasing a pizzaria, no less. Lol) So anyway, forgive the stupidity here, but I wanted to post it. Lol. Have fun and try not to flame me too badly. I take those types of things hard.

"He Loved Her"

He was tall, angelic…

…and somehow, so demonic.

Mismatched eyes…

…silver-onyx and red-black…

…angelic and demonic…

Perfect.

Silver-moonlight hair,

Falling haphazardly over one eye.

He likes the look…

…causal and calculatedly deceiving…

...much like himself.

Dressed in tight black…

…over laid in many-pocketed green,

He stands impressively,

And yet comically,

The book in his hand is a cover,

Much like the mask pressed across his face.

Much like the village-headband…

…pulled low over a sacred, secret gift.

Weapons in every pocket,

Scrolls tucked in places sown beneath others.

Secrets upon secrets.

His art is deception.

He is deceiving the world.

He is a prodigy,

A miracle warrior.

He is built…

…training beyond endurance…

…and then training some more.

But never has he trained harder than he does now.

Too many thoughts, none of them appropriate.

And he's a tortured soul,

A tormented creature of lustful desires.

He trains his pupils,

Pushing them harder than perhaps he should.

He makes the blonde focus,

Forces him to keep up with his dark-haired rival.

Rivals. Friends.

Equals.

He pushes them hard, training them to be deadly.

To kill, to love, to learn…and to kill some more.

To evade danger, to destroy threats…

And on some days…

…catch runaway cats.

He tries not to smile now as he twirls a kunai absently,

The whispering sound of the point cutting through the air

…it's conforting, familiar.

Like her.

She's forbidden to him. Perfect.

Graceful, beautiful.

So fragile.

They say the true blossoms only live for one good bloom,

And then they drop away.

But oh no, she's so much stronger than that.

Fortitude, strength, spirit.

And the will to make a positive difference.

He thought once that she was too air-headed for shinobi life.

Now, he thanks the gods above that she stuck through it.

She chose the way of the healer-shinobi.

She is both killer and healer.

He's thankful that she's found a way to live and let live.

She was always so beautiful…

…and yet so forlorn when they battled an enemy.

She didn't understand the senseless slaughter,

The use of shinobi as puppets.

She didn't want to see anymore useless death.

And so she heals.

And he loves to watch her.

Her strawberry hair tied back into a loose bun,

Poked through with chop-stick…

…casually and so elegant in makes his gut clench.

He wants her.

He loves looking into those jade-aquamarine eyes…

…crystalline and so emotive that it's hard to believe

That he used to think of her as empty-headed.

That pale, milky skin,

Revealed in bits and pieces by her shinobi uniform.

Gods above, she was gorgeous.

He loves watching her laugh,

Loves watching her smile.

He loves her.

She's the light in his life.

She is the true prodigy among them.

She fought in the Great War,

Fought beside two legends…

…her closest friends…

…her teammates.

She's grown into quite a woman, he realizes.

Her body filled out in such marvelous ways.

All soft curves and lean muscles.

Soft and firm, contrary and beautiful.

And so he leans against the outer gate of Konoha,

Smiling up wistfully at the night sky.

He smiles for her,

Lives for her…

…comes back alive for her.

He loves her.

And now the only thing left…

…the only thing left to do,

Was to tell her so.

Anyway, please don't flame me too bad peeps, I love you! Honestly. ducks thrown missiles Jeeze, rough crowd. Lol. So anyway, please be kind. Review and try not to utterly destroy me, no?

-erena g.t. rose