Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters of said book. The only thing I own is the compilation after this. Also, this idea is from the icon, which you can see on my profile, and Lunacat13. Thank you for giving me this idea. You're a wonderful person.
Twelve Roses
Chapter One: Roses
I stared up at the silver haired jounin, confused.
"Wah?" His eye crinkled up, signaling his trademark smile, and held his hand out, which was holding a bouquet of vibrant red roses.
"I got you roses. Couldn't you seem a little happier?" My eyes focused on them before blurring, giving me telltale signs of me about to burst into tears.
"You're going on a mission, aren't you?" I clutched onto his vest, tears over spilling. "A really dangerous one, right?! Why are you giving me roses as if…as if…." I broke off, trying to swallow the sobs that threatened to bubble out. His hands eased around my waist, forgetting about the roses for a mere second.
"I…..I'm sorry, Iruka." His face buried into my hair. "I don't want to go either…but it's Hokage-sama's orders. I must go." I sniffled, whining in the back of my throat.
"I know that! I know that you're a respected jounin but why you?! Why…why not….Genma….or…or…Asuma?! Why you?!" I glared wistfully at the red roses still held in his grip. "….And why are you giving me roses….?" He sighed wistfully before planting a masked kiss to my forehead.
"I wanted you to have one last thing before I left….seeing as how I'm not going to be here for your birthday." That sent an odd twinge of pain into my stomach. "And I wanted you…to know that you'll have my heart till the last one dies." I stared up at him horrified.
"But that's only about a week or two!!!" Tears threatened to overflow again. His smile was critical.
"I guess that means you need to care for them for as long as you possibly can, right?" Another brisk masked kiss before he was gone, swirling air and snow left in his wake. I swallowed the tears, grabbed the dropped roses, and slumped into the house to look for the perfect vase.