Recappy From the Last Chappy: "Hey, that's the last piece!"
"Be quiet, ya big baby/ You know you were gonna order more, so just go ahead and do it." I woulda been happy if I never ever ever ever ever ever ever saw him again! She popped the piece of meat into her mouth and chewed angrily, hearing another mumble of "troublesome" from Shikamaru. By the time she swallowed, her gaze was distant as she seemed to stare at her chopsticks.
I . . . would have been happy . . . right?
Chapter 3: Not Your Krystal
Annoying . . . annoying . . . annoying, the disgusting adjective would not leave her alone! It kept repeating itself in her thoughts. After all these years . . . He still thinks I‛m annoying? The word was not a comforting one, and it would not leave her head as she left the prison, ignoring the hoots and hollers of other prisoners. Surely she had changed a little bit . . . . She was stronger now, having trained under the Fifth Hokage Lady Tsunade in the ways of a medical ninja, but no one in the longest of times had called her "annoying." I guess it‛s true then . . . . Sasuke-kun may very well never have feelings for me . . . .
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto‛s voice cut into the kunoichi‛s thoughts. While in her daze, she had walked right past him.
"Naruto-kun . . . . Am I . . . ‛annoying‛?" she asked, hoping he would answer "no."
"N––wait! Is this a trick question?"
Idiot! Her eyes turned anger-white and she concentrated chakra to her fist, giving Naruto a punch that sent him flying back ten feet. You‛re the one that‛s annoying! Cha!
.:Xx♥xX:.
Three weeks later, Krystal was laying in her bed, waking up from yet another night of restless sleep. It had been this way, ever since she had learned of Sasuke‛s reappearance; having pleasant dreams at first that always ended up with a bitter ending and normally results in the death of her or Sasuke. Like the last one she had in which she was quenching her anger by hammering Sasuke‛s handsome mug into the ground until the snake which had made the offer that caused Sasuke to anger Krystal in the first place stole Sasuke‛s sharingan and slit both their throats.
Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap! "Krystal-chan!" Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap! "Wake up, Krystal-chan!"
Annoyed from lack of rest and Naruto‛s frequent tapping on the glass, Krystal walked to the window and slid it up, still dressed in her bed attire of a blue sports bra and white sweat pants. She stuck her head out the window, nearly into Naruto‛s face and yelled, "WHAT? What could you possibly need from me this early in the morning?"
A tiny shade of red color bleed into Naruto‛s cheeks as his eyes saw just a bit lower than Krystal‛s face. "Wow . . . . You are racked. I think I shoulda noticed that before, though, what with us spending two years together and stuff."
A vein throbbed in anger on Krystal‛s forehead and she could only just keep her voice even. "Naruto-kun . . . . Please tell you me you had a reason for coming her DIFFERENT from commenting on my breast size," she threatened through clenched teeth as she crossed her arms over her chest in embarrassment.
For a moment longer, he stared blankly. He then had an epiphany, remembering his other ambition for coming to the Hyuuga Estate and smiled. "You‛re the only one who hasn‛t gone to see Sasuke, yet. I was thinking that, since it‛s been a few weeks, that maybe you‛d be ready . . . ."
". . .," she stared into face for a long time, mulling over the proposal in her head as she tried finding the words to speak. Seeing his almost hopeful expression was making it hard, so she changed the direction of her gaze to the ground. "I . . . Y-you see . . . ." She sighed. "Right now, Naruto-kun . . . I don‛t think I ever want to see his traitorous mug ever again," and with it said, she pulled herself back through the window and slammed it shut.
Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap! "Hey! Krystal-chan!" Naruto began tapping and knocking on the window again before taking the initiative and opening it himself. "Krystal-chan!"
"What, Naruto-kun? I‛m not gonna go!"
"Okay, okay, I get ya, but Tsunade baa-chan also wanted to see you, believe it."
.:Xx♥xX:.
Tweet-tweet! Tweet-tweet! Bird‛s chirping and the sun radiating its warmth was only part of what Sasuke imagined would be going on on the other side of the concrete wall he leaned against. The cell‛s interior always seemed to be cold in a way not always literal. To be truthful, Sasuke would have preferred to be outside, despite the possibility of running into a bunch of former fangirls, but he also would have the chance of bumping into her.
Not that he‛d admit it, of course, as he clutched the edge of the bunk angrily. Why did it have to be like this? What did he really do wrong? And why did he have to care so much? It wasn‛t like he had shared her feelings . . .
"I hate you! You and everything you‛ve become—I take back what I said about loving you! You want broken bonds, then there! Ours is broken!"
Those words were some of the last he had heard her say to him on that night when he left. Even now he could feel a small pain in his heart. He could also remember his response, though Krystal was unconscious by then. "Our bond . . . will never be severed," he murmured now, nearly smiling at the sweet taste it left behind. A sigh escaped his lips as he lifted his head towards the ceiling.
"Erm . . . Sa-sasuke-san?" called a small and tentative female voice Sasuke only just barely heard. He lowered his gaze until his eyes met pale and gentle ones. From the dim lighting in the prison, she seemed to have dark hair, a Hyuuga definitely. His eyes narrowed as he was not sure if the girl on the other side of the bars was in fact whom he thought it was and leaned forward slightly to get a closer look.
". . . Krystal?"
.:Xx♥xX:.
Lady Tsunade, otherwise known as the Fifth Hokage was in her late fifties to early sixties but had the appearance of a woman 20-30 years younger, due to a jutsu she had developed when she was truly around those ages. Wrinkles were absent from any part of her pale face, as were they gone from around her hazel eyes, pink colored lips, and forehead where a purple diamond showcased itself. Dirty blonde bangs framed a currently cross expression as she stared forward with her fingers interlaced in front of her and nearly made Krystal want to turn around immediately after following Naruto into the office.
"Erm . . . er, Tsunade baa—I mean, Tsunade-sama? You, er . . . wanted to see me?" Krystal managed to stutter, and corrected herself from calling the obviously annoyed woman in front of her "Granny Tsunade;" instead, she used a more respectable name she knew wouldn‛t drive the superior shinobi to take her anger out on her. She was also intimidated by the dark aura.
Snapped from her vengeful thoughts that in fact had nothing to do with Krystal, the Fifth Hokage‛s expression brightened. "Yes, I did. I have a mission for you. Naruto-kun, you already have your mission, so you may go."
Naruto nodded with a "See ya later, Tsunade baa-chan; Krystal-chan," and left both women alone in the office, the junior waiting patiently for the senior to begin.
Tsunade cleared her throat and spoke quickly. "All right, originally, your whole squad was only going to be sent on a few solo missions, but some thing has come up and an allying nation has a mission request for us. They need four ninja for an escort mission; the details of which you will find in this scroll. Here is a list of your teammates for this mission and where they should be. I would elaborate further, but I‛m a little hung over right now . . . ."
A sweat drop formed on Krystal‛s head as she took the named items, but she nodded anyway. The hangover explained why Tsunade had seemed positively venomous. But that aside, she overlooked the list handed to her.
Inuzuka Kiba was number one, which would of course include his trusty companion Akamaru. The former was a brunette chuunin with red fang-like markings on his cheeks and wore his Konoha hitaiate in the traditional way so it covered his forehead. Thin black irises from his small eyes would stare from his tan face. At his new age of fifteen, his wardrobe had changed in that he wore a black leather jacket with a large quantity of zippers found mostly in clothing from the 80s and a fishnet muscle shirt underneath it. He wore grey capris and the traditional zori worn by all ninja. Akamaru is his large white dog that had grown large enough that Kiba could ride him like a horse. Ironically, the list said they were helping out at one of the local pet care facilities.
Second was Hyuuga Hinata, Krystal‛s cousin. Her and Krystal shared similar characteristics, in that they both possessed the lavendar-white byakugan eye and dark hair, though Hinata‛s was more blue-violet in color and reached to her hips. She seemed much kinder as well, even with her headband clearly presenting itself around her neck. Her overly baggy purple jacket hid her figure, making it less obvious and her navy blue capris seemed big as well. She wore the more summery and feminine zori. The list did not give anything specific on her whereabouts.
But these were not the two names that made her feel slightly upset.
Yamanaka Ino. A former and possibly current fangirl of Sasuke‛s, Ino was one of the more girly and annoying ninja Krystal new. She would wear the blonde locks she had grown long due to a rumor that Sasuke liked girls with a certain length of it in a high ponytail and allowed for part of it to hang over her right eye. Being one who took a great deal of thought into her appearance, she wore a sleeveless purple midriff-bearing turtleneck shirt with a skirt that matched in color but would have left her front bare had it not been for the fishnet shorts she wore under. Krystal sighed in relief once the list stated Ino would be helping out at her family‛s flower shop instead of visiting Sasuke‛s cell.
After a moment‛s silence, Tsunade decided she would rather have the office to herself and dismissed Krystal once saying she wanted her in Tanzaku Town, where she was to meet with the clients, by nightfall. Krystal simply smiled and acknowledged the order with an "Okay," before leaving.
.:Xx♥xX:.
A tiny and hesitant smile tugged at the corner of the kunoichi‛s lips. "Forgive me, Sasuke-san, but I am not your Krystal. My name is Hyuuga Hinata—I-I‛m her cousin."
The Uchiha leaned back in bitter disappointment when he learned her true identity and realized now the difference in appearance between her and Krystal. She seemed more gentle, wore purple shades as the color in her jacket, and she had much straighter hair. Feeling rejected for some reason, he stared at the ceiling again. Did he even know a Hinata? He then remembered that she was the only other Hyuuga in his graduating class at the Academy.
"Get on with it already, then," he said.
"O-on with what?"
"I assume you‛re here to say something about how much you ‛missed‛ me, right? Like the fangirls? So let‛s save ourselves the trouble and just say it already," he said arrogantly, wanting her to leave.
Hinata shook her head with a blush. "Oh—n-no, that that‛s not why I‛m here! I-I like someone else, b-but I just . . . I need to talk to you about . . . about Krystal-chan."
". . . ." Although he had not spoken, Hinata could tell she had caught his attention when he bowed his head slightly to at least look her in the eye.
"W-well, you see, erm . . . Krystal-chan told me about . . . about what happened when you left and I just . . . I wanted to know . . . . Why did you do it?" she started, eyes traveling to the floor at the intensity of his stare.
"I had my reasons," he replied coldly, lowering his head completely to see her. "And she knew those reasons, too."
"B-but I don‛t get it. I thought that, that you LIKED Krystal—you know, like m-more than a friend?"
His eyes widened slightly, now thankful for how cool the cell was as he all of a sudden felt warmer.
"You . . . . You were just, kinder to her than most people and you tw-two just seemed to have great chemistry . . .," her voice died along with all confidence when Sasuke began to glare.
"That—That doesn‛t prove anything—What do you know? And what does it matter, anyway? It‛s obvious she doesn‛t care because she‛s not here."
"S-sasuke-san, I don‛t th-think you understand. Krystal-chan, she re-really did mi—"
"Bark Bark!" A dog‛s barking cut Hinata‛s statement off and her gaze shifted quickly to her left, eyes wide in surprise as a white dog the size of a horse tackled her to the ground.
"Akamaru!" she exclaimed.
Shortly after, a boy Sasuke remembered as Kiba followed, hopping onto Akamaru‛s back. He seemed amused at finding Hinata where she was.
"Oi, Hinata," he called.
"K-kiba-kun?" she questioned once standing again. "Wha-what are you doing here?"
Sasuke watched this scene just as, if not more annoyed than before. More than ever he wished for their departure.
"We got a mission. You, Ino, Krystal and I. Krystal probably woulda come and got you herself, but I think she just wanted to avoid Sasuke—Nearly bit my head off when I refused the first time. Anyway, who‛re you—Oh." Kiba just then realized whose cell they were standing in front of. "Well . . . . That‛s awkward. Hinata and I have to get ready for the mission now so maybe we‛ll catch ya later. Sayounara, Sasuke!"
But of course, Sasuke had not listened to the last part. His mind was lingering on "I think she just wanted to avoid Sasuke." Avoiding? Not that he cared, there was no reason for him to care at all. The possibility of her anger had already crossed his mind—Why did Kiba‛s word changed anything?
Because, Sasuke-kun! 'Tis like a confirmation, and there‛s naught you can do about it, a voice pointed out in his head.
"Shut up—What do you know?" he retorted, eyes seeming to shoot poison darts wherever they looked.
Well, it is all your fault! If you had listened to her, then you wouldn‛t be here, now, would you? You wouldn‛t have been in the hospital, either. You wouldn‛t of had to recover from Orochimaru-san trying to steal your soul!
"I said SHUT UP!" Sasuke yelled. "LEAVE ME THE HECK ALONE!" His breathe became heavy, anger coursing through his veins. Even though the voice did not respond, he backhanded the wall hard enough that a small crack was formed. I have to get out of here . . . SOON.
End of Chapter Three
Next Time on .:Roses are Red:.! Chapter Four: Things I Already Know
"I don't like that tone you are using Krystal. Change it. And if this was a matter of just 'screwing up' as you so charmingly put it, then this would have been settled a long time ago! Frankly, if you were to have left three years ago with Sasuke instead of the Fox Boy, you would be much stronger than you are now," Zakuro claimed as she crossed her arms, appalled by the way Krystal was acting and not knowing just on how many nerves she was stepping on.
To Krystal, this was the straw that broke the camel's back, and instead of obeying her mother, she raised her voice to an even higher volume. "AND BECOME A TRAITOR TO THE VILLAGE? You would rather me become a rogue ninja instead of staying a genin? You would want me to end up in prison like Uchiha?" You don't think I've thought of that?
"Don't you dare raise your voice at me, young lady!"
.:Xx♥xX:.
Please review, thank you for reading! God bless!