Recappy From the Last Chappy: "This one wants men to realize that girls are just as strong and can accomplish just as much-that‛s why, instead of breeches, this one wears a skirt. To remind them that this one is a girl. And to top it off . . . . This one," her face turned red and she bowed her head to try and hide it, "This one . . . really likes Kiba . . . . Hearing it from him just made it hurt a million times worse."
Krystal furrowed her brow. She was becoming to involved with the enemy. What was she supposed to say to that? The flashbomb she had set underneath the carriage would detonate at any moment, so she needed to get to a safe distance-and fast. Warily she searched around with lavendar eyes, and seeing no other option, she portrayed a cat-like smile and pointed her finger as-a-matter-of-factedly, breaking character in the way she said the next line. "Well, Miss Hayden, I don‛t quite know what to tell you about Muttface over there," she stood, "but right now, I think it‛d be best if you duck and cover." She darted into the trees, calling for someone named "Luna."
"Krystal!" Hayden stood after, but widened her eyes and crossed her arms over her face to guard it as a light began to glow from underneath the carriage. Sensing the fraud and the danger, Kiba whistled Akamaru to him, and hopped onto his back, but before he could ride over and catch Hayden like he wanted to, the flashbomb detonated.
Chapter Nine: Kiss the Demons From My Dreams
The force of the bomb‛s flash had blown Hayden out of the clearing into a new one where a lake was present. Her eyes opened to the blue cloudless sky and she blinked to clear up the spots of color left behind. When she sat up, she felt wet hair settle against her back and looked behind. When she had fallen, her hair must have settled into the lake behind her. Or rather around her, as she discovered when looking. She had landed on one of many strips of land in the middle of a large lake. It‛s a good thing flashbomb‛s are more light than anything else . . . . This one would‛ve been a goner if it had been a regular bomb, she thought to herself. From the way things had played out, she could definitely be sure that the Krystal she had been speaking to was a fake.
She realized the fake also was the one who planted the flashbomb, and would have had the perfect opportunity while she had been causing a scene with Kiba, which made her feel a little grievance. That feeling was brushed away quickly, however, as there was no proof she had provided the distraction at all. Now‛s not the time for guilt, this one needs to find everyone el-
Unexpectedly, Hayden felt a pulling sensation on her ankle and was dragged into the water so quickly she was only just able to get a breathe before plunging into its icy depths, struggling all the while. After wiping them to better her underwater vision, she looked with her eyes to the ankle that had been pulled, but there was nothing there. Why is this one still being pulled under, then? She began kicking her feet and swam towards the surface, only getting so far being something forced her back down. This time it felt more like a push than a pull.
The breathe she had taken was released as she felt her lungs condense under the pressure in a scream as she brought her hands together to form the sign of the snake. Lack of oxygen to the brain hindered the concentration of her chakra and made her feel faint; staying underwater for much longer was not an option.
Miraculously, she was able to send a surge of chakra through the bottom of her feet that sent her sky-rocketing towards the surface and then landed on the ground whence she came. She coughed and gasped for air, each breathe hurting lungs that had commenced to tire. It was not until she could take a few heavy, deep breathes that she stood.
"Did you know, the brain can‛t survive without oxygen after about a minute and a half? You were underwater for nearly four," said a man with long silver hair and blackish blue eyes standing on the other side of the body of water. "You have lost brain cells you probably needed desperately," he shrugged. "Then again, most woman lose most of their brain cells from breathing in all that aerosol from hair spray. You look like one of them."
Hayden glared at him and drew her sword. "Who are you? And who sent you?" This one understands . . . . He must have manipulated the current, pushing this one down . . . and he‛s a sexist tard-face.
"I . . . am known as Mizumaru of the Moon Village. I was sent by the leader of our village to assassinate the one known as Maboroshi, "Mizumaru replied as his eyes studied Hayden, moving down her body and lingering at certain points that widened his smirk. "You must be . . . 'Hayden Isabella Bos,' the first and only girl to attend that Britain Ninja Academy . . . ." He dived into the water, leaving Hayden to wonder how he knew who she was and where he went. His movements were silent, even as he climbed out of the water so she had no idea he was behind her until he began speaking again. "The rumors are true, you are quite hot for a girl that went through such training. Maybe if more girls had gone there, they‛d end up like you."
Hayden‛s temple throbbed with anger and she turned, trying to kick the dirty sneer from his face, but he moved back momentarily. Still in mid-kick, she planted her sword into the ground to use as a tool for swiveling around it to get a good kick at him again, only she let go of the sword to put more jump into it; her foot landed square on his chest, sending him back to flop into the lake. Lacking hesitation, Hayden charged across the water, using chakra to make her move faster and stay aloft until she met fists with her opponent. He seemed amused by the strength behind her punch, as he skidded on the liquid surface a few inches. For moments they were engaged in hand-to-hand combat, exchanging punch to punch and kick to kick, seeming to be evenly matched.
The routine changed when Mizumaru ducked under another high kick and quickly performed a string of hand signs, speed of execution being lightning-fast. A column of water rose from the lake, causing a disturbance that made it hard to stay on the surface. When it reached the peak of its height, it began to descend, like a wave, to envelope Hayden in its murky liquid essence once again. So that‛s his plan, huh? Just keep attempting to drown this one, she realized when trying to swim to the surface again. Well, if it didn‛t work the first time, then the same trick definitely won‛t work on this one a second time! The same escape plan as before worked its charm on the lake and Hayden found herself at the surface again, this time next to her sword. She placed her hands on its hilt, looking around to see where Mizumaru had gone, only to meet the sight of many Mizumarus climbing, soaking wet, from the lake to stand on its surface.
Feeling only slightly inferior, as all of these water clones carried some sort of weapon, Hayden swallowed and took proper hold of her sword. Wow . . . .
.:Xx♥xX:.
Crashes and booms of thunder pried its way through cold and clammy hands to Krystal‛s ears. Rainfall hid the tears and soaked through her clothes, chilling her to the bone. Despite these facts, she kept running. Staggered breathing was nearly visible in the air, but because she was squinting and her sight was befuddled by the tears, she could not see much of anything. No matter how long or far she ran, she could not stop. Her knees were about to give. She was running out of breathe. But somehow, she had to escape.
All along her trail they followed, some sensing her by her fear and others simply from the footprints left in the mud behind. Some were faceless; others their visage so vivid Krystal had a terrible time remembering that this was only a dream. She had been forced from reality into a nightmare where the words from her peers and the people she held dear whipped her like a misbehaved dog.
One of nine tails wrapped around her stomach, the intensity of the red chakra burning through her clothes to her skin as an invisible force pushed her down, forcing out a painful grunt. She began clawing at the tail, feeling it burn the tips of her fingers until the claws of Naruto‛s Nine-Tailed Fox constricted her wrists. In a demonic tone, he began to speak.
"Why do you run from your problems, Girl? It is you who is at fault for not stopping Sasuke when you had the chance. If you had stopped him, then that mission to retrieve him never would have been necessary. There were so many casualties that could have been avoided-"
"Stop it . . .! It was Uchiha‛s own decision to leave, not mine. At my skill level, I never could have defeated him. Never . . .," Krystal shot back, cutting off the Kyuubi‛s attacks to her ego while taking the courage to stare it straight in the face. "I still can‛t, now." Please stop saying it‛s my fault . . . .
With a devilish grin that sent shivers down an already chilled spine, the Kyuubi devoured Krystal, sending her into a completely new scene. Upon falling through the darkness, the chills of rain were being replaced by the suffocating feeling of an intense flame. Water evaporated from her skin and the sweat accumulated would, too. She had to keep her eyes closed to keep them from being sucked dry. The flames licked her skin but would not leave a mark or burn.
"Insolent child . . . . Are you so weak you cannot keep your eyes open in the mere presence of me? My daughter, how soft will you get?" played a new voice. Since the air around her face now contained less heat, Krystal found the nerve to open her eyes and face the person that mocked her anew.
"Mom . . . ."
In the light of hearing one of her names, her stare portrayed a sadistic joy to mirror her grin, an expression Krystal had never quite seen on her mother‛s face before; it was just a figment of her imagination that reminded her it was only a dream-Not even that, a genjutsu.
She remembered now. The note Akakana had written must have triggered a genjutsu, making her go through all of this. However, the authenticity of the feelings and emotions was unnerving. The aching she felt was a reality and she had always imagined the backwater thoughts of those she had run into as they had been personified. Whatever type of genjutsu it was, it was completely in her head.
And that was frightening even of itself.
"Why can‛t you train harder? If you would be serious as a ninja you would not be in this position. Yuuta wouldn‛t have left! It‛s all because of you! Everything! If you hadn‛t been born-"
"Please don‛t say it . . . ."
"Everyone‛s lives would have turned out better!"
Quickly Krystal closed her eyes, but an image inscribed itself beneath her eyelids. It was as though a pen of white ink was used to draw it in the empty darkness. A man with hair similar in style to hers yet cut at a boyish length laid on the wooden floor, surrounded by his own blood that had spilled from slit wrists. As Krystal moved to approach him, it seemed almost like she was part of the image as well, being drawn in the same way. She hesitated while lowering her eye level to his, looking into his dilated pupils. Her hand trembled as she reached to touch a lock of his hair hanging at the ear.
Dad . . . I never actually saw you . . . dead, she gulped. Mom wouldn‛t even let me attend the funeral because it was during school . . . . Krystal released a gasp, her heart quickening it‛s pace as Yuuta‛s cold, should-be-dead hand latched onto the hand she had used to touch his hair, and lifted his head, calling her name softly. Suppressing her screams by biting her tongue, she tried pulling her hand away. Her struggles proved worthless as he only rose his other hand to further hinder her. His words were hard to hear, as there was no breathe expelling them but he kept saying the same sort of things: Look at me . . . . This is what you‛ve done to me . . . . You‛re existence did this to me . . . . Krystal-chan . . . .
And as quickly as she had arrived at the scene, she was moved to a new one as soft snow blew to cover the darkness, taking Yuuta with it and wrapping her in a new cold. Poised as if to make snow angels, she stared into the starlit sky. She savored the moment‛s peace, seeming to smile at the tiny pixels far-off in the distance.
"How you can star-gaze when you should be training is beyond me," said a voice releasing sound waves Krystal‛s ear drums had not felt the vibrations of in over three years. Her eyes widened and she turned her head.
"Uchiha?"
He smirked. "Loser, you had to ask? You didn‛t train your mind or your body, I see."
"So what if I‛m a loser! Shouldn‛t you be off finding your brother or something? I mean, you‛re getting on my case about star-gazing, yet here you are! Practice what you preach, Hypocrite!" Krystal retorted. Genjutsu or dream, she would not allow herself to easily submit to his spell. No matter how handsome he looked against the soft, frozen powder on which he lay . . . .
"Shouldn‛t you be saying that to yourself? You claim that being a ninja sucks for you yet you go through the motions of it everyday; you don‛t try to get out of it. Wouldn‛t that make you the hypocrite?"
"NO! It‛s called giving up-Just like you did! You gave up on life in Konoha; you gave up on life with me, Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi-sensei! All of that, just for something as stupid as revenge!" Krystal sat up a little, glaring into his eyes as the poison was released. She had seen Sasuke getting angry, but was surprised still when he rolled over and pinned her down so he hovered above.
"That‛s easy for you to say! You‛ve never been in my position so you would never know. Did someone take everything from you? What if someone had murdered all of the Hyuuga clan? Would you be able to get through everyday without thinking of vengeance? Just forgive and forget?"
"Probably not . . . but I also wouldn‛t let it run my life."
". . . ." He was at a loss. For moments his stare burned into her while she only scowled back to subtly broadcast her point to him clearly. He bowed his head and scoffed before pushing himself from above her. In the while that followed he did not look her in the eye or say a word. Then, he reached under his shirt and pulled at something around his neck so the clasp broke. After he stared at it in his hand for a moment, he turned the direction of his gaze to Krystal and extended his hand to her. "Take it back. I never wanted that stupid necklace."
She waited with bated breathe as the rose necklace fell into her palms.
.:Xx♥xX:.
He was getting close and he knew it. The snake he had summoned to aide him in tracking Krystal took roost upon his shoulder, sticking out its tongue to taste the scent of gardenia Sasuke had come to know of from her. A slight burden had been lifted from his shoulders when it was confirmed she had been nowhere close to the flashbomb he had heard set off moments ago. As far as he knew, she was safe, for the time being.
"Stop here!" The snake commanded. "The girl you seek is near."
Sasuke obeyed, not wasting a moment as he looked around, changing where he looked when urged to. Ninja dismissed summoned creature as the kunoichi they had been searching for was now a part of their visual. As the snake left with a "poof," Sasuke stayed in the trees for a moment, allowing Krystal‛s current state to sink in. He frowned as he could see, even from the altitude where he stood, that ropes restricted her and despite the fact that her eyes were covered, he could see from the water on her face that she had been crying. Unforgivable.
The grass "sshh"d softly when he landed on it and as he walked ten paces to stand in front of her trembling form. Immediately he used his kusanagi to slice through the bonds and kneeled to keep her from slumping as he held her shoulders and examined her further, trying to distinguish wether she was sleeping or under a genjutsu.
Why was his heart racing so furiously, he wondered. Some kunai circled her head, but none seemed to have hit her and there were no signs of a struggle or physical damage. She was not hurt, so why did he feel a fleeting adrenaline?
La la laaaaaaaaa la la laaaaaaa la la laaaaaaa that‛s amoreeeeeeeee, Yang sang while playing a harp and floating through the air. Oh, look at this! A hero has come to save the princess! Kiss her, Sasuke-kun! That is the only way to break the evil spell that hast been cast upon her!
From the top of Sasuke‛s head, his inner baddie sighed. What garbage are you spouting now, Yang? Love . . . . Tch! How lame . . . .
What the heck does "amore" mean? "I‛m NOT going to kiss her-What‛d be the point in that?"
Don‛t you know the story of Sleeping Beauty? Princess Aurora was put in a deep sleep by the evil fairy Maleficent! And she could only be awoken by true love‛s kiss! KISS HER, SASUKE, KISS HER! It‛s the only waaay!
He frowned and blushed. "Shut up! It doesn‛t work that way!"
Oi vei, she read the darn fairy tales again. Come back to reality, Bimbo! Since when does kissing dispel a genjutsu?
Oh! Oh! But the note on her forehead! Her forehead! The conscience flew and pointed to the note covering Krystal‛s eyes and tried reading it. "Kiss the demons from my dreams for only a lover‛s touch will awaken me!" See? See? A kiss from her love is the only thing that will wake her up! C‛mon, Sasuke-kun! Do it do it do it do it do it-
"Shut up! I‛m not going to do it. Even if that note were true it wouldn‛t work-She HATES me, remember?"
You can‛t know for sure! You can‛t! You can‛t! Let this be the test! Come ooon! You know you wanna! All ya gotta do is grab her, lock lips and the sparks will fly! Caught in the moment, she grabbed Yin and gave Sasuke a demonstration until the baddie pushed her away.
Eeeew! He wiped his mouth. Goody two-shoe germs, GROSS!
Uh-oh . . . . Methinks I went a little to far . . ., she thought out loud while bringing her pointer finger to her lips and furrowing her brow.
Sasuke felt the sweat drop at his forehead and decided to pay no further mind to what his conscience and baddie said or did, turning his attention back to Krystal. He caressed her cheek, realizing how vulnerable she looked in this state, the note acting as a blindfold that added to the helplessness. Next he tried peeling the note away, distracting himself from thoughts he should not have been having. Like, how beautifully she had matured in her face and "other" places; that particular one made him feel a little itchy. Her hair was longer and a bit more curled. He liked it. Her lips were slightly parted, feeling soft as petals to his touch. "Kiss the demons from my dreams," huh?
Would it work? Even if it did, how would she react? When she woke up, would she accept it? Or push him away? And either way, where would they stand after that?
But it‛s only a kiss, he reminded himself as his hands cupped her face. Just-One-Kiss. One harmful kiss. Nothing more.
Why such a big fuss, then?
Sasuke smiled to himself for letting his thoughts carry him away and used his thumb to wipe away some of Krystal‛s tears. "Just a kiss . . . ." he murmured before gently touching his lips to hers.
End of Chapter Nine
Next Time on .:Roses are Red:.! Chapter Ten: Pride
Tears started to form in Maboroshi's eyes. "O-okay . . . ."
Edward chuckled and reached a hand to wipe the dews away. "Stop that . . . . Keep some . . . male pride . . . . You look . . . like a girl, hehe . . . ."
That statement made Maboroshi crack a smile. "A joker to end," he murmured.
"Who said Ed was . . . jesting . . .?" Then, his face fell and he seemed to think hard for a moment. "Lord Maboroshi . . .," he started but was interrupted by a huge coughing fit. When it ended, blood was trailing down both sides of his mouth. "Lord Maboroshi . . . H-hayden and Ed were going to . . . talk-to you, about . . . you and Miss Krystal . . . ."
"Maboroshi's face was now serious as well. "Whatever you do, don't tell me to stop . . . . I won't."
.:Xx♥xX:.
Aki's Author Corner
Yin: You seriously named it that . . .? -sweatdrop-
Aki: Shut up! (Note: This used to be named "Aki's Original to Rewritten Transformation Corner," and that it what Yin's referring to. I've been going back to previous chapters and editing them, for grammatical and spelling errors.)
Krystal: Admit it, Aki. That's a lame title.
Yang: I think it's a wonderful title! I mean, what else could fit it more?
Aki: -sticks tongue out- I agree with Yang! Anyway, in this chapter, there are a LOT of changes!
Krystal: That's for sure. Aki hates me, though, and made that dream sequence thing more hellish than before. I mean come on, did you HAVE to have the Kyuubi devour me?
Aki: Yes, the Kyuubi did have to devour you :D And no, I do not hate you, Krystal, I just enjoy writing the drama! In the original, Krystal was put under the Ephemereal jutsu. You may not recognize the name of the jutsu, but it's the same genjutsu Naruto's put under in Shippuuden and you see Sakura's head coming out of his stomach and stuffs. And, while Sasuke DID wake her up in the original-I think the chapter was named "These Words Haunt Me"-He did NOT have to kiss her! There was fluff, but no intimacy. And I think the number for the chapter was seven.
Yang: But don't you agree that this way is SO much more romantic? -stars in the eyes-
Yin: -rolls eyes-
Aki: Also, since by the time Aki wrote that chapter in the original, she had forgotten all about Yin and Yang D8! So, they were nowhere to be found. Plus, they had belonged to Krystal. AND YIN WAS A GIRL!
Yin: OxO Wait... But... But I... -checks inside pants-
Aki: Okay, I think that's about it! As I told you, Hayden never existed in the original, so her fight with Mizumaru-who is also a new asset-is completely new!