Recappy From the Last Chappy: It was so bizarre . . . She had no idea something like this had happened. Her parents became divorced and she did not even know it. Due to a drunken affair, she was conceived. That would mean she was not even a love child. She was a drunken child!
And the day Yuuta left . . . no wonder he had not replied to "came back soon." He had not planned on coming back at all.
"So . . . That's it. Why I don't have the Hyuuga curse . . . How I came about . . . Why Dad killed himself . . .?" Krystal summed up, causing Zakuro to show signs of guilt once more. "What else are you hiding?" she asked solemnly.
"There's . . . there's o-one more thing . . . I lied to you about . . . Yuuta never did kill himself. He's still alive."
Chapter Seventeen: Elegance
The soft strumming of his guitar played a soothing melody he sang along to with his tenor's voice. Fingertips lightly callused from experienced excessive playing. Sepia locks cut and styled at a longer-then-average length for men. Pierced ears. Green flannel pajamas. Kind, gentle, amused, lavenderish-blue eyes. Fair, healthy peach skin. A lingering, but not overpowering, scent of cinnamon.
Krystal was three and three-quarters in age, laying sleepily, yet slightly frazzled, underneath the warm comforter of her kid-sized futon. She listened to the lullaby, letting the tune melt away fear from the terrible nightmare that had awoken her. Before long, her memory became slightly vague as her eyes fluttered closed, and the song was nearing it's end. When it was over, there was a shifting she barely heard and phantom lips brushed her forehead, saying, "Sweet dreams, for my sweet little girl."
.:Xx♥xX:.
Twelve years ago, this man was lost from the Hyuuga clan. According to the information Krystal obtained from Zakuro, he was supposed to also be lost from this world by his own hands. But, and after everything else she was learning this day it should not have been a surprise, it was all a lie. She scowled at the woman across from her, whom stared at her tea in her hands, finding it hard at the moment to look her daughter in the eye.
"What do you mean he's still alive? Why would you lie about something like that!"
"I didn't want you to go after him," Zakuro snapped. "The bond between you and Yuuta . . . I knew that, some day, you would become curious about him and pursue him. Fool's errand . . . Would not be able to get near him, anyway."
"Why would you say that?" Krystal asked and Zakuro began looking through the box again. Hesitating, she picked up a folded paper and set it on the table towards Krystal. "What's this?"
"If you open it, I am sure you will see for yourself, will you not?"
Holding back a smart-aleck comment of her own, she picked up the paper and unfolded it carefully, as it was a little worn with age. It turned out to be a poster from eight years ago, advertising the first ever concert of a new, upcoming star with his stage name of "Elegance." The face of a man on the poster held a lavendar rose in his mouth, facing the camera with a wink. It took a few moments for Krystal to realize it was Yuuta in the poster.
"You mean he made it? He became a star?"
Zakuro nodded. "I've had to hide every flyer, poster, advertisement, movie and merchandise of him from you for years . . . Miracle he did not have any concerts in Konoha. He has avoided this Village as if it was infected with the plague."
"Oh . . ." She lied to me . . . about all of this? Why am I so naive? Angrily, Krystal stood up, darkening the atmosphere. "I'm not taking to you anymore!"
This raised Zakuro's alarm as Krystal stalked out of the kitchen and she immediately rose to follow. "What do you mean by 'I'm not talking to you anymore?' You are going to give me the silent treatment? Krystal, that is completely childish!" No response. "I order you to say something to me at once, young lady!"
The cross adolescent suddenly turned around half-way into her bedroom, poised to close the door as she glared up into her mom's scowling mug. "I loathe you," she said, and slammed the door shut in Zakuro's face. There was a pregnant pause.
"I thought you would . . .," she whispered softly. "There are times when I loathe myself, too . . ."
.:Xx♥xX:.
"Well . . . this is interesting," Tsunade thought aloud as she sat at her desk, looking at mission requests. "Not every day we get a mission request having to do with a celebrity."
"Seriously? A celebrity!" Shizune questioned, setting a stack of books on an already cluttered desk. 'Princess' Sasuke followed suit. "These all need to be stamped."
Lady Hokage frowned. So many . . . "Yes. 'Elegance' . . . Didn't he used to live in Konoha?"
Shizune nodded. "He was married to Hyuuga Zakuro up until twelve years ago. They divorced . . ." Tsunade and her assistant's eyes became saucer-wide. "Who's available for this mission?"
Hurriedly, Tsunade cleared a space on her desk and pulled out a bunch of tokens with the faces of genin and chuunin in the Village (the mission was only C-rank). One-by-one she began pulling them from the original pile into two others, murmuring if they were either already on a mission or out-of-commission. On one of the chips, she hesitated before dragging to the 'out-of-commission' pile. Two single ninja were left in the pile of 'Free Ninja': Uchiha Sasuke . . . and Hyuuga Krystal.
She cursed. This is the worst possible pair for this mission. Sasuke is still undergoing his punishment and Krystal will almost definitely become emotionally involved . . . But we can't just reject the mission, it'd look bad . . . And this could become a good client . . .
Going over the pros and cons, Tsunade sighed. No matter how much she tried to work her way around it, they were the only ninja she could spare, as most chuunin were busy and the only available genin were so green she could still smell fertilizer. "Sasuke!" He stood at attention. ". . . Take that uniform off, you have a mission."
He did so eagerly, glad to be rid of it.
"Of course, you'll understand that however long you are gone, then that number of days will be added to your punishment that you will continue to undergo when you return? It is only an exception that I am being forced to make under the circumstances and it does not guarantee anything."
"I understand."
"Good . . .," she paused, softening her gaze. "Although, there is something you should be warned about . . . The kunoichi you are being paired with, Hyuuga Krystal, has some . . . history with the client, which may cause her to let her emotions get away with her. As a bonus, you will have to keep her in line, if needed. Is that understood?"
". . . yes." History, huh?
"All right. No more will be said until Krystal is present. Please retrieve her."
Sasuke nodded and left the office, leaving Tsunade to unwillingly begin stamping the inside front cover of each book, still feeling partially uneasy. Putting Sasuke and Krystal together-ALONE-on the same mission was the worst idea ever! She had no choice, though . . . All she could do now was hope that they behaved. And that Krystal could keep her head on her shoulders.
.:Xx♥xX:.
At the Hyuuga Estate, Sasuke hesitated. The day was of an early hour, so it would be quite futile to notify someone and wait at the Main Gate for Krystal to come. The other option, however, was to go directly to her room and wake her himself. If she was still in the same room as when they were children, that is. She was probably going to go ballistic, finding him in her room, though. He would have to do this carefully.
Silently, he opened the window to Krystal's room and entered it with stealth, closing the window behind him. The room was nearly the same as he remembered it, even in darkness. The walls were still a creamy tan shade of paint and the layout was still the same. There she laid on her bed, perpendicular to the wall on his right with the dark blue sheets pulled up over her shoulders. To the opposite of that, there was the door in the center and a large wall scroll with the image of a dark moonlit forest. Across from him stood her dresser and closet; he stepped towards the former, first.
A mirror the same length as it rested on it to lean against the wall. A few trinkets and small stuffed animals littered the surface, but what caught his eye were only three things. One, was a small poster with Elegance on it. The second one was their squad photo from when they had first became Squad Seven; framed proudly. The third . . . was his old headband, with blue cloth and a scrape over the Konoha symbol. He wondered why she kept it.
Then, he looked into the mirror, where she had stuck a few photos in the frame. Many of them included people they had graduated with. There was one with her and Naruto in front of Ichiraku Ramen Shop; her and Sakura sticking their tongues out to the camera; a photo of Naruto's first attempt at a Graduation photo (because of the white face make up and red swirls, he was forced by the Third Hokage to retake it since he was unrecognizable); Hinata blushing as she stood next to Naruto; a picture of himself with his arm around Krystal's shoulder from when they were about six . . . And then there was one with four-year-old Krystal dressed in a blue dress, grinning widely as she was being hugged from behind by a man looking like the one in the poster.
The old bag DID say they had history . . . I should wake her up now, he thought and crept towards her sleeping figure. When he was next to her bed, he reached to touch her shoulder, and the moment he made contact and uttered the first syllable of her name, she swung her fist at him; he caught it.
"Dang it, Naruto-kun! I told you to wait at the Main Gate from now o-," she rose, turning to face the person who dared touch her and cast an annoyed look. "Oh, it's you . . . What the heck are you doing in my room? And where might your tiara be?"
"Shut up, Stupid. There's a mission for us," he replied. Her eyes are completely bloodshot . . . She's been awake, all night. "Are you trying to beat the sandman or something?"
Krystal rubbed her eyes again, trying to seem less tired as she sat up completely. "No . . . I couldn't sleep . . ." I kept thinking about it . . . about all of it . . . So bizarre . . . "What time is it?"
Hmph . . . She's to tired to argue. "Around seven."
". . . Idiot," she grumbled. "Why'd you have to wake me up so early in the friggin morning . . . I'll kick your butt when I wake up."
"I'd like to see you try, but right now, we don't have the time. Hurry up and get dressed."
"Oh yeah . . . mission." Sleepily, she swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. A matter of seconds was all it took for her to go to her closet and choose a dark red jacket. This one had two gold stripes going down either three-quarter sleeves, a Konoha symbol on the back in the same color, and would go all the way to her hips when worn. From her dresser, she grabbed a fishnet tanktop and black capris. She had felt like changing her normal outfit completely today.
Now, she paused. She did not want to change in front of Sasuke, but it would be very awkward for him to be sneaking around at this hour. Thus, she narrowed her eyes and bit her lip, making a decision when Sasuke realized what was going on. "Don't flatter yourself," he said, sitting on the bed and facing the other way. "What reason would I have for looking?"
Krystal frowned, sticking her tongue out only a little as she pulled her sweat pants down to change. "So . . . What's the mission about? We know the client?"
"The Hokage wouldn't brief me on it 'til you were there . . ." His eyes shadowed over. "And . . . you might know him. Supposedly, he's some famous celebrity . . ."
"No way? Who?"
Sasuke paused before speaking, staying emotionless. "The name 'Elegance' mean anything to you?" he asked slowly, only to be met with an awkward silence. He voiced her name when she did not answer. Taking a chance in thinking she may have finished changing by then, he turned his body slightly to glance at her. She was frozen, dressed and staring at him with a slightly opened jaw and wide eyes. ". . .! What? What's with your face?"
Quickly, she snapped her jaw shut and shook away the shock. Clearing her throat, she said, "Er, none other than he's a celebrity." She shrugged. "And I heard he's pretty good."
"Hn." Liar. It's something else . . . Tsunade-sama wouldn'tve warned me like that if this was the case. "Whatever. You ready to go yet?"
She nodded. Phew. I'm surprised he bought that . . .
.:Xx♥xX:.
"Nice of you to come," Tsunade commented. "I can tell from Krystal's eyes that she lacks sleep, so I doubt waking her took so long. You get lost?"
"Er, no, Tsunade baa-chan-"
"Never mind that," she said calmly as she stamped one last book and set the stamp aside. Then, she opened the scroll full of C-rank missions. "Basically, this is like any other routine C-rank mission: the objective is to protect the client. The unique quality, however, is that this client is musical sensation 'Elegance' . . ." She watched Krystal carefully, catching only a slight twitch of the brow upon hearing the name. "Someone named Bryan, I assume he is the manager of Elegance or something, put in the request for two Konoha Ninja as bodyguards, since the ones whom normally protect him were given a vacation.
"You will be gone from the Village for a few days, as the mission will end after Elegance's 'Itsu Made Mo: Always With Me' concert. Seems you lucky kids get free tickets. Any questions?"
"No," the genin chorused and quickly gave each other glowering glances before respectfully turning their attention back to the Hokage.
"All right then. I need you in the Land of the Lotus Blossoms by the day after tomorrow, so I will not keep you any longer. You are dismissed."
"Okay."
.:Xx♥xX:.
"Krystal . . .? Honey, are you awake?" Zakuro questioned in an unusual tone of voice. It was dripping with remorse as she leaned her back against the wall and knocked on Krystal's bedroom door. She paused, biting her lip when she did not get a response. "I know you are mad at me . . . Hn . . . I have been mad at myself for twelve years. Disrespectful of you as it may be, if it were possible I would probably give myself the silent treatment, as well . . ." She waited for a reaction of some sort. Should have known it would take more than that . . .
Sighing, she slid down the wall to sit with her knees drawn up, feeling she would be there awhile. As she tried to come up with words, she leaned her head back. Why did it have to be so hard? "Erm . . . Listen to me-I do have a point . . . It just may take me awhile to get there.
"All night, I have been giving what was said yesterday evening a lot of thought . . . It was wrong of me to have lied about Yuuta's death. Especially since you were so young and naive when I told he took his own life-How old were you? Five? Six?-Either way, that's beside the point. Why tell a child of suicide when it's a lie? Honestly, if I was going to lie about it, I should have said something else-No, no I shouldn't have lied at all! Despite my fears of you pursuing him, I should have told you the truth. For that, I am sorry."
There was not even a stir on the other side.
Zakuro cursed under her breathe and ran her hand through her hair, feeling the stress. She quickly wiped away a tear that glistened down her cheek. It was bad enough that she was outside her daughter's room like this, but to be found crying as well? "And, erm . . . You see, in the exposition of the conversation, I told you that I made 'the greatest mistake of my life' . . . Please, allow me to clarify what I meant when I said that. Knowing you, there is the possibility that you misunderstood.
"There are many things I have done in my life that I am not proud of. The mistake I was speaking of was the affair, not you. My goodness . . . I could never think of you as the mistake and I could never blame you for what happened twelve years ago. While it may have been an easier secret to keep, it is in no way your fault. I was the one who was stupid. I was the one that lied. I was the one who had the affair.
"Please understand, Krystal . . . I do what I do because . . . I love you. I am not one to show it easily, since in my head it seems like the ways to show it shows weakness as well, but I honestly do love you. I realize that sometimes, it comes off as though I think you are incompetent, but I only want you to be strong. So, I may come down a little harshly at times . . .
"I am sorry that it was an affair that made you, and that it drove Yuuta away . . . But do I have to be sorry that you are the result? The only thing I would have done differently is told Yuuta sooner-Possibly from the beginning. What I ask of you however, is your forgiveness. I seem to be coming short of 'forgiveness' from everyone but God, lately . . . It would be nice to know that, in this life, my daughter would at least accept the monster that I am . . ." she pleaded, having turned her body somewhere in the speech to face the door. She hit her forehead against the wood. "Please! Forgive me!"
When was the last time she had pleaded like this? Where had this desperation been when Yuuta left? At the moment, it did not matter as much that she was being weak. Someone just needed to understand . . . It was for some reason very important that it was Krystal who did. Maybe this was that maternal bond. The same one that had driven her to fight so hard against Krystal getting the Hyuuga Curse in the first place.
After a long period of silence, Zakuro became frustrated and rose, pounding on the door. "WHY AREN'T YOU ANSWERING ME? What more can I say . . .?"
Not a sound. That fueled Zakuro's frustration.
"All right. Fine. Never mind it-Go ahead and continue the silent treatment!" She stalked away, muttering. "It's not as if I cared that much about being forgiven, anyway . . . I am not that weak . . . Stay strong, Zakuro."
Little did she know, the entire time she had spoken, Krystal had not been in her room. She did not get back from being briefed on the mission until moment's after the speech had ended and it was through the window that she had entered. Slowly, she trudged to her bed and sat on it, staring blankly. I can't believe it . . . Tsunade baa-chan is actually putting me on a mission with him and to be a bodyguard for HIM . . .!
Krystal stared forward still, reaching with her right hand to grab a pillow. Bringing it to her face, she screamed into it. What the hell is she thinking? What do I say when I see him? What do I do? What do I call him? Oh man . . .
End of Chapter Seventeen
Next Time on .:Roses are Red:.! Chapter Eighteen: Good Morning
That was also a thwarted option. Seconds after she had begun to consider it, she and Sasuke were standing in front of Booth 319. Tentatively, she took a step back, looking at the number like it was Satan's. I can't do this . . . I really can't . . . He probably thinks I betrayed him, too! I have to get out of here! In her frantic search for an exit, Krystal already picked up her feet to run, but was stopped when Sasuke caught her hood. "You can't make me do this! I'll hate you! Let me go!"
Keeping calm, Sasuke gave an individual reply to each claim. "One: Yes, I can. Two: You already do. Three: No. Stop being so annoying, already, and tell me why you're acting stupider than usual."
". . ." Krystal ceased to fight and stared forward dejectedly. Telling Sasuke would not solve a thing; he would probably find a way to turn it into a mean nickname; she was unsure. She could definitely assume, however, that there was no way to avoid her going into that room. Mad as she was at the woman, she would have to follow her mother's example and stay strong. Her brow furrowed in determination and she clenched her fists. "Let's go in." I've got to stop running . . . Uchiha caught up to me, and it wasn't so bad-even if I still shield him away now, she gulped.
.:Xx♥xX:.
Now for Aki's Author Corner!
Aki: Welcome! 'Tis unfortunate, but I am pretty much clueless on what to talk about in this chapter's corner... I normally ramble on about similarities and differences, but that's just it. This arc in the .:Roses are Red:. series is completely new. Part of why I am going to enjoy writing it so much -evil grin-
Krystal: -.-' Fun all at my expense...
Aki: -smiles innocently-
Yang: This is wrong, Aki! I am afraid that I can no longer just sit and watch as you torture your characters like this! -flies all into Aki's face and lectures- How could you knowingly do this?
Aki: -.-' Because I'm evil... obviously. -flicks Yang away-
Yin: It's Aki's story, bimbo! Besides, you know she controls your fate too, ya know! -lounges on top of Aki's head-
Aki: That is true... I am the evil dictator that rules all your lives. -Mental note: Make Yang get eaten by a frog in the Land of Lotus Bloss-
Yang: Aaaaaaahhhhhhh! Ew, no! not icky frogs! Gross! Pleeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaassssse! Do not bestow such a fate on me! -teary-eyed-
Aki: . . . . . . . . . . . . . -tries but fails to keep a straight face and huggles Yang- Oh, how could I get rid of you and your dramatic fairytale-ness!
Yin and Sasuke: . . . . darn.
.:Xx♥xX:.
Thanks for reading, God bless! Please, vote and comment :)