She remembers it now. A promise.
Kurenai looks at her, a kind of impish look on her long face, an almost smirk.
"Hey, let's back in time for the Bon Odori, alright?"
Anko mirrors her look.
"You're on!"
But then—
She blinks.
And before she knows it, it has happened. Like a gust of wind, it blows her over. Like the speed of light, everything is a blur. Like a cheap movie, it happens all too slowly.
Blood. Crimson blood. Blood on her hands, on her face, on her teeth. It's all too bitter. And for one of the few times in her life, she hates the taste.
Tears and blood don't mix well.
"Anko…" Kurenai breathes out. "It's…It's going to be alright…"
Anko can barely feel the life in the statement. She knows it's a lie. To be completely true, it must be completely dead. And that hasn't happened yet.
"Shut up." She grits out. "You can't die yet. You can't!"
She roughs the tears out of her eyes, as her throat closes up.
"We pro-promised remember? Please…think of ME!" And when Anko says this, it's like a thousand pounds falling onto her shoulders. A hollow hole is inside her, only getting bigger. It's a realization: she's going to be lonely. "…Oh g-god…I…"
Kurenai weakly rests a slightly trembling hand upon Anko's head, softly combing and smoothing her hair. She makes a soft soothing noise, though her voice is unsteady and weak.
"Shh…let—" She coughs a bit. "—Let me give you something…"
Anko doesn't hear her. She has grabbed Kurenai's hand and is holding onto it, as if it was a lifeline.
"…Don't leave me…" She cries out thickly.
Kurenai only continues patting Anko's head, as awkward and slow as her hand may be.
"Shh…I'm not going to die yet…"
And with a sudden force, Anko feels a hand pushing into a pressure point in her neck.
A sharp intake of breath. Her vision loses focus.
"Kure…What?"
Her eyes start to close, her eyes fighting to stay open. But she's losing against the darkness overtaking her.
The last thing she hears is a voice. No, not even. It's a whisper, an echo of the end.
"Promise me you'll take care of her…"
Kurenai closes her eyes, pushing the guilt in her stomach back down. One last gift. For Anko…and for Sakura.
Using all of the chakra she has left, she channels it into her hands. Then, she takes out a senbon and begins her work.
Ten minutes later, she is lying upon the ground, energy completely spent. A bloody senbon lies beside her, the sharp point poking into her arm probably being the only thing keeping her awake. Her arm is completely burned up in pain from being overworked.
She grimaces, but picks up her arm again for one last thing. What does it matter if she kills her arm? She's going to die.
Her fingers dip in her blood and start to draw.
Stained glass, she decides. Yes, that's it. She feels like stained glass. Broken stained glass, that is.
Only minutes ago had she woken up seeing the setting sun. Only minutes ago, she found a broken smily face, drawn in blood. Only minutes ago, she found that Yuuhi Kurenai was dead.
She trudges among the landscape, senseless. She doesn't feel the weight of the body she's carrying. She doesn't see the trees and swamps she passes. She doesn't hear the happy chirpings that one usually hears from the birds of the Land of Fire. She doesn't think about anything, save for the color red. The red of the evening sky, the red of Kurenai's eyes, the red of blood. Her body moves mechanically, like a robot.
Before she knows it, she's looking at a spring. Her hands move automatically to the water and grab a puddle to splash in her face. Is it cold or hot? She doesn't know.
Crimson. The crimson is staring at her, looking at her in the eye. Her eyes are crimson.
And suddenly—
She wakes from the dream. And stares.
Her eyes are crimson.
Her eyes are crimson.
Her eyes…are crimson.
Sharingan crimson.
She stares at the characters on the open doors. No decorations are up. Nothing.
She's early.
It had been twenty minutes since she realized she had the Sharingan. Nineteen minutes since she tried to cancel out the justu. Eighteen minutes since tried slashing herself with a kunai to wake herself from her nightmare. Fifteen minutes since she gave up trying to figure out, and just put a genjutsu on her eyes.
"Mitarashi-san! Back so—"
Kotetsu stops talking. He has noticed the body she carries.
It's Izumo who goes up to her, and takes the body from her.
"We'll tell the Hokage what has happened. What's your report?"
Anko answers in a tired voice.
"Mission was a success. One casualty. Died by enemy hand."
And she promptly drops the body before spiriting off.
She expected the letter she received the next morning, along with the flowers. It's from the Hokage.
Anko,
Don't come until you're ready. I have given you a month of vacation. The attached letter was found at Kurenai's house. It has not been read. Her funeral will be held during the Toro Nagashi. Please come.
With sympathy and regret,
Sandaime
Putting the flowers aside, she takes the attached letter and glances over it. It looks as if it was completely crumbled into a paper ball before being straightened out again. On the front, is her name written in Kurenai's familiar loopy but neat handwriting. Beside her name is the words, Please read.
She throws it aside.
Three days since she almost threw the letter away. Two days since she received continuous letters and gifts from people. One day since the genjutsu on her eyes wore off, revealing her normal colored eyes.
After another long look in the mirror, she picks up the letter again and opens it.
Anko,
I've been wanting to tell you for a long time but…please forgive me. I guess I'm still quite scared and insecure about this part of myself, though we've known each other for years. Heh. I'm so scared that I can't even bear to tell you face to face. There's no easy way to say this. My real name is Uchiha Kuroneko.
I was disowned long ago for reasons I'd rather not mention. Because of that, my Sharingan capabilities were sealed, the same way the Hyuuga curse seal seals Byakugan abilities. From that time, the Hokage decided for safety reasons to change my name to Yuuhi Kurenai, and pretended that I was a transfer from the Root division. My family thought that they had completely rid me of everything relating to the Uchiha clan. However, what they didn't know, was that in times of near-death situations, I could break the seal and use my Sharingan (It's saved my life a great many times.)
Also, onto other news that I've been too scared to tell you…I'm a parent.
Just kidding. If only I could see the look on your face.
I'm actually going to adopt a child. Last spring, one of the nurses at the Hospital had told me of a child needing a blood donor. I volunteered for the job, and it turned out my blood was completely compatible. I met her soon afterwards, and I couldn't help it. She was too cute to resist. You'll get to meet her soon. In fact, I've signed you as legal guardian, in case something happens to me (Yes, I forged your signature). Her name was Haruno Sakura, but I guess now it's Yuuhi Sakura (or even Uchiha Sakura if you want to be technical). She's five, and is currently training to be a shinobi.
And other than that, I don't think I have anything else to freak you out with. It's odd how this kind of sounds like a diary entry. Maybe I should get one.
I hope I can give this letter to you.
Your best friend,
Yuuhi Kurenai
Too many words since Anko started crying.
AN: I changed it a bit from the version posted up in Sketchbook (Which I suggest you people to read ) And Lyn SHALL UPDATE!! YES!! ...she hopes.
And of course, please review!! Seriously, reviews make the world go round. And they also make the authoress get off her lazy butt and update faster (Though she already has the second chapter written...which she might release faster if people review...) But, more importantly, they make the world go round. Yuppers.
By the way, according to Wikipedia, the Bon Odori is a nationwide festival held for three days in...August? July? And the Toro Nagashi the last day of it, where people put paper laterns on water and push them...which is...a way of honoring the dead? Sorry, I'm not good at remembering stuff.
Oh, and some randomess: I don't know why but I've always thought that Kurenai's last name was Kurenai and that her first name was Yuuhi. Hmm...maybe it's just because Yuuhi sounds more like a first name or something.