Startling Announcement
Knock, knock.
The sudden knock brought her out of her thoughts as Setsuko sat at the vanity, slowly bushing her hair. She closed her eyes for a moment, changing into Eve. Eve pulled on the red jacket over the sleeveless white dress. She buttoned it up and then pulled on her black gloves. The sleeves on the jacket flared out after her elbows and passed over her hands completely. Her jacket passed her sleeves by a few inches and had a high collar. She didn't bother to put up her curled hair that barely reached passed her shoulders. She pushed her feet into a pair of red high heels and opened the door. Caelestis smiled at her before Eve stepped out. Duane, Noam, and Adonis all stood outside her door, waiting.
"Where do you want to go? It's said to rain soon." Eve was silent before looking at Caelestis blankly.
". . . the garden. I . . . I want to be alone." Caelestis looked at her surprised before nodding as Eve walked off. "Why don't you go around and search for others with Noam." Caelestis nodded again, as she off drifted with Noam to find anyone that could still remember. Eve walked through the endless hallways letting her mind wander over the past week. In that time she had barely seen anyone outside of those that could remember. She had been invited to a few dinners but had politely declined. Eve pushed opened to the gardens. She quietly made her way to a fountain in the center and sat. Every day she would wake up and eat breakfast while she listened to Robin tell her anything new she found. She would hunt Tenshi down and briefly talk about the genjutsu and how they should proceed. Gaara would follow her for a hour or so, filling the image of bodyguard, before she shooed him off. Janghoon would spend time with her, walking through the hallways, just being there. Then she would send him off to try and break into the Uzumaki Estate. Setsuko, or rather Eve, never spent time with anyone else. She distanced herself. She couldn't even spend a few moments with her cousin, it would be too suspicious. She listened to the wind, trying to seek comfort. However, there was no reply. ". . . I see." She looked at the ground before looking back up at the skies. She had never felt this alone. Not since before she came to Konoha. ". . . is this punishment?" She shook her head, trying to rid the tears. Trying to stop them. "Or is this a test? Tell me. My heart cannot take this. It will break soon." When no response came she let her gaze drop to the ground. "Or is that your goal? To break me? Break my will so I will bow to you? You know that I will never bow to anyone. So why try?" She heard nothing. "Why torture me? Did you not call me your child?" There was no breeze. "Do you hate me so?" Nothing. She sighed as she felt the tug at her heart. Every moment that she spent, knowing the truth seemed to drag her heart closer to the darkness she lived in before she came to Konoha. She looked up when an umbrella opened above her and the rain began to pour down. ". . . I told you, I want to be alone!" Eve stayed seated as she turned in order to face the person with the umbrella. Her eyes widen in horror as she stared at the man and her heart felt a yank on it.
Caelestis held the umbrella as she walked beside Noam.
". . . why are we doing this? We already know who does and who doesn't." Caelestis was silent as the two walked, pondering his question. Finally, she spoke.
". . . it is breaking her heart. I see it in her eyes. Life is draining from constant pretend. Because she does not wish to let her emotions show, she bottles it up, letting it eat away at her. Today the sky cries. So she does to cry with it. Perhaps all she needs is to let her bottled emotions out, before they explode." She spoke without turning to him, her eyes downcast.
". . . is that how you feel?" He stopped and she walked a few steps before she realized it. She turned to him, seeing the rain soak him. A few years ago, his sand would have been protecting him. However, Yoko seemed to have sealed the demon enough. He could sleep for a few hours before being forced awake. And his sand didn't protect him from everything. The boy could get soaked from rain, get nailed in a snow ball fight ((coughcoughwarcoughcough)), get 'accidentally' shoved into a lake, or have an angry Robin smack him upside the head. The sand only blocked attacks with true malice behind them now. It was a huge step, a hard one for Gaara to adjust to. But he eventually made it. With the help of Robin smacking him around a few times, with or without the snowball.
". . . I could ask you the same." He smirked before shaking his head.
"I'm not the one with the nickname." She was silent for a moment before walking back to him. Their clothes were basically the same as when they came back as Caelestis and Noam. She lifted her umbrella up to cover him from the rain. Her hair was a curly black and her bangs framed her face, nothing like her true appearance. She didn't know how to think of him nor did he her. Robin wasn't Caelestis. Gaara wasn't Noam. But at the same time, they were. She didn't know to refer to him in her thoughts as Gaara or Noam. Their looks were so different and yet . . . the same.
". . . during those times . . . I . . . I do not feel. Bits and pieces maybe, but nothing solid. Nothing whole. It has been that way since I can remember. Perhaps that is the way I became able to cope with her death. And all the others." Caelestis stepped back. The moment she shared was . . . was gone. She turned and looked over her shoulder as she waited for him to move. "Come on. Let's at least get out of the rain." Noam, Gaara, smiled after a moment and nodded. The two walked in silence before her voice cut through the air. ". . . why do I have hold the umbrella?!"
". . . because your the butch one."
"Butch?! BUTCH?!"
Ba-bum. Ba-bum. Ba-bum.
Her heartbeat echoed in her ears. The tugging at her heart seemed to grow. Eyes widened in shock stared at the ANBU as her heart quickened. Her mind slowly began to process who he was. The cement bench she sat one seemed to grow colder by the second as reality washed over her frail mind. Her breath was caught in her throat as she stared.
Ba-bum. Ba-bum. Ba-bum.
Blood roared in her ears. Time seemed frozen as the sound of falling rain was lost to her. All she could do was stare. She could feel her heart sink into darkness, the truth weighing heavily on it.
Ba-bum. Ba-bum. Ba-bum.
"Gomen, Eve-san, I didn't realize that." Kakashi spoke sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head. Another yank. "I saw you and didn't think you'd want to get wet. I didn't realize you wanted to be alone." Kakashi leaned down and firmly placed the umbrella in her hand. "Be careful not to catch cold." Kakashi smiled, or at least appeared to, and walked away while pulling out a dog mask.
Ba-bum. Ba-bum. Ba-bum.
". . ." She watched him walking away. Her nightmares clouding her thought. Her fears flooding her systems. Her heart being pulled on by hate and sorrow. How many times has she woken up from this, in a cold sweat? How many times has she prayed against this image? How many times had she cried from the thought of this?
Ba-bum. Ba-bum. Ba--!
"Wait." Her voice had caught itself in her throat, barely come out above a whisper. However, it seemed enough for him to stop and look at her while lowering his dog mask. Eve, Setsuko, stood up and walked towards him. She held the umbrella out, above the two. ". . . I . . . apologize. I . . . I thought you were someone else." Kakashi smiled at her.
"Would that really make a difference? If you want to be alone, then you don't need to worry about mistaking me." She could feel him starting to walk away.
". . . yes it would." Her quiet voice stopped him again. After three years. Three years had stolen her courage. No, it wasn't the three years. It was Orochimaru who had stolen it. Along with his memories. She had to win him back. Start from scratch. ". . . my . . . my servants do not know . . . no . . . they cannot understand my sorrow." Kakashi smiled and took the umbrella again. She stood there, staring at him.
"Why not?" Eve turned from him. She was Eve to him. Not Setsuko. Not until she broke the jutsu Orochimaru placed on him.
". . . they do not know my pain. It . . . it is the same reason I do not speak in public." She felt him become curious.
"Why don't you speak in public? Up till just now, I would have easily thought you were mute." Eve turned to him.
". . . I seemed to be cursed. Every time I open my heart . . . it is destroyed. Sorrow and heartbreak are my only true friends. They will never leave me. They will always be there, to hold me. They never discriminate. Everyone is the same to them. And I can never be taken from them."
". . . what do you mean?" She felt her heart reach for him as he stood there, clueless.
"I . . . I am merely a name. There are few who see me as more than that. And people come after me because of my name. That is when people follow a siren to hell. They wish to earn a great name for themselves, so they try to do so through my name. And they will not stop until they succeed. It leads them to their death." Kakashi smiled at her again.
". . . would you like to go do something fun? Take your mind off of things?" She was silent, thinking over his words before she smiled up at him.
"I . . . I would like that very much." She walked towards the gate with Kakashi who was alert for any danger. She was a foreign civilian with a high ranking title. However, Kakashi didn't notice her dropping back nor did he notice the object she threw at him until he looked back for her and saw it right before it slammed into him.
Caelestis glared at Noam as he held the umbrella with a red hand print across his face. She waited until he rolled his eyes and lifted the flap up for her to enter the ramen bar. She looked surprised to see her friends overriding the place. Tenten was sitting with Neji, her arm intertwined with his, Lee, Kiba and Naruto were all inhaling their ramen, Hinata sat beside Naruto, giggling at her boyfriend's antics, Sasuke ate his food with Sakura beside him quietly eating. Shino was sitting there, feeding his bugs some of the ramen he was eating. Ino sat with Shikamaru who was quietly laughing at her joke.
"Are you going to make me stand out here all day?" Noam's voice caused everyone to look back at the two. Caelestis turned a harsh glare back at him.
"Maybe if it will keep you from being a jerk." She snapped before walking further in. She was about to sit at a lone table before Naruto called to her.
"Oi! You're with that Eve!" Naruto was an incredible actor. And he wasn't one to blow someone's cover when it mattered. Caelestis looked at him along with Noam.
"That is correct. I am Lady Eve's-"
"Naruto you baka!!!" Sakura yelled. "You don't call a proper lady 'that Eve'!!" Naruto shrugged and gave a quick retort while Caelestis looked at Noam.
"What's she like?" Caelestis blinked a few times before looking back at Hinata. "Lady Eve is the talk of the town. She's so mysterious. Several prestigious clans have invited her to a dinner, mine included, and she declines them all." She fought back the memories of when Hinata became Chuunin. Robin had dragged the quiet girl out, saying her clothing wasn't good for her anymore. Now midnight blue pants that passed her knee by an inch or so clung to her legs. Her legs were wrapped in bandages to her shinobi sandals and a few bandages were wrapped on her upper left arm. She wore fingerless shinobi gloves and elbow pads. Her netted tank top was over a pale lavender tank top that hugged her and the dark green vest was left open, like Naruto's. Her hair had grown out to mid back, causing the girl to put her hair into a tight braid which she then put into a bun. It was a good look for her. She had finally grown a back bone, thanks to Robin, and she was no longer considered inferior to her sister, having grown in strength, power, and speed. Caelestis snapped herself out of her thoughts before she drew unneeded attention.
"Milady . . . please do not repeat. It is hard for her. Her heart was nearly destroyed several times ago. She does not wish to be harmed spiritually once more. Not only that, but many have only seen her as a title." Noam quietly nodded as he lead Caelestis to a seat.
"So she chose to travel far away, in hopes to recover from her problems."
Kakashi stood there, shocked, as it dripped off of his face and onto his clothes. Her laughter echoed through the rain as Kakashi calmly reached up and wiped away the mud. Eve stood there, looking like a drowned rat, laughing so hard she had to hold her stomach. Finally, she was able to stop and wipe away some of the water pouring down her face in a futile effort. However, she smeared mud on her face from her hands. Kakashi stared at her blankly, trying to comprehend what just happened.
"What . . . was that for?" Eve laughed at him.
"Forgive me, it had been too long since I was able to goof off. I could not help it, your expression was priceless." Kakashi was silent before speaking once more.
"You do know this means war." Before Eve could say anything, mud was flying towards her. She rolled to the side, ending up with mud covering her anyways. She grinned and scooped up more mud in the blink of an eye and threw it. Kakashi was ducked under it and hurled several more mud balls at her. She shielded her face before the mud splattered all over her. She lowered her arms in surprise as she stared at him with an astonished look.
"This means war indeed!"
"So, who was it?" Duane looked up from the scroll he was reading. The two were trying to figure out what the jutsu Orochimaru used was. Adonis stared at him for a minute before he spoke again. "What happened? After all, we heard . . ." He trailed off as Duane picked up on what he was talking about.
". . . those are painful memories. For the both of us." Adonis decided to let it drop before looking at his scroll again. ". . . it is best if you asked her yourself." Adonis nodded as he tried to get back to concentrating on his scroll.
"WE'RE GOING WHERE?!!!!!" Caelestis felt Adonis clamp his hand over her mouth. She had just gotten back with Noam to find out the Eve had accepted an invitation to a huge party tonight. Noam stared at her before closing his eyes, letting the henge drop. Gaara stood there, staring at her before speaking.
". . . who invited you?" Caelestis let her gaze shift to him before returning upon Eve as her own henge dropped. She saw smoke come from behind her, indicating that Tenshi and Janghoon now stood with them. Robin glared at Tenshi's hand before biting down on it, forcing her cousin to let go.
"He raises a good questions, Setsuko-sama." Robin bit out. Tenshi glared at her before turning to Setsuko herself.
"I am also eager to know who it was." Eve smiled into her mirror as smoke blocked their vision momentarily. Soon Setsuko sat there, brushing her hair was a dreamy smile.
"Does it matter? In order for us to stay hidden, we must stand out!" Janghoon sighed and rolled his eyes.
"In other words, it was Kakashi-san, wasn't it?" Setsuko didn't even look at them as she smiled with closed eyes and brushed her hair.
"There's nothing to worry about! Besides, it will be nice to visit with everyone again!" Robin gave her a blank look before turning back to Tenshi and nodding.
"Yep. It was Kakashi." She muttered before transforming back into Caelestis. The others did the same as Caelestis left, soon followed by Noam, Duane, and Adonis. Eve stood up and closed her door before going through her clothes to find something to wear.
Naruto looked at Hinata as she made her way through the crowd to him. While he was dressed the same as always, she wore a simple dark blue kimono and white obi.
"Naruto-kun, did you hear?" Naruto stared at her for a few minutes in confusion.
"Hear what?" Hinata beamed at her boyfriend's confusion.
"It's rumored that Lady Eve is coming." Naruto stared at her again before laughing.
"You heard so yourself, Lady Eve doesn't attend social gatherings. Caelestis and Noam told us. Besides, why would she come?" Hinata rolled her eyes at him. She had grown more out spoken since they had gotten together, although it was alittle fuzzy to Hinata as to how.
"Who knows." Just then, as if the timing was just to prove Naruto wrong, Lady Eve's carriage rode up. Adonis and Duane sat in front, dressed in formal clothing. Duane in a black long sleeved button up shirt with black pants and boots and a gold dragon on the back. Adonis had a green Chinese styled shirt on with light red dragon designs. His black pants were trimmed with gold. The second the carriage halted, Duane leapt off of it and opened the door. Noam got out, in his usual clothing. He held out his hand and it was taken. Caelestis moved out of the shadows and onto the ground in a rose evening gown. It hugged every curve and had a low back. She had a silk shaw with silver dragons on it, draped on her shoulders. She wore white high heels, and white long evening gloves. Her hair was up in two buns, one on each side of her head. White hair pins held them there as a few locks of her curled hair escaped. Adonis held out his hand to be taken, waiting patiently for Eve. A delicate black gloved hand reached out and took it. Slowly an arm came into the light. It was covered by a dark red sleeve that almost draped itself on the ground. Thick black lace trimmed it. Attached to the arm was Lady Eve. She wore a dark red kimono with black lace trimming it. However, the obi was gold and tightly wrapped around her. There were a few black belts helping it stay so tight. The kimono was pushed off her shoulders, revealing two black straps against her creamy skin and a small silver necklace with rose designs on the chain and in the center was a small crystal shard. The kimono piled around her delicate form, opening up on the bottom to reveal part of a white dress she wore underneath. Some of the dress sleeves could be seen on her shoulders just barely peaking out of her kimono. Her lips were painted a dark red. She opened her dark magenta colored eyelids to reveal bright green eyes. Her lightly curled sun kissed hair was pulled to each sigh and tied up with a ribbon. The bows were black and were perfectly holding the hair up on the sides of her head. Though it might give a childish look to some, it seemed to give her somewhat of a punk look. Her bangs were mostly swept to her right. Her long eyelashes fluttered for a moment, adjusting to the change in light. Eve looked around, trying to spot a familiar face from the gawking crowd.
"Lady Eve." She turned to face Kabuto as he bowed. "I am surprised to see you here."
"Milady decided to spend time with people. It does get lonely at times." Duane supplied to Kabuto. Lady Eve stared at them with dull eyes before turning and moving through the crowd to find a place to sit with Adonis walking beside her.
"Lady Eve," She stopped and her green eyes flashed before she turned to see him. She smiled slightly in greeting. His pale skin and yellow snake eyes caused her stomach to knot. His slick smile seemed false as she bowed her head slight, showing a false respect as she tried to calm her stomach. "I trust that you've found Konoha to your liking?" Deep inside, Setsuko felt her emotions roar to life. She suppressed it, remembering what they could cause. On the outside, however, she merely smiled and nodded. "Would you like to sit at my table?" Her response surprised her small group of resistance.
"Very well." A hush had grown over the crowd. Everyone had heard her speak. "Who better to stop any harm from befalling me than the best in Konoha." Orochimaru smiled sweetly, forcing Setsuko to push away her nausea, and held out his arm for her to take. Wincing on the inside, she took the arm with a soft smile. Tenshi watch in astonishment as she left. Caelestis came up to her cousin and stared off after Eve.
". . . that was unexpected." Both understood the underlined meaning.
"I understand her reasoning, but still, it baffles me." Noam added, causing the two cousins to look back at him.
"Will she be safe?" Caelestis let her question hang in the air before Noam nodded.
"Hello." Janghoon felt himself stiffen. However, he hid it well. Duane turned and faced the one person he dreaded. The one person who nearly caused him to cry when he came to back Konoha. Sohn Seung stood there, wearing a pale blue kimono.
"Hello, I am Duane." Seung giggled and nodded.
"I already know that. I am Sohn Seung." Janghoon's heart reached out to her before he spoke.
"I hope you are well." Seung nodded again.
"Hai." She smiled softly, recalling memories. Memories he wasn't it. Memories that had been altered or he had been away, training with Setsuko. "I have found that the life of a shinobi, though difficult, is very rewarding." Janghoon forced himself not to pull her into a hug and instead played the innocent fool.
"You are a warrior? I would not have guessed. Tell me, was it hard to become one. After all, I heard that teamwork is very difficult." Seung blushed before having a dazed look. Her next words chilled him to the bone.
"Yes. It was. I lost several teammates. I am the last of my cell. However, I was able to make it to chuunin before it was too late." Her words were emotionless, almost like she was programmed to say it. It may not have been noticeable to strangers, but Janghoon was blood. So many years of knowing her, wiped out in a single moment. He fought for his control as he listened to his sister say those words, in a way that betrayed her personality. Her bright optimism, boundless energy, infamous temper, all void as she spoke to him.
"Really? Everyone lost? How?" Seung seemed distant as Janghoon watched, crying on his insides. However, Duane did not show the true emotions that were restless just underneath the surface.
". . . a mission gone bad. We were on an ordinary escorting mission when the Bloodless Ninja ran into us. I was barely able to escape, only because I had spilled enough blood to loose consciousness and pass for dead. The Hokage, Orochimaru-sama, had been coming back from peace talks with Sand and found me. I would have died otherwise." Janghoon barely contained his outrage. Setsuko's name had been soiled. He stopped himself from flying into a frenzy.
"That must be horrible." Seung seemed to regain her outspoken personality and looked up at the main table.
"Look, Lady Eve is with Orochimaru-sama!" He looked back, only to be shocked speechless by her being escorted with Orochimaru. He was ready to run to her aid, only to have silence break out over the crowd as Orochimaru seated Lady Eve and stood to make a speech.
"My fellow Leaf-nin, and honorable guests," Eve smiled at his words, forcing herself to stop the violent urges. Adonis watched with a sharp eye as Caelestis and Noam turned from the conversation with Naruto and Hinata. Hinata was the only one who did not tense and waited with anger. "We come here tonight to celebrate." Duane bite his tongue, trying not to react in a bad way. "There has been an important event that involves two of our finest shinobi." This caught the attention of the small fraction of rebels. Lady Eve waited silently as Orochimaru continued. "As you might have known, two shinobi have been seeing each other for almost five years." She felt her stomach drop. Setsuko could hear the hiss of the wind, warning her to block out the next words. But she couldn't. Her mind seemed to stop, fears rising uncontrollably, as she listened. Her heart began to feel the tugs, stronger than before. "Tonight we celebrate the engagement of Hatake Kakashi and his soon to be bride, Kurenai!" Setsuko's mind shattered. The constant pull at her heart gave a final tug, dragging her into a cold and spiteful darkness.
