A/N: Incidentally, Toyama Ai is a famous Japanese soprano who is most likely known to American anime fans as "Kakyuu-ohi", from the Sailor Moon SeraMyu musicals.

Disclaimer: As you know none of this belongs to me, especially the songs Onna no Ronsou performed by Hosaka Yuko (Sailor Pluto) and Miyazawa Akiko (Queen Beryl) and Broken Möbius (Talisman Version) performed by Hosaka Yuko (Sailor Pluto), Uchida Asako (Sailor Uranus) and Inami Tomoko (Sailor Neptune) from the SeraMyu musicals. And Glass no Kamen is the creative property of Miuchi Suzue.

Seventh Kiss: Superstar

Undercover operations were to be handled as though it was an ANBU mission being executed. But there were times when Kurenai wanted to waste Tsunade-sama. This time was just that. Anko seemed to be enjoying herself, mostly because of the catering services and the fully-stocked bar for the after parties. But the one thing that got Kurenai's hackles rising were the costumes, the refits and repairs were worse than putting the damn things on. She had never seen so much Mylar and spangles since the Daimyo married his oldest son off and their wedding celebrations rivaled Mardi Gras. The tacky garnet paste jewels that hung off her were weighty and the clip-on earrings frequently got tangled with the long black wig. The only thing Kurenai was grateful for was her prop; it concealed scrolls and kunai with some minor adjustments.

The recurrent dimming of lights in the theatre rendering it black as pitch got everybody on edge. Whoever had it in for the Sakurai Theatre's owner was apt to strike during the scene changes. Gai, Asuma and Yuugao were up in the rafters nearest to the spotlights and strobe lights, they had an optimum view, disguised in gaffer uniforms were Raido and Genma above the stage on the catwalks no wider than a few feet. Yuki-hime was gracious enough to give everyone else in a crash course in method acting while on break from the Icha Icha Tactics set. Jiraiya halted production himself citing scripting differences. But Kurenai wanted to throttle Raido when he suggested her for this mission; she knew using the karaoke system in the bar was an omen. The theatre's surround sound blasted her ears with the effects and canned scoring. Her mic had been plaguing her with a myriad of troubles, the constant crackling from shoddy maintenance or the battery pack sewn into the back of her ruffled black and indigo layer skirt. Her cue was coming up soon, and the recorded laser blast detonated shaking the stage to its foundation.

"Why did you save me!" Anko demanded from her huddled spot on the floor in her amethyst faux fur trimmed gown, a flurry of black iridescent material pooled around her.

"So it seems…" Kurenai declared getting to her feet with her Time Key, "…that this is what fate chooses for the both of us." The music crescendoed before falling to the beginning of their poignant duet.

Dareka wo honki de aishita toki ni

Hajimete kokoro no katachi ga mieru

Anata ga aishita sono hito wo

Kanawanu mama ni watashi mo aishite

Kodoku no katachi wo mitsuzukemashita

Absently Anko pushed her hand through the wavy fire engine red mermaid wig to brush her fingers against the branded flesh by Orochimaru's juin seal. The audience would believe it to be a choreographed gesture of sorts.

Fukaki sadame to shinjita ai wo

Muzan na uragiri de ayameraretara

Kono mi wo sasaeru no wa nikushimi dake

Watashi ni totte nikumu koto wa aisuru koto

Just beyond Kurenai's shoulder was Kakashi, stooping, dressed in a gold mantle and black tuxedo. The stubborn embers struggling to breathe among the ashes of her broken heart suddenly were fanned with heat as though exposed to the sun.

Ai no keshin no nikushimi naraba

Mou ichido ai ni kaeshite

Incensed, Anko stiffened her shoulders as though she got a faceful of acid from her dearest friend.

Ai wo kouta koto mo nai onna ni

Kono kanashimi ga wakaru mono ka

Kurenai closed her eyes from Anko's entreaty because standing above them was a dazzling vision in angel wings and rainbows. Rin in blonde pigtails and odangos lowered her eyes and bit her pink glittering lower lip. Kurenai was hovering on the edge just as Kakashi was. She was just an entirely different shade of darkness, however if he was unwilling to care anymore, then she was. If he was not going to pursue Sasuke, then she was. Reaching up to grasp the hilt of her key below the Garnet Orb, Kurenai slammed the stub into the parquet with a resonant bang and proudly stood to her full height in the black boots. She was a kunoichi, and had something precious to protect, it filled her, fueled her and was all around her even if she did not know it.

Wakarimasu to mo

Kataranu ai mo kanashii mono...

"I've had enough of this!" A voice exploded. Kurenai's red eyes widened, but not from surprise. A woman, one of the company garbed in her crimson and red costume that was so tight it looked spray painted on her long, lovely limbs. Her crow wings were constructed of delicate crepe and silk and in her hand was the gold sapphire cuff bracelet, the Velcro strips pulled apart to reveal a detonator. "It's real," she reassured them striding up and down the stage. The audience trembled at the edge of their seats, wistfully gleeful as this must be a recent evolution of the script. Was someone graduating?

"I promise you… if you do not let me by, I'll swallow you all in flames." The ninjas' defensive circle tightened blocking her off to the left where the philandering owner hid. "I was promised a star… but left hanging in a black hole…" Her resolve was wavering and voice cracking, Kurenai spotted her sole chance.

"Listen to yourself… so weak… Don't you know that darkness feeds on the flagging human spirit?" Lead Crow retreated a few paces back.

"What do you mean?"

"The path to revenge is a wasted effort." Sakura announced stepping out from behind the curtain. Her Space Sword gleamed deadly beneath the hot lights, it was no tin fake.

"Even the most beautiful rose has its thorns," Ino said advancing on Crow. "But will you let it grow wild and destroy the garden?" Reflected in the Aqua Mirror, Kurenai saw the gauntlets hidden beneath Ino's wrist-length gloves.

"Stop this," Kurenai ordered Crow. "Stay strong and show up the one who has done you wrong by staying strong. Believe me, there is life after love." Lead Crow did not look entirely convinced, and hers was a hair trigger finger over the red button.

"What would you know about it?" She snorted. "What will you do about it?" She challenged them. They closed in on her.

Hoshi no hikari wo mi ni ukete

Senshi ni kakushita kono bishou

Furueru seiza wa densetsu no

Koi wo mamore to tsutaeru ka

Sakura didn't like to be dismissed so easily and she hoisted her sword.

Kaze wo kiri shougeki no

Ino spun the mirror like a six shooter in a spaghetti western smiling cruelly.

Umi wo kake maimodoru

Kurenai raised her Time Key aloft her head and gyrated it like a bo, priming her hidden weapons.

Toki wo yobi kangeki no

Each woman singing to her own individual rhythm, the sound harmoniously converged as their voices joined as one.

Yami wo saku mabushisa de

The three were poised and lethal as they circled Lead Crow, and no longer did they need callous men to provide balance in their lives.

Tsutaeyou uchuu no shimei wo

Kokuu ni kizamu SILHOUETTE

Broken Möbius

Mugen kidou

Midnight Soldiers

Mugen idou

Tsutaeyou shinpi no densetsu

Jikuu wo kizamu TALISMAN

Broken Möbius

Mugen kidou

Midnight Soldiers

Mugen idou

Take pride in outside soldiers

"Protected by the Sky God, the Soldier of Flight, Sailor Uranus!" Sakura announced.

Ino bat her eyes and leered prettily. "Protected by the Sea God, the Soldier of Tenderness, Sailor Neptune!"

Kurenai walked with pride and took center stage. "Protected by the Time God, the Soldier of Revolution, Sailor Pluto!"

Ino let an exploding scroll fly going off midair in a cloud of white and disoriented Crow. Sakura sliced the prop bracelet and detonator within neatly in two. Kurenai spun her right leg punting Crow into the far wall behind the curtain bringing down the bricks with a sonorous crash, Gai and Asuma dressed in Shitennou costumes accosted her limp form and hauled her away. The audience erupted in ecstatic cheers and applause.

At the final number as all the cast- save for Lead Crow- took their bows the audience gave Kurenai a standing ovation and cheered the loudest over the booming techno-rock overture. She stood taking her bows, as that was all she could really do, standing breathless unable to properly thank them. She was bereft of words. Kakashi stood back, as was proper, and watched Kurenai. He was amazed at how far she had come, and she hadn't even reached the peak of her abilities yet. And like the hero in musicals, she was the last to understand this.

The following week was as silent as a rock garden. Kurenai was thankful that she had the free time to get to all that filing that she neglected and left to pile on her desk. Then the package arrived. It was wrapped in harmless brown paper and was as heavy as an average-sized paperback novel. Kurenai shrugged tearing the thing open, slitting it at the triangular lip and carefully slid the object out. It was a brand new script, the binding fresh with a purple cover. The kanji and kana looked familiar, and then she instantly recalled all those yellowing, dust-ridden manga sitting at the bottom of her bookshelf. Glass no Kamen, she flipped open the cover and inside a folded note on a bit of white paper. The handwriting belonged to the loutish theatre owner who managed to escape the talons of death at the hands of a scorned plaything.

'The role is yours. "Kurenai Tennyo" has a nice ring to it, ne?'

Kurenai smirked then dropped the script into the waste basket at the side of her cluttered desk.

OWARI