White Rose
Chapter 02 haha
Never thought it would be done this fast Have fun, I'm fast.
giggles I can't believe some people really are reading this, though I'm totally new to this
I do not own Naruto
Edit: I've put some of the chapters together since they alone seemed so awfully short
Story
Author's commentary/Yelling
Thoughts/Dreams/Memories
The journey and Uwasa
My journey with Asuma did go pretty well. We weren't attacked, nor were we followed by anybody. In between some complaints about not having a cigarette he taught me everything I had to know about ninjas, shinobis, their politics, the different countries and their villages. Just anything I would need to know and was permitted to know as a non-shinobi. As he mentioned Konohagakure I kind of remembered hearing that name somewhere before, but I kept that to myself because I really enjoyed listening to him. I just didn't want to interrupt him, but sometimes I couldn't help myself. I just had to ask a lot of questions. I took all the information I could get.
We walked all day long and rested in the night. Sometimes I would check his wound and clean it a bit. He never seemed to complain so I figured it was okay for him. I think he kind of liked me and I for myself felt pretty well in his presence. Sometimes he walked up a tree to look for traps or did a number of Jutsus for reasons I couldn't understand. Most of the time I didn't know what he was doing, but I never minded. I really trusted him. It's quite funny that he gave me my name and now was calling me kiddo most of the time. It didn't bother me since he was a bunch of years older than me and I kind of liked the sound.
"Asuma?", I took a look through the campfire we made to watch his face.
"Yes?", he focused on me.
"I can remember that you told me it wasn't so far to the next village, so... We are now walking for days, shouldn't we get there sometime?"
"Aahh, kiddo... If it wasn't for you... I mean, you couldn't hold my pace, you know? Besides, I usually run over the trees and you can't even climb them."
I frowned: "Can't you teach me? I'm sooo hungry and my back hurts from sleeping on the bare ground. I could really use a bed and something more to eat than berries or sometimes a fish."
He frowned back at me: "Well you know, if I wasn't injured I would have carried you to the next village kiddo. But I have to admit that I'm hungry too. I guess it wouldn't hurt if you gave it a try", he slowly stood up.
My eyes almost popped out of my head: "You serious?!", I instantly got up my feet, "So you are really going to teach me?"
"Stop yelling Bara, you're going to wake the whole forest."
I stopped yelling: "I'm sorry... I was just excited since I'm ... ahm... no...", I mumbled the last part of my sentence while my face slightly blushed.
Asuma sighed: "I said you could give it a try. I'm not even sure you're going anywhere up a tree with your feet. Besides, I've told you that normal shinobis start their basic training at about six to eight years. I actually do believe you are older than that and have NO experience with chakra."
"I know...", my eyes headed for the ground, "It's just so amazing how you do that, I just want to be able to do that too... Besides... I felt so helpless by the time when you fought that monster... I don't want to feel like that again..."
Asuma narrowed his eyes and watched me carefully: "Do you want to become a shinobi?"
I hesitated: "I'm not sure... Maybe that's to much... I mean... I can't imagine killing somebody, but you said sometimes it's necessary...", he kept his gaze fixed on me, "I just want to protect myself a little. Something like walking on the trees like you do, to not get caught that fast or being able to free me from a choke-hold. Just some small tricks?... There must be things a non-shinobi is allowed to know and to use right?"
He started thinking about something but after a while he answered to my begging: "Okay kiddo. But just a few small tricks. A little basic stuff and maybe you'll even figure out how to walk on trees, but do me a favor okay?", I nodded agitatedly, "Please don't yell like that again when you are in a forest, you might attract unwanted attention and don't tell ANYONE what I taught you. I've already told you that secrecy is a very important thing in this world, so don't forget that."
"I promise! Asuma – ahm – sensei?"
His face froze at this point: "Okay, another thing kiddo. Don't call me sensei anytime okay?", he started mumbling, "I cant even remember when I had my last cigarette..."
"Because people would know that you teach me things?"
"Well, that too, but I feel like an old gramps when you call me like that. And I'm surely NOT that old."
I tilted my head to the left: "How old are you anyway? I never came to ask you."
"25."
"Aah..."
"Now, if you want to learn something you better get here so we can start", he pointed to the ground on his left hand side.
I walked over to him and soon he was telling me different things about what chakra was and how it was produced. He also taught me some basic moves in martial arts. We were training for about two hours before we went to sleep. The next few days as we walked along he talked a lot about some basic techniques to defend myself. Sometimes he started to talk about how it was for him when he was about my age. He used to drift off to some memories never minding that he was still talking and I was listening carefully. It kind of made me happy, made me feel like he did care about me. Every night before going to sleep we trained walking on trees and I got better every day. One night as he was asleep I just had to train on my own, I felt like I had to prove to him that I was able to stay on the tree without falling down again.
Expectedly I fell to the ground and not just once. I fell at least a hundred times before I figured how to stay upside down hanging from a tree. I was so happy, I didn't even realize that I was training the whole night. The sunlight stung my eyes as I walked back to our little camp. I grinned to myself. I would make Asuma a big surprise as soon as he would wake up. Usually he was the first to wake up and then wake me, but this time I was waiting for him to wake up.
About fifteen minutes later he slowly woke up and yawned. He looked over to the place where I was supposed to be resting. I guess his eyes went wide open in shock as he realized I wasn't there: "Bara?!", he quickly stood up and looked around, "Bara?!"
"Good morning Asuma."
He turned around and looked at me hanging from a tree and grinning: "Whoa kiddo! That wasn't nice to give me such a bad shock... Am I still dreaming or have you really managed to stick yourself to that tree?", he crossed his arms over his chest and looked a bit proud.
"I couldn't sleep. I just HAD TO try it harder", I grinned broadly while I walked down the tree again.
"I can tell you didn't get it right at the first try, did you?"
I blushed slightly of embarrassment: "No... How did you..."
"Know? Well if you'd look at your clothes you'd probably think the same."
I looked down at my clothes. They looked dirty and busted: "I hope we will reach the village soon. I don't have anything to change..."...
Since I was able to stick myself to a tree the journey became so much easier. I managed to move as quick as Asuma did after he showed me how to jump through the trees. I was getting pretty good at this aside from enjoying it. It was almost like flying, or at least it felt like it. I felt free and invincible, though I knew very well how vulnerable I was. The ground moved with such an incredible speed under my feet while I was moving through the large forest. I couldn't stop grinning.
As we were traveling, Asuma taught me some more things so that I could take care of myself. One day had passed after I had managed to use my chakra to climb trees. The second day was dawning and the night slowly fell upon us as Asuma abruptly stopped. Clumsy as I was I bumped right into him and nearly fell to the ground. Luckily I managed to stick myself upside down from the branch: "What's wrong?"
"We are there."
"You mean we reached the village?"
"Almost."
"Huh?"
"We'll walk the rest kiddo. Should be about 15-20 minutes", he jumped off the tree and landed gracefully on the ground, "Are you waiting for an invitation?"
I looked down at him before I let myself fall: "Yeah", I landed grinning on my feet, "How is this village called anyway?"
"Uwasa", he placed his hand on my back and pushed me forward, "Now kiddo, less talking more walking and we'll have a warm bed tonight. Besides my wounds are aching, you should be checked and the doctor won't be in his practice all night."
I stared walking on my own: "Okay, so we better get fast there... What did you say? 15-20 minutes?", a smirk crept over my face.
"Yup."
"I give you ten!", without a warning I ran laughing into the direction where Asuma had pushed me. I didn't look back because I wanted to reach the village before he did. I didn't even bother that he wasn't yelling my name. I just had some fun in that moment.
After I ran a while I wondered where Asuma got to, but I couldn't stop running because I was seeing the village. Panting for air I stopped in front of the entrance of Uwasa. As soon as I calmed a bit down I was looking for my companion: "Asuma?"
"Right behind you, kiddo...", I jumped up unvoluntarily, screeched and turned around to face him.
"How the HELL did you get over there?! I couldn't even SEE you!", I pointed my finger at him.
"That will stay my secret I propose. Now let's get you and me to the doctor, okay kiddo? And don't forget what we've talked about", I nodded my head.
Now that I had my companion again I noticed that the village had a big wall, but no guards were near the entrance: "No guards?"
"They used to have some a few years ago, before Uwasa determined it's neutrality. Whoever attacks somebody inside these walls is most likely dead before he even can think of his second move."
"Huh?!"
"If a ninja rises his weapon against somebody in this town AND hurts him on purpose, every other ninja here has the right to kill him. If you only defend yourself you are free to do whatever you want."
"So this place is pretty safe, huh?"
"You can say that", we were now walking to the doctor.
"What about banned ninjas or traitors?"
"They have the same rules as we do. The laws of Uwasa are untouchable. It doesn't even have it's own ninja-clan to prove it's neutrality. It doesn't even accept active shinobi to live around here."
"And there were no problems in this village since the neutrality thing?"
"Nobody dares to try and break the laws, not until now at least. And I believe that won't happen now nor later."
"Okay. I think I get the idea. This village is really special, right?", Asuma laughed at my statement, "Whaaat?"
"You'll see soon enough kiddo..."
"Don't avoid my question."
"I'm not. I'm just pretty sure you'll find that out for yourself", I frowned.
"Whatever you say...", I sighed and gave up.
Asuma stopped his movements. We had arrived in front of the medical practice. There was still some light inside the house. Asuma knocked. I could hear some noise from the inside. Soon after that, the door opened and an older man looked at the two of us. He blinked a few times before his mouth opened: "I haven't seen you in a while... You and your companion come in...", he turned around and left the door open.
Asuma pushed me through the door and closed it behind him: "I need some medication"
"I could have told you that too... What about the girl?", the old man glanced at me.
"I need you to examine her...", the old man looked at me.
"She looks quite fine to me..."
"Do me that favor, okay?", Asumas facial expression was quite serious.
The old man sighed: "As you wish. But I'll take care of you first", he turned around to face me, "You stay here until I'm done, girl. Just sit on the couch and make yourself comfortable, okay? If your thirsty there's some water", he pointed to a table near the couch he had mentioned. He turned to walk away but stopped his tracks a moment later: "And if your looking for the toilet... ", he pointed to a corridor, "Can't miss it", the medic continued walking.
I gave Asuma an uneasy smile. He smiled warmly: "Don't worry, I'll be okay. I'll come back as soon as possible", he gave me a short nod before following the doctor. I watched the two man disappear before I sat down on the couch. While I was waiting I used my time to train what Asuma had taught me.
About an hour later the old man came back to me: "What's your name girl?"
"Bara...", I was a bit nervous.
"Okay Bara, follow me. I'm going to check you now", he turned around and I followed...
The medic brought me to a small room containing different medical instruments and chemicals. It smelled like disinfectant. For the examination I had to undress myself to my panties and undershirt. It felt somewhat uncomfortable, but on the other side I was really glad, that I didn't have to wear those dirty rags for a moment.
The old man looked at my body and studied every inch. He made me bend and stretch while asking different questions. Sometimes he touched a spot on my body with his hand which gave me a prickling sensation. I admired his use of chakra, I could see the green light coming from his hands. After a while he made me lay down while he continued to use his chakra on me. I didn't know why, but as he touched my forehead my vision blurred and I lost consciousness.
Again there was this light surrounding me and this unbelievable smell. I felt weightless. I opened my eyes and saw the white rose petals. It was almost the same like the first thing that I could remember. But I could sense that something was different this time. As I watched the petals closely I could see that they were slowly mixing up with red ones. I closed my eyes again and my mouth started to move on it's own: "White roses to the dead... Red roses...", I stopped because the rest of this sentence was somewhere hidden in my subconsciousness. Suddenly I felt a warm embrace. It was so good. Once I knew this warm feeling that spread through my body. But that was a long time ago...
To soon I felt the warmth leaving me again. Leaving me alone, unsafe and vulnerable to the darkness that longed for my being. Yes, I could feel it. It was grabbing my body, pulling me to it's existence. I opened my eyes, hoping to see the wonderful being that had given me this warmth just a moment ago. I could hardly see what I was longing for. And my sight was now fading due to the fact that the darkness was consuming me. It wasn't my wish to leave the light, mine was to stay. But I was weak, I was helpless and worst of all...
I was alone...
I knew that I couldn't do anything to stop the darkness, but I didn't give up. Even though my body wasn't able to obey me, in my mind I was still fighting, refusing to give in. I struggled as much as I could, but nothing helped. I was to consumed by the darkness...
Suddenly my eyes popped open. Somebody was shaking my body: "Bara? Wake up, you've slept long enough!", I blinked a few times before I realized where I was.
"Huuuhh?...", I was to sleepy for more than mumbling.
"Wake up or you'll miss breakfast!", a pair of strong hands shook me again.
"Wha...? Food...? Whad time...?"
"It should be around ten o'clock a.m. And I don't remember that waking you up was such a hard job, kiddo", the blanket was torn away from my body.
"Gimme just... a minid... ", I turned to lay on my belly. After I stayed like that for a minute or two I rose up and yawned.
"Are you now finally fit to get up and dressed? I actually don't believe, that you want to stay just in underwear while we eat breakfast", I recognized Asuma in front of me, "I've washed your clothes so you won't feel that uncomfortable. Now get going, I'll be waiting in front of the door", he left the room as I collected my stuff.
I didn't know why but even though I had this bad dream, I was smiling. Was I happy because Asuma cared about me? I smiled again and blushed slightly. The feeling that I wasn't alone was pleasing my longing for warmth a bit. I giggled as I dressed myself. I was happy.
After I was done I left the room to meet up with Asuma: "You finally done kiddo? I'm starving out here."
I gave him a questioning look: "How long have you been waiting that your starving?"
"I woke up at about eight. You were making some strange noises while sleeping. Seemed like you had a nightmare."
"Huh?! You mean you were sleeping in the same room as I did? But there was just one bed and I was in it."
"I slept on the chair. The doctor didn't want to leave you alone, but he had an emergency call, so I had to look after you."
"Aah...", we walked along, "Why didn't you wake me if I had a nightmare?"
Asuma looked at me: "Hm... You calmed down after a short while. I thought you'd be okay again. Besides, the doctor said that you needed a good amount of rest."
"Oh, yeah? Then why did you wake me up anyway?"
"Because you need some nutrition to recuperate totally. He had to do some research and healing on you that weakened your body. So in order to get healthy you had to sleep for at least eight ours and now you'll eat some food he made specially for you, okay kiddo?"
"I get it. But..."
"No buts now kiddo. Let's just get to breakfast and we can talk then, I really need something to eat."
"Okay", I remained silent until we reached a sun flooded room with a large table and a few chairs around it.
A warm voice called out to us from a nearby room: "Heh, Asuma, looks like you couldn't wait any longer for breakfast", I figured it was the medic that entered the room with loaded plates, "Good morning Bara. How do you feel today?"
I watched the doctor place the plates on the table: "I feel okay."
"Any difference to yesterday?"
"No, or at least I haven't noticed anything."
"I have to apologize since I didn't introduce myself properly last night. I had a busy day and I was really tired."
"Uhm, I didn't mind. It's okay. Apology accepted."
He smiled warmly: "Well then I will introduce myself now. My name is Teron and I am the medic of this village", he gave me a nod.
I smiled: "Nice to meet you Teron."
"Now you both take a seat and eat some breakfast", he turned around to the room I could identify as kitchen, "I'll be right back with some more to eat."
Asuma and I sat down while Teron was busy in the kitchen: "Do you need any help in the kitchen Teron?"
"No, I'm fine Asuma. I might be already 50 but you know very well, that I'm always in good shape", he came back with more plates filled with tasty looking food, "I have a medicine in the kitchen for you Bara. You'll have to take it before you begin eating, okay?"
"Okay. Are you going to join us?"
"As much as I would like to stay and eat together with you and my good friend Asuma, I'm still medic and I need to take care of my patients", he left again to the kitchen. I took a glance at Asuma, who was sitting on his chair, leaning against the table, patiently waiting for Teron to come back with my medicine.
"There you go", Teron had put a cup filled with blue, milky liquid in front of me, "So, as soon as you'll be finished you can leave the dishes next to the sink in the kitchen. I'll be going now, have a nice day."
"You too", Asuma waved his hand shortly.
"Bye Teron", I watched him leave the room, "He seems to be very nice."
"He's okay when he's not tired, but I can assure you that you don't want to meet him before he had his coffee in the morning."
I giggled: "I can imagine that."
"Now don't you try and save yourself from the medicine. I'm going to take care that you'll drink it."
"Okay, okay. I'll take it right now", I lifted the cup to my mouth. The liquid smelled sweet so I tasted it, "Wow! This tastes actually good! Really good!", I emptied the cup.
"Now let's enjoy our meal", Asuma grabbed his chopsticks and began eating.
I watched him eat. Now that he could fill his stomach I could start asking him questions. I mean, he had told me that I could do that after I woke up. I wanted to take the chance: "Asuma?"
"Hm?", he chewed a piece of boiled egg.
"What did the doctor find out?",...