Neji was assigned to the edge of the village to check on a woman who had not shown up for work. The entire reason he had been asked to take care of this was due to the nature of this particular lady. She had been known for her rage and violence and maybe even high risk of depression. The Hyūga would make sure she was alright, even if that entailed getting a sharp object thrown right at his neck.
Her home was a small and pretty place, like a dream land in a Japanese fantasy. Everything about it seemed to be somewhat old fashioned. Even the door, which was plain and under most circumstances ordinary, had a certain age to it. Like the white hairs on an old man's face.
And just as he began to admire the flower garden, the door swung open.
Either of them was met with something of a shock.
It was her. The milk white woman with the scar etched onto her face. The way lightning strikes down from the sky. Her green eyes took him, while the expensive silken kimono draped around her seemed to climb back up those small shoulders.
"What are you doing on my porch?"
"I was sent to make sure everything was alight here. Your coworkers are worried about you."
"They needed a Jonin to do that?" The lady, with her long, light orange painted nails, reached into her sleeve and pulled out a cigarette and a lighter. Then she sighed. "Don't tell me why they sent you. I already know. I'm on that special list of people that need to be kept an eye on. You're running late to work and they think you've slit your wrists." She inhaled the smoke as those ashes fell right between her toes with matching nail polish, onto the disingenuous welcome mat.
"Well…"
The smoke blew out of her mouth, into the air. "Tell them I'm fine."
"I'm afraid it's not that easy. I need your signature."
Signature?" Puff.
"Yes. Signature." A folded up piece of neat paper was removed from the man's pocket. There was a massive amount of text sprawled all over its flesh. Like a tattoo of an epic poem. Then, at the bottom, was the woman's name and a line where she would write it.
明日
"I won't sign it."
The Hyūga felt a quick shock. His eyebrows raised up, and those light lavender eyes filled up with a fast scrutiny. "Why won't you sign it? Just write your name and I'll get off your porch."
"If I sign that, it's incrimination. I was going to the alibi that I felt sick this morning. Then they can't accuse me of being late due to irresponsibility. And you'll help me. I'm going to stay here fifteen more minutes and dress myself and you'll tell them I was finally getting over my headache. In return, you have my permission to sit in my rocking chair outside."
"If you're going to go through all this trouble, why not just pretend to be sick all day?"
"I have things to do."
For a moment, Neji just surveyed that tiny, snake-eyed thing. And she surveyed him right back. For a second and for a second only, her lips coiled up into something demure and coy. Then she went back inside her home, leaving the door open so Neji could follow.
Well, what option did he really have?
The inside of this house of hers was dainty. There were paintings hung about the walls, and furniture that looked far too new for a twenty something year old that was probably late to work too frequently. But the entirety of it was decorated well and carried the scent of perfume and cigarettes about the walls.
The Hyūga stopped short of following the woman into the bathroom.
"Go get something from the kitchen if you want." Her voice sounded preoccupied. "Twenty minutes!"
"If I lie for you, will you please sign this document?"
"Sure. Whatever you want."
Neji found a spot at her kitchen table.
And he stuck his chin into the open palm of his hand.
From the kitchen was a fantastic view of the entire village, because this strange woman lived on a slight hill that overlooked all of Konoha. There was the foliage, then the tall buildings that rose up from the ground like giants with their arms outstretched. Then there was the sun, which beat down, because it was practically summer, and every last one of those leaves seemed even greener than usual.
Twenty five minutes later, she came back out, dressed in a heavy kimono with her mess of raven hair held together by a mixture of bobby pins, ties, and a single kanzashi to blossom just as her bun began.
Now another roll of tobacco began in her mouth, the tip only beginning to glow a handsome red and ash.
"Miss, will you please sign this form?"
That slender hand took the page, and just to be a smart ass, wrote her name in hiragana instead of kanji. She made huge messy strokes, bombastic like a baby's writing and even more obnoxious because it was actually intentional.
あ。し。た。
Ashita.
"There." Her bright red lipstick left a kiss around the cigarette as she pulled it out of her mouth. Neji took the document from her before an ember fell onto it and caught the damn thing on fire. "We can go to work now. You'll escort me there, won't you?"
"I'm going in that direction anyway."
A nod and nothing more. In a delirium, they were leaving the house together, walking side by side this time, instead of running into one another going opposite directions.
They made quite a bit of progress before either spoke.
"Aren't you going to ask me?"
"Ask you what?"
"If the rumors are true."
Silence.
"Everyone's curious."
"Of course. But I hardly know you. It's rude."
"That hasn't stopped anyone before."
"People have no manners."
"No. I suppose they don't."
Their feet scooted along in the dirt, while the light beat down like a rage.
"I am curious, though. Why did you tell me outright that you're going to lie about being sick?"
"You wouldn't have believed me anyway."
Neji nearly laughed. "Well, you're right about that." They continued on forward, eyes between the healthy green trees and one another. "What do you do at the hospital?"
Ashita seemed to perk up some. "I handle the blood samples. Test for disease, abnormalities. It's the sort of job some people might find tedious, but it's the reason I don't pretend to be sick all day." Those heavy green eyes, that might intimidate just about everyone else, shot him with a stare. "What's it like being a ninja around here?"
"It's not bad."
"Even when you have mission like this?"
"Of course. I'm thankful for these sorts of assignments. Every once in a while, it's good to take a walk to the edge of the village just to get a signature. Usually, it's easier than the things they have me do."
"I suppose so. I never really had easy missions."
And that was all the woman said. Neji merely listened and didn't bother pressing any further. To do so would be like moving the table cloth out from under an entire six course meal. There was no graceful way to do it. So instead of spilling soup and sauce and roasted meat all over the floor, Neji left the entire table alone.
Though, she had to be a ninja.
How else would that scar be on her face?
She was too muscular anyway, to have done blood tests and blood tests alone, all her life.
He stopped himself from looking too long.
And soon enough, the two were at the hospital, the head nurse standing outside, like a worried mother waiting for her wayward twelve year-old to come back.
"I'm sorry I'm late. I was feeling horrible this morning, but it cleared up." Ashita said it without practically any energy. Like she didn't care, if that woman believed her or not. In fact, Neji was certain that green eyed thing didn't think anyone would.
Then, Ashita turned to him, her all too expensive kimono whirling around her, the way it would during a dramatic dance. "I'll see you around. Take it easy."
The words were too heavy.
"Take care, Miss."