HOLES IN THE SKY
Chapter Two: Way of The Sun
~some spend their time calling out what others have said,
the day will rise and fall again, or so I have read,
I will do, not weep, past all this false critique~
She shoved the doors open and stepped out into the courtyard, chest heaving, nostrils flaring as she tried to regain control over her emotions. How dare he. How fucking dare he say something so heartless when he bore no witness to her plight, when he knew absolutely nothing about the inner workings of her mind. He had only heard rumours, most of which were derived from a never ending chain of chinese whispers and from those he considered himself an expert on all things Asami? Where he found the gall, she would never know and she wouldn't be asking him any time soon.
The doors creaked open and she glanced over with a fiery expression, but then cooled it somewhat when she saw her very concerned looking friend. She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly through her nose, then glanced off to the side, jaw tightening. "I hate him."
Rin walked over, frowning slightly in sympathy, stopping inches away. "Hate is a strong word," she reasoned gently, wanting to hold her hand, hug her, anything that would bring her even a smidgen of comfort, but she had never seen her so riled and she didn't want to smother her.
Asami looked her dead in the eye, annoyed. "I dislike him strongly." She shook her head, gaze mocking, then brought a trembling hand to her forehead, covering her eyes. "I just… I'm sick of it." She dragged her hand down her face before waving it towards the block of houses to their right, looking at her in pained anger. "The people in this village… t-they judge what they don't understand. They don't even try to understand, and he… h-he-"
"Asami, stop, stop." Rin grabbed her shoulders, held her still. "You've come this far, please don't let him ruin it," she said forcefully, shaking her once, knowing she had referred to herself. "Just try to calm down, take deep breaths. Don't let him see you like this. Don't let him win."
Her face scrunched up. "He's not even here."
"No, but he will be soon." Rin gestured to the doors with a fleeting glance. "Graduation is over and that is the exit."
Asami straightened her spine, eyes becoming fiercely determined. "Well he better not or I'll punch his stupid hair clean off his head!" Her raised voice overshadowed the sound of the doors opening and she ploughed on with her rage, unaware of the second pair of eyes watching her outburst. "I'll scalp his goddamn head with my fist!" She clenched her hand and shook it for emphasis, then bristled when a choke of laughter sounded to her left. She snapped her head around to where Obito had paused in the doorway, one hand clutching the frame to steady himself and the other fisted over his mouth as he unsuccessfully tried to lessen his laughter induced coughing. She relaxed, albeit slightly and lifted her eyebrows in mild concern. "You okay?"
He nodded briskly, just about managing to suppress his coughs and then walked forwards, eyes glistening with amused tears as he slowed to a halt beside them. He pocketed his hands and stared ahead with a strained expression, then looked down at her from the corner of his eye, mouth twitching upwards. "Can I watch?"
It was silent for a few beats as she stared at him. She didn't want to joke; she was too fired up. She wanted to vent her frustrations, spew her negative thoughts to a willing ear, but the longer she remained under his playful gaze, the more her anger faded and slowly, very slowly, her mouth curved up into a sinister grin. "You can hold him in place."
He smirked, as if he were picturing it.
Rin watched them fondly, chose to ignore their scheme to deprive Kakashi of his hair in a violent fashion and instead focused on what really mattered; Asami was smiling again and it warmed her heart, even if it did look a little terrifying. Obito opened his mouth to add something further, but Rin held up a hand, cut him off. "Nobody is scalping anyone," she said, the hint of humour in her eyes.
Obito clamped his mouth shut, shared an amused glance with Asami and then cleared his throat, eyes sidling towards Rin. "So..." he trailed off, almost losing his nerve at her cute, questioning eyebrow raise. His cheeks pinked. Here goes nothing. "Are you celebrating with anyone? Because, well… I was thinking we could-"
"I'm sorry, Obito," she said ruefully and touched his arm, face awash with understanding. "My parents are taking me out to dinner. They booked a table just in case."
His face fell, blush fading as he looked down, discouraged. "Oh..." He shrugged his shoulders slightly, played it off like it was no big deal. "It's okay." He looked back up and gave her a wide, genuine smile, one that reached and softened his eyes. "I hope you have a good time. You deserve it."
She gave his arm a gentle, affectionate squeeze, leaned in close and he stiffened, face heating up once more. "I'll save you a piece of cake." She grinned. "A really big, chocolatey piece of cake."
Asami folded her arms, put all of her weight on one foot. "Ahem." Their heads turned in unison to see her looking down her nose at them, one dark eyebrow raised expectantly in jest.
Rin huffed out a laugh and stepped back, much to Obito's disappointment and put her hands on her hips, fixing Asami with a playfully lecturing stare. "Don't ahem me." Asami smirked, to which she responded with a smirk of her own. "I'll be saving you a piece, too. Don't you worry."
"Consider my mind at ease," Asami said in mock seriousness, eyes sparkling with mirth before they focused on something over Rin's shoulder, near the gate. "Your parents are here," she said, nodding her head in their direction.
Rin followed her gaze, smile brightening and threw them an excited wave, then turned back around, met both of their eyes apologetically. "I better get going." She began to back away. "I'll see you both tomorrow, okay?"
Asami nodded in confirmation, then frowned deeply, mouth parting, nose scrunching up on one side. Wait a diddly-darn minute. She opened her mouth to point out a potential issue, barely got out the first syllable before Obito unleashed the loudest, most guttural sounding goodbye she had ever heard in her whole two lives; a sound so inhuman it resembled that of an animal being tortured, stunning her into silence and distracting her long enough for Rin to get away, though not without a few startled backwards glances.
Obito stared unseeingly at the spot she had previously stood, red-faced, unable to believe he had produced such a sound and just when he thought it couldn't get any worse, he felt Asami slink up behind him, felt her breath against his ear and then she mimicked him. He turned and shot her an extremely embarrassed glare.
She stepped away, laughing in disbelief. "What was that?"
The fierceness left his eyes as they drifted to the side of her, expression growing somewhat traumatised. "I... I really don't know," he said eventually, bringing his gaze back to hers and the sheer abject horror splayed across his face had her laughing all the harder, but it didn't last long.
Her eyes were drawn to the doors instinctively upon hearing a creak and when she caught sight of the masked devil himself, everything came rushing back. All the negative feelings she had managed to shake took residence inside her once again, and then there was anger, so much anger, but there was even more hurt and then she was moving, purely a knee-jerk reaction and hid behind Obito's much taller stature, hating herself and hoping the silver haired fucker hadn't noticed her cowardice.
Taken aback by her sudden proximity, Obito began to move away, but she gripped his shirt and pulled him back, closer than before. "What are you doi-"
"Act natural."
He squinted down at her in confusion. "Huh?"
"Shh."
Curious as to what caused her behaviour, he swept his eyes around the courtyard for answers, but found none, so he cast a glance over his shoulder instead, instantly locking eyes with Kakashi as he walked down the steps. His confusion shifted into anger and he narrowed his eyes, wishing his sharingan would hurry up and awaken because Kakashi didn't look at all fazed by his glare; just walked on by with an air of indifference, seemingly over the previous assault on his face as he looked away, disinterested and made his way towards the gate without so much as a second glance.
There was a short silence following his departure which Obito spent glaring in the direction he had gone, but then a very quiet, very miserable sounding apology had him turning back. Asami had moved away, suddenly looking devoid of life and he frowned a little, not sure why she was apologising when that job belonged to his midget team mate.
He watched her closely for a moment, not liking her dead eyed stare, so he tried to lighten the mood. "What happened to scalping him with your fist?" he teased in the hopes of bringing back some of her fire, but if anything he seemed to snuff out whatever remained of it.
She brought her eyes up to his, gave him what appeared to be a bright smile, but he wasn't fooled. He could see through her mask as if it were a mere glass pane and what he saw on the other side caused his grin to fade. She looked away, her weak attempt at a smile vanishing as she gave up her pretence of happiness because what was the point? He had seen through it in a heartbeat and there was no one else to fool. She then blinked several times, suddenly remembering Asuma and the fact he was supposed to be there. She glanced around, wanting him to swoop in and use his big brother powers to magic away her pain, to make her forget the bad because that was what he did best, but he wasn't there and before she could feel any worse... something happened.
Something wonderfully unexpected and magical in itself.
"Don't listen to him, okay?" Obito's voice cut through her thoughts. "You're the strongest person I know."
Asami did a double take, unsure whether she had heard correctly. "W-What?"
"You are not weak," he said honestly, from the heart. "That thing that happened to you…" He paused briefly, stared at her intently, meaningfully. "You kicked it's butt and here you are." He motioned his hand towards her headband, the very symbol of her strength. "You wouldn't be holding that right now if what he said was true." He gave her an encouraging smile, hoping to inspire a smile of her own – a real one this time, but that only served to bring tears to her eyes and he mentally flailed. That was not supposed to happen. Crap.
She was too overcome with emotion to maintain eye contact for long and looked down at her headband, just now realising her foolishness as one tear dripped onto the metal plate.
"D-Don't cry…" Obito reached for her, at a loss for what else to do and pulled her into a hug.
She readily stepped into his embrace, needing the comfort and rested her forehead against his collarbone, closing her eyes and sighing heavily. "You're right," she said quietly, voice muffled by his shirt. She had allowed that prick into her head despite knowing his words to be untrue, and for that she was a bloody fool. But never again. She was a genin now, one deserving of the title and Kakashi could suck on it. "You always know what to say to make me feel better. You're like medicine." She held him tighter. "Thank you, Obito. I needed that."
"No problem." He was about to hold her closer, but the moment he began to move he happened to turn his head, meeting the eyes of the infamous, extremely protective big brother who watched him pointedly with an unreadable, yet intimidating arch of his brow. Double crap. He removed his arms from around her shoulders and held up his hands in surrender, looking somewhat sheepish. "…Hey."
"Hey," Asuma replied bluntly, eyes flickering down to Asami as she turned around and when he saw the red around her eyes, his brotherly instincts kicked in full throttle and he touched her arm, lowered his head to get a closer look. "Why are you crying?" he asked without hesitation, inspecting her with a deeply worried frown and she tensed, seemed to clam up.
"Because reasons." Was her curt, don't ask me again reply before she thrust her headband at his face, forcefully changing the subject. "Feast your eyes!" she exclaimed triumphantly and he pushed her hand down, stared at her with confliction.
Yeah, reasons that usually resulted in him having a stern talk with a third party.
He slid his eyes over to Obito for any indication of what happened, but Obito purposefully kept his eyes to the ground, reluctant to divulge information and Asuma heaved out a sigh, resigned to let it go and did what she bade – feasted his eyes. He flicked the material of her headband, taking note of her trademark colour. "Red."
"Yeah…" Asami grinned with a slight, confused frown, eyes traversing the fabric. "I don't get it." She looked up, stumped. "Mine was the only red one."
"Why aren't you wearing it?" Asuma asked.
"Oh." She made a nonchalant face, began stuffing it into her pocket. "I got distracted. I'll wear it tomorrow." On her first day with her team, it seemed only fitting.
"Distracted by what?" He thought she would have worn it immediately since she had dreamed about this day for months, worked damn hard to pass – more than he had, which was why she had graduated one year younger than he had been. He supposed he should feel one-upped, jealous, but he loved her too much to feel anything but pride.
Asami scratched the back of her neck, a nervous habit she had picked up from him. "Stuff," she hedged, sharing a furtive glance with Obito. "And things."
Obito looked at him sidelong, crossed his arms and bobbed his head casually. "Stuff and things." Nothing out of the ordinary here.
Asuma eyed them both, mildly annoyed by their secrecy. They were so transparent. It was obvious it had something to do with reasons and he wanted to drag it out of them, but he noticed how tensely she held herself, how close she was to slipping into a state of moodiness, so he decided against it – for now – and put his hands into his pockets, turned around, done here. "Come on." And then he walked off, not waiting to see if she would follow because he knew she would.
And follow she did, with Obito not too far behind.
She came up beside him, hands clasped behind her back, a skip in her step as she peered up at him. "Where?"
"Home," he said in a tone of voice that implied where else?
She jumped in front of him, mirrored his steps as she walked backwards. "What are we going to do at home?" She grinned, already knowing there would be some form of celebration, but wanting details.
He stared at her blankly for a moment, then brought a finger to his chin and looked up, appearing deep in thought. "Stuff and things," he said after a brief pause, dropping his eyes back down to hers, smirking at her reaction. She had stopped in her tracks, face set into an oh no you didn't expression and he sidestepped her, continued on his way, smug as hell.
She tsked and crossed her arms, glared at the back of his head as he walked through the gate. "Smartass," she grumbled under her breath, then turned towards Obito, smiling despite herself. "I should probably follow the big dummy before he leaves me behind."
Obito blinked, took a moment to respond. "Okay, yeah. I'll just, uh…" he trailed off, pointing in the direction of his home. "…Yeah." He concluded dumbly, laughing a little before he looked down, eyes growing sombre, wistful. "Enjoy your celebration."
Alarmed by his sudden change, she tilted her head in an attempt to catch his eyes, voice filling with concern. "What's wrong?"
He stared unwaveringly at his feet, jaw working oddly as he tried to find the right words, but then he shook his head, changed his mind. "Nothing." He looked up with a smile, eyes crinkling unconvincingly. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
He made to walk away, but she shot forwards and snagged his sleeve, the sudden realisation of his circumstances hitting her like a truck. "Wait," she said, tugging him back to her side. "Why don't you come home with me?"
His eyes widened in surprise, a thousand emotions surging through him at the message he saw written in hers.
You don't have to be alone today.
She slipped her hand into his, not needing an answer for one hung in the air, a big, unspoken yes as she pulled him through the gate. "I'm almost positive we're having curry for dinner." She looked back at him, smiling. "You like that, right?"
He followed slowly at first, in awe of her kind gesture, but then he picked up the pace and fell into step beside her, warmth spreading throughout his chest at the thought of not returning to a dark, empty house. "Yeah," he said, looking down at her with gratitude. "I do."
Later That Evening
"Oh, come on, Obito!" Asami scoffed, rolling her eyes. "You're acting like it's the world's most complex jutsu." She jabbed a mocking finger at him. "You can make a clone on the spot, but god forbid someone asks you to braid something."
"Well, it's not like I have hair to practice on every day!" he retorted defensively, giving her long, braided hair a dirty look. "Unlike someone."
Asami looked down at her hands, almost laughing. "Still not a complex jutsu," she muttered, fiddling with several plastic straws and when she heard him mimic her moodily under his breath, she smirked at him, then sighed dramatically. Moron. "Just follow my lead... again." She leaned over the dining table, all but shoved her hands under his nose to give him a clear view. "I'll go slow this time, okay?"
He nodded, stared at her hands intently as she began to weave the straws together and he would have lost interest by now, but she had implanted an image into his head which practically latched onto his brain and refused to let go.
"Mother said dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes, so I thought we could do something creative to pass the time," she had said as she emerged from the kitchen, hands behind her back. "That's where these come in." She pulled out a box of drinking straws, looking rather pleased with herself. "I thought we could make bracelets!" she said excitedly, opening the box and tossing him a few. "But instead of just shoving the ends into each other and folding them and stuff, we could braid them. Make them more sturdy."
He looked at her as if she were mad. "Why would I want to braid?" he asked in a blunt tone, dropping a straw into his glass and taking a long, refreshing sip. Boys didn't braid.
Her smile faltered at his flat out rejection, but then it transitioned into a sly grin, eyes flashing mischievously. "Well, I don't know..." She shrugged, threw her hands up. "Rin likes to have her hair braided occasionally..."
He paused mid-sip.
She sat down opposite him, began to sift through the straws. "I mean, you could... I don't know, sit in a meadow on a summer's day with her hair between your fingers, the sun on your faces as you repeatedly impress her with your new hairstyling talent." Her eyes flickered up to his. "Alone."
And just like that he fell, hook, line and sinker. God damnit.
He watched her fingers closely, tried to etch their movements into his memory and once he was positive he had it down, he readied his own straws and after a moment of "where does this part go again?" he slowly but surely began to make progress. "I think I'm getting it."
"Yeah?" she asked and he nodded once. "Alright, then." She sat back, proceeded to finish up her own. "It's really easy once you get the hang of-"
"No, wait."
She glanced up to see him staring down at his hands, brow furrowed deeply in concentration as he tried to fathom what the hell just happened before he looked up with extremely confused eyes. "Uhh…"
"You can't be serious." She deadpanned. "I looked away for one second. How are you that tangled up?"
"I don't know," he said grumpily. "Stupid things have a mind of their own." He had somehow managed to knot the straws around his fingers and he tugged at them aggressively, inadvertently causing the knots to tighten and cut off his circulation. His eyes widened and in a moment of panic he shook his hands around frantically, making weird, frustrated noises as he did so and when she snorted out a laugh, he glared daggers. "It's not funny!"
She leaned against the table, chin in her hand. "I beg to differ."
He uncrossed his legs and shuffled around the table on his knees. "Just help before they drop off!"
She responded with a smirk, a wide, patronising one. "I'm a medic, remember?" she said, voice dripping with amusement. "I'll just reattach them."
"What?! No!" He thrust his hands towards her urgently, pleadingly, looking completely horrified. "Asami, please! If you don't help, then they'll-"
"-drop off, blah, blah, blah, I know." She grabbed his hands, began fumbling with the knots. "Lighten up. I was just teasing."
"And I'd probably laugh if my fingers weren't dying!"
Asami made a pssh sound. "Don't be a drama queen." She looked him squarely the eyes, shaking her head. "They're not dying." He visibly relaxed, let out a long, relieved breath, but then her face fell, followed by a very horrified sounding "oh no" and he tensed right back up.
"Oh no?" he asked, panic overcoming him once more. "What do you mean oh no?!"
She reached into her weapons pouch and pulled out a kunai, expression grim. "I'm going to have to cut them off."
"What?!" he shrieked girlishly and recoiled from her, aghast.
"The straws," she clarified with an innocent, overly sweet smile and he calmed instantly, then narrowed his eyes.
"That was mean," he said with a great deal of butthurt and she chuckled darkly, gestured for his hands which he grudgingly gave her. "That was mean and I won't forgive you."
"Cry me a river." She smirked as she sliced through the plastic, mindful not to cut him, then shook her head in disbelief. "Who knew braiding could be so dangerous?" She peeked up at him playfully, only to burst out laughing at his silent you're dead to me stare – a laugh so loud it echoed down the hall and into the kitchen; a laugh so joyous it brought a fond smile to Biwako's lips.
"I thought I'd never hear that again," Biwako said as she stirred through the curry that simmered on the stove. "It's wonderful isn't it?"
"Mmhm," Asuma replied automatically, not looking up from the bowls and chopsticks he was tasked with organising a few feet away.
She listened to her laughter a moment longer before turning her head towards him. "I'm thankful she has such kind, patient and understanding friends," she said, eyes crinkling as a smile stretched across her face. "They certainly helped in her recovery, didn't they?"
"Mmhm," he replied in the same dull monotone, giving her pause. He was staring at the wall in front of himself, eyes distant, mind clearly in a faraway place and, losing her patience, she yanked the oven mitt off the counter and slapped his arm with it, startling him out of his thoughts. He jumped back a step, disgruntled and held out an arm in wary defence.
"What's gotten into you?" she asked.
He looked at her oddly, not following. "What do you mean?"
"You've had that look on your face ever since you got home!" She thumped the mitt back onto the counter, forgetting about the curry completely. "What happened?"
He slowly lowered his arm, eyes darting to the mitt warily and back, still not following. "...This is just my face."
"No, that's your something is bothering me about Asami face," she clarified, then jabbed a finger at him warningly. "And don't you dare deny it." She jabbed it at him again for emphasis. "Now, what happened?"
He hesitated, then sent a quick glance into the hallway to check that they were alone. "When I got to the academy, she was crying," he told her after a few seconds, downplaying his concern with a blank expression and a casual tone of voice. "And when I asked her about it, she changed the subject."
Biwako's forehead wrinkled briefly in concern, but then she turned back towards the stove, shrugging. "Maybe they were tears of happiness," she suggested, re-stirring the curry with heavy denial, blanking her features. "You know how hard she worked to pass."
"No," he said firmly, shaking his head. "We wouldn't be having this conversation if they were." He tried to gauge her thoughts, but her face remained a blank mask and after a long, silent pause, she nodded in acceptance, opened her mouth and regurgitated the same words she would say whenever something like this arose, like a damn broken record that slowly eroded his patience the more it went on and he clenched his jaw, at the end of his rope.
"Just give her time."
He had given her time; months and months of it, but there was only so much he could endure watching from the side-lines before his patience snapped in half. He didn't have it in him to just sit back and speculate anymore, so he decided that once the day was through, he would get to the bottom of 'reasons' and help her in any way he could because that's what big brothers were for and he'd be damned if he let anyone get away with hurting her.
Silence spanned throughout the kitchen as they delved into their own heads, but when Asuma came back to himself, he almost broke it. His response teetered on the edge of his tongue, but then he realised that he had no desire to continue their conversation, so he swallowed back his words and turned back towards the bowls and chopsticks, eager to get the job done already so he could sit down with a cold glass of iced tea and brood some more.
But the silence didn't last long because there was a loud tsk, then an annoyed "where on earth is your father?" He turned to see her peering over her shoulder at the clock hanging above the door behind them, looking rather ticked off. "He promised he wouldn't be late."
And then all desire for silence shattered as bitterness overcame him and before he could stop himself, words were flying out of his mouth. "He's probably cuddling up to his paperwork," he said cynically, then closed his eyes and sighed through his nose, regretting it instantly because he knew a storm would head his way in three, two...
"Enough!" Biwako shouted, dumping the wooden spoon into the pan, ignoring the small flecks of curry that splattered onto her apron and brought a hand level with her head, shaking it slightly. "I have had it up to here with your flippant attitude towards your fathers work!" she snapped indignantly. "He is the Hokage. Paperwork comes with the job description. It's stressful and time consuming, but it has to be done." Her mouth formed into a thin, agitated line, watched as he wrapped the last set of chopsticks into a napkin, looking as if he were blocking her out and she scoffed, returned her attention back to the stove. "He tries his best to be with us. You know he does." She looked at him briefly from the corner of her eye. "So show him some respect, will you?"
He didn't say anything, which wasn't at all surprising. They had danced this dance many times before, each time ending in stony silence on his end before he left the room in search of solitude, and any minute now, he would follow through. He would finish his task, grab an iced tea and then disappear... and like the creature of habit he was, he did just that.
. . .
Hiruzen returned home close to half an hour later, though the only one that had been bothered by that fact was Asuma. He remained bothered for a while after that too, but for an entirely different reason because the moment Hiruzen entered the room, he had been off. He didn't smile, nor did he acknowledge Asami's achievement in the way she had hoped; a fond ruffle of the hair with the utterance of my little genius, just like old times. Instead he merely nodded at her, gave her a brief well done before leaving for the kitchen, though not without one last lingering glance. His focus solely on her; his eyes crimping slightly as he studied her – the telltale sign that something was wrong and she grew uneasy, watching his retreating form with a confused, crestfallen look in her eyes and when he re-emerged with an equally confused Biwako in tow, those feelings intensified. He sat down beside her, nodding a quick hello at Obito who clammed up in return, barely managing a h-hello, lord hokage s-sir before clamping his mouth shut out of nervousness, earning strange glances from both the Sarutobi siblings.
But then Asami looked back at him, visibly hurt by his display, which led Asuma up to this moment. He watched him darkly from the corner of his eye as he sipped his iced tea, waiting for him to break the heavy silence he had wrought and after he gulped down some of his sake, he proceeded to do just that. He set his glass down onto the table, the action alone causing an uneasy feeling of dread to settle deep into her stomach. He was the picture of calm, almost no emotion showing on his age-lined face except for the slight hardness to his eyes and when he set his gaze on her, she knew she was in trouble.
"Is it true you assaulted Kakashi Hatake this afternoon?" he asked, cutting to the chase.
Too caught off guard by the fact he knew that already, she didn't notice the oncoming spray of tea hurtling towards her face until it was too late. She reared back an inch, startled and spluttering before looking at her assailant in disgusted shock. "Do you mind?" She furiously scrubbed at her face with her sleeve, scowling. "That got in my mouth, you donkey!"
Beside her, Obito was clenching his jaw tight, face twitching as he tried his damned best not to laugh in front of the hokage, while Asuma – the culprit – was staring at her in shocked silence, iced tea trickling down his chin, glass forgotten in his hand. She would have ripped into him some more, but her father's deep, authoritative voice intervened and she snapped her eyes up to his, heart skipping a beat.
"Is it true?" he pressed sternly, seeming to already know the answer, but willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.
She hesitated, suddenly feeling a little scared, but then she raised her chin and put on a brave, uncaring face because frankly, the little shit deserved it. "Yes."
He looked at her disappointedly. "We raised you better than that." He exchanged a glance with a very surprised Biwako before looking back at her with renewed sternness. "I expected more from you."
She twisted her body towards him, getting defensive. "But he-"
"I know what he did," he said immediately, voice coming out much harsher than intended and she flinched, the briefest flicker of hurt in her eyes. He felt a pang of guilt and leaned towards her, placed a reassuring hand near hers. "I'm not defending him, Asami. Please know that." He held her gaze meaningfully. "But instead of using your fists, show him how strong you can be without them."
Asami felt her mouth open slightly in surprise, but then closed it just as fast, pulled her hand away and looked down at her lap, unsure how to react, unsure of what to say. She didn't miss his meaning; the underlying encouragement behind his words, but she was unable to stifle the pain that ignited within because he of all people should have understood why she did it; why she lost control in the face of such a judgemental, callous person and for him to look at her with such disappointed eyes, even after having had front row seats to her year long struggle left her feeling very small, wounded and disillusioned.
"Do you understand?" he asked firmly, retracting his hand, watching her closely.
She swallowed tensely, kept her eyes downcast. "Yes," she said brusquely, though her tone heavily implied no and he could hear it – the hurt, the betrayal, the silent question of how could you?
But he said nothing, only nodded as he reached for his sake and the awkward silence that followed made her want to disappear. But then he spoke again, changing his tune entirely, stunning her out of her misery. "Was it a good punch?" he asked casually, looking down at her sidelong, slowly sipping his sake and she gaped at him, completely and utterly speechless, mind reeling from his complete one eighty and honestly, she didn't know how to feel. Especially after what he had just done, but the mirthful look in his eyes slowly chipped away at her reluctance to forgive; it was infuriatingly contagious and before she knew it, a small, cheeky grin crept onto her face. She couldn't help it; she had no control and as she shared his mirth, she saw it – the perfect opportunity to salvage the cheerful atmosphere he had destroyed.
"The best," she replied, grin widening to reveal a small sliver of teeth before redirecting her gaze towards Obito. He was frozen in place, eyes darting between each person awkwardly, not really sure what just happened and she snickered quietly, shook her head and looked away, ready to move on and enjoy the rest of the evening without any further disturbance.
Biwako seemed to share the idea because she immediately began filling up their bowls, sweeping the subject under the rug in favour of actually celebrating and fired question after question in her direction, some of which only Hiruzen could answer. He shed light on why her headband was red; he had it specially made so that if she passed, she could wear her favourite colour as part of her uniform. She was moved by his thoughtfulness, and even more so when he revealed the reason behind her assigned team. He was partially responsible for her placement because as the hokage, he had a say in who went where. He told her that not only was Choza a kind and patient man, but both her team mates had skills she could learn from, especially Gai because he excelled in what she did not – taijutsu. It was the perfect matchup, if he did say so himself and she couldn't fault him there.
However…
"What would I learn from Genma?" she asked curiously, searching her brain for memories, finding zilch. It was really bothering her how she hadn't remembered him yet. What if he was some kind of evil mastermind in disguise? Chills ran down her spine at the very thought… she would have to be on her guard.
Hiruzen just smiled knowingly, told her to figure that out for herself which annoyed the absolute crap out of her, but she decided to play his game.
"Fine," she conceded, shovelling a large glob of rice into her mouth, chewing slowly as she thought some more. But then she paused mid-chew and looked up, blinked a couple of times at what she saw. Asuma had stopped eating and was just… staring at her and, taken aback by the intensity of his eyes, her hackles rose and she mouthed a mildly aggressive what?
He just looked down, frowning deeply as he poked at his food, quite clearly in a mood of some sort and she scrunched her nose, not understanding what she had done to offend him.
What in the actual fu-
. . .
The evening drew to an end and Asami escorted Obito to the front door where she leaned against the frame with her arms crossed, watching silently as he donned his shoes from his seated position on her front step. She was chuckling quietly to herself, thinking back to his braiding fiasco and how she had something amusing to tell Rin the next day, but then she paused, suddenly remembering something and then hung her head forward, groaning. "Oh goddamnit."
"What?" Obito asked curiously, looking over his shoulder and when he met her accusatory, squinty-eyed stare, he squinted right back at her. "...What?"
She lifted her head, glared at him. "I wanted to tell Rin something earlier, but because of you she left before I could," she said peevishly, narrowing her eyes further as if to say yeah, you heard me.
He half-turned his body towards her, face twisting up in confusion. "What do you mean because of me?"
She released a short, airy laugh of disbelief. "I mean that I was too distracted by your freakish screech to notice her leaving!"
His face caught fire at the memory and for a few seconds, he floundered helplessly for words. "Well… it's not like I did it on purpose!" He spun back around, pouted down at his shoes, feeling embarrassed to the point of no return and, wanting to take the heat off of himself, he changed the subject. "What did you want to tell her, anyway?" he asked as he slipped on his other shoe, then stood and turned around, only to freeze upon discovering he was victim to yet another weird, squinty-eyed stare. "What?"
A staring contest ensued for several seconds before she perked up, realising something. "Oh!" she exclaimed, snapping her fingers. "I can just tell you!"
He tilted his head with growing puzzlement. "...Okay?"
"Yeah!" She nodded enthusiastically, moving away from the doorframe and uncrossing her arms. "I can tell you, and then you can tell Rin."
"Okay." He shrugged, attention piqued. "Shoot."
"You know how we agreed to meet up tomorrow after training?" she asked and he nodded, urging her to continue. "Well, there's a chance that might not happen."
"What?" he asked, frowning perplexedly. "Why?"
"We're on different teams, Obito," she explained, feeling a surge of envy. "Meaning we're on different training grounds and god knows how long our tests will take. We could finish at different times, maybe hours apart, so..." she trailed off, shrugging, then casually fiddled with her braid, bringing the end under her nose like a moustache to conceal her smirk. "I mean, I kinda hoped the three of us could have talked it over, but-"
"Don't you dare finish that sentence," he growled warningly, not needing another reminder and she pressed her mouth together, looking as innocent as the day she was born. Innocent my butt, he thought grumpily and, giving her one last glare of warning, he looked down, pointedly ignored her as he wracked his brain for a solution …coming up with nothing. "Just leave it with me," he said determinedly, looking back up at her and she lowered her moustache chest level, intrigued. "Me and Rin will figure something out, don't worry." He smiled reassuringly, pocketing his hands, rocking back on his heels. "So just… train and stuff, get on with your day and we'll find you."
She nodded slowly, a small part of her worried their plans would fall through. "Okay," she said hesitantly, resisting the urge to scratch her neck, not wanting to show how worried she actually was. She just really wanted to see them – they were the only friends she had. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow then." She returned his smile, hopeful, and when he held out his fist with an enthusiastic shout of "yep!" she giggled a little and bumped her knuckles against his own, their way of saying goodbye and their way only.
And then he was running down her pathway, throwing a wave over his shoulder before vanishing around the corner and she smiled after him, worry melting away with each passing second.
. . .
She concluded the evening with a much needed, completely satisfying bath before making her way towards her brother's bedroom in long, determined strides, wanting an explanation for why there seemed to be a bug up his ass and hoping the reason wasn't short, tanned and secretly foul-mouthed.
"Asuma?" she called when she reached his door, then pushed it open when his muffled mmhm gave her the go ahead. He was sat on his bed, legs hanging over the edge as he polished one of his chakra blades and when he didn't acknowledge her further, not even a glance of hello, she knew she was the reason. For fuck sake. She stepped further into the room, decided to break the ice with a peace offering in the hopes of crawling back into his good graces. "I started running your bath because I'm an amazing and kind sister..."
There was a short, distracted pause, then a sarcastic "what would I do without you?" as he switched blades.
"Fail at life, obviously," she fired back with a smirk, but he didn't return it; didn't even look at her and she sighed heavily through her nose, expression projecting both annoyance and confusion. "Why are you mad at me?"
"I'm not mad," he said simply.
Her eyebrows slammed down into a disbelieving frown. "You're not mad?"
"Nope."
She stood there dumbly, confusion increasing a few levels, but then she shook her head and pointed at him accusingly. "Then why have you been giving me evils all evening?"
He made a thoughtful face, then shrugged his mouth down briefly. "I wouldn't exactly call them evils."
She crossed her arms, unamused. "Brooding stares, then."
He sighed and lowered his blade, simultaneously lifted his eyes to hers. "Honestly?" He upturned his eyebrows, shaking his head twice. "I'm more hurt than anything," he admitted, laying himself open, just like that.
She blinked several times, momentarily speechless, then caught herself. "You're hurt?" she asked incredulously, tilting her head, struggling to understand. "When are you ever hurt?"
He seemed to take offence to that. "I am capable of that emotion, Asami."
She scoffed. "Says the king of one facial expression. Deadpan." She then back-pedalled, confusion hitting the roof. "Wait a minute." She held up a hand, looked at him strangely. "You're hurt because I punched Kakashi?" He opened his mouth to point out the ridiculousness of that question, but she was continuing. "What, are your faces linked up or something? Is that why you're hurt? You were punched out of nowhere and you're holding a grudge?"
And there it was, the deadpan expression, complete with hooded, unimpressed eyes. "No," he said flatly, returning his attention back to his chakra blade, running the cloth down the entire length before speaking again. "I'm hurt because you didn't tell me." He held the blade out in front of himself, inspecting his handiwork before placing it down onto his bedside table. "Yet you told Obito." He said, voice containing thinly-veiled jealously and she uncrossed her arms, feeling somewhat guilty, but also feeling a little pissed because he had it all wrong.
"Okay, first of all," she put her hands onto her hips, leaned forwards a little. "Obito was there," she said, setting him straight. "And second of all, I didn't tell you for a reason."
"What reason?"
"Hmm, let me see," she exaggerated thoughtfulness, spread her arms wide, shrugging. "Whenever I do tell you about these things, you fling yourself at people threateningly!"
He gave her a funny look. "I do not fling myself." He jutted his chin out defensively, stubbornly. "I approach them at a perfectly reasonable pace and tell them to back off in a not so friendly way."
"Same thing." She waved a dismissive hand, then looked at him sadly, remembering those awful words. "I just want to forget about it, Asuma." She dropped her eyes to the carpet, seeing it all over again. "And if you were to confront him, then it would only escalate and I really don't want the stress." She looked back at him, saw the reluctance in his eyes and took a pleading step forwards, needing him to understand. "I want to move on, focus on my training with no distractions and no negativity so I can become stronger." For you, she left unsaid. "So can you just… leave it alone?"
His response was immediate, urgent. "What did he do?"
She frowned, instantly annoyed. "Are you kidding me? I just asked you to leave it alone."
He said nothing for a long, thoughtful moment. "How about this," he suggested, sitting up straight. "If I promise not to fling myself," he made air quotes with his fingers, garnering an irked eyebrow raise, "then will you tell me?"
She sighed gustily, feeling so very tired in that moment, so to put an end to this and save her from potential broody batman-like stares over breakfast tomorrow, she yielded, though not without requesting his definite word. She knew he always kept his promises, but her paranoia needed the reassurance. "Only if you promise."
"Yeah." He nodded. "I promise."
She eyed him suspiciously, then clucked her tongue. "Fine," she said grumpily, dragging her feet towards his bed before plonking down beside him with a loud huff. "But I swear if I hear anything about this tomorrow I will burn every single pair of underwear you own." She pointed at his unamused face threateningly, sharpened her voice like kunai. "I will see to it that you experience the horrors of chafing for the rest of your life." She poked his cheek to let him know she meant business, then poked it several more times purely to be annoying and he slapped her hand away because it was working.
"Stop it," he grouched.
She smirked, enjoying the irritated look on his face, then veered off into story mode because she wanted her damn bed already. She told him everything, starting from the moment she entered the hallway right up to Obito's comforting words and once she had finished, he immediately regretted his promise. His blood was boiling and he looked down at his lap, clenched his fists as he fought to suppress the anger rising inside, but then a small hand covered his own, hauling him from his dark thoughts and dousing the fire in his veins.
"Please?" she asked softly, needing further reassurance.
He raised his eyes to hers, hating the idea of not being able to do anything, but a promise was a promise. "Yeah," he said after a long sigh, looking back down at their hands, nodding in assurance.
She smiled warmly, eyes conveying the sheer amount of gratitude she was feeling. "Thank you," she said earnestly, paused a moment, then dove in for a hug, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. He oofed and put a hand on the mattress to steady himself, then leaned away slightly as she rubbed her cheek against his lovingly. "You may rest easy knowing your underwear is safe."
He rolled his eyes, then broke out into a small smile before placing his hand over her elbow, returning the embrace somewhat. "Yeah, yeah."
They fell into a comfortable silence, one full of love and understanding, but like all silences, it met its inevitable end.
"Who the hell left the water running?!" Biwako suddenly yelled from the bathroom, sounding absolutely furious and they snapped their eyes towards the door in unison, moment ruined. "It's spilled over onto the floor!" There were distant splashing noises, accompanied by a severely pissed off commentary and in that instant, her peace offering went to shit.
There was absolutely no way she was getting scolded twice in one day, so before she threw him under the bus, she threw him a sincere sorry brother glance as she leapt up from the mattress. His eyes widened, knowing exactly what she was about to do and before he could even get a word in edgeways, she launched herself at his door faster than light itself, disappearing into the hallway yelling "Asuma did!"
He stared at the now open door, eye twitching.
"Asuma!" Biwako roared, demanding his presence.
He groaned and flopped onto his back, causing the mattress to bounce under the force. He would take the fall this time because it was her special day, but he swore that if she ever did this again she would be the one to chafe.
~my joy is my strength, I'll ask for nothing more,
I'll do, not weep, past all this false critique,
the stonewall faces, I'll be kicking down their door~
A/N:
Filler chapter regarding plot, not so filler chapter regarding character/relationship development. There will be more of these in the future because I believe them to be necessary so that when shit eventually goes down, it will have more impact because you would know the characters more deeply, how they feel and what not. Does that make sense? Now, I want to explain Asami's memory business more in depth to save you from future confusion, but first let me apologise for the long update. I did warn you at the beginning of the first chapter, but this update shows you just how slow I write. I really do hate to keep people waiting, but I don't want to post half-assed written chapters just to get them out faster. I like to make sure every sentence has meaning and that the chapter as a whole has the right feeling and impact. This chapter took me three months because of many reasons - writers block, medical issues and the fact that writing is real damn hard. I'm new at this, so hopefully over time it will get easier and my writing speed and skill both improve. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you can, please leave a review. I would really love to know what you thought, and what you would like to see in future. Thank you very much ^^ (That was the first and last time I will apologise. I don't want to sound like a broken record, so please know that every time I update, I'm throwing a massive apology at you, an apology so large it'll knock you off the planet).
Now, Asami's brain stuff. You're probably wondering why she isn't freaking out about Obito's future? Well, it's simple. She hasn't remembered that yet. She remembers who characters are, and a few of their scenes from the show(good things mostly), but trust me, when she remembers something bad, you will know about it. And bad things she will remember, but in time. You're also probably wondering why I cursed her with the not being able to talk about it otherwise she will choke to death? Other than it all being inspired by my epileptic seizures(sounds bizarre, but if you want details on how and why, send me a message, or ask in a review and I will respond), the other answer is also simple... because I can. I've read a few Naruto self-inserts where the OC can talk about it, but don't. I want Asami to want to, but can't. It probably sounds ridiculous/confusing right now, but when the story gets going, it will all make sense and there will be many feels, many shocks and many emotional stuff and things. Speaking about stuff and things... any walking dead fans get my reference? Tehe.
Shout out to grifman275 who put up with me sending him paragraph after paragraph because I'm a pathetic, paranoid little shit that needs constant reassurance that what I've written is good enough. Also, if there are any Fairy Tail fans out there, check out his fic! It's also a self insert/oc.
Righty ho, this should hopefully be the last time I write a huge author's note. I just wanted to get a few things out there. Now, time to start working on chapter three! I'm excited for this one because I get to summon my inner Gai and unleash him upon you, so yay! Onwards I go!
Song - Way of The Sun by Flatfoot 56.
Bonus lyric: I believe in a foreign land more than we know. (wink wink, nudge nudge)
Link & next chapter progress on profile. Check whenever you like ^^
-redscarfninja