Why?" she sniffed.
Asakaru frowned, confused by her reaction, "My father can fix these sorts of objects."
Ayame began wiping her already drying tears away, "Really?"
His frown deepened again, "Yes."
Doubt refilled Ayame's eyes, "Okay..." she said not quite believing him.
Asakaru's feeling of guilt washed over him again. He stopped walking to bent over her, so they were at eye level, "Please stop crying. I'll help you fix them okay? I promise." he said wiping her eyes with his thumb.
She nodded numbly and he once again took her hand, "Don't worry. I'll fix this."
On their way to his house, Ayame noticed that for some reason, he dropped his formalities as he spoke to her. He didn't use formal constructed sentences, and didn't mind touching her, like he did with everyone else in his village. While holding hands with him, she felt connected. Intact. Whole. As if she's been missing a piece her entire life. And she understood why.
He was her brother. The voice in her head. She couldn't speak to him too much when she was a child. She was barely getting used to her power then. She'd speak to him, but most of the time, she'd just listen to him instead. He would fade in and out sometimes, but she would be able to make out words and understand stories he'd tell her. And he was here. He was finally here. In front of her. So close. But how does she even begin? How does she introduce herself? What does she say? She was so happy that they were finally reunited. She's wondered about him for years, and now he's here. But she had to do this gently. To not frighten him, or startle him away. He is an angry boy. But he is here. Holding her hand. And she will never let him go again.
From Itachi's observations, he talked formally to everyone in the village. He was coldly formal with everyone except his parents. So why has he dropped it with her? She didn't understand. Did he feel the connection between them too?
Finally at his house, she met Matsuri, his mother, "Oh! How strange Asakaru! You never bring anyone over."
"Mother, where's Father? I've...met someone who needs his help."
Matsuri smiled at her son, "Have you made a new friend my love? She's cute. Hello little one. What's your name?" she asked, crouching down to Ayame.
"Daddy says not to give my name to strangers." she mumbled shyly, ashamed of her red eyes from crying earlier.
Her lips twitched and she tried hard not to smile at the young girl's comment, "Well, he must be a smart man, isn't he? Just like you're a smart girl. Strangers can be very dangerous."
Asakaru looked at Ayame, who was still teary eyed, and still clutching his hand, "I don't like it when she cries." he grumbled, "She makes me feel bad. It's annoying."
Matsuri laughed, "Oh dear. What have you done to make her cry? I don't remember raising you to be that kind of boy."
He looked down, "I startled her, and she dropped them. It was my fault." he said shamefully showing his mother the broken pieces of glass with his other hand.
His mother smiled, and touched his cheek, "Oh my sweet boy. You make so me proud to be your mother. Don't worry, I'm sure that once the glass figures are fixed by your father, she'll stop crying. Okay?"
His eyes softened at the affection, "Yes, Mother."
"You're a good boy." she said leaning forward and kissing her son on the forehead, "Your father is in his room. The door is open." then she turned to Ayame, "Don't worry. Asakaru will help fix your things soon." she said, patting her head.
Ayame nodded, "Thank you."
Asakaru then gently pulled her into his father's room, "Father."
A man with bright red hair turned away from reading old looking books, "Asakaru." then, he glanced at Ayame, "Who's this? Have you finally made a friend?"
He frowned, "I startled her and she broke her toys. May I have them fixed, Father?"
"It's unusual for you to request permission for something regarding someone else."
Asakaru's frown deepened, "I was at fault, and her crying makes me feel bad. I couldn't leave her crying by herself." he said.
Even though he left a girl crying at his rejection before he met Ayame. He left that girl to cry alone. Why did he bother with this girl? He didn't understand. He should shove her away like all the rest of them from this God forsaken village. But for some unknown reason, he couldn't bring himself to. Something between them felt familiar, but he couldn't identify what it was. He quickly pushed the thought away, telling himself his guilt over making her cry was making him see things that weren't there.
The man with red hair gave a faint smile, "I see. Very well. Let me see them."
Using a jutsu Ayame has never seen, she saw that he has fixed them! "Oh!" she gasped, "Thank you so much!" she said happily, reaching for her gifts.
"No!" shouted Asakaru, pulling her close to him, and wrapping another arm around her, "It's too hot right now. If you touch it, you'll burn your fingers."
Looking closer at it now, Ayame could vaguely see heat waves emitting from her gifts, "I-I didn't see..." she said, trying to hide the fact heat won't do anything to her.
"You've almost hurt yourself twice today. How has a careless girl like you survived this far?"
"I'm sorry..."
Matsuri walked in, "Oh, I see you've fixed it Gaara. Although I knew you would. You can do anything." she said with a slight blush in her cheeks, then, she turned to Ayame and Asakaru, "We will be having lunch in a few hours. Why don't you join us? You certainly look like you belong here, with your red hair matching the boys and all."
Asakaru frowned, unable to voice his protest to his mother, "..."
Matsuri noticed his uncomfortable silence, "What is it Asakaru?" she asked.
"I only brought her to fix her things. I didn't think she'd get invited to stay."
Ayame felt like she'd been hit, "But I thought we were becoming friends. You were being so nice to me." she said looking up at him, as he still had her in a protective embrace.
"I don't have any friends in this village." he said looking back down at her.
She cringed again at his cold words, and pulled away from his arms, "But...but I thought you liked me. You haven't said anything mean to me until now."
Matsuri smiled patiently, "Please forgive him. Asakaru is just protective of who comes into the house. We're not a popular family. But I insist. Will you please join us?" she asked.
Asakaru remained uncomfortably silent at his mother's urging. He went from the angry, cold-hearted boy that rejected girls cruelly, to a gentle boy at the side of his mother and father. As Ayame stands there, she can see the love he has for them. His eyes were soft and warm when he was near them. Not cold and calculating, like when he was in public. But as he watched her, his eyes were untrusting, and uncertain.
She bit her lip, "You don't like me." she said, fighting to not let her voice break.
"I didn't say that."
"But you don't want me here."
"..."
Ayame cringed. She felt the sting of his silence. Pain rised up in her heart. Asakaru, her brother, has pushed her away. She came all this way for him, and he has rejected her.
Tears filled up in her eyes, and she bowed to Asakaru's parents, "Thank you for your invitation, but...it doesn't seem I'm wanted here." she said, then she quickly grabbed the glass figures from Gaara's hands, and ran.
"Wait! I-I didn't mean-" Asakaru's voice called out, but she ran away before she could hear the rest.
I'm sorry Itachi! He approached me while I was making presents!
It's fine.
Did I make the mission more complicated?
No. Our only mission is to observe, and to get him to join us. We have no orders telling us to not approach him. Just continue as you were Ayame.
Okay...
She was careful with speaking to Itachi. She didn't want him to worry over her. After they finished speaking, she found an ally to go hide in, and cried in it by herself. But not before she scraped her knee against a wall. Blood trickled down her leg from her knee as she folded into herself cried quietly.
Her bright butterflies burst out of her, and fluttered around her urgently, as if trying to ask her what was wrong. She was so excited. She wanted to meet him, and speak to him about many different things. But what can she do? She can't force herself on someone who doesn't know her. He has turned her away, and now she had nowhere else to go. What does she do? She doesn't want it to end like this.
As she cried into her arms and knees, her butterflies continued to flutter around her, worried, and confused at her tears. When she looked up, one landed on her face and she cracked into a giggle. It tickled.
"What a strange moment." she smiled through her tear-streaked face, "Being comforted by my own powers."
Seeing her smile, her butterflies floated around her, without the urgency they had moments before. "I don't understand. Are you a will of your own?" she asked them, "Are you my will? Am I your will? Are we separate? Like my two Daddies? Or are we one?" she asked them.
The butterflies flew away from her, and towards the edge of the ally, asking to be followed, "I don't want to leave the ally. If Itachi sees that I was crying, he'll worry."
Her butterflies danced in circles at the edge of the ally, insisting her, "Okay." she smiled, wiping her cheeks, "I'm coming!"
As she left her ally, she was welcomed with the bright afternoon sun shining down on her. Ayame's butterflies fluttered in a circle for a couple seconds, then began to fly away. She smiled and she chased after them, giggling and running until they arrived at the park she's played at before.
"You wanted me here?" she asked them.
No longer answering questions, her butterflies floated harmlessly around her as she stood at the entrance at the park.
Ayame sighed and went to go sit down on the swings, and slowly swung herself back and forth.
"I don't know what to do." she told them, "I want to stay, and talk with him more. But he doesn't want me here." she sniffed.
A butterfly landed on her nose, and she giggled softly, "You're right. I should cheer up. Daddy would be sad if he know that I was sad." she sighed.
As half an hour went by, her stomach growled, and she began to go hungry. As the crows surrounded her, she sighed. She should have accepted their invitation. The only food she had with her were food pills that Itachi had given her along with her new clothes. Her stomach growled again.
She ate her food pills in front of the crows and butterflies, and looked up at the sky, missing Yoichi and her parents. She'd bought a small bag of chips earlier. But when she opened it, the crows began to caw at her.
"You guys want some too?"
More cawing.
"Okay. But i don't have much to share. There isn't a lot in here."
The crows cawed at her again.
She fed them more than half her chips, then crumpled up the bag when it was all gone, "That's it. That's all I had Mr. Crows." she smiled.
They cawed at her, and she sighed, "I'm sorry. I know you guys are hungry. I'm hungry too, but I couldn't share my food pills with y-" she stopped, hearing footsteps behind her.
"I've been around the whole damn village looking for you." an angry voice called out.
Ayame spun around, and again, it was Asakaru, looking wild and out of breath, "You're a troublemaker. I came here looking for you earlier, but I couldn't find you. Just where the hell have you been?"
Ayame didn't even have time to react as he walked over with his long legs and grabbed her arm, "Do you have any idea how worried I've been? How careless can you be? Were you not invited to lunch? If you knew you were going to be hungry, why did you refuse?"
Ayame didn't know what to say, so she remained quiet, "..."
Then, Asakaru looked away, his expression darkening, "Was it because of what I said?" he asked, loosening his grip on her arm.
"Huh?"
It seems like the only emotion Asakaru could feel around Ayame was guilt, because he felt it strongly now, "I hurt you." he said quietly, ashamed.
"No you didn't. You protected me from burning myself, and cutting myself on the glass."
"That's not what I meant. I hurt you. Look at you. I can tell you've been crying. It's because of me, isn't it?"
"..."
You're not from around here, so I'll make an acceptation."
"Just me? Why?"
Asakaru carefully pushed her to sit back on the swing, and crouched down in front of her, "I hate everyone else." he said, digging into his pocket.
"Everyone in the village?" she asked.
"Yes." he said, pulling out a band-aid.
"Why?"
Asakaru carefully placed the band-aid over Ayame's scrape on her knee, "That doesn't matter."
Ayame stood up from the swing, "Hey Asakaru. What is it you want?" she asked.
"What?"
"There must be something you want more than anything. More than anything in the world. Something you want so bad, you'd do anything for. For me, I just wanted to help. But what about you?"
"..."
"You want something."
"Why would that matter to you?"
"I've been watching you. I already knew you hated all the villagers because they fear Gaara, your father, and they didn't agree to the marriage with your mother. But even though everyone treats your parents coldly, they chase after you. They do that, because you're talented, good looking, graceful, and formal. But you put yourself through all that for your parents, didn't you? You didn't want to give anyone an excuse to hate your parents even more, so you suffered a lot to become the way you are now. Because of all your skills, manners, and cold attitude towards everyone, you've earned the nickname 'Cold Knight'. It isn't fair when they treat you like that. It must feel unforgivable and cruel. For them to accept you, but not your family. It's no wonder you're angry"
Asakaru eyes looked sad for a moment, only to vanish quickly with a flash of anger, "What's your point?"
Ayame looked deep into his eyes, "They treated us like that too, although I don't really remember too much of it."
He looked up, defensively, "Be quiet. How can someone like you know what it's like?"
The wind blew, and gently ruffled her long red hair against her cheeks. She looked up at the bright blue sky, "When I was about four, I remember peoople saying really mean things about Daddy. But I was told not to listen to gossip. And also, my father told me it was a normal reaction to fear of the nine-tails. That the thing that made Daddy and Mama and my friends the happiest was me smiling. So even when I find myself being sad, I always try to find something to smile about. And I think you should too."
"The nine-tailed fox? You're his daughter?"
Ayame smiled, "Yup! That's me!"
"What-"
"Shh. I'll answer all your questions later. But like I said before, I think you should smile."
"Me?"
Ayame smiled again, "Yes! I think your parents would be happier if you tried to smile more often. It'd make them happy to know that your happy. Don't you feel the same way?"
Asakaru frowned in confusion, "What do you mean?" he asked.
"Doesn't it make you happy, if your parents are happy?"
The wind picked up and his eyes widened at her words as she continued, "I came here looking for you, Asakaru. You communicated with a girl when you were ten, didn't you?"
He took a step back from her, "How the hell do you know about that? I never told anyone."
She took a step forward, "That was me."
"That's a damn lie. That girl died. I felt it when she died."
Caught off guard, Ayame blurted out, "Died?" she asked curiously. But she's alive.
"When my communication cut off, the last thing I felt through our bond was panic and desperation. I could feel her fade away from me. Then, our connection went dead and I felt her vanish."
She shook her head, "No." she urged, "I was sealed. Daddy sealed me. He was worried my power would isolate me, like it did with him and your father too. He was trying to protect me."
His eyes searched hers desperately, trying to find any hint of a lie. He found none, and a strange kind of fear took over him, "It was you...?"
"Yes. I came here looking for you."
"Your father sealed you?"
Ayame nodded, "He was just trying to protect me."
"Some kind of protection. He's rejected a part of you."
She took a step back from the sting of his words, "No he didn't."
This time, Asakaru took a step foward, "I've been searching for you. I tried to reach out to you again and again all these years. Now I know why our bond was broken. You were taken from me. You were all I had, and you were taken from me. From yourself."
"Asakaru-"
"I felt something with you." he said, "I hate everyone here, but I didn't hate you. Now I know why. The connection between us opened back up again right in front of me, and I didnt recognize it because I haven't felt it in so long."
"I-"
"Where's your father?"
"What?"
"I'm going to punch him."
"What?! No!"
"Where the hell is he Ayame?! I'm going to kill him!"
"H-How do you know my name? I haven't told you."
"You told me years ago. You think I'd forget the name of the only person I had? Where the hell is your father?"
"Why?! Daddy didn't do anything wrong!"
Asakaru grabbed her arms, and shook her as his anger flared, "He took you from me! When everyone was isolating my mother and father, and I was all alone, you were there! I had you. I only had you! You meant everything to me! You made things better for me because you were all I had! And he took that away from me! I heard you Ayame! When the seal began to take effect, you were scared! You begged me to save you! You didn't want to let me go! And he ripped us apart!"
"Daddy didn't know! He didn't know what he was doing!"
His anger began to diminish, as tears filled up his eyes, "You were all I had Ayame...I didn't have anyone else except you...and you were taken away from me. You were scared and begged me to save you, and I failed you." he said letting her go.
"It's okay. You were just a child."
"So were you."
Ayame frowned. She didn't understand a part in his story, "What about Gaara and Mitsuri? You had them."
Asakaru shook his head, "How am I supposed to go to my parents? I was being isolated and outcasted because the village rejected my father and didn't approve of their marriage. Telling them I was sad would only hurt them. They'd only blame themselves. There was only one person I could talk to, and tha was you. But you were taken...you were taken." he said quietly as a tear rolled down his face.
She could feel herself almost cry too at his pain, but instead, she reached over and touched his cheek, "I'm sorry." she said, feeling guilty that she was happy all those years while he was lonely, and searching for her.
More tears rolled down his face as he reached up, and gently placed his hand over hers, "I missed you." he spoke gently.
Looking into his sparkling teal eyes, she found a whole new set of emotions. Sadness. Fear. Anxiety. But also relief. Peace. Love. Affection. At first Ayame was confused to find that emotion in his eyes. But she felt it too. Love already pooled at the center of her heart for this boy. And she felt relieved too. Finally, it seemed like he was healing after all these years.
"Come with me." she said.
"...Where?"
"You and I are siblings. You are my brother that I've come searching for. So come with me. We finally reunited. You'll never have to fear someone leaving you again. I'll be here. I'll always be right here."
Startled, he took a step back at her words, "How are we siblings?"
"Our Jinchuriki parents reproduced and made us. The demons were once one, and after they multiplied into nine, they had children. That's how we'd communicate when we were younger. We are the children our parents, as well as the demons inside them. We are natural born demons in human bodies. I am the daughter of Kurama, and you are the son of Shukaku. Don't you understand? We have the same DNA, Asakaru. DNA that matches one of siblings. We're not alone anymore. I'll always have you, and you'll always have me. I'm here now. It wasn't my choice to disappear from you before, but it is now, and I will never leave you again. So come with me, and stay in my life for as long as you can." she smiled to him, "Please?" she asked extending her hand to him, "I'm excited to begin where we left off. Aren't you?"
Asakaru looked at her outstreched hand. He almost jumped at her hand and pulled her in to wrap his arms around her little body. He felt the love and affection he felt towards his parents, and created a new bond of love for Ayame. His sister. His little sister. She's right in front of him. Someone he can protect with his own two hands. He's been alone and angry for so long. He's searched for her for years. He couldn't deny the connection he felt to her. He felt drawn to her the way she felt drawn to him. They'd both been watching each other. He already loved her so dearly, so protectivly. He had no doubt in his mind that she loved him in return. Because, she's right, isn't she? Looking into her red eyes and childlike smile, he knew she was right. But even so...he was no fool. He had to be careful. Even though they're connected, even though they love each other, hell, even though they're siblings, the truth is, he didn't truly know her.
"I can't trust you yet." he said, resisting the urge to take her hand anyway.
He could see Ayame's eyes wash over with pain at his rejection, "What do you mean?" she asked sadly retracting her hand away from him.
But he grabbed her hand before she could take it back completely, "Prove it. Prove it to me that you'll never betray me. Only then I'll join you." he demanded, pulling her in, and wrapping his arms around her, "And we'll never let anyone separate us again."
Pure happiness flooded through her as he held her in a tight hug. She was about to cry again, and she laughed at herself for her stupidity. Technically, just just met this boy today. And already she knew she loved him, and he loved her back in return. Her brother. The boy in her head was here. She hoped whatever request he had of her, it was a challenge. She couldn't ignore the guilt she felt over leaving him years ago. Of leaving him at a critical time in his life when he had no one else to turn to. But she would prove herself. She would make amends for what she has done. She'd do anything for this boy. She'd do anything for her brother.
, "Okay!" she smiled warmly, "Just tell me what to do...big brother."