Author's note: So, this whole story was written and published out of chronological order. My apologies. This chapter was the first written and published, but it chronologically takes place after most of the following chapters. If you would like to read the actual first chapter, see chapter 12 The Night We Met.
The chapters in narrative chronological order are as follows:
12. The Night We Met
4. Serendipity
5. Serendipity II
3 Winter Song
6. Good Intent
7. Good Intent II
9. Interlude
14. Good Intent III
11. The Mute I
15. The Mute II
8. Snowflakes
12. An Eye for an Eye
16. Orbital Resonance
1. What Did You Think?
2. Rabbits on the Run
13. Visions
This chapter is a rewritten version of the original uploaded in 2011.
"What did you think?" Asked a familiar voice.
"Of the book?" A young woman answered with her own question even though she knew what he meant by context. Sitting with her legs dangling over the edge of a wooden porch, she closed the book in question and rested it in her lap.
He always surprised her with his visits. They were never the same time or place and almost never scheduled beforehand. Yet, she had become accustomed to the irregularity.
Fireflies gently drifted in the warm breeze of a midsummer night. Their soft luminescence mesmerizingly blinked and twinkled over dry, verdant grass beyond the reach of the dim, yellow porch light. Crickets chirped and frogs croaked in a union loud enough to be heard from the woods encircling the yard. There was nothing quite like the rare opportunity to enjoy the sensation of just existing in the atmosphere.
"Asaya," he gently reminded her of their conversation.
"Yeah, yeah, Itachi, I know." She replied, exhaling slowly.
Itachi couldn't quite tell if her body language meant she was soothed or upset. Perhaps a little of both? "And?"
"I liked it. But a better question- what are you really here for?"
So she was at least a little disappointed. He tossed two sealed scrolls on the floor beside her. "You have been asked to open these."
She drew her legs under her as she turned to look at him. The two cylindrical, green and red objects lay before her. Reaching out an inquisitive hand, she took hold of the two items bestowed upon her. They were scrolls from Kirigakure, but their contents and significance were unknown. "No, I have been told."
Itachi did not wish to pursue a line of conversation which would spiral down negatively, although he could not fault her for her feelings on the matter. He simply reverted to his opening topic. "When did you finish it?"
"I haven't, actually." She held the book up for him to see, her index finger inserted between two pages to indicate how far she had actually read. It was about three quarters of the way through. "I'll be done soon though, promise." Gathering the objects, she stood up and signaled with a nod for him to follow. "So where is the fish-man?"
She was referring to Kisame, of course. They didn't much care for each other. "Probably sleeping on your living room couch."
"Does he have to do that?! Every time you two are over all he does is eat my food and bum out on the couch." Entering the kitchen, she immediately went to the cupboard adjacent to the fridge and opened it to reveal a not unimpressive stash of tea. She pointed to them. "What kind?"
Itachi sighed. "Black."
"Cream and sugar?" She asked knowingly.
"However you made it last time is good."
Asaya smirked to herself. Men. Itachi was the kind of person for who really wanted three lumps of sugar when he asked for two. Or really, three lumps when he ambiguously asked for nothing in particular. He just didn't want to say it out loud.
Asaya grabbed the kettle and placed it under the running tap. While it was filling, she lit the smallest burner on the stove. Then ran back to the sink to turn off the faucet before it overflowed and finally placed the kettle on the burner. "Give it about five minutes."
Itachi took off his cloak and draped it over the back of his chair, gesturing an arm to the seat across from him.
Asaya took the seat, smiling slightly while moving the two scrolls to the edge of the table. "Right, so-"
The kitchen door slammed open, causing both parties to turn their heads. "What the hell is this!?" Exclaimed the intruder.
In the doorframe stood a boy of fifteen years with his right arm extended to point down the hallway in an upset and accusatory motion. Clothed only in a baggy t-shirt and pajama pants, his hair, which was of a finger length dark brown color, had clearly not been brushed. "That thing can't have been here more than ten minutes and it's already snoring on the couch! And you," he raised his other hand to point at Itachi, "What the hell are you both back for?!"
"Tsuta-kun," Asaya chided, "It's the middle of the night. Don't yell so loud."
Tsuta didn't take his eyes off of Itachi. "You could at least give us a little warning before you stop by in the dead of night, huh? Send a messenger crow or something."
Before Itachi could respond, Asaya intervened, "Tsuta, you know this is just how things are."
His brow pinched. "So? I live here just as much as you do."
"We are not the ones who make the rules." She reminded him calmly.
Tsuta was about to retaliate but held his tongue. He knew better; they'd had this argument many times. He lowered his arms and huffed, "Fine, but just because the big kahuna in the municipality of mud says so, doesn't mean I gotta be happy about it."
"I'm sure your grandfather would be proud of his new title." Asaya dryly said. "Besides, it's late. I'm too tired for this." She tried to deflect.
Tsuta could have taken the hint, but he didn't. "You say that but you don't sleep until three in the morning. And you're making tea- you have no intention of going to bed soon."
"Yeah," she held up one of the scrolls, "I have shit to do."
"Asaya-san, the kettle." Itachi was the first to notice the steam and hiss that meant the kettle was about to obnoxiously erupt.
"Can I have some?" Tsuta asked presumptively. "What do you got that's new?"
"Nothing." Asaya answered. This was unusual, since Asaya frequently bought and tried new brands and styles of the beverage. "Most of the tins in the cupboard are empty." Asaya was the kind of person who kept the empty tins, thinking she would later use them for some sort of recycled function, like storing spare change or miscellaneous objects. A few of the nicer ones were used in such a manner and were displayed on her desk. However, despite all her good intentions, she never collected change that amounted to more than laundry quarters or had much in the way of excess office supplies, so most tins were simply discarded sometime later.
The kettle erupted into a full whistle. Everyone in the room visibly winced as Asaya jumped up from her chair and over to the stove, where she seized the kettle and turned off the burner. As the harsh whistle simmered down, Asaya readied three mugs from another nearby shelf and asked "What does everyone want?"
"Mmmm…" Tsuta thought, "Chamomile, please."
"Sure thing." Asaya turned her head to look behind her, "Itachi? You wanted black tea right?"
"Yes. Plain." Itachi had changed his mind.
Facing away from them, Asaya rolled her eyes. Both of them knew he hated the bitter taste of plain black tea. She could never relate to the desire to keep up the pretence.
"So, you never answered my question. What are you doing back this time?" Tsuta asked Itachi. Although as far as Itachi was concerned, pestered was a more fitting verb.
"He dropped off two sealed scrolls for me to open like I showed you, nothing special." Asaya interjected again, pointing to the scrolls left on the kitchen table.
"Ya know, it's rude to answer questions for people."
Dammit, Tsuta. She really didn't feel like managing his behavior. Tsuta didn't like Itachi, and Itachi didn't like Tsuta. They could just come to an armistice, but no. Tsuta had to be a stupid teenage boy. She loved him like a brother, but this had long since become taxing.
Itachi looked directly into the boy's eyes. If the boy would just grow up and stop trying to stupidly push boundaries when he knew better, he and Itachi could have a perfectly functional agreement to mutualy ignore each other. In fact, Itachi respected Asaya's relationship with the boy. He was actually witty and charismatic in a devil-may-care sort of way. And ultimately, Tsuta was a genuinely good friend to her. But circumstances were what they were. And the boy just had to provoke him with a cocked eyebrow and lip twitching in a smug smile.
Itachi sat slightly reclined with broad shoulders. "This is correct. Kisame and I are here to have the two scrolls unsealed. We should be gone by morning, provided all goes well." He said in monotone.
"Fair enough. Just as long as I don't have to deal with Homo-Selachimorpha over on the couch and it doesn't eat all the food I'll be good."
"They shouldn't be more than a standard pain in my ass. They aren't particularly highly classified- probably just mission reports from a year or two ago. Who asked you steal them? " Asaya said while placing a mug on the table for Itachi and bringing another one to Tsuta.
"The Daimyo of Shimo, to my knowledge. They presumably contain controversial information about an international occurrence, but I was only given orders to retrieve and bring them to you. If you want to know their contents you can look for yourself." Itachi took a sip of his tea, trying very much to not be visibly repulsed by the bitterness.
"Typical." Asaya said indifferently. She grabbed her own mug from the counter and brought it with her to the table. She was drinking black tea as well, mostly for the higher caffeine content she would need to keep her awake all night. Although unlike Itachi, she loved the taste of it plain- the darker, the better.
"Well whatever, I'm going back to bed." Tsuta yawned. "Thanks for the tea, Asaya. Goodnight." He turned and walked back to his room.
"Night, Tsuta!" Asaya called after him.
Itachi breathed a small sigh of relief. Furtively navigating the constraints of their situation and Tsuta's ornery attitude was a challenge. Much more so for her than it was for him.
"Asaya, come here." Itachi asked.
Her eyebrow arched, questioning his motives. "I'm sitting right here."
"Just do me the favor."
She got up from the chair to stand beside him. "And?"
He stiffly held out his tea mug to her.
"Oh, bullshit!" Asaya narrowed her eyes at him, only half serious. She gestured to the other side of the kitchen. "You're a man- with man hands. You can get it yourself."
"Please?"
She stared at him a moment before grabbing the mug from him and turning to add milk and sugar. Itachi heard her mutter "I hate you people." under her breath, as well as some other obscenities he couldn't quite catch.
Returning with the mug, she stiffly handed it to him. "Here."
Itachi turned his body to face her. Looking her in the eyes, he took the cup from her small hand and brought it to his lips to drink. She had added milk but no sugar. "Thank you."
Shrugging, Asaya made to sit back down, but a stray hand around her wrist stopped her. Itachi pulled her down into his lap, where she straddled him. "You think you're funny."
"I do." Asaya smiled and draped her arms around his shoulders. "And you are being terribly conspicuous." She pressed her forehead against his.
Itachi said nothing, instead encircling an arm around the small of her back, pulling her into him. He nestled his face into her neck where he kissed her collar bone. Asaya rested her chin on the top of his head, softly sighing in the sensation of his embrace. She had missed him, more than she could ever say. He began to suckle on her neck, for which he was rewarded with a small moan. "Oh…" To hear her again…
The hand that had been resting on the kitchen table moved to grasp her thigh. Moving his lips up her neck, Itachi's met hers in a series of needy kisses. She moaned a little louder into his mouth, and arched her back into him, trying so hard to push closer. His other hand slithered up her arm to pull down the strap of her tank top. She helped pull down the other one and pushed the whole top down to rest around her abdomen, revealing a plain white bra. His hand snuck around to fiddle with the clasp, which was no struggle to unhook. Once undone, he eagerly removed the inhibiting piece of clothing, and wantonly discarded it on the floor beside them. The fair skin of her breasts now freely exposed to him, he eagerly grasped one and kneaded it in his palm, leaning in again to kiss and nip at her neck. Blood surged through his body. The feel of her supple flesh in his hands was ecstasy.
Asaya closed her eyes and lost herself in the mix of sensations: his hand on her breast, his lips on her neck, the sound of his breath in her ear, his body pinned beneath her. "Nnh…" A small sting came from her left hip. Itachi's hand, which had been grasping her thigh, maneuvered under her shorts and now hooked itself under the panty line over her hip, his nails lightly digging into her flesh. Knowing she couldn't make an audible sound, she inhaled sharply and heaved her chest in labored breaths.
Asaya was about to reach for Itachi's belt when a loud groan echoed from down the hall. They immediately pulled away from each other.
"It's Kisame." Itachi didn't need to tell her- she could identify it well enough.
She hastily pulled up her top back up while she stood up. Smoothing out the bunched fabric of her shorts she scanned the area. "Where is my-? Oh…"
Itachi held out her bra, "Hide it."
Snatching it from him, she reacted quickly. There wasn't time to put it back on so… She scrambled over to the countertop. Opening a lower cabinet- the one she retrieved the kettle from- she threw the article of clothing in, slammed the door shut, then turned back to face Itachi. He arched an eyebrow at her.
She shrugged. "What?" her body language seemed to say.
Kisame rounded the doorframe with a loud yawn. Looking at the table, he saw Itachi sitting with two cups of tea before of him. Two? His eyes shot around the room. Asaya was standing with her back to the counter along the far wall. The Shark's drowsy frame of mind took a minute to comprehend the situation. "So you've already explained our mission. Good."
Itachi didn't answer, and instead kept his gaze firmly positioned on Kisame, jaw shut.
"Ah, well… what is there to eat in this place?" Switching his concentration back to food, Kisame made his way over to the fridge. It had been a few days since he had last had any substantial meal, as he and Itachi had needed to travel from Kirigakure in as little time as possible.
Grabbing the handle, Kisame looked again at Asaya. They way her lip curled up and twitched ever so slightly, the way her beady eyes didn't blink, the way her fingers clenched the edge of the countertop- like a cat about to mutilate a rodent. She despised him. It was so… exhilarating.
Itachi's teeth began to grind as he saw the inner workings of Kisame's mind reflect in his yellow eyes.
"Kisame, we will be departing by morning, so eat now and rest. We have no time to waist on fatigue tomorrow." Itachi's voice was a half step lower then he meant it to be.
"I see." Refocusing on the fridge again, Kisame examined its contents. To his displeasure, there were scarce contents. A stray cabbage here, a half gallon of milk there. Upon closer inspection though, there was a small helping of raw ground beef tucked away in a top drawer. With a small huff, he took it and turned to go back the way he came, leaving the fridge door open.
Looking straight past Itachi through the doorway, Asaya growled in a low tone, "Fucker."
Standing up from his chair, he grabbed both of their tea mugs and made his way over to close the fridge door with a foot, then to the sink to stand next to Asaya. "Here," he held out the mug to her. "It's getting late. You'll need this."
Asaya carefully took it in both hands, and held it very close to her chest. The warmth from the cup dispersed into her numb hands. "Thanks." She muttered softly.
There was a splash in the sink as Itachi dumped his tea. Turning on the faucet, he rinsed out the cup and set it on the drying rack. "Be sure to get some sleep. I'll see you again in the morning." He gently rested a hand on her shoulder.
At his touch, she instinctively raised her own hand to rest on his. "You, too."
Itachi lingered there for a moment before gently removing his hand and turning towards the door. "Goodnight," he whispered.
"Night." She said.
The two red and green scrolls remained sitting on the table, taunting her. "Ugh…" This was not going to be a fun night. She walked over to the table with slumped shoulders and placed the mug on the edge while she leaned over to scoop up the two objects. Leaning back up, her elbow hit the mug and knocked it off the table. The ceramic cylinder shattered upon hitting the wooden floor and the hot liquid splashed her feet.
Asaya closed her eyes, frustrated. She wanted very much to walk away and clean it up tomorrow, but that wouldn't do. She retrieved the towel off of the oven door and knelt down to mop up the spilled tea.
A series of quick footsteps thudded down the stairs. "Hey, what was that noise?" Tsuta poked his head around the doorframe. Growing up around ninjas, he knew it was always better to investigate.
"Nothing." She said flatly. "I just broke the mug."
No one else was in the room, Tsuta noticed. "Here, let me help you." He motioned towards her, then stopped when she commanded,
"Don't. You'll cut yourself." She picked up the ceramic shards and wrapped them in the towel, then took it over to the trash bin and dumped the whole thing. The towel was more of a rag anyway. "I thought you said you were going to bed." She said. "If you don't sleep you can't get any work done tomorrow."
"Yeah, well, it's not like I have a deadline. We're here almost all the time, you know."
They were referring to the renovating and cleaning that needed to be done in the house. It was an old farmhouse that had long been a secret post for Iwa. However, Asaya and Tsuta were the only ones to have occupied it since the war with Konoha, so the house looked a little more than neglected.
Located on the base of the mountain range bordering the lands of Earth and Grass, it was hidden just within the boundary of a dense forest. It was about half a day's walk from the nearest village: close enough to blend in with the community, but far enough to conduct covert operations. This included ones that needed to be kept secret to all but select few in Iwa, like liaising with a universally condemned criminal organization. But "border security" and "reconnaissance" worked for appearance's sake. A big part of this setup, though, was that in exchange for Akatsuki's services, Iwa would offer its own.
"Well, my work does have a deadline. So I guess I should get started." Asaya said while picking up the two scrolls from the table. She ruffed up Tsuta's hair as she walked past him and headed to her workroom. "Night, kiddo."
"Night." He called after her.
It was a little after four in the morning when Asaya finished her work. Had it not been so late when she began, she might have finished earlier, but it really didn't matter.
Leaning back from the desk, Asaya let her arms hang loosely at her side. Her eyes felt small and stiff. The study was a small room, located on the east half of the building, directly underneath her room. It was also one of only three rooms that had electricity since she needed a lamp to work in the dark. Although, the electricity was supplied by a chain of extension cords and an adapter that ran from an outlet in the kitchen. She looked at the red numbers on her clock, then out the open window.
The window was nice and large, and had a wonderful view of the sunrise, but that wouldn't be for another hour or so. Standing up, Asaya streatched her arms and back. Sitting hunched over a desk for too long never felt good, no matter how comfy the cushion. Through the window, a nice, cool breeze drifted in and across the sweat on the back of her neck. It was nice. Seductively nice.
She yawned, rubbing her eyes. Maybe a small nap before she had to patrol the area at 6 wouldn't be so bad? It wasn't like she was going to find away to stay up for a couple hours by sitting at the desk.
Asaya pressed her had against the wall next to the bookshelf. The wall clicked, and a hidden door opened to reveal a ladder that led to her bedroom in the attic. When she climbed to the top, she pushed a trap door in the floor open. Heaving herself halfway up, she noticed that someone was in her bed.
She should have known. He was welcome there, of course, but she knew that if she joined him she wouldn't get out of bed later when she needed to. Screw it, right now was a good a time to patrol as any. She slid the floorboard back into place as she climbed back down and made for the front door.
After slipping on her shoes, she opened the old screen door with a rusty screech. The door slammed shut behind her. She and Tsuta really needed to replace the hinges.
Itachi awoke to the sound of a metallic screech from the other side of the house. The sound was softened by the distance, but its unnatural pitch grating his eardrums woke him immediately. The slamming of the door let him know someone was probably exiting instead of entering.
The soft fabric of Asaya's sheets was draped over his bare chest. It was nice to sleep in this bed again, but it would have been warmer with company.
Rolling onto his back, he looked out the circular window. It was too dark outside to be the regular time she patrolled. She must have decided she wanted to get out of the house.
Or perhaps she decided she didn't want to come to bed for some reason…
No matter thinking about it. He would meet her in an hour or so when the sun would rise. Like he promised
Closing his eyes, Itachi drifted back to sleep.
In the last quarter of the rout, Asaya cursed herself. She should have crawled into bed and slept. Not that it was cold now, but the bed would have been so cozy…
But every day she had to make two trips around the area; one at sunrise and one just after sunset. Honestly, if she wanted to she could probably skip them and it wouldn't matter. Nothing ever happened out here. It wasn't like any S-class criminals ever showed up somewhat regularly.
She walked this same road every time too. A small dirt road right along the boarder between Earth and Grass countries. On one side were the short, thin, and dense trees of the forest under the mountain range. On the other was just grass. Countless yellow-green blades that stretched well beyond one's ability to see. Grass that swayed in the wind like the rippling ocean once one had sailed well past the shore.
But unlike the shore, the dirt road did not ebb and flow. It was not even a littoral zone that sheltered a unique ecosystem of plant and animal life. It was a line of soil made infertile by just enough people traveling it regularly to squash plant life before it even germinated. People like her. Two feet to the left was where no saplings dared sprout. Two feet to her left was a different country. Two feet from the road was where she could not step.
The view was almost always beautiful, though admittedly the forbidden was inherently attractive. The simplicity of the grass below a huge sky was enchanting. The world was observable in a scope and clairity otherwise obscured by mountains and trees; rain falling over a distant town while one stayed dry in the sun, the spiraling solar system shifting as the earth tilted and spun on its axis, even the weight of the air as it condensed and expanded with changes barometric pressure.
Asaya's sweaty, exhausted figure clashed with the beautiful scenery. At some point she had tied her hair up into a messy bun to keep the humidity from building up behind her neck. Her cheeks were stained with a red fluster and a sweaty sheen coated her shoulders and chest. The tank top she wore was awkwardly twisted around her torso and its neckline skewed to one side. Dark circles framed her eyes, amplified by a puffy squint.
"You look terrible. You should have come to bed."
Asaya smiled. She had been too tired to hear him creep up behind her. "Thanks. I wanted to, but it was occupied."
"So make room for yourself. If you want something, take it."
Blushing, Asaya turned around. Itachi stood in front of her, his neutral stare giving no indication he was joking. And in her lethargic state she almost missed it. "I suppose I should have." She smirked. "What are you doing here? I thought you had to leave ASAP."
"Kisame won't wake up until ten, if I'm at all lucky." He turned to walk towards the trees. "Come, sit with me." He picked a spot leaning against the trunk of a large tree and sat with one outstretched leg.
Running her tongue over her teeth, she thought for a moment. She knelt beside him, but instead of sitting next to him she crawled into his lap.
"What are you doing?" He asked.
"You said if I want something I should take it." She untied her hair and rested her head against his chest, closing her eyes.
"You are being terribly conspicuous." He said.
"Yeah? I'm not the one who took my bra off in the kitchen." She had since put a new one on, of course, but she would have to remember to take that particular one out of the cabinet when she got home.
Itachi almost laughed. "How was unsealing the scrolls?"
She let him change the subject. "Fine. Same stuff I've done before. Nothing special. I left them on my desk for you, if you were wondering."
He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her an inch closer. Sure they were out in the open, but no one was around for miles. And moments like this weren't all that often.
"What did you think of the book?" He heard the tiredness in her voice. She was about to pass out, but if she did he didn't know when their next chance to speak would be.
"Oh, right. I forgot." She brightened up just a little. "I didn't finish it. Sorry. I will next time."
"But are you enjoying it?"
"Yes. It manages to be quite endearing for how dark it can be."
Itachi rested his chin on her head. "Good." That was all he really wanted to know. That she enjoyed it too.
"I was a little surprised you recommended it. You usually like denser, philosophical reads." She said. "This is the kind of book you like just because."
"It seemed like something you'd like; something both light in tone and dark in subject."
Asaya said nothing and waited for him to elaborate.
"I read it when I was a child. I have certain nostalgia for it." He ran his fingers through her hair. Hair that was a light, ashy brown color like that of a wild rabbit's. At this point, that particular color and gentle curls were all he could really perceive when he looked at her. Her eyes were the same light brown, and in certain light they would reflect gold, but that was just a memory now.
"I see." She sounded tired again. "Did someone read it to you?"
"No." He said. It was the opposite, in fact. "It's just something I remembered enjoying."
The rise and fall of his chest lulled her. Asaya wanted to keep talking, but the energy to form sentences eluded her. She grabbed his arm and held it tightly, like she was trying to anchor him there.
Before them, the stars disappeared as the sky turned from black to a dark blue. A thin layer of mist gently hovered and swirled over the grass, emanating a subtle, unearthly glow as it absorbed whatever celestial light there was. From the trees came the first chirps of nesting birds as they awoke from slumber.
Itachi felt her weight lean against him just a bit more as her muscles relaxed and her grip on his arm loosened. She was falling asleep.
Lifting a hand to caress her cheek, Itachi tucked a stray hair behind her ear, in which he softly whispered, "I can't be here when you wake up."
Asaya was already half lost to sleep, but the sensation of his breath on her ear and neck aroused her enough to hear him. "I know."
The sun had broken into the sky, disintegrating the shroud of mist with its rising heat. Itachi held Asaya for a time much more fleeting than the eternity he wanted. She was in a deep enough sleep that he could tenderly kiss her forehead without her so much as twitching. Maneuvering out from under her, he carefully rested her under the shade of the tree. He hesitated a moment before walking away. The sun wasn't particularly strong or hot yet, but he worried about her fair skin burning.
Gazing at her sleeping figure one last time before leaving, Itachi whispered a word of departure and turned back towards the house. In time, he would be back. At least once more.
Through a small crack between navy curtains, a tiny beam of sunlight aimed itself directly into the face of a sleeping boy. Irritated by the intrusion of daylight into his slumber, Tsuta rolled over and covered his face with a pillow.
This was but a vain effort to fall back asleep. There was a new problem; the urge to relieve himself. Maybe if he just ignored it, it would go away?
No.
Groaning in defeat, Tsuta flung the covers from his body. There was no sense in trying to sleep when nature decided otherwise. Tsuta dragged his feet as he walked down the hall to the last door on the left. A loud flush resonated from the bathroom as Tsuta concluded his business. Now he could shuffle himself back to bed and finish his much needed rest.
However, the clock on the hallway wall begged to differ. The hour and minute of 1:34pm was boldly displayed on its face. The detestable thing hung itself right in front of Tsuta, just to break his dream he was sure.
Wait, hadn't Itachi said he and Kisame would leave early that morning? If so, then they would be long gone by now, in which case he could safely go downstairs and make breakfast. Or really, a late lunch as it was far past morning.
The sound of Tsuta's footfalls reverberated throughout the house as he trampled down the stairs. A stagnant air always loomed in the house whenever any of the Akatsuki 'visited,' and a breath of freshness flowed anew whenever they left. Sunlight cheerfully shown through the windows and into the kitchen, uninhibited by any form of overcast. The absence of the criminals really did brighten the house back up.
The only form of disturbance within the kitchen was the grumbling of Tsuta's stomach. Having missed breakfast and now being overdue for lunch, the boy was a little more than hungry. But what to eat? The instant ramen he usually made whenever he and Asaya needed to visit town was unappealing at this point.
Speaking of which, where was she anyway? Probably upstairs drooling on her pillowcase in a deeper sleep than he had previously been, he guessed. Bottomless, quite possibly.
But anyway, back to food. If not ramen, then what else was there? Cereal was out of the question, as they had run out of milk a week ago, and he wasn't in the mood for something cold and fibrous. Something warm and full of protein was what he needed. And as he remembered, there were some ground beef leftover in the fridge. As he opened the door he looked into the top drawer. "Oh, fuck no…" The drawer was empty. "That bastard…" Tsuta grumbled to himself. If only he had the means to punch Kisame in the face. Hard.
Seeing as there were no realistic means by which to accomplish that longstanding dream, he might as well concentrate back on satisfying his empty stomach. On the door of the fridge was a full carton of half-dozen eggs. Perhaps scrambled eggs weren't too bad. After grabbing two from the shelf, he placed them on the counter top next to the stove. He knelt down to open the lower cabinet assigned to storing pots and pans. Reaching in a hand, he was surprised to pull out something made of white cloth. Upon further examination Tsuta found the item to be shaped from two cotton half spheres and a few elastic straps: a bra.
"The fuck…?"