"How did she do that?"

"Cashile sensei is awesome!"

"Did you see her move?"

The genin were whispering amongst themselves, unaware that I could hear them. I rolled my eyes.

Our mission had been completed with ease the rest of the way. No attacks from thieves, enemy ninja. No attacks from them. Atsushi and the rest of the merchants kept quiet, looking slightly (very) terrified for the duration of the distance.

As for Michiko, her leg was bandaged tight (courtesy of Aisa). She'd walk with a limp for a while, but that was about the extent of her injuries.

And now we had set camp for the night. We were considerably slowed by Michiko's injury; what should have been a two day journey, in my eyes, looked as though it would be elongating into four.

"I can hear all of you, y'know," I said, making myself known.

"Cashile-sensei! Will you teach me how to do that?" Aisa asked enthusiastically- too enthusiastically. He was clearly referring to my fighting skills.

I rested my hand on his head and pushed slightly downward. "Absolutely not."

They were so young, so ignorant. But for some strange strange reason, I had no desire for them, any of them, to feel the pain that I had felt. The pain, the torture, the suffering, that had molded me into the deadly weapon I could turn myself into.

Aisa pouted. "Why noooot?"

"You're not prepared. The answer is no," I repeated in a clipped tone, which stopped his pout immediately. He let the subject go after that.

"Thank you for saving me, sensei," Michiko piped up, changing the subject.

"It wasn't me," I admitted. "Well, it was. But I was only able to save you because Aisa ordered you to jump, you listened without question, and Kento held the majority of them off. You three did well," I praised, acknowledging what they did right. They really did have an impeccable trust. Connection. Bond.

My rare praise instantly cheered the genin.

"How long is it going to take to return?" Kento asked out of context, glancing towards Michiko.

"At least four days, by the looks of it," I replied.

"Alright," he nodded, glancing back down toward the fire (the fire, which I had to remind myself was normal, that my genin would need to feel some level of comfort out in the forest).

"Get some rest—I plan for us to be back in Konoha as soon as possible," I informed them, giving them all pointed looks.

"Yes sensei," they chorused in sync.

I left them and walked up a tree which gave me the most advantageous position- allowing me to view every side, but also within close enough range of the genin so that I could come to their defense need be.

I leaned against the trunk of the tree, relaxed enough for my body to rest, but also aware and alert.

Ready to protect.

***...*.*.

We arrived at Konoha four and a half days later.

"Geez," Michiko sighed. "A mission that only should have taken four days suddenly took over six."

"Yeah, I'm exhausted!" Aisa agreed.

Kento but his lip and simply looked at me. That glance was enough to tell a story. Something was definitely going on with him, something he'd forgotten about until now.

Guilt was clear in his eyes. I ignored it, for now.

"Go on home," I allowed with a sigh. "I should be making you join me to see how a report is done when it's not some d-rank mission, but... It's been a long mission. Go on home." I shooed them off with a hand gesture.

The genin squealed and grinned, running off. As soon as they were gone I slumped. Thank God they were gone. I didn't think I would have been able to stand another moment with them. At least none of them had insisted on joining me at Tsunade's.

With one more sigh, I began the trek towards Tsunade's, ready to deliver as many snide and subtle insults as possible.

***...*.*.

When I walked out of Tsunade's office—finally, finally free of everyone—I was planning on going home, drinking some tea, baking a cake, training.

What I wasn't planning on was encountering a teary-eyed Aisa, who'd apparently been waiting for me while I was delivering the report.

"He's not home," Aisa sobbed. "Aiden's not there!"

"Calm down," I snapped, irritated, tired. "He's probably just at work."

"He's always back by now!"

"So he got a new schedule, kid," I replied carelessly, walking around the teary eyed child. Right now he wasn't my genin- he was just the little boy I met in a town full of poverty and despair. He was just Aiden's little brother.

He grabbed my trailing coat, forcing me to pause. Taking a deep—albeit shaky—breath, he calmed. I nodded approvingly. "He would have left a note letting me know," he declared. "He thought we would be back two days ago, and even if we took longer than I said we would, he'd have at least left a note, just in case."

Of course. Not returning from a mission on schedule would be a trigger for him.

I pinched the bridge of my nose in irritation but couldn't do anything but acknowledge the truth of his statement. "Fine, Aisa," I conceded, "Go home. I'll figure out where Aiden is."

"Thank you, Cashile!" he gave me a quick hug before running off. "Tell him to bring ramen!" How that kid's mood changes so easily, I will never know.

I took a moment to think, then sighed. There was a 78% chance that...

I wandered Konoha, checking down allyways and around dark corners. Nothing.

Where could he-oh.

I ran towards our hill, and found him at the base of it, back leaning against a small boulder. Stubbed cigarettes lay in a small pile next to him. He was in the process of bringing a freshly lit one to his mouth. I flicked a kunai towards him, slicing off the glowing end and leaving him with an unlit stick of death.

He glanced towards me, and the look in his eyes threw me off. He wasn't guilty, or defensive, or aggressive. He looked...

Utterly defeated.

I took a half step back, and his eyes were instantly drawn to it. He brought a lighter to the smoke and relit it, drawing in the poison once again. I found myself unable to stop him.

"Go on, then," he mumbled. "Leave. I can see you want to."

Instead I walked forward, for once unsure of how to proceed. It seemed it was always this way when it came to Aiden: hard to predict. Even harder to respond.

Never like any other human I've ever met.

"Aisa's waiting for you at home," I murmured, not bothering to mask the accusation.

"I never smoked in the apartment," Aiden replied, voice coarse. "Always left. Didn't want Aisa to smell it."

I raised a single eyebrow. "Well, you stink of it. The moment you step through those doors he'll know."

"I just..." Aiden trailed off, didn't even seem to notice the cigarette burning away in his hand, crumbling as he forgot to take a drag. "I kept thinking, 'What if something happened to Aisa?'. And everything was so stressful and he, Aisa, he wasn't there to distract me, remind me of why and I just... I was weak and I just..."

I slowly sat down next to him, unsure of what to say. How do you talk to another person and make them feel better? Oh, sure, I was quite adept at tearing people apart. And I knew just what to say to build them back up again. But Aiden could always, always see through that somehow.

And without that I just didn't know how to proceed. How did people do it?

"Why are you sitting down here?" I asked.

"Didn't want to go up there," he mumbled, waving his hands in the general direction of the tree at the top of the hill. "Didn't want to... Taint it," he practically snarled, disgusted with his weakness.

I nodded even though I didn't really understand. "Go home and take care of Aisa," I ordered.

He gave me a strange look that made me think I definitely was doing this wrong. "Jeez, Cashile," he laughed brokenly. "Not all of us can just not feel."

I blinked, half expecting Aiden to immediately take it back, to apologize like he almost always did when he snapped at me.

He didn't.

"Y'know," his voice cracked this time, and he paused, clearing his throat before continuing. "The first time you guys went out for a mission—outside of Konoha, I mean—I was scared. But I still let Aisa go, because he had to. Do you know what I mean?"

"Yes," I said, even though I had no idea what he meant.

"And then," Aiden continued, voice choked. "Aisa came back, right on time, right when he said they were due to return, but... God, you weren't with them, and I just thought..."

"Oh," I said. "Oh."

"But then Aisa told me what happened and it was okay but this time..."

"This time there was no one to tell you what was going on," I finished. "You didn't know anything."

"And Aisa." Suddenly he was crying, lowering his face, shoulders shaking. "God. If something happened to him."

Slowly, I leaned toward him so my right shoulder pressed into his left. "I won't let it," I promised rashly, recklessly. I told myself that I am only saying it to make Aiden pull himself together. "I won't let anything happen to him."

Aiden just continued to cry silently, tears slipping down his face, shoulders shaking, head tilted away from me, toward the ground, as though he didn't want anyone to see. I wondered when the last time he'd cried was, if ever.

Not knowing what to say, I simply sat there, shoulder pressed into his, silent as he shook.

He didn't ask for anything else.

***...*.*.

"C'mon," I finally ordered, standing.

Aiden subtly wiped at his eyes before standing as well. "Where are we going?"

"My apartment," I replied shortly. "You can take a shower there."

"Oh." He nodded. "Thank you. But..."

"What?"

"What about my clothes?" he asked. I wrinkled my nose, eyeing the clothes that are soaked in the stench of cigarettes. "I'm not sure you've noticed, but I'm taller than you. I can't wear yours."

I rolled my eyes. "Do you doubt me?"

"Never," he answered immediately, voice soft and earnest.

I swallowed, and took a moment before I said, "Then I'm pretty sure I can handle breaking into my old apartment and grabbing some clothes."

"And my toothbrush?" he requested. I hated how small his voice was. How shamed.

"Yeah, yeah," I waved it off. "No problem. You owe me."

For some reason, those words brought a small smile onto his face. "Yeah," he agreed. "I owe you."

We were silent until we reached my apartment. I unlocked it. "I'm sure you can find the shower. I'll be right back with your clothes."

I turned, but before I could leave, Aiden grabbed my wrist. "Um."

"What," I snapped, exasperated.

"You're not going to tell Aisa, are you?" He asked hesitantly.

I rolled my eyes, tired of his hesitant, uncertain attitude. "Think it through," I ordered. "I wouldn't go through all this effort of having you shower here and not fucking stink so he won't figure it out, just to tell him. Idiot."

He let me go. "Right. Sorry."

"Just go take a shower," I ordered, spun around, and briskly walked out the door.

***...*.*.

I opened the door to the bathroom and was greeted by a wave of steam. "Hey," I called out.

Aiden let out a high pitched yelp from behind the shower curtain, and I was immediately tensed. "What's wrong? Are you injured?" I questioned. "Do you need help?"

"No!" he exclaimed, sounding strained. "No. Why are you in here?"

"To deliver your clothes," I answered, confused. "And your toothbrush."

"I'm in the shower!"

"Obviously," I rolled my eyes. "Your point is...?"

"I... ugh... could you please get out?"

I shrugged. "Sure. Clothes and toothbrush are on the counter."

"Thank you, Cashile," He replied in the same strained tone.

I shut the door, rolling my eyes once more. By my estimations, he'd be at least another fifteen minutes. Might as well make him dinner to bring home to Aisa; there was no way I'd let him bring Aisa unhealthy, un-nutritional ramen.

I started chopping vegetables and throwing them into a pot with olive oil boiling on the surface.

15 minutes later, Aiden stepped out of the bathroom fully clothed and red faced from, I assumed, the heat of the shower. He wiped at his damp, dark hair with a towel, wandering over to see what I was doing.

"Feeling any better?" I asked, sprinkling pepper into my soup.

"Mmhm," he agreed, resting his hands on my shoulders as he peered over me to catch a glimpse of the soup. "Vegetable?"

I ducked out from under his hands, moving toward a chopping board. "And chicken," I replied, chopping said chicken.

He seemed back to his normal self. Confident, strong.

"Cashile- Thank you. Not only for today. Thank you for keeping Aisa safe during the mission."

"I said I would, didn't I?" I asked casually, mixing the final ingredients in my soup. "You need to get home, Aisa is probably worried sick. Your absence had him in tears when we arrived."

He rubbed his forehead with the bottom of his palm, slowly bringing it down to pinch the bridge of his nose. "I do have to get back home," he mumbled. He looked at me, a soft and hesitant look in his eyes. He opened his mouth, paused, then plunged forth "You know, you should really consider moving back in," he took a small step toward me. "We really miss you in the apartment."

"You know exactly why I moved out. It isn't safe," I explained, staring at my soup. "And besides, I like this apartment."

Aiden glanced around the relatively bare room with raised eyebrows but said nothing. "By your logic, Aisa shouldn't be on your team then either. Automatically he's put in a difficult spot. The difference is his health. Think of all the ramen he's consuming without your guidance," Aiden laughed at his rationale.

"That's why I'm letting you take the pot of soup home," I replied.

Aiden nodded, taking an oddly embarrassed step back, rubbing at the back of his head. "Right," he chuckled. "Okay."

Sighing, I added in the chicken to the soup. I was aware that I'd said something wrong in this conversation based on Aiden's reaction, but I wasn't quite sure what it was. Sticking a lid on the soup, I turned around to face Aiden, only for him to already be studying me closely. I furrowed my eyebrows and slid away from his gaze and into the pantry to grab some bread for the soup. When I come back out, he was staring at the soup with a strange expression on his face.

"What?" I asked. "Something wrong with the soup?"

"Hm? Oh, no," he said. "It's just..."

"What?" I questioned, pulling out another chopping board and bread knife. "Spit it out."

"You're always making us food," Aiden explained slowly.

"Because apparently, you can't cook," I replied.

"I can!" he insisted, but crumbled beneath my judgmental gaze. "Okay, just not as well as you. But I feel like I, or maybe Aisa and I, y'know, should take you out. To a restaurant." He seemed terrified by my silence. "Sushi!" he suddenly exclaimed. "You like sushi, right?"

Wrapping the cut bread in some cloth, I hand it to Aiden along with the pot of soup. "You'll want to let that soup simmer for at least fifteen more minutes," I told him. He accepted the food absentmindedly.

"We can do something else," he worried. "If you don't want sushi. Or nothing at all, I mean, you probably make better food than half the restaurants here, but I was just thinking, y'know-"

"Sushi is fine," I sighed, just trying to get him to shut up.

"Fine? Fine. Oh. Good," Aiden rambledas I herded him out the door. "When?"

"Jeez, I don't know," I replied. "I don't exactly receive a schedule for when missions are going to be."

"Oh, right, of course," Aiden agreed. "So just... sushi. Whenever."

"Sushi whenever," I nodded.

The last thing I saw before I shut the door was a goofy, blinding smile spreading across his face.

WASN'T THAT SUCH A QUICK UPDATE!

REWARD US WITH SUPER LONG AND SUPER INSPIRING COMPLIMENTS!

I'm typing this even though I just got surgery on my wrist and I'm on drugs (like the legal prescription kind for pain lol) but I still got this typed! I though this was cuuuuute~! And kinda saaad :(

but mostly cuuuute~!

SO COMMENT COMMENT COMMENT COMMENT COMMENT! Give us lots of compliments so we're inspired to write more and update quickly again!

On to supes!

gaara119

Hi!

How cute and awkward was that last scene gawsh

Lmao yes please use your thanksgiving breaks to comment and make us all happy and inspired and all the good stuff!

That's about all I got, got two papers to write and vodka to drink so

cOmmEnt!

Comment, Vote, and Fan!

Ja ne!

Insomniac_Lullabies