I wandered into the weapon store, searching for Aisa. He hadn't come back to the training grounds, and I thought that he might have chickened out of buying a weapon or was still here contemplating which one to buy.
Instead, I found him sitting on a stool and chatting with the store owner, sipping some tea, with tonfas lying on the counter in front of him.
I nodded to myself: tonfas were a good choice of weapon for Aisa. He was good at taijutsu, but lacked the strength to stand up to strong attacks or deliver his own devastating blow. And if he went up against an opponent using a weapon with longer reach, the tonfas would compensate.
But that still didn't explain why Aisa was here, chatting and drinking tea, instead of out at the training fields practicing with his new weapons.
I cleared my throat, and Aisa spun around on the chair to face me, thankfully not spilling any of his tea. "Oh! Cashile-sensei!" He exclaimed. He glanced out the window and paled as he realized how much time he'd wasted. "Um, I chose tonfas!"
I raised an eyebrow. "I can see that," I replied slowly. "I don't see why you aren't practicing with them, though."
Aisa gave an embarrassed laugh, rubbing at the back of his head. "Well, you see, I came here immediately, but I wasn't sure what weapon to choose, so Fudo-san," he waves at the owner, who offers me a wizened smile, "offered to help. Of course I accepted, and eventually we agreed on tonfas as the best choice for me, and I asked for advice with them, and eventually Fudo started telling stories—did you know that he knew Madara Uchiha?!"
"Is that so?" I asked skeptically.
Aisa visibly deflated at my tone. "Okay, like, he didn't know him, but he was in the village and saw him!"
I glance toward Fudo, who was smiling and nodding, then back toward Aisa, who was grinning happily. I had come to this shop many times before and didn't even know the owner's name. How Aisa was able to befriend practically anyone he met-even a, at the very least, sixty five year old man-was a mystery to me.
"That's interesting," I finally settled on saying. "I'm sure Fudo here has lots of stories he could tell you, but right now you really ought to go out and train with your new weapons, don't you think?"
Aisa gulped, paled, and nodded. "Uh-huh. That sounds like a good plan." He slid down from the stool, set his tea on the counter, and grabbed the tonfa. "Bye, Fudo-san! See you later!" He waved as he left the store.
I turned back to the old man and raised my eyebrows. "He did pay for those tonfa, right?"
With a beatific smile, he shook his head.
***...*.*.
"Aiden!" I called, opening the apartment door with the key Aiden hid so creatively on the door lintel. "You owe me 38 ryo!"
I heard the sound of running water, then Aiden stepped out of the bathroom, shaking drops of water from his hands. "Why do I owe you money?" He asked. "And where's Aisa?"
"Training," I replied, "with the tonfa I bought him."
"Tonfa?"
"Sticks with handles." I rolled my eyes. "About as long as your forearm."
"I know what they are." Aiden rolled his eyes right back at me. "Why did you buy Aisa tonfa?"
"I had all my genin choose weapons," I replied. "Aisa chose tonfa."
"I see," Aiden nodded.
The silence dragged on for a few moments before I shrugged, turning back toward the door. "Just wanted to let you know that you owe me," I told him. "Pay me back soon."
"Wait, you're going?" Aiden asked, something akin to disappointment coloring his voice.
"Yep," I replied, and when I turned back I caught a glimpse of the disappointment I had heard in his voice on his face before he hurriedly hid the emotion.
"You should stay," Aiden told me. "I'm making dinner, and Aisa will be back soon."
"Can't," I replied tightly. "I've got work to do."
"You're working too hard," Aiden implored. "You're always training or teaching or scheming or studying or doing missions. Don't go out and train tonight. Just relax. When was the last time you ate?"
"This morning," I answered impatiently , then protested, "I don't have time to relax. There's so much work to do!"
"When's the last time you slept?" Aiden questioned.
"Last night!" I shot back triumphantly.
"When's the last time you slept more than three hours in a row?" He asked pointedly.
I opened my mouth, then closed it again. Aiden remained silent, and finally I muttered, "Only four days ago. I was on a mission! I've gone longer! I'm fine; I can handle it."
"I'm sure you can," Aiden sighed. "But that doesn't mean you have to."
"So what, you want me to sit here and do nothing instead?" I snapped, irritated.
"Course not," he replied easily. "Read. Play chess. Memorize your bingo book entries if you insist, or study your books about ninjutsu, or go over your notes about the jutsu you're working on. Just... take a break when dinner is done, okay? And sleep at a reasonable time?"
I stood there for a long moment, and after several beats of uncomfortable silence I realized that I was trying to find something in his works to fight, but couldn't, because despite the fact that it kind of felt like he was smothering me, I also felt warm.
"You better not be making ramen for dinner," I finally acquiesced in a grumble.
"Deal," Aiden turned away, and I know it was so he could hide the grin on his face. "Salmon and rice sound good? With some clear vegetable soup, maybe? I might have some leftover sushi, too, if you get hungry before dinner is finished, which should be in about two hours, because that's when Aisa usually gets back from training or hanging out with his teammates or playing or—"
"Aiden?" I interrupted his uncharacteristic rambling.
"Yes, Cashile?"
"Shut up, will you? I'm trying to read."
"Yes, Cashile."
***...*.*.
I had shed my coat and switched into ninja shorts and a long sleeved shirt, and now I lazed on the comfortable leather couch (which sported several more blankets than the last time I'd been there), listening as Aiden finished drying and putting away the dishes more than I was reading my notes. Aisa had washed the dishes before being sent to bed, I had grudgingly wiped down the counters, and Aiden was finishing up.
"I moved Knight to D3," Aiden called to me.
"Stupid move, Aiden," I warned, making a note on my paper before sticking the pen back behind my ear. The sound of clinking dishes fell silent as Aiden clearly stopped to study the chess board.
"What do you mean?" he questioned after several moments, evidently having not found any traps.
"Bishop to G6," I answered. I listened as he moved the designated piece and smirked as he swore softly. I heard him put away the last few dishes before coming out of the kitchen, picking up my feet and plopping himself down on the couch with a groan, allowing my legs to resettle on his lap so I didn't have to move.
"What's your move?" I asked innocently, hiding a smirk behind my notebook.
He threw an arm over his eyes. "Cashile, unlike you, I cannot play chess from a board in my head or whatever you do. And I didn't bring the board with me. I forfeit."
I frowned. "There are still ways you could have gotten out of my trap," I argued.
Aiden snorted, removing his arm from his face and shooting me a brilliant smile, full of amazement and amusement and disbelief. "And clearly you thought of every single way I could have wriggled my way from your trap. Making any attempts at said wriggling fruitless."
"Mmm," I replied, not bothering to contradict him. After several minutes of silence, where the only sound was the flipping of pages and the occasional scratch of my pen, I felt his hand gently rest on my calf.
I looked up with a raised eyebrow, but he wasn't looking at me. Instead he ran a finger along the skin, and I shuddered as he went from skin to scar tissue, where I couldn't actually feel anything except the ghost sensation of pressure.
"What happened here?" Aiden asked, still running his hand along my leg where the scar was.
I swallowed. A part of me wanted to ask him to stop, and another just enjoyed the warmth of his hand on my skin. "What, you want to reminisce about how I got all my scars?" I asked snidely.
Aiden glanced up at me, eyes dark. "If you want," he shrugged, a finger tracing the outline of one of the large scars on my leg.
I'm silent to the point that I think he's resigned himself to no answer, and then the words slip from my mouth almost without my permission. I was warm, and tired, and Aiden was still here, and so I let my mouth form the word, "Dog."
"What?" Aiden asked, looking up from where he'd been thumbing over the ridge of scar tissue.
"It's from a dog. The scar. Dog bite."
I watched with interest as Aiden closed his mouth into a thin frown, his hand freezing on my leg before continuing to trace along scars. "Oh," he finally said. "I'm sorry."
"What do you have to be sorry for?" I questioned, confused. "It's not your fault."
"But I can still be sorry it occurred," Aiden explained gently.
"Ah. Right," I replied uncomfortably.
The silence stretched on until it wasn't awkward any longer, and I fell asleep on the couch to the feeling of Aiden tracing the scars on my legs.
***...*.*.
I woke in the morning to the sound of someone knocking on the door. I went to stand, but realized that Aiden's head was resting on my thigh. I unceremoniously shoved him off, wrinkling my nose in disgust at the small patch of drool now on my shorts.
"Cashile?" Aiden questioned sleepily.
"You drool in your sleep," I informed him, straightening my clothes, putting on my jacket, and walking toward the door. I casually plucked a carving knife from a drawer as I approached the door. Standing to the side, I called out, "Who is it?"
Aiden yawned from behind me, slowly standing, used to my paranoia-my perfectly reasonable safety precautions-by now.
"It's Kakashi," a voice replied.
"Tea?" Aiden mouthed as he meandered toward the kitchen.
"Ooh," I turned to him and asked in a whisper, "Do you have some of that tea I had the other day? The kind of spicy one?" I carefully peeked through the peep hole just in case whoever was outside was prepared to blind me with a bright light.
"You mean the one you broke into the apartment to drink?" Aiden asked dryly.
"Cashile?" Kakashi called, "You still there?"
"Yeah, that one," I nodded, twisting open the locks and sliding the chain off the door now that I was fairly certain it was Kakashi. "And is it really breaking in if I know where you hide your key?"
Aiden sighed, but was smiling when I glanced back. "As a matter of fact, I do have some of that left. You drank it plain, right?"
"Steeped for four minutes and thirty five seconds," I affirmed, and opened the door, knife still held loosely in hand.
"Kakashi," I greeted. "Who did I kill during the Land of Whirlpools mission when I was a genin on your team?"
He blinked. "You didn't? You killed Haku during the Land of Waves mission. Don't you remember?" He asked, sounding concerned.
"Of course I remember," I waved the knife dismissively, turning my back on him to enter the kitchen and put the utensil away. "It was a trick question to make sure you were you."
"Right," Kakashi followed behind me into the kitchen, awkwardly nodding to Aiden.
"Sir," Aiden greeted, then turned to me. "Kettle's boiling. I'm going to go wake up Aisa."
I nodded to show I heard him, then turned back to Kakashi. "Why are you here?"
"Well, you weren't at your apartment," Kakashi explained, some warm emotion in his eye. "I thought you might have spent all night training or working, and I would have had to search all the training field for you. But I figured I'd try here, first."
"As interesting as discussing your thought process is, that's not what I meant," I told Kakashi, cracking several eggs into a saucepan to scramble. "I meant why are you here, not why are you here."
"Lady Kakage has summoned you. You have about thirty minutes until she expects you," Kakashi explained. "I still have to go get Naruto."
"Is he still moping about Sasuke?" I questioned, using a spatula to mix the eggs together.
"It seems so," Kakashi sighed. "And there's only more bad news for him-for the Leaf Village."
I glanced up sharply before slowly returning my attention to the eggs. "Do you mind getting the cream out for me?" I asked. "Top shelf of the refrigerator."
Kakashi did as I asked, handing me the container. I carefully added some to cool the eggs and stop them from overcooking. "Who died?" I asked, continuing to stir the eggs.
Kakashi's hand stuttered as he took the container back from me, and that's all the confirmation I needed. "The Toad Sage Jiraiya," he answered, not asking how I came to the conclusion that someone had died.
I frowned, still keeping my eyes on the eggs. I took them off the heat in order to slice some bread for toasting. "Didn't Naruto... train with him? And he was Tsunade's teammate."
"Yeah," Kakashi affirmed. "It... It's a loss that will pain the Leaf Village greatly."
I pressed my lips together, turning off the stove. "I'll be there in thirty minutes."
"Okay," Kakashi agreed, accepting the dismissal. "And, Cashile?" He added, already halfway out the door.
"Yeah?"
"Try to be sensitive. Naruto... this will be hard on Naruto, especially so soon after the failure with Sasuke. Just... go easy on him."
I kept my lips pressed tightly together, but finally murmured, "Of course." Kakashi seemed to sense that I was through with the conversation, and after a brief hesitation, closed the door. I locked it behind him, then returned to the kitchen and continued to make breakfast. Aiden had smoked salmon hidden away in the cupboards somewhere.
Making promises that I didn't plan to keep never bothered me before.
It certainly didn't now.
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_***...*.*.*.*.*.**.*.**.*.**.*.**.*.**.*.**.*.**.*.**.*.**.*.**.*.**.*.*
Hi guys!
Sooo we took longer than expected for the update, but my finals are next week and life has been crazy
But we updated!
Did you like the Cashden moments?
Jiraiya is dead :((((((
Okay wish us luck on finals! And comment comment comment for inspiration!
Also check out our book Update Updates where we keep you updated on when we'll update! Ha.
If any of y'all have fan art that hasn't been posted to Fan(art)(fiction) send it to gaaralover119 so we can post it!
Okay comment!
gaara119
Hey!
Short an because I'm sick af my boyfriend has a virus and I caught it (or vice Versace but w/e). Enjoy reading!
-S
Comment, Vote, and Fan!
Ja ne!
Insomniac_Lullabies
