#01 Privilege
"Teru bozu-sama" a voice would call him, only when they're alone. The Kazekage grumbles he's not bald. A ghost of a smile still appears in hearing her laugh.
#02 Played
One time, to prove he wasn't bald, he took off the Kazekage hat, revealing his face underneath to his student. The surprise on her face he expected, the smugness that followed after was not.
#03 Succulents
They brought small comfort now that the giver barely visits his office. Still, the healthiness of their leaves shows the meticulous care for the plants which translates that he cares for the one who gave them.
#04 Humility
Day by day, he could see the light dim in her eyes. He could not spare her from being surrounded death. What is a Kazekage's wish when pitted against the Council's unanimous decision?
#05 Reconciliation
He finds a cup of iced tea on his desk. No notes to be found. Yet, the gesture is telling enough.
#06 Amends
He finds himself in a secret meeting with the Honored Siblings, complaints about old joints are heard here and there between the two, but the proposed peace with Konoha ushered a solemn ambiance.
everything stays
right where you left them
everything stays
but it still changes
-Marceline, Adventure Time
Hatsue and Sasori falls back to their old routine, sort of. There wasn't much change on Sasori's part, he was accustomed to working all day in his workshop, puppets and dancing shadows from the lamps were his companion. Hatsue however, had a completely different routine than she had a year and a half ago. She works at the hospital now which took a lot of her time (the little kango-hei complains about medical reports reasoning out she was just a kid and she shouldn't be doing this). She used to barge in Sasori's workshop with her paint and easel and set up beside him. Isn't it ironic, how her paintings turn out bright when she does them in a room almost drowned in darkness. He'd never tell anyone but the puppet master was grateful for her presence. The solace of having his own thoughts as his company doesn't bother him, but it is infinitely better to have them with a companion who respects comfortable silence. And now he understands why he felt something was off while he worked on his puppets, it's the sound of a paint brush on a surface on the canvas, the plop of a brush dipping for paint, the swish of a brush being rinsed with water, the clack of ferrule on the edge of a container and the groans of self criticism; all that brought a fond exasperation on his face.
In the absence of it, that was when he realized he missed their routine.
His hand using the beveled hook knife halted.
Was he the only one who longed to get back to how they used to be?
Sasori was hounding the staff's break room when she arrived. Hatsue didn't know what to expect at the sudden visit, not that there were anything that warrants for her friend to visit. Unlike the first one, which was the long overdue talk, this one was unprecedented. He was seated at an empty table near the center, looking stoic as usual. He was wearing his black jacket top paired with black pants, the outfit made his hair stood out because of this.
"Sasori." She greeted, smiling at him. Also, wary because the last time he visited, she received a (long overdue) verbal smack down.
He stared at her for a moment before nodding, contemplating on the standard medical-nin jacket she was wearing.
"Doesn't it get hot?"
She looked down on her jacket thoughtfully. "I was planning to take it off when I get lunch. What's up?"
"Lunch."
"Oh, good, I thought you were gonna scold me about something." She breathed out a sigh of relief.
"Why?"
"I'm paranoid, also the last time you came here well..."
"Let's go."
"Where?"
"Lunch."
"Right." Yep. Hatsue felt embarrassed, that was obvious why was she such an airhead. They went out of the hospital and on the way she asked,
"What made you come out ? I know you hate delaying work."
He looked at her pointedly.
Her.
"Sorry. I've been a terrible friend."
He just nodded at her and left it at that which was typical of him.
"How'd you get inside the staff's break room?"
"It wasn't difficult." He answered.
"I meant how were you allowed to wait for me there? It's called staff's break room for a reason." She rolled her eyes.
He tilted his head and she noticed the curve of his jaw, Hatsue was made aware of a premonition that she would have trouble in the very distant future. She looked away quickly.
"I don't need to be allowed to if I never asked permission."
Her head snapped back at him. "You mean you just simply walked in there?"
He shrugged.
Okay. That didn't sit right with her. "Sasori, you can't do that."
"Why?"
"Just because no one is stopping you doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. PLUS your presence there is an inconvenience."
The boy felt himself growing thin with patience. "I wasn't inconveniencing anyone."
"Sometimes there are emergencies and you might get in the way with the staff."
"Well, it's not like there's an influx of patients today." He interjected.
".. because it means there are a lot of those who couldn't make it home." She said numbly.
Patients come from survivors. And if there were no patients that meant no one survived. Or maybe by some miracle Suna never lost a shinobi which never happens when at war. The atmosphere turned gloomy. They arrived at the Yashinoki restaurant and seated themselves the exact table when Sasori was with Komushi.
"How may I take your order, Sasori-kun?" It was the same waitress, blushing at him.
"He'll have five onigiris with black sesame seeds and sauteed cabbage on the side, and mesquite tea." She answered, and wondered if his tastes remained unchanged.
The waitress that looked to be around their age, regarded her for a moment, then she jotted down the order. Hatsue brushed off the weird instance, and instead looked across her companion who stared back at her, with a drowsier look in his gray eyes. Anyone would think he was on the brink of falling asleep.
"And I'll have-"
"Four yakitoris with a bowl of rice, two servings of prickly pear bars and black sage tea." Sasori interjected. "I got it right, didn't I?" (Because her favorite hasn't changed.)
"Yeah."
The waitress seemed less upbeat compared to how she initially greeted the two as she went away with their order. Hatsue takes off her jacket and hangs it on the back of her chair, she was wearing a white tank top underneath. At this, Sasori quickly took off his jacket (he was wearing a black shirt underneath) then he stood and draped the jacket, covering her shoulders.
"Why?" This time Hatsue asked.
"'Cause it's hot."
"And while you're enjoying the breeze of being out of the jacket, I'm not. What was the point of me taking off my jacket if you're just gonna cover me with yours?!"
"We'd have no problem if you weren't showing off your bony shoulders."
"Sasori, you're being an idiot."
"Your shoulders are weird, cover it."
whoosh
The redhead takes his thrown jacket away from his face, staring disgruntled with the girl across from him. The drowsy look was gone now, replaced by an annoyed expression with narrow eyes.
"Don't make me put chakra strings on you."
"Fine." She crossed her arms then huffed. "But only if you wear mine. If I'm gonna suffer because of you, you should suffer with me."
He sighed, rolling his eyes.
By the time their food arrived the waitress had a pinched expression, as if she's holding herself back from crying. Poor waitress, she thought, maybe a customer is giving her a hard time.
"Hatsue." Sasori called out when the waitress was gone. "If it's not at the hospital, then where?"
"what?" she asked, confused.
"When I go get you, where should I-" wait for you
"Oh, are we gonna have lunch from now on?"
He nodded, looking quite dapper in her medical-nin jacket. It makes Hatsue wonder what if Sasori studied medical ninjutsu, how awesome would it be.
"I'll go get you. I know where you live." Duh.
"But if your lunch break is past noon, I'll go get you."
"You should eat lunch on your own when that happens."
"No. If by 12:30 sharp you're not at my house, I'm going to get you."
"Then, at the lobby, don't sneak into the staff break room."
They ate in silence; when their table were cleared except for their teas, he asked,
"When's your free day?"
"Saturday."
"Tomorrow then."
"Yep. I'll be sleeping the whole day."
"You don't paint on your days off?"
Hatsue winced at the question. "I... stopped painting."
Sasori stared sharply at her response resulting to her looking down on her hands holding the ceramic teacup, twiddling her thumbs and tracing the rim alternately. "I tried to keep painting, it's just that they turn out... sad. Sometimes angry. Sometimes downright depressing. So I stopped."
"That's stupid. You paint because you like it; you shouldn't stop just because you hate how it turned out."
"Yeah... still." She shrugged.
"Then, what do you do when you're not painting?"
"Nothing." She pondered and then added. "Sleep."
"Mind if I drop by tomorrow, it's been awhile since I last saw Hajime-san and Tomi-san?" For a moment, he gave her calculative glance.
"Sure."
Their conversation ended like that and they separated their ways after swapping back their jackets. They were alright, they're still friends, they're just trying to find their groove back, like an old machine that sputters when turned back on after a long while of being unused; they're just sputtering.
#07 Crush
The waitress felt defeated watching the person she admires exchanging jackets with his friend. They're still young, in a few years, things could change, maybe she'll have a chance, she says to herself. But somehow, that doesn't make her feel any better.
Hatsue thought she was dreaming as she went downstairs to eat breakfast. Well, brunch was more like it. Her best friend was sitting at her table pouring her parents some coffee, the smell of falafel ( deep-fried ball or patty-shaped fritter made from ground chickpeas or fava beans) wafting from the kitchen. She hopes it's not overcooked; she spots rose petal jam on the table. Sweet! She sits down on her father's left side and reaches for a toast.
"Morning, mom, dad, Sasori."
"Morning sweetie." Her mom greeted back.
"Morning, darling." That was her dad.
"Morning, Hatsue." And Sasori.
She observed the red head carefully, as he walked to the kitchen. Sasori changed, not just physically, sure he was taller, his jaw lost its round shape, his habit of sporting his usual drowsy expression was starting to go away, however it was the confidence he carried himself around her parents that startled her. A year and a half ago, he acted stiffly around them, like he didn't know how to act with them around; he always acted so grown up all the time, but with her parents even more so. She never said anything but she catches a flash of envy when she speaks about her parents or whenever he sees them with her. She knew he didn't have parents, sometimes she stops herself when she gets the urge because she knows he doesn't want pity, she doesn't touch the subject. Ever.
"Tomi-san, the falafels are cooked now." Sasori turned off the stove and her mom immediately stands up and made the boy sit down. Hatsue was spreading the rose petal jam on the slice of toast on her hand, then placed it on Sasori's plate next to hers; she grabbed another for herself while he poured her some saguaro fruit juice (it tastes like strawberry). His dad was looking at them, bemused.
"Sasori says you have plans with him today."
"He told me he was gonna drop by. I didn't know we had plans." She answered.
The red head sent a glare at her way. "It's too early for you to start annoying me."
Yep. That confirms it. Sasori never teases her in front of her parents until now. He's at ease in their presence. What changed? Or perchance because her parents remained unchanged and consistent that he stopped feeling wary of them.
"What's our plan then?"
"Painting."
Her dad's eyes softened at that. "That's good, it's been awhile since Hatsue painted, she says she's been too busy."
She frowned at that, she had reservations with the hobby but despite her feelings, she really wanted to. "Where?"
"My house. I bought you a lot of paint and canvas, just bring your brushes."
She nodded and watched her mom drop falafels on her plate. She wrinkled her nose. Ughh, vegetables. She sneakily placed a couple on her best friend's plates which he ate with no complaint. Her mom beamed at Sasori devouring everything on his plate. Hmm. If only she could swap bodies with Sasori whenever her mom makes her eat her veggies. When they finished, she went upstairs to get ready, also she received an instruction from Sasori to bring a white dress or shirt (she brought the white dress that she didn't like) that she won't ever use for painting, weird but she shrugged. When they arrived at his house, they headed towards the room beside his workshop. To her surprise, it was empty except for the easel, canvas, buckets of paint and a step ladder at the end of the room. Like a sailor hearing a siren call, she gravitated towards the easel and she caressed the canvas. Pure linen, she thought, very expensive.
"You should change your clothes so you don't ruin it."
"Okay." She nodded and headed to the bathroom to change. When she returned she was taken aback at Sasori standing next to an easel and a canvas which were clearly not there when she left the room and a set of brand new brushes on a stool.
"I'm teaching you how to paint."
She might have laughed if she weren't shocked. Instead, she just nodded, curious how this would go. The redhead opened a bucket of yellow paint and splashed it on his canvas. He looked back at her, gesturing for her to do the same so she did. She splashed red paint on hers. Her dress being splattered on, it reminds her of blood. Sasori splashed his canvas again, with another paint: blue.
"Why?" She asked, she was laughing now, at the sheer absurdity. This felt like madness. This felt freedom.
"Therapy." He replied simply.
"Why do I have to wear white?"
"Same reason why I'm wearing black."
"But you wear black most of the time."
He rolled his eyes. "To be poetic."
"Poetic?" She squeaked.
He laughed at that. Still, she joined him in laughter and kept flinging paint on her canvas. The paint was everywhere, on their face, on their hair, on the walls, and on the floor. Chaos but therapeutic indeed. When she came down from the dopamine her brain induced, she picks up her wide brush and began blending the paints on canvas. It turned purple. She then started painting a man, lying down on a bed of grass. His forehead protector lying next to his face.
"You see, I lost my wedding ring during battle. But now, I even lost my arm."
So she painted him whole, smiling at her (she remembered making him laugh), his right hand still intact and a flower ring on his ring finger on his left hand. Purple Hyacinth. I'm sorry. Please forgive me. Sorrow. She closed her eyes. And tried to recall whether she got his face right, she finds her memory without details. She was assaulted by guilt immediately. How dare her forget a person's face who died in her arms?
I'm sorry. Please forgive me.
She then paints another flower a bouquet of white stargazer lilies wrapped within his hands. The saddest flower in the world. Typically, the Lily would only have 6 stamens but she arranged the (red) anther forming 愛 Love in the middle of one flower. Her hidden message: he loved you. Til the end.
Time passed and when she looked at her finished painting, she felt morose at the completion. Drained. She looked at Sasori then she gives him a tired smile, they sat on the floor. His painting, a crude mimic of paper cranes, abstract with him leaving the paints he splashed unblended.
"Will you carve iris flower on the frame for this one?"
"Okay."
"I'm gonna give it to the wife."
"of the man on your painting?"
"He was the first one." She nodded.
"Hope the meaning of iris. Purple hyacinth for I'm sorry. White stargazer lily for sympathy." He knows because he has a penchant of looking for deeper meanings; he memorized her book, the language of flowers.
"Thanks." One word heavy laden with all the gratitude in her heart.
They were just staring at their paintings. There was no metaphor for what happened or what they're doing at the moment, although perhaps a medical-nin who usually keeps her uniform spotless and pristine, to be wearing a white dress covered with a pandemonium of colors, painted a man she delivered to death's door, and a boy who's famed on spilling enough blood to red the sand, to be wearing his black uniform because it hides the stain of blood, splattered with colors that his clothes cannot hide, perhaps it was poetic. Yet, there was no metaphor. That did not stop them from relishing the moment of friends finding peace in discord.
#08 Tadaima 只今
A girl ,barely ten years of age, bows to a widow with a portrait of a ghost that haunts them both in her arms. The widow smiles wanly, there was nothing to forgive, only a memory to remember. She hangs the painting by the altar, among loved ones who were long gone.
#09 Fear
A few times, Hajime asks why he allowed himself to have a child. Suna has law: only one of non-shinobi every two generations. He has safety as a merchant, his daughter does not. He prepares himself of the day he outlives his daughter, the most painful thing for a parent. He prays it never comes.
#10 Wary
He notices how close Sasori is with his daughter. There are no signs of crushing yet. It's either hidden well or a matter of time.
#11 Fond
His daughter's best friend makes him coffee that's just right. Loathe to admit, even better than his wife's.
#12 Assurance
"The advantage of being a merchant, you don't have to worry of us passing away sooner than you shinobis, Sasori."
#13 Eavesdropping
"You're stealing my parents, Sasori." He hears her daughter's accusation. "They like you more than me."
"Deployment to Suna's borders." Hatsue reading out her mission scroll, dread filling her stomach.
"Yes. Right now, Konoha is fending Iwa from gaining ground near Suna's borders. The objective is to hold it. There are talks of a Kage summit for a peace treaty. There are those who might sabotage long before it happens. To promote friendly alliance, I want you to offer assistance to Konoha if need be. I have already sent a courier to offer aid against Iwa." Her former mentor explained.
"Why not someone else?"
Because you're valuable enough to behold truth in his overture to Konoha, but not valuable enough to be a real loss to Suna. At least, that was how politics talk.
"The council thinks I coddle you too much. Most of them demands you to get field experience." The Sandaime replied, divulging partial truth.
She had been lucky enough to avoid the brunt of the war, it was time that her luck finally ran out.
"I understand." The bees inside her stomach committing kamikaze says otherwise.
"Don't wear your medical-nin uniform, they kill field medics first. Do you still remember the ultimate role of a medical-nin?"
"Be the last man standing."
"Exactly, here, wear my jacket. I bought you this pin: the doctor's logo. It's small enough to be imperceptible. But to be safe, wear it in safe company." Sasori hands her a gold pin and his black jacket.
Her mom cried while her dad was gripping Sasori's shoulders as if to support himself or to stop Sasori from going with her despite his own mission.
No farewells. No goodbyes. Her eyes watered. Ugh, she was such a crybaby. She scolded herself inwardly.
"See you later, mom, dad, Sasori."
One last tight group hug between them four. And then Hatsue was off to war.
A's note:
I swear this is the last one until next week. I wrote this one coz I finished 12 tasks (most of them are essays) in 16 hours which is saying something. And of course my idea of a break is creative writing. If you spot typos please forgive me or feel free to point it out. I think I might be word drunk. I'll reread it in the morning after getting some sleep. The sort of drabbles above #01 - #13signifies the passage of time. So Sasori and Hatsue had spent 13 months (more or less) before her deployment.
You know what at this point, the silent readers should know that you're the reason why this got updated. Threats are very effective. I is very scared. LOL. If I could, I'd keep writing fluff. But I gotta move forward. If you must know, I actually dread the next chapter. I NEED FLUFF TO LIVE. Also, I keep thinking of a Sasori and Komushi scene. It's gonna be fun when I can finally implement it.
To hp6123
Thank you. And your weren't rambling at all. Glad you love them being written that way. Tell you a secret, I found Hatsue most difficult to write. Chiyo the second. then Sasori. I have the most fun writing Komushi because he is the captain of the ship. Hope you stick til the end.