Author's note:
Takes place between The Mute I and Snowflakes. Short, but it does fill the gap.
Nervously, Asaya rubbed her left palm with her right thumb in a circular motion. She furtively glanced over her shoulder at Itachi, who sat facing the fire, then looked back at her palm and took a deep breath. A dense puff of condensed air escaped from her mouth and dissipated into the clear, frozen night.
From behind his back, Itachi could hear the crunch of Asaya's footsteps puncturing the thick snow as she came to sit beside him in front the fire.
"Does it snow in Konoha?" She asked, frustrated with the climate.
"Sometimes, but not like this." Itachi answered. "Perhaps a few centimeters in late winter, but it always melts within a few days."
"I always thought of Konoha as existing in a sort of perpetual spring- that the trees would be green and lush all year."
"Autumn and winter are short seasons, but they happen the same as anywhere else."
"I see." Asaya said, studying his profile in the firelight. "It seems like a beautiful place."
"I am sure Iwa has its charms." Itachi replied politely.
"Well, sure, if you think dirt and rocks are charming." She joked. "I shouldn't be so harsh, though. In the morning, the mist drifts through the mountains, and in the gentle light it's actually quite lovely." She paused a moment before continuing, "The valley though, was full of rocky hills covered with grass and patches of small trees- well, when it wasn't covered in snow. Back then, the mountains looked so magnificent. I remember getting lost after dark, and my big brother would come find me before I got in trouble." Her words were wistful, but tinged with bitterness.
"You have siblings?" This was the first Itachi heard her speak of her family in detail.
"I was the second oldest of four. You?"
After a moment of deliberation, Itachi answered quietly. "I have a younger brother." He should have lied.
By the way his brow furrowed, Asaya could see the question upset him. "I see." She simply said. There must have been some bad blood between them. Well, of course there would be; Itachi was a deserter, a fugitive.
"I used to tell him stories about seeing grizzly bears and snow leopards." She sheepishly smirked. "None of it was true."
Itachi raised an eyebrow. "If you had, you probably wouldn't have survived to tell."
"No," she shook her head, blushing. "My brother would go hunting with our father and uncles sometimes and I was just jealous."
"My younger brother followed me on a mission once." He was surprised to have said it so candidly.
"Really?"
"A wild boar had been attacking a farming village and I had been sent to exterminate it. He shouldn't have, but he followed me anyway." Itachi's brow softened into an almost gentle expression.
"Sounds like he really wanted to impress you." Asaya said.
"Perhaps." The corner of Itachi's mouth twitched upwards for split second.
"Well?" She prompted after he failed to elaborate.
"'Well?' what?"
"What happened?" She asked. "Did you kill the boar? Or did you have to abandon mission to bring him home?"
"We killed the boar, then I brought him back home." Itachi explained plainly.
"Did you tell anyone?"
"No."
"What a lucky kid to have big brother take care of him." Asaya sincerely remarked.
Itachi dismissively shook his head.
Do you miss him? Asaya wondered as Itachi's expression reverted to a frown. She thought carefully before saying "It can be very difficult, sometimes, to be separated from one's family."
Itachi snapped his head towards her like a rabbit under a flashlight. "I imagine it must be difficult to live alone in a place like Iwa."
"That's not- never mind." He understood her sentiment.
Itachi continued. "You, however, don't seem to mind."
"No, not at all." Asaya said effortlessly. "I suppose we all have our own experiences, though."
As the conversation ended, Asaya's chest hollowed and a chorus of conflicting emotions clamorously echoed in anticipation. Chief among them were remorse and resolve.
Itachi noticed how uncomfortable she looked as she folded her arms tightly against her chest. A short, frigid breeze cut through the night as a million tiny, crystalline snowflakes sparkled and flurried around them. He leaned forward to grab a log and toss it on the fire.
"Itachi-san," Asaya addressed him with a soft, almost doleful voice.
Curious, Itachi turned to face her and her left hand reached out to cover his eyes. An acute, searing pain flared in them, as if every cellular bond was shredded by her chakra. He fell backwards ono the icy ground, unable to open his eyes. "What…?" He winced.
The crunch of the snow told him she stood up. "An eye for an eye, Itachi-san. You took my weapon, now I've taken yours."
Itachi propped himself onto his forearm and instinctively tried to activate his sharingan. "Agh!" He cried at the stabbing pain. Hearing her take a few steps backwards, he warned threw grit teeth, "I can still outrun you."
"I don't have to run faster than you- not if I have enough of a head start. I just have to run farther. I know I can do that."
Crunch, crunch, crunch... Her footsteps disappeared into the snowy night.