"We found her in the Earth Capitol. She fled toward the Imperial Palace. We pursued her, but she alerted surrounding Iwa nin to our presence. Once they arrived, we could no longer pursue her without major incident, nor were we likely to succeed regardless. I made the decision to retreat and maintain the Akatsuki's anonymity in favor of recapturing the target." Itachi gave his explanation to their leader just as he had rehearsed.
Pain's shadow projection visibly sighed. It was rare for the Akatsuki to fail, but especially for Itachi and Kisame. He trusted Itachi's judgement, but perhaps he should have been more explicit about how important the girl was to the Akatsuki's goals. He had not gone through the trouble of securing her to have it end this way. "I see." He finally said.
Itachi had steeled himself Pain's reprimand but was surprised when his leader only said, "You will be contacted again at a later time." Then his shadow disappeared.
So, this was not where it ended? Itachi thought with unease. He would have hoped that since Asaya was safely in Iwa again that the Akatsuki would give up. Just who exactly wanted this girl and why?
Four weeks. That was how long Asaya had been back in Iwa- one month. After she had finished medical examinations, mental health screenings, and interviewing with the intelligence division, she was released with a cover story about an undercover mission and explicit instructions to never acknowledge the events that had actually taken place. Not one iota of information. Ever.
"I'd like one light roast coffee with cream and-" Asaya looked expectantly to her left where Tsuta stood.
"One peppermint hot chocolate, please." Tsuta said.
Asaya paid the barista and they stepped over to wait by the pick-up counter with the other weekend evening customers. The first time she saw Tsuta again, she almost cried because it was the moment she finally felt home. That was five days ago. She still had a hard time believing he wouldn't disappear if she looked away.
They each picked up their drinks when called and then left the coffee shop to walk home together. The early spring air bit them with the last remnants of late winter as they stepped out into the evening.
"So, what happened while you were out of Iwa?" Tsuta smiled.
Asaya gave him an unimpressed look. "You know I can't answer that. I'd have to kill you."
"Small price."
"And then they'd kill me. You know they're watching." She said quietly.
"Oh." Tsuta took a sip of peppermint hot chocolate. He knew the general idea. Some criminal organization had kidnapped her for some nefarious purpose. He didn't really care about the ins and outs of why, though. Where did she go? What did she see? Whose ass did she kick? And "Are you alright?"
"Yes, I am. Thank you." Asaya said. "How have lessons with the new instructor been going?"
Tsuta adjusted his tote bag of sheet music over his shoulder. "Good so far. It's definitely a different vibe."
"Oh, yeah? Wat's that mean?"
"It's a lot more theory, which I like, but it's a lot more at once, ya know?"
"Kinda." She could imagine.
The conversation continued like that while they walked through the dusty streets under soft, glowing streetlamps until they came to a bridge and stopped. Stretched across the threshold was a red ribbon about 13 centimeters wide.
"Must be under construction." Tsuta said. "You can see where they've already pulled up a few planks over there. We'll have to go…"
That red.
Asaya stared at the red ribbon, its scarlet hue burning into her retina. She remembered this red- this exact red- and she could not help but feel a sort of concealed longing as it stirred her memory. A soft, warm, pink blush crept into her cheeks as the ghost of a hand brushed against hers pressed its fingers into her palm. "Asaya," she felt his whisper in her hear.
"Asaya!?" Tsuta's shout snapped her out of whatever daydream she was having.
"What?" She said reflexively.
Tsuta looked at the bridge suspiciously before asking, "Are you sure you're ok?"
"Yeah." She said, a little embarrassed. "Just lost in thought for a moment." Of all the things that had happened, the one thing she dared not confess throughout weeks of interrogation was the way she felt about him, nor that he had let her escape- helped her, even- and especially not that they had… She brought the hot coffee to her lips and smiled.
They took an alternate route and eventually parted ways to head to their respective homes.
"See you next week!" They shouted as they walked away.
When Asaya got back to her tiny studio apartment, she did not bother to turn the lights on. She simply left her now empty paper coffee cup the counter by the door, hung up her coat, tucked her shoes away, brushed her teeth, and crawled into her loft bed.
Scarlet red flashed across her mind soon after she lay down to sleep. Although she dared not confess it out loud, it was quite an easy thing to admit to herself, unbelievable as it was. Especially now that it was all over. She rested her forearm across her eyes, bit her lower lip, and wondered what he might think if he knew of all the ways in which she'd imagined him. What was the worst that could happen? A little heartache?
"No, if you construct it that way it won't work. The seal won't be able to receive any of the energy you transmit to it, so any built in means to open it won't function and it will quickly break on its own." Madame Fukurou explained to Asaya. "You need to do something like this." The much older woman wrote a series of corrections in red ink over Asaya's work.
"I get it, but I can't use fire energy, so how am I going to make it work?" Asaya asked, somewhat exasperated. They had been working late into the evening in Madame Fukurou's study trying to make up for lost time.
"In a case like this one might use the flame from a candle as a surrogate for one's own." Madame Fukurou held her example seal on folded parchment delicately over the candle on her heavy wooden desk. The ink seemed to catch fire and burn away without damaging the paper. She then unfolded it to show it worked. "See? You could replicate this with other forms of energy as well. Fire happens to work best for the purposes of this exercise."
"Ok, cool, but what do I do if I need more energy than one candle?"
"You would need to borrow it from someone else. We will cover that over the coming weeks."
Asaya slumped over that in defeat.
Madame Fukurou raised a thin, feathery brow and smacked Asaya's shoulder with her wooden cane.
"Ow!" Asaya sat back up and rubbed her shoulder.
"Every generation my students become lazier and lazier." Madame Fukurou said woefully. "Try again." She pointed her long, bony finger on the practice papers.
Sighing, Asaya picked up her brush pen. But no sooner had she started than a knock sounded through the oak double doors.
Asaya winced as her master shouted sharply back at the intruder.
"What do you want?" Madame Fukurou knew who it was. She would not bother inviting him in.
Sanmyaku Isamu, the Tsuchikage's second son, came through the door. "Good evening." He greeted them.
"Yes. What is it that has brought you here?" Tapping her talon-like nails on the hand-carved head of her cane, Madame Fukurou was never unwary when dealing with a member of the Oonoki's family.
Isamu was unphased by the old woman's attitude. She had never liked him for a long as he could remember. And she especially did not like him now. "Kagami-san, you are being summoned by the Tsuchikage." He said flatly, like an official reading a decree.
Asaya stood up from her seat and began cleaning up her papers and pens. "Yes, sir."
"What for?" Madame Fukurou asked.
"I cannot say."
"Then I am coming with."
"We will be walking an awfully long distance and I do like to be punctual." He tried to dissuade her. And insult her age.
"Then carry me. You are a strong young man."
Isamu frowned. If he told the old woman she was forbidden to come she would know immediately.
"It's alright." Asaya said, trying to be diplomatic. "I'm sure it's to do with Tsuta or something. It'll be fine." She assured her instructor.
Fortunately, Madame Fukurou yielded.
After gathering up all her things, Asaya followed Isamu as he led. The streets were nearly empty this late at night, either because of the time or a temperature that was just cold enough to not to be comfortable. When they reached the central tower, he did not take her up to the Tsuchikage's office on the top floor like she had expected. Instead, he took her down to a section of the basement where she had never been, passing multiple checkpoints as they descended. Asaya thought it strange that no one asked them for identification or recorded their passing, but maybe that was a perk of being the Tsuchikage's son?
At some point when they were alone in one of the uncountable underground hallways, Isamu stopped and turned back to look at Asaya. He could tell by the subtle expression on her face that she knew something was not right. It really was a shame, he thought. She could have had a much better future if things had worked out differently. "My apologies, but this is going to be quite a long walk." Isamu said as he opened a hidden passage.
This was not going to be fine, Asaya realized as he said it.
On the side of a windy cliff just far enough outside Iwagakure, Itachi and Kisame waited. From the altitude, one could see all the little lights in every window and strung up along every street and bridge as if one were looking down at the stars.
So, this was where Asaya lived, Itachi mused. He had never seen it himself before, but this view seemed to confirm what she had told him of it: the mountains obstructing everything beyond the village, the hundreds of bridges connecting rotunda towers, and the lamps that shined at night like dew on a spiderweb. They were the one thing he remembered her having remarked as beautiful. Everything else had just been some iteration of "brown."
Five figures of varying builds emerged from the shadows behind them. Four of them remained in line while the central- and shortest- fifth figure stepped forward. "And which Akatsuki might you be?" Asked the Tsuchikage, sizing them up.
"I am Uchiha Itachi and this is Hoshigaki Kisame." Itachi answered. He could tell by the shape of the other four figures that none of them were her. He was both relieved and concerned.
"Well, I guess it's nice to meet you both. To get to the point, my son will be arriving with her momentarily." The Tsuchikage said. "Ah, speak of the devil."
The face of the cliff rumbled, and the rock parted to reveal a hidden tunnel, out from which stepped an older male, who must have been the Thuchikage's son, and Asaya.
She looked edgy and suspicious, clearly not knowing what to expect. She first saw the Tsuchikage and made no change in expression, but when she saw Itachi and Kisame, her face twisted into shock and rage. "What's going on?"
If they hadn't bothered to inform her the first time, why would he have thought they might have this time? Itachi bit his tongue.
"You will be leaving with these men." The Tsuchikage bluntly stated.
"What?" Asaya immediately questioned, unable to mask an undertone of anger.
"I said that you will be leaving with these men, Kagami." The Tsuchikage sharply repeated. She should know better.
Asaya recomposed herself after being scolded. "I'm sorry, Tsuchikage-sama. May I ask why?"
"No." He said mercilessly. "And before you ask again, this is not an order, you are not being sent on mission, and you may not refuse. This," he emphasized, "is a deal."
Itachi almost winced as the betrayal set in.
Kisame, who had said nothing until now, laughed at what he saw as a cow realizing it had just been sold for slaughter.
Not feeling the need to stay any longer, the Tsuchikage and his entourage disappeared back into the shadows.
"Goodbye, Kagami." Isamu said before he, too, turned back into the tunnel and closed the entrance behind him.
No one said one word to each other the entire way to Amegakure. Nothing more than necessary, at least. However, about a day's travel from Amegakure late at night while Asaya and Itachi were once again alone in an inn, she finally broke her silence. "Did they tell you?" She asked him softly.
Sitting cross legged on a twin bed facing the window, she was not going to fall asleep any time soon, much as Itachi wished otherwise. He sat at the other end of the room at the table reading a book to pass the time. "About the deal?" He assumed.
"Yes."
"Not the first time, but I was informed this second time." He explained.
"Why not?"
"The messenger, Zetsu, forgot to inform us. Although I suspect he thought it would be funny."
Asaya stared scornfully at every fiber of the carpet.
"I was surprised that your Tsuchikage chose to make this deal." It honestly baffled Itachi. Why throw her away when he could have negotiated terms that saw her safely returned? It may not be in the nature of emperors to value their subjects, but it was in the interest of souteneurs to retain their assets.
"I'm not." She said cynically. "I know exactly why he did this." She drew her knees to her chest and hugged her legs, and after a moment of her mind winding and unwinding, she mumbled, "It was so obvious…" The way Isamu had told her exactly where to go, that they knew exactly where to find her alone, and all at an event she should never have been at.
Itachi recognized that that callous tone- knew it intimately, even. A veneer of spite disguising a confusion of anger, helplessness, and shame. The Tsuchikage could have at least given her the dignity of knowing. Itachi quietly moved to sit beside her and the stiff twin bed creaked to accommodate his weight.
Frozen, the little, dense planet made no acknowledgement that anything had entered its orbit. Swallowing his own trepidation, Itachi outstretched his hand and gently placed it on the back of Asaya's shoulder. At first, her muscles and ligaments braced against his touch, unsure of what to make of it. But after a moment's silence, her body began to tremble, like a cloud shattering to the earth.
A/N: Normally I am pretty hands-off with this mess of a narrative, but I think there is something I should explain so that this chapter makes more sense to you, the reader. Something I had planned for this story but never had the time to flesh out was the political dynamics of Iwa, how Asaya was caught up in it, and how it is essentially the wheel that set this story in motion. I have hinted at tensions between Madame Fukurou, Asaya's master, and the Tsuchikage before. Basically, they are the two opposing political entities constantly clashing for influence and trying to undermine one another. Asaya, being Madamme Fukurou's final apprentice and favored successor because she had no political ties to the Tsuchikage or his family (which is functionally a dynasty), is an entity that he either wants to gain control over or prevent from becoming a political threat, either by preventing her from moving up the ladder, bringing her under his control, or, as he attempts in this story, eliminating her entirely. That's what Asaya is referring to when she says that she knows "exactly" why the Tsuchikage chose to do what he did. The Akatsuki get someone with her skills, and he gets a political threat (and some other stuff) eliminated when he otherwise could not.
One of the original ideas I had but was never able to fully incorporate was for Asaya to have turned down a marriage proposal from the Tsuchikage's family, which he takes as an insult. Remember that Tetsuya guy from an earlier chapter? He is one of the Tsuchikage's grandsons and Tsuta's cousin. They were friends (or maybe even dating, I could never decide) and he would have proposed to her before he left for his station in the imperial guard. Although in this version I ended up going with he simply confessed his affections and she didn't return, hence why their reunion is awkward. But fleshing that out would have been a lot of exposition and I don't think it would make for a very interesting read because, ya know, it wouldn't include our leading man.