The solitude that Kasumi experienced within the confinement of her prison allowed her to think even more about her life. She certainly had the time for it. The next week for the young Yamanaka was spent in the compound of her room but after a few days it didn't bother her at all. It wouldn't help her at all to focus on the negatives so instead she tasked herself with remaining positive.
It was the only thing that would help to keep her sane.
Being separated from her friends meant that she would enjoy their company even more once she was allowed to go back to the Academy. Being locked away also meant that she had more time to study for the Academy and of course looked at a few more books on medicines and healing, it didn't matter if she didn't completely comprehend them to begin with it was always something she knew she would pick up eventually, so it wouldn't hurt to have a slim idea of the vocabulary. Being isolated from everybody else for a bit would also give her bruise time to heal.
Kasumi noticed the abnormality on her face the morning after the confrontation with her family and wasn't surprised at all by its appearance. It also gave her another idea. If she could just keep her head down from now on, then this was going to be the worst thing that happened. She was undoubtably going to receive more severe injuries in her future as a kunoichi and once she graduated from the Academy she no longer had to put up with this. That was her decision. As soon as she became an official ninja of the Hidden Leaf Village she was out of the Yamanaka Compound and was hopefully never going to have to return, and most certainly never have to step foot inside this horrible house ever again. Once she was a ninja she would be free to do whatever she wanted with no repercussions possibly being legitimate towards any who decided to support or help her.
It surprised Kasumi that it took her a week of solitude and a huge fight with her family after years of poor treatment on their behalf for her to realise what she really wanted from this life and how she was going to be able to get it. Her life was clear now. She had a plan. She could place one foot in front of the other and know exactly where she was going to go, and she knew that there would be at least a few people ready, willing and able to help her along this difficult journey.
She was happy.
After everything she had been through she had changed, and it most certainly wasn't for the worse.
This positive outlook didn't quite reach Daiki and Tatsuya, or even Nami. They were all anxious and worried for the young Yamanaka girl who had become their close friend when she didn't show up to the Academy. They had always feared that a confrontation with her family was possible, but they were afraid of just how big that fight was and as the time of not knowing extended the ideas of the outcome they conjured became more and more horrific for what they believed Kasumi had/was enduring.
Even breaks at the Academy were silent and they no longer spent time together after the school either. It wasn't the same without Kasumi. It was the not knowing that was tearing them up on the inside. However, four days later it became too much for the young Shiota.
"Daiki," It was in the quietest voice possible, but it was still loud enough for the Inuzuka to hear, after all there was no other sound as they still separated themselves from the rest of the class cohort.
"I don't want to talk about it," Even though he took his time with the response Daiki didn't hold back his frustration. The boys had hardly talked as it was and whenever words were exchanged it was always with Tatsuya's head down and Daiki's growl of anger and frustration.
"Daiki- "
"Enough!"
And that concluded the conversation and the break. The boys made their way back to the classroom but instead of walking side by side, Tatsuya walked a few feet behind his friend.
Daiki and Tatsuya didn't walk home with each other that afternoon, Tatsuya purposefully waited a few minutes after the Inuzuka left before beginning his trek home. However, he didn't head home straight away. Even though every fibre of his being and every voice inside his head were telling him that what he was doing was most likely going to end in a fight or a confrontation, Tatsuya still made a detour past the Inuzuka compound.
He hoped that Daiki wouldn't answer but at the same time he wanted to see him as well. Confrontation made the civilian born uncomfortable, but he was more concerned with losing one of the only people who cared and believed in him, his parents didn't really fall into that last category. It was also a reason for why he was fidgeting in front of the Inuzuka's door, he wanted to help Kasumi and he desperately wanted to know that she was alright.
He didn't want another nightmare about Kasumi. He always had them whenever he knew she was home, or at least at the Yamanaka compound.
Tatsuya Shiota was very good at procrastinating and his inner thoughts were always a great help with this.
"I was wondering when you were going to move kid,"
Said kid jumped several feet up and backwards as Nami Inuzuka suddenly wrenched the door open.
"I'm occasionally an impatient woman and I don't appreciate loitering on my doorstep. Come on kid, I don't have all day,"
"I was about to knock,"
"I know. That's why I opened the door," Nami seemed quite proud of the mischief she caused, if she was going to accept Tatsuya and Kasumi as her new children then she was going to subject them to the same torment as she would to her own children and any other Inuzuka child within the compound.
"Do you want me to get Daiki for you?"
"NO!…Yes!...No…Yes?" This uncertainty sent Nami into badly concealed chuckles.
"Why are you here Tatsuya?"
"I'm worried about Kasumi…" These four mumbled words made the Inuzuka woman's signature smile disappear in an instant.
"I know kid,"
"MUM!"
Both Nami and Tatsuya stopped looking at the ground as Daiki's voice came booming down the hallway.
"Come on in and stay for dinner. I'll let your parents know… We have a lot to talk about,"
Nami knew the boys were doing it tough without their friend and if the two of them were going to start fighting with each other then it was obviously time for the Inuzuka mother to step in.
With that Tatsuya crossed the Inuzuka threshold. Even though he had travelled the hallway many times he didn't feel at ease in that moment. He knew Daiki was waiting near the living room and he really didn't want to see his friend angry again. Daiki's face was all the confirmation of this belief that was necessary, the scowl showed his thoughts clearly.
Daiki didn't want to deal with Tatsuya's whinging, especially when he was trying to deal with his own concerns about Kasumi. He couldn't concentrate properly on training and so kept getting his ass handed to him by his 'caring' mother when they sparred, more so than usual anyway. This compounded the issue further. Physical and emotional pain just make the overall pain more unbearable. Not only was Daiki worried sick about Kasumi but half of his body was covered in bandages from when he had failed to dodge a very easy shot in his family training session the previous day. Thankfully most of the injuries were hidden under his clothing at the Academy and so it only appeared as if he had sustained a common amount of injuries from training. Anyway, the point was he was hurt and nobody was helping and he has to deal with everything himself and-
Daiki was just angry!
There was no other word for it.
He wasn't furious or annoyed or hurt. Pure and simple anger.
"What do you want?!"
Daiki was almost satisfied at the reaction he got from his coward of a friend, even if it was just a startled jump. It proved his dominance and leadership. It was Tatsuya's fault anyway for being caught off guard, staring at his wounds that weren't even serious more like some light bruising. Kasumi always said-
Says.
She isn't gone forever. Even if it feels that way. What would they do if she never came back? It is their fault if she did get hurt. How badly is she hurt? They need to go help her. How?
"Sorry!"
Now it was Daiki's turn to be caught off-guard and not by the meaning of the word that was spoken but just because he had been so immersed in his own thoughts. He seemed to be doing a lot of that lately and it was impacting everything. His friend, family, studies and training. At this rate he was going to start going backwards.
Back to business.
"Mum! Why is he here?!"
"Stop complaining Daiki. You both need this,"
Usually Daiki would flinch because Nami would hit him over the head for being rude or loud or something but now it was because the woman before him didn't look like his mother. The proud Inuzuka woman looked defeated and spoke as if her soul had been crushed. That was all it took for Daiki to forget his anger. It was the wake up call he needed. He wasn't the only one worried about Kasumi.
The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur. In short the two boys were told by an Inuzuka on the brink of tears to stop acting like children, did she remember how old they were?, and start acting like the proud shinobi they hoped to be one day. They needed to stop trying to ruin their friendship because they were both hurting and they should be supporting each other. After that they talked about Kasumi. No one had really spoken about her since she disappeared, it had become a taboo subject. If they said it out loud then it would make it real and no one wanted this to be real; it was just a bad dream, everything was going to be fine when they woke up. Only Nami had told them to stop waiting for that moment because this wasn't a dream and there was no waking up from it so they had to just grow up and deal with it.
Once that issue was settled it moved onto the more pressing issue of helping Kasumi. Now that he was on talking terms with Tatsuya again they were able to brainstorm how to help Kasumi. They discussed ways from rescue to study, though he doubted that she would need the latter. Eventually they agreed that the next day they would walk past the Yamanaka compound and knock on the door. Best case scenario they could go in and see Kasumi and confirm for themselves that she was okay and it was just a case that she was a little sick and everything is fine and the world order has been restored and they could go back to being friends who were more like family and Kasumi would never be taken away from them again and-
The mind of Daiki Inuzuka really needs to stop rambling. It didn't help with his hyper-active tendencies either.
Worst case scenario the trio, Katsu included, would be turned away. The Yamanakas wouldn't risk hurting them because of the very likely inter-clan consequences so the worst they would have to endure would be some mean words and loud voices.
It was a risk they were more than willing to take, if only for the slight chance that the best-case scenario happened and their worries for Kasumi could be put at ease.
Nami went to make dinner long after the sun had left the sky. When she left the boys alone they were happily sitting side by side on the couch with Katsu curled up between them. This talk was just what the boys needed to get everything off of their chests. There had been yelling and crying at the beginning but once they realised that they both felt the same way and were both worried about Kasumi it all worked out. It may have helped that Nami slipped in a comment or two about how Kasumi would have wanted them to behave and get along while she was away and she had been forced to brave a smile and assure the pair that Kasumi would be just fine next they saw her. She felt a little bad for potentially lying but it is the same lie that she has been forcing herself to believe for the past few days now.
Who was she kidding? She has held this lie from the day she met the poor Yamanaka girl. Nami knew things were bad but she had to lie to herself that they weren't as bad as they likely were. All to stop herself from marching into the other clan's compound on a mother bear rampage.
Nami knew that she couldn't go see Kasumi for political reasons and the boys could only just get away with it themselves, mainly based on their age and relationship to Kasumi. The other issue was whether their 'snooping' or concern would be interpreted the wrong way and have repercussions on Kasumi.
She couldn't think like that though.
Everything was going to be fine.
She needed the boys to believe this.
I know it has been ages but I've been swamped with work. Sorry for the delay and the shortness of the chapter but I felt I had to get this part out of the way before moving on to the next bit.
I've put priority on this story and I will try to have the next chapter up soon. only a couple more necessary chapters before getting onto what I feel is a good bit. a bit more uplifting and exciting anyway ;)
I would love to here people's opinion on things, I know for a fact this chapter isn't the best, but I am also considering doing a poll for any spin-offs or shorts that people would like to know about. I have a lot of ideas in my head but they may not always have a particular spot in the timeline.
I'm also going to try a bit of a different writing style to see if that improves how it reads and if you think it makes things worse then please let me know :)
I think that's everything I needed to say. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!
