"The ones who accomplish something are the fools who keep pressing onward. The ones who accomplish nothing are the wise who cease advancing" ~ Rokudenashi Majutsu Koushi to Akashic Records
….
.26
He had not been wrong.
Which did not make him feel any better. Because truth be told he wished he had, he wished that he was just overreacting to the situation. Wished that it wasn't really as bad as it seemed. But it was, he was right.
Asuma hated that feeling. Hated the feeling of dread he got when the others agreed with him. Because it meant they now had a problem. A big problem.
Uzumaki Mitomi was in trouble.
And if he was being honest, Asuma didn't know if he could even save her from it. He didn't know if she'd accept the help or if she'd ignore it and push them further away. But he had to try, they had to do something.
She was heading down a path that promised pain, a path he didn't know if she'd be able to return from.
The terrible truth, the simple but terrible truth too was that they made her like this. They didn't stop the abuse the twins suffered. Their generation ignored them and they were about to face the consequences. So they couldn't just keep on ignoring the girl.
He had the feeling that if they did, they would surely regret it. She was a force to be reckoned with. They had all seen it, the way she cared about Naruto and now they were beginning to see the lengths she was willing to go.
Even if it meant harm to her own self, even if it hurt her. She would still do it. The chunin exams were proof of that. Asuma has no doubt that if Mitomi hadn't intervened when she did that his father would be dead.
She willingly took on one of the Sannin someone out of her own skill level, risking her own life in the process just to make sure the Third lived. He knew she did it for Naruto too, knows that if the Third had not been so important to her brother, that she would never have done anything.
That thought scares him, more than it should. But he knows that if anything were to happen to her brother, then she would no longer have a reason to stay.
He knew that if she didn't have a reason, then she wouldn't. And just like that, not only would one of the brightest minds the village has ever produced be gone but they would also be down both of their jinchuriki.
Asuma never wanted to see that happen. No he wouldn't. Even if it was the last thing he'd do, he'd help the girl find her place in their world.
"Asuma?" Kurenai's voice reaches his ears, he meets her eyes. Concern lingers in her expression and a tiny bit of confusion. She doesn't understand why this is so important. It's easy to tell.
He doesn't know either, all he knows is that it is.
They had to save her.
"Everything is going to be alright." She tries to tell him as the leave the Jonin lounge, and he wants to believe her, truly he does.
But in that moment, with everything in the air, with all the doubts pressing on his mind. He really couldn't.
"Let's get a drink."
Because he really needed one just then.
Kurenai nods her head, eyes still confused, but she follows him anyway. She doesn't understand why this is so important to him, why now? The genjutsu mistress cannot help but to feel like she's missing something.
But if it was important to Asuma, if he thought there was something wrong, then she'd take his word for it and offer whatever help she could.
..
"Sand…" Shikamaru looked sideways at her as they made their way up to the front gate of the Village Hidden in the Sand. The look on her face was absolutely priceless. He's never heard her whine before, not like that.
He didn't know that on person could hate sand so much. She's been grumbling about it since the left the land of Rivers. Even if she cheated and used teleportation jutsu throughout majority of the desert. The Nara shook his head.
He still felt a little sick from the backlash of the jutsu. Shikamaru still wasn't sure how there were so many hairishin seals in the desert or how the lasted since according to Mitomi the last mission she'd taken here was over five years ago. Long before the Chunin exams and well before she'd even started her training to use the Fourth's favored technique.
He had a vague idea, but he wasn't a hundred percent sure.
"Are you going to make it?" The question was asked out of sarcasm and she just gave him the blankest look. Her response was almost just as eloquent as the expression on her face.
"Ugh... probably.." She seemed to think about it for a moment after and just as she was about to say something else. Probably pithy, there was suddenly a flying puppet heading there way effectively cutting her off.
Her look only soured as she easily dodged the wooden beast. Two people came into view, he recognized them both as the Sand siblings they fought during the chunin exams. Man he really wished to be somewhere else right now.
"Kankuro! What are you doing?" The brunette went on some rant about thinking they were intruders or something. Mitomi had mentioned briefly that their cheat through the desert had speed up their arrival time by half a day or so and it was also later in the evening the sun had just began to set. But even so, if they were intruders this wouldn't be a good time to attack.
He watched as Mitomi pinched the bridge of her nose, her eyes closed briefly. Shikamaru got the feeling she was trying to resist the urge to either maim or kill the brunette. Instead Mitomi turned her entire attention to the blonde.
"Temari." Her tone short.
"Thank you for coming." Mitomi appears to be holding back something sarcastic to say, probably along the lines of 'As if there was a choice'. He knows that he's thinking it. Because the mission desk chunin made it very clear that she hadn't had one.
"Does the Kazekage want our immediate audience? Because I was pulled from another mission and have spent the last day in the desert." She asked instead of responding to the previous comment made by the blonde. Shikamaru get the impression that the red head doesn't do diplomacy well. Temari grimaces at the younger girl.
The choice of sending him with her was now made very clear. They didn't trust her to represent Konoha's interest or protect its reputation. To her credit with the exception of her last comment she'd been doing alright. He bit back a groan.
Man… This really wasn't what he wanted to be doing.
He realized that it suddenly grew very quiet between them and very tense. His eyes glanced over at the red head, she had a sort of glaze over look in her eye. As if she wasn't fully present or the more likely was that she had lost interest. Temari was glaring at her too. She appeared annoyed.
Obviously she didn't appreciate Mitomi making this mission seem like a huge inconvenience. Even though it was. He hadn't forgotten the look on her face at the gate or the one when she fell.
"No, Lord Gaara wasn't expecting you until tomorrow." Temari bit out, her tone strained.
Maybe he should intervene. But that really sounded like it was going to be a huge drag.
"Wonderful." Mitomi replied, although she didn't sound like she really meant it.
He wondered if she was intentionally pissing off someone who was supposed to be their ally. From what he knew about her, she probably was. Mitomi needed to know how far she could push, she thrived off it sometimes. Or at least it seemed that way. What else could all her observing have been for?
"If you'll follow me, we'll get the two of you signed in at the gate and then Kankuro will show you to the hotel." Temari made a motion with her hands for them to lead going through the gate.
Shikamaru sighed then, in utter exasperation at the look on Mitomi's face. Yeah, she wasn't about to turn her back to them. Or anyone for that matter.
"How about you lead? We'll follow, you know the way better than us." He suggested then, resisting the urge to face palm at the situation he didn't even understand how they got in in the first place.
Women.
Mitomi gave a slight nod of thanks in his direction. She allowed all of them to walk in front of her, so she was directly behind him as in close enough to touch him. He had a feeling that the placement was intentional. That if she thought for one second they were in harm she'd just move them out of the way.
The look on her face just added to his suspicions.
"Very well, this way." Temari shot the younger girl a cautious look, to which Mitomi either didn't notice, or ignored.
Yep. This was going to be such a drag.
XOXOX
SO heads up, laptop is close to death, so I had to order a new charger. That being said any spelling or grammar or really anything thing that doesn't look or sound right is because this has not been proof read and it will be awhile before I can. Sorry in advance.
Warning! I have no idea what anime that quote is from, I have never seen it. I just found it on a site and thought hey that sort of fits/that will work. I apologize if it is taken out of context or if the anime is somehow offensive or whatever. Haven't seen it so I don't know.
My bad.
Moving on!
Thank you so much for all your kind words from the last chapter, and all of your favorites and follows it means so much to me that you're all still interested in this story.
Thank you!
I'll come back and edit all this later.
As for now I hope you have a great day/night!
Thanks for reading.
Sincerely, La'Rae