Asuka interrupted her basic earth-jutsu excercise and looked at her right, towards the thick vegetation of the forest at the border of the city they were in. "Someone's just stepped inside the barrier," she said, looking at Kakashi. She had claimed that only a part of her chakra had come back, yet she could still train and keep a barrier up at the same time. Massive chakra amount was certainly one of her strong points. Leaving his pondering aside, Kakashi focused on the presence of the intruder, and pursed his lips. "Should we hide?" Asuka asked him, noticing his annoyed expression. The Hokage shook his head. "Nah, I'll be scolded anyway." The woman raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
"Come out, it's rude to spy on people," Kakashi said. From the vegetation, an annoyed Shikamaru emerged. "I wouldn't have had to spy on you, if you had told me what the heck is going on," he replied, then looked at Asuka. "I thought you were a singer." She smiled sheepishly. "I don't remember ever saying that," she offered. Did she think she was funny? The boy turned to the Hokage. "Gaara told me he could feel yours and someone else's chakra here, but I managed to not get him or anyone else involved before I knew what was happening. So, what's going on here?" The older man seemed to be pondering whether or not to answer, but Asuka spoke before him. "Uhm, are you sure about what you just said? I mean… Someone else has just stepped on the barrier," she said, turning to Kakashi, and pointing her finger in the direction she sensed the intrusion. He sighed, raising his eyes, then focused on the other intruder. That chakra signature… "It's Temari," he sentenced, turning to Shikamaru with a playful glint in his eyes. "Guess that someone's not trusting you, either…" He joked. "Man, what a drag," he sighed, then glared at Asuka, who was giggling. "What's so funny?" He asked, and she laughed heartedly. "You are, actually." OK, he hated her. Another troublesome woman to add to his list.
"Hey!" There she was. Troublesome woman number 1. "What's going on here?" Temari asked, alternately looking at Shikamaru, Kakashi and Asuka. "You're the singer from last night! What are you doing here in the forest with… Ah!" She pointed her finger at Kakashi. "Were you trying to take advantage of her, Lord Hokage?" Said man sighed and face-palmed. "Why would anyone think that?" Asuka eyed him, playfully. "Well, you do look like a pervert with the mask on." Shikamaru frowned. "How dare you speak to him like that? Do you even know who the Hokage is?" The man sighed for the umpteenth time and waved his hand at Shikamaru. "She does. Well… I guess I'll introduce you guys. Shikamaru, Temari, this is Asuka, a kunoichi from Konoha."
"You know, bugs will fly inside your mouth if you keep it open like that…" Asuka teased Shikamaru, who immediately clenched his jaw as he heard Temari chuckle. "I've never seen you in Konoha. It's difficult for me to believe you're a Leaf Shinobi." The woman glanced at Kakashi. "She's been away on a mission for the last 14 years, but you can rest assured of her identity." The boy's lips formed a tight line. There were so many things that were unclear. In his few years working as a chuunin and inside the Hokage's office, he had never heard of a mission that had been lasting that long, nor had he ever come across any reference to her or messages from her regarding said mission. "It was super top-secret," he said, as if reading his thoughts. "I was not aware of the details, either, that's why I was surprised to see her here, yesterday. I actually thought she was dead," he concluded, scratching his neck. Shikamaru was still not totally convinced. "I was given my mission by the Third, and your father was the only one to know about it," Asuka added. He looked at her as if to search a clue on her face that could give away the fact that she was lying, but he didn't find any. "So was your staying here, disguised as a civilian, not part of your mission?" Temari asked. Asuka eyed her but did not reply. That girl came from Suna, and from what she remembered, Konoha and Suna used to be enemies. From what Kakashi had told her they were allied now, but… "It's okay, Asuka, you can tell her," Kakashi's deep voice encouraged her, and she complied. "It wasn't. And it wasn't supposed to be such a long mission, either, but… shit happened. I ended up in the Western continent, unable to use chakra, and once I could, it was so fucked up it was still impossible to control it properly, but I decided to go back to Konoha anyway. When I got here I needed money to continue my journey but I was not aware of the current situation in the Shinobi world, so I figured I could earn some money as a civilian, since I had already done that for many years, after all. Then, yesterday, when I met you, Kakashi still remembered about me and agreed to help me." Temari was confused by all that information, but she remained silent. After all, it didn't seem as though that woman could harm her village, and she seemed to have the Hokage's trust, too.
"How long do we have before going back?" Kakashi asked, out of the blue. Asuka glanced at the watch she kept in her pocket. "About two hours, then I need to get ready for tonight's show." She replied. "Good," the man said. "Shikamaru, are you done with all the Hokage-related paperwork I was supposed to do?" Shikamaru clicked his tongue. "Yeah. You are done for today." He said, stressing the 'you'. He glared at Temari, who was giggling. She gave him a pitiful look. "Then, you're helping, too." The boy frowned. "Helping to do what?" Kakashi smirked. "Train Asuka in chakra control." Shikamaru sighed. "Can't she just go back to the academy once she's in Konoha?" It all sounded so bothersome. "Actually, I'd prefer she were able to control it properly before getting to the village. Don't worry though, she used to be a jounin, she just needs some revision after a long standstill period. Temari-san, you can stay too, if you want." The blonde shook her head. "I'm going to report to Gaara there's nothing to worry about." As she turned to leave, Kakashi stopped her. "Ah, Temari-san. Please refrain from telling the other Kages about Asuka. I'll speak to them personally." She nodded and left. Shikamaru eyed his leader. "Why would they want to be informed about her? It's not like we know all of their Shinobi, and she's not that important, I guess" he pointed out, ignoring the woman's falsely-outraged gasp. Kakashi shrugged. "Well, even though Tsuchikage and Mizukage may not give a damn about her, Asuka's been in the Land of Lightning for quite some time as a civilian, and from what I understood she interacted with both Raikage and Bee. If they were to discover from someone other than me that she is a ninja, they may think we were having a spy here, and the alliance might be shaken by such a futile misunderstanding."
"Oh, so I would be futile and unimportant?" The two ninja turned to face Asuka. She was standing with her hands on her hips, looking at them seemingly annoyed. Shikamaru couldn't help but notice how women seemed all alike when they were pissed. His mother, Ino, Temari, and her. They were both beautiful and frightening at the same time. Kakashi had already seen Asuka mad, and while she didn't seem as angry as that time, he wasn't sure he wanted to re-live the experience. Her lips then scrunched, and she burst out laughing. "You guys should see your faces! Are you afraid of this futile kunoichi?" She made fun of them, still laughing. To Shikamaru, that reaction was unexpected. He was not sure he could cope with a woman even more unpredictable than Temari. 'Troublesome,' he thought.
Kakashi, instead, was regretting telling Shikamaru to stay. He only wanted to pin Asuka to a tree and kiss her there and then. Her optimism had always attracted him, maybe because his own attitude was the polar opposite. Whereas he would describe himself as cold and introvert, she had always been bright and warm, always looked for the silver lining in things. It was not like she was naive and oblivious to life, but more like she knew what pain was but nonetheless decided to smile at the bitch. Maybe that was the reason why he already felt addicted to her presence, even though he had thought he had gotten over her a long time ago. Kakashi closed his eyes and exhaled, Asuka's laughter still ringing in his ears. "Ok, Shikamaru. While I fight with her in close range, I want you to attack from mid-range. She needs to learn from scratch how to quickly summon and control chakra for defense." He frowned. "Isn't that unfair? Two against one and, from what I understood, one with a disadvantage." Kakashi smirked. "We're just training, there's no need to attack with killing intent. She may have problems with chakra control, but she has a big amount of it, and she used to be very skilled at taijutsu. Don't let that pretty face fool you; she used to be in the ANBU, after all." The boy sighed. "What a drag."
"Are you done talking?" came Asuka's prompting. Kakashi and Shikamaru nodded, and the Hokage sprinted towards Asuka. "Do you remember how we used to spar, back in the days?" She asked him, guarding against his blow. "Yes," Kakashi replied. "You never won," he sentenced, smirking, attacking her. She smirked, too. "But it's not like I've done nothing for 14 years, you know," she said. Suddenly she jumped and stomped her foot on a tree on her right, using it as a support for another jump; she hooked her legs around Kakashi's neck and twisted her hips, effectively leg-scissoring him and sending him fly. A second before crashing into the ground, though, his body was replaced with a log. Asuka's lip twitched. She needed to end this as soon as possible; her chakra reserve was steadily reducing. Keeping up a barrier might have not been such a good idea, given how they had been discovered. In her defense, she had only set up a barrier that allowed her to sense other presences upon entering, but did nothing to screen out what was already inside. That would have taken up a lot more chakra.
Kakashi was still nowhere to be seen, he had to be hiding somewhere. Shikamaru was hidden, too, but Asuka could easily guess his location once she spotted a strangely long shadow extending from a tree branch and going towards her. 'I guess he thinks I don't know about his abilities. Let's see if I still remember some things,' she thought. She quickly formed a few seals with her hands focusing chakra in her throat. A gust of wind burst out from her mouth and peeled off the leaves from the branch. 'Effective, but not as powerful as it used to be,' she thought, disappointed, looking at Shikamaru, uncomfortably crouched on the branch. Asuka smirked. "Got you." Just as she was about to jump to reach him, she heard an unmistakable sound from behind her. 'Raikiri? Hadn't he said, no killing intent?' She ducked, dodging Kakashi's blow. She hooked her leg around the man's knee, making him lose his balance and pulling him towards her, then placed her hands on the ground to support her weight and, pushing, she used her other leg to kick Kakashi in the face. By his grunt, she understood it was him, flesh and blood. His purple lightning had disappeared. 'Wasn't it blue?' Asuka wondered, but Kakashi gave her no time to ponder on that matter, as he placed his hand on the ground. Suddenly, a creak formed on the ground and it was extending towards her. The creak quickly expanded, causing a small-scale earthquake. "Fuck no!" She yelled, before jumping away from his reach. "Hah! Too slow, Kakashi!" She teased the man, who in the meantime had gotten back on his feet and was massaging his chin, where she had hit him. She noticed, then, that he was smirking. 'Maybe I hit him too hard…' she thought, bringing her hand to her chin. Or at least, that was her brain's command to her hand. She wasn't moving. "Goddamnit!" she swore, as her head moved first to her left, then to the sky. There he was, Shikamaru, in the same position as her, a mocking grin on that baby face. "Got you," he said. Asuka heard Kakashi step towards her. "You tend to rely more on taijutsu when fighting, but I guess that's understandable. For this being your first chakra training after all these years, however, you did incredibly good." Shikamaru made her look at the Hokage. She was so pissed. And tired. Then, suddenly, an idea came to her mind. Sure, it was difficult, and she had managed to do that only a few months before the Amanozako incident but… She couldn't be defeated just like that. "I can do even better," Asuka said, staring at Kakashi. She focused her chakra under her feet and an earthquake quickly spread from beneath her. Kakashi jumped away. The tree where Shikamaru was perched on was uprooted, and the boy had to jump to protect himself from the fall. This made him break the binding technique on her, who managed to escape. She switched places with some rocks and found herself at the border of a clearance, crouched down under a bush. She was panting from exhaustion, but she did not want to give up yet. She put a hand to her heart, as if to slow down her heartrate, and forced herself to breathe slowly, to remain silent. After a while, as neither Kakashi nor Shikamaru seemed to be searching for her and time was ticking, she decided to get out of her hiding spot and go hunting instead.
It was surely a trap. That extended shadow on the ground was definitely not there by chance. Hidden under a shrub, Asuka looked at it, her eyes tracing its shape up to the bush it extended from. It had to be a trap. She was sparring with Kakashi, after all, who was probably the smartest person she knew, and if Shikamaru had taken even a speck of his father's mind, then he had to be a genius, too. She couldn't compete with them on that level. She crouched and placed her hand on the ground, feeling the earth beneath her palms. She could not sense any hole or cavity, so it meant it was safe enough to step on. She gathered her last chakra and summoned an earth clone, just in case, and ordered it to go evaluate the situation. The clone stood up and walked towards the shadow. As it pushed the leaves of the bush aside, it let out a gasp and disappeared, strangled by another shadow from behind it. Asuka lost focus, though, as the images her clone had seen came back to her. Stuck into the ground, there was one of Asuma's chakra blades; the shadow extended from it. Suddenly, she didn't care about the training anymore, and she ran towards the object, only to be blocked – again – by Shikamaru's shadow technique. "I didn't think you would be so stupid," she heard him saying. Kakashi was suddenly next to her. He knew that had been an odd move on her part. "What's wrong?" He asked, motioning for Shikamaru to release her. Hearing his voice, she seemingly woke from a dream, and she remembered what the man had told her the day before. Asuma was dead. There was no way he could be there. She looked at Kakashi, shaking her head. "I'm so stupid," she said, a sad smile on her face. She walked to the bush and picked up the knife, then inspected it thoroughly. Her thumb glided over the handle and stopped right under it, on the little engraved kanji that read 'Shinobi'. "You told me your advisor was his student, and I didn't put two and two together." Asuka walked to Shikamaru and handed him his blade. "Take good care of that, got it?" The boy took the weapon from her hand and looked intensely at it. "Of course. It's a memento from a person important to me." She couldn't help but moving closer to Shikamaru and hugging him. She felt his body stiffen with unwanted physical contact, and chuckled, then moved back. "All right," she said, her smile back on her lips, as she walked back to where Kakashi was, "It seems I lost, yet again. Gosh, I'm so hungry. Do you think we could grab a bit-" She never got to the end of the sentence though, as she collapsed there from exhaustion. Her fall was stopped by Kakashi, who had swiftly positioned himself under her.
"What do you think about her?" Kakashi asked Shikamaru, as they approached the end of the forest. The boy looked at the woman peacefully sleeping on the Hokage's back, and shrugged. "She seems ok, for being a woman…" Kakashi chuckled. "You seem to be trusting her a lot, too. After that much time apart, how can you be so sure that it's really her? Haven't you thought about it being a trap? How can you be sure she's not someone sent from an enemy we don't know to mess with you?" Kakashi eyed Shikamaru. It was rational to think that way. Two friends long lost, reconciling after almost twenty years. That really seemed a movie plot. "I understand it can be hard to believe, but I am sure of who she is. She told me about episodes in our lives that only she can know about, and her chakra signature, to me, is unmistakable." Shikamaru frowned. "She could be the real thing, but she may still be pretending to be on your side." The Hokage immediately discarded that thought as ridiculous. "When she left, I went to the Third to ask for an explanation. Do you know what he told me?" Shikamaru looked at him, shaking his head and prompting him to continue. "He told me to trust her. And that's what I'll do. I'd trust her with my life."
Shikamaru pondered over what information he had about Asuka. She had seemed genuinely surprised, the day before, when she had seen Kakashi. Even a while ago, when interacting with them, she really looked genuine. The chuunin thought back to the kunoichi's reaction upon seeing the chakra blade that belonged to his mentor. She had really seemed heart broken. Maybe… "Was she… maybe…" Kakashi glanced at Shikamaru, who was scratching the tip of his nose. "…Asuma's girlfriend?" He ended, and was surprised by the booming laughter from the man at his right. "I guess I haven't told you her full name, yet. Sarutobi Asuka, third child of the late Hokage, and Asuma's sister." The young shinobi tripped in his own foot. "What? Shouldn't this be, like, the first thing you tell someone when introducing yourself?" He then frowned, and fell silent.
"Are you ok?" Kakashi asked Shikamaru, noticing his pensive expression. "Yeah, it's just… I thought I knew Asuma. I mean, I knew he had what you might call father's issues with the Third, and he sometimes liked to remember his late brother but… He has never mentioned having a sister. Were they not on good terms?" He asked, looking at Asuka. He knew it was stupid, but ever since Kakashi revealed her identity, he had changed his mind about her possibly being an enemy. "They were very close, actually. She's the one who gave the chakra blades to him, as a present for his eighteenth birthday. After all, they were born about a year apart and grew up almost as twins. And that's why her leaving deeply affected Asuma. I think he never spoke about Asuka to avoid re-living the pain of not knowing why she had to leave or even wondering if she was dead or alive." That made sense, Shikamaru thought.
He glanced again at Kakashi, noticing for the first time how his expression seemed relaxed, how his head was tilted to the shoulder where Asuka's head was, and how his thumb was gently stroking her thigh.
Oh.
He diverted his eyes from that intimate moment. "So…" he started, not wanting to sound too intruding. "I guess you're not going to stay at the hotel this week, uh?" Kakashi smiled, looking straight ahead. "I'm not." Shikamaru sighed. "You know you're lucky that I am here with you instead of Shizune or Naruto? Shizune would have kept on bitching about that, while the idiot would have teased you no-stop." The Hokage chuckled. "Well, then I guess I must thank you, Shikamaru."
"I'm taking her home," Kakashi said, as he and Shikamaru entered the city. The boy nodded. "Remember you are supposed to have dinner with the other Kages at eight tonight." Oh, right. Kakashi nodded, and disappeared. Once in front of Asuka's apartment, he crouched down to grab the key under the doormat. He heard the woman mumble. He looked at her, but she still had her eyes closed. She exhaled, and turned her head, continuing her peaceful sleep. He opened and entered the apartment, heading to the bedroom. He gently placed Asuka on the bed and took off her shoes. His thumb stroked the scarecrow tattoo under her ankle, and he felt his heart swell with happiness. He then gently lifted the hem of her shirt to control her seal. It was still visible, so Kakashi put his hand on it to check Asuka's chakra flow. He closed his eyes and focused.
Suddenly, he found himself inside a grey hall. It was big and very bare. The only piece of furniture that was visible was a huge throne, in the middle of the hall. On the throne was a gigantic woman, or what seemed like one. Her huge body was feminine, at least. She was wearing a green kimono, richly embroidered in gold. Her bare legs were crossed, and her feet were covered in high-heeled traditional sandals. She had long, silky black hair. Her face, though, was frightening. Its color was red, with a long nose, similar to a beak, and from her mouth two long fangs extended. Kakashi noticed that her neck and both her wrists and ankles were restrained by manacles, attached to the base of the throne. She was looking at him with a glint of amusement in her eyes, her tilted head rested on a hand, but he felt a bead of sweat run down his back. The feeling was similar to when he and his students fought with Kaguya. "There he is, the Prince," she spoke. Her voice was croaky. Kakashi swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. "Amanozako?" He asked. "Flesh and blood," she replied. She lifted her arms and moved her legs, and the metallic sound from the cuffs resonated inside the hall. "You'll excuse me if I don't greet you properly, Prince, but I'm quite a bit in a bind, here." Kakashi hated that monster. It was the reason Asuka had been away all those years. She cackled, and that sound made him shiver. "That's true, Prince, but remember that without me, the Princess would be long gone. Her crappy attempts at suiciding really had me out of my way to help her." The man clenched his fist. "Why did you summon me here?" She shrugged. "Oh, it's so boring here, all by myself, you know. And I really wanted to see the Prince that the Princess is so desperately in love with." Amanozako smirked, while Kakashi's lips tightened. "Oh, come on! As if you didn't know! Since she saw you, yesterday, it's been like a party in here. It's a pity I'm bound to my throne. I can dance quite well…" That cackle, again. It reminded the ninja of nails scratching a blackboard. "I had already seen you when she left your village, but you were just a crappy kid back then." Kakashi was not sure if she was mocking him, and what her point was. "I'm glad you've become more of a man. And I'm more than glad you can fuck. Very good with your tongue, too. It gets warmer here, when she's satisfied." The man chose to ignore her comment about his sexual prowess. "You've been with her for so many years, haven't you gotten close to her?" Kakashi could not stop thinking about how the relationship between Naruto and the Kyuubi had evolved into a friendship, and to the same kind of trust that Bee and the Hachibi shared. Couldn't it be possible for Asuka and Amanozako, too? "I must admit that I have developed a soft spot for the Princess, otherwise I wouldn't have let her gain back control over her chakra. And I will continue to allow her to use it. But I want my freedom back, Prince. I have already told her this. She might be the Princess, but I am the Queen. I am the one people will kneel to." The hall suddenly got darker and colder. "I'll have her release me, one way or another." Kakashi could not help but thinking she was not-so-subtly menacing to kill him. "That's enough, Amanozako." Kakashi turned towards the voice. Asuka was standing next to him, gravely looking at the demon. The darkness quickly disappeared.
Kakashi looked at Asuka, as she placed her hand over his, on her abdomen. He was back in her bedroom, inside her apartment. "So you've met her…" He nodded. "Nice demon. She really knows how to put you at ease," he joked. Asuka was staring gravely at him. "I swear I'm not going to let her do anything to you." Her eyes bore the same determination he had seen only once in his life, the only time they had been on a mission together. Only, then she had been determined to protect Naruto. At the time he had been jealous of the child, but he hadn't wanted to – nor were they in the situation that allowed him to – admit it. Now that that expression was for him, he felt his chest get heavier and his head lighter. "Yeah, you've never won against me, anyway." Asuka stared at him, dumbfounded, then she burst out laughing. She grabbed his hand that was still on her abdomen and pulled him in a hug. As his face was buried in the crook of her neck, Amanozako's words came to Kakashi's mind. 'Desperately in love,' she had said. The feeling was probably mutual.