"Rin?" Hasuka calls out once training for the day is over.
"What?" She replies, turning around to face the younger girl.
"Could you help me with something?"
"It depends, what is it?"
"As you can tell, I didn't do too great today. So I was wondering if you could help me."
Rin gets quiet thoughtfully. "I cannot teach anything to someone like you."
"W-What do you mean?"
"I mean that you are the enemy. We can't be seen aiding you in any way, that's treason!"
"But I just want to be able to use other weapons. If I'm always using the same ones it can be predictable."
Rin sighed at her request, knowing that Hasuka wouldn't like her answer. "I'm not the one to ask for advice in that area, even if I would help you."
"Who could I learn from then?"
"Take a guess."
Hasuka groaned, wishing she hadn't asked. "He's not as bad as you make him out to be. He's really strong and good at jutsu and I look up to him."
Raising an eyebrow at her expression, Hasuka asked bluntly, "Do you like him?"
"W-What?!" Rin gasped, blushing furiously.
"What?" Hasuka asked with a grin. "I won't say a word, I barely talk to him anyway."
"If you say so..." She mutters, the blush refusing to abate. "Anyway, he would be the best person to talk to about that. I doubt he'll help you though."
"I suppose I should go catch up with him now then before he gets too far away. Bye Rin, and good luck with your crush!"
"Hasuka!" She calls back angrily, blushing despite her cold attitude towards the girl.
Hasuka chuckled, making a hasty exit in her search for Kakashi. Now that she was free, she really didn't know what to do. She had no idea where he lived and she had lost him in the crowds of people. So Rin liked Kakashi huh? Admittedly, she could have some fun with that but then she remembered her plan.
No getting close to them, no matter how friendly or unfriendly they might seem to be. If life swept her away again, she didn't want any pain to the departure. Nothing to keep her tied down. In sooth, she wasn't sure that she would be able to do that.
She felt the beginnings of a friendship with Rin, and now that she happened to know who she fancied, she wanted the bond to deepen. They had seemed relatively close before when she was just a document carrier, and even now when she was suddenly indifferent, the bond was still there. Even if only a little. Perhaps in doing so, she could become friends with the others. She wanted to be friends with them, to fill the void in her heart that Garoma left.
Now however, she had to convince a boy who despised her to teach her what he knew. She didn't see the silver-haired Ninja, but with her sprinting she had caught up to Obito. Hasuka didn't know him very well, mostly as Rin's friend from childhood.
Determined, she approached the boy with his hands in his pockets and gently tapped his shoulder. He jumped slightly and turned to face her. "Oh, hey Hasuka."
"Sorry to bother you, but you wouldn't happen to know where Kakashi lives do you?"
Obito scowled, "Why?"
"I need to ask him something," Hasuka explained.
"Why should I help you?" He hissed.
Hasuka crossed her arms before replying. "I know you don't like me, I know I shouldn't be here. I'm questioning why the hell I am still here the longer I stay, but you seem to know the feeling at least a little bit, so I'm begging you to at least give me one chance. We were friends before, so what changed all of a sudden?"
"A lot has changed Hasuka. You might not realize that yet, but a lot has changed. Even if we do act friendly to you in private, Kakashi and Rin and even I have to keep up appearances. You're the enemy, and that's not going to change any time soon." Obito sighs. "I haven't exactly been one to care about what the public thinks of me though so I'll show you, although I can't promise that he'll be thrilled to see you."
"Is something wrong between you two?" She asked as they changed directions.
"It's nothing," he muttered, looking away.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah I'm sure."
In a moment of tenderness, Hasuka notices how small his aura is, almost non-existent. "Great job today."
"I wasn't that great, nothing compared to Kakashi."
"Maybe not, but you're better than me."
"Are you trying to make me feel better?" He asks, seeing through her act.
"Is it working?" She wittily replies, a small grin on her face.
He chuckles at that. "Maybe just a little."
"Good." The rest of the walk is silent until they stop outside a house a handful of streets away from where they started.
"Here we are," he mutters. "See ya later Hasuka."
"Bye Obito, see you tomorrow."
Silently, she stood in front of his door, wondering how she would ask him for help. Should she just come right out and ask it? Or try to strike up a conversation first? Deciding that the former was the best option, she rapt three times on the wooden door.
There was the sound of shuffling and footsteps inside before knob turned and the door opened, revealing her teammate. "Hello," Hasuka begins.
"Hi," he replies stiffly.
"So I have a question."
"No," he responds, unable to look her in the eyes.
It wasn't that he couldn't, they just made him uncomfortable since they suddenly changed overnight. They were still the green that they had been previously, but now they had two dark lines, crossing in the pupil, that formed an "X" Not only that, but even though he did his best to repress all emotion, Rin's constant trying to get close to the girl and then being cold again unnerved him. Couldn't she see that Hasuka or Komura or whatever name she wanted to be called couldn't be trusted?
"Would you possibly be able to teach me how to use Ninja tools?"
Kakashi blinked before coldly responding, "No," again and beginning to close the door.
"Wait wait!" Hasuka begged, reaching out to stop him.
"What?"
"Please?"
"Why should I?"
"Because I want to get stronger."
"Until proven otherwise, it would not be wise for me to allow that."
"The Hokage said that I was to join your team. Why can't you accept that?"
"Because you are from Sunagakure and we are in a war. Not only that, but he only let you join as a precaution to make sure that you don't run off, back to Suna."
"I haven't run back yet."
"That doesn't mean you won't."
"What can I do to make you trust me?"
"You can't." With the last phrase, he clicked the door shut.
"Oh my god," Hasuka muttered. "I hate him, so, so much." She stormed off in the direction of her house. "What does Rin see in him?! I'm here trying to extend an olive branch and he snaps it off without a second thought!"
Upon reaching her apartment, she unlocked the door and flopped onto her bed. "How else can I train?" Now that she could relax, she looked around at her surroundings. There wasn't much in here but a bed, chair, table, sink, stove, and cabinets, but that was really all that she needed.
It was a home drastically different from what she was used to, but what other choice did she have? She could decorate it, but she only owned two, no three prized possession, and she wore them with her every day. Getting ready for bed, she pulled out her hair sticks, letting the long blue strands hang loosely.
She untied her belts and placed the brown one on the table and her Medic Belt next to the hairsticks on the floor. Last but not least, she unraveled the bandages letting the cloth fall to the floor in a pile that she added to the table's items.
The all of the kunai except one were assembled next to the brown belt. The separated kunai, the one she had stolen from Emoda, she put with her headband and hairsticks. It seemed that the only person she didn't have something to tie them to was Asuka.
Frowning, she tried to come up with something to represent him. If she had to think of something, the best she could come up with was fire. Twice he had presented it to her with near-fatal results. Yes, she decided, that was his symbol, although one that couldn't be contained in an object very easily.
Perhaps she could would of a solution in the morning after some sleep. Stripping down her clothing, she shivered in the cold air before covering herself in the sweater that she had brought with her. It wasn't the best sleep clothing, but she was more than a little desperate. Hasuka washed her day attire only at what spots needed cleaning and leaned out her window to hang it up to dry.
It was even colder outside, so she hastily threw the clothing on the line before ducking back inside, rubbing her bare arms. She shivered one more time as she slipped under the blankets, their cold fingers not as comforting as she had hoped. Not much later, her tiredness took ahold of her once more and she slipped into slumber.
For the first time that week, Hasuka slept fitfully. Upon waking, she got dressed and headed out to the training fields once more. The day wasn't as young as it was previously, but it was still early enough that she could train a little bit before Kakashi and the others arrived.
When she walked into the clearing however, she was surprised to find Kakashi already there. From the fallen trees and his labored breathing, Hasuka inferred that he had been practicing a jutsu of some sort.
Ignoring his presence, she pulled out a kunai and began striking at a tree on the other side of the clearing. With each strike, she could see it's aura decreasing from a vivacious green into a rotten black. In her peripheral vision, she notices something glinting in the sunlight headed straight for her.
Hasuka dove away from the tree expecting to be hit but instead she heard a 'thunk' and peered around the tree trunk. Imbedded in the wood were two shuriken. "A mission from the Hokage came today. If you want to learn new weapons, start with those."
"What...?" She asked, disbelief evident on her face.
"Do I need to say it twice?" Kakashi sneers.
"Why then?"
He irritatedly sighed, "You might save or raze our mission someday, and if not then blame orders of those higher than you. If we crash and burn, my team's blood is on your hands, not mine."
With that ominous warning, the silver-haired boy turned away, returning to sit on what Hasuka had decided was "his" tree stump.
An hour later when they were finally beginning to travel for the mission, Hasuka wanted to throw the shuriken right back at him.
"Why you..." Obito shouted as they set out. He had just been reprimanded for his lateness again.
"Idiot, calm down." Kakashi calmly replied, not concerned with their rivalry at all.
Rin patted Obito's shoulder awkwardly and he substantially calmed down. "What's the mission again?" Hasuka asked Kakashi, who had placed himself directly next to her.
"Someone in the Land of Fire is carrying information to the enemy. We retrieve it and make it back with the knowledge to Konoha.
"Do we know where this person is?"
"Generally speaking, yes. They were last spotted towards the West at a camp that they escaped from."
"Any idea on how long this mission should take?"
"Why? Are wondering how long you'll have to make an escape of your own?"
"Kakashi, for the tenth time now, I have no intention of going back to Suna!"
"Because I won't let you." He replies cruelly. "I would sooner see you dead than escaping."
"Ugh!" She shouts, falling back to her two other teammates.
"Obito, although I never particularly like your arguing with him, I completely understand now."
"See what I mean?!" He agrees, willing to talk with her now that there weren't the prying eyes of others watching them. "There was one time, we were still in school, when he hit the target with three shuriken dead center...boy was he cocky about that." Rin and I chuckled at his story. Obito told other stories to pass the time as they walked.
Apparently, Kakashi had this ultimate rival. They fought back and forth for years with the score always going to Kakashi. This Guy person always came back again in all manner of tests and games for them to test their skill.
Hasuka laughed despite herself trying to imagine his face every time Guy reappeared. From what Obito said, he showed up during training once and without a word, Kakashi kicked him across the clearing.
Even if she wasn't there to see his tales, Obito told them with enough theatrics to make it seem like she was. It was during this trip that Rin finally got enough courage to ask about Hasuka's eyes. They had all been wondering about it but it would have been rude to openly question her.
Not really knowing what to say exactly, she started from yesterday morning. They had begun to tell her their stories, so why should she keep hers? She told of a teacher named Garoma, without saying that he wasn't human, of how he left her, of how she focused "chakra" into them, and of how she felt pain before the pleasure of seeing the world differently.
"Wow," Rin breathed. "You've been through a lot."
"I suppose I've gotten used to life throwing me a curveball," she replies with a shrug.
"Hmph, let me tell you my story," Obito butts in, retelling his life in the Uchiha Clan.
He explained of his struggles with training and how he never seemed to be good enough. Skirting around the topic, he tried to give Hasuka a little detail on what the Sharingan was without giving away too much of it's power. Suddenly intrigued, she was attentive to his explanation of the genetic eye jutsu.
Once he finished, both Obito and Hasuka looked at Rin for her story. Her's was short and simple, just a life about dreaming to be a medical-ninja. A pleasant silence fell over them at the conclusion of her tale, the only sounds were those of the dirt and grass crunching under their shoes.