AN: Just a reminder that I do have a discord server! I'd love to talk with you guys about this fic and in general, so please don't be afraid to join if you feel so inclined! Thank you guys for the support you've given this fic so far, I really appreciate it. Here is the link for the server: /bhkz2mv5Vj
Asami stared down at the dead body of the Uzumaki at her feet, satisfied at the sight of the blood dribbling from his wound. He was very dead, that was for certain.
Perhaps using Mayu to attack him was harsher than the situation called for, as the genjutsu she cast was not an enjoyable one… but even if it was cruel, she would do it again without hesitation.
He deserved a little bit of torment after using a living person as a bomb and Asami was happy to give it to him. The people killed at the hideout was a real sore spot for her. She had almost died there herself, so to finally kill the last man responsible for those Uchiha deaths… it felt like a good form of justice.
Mayu flapped her wings, letting out a caw as Asami surveyed the battlefield, the loud shouts, and cries of fighting shinobi still prevailing, even if the Uzumaki hadn't heard them himself in his final moments. The Senju and Uzumaki numbers seemed to be dwindling through, the plates of red chest armor laying in the open field outnumbering those wearing Uchiha yukata. In fact, there seemed to be very few Uchiha bodies amongst the fallen enemies.
It seemed the Senju were losing.
"I see you're satisfied with the way things ended there," said Asami, amused. She found Mayu's increased protectiveness of her endearing. The crow wanted to be more involved in battles ever since her close brush with death. "Though perhaps it should be from above and not on my shoulder so you don't get caught in the crossfire."
Mayu huffed. "Yes, that Uzumaki got what he deserved—but don't forget that I am a battle summon. I'm not fragile—!"
Mayu let out a loud squawk, flinging herself out of the way with a brisk flap of her feathers as a Senju threw a Kunai in Asami's direction. Asami ducked out of the way for the knife to whizz past her head, someone crying out behind her as it hit them.
Asami cast a dutiful look in the bird's direction as if to say 'I told you so', before charging at the Senju and stabbing her chokutō right underneath his chest plate.
She grimaced in disgust as he coughed blood onto the center of her yukata, his face pale and eyes blown wide. She yanked the sword out of his middle and the Senju fell to the ground in a crumpled heap, blood pooling in the grass underneath him.
Asami looked down at the man with distaste. She pulled at the stomach of her yukata to get a better look at the blood splatter on her clothes. It was wet and she could feel the warmth of the liquid against her skin… so disgusting.
Asami gave the blood splatter one last look of disgust before letting go of her yukata and glancing at the crow who was flapping her wings in midair beside her. "As I said before, you probably should watch from above until I call for you with my chakra."
If crows could make a face of displeasure, then it would have been the one Mayu was making as she begrudgingly replied. "All right, all right… I'll watch from above as you say. Don't hesitate to call for my assistance! I mean it!"
Asami was about to make a sarcastic quip, but she didn't even get the chance to respond as her sights set on a large group of Senju running at her. The men were shouting, their faces twisted into snarls, furious at how easy she had cut down the Uzumaki. They were coming in fast, twisting and weaving through the other shinobi engaged in their own fights as they closed the distance between her and them.
She resisted the urge to let out an apathetic sigh.
She could handle a group of shinobi alone easily, but it didn't mean she wanted to. There couldn't have been more than eight of them, so it wasn't an overly large group, but it wasn't exactly favorable or something she wanted to do if she could help it either. So, Asami was going to make sure they couldn't even get close enough to land a hit.
Still holding her sword in her hand, she flew through the hand seals for her Katon. A few of the Senju stumbled as they paused their advances, regret evident on their faces as they watched her finish the Jutsu with a tiger seal—but they were too close now to evade it.
Asami felt a little smug at their regretful faces, the hot chakra pooling in her chest as she formed the final seal.
Katon: Gōka Messhitsu!
She breathed out a steady stream of fire, the flames appearing to be contained, before suddenly bursting into a large wall of angry, orange fire quickly consuming her attackers.
The Senju screamed in agony, the flames growing with the winds from the brewing storm. Uchiha fighting nearby quickly moved out of the way, allowing their opponents to be taken out by Asami's Jutsu, their enemies unaware of the range the Katon possessed.
A trio of Uzumaki raced over to the fire holding a massive scroll, one of the men unraveling it while the other still held onto the other end. The third man swiped his hand across the center of it with a wave of his chakra, water pouring out of it and putting out her overwhelming flames with a hiss.
Asami scowled, angling her head to glare at the unsuspecting Uzumaki who were focused on putting out her fire, unbeknownst to her dirty look.
It was almost more annoying than when Tobirama put out her fireball with the use of a simple water wall, but being defeated by a scroll seemed to tick her off even more. A piece of paper and some chakra squashed her Jutsu? Annoying.
Asami hadn't fought against any of the Uzumaki's sealing head-on yet and wasn't sure she wanted to test her luck against it anytime soon. The pure unknown of what most seals did was something she wanted to stay far away from if she could help it. The use of the water scroll was annoying, but watching it be used to put out her Katon was clever. She had to give them that.
It didn't mean she wouldn't use their preoccupied attention to her advantage, though.
With the quick use of a shunshin, her image flickered, before disappearing altogether and reappearing behind the man holding the end of the scroll. The man holding the other end of the paper, one with short red hair, looked at her in alarm, eyes wide and voice caught in his throat at how she had appeared from nowhere.
Asami barely acknowledged his shocked expression, face emotionless as the other man followed his comrade's gaze and looked over his shoulder. He quickly dropped the end of the scroll and scrambled for a Kunai to protect himself. The man who used his chakra to unleash the water was out of her reach, and even with the other one attempting to pull a weapon from his holster, he wasn't fast enough to get a hit on her.
Asami stabbed the end of her chokutō into the ground, charging lightning chakra into the blade. Blue electricity coursed out of the sword, capturing the three Uzumaki and stunning them. They let out screams of pain as their bodies twitched and convulsed, the currents covering their bodies and searing into their clothes. The bright light cast shadows across Asami's face, the red of her Sharingan spinning as she looked for an opening.
Finding it, she flung herself up, hair swaying as she balanced on her the hilt of her sword and kicked her feet into the side of one of the men. Her body weight sent him out of the current and flying through the air. He hit the ground, barreling into another Senju and taking him down too, the Uzumaki's frame smoking as they rolled in the grass.
An Uchiha across the way paused the swing of his weapon, blinking at the open space where his Senju opponent had been standing moments ago, taken out by a flying Uzumaki. He looked up, glancing over to Asami and the two Uzumaki twitching at her feet, faint lines of blue running over their bodies.
Asami had eye contact with him briefly, but it was interrupted as another Senju came at him with a battle cry, swinging a large sword at his face.
She swiped her blade across one of the Uzumaki's throats, blood spilling as he began to choke. His hands flew to press on his neck as the liquid poured over his fingers, dribbling onto the grass.
She made quick work of finishing off the other one too, simply stabbing the end of her chokutō into his upper back, the man lying face down on the ground. He died quickly.
Asami made the mistake of thinking the Uzumaki she fought at the hideout was harmless due to his substantial injuries. She had neglected to finish him off and it wasn't a mistake she would make again with one from their clan. The nasty scar on her stomach was a reminder of the price she almost paid for her carelessness.
An Uzumaki opponent was like a cockroach you just couldn't squash, the bug continuously crawling back no matter how hard you hit them—it was extremely annoying, and she needed to take special care to make sure they were finished off.
Asami grunted, ducking under a heavy swing of a battle axe from behind. It swiped over her, the weapon barely grazing the top of her head as her hair swung with the brisk evasion.
She wasn't given a moment to breathe in the midst of the battle. Even if she just finished killing her opponents, it didn't mean someone else would waste the opportunity to rid the fight of another Uchiha.
She spun around, making eye contact with a spiky, brown-haired Senju. He grit his teeth, looking away the moment he realized he made eye contact with her Sharingan and cursing himself for it. He became agitated as he checked his chakra for any sign of a genjutsu and found nothing. It wasn't hard to detect his anxiety—he was fearful he was under a genjutsu and just couldn't find the disruption in his chakra.
Asami resisted the urge to smirk, knowing why the man's swings had a hint of hesitation as he brought the axe around, aiming for her side. She hadn't cast any kind of illusion on him, but he was too distracted at the possibility of being put under one that he wasn't working at peak performance.
Anxiety could be a nasty thing.
She jumped up on the double-sided axe mid-swing, her feet planted on either side. She made eye contact with the Senju, his face going pale as they were at eye level with one another for a split second. So fast the man could barely comprehend that she moved, Asami launched herself off of the weapon and swung her sword as she somersaulted over him.
Asami landed behind him, her back to the Senju as she slowly stood to her full height. The axe tumbled out of his hands, his head slowly tilting off of his neck, before following after the weapon and hitting the ground with a distinct thump. His body dropped to the ground in a bloody heap, red liquid oozing from his neck where his head had been sliced clean off.
She didn't even look over her shoulder, knowing the sight of the decapitated man was not a pretty one. The thump of his body and weapon hitting the ground was enough proof for her to know he was dead anyway.
Asami scanned the field, grimacing at the scene she stood in the center of.
This was proving to be a very gruesome fight. Blood was everywhere, the once tall, green grass of the open clearing now flattened by fallen bodies and maimed body parts. Puddles of red and vomit covered the vegetation. Scorched patches were spread throughout the field from various fireballs and she could easily spot the large patch where her Katon had raged.
It was disturbing how much damage this battle had brought to the once beautiful clearing. While it was a poor choice for protection, she could admit it was a beautiful place to live near. A nice open spot where children could run and play and people could take walks… though that probably didn't happen often, since allowing young kids outside of the compound was dangerous, and most would be looking over their shoulders for any kind of threat during any attempt at a leisure stroll.
Even so, the possibilities of the beautiful area were now reduced to the reek of flesh and death.
Asami leapt to the side, evading a poorly aimed fireball that went flying in her direction. It collided into a group of fighting Senju and Uchiha, the Uchiha making quick work of putting themselves out. The Senju were not as well versed in what to do if they happened to catch on fire, so most of them flailed and cried out as they burned.
A few of the Senju followed their Uchiha opponent's lead, dropping their weapons and frantically patting down their clothes to subdue the flames. Dropping their weapons only left them open for an attack, though, someone coming in and cutting them down as they were too busy putting out the fire.
Where had that fireball even come from? It seemed as though it was flung off erratically and not by someone who was a seasoned shinobi.
Asami followed the direction of the loose fireball, spotting the small frame of a young boy with short, spiky hair, erratically swinging around a katana.
He was fighting against an Uzumaki two times his size… and struggling. The boy was putting up a decent fight considering the circumstances, but his opponent looked much older than him and was swinging around a kanabō much like her opponent from earlier.
An Uzumaki with a crazy amount of strength coupled with a large club was not anyone's first choice of an opponent if you wanted to keep your life. Even Asami had a bit of a struggle when fighting against the man from before, so for this boy to successfully evade the hefty swings for what looked like a while now, was impressive.
Even if impressive, Asami could tell the boy was very obviously afraid and shaken. His skin was pale, eyes blown wide as he slid to the side and ducked under more of the Uzumaki's furious swings.
Asami grimaced, looking at the boy, before scanning the battlefield, going back and forth over whether or not she was going to get involved. She wanted to run over and help him, but that wasn't exactly… looked highly upon. To get involved in a young man's fight, while he looked only twelve or so, could be looked at as extremely insulting.
Though maybe 'insulting' him by ignoring traditional customs in favor of saving his life was worth it. She was sure the boy had plenty of people waiting for him to return home, and if she were to fight alongside him it wouldn't necessarily be taking away his opponents anyway.
Asami glanced back to the fight, the boy continuing to evade the Uzumaki's wild swings. He attempted to jab at him with his katana every so often but never seemed to land a hit. The Uzumaki was much more skilled than the boy, and the boy was smaller and harder to land a hit on while welding a heavy, large club. The young Uchiha seemed to know his odds were stacked against him, fear evident on his face as he narrowly slipped under another swing of the kanabō.
Asami's gaze suddenly narrowed in on a stray Senju whose attention had been captured by the fight between the young Uchiha and Uzumaki. It seemed someone else had found their fight interesting, though Asami didn't think he had any good intentions.
He wasn't going to gang up on a twelve-year-old with another shinobi, was he? The thought made Asami want to run over there and wring his neck with her bare hands, customs be damned.
The Senju flung a barrage of shuriken at the young boy, and Asami realized that yes, he was going to gang up on a twelve-year-old with his comrade. She wasn't going to let that happen.
Asami took off in the boy's direction, her frame flickering mid-step with the use of a shunshin. She reappeared behind the young Uchiha, his back turned to the Senju and unbeknownst to the weapons flung in his direction. She swung her chokutō, the clang of metal ringing out as she deflected the shuriken.
The boy glanced over his shoulder at the sound, surprised as he saw the side of Asami's face, her gaze narrowed in on the pissed-off Senju. "Asami-sama?!"
"Pay attention to your fight!" Asami didn't acknowledge him again, running at the Senju to finish him off so she could take down that Uzumaki too.
Asami sliced at his stomach, the Senju leaping back just in time for the tip of her chokutō to brush against his chest plate. The Senju grit his teeth, stumbling as he attempted to regain his footing, his foot caught on a stray tree root presumably put there by Hashirama's mokuton.
Wood release was strong, but also unpredictable—it seemed to cause terrain issues for the Senju often, especially since Tobirama had yelled at his older brother for not keeping it under control in their last battle.
She took advantage of his lack of balance and swung down on him, bringing the sword across his shoulder. The blade tore into his shirt, sliding between the armor on his bicep and his neck. A deep gash ran around his arm, blood pouring from the wound and dribbling into the grass. The Senju clamped his hand over the wound, grunting in pain as he looked at the cut in surprise.
Asami moved to cut him down again, but she stumbled before she could even raise her chokutō, gasping as piercing pain shot through her back. The feeling of multiple intrusions in her skin was not an unfamiliar one, though it didn't lessen the burning pain as she shifted. Multiple objects were definitely lodged in her back.
She cast a quick glance over her shoulder, resisting the urge to scoff at the sight of a Senju woman, multiple shuriken ready to be released in one of her hands. Her other hand was empty, meaning the weapons lodged in Asami's back were probably a slew of shuriken as well. How lovely.
She needed to handle one problem before the other though.
Asami turned her attention back to the Senju in front of her, his face smug as he spotted the woman over her shoulder. He was glad to see someone come to his aid against his opponent, though Asami was not sharing in that pleasure.
She was playing a dangerous game by keeping her back turned to the woman, but she didn't know how else she was supposed to fight the both of them. She just needed to be quick about it. Take him down then move on to the other. She needed to hurry so she could help that boy still.
She lunged forward, gritting her teeth as searing pain shot down her back. Asami swiped her chokutō at his midsection, making it seem as though she was going for his chest again, but she redirected her swing last second, slicing clean through his ankle.
The man screamed, falling to his back as he flailed, the stump where his foot used to be bleeding profusely. Asami moved to stab her sword through his neck to finish the job, but someone delivered a hefty kick to her side before she could, sending her flying through the air.
Asami coughed, attempting to catch her breath as she slammed into the ground and continued to thump along the grass, before finally coming to a stop on her back. She heaved, the wind knocked out of her after being launched through the air like a rag doll. The feeling reminded her much of the explosion at the Uchiha hideout, though this time she had a bunch of sharp objects in her back. Not pleasant.
She quickly got to her feet, heaving at the burning pain in her back. It hurt so bad. There was a steady dribble of blood running down her spine, some of the shuriken shoved deeper in her back from the tumble. The wound was not going to be a pretty thing to be cleaned up later, that was for sure.
Asami spotted the female Senju crouching over the sobbing man, her face pale as she tried to help him to her best abilities. He was losing lots of blood, hysterical at the sight of his foot laying in the grass a few feet away. His bone was visible, the puddle of red underneath the stump growing. It was a disgusting sight.
Asami was sure there wasn't much anyone could do for him now, though. He was losing too much blood as it was, but the woman was distracted and Asami was going to use that to her advantage.
Asami scanned the area for her chokutō, grimacing as she saw nothing.
Why did she always lose her weapon? There wasn't anything lying around that she could use to fight either. Nothing that seemed as though it could be remotely useful. Conveniently, her weapons pouch had disappeared at some point too. So, she only had one other option, and it was going to hurt a lot.
She glanced over to the young Uchiha, the boy looking as though he was going to burst into tears, a terrible limp in his leg now as he evaded another swing. The Uzumaki with the kanabō was getting more irritable by the second. Her time was running out—that kid was going to die if she didn't pick up the pace.
Gritting her teeth, Asami reached around and tugged out one of the shuriken from her lower back. She grunted at the pain exploding from the spot, cocking her head to the side and heaving as she willed the pain to subside before she moved to the others. Tears pricked at her eyes, everything in her body screaming at her to stop—but Asami knew she couldn't afford to.
She braced herself, reaching around her neck and pulling out the three lodged in between her shoulder blades and near her spine with urgency.
Asami cried out, spots littering her vision at the sudden act. She heaved, resisting the urge to throw up as she blinked her gaze back into focus. She looked down at the bloody shuriken sitting in her palm, the weapons covered in red. The steady sensation of blood dribbling down her back was unpleasant, and she could easily pick out each throbbing stab wound. But at least it was over now.
She hoped she never had to do that again. Those shuriken were lodged a lot deeper in her back than she originally thought, making it a hell of a lot more painful. It hurt like hell.
Now with some sort of weapon in her hand, Asami turned her attention back to the two Senju. The woman was looking around, crying out for someone to help them, but everyone else was preoccupied with their own opponents. They were left to their own devices, but Asami was just surprised the man hadn't bled to death yet, his screaming from before reduced to erratic sobs.
Not that it mattered whether or not he was already dead, since they were both going to die soon enough.
Katon: Hōsenka Tsumabeni!
Asami formed a tiger seal with one hand and breathed out a large stream of fire. She chucked the shuriken into the flames, the weapons whirring as they caught on fire. The flames encased them in the shape of a larger shuriken, the sharp orange ends spinning furiously as it flew toward the two Senju.
The Senju woman looked up, gasping at the sight of the flaming weapons flying in her direction. She wasn't fast enough to get away or strong enough to take the man with her, so she resulted to throwing herself over his body. The man used the last bit of his strength to attempt to shove her off, his face pale and pushing weak, but the woman wasn't going anywhere.
A small part of Asami felt bad for them. They both seemed to care for one another, the woman coming to the man's rescue, and the man trying to get her to save herself in their final moments.
There were moments like these when she was reminded of how human each of her opponents were. Not that it really mattered—she couldn't allow the humanity of her opponents to cloud her judgment. She had made too many mistakes by letting people off when they should have died by her hand. She was done making those mistakes, no matter how human others seemed.
It was just a shame they were trying to kill her.
The flaming blades lodged into the female Senju's back, the fire erupting as soon as the weapons made their purchase. The woman screamed first, followed by the man soon after. The two of them cried out as they burnt, the smell of crisp flesh filling the air. Others fighting their battles around them cast wary looks at the fires and made quick work of getting away.
Asami grimaced, turning away as the two Senju burned alive, their bodies already looking charred and disfigured through the raging orange flames.
She never liked witnessing that part. The smell… the sight of their bodies… they were practically unrecognizable from what they were before. It always made her sick, even if she knew it was a matter of her or them.
She shoved the images of their charred bodies from her head and focused her attention on the Uchiha boy and Uzumaki.
It was impressive that he lived this long while Asami was cleaning up other messes, but he was reaching the end of his rope. His dodging was sloppy, each swing of the Uzumaki's club coming just a hair from taking off the boy's head.
Asami still didn't have any weapons, but if she took that guy down she would be able to confiscate his club. She was using up a lot of her chakra and her limits were going to be reached soon. She had enough chakra to last the rest of the fight, but she needed to use it sparingly and methodically.
Asami took off in a sprint toward the Uzumaki, flying through a series of hand seals as a buzz of blue electrical chakra began to run down her arm. The tomoe of her Sharingan spun as she locked her sight onto an open spot on his side between the chest and back plate of his armor.
One hit there with lighting chakra and he would be out of the fight permanently.
The young Uchiha stumbled after evading another attack, his injured leg finally catching up to him. The katana fell out of his hand as he landed in the dirt on his back. He stared up at the Uzumaki towering over him with wide eyes, the man raising the club high over his head to bring down on the boy. He whimpered, scooting along the dirt in a last attempt of getting away.
A blur of black darted in from the side, followed by a flash of bright blue light and the sound of a furious buzzing. The Uchiha boy cowered at the suddenness of the light, quickly moving his arms to shield his face.
The Uzumaki screamed, his body spasming as blue electricity seared into his side. The kanabō fell backward out of his hand and hit the ground behind him, the Uzumaki's eyes rolling into the back of his head as he collapsed. A large blood spot was seared into his side, faint blue lines cackling around him as his body twitched, the faint smell of something burning in the air. Smoke floated up from his burned body.
The Uchiha boy slowly lowered his arms, eyes wide and mouth agape. He was shaking as his eyes trailed to the now-dead Uzumaki, electricity zapping at his body aimlessly as his blue eyes stared vacantly at the sky. The boy swallowed hard, resisting the urge to throw up, before looking up at the person who was still standing over him.
Arm outstretched, her other hand wrapped around her wrist, Asami heaved, the faint lines of electricity snapping at the air and around her open palm, before disappearing altogether. She stood with her limbs still outstretched, eyes trained on the Uzumaki in case he miraculously survived being electrocuted.
She wouldn't have been surprised if he did survive it. The comparison between cockroaches and those of the Uzumaki clan still stood.
After he hadn't moved, Asami decided he was definitely dead. She dropped her arms, standing up straight and attempting to ignore the burn of the multiple cuts on her back that were still dribbling blood. It hurt, but at least it seemed she had taken care of most of the problems for now. She dove in there just in time before he could deliver the killing blow to the boy.
She looked down at the young Uchiha, his mouth agape as he stared up at Asami.
He looked as though he was going to burst into tears. "Asami-sama?!"
Asami dropped to one knee and placed a hand on his shoulder as he continued to shake. She took a look around her in case there was another attacker. She didn't want to be snuck up on after all that, but instead of seeing another enemy charging her way, she spotted Madara across the field no longer fighting. Instead, he was engaged in some kind of screaming match with Hashirama again, her older cousin appearing nothing short of enraged.
Why were they talking again and no longer fighting? It was confusing, but she had a feeling they were reaching the end of their battle. They had been here for a while now, and if she was low on chakra, it was likely others were too.
She took another look around the field. Shinobi were not fighting as furiously as they were in the beginning, only able to run circles around one another for so long. There were many more Uchiha still standing than the Uzumaki or Senju, meaning it was looking to be a more favorable outcome for the Uchiha. They had the opportunity to make an attack on the Senju compound if they really wanted to, but she highly doubted her cousin would make an order to do so. Not while those who were still standing were starting to reach their limits, at least.
Asami turned her attention back to the boy, finally taking a look at his face now. His lower lip wobbled as he stared up at her with watery eyes, red with a single tomoe of the Sharingan.
She frowned at him, finally realizing that this was the boy from a few days ago. The one who had gone to train with his friends and spoken to her at the pond. Yutaka, was it? She couldn't remember, but that sounded like it may have been right.
Her heart immediately ached in her chest as he did his best to not cry. She wouldn't have thought any less of him if he did though… the kid was twelve, maybe thirteen at the oldest. No wonder he was so traumatized.
Asami sighed, moving to place her hand on the back of his head and bring his face into her shoulder. She spoke quietly, voice barely a murmur, "When I said I'd see you on the battlefield, I didn't mean like this."
At her words, the boy broke down, sobbing snot into her shoulder as he gripped onto her bloody yukata for dear life. His entire body shook, the brush he just had with death not forgotten as he continued to cry.
She continued to frown but didn't loosen her hold on the boy, her eyes moving to where Madara was speaking to Hashirama. Izuna was at his side now, Tobirama at Hashirama's side. They shared a few more words, before Madara took a step back from the two Senju, calling out to the field.
"Enough! We have shown the Senju we will not lay in wait for them to slaughter us. They have learned their lesson! We will return home!" Madara glanced at Hashirama again, saying something else to the man that made his face turn sour.
Tobirama was twitching as though he wanted to lunge at her cousins, but Hashirama's outstretched arm prevented him from doing anything.
Asami pulled the boy to his feet, adamant about making a quick getaway. He had dried tear tracks on his cheeks, face red and bruised. She met his gaze and winced at the sight of two tomoe in his Sharingan instead of just the one that was there before. The encounter with the Uzumaki must have been more traumatic than she originally thought.
"Can you run?" She asked, not saying anything about his evolved dojutsu. He probably hadn't noticed it.
The boy hobbled as he got to his feet, trying to stand but having a hard time putting his weight on the injured leg. He looked ashamed, shaking his head as he wouldn't meet her eyes. "I don't think I can."
She'd probably have to carry him on her back, but with her injuries, it was the last thing she wanted to do. But the boy wasn't able to run on his own, so it's not as though she had another option. She'd just have to carry him until she found someone else who could carry him for her. Asami wasn't sure she could run all the way back to the Uchiha compound with him on her back, so she hoped she could find someone well enough to carry him sooner rather than later.
Those who needed immediate attention had already been whisked off the field and taken to the Uchiha hideout. Everyone else in a good enough condition to stand was expected to head to the compound instead. They didn't want to stress the resources of the hideout. Her injuries and the boys were not crucial enough to head there, so she was going to make a beeline for the compound.
Asami bent down, holding her arms out behind her for the boy to climb on. She looked over her shoulder and nodded her head to urge him to move. "Get on my back. We need to hurry and you can't run."
The boy hesitated, eyes wide and cheeks reddening at the thought of her carrying him.
Asami resisted the urge to give him a deadpan look.
It seemed he was fine enough to feel embarrassed. This wasn't the time for that though. Other Uchiha were darting off the field and taking their leave in a quick getaway after Madara's instruction. They needed to be moving like that too.
"Remember how I said we need to hurry?" Asami raised a brow, gesturing with her hands again.
The boy didn't make any other faces, though his reddening cheeks did all the talking he needed as he climbed onto her back, arms looped around her neck.
Asami resisted the urge to hiss as he pressed up against her back. He was leaning against her stab wounds and they had already begun to burn. The pain made her falter as she got to her feet.
Her wounds were probably going to become even more irritated from the friction as she ran back to the compound. It was going to be a painful cleanup afterward, that was for sure. There wasn't any other way to get the boy back though, so this would have to do. She could deal with a little bit of pain if it meant getting him home.
"All right, off we go." Asami braced herself, before she shot off the field in a blur, following her other clanmates.
It was extremely painful as she ran, the boy's front rubbing against her back every time she hit another tree branch and took off again. She wasn't alone in her pain though, since he was making noises of discomfort every time she shifted her hand to maintain her grip on him. His leg was probably hurting a lot but he wasn't saying anything about how she was carrying him. She could tuff it out and not cause a fuss too.
Asami wasn't alone as she ran, a few Uchiha running behind her and some in front. She could see her cousins up ahead, but she wasn't going to push herself to catch up to them at the front. Asami could talk to them once they made it to the compound, and she had a lot of questions. The continuous conversations between Hashirama and Madara were one of them.
Asami had seen Butsuma and Tajima speak to one another before, but not the way Madara and Hashirama did. The first priority for both the previous clan leaders was to fight and kill one another. Madara and Hashirama on the other hand… did not jump to violence right away. Hashirama wanted to speak to her cousin to prevent a battle and Madara actually listened. It was abnormal. She didn't know what the hell was going on.
There was a flutter by her head. Asami looked over, smiling at the sight of Mayu. "Hello there. Care to head to the compound and let them know we're on the way back with the injured?"
Mayu huffed, though Asami only continued to smile, knowing the crow wasn't actually upset, "Fine. But I'm not just a messenger bird! You and Kousuke-san both used me just as a messenger after a long fight where I could have participated. I can fight with you!"
"You did fight today," pointed out Asami. "So I don't know what you're talking about."
The boy wasn't saying anything, simply looking at the bird in interest as he listened to their conversation. It had become a bit of common knowledge that Asami had a crow summon now, so he wasn't surprised by it. It was common to see her walking around with the large black bird on her shoulder or at least perched somewhere near her.
"Yes, but I only fought once! You ran off on your own after." Mayu replied, making a very birdlike noise of sadness. "We're supposed to fight together now."
"We'll fight more the next time, I promise," said Asami, readjusting her grip on the boy's legs as she hit another branch. She turned to look ahead at her cousins as she spoke. "I'll give you some bread when we get back to make up for it, okay? For now though, please tell the healers we're on our way. It would be nice to give them a few extra minutes to prepare."
"Mmk," Mayu was satisfied with Asami's bribe. "I'll let them know."
With another distinct flap of her wings, the crow took off, zipping right past Madara and Izuna and up into the trees to fly above them toward the compound.
Madara cast a glance back at her after the bird flew past. She shared a look with him, his gaze lingering on the boy over her shoulder before he faced the front again.
He was probably wondering why she was carrying a boy on her back, and she almost wished he would come back there and take him from her so she could have a little bit of relief, but no one wanted to stop until they reached the compound, so she didn't want to be a bother. It wasn't as though her injuries were life-threatening anyway—just very, very painful.
Asami grimaced as the boy shifted, the wounds on her back still raw. She cast a glance over her shoulder, meeting his large black eyes. His short spiky hair swayed wildly from the pace she was running at. "Be careful with my back, please. That Senju woman threw a bunch of shuriken at me and it's still… tender."
The boy looked horrified, pushing himself back abruptly. "Oh! I'm so sorry!"
Asami made a noise of surprise as he suddenly leaned back, the weight pulling her backward and throwing her off balance. "Hey!" She cried, fumbling to regain her footing.
"Sorry! Sorry!" The boy shot forward, wrapping his arms around her neck again.
She grunted at the sudden slam of his front against her stab wounds. While it hurt, she decided not to make a comment about it—it wouldn't help anything if she did. He would probably just freak out again and she didn't want to slip and fall off the tree branch from the sudden shift of awkward weight. Killing the both of them from a fall after surviving that battle? It was not an ideal scenario.
Asami ignored his frantic apologies, deciding she was going to change the subject and confirm her assumption from earlier. "You're the boy from the pond yesterday, right? Yutaka-kun?"
He was quiet for a minute, before she felt him nod against her shoulder, "Yeah. I thought you recognized me when you said something about 'seeing me on the battlefield' earlier. What you said after you killed that Uzumaki. I didn't think you remembered my name though."
Asami resisted the urge to scoff.
Why did everyone always think she didn't care about regular shinobi in her clan? Madara tried to make a point of memorizing every shinobi, sometimes using his Sharingan to cheat. Izuna tried too, and Asami especially tried to get to know the Uchiha civilians, so where was this attitude coming from? It irked her. It was impossible to know every single person, but she did try.
"Of course I remembered your name, you told me it, didn't you?" She turned her head a bit, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. "It would be pretty rude if I just chose to not listen."
Yutaka blushed and turned away, hiding his face in his shoulder, "Yeah, I suppose it would be pretty rude. I'm sorry I didn't think you would remember, Asami-sama."
Asami didn't want an apology, but he seemed embarrassed he had even suggested that she wouldn't remember his name, so she decided to leave it be. "It's fine. We're going to be back at the compound soon, so you can get some medical attention for that leg of yours."
Yutaka made a noise of acknowledgment but didn't say anything else, so she resulted to just running in silence the rest of the way to the compound.
The moment they got back, healers were rushing in their direction, followed by wives and siblings, eager to see if their loved ones had returned alive from the battle. The boy still on her back, Asami touched down on the dirt at the entrance of the compound, grimacing as she readjusted her hold on him.
A woman cried out, sobbing hysterically as Hikaku delivered her some news that appeared solemn based on his pinched expression. He grimaced, looking away from her as another young girl gathered the woman in her arms, letting her sob into her shoulder as she mourned her loss.
Others looked away to be respectful, Asami's heart sinking in her chest.
Momoko, one of the head healers, came over to Asami with her arms outstretched. Her gaze was trained on Yutaka, the boy like a leech on her back. "Does he need help? I can take him now and you can have someone take a look at you as well." She asked, concerned as she scanned the both of them with critical eyes.
Asami looked at Momoko in a daze, tearing her gaze away from the sobbing woman. Momoko stared at her expectantly, which seemed to finally make Asami snap out of it and turn so she could easily pull Yutaka off of her. "Oh, yes—I'm sorry."
Momoko took the boy and lowered him to the ground, slinging his arm over her shoulder so she could help him over to the clinic. She gave Asami a critical look, eyeing her bloodied back. "Come with me so we can get that looked at. I'm sure Madara-sama and Izuna-sama wouldn't be happy if you got an infection after being fully healed from that stab wound. I'll have someone tell them where you are."
Asami grimaced, knowing she was right. She didn't want to cause any more problems after her last injury. "Okay, I'll follow your lead."
Satisfied, Momoko turned and began to walk toward the clinic, expecting Asami to follow after her.
Asami did, casting one last glance at the woman Hikaku had spoken to, her cries sounding more heartbreaking than before.
Izuna stood with her now, speaking to her with an intense expression and his hand on her shoulder. She said something to him, before crying out and pulling Izuna into a tight embrace. Her cousin looked as though he was going to break down into tears and cry himself, returning her hug. The woman who was comforting her before only stood beside them as they hugged, trying to prevent her own tears from falling.
Asami sighed and shook her head, pressing a hand to her face as she followed after Momoko and Yutaka.
The aftermath of these battles were always terrible. So many lives lost and so many people to mourn. Madara was probably already swept away to help with preparations of the funerals—it was always a terrible thing. Asami hated it. She hated all of it so much. So many crying people, people with terrible, painful injuries… there was nothing good about it. All the grief made her feel sick.
Asami trailed into the clinic behind Momoko, the sounds of groans and other noises of pain filling the air. The general area was filled with more people than usual, women running around with clean water and other medical supplies.
It was so reminiscent of when she came to the clinic to say goodbye to her father as a child. She could feel herself becoming more nauseated by the second.
"Asami-sama?"
Asami blinked back into reality, meeting the gaze of a woman with long black hair, a stray piece of it braided. She looked at Asami with watery black eyes, her nose red as though she had already been crying.
Asami didn't know who this woman was or why she was crying, but it seemed as though she was interested in speaking to her. Asami had lost Momoko at some point to the crowd of frantic Uchiha healers and shinobi returning from battle anyway, so it wasn't like she had anything else to do but wait till Momoko saw her so she could tend to her wounds.
"Yes?" She asked, unsure of what the woman was going to say to her. She wasn't approached often, so it was a little bizarre. Especially since she probably looked nothing short of disgusting after returning from the battle.
"I'm Yutaka's mother, Emiko," the woman sniffed, seeming as though she was trying to keep her composure as she spoke.
Asami felt her shoulders drop, realization flooding through her at the simple introduction. She gave the woman a small, kind smile, knowing this woman had probably been put through hell and back after learning her son was at the clinic after returning from the battle.
"I see. Is he all right?" She asked, genuinely hoping the boy was okay.
Asami's question seemed to be… the wrong one? She didn't know, but Emiko suddenly burst into tears after Asami asked it, the woman wiping her sleeve over her face as she tried to stop the liquid falling from her eyes.
Emiko let out a breathy laugh, continuing to cry. "Yes! He's okay! I wanted to speak to you and… and tell you how thankful I am that you brought my son home to me. He told me about how an Uzumaki almost dealt him a killing blow and you dove in and saved him! You risked your life for my son and I cannot begin to tell you how thankful I am that you brought my baby back home to me."
Asami felt a jolt in her chest, speechless at the emotion the woman was demonstrating.
She had suspected someone was waiting for him at home… and of course, Asami was going to help a twelve-year-old boy against a man twice his age. There was no way in hell she would ever let someone fight a battle like that, especially when they were going to lose. If she had turned her back to Yutaka, the boy would have been killed by that man.
Asami didn't think anything of her choice to help Yutaka. He was in need and would have died if she stood by—what else was there to do? Asami didn't do anything special here. She did what anyone else would have done.
"Emiko-san, you don't have to thank—" Began Asami, but Emiko cut her off with a sharp look, pointing a finger at her.
"Don't you dare say it wasn't anything special!" Emiko sniffed, standing up tall, suddenly having a sense of prestige about her. She pointed a finger at Asami, sniffing as tears ran down her cheeks. "You brought my son home to me. Do not take away my ability to thank you, for that's the only way I can express my gratitude to you for what you did. So, I will say this again, and you will not reject my thanks. Thank you for bringing my last son home to me. Thank you, Asami-sama."
Asami was stunned as she listened, blinking owlishly. Others in the clinic were watching the interaction idly, people coming and going into the clinic giving the two women glances in passing.
Emiko was quite bold for saying such a thing, but the mother had been put through a lot, and all she wanted was to thank the woman responsible for saving her son. Asami couldn't fault her for that. She was just… so moved by the strong, emotional gratitude. She had never had anyone speak to her in that way before.
There was also underlying information here by Emiko saying 'her last son'. It implied that she had probably lost other children to battles before. Her worst fear come true by losing Yutaka. Asami couldn't even imagine the fear she must have experienced.
A gentle expression came to Asami's face as she held steady eye contact with Yutaka's mother. Asami reached out, taking ahold of Emiko's hand that was pointing an accusing finger at her. She furrowed her brows in confusion, sniffing as she allowed her hand to relax, Asami clasping both her hands around Emiko's.
"You are very welcome, Emiko-san," Asami said softly, her heart aching for the mother in front of her.
Emiko sniffed, quiet tears streaming down her face as she took in the sincerity of the teenager in front of her. She maintained eye contact with her for a moment, a steady silence passing between the two women. Emiko suddenly pulled Asami in for a tight hug, arms wrapped around her and chin set on her shoulder.
"Thank you," whispered Emiko as she continued to cry, tears dripping onto Asami's bloody battle yukata.
Asami didn't say anything more, only allowing the sobbing mother to hold her close, ignoring the burning in her back as the woman unknowingly pressed onto her injuries.