Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Who knew... ❯ 35. KILL HIM ( Chapter 35 )

33. THE RAIN AND THE RIVER

 

She couldn't breathe, and her lungs ached, beginning to be filled with water instead of air.

 

The water around her was thick, like a prison, almost blocking her. Each and every move was painful and heaved on her heart, which was beating wildly and irregularly.

 

Her muscles hurt for the continuous struggling, and suddenly her feet touched the bed of the river. How did she know it was a river? She just did.

 

And the few times she managed to open her eyes, she would see a boy, probably already dead, sinking, his face pale, pale, so very pale, and his lips blue.

 

She knew that she knew him, but she couldn't manage to link the dead boy's face to a name.

 

The girl was still struggling to emerge, but her vision was confused and unfocused, and she had lost the orientation, which meant that now it was impossible to tell the closer shore from the other one.

 

A sharp pain hit her lungs.

 

No more air.

 

`Is it possible? Am I really going to die like this?' she questioned herself in the last moments of lucidity, before her mind was clouded. `I am supposed to be a water jutsu master, I can't drown…'

 

Everything went black around her. She tried to scream, and opened her eyes.

 

* * *

 

Asuka reached the Oinin headquarter staggering, and rubbing her eyes.

 

Yawning, she nodded to those who greeted her, and plopped into a chair beside her cousin.

 

“Oh kami Asuka! What's wrong?!” Ren asked as he noticed the dark rings under her eyes.

 

The Yoshizumi girl yawned. “I just had that nightmare again. Over and over again. I think that I slept like, 2, 3 hours…”

 

“This is not good Asuka-chan... Maybe it means something! Anyway, I will watch over you today. More than I usually do, I mean!” the boy tried to make her laugh, but he gained just a faint smile.

 

Polishing the blade of her katana, Asuka had already forgotten about the unpleasant sensation the nightmare had glued on her whole being.

 

Her brain was now far, far from Kiri. In a place where snow is rarely seen, and is welcomed as a joy by kids and shinobi.

 

She was thinking of Konoha.

 

Another couple of weeks, and no word came from the two heartless bastards.

 

But the strange thing was, that now also Shisui had stopped writing. This made Asuka really sad.

 

Aya had tried to comfort her, telling her that perhaps he was on a mission, or that he was busy…but the Yoshizumi girl felt that something was wrong. She just felt it. She had asked Tomoyo and Hitomi to tell her about him, but neither of the girls had seemed to see him, lately.

 

The girl looked out of the window, before tying her Oinin mask behind her head.

 

“Snowing, Asuka-chan. But they say today it's going to get warmer…so, rain, Asuka-chan. But at the moment, every single thing or surface out there is covered in ice. And snow. Snow. Again.” Ren commented annoyed, while wearing a pair of black gloves.

 

Asuka's head dropped. She grabbed a lace and tried to tie her long hair into a bun before Isoshi-taichou could say anything about how that long hair was just a nuisance, but with no results. Before she could growl in distress, Aya came to help. “Here, give me the lace” the woman said.

 

“You know brats, here in Kiri rainy days are feared. Being Kirigakure usually covered in snow, most people see rain as a bad sign. People get superstitious and stuffs, you know, wearing amulets, carrying scrolls, avoiding people, and whether possible hiding into their houses, doors and windows locked. Personally, to me rain is jus as hateful as snow. It is cold, wet, and has peculiar ways to sneak into the most absurd and unreachable places of your armour.” This was Isoshi's good morning.

 

The handsome blond man messed up his short and already messy hair, trying to remove the snowflakes which made it look white. White. Like Kakashi's… her Kakashi.

 

`You're a bitch Asuka. Look at how you left him. Look at what you've done with Itachi. You are a bitch and I hate you' her inner self was stuck on repeat.

 

Asuka murmured a thank you to Aya, and nodded in greeting to Isoshi-taichou.

 

“You don't believe in bad luck and superstitions, do you, Isoshi-san?” Asuka asked, smirking.

 

“Tch. No, as long as I have my lucky kunai with me.” He replied, all serious.

 

Asuka snorted, and Aya burst into laughter.

 

“I was just telling Asuka-chan how much I find rain a nuisance…” Ren said, smirking to the Taichou.

 

Isoshi ignored him. “Brats, today's mission is easy. Furusawa Hidetoshi, B-rank, but it's a long time since he's last been spotted, so he might have become an A-rank. Nothing particular, just a crazed guy with a liking for raping and killing. Let's go. And Ren” he looked at the boy.

 

“Hai, Isoshi-taichou?”

 

“Quit complaining, you brat.” the team leader finished, tying his own mask.

 

* * *

 

That night, when Asuka and Ren entered the Oinin honsho (headquarter), they found something waiting for them.

 

A surprise.

 

A letter.

 

“Asuka-chan, this arrived from Konoha like 10 minutes ago” one of the chuunins handed her a sealed scroll “It must be important, it arrived with one of the fastest birds of the Leaf.”

 

The girl studied the scroll, and the seal. In the red wax was impressed…the Aburame seal!

 

“Ren! It's from Hitomi! C'mon lets go home!”

 

The boy screamed a `goodbye everyone' and followed his cousin to their flat, on the other side of the street.

 

Both cousins cursed; Isoshi had been right. A thick rain was falling on Kiri, and the snow was melting in dirty muddy puddles.

 

As the two hung their wool waterproof cloaks on the wall, Asuka broke the seal closing the scroll, and threw the envelope on Ren's messy desk nearby.

 

They sank on the couch, and the girl unrolled the scroll.

 

Hitomi's usually neat calligraphy was irregular, and drops of ink and water stained the rice paper everywhere. The two Yoshizumi didn't pay attention to that; all papers in Kiri were humid and stained.

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - -

 

Dear Asuka, dear Ren,

 

It's quite a long time since you last heard from Konoha. I apologise, but the village has been having a hard time, lately.

I hope you two in Kiri are doing fine, and that you are improving your shinobi and medic skills.

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“Look Ren, she forgot to mention my freaking geisha training” Asuka pointed smirking.

The boy who was sitting on her right slapped her lightly on the forehead to make her go on with the reading.

 

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We all miss you guys a lot, especially now.

 

We would give anything to hug you, right now; maybe that would ease the pain, or maybe not, but at least we would be going through this together.

 

Asuka-chan, Ren-kun, I have never been good at expressing my feelings, and I know that my words will not serve the purpose of mending your souls or drying your eyes, but Tomoyo and I figured it would have been better if we told you before the official scroll sent by the Hokage reached you.

 

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Asuka's voice became more serious, and she hurried frantically to read the lines that followed, Ren beside her grabbing her hand, as if preparing to bad news.

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - -

It's about Shisui.

 

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Asuka's heart skipped a beat, and Ren turned suddenly very, very pale.

 

The paper here was stained with more frequency, and Hitomi's calligraphy was almost unreadable.

 

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The Leaf Police found him on the shores of the Naka river.

 

Drowned.

 

The Uchiha family is hiding it, but the Hokage, knowing our close friendship, let us know that he left a note, even if we were not told what was written on it.

 

Shisui, the Police say, has committed suicide. But in spite of that the Uchiha clan is investigating.

 

It's not in my place to insinuate doubts, but…Asuka, Ren, we knew him. We knew him better than that.

 

Uchiha Shisui, feared as Shisui of the Body flicker, Shunshin no Shisui, our Shisui, I know, you know, we all know he wouldn't.

 

He would never do it.

 

Never.

 

But again, this is not the place and time to talk about what's behind our friend's death.

 

Asuka, he really loved you. He really did.

 

The last times we saw him, he was Shisui. He was the usual solar, kind, sweet and brave Shisui who would do anything just to see his Asuka-chan smile.

 

In the envelope of the scroll you will find a bracelet. Shisui asked me to send it to you in my next letter. He said that you would understand…

 

I haven't seen Itachi in weeks, and Shisui hadn't, too, but I think he is now badly hit by the news. They were like brothers, those two.

 

Now I must leave you…

 

The funeral will be held tomorrow at dawn, but I suppose that you won't make it on time.

Besides, it will be a private ceremony, and only Uchiha members will be allowed.

 

But Tomoyo and I will try our best to give Shisui-kun a last goodbye, also for you two.

 

We need you here with us…I think that Shisui would be happy to see us together, remembering his smile and all we've been through.

 

I hug you both.

 

Yours, Hitomi.

 

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Asuka, white in her face, looked at Ren in the eyes. The boy was pale and still as well.

 

Breathless, she ran the paper with her eyes over and over again, looking for each and every possible sign to prove what she had just read wrong.

 

Ren had stood up, and was leaning his back against the wall, sliding on the cold, white surface till he was sitting on the ground, eyes lost into nothing.

 

Asuka looked at him.

 

She let the scroll fall, or better she threw it away, and hurried to Ren's desk, grabbing violently the scroll's envelope, making everything on her way falling to the ground and crash.

 

And there it was.

 

A small metal circle, composed of small plaques with a pink enamel star on each.

 

Shisui.

 

“Shisui-kun, isn't that cute?” Asuka asked, pointing to a small bracelet.

 

The lights and sounds of the Aki no Saishi (autumn festival) surrounded them.

 

Shisui walked to her side, two candied red apple in his hands. He gave one to the girl, who thanked him smiling warmly, and looked at the bracelet.

 

“It is, Asuka-chan. I would give it to you, if there was no chance of being misinterpreted by Itachi…and our elders.” He chuckled “Asuka-chan, don't forget that you are my cousin's fiancée!”

 

The girl sighed, and bit the candied apple, enjoying its extremely sweet and sugary taste.

 

“Really, Shisui, I mean nothing bad, and you know I don't hate Itachi…but screw him! And screw the elders!”

 

She hugged him and poked his forehead.

 

“I would never let you down Shisui-kun, even if the whole Uchiha clan threatened me of death!” she said, striking the pose.

 

The young Uchiha laughed. “Never forget it, Asuka-chan, because I won't!!!”

 

Asuka smiled. Shisui, you baka.

 

She felt her vision blur, the silence was broken by Ren's loud sighs.

 

She looked at the picture they hung on the wall, trying to make that cold Kiri flat a little bit more like home…

 

The Yoshizumi and Uchiha cousins, Hitomi and Tomoyo…Sasuke-chan was eating a tomato, while Shin-chan and Naruto-chan were fighting for ice cream.

 

It was summer, and they were happy.

 

She grabbed the bracelet in her hand and ran out of the flat, in the rain.

 

She was running, not really knowing where she was going, the cold rain falling upon her face, hiding the tears that were now falling freely.

 

She reached a small bridge, and that was where she stopped, freezing on her steps.

 

A river.

 

A river.

 

She recalled her dream, the cold water all around her, the boy's face…the boy's face. Shisui's face.

 

Shisui.

 

She opened her mouth and screamed, screamed until her lungs were empty, and she gasped, inhaling deeply, and shaking for the hysterical tears and cries that shook her whole being, in body and soul.

 

Yes.

 

Asuka hated rain.