𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘉𝘌𝘋𝘌𝘝𝘐𝘓𝘌𝘋 𝘓𝘌𝘎𝘈𝘊𝘠 | ⁿᵃʳᵘᵗᵒ

Feigned Saint

FEIGNED SAINT

✧

Weeks passed since Asami woke up, and as soon as she was cleared by the healers for light exercise she didn't waste time getting back into shape. She had made a steady recovery and even felt well enough to begin active duty again.

Others thought she should wait longer so as to not risk it (others, meaning Izuna) but she was aware of her body and knew when it was operating as normal. There was a hump for her to get over after spending over a month allowing her body to rest, but once she was past that, she was up and running.

Asami stood by the pond at the edge of the compound doing her katas, the spring sun beating down on her. While it was still spring, the sun was starting to feel more like late summer as sweat ran down her back, her face feeling hot. Her cheeks probably resembled a tomato, her bangs sticking sweatily to her face.

It took a lot for Uchiha to overheat because of their natural fire affinity, but she was starting to feel the effects of the high temperatures.

The changing of seasons was evident especially today, as the air didn't feel crisp and fresh like it did in early spring, the sun merciless as she trained. The only relief was the gentle breeze, but even then it didn't do much against her high neck, long sleeve yukata.

It seemed as though she would need to start wearing sleeveless yukatas or something of the like if the weather continued this way.

Asami breathed heavily, pulling her long hair over her shoulder and twisting it. She pressed her hair against the back of her head, exposing her neck to the breeze as she caught her breath to cool down. She turned to look at the pond, basking in the quietness.

It was quite peaceful. She enjoyed moments like this when she could just be in nature without any other disruptions. They weren't moments she got often.

The quiet didn't last long though, as the sounds of loud shouts and laughing came closer.

Asami looked over her shoulder, brows arching in amusement at a group of young boys wrestling with one another as they came over to the pond. They were probably around twelve or thirteen, a few out of the five of them shoving one another and putting each other into a playful headlock. She couldn't hear what they were saying from where she stood, but she could assume they were coming over to the pond to train.

The pond was a common place for shinobi to train, especially the young ones. The large area of water made it safe to practice their Katon away from any forests or buildings and was often where young children were taught to water walk too.

Asami learned how to water walk on that pond just like many others before her, though her experience was probably more traumatizing than most. Thinking back on it was amusing, but at the time it wasn't funny at all.

She remembered it pretty vividly too. Asami flat out refused to step onto the pond at first. She knew she was going to just fall in and had no desire to step onto the water to get all wet. Even if she knew it was a vital skill, she stubbornly stood by the pond as Izanami glared daggers at the girl for not complying. Nine-year-old Asami had put her foot down, absolutely refusing to even attempt it.

Izanami wasn't having any of that, so the woman grabbed her by the back of the shirt and tossed her into the water, shouting something about how if she wasn't going to get into the water herself, she was going to just throw her in until Asami learned to do it.

It wasn't a particularly effective method to get her to learn to water walk, but it got over the hump of Asami refusing to get wet to practice.

It also got the point across that if Izanami told her to do something, she was going to do it. There was no refusing anything her sensei told her to do, and if she did refuse, Izanami would find a way to make her do it anyway.