𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘉𝘌𝘋𝘌𝘝𝘐𝘓𝘌𝘋 𝘓𝘌𝘎𝘈𝘊𝘠 | ⁿᵃʳᵘᵗᵒ

A Mother's Gratitude

A MOTHER'S GRATITUDE

✧

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.