The Beauty of Imperfection

Chapter Eight

"Hey, Fuzen," Shun greets.

I blink, then open the door to Hideaki's apartment further. She still hasn't returned from her mission--but then again, it had only been just over three days. "Yeah?" I ask.

He limps into the apartment at my unspoken welcome, collapsing onto the sofa with an exhausted groan. I offer tea, which he declines. "Sorry for just showing up uninvited," he says, absentmindedly rubbing at his bad leg. "But I wanted you to know so you wouldn't just show up at an empty shop."

I blink. "Wait, what?" I question immediately. "Empty? Where will you be? And Mizuko?"

"We've decided to go to Mizu's old village," Shun explains slowly. My eyes widen. "An old friend of his contacted him and offered to help us open a sister shop in the village. His friend's been wanting to open a shop for a while, and we're heading over to scope it out and maybe give him a loan to help set up shop."

"You're leaving."

Shun seems a little scared by the suddenly blank look in my eyes. "Just for a bit," he reassures. "It shouldn't even be over a week. Two at the absolute most.We'll be back soon."

"What about your leg?" I ask bluntly.

He sighed, rubbing it once more. "We'll have a wagon and donkey. It won't be as fast as running, but..." there's a bitter core in his eyes as he remembers all that it is he's lost. "But don't worry about us protecting ourselves. Mizu may not be a ninja of Konoha or complete duties anymore, but he still is plenty good enough to protect us if it comes to that," he laughs.

I nod. "Will you be seeing, y'know, Shri?"

Shun's eyes narrow at just the mention of Shri. "For some reason Mizu wants to," he replies in a tone that's almost a snarl. My stomach drops, and I wonder if I am one of the reasons he's decided he wants to confront Shri. Because of what I'd said.

"Oh," is all I murmur.

The angry look in Shun's eyes drop rather suddenly, replaced by one of fatigue and sorrowful understanding. "Mizu loved him once, you know," he admits. "Shri, I mean."

I give him a startled look, which he laughs at. "How?" I ask.

He shrugs. "That's what I wondered. I mean, he was horrible, what he did to Mizu--" at this Shun's fists clench, then he takes a deep breath in and lets it out. "I guess you don't choose who you love. And Mizu, despite knowing Shri so well--or maybe because he knew Shri better than anyone--loved him." He shrugs again, sharp and pointed.

"He loves you," I tell him.

Shun waves me off. "I know, I know," he assures. "I just don't know why he insists on hurting himself like this. Nothing good could come from talking to Shri. Nothing. Especially now that he's in charge."

I glance at him. "He is?"

"Yeah. His dad died, now he's in charge. And that's another reason not to go. I mean, you saw how he was, how religious--not that religion means hating people like... like mean and him. But he was so intolerant. So hateful. He was... disgusted. All the things he did to Mizu," he shakes his head sharply. cutting himself off. Then, "I think I want to kill him."

This shocks me. The first time I had ever heard Shun admit to wanting to hurt, to kill someone had been in the heat of battle--and he had threatened Shri then, as well. I had never seen him want to hurt someone like that again. He's Shun. He heals and he never likes seeing people hurt and here he is, sitting peacefully on the couch discussing how he would like to kill Shri and it's in this moment I realize that hate was truly infectious.