Love Triangle: Kakashi vs. Genma

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Having graduated with [Y/N] and serving on the same genin squad with her, Izumo and Kotetsu were used to Asuma being around. He was almost like a brother to them too now, if not a very close comrade. They'd even worked with him before on a regular squads with [Y/N] and the four of them made a good team.

Asuma guided them and helped train them, teaching them new moves and how to use teamwork to their advantage. He taught them what was important in the field and what wasn't. He was an easy-going man who always watched out for everyone else above himself.

But they'd never seen Asuma like this before. Asuma was never so brutal, so blunt. He hated sacrificial moves, much like [Y/N]. They both typically seen sacrificial plays as unacceptable. Those kinds of moves weren't an option. Losing someone on their squad was not an option.

Unless it was one of them. Both [Y/N] and Asuma would sacrifice themselves in a heartbeat to save the rest of the team, even if it meant only one person would live.

Shikamaru knew this too, having been trained by Asuma himself. He realized long before the battle started that he would have to consider for that possibility. It made creating a strategy difficult. He had to account for everyone's abilities, their weaknesses, Asuma's willingness to sacrifice himself... He couldn't leave that open to possibility or Asuma would surely take it.

But what options did they have? Izumo and Kotetsu were growing more and more tired as the battle let on, that one Akatsuki just wouldn't die, Asuma was injured, and Shikamaru was pretty well at his own chakra limit.

When the other Akatsuki member (Kakuzu is what he was called, they think) finally decided to join in, Shikamaru knew it was over. There was no way they'd last against them both. One look at Asuma told him that his sensei shared the same opinion.

Izumo and Kotetsu had both been captured. Neither one could move. They hated it, feeling stuck and useless, especially when the battle was still going around them. Kakuzu held them tightly in his bonds, refusing to loosen his grip. Shikamaru was stuck on one side of the battle, weak and helpless, while Asuma faced the other Akatsuki member, Hidan, alone.

It was then that Shikamaru realized that Asuma would do it. He would really die for sake of this team. If it meant creating a mere distraction so that they could escape, Asuma would take it. And he did take it, allowing Hidan to strike himself in the center of his diagram. Of course, since they were connected now, it would be fatal to Asuma, but this is what his team needed and he knew it.

Shikamaru barely had any energy left at all, but watching Asuma coughing up blood across the path forced him to his feet.

He couldn't believe it. Asuma had really done it. He really sacrificed himself for the sake of his teammates. This is what they needed really, a distraction. Something to get the enemy off guard...

Shikamaru tripped, his lack of focus and energy getting to him. He laid on the ground, cursing himself, trying to crawl his way to Asuma.

Kotetsu and Izumo watched in horror as their squad leader fell, without ever being touched. It was that jutsu that guy was using. Anything he did to himself happened to Asuma. How would they explain it to [Y/N]? She trusted them and they failed her. They failed their best friend.

A million thoughts ran through Asuma's head as he watched Shikamaru run toward him. His wife. His baby. His sister. This was his family and he would leave them behind. They would have to fare without him. Could they do it? Would they be okay?

He decided he wouldn't get to know. He held onto the hope that his team would get away safely instead, letting himself hit the ground.

Shikamaru was too late.