𝑯𝑨𝑳𝑪𝒀𝑶𝑵 𝑶𝑩𝑳𝑰𝑽𝑰𝑶𝑵 •𝒃𝒙𝒃•

Brewing Reality ~ Age 10

AN: Somehow, it seems that I've never published this chapter? How? I don't understand how this happened. Wattpad really do be messing with me.

Days had passed.

Team 8 had spent those days doing lowly D-rank missions. For example, walking the dogs, pulling weeds out of people's gardens, chasing after escaping pets and so on.

Seriously, Aizen was bored. There was no other way to explain how he was feeling at that moment. Even in the present, as he's watching Hikaru struggle with a scratching cat, he felt bored.

"Give her to me." He told the pale-eyed boy and waited until he shuffled closer. The cat was almost thrown into his arms and it held onto his clothes for dear life.

"Stupid feline! Why doesn't it cooperate?!" Hikaru demanded, holding a hand over his scratched cheek, little thin, red lines decorating his skin.

"You're too rough with her," Aizen reached a finger to the cat's spine and slid it down, towards its tail, and the cat practically melted, releasing a mewl as it sprawled in his arms, "See? Gently."

Hikaru had narrowed his eyes at him, but there was no hiding that brief flash of jealousy that went across his lavender irises, "As if that skill is useful." The boy scoffed and crossed his arms, facing in a different direction.

"As you can see, it proved to be useful." Hanae commented, glancing at the pitch black cat in the blond's arms.

Hearing that, Hikaru turned around, a flame burning bright within his eyes, "Don't address me!" He yelled at her, hands clenched at his sides as he grit his teeth and stared at her.

"Now, now. Let's all calm down and bring the cat back to its owner," Asao smiled at them, cooling the situation down, "Well done, Aizen. After we get the cat back, we will be going to report to the Hokage and see if he has another mission for us." The cat was carefully taken from his arms and into Asao's own.

Aizen warily watched as the man turned his back to them and handed the cat to an elderly man. Even though he thought he would get along quite well with the man, the test he had them go through had made him change his mind.

For sure, there was no threat at all, it was a simple Genjutsu, but at he same time... It was stressful and Aizen was sure it was the same for Hanae and Hikaru. The two of them were as shocked as he was when they found out it was all an illusion. A farce. A fabricated reality. Aizen understood that the test was important for Asao, it was so that he could judge them and their actions.

What better way than to make them think they were in danger?

It was a perfect way and it worked.

That fact aside, what interested Aizen the most were the man's reasons for doing something like that. A person can't just come up with that kind of way of testing without being influenced by something. But, what influenced him? Asao was dead-set on them choosing one of them. Choosing one over the other. Why?

The man was young, there was no way he had to go through a situation like that... or had he? They were in a shinobi world. A world in which ten-year-old children are recruited.

Something must have happened in his life for him to do something like that. They would have failed if they had chosen someone... Does that mean Asao had to choose? Or did someone choose him over another person?

"Aizen, let's go," a hand settled on his shoulder and Aizen flinched back, startled out of his thoughts, "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you." Asao was standing over him, smiling down at him.