𝑯𝑨𝑳𝑪𝒀𝑶𝑵 𝑶𝑩𝑳𝑰𝑽𝑰𝑶𝑵 •𝒃𝒙𝒃•

Blame ~ Age 10

It didn't take long for him to meet with the rest of his team.

For once, Asao wasn't late, the one who was late was Hikaru, "You're late." Aizen reprimanded him, watching as the pale-eyed boy huffed in reply.

"Now, now. We'll have none of that," Asao chuckled, looking at the three of them, "We're a team now, let's get along, shall we?" He glanced between them, a small smile on his face. The three of them remained silent and Asao shook his head at their behaviour, "Or not..." He mumbled out, stuffing his hands inside his pockets.

"Are we leaving?" Hanae chose to speak up at that moment, "It's almost midnight already."

Asao nodded, turning to look at the forests outside of Konoha, "Yeah, we are." There was something in the way he said those words that made Aizen think the man was dreading their journey. He was looking away with a distant look in his eyes, one filled with an emotion Aizen had never felt or seen someone feel before.

It made him feel nervous.

It made him feel like there was something Asao was not telling them.

"Let's get this over with." Hikaru went past Aizen.

"Yeah..." Asao mumbled out, following after the boy.

From the side of his eye, Aizen looked at Hanae and saw her staring ahead, a nonchalant expression on her face.

Was he the only one who felt like something was wrong?

_

The sun had long since risen when they made their way through a giant forest. They were at least a few hours away their wanted destination and Asao urged them to speed up. It was important for them to reach the destination as soon as possible.

Hanae was quiet the whole way, only occasionally asking a question here and there.

Hikaru was in the same boat, except he refrained from asking questions, instead choosing to concentrate on running.

As for Aizen, the boy's head was filled with various questions.

Why were the other shinobi gone for so long? Why haven't they come back to Konoha yet? Was the situation that dire?

He didn't know... He wanted to know...

_

Out of nowhere, Asao stopped, "Wait!" He whisper-yelled at them and they did as asked, "Stay on guard." He whispered, slowly moving forward. The three of them followed after him, nervousness coming off them in waves.

"What's going on?" Hikaru asked, glancing at Aizen.

"I don't know... Something is wro-" He didn't get to finish his sentence as a loud clank resounded near him.

"Get down!" Asao yelled, holding a kunai in his hand, no longer trying to keep quiet, "We're under attack!" He declared, looking around for any other sign of threat.

Aizen, Hikaru and Hanae huddled close, back-to-back, covering each other's blind spots. Asao stepped backwards to them, still on alert. Another kunai flew out of a nearby bush and Asao slashed at it, deflecting it with his own kunai.

Then, as the bush rustled, a bright light filled their field of vision. A giant fireball was heading their way and the three Genin froze in their places, "Doton: Doryuuheki!" Asao yelled and slammed his hands onto the ground under his feet. A moment later, a giant earth wall rose up and the fireball was blocked, but not without destroying most of the wall.

"Run." That was all that Asao said.

"What?! And leave you here?!" Hikaru argued back, confusion etched clear on his features.