A Snake with a Temper (G.I. Joe Fanfiction)

Chapter 5: The Perfect Soldier

Snake Eyes came through the bedroom door and saw Temper sitting on the bed.

Scarlett and Ripcord left, he signed to her.

"I know. I said my goodbyes yesterday," she told him.

Do you want to talk about it? he questioned.

"Not really," she said, looking at her hands.

You have to speak to me at some point.

Temper looked up at him glaringly and said, "I talked to her early this week. For a second I was so happy for her, she had something I'll never get. And then, it came crashing down around us."

What are you talking about? he asked, coming around the edge of the bed to be closer to her. He came up onto the bed and held both her cheeks in his hands.

"The truth," she whispered, reaching up and taking his hand off of her.

Temper, he signed. He watched her throw her legs over the edge of the bed and he moved himself in between her legs in hope of keeping her in place.

Temper looked down to her hands on his chest, running through the scenarios in her head and trying to decide if it was best to tell him. "I don't want anything to get between us. And you might be keeping something from me... I don't want to keep some things from you. Ana told me that I couldn't expect you to be honest with me if I wasn't totally honest with you. And I want to be honest you."

You can tell me anything, he assured her.

"I'm not so sure about this. And if you decide that this is too much, I can understand that. I was sixteen and I guess you could say I was from a high class family in Japan. Legally, old enough to marry." She could feel him tense and hear his pulse rise. "He was my sword brother and also from a high class family. At the same time, things... happened." Tears swelled in her eyes. A reminder of the pain she felt from the betrayal grasped her heart. "My sister had given birth to a baby girl. I stood outside her room for two hours trying to talk her out of killing herself. She left the child, and she disappeared. And it's just one thing a long line of messed up stuff my family has been I involved in."

What's her name? he signed.

Temper let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and said, "Yuki. It's what my mother wanted to name me, but she waived that right to my father and I was named Temperance. Yuki means snow, happiness, and hope. My mother loved the name and when she saw my hair, it felt all too fitting a name."

Thank you for telling me.

"Right," she said, wiping her tears from her face. Just when he thought that everything was going to go smoothly for the rest of the night she continued speaking, "If you only gave me the same courtesy." She removed herself from the bed and went into the bathroom. A few minutes later he heard the shower turn on.

He started to change and left the room before she finished her shower.

No one was in the sparring room after dinner time so he went there and began to go through his katas.

When Hawk entered the room, he was vigorously hitting a punching bag.

"Snake Eyes," Hawk said, getting his attention.

He stopped but didn't turn to look at his general.

"How has Temper been lately?" Hawk asked.

Noncompliant, he answered.

"Fix it," Hawk ordered.

It won't be easy, he signed.

"I didn't say it would be. Tell her what she needs to hear."

What she needs is to be told the truth.

"What she needs is to be protected. She can hate us later, but she will know nothing of what is going on."

Snake Eyes clenched his hands by his side. He nodded.

"You're a good soldier," Hawk said and left, leaving Snake Eyes standing there.

In their room, Temper gathered the courage to leave the bathroom only to find the room empty. She breathed a sigh of relief, then felt guilty when she looked at the time. It was almost midnight.

"Where he could be so late at night?" she murmured. Still in her towel, she rolled onto the bed and formed an image in her head. An image of Snake Eyes telling her the truth. Everyone was happy with Scarlett and Ripcord still around. Everything was perfect.

"Something doesn't feel right," she whispered, glancing to her phone on the nightstand. She still hadn't received a reply by the time she fell asleep.

"Are you sure?" he asked, watching her pack.

"Not really, but after the past few years the Soft Master has done his best to protect me and the Hard Master... I want to repay him."

"This doesn't have anything to do with-"

"Jason!" she whispered harshly. "Please don't."

"I still don't understand how the Soft Master could have asked you to go along with that criminal. Rumor is, Tomisaburo's sworn brother still trains with the Arashikage. Something isn't right," Jason said.

"Then I'll find out what's going on," she told him, not telling him all that she knew. "It's not like I'll be gone forever. I'll just be coming and going and I still have duties here."

"Maybe it's best if you stay here and do what your mother says," he tried.

"Jason," she said, looking him in the eyes, "Our parents do not dictate our lives." He nodded his head solemnly and looked to the ground.

"Your mother won't let you back in," Jason reminded her.

"I'll convince her," Temper said. "It's not like she has much of a choice anyways. I've done plenty of things without her permission."

"It's a rising terrorist organization," Jason retorted.

"It will be a threat to everyone, even the clans. I'll trade my services for the clan's safety."

Snake Eyes walked in to see Temper laying on the bed in nothing but a towel. He had to snap himself out of his thoughts and remember the situation he was in with her at the moment, rather than the situation he wanted to be in with her. After a quick shower he laid beside her and gathered her in his arms, making sure the towel stayed in place.