Someone you loved

Chapter 5

"Shishou."

Chiasa couldn't believe her eyes as she looked at the tall, brunette woman in front of her. It had been so, so long ... a sudden longing filled her and the only thing stopping her from hugging the kunoichi were the watchful eyes of the ANBU still following her. Instead, she stayed where she was, hiding her hands in her travel coat to prevent others from seeing them shake. Even after five years, her Shishou wore her chestnut brown hair in the same long braid and her green eyes still sparkled with power.

Takeshi Asami had seen many things in her long life, some so gruesome that she wondered how she had managed to survive. The Third Shinobi World War, the Kyuubi Attack, S-rank Assassination missions, the death of her genin teammates and hence the end of the only kunoichi team in Konoha's history, and then the loss of her student.

Her bright eyes analysed attentively the three genin sitting around her old student as Fumiko screeched delighted, flying into her arms. A small smile marred her tired face as she held the falcon close to her heart. She gazed a bit longer at the blond and raven-haired boys. They reminded her so much of them...

"Would you like some tea?" Asami asked when Chiasa made no sign to speak, seemingly still caught off guard.

Chiasa nodded sharply, posture stiff and tense. Suddenly, an inexplainable feeling of fear settled in her gut. She had known she would have to talk to her old mentor, would have to look into her sharp, calculating eyes again, but she wasn't ready to see the disappointment in them yet. She'd never regret running, not when it had been exactly what both, Sasuke and her, had needed, but Takeshi Asami had taught her to be fearless, to stand her ground and fight.

"Of course. Naruto-kun, Sakura-chan," the Uchiha looked at the genin, not finding it in herself to smile at them. "Sorry but I have to take Sasuke with me. We'll see you tomorrow, okay? Be careful when you go home and be ready for your sensei's survival exercise."

"Bye, Chiasa-nee! Bye, Sasuke-teme!"

"See you tomorrow, Sasuke and Chiasa-san!"

Sasuke muttered a low goodbye, secretly glancing back at the blond as he followed his sister, still remembering the tingling feeling on his lips.

The ebony-haired kunoichi walked a step behind her Shishou, sharingan eyes always attentive of their surroundings and the ANBU following them. Only when they stepped into her Shishou's house – a small, homely house in the civilian sector of the village – did she allow herself to breathe freely again. In the past she had spent hours in these walls. If her parent's house was her first home, this was a close second.

As soon as the front door fell shut, Asami sent out a flicker of chakra and a light-blue hue was emitted from the silencing seals on the walls. It had its advantages to have been the teammate of a seal master, she only regretted not having taught Chiasa those skills before she had left.

"Make yourself at home, while I make some tea. I suppose we have a lot to talk about. Sasuke-kun."

Asami turned to the young boy, sharp green eyes memorising how he stood behind his sister, wary of her – a stranger in his mind, before she exited the room. It wasn't surprising that he didn't remember her; long ago she had decided to live her life in the shadows and that had included to distant herself from her teammates. Taking Chiasa as her student had been her way of showing that she still looked at for them, that they had not been forgotten.

Chiasa made herself comfortable on the couch in her Shishou's living room, Sasuke and Fumiko next to her. With a relieved sigh, she let her sharingan fade, ignoring the splitting headache that followed and the momentarily blurriness of her vision.