Sight and Sound

Let Go

Aster watched the last of the students in the ninja academy's after school training leave; she turned to the benches behind the shruiken targets. It surprised her to see that Sasuke was still here. She turned fully toward him now, noting that he was sitting with his knees drawn up and head in arms. She was beside him on the stone bench faster than he could realize. She heard him sniffle before tapping Sasuke on the shoulder. He peeked up at her quickly and whipped his head the other direction, fiercely rubbing his eyes. "Sasuke, why are you still here?" Aster asked concerned. "It's not that I don't enjoy having you here, you're just usually gone by now." He still refused to look at her. "Itachi said that he'd walk me home.." He replied finally. "Well-" Aster started. Sasuke cut her off and looked at her with such an injured expression she was left speechless,"He promised! He promised to be here!" "Something probably came up. He is an anbu after all. They report directly to the Hokage, you know." Aster hoped that explanation would calm him. "Then he shouldn't make promises he can't keep!" Sasuke yelled angrily. "Sasuke.. He probably didn't know he wouldn't be able to keep it!" she cried. Then ashamed at raising her voice at him, "I'm sorry. It's just.. How would you feel if he let other innocent people get hurt to walk you home? He protects this village and everyone in it. It's not without its sacrifices." Sasuke put his head back under his arms and on his knees,"I don't care. He shouldn't have told me he'd be here if he couldn't. This isn't the first time either." Sasuke paused as Aster watched him piteously. Continuing, he said,"I hate him. This isn't fair." She gaped at his words. "You can't hate him because he has responsibilities!" She remembered saying the same things to herself and regretted them to this day. He curled in on himself and tears started afresh as she scolded him. Aster felt awful as she watched him. "Sasuke.." she whispered rubbing his shoulders. She peered up at her. With her other hand, she took one of his smaller ones in hers. "Promise me something.." He nodded at her with such trust in his eyes that it tore at her heart. "Don't ever hate him. Itachi is your brother.. You must never lose your faith and love for him. Treasure every second you can spend with him. You are lucky; he is a wonderful person to have as an older brother. Hating him is the worst mistake you can make. You'll regret it for the rest of your days. Promise me you'll never say you hate him again." He nodded at her slowly and looked away. Aster wouldn't let him ruin himself like this. She pulled his hand roughly toward her and took hold of his jaw gently, forcing him to look her in the eye. "To promise me, you have to mean it." He gasped and looked at her, puzzled. But after a seconds indecision, he squeezed her hand and nodded seriously,"I promise." Aster smiled at him, "How 'bout I walk you home. It's late." Sasuke scowled at her sullenly, "I'm going to be ninja. I can take care of myself. I don't really need you or Niisan to walk me home." Aster just looked at him in a sly, conscending way, "Like I said, it's late." He glared at her once more, "Fine.."

Aster woke just before dawn, as the fire died down. She wasn't sure why she was up, but she wasn't fully awake. She tried to sit up and found herself tangled in Itachi's Akatsuki jacket. What? Why doesn't he have it? She looked around the encampment, baffled by what she had awakened to. It didn't take long for her to spot him slouched against the truck of a tree.

Confused, she felt that she needed to give it back to him. Aster would've walked over to him, but she was still wobbly on her legs from sleep. Instead, she made a painful business of crawling to his side, struggling not to drag his cloak on the ground. Eventually she reached him in a more complicated way than necessary.

With that, she began to untwine herself from the strangling mass of cloth. He was taller, had wider shoulders, and overall, bigger than Aster. The cloak was much too big for her. After much strife, she was halfway out of it, when she felt the bite of the cold air. Somehow it was much easier to retreat back into the wretched thing than escape. Forget this! I don't want to freeze to death. She thought sullenly. Then an idea occurred to her.