The Red Maelstrom

[49] Conceal, Enclose

Akano found Kohana in his gardens the next day. She ought to join everyone for lunch; she'd been sitting at this very spot before sunrise and barely moved since. Kohana had sensed Sakura in the vicinity, but she'd remained deep in her rumination. Thankfully it must have looked like Kohana was simply meditating.

"Hey there, Kohana," he said, approaching as he normally would. Had Haimaru-sensei not been called over by his actual master, he would have stood guard for Kohana. It was eerie to see how well Haimaru-sensei could see the turmoil in her heart— his stare had been unnerving, but for a time, he obstinately sat next to Kohana. Because of him, Kohana felt better than she did yesterday, but there was no shaking the feeling that she was gradually becoming a stranger to her own body. It was hard to pinpoint how exactly such a thing could happen, but as it was, Kohana hardly felt up to talking to anyone right now, let alone the man whose words nearly tore her world asunder.

No, that was not a fair thing to attribute to Akano, who knew nothing of the war she was currently waging with herself. But she needed to pin her fears to one cause, and right now Akano was the unfortunate fit for the role. Otherwise... she would have to look at the people she was meant to trust.

Just the mere thought of betrayal stole all the breath Kohana had been able to wrest back into her control. She succumbed to the urge to wrap her arms around her legs. Heedless of her visitor, she wedged her face between her knees like a scared animal. Might as well act the part.

"I must be the last person you want to see right now."

That was accurate, and the observation brooked no need for a response on Kohana's part, but Akano still was not leaving. In fact, she could hear him fidgeting as he tried to get more comfortable.

"What's plaguing you? I'd have figured that an orphan would jump at the chance to learn about their family."

An unwelcome voice echoed from her memory—"And where does that leave you?". Kohana dug her nails into her palms. "Sure," she gritted out. "I know Naruto will be really happy." It was true, and she was ecstatic for him. In the midst of repressing her own realizations about the Uzumaki name, all this time Kohana was subconsciously prepared to celebrate with him should the truth come to light: that somewhere beyond the gates of Konoha and the scornful gazes of the other villagers, there had always been something better out there for him.

"Why Naruto-kun...?"

"Don't act stupid. He's the one actually named Uzumaki, y'know."

Akano exhaled harshly through his nose. "'Stupid'? Wow. That was **veeery **rude, Kohana-chan." Through his flat complaints, Kohana finally had enough decency to feel apologetic. She extracted her head from the safety of her knees to give a tiny apologetic bow. Akano smirked and hit her in the head with his knuckles.

"Can I trust you with a secret, Kohana?"

There was no perfectly logical reason he should be trusting Kohana with anything, but given the look Akano was sending her way, Kohana ventured a guess that she didn't have much of a choice in the matter.

Without even waiting for a response, Akano began to speak. "You remind me of someone I don't know." He grinned victoriously at Kohana's clear bewilderment. He'd caught her intrigue."To be clear, I never got to see them after we... parted ways. My mother was an Uzumaki, you see. I see her in every Uzumaki I manage to find, including you."

Finally, Kohana forced out, "I'm not an Uzumaki. I was just adopted."

Akano hit her in the head harder this time. "What's with that tone? You're a real brat, aren't ya? Well I'm a stronger shinobi than you, and I'm not even a real ninja. My judgment is sound." Then his petulant glare softened. Kohana's throat constricted. Affection. He was looking at Kohana with so much affection that it was all she could do to look away. That emotion was not meant for her, who was still virtually a stranger to him.