Kryptonite

Akihiro sat on top of the Hokage monument. A single head carved on the mountains with the face of his ancestor Uchiha Kazuya. There was always a slight breeze running over this place and he had long found he enjoyed it. Not that the busy life he led allowed him to come here often but when his matters did allow him to come it was always an enjoyable experience. From this place one could get an overview of the entire Hidden Leaf village, from its walls all the way to the Hokage business. People were busy even this early in the morning, going on about their daily lives. All the noise starting and growing in the market district couldn't reach him here but looking down Akihiro could almost hear the merchants yelling, bartering, drawing costumers to their stalls. Each and every single one of these people had their own problems, their own troubles to deal with. Each had their joys and disappointments in life. Akihiro too had had these issues, but none had shaken him to much as the last problem he'd had. When had he grown so attached to her that her absence alone could have such an effect upon him? The people who designed the basic Ninja manual for academy students were right. Emotions were dangerous threats for shinobi and he began welcoming the idea of shutting them away somehow. Could he perhaps develop a Fuuinjutsu to seal emotion?

That night had passed, then a day, then another night. And now Akihiro found himself here in this morning watching the sun rise above the forest on the horizon. He'd been home ever since that night... and Ikomiki hadn't come home at all. He was never particularly attached to his house, but her absence there was driving him insane, eating at him little by little. He could find her if he really wanted of course, by just teleporting to the mark he'd placed on her. Every instinct from his heart told him to do so, but instinct was what had gotten him in trouble in the first place so he made an extreme effort to ignore them. She'd come find him when the time was right...wouldn't she? He could only hope. But what if she didn't? What if their relationship had been utterly shattered? It was a despairing thought, one that twirled his pot of emotions even further.

He took a deep breathe, inhaling the slight morning breeze. He found himself taking deep breathes quite often lately. It was cold because the sun hadn't quite had time to warm up the village yet. His nose felt cold when he touched it. Luckily he wasn't shirtless anymore. He was wearing his usual attire, the grey shorts, black shirt and a warm cloak which covered him from shoulder to ankles. His fingers peeked through the fingerless gloves he wore. Exhaling he watched the steamy cloud rise from his lips and dispersing itself in the air. A night. All it had taken was a single night.

And now what? The idea of going on with his daily duties as if nothing had ever happened seemed not only ridiculous, but despairing as well. Suffocating, even. But he couldn't exactly leave the village alone either, not after the journey the two of them had taken together. The world would feel empty without her, both inside and outside the village. He couldn't help but wonder if everyone felt like this at some point of their lives. Perhaps he had grown too much, too fast... perhaps what he was feeling now was something he should've learned to deal with during his teenage years. Alas, these feelings were catching up to him now.

Having grown too fast Akihiro simply didn't know how to deal with this. Usually whenever he saw a problem he could easily figure out a solution and apply it immediately. This however was far more complicated than that. He couldn't just go to Ikomiki and fix what he'd done. So instead he was forced to stay home and think. And Akihiro thought, he thought a lot. Far too much. After only the first morning without Ikomiki he had felt himself going insane from overthinking alone.

Which would probably explain the bottle in his right hand, his desperate attempt at numbness and emptying his mind of these thoughts. Even in a desperate attempt however Akihiro was smart about it. He had picked a special kind of sake, which had absolutely no scent whatsoever. He felt he needed the numbness that came with it so he could finally rest, but there would be no rest to be had if the elders of the clan suspected he had been drinking...he couldn't smell like an alcoholic. Naturally this bottle was expensive, and he wasn't sure it was worth it.

"Here's to you Uchiha Kazuya: A great Hokage, a fine teacher, and a piss poor relationship advisor." With every adjective he would pour a little but of sake on the Hokage's rock. Then he would gulp down a bit of the liquid. It tasted like shit, probably a trade off for the absence of scent in it. How long did these things take to come into effect anyway? He wasn't used to drinking and his constitution was nothing out of the ordinary so he expected the effects to land sooner rather later, but he'd been drinking for a little bit now and wasn't feeling anything different. Or so he thought.

He let himself fall back, going from a seated position to laying down on his back. More steamy clouds emerged from his lips as he breathed, but no noticeable effects from the drink. He was still thinking too much, too fast, the suffering was still there. Odd. Maybe alcohol had been a mistake and he should've tried drugs instead. Or maybe both?

In the time between that dramatic night and now, Ikomiki had never returned to the village. It hadn’t been that she had stayed in those sacred Uchiha forests, but all the forests in this village were interconnected. There was more than enough room within the Senju Forests for her to wander and roam without anyone coming across her other than the native wildlife. It had been critical for her to have some time alone. Just to manage herself and her own thoughts. The trauma of that moment, the emotions that had run out of control, and the things that had almost happened… It had been a lot to process on its own, and that had been even before the issue of the past had been brought up. Old memories, old emotions, old thoughts that came to her again now and plagued her with the curse of inaction. All she could do was think. Think and lament. Events were replayed in her head over and over again, and she was cursed once more with the constant suffering of introspection. Again. Even after she had so adamantly told Akihiro she didn’t need to understand things, here she was trying to make sense of her own emotions.

Two days apart. The forest had been good to her. Just like it had been. Old instincts returned to her. Living in Konoha had made her lazy, with all its comforts and pleasures. Things were too easy. Having to provide your own warmth and food and drink and shelter was a much simpler experience. The things she had to worry about weren’t complicated. Thought wasn’t strictly necessary. Her body could just move on its own.

She didn’t know what she was waiting for. Him to come get her? That was foolish. It wasn’t the same now. Even if part of her wanted to stay the same, stagnant and unchanging forever. He wasn’t her ‘master’, anymore. She couldn’t just expect him to take all these burdens on himself forever. It had been juvenile for her to think that way, and utterly unfair. That was the entire reason that he had done this, wasn’t it? He felt it was something that he needed to do alone.

The timing somehow managed to be as unfortunate as possible. A stream of sake impacted directly into her face, splattering her and catching the woman by surprise. Immediately she went up to wipe at her eyes, hissing slightly. It stung, and some had gotten into her nose. Perhaps it had been a mistake to approach from the underside of Kazuya’s head as it was carved into the Hokage mountain, but it was the direction that would leave her unseen by Akihiro until the last moment. She had wanted to make sure he wouldn’t run away had he seen her coming, but now she was left sputtering and coughing from the sake that he had poured out. Luckily her concentration hadn’t been affected too much, lest she lose control of her chakra and just fall right off the Hokage monument itself. That wouldn’t have been good.

So much for her dramatic entrance. There was a bit of redness in her eyes now, irritating from where the alcohol hit her, and her face was similarly flushed and still coated a bit in that foul substance. But even then, she would be left staring down at him. Her standing, and him laying back flat across the monument. Her eyes would squint at the steamy clouds that rose up from his mouth.

With a swift motion of her leg she would kick the bottle out of his right hand. The bottle itself would shatter, the contents and broken glass raining down into the village below. Hopefully that wouldn’t hurt anyone. Just the neck would be left in Akihiro’s hands.

“Akihiro Uchiha.” His full name would be whipped out, the first thing she said to him. “How much of that have you already drank?” She was standing right over him now. Her legs effectively to each side of his torso, preventing him from standing up. Locked in place. Unable to escape. It was a good thing she wasn’t wearing a skirt or dress, otherwise he’d be able to look right up it.

Akihiro had closed his eyes in the meantime. He'd heard a strange coughing noise but in his state of altered peception the man had mistaken that noise for some other type of noise vibrating from the village down below. People were waking up after all, it was only natural. As for him, after not having been able to rest properly for the past two nights, he was tempted to just sleep right there. Nightmares had haunted his dreams, forcing him to wake up covered in sweat several times at night. He would dream of the hunt, of the forest. He would dream of wooden dragons and fiery cats. But all nightmares had the same ending: he would find himself alone in the forest looking at Ikomiki's corpse with deep gash wounds. She would rise up every time, even tho her body shouldn't have been able to. And she'd call out to him, asking questions. Why's, mostly. He tried to answer but words wouldn't come out, and for some questions he simply had no answer. But she kept asking, taking a step closer with every question until she was right next to him, making him extremely uncomfortable. The final question was always why did she have to die just because of his curiosity? She'd suddenly start yelling his name and he'd wake up.

For someone with such a creative brain Akihiro kind of expected his subconscious to at least come up with more nightmare variety, but that didn't happen. Perhaps sake would help, but where were the effects of that?

Oh, here they were! He was seeing Ikomiki again, this time in much better shape. But when exactly had he fallen asleep? It was hard to tell. But dealing with Ikomiki in her adorable usual attires was far easier than dealing with the version of her that had mortal wounds all over her body. This positioning was far better too, he wasn't gonna lie. Maybe he had underestimate the positive effects of alcohol in dealing with emotional issues.

Ah, here it was! His name. It always started like this, her calling out his name. "Iko, Iko, Ikomiki. Hey. You look as lovely as the day I first met you. More, perhaps." He had tried many different replies, excuses, even lies. She never answered in his dreams, she merely asked questions and ignored whatever explanations he tried to give. So this time, he went with those truths which could be found in simple things. She looked pretty. That was true, and simple.

She asked him a question. This wasn't a surprise, she always did this in his dreams. But this time it wasn't a "why", but rather a "how much". Akihiro turned his head to his left and looked at the bottle neck he as holding in his hand at the end of his extended arm. "Just enough, apparently." He'd release whatever was left of the bottle and turn his eyes back at her. She was still looking perfectly healthy, this was good. He had to capitalize on this. Both her aspect and the inhibitions destroyed by alcohol made it far easier to say what he wanted to say.

"Hey. I'm sorry I couldn't be the perfect pillar you needed me to be." As he spoke, he'd run his fingers up and down her left leg. It felt almost real, even her scent was present. He could only assume his subconscious was able to construct dreams so perfectly because of his good memory, but Akihiro couldn't help but wonder why he didn't get to have such pleasant dreams more often.

The answer came quickly. Too much. He had drunk too much of it. The first reply was that glazed expression followed by a comment on her loveliness, one that took her so completely by surprise that a quick blush glazed over her face. Her eyes would widen for a moment before returning to squinting, that alcohol that had gotten in still acting as an annoying irritant. What an idiot. At the very least she had destroyed the bottle, so he wouldn’t be drinking anymore of it. She had never had a positive opinion of that foul ichor in the first place, but seeing it in action here made her have even more of a distaste of it. There was at least no foul smell, something she had come to expect, but that was only a minor relief compared to what she was seeing of its effects.

That hand on her left leg, and those words he was saying now… She sighed. Slowly she would lower down, until she was sitting on top of him. Her butt was planted down firmly on his stomach, and hopefully she wasn’t heavy enough that it would bring him any sort of discomfort. They were closer this way. Close, but not too close. Touching. And hopefully it would prevent him from getting too distracted.

“It wasn’t fair of me to expect you to be perfect. You’re not. You never were, and never will be.” His hands would be taken a hold of at the wrists, and she would hold them in her own now without any purpose. There was a certain tightness to how she held them, unwilling to allow him to pull away. For now she was the one in control. “You have the same kinds of problems I have. Don’t you? Even if they’re not exactly the same, we’re the same.”

“But that’s okay. It’s okay. It’s okay to be afraid and to make mistakes. If you do, I’ll protect you and take care of you. Just like you did for me. Okay?”

She would wait for a respond. Hopefully it would be a good one.

"But don't ever do that again, or else. That, this. If you try to do something that dangerous again alone, I don't know if I'd be able to live with myself."

The weight of her body upon his stomach caused him to widen his eyes. Not because she was particularly heavy but rather because it made him well aware that this indeed was not a dream. She was actually here and getting closer to him with each passing second. This tripled his efforts to listen to what she had to tell him. He made no effort to resist her when she held his wrist and then his hands.It actually felt good to be held for once, as if she was shielding him from some sort of invisible threat. It was very comforting.

"I'm not perfect." He repeated. It wasn't as much of a realization was it was an admission. It was incredibly freeing to be able to admit that, to finally have found someone who had discovered that little dirty secret about him. That he was allowed to make mistakes and that she'd be there for him regardless. If this wasn't Ikomiki teaching him what it really meant to love someone, then he didn't know what it was. "You know looking back, perhaps I should've told you that sooner."

With this freedom came a small but sharp bit of worry. Akihiro's relationship with Ikomiki even after they got together had always had a certain dynamic. She had always seen him as the perfect being regardless of what he did. Of course he managed to royally fuck that up, but perhaps it was for the best. They were equals now, partners in crime as much as in life. This pleased him, but that worry... the worry that she was now able to see right through him, through his facade of a flawless ninja and perfect Clan leader. All of his flaws were now perfectly visible to her, for her to pick at and judge if she saw fit to do so. In this moment Akihiro felt more exposed than when he'd been sleeping naked next to her. He kept telling himself it was for the best, that couples couldn't last long if their relationship was built on such a lie. But at the same time it was scary.

He tightened his his own grip on her hands a little. He didn't want to be away from her ever again.

"We're the same, you and I...well I think you're much better looking." he chuckled. He was feeling happier now, lighter. Jokes came off as a direct result of that. " Very well. I, Uchiha Akihiro, solemnly swear to stay by your side and protect you too, to the best of my utterly imperfect ability."

He'd pull her closer to him unless she resisted it. She was close, but he wanted her closer still. "Furthermore I promise to not do something that dangerous alone again," sooner or later he would have to face the Bijuu he held within himself. Akihiro couldn't promise he wasn't going to do that again, but he could promise to have company. "under penalty of finding out what you mean by 'or else' in case of non-compliance."

It was like a contract, a promise to not be broken. She was still holding his hands, and this was a good thing because Akihiro would've been long distracted by now if not for her solid grip. "Is there anything you'd like to say before I kiss you?" He'd let her answer, but as things progressed he quickly remembered what he'd been doing and suddenly this seemed like a bad idea. The sake had no scent, but it did taste like crap. "Wait, actually this might not be the best time to kiss. That bottle was terrible."

That look in his eyes now… Good. It seemed he finally realized what was happening. As entertaining as it might have been to continue that earlier trend of the conversation where he seemed to think she was a hallucination or brought upon by a Genjutsu this was a serious moment. Fun and games could wait for later. He managed to repeat what she said, showing that he understood her without resistance even despite being potentially intoxicated. Hopefully he hadn’t had too much. If he woke up forgetting this conversation later she would probably bite him.

But not yet. She wouldn’t let him pull her closer. Not yet, not right now. After what happened those few nights ago with the Bijuu she had understood the need of coming to him. Grooming her partner and making sure he was okay. No injuries, no wounds, internal or external. But that didn’t mean that she wasn’t still upset. She was particular like this at times, picky in a way that wasn’t common for someone so close in lifestyle to a scavenger. But to declare that she was going to protect him and then have him attempt to hold her close like before, in complete control and authority felt wrong. Words weren’t enough, as always. That could happen again later when things had calmed down, but not now.

“Don’t move. You're not off the hook yet.”

His hand would be released in one hand, and then Ikomiki would press her palm against his shoulder. Not letting him lean up, either to pull her closer for a kiss. He would be kept flat against the rock below. While she wasn’t applying much force, certainly not enough to actually stop him if he really tried, the intent was more than clear.

“You’ve already done so much. To protect me, train me, raise me. It’s never been fair. Has it? I want to do the same for you. If you want to learn more about what it means to be wild, I can show you. If you’re doing something dangerous, come to me and tell me ‘I need you’ and I’ll help you no matter what it is.”

That hand on his shoulder would drift up to his face. Her fingers would trail along his jaw, tracing along and feeling out that ridge of his face. There wasn’t any real purpose to the movements, she just wanted to touch his face and feel him. So she did. Fingertips dragging against that line and touching at the underside of his chin, and occasionally stroking across the upper bit of his neck. To the side, and up to his ear. She had half a mind to tug angrily at his earlobe now, pulling at it like an angry mother would to their child. But he had a certain delicateness about him now. Like a treasured porcelain vase. She wanted to be careful and gentle.

“There’s nothing more I want to say. I’ll have to show you over time. But… You’re not allowed to kiss me right now.”

Those fingers at his chin would move, drifting up against his skin until they would move to his face. Over his eyes. Soon all Akihito would be able to see was Ikomiki’s palm shrouded in darkness.

“Only I’m allowed to kiss you.”

He would feel the impact of her lips against his. Just for a moment. It was a chaste little kiss. Lacking in the sort of passion and hunger from their previous times, it was just a small peck in comparison. But even once it was gone it was clear she was still there. The feeling of her chest against his, the slight breeze of her exhale against the sensitive skin of his cheek. She had gone from sitting on top of him to laying on top of him, content in the moment. Her right hand remained holding his, and her other would remain over his eyes, and for now she would seem okay with staying like this just feeling his warmth beneath her.

The impact from both her hand pressing on his chest as well as of his back falling on the ground again stunned him more than it should have. He felt his head spinning, perhaps it was the alcohol. Laying down it was harder to notice the effects of the drink but when he rose even if just a little bit and balance came into effect, Akihiro could sense how the sake was and perhaps already had affected him. Ikomiki felt different too. Was that the alcohol's effect on him as well? Probably not, but Akihiro in his altered state wasn't sure he preferred this Ikomiki who suddenly denied him a kiss.

He felt like pouting. But that would so be an Ikomiki move. Plus it took him a while to recover his sense of things around him while she was speaking. "You've always protected me, but I think it might be a little too late for you to train and raise me." He replied to her statement feeling her hand on his shoulder. Yes there was definitely a difference of attitude here, and Akihiro had seen it before. She could be like this sometimes, to other people. But she had never displayed this kind of bossy attitude towards him. Strange. Again Akihiro wasn't entirely sure how felt about this. Or rather he suspected he knew, he just didn't like the answer. It had always been funny to see her interact with other people this way, but from his now less privileged position he was beginning to understand the other side.

Nevertheless he entertained her game, letting her keep one of his hands pinned down and allowing her fingers to run across his skin and be held above his eyes. It gave him a certain anxiety, to allow himself to be temporarily blinded like that. Perhaps it was an inner Uchiha thing, the nervousness of not being able to use his eyes which were arguably his best weapon. Did he need weapons right now? Probably not, but even then being robbed of vision when she was right on top of him seemed cruel.

And cruel too seemed to be her new restrictions. As temporary as they seemed to be, Akihiro was an Uchiha who had awakened Mangekyou and understood where that power came from and its implications. The feelings of an Uchiha could hardly be contained. He couldn't be sure whether he felt more intensely than others or not, but he was sure that either he was all in or all out. What she was doing right now was...strange, felt off. It turned him on in a way, but at the same it wasn't quite right.

The peck she placed on his lips left him hungry for more. After days and nights of absence and when they finally made peace with each other, was this how they celebrated? Or had peace perhaps not been made yet? Well regardless of how he was feeling there was no denying that it felt good to have her laying on top of him like that. One of his hands was now free since she was covering his eyes. Usually Akihiro would've done something naughty with it, perhaps go for one of her breasts or have it run up her leg to squeeze her butt.

But for a reason, he just let fall to his side. He just wasn't sure of where they were going with this so he figured he'd best not move. The implication of her words seemed to be that he'd done something wrong and was being punished for it, but he felt differently. He felt they'd both done something wrong, and that being away from her had been punishment enough for him. Not that he imagined she could know how he'd felt, since she wasn't him. Could he be overthinking this? Most likely. But you mustn't forget he was also quite intoxicated both by sake and this girl.

"Well then Ikomiki, kiss me." His words were clear, his tone seemed neutral even tho that hadn't been his intention. Said more as a statement and less as an order. Brilliantly this would make her own move of covering his eyes play against her since she too couldn't look him in the eyes and thus figure out what he was really thinking. There was an ink of mystery to his ways, a strangeness and change in attitude not too different from Ikomiki's. This game was played in pairs.

He stayed still, entertaining her little game and bossy behavior now. Their roles had been reversed. Akihiro was surely used to the opposite of this. Being on top. Being in control. Now she was robbing that of him. But to call the roles reversed was perhaps incorrect. This was Ikomiki’s natural state, the way she commonly interacted with others. Bossy, domineering, cruel, sadistic, aggressive… Although she still had a soft, loving touch when she held him. It was undeniable that this was a natural consequence of the shattering of Akihiro’s role as the perfect pillar in her mind. As equal partners she behaved in a more natural way befitting her true nature, rather than the immediately and invariably submissive pet that she had been around him. It had always been obvious before how she treated him differently than others. The sort of orders, commands, or comments that would earn a glare or scowl from Ikomiki if they had come from other people would be loyally and unquestioningly obeyed if Akihiro said them. Just a mere comment or movement from him had been enough for her to completely reverse any sort of behavior. Heel. Sit. Shake. Roll over. She had been like a well trained dog, ironically.

Part of it was that. But, …

There was undeniably this other instinct involved as well. She was purposely trying to take away the control from Akihiro now. Covering his eyes. Letting him know that she would protect him. Having been built up as that perfect pillar all his life, the pressure of falling down would… Well, she wanted to take it away from him. Relieve that pressure, and let him relax. This was how she was going about doing it. In her own way.

But she wasn’t a fool. The change of tone in his voice was something she had picked up immediately on. They had spent too long around each other for her not to. A neutrality that followed those chuckles and smiles from before. It was unreadable. How terribly unfair.

Her position shifted back. While keeping her hand over his eyes, she would release her hold on his right hand. Pulling back to her original position of sitting on him, her back would straighten once more. No longer would she hover so close to his face. That tail of hers swayed behind her. It curled in a strange pattern for a moment, like a question mark, before swinging around in a slow, smooth rhythm.

Part of her wanted to see just how long he’d let her keep his eyes covered. It was a bit of a game on its own. But even so, she would pull her hand away after a few moments. Those eyes of hers would look down into his, and she would stay silent.

Akihiro laid there for a bit, waiting for her to do something. Mostly he was waiting for her to kiss him bit instead she'd actually moved further away from him. So this was how it was going to be then? Her way or the highway? Well he technically was already high, sorta. Both on top of the Hokage rock and high on alcohol if you could call it that. Yet more cruelty on her part, it seemed. After pecking his lips like that she not only left him wanting more but also came closer to him only to move back again. In addition she even released the hand she'd held before, abandoning it to the coldness of the rock.

Finally she would move to remove her hand from his eyes. Of course, whenever people were confused and got a mixed message from someone, the eyes were the first place they'd look at. Windows to the soul they were called because they often revealed the truth without uttering a sound. Well she would be out of luck. Akihiro's eyes would be closed by the time she removed her hand. With his own arms and hands free, Akihiro would stretch out.

After taking this moment to ensure he was doing this on his terms and not on hers, he would slowly open his eyes and look at her, blinking twice. The message was clear. Despite not being exactly pinned down he respected her wish of not kissing her out of his own initiative. But on the opposite side of the spectrum he expected her to follow his request as well. It was a work around hers of course, but that mattered little in these little games. He needed not to say a word at this point, what he wanted had been asked for.

So instead Akihiro placed his hands behind his head and enjoyed the comfortable position he was in. Ikomiki was on top of him and he could contemplate her from up close. She hadn't denied his request, instead she had stalled for a bit of time. In this manner of non-action Akihiro put a bit of pressure on her. He was there for her, mostly on her terms at the moment too since he hadn't moved to kiss her. She only needed to want him. Such was the massive difference between following a command because you fear or worshiped its giver, and doing it out of your own free will, because you chose to submit to its giver.

Eye to eye contact. Or, it would have been had he not shut his eyes. That slow blink open and casual stare… She wasn’t sure what was happening at first. It was entirely unfair, that was all she knew. Irritating in a sense even if she couldn’t explain it. The emotion on her face from before had collapsed into neutrality. For Ikomiki, someone with an awfully cold face naturally, that occasionally looked as if she was upset, but hopefully Akihiro would know well enough what a neutral expression from her looked like by now. Something had been off before. In the way he spoke. It was what caused her to pull back, even if she didn’t quite understand why or what was going on. But seeing him place his hands behind his head and get comfortable did clear a few things up. He wasn’t taking this seriously. Was he? Or was this some sort of game to him now?

The violence with which her tail moved increased a bit. It would be clearly visible behind her, swinging back and forth as if she were swatting at invisible flies. She would keep her eyes down on him, her own natural green hues focused with pinpoint accuracy on his pupils.

“Don’t you trust me?”

The tail moving back and forth behind Ikomiki was clear tell that something was definitely off. Excitement or confusion, something. Perhaps this was because Akihiro wasn't playing to her little dance as well as others did. He had never had to make this choice before because the dance had always been below him in a way. She had never tried to get him to play and dance to her tune before. It could be that the realization of what was happening was the reason why her tail kept making those swift and sometimes strange motions.

She asked a question. Akihiro tilted his head to the side a bit, a little like she often used to do. It gave the impression that he thought this was a strange question to ask in such an occasion. "I do." He replied, as if it were obvious. He had always trusted from the very moment they met each other. Even today Akihiro wouldn't be able to explain exactly why he had thought it was a good idea to help a girl he never met hide a corpse she'd killed herself. But he trusted her then, and he trusted her now.

"Do you no longer trust me?" he asked back. The way he spoke made it seem obvious that this was his question to ask, not hers. But he had been avoiding asking or saying anything after he'd asked her to kiss him. He didn't want that request to go away, obviously. But this question actually came to emphasize his earlier request which had been ignored for no apparent reason.

The exhale that came from her nostrils was forceful enough that he could both hear it and almost feel it against his forehead, even with the distance between them now. A huff, clearly upset even if her face didn’t betray her emotions. Although even with a poker face like this the movement of her tail gave her emotions away to some clear extent. Something was bubbling up inside of her. A tension that was clearly present inside her mind. The way she was treating him was different, but it wasn’t quite the same as how she treated everyone else. The two were mixing together, blending into each other. Two opposing instincts that tugged and pulled her in different directions. The lion or the kitten. Which would she be? Before it wasn’t a choice, but a matter of pecking order. Up or down. It was simple like that. Easy. Everything made sense.

It was her idea, in the moment, to eschew that way of thinking. It was animalistic, natural, instinctual, but she didn’t want it anymore even if it was all of those things that she was. A shift away from that way of thinking, at least with him, had been something that had seemed like a good idea in the moment.

Something in her chest fell. It was a sinking sort of feeling that was hard to describe, leaving her with an unfortableness in her stomach. It just wasn’t fair. She had come to check up on him after what had happened and then open herself up emotionally to him like this and he clearly wasn’t taking it seriously anymore. She had told him how she wanted to take care of him like he had always done for her and now… He wasn’t okay with her giving him a single order, after she had obediently followed whatever he had said hundreds of times? This had been for his sake, so he wouldn’t feel the need to...

Ikomiki stood up. Rising slowly off of her seat on his stomach. Rather than sitting ontop of him, she would sit down beside him. And then lay down beside him, letting her head fall back to the stone as well. At least there was a cushion of hair behind her head to give it a bit of softness. Something like a pillow.

“I do trust you.” Her tail continued its pattern as well as it could while she was laying down beside him, although it was muted and muffled to a point where it was impossible. "Why would you even ask that? Of course I do."

This was becoming an extremely confusing scenario. One Akihiro probably wouldn't be able to understand in his normal condition much less now that he had a bit of alcohol in him. It was worse now than it had been when she was actually absent. Before he was left wondering what she was doing, what she was thinking, feeling or what she would want to tell him after that night. He had wanted to solve the problem but had been left with nothing to work with.

Now however she was right here next to him, speaking words and making gestures. There was something to interpret, to analyze. But no matter how much he thought about it he just couldn't figure her out. It was immensely frustrating to a point where he was less angry at her than he was at himself. She trusted him, at least that much he was now sure of. Everything else tho? It remained a mystery to a man whose entire carer had been based on knowing and solving mysteries others couldn't.

Her question became yet another part of the puzzle he couldn't figure out. She had asked him the same exact question despite the fact that she had always been at his side no matter what he was doing. She probably knew more about him than anyone else in this world, his ins and outs, he'd been an open book to her regarding everything but the true nature of the Bijuu inside. And here she was, asking that question. To Akihiro his own version of the question made a lot more sense, especially after the events transpired on that night. The breaking of her trust in him seemed like a much more obvious possibility. But when he asked his question she seemed to take it the wrong way, becoming offended almost. So not even the legitimacy of his worry and question he was sure about anymore. He found himself second guessing every and single one of his decisions regarding her, regarding the words he'd tell her.

Before things had been much more natural. He was able to be himself around her without the fear of her disliking him for it. Now however it seemed his dreaded fears of her leaving after a wrong word or action were becoming true. He kept trying to adapt, to adjust, to make sure he didn't do anything wrong. And that was exhausting.

"Well, you asked me. Given I was the one who came close to killing you the other night, I wanted to know." His tone was different. It wasn't neutral anymore but rather soft and calm. Too calm, perhaps. Akihiro was beginning to feel like he was a lost cause. He wasn't capable of understanding her, in fact he seemed to understand less of her now than he did before.

So he did the a rare thing. He called for help to solve a problem. Shifting his body he laid on his side, turned to her both literally and figuratively for help. "Look, I don't understand. So help me, I need you. What's the matter Iko? It's just the two of us here, there's no one else around. Help me understand. What do you want me to do?"

She had been about to say something before she managed to stop herself. It left her with her mouth half open, only to shut. Almost having said something incredibly stupid, it was for the best. It had dawned on her how ridiculous it sounded right before it came out, luckily. If this was a less serious situation she might have gotten a small chuckle from it. ‘I don’t want to tell you what to do’ had almost been something she had said just then. In the context of responding to his last question, him asking her what she wanted him to do. But juxtaposed together with how she had just been ordering him around and all her frustrations about that dynamic they had and it just made no sense. She was thinking in the moment, responding on instinct and past memories. That contradiction explained a few things though. Two different desires, conflicting.

What did she want him to do?


“I don’t know.” She admitted. Maybe her own emotions had clouded her judgement to create a no-win scenario for the both of them here. Ikomiki had come here because understood she had to swallow whatever her own frustrations were and check up on him. To make sure he was alright. For some reason that focus had only lasted for a few moments before her emotions running wild again.

“How do you… What do you think about me? I mean…” She struggled for the words. “Did you like it better before? It was simple. You always knew best. I always thought that you were perfect. Like some sort of God. So I always tried to do whatever you said. But now it’s…” Ikomiki didn’t even know where she was going with this. That night before had shattered that image in her mind. All of it seemed so unfair now, like this unreasonable burden to put on him. But now, trying to relieve it from him and he goes stiff. Even if it had been subtle, just a change in tone, she had become aware of how he hadn’t been pleased by this change in roles. In another situation she would have rolled with it, but this was unexplored territory. Ikomiki was sensitive. A new sensation, considering how blunt and aggressive she was normally. Falling in love changed things, though.

“Was that why you liked me?”

So she didn't know either. In a way this was very relieving. If she didn't know, then how could he? Perhaps it was something the two of them needed to figure out together, one way or another. He was still rather scared of what was going to come out of this talk, but he was a bit less so. This could end one way or another, and that didn't necessarily mean he was making mistakes. There, came a realization to him. Being himself was perhaps not making a mistake. Akihiro would put on a mask for everyone else in the world, except for her. Perhaps it would hurt if she didn't like him without this mask, but if that was the case then maybe it was for the best. He could only give her the gift of authenticity now, and as much as it would hurt if she didn't like that...well, there wasn't much he could do about it, was there? One cannot put on a mask once their true face has been revealed, it would be pointless.

He paid attention to her words, making an active effort to not over analyze them and think too much on what he should say. Instead, he would just say the first thing that came to his mind. Speaking from the heart was how they called this...in his youth Akihiro had always believed this to be foolish. But here he was, being a fool.

"You are right. Things were simpler back then." He admitted. Whether it was selfish of him to long for such times again or not, the fact remained that their relationship had indeed been simple. Simple, nice and easy. But was that what he really wanted? "I loved you then, and I love you now. I won't say the way you saw me didn't play a part in it, at first. It's nice people think you're great. But at some point I cared more about you thinking I was great, than anyone else." He glanced at the sky. words were flowing incredibly easily for some reason. Maybe this was what they needed. To talk. "I think that's when I started to realize I had fallen for you." The memories were still clear as day to him.

"But that's not why I fell for you. I don't want to brag but a lot of people think I'm great, you know? And another large number will do what I tell them without a second thought." The smug face he made was mostly fake. Mostly. "And I never cared about any of them like I care about you.

There was something different about you. How genuine you are, it drew me in. Perhaps it was curiosity or even envy that brought me close, but love kept me by you. At some point I realized I like you. The way you walk, the way your tail wiggles behind you dancing to your emotions, your feline manners, the smile you make when you get a head pat" he visualized every single thing in his mind when he described them. It made things so much easier. Of all questions she had ever asked him, this was perhaps the easiest one to reply to. "And I like how clueless you are at times. It makes me laugh a lot. I've always seen you as you are and at some point there was simply no way to deny it anymore: I love you. I really do. I miss all of that when you're gone. But."

There was always a but. This was the complicated part, and words didn't come as easy now as they did before. "The way you see me is also important. You told me you loved me, but you hadn't seen me for who I was at the time. So I guess I'm afraid. What if you don't like who I am? Telling a person you love them is a big commitment you know? And unfairly you had to do that to a fake Akihiro, only to be living with the real one now.

Like you were saying, now it's different. My mistakes will be out there in the open and Sage knows they'll be many.

I'd like you to love me and respect what I tell you for who I am, not who you thought I was.

But I'm afraid you won't like what you see. That's why you telling me what to do was...a bit terrifying, if I'm being honest. Was it because you didn't like what I was doing?"

Just the first few seconds provoked an immediate change, the girl shrinking down slightly. She had been a ball of writhing emotions for the last few days, ever since that Bijuu incident. Vulnerabilities had been exposed, ones that she didn’t even know had existed. And now as she tried to sort this all out she was revealed as a weak point. What a mess. She was struggling for words, struggling to collect her thoughts, and the physical impact of his was her shifting uncomfortably about on the rock beside him. It had seemed simple to act on instinct, but now she realized and had to admit that she truly didn’t really know what she wanted him to do, and then her confidence following that completely collapsed. How utterly embarrassing. This was one of those situations where if she were looking at herself from an outsider's perspective Ikomiki would think of it as nothing more than weakness. This was the same sort of behavior she’d find annoying and obnoxious in others. But being around Akihiro… Well. It just wasn’t something she could help.

“Of course I like you. I love you. You id-... You dummy. Of course I do.” She stopped herself from using that harsher word, instead settling on something a bit more childish. The way her voice wavered during it didn’t help either, making it sound for a moment as if she were on the verge of tears. “It doesn’t matter if you make mistakes, or if you aren’t perfect. That’s not why…”

It was difficult to separate it within her mind. The entire time she had known Akihiro, up until a few days ago, she had only viewed him like that. Perfect. With that mask on. This change was new, scary, but probably completely necessary.

“Ever since the beginning. Do you remember? Back when I summoned you into Kirigakure’s forests. You saved me even though I was a stranger, and after I had just murdered someone and committed a crime. All you asked me to do was to trust you and to not lie.”

She didn’t know where she was going with this. It was just reminiscing. Back after she had killed that male. After Akihiro had saved her. It was a hail mary. And then, when she had been injured and curled up into the corner of that room in the hospital listening to him talk. She had been so afraid the entire time. It was the sort of lifestyle that only an animal could appreciate. Constant fear. Anything could eat you at any time, and there was always good reason to suspect that someone or something would.

But because of Akihiro she hasn’t been afraid for a long time. Not afraid for her life, at least. Not until that night with the Jinchuuriki. Now she was afraid again, but for a completely different reason. What was because of the mask that he had worn and what was from the real him? Was there any difference?

“I wanted to tell you what to do because… That’s what you’ve always done for me. Directed me and made me feel safe. It was simple and easy. And after what happened I realized that making you feel like you had to be perfect was hurting you, so… I wanted to make it so you didn’t have to feel that way anymore. To try and make you feel safe like you had always done for me. So you wouldn't have to think so much anymore, or be afraid. But I guess that didn’t work. I’m sorry… I…”

The idea of things reversing, even if just for a little bit, had seemed like a good idea in the moment. Maybe part of it was maternal instinct, or possessiveness expressed in this strange manner. Maybe it was just foolishness, to think that treating him so radically differently after that event would be a good idea. She was beginning to get the idea that this was all her fault. Putting those unreasonable expectations on Akihiro and building him up to be perfect only for it to all explode the moment he made a mistake. It had been so stupid of her, and then to completely reverse course afterwards in an attempt to fix it all.

She drew closer. His left arm would be seized, clutched tightly in a hug against her chest. Her face would be pressed close to his shoulder.

“... You are great. You are amazing. You always will be… There isn’t anything that you could do that would make me think you aren’t. What happened didn’t change anything. It shouldn’t have. I’m sorry for thinking that treating you differently afterwards would help. I won’t… I won’t. Nothing has to change.”

For once, Akihiro felt like he understood what she meant. Relationships were more complicated than he believed them to be at first, and he'd fallen into the mistake of thinking his was more complicated because he was dating Ikomiki. This was a mistake. Relationships were complicated regardless of who one was dating. They were complicated because that was in the very nature of spending your life next to another person, sharing everything you own and are, and opening yourself to them. In retrospective he felt very lucky to be able to do that with Iko of all people.

The memories in Kirigakure no Sato's forests she spoke of were dear to him, but they were the kind of memories he didn't realize would become so important while he lived through the moments he remembered. Not even Akihiro himself could explain why he saved Ikomiki that day, but it did change his life considerably. For the best, he was sure. This split second decision had completely transformed everything and so even a man as rational as Akihiro was tempted to believe in fate. Fate had brought them together, but not even fate would tear them from each other. He wouldn't let it happen.

"You made me feel safe too, you know?" He'd say, allowing his arm to be grabbed onto tightly and reaching closer to her as well. He'd take his free hand from behind his head and place it under hers, hugging her there. "I knew I could go anywhere and fight anything because I had you by my side. It was a great feeling. It still is. I don't ever want to not have you with me." His free hand would gently pat her head, and then he'd run his fingers through her hair, slowly massaging her head. He reached closer with his head, and nudged her nose with his own.

"Let's not lie to ourselves, Iko. What happened that night did change something. It had to. Something has already changed...but that0s okay." He would attempt to look her in the eyes in order to provide assurance. "Because it didn't change how we feel about each other. You are still my moon and stars, my sun and sky. You're still the one I think about before sleeping and the first thought in my mind in the morning. Your absence is like a dagger in me." Even now there was a beautiful scenario of the sun rising above the Hidden  Lead village, something that could be seen best from where they were at right now. But he cared so little for it, mostly because she was there. What was the sun compared to his love? The sun would rise and set again, it had been doing so for probably millions of years. Every single generation in mankind's history had seen the sun before, and countless others would see it in the future. Ikomiki though? Ikomiki was only present here and now, for those lucky enough to bear witness to her mannerisms and way of life. Everyone who had already died was shit out of luck, and those who'd not be born in time to see her were in no better condition. Even out of those alive right now only a few would be lucky enough to see her, less would befriend her and only a single person in the entire universe would be lucky enough to be allowed to share her heart and Sage willing, a life alongside her. So the sun could very much go fuck itself right now, because he was holding her tightly and would not let go. "Above all, I think I'm lucky. Very lucky to have you."

He'd reach even closer, his forehead touching hers and their noses gently pressed against each other. He closed his eyes. "Something has already changed, and that's okay. The world will change. We might change too. It's in the nature of life to have things change. Stability is an illusion in all things but one. And that is in what I feel for you. It will not change, ever. Because what I feel for you became part of my nature. There is no Akihiro without love for Ikomiki.

So don't worry about change. You've already seen many sides of me, some more genuine than others. But they all shared the same love for you. So don't worry about change...it'll come, likely it already has. But it matters little." He would smile.

"Hey, remember how we started as partners in crime? Then partners in missions, partners in training. Traveling partners too. Things changed every time we took a step, there's no avoiding it. But what I felt about you...only grew, the nature of the feeling never changed. It was always what it was meant to be. And so now... if you'll have me, I'll be your partner in life.

Now, may I get that kiss?"

Brought close into that hug, held tight against her lover’s body, it provided her a sense of comfort that had been missing. There was something hypnotizing about it. Indulging in his warmth and scent, feeling his pulse or heartbeat in whatever skin of his that she could touch. With every word that was spoken she drew in closer, closer, closer… Everything had been a rollercoaster these last few days. Her emotions flew out of control, and the manner in which this encounter had gone made it easy to tell. First sitting on top of him in that provocative manner. Then kissing him while covering his eyes. Then refusing to kiss him. Then refusing to touch him and laying beside him. Now finally returning to holding onto him as closely as she could. That writhing ball of emotions returned from frustration to meek vulnerability once more, with her face buried into Akihiro’s side. Even as he tried to look her in her eyes, her face would be pressed tightly to his body. Too tightly. Tightly enough that when the first tears began to spill from her eyes that he would be able to feel the moisture staining his shirt.

What had started slowly at first turned into a verifiable waterfall. She hadn’t cried in… Ikomiki couldn’t remember the last time she cried. Never? That couldn’t be right. But she had always been strong, even when she was weak. Her eyes had always stayed dry, scowling at anything that opposed her rather than allow anything the satisfaction of knowing it hurt her. When she was forced to limp through that portion of the Chunin Exams with broken ribs she hadn’t let out a tear. When Nikoban had abandoned her she had never cried. None of the times she had gone hungry, injured, spent nights alone in the wilderness…

Her body shivered, shaking in little heaves as she released all of what had been pent up into Akihiro’s chest. That hug she had around him transition from that original meek hugging of his arm into desperate clinging to her lover. Holding on so tight it seemed she was afraid he would disappear should she let go. There wasn’t any noise as she cried other than each slight, shaky inhale and exhale. No wailing, nothing more than whimpers as she sobbed.

Eventually she would gain the strength to raise her head, prying herself up as to ensure he didn’t think she was ignoring his final request. The mess that her face had become, streaked and stained red and wet from the embarrassment at this uncontrollable release that she was going through, was a far cry from the proud and haughty catgirl that Akihiro had come to know and love.

Was this what it felt like to be loved?

“I’m sorry— I’m sorry, I can’t stop…” She would get out in a shaky tone of voice, unable to help herself. “I didn’t mean to start crying, I… Are you sure you want to kiss me? I'm so gross right now.” She almost laughed at herself admist the crying. At the moment she couldn’t help but think of herself as disgusting, a mess. Ruining the moment. She wanted nothing more than to apologize. But hearing what was so strong of a profession of his love after these vulnerable days of being apart… It was different than the first time he had said it, when they were caught in the passions of lust. Her ribs had been pried open and her heart exposed so directly to the Uchiha’s gaze and touch, and now with it in his hands so firmly… Something did change. They were both changing constantly, evolving together now with a shared destiny. Even if they both changed, so much to the point where the Akihiro and Ikomiki of the future were unrecognizable, they would both still be together. There is no Akihiro without love for Ikomiki, and here is no Ikomiki without love for Akihiro.

“I love you, I love you, I love you so much… I really love you… Please don’t- ...” Ikomiki didn’t need to ask. He wouldn’t ever leave her. That much she could count on. But she had been caught up in that blubbering for a moment, repeating those quick and desperate affirmations of her love for him, her mind too scrambled through infatuation to think of anything more complex, before she recalled that question again. Even though she was still crying, her face wet with those tears, she would press her face to his, pushing her lips to his in those moments of tenderness and warmth, as if she wanted to melt her entire body into his right there and then.

Ikomiki's tears were both endearing and worrying at the same time. They were endearing because they proved she did feel human emotions and that what she felt for Akihiro was strong enough to bring tears to her eyes. But they were also worrysome because this was the first time ever Akihiro had seen her show a sign of weakness and vulnerability so clearly. So it was a bit disturbing for his heart to see her in that state, but he knew that to Iko too there were sides he'd never seen before and this was one of those. In due time they would discover each other entirely and love each other for their complete beings...this was just a part of that process.

Finally he had obtained the kiss he had longed for, for so long. With it came not only the humid feeling of her cheeks filled with tears but also a passion he hadn't felt before in that earlier kiss. The passion which he too longed for. Loving Ikomiki was a great feeling, perhaps only matched by what he felt when he realized that she did indeed love him back. And for an Uchiha who by tradition loved so intensely they awakened new powers, receiving a kiss like that just felt incredible. He would lean closer into her and answer in kind with a passionate kiss of his own. The humid feeling on her face mattered little as he closed his eyes and ran his fingers across her body, stopping at the back of her head and holding her close.

eventually as with all things, the kiss needed to come to an end. Breathing was perhaps (and only perhaps) more important than kissing his love. When it finally broke, Akihiro would still hold her close against his chest and close his eyes. The world would stop for a moment, even time itself respecting what the two of them had over here. The birds would stop singing, the breeze would calm down and even the noise from the waking village would lower. For a moment there it was only Akihiro and IKomiki, holding each other close and realizing there was no one else in the universe who actually mattered.

Eventually and at some point, the sun would keep rising. The birds would go back to singing, and breeze would return and the village would go on with its activities. But they would remain there for a time still, the two of them. The universe was cruel and meant to tear them apart at that hour, trying to drag each one of them to their daily duties. But neither Akihiro nor Ikomiki would move from that rock, daily duties be damned. The world ever cruel had cared for them in that instant and then moved on...well they had cared about the world for a lifetime, and for the first time ever Akihiro...didn't. He had everything he needed right there, nothing else was important.

They would end up leaving but not after spending a long time together on top of the Hokage rock. Either in silence or talking with each other, Akihiro couldn't remember. But he would remember this as one of the most important moments in his life, despite his alcoholic choice. Because on that day the two of them had made another choice, the most important choice.

They'd chosen each other. And however things may change from this moment onward, that choice remained. It remained beyond this moment, beyond their fights and arguments, beyond the years that passed through them. It remained beyond even their deaths in ways that are yet to be described, and it remained in the heavens they went to afterwards. At some point the universe would die, but their choice remained. Aki and Ikotogether, always together, always ready for the next adventure, whatever it may bring.

[Exit Akihiro& Ikomiki]