𝑯𝑨𝑳𝑪𝒀𝑶𝑵 𝑶𝑩𝑳𝑰𝑽𝑰𝑶𝑵 •𝒃𝒙𝒃•

In-Between Moments ~ Age 11

Seasons changed and the cool spring was replaced by harsh winter.

The streets of Konoha were covered with thick layers of ice and snow.

Missions have gotten harder because of the cold and there were less of them. Not that Aizen was complaining about the second part.

He was currently sat in a smaller restaurant along with the rest of his team. Why? Well... Asao had noticed that their team dynamic wasn't that good and decided it was time for them to work on that.

"I understand I haven't been present much after... that mission," Asao was the first one to break the somewhat uncomfortable silence, "We haven't had any time to seriously talk about what you've seen and I think that is something we should do now."

From the corner of his eyes, Aizen noticed Hikaru had tensed up, "Talk about it? What is there to talk about?" The dark-haired boy asked, obviously not wanting to talk about it. His fingers had gripped the fabric of his pants as he looked at everything except at Asao.

"Hikaru..." The man sighed, lightly shaking his head.

Aizen reluctantly reached his hand towards the boy and lightly placed it atop his shoulder, "Hikaru, sensei is right... It's been on our minds since that day."

Surprisingly, Hikaru made no move to shake the hand off his shoulder, instead he warily peered at Aizen, not saying a word.

"It was indeed something we didn't expect to see so... early on. The academy never prepared us for something like that. I think that's why we were so surprised by what we saw." Hanae spoke up, moving her hood back. Her hair, as light as the outside snow, brushed against her shoulders. It never ceased to awe Aizen.

"I see... That was something I always minded about the academy. The Hokages never tried to prepare the kids for the possibility of war." Asao tapped his blunt nails atop the wooden table as he slightly lowered his head. There was something akin to conflict in his eyes.

Aizen pulled his hand away from Hikaru, seeing that the boy's shoulders were starting to stiffen, and leaned back in his seat, "They should have prepared us. They should have taught us. Even if they didn't expect a war, it is better we learned about it sooner than later," his tone got lower towards the end, "Seems like they chose later."

Asao went quiet for a few moments, before he spoke up, "I'm sorry your first experience ended up like that... I'm also sorry I was late when I needed to be on time." He averted his gaze.

"It's fine, nobody got hurt." It was Aizen that said that, ironically.

There was an immediate reaction, "You got hurt!" Asao's hands slammed against the table, causing the plates and glasses to rattle atop it. That had brought everyone's attention to them, "If I got there sooner, you wouldn't have to bear that scar on your skin!"

"Sensei, calm down." Hanae's quiet voice rang out, causing Asao to settle back into his seat in silence.

That scar was Aizen's fault. If he had agreed with Hikaru and if the three of them stayed with Asao, maybe he wouldn't have gotten that scar, maybe Hanae wouldn't have been nearly assaulted.

Even Asao got injured when he fought the shinobi one-on-one. Yet, he still managed to save the three of them from another one.

"The food is getting cold," Asao suddenly changed the subject, "Better eat up."

_

It didn't take them long to finish the food and say their goodbye's.

Aizen tightened the jacket around his body, feeling himself shiver as a particularly strong and cold wind blew through the almost empty street. No wonder no one was outside.