Another path

Rejection

< This chapter will be in deep connection with the three next ones, it's better to read them as a whole. Also, I added another tag (sasukebashing) cause I only realised I was doing this 😅
Anyway, take care as always and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter ! >

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Darui was warily eyeing his teammate. He had been a shinobi for about twenty years by now - which made him a veteran - and he could easily acknowledge one's strength and ability at first sight. And what he saw in this pink-haired girl was not what he expected from a shinobi. Manicured, white hands, neatly brushed hair with a ton of hair spray, conditioner and such, full make-up... He had nothing against make-up and shinobi taking care of their appearance but only if they did it in their spare time. That girl was doing the exact opposite : she sometimes spared some time to train ! What kind of philosophy was that ?

The worst with that was that she was sulking. He had no idea why but she was pissed and she wouldn't say a word to him.

" I'm not exactly pleased to be working with her either but there are priorities in life... Just how childish is she..."

Darui gazed at the sky. This mission was going to be hellish.

*Elsewhere in the desert*

Asuma was walking a few steps behind Kakashi. Their mission consisted in capturing some kind of giant and extra aggressive butterfly. Which of course meant they had to locate it in the first place.
Kakashi had summoned Pakkun along with some others of his dogs and had sent them to look for their target.
Asuma and him were searching for it on their own as well.

What truly made the former Fire guardian uneasy was the heavy silence. He hadn't had the chance to talk with Kakashi back when his team came to Uzushio and he was unreasonably nervous around him.
True, things weren't great with Konoha but the silver-haired jônin wouldn't hold a grudge against him, would he ?

" - Could you tell me about what happened after we left ?

That caught Asuma by surprise. He looked at his former fellow jônin with wide eyes, silently asking the purpose of such a question. Kakashi noticed it and sighed.

- I know there's been a lot of problems for the village recently and I wanted to know why it has gotten so bad... I still care for some of the people in this village and...

He paused for a bit, clearly hesitating about finishing voicing his thought. Asuma looked at him in silence, guessing what he was going to say next.

- ... and many of the people I love died for this village's stake. Whether the people in it deserved it or not, I'm still concerned about this heritage.

- I understand. Well, guess you won't mind if I go into details, will you ? "

Kakashi shrugged and Asuma took it as his answer. He began retelling the events Konoha had gone through during the five past years.

*Somewhere in the ground*

Tetsuya looked over at his teammate. Escape missions specifically required cooperation and teamwork. That was hard to achieve with someone you met two hours ago...

It seemed as though Jin was an Uzumaki too. Which would explain his hostile behaviour, he might have learnt of how Suzuka had been abandoned.

He made his way over to the other red head, fluidly avoiding the poisonous needles thrown at him from the walls. They were in some kind of mausoleum and there were traps everywhere. Even with great attention and focus, you could still accidentally trigger one of them.
Tetsuya looked at his partner once again, noticing how the boy wouldn't spare him a glance.
That was going to be a tough day...