vintage AIC: Uzushio sidetrip

This is from a concept I didn't end up pursuing, wherein Aiko goes to see where her family came from while she and Utakata are in a holding pattern with Kakashi, waiting for the shoe to drop.

.................

The fabric was soft and thin against her fingertips. Aiko’s hand tightened. She watched how the movement changed the play of shadows on aged red, gold, and blue threads.

“Where did that even come from?” Utakata wondered aloud.

Aiko shoved the faded robe back into her bag and snapped, “Is it your business?” She tightened the strap that held the bag closed.

Utakata gave her a thoroughly unimpressed look through lowered lashes in response to her guilty behavior.

‘It’s not looting,’ she told herself for the nth time. ‘It belonged to someone in my family, and it’s not like I’m going to sell it.’

Guilt still lodged in her gut, much as it had been over the past week and a half. One trip to explore Uzushiogakure hadn’t been enough- the island nation had been the size of Konoha city.

The ruins were partially submerged. Aiko didn’t know enough about the tides and seismic activity to determine if that was a result of the cataclysmic attack or just the wear of time and disrepair. Either way,  what appeared to have been a residential district was tipped off the west side of the island. The furthest buildings were completely submerged, but a larger part was merely integrating into the reef system.

‘Actually, it’s summer. Shouldn’t the tides be at their lowest right now?’ Aiko strained to remember what little she knew about the sea. It was pathetically little. But that was probably part of why Tazuna-san had planned his project for right now. Right?

She dismissed thoughts of pink coral and quick yellow fish for the moment.

“The Konoha Jounin saw me,” Utakata shared conversationally. “When he hobbled out to check on his team.”

“What?” Aiko’s voice lifted in surprise. “You let him-”

“Obaa-san, I do not know if you have noticed,” the teen drawled testily. “But that Jounin is rather well known as Kakashi of the Sharingan eye. He is famed for his skills and observational prowess. I did not let him do anything. But I am becoming concerned by the caliber of the shinobi who are gathering on this island.” Utakata took a step under the shade of her tree. Sunlight and shadows dappled across his face in the shape of leaves.

She looked away. “I apologize,” Aiko said. “I didn’t mean to insinuate incompetency on your part. It’s not as though I did any better. He’s well aware I’m here.”

And judging by the betrayed expression she’d received from Naruto and the calculation that had crossed Sakura’s face, Kakashi had told his team as well.

That had made stopping by for tea considerably more awkward than usual. Sasuke had lingered like the sour stink of bad fish the whole time, casting a dark pallour on her gossip with Tsunami-chan.

‘But they’re not telling the civilians. So Kakashi has decided it’s better to have me where he can watch me. Either that or he’s decided to trust me.’

The first possibility seemed more likely than the second. Aiko pushed herself to a standing position and into the sun. When she held out a hand, Utakata gently took it. The slide of his sun-warmed thumb against the back of her fingers felt luxurious.

‘It’s not like I want to be there now. They’ll be safe enough with Kakashi awake. But I can’t convince anyone to advocate for me if I disappear.’

With a sour frown, Aiko took them both off the island to the usual coastal town and then shook off Utakata’s grip. He didn’t protest, well-used to her abrupt mannerisms. The shift from the eerily quiet shores of Uzushiogakure to the murmurs of a well-inhabited town only made her feel lonelier, somehow.

“Did I mention that he’s teaching them to walk on trees?” he asked quietly, continuing the update. “After Tazuna-san went in for the night, Kakashi-san took his team to the woods nearby. They must be very new genin, or aggressively untalented.”

What.

Aiko felt a full-body twitch, born from sheer frustration. “You’ve got to be fucking with me.”

‘That’s absolutely insane. What the fuck are you doing, Kakashi?’

She saw her offense reflected in Utakata’s expression.

“No. Alas, I am not ‘fucking’ with you,” Utakata responded delicately. His lips twitched.

Aiko scowled in Konoha’s general direction. “What kind of incompetent would take a team so far out of their home country without knowing something that incredibly basic? Has he taught before-  no, has he met genin before?” She nearly walked right into a brunette civilian with a sour expression, swerving at the last moment away from the teenager.

The former Mist-nin agreed, making a low sound of disgust. “It would appear that great skill and intelligence are not synonymous with anything approaching competency as an instructor.”

“Those kids deserve better,” Aiko spat, frustration twisting her voice into something bitter and low. She didn’t consciously register that the teenager she’d nearly slammed into had turned around to watch her pass.

“If you keep up like that, I might think you care,” Utakata drawled.

She leveled her bitchiest stare on him, but didn’t respond. It would be godawful embarrassing to deny the accusation and get caught in the lie. Better to glare and not comment.

“I have plans to commune with my acquaintance.” Utakata looked up to the sky. “It seems… appropriate, at this time of year. He may be more amenable.”

‘Weird. Is he going to end up on decent terms with his bijuu soon?’ Aiko strained to remember the name. ‘Saiken.’

“Oh.” Aiko blinked at Utakata, not sure what to say to that intriguing tidbit. “Do you need me to-”

“No.” He shook his head once, dark brown hair swishing around his face. “I wish to be alone for as long as possible.” Utakata narrowed his eyes at her. “Surely you can amuse yourself on a night like tonight.”

Say what?

“Oh, for-” The look he gave her was positively scathing. “It is less than a week from Obon. Surely you have plenty of graves to clean. Go tend to your ancestors and leave me to mine.”

Oh.

‘I never even thought to do that.’

Something in her face must have been revealing, because the teenaged nuke-nin leaned away from her.

“No,” Aiko said. “I’ve never done that. There’s…” She shook her head. “There aren’t really… graves.”

‘I never really know anyone to mourn. And I’ve always been so far away. It wasn’t even plausible to go from Konoha to Uzushiogakure.’

Utakata scoffed. “That is no excuse.” The sympathy she thought she’d seen in his face didn’t make it to his voice. “Disgrace. How do you expect the souls of your ancestors to rest? Oh, of course, I suppose there are just dozens of your many surviving relatives leaping at the chance-”

“Hell, fine,” Aiko huffed, ready to do anything if it’d make him shut up. “I’ll go already.”

He gave her an imperious look. “See that you do.” Then he flipped aside a hanging cloth and veered into a food stall.

Aiko made a fist and reminded herself that it would be terribly uncouth to attack her comrade in a crowded town, not to mention alarming for the citizenry.

“You’re rude,” she hissed under her breath, very deliberately sticking her elbow into his rib as she sat down. Utakata made a small pained sound. “I can’t believe you’re trying to make me feel guilty. How would you feel if I made you feel guilty?”

The look he gave her communicated more condescension than words could have conveyed.

Aiko narrowed her eyes at him and pulled over a menu with a flourish. She scanned it quickly, registering the numbers. “I’m done talking to you.” She turned her attention to the man behind the counter and pulled on a smile. “Ojii-san! I’d like the special.” It was by far the most expensive item available. She didn’t even like it. She waved the menu at Utakata. “My friend is paying, isn’t that nice of him?”

She could feel Utakata’s glower like a physical weight on the back of her head. Aiko smiled a little more.

...

Aiko started in the same place that she had originally entered Uzushiogakure. The city was a wreck more akin to a sunken ship than a place that had housed generations. It was hard to believe from the devastation that it had only been abandoned for a few decades. The curved, bleached remnants of clay architecture were scattered bones stretched further than the eye could see. Everything was so impossibly big and open that it seemed to squeeze her body into a too-small space.

“This is fucking depressing.” Aiko kicked at a rock and belatedly wondered if it hadn’t actually been a human bone. Suddenly she felt very uncomfortable.

She kept moving, avoiding the arching structure where she’d found some relatively intact belongings. It seemed like some kind of large business or fancy government structure, judging by the comparative size and the bits of finery that she’d found sealed away in airtight little closets.

What had once been lights, windows, decoration on staircases and even hung art were conspicuously missing. She felt angry and sick to her stomach just thinking about it.

‘But what I’m doing is different,’ Aiko told herself again. ‘This is where my family comes from. I would have lived here if things had been different. It’s not wrong to want something from here.’

That robe had to have been ceremonial of some kind. Pity that she’d never know what it represented. It was still nice to touch something that her grandparents might have worn.

She blinked quickly, because the stupid sun was making her eyes water and giving her a headache when it refracted off standing water and the piles of sand.

A shadow moved.

Aiko tracked the movement automatically, spine snapping into a ready posture. She held her breath and listened.

Waves, wind, and birds calling. Nothing else was audible.

‘I don’t like this.’

After a few minutes of tense silence, Aiko exhaled slowly. She didn’t hear, see, or smell anything unusual, and her chakra sense wasn’t picking anything up either.

‘Did I imagine that?’

She really didn’t think so.

Still, eventually she had to move on. Aiko forced her body to relax and shook her head, as if dismissing the thought.  She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from gritting her teeth and started walking again, but she remained wary. Aiko picked her way above and around the neighborhood, working her way up the incline so that she didn’t have to spend the whole day picking her steps carefully to avoid the water. She paused to watch a school of silver fish meander over the cobblestone and into a softly decaying genkan. One sandal was still hanging slightly over the edge, undecided about whether or not to make the drop.

On impulse, Aiko padded into the house and resisted the compulsion to take off her shoes. The tatami had passed ‘frayed’ in favor of a more shredded and sun-pale aesthetic, especially in the living room where someone had kindly installed an amateur skylight. She suppressed a shiver.

‘I feel like I’m walking on someone’s grave.’

There was unbroken porcelain sitting on the table. Aiko bit her cheek a little harder and held her breath when she slid open the door to a bedroom, compelled by a sick curiosity.

She spotted a smoothly curved cane leaning against the wall. A moment later, she registered that a long, thin shape was bundled in the futon.

She turned and walked right back out of the house.

God, that sun was awful. She rubbed at her face again.

The island wasn’t that big. If she didn’t get distracted, she should be able to find the cemetery. The headstones could probably use a cleaning. Not that she cared what Utakata thought, but… They were probably in a bad state; that was all. It wasn’t a big deal. Sasuke probably did this every year for his clan. Aiko inhaled raggedly and held her eyes shut.

‘This is stupid. Why am I getting emotional over people I never knew?’

Obon was just a normal thing to do, that was all. She’d get some offerings and bring them back tomorrow. She didn’t have time to do the full three days, and anyway, there was no point to any feasting or doing festival type things with one person.

Aiko scanned the area and sucked in a deep breath.

‘if I were looking for a place for a cemetery, I’d say on the outskirts of town. Either on a higher elevation or away from the beach, because no one wants that flooding and washing around.’

So… Maybe further east and south? Aiko took a confident step.

And then hit the ground in a roll, startling the hell out of a crab. The plip of metal landing in water explained what had happened to the projectiles, but she hadn’t managed to see what kind they were. She’d only registered the glint of light in her left peripheral.

She turned to track the projectiles’ path. A few inches of dark hair disappeared behind the peak of a building.