I took the remaining few minutes before my team showed up to control my breathing. It wouldn't do to snap at them just because I was angry at Kakashi for always being so concerned and at myself for giving him reason to be. I stiffened and let out a final breath as I sensed my students appear.

"Sensei!" Michiko exclaimed from behind me. "I chose a weapon!"

I turned to face Michiko, who was accompanied by Aisa and a still sleepy looking Kento. I raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" I questioned mildly.

With a grin she nodded, pulling her hands from behind her back and revealing triple bladed claws. I blinked at the weapons before giving her a nod of approval. They were vicious weapons that would give her added reach, and once she mastered them she could transition to a version that would allow her to run her chakra down it.

"Good," I nodded. "Kento, you were planning on using a sword, correct? What type did you end up choosing?"

He held out a sword that was the same style as most samurai used up north. I stared at it for a long moment, and Kento immediately looked worried. "I can choose a different style, if this isn't good, or if you think it's not right for me, I can choose a different weapon—"

"No, it's fine," I interrupt. "I've fought against opponents who used this type of sword, before. It's a good weapon, and a good choice for you, if you learn how to use it properly."

Kento positively glowed under my barebones praise, and I held back a sigh. He needed to stop relying on others for his self esteem and confidence.

I turned my attention towards Aisa , who was clearly -- and very awkwardly -- trying to avoid eye contact with me.

"Why don't you two try out your weapons," I suggested. "Get a good feel, make a connection. See how they fit into the fighting styles you've already developed. I'll come check on you in a bit, and give you more specific exercises."

"Hai!" Michiko exclaimed, scrambling off with Kento on her heels. They were both incredibly eager to try out their new weapons.

As soon as I saw them begin testing out different movements , I turned back to Aisa, hands on my hips and eyebrow raised. "Is there any particular reason you haven't chosen a weapon, yet?" I asked.

Aisa refused to look up, instead opting to mumble at the ground. I sighed, exasperated.

"Speak up," I ordered sharply.

"I said," Aisa repeated, defiant eyes meeting mine, "why do I need a weapon? Can't I just focus on taijutsu or ninjutsu?"

I blinked. "Of course you can," I began. Aisa relaxed. "If you want to have absolutely no surprises up your sleeve, no tricks that can save your life, and wind up dead, that is."

Asia's head was once again hanging as he muttered petulantly. "Gai-sensei doesn't use weapons."

I sighed again. "Number one: Gai is a master of taijutsu that surpasses even mine when he opens the gates. Number two: you're wrong. He uses nunchaku, and is proficient enough in other weapons to have taught his student Ten Ten, a weapons specialist, the basics. Now, give me your real reason for not wanting to carry a weapon."

Aisa hesitated. Then, "I still remember."

"Remember what, exactly?" I asked, even though I suspected I knew. Aisa was silent for another moment, and then the words just bubbled out, unstoppable, like my question had been the explosive tag to break the dam on his reservoir of words.

"They grabbed me, when I was playing outside and I shouldn't have been playing outside, I know, Aiden told me to stay inside unless I was with him, but it was actually a nice day out for once and it's almost never nice in the land of waves and they found me and they took me and they didn't even knock me out, he just said he would hurt me if shouted or did anything so I just went with him I didn't even fight and they were talking like I wasn't even there about how they were going to take down the g-gang that Aiden was a part of by using me and they said they were going to kill me if they had to and one guy, he didn't like that, because I was so little or something but then the other guy just glared at him and said something and then the guy stopped defending me and then Aiden came and they were holding the knife against my th-throat and-and-and I still remember and it was cold against my throat and it was sharp and he was going to kill me and and and and—"

"Aisa," I cut him off, but he was still heaving and sobbing more than he was actually breathing, yet he was still trying to talk and explain himself to me and for a brief, desperate moment I wished Aiden were here so I didn't have to deal with this.

But Aiden wasn't here, and Aisa still sounded more like he was trying to suck in all the air of the world than he sounded like he was just breathing, so I needed to deal with it.

"Aisa," I repeated, gentler this time. I almost told him to calm down before hesitating. He knew he wasn't calm. Aisa normally didn't act this way. He was probably already berating himself to calm down, and only working himself up more in his attempts to calm himself.

So instead, I decided to address the symptoms rather than the root of the problem.

"Aisa," I said once more, voice deliberately pitched low, emotionless, and informative. "You're hyperventilating. It may feel as though you're not getting enough air, but the opposite is true. You're receiving too much oxygen while not giving your body enough time to retain carbon dioxide. This is why you feel short of breath."

Aisa was still heaving, tears and snot running down his face as he gasped for air, eyes screwed up against the burn in his chest.

"This sounds counterintuitive," I warned, "but hold your breath for as long as you can." He continued to breath harshly. "Aisa," I tried to get his attention. "Hold your breath. On the count of three, okay? One, two, three."

Asia's breathing paused for a precious few seconds before slipping once more into a shallow, panicked rhythm. "That's okay, that's fine," I told him, while thinking exactly the same opposite. I straightened, grabbing him by his upper arm. "Cmon, Aisa, you and I are gonna go for a little jog. Breathe through your nose for me, if you can, alright?"

I started at light jog, pulling Aisa with me even as he stumbled, eyes still closed. They're forced open when he stumbled a second time, and I could see the gleam of unshed tears in them. I continued to run, pulling him alongside me, and his harsh, shallow breathing slowly grows deeper as he is forced to accommodate for the burn in his muscles.

When his breathing seems harsh only from the exercise, not his break down, I slowed to a stop. Leaning against against a tree, arms crossed, I allowed him to take a moment to gather himself, to speak first. I watched his trembling limbs closely, ready to step in if it seemed as though he was slipping back into hyperventilation.

When he finally caught his breath, he straightened and stared at the ground. "I'm fine," he muttered to my unvoiced opinion, still low, but loud enough for me to hear him. That's why I don't berate him for mumbling.

"That's bullshit," I replied, calling him out on it.

He stared into the sky angrily, then looked at me with frustration in his eyes. "Well? So I had a tantrum like a little kid. It happened. It's over now. What can I do but move on? What can I do but be fine? What do I do?" He threw up his hands in anger and allowed himself to fall back so that he was lying on the ground, staring at the sky. "I'm fine," he whispered again.

"Alright," I agreed with a shrug. "Go pick a weapon," I said.

He gave me a questioning look, eyebrows furrowed and mouth slightly open. "What?"

I walked over to him and grabbed his hand to bring him back up. "You said your fine, and asked me 'what do I do?'. I'm telling you what to do. Pick a weapon. Train with it. Fight with it. Fight and make sure you are never again in that position. You hear me?"

I don't know what he saw on my face, but the look in his eyes changed instantly. From self-doubt and fear, to steady, controlled anger and determination.

He took a deep breath. "Alright. Weapon store?"

"That's generally where you go to get weapons," I replied sarcastically, pulling away from him. "You can go on ahead," I told him. "I need to check in on the other two."

"Alright, Cashile!" He exclaimed, always so optimistic and joyful and capable of bouncing back from almost anything. "Thanks!" He sprang towards me, and I barely put up a hand in time to block his hug. He pouted, but turned and ran off in the direction of the weapon shop.

I shook my head, and turned toward Michiko so I could berate her for leaving her side wide open with a careless lunge.

They may have been idiots, but they did learn fast.

***

"Free Healthcare? Unreal." Kento stated without a second thought, his tone bitter and exhausted and embarrassed.

"You heard me. Free healthcare for your sister. On one condition." Kento had way too much pride to accept the free healthcare without working for it, but at the same time he was desperate.

"See? Not free," He grumbled, but his shoulders lowered slightly from their defensive position  and he raised his head slightly.

"Shut up. You stop working all those other jobs you have, god knows how many that is, at this point. Make the time, the mission, your first priority. Progress. Excel. Do better. That's the condition. Now, do you want to help your sister or not?" I raised my eyebrow, questioning him, provoking him to argue with that.

It was a pretty sweet deal considering he didn't have to pay the price for it. But if he knew I'd accepted the hokage's offer he'd be distracted by his guilt, his pride, and all those other emotions he hadn't yet learned to lock away. Emotions that inhibit performance and advancement.

Because he had been ranked number one in intelligence when he'd been in the academy. And sure, smarts in the academy didn't always translate to smarts in the field, but he had been showing no promise; just a slightly above average ability to think things through.

Because he was exhausted, and stressed, and overworked. And no one could perform optimally under those conditions. I had the opportunity to take away a large portion of his burden for a small sacrifice on my part. Sure, I hated that Tsunade manipulated me into doing what she wanted, but the other option was Kento overworking himself to the point where he made a fatal mistake, which would effect my entire team, myself included.

So yeah. I'd taken Tsunade's deal.

There weren't tears in Kento's eyes, but there was a faint tremor in his shoulder's that betrayed his emotions. "Okay," he agreed softly, voice earnest and thick. He breathed in deeply and let it out, only slightly shaky. "Okay, sensei."

I nodded curtly and turned away, planning on hunting Aisa down to see what weapon he'd chosen. He still hadn't come back, and I had just released Michiko and Kento for the night. Before I could disappear, though, I heard Kento whisper, "Thank you." His voice was earnest, heartfelt, and said more than his words did. I glanced back.

"Don't be an idiot, Kento."

He was smiling when I left.

___________________________________________________

Helllooo friends!

Life has been incredibly busy, and we haven't updated in a while, but here's your proof that we ARE working on writing still!

College was pretty crazy the past few weeks, as was work. I had a load of proojects and papers and exams all due so that's fun. (I had a 7-8 page paper that I had all semester to work on. We had to read a book and analyze it and write our own thoughts on it. Didn't start writing until the night before. By night, I mean 10 pm. BUT HEY I GOT IT DONE AND YES I PROCRASTINATED BUT I TRUST MY WRITING PROCESS)

yup so life has been busy but thanksgiving break is right around the corner! But I still need to study and shit over thanksgiving break BUT WHATEVER we'll try to write another chapter for y'all!

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! A little bit of development between cashile and her team yeee.

COMMENT PLS COMMENNTS ARE MOTIVATINGGGG

gaara119

Alright guys I'm tipsy and at a basketball game so AN for me is going to be pretty short.

Hope you guys enjoy!

~Supes

Comment, Vote, and Fan!

Ja ne!

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