Chapter 16: Outrageous Rumors
The impenetrable darkness of the night blanketed everything in mystery.
Moonlight, as pure as white paint, spilled across the earth, illuminating the room just enough to cast its occupants' silhouettes onto the paper windows for anyone outside to see.
The quiet night...
Suddenly became far more interesting.
"...Ah."
A Nara clanswoman standing outside the courtyard covered her mouth in shock.
She quickly crouched into the grass and secretly watched the second-floor room where Nara Ryōko lived.
I never imagined...
The Shadow Possession Technique could be used like this...
Watching the female silhouette sitting on the man's lap, she unconsciously licked her dry lips.
Her throat suddenly felt parched.
...How exciting.
---
At that very moment...
Ryōko sat across from Asuka, staring at him intently.
Her voice was low.
"Logically speaking..."
"My personal information is highly confidential."
"It's not surprising that you found my name and address."
"But..."
"How did you obtain so many details about me?"
"Oh."
"Someone sold you out."
Bang!
The instant she heard those words...
A surge of betrayal flooded her heart.
Ryōko slammed both hands onto the table before appearing in front of Asuka in a flash.
Grabbing his collar with both hands, she ground out each word through clenched teeth.
"...Who?"
Their faces were now only inches apart.
Asuka leaned backward to avoid bumping noses.
"Ota."
"Hmph."
Ryōko snorted coldly.
She'd already suspected as much.
But hearing it confirmed still left a bitter taste in her mouth.
If that bastard can sell me out today...
Wouldn't he sell me to the enemy tomorrow?
"Actually..."
"You don't need to be that angry."
"If you sell Ota's information to me..."
"Wouldn't that make you even?"
"Forget it."
"I'd never do that."
Seeing her refuse without hesitation...
Asuka calmly pulled a scroll from his pocket.
He casually twirled it between his fingers.
"Didn't you join Root..."
"...to find a way to save your son?"
"Bring him home from the hospital."
"I can cure him."
"...Really?"
Ryōko froze.
Disbelief filled her eyes.
Her son...
Barely two years old...
Had spent over a year bedridden with an incurable illness.
Whenever she wasn't on a mission...
She stayed by his bedside.
If not for the injuries Asuka had inflicted a few days ago...
She would've been at the hospital right now instead of home.
Silence filled the room.
Slowly...
She placed a trembling hand atop the scroll.
"...You're telling the truth?"
"More or less."
"If you managed to invite Lady Tsunade..."
"She could cure him too."
"...What do you want from me?"
"Information."
"My dream..."
"...is to know the exact moment you people change your underwear."
"..."
"Stop joking."
"We all carry Tongue Eradication Curse Seals."
"There's no way we can leak information about Lord Danzō."
"I'm speaking metaphorically."
Asuka rolled his eyes.
"I don't want information about your leader."
"If Root ever receives missions involving the Uchiha..."
"Quietly let me know."
Ryōko remained silent.
She still watched him warily.
Seeing that...
Asuka sighed helplessly.
"Relax."
"I'm not interested in you."
"I won't ask you to do anything dangerous."
"If one day you think my request is too risky..."
"...just refuse."
"And you don't need to worry..."
"...about me threatening your son."
"I'll cure him first."
"He'll recover."
"He'll attend school."
"Graduate."
"And become a normal shinobi."
---
Ryōko fell completely silent.
She'd expected harsh demands.
Perhaps blackmail.
Perhaps something even worse.
Instead...
This Uchiha seemed determined to help her.
Unable to understand him...
She finally voiced the question in her heart.
"...Why?"
"Why help me this much?"
Asuka shrugged.
Picking up the tea on the table, he took a sip before answering casually.
"Because..."
"We live in the same village."
"We've lived together for fifty-one years."
"When there's no conflict of interest..."
"Isn't helping each other normal?"
"You know the relationship between the Senju and the Uchiha."
"When Lady Tsunade was still in Konoha..."
"She constantly complained about the Uchiha."
"But..."
"She still treated countless Uchiha patients."
"A healer should possess compassion."
"Practice medicine with kindness."
"Remain true to heaven..."
"True to earth..."
"And true to your own heart."
Seeing Ryōko continue staring suspiciously...
Asuka's mouth twitched.
"...Fine."
"I'll tell you the real reason."
"My real goal in curing your son..."
"...is to make you remember this favor."
"So that one day..."
"When the Uchiha Clan reaches a critical crossroads..."
"You'll pass me information that could determine its future."
"...Is that all?"
Ryōko couldn't help doubting herself.
She simply couldn't believe...
An Uchiha would suddenly care about an ordinary villager like her.
Yet...
His "real" motive somehow sounded just as unbelievable.
Forget it.
As long as my son is cured...
He'll have nothing left to threaten me with.
If he ever asks me to do something truly dangerous...
I'll resign as a shinobi.
If I owe him afterward...
I'll repay him in my next life.
---
Outside the room...
Hidden within the grass...
The watching Nara clanswoman was beginning to feel lightheaded.
What...
Exactly did I just witness?
From her angle...
Ryōko had suddenly rushed over.
Grabbed the other shadow's collar.
And then...
The two silhouettes ended up face-to-face.
...Kissing?
After thinking carefully...
She felt she understood.
Ryōko's husband had died.
Leaving behind a grieving widow.
She must have missed him so much...
That she'd unconsciously recreated him with the Shadow Possession Technique.
"...Tsk."
Looking at the two silhouettes still pressed closely together...
The clanswoman quietly stood up.
I never realized...
Ryōko was this devoted.
Before leaving...
She glanced into the room one last time.
Then...
Her expression froze solid.
She rubbed her eyes repeatedly.
"...No way..."
"...Ryōko..."
"...Are you really that desperate for marital affection?"
"It's one thing to recreate a shadow..."
"But you actually recreated..."
"...this..."
"...this..."
When she finally recognized the man's silhouette...
She fell completely silent.
Slowly...
She reached out into empty air...
And instinctively grabbed.
"...Hmm."
"...I don't feel anything."
"...Ryōko..."
"...must be sick."
---
The next morning...
Just before sunrise...
The clanswoman finally staggered out of her house.
Dark circles hung beneath her eyes.
Looking at the crimson dawn, she muttered to herself,
"...What exactly does grabbing empty air feel like?"
"I've been trying all night..."
"...and still don't understand."
"Naomi?"
"Why are you talking to yourself this early?"
Hearing the familiar voice, Naomi slowly turned around.
"...Good morning, Sister."
"...Naomi."
"You look awful."
"...Sigh."
Letting out a weary sigh...
Naomi beckoned her sister closer.
"...I'll tell you a secret."
"But..."
"You can't tell anyone else."
"Only us sisters."
Seeing Naomi's exhausted expression...
Her sister nodded.
So...
Naomi carefully recounted everything she'd witnessed the previous night.
Every detail.
Every misunderstanding.
And finally...
Her greatest confusion.
"..."
After listening...
Her sister unconsciously reached into the air herself...
And squeezed.
"...You're right."
"...I don't feel anything either."
Seeing Naomi waiting expectantly...
She gently patted her younger sister's shoulder and smiled.
"...You'll understand after you get a boyfriend."
Without giving Naomi another chance to ask questions...
She immediately found an excuse and hurried away.
I don't understand this either...
But my best friend has plenty of experience.
She'll definitely know.
---
By noon...
The sun hung high overhead.
Ryōko finally stepped outside.
Taking a deep breath of the fresh air...
She slowly closed her eyes.
Last night...
Had been the first peaceful night's sleep she'd enjoyed in over a year.
Her son's illness...
Finally had hope.
"Good afternoon, Lady Yoshino."
After greeting the wife of the Nara Clan Head as she passed by...
Ryōko lay back comfortably in her chair.
Enjoying the warm sunlight.
The last time she'd felt this relaxed...
Had been nearly two years ago.
Yoshino stopped in her tracks.
She quietly studied Ryōko.
Her expression gradually became complicated.
She wasn't a doctor.
But...
She understood relationships between men and women.
Ryōko's complexion was rosy.
Her face glowed with vitality.
She looked happier than she'd been in years.
There wasn't even a trace of fatigue beneath her eyes.
She must have slept exceptionally well.
Even the cold, distant aura she'd always carried...
Had completely vanished.
Could...
The rumors spreading through the clan this morning...
Actually be true?
Had the beautiful widow...
Finally ended her year of mourning?