Chapter Text
“It’s the third one this week,” Shisui Uchiha said grimly, looking down at the withered body before them in the dirt.
It was a grotesque sight. The lifeless body lay twisted, limbs pointing at odd angles. It was as if the life had been sucked from them, skin wrinkled and sagging, their eyes vacant and grey as they stared up at the sky. They wore the standard Jonin uniform, but their clothes remained untouched, and not a scratch on them.
“And the third victim to be found in the Red Light District,” Asami Uchiha added with suspicion. She crossed her arms before dragging her gaze to her father, Fugaku Uchiha, who regarded the scene with a hard expression beside them.
He turned his attention to the open file in his hand with a frown.
“Masahiro Fukata,” Fugaku said as he identified the body.
Held with a paperclip at the top of the file was a photo of the young man, much more lively than the one in the dirt before them, green eyes bright as he looked into the camera for his Shinobi identification photo. It was hard to believe the corpse in the dirt before them was the same man in the file.
It was morning, the air grim as the three Military Police officers stood before the scene in the infamous Red Light District of Konohagakure. The weight of the situation settled over the group as they went quiet.
The busboy who worked at a restaurant nearby had found the body while taking out the garbage. He was still pretty shaken up after discovering it. His boss, the restaurant owner, notified the Military Police to look into the scene, so here they were. The victim had been there since the night before, as the closing crew hadn’t seen him, so that was certain enough.
A couple of stray MP members were snapping photos of the scene as others placed barrier seals to keep stray civilians from entering the area.
Asami eyed the victim's clothes, noticing that his zipper had been undone and there was a puddle of some sort off to the side near the dumpster.
“Maybe he came over here to relieve himself, and someone took the opportunity to strike while his guard was down,” she offered.
Shisui made a face. “That would be something. The poor guy just needed to use the bathroom.”
Fugaku sighed and closed the file after reading it for a moment. He passed it over to Asami, who tucked it under her arm.
“Now that there have been three identified victims, all killed in the same way, there’s no doubt that this was all caused by the same person.” He said grimly, looking back down at the withered body. “Asami, put together a case file and bring it to the Yondaime. He needs to be informed.”
Asami nodded.
“Shisui, speak to the trash boy again and get a better account of his story… I think he was too anxious earlier to give any relevant information.” Fugaku said, nodding in the boy’s direction. He stood on the other side of the tape next to his boss, the restaurant owner, Takahira.
Takahira looked as though he was about to wring the neck of the MP officer who was trying to console him. He was turning red from screaming in the officer's face, but Asami couldn't hear him from where they were. The garbage boy stood beside them, quiet and as white as a sheet, as he fiddled with his fingers.
Shisui sighed begrudgingly before turning and heading toward the barrier seals. “Yes, Fugaku-sama.”
Fugaku turned his attention back to his youngest daughter. “I’m going to investigate the scene further and make sure this gets cleaned up, and that the victims' families know what happened to him. I’m sure they won’t be pleased to know he was spending his time in the Red Light district, but it can’t be helped.”
He hummed and folded his hands behind his back. “Make sure the Yondaime understands the severity of what’s going on here. Something about this is…” He trailed off, eyeing the victim.
“Unnatural?” Asami supplied, agreeing with her father as she looked back at the body. She resisted the urge to grimace. It truly looked as though their soul had been sucked from their body.
“Unnervingly so,” Fugaku agreed, before turning to her with sharp eyes. “Make sure the Hokage understands that.”
Asami nodded. “I will.”
She turned on her heel, walking away from Fugaku, whose gaze was still trained on the body in the dirt, his gaze heavy.
Asami passed through the crime scene seals, the other MP officers nodding at her in acknowledgment as she walked past. She returned their nods as she neared the angry restaurant owner and his busboy, who were speaking to Shisui. The MP officer who had previously been on the receiving end of Takahira’s wrath stood by Shisui with a deep frown.
“When will my restaurant be able to open again?!” Takahira shouted angrily, his face red.
Shisui’s lip twitched as he scribbled some notes down on a pad in his hand. “We have to clean up the scene and make sure we didn’t overlook anything. You can open tomorrow, most likely. But not tonight.”
Takahira grit his teeth and took a threatening step forward. “Listen here, Uchiha boy, I don’t care if one of your rotten shinobi were hanging by his toes outside my restaurant, I need to make my money!”
The busboy swallowed as he rocked on his feet next to his boss. He looked close to passing out, sweat matting his hairline as he refused to look up.
Asami grimaced at the nervous boy and the pissed-off shop owner. She was glad Shisui was dealing with the restaurant owner and not her. He was more of a people person than she was, so it worked out better this way.
She left the scene soon after and arrived at the Military Police station in the heart of Konoha. It was busy, officers talking to one another at their desks, some writing reports, while others chatted over coffee in the corner of the room. A higher rank officer gave a debrief for patrols at a whiteboard at the center of the room.
Asami sat at her desk near the back of the building, nearing her father’s office.
This was her safe space. It was familiar, and while to some all the papers and filing would seem monotonous, the smell of coffee and chatting officers was comforting. She knew the lay of the land, and she liked putting together the pieces of whatever suspicious happenings seemed to cross her desk. She liked the mystery despite not utilizing flashy jutsu every day.
It helped that she had worked hard to get here. While years ago, the thought of being near her father's desk and working on something he entrusted her with seemed out of the realm of possibilities, here she was.
Though the case itself was… disturbing to say the least.
Asami leaned with her cheek in her fist, long, black hair hanging over her shoulder as she huddled over a group of photos splayed on her desk. Her dark eyes were narrowed on the photos of the other bodies in a similar state to the one discovered earlier.
All of them were seemingly drained of their lifeforce. All found in the Red Light district, and young Jonin. There weren’t any obvious consistencies between the victims, other than that, but that was what made it more alarming. Their manner of death was strange. There wasn’t a way to explain how they had died, and there weren't any clues as to what a motive would be. There was no other way to explain it other than that it seemed like their souls had been ripped from their bodies.
Why would someone do this? How were they choosing the victims?
Asami’s brows furrowed as she picked up one of the photos, her gaze burning holes into the victims own grey, lifeless stare as they looked up at the sky.
“Knock knock.”
More photos were tossed onto her desk. She looked up to see Shisui grinning down at her.
“You’re always in your own world over here,” Shisui hummed lightheartedly, leaning with his back against her desk. He crossed his arms and glanced down at the gruesome pictures she was just fixated on, his face falling.
“I wonder what kind of creep could do this.” He mumbled.
“And why would they do it?” Asami asked rhetorically, voicing the main question that had been floating around in her head all day. “What’s the purpose of doing this?” She gestured to the photos with her free hand, still leaning into her other one.
“Sometimes people do things we can’t understand." Shisui supplied a shrug.
Asami shook her head, not accepting that as an answer, even if it was just a temporary one to offer comfort.
“There has to be a reason. The circumstances around the deaths of these Jonin are too strange. The attacker can’t be killing just to kill.” She said.
Shisui tapped his fingers against his biceps as he looked down at the photos. He silently agreed with her, but wasn’t sure what to say, especially as the circumstances were so grim.
There had been two other victims within the last week. The circumstances were bizarre enough, but three bodies of Jonin within such a short period of time were enough to make most worry.
Asami tugged at her bottom lip with her fingers, eyes drifting over the way the victims’ bodies sagged against the ground, eyes soulless.
How could they have died without a scratch on them?
“Well, just put together that case file as Fugaku-sama said and deliver it to the Yondaime. It’s nearing lunchtime. You should probably get something to eat.” Shisui chided, pushing off her desk.
Asami grunted, her eyes still stuck on the papers, not really acknowledging him.
He rolled his eyes at her lack of response. He then reached over and ruffled her hair, tossing her thick, black strands around.
“Hey, you listening to me?” He asked.
“Hey!” She cried, pushing his hands away. Shooting him a glare, she rolled back a few inches in her chair to put some distance between them and began fixing her hair. “I heard you, okay?”
Shisui leaned over and poked her arm. “Get some food.”
Asami huffed, but gave him a teasing glare. “Fine. Want me to call you Aniki too?”
“Nah, you’ve already got too many older brothers,” Shisui said with a wave of his hand. “I’m going to see Itachi for lunch too. Kami knows he probably hasn’t eaten anything today either, as he’s been stuck to the Yondaime’s side.”
Shisui stuffed a hand in his pocket and turned on his heel, beginning to walk away. He tossed a hand over his shoulder to wave goodbye casually. “See ya’ later.”
Asami watched him walk away. He shouted something to another Uchiha MP officer on his way out, the other officer returning with some kind of comment of his own, leading them both to laugh freely.
She turned her attention back to her desk with a grimace, lingering on her beginnings of a case file.
The horrible pictures made her feel more unsettled the longer she looked at them. How Shisui was able to observe such a gruesome scene and go on soon after, laughing as if nothing mattered, she had no idea. In a way, she envied him for it. Asami knew his behavior was not from naivety, but rather that these kinds of cases ate at her more than she liked to admit.
She scooted forward and picked up a photo of one of the most recent victims that Shisui had delivered. Fiddling with the edges of the picture, she stared at it with a perplexed expression, her lips twisted.
The murders really were disturbing.
The current case file gathered in her hand in a neat, green manilla folder, Asami walked down the dirt path towards the Hokage's office dressed in her standard MP uniform. The only distinguishing item to her was the katana strapped to her side and the red hitai-ate across her forehead.
“Three bodies… all found in the Red Light district… Jonin…” Asami mumbled to herself as she prepared herself to give the verbal account to the Yondaime should he ask for it.
Minato Namikaze was someone she knew well. He was a kind man, but that didn’t make it any less intimidating to give him formal reports. Her interactions with him became more frequent once she was promoted to Jonin two years ago at seventeen and was assigned to the Investigation Division within the Military Police. But she still turned into a wreck every time she had to venture into his office.
If she were to botch the report and her father heard about it… or her former Genin sensei… she would melt from embarrassment. A serial murderer in the village targeting Jonin was not something she could afford to deliver with poor instruction.
Asami stared up at the Hokage building as she came upon it, her mouth going a bit dry. She was taking her sweet time before she climbed the steps to give him the report, that was for sure. She began to rock on the balls of her feet as she gave herself a mental pep talk.
“You admiring the view?” A lazy voice came from behind her.
She wrung the folder in her hands and glanced over to see Shikamaru Nara, slouching with his hands in his pockets. He wore his Jonin uniform, hair tied up into its usual spiky ponytail as he regarded her with a seemingly bored stare.
“No,” Asami said defensively as she stood straighter.
She was not close friends with Shikamaru, but she knew him from Sasuke’s class. He also worked within the Intelligence and Strategy division within Konoha, so they came into contract semi frequently. He had a brother a little younger than her if she remembered correctly.
“Hm,” Shikamaru said, his eyes drifting down to the folder in her hand. He shrugged and then continued toward the stairs, walking past her as she went. “Stalling won’t help with your nerves, you know.”
Asami went bright red at the call out, unable to help her embarrassment at how quickly he had figured her out. She narrowed her gaze on his back as he climbed the stairs.
“I-I don’t have any nerves!” She insisted.
“Whatever you say, woman.” He said back with a wave of his hand.
Her heart in her throat, Asami blew on the long, curtain bangs that framed her face, before taking off toward the stairs in a hurry. She passed him, her shoes clicking against the stone steps as she hurried, folder clutched to her chest. She shot him one glance before she rounded the stairs. His eyes went a bit wide at her sudden charge and the look she sent him, before she disappeared around the corner and out of his view.
Asami walked through the halls of the Hokage building, recounting her report as she had before and trying to calm her breathing.
It was true she was nervous as hell. If Shikamaru hadn’t said something to make her rip off the bandage out of pure determination to prove him wrong, she probably would have been standing there for a long while. In a way, she was thankful.
Asami took a deep breath outside of the Hokage’s office door before she raised her fist and rapped her knuckles gently against the door.
Her heart thudded against her chest as she heard the friendly, “Come in!” from inside the office.
She pushed open the door to see Minato Namikaze behind the Hokage's desk, the office filled with stacks of papers that were well-organized. He wore the Hokage robes, but his hat sat neatly on the table nearby. In his hand was a pen, as she had walked in while he was in the middle of filling out a report.
Asami stepped inside, the door still open, and dropped into a low bow, her head tipped as she hoped he couldn’t see the red lining her ears.
“I apologize, Yondaime-sama. I would offer to come back at another time, but I have an urgent case file for you to review.” She said, tucking her chin.
Minato chuckled slowly and waved his hand. “Please, Asami-chan, come inside. There’s no need for the formalities.”
Asami swallowed hard, ignoring the dryness in her throat, and stepped further into his office. She came up to his desk and passed the file over to his outstretched hand. She tugged at the hem of her Jonin vest as she tried to calm her nerves.
Minato eyed the contents of the report as he tapped the pen against his chin casually. Asami didn’t say anything, allowing him to read, and remaining alert in case he had any questions.
There was the tapping of knuckles against the doorframe. Minato looked up to see Shikamaru, his surprised expression morphing into another kind smile.
“Shikamaru-kun, what can I do for you?” He asked, before dragging his gaze back down the report. It wasn’t an impolite gesture, but enough to make sure that it didn’t feel as though he was neglecting Asami’s presence in lieu of Shikamaru.
Shikamaru glanced at Asami, then at the folder in Minato’s hand. His gaze sharpened before he slid further inside and closed the door behind him.
“I had something to report to you from the Intelligence Division.” Shikamaru began carefully. He came to stand beside Asami, sliding his hands in his pockets to appear at ease.
This time, though, Asami regarded Shikamaru with a careful stare. She had noticed the way his gaze narrowed, as though something was amiss, and it seemed as though he wasn’t sure she should be privy to his conversation.
“Oh?” Minato said, clicking his pen, though it slowed as he seemed to be getting further into the report. There was a subtle twitch to his brow. “What may that be?”
Shikamaru paused, his gaze also drifting to her. This time, she was sure he was determining whether she should be present for the information, and Minato seemed to pick up on this.
“Go on,” He encouraged as he closed the folder and set it on his desk, before looking up at Shikamaru.
“Well,” Shikamaru began, uncomfortable with the change of events, and Asami as the unexpected guest. He cleared his throat and stood a little straighter. “We wanted to report unusual happenings within the Red Light district. There are unusual patterns within our weekly data. Civilians are behaving strangely. Closing businesses early, gossiping about avoiding certain sections of the district.”
At this, Asami’s interest was piqued.
“In addition to that, and what may be the most unnerving, is that chunin squads patrolling through the area, or stationed near it, are reporting extreme chakra exhaustion after their shifts. There are also gaps of time between patrols varying between 20-25 minutes that cannot be recounted from reports…” Shikamaru trailed off as Minato made a motion with his hand.
He then picked up the file and held it out to Shikamaru. “Take a look at this.”
Asami blinked, a bit surprised that Minato was so willing to trust him with the information, especially as it was occurring within the village and they had no idea who was behind the attacks, but as he came to report the findings, it wasn’t likely he knew who the perpetrator was anyway.
Shikamaru took the file and skimmed the contents, his eyes widening as he flipped through Asami’s report of the three murders.
She found it peculiar that they were finding similar happenings. While the MP engaged in patrols and took in reports, they did not zero in on the data and consistency of them. She was irritated with herself for not considering that as a resource.
“What is this?” Shikamaru said, unable to help the slight shake in his voice as he looked up from the file. His fingers were pinched at the top of the file near the paperclipped photos. His gaze drifted to Asami expectantly.
“We don’t know.” Asami looked off to the side, equally unsettled by it. “Finding a motive has been the most difficult part of all this. We know they’re targeting Jonin, we know they’re targeting them in the Red Light district, but why remains a mystery.”
She pursed her lips, mulling over whether she was to voice her running theory, as if she was wrong, it would be quite embarrassing, but all of it was speculation.
“I think the attacker may be taking advantage of those who spend their time in the Red Light district.” She began.
“How so?” Shikamaru asked, with a raised brow.
“From the photos, you can see the victims' clothes are all untouched. No tears, no bruising, it’s as if they had no idea what happened to them before they were killed.” Asami stepped forward and reached for the file, Shikamaru passing it to her.
She fiddled with the paper clip and pulled out the photos belonging to the most recent victim, before holding it up with a neatly manicured finger, tapping it against the photo where his zipper was undone. “Not to be crude, but I think the attacker found a drunk man trying to relieve himself in the alley and took advantage of him. All the other men had consumed some kind of alcohol and been taking part in recreational activities in the district before their deaths too.”
Shikamaru hummed and rested his hand on his chin as he processed her theory.
“That would make sense,” Minato concluded. “Attacking shinobi at their most vulnerable, especially when they’re inside the village, drinking with their comrades or gambling—they wouldn’t suspect anything to be amiss.”
Shikamaru then frowned. He appeared the most concerned Asami had seen him throughout this conversation.
“What would be the point of doing this, though? Why target Konoha shinobi?” He gestured to the file in her hands. “And why do their bodies look like that?”
Minato nodded with a grim expression. “Three shinobi deaths within the village is cause for concern. Mainly with their circumstances of death. My guess is the perpetrator is using some kind of forbidden jutsu, but what it does, or what kind of person the wielder may be, I have no idea.” He clicked his pen and leaned back in his chair, gaze drifting between Asami and Shikamaru.
“Asami-chan, are you assigned to this case?” Minato asked, his blue gaze landing on her.
She stood up straight with a nod. “I am.”
“Good,” Minato gestured to Shikamaru. “I want you and Shikamaru-kun to work together on this. The data within the Intelligence department will hopefully help us put some of the pieces together before the perpetrator strikes again. I’ll do some digging of my own as well in the meantime.”
He leaned to the side of his chair and made a motion with his hand, an ANBU body flickering to his side out of thin air. Minato mumbled something to him, to which the ANBU nodded wordlessly, before disappearing again.
He turned to face both of them. “You’re both dismissed. If there’s another attack, or you find any information that you deem relevant, let me know.”
Asami set the report she had gathered for Minato back on his desk, her own copy back at the MP building. Her gaze drifted over Shikamaru, who was already regarding her with a stare of his own, but she turned on her heel and headed toward the exit of the Hokage’s office.
They could talk about their approach to working together out of earshot from the Yondaime.
Shikamaru followed after her, closing the door softly. He shoved his hands in his pockets and began walking alongside her to exit the Hokage tower. She folded her hands behind her back idly and fiddled with her fingers out of his view.
It was wise for the Yondaime to instruct them to work together, as the Intelligence department had access to data that could help provide details she wouldn’t have known about otherwise, but she wasn’t exactly looking forward to working with Shikamaru. He was a Nara, so his perspective would be valuable, but she also didn’t want it to seem as though he was overshadowing her on the case. There was also the fear of her father interpreting the involvement of the Intelligence department as insulting, as though the Military Police couldn’t handle their own investigations.
Asami didn’t quite see it that way. With all her pride, she liked the idea of finding the killer on her own, but accepting help within the village to stop innocent lives from being taken was enough for her to overlook that aspect.
They arrived outside the Hokage tower, where they had met earlier. Shikamaru turned to face her.
“I can be at the Military Police building tomorrow morning to go over the details you’ve gathered, along with whatever information the Intelligence department has.” He sighed, rubbing the side of his head as he looked up at the sky. “I wasn’t planning on doing any work tomorrow, but if Yondaime-sama thinks our departments need to work together, then he must be concerned.”
“You don’t want to look at it today?” Asami asked, as it was only the afternoon. She still hadn’t eaten lunch as Shisui told her to, but that didn’t concern her much.
“Today?” Shikamaru reiterated, looking at her as though she had grown two heads.
“Do you have anything planned?” She asked, genuinely wondering why he wouldn’t want to review the work now if they had the time.
His eyes drifted over her confused expression, his mouth quivering a bit, before he let out another sigh, hands sliding into his pockets. He looked back up at the sky with a grimace. “No, I suppose I don’t have anything planned.”
Asami blinked, taken aback by his nonchalant nature. She had half the mind to ask him if he was avoiding work, but the sound of an excited voice caught her off guard.
“‘Sami-chan!”
She cried out as an arm was thrown around her shoulder and she was tugged into Naruto Namikaze’s sturdy, warm side. He stood tall next to her as he squished her against him with a bright smile.
“It’s good to see you! Were you meeting with Chichi?” Naruto asked, looking down at Asami, who was turning red at being pulled into such a sudden, tight hug while she was trying to have a professional conversation.
“Naruto, let her go!” Sakura screeched, smacking his arm. “She was obviously talking to Shikamaru-kun!”
Naruto glanced from her to Shikamaru, a guilty smile stretching across his face. He allowed Asami to slide out of his grasp. “Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt, dattebayo.”
Asami grumbled something inaudible to herself as she tried to fix her hair and clothes, before glancing up at Naruto with a sideways glance. “No hard feelings, Naruto-kun, but I was in the middle of a conversation…”
Shikamaru only shrugged. “It’s not a big deal.”
“What were you talking about?” Sasuke asked, coming up to them with his hands in his pockets. His other two teammates had left him behind. All three of them were saddled with backpacks as they had just returned from a mission.
“A case from the Military Police,” Asami explained simply. She didn’t want to give out the case details now in front of Sakura and Naruto. He would probably hear about it later anyway from her or their father.
Sasuke ‘hmphed’, seeming to be thinking about his words carefully, before he decided to speak anyway.
“When are you taking a real mission like an actual Jonin?” He asked slyly.
Asami’s gaze narrowed, already knowing where this conversation was going. “I am acting like a real Jonin.”
“All you do is work within the village.” Sasuke chided. “Pushing papers isn’t real shinobi work.”
Sakura frowned at him. “That’s pretty rude, Sasuke-kun.”
Sasuke shrugged as though he couldn’t care less. “I’m just saying. You can do more than just sniff around the village and wait for something interesting to happen.”
It took a lot for Asami not to bark at him that she was doing something interesting and important for the village, but it wasn’t something she could go around blabbing in front of those who weren’t involved in the case.
“You’re being a brat.” Asami shot back. “I’m here because Tou-sama gave me instructions to deliver the case file to the Yondaime. Personally.” She added, hoping it actually struck him enough to shut up and leave it be.
This was the first time she had seen her older brother in a week, and he was acting like a premature bully in front of his team and her new colleague. It was embarrassing.
Sasuke’s brow twitched as his sly expression slid off his face. He straightened up.
“Tou-sama had you come speak to the Yondaime on his behalf?” He asked in disbelief.
“Yeah, and what of it?” Asami asked as she placed her hand on her hip.
Sasuke’s gaze narrowed on her as though he was trying to come up with some snarky response. But the words didn’t form; instead, he set his jaw before he huffed, blowing on his long curtain bangs.
“Whatever. Let’s go give our mission debrief.” He pushed past her and grabbed onto Naruto’s jacket to tug him along.
“Whoa, Teme, hold up a second—!” Naruto cried out in protest, but Sasuke tugged him up the stairs and out of view before the blond could wrangle himself out of the tight grip.
Sakura sighed and scratched the side of her face. She gave Asami and Shikamaru an apologetic look.
“Sorry, I think Sasuke-kun is a little tired after our mission. I’m sure he didn’t mean it, Asami-chan.” She tried to offer kindly, but Asami’s mood had already been ruined.
“It’s okay,” Asami waved her off, trying to act as though it didn’t matter much to her. “He always acts like that. For being only a year older than me, he acts like a child sometimes.”
Sakura gave her a small smile and wrung her hands around her backpack straps. “Well, I should probably head up there with them. I’ll catch you later.” She gave Shikamaru a friendly wave before turning and running up the steps after her teammates, her shoes clicking as she went.
Asami sighed and settled her hand on her hip. She stared at the steps her brother had charged up with a pit in her stomach.
He was so eager to get away from her after hearing that their father had sent her over here personally, she wondered if she had taken it too far. She knew Sasuke was sensitive and competitive, but it aggravated her to no end. She wouldn’t allow him to embarrass her. But now she too felt like a jerk.
She glanced over to Shikamaru with an apologetic look of her own. “Sorry about that. Maybe let’s review the case tomorrow morning as you suggested earlier.”
Shikamaru’s gaze skimmed her face for a moment. He shrugged. “Alright. Fine by me.”
He turned and began to walk away. She looked back at the stairs.
Asami loved her work within the village. She liked that she was able to support her father and work within the clan, but sometimes, there was a part of her that thought she should be doing more with field work. Itachi and Sasuke had both taken many dangerous missions. She had completed a few of her own as a Chunin and in her early Jonin career, most of her efforts now were within the Military Police.
She knew Sasuke wasn’t right about her work being useless, but a small voice in the back of her head whispered some of those same taunting things even still.
“Hey, by the way,” Shikamaru’s voice came from behind her.
Asami looked over in surprise, expecting him to be gone by now.
“The tasks we handle within the village aren't a waste of time. You don’t need to be completing flashy missions all the time to do meaningful work.” He said, before shrugging. “We’re doing important stuff. Without us, the village would fall apart.”
Shikamaru turned and began walking away again. He tossed a hand over his shoulder. “Anyway, I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
Asami watched him continue down the dirt road, unable to help the strange feeling in her stomach at the reassurance.