Lying

Rayzen entered Asami's room, only to see Asami sleeping peacefully. The mellow sun rays crossed the barrier of windows in an effort to make her warm and bring out her beauty.

Witnessing such a scene, Rayzen felt he was taking a peek at the heavens. He moved closer to her and on reaching her side, he slowly ran his hand through her hair, moving those strands that shielded her face from him.

Just as Rayzen touched her cheek, Asami woke up in panic. Rayzen was shocked by her sudden reaction and slowly calmed her down.

" Relax, Asami! ... You are safe now! ... Relax! "

It took her a few seconds to calm down and Rayzen realised that the trauma of the accident was still haunting her.

' It seems like she needs time to be back in her peak mental state. '

As she stared at Rayzen's smiling face that had concern written all over it, a variety of expressions flashed through her face. Rayzen identified a few that were of fear, pain and concern.

Rayzen wanted her to relax before he asked her questions.

" Asami- "

His call was interrupted as she hugged him and cried. Rayzen was not insensitive as he too hugged back and let her vent her emotions.

An hour went by like this as she finally appeared to have regained her senses. She asked in a weak voice : " Rayzen! Can you promise me something? "

He didn't respond for a while. But seeing that she won't talk unless he replied, he said :

" Depends on what you ask of me? "

Asami too expected this as she said with a sigh: " Please don't go outside the village! "

Rayzen replied : " No."

Asami looked into his eyes and tried to persuade him again as she said: " I will take care of you for the rest of my life and we can live happily together in the village. Will you please consider? "

Rayzen didn't waver as he stared back into her eyes to show his resolve as he said again : " No. "

Asami didn't want to give up and as she spurred on and said trying to entice him : " I can even take care of your every needs, including- "

He couldn't let her go on like this as he said with a said voice : " Please stop! You will regret this for a long time, if you continue with what you are going to say! My answer is no! And that's final! "

Although Asami tried to be seductive as possible, the situation was not one where Rayzen was receptive to it.

She laughed weakly at herself as she said : " I am sorry, Ray! I won't force you anymore! "

Rayzen reminded her in a sad tone : " Do you remember the promise we made to grow stronger together ? Do you remember the dreams we had? None of it would be fulfilled if I stay in the village. So I can't and won't promise you that I'll stay in the village, Asami!"

Asami was laying back in the bed as she tears flowed from her exposed eye. The mood in the room was depressing and Rayzen couldn't think of anything to cheer her up. He scolded Asami trying to sound mad : " I see that you used my technique Asami! Didn't I say to never even learn that technique? How did you even learn it in the first place? Perhaps did you copy it with Sharingan? Then have you been watching me everytime and peeping on me using Sharingan! I feel exposed and violated! "

Hearing his nagging and the funny rants, she couldn't help but laugh as she pinched his cheeks and said : " Now who was the one that was taking advantage of me everytime? And you dare accuse me, Ray?! "

Rayzen just chuckled embarassedly.

After laughing for sometime and clearing the depressed mood away, Rayzen warned seriously : " Asami! Never use the technique with your body again! As you can see, you right hand is impaired now! There are serious consequences to such levels of power from a jutsu like that. "

Asami got depressed again as she thought of her impaired hand and her future and possible retirement from being a kunoichi. Nonetheless she informed Rayzen that she used it as a last resort:

" I initially used it with Shadow clones, but in the end I was out of chakra and didn't have any other means to survive... "

Rayzen genuinely complemented her : " That's smart! Using it with shadow clones removes the backlash , but still a successful strike is a rare occurrence. But as you gain experience, you can increase the frequency of your successful strikes and maybe even one day use the technique with your original body without any fear of backlash. "

Asami was happy getting complements and guidance from Rayzen as she expected him to scold her. She thought back to the vague voice of her guardian angel that appeared in her dream: " Why did you have to use that technique, Asami? It makes me feel like I am the only reason for your suffering! "

The kiss that she recieved on the forehead from the 'angel' gave the strength that she needed to take major decisions that would affect the lives of her and Rayzen!

Asami was able to easily see through the veil that hid the enormous pain and sorrow of Rayzen. Even though she wanted to console him and make him remove the veil, she knew that she was no better. Especially she couldn't risk Rayzen removing her veil!

Rayzen interrupted her thoughts as he asked : " Asami, could you tell me what happened ? "

...

" So you are saying that your teammates betrayed you and they were killed by an unknown party wearing black robes and masks, while you fought with them and lost consciousness after using Micro-Burst jutsu as a last resort. "

Rayzen felt that there was something wrong with her account of the events. He scrutinized her words and tried to form a conclusion in his thoughts:

' Something's wrong! Sakumo wouldn't have made it in time to save her, if like what she said she fought with those people and lost consciousness. From Sakumo's account, the unknown assailants had already subdued Asami and were skillful enough to detect him just as he detected them. This means that they could have killed her or kidnapped her and left easily! Them leaving her alone, means they are not Root! '

Rayzen observed Asami's face that didn't waver a bit as she narrated everything. He felt revolted by his own inference.

' She is lying! '