Ending the Wait

Her musings were broken, when Rayzen seemed to have woken up. Asami was cautious at first, but relaxed since she felt he was in no condition, and never had any intention, to take advantage of her.

"Are you awake, Ray?" She asked.

...

After he fell unconscious again, she felt tears coming to her eyes as she heard the boy's heartfelt emotion. She thought about her circumstances before and after Rayzen and couldn't help but cry silently for a few minutes.

She didn't want Rayzen to get cold. So she washed his body and when she turned him around to see his face, the tears came out again. She saw the tear marks on his face.

After washing up, she dressed him, and laid him on the bed. While he slept in peace, she went to prepare a big meal.

When she dressed herself, she noticed her skin was a bit smoother than before. And when she observed herself in the mirror, she couldn't help but shriek on seeing that she became a bit more beautiful and full of vitality. Even though the changes were minute, it could not escape the eyes of a kunoichi like her nor from the eyes of other kunoichis she was in contact with.

Disregarding the visible difference, she felt her body strength improved by a substantial margin. Her physique was a bit lower than the level of an average Genin, her female physique being a major reason. But with a weakness comes another strength. Kunoichis have generally much lower body strength than shinobi , while an opposite trend is seen generally in the chakra capacity and that too the variation is by a large amount.

After Rayzen's surprise, Asami felt her body strength was at the level of a high Genin.

Experiencing all the improvements brought by Rayzen, Asami felt that whoever gets to keep him is a lucky girl. Her thoughts turning to that topic, she remembered the intimate moments in the bathtub and blushed furiously. She made an extra effort in her cooking to both thank Rayzen and keep her mind off the embarassing moments between them.

...

Rayzen woke up feeling starved. He rushed to the kitchen. Asami on seeing him gave him some snacks first and after the dinner was prepared, he had a heavy and satisfying meal.

He complimented Asami as she well deserved one.

" The dinner was amazing. I feel much better than before. Thank you, Asami!"

"No need for thanks! It's my thanks for you." She replied with a smile.

Rayzen at first didn't get what she was thankful to him for. But taking a look at her again, he understood as he said in a trance:

" You look much more beautiful than before."

Asami blushed a little on hearing his compliment and felt both happy and proud inside.

Rayzen didn't stop there as he asked in excitement: " Did you feel any increase in strength? Let's go have a battle!"

Asami shook her head. She keeps on 'forgetting' that Rayzen was afterall a 5-year old.

To satisfy the curiosity of the eager child, she had to participate in the battle. Besides, she felt it better to test out her new limits.

After the battle, Rayzen was satisfied with his technique and Asami with her improvement in strength. Rayzen surmised that an estimation of the limits of his technique could be done only after getting a prolonged set of data on many individuals.

Since he felt that the technique will reduce his training time, he told Asami that he could only do the technique once a month, and that too will exhaust him each time, in reply to her asking if he could do this technique on her again.

After the battle, they took bath, but this time Asami washed him and send him out first, before taking hers. They then happily cuddled each other to sleep.

It was a happy, exciting, stimulating and satisfying day for the two.

...

The monotonous days had a slight change in that he was worried about those days when Asami didn't return after leaving for missions. Although he wanted her to pursue her dreams, that didn't mean he would be worry free, particularly when her profession has the highest death toll.

An year soon passed.

...

2 April of Year 48.

It was Toshiko's 9th birthday. Rayzen and Asami were never invited for the official party. But the family had a small party in which Rayzen and Asami were the only guests.

Rayzen always felt uncomfortable in that he couldn't attend the official party and meet new people or anything. But considering his circumstances, he chose to endure.

Since he was restricted within two compounds of the Uchiha clan, he had no way of giving any presents. He had to apologise and give a kiss to the forehead on every birthday for both Toshiko and Sora.

He frequently played with them to escape the boredom of his monotonous life. It doesn't matter if you are in your favourite anime world or a world with an harem ready at your beck and call, you would feel suffocated over a long time, if you are under house arrest and living a monotonous life.

A lot of action and excitement and tragedies are taking place outside the bounds of your house, but you are only allowed to know about it and just have to watch as the wheels of time rotate. The feeling of vexation gets harder to endure with the passing years.

Even though he had a 20-year old mindset, he soon succumbed under the pressure.

At the end of the party, Rayzen informed Takeshi that he was ready to join the academy and that he could no longer wait.

On hearing that Rayzen was joining the academy, Toshiko was excited and said she will take care of him as a senior by 1 year. Whereas, Sora began to make a fuss about wanting to join the academy, and Takeshi and Arisu had to finally agree to their daughter's wish.

Takeshi knew that Sora was much better than the academy students of the first two years. Motivated by Rayzen, Sora had long begun to take training seriously, afraid that her sister will hog him for herself all the time.

The classes for the year would start on April 4. Takeshi told Rayzen to visit him the next day, to talk about his situation and deal with the problems that would surely spring up after he starts attending the academy.

Although the restrictions on him would be lifted and he could go anywhere in the village, this freedom came with a cost. He has to constantly be on guard against those who wish to snuff out his existence.