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Who: Ashiko and Itachi
Where: An inconspicuous little village in the Land of Rice
When: April 15
Notes: A friendly encounter. Sort of. Mostly, he's just happy she's alive.

'Perhaps you should take it easy, Ashiko-sama,' a few of the lower-ranked servants had suggested, meek and worried. 'It was such a stressful situation. You deserve a rest.'

Honestly. It was as though they didn't know her at all.

Ashiko could never be happy cooling her heels, even if the alternative was being away from her master's side. Since the caravan debacle he had elected to keep a low profile, which meant that Ashiko's little errands resumed, with more frequency than ever before. Otogakure had no shortage of skilled medical ninja, not the least of which was her esteemed Danna-sama, so it wasn't as though she was even on the mend; she had been patched up as good as new by the day after their return, and had only her own bruised pride to pain her.

She didn't care that Orochimaru had stabbed a person through her, really; she was upset that she had hindered her master to the point that he had even had to do such a thing in the first place. It was a similar sentiment that had kept her from using her scroll to make contact with any Konoha shinobi. How exactly did one broach such a strained social situation? 'My master and I are in good health, I hope that none of you were fatally poisoned after we defended ourselves from your highly unwarranted attack,' seemed ill-put.

But even Ashiko could nurse a grudge, if one on behalf of her master.

The woman sighed softly and ducked into the inn and tavern that would be her lodgings for the night, sliding into the last available booth and leaning back against the old, lacquered wood tiredly. She was in the pink of health, but the weather and the long hours she had chosen to undertake had worn her out for the day.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Ashiko passed no comment over the mention of a cousin or the reveal of the scars. There wasn't any point to it, in her opinion; she knew he was more than a simple scribe and had for years, and as of tonight he knew she knew that. Why waste her breath needling him over a subject that had necessitated their final farewells to one another?

Her body, in contrast to his, was meticulously, miraculously pristine. Not only was her chest bereft of any scar from when her master skwered her; no, she didn't even have faded, minor marks from cuts or scratched scabs. She was an extension of her masters vanity, after all, and had been meticulously repaired after every bout of bodily harm that befell her, like the world's most important doll. But that wasn't what they were here for.

"So...where do we start?"

"We," Itachi said with a little bit of sarcasm. "Get in the water." he took the first step into the cold water, hissing a little as he waded out knee deep and then turned around to look at Ashiko.

Now he noticed her lack of scarring. It didn't mean, unfortunately, that her master really cared for her. It only meant he wanted her in pristine condition, but he hadn't discarded her when she was injured.

"I don't think I believe you," Ashiko said, with mock suspicion as she flinchingly entered the water as well. She made no sound or other real reaction, however, too used to maintaining her composure to forgo it for something as simple as a sudden chill.

She followed him until she was thigh deep, careful to keep as steady a footing as she could manage. Slipping and tripping in a pool in the dark was probably the exact opposite of a successful swimming lesson, after all.

Itachi started to reach out to steady Ashiko, but decided against it as he slowly lowered his hands and took a few steps deeper into the water. "First we're going to teach you how to float. It's the easiest thing, and it ought to be fairly easy for you." Women, generally, had a higher percentage of fat on their bodies, and Ashiko wasn't ninja fit, so she should have an easier time learning to float than a skinny little ninja boy.

"Right, and...does it matter if I'm on my back or stomach?" She was just drunk enough to need to stifle an immature little giggle at her own question, before shaking it off and attempting to take this seriously once more. He was doing her a favor, after all, and she should be respectful of that.

And he was very, very lucky that he hadn't commented on her fat percentage or fitness, clinical statistics or not. she was a lady, after all.

"That depends on if you'd like to breathe, Ashiko-san," Itachi replied dryly, more Uchiha than Iori. It hardly seemed to matter. They were drunk and continuing with this farce seemed ridiculous on some levels.

"I'll keep your head from going under," Itachi added. "So you won't drown." Not unless he could work up the nerve to hold her head under water.

"Okay."

And that was that. It was a simple, sincere declaration of trust that she herself didn't think twice about, murky origins and possibly loyalties aside. She turned her back on him—again, without a hint of apprehension—and leaned back until her back was fully submerged.

Her breath quickened reflexively, unused to being in the water without both feet firmly rooted to the ground.

"Relax." The gentle murmur came out automatically as he moved his hands through the water, sinking down into it until his shoulders were barely above the murky surface. Goosebumps crawled up his flesh and Itachi gently set his fingers under Ashiko's warm shoulders to balance her feather weight in the water. Her head rested easily between his arms.

"You're buoyant. You'll float," Itachi assured her.

"The lake I lived by as a child was frozen most of the time."

She hadn't actually meant to let that slip out, but nervous chatter seemed to help calm the worry knotting in her still-warm stomach, so she just focused on the fingers bracing her bare skin and let the words flow.

"So...so most of us there didn't know how to swim, because it was hard to practice safely. But sometimes people would fall through the ice. And then...then swimming didn't help much." She glanced up at him, dark eyes seeking dark eyes. "But it's...it's different in warm water, right? I really won't sink?"

Logically, she knew she wouldn't. But practically, a childish note of fear crept into her voice all the same.

"No, you won't sink," Itachi assured her, and his voice had slipped down into a gentle tone he'd never had cause for Iori to use. It was the tone for Sasuke's nightmares and tiny cousin's fears. "Cold water numbs you and disorients you, and once you go under the ice, it's hard to get back up." Itachi had gone swimming, involuntarily, in the water in winter. Even burning chakra, it hadn't been easy to stay afloat.

Somewhere cold--Itachi tucked that information away.

"If the water's rough or moving you're probably better off just swimming, but you'll float just fine in this little pond," Itachi promised.

"Oh." It was little more than an exhalation of relief, and followed on the heels of a great deal of tenseness lifting from her slight farm. "Good. That's...good." She averted her gaze, cheeks tinged with a pink he hopefully couldn't see in the evening light.

How embarrassing, to be soothed like a child at her age.

After that thought was crushed and buried, however, she noticed that she was, indeed, floating and a small, silly smile of relief stole across her lips.

"When you feel comfortable, we'll try actually swimming," Itachi added. "Have you ever watched a frog swim?" They had plenty of tadpoles, frogs, and the like in Konoha. Toads to.

Now...if he grabbed her hair and yanked back, he could get her head under water. He could ward of her attacks with his free hand--most of them, anyway, and by holding her by the back of her skull, he could avoid being bitten.

Now he just needed to make the movements to do so.

"Yes," Ashiko said, though it took her a moment to churn up the relevant memory. She frowned thoughtfully and looked back up at him. "I'll need to be on my stomach to do it like that, won't I?"

It might get a little difficult for him to act as insurance against her head going under, if she flipped over now. He did seem to know what he was talking about so far, though, so Ashiko had no reason not to trust him for this next step.

"Something like that, especially for the kick. It's a simple stroke and it should be the easiest for you to learn." Itachi spoke almost absently, trying to work up the nerve to grab her hair and yank. His movements seemed to slow and fuzzy, and he'd only have one chance to do this quietly...except having her flail around like a landed fish wouldn't be quiet, so he should think of a better plan. Maybe he could just slit her throat when they were back on dry land, after she'd gotten dressed, of course. Better make it look like a mugging gone bad.

Before he could move much at all, Ashiko took the vague slide of his hands to be a gentle implication that it was time for her to switch over. With that thought in mind, she carefully got her feet back on solid stone and turned to face him, water that had perviously seemed so scary swishing harmlessly around her hips.

She blushed a little at her own cowardice and prayed he either couldn't see it or chalked it up to belated modesty on her part.

"How, um...how do we make sure my face doesn't go under?"

Water certainly made clothes form fitting. After a quick glance which seemed seared into his pupils, Itachi kept his eyes on Ashiko's face. It wasn't as if he hadn't seen naked or half clothes women before, but this was Ashiko and it was somehow different.

"By teaching you to swim?" Itachi suggested rather lamely. "Look, get back in the water and I'll show you the arm motions, and then I'll hold you up while we get the kick worked out." Itachi, knowing how cold the balmy night would seem now that he was wet, was reluctant to stand.

Most likely because she was always so put together, a picture of carefully layered silks, rich embroidery and gilded hair combs. He had never seen her in anything but the full ensemble, and to see her with only a fraction of it—a fraction he had never had reason to see before, either—could only be...jarring.

But Ashiko wasn't thinking about that. With a slightly reluctant wrinkle of her nose, she sunk back down into the water until her shoulders were covered as well. She could float, now, she reminded herself sternly. There was no monster to yank her down by the ankle here; that had only been a story to keep children off of the ice.

"Now..." Itachi found his brain worked better when Ashiko was in the water. "Keep your fingers together. Those are your paddles and it will help you move the water if they're close together like that." Itachi demonstrated the motion with his own arms, causing ripples.

"And then you bring your arms back in and do it again." It was simply, but combining the kicking and arm movements in such a way that would not sink you...that was the hard part of this.

Ashiko copied the motion obediently, frowning at the first attempt and diligently repeating the motion until it was just as smooth as his had been. It felt a little silly, true, but if a frog could do something so basic then certainly she could pull it off, right?

"Like this?"

"Yes," Itachi grinned a little. She was a quick study. "mostly you have to swim to figure out exactly how to do it, but you've got the basic movements down. If you'll give me your arms, you can try the kick." Itachi offered out his hands.

"Right." She took his hands, gripping a little tighter than strictly necessary as a way to compensate for the obvious slickness. From there she carefully transitioned into a half-float, keeping her shoulders and neck tense and taut to avoid the water's surface.

"Just relax," Itachi commanded. "Your head and shoulders are going to be higher than your legs, and your main propulsion will come from your legs. Don't be afraid to get your head wet. Just hold your breath when it happens." He felt a little like he was teaching a kid at the Academy.

"Telling people to 'relax' and 'not be afraid' is counter intuitive because it focuses their attention on whatever distressing thing you're trying to get them to avoid worrying about." It was a soft, slightly dry murmur, possibly not even meant to be said aloud, but Ashiko gripped his hands tighter and obligingly started kicking.

Itachi smiled. "As always, I bow to your wisdom, Ashiko-san." Itachi raised himself up just enough to see Ashiko's legs. "Fold you knees a little more before you kick back out."

"Okay," Ashiko agreed, flushing guiltily at his reply. She applied herself even more to the task at hand, working to perfect the kick in penance for her lapse in restraint. It wasn't the first of the evening, but there was no need to be rude out of mere nervousness.

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