"There's nothing to apologize for. You're you, and he's him."
Uchiha Gen set down his wooden chopsticks. The soft crackling of the charcoal made the silence between them feel even deeper.
Uchiha Gen looked up at his dispirited, dejected teammate, his tone calm and composed.
"Whatever Hiruzen Sarutobi was like, it had nothing to do with you, Asuma Sarutobi, from beginning to end."
Those lightly spoken words struck Asuma Sarutobi's heart like a falling rock.
Asuma Sarutobi abruptly raised his head. Beneath his disheveled hair, his clouded eyes trembled slightly. A faint glimmer finally appeared in his bloodshot eyes, only to be swiftly swallowed by profound bewilderment.
"Nothing to do with me?"
Asuma Sarutobi murmured, his voice terribly hoarse and filled with deep self-doubt.
"How could it have nothing to do with me? Just like you said before, I'm his son. His blood flows in my veins, and I still bear the Sarutobi Clan's name. All of that says it can't possibly have nothing to do with me."
Asuma Sarutobi's hands tightened slightly at his sides, his fingertips turning white. The mental exhaustion nearly crushed him.
"I always used to think my father was the Hokage who protected the village, the standard by which all the Shinobi World's Kage were measured. I desperately chased after him, wanting to inherit his will, to protect Konoha and the 'king' as I understood it.
"But in the end, I discovered that everything I'd held to had been false from the beginning. You know, ever since I was little, I was so... so rebellious? Yeah, let me call it that for now.
"I only acted that way because I wanted him to pay a little more attention to me... because I admired him from the bottom of my heart. But looking at it now...