Chapter 8.2

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POV - Narrator:

Ten days had passed. Itachi and Kisame still hadn't found the six-tails jinchuriki. But, they did get closer to finding his true hiding place. That didn't matter though, since they hadn't actually found him. And they both knew Pain was going to be pissed.

"We're sorry, Pain," Kisame said.

Itachi and Kisame were talking to Pain in person. Pain, who knew they weren't going to be able to find the six-tails, had gone out of his way to travel to the land they were in. Along with his main path of Pain, Deva, he brought the other five.

It was their first time seeing all Six Paths of Pain. At first, it confused Kisame while it took Itachi a few seconds to realize why there were six of them.

"These aren't living bodies, are they?" Itachi deduced. It was rare for Itachi to speak to Pain that much, so naturally, Pain was surprised Itachi had shown interest. Itachi examined them closely, narrowing his eyes. He placed his thumb and index finger on his chin.

"That's correct," Deva Path replied. "I'm controlling them," he added.

Kisame was still confused. "Huh, wha—" he blurted.

"Why did you come before our ten days finished?" Itachi questioned.

"I doubted you two would be able to find the six-tails. Anyway, I'm going to capture him by myself."

Kisame scrunched his eyebrows. He held his arms out, walking a few feet away from them. "What was the point of making us search?!" He was annoyed. He didn't like doing unnecessary things.

"To decrease the size of the area I have to search. You two are now in charge of supporting me," Deva Path instructed. "On my way here, I ran into a group of Hidden Mist shinobi and it turns out there's a whole brigade of them coming this way." He pointed to the forest behind us. "They're coming from that direction."

"Wait why—" Kisame asked.

"Must you always be so dense? They clearly know about our goal of capturing their jinchuriki, so they're sending a bunch of shinobi to fight us and protect the jinchuriki." Deva Path answered. Kisame made him frustrated. He put his hands on his face, sliding them down from his eyes.

"So, when you mean we're supporting you, it means we have to take on the rest of the Hidden Mist shinobi." Itachi guessed.

"Exactly. I'll find the six-tails while you're killing off those shinobi." Pain looked impressed, although he didn't smile or show any clear signs of it.

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POV - Y/n:

"Guess who's back to bother you~" I announced, slamming the doors of my sister's office open.

Huh? Where is she? I thought. It was rather late, but usually, my sister worked up until 11 P.M. So, I expected her to be here. She wasn't at home either. I walked over to her desk. I looked around the room.

I noticed the paperwork on her desk. It was significantly less, at least that's what it seemed since most of the papers were scattered across the desk instead of them being neatly stacked. There were some on the ground too.

"How untidy," I said, picking up the papers off the ground. As I neatly stacked them, I noticed one specific document. It had the words "SIX-TAILS MISSION: MESSAGE" on the outside and it was rolled up like a scroll. There was a blue ribbon tied around it.

Curious, I opened it, wanting to know the contents. I knew it was about Han's mission and I needed to know if he was okay.

I scanned it. My heart palpitated uncontrollably as I did so. My hands shook as I finished reading the letter. My skin turned pale white. I had difficulty breathing. Shock filled me as my anxiety manifested. Nothing could've prepared me for what I had just read. It was quite the opposite of what I was hoping to read.

"LADY MIZUKAGE! TEAM A HAS BEEN KILLED BY THE AKATSUKI! THIS IS A DISTRESS CALL! HALF OF TEAM C HAS ALSO BEEN KILLED OFF AND MY TEAM IS AT GREAT RISK! CONFRONTATION BETWEEN US AND THE AKATSUKI WILL OCCUR SOON. SIX AKATSUKI MEMBERS HAVE BEEN SPOTTED IN THE AREA THE SIX-TAIL JINCHURIKI IS ALLEGEDLY HIDING IN! WE NEED BACKUP IN THE UNCLAIMED TERRITORY NEXT TO THE LAND OF FIRE!

-TSURUGI"

It was everything I dreaded. Half of the shinobi we had sent had already died before even finding the six-tails jinchuriki. And, I didn't want to believe it, but there was a high chance that Han could've died.

No. It's not possible. He wouldn't die this easily! I thought, trying to convince myself what I was thinking was reality. But, there was no way of knowing it.

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I was tired of sitting around. I wasn't going to wait around anymore. I didn't want Han to die. At least not without me seeing him one more time.

This time, without giving any second thoughts, I ran to the bridge. Unlike the last time I came here though, there was a guard stationed at the end of the bridge.

Before, I had never actually tried to escape to respect the village and my sister's wishes. And the guard was just a reminder of that for me—of my pledge. But, today was different.

I didn't care anymore about what the village or my sister thought. Heck, I didn't care if someone captured me as soon as I stepped out of the village territory. It didn't matter to me anymore.

Bounty my ass!

"Hey, wait! Before you leave, I need to make sure you're not Lady Y—" the guard tried to say, but I froze him with ice prison.

My ice release fully manifested. I could feel a new power course through my veins. I looked at my hands, trying to get used to this new sensation. This is what it feels like... to fully master ice release. No, this was freedom—me being able to stand outside the village without anyone dragging me back in.

The guard looked at me through the ice, struggling. "You'll be fine," I mouthed.

Looking back at the village one last time, I knew what I was about to do might change my relationship with my sister, family, and the village. I didn't know if I was about to commit defection. But I was tired of following the village rules. And I was ready to take my chances. I didn't know if I was making a huge mistake. I thought of the alternate realities where I didn't run away.

I only saw a girl stuck in her village, living a lie. Smiling when inside she was stuck. Her future was predictable—too predictable. There was no excitement. She was like a machine with a daily routine. She didn't enjoy her life. And, I made up my mind that second.

"I'm not coming back," I told the guard. "Make sure to tell my sister that," I added. I had a change of heart. I was indeed committing defection and I told myself that. I was officially running away from my village. I held my hand over my heart, checking if this was really what I wanted—and it was.

Although this was triggered by wanting to help Han on his mission, I knew this was going to happen eventually. I knew running away was inevitable for me. If it didn't happen right now, it would happen sooner or later.

I grabbed my kunai, adding a slash across my headband.

"Lady Y/n! No! Don't do this!" the guard tried to shout. The ice prison was melting quickly. I had spent too much time here.

"Goodbye Kirigakure," I said once, before turning back and heading into the forest that I never got to explore. For the first time, I left the Hidden Mist.

A new sense of independence was established. I felt indifferent to the things that used to confine me within the village. A new rush of emotions awakened in my soul. I felt excited. My story began here. One I could freely write.

I felt free.

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