POV - Narrator:
Not too far away, Itachi and Kisame roamed in an unnamed land. The land wasn't claimed by any nation even though it was connected to the Land of Fire. It was across the ocean that separated it from the Land of Water.
Itachi and Kisame were traveling in this land, expecting the six-tails jinchuriki to be staying here. It would be a great place for the jinchuriki to freely wander around since there weren't many people living here.
Their main goal was to find the jinchuriki in the next eight days to make sure everything was going according to the plan.
"Do you really think we'll find him in eight days? I mean, it took us three WHOLE days to search one forest—" Kisame said, clearly discouraged.
Itachi didn't reply to his comrade, though. He was unaware that Kisame had spoken at all since he was busy thinking about something.
"There you go again. Why are you never listening?" Kisame frowned, pretending to cry. Still, Itachi didn't reply. They continued to walk beside each other in silence. "You're still thinking about her, right?" Kisame guessed, nudging Itachi's shoulder.
"No, I'm not," Itachi lied, turning his head away from Kisame.
Kisame smirked. "Hmm. How did you know which girl I was talking about....? It seems like cold boy's got a heart," he shrieked like a teenage girl who was writing fanfiction.
"She's just fascinating. That's all," Itachi replied, trying to convince himself it truly was just fascination. But in reality, it was much more to him. Her determined expressions. The strong desire to protect by overcoming the enemy. She was strong—the way she carried herself showed that. Even though he only exchanged a few words with her, he was attracted to her. But he wasn't ready to admit it.
"You sure?" Kisame snickered, squinting his eyes. Itachi didn't reply, knowing the annoying Hoshigaki would keep pestering him about it.
"Oh. We need to contact Pain," Itachi said.
"Right— Let's find a nice shaded area where we can sit down and be able to talk to Pain," Kisame said in response.
They found a nice secluded area in the forest. Trees shaded it and it looked like a safe place to rest for a while.
Kisame and Itachi took a seat under two different trees, making sure to be fully underneath its shadow. It was a hot day and the sun was shining brightly, so by staying underneath the shade, they would be avoiding the heat.
Kisame cracked his shoulders before closing his eyes and sending out thought waves. Itachi followed, doing the same thing as his partner.
After a few minutes of sending their thought waves, they both woke up in illusionary bodies. They were in a tower—the place Pain was waiting for them. The bodies were virtual illusions that were broadcasting their thought waves. They looked like a silhouette of the senders. The whole body itself was black and appeared distorted. They appeared as staticky. The only detailed part was the eyes of the user.
Both of them walked over to Pain, who was looking at the Hidden Rain Village skyline. It was pouring outside.
Pain looked over to the two silhouettes standing behind him. "Finally. I have some things I need to ask you two." Pain said, turning around to face his fellow Akatsuki members.
His eyes were slightly swollen. Tears trickled down his eyes as he gently wiped them away. It wasn't irregular to catch Pain crying. In Kisame's words, he's a pretty depressing guy. Today, Pain was mourning Hidan and Kakuzu's deaths, who got killed by Hidden Leaf shinobi while they were on a mission.
"Have you two found the six-tails yet?" he asked them. They both shook their heads, disappointing Pain. "Well, you still have eight days left. If you're not able to find him, I'm going to come over there and get him myself," he said, crossing his arms.
Behind him, many tiny pieces of paper came together, making Konan's physical body. "Hello," she said timidly, standing beside Pain. Itachi and Kisame greeted her. "Pain, I have updates I need to tell you immediately," she whispered to him.
"Okay. Well, that was all. Itachi and Kisame, you may leave." he said, shooing them away.
"That's all you needed to tell us?" Kisame questioned, wondering why their conversation was so short. Pain nodded. "Oh, okay..." Kisame sounded dissatisfied with the answer. Itachi and Kisame then broke the seals they were holding with their hands, returning to their normal bodies.
Itachi opened his eyes, looking directly into the sky. A water droplet fell on his face before it began to violently rain.
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POV - Y/n:
My training continued. Every day, we would go to the same training ground and Fuyu-san would teach me different jutsus. I would learn one each day. Sometimes, it would take two days to master one jutsu—if it was hard. Most of the time, I would pick them up pretty quickly.
After ten days of continuous training, I knew how to use every ice jutsu. At least, the ones that Fuyu-san knew. In total, I knew seventeen ice jutsus.
Fuyu-san clapped as I finished demonstrating the "Black Dragon Blizzard" jutsu. "You've done it!" she cheered. "You learned all of the ice jutsus I know! You've surpassed my expectations! Good job."
"Thank you..." I replied, moving a strand of my hair behind my ear. I finally improved in ice release. It gave me a sense of strength. I felt stronger and better able to protect those I'd valued.
"You've done well, kid," Fuyu-san said, patting my head.
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POV - Mei:
My office door opened. Y/n and Fuyumi were standing on the other side of the room. Y/n looked jittery and Fuyumi was oddly in a very good mood. Shaking with excitement, Y/n kept jumping up and down. She looked at me with sparks in her eyes.
"I'm done learning ice release!" she bubbled.
"That's amazing," I replied, surprised that she finished this quickly. Not even surprised actually—I was astonished.
In comparison to other types of releases, like fire or water release, ice release did have fewer jutsus. But, to completely learn a type of release in eleven days. It felt unreal.
"I know what you're thinking." Fuyumi came closer. She leaned in, whispering into my ear. "I didn't think it was possible to pick up ice release this quickly. And, learning one jutsu per day—it's highly grueling. I don't know how she managed to keep up at that pace."
I smiled, realizing something. This kind of training, at least the pace of it, is hard for any normal student to withstand. But, since she was able to do this, she was truly gifted.
My sister is talented. A prodigy in making. The true pride of the Terumi and Yuki clans. And, I fully understood why her bounty was so high. Why people from other villages may want to capture her. They were scared of the power she could hold in the future. Fear, the impulse to eliminate or get rid of the threat.
"Your sister is going to become a powerful kunoichi," Fuyumi said, placing a hand on my shoulder. Her tone was genuine.
"Yeah... I think she may."
Fuyumi and I looked at Y/n, who was still overjoyed. She was spinning around, shooting ice everywhere out of her hands.
"Has she mastered ice release though?" I asked Fuyumi. In response, she shook her head.
"No. For now, she only knows how to use these ice jutsus. But, in order to fully master ice release, she needs to know how to use it strategically. She could also polish some of them." I nodded my head in agreement. "She'll pick it up by herself though in battles," Fuyumi added.
"Well, thank you so much for training her," I said, shaking her hand vigorously.
"You're welcome," she said, opening her palm. She pointed to it with her other hand. She was clearly implying something.
"Right. I'll get it from my drawer." I opened my drawer, pulling out an envelope overflowing with cash. I handed it to Fuyumi.
"Thank you." She bowed down.
"So, do you plan on going back to the Hidden Snow yet?" I asked her.
"No, at least not today. I'm thinking about spending the night here and then leaving in the early morning," she answered.
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