Kana walked home as quickly as she could in the state she was in after the incident with the genin. Arriving at the apartment she shared with her husband, she quickly locked the doors and drew the curtains feeling paranoid.
Ryou looked up from his dinner to his wife in concern before she explained.
"Touma knows." She announced with no further explanation.
He didn't need it. Immediately he abandoned his food grabbing two large packs from a closet and began frantically gather their belongings around the small home they shared.
"Grab only the essentials, we're leaving. Tonight." He told her sternly.
"We'll be branded missing-nin." She told him, explaining the obvious.
He moved from the living space to their bedroom where he began to open drawers and throwing her clothes into one of the bags.
"Don't forget weapons, we'll need them." He continued, voice emotionless.
"Our names will be submitted into Kiri's bingo book."
Ryou just continued the task, moving onto his clothes.
"Perhaps he won't tell any one." Kana offered weakly.
Ryou stopped his frantic efforts and turned to her, grabbing her firmly by the shoulders.
"I'm not going to take that chance. Nothing is more important to me than you two." He said with fire in his eyes.
Kana blinked, startled by his passionate outburst. Then, her eyes softened looking into his and he pulled her closer, wrapping her in his arms.
"Where will we go?" She asked him with uncertainty in her voice, arms coming up to wrap around him as well.
"We'll figure it out. We can go to the Land of Hot Water. It's where Hishoti is rumored to be. It's got to be safer than here." He told her while mentally establishing their escape plan.
"i... don't want you to get hurt because of me." Kana revealed to him. Her eyes held unshed tears as she gripped his shirt.
"You are my everything. Living without you would hurt more than anything they could do to me." He told her, pulling back to give her a winning smile to accompany his admittedly sappy monologue.
Kana returned the smile, reaching up to caress his face before leaning up to kiss him.
2 months later, somewhere in the Land of Hot Water.
Ryou and Kana had been putting distance between them and Kirigakure at an agonizing pace. They came to a stop for the night, finding an abandoned cabin in the woods near the border with the Land of Fire.
"This will have to do for now, go ahead and unpack for the night and I'll scout the area. We should make it to Hitoshi soon, I've been working on some leads to his location." Ryou told her surveying the dilapidated cabin.
"Ryou, wait." Kana called to him.
She grabbed his hand and pulled him to her before reaching up to kiss him tenderly. His hands came up to cup her face kissing her back. After a moment she pulled away and he rested his forehead to hers.
"I know that we are not moving as fast as you would like with me being so close to labor, but.. know that I appreciate all you have done for us. I love you Ryou." She said running a hand through his hair.
"I would do anything for you Kana. I love you. Both of you." He brought his hand to rest on her enlarged belly.
She would be going to labor any day now. If luck was on their side it would be delayed a few weeks until they a stable hide out with Hitoshi.
"I'm going to check around, please take it easy." He pleaded.
"Of course." She told him, pecking his cheek before he left.
Two days later Kana gave birth to a healthy baby girl. She and Ryou laid in their makeshift bed admiring her features.
Her face was generic like most newborns, but she had a head full of thick dark hair like her mother. Unlike her mother, whose eyes were a pale blue, she had her father's dark green eyes that held the same fire as his.
"What should we named her?" Ryou asked his wife holding the newborn in his arms.
"I think we should name her Akira." Kana decided, closing her eyes and laying her face against Ryou's shoulder.
"Akira? But it's a boys name" Ryou laughed.
"False, it is unisex. Although more commonly used for males." Kana informed him.
"As you wish my love, Matsuda Akira it will be." Ryou conceded.
He cooed at Akira, who had latched her hand around a finger he had used to poke her pudgy cheeks.
"Hey, I think she's smiling at me" Ryou said.
"Infants are not capable of smiling until at least six weeks of age, Ryou" She laughed beside him.
"Huh, well maybe she's just a genius like her mom."
Kana smiled before falling asleep on his shoulder.
That night Ryou awoke, sensing a chakra presence. It was rapidly approaching and incredibly strong.
A hunter from Kiri.
He immediately woke Kana. She looked into the fiery eyes of her husband and knew what was happening. Her heart felt like it stopped when he spoke.
"Kana, take Akira and run as fast you can, now." He told her, quickly using his shirt to fashion a sling for the infant and wrapping it around Kana.
"But Ryou-" She protested. Her chest ached.
"Theres no time. I can feel his chakra coming. He's too close and too strong. I can hold him off long enough, but you'll have to move quickly to keep him off you trail. You won't be able to search for Hitoshi with him hunting you. Go to Konoha, they are sympathetic to asylum seekers and have a strong enough military presence that Kiri won't risk the manpower for one run away." He instructed placing their daughter in the tied up shirt.
"Here take my sword." He thrust it into her hands when they left their safe haven of the cabin.
Grabbing her face he kissed for the final time. She clung to him as he pulled away, looking into his eyes.
"I love you Ryou." Kana's eyes were overflowing with tears as she clutched the katana.
"You're my everything." He told her and then pushed her towards the the forest and waited to face his fate.
Kana crouched on a branch to catch her breath when she reached the land of fire. She unsheathed Ryou's sword looking into the reflection and a tear dropped to the blade as she let a wave of grief wash over momentarily.
She looked to Akira who slept soundly in the sling before returning the sword to it's sheath. She stood and looked at the forest ahead. Feeling determination course through veins she flew threw the trees once again.
She was close when she stopped again, feeling two presences ahead.
Holding her hands in the air, she called out.
"I mean no harm. I come requesting audience with the Hokage." She said into the trees.
Two shinobi with Leaf symbols engraved in their hitai-ates appeared one behind her, the other at her side, kunai drawn at the ready. If they were surprised to see an infant slung across her chest, they didn't reveal it.
"What business does a Jonin of Kiri have with the Hokage?" The man to her side demanded.
"I seek asylum."
The Sandaime regarded the young mother and Jonin from the Blood Mist Village standing before him. She met his gaze evenly, awaiting his judgement.
"I've reviewed your case Matsuda-san," He began. "And Inoichi's analysis seems to have corroborated what you told Ibiki during your initial interrogation." He held a file including the T&I report before him.
"Do you have anything you'd wish to say in order to plea your case before I make my judgement?" He inquired assessing her.
"You know all I have to share Hokage-sama." She told him confidently.
"Very well then." He closed her folder.
Kana breathed evenly while she awaited his decision.
"I am granting your request for asylum. You and your daughter will be permitted to immigrate to Konoha." He decided taking a long draw from his tobacco pipe.
"You will be eligible to apply for permanent residency after a year. I'll arrange to have you placed in a position at thIIe hospital in which you will work on a probationary period for the next five years before I determine whether you can be trusted in taking active duties as a Jonin of the Leaf Village. You will need to take these papers to be filed at the Immigration Office and register with them in order to request more permanent housing." He concluded and held the file out for her to collect.
"Understood Hokage-sama, I will do so immediately." She bowed and accepted the file.
Kana went to leave his office but stopped at the door, turning back to the Sandaime.
"I... thank you." She said somewhat awkwardly, but her icy eyes conveyed her gratitude as she looked back at the Hokage.
He just smiled and nodded allowing her to take her leave, taking another long draw of the tobacco.
A/N: I hope Kana doesn't feel to stiff, I will expand on her personality more later, she's just ridiculously anti-social and emotionally withdrawn. Anyways I'm trying to crank out the set-up chapters so I finally can get to the fun stuff. I hope these don't seem too short, I just don't want to drone on too much or put too much into one chapter.