Sighing, Tora leaned against the wall of a hospital room with her arms crossed over her chest. Three days ago, Itachi and his partner were spotted and disappeared. Since then, Sasuke and Kakashi had been admitted to the hospital, but neither have woken up. After she had been questioned about the incident, Tora visited Sasuke's room every day. Was there anything she could've done differently to prevent this? Did Itachi have to go that far? All this did was further hurt his reputation, not that it would have mattered to him.

"Back again, Dakuo-san?" The nurse smiled as she entered the room to check Sasuke's vitals. "It's nice to know that there's someone looking after him. A young pink-haired girl often comes around too and brings new flowers."

"Any changes?"

The nurse shook her head solemnly. "Not yet. There's too much physical and mental trauma to say when."

"I see. Thank you for your hard work."

Tora walked out of the hospital and decided to head home. Sitting in that room all day wasn't going to solve anything. On the other hand, she needed to ready herself. Soon, she was going to leave and meet her father. Packing for a trip like that would be the easiest thing; getting everyone on board with her departure would be the hard part.

The house was silent as the female walked in. Her mother didn't say she was going on a mission, so she must've been out and about. That only made the packing part easier. Knowing she didn't need too many things, she settled with the essentials and cleaned up a little.

"Are you getting sent on a long term mission or something?"

Tora turned around to see her mother standing in the doorway. She didn't know how long she'd been in her room, but honestly, she'd been too focused on packing to think of anything else. Sitting on the floor, she sent her mother a sheepish smile. "More like a solo expedition. My vacation miraculously got approved."

"Where are you going to go?"

"I want…" Tora paused for a moment, contemplating whether she should come clean or not. "...to go to the beach and relax for once. I'll still train so I don't get rusty, but I just want a break from everything, you know?"

Jaga raised an eyebrow as she watched her daughter continue to pack. She could understand where the young woman was coming from, however she should've known better than to try and fool her. Ever since she'd told Tora the truth behind everything, their relationship grew stronger but she knew eventually her daughter would want more than just her words. The only unknown variable was time.

"So you weren't planning to go and find your father?"

Tora paused for a moment and figured this may as well be the time to have this conversation. "It crossed my mind."

'Don't act coy with me, Tora." Jaga crossed her arms. "I worked hard and risked my life to make sure you could live a good life. You going back there will do nothing but undermine everything I sacrificed."

"He doesn't even know that I exist and you don't have any proof that he knew about the attack on our family prior to." Tora stood up so she could be eye-level with her mother and show her how serious she was. "I have to at least give him some benefit of the doubt."

"You know nothing about the Hidden Cloud. Do you think he's going to welcome you with open arms or something?"

"That's a valid point. I don't know how he'll react, but I'll cross that bridge once I get there."

Her mother scoffed at this and rolled her eyes. "I never raised my child to be so selfish."

"Selfish?!" Tora was flabbergasted. "You deprived him of even knowing he has a child. You're just as selfish-"

Jaga angrily slapped Tora in reaction before she even realized her hand had moved. "You know exactly why I did that."

Tora held her cheek and refused to look her mother in the eyes. Yes, she heard the story and knew why, but it wasn't enough. This was about her wanting answers. Still, she couldn't find the ability to counter her mother's statement. They weren't going to see eye to eye about it, so there was no use in continuing. Grabbing her bag, she brushed past her mother to leave the room.

"Regardless, I'm leaving tonight."

•─────⋅ ⋅─────•

Tora spent the rest of the afternoon and evening at the animal clinic with Hana. Initially, the brunette knew something was up because Tora hated the smell of the clinic, however she threw those thoughts aside since she sensed her best friend didn't want to talk about it and she enjoyed her company. The two went out to eat and joked around about old times until they were kicked out of the restaurant after closing. It was nearly midnight when Tora finally revealed that she'd be taking off.

"Your mom doesn't want you to go and, quite frankly, I'm not a fan either." Hana spoke as she walked with Tora through the streets of Konoha towards the main gate.

Tora looked up at the waning crescent of the moon peeking out from behind the clouds. "Well you can join the crowd. I'm used to people not liking my ideals."

"Don't do that." Tora was yanked out of her thoughts as Hana grabbed her arm so she'd focus her attention on her. "Don't treat me like I don't know you. You're acting like a fu- a brat."

"You don't have to filter your words for me."

"Look here-"

"You of all people should know I'm tired of this, Hana!" Tora pulled her arm out of the Inuzuka's grasp. "I'm not going to sit back and wonder about the 'what ifs' anymore. I'm of age so I'm going after what I want."

"Fuck me then, right? And fuck Koji, fuck our moms, fuck everyone too?" Hana frowned. "Nothing's ever just about you anymore! What if you get hurt or killed in the process? Or worse… what if you like it there so much that you don't come back…"

Tora's eyes widened in realization as she saw tears spill over Hana's cheeks. There was truth to what she had said and it was bittersweet to know how much the girl cared for and worried about her. Now she understood why her mother called her selfish, but unfortunately she would have to continue being this way for the time being. Pulling Hana into her arms for a hug, Tora rested her head against her shoulder.

"You know, if we were in another life, I'd love to have you as my girlfriend."

"Don't joke with me! I was being serious!" Hana pushed the female away, only for Tora to laugh. "You're such an ass!"

Tora grinned and wiped the tears from the woman's face. "I don't know what I did to deserve family like you. You don't have to worry so much. I know where home is, Hana."

They reached the gate soon after and, with a final wave, the Dakuo set off in the forest. She'd be taking the route she mapped out on the authorization scroll she turned in just in case someone was following her, then she'd make her great escape. Ever since she was younger, she'd always preferred to travel at night. It was more peaceful, she could see a lot better, and everything seemed to flow faster.

Tora reached the sea line within the next day. Looking out at the endless blue, she breathed in the salty air. If it hadn't been for ulterior motives, she probably would've enjoyed resting here. Setting up camp, the female waited out her probationary period and feigned the pleasure of a vacation. A day turned into two and she spent her time sitting on a rock meditating on how she would approach her father.

"Hi, you may not know who I am, but I'm actually your daughter."

Shaking her head, Tora sighed. That sounded too cliche.

"Did you happen to know someone named Jaga Dakuo? This might be surprising, but she had a child and you're the father…"

No… it was probably better to be direct and straight to the point.

"My name is Tora Dakuo and, believe or not, you're my father."

Groaning, Tora dropped her head back and looked up at the sky. Planning out what she was going to say wasn't going to help her. It was probably best to do what she always did and act on impulse. This whole ordeal was already crazy as it was.

"Have you relaxed enough?"

Tora jumped up and landed on all fours on top of the rock, facing the direction where the voice had appeared. She had contemplated swiping her claws at that moment, however once she recognized the face, she was glad she hesitated.

"You were able to find this place easily, Itachi?" The female stepped down from the rock and rubbed the back of her neck. She'd been so distracted with her thinking that she got a little scared, but she wasn't going to admit it. Her actions had probably spoken enough for her already.

"Yes, your directions were quite clear."

"So you're a cat?" Itachi's partner spoke up. "Where's your tail, kitty?"

Tora placed her hands on her hips. "It's better if you don't see it, fish man. You can call me Tora."

"Ah, like the tiger. Fitting." He smiled, revealing his rather sharp rows of teeth, as if the gills on his cheeks weren't a dead giveaway. "I'm Kisame."

Once the introductions were over, Itachi mentioned it was time for them to leave. For the time being, they were going to be traveling partners since they were going in the same direction. They had arranged this briefly the last time they'd met. Neither parties disclosed their true motives, simply because it wasn't necessary. To Tora, she was killing two birds with one stone - keeping an eye on Itachi and finding her father. The only uncertainty was the fate that lied ahead.