"Thank you so much! We can never repay you for your kindness!"

Nagisa smiled as the last woman on her boat was returned to her family. The parents fervently expressed their gratitude to her, even though she couldn't accept it all because Kisame and Hitoshi did most of the work. Speaking of the two males, they disappeared soon after Lana returned to the Uchiumi docks, but that was after they were all approached by Enyo, the Uchiumi clan head, and the elders. The scene still unfolded in front of her eyes whenever she thought about it.

"Nagisa!" Enyo ran over to the docks. Seeing the state of Lana, he assumed the worst. "What on Earth were you possibly thinking? I told you to-"

"Dad?" Mizuko called as she stepped off of Lana with the help of her sister. Her body was covered in a blanket to keep the sunlight off of her, but Enyo could still see how pale she was. Instantly, the Uchiumi chief was at his daughters' side and holding them both in his arms.

The elders smiled in their robes and greeted the returning crew. "Excellent work in bringing the princesses home, gentlemen. We're happy to see them safe and sound."

Nagisa could see out of the corner of her eye how superficial their response looked. Her mind kept traveling towards the scroll that was tucked into her overalls. As Kisame and Hitoshi followed them inside the main house, she couldn't help but frown in disappointment.

Heading back to the clan grounds, Nagisa decided to take a little detour as she didn't want to go home just yet. Taking the scenic route, she walked through the natural trails of her home island. Although her surroundings were beautiful as always, she couldn't even focus on it as her steps grew slower and slower until they eventually stopped.

She'd opened up the scroll while she was still on Lana and the contents nearly made her sick. They were instructions that essentially powered the monstrosity to go on its kidnapping/killing spree. Apparently it would siphon chakra from the elders and her father every time it awakened to give itself energy, however some of the words were muddled so she couldn't read everything. It then gave a list of specific females to be kidnapped, including Mizuko's name, and had a clear directive to kill anything that got in its way.

"Why are you just standing out here?"

Nagisa turned around, leaving her thoughts, and faced Kisame as he was walking towards her. The male noticed immediately the tears brimming in her eyes. He was going to say something else, but the female let out a small laugh and wiped at her eyes.

"You always seem to catch me when I'm not at my best." She joked. "I think I have an eyelash in my eye, but I can get it out."

"Why are you treating me like I haven't been with you the whole time?" Kisame asked. "I'm starting to think you're taking one too many pages out of my book."

"To be fair, you were the one that said not to get close to you, Hoshigaki-san."

"And you still never paid attention to any of my warnings."

"Because they were stupid."

Kisame laughed at her response, genuinely amused by her antics. "So what are you going to do now? Enjoying the premise of living under the name, Hero Princess Nagisa?"

"Haha, very funny." Nagisa crossed her arms and started walking again. "I know I'm going to have to turn them in, but first I need to get the whole truth. I'd want to at least give my father the benefit of the doubt."

A memory flashed across Kisame's mind of him confronting the Cypher Division leader for selling information, then killing him for his wrong-doings towards the village. Surely she wouldn't go as far as he did, however their situations felt very similar.

"And if you get into trouble?"

Nagisa turned around and tilted her head. "In trouble?" She mulled over the idea before smiling at him. "That's where you come in. I'm kidding… You've helped so much already, so I can handle this."

"I wouldn't be able to help you much anyway." Kisame shrugged. "We leave tomorrow."

"Then… let's go on a date!"

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"Are you sure you aren't going to come to the celebration dinner? Everyone's going to be looking for you." Mizuko asked as she watched her sister move around the room. They were both dressed in patterned yukatas for the special occasion, however she knew her sister too well.

"I'll just be a little late." Nagisa waved her off. "Cover for me with Dad, alright?"

Leaving out of the window before any of the clan assistants could see her, Nagisa ran towards the water and stopped in front of Lana. Her seafarer was currently being reconstructed and she couldn't wait until she was done so they could go out to sea together again. Slipping her sandals off, she walked along the shore and let the small waves crash against her toes.

"You didn't tell me there was a dress code."

"It was just a precaution. Besides, the yukata looks good on you, Hoshigaki-san." Nagisa smirked as she turned to see Kisame standing next to her. She was surprised he'd so casually agreed to a date after he'd been so adamant on leaving her behind before.

The two walked together in silence for a while, content with the soft breeze coming from the ocean. The moon had just risen in the sky and they could hear the festivities starting in the compound, but they were far enough that they would be left alone.

Kisame broke the silence first. "Is our date on mute or something?"

"Ever heard of enjoying the moment?" Nagisa responded quickly. Mischievously, she formed a hand sign behind her back and a stream of water shot up from the sea, splashing Kisame's face. Seeing that her attack hit, she covered her mouth as she laughed.

The male wiped his face off and smirked as he immediately got retaliation. A huge wave rose up from the sea and completely soaked Nagisa. Shocked, she stared at Kisame who was currently doubling over in laughter. Wanting to get back at him, she took his hand and pulled him into the sea. They tugged against each other until Nagisa lost her footing and they both landed in the water.

"Satisfied, Princess?"

"Ew, stop calling me that. It's just Nagisa." She grimaced. "Repeat after me. Na-gi-sa."

Kisame splashed her face and got up. "Then call me Kisame. I think we've passed the last name honorifics stage, don't you think?" Holding his hand up, he helped her out of the water.

Nagisa took his hand and stood up. Pushing her wet bangs out of her face, she faced him and reached up to touch his head. Laughing with a small blush, she pulled a fish off the top of his head and tossed it back into the sea. "Nicely done, Kisame."

"Sounds good when you say it, Nagisa."

Her face grew more and more red and she immediately started walking back towards the compound. "We need to get out of these wet clothes. I'd rather go to the guest house, if that's alright with you."

"Seems like we're moving pretty fast." Kisame jested as he followed behind her. "Taking me home already?"

"Alright. Date's over!"

"You're the one still holding onto my hand."

"Hush!"

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The clan compound was dark as the rest of the festivities were cleaned up and put away. The party lasted for a very long time, but the eldest Uchiumi daughter didn't see anything until the end. After more banter with Kisame in fresh, dry clothes, they finally decided to call it a night as she told him she'd see him off in the morning. When she returned to her room, she waited out until everyone had gone to bed before staging her plan. Nagisa slowly slipped out of her room and quietly made her way towards the elders' meeting room. Holding the scroll in her hand, she let out a deep breath before opening the sliding doors.

"Not even a knock, Nagisa? We're disappointed."

The elders calmly sat on their cushions on the raised platform of the room. There were three of them - the head elder who just spoke, Gihachi, and his slightly younger twin brothers, Takato and Tsugio. It was almost as if they had expected her to show up and the thought made her feel a bit uneasy.

"What's troubling you, Nagisa?" Tsugio asked.

"Maybe we should talk over tea." Takato suggested with a smile.

Nagisa's eyes narrowed as she felt like they were mocking her. "You knew I was coming tonight, so why don't we just skip the formalities." Holding up the scroll, she began to confront them. "You three and my father were behind the kidnappings of our country's people. All of the instructions were lined out in this scroll that you used to control a monster that was plaguing our nation."

"That's a mighty big assumption to make. Are you able to take on the weight of such a confession?" Gihachi replied calmly, making no movements.

"It's not an assumption. The only people who have access to scrolls with the Uchiumi insignia are the main family and the elders. Mizuko and I had nothing to do with this and my mother's been dead for the past year so it falls on you four." She spoke. "Not to mention, your names are written in this scroll's testament. How could you defile the Uchiumi name and-"

"Everything we've done is to carry on the Uchiumi legacy and bring prosperity to our clan and nation." Tsugio immediately interrupted her. "How dare you come in here with such false accusations!"

"They aren't false."

Tsugio turned towards the head elder, astonished by his answer. "But Gihachi, I thought-"

"There's no point in denying our part in the operation, but you had a part as well, Nagisa." Gihachi stood up and began to circle the female. "Why do you think all of this was done? Because no male heir was born, we now have to find someone suitable to carry on the Uchiumi patriarchy. You're the only capable daughter, yet your neglect for the future of the clan has caused us to take the matter into our own hands."

Nagisa was appalled by the words that came out of the male's mouth. "Don't you twist this on me! I would never bring harm to anyone on this island for the future of this clan. When the Sea Daimyo gets this info-"

Gihachi lunged towards Nagisa, pulling a kunai out of his pocket sleeve. Not only were the elders crooked fiends, they also held weapons that were illegal to the clan as they were fishermen, not shinobi. Dodging the attack, she was going to make a run for it, however Takato was guarding the main door and Tsugio wasn't far behind. Damn, these old men were fast for their age.

Unfortunately she didn't have her staff on her so Nagisa focused on evading the three mens' attacks and pursuing her own attacks when she had openings. She was doing okay until she was stabbed in her left side and subsequently doubled over, which caused her to get kicked in the side of her head. Seeing sporadic black spots and stumbling over the various level changes in the floor as she moved around, she used one of the cushions to shield her from another stab directed at her face. Using mixed martial arts, she flipped Gihachi onto his back to subdue him, temporarily knocking the wind out of his chest. Takato was next as she launched a barrage of attacks until one of her kicks to his jaw finally landed. As she held her side to stop the bleeding, she tried to run out of the room only to be grabbed by her ponytail and yanked down to the floor.

"I'm sorry to have to do this to you, Nagisa." Tsugio looked down at the female as he pinned her to the floor. Nagisa struggled underneath his grip and screamed until Takato gagged her mouth with a towel.

"Tie her up." Gihachi got up slowly with a grunt. Once her arms and legs were bound by rope, he stepped towards the Uchiumi heiress and bent down to her level. "It's a shame your passion was so misdirected." Clasping his hands around her throat, he applied pressure until the room became quiet.

Takato looked down as Nagisa fell unconscious. "Is she…?"

"She'll wake up. Take her under the docks. High tide will finish the job in the morning."