"We should hurry up and find a way out." Tora stood up and immediately began sifting through the bookshelf after tucking her grandmother's envelope into her pouch. She didn't want to think about what happened anymore as she could already feel herself beginning to spiral into a sea of 'what ifs'.

Itachi silently watched as the female picked up book after book in an attempt to set them free. She was so easy to read as he knew she was trying to preoccupy her mind. Perhaps she was trying to be considerate of him since these situations seemed similar in theory. Why were they so alike in that regard?

"Maybe you should sit down for a moment, Tora." He suggested. "You actually have time to process this."

"There's no point in processing a situation that can't be changed." She retorted, angrily tossing a few books onto the desk. It was getting frustrating that she couldn't find the indentation to get them out of the dusty office.

Itachi picked up the books and rearranged them into a neat stack as he listened to her childish outburst. "Well, you're obviously hurt by the outcome so there is a benefit to processing it."

With a sigh, Tora stopped moving and balled her fists at her sides. With the amount of emotions swirling inside of her, the only thing she wanted to do was release the excess energy. Act now, think later. Itachi placed one of his hands over top of hers and unraveled her fist. Standing by her side, his shoulder brushed against hers as he used his free hand to point at a cat-eye dent under one of the top shelves.

"See, the answer's right there in front of your face."

How was it that something so small could change her mindset so quickly? This wasn't some innocent school-girl crush, yet here she was with a face that felt like it was on fire. Hastily, she pressed her grandmother's ring into the shallow grove and stepped back as the bookshelf moved to the side to let them back into the main house.

"How are you so amazing, Itachi?" Tora asked as they headed towards the basement to get back to the underground tunnels. Her time was almost up so she figured she should at least make sure he was okay to leave. The lingering touch of his hand over hers continued to occupy her mind in the meantime.

"What do you mean?"

"Everything you do astonishes me, from the way you speak to the way you carry yourself." She responded. "I guess you've always been this way since you were a kid, so it's just natural for you. You just have an ability to take control of any situation so easily."

Itachi thought about what she said before responding. "Emotional responses are humane and needed. The ability to control your emotions is a good thing to have, however it can be a curse if you put too much emphasis on it. Everything depends on the goal that you've set for yourself. What have you determined is your purpose in life, Tora?"

The two made it out of the tunnels and to the cliffside where Tora and her mother had escaped to years ago. As the female looked out to her clan grounds, she frowned.

"To be the glue that keeps my friends together - in living and in spirit."

Itachi didn't expect that answer from her. Curious about it, he was quick to inquire. "How so?"

Tora turned to look at him. "Itachi, you mean so much to me, just like Izumi, Koji, and Hana. I had always liked you and I wanted to be close to you, but I decided that wasn't my place. However, with the relationship that we've created, I don't want that to disappear. I have to make sure that everything falls in line."

"So, you're trying to force your own narrative into something that should've never happened in the first place."

"That's not-"

"Every time you see me, you think of Izumi, don't you? How you don't want to overstep boundaries, how you want to do right by her, how you want to preserve the promise you two made…" Itachi explained. "That's why this, more so we, will never happen."

"Because I think of everyone else before I think of myself."

"Yes."

"Just like you."

Itachi opened his mouth, however he closed it in that same instance. He couldn't chastise her and her decisions now because she was right. As long as they both knew this principle, they would never be selfish and give in. Tora wanted to say something and break the awkward silence, but there was nothing to rectify it.

"Tora!"

The ravenette could hear Nigai calling out to her in the distance and knew she needed to get back to her clan's grounds quickly before there was trouble. She also knew, however, that if she took her eyes off of Itachi, he'd disappear and she wouldn't know how she'd chase him down again.

"I'm still going to keep my promise to Izumi and to you." She said definitively. "After everything you've done, no matter what disillusion outsiders see now, I'll make sure you will have a proper burial after the death of your choosing. Until then, you're stuck with me."

Itachi frowned as she continued to approach him, but he was defeated. Every time he tried to push her away, she came back full force. Although the anger in her tone had dissipated, he wished it was still there. In the forefront of his mind, he knew he should've broken this bond a long time ago, however the back of his mind kept reminding him how much he wished he could still have her under different circumstances. Besides Izumi and Shisui, there was no one who had gone this hard for him.

"Don't try to hide anything from me anymore. It'll just make everything hurt worse than it already does." Tora whispered as she wrapped her arms around him. "Just promise me this time, you'll leave an easier path for me to follow so I can get to you faster when everything is said and done."

•─────⋅ ⋅─────•

"Why can't I be at the trial?" Tora demanded with her hands on her hips. It was the next day and she'd finally been able to get a brief audience with her father despite his busy schedule. "Am I not important for the outcome? I was there when this all went down, given I was young at the time, and I found the evidence."

A answered easily, his gaze not faltering as he looked into his daughter's eyes. "You are not a Kumogakure shinobi and your testimony would be useless as it would be deemed incognizant because of your young age."

"My mother-"

"I will make sure that what needs to be done is done." A assured her. "You did well with what you've already accomplished. That's the end of that conversation. You can preoccupy yourself with another matter - being the liaison to our new guests. You've been here long enough to have a basic idea of everything, but I will still have eyes on you."

Tora tilted her head in confusion. "A liaison? These are Leaf shinobi?"

Mabui knocked and entered the room, holding her clipboard to her chest. She nodded her head towards Tora before turning her attention to A to tell him that it was time to go. With a frown, Tora walked out of the office with her father and watched as he left to tend to his Raikage duties. Why was she always only stuck with half the story?

Nigai, who was standing in the hallway waiting for her this entire time, escorted her back to her quarters. Instead of going to her usual room, she was brought to the floor beneath hers. Quizzically, she eyed the heavy doors in front of her before looking back at Nigai, who simply motioned for her to open them. Knocking on the door, Tora heard a familiar voice and her eyes instantly widened.

"Hana!"

The door couldn't open fast enough as the ravenette immediately pounced on the unsuspecting guest and tackled her to the ground. Laughter filled the air as Tora buried her head into the crook of her best friend's neck.

Another familiar voice startled her and she looked up to see her former teammate standing in front of her with one of his hands on his hips.

"Sheesh, can you give her a moment to breathe?"

Tora smirked and immediately jumped up to dart at him with her arms wide open. Koji moved to the side to avoid her, but that didn't stop her from chasing him around the room.

"Come here and give me a hug, you jerk!"

"Absolutely not. Don't touch me!"

It took a while for the commotion to die down as Tora was excited with this new development. She didn't care for the reasons why they were there in the beginning; they were there when she needed them the most. She didn't realize how homesick she felt until she actually saw their faces. The trio found themselves sitting on the floor in the main common area around the coffee table with the Haimaru brothers claiming the three couches around them. Nigai stayed in the hallway so they had free reign to talk privately.

"When did y'all get here?" Tora immediately asked. "And why? I thought you'd been dispatched on another mission, Koji."

"I went to your mother before going to the Hokage's office." Koji confessed. "I was hoping she could talk some sense into you since you refuse to hear it from me, but when I didn't hear back from her, I requested to come on my own and brought Hana with me as backup."

Hana sighed and rested her cheek against her palm. "You're going to be in so much trouble when we get back home. You'd better hope the Hokage gets to you before my mom does."

"That's if I come back to Konoha."

Koji and Hana immediately turned to Tora, their faces showing mixed emotions. The female was avoiding their glances, staring into the palms of her hands as she picked at her nails below the table.

"...You're kidding, right?" Hana frowned. "You told me you knew where home was."

"I do. Konoha will always be home." Tora answered back, still looking down. "But I have things I have to do first. I already sent my leave of absence notice; the higher ups should be getting it within a couple days. I just can't come back right now."

Koji crossed his arms. "Having 'things to do' isn't going to suffice as an answer. After the conclusion of your mother's trial, there's no reason for you to be here any longer."

"How long is this leave of absence?" Hana asked, a worried look taking over her features.

"Indefinite."

"That's bullshit." Koji glared at her. "Okay, let's say that you're staying here for your father and not your mom. That could be a year max, not an indefinite timespan. That's plenty of time for you to get the information you need and move along. He's your only tie to this place."

Tora looked up at him with a glare of her own. "What if my goal was to get dual citizenship or something? You're just being selfish because you don't want me to leave."

"Why should I want you to leave? What could this place possibly offer you that's better than where you are now?" Koji retorted. "You were the one that kept going on about how you were only here for training and that was it. Now, all of sudden, you want to stay? Is this not the same place where your family was massacred?"

Hana sighed loudly to get everyone's attention. "Enough! I hear both sides of the argument. She already said she knows where home is, so just let it go, Koji." Turning towards Tora, she spoke again. "If staying here makes you happy, then that's what I want you to do. However, I don't think you're telling the full truth either. Your father isn't the only reason you're staying, is it?"

Tora bit the inside of her cheek. As much as she wanted to spill her guts out, she couldn't involve Hana and Koji any further when it came to Itachi. She'd finally figured out a way to keep tabs on him and, if she went back to Konohagakure now, she knew she was going to lose that connection. This was as far as she could go right now and she was going to see it through until the end. Only after that could she return home.

"Fine then." Koji leaned back against the sofa with a huff of frustration. "Do what you want, Tora. Just know when you start making any more of your 'decisions', I can't come save you. Why you had to choose the farthest place from home to go, I'll never understand."

Tears brimmed in Tora's eyes and she pulled her knees to her chest. "I really appreciate you both and I promise I'll come visit plenty of times before I come home to stay. I'm sorry for how troublesome I've been all these years." Her voice was shaking now as she'd never felt so vulnerable before. "I seriously owe you two my life and I love y'all so much. I promise I'll be home sooner than you'll know."

Usually Hana would be the first to comfort her, however Koji sat up first and wrapped his arms around the sobbing female. He didn't say anything, just simply held her and laid his head against hers. After all these years, Tora was still like a little sister to him, just like Izumi. From the day they started out on the same team, he'd basically adopted them in his head and wanted to make sure they could always depend on him. If staying here was going to make her happy, then he wasn't going to complain anymore.

Hana smiled at the sweet scene in front of her, wiping away tears of her own. She had no doubt in her mind that Tora would come home eventually, so she wasn't going to press her any further. With a sly smirk, she leaned in and whispered in her best friend's ear.

"It's because of the handsome man on the other side of the door, huh?"

Tora's ears were instantly tinged red and her head shot up, her skull slamming into Koji's nose. As the poor male tried to make sure he didn't have a nosebleed, Tora was immediately shouting at Hana.

"N-Nigai? No way!"

The doors to the guest suite opened and Nigai came in swiftly. "Did you need something?"

"N-"

"Come take a seat, Nigai-san!" Hana grinned, ushering the male over with a wave of her hand. "I need a status update on Tora's progress here, stat!"

"Hana, please!"

•─────⋅ ⋅─────•

Everything seemed to be getting lighter. Tora had returned to normal training with her father and was getting better with using the lightning shroud. A kept his word as Jaga was found innocent and cleared of her treason accusations. Although everything had been resolved, she decided it would be best to return to Konohagakure so she was going to be leaving with Koji and Hana within the next few days.

Tora stood in her room by the window, looking out at the moon. Somewhere beyond the mountains, she knew Itachi was there and she hoped he was getting better. She didn't know the next time they would reach out to each other, but she had confirmation that he wasn't going to disappear without her knowing. The only thing that bothered her now was that, from Hana's report, Sasuke had left the village and seemingly caused quite a mess while doing so. Something about it worried her immensely. A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts and she called for whomever it was to come in.

"You're still awake?" Nigai opened the door to her suite. Scratching the back of his head, he furrowed his brows in confusion. "I figured you'd already be asleep."

"Not yet, but I was on my way." She shrugged as she looked at him. "Isn't duty over for you now? I thought you'd be sleep, old man."

Nigai rolled his eyes. "Don't call me that. I came because I needed to talk to you."

"About what?"

The male cleared his throat to speak, however the words couldn't seem to come out. Tora looked at him expectantly, but her doe-like amber eyes seemed to jumble up any explanation he could think of in his head. A loud bang sounded outside the window and Tora turned to see fireworks lighting up the night sky. She didn't know what the occasion was, however all of the colors were stunning to say the least. Seeing the wonder across her face, Nigai finally figured out what he should do.

"Tora."

Turning away from the window with a smile still bright on her face, the female looked at Nigai with her hands clasped behind her back. He was completely enamored by her now. Was it her rambunctious spirit, or was it her serious moments that seemed to either catch him off guard or keep him on his toes? As he thought of these things, Nigai moved closer towards Tora until he was standing directly in front of her.

"Is there something bothering you?" Tora asked as the smile slowly disappeared from her face. He was so close that she could hear his breathing pattern. "Nigai-"

She was silenced by his lips as he pressed them against hers. It was so sudden that she couldn't even process it at first, but for some reason, she didn't stop him.