Kiri's shorelines were just as dark and terrible as further inland. Ringo was rarely this far from the hidden village anymore, not with how close to the chest Kiri was playing its cards lately, but the sight was no less disappointing than ever as she tread onto the thick wet sand of the coastline, looking around. The circumstances may not have been what she'd prefer, but these were still the first steps to a more permanent life outside of Mist. Couldn't there be a ray of sunshine or anything? A bit of poetic hope, some commemoration, something. Then again, the sun was coming up and it still looked like a hellscape, the rolling mist offshore looking like it would swallow and devour anything it found, and the ground beneath her marred by a cracked brown seafoam dried over the sand. At least it finalized the thought that she really wouldn't miss this place. Nothing much was being left behind.

The distance between Kiri and the mainland was actually rather immense. Much too far to run in a single go unless you liked taking chances. There were only a few shacks and some abandoned buildings in the docks around here, but so long as there was a boat and a sailor, there would be someone to bring her to the mainland. Besides, seeing as it was nearing morning, there were already a few boating types out, getting ready to set sail. Most of them were fisherman, but if she paid, she could hitch a ride without complaint.

"Hey. You." She called, nearing a small boathouse. A few of the men stopped to look up at her, but most nervously looked to another as they noticed her; an older man who had stood straight as she approached.

"Can I help you?"

"I think you can."

His eyes narrowed as most of the others had stopped their preparations to watch, a rather even split of them eyeing either the swords at her waist or her headband. Civilians came tough in Kiri, but not even the best was a match for the worst ninja. The older man, gray hair and a short, thick beard, glanced towards one of the shacks along the shore before taking a deep breath, one that rumbled in his lungs, and took a step towards her. "How is that?"

She smiled, head up and eyes meeting his. "You're sailing to the mainland today, right?"

"...I could."

"There's a lad," She chuckled. "I'll pay my passage, naturally, don't worry," she said, turning to walk towards the shack he'd glanced towards earlier, and leaning against the ruddy wall. "Just make it quick."

She could see the scrutiny in his face. She didn't have to pay and they both knew it. So long as she was here, she could get whatever the hell she wanted. The money was for after she was gone, 'don't tell anyone' left just barely unsaid.

He watched her as a few moments pass before nodding, stepping back to his boat as a few other sailors gathered around him, all hushed platitudes and inquiries under the guise of a normal work routine. Most of the others eventually stepped back to their own boats, small things really but any of them would work for her, but one of the younger workers stayed, seemingly upset, hands clenched and brow furrowed as he said something rather severe she'd have overheard if she cared enough to be listening. The older man shook his head and they had a quiet conversation she was content to ignore as she waited for them to finish readying up.

Eventually they settled whatever argument they were having, and the two of them pushed a rather sturdy looking boat from the sand into the water, the older man keeping on hand on it to keep it from drifting as he nodded to the other, who eventually stepped away without a word. The older turned to her, about thigh deep in the water.

"This one's ours. Let's go."

The sun was just a bit more over the horizon than she'd like, but if they were leaving it didn't really matter she supposed, stretching her back as stood straight, stepping away from the wall back to the sand, closer to the shore where the seafoam was fresh, climbing over her sandals as she stepped into the edge of the water.

A few of the other fisherman were already pushing off, climbing into the boats and grabbing their oars in groups of two or three, boats stocked with nets, some buckets, and a couple small cages. In comparison, her passage was pretty bare; just an oar, mooring rope, a couple rations he likely wouldn't share, and a small patched sail. The man didn't bother asking if she'd like help getting in, allowing her to climb up into the rocking thing as he kept it steady; she wasn't sure if it was because he knew she didn't or he didn't care, but either way it was a smart choice for his health.

He pushed the boat out a bit, pulling himself into it in front of her as they were off, grabbing an oar from underneath their seats and setting to it without a word.

Ringo looked towards the sunrise, most of it dulled by the wispy fog that climbs up from the water, but a decent swath of blue cutting into the black sky above her. Morning enough for the stars to go, at least. She wasn't sure exactly when the Seven or the Mizukage would be alerted to her condition (let alone her desertion), even if she half expected an alarm in the form of Fuguki's angry shouting audible from half across the island. After that how fast her departure would be caught on to would, oddly enough, likely depend on Jūzō's respect of her privacy. If they didn't find her at her puddle, then they'd start really looking, and if she didn't turn up then?

She didn't wanna think about it, honestly. Hopefully it wasn't even a problem anymore. A random charter to a random spot on the mainland, and after that going in fairly random directions until she finds what she's looking for. As long as she covers her tracks decently, she should be able to evade the first few of whatever hunters they'd send for her.

The man leading the boat wasn't much for conversation, somehow even quieter than the boat itself, creaking as it was in the water. They were well into the fog, his focus set on not crashing the boat, which she could appreciate. Still, it was a long, slow ride of silence; not too bad at first, but it was a journey that would take most of the day at the very least. Almost no visibility. Almost no noise. How boring. She stretched, kicking a leg over the side of the small boat and at the surface of the water.

The fisherman looked back at her for a moment, but content that she wasn't killing him or whatever, turned back. He took a deep breath, not taking his eyes off the front of the ship.

"On a mission?" he asked.

"No."

And that was that.

The only thing Ringo had to focus on besides the rhythmic paddling of the oar through water was the stinging pain in her stomach. She blew out a breath, languidly resting her head on her hand, the other pressing against her side on the inside of her gi, the pressure alleviating just a bit of the burning sensation. She wasn't sure if messing with it would make it worse in the end, but the less she had to think about the pain the better.

So she closed her eyes and started to think about anything else. How she might be able to find Tsunade, at first. Who could she ask about that? Who would know? You can only plan so much when your prize is a wandering mystery in her own right, and she wouldn't delude herself into thinking one of the first people she finds will have had tea with Tsunade just yesterday.

And then she thought about Mist. It was impossible to tell what time of day it was now that they were in the thick of the fog on Mist's water, but it had been long enough. They had to know she'd fled. Idly kicking her foot in and out of the ocean water and looking down to the swords in her sash, she wondered if they'd care more that she took the Kiba or that she'd left at all.

Probably the Kiba. But she wouldn't leave them behind, not for anything.

She reached up, unknotting the back of her headband and holding it out into what little light there was in front of her, a dull shine leaping across the curved symbol's that declared it Kiri's.

She shouldn't have this anymore. Once upon a time it was a point of pride, odd as it was. She'd never gone to the academy, but she'd still worked her way up to an official status and beyond. She had her look and she wore Kiri's headband like she was supposed to, and as little love for her country as she had, it was still...just a bit sad.

Most ninja that abandoned their country had some major gripe; something they hated, something that made them furious, angry enough to cut a line through the symbol they'd worn before. A statement of intent, a wrong to right, something something something. Ringo didn't much care what Mist got up to. She wasn't a rebel or a political detractor. Maybe a criminal depending on who you asked, but did she really have a right to co-opt something like the slash? Did it even matter?

Briefly, she considered just dropping it in the water. What a waste.

Gripping the cloth in her fist and hooking her fingers beneath the edge of the metal, she flushed some chakra towards her hand and pried off the metal with a soft grunt. Retying the cloth around her head and setting the metal in her lap she looked up at her ride.

"Hey."

He didn't reply.

"Need a Kiri headband?"

He still didn't look back, though he let out a long, slow breath from his nose, a deep 'hmm' momentarily filling the silence. These things weren't a goldmine, but Mist could tell a real headband from a counterfeit, and a lot of people could find a use for it.

"Could take it. No trouble for me."

Ringo tossed the headband's symbol towards him on the floor of the boat, clanging with the muted thunk of metal on wood, and slid it towards the front with a foot. The man bent down to pick it up, looking back at her for just a moment as he tucked it into his robe before continuing to row.

After another hour of slow going, the mist finally began to fade, slowly thinning out until they broke through it entirely. Looking out, they were still on open water, no land in sight, but it would never cease to amaze her just how difference even the sky could look when not under the haze of water country. Everything was so clearly defined here, clean and easy to see even for the thick and salty ocean air. Bright colors weren't common in Kiri. Maybe she'd consider the open, cloudless blue sky the commemoration the shore had lacked.

She almost wanted to laugh. One of the first major defectors from Mist, and it had absolutely nothing to do with their whackjob overlord.

Would word get out about her illness? It might. An attempt to save face for the Mizukage by branding her a desperate traitor. Which she was, but hey...

The sun was setting by the time they saw shore, the green of fire country visible from miles off. She never understood it really; water country's plants were low to the ground or wiry, and tended to have a blue green to them, that the land of fire could be so lush was almost unfair. It'd been months since she'd stepped foot outside of her country for any reason, long enough that she'd almost forgotten how difficult fire country was to look at, every color being as bright as it was.

She looked at the forest's edge as they pulled in, a clean divide between the sand of the shore and dirt. The trees were tall and puffed out in every direction, grass and smaller plantlife clinging to whatever spot it could find to grow.

The boat slid into shore as the fisherman hopped out into the water with a splash, pulling it against the sand halfway to shore, keeping it in place as she climbed out and onto the sand, breathing in and digging her sandals into it.

"Hidoku-Wanai is that way," he said, nodding to the north as waded back into the water to check the sail.

"Mm." Fishing town, probably. It's for the best that she was dropped off somewhere less urban, even if it meant a bit more walking than she'd like. Looking north, it was probably an hour or two's travel, and it was already late. She sniffed, fishing out about a third of however much yen she had tucked into her gi, tossing it towards the boatman. "Catch."

He pivoted towards her quick, fumbling a bit to catch the tied wad of yen before it fell into the water, and she was already walking towards the forest, relishing the soft warmth of the yellow sand, even if it was a bit uncomfortable to walk on.

She heard him push back out to sea as she stepped into the treeline some twenty meters from shore, his boat creaking as he climbed into it.

Fire country should be ashamed if this is what passed for border security. Perhaps that's just what happened when you had so much land to cover; you stopped bothering to. Or maybe it was intentional. Fire had a reputation as a refugee haven, true or not. It attracted defectors, civilians, farmers, bodies from all over. Maybe they'd simply accepted they'd get a few spies and the like alongside them, and decided it was worth the cost. Anybody who wanted to go to Mist was suspicious already, after all, but this place was a tourist's dream.

She broke north in the cover of the trees. It was late, but just as she'd remembered, the wildlife as abundant on the mainland no matter the time, and loud as all hell, chirps, buzzes, and scratches coming from some distance in nearly every direction. She stopped for a moment before leaping upwards, grabbing onto a branch and pulling herself up steady before jumping off it, onto another. Konoha nin traversed treetops like it was in their nature, and running in a straight line in the forest wasn't possible. She wasn't Konoha, but it was simple enough, and faster than walking.

Cost and benefit. If she was caught, even a civilian would know she was a ninja. If she overexerted herself, it might worsen the pinch in her gut all the faster. But it was time saved, and she wasn't sure how much time she had.

Her lungs burned angrily in the 20-some minutes it took the hear the sound of a village in the evening, but she kept control of her breathing and dropped from her branch to steel herself, slapping a hand in front of her as a bug buzzed around her head. She was still in Kiri clothing, and she'd bet anyone could clock her as Mist on sight. She'd look suspicious, that much she was sure of, but so long as she minded her own business she should be largely left alone, especially if this was just a small port town.

She walked forward out of the trees, looking towards the village; small but busy at the docks, most of the sailors and traders pulling into the docks after a day out, laughing and chatting as they swapped stories and goods. Lanterns were being lit, casting a smooth orange over the dark blue of the evening.

She made her way to one of the larger paths into the village, walking in as just another traveler as far as they cared, sniffing at the air.

Dirt and fish. Not too different from Mist after all.

The street was cobblestone, though the buildings were almost all made of wood, light spilling out from inside as people turned in for the night. Not a single person she saw carried themselves like a shinobi, though a few had swords sheathed on their back or side and looked like they at least knew how to hold them. Mercenary's or caravan guards most likely.

Most people paid her little mind beyond hollering about a final deal on the daily catch before closing for the evening. A couple looked nervous or watched her for a minute, but it seemed like that was more for the fact that she was simply carrying weapons with her at all rather than her being from Kiri. Fire's status as a melting pot might actually work in her favor here. As much as she'd love to be recognized across the world, here was a situation where the anonymity was extraordinarily helpful; she didn't need Konoha nin questioning what one of the Seven was doing here.

Ringo had enough money in a pouch strapped to her thigh to last maybe a week or two, three if she stretched it, but she'd bet doctor's orders would be to eat and sleep well. She'd find someplace to stay for the night, but more than anything right now, she needed a map. It's not like she hadn't been in the region before, but the Land of Fire was huge, she'd only ever been on missions to very specific places here, and Tsunade could be anywhere at any time. She needed to know where the hell she was going.

She considered just grabbing a random passerby for questioning. It worked well enough in Kiri, but Fire was full of spineless cowards that could break if she wasn't careful.

It wasn't her specialty, but she could do casual.

"S'cuse me," she grumbled, waving a hand at a man, young, short hair, carrying a bag strapped to his shoulder.

He looked at her, a bit nervous but with a smile, taking a step towards her. "Yeah? You ah- you need something?"

She could be casual. Friendly. She smiled at him.

He suddenly looked like he wanted to be anywhere else.

"I need a map" she said, all teeth, looking him in the eyes.

"A huh-a- a wha-...?"

He was sweating. What the hell was wrong with him?

He struggled for an answer.

She smiled wider.

He turned on his heel and walked away as fast as he could.

She watched him disappear into the crowd, pushing his way past a few people who looked a little alarmed at his exodus.

What an asshole!

She huffed, running a hand through her hair. From what Ringo remembered, Fire folk were supposed to be polite to a fault. She'd teach him a lesson on manners if it wasn't sure to get some sort of authority involved. Maybe a bar? Bars worked for her when she was younger and needed information, right? No reason fire country would be too different, even if their people were weirder than she'd anticipated.

Active as Hidoku-Wanai was in the evening, it wasn't hard to find someplace she was fairly certain was an inn; bold letters on a sign over the doorway proclaiming "Koji's" if she was reading it right, along with some smaller words a bit too stylized to make out.

She'd never actually been in a fire country bar before, but it wasn't too different, even if it was obvious that shinobi weren't the clientele like her old haunts in Mist. The bar goers were fairly according to script; tall, muscular for the most part, and drunk, congregated into a few groups of four or five scattered across the room. Behind the counter, the bartender chatted amicably along with one of the groups, leaning forward and laughing at some joke one of them made.

She walked to the counter, tapping on it to get his attention. He looked over to her, nodding quickly and saying something to the group he was with before walking over to her.

"Hey, welcome! What can I get you?"

"Ah, sake?"

He nodded, dumb smile plastered across his face.

She blew out a breath, taking a seat at the counter. "I'm a bit new here. Don't know the area very well. Do you know where I can get a map?"

"Map?" He said, turning to look her in the eyes as she fished through a cabinet, glasses clinking together as he rummaged. "Ah, should be a small place by the edge of town. Travel supply shop; buddy of mine, nice guy, runs the place. 'Wicks', right on the west road."

Ah. That was simple. She breathed out and leaned an elbow on the counter, head in her hand. "Thanks."

"Not a problem," he chuckled. "You said you were new? Traveler?"

"Something like that. I'm just stopping in, really" she said, watching as he poured her sake into a small saucer. "I don't suppose you know a Tsunade?"

"The sannin?"

"Yeah, that one."

"Can't say I do!"

He set the saucer in front of her and she muttered a thanks, sipping from it as she fished out a few hundred yen for him. Not like she expected that to work, but might as well, right?

"Think she doesn't take kindly to folks bugging her, if I've heard right" the man says, arms on the counter. "Bit of a loner after she retired."

"Ah", Ringo says, swishing her Sake in the cup, "Kinda my only option, really."

"Oh." He sounds a bit sad at that. "You're from...Mist?"

"You could tell...?" She said slowly with a faux shocked expression, looking up at him as he laughed.

"When you're in the people business such secrets do reveal themselves!"

"Mist?" A gruff voice from the group closest to her called. "Sounds like a story!"

"Not really. I haven't been here long."

"Aw, here's not the interesting part!" He says, laughing along with a couple others. "Wha's Mist like? Hear it went a bit sideways."

They stared at her waiting for an answer longer than she was comfortable with. "It's uh...wet."

The three of them guffaw and the same one asks, "Sake any good there?"

"Alright, alright" the barman says, chuckling. "She's probably tired, Ji, let the lady rest."

"Sure, sure," Ji replies, waving a hand in front of him before turning back to Ringo, "You'll like it here! Water's fresh and the rice is better'n Ta no kuni could get!"

"I'm sure," Ringo said mildly, turning back to her drink.

The barkeep waved him off again, leaning back towards her.

"He's a good fellow, don't pay him too much mind."

"I'm really not."

He hummed. "Y'know, I bet Wicks is closed for the night. You said you just arrived what, today?" he asked, waiting for a nod before continuing. "Bet you're hungry, right? I got a menu if you want. My partner, he makes the best pork buns you've ever had. And the desserts!? Mmph!" He says with a flourish, looking at her expectantly.

She was hungry. And she hadn't had pork in a long time. This place was too civilian for poison, wasn't it? Safe enough. She'd just deserted. Why not make it a party?

"Sure," she exhaled, feeling tired. "Pork buns sound good."

His face somehow lit up even more, and he wandered back to the small door to the kitchen, opening it slightly and calling in, "Hey, Jun, got an order for ya!"

She tuned him out. Her chest hurt, more than usual. Like something was crawling through it, pressing sharp and uncomfortable into her lungs. She clutched at it, taking a deep breath in, focusing on the countertop. The lights were becoming far too bright and the patrons too loud. Everything felt like it was hurting her.

"-ey. Hey, are you alright?"

She nodded with a shaky "yeah", and though she wasn't looking at him, she was fairly certain he wasn't convinced. She squeezed a hand over her eyes, trying to block out the brightness of the lights, taking a few more breaths as the pinching sensation in her lungs gradually loosened, falling back to the mild burning it had become in the past few months.

She opened her eyes, steadying herself as she looked up.

"Here." The bartender pushed a glass of ice water towards her. "You were out of it for a minute there. That happen often?"

"It's fine," she said, hooking a hand around the cool glass. Her skin felt like it was on fire and she was sweating, a deep exhaustion settling in her. "Thanks."

"Not a problem. Water's free, anyways."

Was it? That was odd. Fresh water was a commodity in Kiri, and sipping at the drink, it was definitely fresh. Maybe there was something wrong with it.

Still better than Kiri's.

"Where are you planning on staying tonight?"

"Ah...?"

She looked back up at him. He was smiling again.

"This is an inn, too. Still got a few rooms left if you need a place to stay."

"How much?"

"5000 yen."

"Sounds cheap."

"We're just that great."

She huffed in amusement, ignoring the sharp feeling in her chest that accompanied it. "Sure. Alright."

"Great!" He said. "I'll get you a key in a minute. Oh, name's Hideo, by the way."

"Umi."

"Nice to meet you, Umi!"

She nodded as Hideo turned towards the kitchen door, wiping at her forehead with her sleeve. She wasn't sure she'd ever be used to the culture entirely, and it was odd to be talking so casually to someone who hadn't touched a sword in his life, but not unpleasant.

"Here ya go." He said, setting down a plate of steamed pork buns in front of her.

If they were half as good as they smelled, she'd give the people's odd demeanor here a pass.

Jun, whoever he was and however he learned, was a damn good cook, Hideo wasn't lying. If Mist had food like that, Ringo might never have bothered leaving.

She reached the top of the inn's stairway feeling warm and well-fed, looking left to right for the number plastered on the keyring, finding it a door down from the end of the hall, twisting the nob and nudging it open with her shoulder, latching and locking it behind her as she looked over the room.

It was surprisingly decent. Not the lap of luxury like some of the larger, more expensive hotels could give, but surprisingly cheap for what it was. Neat, no dust, and pretty well packed for its small size. A chair, a desk, a bed with an extra blanket folded at its foot, a bathroom, and a couple drawers next to a nightstand with a small light on it.

She laid back on the bed, relishing the softness of it.

"Oh hell."

If every bed in Fire was this cozy, she was never leaving. The hokage himself could be hunting her down, it was worth living through the chase for this.

Swords. An increasingly small wad of yen. Her outfit and her plain-cloth headband. She had all she needed, really, but it was less than she'd like. Maybe she should've taken the risk to grab a bit more cash before leaving Kiri, but what's done is done.

The severe stinging in her chest had gone, replaced with a muted ache that permeated throughout her body. She was almost pissed at herself for feeling so exhausted after doing so little, but the upside of it was that she was just too tired to care.

For a moment, she thought about how her pond in Kiri was doing. A dumb thought, but it bugged her that Jūzō had found it. It was probably still much filthier than the free water they had here, but what's nice is nice. It was special. A little oasis in comparison to the rest of the country. Here, water spilled out of faucets like it was as common as the air itself; pretty ironic, all things considered.

Her fingers traced the sharp and familiar metal of the Kiba, sparks jumping at the touch. She wasn't free just yet, but that would come in time. Her illness would be battered down, and then maybe she'd come back here for a night or two. See if Jun had anything new on the menu.

But for now. Wash her clothes, a bath, a night's rest, breakfast in the morning, and then off to find a map. She'd bet the doctor would be proud of her; not many shinobi took too kindly to bedrest, but Ringo had eaten, was hydrated, and felt like she was in heaven on the soft cloth over her mattress. Any chance of failure wasn't worth thinking about in the face of all that.

Yeah. Worrying could wait till morning. Ringo was never good at it, anyways.

AN: Editing is very very tough with a cat that loves to climb onto my shoulder, and another that keeps trying to push my laptop off my desk so I'll pay attention to him.
All my cats are attention hogs.

Big big thanks to everyone still reading after the first arc! This is the story that got me writing in the first place, and it means a lot to me to have y'all along for the ride.
Hope you can continue to enjoy it, cause there's a bunch more to come!

See you in two weeks! Sending good vibes out your way! Have a good one, yo