Sennin : The tale of the utterly gutsy shinobi

by Livehak-san

Hiruzen died during Kyūbi's attack on Konoha. Twenty years later, the butterfly effect of his demise has reached unimaginable proportions. But if the death of an aging man can change history that much, can the simple life of a young hermit bring it back into the right path? Sennin, the tale of the utterly gutsy shinobi.

10. Opal and Obsidian, part 1

Note : Don't hesitate to send me a private message if you see sentences or paragraphs missing, the chapter is 1k words shorter than the French one, I find that strange.

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Chapter size : 17000 words

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Opal and Obsidian

Part 1

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Hinata

April 6 1013, 9 :47am

Land of Lightning, Kumo

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After how long had she stopped crying? One... two months? After how long had she accepted it? One... two years? After how long had she forgiven?

Time. A word, an notion. The first Raikage once said that time ruled mankind, ruled the world. It was present at our birth and was present at our death, nothing could change its course. We couldn't touch it, yet we kept chasing it.

Time was what made simple moments precious. When the moments of life became memories, of tenderness or regret, time sublimated them, then altered them, until only scribbled faces remained.

Until his shroud, time accompanies the veteran, before wiping the tears of separation.

A, the Shodaime Raikage, by Naomi Yoshida.

1013.

For some, a second lasted an eternity, for others, a decade would vanish in the blink of an eye. For her, nine years had vanished into an eternity.

Through the window and the clouds, the sun's rays warmed her opal pupils and long obsidian hair. Slowly, she closed the book between her fingers and rested the side of her hand on the railing blocking the window. A squeak was heard at her feet, forcing her weary attention.

"You already there?"

A smile appeared on her porcelain face, widening the dark circles under her eyes, then she bent down and reached out her hand to the small white rodent. The animal clung to her white sweater and moved along her arm until it reached her shoulder. From there it stood on its hind legs and squeaked at her a second time.

"Are you hungry?"

Without waiting for the animal to answer, she got up and went to the iron bed in the corner of the room, decorated with a white mattress, a white pillow, and a white sheet. She lifted the pillow and grabbed the small piece of bread it hid.

"Look what I saved for you."

She didn't have time to finish her sentence that the rodent rushed against her hand to start his daily meal.

"Eat slowly, I have only this today."

The sounds in the hallway behind the room's only white, airtight door caught her smile.

As soon as the first echo of the lock opening was heard, the animal jumped out and hid under the bed. As soon as the door opened, she tucked the book behind her back and turned to face it.

Reflexively, she lowered her gaze on the black pants that ventured to the only piece of furniture in the room.

"Step aside."

She stepped aside without a word.

Standing in front of the toilet and the sink that formed the angle, her face lowered on the white pants she was wearing, she watched from the corner of her eye the man in black looking for something on the white mattress, the white pillow, the white sheet. He found nothing and immediately turned in her direction.

"Where are your clothes?"

With a shake of her head, she pointed to the small white pile folded at the feet of the same colored walls, next to the door, where the two men in white vests and nailed posture were. The man went to the white clothes on the floor and looked again, nothing.

He had not found the color he was looking for.

The man moved in her direction, and without his hoarse voice commanding her to do anything, she stepped aside again. He examined the inside of the toilet bowl before muttering something she only half heard.

An intonation dotted with blank.

"Have to... decide... not wait forever."

Despite her lowered opalescent gaze, she felt the one of the man on her immaculate little person in the middle of the room, and she knew what he was about to say, but she could not help but flinch.

"What are you hiding behind your back?"

She lowered her anxious face even further, under the gaze of the two guards at the entrance of the room, as the man's searching hand presented itself inexorably to her white eyes.

A second passed, then two. It was not until the third that she took four steps forward and placed the white ornament in the dull palm. There was a long silence, then a sigh. Not hers. The man left the room, taking with him the only source of distraction she had.

Her sad face pointed to the floor, the closing of the door startled her. The most recent morning ritual had just ended. The three thousand two hundred and ninety-seventh.

Did she feel safe?

The little white rodent reappeared at her feet and gave her the opportunity to regain control of her emotions with an amused laugh.

Did she feel happy?

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Natsu

September 12 1004, 10 :08 pm

Land of Lightning, Kumo

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The first firework lit up the night sky with its web of light. Its roar reached the window and made the small hands that were placed on it tremble. The second explosion of color, even more impressive, was reflected in the opaline eyes on the other side of the window. The little girl, who was about four years old, looked at the rainbow of colors in amazement. Without waiting, the child turned and jumped from the small wooden stool under the window to run towards a young woman.

With his arms folded behind her back, the woman stood at the opening of the room's only sliding door and watched the little girl's run.

"Natsu-san, can you take me to the park?"

The child joined her two little hands and gave a big and wonderful smile to the woman called Natsu, standing still and dressed in a black housewife's dress and a white maid's apron, who looked at her with tenderness. The light from outside mirrored the young woman's pine-green hair as she put one of her knees on the floor and positioned herself at the little girl's level.

"Sorry, Princess, but without your father's permission, this is not possible."

Disappointment materialized on the face of the young princess, who immediately untied her hands and lowered her sad face.

"You'd better go to bed, it's getting late. Besides, you have a training tomorrow morning, you don't want to be tired."

Slowly, accompanied by her swinging arms, the little girl moved towards her bed.

"Alright." she said under the dizzying fall of her emotions.

"Sleep well princess. If you need anything, just call me, I'm never far away."

Too disappointed, the princess didn't answer and just lay down on the thin mattress on the floor. She pulled the blanket back over half of her black pajama-clad body as the young maid silently closed the sliding wooden door.

No sooner had she finished her gesture than Natsu, standing in the hallway, looked at the clock hanging on the wooden wall overlooking the entrance of the house.

Twenty-one o'clock.

Light blue veins spread around her opaline eyes, and in the next second she dropped her gaze to the room on the other side of the house.

Lying on her back on a bed similar to the one of the princess, the silhouette of a woman was sleeping peacefully. The swollen belly, hidden by the blanket, revealed to her a small, bluish figure plunged in a deep sleep, just like its mother.

Soon, a newcomer would become an active part of the Hyūga clan.

Master Hiashi had allowed her to watch Mistress Himawari with her Byakugan, otherwise she would never have dared. He had decided by mutual agreement that it was better to put aside some ancestral rules than to disturb his wife's sleep. No member of the secondary branch was allowed to use his Byakugan on members of the main family. This was a handwritten rule of the elders. Those who had reunited the Hyūga clan during the Sengoku period. She was one of the few Hyūga since the two branches were formed who had been given this opportunity. However, she didn't see it as an honor, feeling more ashamed of her indiscretion than blessed.

Twenty-one hours past two.

The veins on her face faded as she looked back at the sliding door.

She didn't need to use her eyes to know exactly what Princess Hinata was up to. In fact, she had just heard her pull off her blanket thirty seconds ago and walk through her room towards the wardrobe. The princess still lacked insight into her stealth abilities, she was far less talented than she liked to think.

Slowly, Natsu made her way to the entrance of the house and sat down on the only step in front of it. She grabbed the pair of black shoes next to the other two and put them on before grabbing the smaller of the two remaining pairs. The window of the princess's room opened slightly.

Just as quietly, Natsu opened the door of the house and ventured outside. The slight humming sound she had heard so far turned into a bang as she turned her attention to the myriad of colors.

The magnificent spectacle which illuminated the starry sky and which had just pushed the princess to transgress.

As soon as she walked down the dirt road that led to the main street of the neighborhood, Natsu raised her hand before folding her thumb and little finger. This simple sign meant to all the people watching her that she was taking care of the situation. That is, the four Byakugan who were watching her every move, as well as those of the house.

The obsidian hair of the princess, who walked silently at about thirty meters in the middle of the street, inevitably attracted her gaze as well as her shadowing.

Despite the fact that the heiress's recent behavior was no laughing matter, Natsu could not help but smile in amusement.

Only four years old, almost five, and Mistress Hinata already seemed to have blind faith in her abilities. That was a good thing, of course. But now, those abilities had to catch up with reality.

With a gesture similar to the one she had made when she left the residence, Natsu raised her hand in the air a second time.

The heiress had just disobeyed the order to sneak out, and now she was quietly skipping down the middle of the main street in her pajamas and slippers. More than a dozen opaline eyes had already noticed her incongruous night walk in the main branch area, yet the princess really thought she had gone unnoticed.

The childish and innocent behavior of Mistress Hinata was quite funny to watch.

If she had not caught up with her yet to bring her back, it was only because she had lied to her. Master Hiashi had given his permission for her to watch the fireworks if her daughter wanted to. She just wanted to confirm the princess's disobedience once again.

This behavior was in no way due to her rank, be it maid or members of the secondary branch. After all, Mistress Hinata was the nicest girl she had ever been given to look after. It was just a question of age. The time when a child began to want to discover the world around him or her, even if it meant going against the rules that governed it.

Most of the time, parents would set their children straight, but Lady Himawari was a kind-hearted person and she never heard her raise her voice against her daughter, quite the opposite. If the princess wanted to do something that would make her happy, Lady Himawari would move heaven and earth to make that wish come true. Master Hiashi, on the other hand, was stricter and preached the clan's morals to the letter, but he too had a factor that prevented him from noticing his daughter's recent behavior: the Lord was rarely present. His new role in the village's Restricted Council was a large part of the reason for this.

With both hands behind her back and a pair of shoes dangling from her fingers, Natsu followed the princess for the next few minutes, raising her hand a dozen times to make sure the heiress was left alone. When she stopped at the edge of a small clearing in the southern district, she did the same. And as Hinata pulled herself up onto the bench in front of the path leading to the wooded hearth, she turned her attention to what had piqued the princess's curiosity: the fireworks.

The village was celebrating the peace treaty between Fire and Lightning, and it had to be said that they knew how to welcome the emissaries sent by the Clouds. The Third Great War had been over for more than four years, and the same number of years had passed since Kyūbi's attack. The same number of years that the villagers hadn't celebrated anything. The same number of years that they had feared what was to come.

There was a pattern that everyone knew, but few dared to talk about: three to four years.

This was the time between the three previous Great Wars. And everyone feared that the fourth would soon break out, especially when they heard that diplomatic tensions between Earth and the Waterfalls were escalating. But today, this tenth of July, was a day of calm, of good life. Konoha and Kumo had just signed a peace treaty, which meant that war could be avoided, or at least that it would not reach the borders of the Fire Nation.

Natsu turned her attention back to the young heiress who had not moved, completely absorbed in the light show that was taking place above the hidden village. Silently, she approached the bench and the dangling legs without being noticed and positioned herself behind the young Hyūga.

"Are you enjoying the show, Hinata-sama?"

A small scream and a startle took the little girl by surprise, who jumped to the ground with both arms clasped to her chest and a frightened, wide-eyed expression on her face before turning in her direction.

Eyes squinted, Natsu gave the heiress an amused and severe expression. Amused by her smile, severe by her contracted jaw.

"How come you're here even though I asked you to sleep, princess? Did you fall out of bed?"

"I-I... t-that's..."

Following his rhetorical question and the little girl's stammer, Natsu took an uncertain pose and, with her arms crossed, placed her only index finger that did not hold the shoes against her chin.

"I wonder what Lord Hiashi will say when he learns that you sneaked out."

A look of panic immediately appeared on the heiress's face as she held up her hands.

"Please don't say anything!"

Natsu wanted to laugh but managed to keep her serious and concentrated face.

"Hmm... I don't know..." pretended Natsu to hesitate in front of the princess' pleading face.

A broad smile finally appeared on the servant's face. "Very well, I will accept your request only if you give me your next two desserts in return."

The princess's eyes widened even more than they already were.

"Two?"

It seemed that Oseki's pastry flank was not to be underestimated. It even seemed to be worth a confrontation with Master Hiashi.

The heiress raised an index finger just below her unyielding expression.

"One."

Although the blackmail would never take place even if it succeeded, Natsu again pretended to think.

"Only one? You're tough in business, Hinata-sama."

Walking around the bench, she crouched down in front of the young Hyūga who was hanging on her lips, and those lips immediately widened into a broad smile. "But okay, I accept."

Following her words and the playful look that materialized on the heiress's face, she lifted the child's leg a few inches to remove her slipper and put on one of the shoes she had brought.

"Why are you putting on my shoes?"

One eyebrow raised, Natsu stopped in her tracks and lifted her face towards the small opal gaze.

"Didn't you want to go to the park?"

The same eyes turned to disbelief.

"Is it true?!"

The member of the Second Branch released the leg now clad in a black shoe and, with another smile, handed the second shoe to the princess.

"Put it on quickly before I change my mind."

Retrieving the second small bunny slipper, Natsu stood up and held out her open hand to Hinata. This one gladly accepted it as they began their long walk towards the park, but the heiress suddenly stopped, drawing Natsu's attention.

"Is something wrong, Hinata-sama?"

With a worried expression on her face, the child's opaline eyes met hers.

"Won't Father scold you for taking me to the park? I don't want you to be punished."

Natsu gave the little girl a friendly smile. Hinata-sama had inherited Himawari-sama's kindness, there was no doubt about it.

"Don't worry about me, Princess, and let's enjoy the show before it ends."

With a nod and a broad smile, the obsidian hair passed under her nose and pulled her hand away from the area.

A hundred meters further on, with Hinata still smiling cheerfully, they stopped in front of a huge, wide-open wooden gate, where two guards stood in the middle of the dirt road with an inscrutable posture. With their hands behind their backs, they looked out over the street and the twenty or so four- to five-story buildings in front of the southern entrance to the neighborhood.

Although both had heard them coming, only the one on the left turned to stare at them. Dressed in the traditional Konoha uniform, the man, who must be in his forties, first looked at Natsu with his activated Byakugan before placing it on the little girl clutching her hand. The veins around his eyes faded as quickly as the livid look that spread across his face. With one arm folded across his chest and the other behind his back, he immediately bowed in front of the heiress.

"I'm sorry Hinata-sama, I didn't recognize you, it wasn't my intention to look at you this way."

Despite her status, the princess, without taking her eyes off the guard, lowered her somewhat intimidated face to let the man know that she forgave him. For what reason? She didn't really know.

At the mention of the first name, the second guard to their right turned her feminine face and, not making the same mistake as her colleague, the Hyūga made her eye technique disappear before letting her gaze fall on the heiress. In turn, she bowed in front of the little girl.

"Hinata-sama."

Unlike the man, who still didn't seem to have recovered from his clumsiness, the woman, who couldn't be older than Natsu, about twenty years old and dressed identically to her partner, turned her attention to the servant.

"Does Master Hiashi know about the princess's departure?"

Hinata's hand tightened on Natsu's fingers.

"I wouldn't dare come here if he didn't, Mei-san."

Blue, yellow, or red, depending on the color of the fireworks, the features of the named Mei distorted in an unfriendly rictus.

Since she had this privileged role within the main family, the family of the clan leader, the relationship that Natsu once had with the members of the secondary branch had… deteriorated?

They didn't say it directly, but a kind of unwelcome jealousy had crept into their looks, gestures, and actions towards her, and she had to admit that their behavior saddened her greatly.

The Hyūga in charge of the southern gate took her eyes off Natsu to observe the heiress and bowed respectfully for a second time.

"Have a nice walk, Hinata-sama."

And for the second time, the Hyūga Princess nodded shyly before pulling Natsu's arm and leading her through the streets of Leaf.

A grin crossed the maid's face as she observed the princess's black pajamas.

Open and friendly in private, Hinata was shy and reserved in public. When someone she didn't know or didn't know much about approached her, it was rare that she was able to overcome their gaze. This part of her personality was no doubt something she had inherited from her mother. And her daughter's shyness made Lady Himawari laugh a lot, unlike Lord Hiashi, who didn't laugh at all. According to the reproaches she had overheard from the corner of a corridor, it was an unworthy behavior for her stature, and she had to look in the eyes of the person that spoke to her. This simple sentence, which might seem insignificant, had triggered in the heiress an even stranger behavior than the previous one.

When her shyness got the better of her, Master Hiashi's words replayed in her mind, and it was not uncommon to see the heiress's gaze bifurcate between the floor and her interlocutor's irises, sometimes a dozen times in a single conversation.

"Why was she mean to you?"

Fortunately, Mistress Himawari had not only passed on her shyness to her daughter. She had also passed on her perspicacity.

"She is an old friend of mine from whom I stole a dessert."

Her lighthearted joke managed to conceal a very different truth and stole a laugh from the heiress.

"You like desserts very much, especially those of Oseki-san."

Cheeks peony red and having swallowed her saliva askew, Natsu coughed slightly at the princess's sudden stop, followed by hers.

"Are you sick?" she asked her with a worried look, almost ready to head back home.

"N-No, don't worry, everything's fine."

A smile and a nod later, the child led her once again in the direction of the park. A spirit that faded as they approached the nerve center of the village, leaving her in charge.

A smile and a nod later, the child once again led them in the direction of the park. A spirit that faded as they approached the nerve center of the village, leaving her to lead the way.

As the happy crowd and the revelers grew around her, the princess drew closer to her, to the point of leaning against her leg while holding her hand with both of hers.

She could talk to the heiress of anything and everything, so much so that Natsu often forgot that she was only four years old, and that tens of thousands of people parading, dancing and singing under fireworks and music played for the occasion could be destabilizing, even traumatic, for such a young age.

With one hand clutching ten tiny fingers and the other a pair of bunny slippers, Natsu weaved her way through the groups trying to talk and the paper dragons trying to fly and, turning around in the middle, she looked at Hinata who was already watching her.

An umpteenth smile appeared on the princess's features, which had no other effect than to sketch hers. Despite the fact that the heiress was afraid - the heartbeat that animated her was the greatest proof of it - she seemed to be able to turn some of it into admiration.

As Natsu tried to continue crossing the main street of the Leaf, a hand rested on her shoulder. A hand, heavy, weary and - although expected as the man had followed her for about twenty meters in an impotent manner - somewhat drunk.

The first move, as a servant, was to move the heiress behind her back, who, with her eyes wide open, did not understand what was happening. The second move, but this time as a woman, was to look into the eyes of the man who, with squinted ones, brought his face closer to better stare at her.

"I knew it." declared the latter in the midst of the deafening crowd that did not care at all about their exchange.

"Remove your hand, sir."

Although she sounded calm, Natsu's voice reflected her impending irritation if her request was not fulfilled, but the ambient music seemed to prevent the man from hearing what she had just asked. In fact, he didn't even seem to be able to feel the shoulder and back blows that all the dancers around them were giving him.

"You...! You are a Hyūga...! Aren't you?" he shouted, a bottle in his hand that was helping him to keep his balance.

As she expected, he did not withdraw his hand. However, Natsu managed to keep her calm.

"How can I help you, sir?"

Strangely enough, this time, despite the fact that she had not spoken any louder than her previous sentence, the man heard her perfectly.

"Well, consider this your lucky day, Hyūga-chan!" he replied, smiling with his yellow teeth.

In a very uncontrolled movement, the man pointed to a spot in his back. "My friends... over... there...?" he stammered as he looked at the area he was pointing to, unsure of his words.

He finally returned his staggering attention to hers, somewhat annoyed.

She hated alcoholics. Men even more.

"Four... five... yes, that's it. My five friends over there have always dreamed... of banging a Hyūga. You're per... personally not my type... but I'll make the effort... for peace!"

She had to admit that without the two small hands clasped behind her back, he wouldn't have had the time to finish his drunken tirade. And he certainly would not have had the opportunity to lift his teetering bottle to take a sip.

"So what do you say?! Are you in?!" he asked her before patting her shoulder.

"Take off your hand."

Although there was a hint of hostility in her tone this time, the man did not understand her order. Instead, and accompanied by a dopey grin, he frowned his brown eyebrows.

"Huh?! Does that mean yes or n…"

The bluish veins that contracted around her murderous and opaline gaze started the brutal retreat of the alcoholic, who, falling backwards, replaced his smile with a terrified expression.

"A-All right n-no need to get upset! A n-no would have been enough!" he stammered, frightened.

Natsu pulled the princess along and immediately continued her walk. To her great relief, the young age of the heiress had prevented her from understanding the exchange that had just taken place, and that was why the little girl was watching her out of the corner of her eye, lost.

An amused and annoyed chuckle escaped from between Natsu's lips.

For peace...

About thirty meters further on, past the young people dancing and the old men stomping, Natsu, followed by the princess, walked down a small path that was empty of people. The childish voice of the heiress did not wait.

"This man wanted to fight?"

With the music muted and the cries of joy barely audible, Natsu, without stopping her walk, turned her raised eyebrows to the princess.

"What do you mean, Hinata-sama? That man didn't want to fi... oh. Oh!"

It took her a while to understand, but she finally did. And the thought that came out of it made her face turn back to the forest they were walking through.

Banging a Hyūga.

It was from her mouth that this time a stutter came out.

"You'll understand when you're older… well, no, I mean, yes... anyway, we've arrived."

As she had predicted, the heiress let go of her hand immediately, not caring about her stuttering, and walked around the iron gates to reach the entrance. Following her footsteps, Natsu walked under the natural arch formed by the branches of the oaks and ventured out onto the freshly manicured lawn.

The trees about twenty meters behind her and now in the center of the gap, Natsu stood at the side of the heiress, already absorbed by the explosions of light above their heads.

The heiress turned to herself, trying not to miss anything of the spectacle, and Natsu did the same, but for a completely different reason. Her gaze was not directed at the clouds, it was blocked at human height, at the people that surrounded them.

The park, or rather the clearing, as it was very little known to the public, hosted half a dozen civilians on this day of celebration.

The closest, about thirty meters away and to the west of their position, was a young couple lying on a blanket, watching the colorful explosions with fascination. To the north, just as close as the lovers, a family sitting on one of the few benches at the edge of the lush forest also had their eyes glued to the clouds. And finally, behind them, about forty meters away, Natsu turned her gaze to an old man, leaning on his wooden stick, smiling in front of the most magnificent spectacle.

"Natsu-san?"

Silently and with one eyebrow raised, Natsu turned her attention back to Hinata, waiting for her to ask her question, which the heiress did.

"Why doesn't everyone do what Fire and Lightning do? Why are there wars?"

A smile appeared on Natsu's face. Sometimes, she really felt like she was talking to an adult, so much so that the eloquence and questions of the heiress were surprising. Master Hiashi's lessons in vocabulary training for his daughter had more than paid off.

"Well, many will tell you it's for peace."

The princess looked at her in confusion. There was much to be confused about.

""They... go to war... for peace?"

"That's the idea, yes."

Keeping silent in her turn, the princess opened her mouth slightly before closing it. The question that had popped into her head vanished as soon as the following one appeared. A more interesting, more important question.

"You said many will tell you... and you?" she asked. "What do you think?"

"You should ask that question to Hiashi-sama, he will know how to answer you better than me."

The princess immediately frowned. Despite what her tutors and father had taught her about her status over the past two years, it was still vague. A servant of the secondary branch giving her opinion on such a subject to the future representative of the main branch, the clan, was still not something understandable for her age.

"I want to know, please Natsu-san."

More than being deprived of desserts, not understanding a subject was really what irritated the princess the most, and she had quickly learned to demand what she wanted, formally or informally. Especially if it was an answer.

After a slight exhales, amused by the princess's curiosity, Natsu turned her attention back to the clouds filled with the colors of the fireworks.

"'Well." she began, thinking twice. "I say it's because they don't understand each other, don't get along... are jealous of each other. And that they've been doing it since the beginning of time."

She returned her gaze to the heiress, who began to watch the sky and the colorful explosions with a calmer, more distracted air.

"It would be better if there were fireworks every day."

A warm expression appeared on Natsu's face.

"I hope that one day the world will think like you, Hinata-sama. I sincerely hope so."

Pensive, the young nanny examined the radiant expressions of the couple and family on the other side of the flat land. "You can't erase the past or change the present, but you can create the future. One day they will understand each other, get along, and help each other."

Natsu didn't have to turn to face the heiress to know that she must be wondering what she was getting at.

"When I was about your age, every time she came back from a mission, my mother used to read me stories to help me fall asleep. This sentence is from the last book she read to me."

With her eyes glued to her lips, Hinata lost her admiration for the fireworks. It was the first time since she knew Natsu, as far as she could remember, that she heard her talk about her private life.

Natsu didn't really know what made her continue. Maybe the atmosphere that had just cooled down or the huge fireworks that represented the Leaf Clans and lit up the starry sky, but her lips opened again mechanically when the Uzumaki appeared.

"One snowy night in February, after returning from a mission of several months, Mother had brought this old, grayish book that she had bought on her way back from the Swamp Country. I had refused to let her read it to me; it seemed boring, and it was clear that I could not fall asleep if she read it. But stubborn as she was, she didn't listen. Nevertheless, I was right. I had not slept a single second during the three hours of reading. But the reason for this insomnia was not boredom. In fact, I was so engrossed in the story that I couldn't sleep all night."

After turning her gaze back to the forest, Natsu paused for a moment to inhale gently and sort out the flood of memories that mixed with her thoughts.

"Mother was killed in the second Great War the following month and I have never had the courage to read this book again on my own. I'm afraid I won't be able to hear her voice again if I ever do, the one that, when I think of this book, tells me the tale of the utterly gutsy Naruto."

A cool breeze entered the park, causing the trees and weeds surrounding the clearing to twirl.

"Naruto...?" Hinata asked her in a tone of voice moved by what she had just heard.

"That's the name of the hero of the story. A book written by the great Sannin Jiraiya. It tells the story of a man who managed to end wars and bring peace to the world."

With her opal pupils wide open, Hinata gently tucked both hands under her chin.

"Can you lend it to me? I would like to read it."

As she was about to answer, Natsu's melancholy smile faded and, with her back as stiff as her long exhalation allowed, she turned her attention to the edge of the forest where the couple was lying on the sheet. Observing with amazement the red and white fan that reigned over the village, they lowered their eyes to the man to their right. The one who had just come out of the forest.

One Natsu was staring at.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

The man and the woman observed the newcomer's attire, which, with a thin white vest and dark gray pants, left them in no doubt as to his affiliation with a certain hidden village.

Natsu released the pair of slippers that fell onto the grass under the surprised eyes of the princess.

"Natsu-san?"

It was the young man who stood up first. With a jovial air, he left the sheet and the young woman and walked into the forest five meters away.

"Kumo-nin, what are you doing here? Did you get lost in the forests of the village?" he asked, bowing respectfully. "Shouldn't you be at the palace celebrating the signing of the treaty with Godaime-sama?"

More than forty meters away and mentally unable to blink, Natsu watched the Kumo ninja. She scrutinized his breath and his panting chest, his trembling hands and legs, his stoic posture that she knew only too well.

Why?

Accompanied by apprehension, the second branch member took a hesitant step towards the now separated couple, but finally stopped.

Too late.

As soon as the civilian came within range of the white vest, the man broke his nose, dislocated his jaw, and pulled out several his teeth with the back of his hand. The blow was not violent. In fact, it could have been similar to a slap, but the physical fragility of the simple man was such that the abrupt movement of his head shattered his spine. With a dirty crack, he was thrown against the trunk of the nearest tree, which ended up crushing his face.

A shrill howl escaped from the girlfriend's mouth. A high-pitched, tinny sound that immediately called out to the old man, the family, the heiress, but did not venture beyond the wooded expanse, muffled by the fireworks, the singing, the music.

The young woman left the plaid towel and began to run as fast as she could across the lawn, in the opposite direction of her lover.

"Help me! Help me!"

As well as the five pairs of eyes filled with incomprehension in the park, Natsu watched the movements of the white vest as he put his hand into the bag he carried on his leg. Again, she realized that she could not move.

Even though she could have reached the future trajectory of the sharp object, she did not move a millimeter.

"N-Natsu-san...?"

If she did, if she saved this woman, it would mean leaving Hinata alone for several seconds. An unthinkable scenario.

"Please help me!"

The kunai began its frantic race towards the screams. It took such an extreme speed that it vanished, leaving only its hissing sound as the only proof of its existence. In perfect coordination with the explosion of light in the sky that took the form of hidden overlapping clouds, the girlfriend collapsed on the lawn.

The two small arms fearfully wrapped around Natsu's left leg.

"W-What's happening... N-Natsu-san?"

After an almost imperceptible sound behind her back, Natsu turned around to see the old man floating. With his legs dangling twenty centimeters above the ground, he struggled to breathe as the grip of the second white vest squeezed his windpipe. A twist of wrist and a crack later, the septuagenarian released his wooden stick and the Kumo ninja disdainfully threw his lifeless body into the darkness of the forest.

She mechanically placed her hand on the heiress's obsidian hair, but did not let go of the shadows that continued to emerge from the forest that surrounded them. Five, ten, fifteen, she turned her rigid gaze twenty degrees to the left. Then it was her face that turned to reach forty degrees. Sixty. Eighty. One hundred.

After making a complete turn without moving her leg so that the princess could continue to hide her face, Natsu brought her senses back to the family and observed the five new white vests surrounding the bench.

"I-I beg you, K-Kumo-nin, we haven't done anything wrong! W-Why are y..."

The father of the family did not have time to finish his sentence. His scream of pain, as the blade of the Kumo ninja sliced through his carotid artery, intensified the pressure of Hinata's forearms on her leg and even created a pleading whisper.

"W-Where's Father?"

"Please don't touch my son! He's only five years old!" the mother cried, losing her voice and her mind.

The princess moved her leg to cover her ears. Without blinking for a moment, Natsu watched as the mother and son, intertwined, suffered the same fate as the father. Silence followed, where only the sound of their bodies falling to the ground and the footsteps wrapped in the grass could be heard.

She stared at the fifteen white vests, men and women, who stopped within ten meters of them. No laughter, no words exchanged, no satisfaction on their faces. They had taken no pleasure in what they had done. Yet, they had done it.

The princess lifted her face from her black dress. From the top of her ninety-six centimeters, she stared at the shadowy figures who, without exception, stared back at her.

"Ten minutes."

In the middle of the park and under Hinata's muffled sobs, the voice of one of the Kumo ninjas could be heard, starting the countdown in the minds of the other fourteen.

Natsu did the only thing that allowed her to analyze the situation, she stroked the soft hair of the heiress and then watched the white vest that hesitantly took a step into the security perimeter.

It was as if they were the ones at disadvantage.

"Hand over the child and you'll be fine."

She continued to overcome the glances that surrounded them.

There it was, the reason.

So many times that even the history books had stopped listing them, the Lightning had tried to get their hands on the Byakugan. But this time, the Elemental Nation didn't seem to want to stop at stealing a pair that would become obsolete after two or three unsuccessful implementations. They wanted more, much more.

She stared at the man who had stepped forward.

When had Kumo become so ambitious?

After a sniff, the obsidian hair slipped gently on her fingers, forcing Natsu to grab the princess's shoulder as this one took a step towards the white vests.

Her eyelids fluttering open, her voice harsh, Natsu turned her attention to the little girl pinned down by her hand.

"What are you doing?"

The heiress turned to face her, eyes closed and cheeks wet.

"I-I don't want you to die..." she sobbed, wiping away her tears with her sleeve.

Natsu's lips opened slightly, but no sound came out. Her disbelief stayed inside her. The princess knew what was at stake, there was no doubt about it. Master Hiashi was very demanding in this matter. The Byakugan was the most valuable thing a Hyūga's body possessed.

The eye of great victories. The one that would turn the strategic tide of a battle if you had only one. Under no circumstances should the enemy get their hands on it. If capture ever became unavoidable, mutilating your own eyes before killing yourself was the only way to go. This was the thought with which a Hyūga carried out a mission, a confrontation. But the heiress of the same clan was willing to sacrifice her life to save hers.

When had the roles been reversed?

She fixed her gaze on the Lightning shinobi and forcibly pulled the heiress back against her robe.

"Didn't I teach you to recognize a lie, Hinata-sama?"

Silently, the man resumed his position and at that very moment, while continuing to caress Hinata's hair who was clinging to her waist, she realized it.

Perhaps, and for the first time, the plans of the Clouds were going to succeed.

The man raised his arm, and the white masks with vests of the same color began to emerge from the forest. From fifteen, the Kumo ninjas grew to fifty.

- I'm... s-sorry... it's m-my fault... it's m-my fault... it's m-my fault... it's m-my fault... I wanted to co-come... c-come...

Natsu brought the heiress's field of vision up and gave way to a radiant smile.

"As long as I breathe, they won't touch you, Hinata-sama, I promise..."

Reflexively, her arm went to her right and caught the blade. Only then did her Byakugan activate, allowing her to see the heiress fall backwards in a hiccup of fear. Her opaline eyes fell on the white weapon gripped in her fingers, the sharp point pointed at her face, at her jugular.

With her small hand, the princess clung to her dress and pulled herself up from her loss of balance.

"I give you one last chance. Step away from the girl and I promise you a quick death."

The man's lie was filled with authority, but no sooner did she meet his gaze than fear spread across his face.

How long?

She lowered her left arm that was holding the kunai and moved it to her back. Then she made Hinata follow the same movement who released her other hand to hold on to her pelvis. With gentleness, she removed the hands of the heiress that were holding her, making her understand that she would soon need to move at will.

Under Hinata's sniffle, which, although she had let go, was still stuck to her, Natsu observed the forty-seven chakra silhouettes that surrounded them, as well as the twenty others that had already prepared the path that would allow them to escape. Then she placed her second arm at a forty-five-degree angle in front of her concentrated face.

How long could she hold on?

Following the head movement of the man who seemed to be the head of the unit, if she could call it that, one of the masks entered the circle. Though surprised, Natsu's face remained impassive.

She had not noticed them until then.

All of the masks, without exception, had a seal on their tongue and another on their chest. One was used to silence, the other to kill.

Who exactly were they?

She scanned the movements of the mask with the feminine shape as it took another step in their direction.

Even the way they moved was rigid. Almost robotic.

She didn't have time to think any longer. In one leap, the woman, if she was to believe the form of her chest and her long ebony hair, threw herself on her.

The way the woman tried to land her first blow surprised Natsu more than she would have liked. There was no turning back from her attack, either she achieved her goal or there would be no second chance.

With a simple movement of her chest, Natsu dodged the blow and took the opportunity to grab the wrist of the woman trying to reach the princess. Pulling on it, she spun around and drove the kunai deep into the woman's throat.

In a rush of blood and scarlet suffocation, the mask collapsed at her feet.

Returning to her original position, Natsu placed her right arm at a forty-five degree angle and her left arm behind her back, before watching the man at the head of the unit again. A shadow hurried past him and rushed in her direction. Making sure that Hinata was all right in her back after her squeal announcing the arrival of the new attacker, Natsu remained unmoved.

Once again, she dodged the first blow of the white mask, who tried to cut her collarbone with a vertical movement of his Katana. And once again, it seemed that she had no intention of retreating if his attempt failed. With her index and middle fingers, she struck the man's chest, causing him to fall heavily to the ground with a muffled grunt.

She returned to her position at forty-five degrees angle and looked at the Kumo ninja for the fourth time.

How could the Clouds have brought so many people into the village? She had heard that only about thirty emissaries had been allowed in. Those men... those women... hidden behind their masks, were they even Kumo ninja? They just looked like ninjas. Even their attack moves were different.

Cautiously, anxiously, Hinata grabbed the back of her dress with her fingertips and sobbed again.

"W-Why aren't they moving anymore...?"

Natsu lowered three of her fingers, leaving only her index and middle fingers pointing at the fireworks. Then, after a chakra impulse that surprised all the eyes watching her every move, three clones of her materialized around the princess.

Things were about to get serious, she knew. They had just been testing her. A test that had cost two lives, of course, but the first fifteen to arrive didn't seem to care about the two bodies at her feet. As if they didn't know them. The most disturbing thing was the other masks who seemed ready to follow the same fate at the slightest command.

"Listen to me carefully, Hinata-sama."

The cold tone of Natsu's voice immediately called out to the heiress who had been obsessed with the four black dresses surrounding her. She had almost forgotten who the real one was. "If things go wrong..."

Natsu contacted her jaw and immediately stopped in her disguised lie. Forty-five to one. This time, she had to be realistic, tell the truth instead of trying to reassure. So that the princess could prepare herself for what was to come.

"You are going to be kidnapped."

Accompanied by Hinata's frightened sobs, Natsu stopped and looked at the fifteen uncovered faces. If they hadn't been there, she might have been able to do her job. And even then, only if they continued to attack one by one. That was why she had created these clones, the wave of white vests was near.

"You have to stay strong, clear-headed."

The problem remained the same. Konoha's envoys were mostly Jōnins, most of them experienced, and she had no doubt that Kumo had adopted the same practice. In front of her, there were thirty people who did not fear death and fifteen who could bring it in an instant. And there was no doubt that they would take advantage of her greatest weakness.

"You must use your chakra as soon as you have the chance. Those who will be looking for you must not lose track of you. Under no circumstances."

She was a member of the Jōnins of the Leaf herself, and according to what Lord Hiashi and Lady Himawari had said, she was also a member of the clan's elite. That was why Master Hiashi had chosen her to protect his daughter, even though she was only sixteen years at the time. Even though she belonged to the secondary branch. But again, she had to be realistic, she didn't stand a chance.

For the first time in her life, she was about to fight a losing battle.

"I-I'm so-so-so..."

Tenderly, she moved her hand behind her back and grasped the heiress's small fingers, putting a hold on her tears.

"It has been an honor to stand beside you, Princess."

A feeling of calm spread through every muscle fiber of her body.

So this was what it felt like when death came, when you accepted it. The feeling was both comforting and terrifying. The fear of the void, of the unknown that would take over every thought.

"When it will all be over. When you feel safe, promise me one thing, Hinata-sama."

She let go of the princess's grip on her dress and, after a final caress, released the contact of their hands.

The sobbing only grew louder.

"Be happy. Be happy and the world will be."

---

Hinata

July 27 1013, 3 :56pm

Land of Lightning

---

Her dull gaze fell on the vegetation, the trees, and her long, muddy obsidian hair dancing and spinning around her.

Faster. Faster. Faster.

She accelerated again, again, again. Her foot got caught in a root and she fell to the ground with a tired, angry grunt before rising again. Dizziness caught her by surprise and darkness overtook her, but a long, accustomed inhalation brought the light back into her vision.

They are coming. They are getting closer. They are here.

Her bloody fingers clung to the bark of the nearest oak tree as she restarted her endless escape.

She must not stop. She must not stop. She must not stop!

It was the only chance she had been given in nine years. She could either escape or die. There was no other end. Not one.

The periodically burning rays of the sun through the foliage burned her retina and made her fall again.

Stand up. Get up!

She forced her legs and stood up, but her right knee gave out again and her skull hit the bark of the spruce. She lost touch with reality for a moment before the pain brought her back.

This is not happening... not now...

A drop of blood trickled down her forehead, drawing a startled breath from her. Then she looked at the open wound on her knee through her white pants and struck her hip with her fist.

You have no right. "You have no right!"

She was tired, more than ever.

Stay conscious. Stay conscious. Stay conscious.

The sound of her self-inflicted slap echoed in the sudden silence of the wooded expanse and the hiss of her right eardrum.

Only thirty meters to go. Stay… awake.

She helped herself to branches, brambles, trunks, stumps, and leaves to continue crossing the forest, and then, after a minute of endless struggle, she finally saw it.

Follow the sun until you come down from the mountain. Then use the brightest star in the sky. When the sun rises again, follow the mountain range to your southwest. Continue without stopping in the forest until you cross the path of the river. Follow the river for the next two days. You will reach the Land of Fire.

A tired smile spread across her face as she watched the river beyond the pebbles and bushes. The one she had searched for all night.

It was there, finally.

Follow the river for the next two days.

She closed her eyelids.

For two days.

When she opened them again, the stone bridge was under her feet.

Two days...

Could she walk for two more minutes?

She walked to the edge of the bridge and swung her chest over the low wall.

None of the scenarios she had considered had come close to this one. But she promised herself. No matter what happened, no matter what was going on, they would not find her. She wouldn't go back.

She would never let them touch her body.

Her seven-meter fall was not long, in fact, she had no time to think of anything. And the shock of the water on her neck immediately took away the least of her thoughts. It made her forget her name and her motivation, but not her fatigue. And even though the freshness woke her up brutally, she did not manage to put her thoughts back into place and let herself be dragged down.

The lack of oxygen made her instinctively inhale the icy water that rushed into her windpipe. Her legs stiffened and reflexively her hands tried to reach for her throat, but the lack of cohesion in her thoughts kept her immobile. Several gulps followed, spitting out the water in her lungs before she swallowed the double.

Eyes wide open, she admired the glittering, blinding sun as it moved in her direction. It brushed her shoulder and passed behind her just as a convulsion shook her body. Her eardrums whistled one last time, one last drumming, before falling into silence.

An unexpected force pulled her hood and choked her, miraculously preventing the water from entering her lungs any further. Then, finally, a second convulsion stirred her blurred vision and gently closed her eyelids.

The image of a woman and her black yukata presented itself to her, but she did not pay much attention to it.

Her legs, her arms, her pelvis, her belly, then her chest, she lost everything, forgot everything. The chill reached her neck, her thoughts, and nothingness absorbed her into its lands.

But despite the darkness, the white floral robe did not leave her. Instead, it reshaped her consciousness as she paid it a bit of attention.

With white, peaceful eyes, she watched a tear roll down the woman's cheek.

Who is... crying?

She put her teenage fingertips against her face, to found only dry skin.

Courage suddenly filled her thoughts before grief robbed her of all convictions. Her attention then shifted to the surrounding darkness without understanding.

What was this sensation... these feelings?

She looked back at the woman in disbelief, just as a tear reached the corner of her lip.

Hers... or hers?

The salty drop touched the opaque floor and the echo of grief rekindled every thought in her head.

Scared, determined thoughts.

"Sorry to put you through this."

With one lost eye, she watched the woman's warm, heartfelt tears flow uninterrupted and stared at her with fascination. Her eyes widened, her eyebrows raised, and her arm came down along her still being.

She was beautiful. No, she was magnificent. The most beautiful creature she had ever had the chance to observe, to imagine.

Dressed in a black yukata with white flowers, the young woman had an opalescent and penetrating gaze. And her obsidian hair tied in a bun with a red ribbon and a gold pin, let a few strands fall along her porcelain face. Fine, delicate features that left no room for imperfection.

It was her, wasn't it?

The one you met at the end, when it was all over.

"It's going to be okay. Everything will be fine soon, I promise."

With her opalescent irises, the young woman scanned the darkness to her right, as if someone had just spoken to her, before returning her sad smile in his direction.

"I wish I had more time."

An umpteenth tear ran down the smooth, transparent skin of her reminiscence.

Hers...?

More and more transparent.

The woman inhaled and opened her mouth, ready to express herself one last time, ready to repeat words that were not hers.

"You don't have to blame yourself, you didn't know. Take the time you need to forgive yourself."

A most radiant smile. A benevolent, reassuring smile that seemed to reflect what was most important to her.

"He will come back, wait for him. He loves you. He loves you more than you know."

An intense light suddenly blinded her vision and the intense heat in her lungs reignited the pounding in her eardrums, completing the disappearance of the black and white yukata.

She inhaled as deeply as she could, but only met liquid. Her back arched and she spat out in several random movements the blood and water that was impeding her windpipe. Then she opened her eyes in a jerky breath.

At first black with white flowers, her vision returned to color, allowing her to observe gray, blue, and green. Completely panicked, she inhaled again. The oxygen burned her throat and replenished her thoughts, allowing her to observe the pebbles, the river, the forest.

What... had just happened?

Lying face down on the ground, her face half buried in the stones, she watched the bridge about thirty meters away, as well as the burning sun, not understanding how she had gotten to the shore.

Had she drowned?

A noise in her back made her turn in a jerk, and her understanding was only further confused.

Her vision, blurred at first, became clearer and allowed her to stare at the worried expression on the boy's face that overlooked her.

Golden hair, azure eyes, a bright and reassuring smile.

With a mixture of fear and curiosity, she raised her fingers to the disheveled hair. The same gold she had mistaken for the sun as she was drowning.

Was he another of her hallucinations?

The azure irises followed the movement of her hand, and as she reached out to brush the wheat hair, everything came back to her.

Her tiredness, her journey, her thoughts.

Her hand began to shake and her eyes began to panic, erasing the smile he was giving her.

Scared out of her wits as she frantically scanned her surroundings, she couldn't control her movements and crawled back towards the river.

She had to hurry, they would be coming soon.

It was under the sounds of the stones that mixed with her legs in her unexpected attempt that the boy's voice finally rose behind her back.

"What are you doing?"

She didn't answer, and as soon as her fingers touched the icy water, ten more grabbed her ankles. Then her calves, her hips, and finally her left arm. Without being able to do anything with her current strength, he turned her onto her back and pinned her down with all his weight.

Leaning on his knees on either side of her stomach and straddling her, he held both of her arms in the icy water, creating closeness between their faces that she had never achieved with anyone before.

She struggled once, and that was enough for her to realize that she had no chance of making him move. So she did the only thing she could do at the moment: she stared at him.

Less than twenty centimeters from her hateful face, he opened his lips for the second time.

"I said, what are you doing?"

Her obsidian hair half dipped in the river, the dry stamp with which he addressed her made her neither hot nor cold. On the contrary, it was only the instigator of her own.

"Let me go."

He didn't let her go.

"Let me go!"

Her painful howl echoed through the surrounding flora, which did nothing but raise the golden eyebrows. The surprised look on his face did not seem to be due to her scream, which had been easy to predict. If he was surprised, it was because of the intonation she had used. This one was not filled with anger, it was filled with fear, apprehension. And the voice she spoke next reflected her fragility.

"Let me go... please..."

Once again, he did not yield to her plea, and so she struggled. The grip on her wrists did not move a millimeter.

"Please... I must..."

The word remained stuck in her throat, as if she did not want to hear it herself. As if saying it out loud might shake her resolve. But he understood exactly what she was getting at.

"Are you stupid? Are you a coward?"

As she closed her eyelids, he suddenly jerked her arms, startling her. "I don't care what you went through to get here. I'm not going to watch you die and do nothing."

When she opened her eyes again, she stared at him with dilated pupils, and the sips of the river she had ingested unfortunately moistened her features.

"You... don't understand... please... let go..."

A bitter grin distorted the face of his savior. Several drops of water flowed from his golden hair to his forehead, before meeting hers. Drops of water from the river he had braved to save her.

"What for? Find you another bridge to jump from?"

A sob caught her off guard as she tried again to free herself, but to no avail. He had more strength than she would ever have.

She shook her face as her tears flowed.

"Y-You're going to die...they can't...see you with...me..."

The angry expression he had directed at her vanished in an instant, replaced by an impassive air. The pressure on her wrists eased a little, but not enough for her to hope to break free.

"Who wants to hurt you?"

A squeak escaped from her being immobilized on the ground. She locked her cowardice behind her eyelids and inhaled sharply under the ever-present discomfort in her lungs.

"Please."

She opened her opal eyes again and accused the azure one still staring at her. "Please, you have to let me go."

Blue eyes, confident, and reluctant to the idea.

"No."

She closed her eyes for the third time and let her eyes sink into the orange again.

Why? Why was he so stubborn? How many times would she have to beg him? Did she even have enough time to persuade him?

"I can protect you."

The incomprehension brought her back to the light of day. She stared at him and saw his earnestness and lack of judgment.

If he knew what he was talking about, he would not have said those words.

"You don't know what..."

Her breathing stopped as soon as she inhaled his minty breath. She watched him, now within ten centimeters of her face, his wet golden locks caressing her forehead.

If he had suddenly moved closer to silence her, it was a complete success. She had become as silent as the carp swimming up the river.

He blinked, studied her face, then inhaled.

"You're the Hyūga heiress, aren't you? The one who was abducted from Konoha nine years ago."

This time, it wasn't his closeness that made her hold her breath. She simply couldn't breathe.

"Wha... you... no..."

All her completely unprepared consciousness allowed her to do was move her face frantically from side to side and then let out another panicked stammer.

"N-No, I-I'm not..."

"You're a terrible liar."

A smile appeared under the boy's gaze, letting her know that she could stop lying.

How? How had he recognized her? Was he a cloud ninja? No, he didn't look like one. He didn't have the color nor the outfit.

She focused her attention on his said outfit. Red shorts and... skin.

She didn't know what expression she was wearing right now, but the comforting one he expressed made her understand that she was certainly not reassured.

"Your eyes have answered for you."

Her eyes...? Did he know the Byakugan?

Without her expecting it, he released his grip on her arms to crouch over her. And she stayed there, just as silent, doing nothing but feeling his body heat disappear.

Why was that all she cared about at the moment? Couldn't she think of something else, like breathing?

She took a deep breath. The burning sensation in her lungs forced her to watch the movement of her chest. This made her notice that the sweater and t-shirt she was wearing were half torn.

With the adrenaline gone, the pain around her chest began to hit her.

She had drowned, well, almost. A few more seconds would have been enough, but her heart had decided otherwise. He had decided otherwise.

"So, do you want me to help you?" he asked her, smiling.

He was smiling at her.

He knew who she was, he knew where she had escaped from, and therefore knew that his words would end his life, yet he was smiling at her. And that simple expression seemed surreal at the moment.

Was it stupidity or courage? She didn't know. But one thing was certain: she would never again use someone's life to protect her own. She had promised herself that.

"No, I don't want your help."

Despite her words, she remained on the ground. A behavior that contradicted her unequivocal tone and, not surprisingly, widened the smile he wore even more.

"Are you sure?"

The tone he used made her doubt her previously assured answer. A simple tone that gave her the impression that she would regret her choice.

With an impassive expression, she overcame the azure gaze.

No, she wasn't. At least, she wasn't anymore.

"Yes, I am."

What was that feeling stirring inside her... did she have regrets already?

Of course, she regretted it. Of course, she wanted his help. She was the stupid one.

She wanted to see more of this world that she had only been able to imagine, to catch a glimpse of. She wanted to meet the people she didn't know and for whom everything was still to be discovered. She wanted to see the tides and waves of the oceans, the oases and desert dunes of the Wind, and to put smells and movements on these paper animals.

She wanted to see her parents again.

She wanted to live.

But did she have the right?

"All right, I'll leave you alone.

Her heart missed a beat before it galloped again at the behavior he manifested. Because, just as she had done a few seconds earlier, he did not move. Instead, he resumed his original position, getting close to her face again before giving her an umpteenth smile. "After I give those three guys a good beating."

Somewhat confused, she opened her lips and blinked.

These three... guys?

Before she turned her attention to the other side of the bank.

She didn't know why, but at that moment a sentence she had read came back to her, and it couldn't have been better timed.

The deepest rivers are often the calmest.

This river she was watching and had tasted was not the deepest, nor the quietest, yet the drumming in her temples and eardrums made it the quietest.

With despair, she stared at the three Cloud shinobi on the opposite shore, near the bridge and the evergreen forest, and the tears overtook her.

Accompanied by an emotion she had never felt before, a kind of fear mixed with guilt, she turned her panicked and tearful gaze towards the smile above her.

Now that she had no choice, was it selfish of her to place her last hopes in this boy she didn't know? Was it selfish... to be afraid of dying alone, to ask him to protect her when she had just said the opposite?

Yes, there was no doubt about it.

"Help me... I beg you..."

But she didn't feel any disgust at what she had just asked. "I... I don't want to go back..." She simply had no control over the words that came out from between her trembling lips.

Once again, the smile he gave her held. But unlike all the others he had offered her, this one was more pained than pleased, and that was because of the broken tone with which she had just begged him.

"You will not die today, Hyūga-chan."

Tears streamed down her porcelain face as he opened his mouth again and turned his attention to the three Kumo ninjas.

"Do you trust me?" he asked her in a soft voice, accompanied by the splashing of the three frantic races in the river.

She nodded without the slightest hesitation.

Her trust, that was all she had left. He was her last hope, her last chance. Even if it seemed delirious, surreal, unimaginable, and she had not believed in him a few moments ago, she was now swearing only by his presence.

A presence which rose and withdrew to her once again his reassuring physical heat. Then he bypassed her and positioned himself between her and the three men who were continuing their rush, as she placed her last hopes on his bare back.

"By the way, I'm Naruto. You can shout it out if you want, it will make a cool entrance."

Somewhat stunned by his unexpected assurance, she remained speechless.

A cool... entrance...?

The disappearance of the red shorts put an end to her questions. Then the hot wind generated by the abrupt movement swept through her obsidian hair and blinked her eyes.

Opal eyes that widened and fell back to her right, into the middle of the river, as he reappeared for a fraction of a second under the rattle of the white vest. A thud later and three meters above the water, his golden hair disappeared again as the second cloud ninja sank to the bottom.

He... how?

She literally couldn't follow him with her eyes, and she wasn't the only one. If she was to believe the horrified expression on the face of the last man still standing on the water, he couldn't see him either. With a kunai in the grip of his hand positioned in front of his grimace, the Kumo ninja didn't know where to look, just like her. She did not understand exactly what the man was saying, but he did not have time to finish his threat anyway.

A hand emerged from beneath his stoic position on the water's surface and grabbed his ankle. And in turn, he was sucked into the river. A tremor caused a rush of water at the exact spot where the man had just disappeared, then calm gradually returned.

Lying on the shore, she did not move. The state of shock she was in did not allow her to move.

How could she think rationally after what she had just witnessed? He had just incapacitated those three men in a matter of seconds. She... she couldn't believe it. He couldn't be any older than she was. It was... incoherent. She had never seen anything like it. She had never read anything like it.

The three syllables he had spoken earlier replayed in her mind as she struggled to get to her feet.

Naruto.

Where...

Standing still, her balance barely holding on to her bloody leg, she looked around, searching for the slightest hint of golden color, but to no avail.

Where was he?

She half-opened her mouth, ready to do as he asked, but the drops of water that fell on her left shoulder prevented her from doing so. Her spine paralyzed, she glanced to her left, just over her shoulder, where a drenched golden hair and a wrinkled azure eyes had just crept in.

"Na-ru-to, it's easy to shout, go ahead and try."

Her startle, almost two seconds too late, caused her to turn abruptly before losing her balance. The last thing she saw, as she closed her pupils behind her fear and eyelids, was the scrolling of the forest. But strangely, there was no pain from the fall. Instead, a force grabbed her shoulders and knees and lifted her up before she could hit the ground.

She opened her eyes again and only had time to see his sorry face before being blinded by the sun's rays. However, she did not need to see his head move towards the river to understand who he was talking about.

"Do they deserve to die?"

Curled up in his arms, she turned her attention to the three vests floating about twenty meters away, dragged by the current.

She had to decide their fate? That was something new.

These men, like hundreds of others, had chased her for two days with the sole purpose of capturing her and taking her back to her hell. They didn't know her, or only her name, and she didn't know them, yet they had risked their lives to end hers. If they survived, they would be able to pass on the information they had gathered, and they would certainly find her easier and faster.

She really wondered, did they deserve to die? Was their life, their family's grief, less important than buying her time?

"No."

Her answer given, he simply nodded.

"Okay."

Though he made no sign, his hands busy holding her, a clone of his person appeared beside them, and the copy immediately headed in the direction of the three vests.

"Hold on tight."

She turned her attention back to the original and listened to him as she clung to the first thing in sight, his neck. The next moment, the obsidian color that filled half of her field of vision began to swirl before plunging her into complete blackness. Under the sensation of gravity that tickled her pelvis, she felt him land before jumping again.

Eyelids closed and the sound of the river disappeared, a squeal escaped between her clenched teeth as the free fall turned over her empty stomach.

She tightened her grips on his neck and placed her forehead in the hollow of this one. In a burst of courage, she tried to open her eyes again, but the sweet smell of jasmine sent her into a lethargy from which she did not want to awaken.

The jumping went on for more than a minute before he just started running. The crack of the wood told her that he had just climbed a step, and then she heard him open a door that creaked.

The noise crept into her eardrums along with the ambient chill of the room.

She couldn't help but shiver as the conversations fell silent as he approached, before picking up where they left off as she passed.

He finally stopped under the last echo of their weight on the wood.

"The last I heard, he was still in the rice fields, but where exactly, I don't know."

She lifted her nose slightly and the smell of seafood reached her irrevocably. A meal she had only had three times within the white walls.

"I see. We will continue to avoid the country in that case. This sna..."

The conversation between the two men, if she could believe the tone of their voices, stopped abruptly, as if they had just become aware of their presence.

She didn't understand what was happening, but she had this strange feeling inside her that was telling her not to interfere, to trust him.

"We have to leave Sensei."

The vibrations she felt emanating from the vocal chords she was glued to made her jump, but she managed to hold back her hiccups.

He had a master?

"What have you done this time, and where did you get that girl? And more importantly, why are you half naked?"

"We don't have time to talk, we have to go, now."

The silence gradually spread around them, or perhaps around her, as the words echoed off the walls of the room.

An echo that didn't seem to want to stop.

"Here we... again, is... arranged marriage? How many times... to tell you to stop putting ourselves... situations like this?"

What was happening to her, why could she no longer speak... see... listen... listen.

Despite the silence of the room, the man did not lower his voice, on the contrary. He didn't seem to care if he was heard.

The tingling spread to her toes and down to her calves as the strength in her hips left her. She felt the azure gaze descend upon her before the vocal cords vibrated once more.

A second passed, then two, three... no, it was instantaneous.

"You... open your eyes... don't worry..."

The internal struggle to comply with his request robbed her of more energy than she thought. In fact, it robbed her of three of her senses, leaving only the iron taste in her throat and a red and white vision.

She knew this feeling. She knew it perfectly.

"I..."

She had faced it a hundred times in the past three days. But this time was different.

"Lose"

The black pupils of the man in the chair widened as he met hers, livid and opaline. He, too, seemed to know the meaning of her gaze.

"Consciousness"

Darkness washed over the white hair and the red hoari.

This time... this time she felt safe.

[…]

"What's her name?"

"I didn't ask her."

A long silence followed.

"And you, you had read reports after the incident, don't you remember?"

"You think that was all I had to remember?"

A mocking gasp sounded.

"When it comes to remembering the nicknames of prostitutes, you're there, but when it comes to remembering important names, you're not.

And a tone of amusement followed.

"One day you'll understand that you can't forget the name of a woman who can do..."

"Please stop, I don't want to know."

The man's laughter overlapped the crackling of the flames and brought her back to reality.

She had been awake for the last ten minutes, listening to them, pretending to be asleep, warmed by the blazing fireplace.

For ten minutes she had been finding them...

"When she wiggles and wiggles and wiggles..."

"Shut up!"

Weird.

The laughter caused the flapping of wings about ten meters above her. The same air movements she had heard for two days as she ran through the forest. But unlike the small hawks she had seen, these were heavier, more... massive. And the shrill cry that followed sent a shiver down her spine.

An… eagle?

The desire to see the possible animal she had only been able to admire on paper opened her eyes. Fortunately, she only had time to catch a glimpse of the two silhouettes to her left before the flames blinded her and plunged her vision back into darkness.

With her eyes closed and the second sound of the animal now barely audible, she managed to calm her curiosity and her thoughts picked up exactly where they had left off: nowhere.

She didn't know where she was or how long it had been since she had lost consciousness, only that she was lying down and that it was night. The cool air and the burning light of the fire made that fact clear to her.

Because yes, strangely enough, it was cold, and her slightly blocked inner ears left her in no doubt: they were at altitude. Another knowledge she had only read about and was experiencing for the first time.

Another minute passed in the silence of the forest - if she could trust the scent she smelled and the creaking of the branches she heard - without the two of them deciding to argue. She inhaled quietly and prayed that her stomach would not betray her, as the aroma of grilled meat was so tempting.

"Do you think she's a vegetarian?" asked the voice she knew well.

The one who had knocked out the three cloud ninjas, the one who had saved her life.

Naruto.

That name... sounded familiar. At least she had heard it before, she was sure, but she couldn't remember where, let alone when. She had been thinking about it since she woke up, without success.

A chuckle was heard. This one seemed to have detected the implication of the question.

"You are looking for an excuse to finish this rab..."

The man's voice stopped before he finished his tirade.

One exasperated breath later, and under the strange impression of being spied on, she heard him dusting off his pants after getting up. "All right, I'll go hunting for another one. Try not to piss off this country while I'm gone."

The sound of the geta moving away made the ground she was resting on tremble slightly, as the man's sarcastic yet truthful tone immediately replayed in her mind.

This boy... this Naruto... had defied an entire country to save her. That was a fact. And the most unbelievable thing was that he had made this decision knowing exactly what he was doing, what he was getting into. He had put his life on the line to save hers, even though they didn't know each other, even though she had given him a way out, even though she had told him repeatedly that she didn't want his help.

He didn't listen to her. He had done what he wanted.

Even if she began to thank him now and for the rest of her life, it wouldn't be enough to convey the gratitude she felt.

She literally owed him her life.

Surrounded by the parched grass and gravel, she heard him rise and make his way to her shameless sleep. She listened to his footsteps as he crouched beside her and held her breath as he gently placed his warm fingers on her forehead.

The simple touch gave her a pleasant sensation that warmed her temples. A highlight for her, who usually did not like to be touched without her consent.

His gesture finished on her skin, she felt him turn against the fire as the brightness on her eyelids faded a little.

"Are you hungry?"

Her search for oxygen came to a screeching halt.

Who... was he talking to?

"Last chance, then there will be nothing left."

To her, obviously. But how long had he known that she was awake?

Finding no answer and realizing that there was no point in pretending any longer, she slowly opened her eyes. As she had suspected, sitting less than a meter away to her left, she watched him as he twirled the appetizing thigh over the flames.

Unlike the shore, he was no longer dressed in simple red shorts. Instead, black pants and a thin gray jacket were protecting him from the cold.

Had she managed to fool him for even a second?

The smile he gave her as he turned slightly towards her was enough for her to find the answer.

No, not for a moment. It seemed that both of them had fooled her, just as she had tried to do.

That simple statement reminded her of the man in red and white, and she realized.

It had never been about eating what was left of the rabbit, it had only been about making her feel safe, leaving her alone with the only person she knew.

An understanding gesture in itself, yet unnecessary. It was strange to admit that she didn't know them at all, but she wasn't frightened by their presence. She had long since gotten used to complete strangers invading her privacy, her immaculate room.

Unlike everything else she was experiencing right now, this was nothing new to her.

"You talk a lot in your sleep, Woodchuck."

Eyes wide open, she stared at the sparkling smile beside the burning fireplace.

The nonchalant way he spoke to her, on the other hand, was more than unusual.

Adrenaline had kept her from realizing it on the shore, but now she had to admit that she was far from the frightened or condescending tones of the white room. And, as strange as it might seem, she liked it.

She loved it.

Not seeming to notice her smirk, he shifted his gaze to the flames before returning it to her direction a few moments later. Her opal pupils inevitably dropped to the rabbit leg he held out to her.

"Eat, you must be starving."

Slowly, she raised her upper body to a sitting position and, slowly, the dizziness turned the landscape around. He let her observe the coniferous forest and the mountain a few kilometers away, before presenting her with a bit of darkness and lowering her field of vision towards the white fuzz that covered part of the vegetation.

"We left the Lightning yesterday morning, we are in the Frost. On Mount Poroshiri, to the north."

Her attention distracted by the surrounding landscape, she digested the information by swallowing her excess saliva.

The desire to throw herself into the snow, to experience the texture and freshness, made her move her leg slightly, but the pain of it covered in bandages finally left her unmoved. Then she returned her opalescent gaze to the small branch he was still holding out to her, where the appetizing thigh was skewered, and, bowing her head slightly in thanks, she caught the wood and brought it immediately to her lips.

Her white teeth settled on the flesh and sank in gently, immediately, the iron taste of her windpipe caused her to gag. She met the azure gaze that spied on her without discretion, and the smile that accompanied it vanished as quickly as her desire to eat.

"Is something wrong?" he asked her, looking worried before expressing a flash of lucidity. "Oh, you want me to leave you alone while you eat?"

As soon as he started to move, she pointed her only free hand into the void in front of her, frightened.

"No!"

The pleading on her face multiplied as her voice echoed off the mountain range. Accompanied by a slight panic on her face, she surveyed the surrounding darkness, or rather complete blackness, out of the corner of her eye before turning her attention back to the flames.

"I'm just thirsty, please."

It took him more than a second to understand her request, as if thinking of the most effective way to fulfill her wish, then he stood up and walked towards the snow about ten meters away. She didn't really see what he was doing, but a slight cloud of smoke dissipated in the air where he stood, and the next moment he turned back with a metal canteen in his hand. He placed the snow-filled container in front of the fire and waited a few seconds before handing it to her, smiling.

"Drink slowly."

She took it with her only free hand and, without taking her eyes off him, drank a few sips of the warm water. After a few more, and as he had just advised her, she reluctantly lowered the gourd and the thought that crossed her mind drew a second smile that this time did not escape his spying eyes.

"What are you smiling about?"

Drinking a second time, she simply smiled brighter at the sound of his cheerful tone and lowered her attention to her bandaged feet, letting a warm memory take over every one of her thoughts.

Had she turned into a little white mouse in her sleep?

"A friend."

Crouched in front of her, he let himself fall to the ground and sat cross-legged, before, without blinking, staring at her with his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed. The seconds passed until she stopped counting, until she didn't want to take another sip.

The shades danced on the golden, azure reflections, on the tiny purplish rings and the six incongruous perfectly arranged mustaches that a smile stretched. She didn't know exactly what was wrong with him, why he had suddenly started to look at her like that, but she couldn't take her eyes off his either.

Why did she feel so...

She finally blinked, and the words he spoke to her made her forget the time that had passed.

"Was it this friend who helped you escape?"

With the distant croaking of tree frogs, where the snow had not yet ventured and where a river meandered, her appetite vanished for good.

"Let's say she helped me not to lose my mind."

He nodded in understanding, which made her smile again: he had understood absolutely nothing of what she had meant.

"You know how to use words to answer without doing it."

Did she?

"I had never heard that prisoners were educated in the Land of Lightning, is it a tradition?"

She maintained the same silence and smile, determined not to answer. With a sigh, he put his hands behind his back to rest on it.

"Very well, keep your secrets."

Inwardly thanking him for not insisting on the subject, her appetite returned and brought the meat to her lips. A soft sound of pleasure escaped her mouth as she bit into the thigh. And she didn't have to look up at the flames to know that he was watching her, again and again.

"By the way, what's your name?"

She took her attention off the meat and chewed the rest in her mouth. Swallowing quickly, perhaps too quickly as she almost choked, a soft sound escaped her lips that she hadn't heard in a long time.

"Hinata."

The unwavering cheerfulness that he was greeting her until then vanished in an instant, leaving behind a disappointed face, almost filled with disillusionment.

Her obsidian eyebrows furrowed inexorably.

Did she say something wrong?

With his index finger and thumb he grabbed his chin and, without changing his expression, looked her up and down.

"Hinata... are you sure your name isn't Hiromi... or Kiyomi?"

She could have been offended by his lack of faith in her, but instead her cheeks turned crimson as she nearly choked on her second bite.

These two... names literally meant abundant beauty and pure beauty. Names and titles that were only given to princesses and other noble girls in the many tales and books she had read.

"No, it-it's Hinata."

Her ridiculous stammer, which only made her blush more, made her watch the return of his amused look.

"I can't believe it works... that damn pervert."

With her eyebrows still furrowed, she wanted to ask him what he was talking about, but preferred to remain silent as he moved one of his hands halfway to her.

"Nice to meet you, Hinata."

She placed the gourd between her legs and lowered her food. Finally, having read about this gesture in her readings, she reached out to shake his hand.

A soft and warm shiver crossed her right arm, but she was too distracted by the azure gaze to even bother about it.

It was at that moment, while his broad and happy smile was sketching hers, that one of the words he had uttered replayed itself between two of her hungry thoughts.

The carnal link that united them ended and the enchanted expression on her face gave way to her curiosity.

"How long was I unconscious?"

"If we don't count the number of times you called for water, it's been a little over three days."

And curiosity gave way to disbelief.

She had regained consciousness several times? She had no memory of it at all. But the most disturbing thing was not there: three days had passed since the river. It was surreal. She literally felt as if only an hour had passed.

With her head slightly lowered, a terrifying reality made her shiver, and this time, the chill that ran down her spine did not make her feel good. Instead, it caused a slight movement of her legs in panic that made her grimace in pain.

"We...shouldn't take a break...they...might find us."

As if she had just told him the worst joke in her book, he put on his most neutral expression.

"You... really don't know what's going on out there, do you?"

The calm in his voice relaxed her a bit. He seemed... no, he was much more talented than she was, so if he was calm on the subject she had just brought up, she could afford to be as well.

"No, I don't know."

She didn't know anything at all.

Although the books she had read over the past nine years were from there, she knew nothing about the actual peninsula. Those books had been carefully chosen so as not to contain any information about outside events. Strange as it might seem, she knew about the important events before she was born but knew very little about the events after.

What could have happened to prevent Kumo from reaching them?

"The Fourth Great War."

It took her a while to understand his words, which were so simple, and even longer to realize what they really meant.

She opened her mouth, but no sound dared to mix with what he had just confessed to her. Not knowing what to say, what to do, she just watched him as he raised his index finger to point at the horizon.

"Fire and Lightning are at war, and Konoha is occupying the outposts of the Frost Nation. So there is no chance that they will find you, they have no way to penetrate the land."

After a long exhalation, the pounding against her chest returned to a normal rhythm.

Konoha.

They were there.

She was safe. She had nothing more to fear...

One point he had not mentioned stopped her relief and, for the first time, made her doubt the intentions she had given him.

"How did you get here?"

If the Leaf Ninjas were occupying the Lightning Border as he had just said, how had they managed to penetrate the Land of Frost? And why were they hiding in these mountains? Shouldn't they be in Konoha by now?

"My master knows many people."

The silence that followed made her understand that the explanation ended there. That he would keep his secrets, just as she had a minute before. But unlike him, she could not be satisfied with his answer.

Taking her courage in both hands, she put the thigh on her white pants and breathed in.

"You are taking me back to Konoha, aren't you?"

A strange thing happened, and it only increased her concern tenfold.

Her rhetorical question - which no longer seemed rhetorical - was met with silence and even a look of embarrassment, as if she had just caught him off guard.

"It's... complicated."

"What's complicated?"

Suddenly panting and uncomfortable, her tone, much drier than she would have liked, made the smile before her disappear.

Had she idealized the situation too much? Had she idealized him too much?

Fear and doubt made her forget what he had done for her, they made her forget that he had saved her life, that she owed it to him. By chance or bad luck, she didn't know it yet, a voice she wasn't expecting startled her and put an end to her machinations.

The one that shouted at her to run.

"Do you know what started the war, kid?"

She looked to her right, then to her left, saw neither red hoari nor white hair, looked behind her, no one.

Had she been dreaming?

The fiery fireplace caught her attention again, and she could only hide her surprise as she met the angry gaze sitting in front of her. The azure one that moved briefly towards her master in the upper reaches of the forest.

"Did you have to bring it up like that, seriously?"

In turn, she shifted her field of vision to the left and observed the long and attached white hair, perched on a branch at a height of more than five meters. Not being able to make out the man's features well due to the strong luminosity of the burning flames, and especially due to the distance that separated them, she watched the only movement he was making: writing.

With incomprehension, but mostly astonishment, she returned her gaze to the azure just in time to see him open his mouth, and she cut him off before he had a chance to get a word out.

"What started the war?"

Why did that event have anything to do with her return to Konoha?

Her opal eyes widened in horror.

Was it possible that the village, her clan, her family...

"You."

The man's voice echoed through the forest once more, and the azure irises closed with a long, bitter sigh.

Her.

She lifted her gaze to the white hair.

Her?

Nonchalantly, and paying little attention to her, the man wrote a few words on his curled leg where his notebook rested.

"The kidnapping of the Heiress Hyūga during the peace treaty signing between Kumo and Konoha."

Before writing several others.

"Everyone agrees that was the trigger that started the war."

A suffocating heat gripped her neck. No, her whole body now. And it only took a brief inspiration to create a constant and unpleasant whistling sound in her eardrums.

Disoriented, she watched the blur in front of her, unable to make out anything but shifting colors. Unable to hear anything other than a diffuse buzzing.

She... was... responsible... for...

Two comforting warmth settled on her neck. The startle it caused kept her conscious, and her first reflex was to grab the wrists. The sight suddenly came back to her and forced her to overcome the face that was only a few centimeters away from hers.

Naruto's face.

The smallest of her thoughts got stuck again. And at that very moment, more lost than she had ever been, a scene she had lived years before came back to her memory. A voice, a feeling, a part of her life that fear and loneliness had made her forget. That her childish memory had voluntarily erased.

The night of her abduction.

This is the name of the hero of the story.

With a single tear trickling down her porcelain cheek, she finally remembered.

A book written by the great Sannin Jiraiya.

She remembered where she had heard that name.

Naruto.

Bringing her hands down to the fingers of the boy with that name who was holding her neck, she stared at the azure irises that moved a second time, harshly, into the heights of the forest.

"Stop talking, you've done enough."

The utterly gutsy Naruto.

Fascinated, and now that she could observe his eyes more closely, she noticed something else, something she had not noticed on the shore: his eyes were littered with broken vessels, as if he had slept very little in the last few days.

Was that her fault too?

"As long as she does not know the truth she will seek to return, you know that better than anyone."

At the man's words, she watched a grimace appear beneath the golden hair, and once again, she opened her mouth before he had time to rant.

"Naruto."

Upon hearing the name, she received a surprised look from her savior.

Now that she thought about it, of all the people she could have met during her three days on the run, she had met the only one who could have saved her from hundreds of miles away. No, even worse, she had met him just in time to save her. It had all come down to the second.

Then... that name.

What were the odds?

"Did I die in that river?"

Gently, he released his grip on her nape and inevitably dragged the catches she had on his hands down to the floor. Then he resumed a cross-legged position, while she had to decide to let him go.

After long seconds with no response to her whispers, he lowered his gaze in silence.

Had she seen right?

Was she, like the man she had read about, experiencing a post-mortem seal? The one that was triggered before death and allowed her to live a dreamed life, a fantasized one?

Had this escapade in the forest been a sweet illusion, just like this woman in her black yukata? Had he really helped her escape that night? Had he really existed or had he, like the mouse, been just another of her hallucinations?

Again, she lowered her gaze, retreating further into her chaotic thoughts.

On second thought, she might have succumbed even sooner.

She was surely dead in that immaculate cell. They had reached their goal. The timing with which it had all happened, how he had helped her escape, all of it seemed impo...

"You're bleeding."

Surprised again as he finally spoke, she lifted her porcelain face and stared at him without understanding.

He brought his azure irises down on the pants she was wearing before returning them to their starting point, answering her new inner question and making her forget the previous ones.

The bandages on her knee had failed to contain the b...

After lowering her attention to her assumption, she could only freeze, her mouth half open.

It... wasn't... her...

"It's okay."

She heard him unzip his jacket before dropping the gray fabric onto her hips and pelvis, removing the sight of blood from her. "I'll get you another pair of pants when it's passed."

Lowering her face, half hidden by her obsidian hair, she could not take her eyes off the gray jacket. And even when this one became cloudy and pulled towards dark, she continued to stare at the bottom of her stomach.

Was it because she had dreaded it all her life that this color was terrorizing her to death?

No headaches, no stomach aches, no cramps.

But the crimson reminded her that they were there. That, four days earlier, the day they had first appeared, it had not been the end of the countdown. The end of the respect she had for her body.

On the contrary, it was only the beginning.

"How are you today, little wolf?"

Sitting on the edge of the white bed, she closed the book and lifted her opaline eyes and smile at the male voice in the middle of the immaculate room.

"You're here, so I'm happy."