"Are you ready to do this?" Kazuto asked Miru.
"Yes." Miru had nodded, then removed her Kirigakure headband and handed it to Kazuto.
Kazuto then grasped the headband and placed Miru's headband inside a three-foot hole that Kazuto had dug up with his hands. Afterwards, Kazuto buried the whole he had dug up. After buring Miru's headband, Kazuto and Miru had begun hiking up the mountain toward Ibuki's camp.
"And so, Miru and I spent most of the morning hiking up the mountain, together. We didn't run into any traps, wild animals are that shark-looking guy, again. And by the time we arrived at the camp..."
Kazuto and Miruhad looked around and saw empty tents and campfire.
"Kazuto? Where did everyone go?" Miru asked the whereabouts of Ibiki and Konoha's Torture and Interrogation Force Shinobi.
"I don't know. But, I could've sworn they would've..." As Kazuto tried to answer Miru's question, a green leaf had suddenly fallen down next to Kazuto's left foot. "Hm?" Kazuto had noticed the leaf by his left foot, then bent down to pick it up.
Miru looked up at the really tall trees and gasped.
Kazuto looked at Miru, whom was looking upward. Then, he also looked up to see multiple Konoha Shinobi drop from the trees and land on their feet.
'They were waiting for us to come here.' Kazuto had thought as most of his comrades had surrounded them.
Ibiki Morino had appeared before Kazuto and Miru. He sighed as he slowly walked toward Kazuto.
"Ibiki! You were-" Kazuto was interrupted by a hard punch to the center of his head.
"O-ow!" Kazuto groaned in pain when Ibiki had punched him in his head. He grasped his head.
"YOU IDIOT! HOW MANY TIMES DID I HAVE TO TELL YOU TO NEVER GO OFF ON YOUR OWN?" Ibiki had screamed and scolded Kazuto.
"Come on, I had to do it! If I hadn't, then Miru would've been killed!" Kazuto had replied.
Ibiki looked to Miru and noticed she didn't have on her headband.
"So, you saved the last one, eh?" Ibuki questioned as he stared at Miru.
Suddenly, Miru felt her arms be grabbed by two members of Konoha's Torture and Interrogation Force and placed behind her back. "H-hey!"
"Wait! Go easy on her!" Kazuto turned around and asked the two members of Konoha's Torture and Interrogation Force that are currently detaining her. "She had already agreed to turn herself in, while we were coming here."
"We'll go easy on her, once she gives us the information we've been looking for." Ibiki said.
Kazuto had gasped.
"Everyone pack up! We got what we came for and now we're leaving!" Ibiki had ordered his team to leave the Land of Water and head back to Konohagakure.
"Yessir!" All members had responded to Ibiki Morino and begun packing up camp. Everyone except Kazuto, who seemed more worried about Miru.
Miru had her arms tied behind her back with tough rope. And tough rope was also tied around her chest. She looked at Kazuto with a worried look. "Kazuto."
Kazuto had a sad look on his face seeing Miru tied up.
"After that morning, the Konoha's Torture and Interrogation Force and I had escorted Miru back to Konoha as a prisoner of war. It had taken us two days for us to reach the Land of Fire. One extra day to return to Konohagakure. During the days we had traveled, I made sure that Miru didn't leave my side or sight, because I knew how some of my fellow Shinobi acted toward foreigners."
After arriving in Konoha, Miru had been immediately taken toward interrogation room. In other words, the Honesty Room.
Kazuto had quickly visited Miru within the Honesty Room, because he was concerned with her safety. The two of them had sat across from one another at the cold hard metal table.
"Are you okay?"
"Mm-hmm." Miru had nodded. "Kazuto?"
"Yeah?" Kazuto had replied.
"I'm feeling uneasy about this place." Miru said as her eyes looked at the floor.
"I know. I know this place look dark and depressing, but you have nothing to hide, here. It's just as I told you back in the Land of Water..."
End Flashback
Back in the Land of Water... Kazuto Hyuuga and Miru had journeyed to the top of the mountain. As they walked...
"Hey, Miru?" Kazuto had called Miru as she walked behind him.
"Yes, Kazuto?" Miru had replied.
"Um, before we reach my Squad mates... I just want to give you a heads up and warn you about some things." Kazuto said as he kept walking.
"Like what?"
"Once we arrive in Konoha, you're going to be taken to the interrogation room where they will try to get intel from you." Kazuto said as he raised his left index finger near his chin.
"Really?" Miru asked.
"Yeah. Once you're there, they are going to try by any means necessary to make you talk." Kazuto stated.
"Why are you now telling me while we're going to meet up with your squad mates?" Miru asked.
"Because... I now care about you." Kazuto said.
End Brief Fashback
"Remember. Just tell the truth and you'll be fine. If they ask you a question, then just tell them that you don't know and that you have no knowledge whatsoever." Kazuto said.
"Kazuto. What's going to happen to me if I give them what they want?"
"I don't know. It's up to them to decide. But for now... Just trust me." Kazuto lied his arms across the table. "I've worked with them for a little while and I heard that the people who talked got out, early."
"You mean it?" Miru asked.
"Yes. And as soon as you tell them what they need to know, I'm going to try and get you out. The right and legal way." Kazuto told Miru.
Miru had gulped and hesitated for a second to grab Kazuto's hands as she looked at them. After a moment, Miru gave Kazuto a half-confident smile and lied her hands on top of Kazuto's hands. Kazuto felt Miru's soft hands. "Okay. I will trust what you say, Kazuto."
"Thanks. I promise that things will be okay." Kazuto said.
Suddenly, the door within the interrogation room had opened and Ibiki Morino had entered the interrogation room.
"Times up, Kazuto." A guard of the Konoha Torture and Interrogation Force had said as he walked in the room.
"Alright. I'm coming." Kazuto said as he turned his head back to the guard. He then turned back to Miru who was sitting at the table. "I have to go, now. But remember, Miru. Just be honest and they'll go easy on you."
"Mmph," Miru nodded and gave Kazuto a kind smile. "Thank you, Kazuto."
Kazuto then exited the table and begun leaving the interrogation room. As he passed the guard, he had an uneasy feeling about him. He kept walking until he exited the Honest Room. Outside the Hinesty Room, Kazuto was then met by Ibiki Morino who stuck his hands in his pockets. "Please, go easy on her, Ibiki." Kazuto had asked.
"You seem to care a lot about this woman-despite only knowing her for a day." Ibiki stated.
"She's not like most of the people you interrogated in the past." Kazuto shook his head no to Ibiki. "She's kind and a caring person."
"How would you know that?" Ibiki asked.
"Because, she's..." Kazuto had paused. "I know, because she's a good person."
"Hmm." Ibiki stared at Kazuto. "Even if she was a good person, we still have to do our jobs and get information by..."
"I know. By any means necessary." Kazuto had interrupted Ibiki by finishing his sentence.
"You've changed, Kazuto. I never thought you would care for an outsider. Tell me. Is that why you hesitated to strike her down back then?"
Kazuto had gasped.
Brief Flashback
Miru had fallen onto her butt and was forced to look up at Kazuto.
Kazuto stood over Miru and pointed the nose of his blade at Miru. As he stared at Miru, he then saw a visual of a woman smiling toward him. A woman with smooth and dark brown hair, a pair of white eyes and fair skin. Kazuto, then gasped.
"Do your best, Kazuto-Kun!"
Kazuto paused long enough to where Miru was able to see Kazuto hesitate. As his blade shook in front of her.
Ibiki looked over at his right, Four O'clock and saw that Kazuto had paused and wasn't doing what he was ordered. Which is capturing the Cypher Division members, alive.
"Kazuto!" Ibiki yelled from across the battlefield.
Kazuto gasped as he had snapped back in reality. He looked down at Miru and saw her pretty face. He and Miru had made eye contact with one a other for a moment.
Brief Flashback
"Just make sure that no one hurts her." Kazuto said as he had begun escorting himself out of the building.
Ibiki Morino stared at Kazuto's backside as Kazuto escorted himself out the building.
As Kazuto had walked out the building through the doors... he leaned his back on the wall of the building and sighed. 'Please, let her be okay.'
Author's Note: The next chapter will surprise you.