Kakashi's POV

I woke up today with a headache because I only had two hours of sleep. Staying up late until the wee hours of the morning hadn't been nice, my mind kept me awake with worried thoughts concerning Sumire. I hated the fact that I couldn't do anything at all for her, rather than pray for her safety, wherever she may be right now.

Like clockwork, my body woke up at around five in the morning since I've been so used to getting up very early everyday, come rain or shine, on field duty or not.

When I finally managed to shake off the drowsiness a couple of minutes after waking up, visions relating to her came in my head again. It made me light-headed for a while but I could handle that. These don't come everyday so I didn't mind the slight discomfort I feel whenever these images and scenes flashed on my mind.

A sudden jolt of awareness came over me, further rousing my senses awake, as I unmistakably identified the place she had been recently.

She's here in Hanaoka! As usual, I saw everything that happened to Sumire these past few days through her eyes.

She was painting whatever she saw beautiful in this town. There's an instance where she's at a viewing deck doing a landscape of the scenic views surrounding the village. I also saw her pass through the area where the booths and stalls for the festivals were located. The remaining visions I saw depicted her either on a balcony or inside a room, engrossed in her creative process, facing a canvas with her art materials in hand.

The view from the balcony where she was looked like the local park here at Hanaoka. I definitely need to check the inns or residential buildings surrounding that place since she might still be there.

Did she stay during the entirety of the three-day celebration?

Or was she gone by the time my group arrived on the last day of the festival, which was yesterday?

I am not sure if she's residing here or just a visitor who attended the recent festivities like I did.

My companions booked the hot spring accommodation until tomorrow, but I was planning to leave this morning and return back to Konoha ahead of them. I wanted to visit Hideo oji-san at the hospital since I hadn't dropped by ever since I got back from the Suna mission. I also wanted to talk to him regarding his daughter's bingo book entry, as I'm sure he wanted to be informed of such things even though it's bad news.

However, given my recent discovery of her whereabouts, I'd definitely extend my stay. I'd prefer to delay going back home a bit, with the hope of having her by my side once I return, rather than leaving now and possibly missing the chance to cross paths with her.

I'm planning to spend my day looking for her, but I am not at my best right now due to the headache I got from my lack of sleep.

Perhaps I should go back to sleep and catch a few more hours of rest. I plan to thoroughly explore every nook and corner of this town later to find her or focus on sensing her unique chakra amidst the tens of thousands of people in this village.

I'll certainly need the energy for that.

Sumire's POV

Maybe it's time for a break from taking on new commissions, at least for a while.

I'm overworking myself too much as I've been pushing myself too hard working with my artworks since I got here in Hanaoka, and even before that actually, so I'm overwhelmingly stressed since I have to keep up with the timeline that Rei had set for me.

Her professionalism when it comes to her art business is unmatched. She is strict when it comes to meeting deadlines and doesn't want to disappoint clients, so we always make sure we get all the art pieces ready by the time we need to hand them over.

I locked myself in isolation inside my room the whole time while I was busy working these past few days, with Rei only leaving takeout food on my door to make sure I won't skip my meals, so I had no idea how the art event had been since I haven't really talked to my brunette friend about it yet.

I completed the final commissioned painting last night, so I can take it easy today. I'm sure Rei won't mind if I take a sabbatical and relax for a while, considering that all my tasks are done, and we're set to receive a substantial payment again for the finished artworks.

I got up later than usual today to get back some of my much deserved rest. I have been losing sleep recently since I've been pulling an all-nighter just to finally have all my work done.

Thankfully, I am able to resume my routine exercises this morning. I had been skipping them ever since I arrived in Hanaoka since I've been busy.

It's almost eight o'clock when I went out to start my exercises so I couldn't find a good spot to train or jog in peace around the town. The village was crowded this morning, probably due to the influx of tourists who attended the recently concluded festival.

So I headed out of the village boundaries. On my day of arrival at Hanaoka, I recalled passing a location near the merchant's road where there's a good spot to do my routines. It's just in the surrounding area beneath the hill where the village is situated.

I ran some laps, did some taijutsu and ninjutsu practice, and even meditated for a while. It's about ten in the morning when I decided to return back to the town proper since I've already done enough for the day.

On my way back, I got caught in a heavy rain shower. I had to run to the nearest place I could find for shelter. The village was a twenty-minute walk away from where I was, and I didn't want to brave the heavy downpour. The weather had been like this since last night so it's not really surprising if it rained again today.

I realized I had entered a soba restaurant.

There were only a few houses and establishments around but they were spread out. This area didn't look like a proper town, more like a spot where travelers stopped by on their journeys, given its location along a merchant road.

I decided to order something since I was already here in the first place. Eating my breakfast here while waiting for the rain to pass seemed like a good idea.

As I was enjoying my meal, I noticed there were an assortment of frames displayed at the wall near my table. One of them showcased a detailed map of the Land of Fire and it caught my attention so I took a closer look to inspect it.

I came to the realization that my current location is the closest I've been to Konoha since I've set foot in the Land of Fire. Should I decide to go, it would only take less than two hours of travel from this area to reach the hidden village.

However, I am not entirely sure if I wanted to actually return since I am not prepared to do so at the moment. Maybe someday, not right now though.

I know it would be dangerous for me to go back home. I'd be thrown in the midst of chaos if I returned, my pursuers would know as soon as I got there, along with other people from the leaf village who might've wanted me dead as well. I suspected someone from my hometown played a role in the ambush that occurred back then. I recall the silver-haired boy warning me not to trust people easily, even those from the leaf village, when I briefly met him on the night I escaped the Land of Sea.

Everything was too complicated and I have no idea how to move forward with my life ever since I started to realize how dangerous my situation really was.

I don't know if there were family and friends who were waiting for me back home, except for the silver-haired boy since I am aware of his existence, but I knew they would all be endangered if I return there since I only bring suffering and death with me wherever I go, and I hated myself for it.

I don't want people close to me to be dying or being hurt because of me, just like what happened back at the Land of Sea.

Even with the apprehension I felt at the thought of returning to my hometown, I am still very tempted to go there since I could probably see him there- the silver-haired guy who I constantly daydream about.

I made my way outside the soba shop when the rain finally stopped. I mumbled to myself, "I can't decide. It would be dangerous to go back, but he would be there, so is it worth the risk?"

I wasn't too far from the restaurant when a shuriken whizzed past me out of nowhere. It didn't hit me directly and pierced a nearby tree trunk instead because I was able to react quickly. However, it still grazed my face, leaving a long but shallow cut just beneath my right cheekbone.

"Probably a high-ranking shinobi," I muttered to myself while preparing myself for a fight.

My attacker was able to catch me off guard despite my good sensing ability, so the newcomer is probably a very skilled shinobi who's good at suppressing chakra.

A cloaked man with a Kirigakure forehead protector with a slash on it slowly revealed himself. A scar was etched on his right cheek and there were red marks on the lower portion of his face. He's carrying a big-ass sword with him and I could tell he was trouble. He's very intimidating but I have to act tough, otherwise my fear could overpower me and I wouldn't be able to hold my ground against him.

As Kaito-sensei ingrained in my head, "Unnecessary emotions in the battlefield would only lead to defeat."

"What do we have here?" His cold voice greeted me.

"What do you need from me?" I replied, trying to stay as calm as possible.

"I thought I saw someone familiar when I spotted you back at the soba place." He spoke as he walked towards the tree where his shuriken hit a while ago, then he took it and held it in front of him. "You dodged my attack, but still did poorly since you got cut."

This man probably thinks I am too weak to be considered a threat since he's acting very casually towards me and not even showing any apprehension while talking to me. People often thought I couldn't even hurt a fly whenever they see me as I appear to be harmless, but it's fine by me since they often let their guard down around me, enabling me to take advantage of it whenever a fight breaks out.

"Just get to the point." I answered his statement in an uninterested tone, hoping I could get out of this situation somehow, because I'm aware that it'd be troublesome to fight him.

"You look very familiar. I'm sure I've seen your face somewhere." I felt very threatened with the way he said that, he might be one of the people who were after me years ago or maybe he's just someone aware of my existence. "Now that I had a closer look at you, I'm sure I know who you are."

I tried to act like I wasn't threatened by him, "I don't have anything valuable with me. You picked the wrong person to rob, if you think I am one of those rich civilian folks."

"Perhaps you don't have anything valuable with you," he had a smirk on his face as he replied to me and took out a black book from his pocket. The next words he spoke sent chills down my spine, "But your bounty is enough for me, Sumire Senju."

He threw the book he was just holding at me, with the current page displaying my name and face. It's only a sketch of how I look and not an actual photograph, but the drawing was good since it closely resembled me.

"What's this?" I asked with my voice trembling a bit upon seeing myself in this weird book.

"A newly updated bingo book from Kiri," he answered in a bored tone.

I didn't know anything about bingo books before. Maybe I did at some point, but there's so much I've forgotten, and Kaito-sensei never mentioned it to me before.

He chuckled as he looked at my bewildered expression and further explained, "As you can see, I am a rogue shinobi. I'm being hunted by many including my former village. I got that bingo book from a Kiri hunter nin who was after me, but I killed him first so..." He didn't finish his sentence and only shrugged his shoulders, like he was done talking.

My eyes shifted back to the bingo book I was holding.

Sumire Senju. I read my name written on the page again.

I couldn't believe it, this is probably why I was being targeted ever since I was a young.

I let out a laugh while shaking my head in disbelief, it's the bitter kind of laughter. This situation is so fucked up, learning my identity through a stranger from another village wasn't how I envisioned uncovering my past would be.

How did they even manage to learn about my identity? Even Kaito-sensei wasn't aware of it and he's one of the shinobi who actually participated in the ambush to kill me.

It seems somebody let the information out of the bag, but after all the years I'd gone missing ever since I was a kid, why now?

The missing nin in front of me looked surprised to see my reaction. Maybe he thought I would cry on a corner or beg for my life, but I had endured so much shit already ever since I was young so this was just one of those things that I had to learn to live with, if I managed to survive this encounter with him today.

"So... is twenty million ryo a good amount or am I being misvalued here?" I asked with bitterness in my voice.

"I like your humor. If circumstances were different maybe I would have spared you," the missing-nin commented with a smirk. "Look closely. Your worth is doubled if you're captured alive rather than dead."

I glanced back at the bingo book and saw what he was talking about. The bounty for my head is twenty million ryo, but it'd be doubled if I was captured alive.

"I wasn't trained to be a shinobi the Senju way so I don't know why the fuck am I included there." I commented bitterly, "I didn't even grow up in Konoha for goodness sake."

"It's unavoidable. Other villages wouldn't let another Senju develop to their potential, you need to be cut down before you bloom in the forest." I commend his clever use of words, but I don't like the message behind it.

According to the history books I've read, The Senju clan of the Forest has been what the clan was known to be called before, and to think I came from such a formidable clan was something that hadn't crossed my mind whenever I thought about my forgotten past.

"Besides, another person who's probably a Senju was sighted at Suna along with other leaf nins a few days ago. Just how many Senju brats did Konoha manage to keep out of everyone's radar?" The man had a playful tone as he said that, but I knew not to take his words lightly since he probably implied something dangerous beneath that statement.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked while furrowing my brows slightly.

"A shinobi using the wood style was able to suppress the Ichibi that was about to rampage at Suna. Anyone knew that the wood style belonged to the Senju clan so he is probably one of your own." He stated that in a lazy tone, then he smirked as he blurted out the next words, "Enemy villages have eyes everywhere and his sudden display of Mokuton is probably what prompted the both of you to be added in the bingo books as soon as that incident happened."

"I won't let you kill or capture me easily," my statement might not mean much to a shinobi like him but I really meant what I said.

I might die or get taken captive here today, and if I really did, I'd rather make him work hard before getting that millions of ryo.

"You might be a Senju, but you're just a measly girl who couldn't even fully dodge a shuriken heading her way." His statement irked me, but I would let him underestimate me since it could grant me an advantage in this fight.

He swung his big sword at me as if it didn't weigh anything at all.

Weapon wielding shinobis are my absolute worst match because I am not really good at using swords and the likes, making it hard for me to fight close-range and only attack from afar. My lack of skill in that particular area was one of the reasons why I was motivated to study poisons and use it on my attacks. Shurikens, senbons, and kunais were the only weapons I could use without difficulty. I made sure to always coat them with my toxic mixes to compensate for my lack of skills in wielding other kinds of blades.

I tried to attack him with Taijutsu, armed with a poisoned kunai at hand, hoping to land even just a light scratch on him since my poison would take effect even with only a shallow cut. However, he was able to efficiently overpower me. I got a few deep cuts on my arms and left leg since his big sword had a great reach, so I tried to widen the gap between us since my first tactic didn't work against him.

He kept showering me with a barrage of sword slashes, but I was able to easily dodge them after a while as I started to get used to his timings and maneuver. I could read his movements better now that I had seen enough of how he fights.

I have a good eye and I analyze my opponents just as Kaito-sensei taught me. Attacking without a plan or any idea how your enemy moves is a big mistake, so I try my best to apply everything he taught me before.

My opponent now had an annoyed expression on his face. He probably thought I would be down after he struck me a few times, but it would take him more than that if he wanted to subdue me.

He seemed the type who only relied on his sword as much as possible in a fight.

I just needed to stay out of his sword's range so I could hold my ground against him. With that in mind, I moved far from his reach and readied the concealed weapons I have on my arm gloves, all coated with the deadly poisons I created.

I quickly performed one-handed seals for my water technique, "Suiton: Mizu Shuriken no Jutsu." Several water shurikens flew towards him instantly. It was my feint attack before I directed the poisoned senbons towards him, but he managed to dodge all of them.

"Suiton: Teppoudama," he countered with a water bullet since I've been maintaining my distance away from him. He couldn't fully utilize his sword to his advantage, so he opted to use a water jutsu instead.

I body flickered to a tree branch to avoid the attack he sent my way.

The man standing on the ground didn't even bother to look where I disappeared to. He's too confident and sees me as a weak opponent. Too bad for him though, he might be a great swordsman and have more experience than me, but his arrogance and overconfidence would be his downfall.

I decided to get a bit closer to where my opponent was and attacked him with the Water Colliding Wave Technique. "Suiton: Suishouha," a massive water vortex was formed from thin air. It is chakra consuming since it's an A-rank technique but my affinity for water enabled me to produce it with ease.

I directed it to move towards my opponent like a wave.

He tried to run and evade the incoming mini-tidal wave, but the water got in contact with him and his large sword, so I quickly did the hand signs for a lightning technique to pair up with my water jutsu in order to make my attack more effective, "Raiton Dan: Ibuki." My fist crackled with a condensed surge of lightning, a powerful lightning bolt was released when I thrusted it forward towards the water that was now soaking my opponent and flooding the clearing.

The missing nin from Kiri yelped in pain as he got electrocuted and now lies paralyzed on the ground. I only need to land a killing blow now that he's motionless and defenseless at the moment.

"What are you without your big and nasty sword?" I scoffed at him, annoyed that my limbs were now full of deep gashes caused by his blade.

A small crowd had formed nearby, the people were mostly from the restaurant that I was eating at earlier, maybe they heard the commotion and checked out what was happening outside.

I was about to finish the fight by delivering a final blow to the Kiri missing nin. I already have a poisoned senbon at hand, but another menacing presence revealed itself and distracted me from what I'm about to do. I didn't realize that rogue Kiri shinobi was actually accompanied by another who's also wearing a similar covering like he did- a black cloak with red cloud patterns on it.

The newcomer raised one of his arms and directed it to me, a snake suddenly materialized from his limb. His serpent-like arm stretched towards me, I reacted on instinct to avoid his attack but I couldn't fully dodge it. The snake didn't fully sink its fang on my flesh, but my skin was grazed enough that I felt my thigh stinging when the serpent made contact with it.

I felt the lower portion of my body slowly going numb, making me lose my balance and preventing me from being able to support myself upright. I yelped when my body fell down to the ground in a thud.

"Juzo, you're getting rusty. You'd be as good as dead if I hadn't interfered." The man's voice sounded really creepy that it made my skin crawl, he had a venomous look in his ochre-colored eyes as he looked at my limp figure on the ground. "You are more interesting than I thought you'd be, Sumire Senju. Defeating a former member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist is not an easy feat and you did it with finesse, but I expect nothing less from Hideo's only child."

Gasps from the crowd followed after the snakeman's shocking revelation about me. The onlookers' murmurs and chatter about the information they've just learned kept buzzing in my ears.

Were people surprised that a girl like me could fight well and defeat a known swordsman or was it because of the Senju name they've just heard?

But why is this man complimenting me and talking to me as if he knew me well?

Hideo… so that's the name of my father.

I couldn't form any response to the man who's looking at me like I was his next prey. His snake's venom was probably very toxic since I feel my head being slightly dizzy, but I could still endure it.

"You're a tough girl, aren't you?" He chuckled while having an evil look in his slitted eyes, "Everyone who got bitten by my snakes would be unconscious by now, but you're barely affected by it, well except for the numbness in your lower limbs but that's to be expected."

It's probably because I have been building my tolerance for different types of poisons ever since I got interested in those toxic substances. That's why it takes slow for his snake's venom to take effect on me, but it didn't mean I was entirely immune to it though.

This man is more dangerous than the rogue ninja from Kiri.

My ability as a sensor enabled me to gauge him. A very dark aura was coming off from him and I could sense great evilness in him.. As soon as I landed my eyes on him, I knew he someone who I couldn't take lightly and was a very powerful shinobi.

If he wanted to end my life right now, I wouldn't be able to do anything about it at all.

I might really die or be captured today.

There's probably a fixed amount of luck I could have in this lifetime and I guess I ran out of it today. Tears fell on my eyes after realizing just how critical and dangerous my situation is at the moment.

My heart started beating frantically, my emotions went haywire as my mind became clouded with different thoughts of what this man might do to me, and my breathing hitched as panic flooded my body.

I thought of the life I was supposed to live as Sumire Senju and how regretful I am that I might never have the chance to go back to living that life again. The silver-haired boy from my childhood was the only vivid connection I have to that identity. The necklace is my only means to contact him and I probably wouldn't have the chance to communicate with him again since I could be captured or killed right now.

So I mustered all my energy to move my hand, not minding that my arms now felt very stiff and almost becoming as numb as my thighs and legs, then reached out to my pendant to send even just one chakra pulse to the silver-haired boy.

The snake man slowly approached me with a menacing glint in his eye accompanied by a sinister smile.

Readying myself for the ill-fated demise that awaited me, I mustered the courage to face death as I forced my eyes to meet his gaze. I might pass on today, but I wouldn't die like a coward.

Life has been really cruel to me, even though I've managed to build a career as an artist and be trained like a shinobi, what my heart desired the most was still out of my reach- the guy with silver hair, masked face, and mismatched eyes.

I reflected on all the things I wished I could've done differently, my greatest regret was not going back to Konoha sooner. I guess I've been a spineless coward since all I did was run away and wasn't brave enough to actually confront my past.

I realized now that life is indeed too short and dying is imminent, so why did I have to hold myself back from being happy?

Because I had been too scared.

I avoided the troubles and risks. I played it too safe. However, it didn't matter in the end anyway since death might claim me today.

The venom is slowly spreading through my body. I could feel a burning sensation flowing through my veins, so I distracted myself from the pain I was feeling by picturing him in my mind.

There's nothing I wouldn't do just to see him again.

No matter what happens to me today, I was glad that I was still able to send him a chakra pulse earlier, and I am happy that my last thoughts were about him- the love of my life whose name I never even got to remember.