Kirika and Mitsuki then parted ways. Maybe for a while, maybe for a long while, Mitsuki was not sure yet. After all, it depended on how long Mitsuki will take to execute the plan that she got in mind. As instructed, Kirika swiftly pocketed her share of the herb safely and quickly navigated away from the crater, towards the only port town in the cluster which directly accept ships that sails back straight towards Kirigakure. In the other hand, while maintaining the cover of the sandstorm, with the berries vines still in her hand, Mitsuki tried to lure the Armadillo away from the crater, by creating a delicious track of fruit that the giant then gladly followed. After a while, Mitsuki picked up her pace, testing how far and quick would the giant be able to follow her, all the while checking her map constantly for possible location where the armadillo could live, based on his previous sleeping place.

"If there's not exactly one, I'll have to try to recreate it somehow," Mitsuki thought to herself, slightly uncertain if it would be within her power to do so.

"If only Itachi-kun is here, aaaah~" In frustration, she complained to herself about the limit of her capabilities and her need of help. Yet, somehow, she still couldn't help but smile as the thought of Itachi filled her mind.

Kirika was halfway through her travel towards the port city, when her step was suddenly halted by the appearance of an ambusher.

"You! You were the shinobi just now?" said Kirika the moment she recognised her ambusher's face. It was definitely the acid spitting shinobi she had encountered previously with Mitsuki on the crater.

"Heheh, it seems like it's the correct decision to wait here," the shinobi muttered smugly. Indeed, he had chosen to retreat, but he were not as naïve as to give up on the prospect of obtaining the herb immediately. After all, there would be no reason for the woman to wake the monster if there was truly no way for her to take care of it afterwards. Sooner or later, he believed that the woman and her party would try and obtain the herb again. Only, he wasn't expecting it to be so soon.

Nevertheless, he was prepared.

"Now, hand over your harvest!" demanded the shinobi, as soon as he made sure that there would be no back up coming for the kunoichi.

"How do you know where I'm going!?" said Kirika, frowning as she grabbed her kunai discreetly from her tool pouch, silently hoping that Mitsuki would be able to catch up with her soon, as long as she stalled the enemy long enough.

"Your headband," said the male shinobi as he tapped his own, indicating the symbol on the forehead protector. "If you're heading back to Kirigakure, this would definitely be the fastest way. I'm betting on the fact that you might want to submit the plant to Kirigakure for processing ASAP. After all, keeping such valuables in your possession for too long will only increase the chance for it to get stolen, doesn't it?"

As if confirming his speculation, the kunoichi frowned while gritting her teeth. Satisfied by his own successful deduction, the shinobi continued on his monologue.

"I didn't expect you'd be here this fast tho, and without the other woman too," the shinobi grinned cunningly.

"Well, all for the best, I guess. That woman gives me the creep," he added, while remembering the fact that the woman didn't even show any signs of feeling threatened by either him or the monster. Even though he couldn't detect her using any chakra, something just didn't feel right about her, and it made him uncomfortable.

"You know what? You're the creepy one, you stalker!" Kirika retorted while holding up her kunai in front of her, readying herself to defend against the enemy's assault. She thought, at the very least, she had to survive and depend on herself until her benefactor caught up, if ever..

Mitsuki was done with her attempt of creating a makeshift sand bed for the giant red armadillo. In the end, even after finding place with similar elevation and climate nearby, the place was indeed lacking in the amount of sand and the depth of it. With what she could do, Mitsuki moved in some of the sand from the surrounding area, and heightened the rock formation surrounding the area while also adding some terrain around, creating big enough area for the armadillo to sleep, yet small enough to fill with the sand. In her mind, Mitsuki vowed to drag Itachi there when she could and see if he would be able to help her in creating some improvement. As of then, her main priority was to catch back up with Kirika as well as ensuring that she had left, or would leave the port safely. That was the least she could do, she thought. After all, she couldn't help but felt uneasy about the shinobi who had retreated previously. Somehow, Mitsuki had a feeling that the shinobi wouldn't give up as easily, seeing the extent of greed in his soul, and now that she had taken care of moving the giant to another place, his other chance of obtaining the herb lied only with her, or Kirika. Knowing this, Mitsuki tried not to delay her pace more and dashed towards where Kirika had departed to.

"Please let her be OK at least until I arrive," Mitsuki prayed in her heart for the girl's safety to her brethren in Takamagahara..

What had waited for Mitsuki as she followed Kirika's trail was an unprecedented scene. The field where her chakra signature was had turned into an aftermath of battlefield, with countless kunai and shuriken scattered across the grassland. Here and there, there were marks of explosions, likely caused by exploding tags akin to those which Itachi had used during his spar with Mitsuki. Other than that, splatters of acid, signs of jutsu usage like the messing of the ground formation, mud formation, and other unnatural phenomenon showed her that there was indeed an intense clash between shinobis happening in the field where she stood on. Thankfully, due to her special tracking capability, it was not hard for Mitsuki to pinpoint Kirika's location afterwards.

Dashing to where Kirika was, Mitsuki saw a body lying on the ground and immediately halted her step. It was the body of the male shinobi who was after the herb. His soul had departed his body, leaving an empty shell. Upon quick examination, Mitsuki determined that it was one vital blow, a deep cut on her neck that caused his death. Seeing so, Mitsuki was surprised, and also worried.

"Did anyone else come and helped?" she thought. After all, Kirika was such a timid, gentle woman who'd prefer not to hurt anyone, or anything.. Knowing her, she couldn't picture the kunoichi dealing such a fatal blow without hesitation. Concerned if that was really the case, or if the other person who came between was actually after the herb as well, Mitsuki continued her dash.

And before long, she spotted her soul.

"Kirika? Are you OK!?" said Mitsuki immediately as soon as she spotted Kirika. Yet more surprise awaited her. Not far in front of her, there kirika was, sitting with his back against a tree, badly injured and breath ragged, hand clutching a bloodied kunai, trembling. Beside her, was an empty shell of the merchant who was accompanying the male shinobi, his business partner.

"What happened?" Mitsuki shouted in panic as she quickly approached the still trembling lady. "Do you have first aid pills, blood pills, and food pills? I'll try and help you close your wound meanwhile!" Mitsuki quickly examined Kirika with her hands and checked her injuries briefly, still unsure of what had happened. Nevertheless, she knew that the priority for her was to give Kirika the treatment that she needed, and so she asked no further than what she had. Hearing Mitsuki's question, however, with tears in her eyes, Kirika nodded with a slight relieve on her face as Mitsuki checked on the scar on Kirika's face with her warm fingers.

As Mitsuki had instructed, Kirika swallowed the 3 pills. During her time with Itachi, Mitsuki had familiarized herself with ninja-supplies and their uses during emergency, just in case Itachi or Kisame would need it in the future. Supplemented with her added knowledge, and the medicinal supply that she had purchased, Mitsuki proceeded to treat Kirika's external wound. Along with her memory recovery, Mitsuki had learned how her own body's healing process work, and had found a way to forcefully apply it to another person, albeit in more limited manner.

"OK, now that blood pill has replenished her blood, and the first aid helped with better clotting, I think it's safe to try and close the wound," thought Mitsuki as she pulled out needle and thread from her own supply and quickly stitched Kirika's wound, which was spread all over her body. Tiny lacerations, flesh wound, and a deeper gouge on her waist, checked Mitsuki. Thankfully, none of the wound was life threatening. To Mitsuki, it seemed that Kirika had tried her best evading her enemy's assault.

"Urgh," Kirika scrunched her face, holding back the pain as Mitsuki quickly worked on her external wounds and checked her body for more.

Hearing Kirika's pained grunt, Mitsuki quickly apologized. "Sorry, do you want me to paralyze you for a bit so you don't feel the pain?" Mitsuki offered, slightly unsure if she should since the potency of the paralyzing drug that Reishi had passed her was so strong it might make Kirika pass out for a few hour upon a prick of the laced needle.

To her offer, Kirika shook her head in rejection.

"No, I'd like to depart as soon as I can, I can't afford to waste more time.." said Kirika, pain caused her voice to tremble as she forced herself to speak.

"Noted, then just bear with me a while," said Mitsuki promptly, still focusing as she finished stitching the last of Kirika's mendable external wound. Then, keeping her hands on Kirika, Mitsuki transmitted a bit of her energy, just like what she usually does to her plants' seeds. Limiting the area of effect, Mitsuki passed a bit of her energy inside Kirika's body, quickening the growth and cell division within the wounded area while making sure her energy didn't mix accidentally with Kirika's chakra since it might cause partial petrification like it did to Itachi's body before.

Seeing how her benefactor was concentrating on her wound, with her nervous energy finally leaving her body, Kirika's eye then teared up. Mitsuki noticed her tear, yet she was unable to console her, or speak to her about it yet. After all, it was the first time for her to apply what she had theorized to a human, and she didn't want to make any mistake. With that in mind, Mitsuki could only kept her quiet while Kirika cried to herself in silence.

"Anywhere else you were hurt?" said Mitsuki as she finished tending to Kirika's external wound. Despite how she had been resting for a while, Kirika still looked exhausted, so Mitsuki advised her to swallow another set of chakra pill and food pill. It was natural, thought Mitsuki. After all, despite her help in quickening the wound's natural healing with her energy, the energy taken for the process of cell division and fixing itself was taken from within Kirika's body in order to not interfere with her own chakra system.

As the kunoichi slowly shifted her body, she winced in pain. "I think.. he broke my ribs," said Kirika with a hoarse voice as she took and swallowed another set of pill per Mitsuki's instruction.

"OK, I'll take a look," said Mitsuki quickly, slightly relieved knowing that Kirika hadn't suffered from any life threatening internal injury. After doing a quick check-up with her energy flow, Mitsuki who had had a lot of practice on the method during her time with Itachi in the Howling Wolf Village, was then able to ask her some question.

"What happened by the way? What about your herbs, are they still with you?"

"Y..yes, I managed to.. protect it," said Kirika in stutters, still visibly pained by the injury near her lungs.

"Tell me slowly, ok? I'll tend to your ribs now," said Mitsuki calmly, in hope that focusing on talking will help Kirika's focus to shift away from her pain. Hearing Mitsuki's gentle voice, Kirika couldn't help but smile as Mitsuki tried her best not to aggravate her pain as she touched the exterior of her ribcage softly.

"OK.. thanks.. Anego…"

Kirika then slowly told Mitsuki what had happened.

Initially, all she wanted to do was only to defend herself and survive for as long as she could. However, it had proved to be hard to maintain in a prolonged, 1 on 1, shinobi battle. Being a gentle girl that she was, Kirika was reluctant to go on the offense at first, however..

"I.. killed the shinobi.." said Kirika, her voice trembled slightly while swallowing her guilt. "It was as you said.. Once I focus, it was easy for me to evade the attacks and land counter attacks using my agility alone," Kirika chuckled bitterly as she spoke.

Mitsuki understood Kirika's feeling, especially her guilt. It was the burden of taking a life, all the while knowing and caring about its value. And so, it filled her with worry.

"Are you.. OK?" asked Mitsuki hesitantly, knowing how silly her question was. since of course, Kirika was not OK. How could she be? After what happened, and after what she was forced to do. However, she didn't know how else she could console her.

"I.. I don't know. I didn't want to kill him, but.. he kept persisting and attacking. And as I got more and more injured, it came to me.." Kirika responded, her voice breaking as she paused. "If.. If I die.. who would take care of my husband? Of my children?"

Mitsuki kept her quiet as Kirika tried her best to muffle her own sobbing.

"That's when I realise.. I.. I can't keep being like this.." she added, still visibly burdened by her choice. "I had to make a decision. I couldn't hesitate no more.. after all, it's not just about me.. It's about.. the people I care about with my life.."

Mitsuki had yet to say a word, but as Kirika verbalize her thoughts, her determination was visible in her eye, replacing her overwhelming guilt and sadness. And it caught Mitsuki by surprise, seeing how the timid girl toughened herself up in such a short time. Yet, she said nothing to it, allowing Kirika to finish her story.

"Then.. I waited.. and evaded.. again and again," she recounted, before pausing shortly. "..and then, when the chance come, I countered with a quick slit to his throat.." After that, all she could remember was running as fast as she could, without checking the enemy's wound.

By the time Kirika had paused her sentence once more, Mitsuki had finished healing Kirika's ribs. Slowly, realising how the lady was still shivering, Mitsuki reached for Kirika's hand, trying to give her the comfort that she might be needing.

"Then.. when I was about to pass out.. The merchant came over, pounced, and tried to search me for the herb, so I…"

Knowing what came after, Mitsuki put a stop to Kirika's word to spare her from further pain. "You did the best you could, it must be tough on you.." said Mitsuki as she gave Kirika's cold hand a squeeze. Mitsuki's hand was warm and soft as it rubbed on Kirika's bloodied finger gently, and Kirika's words slowly turned into a sob once more. Seeing the girl's frail body trembling, Mitsuki gave Kirika a hug of soothing and encouragement.

Finding her strength back after receiving the warm hug, Kirika muttered to Mitsuki, softly. "But Anego.. you know what? I did a bad thing but.. even if given the chance to reconsider.. I'll do it again, and again.." Kirika's words was full of pain as she returned Mitsuki's hug. "After all, if.. the alternative was to leave my husband.. my children.. alone without much support.. I.."

If she had to choose, if she had to do so, Kirika already knew her answer. "I'll.. kill the whole world.. for them.."

Kirika's sob broke into muffled cry as the realisation hit her once more, filling her with not only shame over her own "selfishness", but also determination to carry it through. The conflict within her heart was clear to Mitsuki, and she couldn't help but to sympathize with her plea. Long lived as herself, she still couldn't find it in her to judge whether her action was right or wrong, whether her determination was just, or not. After all, it was her love, as a wife, as a mother, that pushed her to do so, to bear such sin and pain for the people she care about. For Mitsuki, it was admirable. To love and care for someone so much, she would even fight against the whole world if needed to be.. The depth of her love, Mitsuki wanted to understand it, and somehow.. she felt like she could almost understand her, even if not to such extent. After all, she had recently made a choice, herself.

"Itachi's unfulfilled wish and safety.. Over three precious life, filled with future.." Mitsuki recalled with pain. Of course, she knew.. that Itachi wouldn't be happy about it, knowing her decision to take a life was affected by him. After all, Itachi was the type who would sacrifice himself for the world, for the people he cared about. But, like Kirika.. Mitsuki had realised. She couldn't care less.. She wouldn't choose otherwise. If it meant endangering Itachi, and Kisame, Mitsuki wouldn't go for different option.

No, who was she trying to fool? She still cared. That's why her heart was still in pain. But still, it changed nothing.

After all.. Even so.. She had to make the choice.. and the choice, her priority, akin to Kirika's.. were the ones that she loved. And for that, she would bear the pain, the weight of her action.

"And.. it's not because of them.. It's my choice.. my responsibility.."

In realisation, Mitsuki found a new strength in her determination and understanding. And now, she felt ready for whatever was to come in her future journey. Feeling thankful, Mitsuki tightened her hug around Kirika, as meeting her had helped Mitsuki cleared her own mind, giving her the strength that she would need.

"Take care, OK, Kirika?"

"Thanks again, Anego.. I'll repay you when I could.." said Kirika as she climbed the ship's deck.

To be honest, Mitsuki was still worried. After all, Kirika's journey hadn't ended just yet. However, she had done what she could to her injuries, and she believed that with her newfound determination, Kirika would be able to defend herself no matter what happened. With that in mind, Mitsuki smiled wryly as she decided to put her trust in Kirika alone. After all, considering the circumstances, not only that she had her own things to do, it was best for them to never meet anymore, if Mitsuki want to avoid endangering Itachi's & Kisame's mission and where-about.

With hesitation and a sense of melancholy, Mitsuki lifted her palm slightly to wave Kirika goodbye as the ship lifted its anchor and sailed away from the land.

As the ship disappeared from the horizon, Mitsuki turned her back against the water and took a stride.

"Well, I guess it's time to go back to the inn and prepare for leaving.." she thought, realising the scheduled meeting time was upon her.

Author's note:

Ooof finally soon can bring back the team's dynamic. Also yea, we can't save or help everyone. Sometimes, we have to make a choice.. Doesn't mean that we should stop trying tho, and Mitsuki knew that better than anyone, but more importantly, she knew what she had to prioritize from now on.