As evening fell, Kitahara Kaede entered the rendezvous point.
Pakura was already inside.
She was leaning against the wall, legs bent and hands resting on her knees.
Kaede's pace faltered for a heartbeat.
From their first eting until now, regardless of who called the eting, she had never arrived before him.
The handler arrives after the agent—that was the fundantal logic of intelligence work.
The handler waits near the rendezvous point to scout the area, ensuring the surroundings are secure and the agent isn't being tailed or acting strangely, before finally entering.
Today, she had broken that rule.
Hearing the movent at the door, Pakura looked up.
Her gaze swept across his face, and the corner of her mouth twitched slightly. Without saying a word, she reached out her hand.
"The intel."
Kaede handed over the scroll and sat down opposite her.
Pakura unfurled it and scanned through the contents. Once finished, she closed it and tucked it away.
A mont of silence followed.
She didn't produce any new instructions from Sunagakure.
Kaede waited.
Pakura kept her head lowered as she spoke.
"For the ti being, keep your frequency of leaving the village to an absolute minimum."
Kaede didn't respond imdiately, simply watching her.
"Unless it's absolutely necessary, do not take on any new commissions."
"Put your reconnaissance intel on hold for a while."
She was very specific, listing the instructions one by one, as if she had carefully rehearsed her words in advance.
Kaede listened without interrupting.
But sothing felt wrong. These didn't sound like instructions for the next phase of a mission.
It sounded like she was winding down the operation.
"What's happening?"
Pakura's fingers paused.
"Mission adjustnts."
"What kind of adjustnts?"
She didn't answer.
Her gaze drifted toward the window. Outside, the sea mist hung low in the final monts of fading light.
She pressed her lips together, then relaxed them.
"I've been assigned a special mission."
She paused.
"Once it's completed, I may be transferred out of the Land of Water. Sunagakure will likely assign you a new handler."
Kaede pressed further. "What mission?"
Pakura's brow furrowed.
"You know I can't answer that."
In the past, when he asked sothing that crossed a line, she would simply stand up, tell him 'This isn't your concern,' and walk away.
This ti, she stayed seated.
Kaede stopped questioning her and just looked at her.
Pakura felt his gaze. She kept her head down, her lips moving slightly, though she made no sound.
Ten seconds passed.
"Lately, the friction between Sunagakure, Iwa, and Kirigakure has been constant," she said, her voice a fraction lower than before.
"The post-war economy is strained; we can't afford to maintain a standoff on two fronts simultaneously."
"The village needs to align with one side, and they've chosen Kirigakure."
Her gaze fell upon the back of her own hand.
"I've been sent as a representative to contact Kirigakure and push for peace talks."
Having said this, she was the first to look away.
Kaede stared at her profile.
For a handler to reveal the details of a special mission to an agent—in any standard intelligence network, such an act would be grounds for severe punishnt.
She knew that.
And yet, she told him.
Kaede remained silent as pieces of the puzzle began to click into place in his mind.
Sunagakure's frequent confirmations of Pakura's location.
The sudden assignnt of this mission.
The peace representative.
The answer in his heart finally settled.
This was the mission where Pakura was betrayed.
Sunagakure would hand her over at the negotiation table.
As a bargaining chip, as a show of sincerity, as a bonus in a transaction between two nations.
During the journey to the peace talks, Kirigakure would execute her on the spot.
Kaede sat there, motionless.
He wanted to speak.
But what could he possibly say?
Intuition? Deduction?
He couldn't exactly say, 'I know you're going to die on this mission.'
Even if he forced the words out, would she believe him?
A woman who had bled for Sunagakure for half her life.
To ask her to believe that her own village was trading her life for a treaty.
It was too much.
Pakura didn't notice his silence. Or rather, she misinterpreted it.
She continued on her own, her voice sounding slightly more relaxed, as if she had finally resolved a long-standing doubt.
"Sunagakure was confirming my location so frequently before that I thought sothing had gone wrong."
She tilted her head slightly and glanced at Kaede.
"Looking back, they were probably just making preliminary preparations for these peace talks. Confirming movents and assessing the best ti to contact Kirigakure."
Kaede's fingers tightened.
Months ago, when she told him her 'intuition was screaming,' the unease on her face had been real.
That was an instinct honed over twenty years of living on the edge of a blade.
That instinct hadn't been wrong.
But the mont the peace mission was assigned, all the anomalies suddenly had an explanation.
The frequent location checks beca reasonable preliminary deploynt; the inexplicable foreboding beca a mission detail that fit the narrative.
Everything made sense now.
So, she believed she had simply been overthinking it.
Pakura pushed herself up from her knees and stood.
She walked over to him and looked down.
"If the peace talks go smoothly—"
She paused.
"I'll bring it up with the village and see if I can get you pulled out as well."
Kaede looked up at her.
Pakura didn't et his eyes; her gaze rested on his shoulder, as if searching for a stable place to land.
"You've been in Kirigakure long enough."
Her pace slowed.
"A new handler wouldn't understand your situation, and if a mistake happens during the transition period, no one will be able to cover for you. Rather than risking it here, it's better to wind things up and co with ."
Her tone was flat, as if she were discussing a routine personnel adjustnt.
Kaede listened to her words.
She was still planning for him.
Once the peace talks were over, she would escape the Land of Water and take him out of Kirigakure with her.
She was likely already thinking about the phrasing, how to propose it to her superiors, and how to make it sound logical in her report.
"When are the peace talks scheduled?"
Pakura thought for a mont.
"The exact ti hasn't been set, but it'll be very soon."
"Sunagakure should provide the final confirmation shortly."
Kaede nodded.
Pakura gave him one last look and said nothing more. She turned and walked toward the door.
As she reached the threshold, she stopped.
She didn't look back.
The last sliver of evening light filtered in from outside, casting a thin, bright line across her shoulder.
"Stay safe," her voice drifted back from the doorway.
"Wait for my word."
Kaede sat in the corner, watching her silhouette in the doorway.
He didn't speak.
She didn't look back.
But she stood there longer than she had during any previous departure.
Then, she stepped out.
The sound of her footsteps grew distant.
He was left alone in the shack.
He sat there for a long ti, motionless.
She actually believed she had been given an important mission.
A mission that could ease the tensions between two nations.
If she completed it, she could leave the Land of Water.
If she completed it, she could take him with her.
Kaede closed his eyes.
He rembered a previous eting.
She had been standing by the window, leaning against the wall, looking out at the gray, misty sea.
'If I weren't a part of Sunagakure, I wonder if I'd live a completely different kind of life.'
After saying it, she had laughed to herself. The smile had lasted less than a second before vanishing.
Kaede opened his eyes.
"Very soon, indeed."
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