A long silence settled over the hollow.
Pakura stood rooted to the spot, motionless. Kitahara Kaede's words continued to echo in her ears.
"You can choose to live the life you want."
But as she stood there, her mind went blank.
Born in Sunagakure, she had beco a ninja at a young age, climbing the ranks until the village hailed her as a hero, only to be sent to the Land of Water for deep-cover espionage.
And today, she had been personally delivered into the blades of Kirigakure.
For over a decade, every single day of her existence had been defined by mission numbers, superior orders, and reporting protocols.
Now, all of that was gone.
It felt as if a thread she had held onto for ten years had suddenly snapped, leaving her not knowing where to put her hands.
Kitahara Kaede didn't rush her. He glanced again at the angle of the shadows among the trees, calculating the ti. He still had a mission at the port waiting for him. If he took the detour from here and pushed his pace to the limit, he would just barely make the rendezvous window he had agreed upon with Ao.
Pakura spoke in a low voice.
"What am I now?"
Her voice was faint, the end of the sentence scattering into the wind.
Kitahara Kaede looked at her. Pakura's gaze was downcast, her orange pupils unfocused. She stood there like a shell of a person, as if sothing vital had been ripped out of her.
He cycled through several possible answers in his mind and chose the shortest one.
"You're still alive."
Pakura looked up. He stood there with no unnecessary emotion on his face. She gritted her teeth, suppressing the chaotic ss of emotions swirling in her chest.
Kitahara Kaede continued. "You have two paths."
Pakura watched him.
"The first: return to Sunagakure." His pace was steady. "Circle back to the Land of Wind along the coastline, find out who sold you out, and use Scorch Release to burn them one by one."
Pakura's fingers twitched. She had indeed considered that.
Kitahara Kaede paused for two seconds. "But since Sunagakure dared to hand you over, they have undoubtedly already prepared the narrative that 'Pakura died in Kirigakure.' If you return alive, you beco evidence that they must erase. There are no witnesses to speak for you. There are no files that can prove you were betrayed. The mont you reappear, the only thing waiting for you will be a more thorough assassination."
Pakura's fists clenched. She could already see the scene in her mind. The Sunagakure high command sitting in a conference room, nailing her to the cross with terms like "desertion" and "turned by Kirigakure." All the blood she had shed for Sunagakure, every mission she had completed, would be twisted into evidence against her.
Seeing her expression, Kitahara Kaede knew she understood.
"The second path."
Pakura looked up.
"Leave the Land of Water. Get out of the sight of the Five Great Shinobi Villages. Change your na, change your identity, and go sowhere where the 'Hero of Sunagakure, Pakura' does not exist. Take no missions, follow no orders, and entrust your life to no village."
Pakura's gaze wavered.
If she weren't a part of Sunagakure, would she live a completely different life? She had entertained the thought before, but she had never imagined she would actually reach this point.
Pakura looked down at her hands. These hands had killed; they had delivered intelligence. What were they supposed to do now?
She didn't know.
Kitahara Kaede continued. "You cannot use the na Pakura anymore. Nor can you use Scorch Release in any public setting. Kirigakure will hunt you, and Sunagakure will want to confirm whether you are dead or alive. Neither side wants to see you living."
Hearing this, Pakura suddenly looked up. "And what about you?"
Kitahara Kaede's gaze paused. Pakura stared at him.
"If I leave, what will you do?"
The mont the words left her lips, the tips of her ears flushed. Yet, she didn't look away.
Kitahara Kaede didn't answer imdiately. Pakura took a half-step forward.
"Why don't you co with ?" she asked softly, her tone almost cautious. "You're just a pawn in Kirigakure too. Now that Sunagakure has cut the line, no one will give you orders, and no one will co to support you. If you stay here alone and sothing happens, there won't even be anyone to report it."
Kitahara Kaede looked at her. In those orange eyes, there was sincerity, nervousness, and a hint of desperation she probably wasn't even aware of.
She had just been abandoned by her entire village, and he was the only person who had risked exposure to pull her back from the brink of death. If he nodded now, her emotional bond with him would likely hit its peak.
But he couldn't leave.
Terumi i was still in Kirigakure. His connection to the Mizukage was only halfway established. The ga involving Ao and Genji had only just begun. If he withdrew now, all his previous layouts would be rendered useless.
Kitahara Kaede remained silent for a few seconds. "I can't leave yet."
Pakura's eyes dimd.
"I still have things to finish."
Kitahara Kaede didn't explain what those things were, and Pakura didn't press him. She stood there in silence for a while. The wind blew across the hollow, rustling the leaves of the stunted trees.
Slowly, Pakura withdrew her gaze from his face. She had thought she was the one protecting him, but he had his own path—a path she had never been able to fully see.
Pakura wiped the disappointnt from her face. When she looked up again, her eyes had changed.
"Then I won't leave."
Kitahara Kaede frowned. "Pakura."
"Listen." Her tone had returned to a cold calmness, possessing the sa efficiency she once had when delivering mission reports. "I won't return to Sunagakure, nor will I run to a place where I can't see you. The Hero of Sunagakure, Pakura, died in Kirigakure today."
"But the person who survived will hide in the outskirts of the Land of Water under a new identity. I'll avoid Kirigakure's pursuit and Sunagakure's confirmation. I will no longer follow the orders of any village."
Kitahara Kaede's brow furrowed deeper. "That is higher risk."
Pakura looked at him. "Didn't you just say I could choose the life I like?"
Kitahara Kaede didn't respond. Pakura's voice leveled out. "I've made my choice. I don't want to be Sunagakure's hero, and I don't want to be a dead person arranged by soone else."
Kitahara Kaede stared at her for several seconds. Pakura didn't flinch. Her expression was so earnest that Kitahara Kaede couldn't find a single trace of impulse in it.
Pakura suddenly spoke again. "One more thing. Regarding your true identity file in Sunagakure—since I took over, I am the only one who knows it. I never fully reported the 'blank' data. I never transferred the uplink permissions to anyone else."
"Once I disappear today, your connection to Sunagakure is completely severed. There will be no new superiors, and no old channels left to mobilize you. From this day forward, you are clean."
The hollow fell into a deep silence. Kitahara Kaede didn't say a word.
By Sunagakure's rules, files for intelligence assets had to be backed up hierarchically and updated regularly. She had been withholding that data for him; perhaps she had never reported the truth from the day she took over.
Kitahara Kaede looked at her. This woman's ability to hide things was no worse than his own.
Pakura didn't give him any more ti to process. She directly gave him a new thod of contact—a simple set of secret codes known only to the two of them.
Kitahara Kaede morized the codes and looked up at her.
Before turning to leave, Pakura suddenly stopped.
"Kaede."
The tone she used to call his na was different this ti. There was no longer the professional detachnt of a superior to a subordinate, nor the patronizing care of a senior to a junior. It was simply a na, spoken plainly.
"From this mont on, I am no longer your superior."
She paused for a heartbeat.
"But I will be there, unseen."
Kitahara Kaede looked at her. "Don't get too close. Kirigakure has the Byakugan, as well as their sensory units."
Pakura understood the warning. She gave a small nod.
Just before turning away, she left him with one final thought.
"This ti, I am going to live for myself."
"But if sothing happens to you..." She tilted her head, her orange eyes flashing briefly amidst the shadows of the trees. "I'll make my own decision on how to handle it."
With those words, her figure vanished into the depths of the dense forest.
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