The Hidden Mist Village was quiet in the early morning.
As Kitahara Kaede walked down the street, he noticed that the bulletin board near the mission office had been updated with new notices.
The village had been under lockdown for a significant amount of ti after Zabuza's defection; the restrictions had only been lifted recently. Traces of old wanted posters still clung to the corners of the wall, now partially covered by new mission announcents that left the paper wrinkled and haphazard.
There weren't many shinobi on the roads.
During the lockdown, the village had used the excuse of "purging internal moles" to turn the ANBU, the mission chain, and the border outposts upside down. Anyone with an ambiguous attitude, delayed reports, or private ties to Zabuza had been hauled in for interrogation.
A few of them had yet to return.
It had nothing to do with him.
He was clean.
His connection to Sunagakure had been severed completely the day Pakura vanished. To the world, he was nothing more than an obedient, law-abiding Chunin of the village. No matter how deeply they dug, they would never find a trail leading back to him.
Kaede's pace slowed.
Images from a few days ago surfaced in his mind.
Once the lockdown was lifted, he had used a mission as a cover to et with Pakura in a remote fishing village within the Land of Water.
When they reunited, Pakura wasn't wearing her standard Sunagakure attire. She had changed into a deep grey, high-collared short-sleeved top. It lacked the murderous edge of her previous clothing, though the cut remained sharp and practical. Her dark green hair was tied into a high bun, with her orange bangs framing her face just as they always had.
The courtyard where she stayed was small, but she had a puppy. It was a yellow-furred thing with floppy ears that loved to rub against people's legs.
Pakura leaned over to pour water for the dog, not looking up.
"A village kid picked it up and insisted on shoving it on ," she said. "Claid his family couldn't keep it and asked if I could help for a couple of days."
Those "two days" had already turned into half a month.
Kaede glanced over and noticed the dog bowl was brand new. There was even a small wooden rain shelter rigged up in the corner of the yard—clearly sothing she had built herself.
He crouched down and patted the dog's head. The puppy imdiately flopped onto its back, paws in the air, nuzzling into his palm.
Pakura straightened up after finishing with the water and looked at him.
"You know," she said, her tone relaxed, "my biggest worry right now is that this dog is too clingy. It wants to follow everywhere; if I don't take it, it just howls in the yard."
Kaede didn't answer. He studied her face. The fine lines at the corners of her eyes remained, but the dark circles beneath them had faded significantly. In the past, every ti they t, her shoulders were always slightly tense, as if she were ready to strike or retreat at a mont's notice.
That tension was gone. She looked far better.
Pakura wiped her hands. "I actually quite like this kind of life."
"No worrying about how to complete a mission, no constant vigilance about who's watching. I wake up, feed the dog, go buy so groceries, and spend the afternoon daydreaming." She paused. "When will you be finished with your side of things?"
She tilted her head, a small smile playing on her lips. "How about we find a place to retire together in the future?"
Kaede thought about her smile for a mont. "I still have a bit left to do."
Pakura didn't press him. She looked down at the dog at her feet, then back up at him.
"Then when you're done, co with . Let's not stay in the Land of Water."
"It's too humid here. Clothes never dry properly, and this little guy cos back covered in mud every ti he goes outside."
Kaede nodded. "We'll go sowhere with a drier climate."
Pakura smiled.
...
Kaede snapped back to the present. Without realizing it, he had already arrived at Terumi i's residence.
He raised his hand and knocked on the door.
Silence followed for two seconds before a muffled response ca from inside.
"Who is it?"
Her voice was husky, thick with the sleepiness of soone who had just woken up.
"It's ."
The lock clicked, and the door swung open.
Terumi i stood behind the door. Her reddish-brown hair was loose and unbundled, with her bangs covering her right eye as usual. She was wearing a wide, oversized lounge robe; the collar draped loosely near her collarbone, and the hem barely reached mid-thigh, leaving her long, bare legs exposed.
The mont she saw it was Kaede, her fingers tightened against the doorfra. She reached up to brush a stray lock of hair from her forehead, stepped back half a pace, and opened the door wider.
"Why so early?"
Her voice sounded casual, but her posture shifted subtly from a lazy lean against the fra to a centered, upright stance.
Kaede gave her a brief glance, his gaze not lingering. "Habit."
Terumi i stepped aside to let him in. Kaede removed his shoes and entered. The house was small; the living room contained only a low table and a bookshelf against the wall.
"Have you eaten?" Terumi i's voice ca from behind him.
"Not yet."
A beat of silence passed.
"Then sit down. I'll make an extra portion of breakfast."
With that, she headed toward the kitchen, her footsteps a fraction faster than usual.
Kaede sat at the dining table, listening to the sound of cabinet doors opening in the kitchen. Terumi i stood at the stove, holding an egg. Her original plan for breakfast had been to chew on a piece of leftover bread from yesterday.
But he was here. Letting him chew on plain bread felt... sohow wrong.
*Stir-frying shouldn't be that hard, right?*
A while later, Terumi i stared at the charred edges of the food in the pan, her expression turning solemn. She cranked up the heat and tossed the ingredients, attempting to hide the burnt side.
The sll of scorching food began to waft out of the kitchen.
Footsteps approached. Kaede appeared at the kitchen entrance, leaning against the doorfra as he glanced at the contents of the pan.
"Want to take over?"
Terumi i's back stiffened. She didn't move out of the way imdiately, but another plu of smoke rose from the pan.
She handed over the spatula and stepped aside. "...Go ahead."
Her voice was very low. It was simply too embarrassing for him to have seen that.
Kaede took the spatula, scraped out the burnt remains, washed the pan, and started the fire again. "What ingredients do you have?"
Terumi i opened the fridge. "Eggs, greens, sliced at. That's it."
Kaede took a look. "Any noodles?"
Terumi i rummaged through the cabinet and found so in the corner, handing them to him. Kaede set them aside and began washing the vegetables and slicing the at.
The greens were rinsed twice under the tap and drained; the at was sliced thin against the grain, each piece almost identical in width.
Terumi i leaned against the kitchen wall, arms crossed, watching him. The way he chopped vegetables was like the way he fought. No wasted movent.
He heated the oil, tossed in the at for a few seconds until the color changed, then added the greens for a quick stir-fry. Once the water boiled, the noodles went in.
The entire process took less than ten minutes.
Terumi i watched his profile.
Strong. Intelligent. Reliable. Handso. And he could cook.
She shifted her gaze, staring instead at the boiling noodles. Why was her heart beating faster?
Out of the corner of his eye, Kaede caught the mont she looked away. He recalled that in the original story, Terumi i had ntioned she liked n with high aesthetic appeal.
The move to maximize his looks had not been in vain.
Two bowls of noodles were placed on the table. Kaede pushed one toward Terumi i.
"Try it."
Terumi i picked up her chopsticks and took a bite. Her eyes lit up. The broth was savory, the at tender, and the greens crisp. It was leagues better than anything she could make.
She suppressed her reaction, keeping her tone plain. "I didn't expect you to be such a good cook."
Kaede picked up a slice of at. "I'm glad you like it."
Terumi i lowered her head and took a large mouthful of noodles without responding. She ate faster than usual, even drinking several gulps of the broth.
It wasn't until she set her bowl down that she realized she had finished everything, while Kitahara Kaede had barely touched half of his.
A slight flush ward her ears.
"...I need to build up my strength before a mission," she murmured.
Kitahara Kaede paused with his chopsticks mid-air and looked up at her.
"Mm. Good excuse."
Terumi i shot him a glare, appearing slightly miffed by his response.
Once they finished eating, they checked the ti. Terumi i stood up and headed toward the bedroom.
"I'm going to change. Wait here."
The door clicked shut.
Kitahara Kaede's gaze drifted to the low table, where several sheets of draft paper lay scattered, covered in dense handwriting. He scanned them; they were all notes regarding issues within the village.
He looked away. She had already begun organizing the village's affairs on her own.
The bedroom door opened and Terumi i stepped out. She wore a dark, off-the-shoulder top, her long hair tied back, with her forehead protector firmly in place.
Kitahara Kaede took a look at her. She seed like a completely different person from the woman who had opened the door earlier—the one with ssy hair and bare legs, rubbing sleep from her eyes.
She walked over to the door, grabbed her shinobi tool pouch and strapped it to her thigh, then turned to him.
"Let's go. We shouldn't keep Senior Ao waiting."
They left the apartnt, Terumi i walking half a step ahead of him. The morning light filtered through the gaps in the mist, resting softly on her shoulders.
After walking for a while, she spoke. "Let know before you visit next ti."
She paused for a beat.
"I'll prepare so food."
Kitahara Kaede glanced at her. "Are you sure about that?"
Terumi i faltered for a mont. An image of a charred, sticky ss in a pot flashed through her mind.
"...I can learn."
Kitahara Kaede didn't say anything more, but the corner of his mouth quirked upward. Side by side, they made their way toward the village gates.
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