Finding Myself [Rewrite]

ch. 29: Fire Lily

Content Warning:
Illicit Substance Use

"You can't live like this forever, Lady Minaki."

"... You think I don't know that, Ren. I'm doing my best just to survive."

"Lady... I know that you think this is the only way, but-"

"Enough. You don't have to lecture me every single time we do this."

An exchange occurred between a black lion, and the girl he was charged with protecting. It was becoming fairly common for the two friends to argue in such a way.

The lion saw the girl becoming more... Tainted... As days went on. She was constantly in an egregious amount of pain, and loathed the thought of succumbing to the will of the one causing it.

"...Where is Naruto when I need him..." The lion muttered into the cold night air. The pair rushed a location a long way outside the village. It was a place she'd never been to before, and therefore couldn't use her butterflies to travel the whole way.

She wanted nothing more than to end the life she started in the underworld, however, the compensation for her efforts were too good for her to give up. The support she was given by the Leaf couldn't compare to the ryo she made by taking commissions and selling information.

All of the money would go into funding her research. There was a forbidden technique buried in a grave within the province in which the Tahoma clan lived.

A technique to retrieve souls from the afterlife... One that can bring the dead back to life. Oh, and biochemical engineering interested her as well.

On top of those, being an unpaid veterinarian and herbalist was also becoming very expensive... Hobbies aren't cheap.

"I hope this will be worth it, I'm out six thousand ryo because I had to get my room scorch-proofed... I wish Silver would just go to sleep and keep his chakra to himself..." The girl said in a low tone, following the butterflies she had sent ahead until they came to a halt. "Ren, get into position."

The black lion nodded, then turned back and vanished into the cover of night.

The young girl leaped from the tree top, falling into the cradle of several hundred butterflies that allowed her safe landing on the ground, and camouflaged her from the sight of the one who had requested her service.

She made swift hand seals, causing her chakra to stir. "Secret art: Butterfly dance."

The insects swarmed around her body, creating an illusion that would mask her body.

"My lady, someone is heading towards your location. Be wary."

The girl nodded, waiting for the moment her new client would step free from the cover of darkness.

It was a man with short dark hair, and eyes like a viper waiting to strike. Eyes that completely saw through her, shaking the very core of her being.

Even though he was in disguise, she recognized the intense evil aura the second she laid eyes on him.

"You-" She started, clenching her fists as she hissed the name which she loathed, "-Orochimaru..."

"Oh? You recognize me? Well, that makes this so much easier." The man snickered, his malicious gaze causing her blood to run cold.

The butterflies scattered in a frenzy the moment her concentration broke, and it seemed as if every cell of her body was frozen under the eyes of that man.

"You... What do you want from me. You took everything I had, you killed me. What more could you possibly want- ah!" She let out a quiet yelp as the man suddenly appeared in her personal space, so close that his fingers grazed her skin. All the work she'd done to become less fearful crumbled in an instant.