A Kunoichi At Heart

Chapter 91: Things Take A Darker Turn

The forest was dark and foreboding, and without someone by your side, you suddenly felt very small, and very alone. You'd left the impostor back on the log — you didn't know who the person was and what their motive was to impersonate your sensei, and you didn't really feel like you wanted to know.

Kurenai was the one who had asked you to meet her there, so hopefully, she was somewhere nearby. You picked your way through the path, feeling more and more agitated the farther you drifted from the second training ground. It might've been a good idea to mark the way you had come so you could find your way out again, but by the time that idea wormed its way into your head, you realized you were too lost for it to do any good.

Once that idea kicked in, you stopped walking completely.

You tried not to panic. After all, you were still in Konoha...maybe. If you turned back and tried to retrace your steps, you might be able to find your way out of here. Your examined the forest floor and your heart sank. The leaves and debris made your footprints very hard to see, and the earth was solid and unyielding. You remembered the twists and turns you'd had to make coming all the way here, and it dawned on you that it would be impossible to leave exactly the way you had come.

You faintly recalled the geography lessons at the Academy, and from your memory, there seemed to be a wall around the hidden village, to keep intruders out. You hadn't strayed too far that you'd left Konoha at least, and that gave you hope.

You continued to stumble blindly through the forest, tripping over tree roots and generally making a huge mess of yourself. They sky was getting grey and dark, and you began to hope that it wasn't going to rain. You didn't need more reason to slip on the wet forest floor.

As you wandered, your thoughts began to stray, and you began to question if this really was a bad thing after all. When the first droplets of rain hit your skin and skid down your cheeks, the icy water cleared your head and reminded you...of something strange.

A peculiar conversation between you and the Hokage of the village found itself ingrained in your mind, something that seemed like it hadn't been there before.

And...

Would it really be so bad if you weren't in Konoha anymore?

You stopped walking abruptly, letting the rain spatter onto your shoulders, your head, your face, trickling down the wet strands of your hair, soaking through your clothes. You looked down at your hands, inspected your arms, the shuriken pouch secured to your waist. Never once had you questioned where you'd gotten your ninja attire from. Never once had you questioned anything, really, except whether or not you were cut out to be a member of your ninja team.

Missing-nin. You'd heard that term before. A ninja who cut all ties from his or her former village, with no intention of ever returning again. You didn't understand why this popped into your mind suddenly, but you did realize one thing.

You had options.

So many options lay before you outside of the village of your birth — no, you weren't even born here. You had no ties to Konohagakure. What was keeping you here?

Was it that you were sick of remaining here, training with your more powerful teammates as Leaf genin? If the village was weighing you down, you could just leave. You owed no one anything, except maybe to whoever provided you with your clothes.

Or was it that you were just tired and lost, and you just wanted to go home? You felt a little dizzy and light-headed after all, perhaps your hyperactive imagination was running away from you. Whichever it was, you knew the truth once again — the truth of your birth. Whichever it was, you knew that you could never go back to where you started again.

Your reasoning has led you to decide to leave the village. There's nothing for you here — no future, no nothing. Go to Chapter 133.

That's strange. Why are you having these thoughts? You shook your head to clear it, and focus on the task before you — finding Kurenai-sensei. Go to Chapter 134.