--- 9 ---

-- Third Person POV --

The young  ANBU agent swallowed hard as he stood outside the door to the Hokage's office. He looked down at his gloved hands, they were shaking. He didn't want this particular job, yet he'd been burdened with it because he was a rookie, and the rookie always gets lumbered with the crap jobs. This particular job was exactly fitting to that description. He had to deliver news. And it wasn't good news. It was very bad news from what he knew and understood.

Staring at the door, he sighed to himself and forced his arm out to knock. He knocked twice, unsure whether or not to knock again, before he heard the Hokage's voice summoning him in. Obediently, he pushed the door open and entered the office. He greeted the Hokage with a quick bow, which was returned with a small nod of the Hokage's head. He stood, still shaking ever so slightly by the door, causing the Hokage to eye him suspiciously.

"M'lady, it would appear that Namikaze Kasumi has fled the Hidden Leaf," he said, his voice strong and firm, unlike his shaking hands. The Hokage's face darkened.

------

Stay put and don't get involved. That's all he'd asked her to do, but she hadn't. Now, his young student had put herself and the whole village in danger.

The Hokage's orders had been strict before, but when Kasumi returned to the village, things were never going to be the same for her again. She could say goodbye to going on missions as far as the Hokage was concerned. Kakashi knew that no matter how hard he could try, there would be nothing he could do to change Tsunade's mind.

Kakashi looked up, a large number ANBU agents surrounded him. All of them shared one goal, to hunt down Kasumi and bring her back to the village, whatever the consequences.

"You heard the orders from the Hokage, Kasumi Namikaze must be brought back to the village at any cost. She's clever, manipulative, and seems to know exactly what she's doing. You cannot afford to go easy on her. You are to treat any encounter with her as you would with any rouge ninja. Is that understood?!" an agent yelled.

Kakashi felt his body tense. Rogue ninja. That's how the Hokage saw her? It was at that second that Kakashi knew things had taken a very, very bad turn, both for himself and Kasumi.

---

--- Kasumi's POV ---

I had travelled non-stop for at least a day and a half. I was far from the village by now but I still felt uneasy. I was beginning to become aware of how tired I was, and realised that I'd not taken a moment to stop and plan what I was going to do next.

I looked up at the sky. The sun was starting to go down but there was still some heat in it. I was almost starting to regret wearing black. I decided that the next cave I came across, I would take temporary shelter, and depending on how safe I felt, would stop for the night.

I continued walking at a steady pace, not really stopping unless it was to fill up on water. Occasionally, I would take to running and leaving the vulnerability of the ground, take to the tree tops. I must have carried on for at least two hours or so until I came across a decent looking cave that could offer me some refuge.

Deciding to stick with my plan, I entered the cave and decided where I would stop for the time being. It was a large cave that seemed to go quite deep, however, I felt myself unwilling to go any further than about 60 metres in. The spot where I chose to stay was almost two tiered. Some rocks had fallen from a ledge which made use as a kind of ladder to reach it and up on the ledge was enough space for me to set up a bed and a small fire. Returning outside, I collected some firewood and some fresh water. Deciding that I felt safe enough, I set up a bed for myself.

I began making the fire, and cooked some fish that I had brought with me from the village. I sat peacefully eating, thinking out my next steps.

I'd managed to escape the village to the point where I felt they would have some difficulty tracking me, which was half of it. But now, I still had to find Sasuke, and on top of that, convince him to come home. All of which seemed like an overwhelmingly impossible task because he could literally be anywhere.

I didn't even have a trace of him or his whereabouts. It dawned on me that I hadn't thought this through as well as I had initially thought and felt the sudden urge to cry.

Aside from feeling depressed that I'd failed, I suddenly got the creeping feeling that I wasn't on my own. I could see from my ledge the mouth of the cave. A thick mist was rolling in and I felt overwhelmingly vulnerable. I reached for two of my kunai and activated Blind State. I could feel someone else approaching. They were alone, but that didn't make me feel any better.

"Oh my god," I whispered to myself as I felt them coming closer. Soon they'd be right behind me. I counted the pace of their footsteps in my head, as I felt them only inches away. Gripping my kunai so tightly in my hands I could feel them going white, I turned on the balls of my feet with such speed that you'd have missed it if you blinked.

"Who are you, and what do you want from me!?" were the words that left my mouth. I remained in Blind State, so I would be able to react quickly to their retaliation.

"You know who I am, Kasumi," the voice snapped back. My eyes widened and I deactivated Blind State to see if the voice matched the face of the person. I felt my whole body tremble and go weak.

"You," I whimpered, my eyes tearing up.

"Please forgive me, Kasumi," the voice said, softer now.

I dropped the kunai I was clutching so tightly and brought my hands to my mouth as the tears rolled down my cheeks.

"Rikio, what are you doing here?!"