A long, light-green dress, her long hair pulled up into a bun, and off Tsukinoko went to sit in her tree with a blanket, comfortably ensconced against the trunk. She spent the rest of the afternoon reading, finishing Kakashi's book just before sunset.

  She closed it gently, then suddenly scoffed as she stared at the horizon. The story wasn't terrible in itself, but terribly silly and dubious. She was amused that he could love this kind of novel.

  The crimson rays of the sun invaded the sky, and she jumped to her feet. Kakashi was waiting for her at the foot of the camphor tree, never leaving her side since their union, though they had never discussed their feelings for each other again, letting themselves be carried along by events.

  She teased him about his mushy literary tastes, but he ignored her and she threw herself into his arms, laughing. Yet her embrace wasn't returned, as he mumbled after her mockery.

  - You're touching my bottom but you can't give me a hug? That's not very gallant.

  He braces himself again, taking a deep breath.

  - Cuddle," she orders.

  - Don't touch me.

  - Just one.

  Eventually, he embraced her, harder and harder, too much for his liking, until she begged for a truce before being crushed as he sneered behind his mask.

  She had invited him to her home for dinner, and the two of them cooked together and then rested together. Kakashi was not wearing his mask, and his ashen hair fell over his face as he lay on Tsukinoko's lap, having fun untangling it. They spent the evening confiding in each other, revealing more and more of themselves, exposing their deepest scars.

  He sat back as she admired him, impressed by his perseverance. His gaze, full of benevolence and compassion, plunged into hers, and her heart warmed again at his gentleness.

  They stared at each other for long seconds, before he slowly joined Tsukinoko, who sank into the sofa under his commanding gaze. Leaning on the backrest with one hand, the other resting beside her head, astride her.

  Heart palpitating and hands trembling, the blood rushes under their vulgarly blushing faces, before she manages to murmur a few words, her chest compressed by the erethism in her lower abdomen.

  - Love me again.

  In the middle of the night, Kakashi leaned on her hips, straddling her, kissing her Venus hollows with his fingers. She lost her breath under his thrust, flat on her stomach on the mattress, the sheet clutched between her hands. Her legs began to tremble with pleasure, nearing climax. He bends to brush his lips over the goose bumps on her back. He moves up to the nape of her neck, savoring her skin soaked with the salty essence mixed with the acid of her arousal, deposited by their fingers soaked through the night. The scent fills her senses and he lies full length on top of her, sinking his teeth into the taut flesh of her neck. She turns her head, resting on the mattress, in search of fresh air, her moans traveling slowly down her throat to reach Kakashi's ears. Louder and louder, panting more and more, it's only when she releases a powerful, pleasure-gorged moan, vibrating with her whole body, that he lets go, to fill her with his ecstasy, her back arched and her face buried against his neck.

  In the shower, the tepid water soothed the senses, leaving the blossoming young lovers to drift off to sleep.

  Snuggled into the sheets, the blanket pulled up to their eyes, the half-open window letting the cold gently take over the room, without disturbing their night, snuggled up in each other's arms. Yet the other couldn't close an eye of his own, to make sure his sweetheart was sleeping peacefully, as if caught in an interminable dream where pain no longer had a place, where joy smothered remorse.

  The next morning, Tsukinoko awoke to the sensation of a hand caressing her face, then opened her eyes, home alone and with the window open.

  After spending the day watching Hanamaru, Tsukinoko went, in her dark outfit, her mask left at the Colony quarters, to meet Hina for dinner

  She separates her chopsticks and devours her meal, but her hair falls into the plate and she quickly puts it up in a bun. She continues to stuff her face until she hears Hina giggle.

  - Are you having fun at work?" she says with a smile.

  - What are you talking about? What are you talking about?

  - Don't play innocent," she laughs.

  Hina quickly pinched her neck and Tsukinoko knew what she was talking about. Removed the day before, a deep reddish bite mark sat on her neck, hidden behind her hair. Tsukinoko doesn't dare answer and blushes with shame in front of her.

  - It's a blue...

  - That's it," she exclaims.

  Tsukinoko braces herself but tries to look the other way, terribly embarrassed. Hina grimaces at the silly look on her face, but doesn't give up.

  - What's up? Let me guess! Let's say... Kakashi?" she smiled mischievously.

  Tsukinoko swallowed hard, surprised by his insight, which validated her friend's suspicions.

  - Isn't it a cliché to date your boss?" she laughs, seeing his face. It's been since last week, isn't it?

  - Nonsense. How do you know it's him?" she says cheekily.

  - Admit it! He didn't miss," she says, reaching for her hand again. Ren was right! But you didn't tell me!

  - Ah! she panics. I don't... I don't know if we're together... You think so?! she huffs. But he hasn't officially asked me...

  - Really? Tell me about it," she giggles.

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  Tsukinoko then briefly recounted the events, confessing her burning love, but Hina had a nagging fear that she hastened to verify.

  - Wait... she's worried. You should be careful, sweetie. When's your cycle over?

  - This? It never started.

  - What's up? Never?

  - Well, no...?" she replies, puzzled.

  - And yet... It's strange. You're almost twenty after all.

  - Well, that's that," she shrugs.

  Tsukinoko resumes her meal, unperturbed, but Hina continues to insist and advises her to go to the doctor to make sure everything's all right.

  The next morning, off duty, Tsukinoko went to the hospital to see her doctor. Hina had succeeded in sowing doubt in her mind, and with her annual check-up coming up, she decided to kill two birds with one stone.

  In her blue paper blouse, after several examinations and an interview with a psychologist, Tsukinoko starts to get impatient in the office, but the doctor finally returns. Dressed in her warm padded kimono and a huge scarf that half served as a cape, she joined the doctor at his desk.

  - Miss Sato, as your friend explained, it's not normal that you haven't started menstruating yet. This is due to the trauma you experienced a little over seven years ago, when puberty starts. This created a psychic block which was translated into a physiological block by your body, and even if you're better today, we could say that... your body missed the boat, you understand?

  - I think?" she squints.

  - Please listen. I regret to inform you that you will never be able to have children, as your body is not prepared to give birth. Do you understand?

  - Yes... she answers perplexed.

  The doctor finishes explaining his recommendations, then Tsukinoko finally returns home, troubled. She had breakfast and, as the sun came out, she decided to go and paint in her tree, now that the winter snow had melted, despite the persistent sniggering of the old Dragon that day.

  The Ro squad had been sent on a mission a few weeks later, in the middle of February. A team of soldiers had failed to recover stolen documents. Only one of them had returned alive, to say the least.

  An inhuman opponent, wearing a black cape, had decimated his team without batting an eyelid. According to their information, it was Hebimaru. The squad was not to arrest him, but only to recover the documents, and not to detain him if he fled. The agents were surprised, but asked no further questions and left.

  After two days, they tracked him down as he left an inn. He had metamorphosed into a small, hunchbacked old man. He moved slowly and they followed him all day, until he stopped at a relay village on the border with the land of Earth.

  As night falls, Hebimaru meets a man dressed in a discreet cape at the back of a building. The mercenary hands him the stolen scrolls, in exchange for a large sum of money. The caped man moves away and Tsukinoko is about to surprise him to retrieve the documents, but Kakashi holds her back. A second later, she would have been pierced in the caped man's place.

  Hebimaru held him aloft by a sharp metal spike from which the man's blood dripped. He retrieved the documents he had stolen from Hanamaru and left the scene with a slow gait. The squad remains on the alert, then K? leaves to search the man on the ground with Kimaru, while Kakashi continues to follow him with Tsukinoko.

  The dead man was a Commander from Doro, the capital of the Land of Rocks, sent by his village. Kakashi ordered action to be taken to retrieve the documents.

  Between them, they cornered the terrible mercenary, just before dusk, on the edge of a cliff he was skirting to admire the scenery. Caught in a vice, Hebimaru remained motionless and didn't say a word.

  - Hand over the documents you've stolen," orders Kakashi from behind his porcelain mask.

  - I never thought you'd keep following my trail," he exclaims. I thought you were Doro's agents, but I was wrong. Don't waste any more of my time," breathes Hebimaru in a deep voice.

  - Hand over the documents, I won't say it again.

  - Let's get it over with quickly, I'm in a hurry.

  Tsukinoko decides to put an end to it, and hides underground while her clone remains on the surface as a distraction. As Hebimaru passes over her, she emerges from the ground and slides her hand under her cloak in search of the scrolls. Hebimaru leaps into the air and throws his pike at her. She blocks his throw, but Hebimaru's strength sends her skidding to the ground as she tries to fend him off.

  Quickly, he threw his weapon at them, managing to stand up to the two agents. Tsukinoko glanced at Kakashi, and they took a few steps apart, before she held up the scrolls she'd retrieved earlier.

  - You!" enraged Hebimaru. Give me back the documents and I'll let you escape unharmed.

  - You're dreaming, we're going to run away with the scrolls," laughs Tsukinoko.

  Kakashi detonates smoke bombs to cover their escape and they disappear. Hebimaru sees red and charges after them. Thinking he's out of reach, the mercenary pulls another tactic. The tip of his hinged weapon opens, revealing a barrel that fires a shower of needles at random into the opaque cloud. One of them wounds Kakashi, grazing his arm. An insignificant wound that doesn't stop him.

  Out of the cloud, in the middle of the forest, Tsukinoko looked for Kakashi but couldn't find him. She sensed his essence still at the edge of the cliff, and stopped for a moment, wondering what he was doing. Hoping he hadn't gone to finish off Hebimaru despite the Chief's orders.

  Discreetly, she retraced her steps, but remained hidden behind a tree when she saw the trapped Colony agent, held firmly in the air by Hebimaru.

  - Come on, give me back the scrolls, my child, and I'll save this agent from a fatal fall," he says, having guessed Tsukinoko nearby.

  Its needles were impregnated with a paralyzing poison, nothing lethal, but enough to turn the best soldiers into good puppets.

  Tsukinoko emerged from her hiding place and advanced slowly towards him. She raised her arm behind her head, and Hebimaru, thinking she was about to unleash a saber, swung Kakashi over the void. Slowly, she reaches for the mercenary, both scrolls in hand. Unable to speak or move, totally annihilated, Kakashi watches Tsukinoko act, beside himself.

  Compromising the mission to save him was against the soldier code, against the Colony, where agents couldn't give in to blackmail, having to let their comrades die without expressing an ounce of hesitation or guilt. Therein lay the heart of their profession, the darkness of their duty that had already caused many anonymous agents to give up.

  Facing Hebimaru, Tsukinoko handed over the scrolls without hesitation. The veil of night fell over the surroundings, but she didn't take her eyes off Kakashi, held in the void.

  Hebimaru takes the scrolls and strides off, but as he passes Tsukinoko, he loosens his grip, letting Kakashi tumble into the void. Arms outstretched, she threw herself off the cliff after him.

  Tsukinoko had caught Kakashi by the breastplate, falling at full speed. Desperately, she scraped the cliff with her sword in her other hand, trying to halt their descent, miles above terra firma. The blade is sanded by the stone, then finally breaks. The weight in their bellies grows heavier, but she doesn't let go.

  Her aura slowly revealed itself around her. With one movement, she pulls Kakashi and presses him against her, wrapping her arms around his head and her legs around his belly. Using her own body as a shield against the impending impact.

  Hebimaru had taken a few steps and unrolled the scrolls, but they exploded in his hand, revealing themselves to be common shapeshifted pebbles. Deceived, he returned to the edge of the cliff, only to see Tsukinoko's aura lighting up the edge as they passed.

  Like a star falling from the sky, the purplish glow raced by. She leaned back, head first, watching the ground approaching faster and faster.

  She disappeared behind his thickening aura. Through his eye, Kakashi saw all Tsukinoko's chakra redirect itself towards her aura, condensing it to envelop them both, abandoning her body in spite of her survival.

  With his head turned upside down, he begged her to stop, but her lips wouldn't move.

  Hers spoke soft, revealing words, and he merely implored Tsukinoko with his eyes.

  Miles across the plain, peasants had come out of their homes to watch in amazement as this curious star crashed into the base of the cliff. The sudden collision dissipated a light energy in the air, which for a moment illuminated the entire cliff face with a purple haze, leaving them to believe it was a mirage.

  The sound of the impact reached Hebimaru, who turned on his heels for good, his booty destroyed before his eyes.

  - Wonderful show," he murmurs. In the end, it was worth the delay.