The hours bled together into one long stretch of movement. Branch to branch, leap to landing, the rhythm steady but grueling. Every time I pushed off, her weight pulled against me, dragging at my balance. My leg, patched but far from healed, ached with each jump, and my wounds burned under the strain of carrying her.
She wasn't dead weight. I could feel the way she shifted, just enough to keep herself from slipping, her arm tightening around me when I faltered before a leap. But most of her weight was on me, and it wore me down.
By the time the moon had climbed high past its peak, the forest felt endless. My breath came harsh, sweat running down my back under the flak jacket. Each branch I landed on felt smaller, thinner, like the forest was testing how much longer I could hold out.
"Keep steady," she murmured once, her voice low and rough near my ear. It wasn't a command, not quite, but the tone of someone used to being obeyed.
"I am steady," I grunted back, even as my thighs trembled when I crouched for the next jump.
Her name had come earlier, somewhere between the silence and the sound of our movement: Shigure. Special Jōnin, Konoha. She hadn't wasted words explaining her unit or what she'd been doing out here. Just enough for me to know she had authority over me. That was all that mattered.
The forest stayed quiet around us, too quiet. No birds, no rustle of animals. Only the noise of disturbed leaves. It made every landing feel louder than it should have been, every snap of bark underfoot like a beacon.
By the time I realized how far past midnight it was, my arms and legs felt like lead. My chakra had dwindled to a thin thread, just enough to push through and not collapse. Each breath burned in my chest, but I kept moving. Stopping meant being found. Stopping meant dying here.
Shigure's weight shifted against me again. I risked a glance at her her eyes were half-lidded, her jaw clenched, sweat beading at her temple. She was holding herself together, but barely.
"How much further?" The words came out rougher than I meant, carried on ragged breaths.
Shigure shifted slightly against me. "Not… " She stopped. Froze. Her whole body went rigid, the faint pressure of her arm against my shoulder tightening.
I nearly stumbled with the sudden change. "What is it?"
Her eyes narrowed, scanning the treeline ahead. "Chakra signatures. Multiple. Close." Her voice was barely above a whisper, but every word felt sharp. "They're clustered… less than a hundred paces."
I felt my stomach knot.
She's a sensor.
Of course. I hadn't known she was one, but the way she said it left no doubt. She wasn't guessing, she felt it.
My grip on her tightened. Instinct screamed at me to turn, to flee deeper into the forest. If we walked right into them, we wouldn't stand a chance. Not like this. Not with her half-bleeding out and me hanging on by scraps of chakra.
But it could just as easily be Konoha shinobi. A forward squad. This could our only chance
I swallowed, throat dry. "So… what do we do?" The question came out quieter than I'd meant, but there was no masking the edge in it. I already knew the answer I wanted to avoid it, go wide, don't risk it, don't die But the thought of rescue gnawed at me just as much as the fear of enemies.
Her jaw tightened, eyes still locked on the dark ahead.
I shifted my weight under her, my free hand brushing the kunai at my thigh. My pulse hammered in my ears.
"Move a little closer," Shigure murmured, her hand tightening on my shoulder.
I frowned, stopping mid-step. "Closer? If it's Iwa, we're dead."
Her eyes met mine, calm but sharp. No fear there, just certainty.. My jaw tightened, but after a long second, I shifted forward anyway, slow and wary.
As I moved forward, I felt something strange. The faintest pulse from her chakra brushing against me in uneven bursts. Not steady like when she healed me, this was deliberate. A rhythm.
A signal.
My head snapped to the side, studying her. She didn't even look at me, just kept her gaze on the dark ahead.
A code, I realized. She was telling someone we were here.
The underbrush stirred before I could think more. Four figures dropped into view, silent and sharp, the gleam of metal catching what little moonlight there was. One knelt low with a ninja hound at his side, an Inuzuka, no mistaking the clan's stance. The other three fanned out, weapons half-raised.
"Identify yourselves," the tallest man demanded, voice curt.
For a heartbeat, I braced, every muscle coiled tight. Then Shigure spoke, steady as stone. "Tokubetsu Jōnin Shigure, on return from assignment. Injured."
The effect was instant. Weapons lowered, postures eased. The Inuzuka muttered something to his hound, who gave a short bark, tail swishing once.
Relief bled through me in a rush so strong my knees almost buckled. Konoha. Thank you God.
"Understood," the leader said, giving a curt nod. "We'll take you both to camp. It's close."
Two of them moved in without hesitation, flanking us as if they'd trained for this moment all their lives. I adjusted Shigure's weight against me, finally letting my shoulders loosen just a fraction.
The trees seemed less heavy now, the night less suffocating. For the first time since I'd stumbled into this damned mess, I let myself believe I might actually make it.