For two days she had been running. Her hair was cut jaggedly by a Kumo-nin's knife and left her neck bare. The normal pink had been dulled to a mousey brown reminiscent of Hermione's hair. An icy wind blew through the tree, pressing Suzu deeper against the trunk. The sky above her was a pitch black, only a hint of a silver crescent peeks out from the clouds. Her clothes, dripping with water, chilled her to her bone.

In Kumo's mountains, survival was about keeping warm. Suzu's fingers were numb to the bone and every spell she tried flickered and died as the cold sunk in. She needed to move.

The sound of footfalls and crunching snow alerted her to the Kumo nin. Three hours had passed, and they were still on her trail. If they found her, the mission failed. Konoha would be launched into another war, more devastating than the last.

Suzu pressed a hand to the scroll wrapped around her waist. It was worth more than ten A-level missions and full of secret jutsus that had devastated their forces in the last war.

She jumped into the next tree, hands clawing against the cold. The sound of her wet clothes slapping against the branches echoed in the air. She shed the first layer, shivering as she was left in a thin undershirt. Once she was far enough away, she would apparate.

Using any other magic in her state was risky. She could barely think, let alone attempt to do a spell.

She should have killed the nin that nearly caught her on the lake. Instead, some clever footwork and a burst of chakra had let her escape beneath the ice. Blowing on her hands, she stretched her fingers out. Blood was caked beneath the raw, cracked skin, blisters forming on her palm.

They would not catch her.

She grew up beneath Konoha's canopy. No matter how fast they were, Suzu would make it home. Sakura was waiting.

And Suzu did not want to die.

At the forest's edge, the trees thinned, snow falling away among the dried grass and stone of the mountain side. Suzu made a break from the small cavern that leads to the Land of Frost. Though a knife flew by her head, taking with it a chunk of her hair and shirt, she did not turn back.

The darkness gave her enough cover to disappear. She apparated without thought, body squeezing into nothing, trusting her magic to protect her. It had never failed her before. Sensing the need for warmth, she was dropped in the middle of a hot spring.

Suzu stumbled forward. The sudden change in temperature was a shock to her system and her magic acted out sporadically, causing the water to spring up and spray her. Suzu sunk to the ground, clutching her waist where the scroll was still tightly wrapped.

"Umm, nin-san," a voice stuttered. Suzu raised her head tiredly, looking at the nervous teenager, clutching a towel around his waist. His face was a bright red, jaw hanging open. Suzu reluctantly stood, waving a hand towards the kid.

"Where's the nearest inn?" she asked. His face turned a brighter red at her voice, and he stammered out a direction. Suzu made her way towards the building, glad that the land of hot water was warm, warmer than Konoha was this time of year.

She shuffled in, ignoring the curious glances sent her way. A portly woman with thick brown hair that reminded her of the hobbits in the muggle film, ushered Suzu into a corner. Though Suzu was clearly dressed as a ninja, the woman did not flinch.

"Follow me, nin-san," she said.

"Thank you, Obasan," said Suzu, bowing her head.

"Kono, none of this Obasan. I'm still young." Kono grabbed a blanket off a clothing line that hung before the fireplace.

She wraped the blanket over Suzu's shoulders and left with the promise of bringing her something hot to drink. Suzu sunk against the soft cushions, pulling the toasty blanket as tight as she can. By the time Kono came back, Suzu had warmed up enough to run her chakra through her system.

Her magic seeped through her skin like a protective armor and her breath came easier feeling it's warmth.

She paid Kono a gold coin for the drink but did not dare sip it. Enough people wanted her dead and though Kono seemed nice, she walked far too easily around a ninja. Once she was warm enough to attempt moving, Suzu asked for a room on the top floor. It was a short wait before Kono confirmed that it was ready and Suzu disappeared upstairs.

The room was small with sparse furnishing. There was only one window, with creaky panes that groaned at the slightest breeze, and she could easily access the roof which is more valuable than comfort. Suzu did not dare undress.

At night, she would leave.

For now, she checked the damage done to her body.

She pulled at her magic, noticing the raw edges of her magical core. It had taken too much for her to survive the icy waters. Waiting out the Kumo nin, while trapped in the biting, dark waters beneath a thick ice sheet had been too much for her body. Her magic had been spread out between protecting the scroll and her own body.

The sharp memory of her training under Danzo rushed back, and Suzu pushed it down. Those were not memories she wanted to deal with now.

All she knew was that she couldn't rely on apparating back. It would be a week's trip back to Konoha on foot. In the meantime, she built a trap out of spare rope and two cleverly placed Kunai by the window and drew seals on the door. It ate what little chakra she had left. Body aching, Suzu sat on the floor, her back pressed against a wall.

She drew the scroll out of the bindings wrapped around her chest that rendered her genderless. The scroll was made of a cloth like paper that was tattered at the edges and written in delicate kanji by a talented scribe. Whoever had made it must have been a ninja of a noble clan.

There were mostly lightening jutsus, and Suzu took the time to look through all of them. But, the jutsus that made the scroll priceless, were wind natured. Ways to kill by removing air from a given point. Ways to control the spread of poison in the air. It was that one that worried her the most.

She still remembered Sand's attempt to do the same during the war. The yellow gas filling the air, shriveling leaves, burning out her throat, while a village of civilians choked to death.

The winds blew the gas in the wrong direction and the Suna-nin had lost control, killing not only the shinobi, but countless others. A whole village gone in the span of seconds.

Suzu had woken in the aftermath among a field of the dead, the only living soul to survive. There were still moments when she wished she hadn't.

Death was not yet ready for her.

Suzu did not hesitate in pulling the lamp up from the bedside table, spreading the fish oil in the lamp over the scroll, and blotting out the jutsu.

The Hokage would have his scroll, just not this one.

Suzu arrived in Konoha after 8 days of traveling. Though the Land of Hot Water bordered the Land of Fire, traveling on foot without using her magic had given her sudden empathy for Gai. How the man still functioned she did not know. Passing her papers to the guards, she slipped into the city, heading straight to the Hokage's office.

Hokage-sama was at his desk, smoking pipe weed that causes her eyes to water. She badly wanted to sneeze but bit it back. Papers were thrown over the desk, a pile close to collapse sits on the floor. Chakra hung in the air, strong and steady. Though the occasional jump from the ANBU around the room left her tense, the old man posed the bigger threat.
Dumbledore would have met his match in Sarutobi Hiruzen. He blew a smoke circle into the air and dispelled it with his hand.

"Suzuran, you're late," he said, staring at her with sharp eyes.

"Complications, sir."

"Was the mission a success?"

"Yes. I have the Scroll of a Thousand Rains. Kumo-nin pursued me once it was taken but, I maintained my cover and made for the Land of Frost." She handed him a copied scroll. The original was tucked in a charmed pocket in her bag. The Hokage rubbed the seal of the scroll with dark eyes but did not open it in her presence.

"And the lateness?"

"I had to travel back on foot from the Land of Hot Water. Chakra exhaustion, sir."

"A week's leave, then. You should rest and recover. Very well done, Suzuran."

"Thank you, Hokage-same," she bowed low, and took her leave. Once she is out of the Hokage Tower, she took a deep breath, ignoring the urge to shudder. Though Konoha was the only home she's known, she did not trust it.

She made her way home, eager to see her sister and her bed. There were two entrances to her apartment. One went through a small garden in the back. The other was hidden in the bakery and served as an escape route. Suzu walked as quickly as she could without bumping into the civilians, who glanced at her wild hair and lack of clothing with cool indifference.

With Gai around, there's not much that would faze the civilian population.

Passing the Yamanaka flower shop, Suzu doubled back to check if Sakura was there. Only Ino was in the flower shop, head tucked into a book, chewing a piece of gum with such ferocity that Suzu could hear her jaw click.

"Anything good?" Suzu asked. Ino looked with a snap, eyes going wide.

"Suzu," she shouted, tossing the book aside and leaping over the counter. Though Suzu was not short by any means, she could tell Ino would be taller than her. Ino's usual perfumed scent had flattened into the stale soap that is standard amongst shinobi. She was only 12 and already thinking of ways to hide her scent. When Suzu had been Harriet, her and Hermione had secretly snuck through Diagon Alley sampling Witch Weekly's top make-up and fragrance picks. It had come in handy just two years later at the Yule Ball.

"You've been so busy with the brat and Choji that you've forgotten about me."

"Sakura said you'd been away on missions. And Sensei said you got mad at her sensei. Is it true, Suzu-chan? Sakura should have been on my team, but we're Ino-Shika-Cho."

"Why don't you come to dinner? We can gossip, and you can report everything to your father later." Ino pouted at her joke but, did not dispute it. As much as they were friends, they were also test subjects for the future Intel Chief.

"Did you just get back?"

"Yes."

"Oh, you must be looking for Sakura. She's on a D-rank with that ridiculous team of hers. I still can't believe she got to be on a team wi-"

"Please don't say Sasuke-kun. I've heard enough to last me a lifetime."

"I wasn't going to say anything," Ino protested. The thin smile on her face revealed the lie. Suzu rolled her eyes, knuckles scraping across the counter.

"Come to dinner," Suzu said, again. Ino nodded, sending her out of the store with a bouquet of peonies and the promise of stopping by later.

When she got home, Suzu lounged on the bed, falling in and out of a sleep without depth. Her dreams were muddled memories. Flying in a plane and on a broom, stars littered against the night sky while a fire burned near their tent, a damp wet cell with Draco at its door. These were memories she would rather forget.

She woke with a start, hands reaching for glasses she hadn't ever worn. Sometimes it felt more like Harriet was real and alive.

"Did you have that dream again?"

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Suzu turned and caught sight of her sister. Dressed in her genin garb with a rusted bandage around her form arm, Sakura looked older, harder than she ever had.

"I missed you, too," she says, sitting up and rubbing at her hair. Sakura shoved her over, settling into the bed beside her. The sharp scent of mint shampoo filled her nose. Wrapping her arms around her sister, Suzu gave in to her exhaustion.

Kakashi was surprised to see Suzuran attend their morning training. She had been there far before he arrived if the state of his students was anything to go by. Sasuke was red-faced and breathing hard as he fingered a kunai. Even Naruto, who had a plethora of energy to spend, seemed exhausted. Hiding among the leafy branches, he settled down and watched.

They were playing tag, or a version of it. All three were attempting to catch Suzuran, who dodged, their hands with a practiced grace. There was something familiar in her movements, the speed of her steps, the quick, fleeing hands as she struck. She reminded him of Shisui. He wondered if they had worked together, trained together.

"Suzuran," he called, hopping from his tree to stop in front of the woman. Her eyes met his and narrowed instantly. "I take it the mission went well."
Sakura had been a nightmare as weeks passed without her sisters return. He had not known how to comfort the girl. Instead, he threw her into D-missions hoping to get her mind off the subject. He remembered the tightening ball of anxiety that had filled him when his father was away. Sakura seemed to take the separation better than he had.

"Well enough. I'll get going, now." She turned bowing to his students and began to walk away. Kakashi avoided Sakura's burning eyes and smiled thinly at them.

"So, why don't we go get a mission?" He would regret this no doubt. They respected her. Kakashi knew the gremlins would have something planned. Sighing, he wondered at what stage in his life he had taken a wrong turn.

Hopefully, Naruto would keep his mouth shut around the Hokage. Otherwise, he'd have more reports to write.

Notes: A/N: Sorry for the wait. This chapter did not want to be written. However, the constant encouragement from all of you was lovely to read and helped keep me motivated. Thank you!

Also, I've posted a new story. It's an Avatar/Harry Potter cross-over, if your interested.