Perfectly Imperfect Love

Compromised

It had been three days; three long, grueling, exhausting days.

The blonde rushed through the trees as fast as he could; it had been three days of constant running, hiding and more running. He was beyond tired; his legs were on fire, and his lungs ached with every breath he took.

It was a messy process, escaping from the facility. He had create a few clones to hold off or kill some of the enemies that had pursued them, but carrying Hana out of the ruined building and village, while simultaneously dodging and evading curse-sealed nin was borderline impossible.

Fortunately, he slipped out of one of the demolished gates that lined the village, and ran into the forest. Unfortunately, the Oto-nin had followed him. For two days, he ran and hid, desperately trying to conserve and recover his energy.

The day before Hana awoke, he had finally mustered up enough chakra to make a diversion, and to make his final escape from his pursuers. It had worked flawlessly; the various Oto squads had taken the bait, and were now probably still chasing the few clones he had left, running around the forestry.

His radio was damaged beyond repair, and every second he could spare to think, he cursed himself for forgetting about signing the messenger-hawk summoning contract. The only thing he could do was pray he was heading the right way; the way out of Oto.

Hana was significantly slowing him down, especially with him having to support her body completely as he carried her through the forest. She was still unconscious from their battle against the prototype monster that had attacked them.

He was slightly worried, but all of her vitals checked out, except for her chakra; when they left the war zone, her reserves were a sliver away from being completely depleted. Now they were at about half of what they usually were.

He hopped off a tree branch, and landed in a thick cluster of trees and bushes next to a small meadow that was nearby. His back hit the tree, and he slumped down while he struggled to regain his breath.

He carefully slid Hana off of his lap, leaning her on the tree. He quickly checked her vitals, making sure she was still in good condition.

After reaffirming her condition, and after being relieved to find she was relatively healthy, apart from her pseudo-coma, he popped open his canteen and swallowed as much water as he could, before leaning over and lifting the rim to his teammate's lips under her mask.

She unconsciously swallowed the cold liquid, which he was thankful for.

Sighing in relief, he allowed himself a few minutes of relaxation. His mind caught up with the events of the past few days.

His identity was revealed; he imagined that Hana was quite shocked to know he was the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. Whoever she was, she definitely knew him by name, which wasn't really a surprise to him. Not that he was narcissistic, but the Fourth Shinobi World War and the role he played in it was a pretty big deal.

Glancing over, his curiosity was growing as he stared at her sleeping form. He still wished to know who she was; who it was he now had feelings for. Just one peek; just to see who exactly Hana was.

He reached over, and his fingers grasped the bottom of her mask. Exhaling his nervousness, he lifted it gingerly, almost carefully. He caught sight of her pale, angular chin and jawline, followed by her pink and...very kissable lips.

As he got to her nose, he noticed that she was faintly familiar; he felt as though he knew her from somewhere, but he couldn't figure it out. She certainly wasn't Karin. He also noticed that his suspicions from a few weeks ago were true; she was beautiful under her mask.