| TANGLED |

{18} "Ow! My nose!"

(Y/N) sat on a rock, humming a soft tune that she heard her mother song as a child. She stopped humming and turned around. She scanned the area before turning around and letting out a quiet sigh.

Currently, she was outside Konoha, waiting for Asuma who was using the bathroom. She had managed to convince both Asuma and The Third Hokage to let her go on the mission to meet up with her friends.

"Please!" she stood before the third Hokage, her head facing the ground. "This is our first real mission together. I want to go with them."

After a lot of convincing the third Hokage allowed her to join Team Seven on the mission, all that was left was to convince Asuma, and thankfully, Kurenai was a big help on that. It was only after Kurenai suggested that Asuma guide her to the island that he finally allowed her.

(Y/N) continued to hum quietly, waiting for Asuma to finish his business. That was until she heard the sound of the crunching of leaves. She knew it wasn't Asuma as it came from the opposite direction he left.

Panic filled her veins as she remembered the first time she had gotten kidnapped by rogue ninjas.

The five-year-old let out a hum as she continued to make a flower crown, not noticing the ninjas creeping behind her. The sound of crunching leaves reached her ears, and the five-year-old girl turned around with a big smile. "Mama! Look what I—" a scream left her mouth when she saw the kunai knife the ninja behind her held.

The long-haired female quickly hopped down from the rock and ran towards her home, hoping for her parents to save her.

"Mama! Papa!" (Y/N) slammed the front door open, taking deep breaths. Her eyes widened once she saw the blood spread all across the floor. Tears filled her eyes as she shouted, "Mama! Papa! Mama!"

The five-year-old girl shook her head sideways before she called out for her parents once more. "Mama," was the last words she said before everything went dark.

Tears filled (Y/N)'s eyes at the memory yet she quickly wiped them away. She quickly hopped down from her rock and hid behind it. The long-haired female looked around, hoping to defend herself with something. She had only heard a few jutsus so far yet she didn't quite master them yet.

"Hold this," instructed Asuma as he held a small piece of paper towards (Y/N), who gradually accepted the paper.

Kurenai let out a giggle as she stared at (Y/N), who held the paper wrong. "(Y/N)-chan, you're supposed to hold it like this." The older female bent down and helped (Y/N) hold it the correct way.

As she stood back up, she watched as the paper turned damp before it turned to dirt and crumbled away. "Amazing!" Asuma muttered under his breath, "Both Earth and Water..."

'Could I use Earth release; Clone Trap?' Y/N) thought to herself 'Will that even work? I haven't been able to master it yet. Or should I try Water release— but wait, there is no water anywhere near.'

(Y/N) lifted her head and turned it to the side, tears filling her eyes. 'Dad! Help me!' she silently prayed Asuma would come and save her. Just as she was about to turn away to sneak a peek at the stranger, her eyes caught onto a black frying pan next to her. How it suddenly appeared next to her she didn't know, maybe perhaps it was always there yet she never noticed.

(Y/N) grasped her hand across the pan and held its handle with a tight grip. She waited for the footsteps to get closer, her hands trembling with fear.

"Man! One of these days I'm seriously going to kill him! That boy—"

'Now!' (Y/N) stood up from behind the rock, yelling out loud. The boy turned around to look at her with a confused look on his face yet he was met with a frying pan.