"A story?" Mina asked, unsure.

"Yep. Aren’t you curious about what happened to me after I left our Clan?" Momo replied.

Mina came up with the perfect retort for that. "I heard once, a story can be true or false."

Momo smirked, "'Oh please. I can tell that you’re dying to know why I’m doing this."

Mina just stared at her, coldly.

Momo looked at the camera, focusing on the steady red light, then back at Mina. "I left the Myohizaki because I wanted a normal life. I didn’t want to be a killing machine. I didn’t want that kind of hollow, meaningless life. This is what I’ve told you, correct?"

Mina nodded.

"So when our father finally let me go…” Momo smiled for a moment as she reminisced her past. “I, I had never felt so… free… happy… It wasn’t easy, at first, to get used to the normal world, but I never regretted my decision.” She turned her head, looking emptily at the wall. “Until one day, I bumped into this girl who was running away from someone. She was so scared and I just… I just knew I had to help her.” She paused as she chuckled bitterly to herself. “Bad choice. Moments later, a ninja appeared out of the shadows, then another one, and another, they kept appearing until there were 6 ninjas surrounding us.”

Mina’s cold stare turned into a confused one as she tried to take in Momo’s story.

“Turned out that the girl I was trying to help, escaped from these ninjas. I tried to fight but I wasn’t strong enough. They could’ve killed me but they didn’t. I think they saw potential in me.” Momo looked back at Mina. She shifted on her feet and exhaled, "The ninjas took us both in to their clan, the Akatsuki."

Mina was surprised; the rules for leaving the Clan were the same for all but Akatsuki's wrath was almost legendary.

“See how cruel fate can be? I left our Clan only to be taken away by another.”

“Momo…” Mina uttered.

Momo looked off into space. "Nagato, the Akatsuki leader, trained me to be an exceptional killer. Their way versus the Myohizaki’s way is incomparable. It was more like torture. But something unexpected happened. I surpassed Nagato. Heh, then he tried to have me killed and he thought that I didn't notice. Simple accidents here and there, maybe a mission that would go wrong, but I saw the truth. So… I waited. Waited until I was strong enough and knew I was ready to leave." She smirked. "Then… a fateful day came. A day when leaving was not only expected but the opportunity was practically given to me."

--------------------

Momo arrived outside of the multi-million dollar mansion where her target resided. She looked at the house and knew something was different. Maybe it was the night air or the stillness of it, but something was different. This night would lead to something that would change her life forever. She knew it from the moment Nagato gave her the mission. Tonight, things would change.

She entered the residence to kill her target. She moved around the house carefully until she came to the master bedroom where her target was asleep. She stood over the bed and drove her katana through the body and the mattress. She looked at life seeping out of the body then exhaled. It was done; far too easy.

She heard someone else in the house. Someone with training, Clan training. She was correct- tonight would change things.

She removed the katana from the corpse and, cautiously, approached the door. She opened it and saw that no one was there. She walked into the hallway and looked around. Again, she saw no one but she knew better. There was another assassin here and she was the target. Nagato wanted her dead. Momo scoffed at the notion, 'Hmph. At least you have the guts to finally outright do it, old man.' She continued on into the pitch black dining room, finding another ninja standing at the other end of the room.

Momo chuckled. "Well, if the old man was going to send anyone after me, it only made sense that it had to be you, Dahyun."

"You have dishonored our master," the intruding assassin said.

Momo shook her head, "He's no master of mine."

"Our master wants you dead."

"Dead?" she feigned shock. "That's a bit severe, don’t you think? What did I ever do to him?"

"You dishonored him, you insulted him, you insulted the Akatsuki."

"In my defense, it's only because he's weak and the rest of you are incompetent."

Dahyun seethed, silently. "He demands your blood in exchange to what you’ve done."

"If he doesn't want me in the Clan, I can leave." Momo smiled. "In fact, I will."

"It is too late for that." Dahyun drew her katana. "Only your death will gratify our master."

"It better not be or else he'll be, sorely, disappointed."

"I swore to bring back your head."

Momo scoffed. "No, you won't."

"I will. For our family."

Momo sobered, quickly. She knew Dahyun would be the ninja sent to kill her but, in truth, it was the last thing she wanted. "Don't make me do this, Dahyun."

Dahyun paused, averting her gaze for a moment before looking back at Momo. "Neither of us have a choice."

Dahyun rushed at Momo, their swords clashed against each other. Momo kicked her back, trying to hurt her enough to put her down. Dahyun got back up and charged at her. Momo flipped Dahyun over her and threw the Korean assassin to the ground but she wouldn't stay down. Momo knew this would be a fight to the finish. It saddened her that Dahyun would have to be the one who died for her freedom but she had no choice. Her freedom was more important than love. She would be free, no matter the cost. They fought all over the house before Momo threw a candle at Dahyun as distraction, causing a fire to breakout in the house. They continued to battle as flames engulfed the mansion. After a few minutes of combat, Momo slashed across Dahyun's arm, struck her in the side, and kicked her across the face. While Dahyun tried to get her bearings, Momo grabbed her head and slammed it as hard as it could against the wall, knocking her out.

As Momo gathered her breath back, she stood straight, realizing the fight was won. She stared at Dahyun and decided to leave her here to die, to give Nagato a message to leave her be. She started to walk out of the house when the sight of the intensive flames stopped her. She balled her fists so tightly that the palm of her hands bled, before looking back at Dahyun's unconscious form.

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Damn it."

She went back, picked Dahyun up, and carried her out of the house. Once outside and far enough away from the burning mansion, she laid the unconscious ninja on the driveway. She stared at her, apologetically, for a second and whispered, “I’m sorry, Dubu…” She looked at the gate to the house and the open road beyond and started to walk.

Dahyun came back into consciousness and realized that, not only was she out of the burning house, she was still alive. She looked around in shock and saw Momo walking down the driveway. She turned over, clutching at her wounded arm. "Mo…Momo…"

Momo stopped and state