A/N: Dedicated to my beta Azzie(Inkfire)! And a notice to all readers: If you are interested in taking over for my poor beta for a little while so she can rest please PM me! :D

A Goddess's Visit:

Chapter Seven: Moving Forward:

Complete, blissful silence. No voices in her head clamoring to be heard. Not even her own heartbeat, which seemed to have paused. Not that it bothered her. It wasn't entirely necessary.

It was an odd sensation, being so close, touching someone like this, but not one she disliked.

The kiss only lasted a few moments, and she could feel and hear his heart pounding. She guessed with a smile that he probably thought he was about to die. Instead, Kida wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned against his chest.

"Is this love?" she asked quietly.

Orochimaru paused. "I don't know yet. I hope so." he whispered in reply, kissing her hair gently. Kida closed her eyes, for once allowing herself to stop, to not analyze everything as a warrior or a star or anything else, and just to feel.

Her eyes opened wide as she realized this was something her kind had not done in millennia. They had not felt anything, and to feel love was even rarer.

"Thank you." she whispered against Orochi's chest. He looked down at her curiously, but didn't ask.

That night, they consulted with Tsunade and Jiraiya. The group had had a nice rest, and had trained enough to head back out into the front lines, where hopefully Kida had learned enough that she wouldn't stand out against the ninja anymore.

"Now, we believe enemy troops will be camped here in four days. It is normally a seven-day journey. These troops need to be stopped, or our main forces here will fall." Tsunade said quickly, pointing at various locations on the map.

"When will the enemy leave that camp?" Orochimaru asked.

"We don't know." Jiraiya replied.

"I can get us there in two days, maybe one." Kida offered.

"You're supposed to be blending in." Orochimaru pointed out. Jiraiya shook his head.

"I'm pretty sure something of that magnitude-even if it were possible, it would attract attention we don't need." Tsunade replied sadly.

"It is possible, without attracting unwanted attention." Kida retorted. "I may be unable to explain how or why, but just trust me in that I can do it. If you do, we wipe out the enemy, and your people's lives are saved. If not, we don't, and they die."

"And if we die in the process?" Tsunade asked calmly.

"Then they die, but at least you tried. Isn't that what being a ninja is all about?" Kida snapped, eyes blazing like blue fire. Orochimaru reached out and laid a hand on her shoulder reassuringly.

"I trust her." he said quietly, immediately drawing Tsunade and Jiraiya's attention.

"Well, if Orochi the untrusting trusts her, who are we to do otherwise?" Jiraiya joked lamely. Tsunade narrowed her eyes at her teammate but nodded. She turned to Kida.

"What do we need to do?"

Teleporting everyone might have actually been easier...Kida groaned mentally. Having to hide like this made her feel caged, something she hated. She was a creature of the heavens, of the flying clan. Her clan always performed better in the air, without having to sneak around on the ground.

"Duck!" Jiraiya hissed. Kida ducked, and he chuckled. Tsunade slapped him.

"He's being a perv, ignore him." she told her friend.

Kida turned in time to see the glare Orochimaru sent his teammate. She smirked, remembering their kiss. Jiraiya would be jealous!

But from the confusion on his face, he didn't know.

Well, if Orochimaru hasn't told him, I won't either.

"How much farther?" Kida called. "At this rate, we'll miss them!"

"You'll have to use whatever you can. They won't ask questions." Orochimaru whispered as he swept past her.

"I hope so." Kida muttered.

"Come here!" she called out, grabbing Orochimaru's arm. She reached out with her other hand and grabbed Tsunade's. "Jiraiya! Grab someone and hold on tight!" He complied, no questions asked. Kida let out a sigh of relief, then took a deep breath.

"Here we go."