A voice came quietly through the radio. 'Team One, in position.'

I fumbled for the radio and looked at Neji. He nodded silently, and I whispered back, 'All clear, Team One. Move in at the signal. Team Two, how are we doing?'

Kurenai answered. 'Almost to the designated window. But the place is absolutely crawling with Sound shinobi. This is gonna be difficult.'

I sighed. 'Do your best. If anything happens, and I mean anything, call us and I'll send help. Clear?'

'Clear. We'll contact you once we reach the entry point.'

'Has Hinata been able to find Sasuke and Naruto's chakra yet?'

'It's hard because of all the shinobi walking around, but she's found Sasuke's. But, Kikyo...'

'What?'

'He's up to something. His chakra is nervous.'

Of course he would be up to something. Which is why we needed to speed up this rescue mission. It had taken us approximately three days to reach the Sound Village. Today was the day that Sasuke was putting his 'plan' into action to save Naruto. Stupid idiot.

You can't blame him for wanting to try. He said it in the note, Naruto doesn't have much time left.

'Kurenai, make sure when you find Sasuke, you give him a direct order from me.'

'Okay.'

'Tell him he is to take you to Naruto and then exit the base immediately.'

'You know he won't listen, Kikyo.'

'I know, but try anyway.'

That idiot is gonna try and be the hero.

I turned my head slowly and counted the people behind me. Okay, everyone's here.

I turned on the radio so that every team would get the transmission. 'Team Two, clear?'

'Clear!'

'Team One?'

'Clear!'

'Alright. Remember, help each other. Do not die. And...GO!'

There was a slight breeze as Team Three jumped out of the bushes from behind us. They crept quickly and quietly up to the solemn, looking base.

Then I saw it out of the corner of my eye. TenTen saw it too. She immediately jumped out of the way and looked back at the spot where she had been standing. Embedded in the ground was a kunai. The first punch had been thrown.

Chaos erupted.

Out of every single window and door of the base, Sound ninja came streaming out into the courtyard, chucking weapons as they went. What a bunch of idiots. You don't just go head-on towards your opponents, throwing weapons! These are obviously the lesser soldiers...

'Team One!' I yelled into the radio. 'This is your job! They're inexperienced and poorly trained. Go! Team Three, fall back a little and let Team One do their work!'

Team Three retreated a little bit towards the trees, and as soon as they were clear of the area, all of the Sound ninja stopped moving. Just like that, they all froze. I saw Shikamaru grin. He leaned his head backwards, and so did the Sound ninja. Shadow manipulation. Sweet. Kakashi's voice came through the radio. 'Trapping, successful!'

'Very good, now take them out.'

Before any of the Sound ninja knew what was happening, Kakashi was already springing from the trees, wielding the largest Chidori I'd ever seen. The chirping noise was nearly unbearable, and I found myself holding my hands tightly to my ears. Kakashi jumped into the center of the courtyard and brough his hand down, letting the Chidori explode. All of the Sound ninja were killed instantly, no pain. Kakashi hopped back into the trees, satisfied with his work.

'This is going better than I thought it would,' said Neji. 'This is almost too easy.'

Itachi peered over the bushes. 'Don't get too comfortable. This is Orochimaru we're talking about. This is going to get difficult.'

Some static came in over the radio, followed by Hinata's voice. 'Oi, Kikyo, we found Sasuke!'

'Oh g- Hinata?! Is that you?!'

'Yeah, it's me! Who'd you think it was?'

'I-you-you're not stammering! And you're...um..'

'Forceful? Yeah, I'm done with being quiet!'

Dear God, what did Kisame teach her?!

'That's...kinda scary..Okay, you said you guys found Sasuke?'

'Yep. You wanna walk to him?'

'Yeah.'

I heard fumbling as the radio was handed over to Sasuke. 'Kikyo, is it really you?'

'No, teme. It's a freaking dinosaur.'

Sakura snatched the radio away. 'Sasuke, you baka! Do you know how worried I was?! I thought you were dead!'

'Sakura, Sakura, I'm fine, I promise! Although it's nice to now how much faith you guys had in me...'

'Shut up! You're in no position to be making fun of us!'

'Hey, Kikyo, is it true what Kurenai told me?'

I took the radio back. 'About what?'

'About Akatsuki. Are they really here? Helping?'

'Yeah.'

'Even my brother?'

I didn't get a chance to answer, because I heard angry cries coming from the courtyard. I flew over to the bushes and glanced over to see several more experienced ninjas coming out of the base and charging towards Team One and Team Three.

There was static on the radio, and I heard Kurenai begin to yell. 'What's going on?!' I yelled.

'T-they found us!' answered Kurenai. 'One minute it was quiet, and then they were just there! It was impossible to sense them coming! Oh God, they're everywhere!'

'Kurenai! Listen closely! You are not to engage in battle! I repeat, you are not to engage in battle! Run! Get away from the enemy and find Naruto, then get out! Tell Sasuke to get out of there right now!'

There was gasping on the other end of the radio. They were running. 'O-okay! Kiba found Naruto's scent and we're following it down to the- OHMYGOSH, NO, GAI! THE HALLWAY'S TOO NARROW, DON'T-'

BOOM.

A hole the size of an eighteen wheeler truck exploded from the front hallway of the base. All I heard was Gai yelling. 'Oooochi! The swinging lotus kick of justice has destroyed the wall so that the good, youthful Sasuke can escape! Fly, you flowering bird, FLY!'

I heard Sasuke yelling. 'No, you idiot! I can't fly! What are you doing?! No! Put me down!'

When the smoke cleared, I saw about a dozen Sound ninja flying out of the hole in the wall. A second later, I saw Gai step out onto a piece of concrete and chuck Sasuke clear across the courtyard and right into the bushes where we were hiding before he disappeared back into the base to get Naruto. 'Yes! You have flown, youth bird!'

Sasuke landed on his butt, skidding across the dirt until he smashed into a tree. 'Argh, you idiot, Gai!' Then he saw me. 'You! You are on the very top of my shit list! You sent Gai to save me?! That's like sending Kiba to save a kitten! What is wrong with you?!'

'Hey! It was either Gai or Lee! I actually spared you some torture!'

Sakura tackled Sasuke onto the ground, tears in her eyes. 'Saaaasukee!!'

He was turning blue. 'S-Sakura...Can't breathe...World..spinning...'

'Neh, Sakura-san...' said Neji.

'Shut up! Can't you see we're having a heartfelt reunion?!'

'Sakura, you're killing him.'

She looked down at Sasuke. 'Sorry!'

Sasuke got up and dusted himself off. 'Sakura, I love you, but you're insane.'

Then he saw Itachi standing off to the side, a worried look on his face. Uh oh.

'You...' said Sasuke, his eyes wide in disbelief. 'I'll kill you.'

I stepped between them. 'Teme, stand down! He helped us save you.'

'Why?! So you could just kill me yourself?!' he yelled to Itachi.

Itachi sighed and shook his head. 'Little brother. You don't change much.'

Sasuke was about to yell something else when there was a huge explosion from the courtyard. Team One and Team Three were immediately blown backwards.

I blinked as the smoke cleared. Oh my gosh.

That's so not good.

In the middle of the courtyard was a huge crater. Inside the crater, however was a huge snake, easily about fifty feet tall. Surrounding the snake were members of the elite Sound ninja battle force. In other words, the strongest Sound shinobi ever to exist. Crap.

'Ahhh, my little flower has returned to me!' said an eerie, drawling voice. My heart froze. I looked up into the glaring sunlight, and sure enough, standing on top of the snake's head, was Orochimaru.

Double crap.

My entire body froze, and I saw the Sound shinobi getting ready to attack my teams. 'No, no, not yet. Let me hear the girl speak first. Why have you come here, flower?'

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Deidara tensing behind a rock. He was getting ready to attack. As calmy as I could manage, I spoke. 'Deidara, if you even dare to come out from behind that rock, these Sound ninja will be the least of your worries. Stay where you are.'

'But, Kikyo-' said Deidara, standing up.

I threw a kunai, which embedded itself deep within a tree no more than an inch from where Deidara was standing. 'I said stay! That's an order!'

Deidara stared at me with pleading eyes. I answered with a cold gaze.

Orochimaru chuckled. 'Oh, how bossy we've become, eh? So, now, why are you here?'

I sucked up all of my courage and addressed Orochimaru. 'You know full well why we're here. We're here to get Sasuke and Naruto.'

'Ah, I know that's why the others are here. But you have a different reason, don't you, flower?'

A strange darkness came over my mind. The trees in front of me began to fade away, and before I knew it, I couldn't see anything. I could only hear Orochimaru's voice. 'You're here to kill me, aren't you? You're here to take revenge for your own suffering. I'll take it that the blasted Hyuuga boy restored your full memories, eh? I should have known that boy was going to be trouble. Should have killed him when he was small. Ah, well.'

There was a calm in my soul. I was floating. 'Would you like to know why your precious Ren died from sealing you, when Neji escaped without even so much as a scratch?'

I was feeling drowsy. I wanted to go to sleep, but I just couldn't. I could only keep listening to Orochimaru. 'It was the emotion. He was attached to you. He let his emotion get in the way, and that was what ultimately killed him. Hyako spoke to him. Tricked him. Told him that if he gave up his life, you would be saved forever. And he gladly gave up his life knowingly, because he thought it would save you forever. Hmph. So much for that.'

Who was talking anyway? I didn't like his voice. It made me angry.

'The Hyuuga boy had no emotional attachment to you. He couldn't care less if you lived or died. He knew not to be tricked by Hyako. People could learn a thing or two from him. Lock away your emotions. Kill them. They mean nothing. To be strong, you cannot have any emotional attachment. To anything.'

Ugh, I wished he would stop talking. Such an obnoxious voice. He reminded me of my mother. But then again, she never really spoke to me. More of about me. To the neighbors, the other Zankichi clan members. I can still hear her voice saying how much more experienced I was than Kuari, how much stronger, how much smarter, how much better.

That wasn't true. Not in the slightest bit. Kuari was better than me. Kuari was never mean to me. Even though mother hated her. Even though she was called weak and useless. But she was always good to me. She never took her anger out on me, even though it was my fault. I can hear her voice, too.

'Kikyo, I don't care what anyone else says. You're my little sister. I'll protect you, no matter what.'

I still remember the day she died. The day I killed her. She was the only one who didn't seem scared. She was the only one who didn't look at me with such hatred. Because she knew. She knew everything. She knew I was still her little sister. She vowed to protect me. And she did.

'You're probably wondering why I've told you all of this,' said Orochimaru. 'But I don't really think it matters...'

I could hear a distant rumbling. It sounded like something was crashing down to the ground. '...now that you're about to die.'

Everything hit me at once. My hearing returned first. I heard people screaming my name. Sakura was the loudest. What was she saying? 'Kikyo! Get out of the way! What are you doing?! Move!'

Then my sense of touch came back, along with my sight. I opened my eyes and saw that I was on all fours, down on the broken ground of the courtyard. I was breathing heavily, and the crashing and rumbling seemed to be getting louder. But I still couldn't move. All I could do was tilt my head upwards to see what was crashing.

The giant snake. It's terrifying mouth was wide open, and it was hurtling towards the ground, one huge fang pointed directly at where I was kneeling, paralyzed. This is it, I guess. It's like Itachi said. You can't go back to your mistakes...Sometimes the only way to fix your mistakes..is to erase them completely. I guess I'm like Itachi. I'm the mistake.

I wasn't scared, much to my surprise. I was willing to accept this death. I deserved it. I had killed so many people. Done so many things. And I knew that if I continued living, I would just kill more. Hurt more. It wasn't worth it.

The fang was no more than six feet above my head now. I closed my eyes, waited for certain impact. I could still hear Sakura screaming. Stop, Sakura. Please, stop. Don't scream for me. Don't cry for me. It's done.

But then I heard her gasp, and I realized that the fang had stopped crashing down. Did it miss? Impossible. It was a sure hit. My eyes still closed, I managed to throw my onto my back, and I opened my eyes, looking up at the sky.

I'd never had so many emotions shooting through me at once. Sadness. Grief. Shock. Anger. The tears welled up in my eyes. 'Idiot!' I shrieked. 'Why?! Why can't you just listen to orders?! Why couldn't you just let me die?!'

The tears flowed out. I looked up at the body standing over me, shielding me from the deadly fang. He smiled weakly. 'And...let you...have all the...fun?'

My voice was shrill and full of anger, sounding scary even to myself. I shrieked again, 'I told you to stay put! I told you not to interfere! Deidara!'