Insanity rise: Hello again! Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Sorry, but I have a lot to say before you read on, so please take a moment to listen. First I'd like to give a huge gigantic thank you to all of the people who suddenly told me they liked this story so here you are, runs around room screaming and bows to readers like a martial arts person. I just can't get over thanking you! Here's another long chapter…hope you like. I wrote this at like 3:00 in the morning so…yeah. Anyway, this is like the most emotional thing I have ever wrote, it made me feel sort of strange to write it. I wrote this while listening to "Missing" by Evanescence, so I'm sure you can tell if you've heard that song because the lyrics actually make a slight tie in in the end! Anyway, if you didn't read the first few chapters you won't get this! Please enjoy and review , thanks!

Chapter 21

Promise…

Mrs. Kinuta sighed as she stared up at the cloudy sky, hurrying to get her laundry off the line before the rains came. For they surely would, she could see that from the dark clouds covering the sky and distant roar of thunder. Sighing, she hoped her son was all right, wondering if his training was going well. She'd come home early today to finish off her work around the house and found them all gone, hoping Orochimaru had been too angry with them. After all, it was not as though they had done anything terribly wrong, had they?

"MRS.KINUTA!" She suddenly looked up from her work, hearing a voice calling out to her. She looked up the road, gasping when she saw a young girl stumbling along, one she knew was a member of Orochimaru's ninja squad, and the same one Dosu was on!

"Mrs. Kinuta," Kin panted along, supporting Dosu the best she could, but barely able to carry him. Dosu stumbled along blindly, his body exhausted and disoriented as he did his best to hold on to reality.

"Dosu!" Mrs. Kinuta cried, dropping her basket of laundry and running to the staggering nin, her eyes filling with fear as she realized her son's dazed condition. Kin sighed with relief as Mrs. Kinuta took Dosu in her arms, hurrying towards the house nearby, Kin following close behind. She didn't stop her apprehensive run until she was inside, setting Dosu down on his bed, and looking over him with a terror-stricken expression. She turned to Kin, giving her a compassionate though weak smile.

"What happened," Mrs. Kinuta tried to keep her voice calm, though all she wanted to do was scream, so exhausted of her son coming home in pain.

"He…," Kin sobbed, trying to wipe away her tears, smiling with thanks when Mrs. Kinuta handed her a kerchief, "we were cleaning out Kabuto's medical lab when…Dosu got injected with some weird inoculation, and Orochimaru said he could…die."

"What," Mrs. Kinuta's eyes grew wide, giving Dosu a horrified look," what happened?"

"I can't really explain it," Kin lied, knowing she would hate the truth because it fact Dosu had brought it upon himself,

"I suppose it can't be helped," Mrs. Kinuta sighed, setting a gentle hand on Dosu's shoulder and giving him as soft a shake a shake as possible, "Dosu, sweetie., are you-"

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Dosu screeched, rolling on his side so his back was to the others, mumbling something neither Kin nor his mother could make out. His mother shot Kin a horrified look, an immense pain filling her eyes as she was shunned away by her own son, his outburst hurting like cold knives.

"Kin" Mrs. Kinuta sighed, "would you mind staying here the night, I'm sure I'll need some help watching after him while I still have so much work to do."

"Oh…," Kin thought it over for a moment, but realized she couldn't possibly leave the devastated woman alone, she needed someone to help her, someone to talk to, someone to just be there for her, "of course Mrs. Kinuta."

"Thank you so much," Mrs. Kinuta sighed with relief, feeling like she could just hug the kind girl, but instead her eyes retrieved their grave look, "could you please go and find a clean cloth and some warm water for me."

"Sure," Kin nodded, disappearing from the room in an instant, hoping to find the items quickly. Mrs. Kinuta sighed and looked down at her son, wondering what could possibly be wrong as his entire body shook, spasms of pain attacking him mercilessly as he cried out in agony, praying for it to stop. Shaking her head, Mrs. Kinuta attempted again to rouse her son from his dark world, wanting only to comfort him as any good mother would, but to no avail. Dosu simply shied away from her, cringing at her touch as though she were hurting him. It practically mortified her, the way he was acting, because for once, he was suffering in a way she couldn't even understand.

"I'm back," Kin announced, hurrying into the room with a small pail of warm water and a rag. Dosu's mother gave her a grateful smile.

"Thank you," Mrs. Kinuta smiled, taking the items from the girl and setting them down on a small table beside Dosu's bed.

"Dosu sweetie," she said, trying to get him to respond, "I hope this doesn't hurt and I'm sorry if it does."

Kin watched silently, biting her lip as Dosu's mother dipped the cloth in the pail of water, wringing the liquid out of it and sighing. With a tentative look, she gently took Dosu's shoulder and pulled him over so that he lay on his back, drawing back when he cried out in pain. She gave Kin a desperate look, and then ever so gently, began removing the blood-covered bandages around Dosu's mouth, cringing when she saw the small incision in his cheek. She gently dabbed at the blood covering his face, doing her best to clean it off. The cloth was almost immediately soaked with blood as she worked, sighing and doing her best to clean the cloth from its bloody coating. Dosu shied away from her as she approached him again, turning his head to the side.

"Let me see you sweetie," Mrs. Kinuta said softly, trying to help as best she could.

"Leave…me…alone," Dosu pleaded, gasping as his breath came out in uneven bursts, choking for air, wanting nothing more than to be left alone to rot in his prison of suffering.

"Please sweetie," Ms. Kinuta sighed, gently moving Dosu's head back and staring at his only eye, which was tightly closed, "just let me help you."

"No…please," Dosu was practically begging, his mother who was usually so kind and gentle feeling as if she was practically beating him as his heart thudded in his head.

"Dosu," his mother said more sternly, looking at him closely, "open your eye for me sweetie." She gently pried his only eye open, shrieking and drawing back when her eyes came upon the sickening sight. Dosu's only eye had rolled completely back into his head, an infection of black and purple surrounding it, as though it was eating away at him. Dosu shrieked with pain and jerked up, screaming with pain as his only visible eye darting around the room. Nevertheless, he saw absolutely nothing, nothing but a darkness that scared him to death. He could hear his mother's voice, but he couldn't see her, all he saw was a black void, one of which he couldn't escape. He continued to scream with pain, trembling uncontrollably until he doubled over, a sharp pain filling his body, his shaking form wrought with perspiration and blood.

"Dosu please," his mother pleaded, "just hold still-"

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Dosu screamed again, falling back and clutching his head in his shaking hands. Mrs. Kinuta gave Kin a quick side-glance, realizing the look of pure fear in the girl's eye s as she drew farther and farther back.

"Kin," Mrs. Kinuta sighed, "could you please leave the room." Nodding dumbly, Kin hurried out without a word, having no desire to see anymore of the mortifying situation. Sighing, Mrs. Kinuta turned back to her son, wishing she could simply walk out also, but her motherly need to help was far too strong. She would never leave her own son, the last of her children, alone to die. Shaking her head and setting down the cloth in her trembling hands, she gently removed the rest of the bandages from Dosu's head, sighing as she stared down at his scarred face. Dosu was too ravaged by pain to even realize what she was doing, mumbling disturbingly, spasms of pain striking his weary body.

"It's alright sweetie," Mrs. Kinuta said softly, as a mother would to her newborn baby, "I'm here for you, it's alright."

"Mom," Dosu choked, bubbles of blood gurgling in his throat, making his voice almost impossible to understand, "I'm going to…to…die aren't I...?"
"Don't talk like that," his mother sobbed, reaching out and embracing him in a tight hug, as though it would save him from all his fears, "I'm here for you sweetie, I won't let anything bad happen to you."

Dosu could only listen to her pained voice, his unseeing eye wide open as she hugged onto him. The moments ticked by slowly as neither of them moved, Mrs. Kinuta's soft sobbing the only sound in the room. Dosu just sat there, not returning her embrace as he stared into nothing, suddenly, a tiny flicker of light appearing before him. He whimpered, thinking surely his disoriented vision was finally coming back to him, but that was not it at all. In a sudden burst, images of the past came flooding back to him, memories of pain and happiness mixed in a bittersweet whirl of melancholy. Dosu gasped as he saw his mother's smiling face, his sister's laughter reaching him in a distant manner as he remembered her fate so many days ago. He saw Orochimaru's golden eyes, sending chills up his spine as he remembered the fight he'd dealt with Kabuto so long ago in the street. Yet, somehow, everything seemed too distant, and the memories that would've seemed soothing were filled with a cruel cold. Dosu gasped, his breath suddenly stopping as he realized what these were. These images were distorted, lies of the past, even the ecstasy clouded over with a dark shadow. Nevertheless, the images wouldn't stop coming, overwhelming him until he felt like his head would burst, sending him off the brink of sanity as his only eye grew wider and wider. In the mad rush of shattered colors, there were things he could just make out, thoughts he tried desperately to cling to, but to no avail. The evil, burning eyes of the demon cat from long ago seemed to glare at him again as he struggled for breath. However, for once, he wasn't getting anything, his world seeming to be put on hold as the painful images poured in, causing him to choke and cough. In the midst of it all, one memory played clear, one picture on a torrent of lies, one thought in a ravage of pain…

A cool October wind played about the land as Dosu stormed home, his eyes glistening with anger, remembering the fight he'd gotten himself into in town, but a ray of sunshine seemed to pierce through it all.

"Dosu!" He heard his name called and before he could so much as answer, a tiny girl was hugging tightly, smiling in the most joyful way.

"I missed you," she smiled in her usual childish manner, "Why do you always leave all the time?"

Another memory, another day, Dosu remembered sitting on the front porch, looking out at the rain, angry that his own father had walked out on him, angry at the world for being so cruel and unfair to him, angry at everyone. Then, a little girl plopped quietly down beside him, smiling warmly and looking at him with curious eyes.

"What's the matter," she asked, her bright eyes demanding the truth in such an undeniable manner, "You look sad."

"It's nothing," Dosu scowled, turning away.

"Are you sure," his sister gave him a funny look as if she didn't believe him. Then, she gave up, staring out at the rain along with her brother, her eyes suddenly filling with tears.

"Dosu," she sobbed softly.

"Yeah," Dosu gave her a concerned look, wondering why she was suddenly crying.

"Promise me you'll never leave, that no matter where you go you'll always come back and you'll love me forever," His sister sobbed, looking up at him with eyes sparkling with innocence.

"Why," Dosu asked, wondering why she would ask such a thing.

"Just please promise," his sister cried, her eyes pleading.

"Of course," Dosu nodded, suddenly finding himself embraced in a tight hug, his eyes filling with a look of compassion.

"I love you Dosu," Kurami sobbed, hugging onto her brother as if he was the last thing on earth, "you're the best big brother ever."

"Thanks Kurami," Dosu sighed, returning her hug, feeling tears well in his eyes as well…

Another memory, another day, and this time all Dosu saw was dark water, churning all around him in a black torrent of hatred, as if the very waters wanted nothing more than to crush every ounce of life from him. He choked for breath, thrashing about and trying to keep his head above the churning waves as he glanced about wildly. His eyes grew wide when he noticed a small figure standing on the shore that seemed so far away, as though he would never be able to reach it. He recognized those deep eyes, that hurt expression, but was this even possible.

"Kurami," he cried out, begging for help as he struggled, a sudden booming noise reaching his ears, knowing his fate was surely behind him.

"Kurami," he cried out again, sounding more desperate as he drifted farther away, but those hurt eyes remained distant staring into nothing.

"Please help," Dosu begged, but, his sister looked down, turning her back and sighing heavily.

"Goodbye brother," she said softly, before disappearing into nothing.

"KUMARI," Dosu screamed, a suddenly pain filling him, looking up to see the eerie glow of a full moon, feeling the pain of a demon's claws at his throat as blood suddenly seeped over him, engulfing him in world of pain and hatred. Then, a distant voice like clear, like the soft chiming of a bell. Saying only two words that chilled Dosu to the bone.

"You promised…"

"KURAMI!" Dosu screamed, suddenly jolting back into reality. He heaved for breath and tore away from his mother's grasp, the painful memories hurting him more than a thousand knives. He screamed with pain and doubled over, an immense amount of crimson leaking from his mouth as his entire body shuddered. His mother cried out in alarm, but he was oblivious to her cries, seeing nothing but the images of the past, his world seeming to spin around him as he choked and strained for air. Then, all he saw was blood, overcoming him until it made him cringe. He continued to scream over and over again, like a broken record player, until his voice was so hoarse that it grew silent, feeling his entire body covered in a sticky liquid that he knew all to well. Still, he could still see her face, still see her bright eyes as she smiled warmly, her face radiating through the pain, adding to its agonizing grip.

"Please," Dosu rasped as a he choked, a strange black liquid seeping from his mouth, mixed with the river of crimson, "please, forgive me, I let you die, I let you, I just couldn't, I wasn't strong enough, I was so stupid, so weak, I would gladly give myself up, I am worthless, no one would miss me, no one would care if I bled to death right now, but they care if it were you here, they really would, you're the only thing that's out of place, you're the only thing that's missing, you're the only thing they need, not me, I don't care anymore, just please, please, just let me die right now, please just-"

Dosu broke off, unable to say another word as the image before him brightened, a radiant light overtaking him as the pain melted until all there was was a numb sensation.

"Dosu," a soft voice said distantly, "don't say things you don't mean, never forget, but never let the memories control your life, just please, remember me…"

And with a final choke, Dosu's world, suddenly stopped as the images turned to a black nothingness…