I'm so sorry I made everyone so sad!! Unfortunately for poor Emiko-chan, things probably are going to get a lot worse before they get any better.

I also apologize for taking so long to update.

Emiko shifted in her sleep. She was warm, uncomfortably so. Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked over her shoulder. She turned over onto her other side so she was facing her personal heater. "Sasu-chan, I want to get up."

Sasuke's eyes snapped open at the meek voice beside him. He hugged Emiko tightly. "How are you feeling?"

Emiko absentmindedly ran her right hand over her bandaged left wrist. "I saw 'Tachi."

Sasuke sat up, pulling Emiko into his lap. "Did you now?"

Emiko nodded. "He told me to take care of you; to protect you. He got mad at me for what I did to myself. 'Tachi made me promise not to do it again." Emiko held Sasuke's hand in hers, playing with his fingers.

A small smile twitched at the corner of Sasuke's mouth. "You did that the first time we met. Do you remember?"

Emiko gave Sasuke a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Yeah. I called you Cockatoo-san."

"Are you okay, Emiko!?" Konan ran into the room, yanking Emiko from Sasuke's lap. She held Emiko close to her, cooing softly to her. "Don't you ever do something like that ever again! If you do I'll…I'll…I'll ground you!"

Emiko hugged Konan tightly. "I'm sorry I made you worry, Mama."

"Hey, Emiko's awake!" Suigetsu bounded into the room, smoothing Emiko's hair down. "How're you feeling?"

Emiko smiled again, the same smile that didn't reach her eyes. "I'm okay now."

For the rest of the day, Emiko was kept under constant surveillance by everyone. She wasn't even allowed to use the bathroom without Konan standing in the doorway. Emiko didn't mind. In fact, she barely noticed anything around her. She carried I-chan everywhere with her, always holding him close to her heart.

Everyone tried to cheer her up. Suigetsu made sure to annoy Karin and Karin actually played along. Juugo attempted to coax Emiko outside to help him feed the birds. Kisame tried to take Emiko swimming while Konan hoped to bring a smile to the depressed girl by painting. Pein said nothing, nor did he try to comfort Emiko. He was, however, constantly there, watching her and making sure Emiko had everything she could need.

"I want Emiko to go with Sasuke and his team." Tobi said casually.

Konan leapt up from her chair. "That's too dangerous!" She glared over at Pein. "You can't possibly allow Emiko to go with them to get the eight tails."

Pein shrugged. "Emiko seemed fine with the idea."

Konan felt like strangling the emotionless man. "Of course she seemed fine. She's seemed fine for the past week. Pein, she could die."

"It's okay, Mama." Emiko wandered in after hearing Konan's angry voice. "I want to go. Besides, it doesn't matter if I die; I'm already dead on the inside."

Konan frowned at Pein and glared angrily at Tobi. She walked over to Emiko and scooped her up in her arms, carrying her out of the room. She stormed down the hallway until she reached Kisame's room. She banged on the door until the shark man answered. "Watch Emiko for a few minutes."

Kisame blinked as Konan shoved Emiko into his arms. He grinned down at Emiko as Konan stormed off. "So, I hear you get to go on a big mission."

Emiko nodded her head. "Yeah. Tobi wants me to go with Sasu-chan to get the eight tails guy."

"You hanging in there?" Kisame asked.

Emiko nodded. "Yeah. I don't really feel anything right now. I feel kinda…empty."

Kisame sat her on the ground, patting her head affectionately. "You really miss him, don't you?"

Emiko nodded. "Yeah…"

Sasuke walked in at that moment. "Come on, Emiko. We need to leave."

Kisame kneeled down and hugged Emiko tightly. "You be careful out there, Emi. Don't do anything stupid that would make him mad at you."

Emiko smiled her empty smile and took Sasuke's hand. She allowed him to lead her out of the hideout and towards their target.

This chapter is kinda short and I'm not exactly thrilled with it. But, I figured since I haven't updated in a month, I would try and get something out. Thank you all for your continual patience and support.