The walk to the village was very long and annoying. Ko was forced to be carried by Kakashi while the others walked ahead of them so she spent her time draped across his shoulder hanging onto his neck. Ko still felt weak so she didn't protest when Kakashi said he was going to carry her the whole way since she could just sleep for the whole trip.

"Yay let's get home fast so I can have Iruka sensei buy me some ramen! Oh yeah and I have to tell Konohamaru about my legendary feats!" Naruto shouted proudly placing his hands on his hips.

"Sasuke, how about a date when we get back?" Sakura flirted flipping her long hair to away from her face giving him a wink.

"No thanks," he answered with a flat tone crushing Sakura's world.

"But but.." she was dumbfounded. Sakura thought Sasuke would agree to going on a date with her; who wouldn't?

"Hey what about me?!" Naruto popped up next to Sakura giving her his famous grin rubbing the back of his head as a blush formed on his face.

"No! Shut up Naruto!" Sakura snapped stomping on his foot then walked away.

"This is going to be a loooong trip," Ko sighed resting her head on Kakashi's shoulder.

Throughout the walk back to the village, Ko finally fell asleep after everyone stopped bickering. Kakashi looked over at Ko seeing that she fell asleep which meant one less mouth to annoy him. He couldn't get the image of Ko's eyes out of his head. He could see them clearly through all the mist and she had to have done something to Sasuke healing his wounds. Hopefully the Hokage knew what that was because Kakashi was at a loss for words.

Sasuke looked over at Ko unable to get her words out of his mind. She sounded desperate to save his life and somehow, she managed to do it. He knew he was dying, he could feel it, but once Ko placed her hands on him, he felt better.

"Kakashi sensei? Is Ko going to get better?" Sakura questioned falling into step with him.

"She's just really weak right now." He replied.

"But her chakra level isn't low anymore; why would she still be too weak to walk on her own?" She looked over at her female teammate. She looked tired but other than that it looked like there was nothing wrong with her.

"There was a lot of strain on her body like when I overused the Sharingan."

"Hey what was up with her eyes before? They were glowing bright red!" Naruto pointed out.

"Honestly, I have no idea. I've never encountered that before but I'm hoping Lord Hokage will have an answer or Ko herself knows." He's seen the glowing red eyes before but never heard of someone healing another who was on death's door.

"Do you know what Zabuza said to her before he died?" She questioned recalling him whispering something to her.

"I couldn't hear but whatever he said surprised her."

After a long journey, they finally made it to the village. Kakashi first took Ko to the hospital then went to the Hokage to submit the mission report. The rest of the team went home to get some rest. Ko sat in her hospital bed nervously waiting for Orochimaru to get back to her. Finally, she felt Kabuto's presence outside the window.

"What did Lord Orochimaru say?" Ko questioned quickly turning towards him desperate for an answer. She had no idea what to do in this situation; only her father would know what to do.

"He said to figure it out yourself. This is your mission, you must get out of this situation on your own." Panic struck Ko; she didn't know what to do without her father.

"What if I say the wrong thing?" She questioned trying to hide the fact that she was terrified.

"Then you failed your mission." Kabuto stated then disappeared leaving Ko to her thoughts.

"Great, how am I supposed to know what to say?" She punched the bed in frustration.

Ko kept her eyes activated watching the halls to prepare her for her doom. She couldn't let her guard down now.

"Stay calm Ko stay calm." She thought trying to think of a plan. " I can always jump through the window, no there might be a shinobi out there waiting for me. I can't just fight the Hokage, he'd win, and I'd be in even more trouble. Why can't Father tell me what to say? Why isn't he helping me?" She wanted to cry but she fought back the tears.

After an hour, she could see the Hokage coming down the hall making her heartbeat quicken. She could hear it beating in her eardrums; she was grateful she wasn't hooked up to a heart monitor. Drawing the chakra away from her eyes, they returned to normal.

"Hello Ko, how are you feeling?" The Hokage asked when he entered the room.

"Fine I guess," she said hoping her lies would fool them. Orochimaru had taught her how to lie like him but she didn't know if she could fool them right now. She wasn't level headed right now; it was easy to slip up.

"I think you know why I'm here,"

"You want to know about what happened on the mission?" Ko questioned just wanting to get this over with.

"Yes, Kakashi told me that your eyes started to glow bright red and that Sasuke was close to death but you healed him. Can you tell me what happened?"

"Well, to start, my full name is Ko Himura." She admitted knowing she couldn't lie about that.

"That does explain a lot. Why did you keep this a secret?"

"The last thing my parents said to me was that I had to keep my last name a secret. They said that if people knew what clan I was from, they would kill me." She did lie about that part not letting him know that Zabuza revealed that information to her.

"You said your parents died on a mission when you were little. Was that true?"

"No, honestly, I don't remember what happened. I remember being in my house. My parents went outside and told me to stay hidden then the rest I can't remember. I just remember being on my own in a forest." She looked down at her hands fiddling with her fingers nervously which he caught on to.

They had bought it, but she knew they will be suspicious of her from now on. She couldn't slip up.

"Do you know what happened to your clan?" He leaned forward in his seat waiting for her answer.

"They were killed. I only just found out because Zabuza told me." This time she met his eyes showing that this was a touchy subject for her. She made her eyes water matching her saddened expression.

"Did he say by who?"

"They knew who killed them?" If they know then Father must have known something. Why hasn't he mentioned it to me? Hell, he never told me what clan I was even from."

"No," She answered eagerly wanting to know who killed her clan.

The Hokage's expression softened as he looked at Ko, it looked like he was going to speak but stopped himself. His eyes looked at Ko's red ones taking in a deep breath.

"A man went to their little compound and murdered almost all of them. Some were able to escape but most of them are dead. They were an endangered clan to begin with mostly because most of the women were unable to conceive a child. Only about fifty were left until they were attacked. We didn't know there were any left until now."

"How do you know there were survivors then?"

"There were some people missing, still missing to this day."

"Do you know who murdered them?" She had to know who could've killed them. Why would someone murder a whole clan?

"His name is Orochimaru,"

Ko froze, shock was shown on her face when she heard the news. Her chest hurt at the thought of her own Father murdering her clan leaving her alone in the world.

"What?! No way...Dad…killed them?"

"Why?" Ko choked out trying to hide the emotion that was threatening to break her mask. She was feeling betrayed, sad, but mostly anger was starting to take over.

"No one knows. When the Mizukage went to the compound a survivor said that Orochimaru took the clan leader's sister."

"So, there is at least one known survivor?" She questioned clutching the sheets in her hands.

"He died in the hospital." Disappointment swelled in her. She hoped there was at least one person she could talk to about her abilities to understand them more from an actual person instead of a book.

"Do you know where the others are?"

"No, their location is unknown."

"I see,"

"How did you find out about your abilities?" There it was the question she has been dreading.

"One day, my eyes started to hurt. It was the most painful thing I've been through. When the pain was over, I saw in the mirror that my eyes were glowing bright red. I never knew about my Kekkei Genkai, but I did research at the library and found out my abilities. The technique I used on Sasuke was putting my life force into him. He was barely alive, so I tried the technique and it worked but it felt like I was dying."

"Ko, that jutsu is forbidden. Don't use it again." His voice was stern, so Ko only nodded in response then looked down at her hands.

"Yes sir...why can't I remember what happened to my parents?"

"You were so young...My guess is that you saw your clan being murdered and your brain made you forget to save you from the trauma."

"Can I be left alone for a while?" Ko asked softly in barely a whisper.

"Of course," he answered but he knew there was more to her story. He wasn't a fool and could see it in her eyes. He thought it would be better to leave her alone for the moment.

After he left, Kabuto reappeared in her room. Ko let out her breath which she had been holding. She still wanted to break down, but her mask had to stay up.

"How'd it go?" He questioned as he stayed near the window.

"I hope they bought it." Ko replied biting her lip. She was unsure if Kabuto knew about her clan's murder but she had to know.

"We'll see." He turned to leave but Ko's words stopped him.

"Kabuto,"

"Hm?" He turned his body a bit to look at her.

"Did Lord Orochimaru actually kill my clan?" She questioned hoping he would say no.

"Yes," he replied with no hesitation.

She didn't know what to do. All she could feel was a swirl of emotions which she wasn't accustomed to. Before Ko could even have a few minutes to herself, her team came in to visit.

"Hey Ko, how are you feeling?" Naruto asked immediately going to the side of her bed sitting next to her.

"I've been better," she shifted her position more angled towards the window not wanting to face them fully.

"What's wrong?" Sakura questioned worried about her teammate. She didn't know Ko well, but she risked her life to save her love and that's all she needed to know.

"Just tired is all," Ko faked a yawn as she spoke trying to play it off.

"Oh, don't worry, we're not staying long. We just wanted to check up on you." Naruto said with a smile but worried for his childhood friend.

"Well, I'm fine, so you guys get some rest. We'll probably have missions soon." She waved them off just wanting them to leave.

"Alright, well we'll see ya." Naruto said as he and Sakura left.

Ko looked at Sasuke as he took a seat next to her. "Yes Sasuke?" She was starting to get annoyed and it showed from the glare and irritation in her voice but Sasuke wasn't in the mood either.

"Why did you save me?"

"You're my teammate. I can't let you die in front of me, I had to at least try." She shrugged then crossed her arms staring him down her with intimidating red eyes.

"You sounded pretty desperate." He smirked thinking he struck a nerve.

"It would be the first time I've seen someone die. I didn't want it to be one of my teammates." Ko lied.

"How did you save me?" He started to feel a little guilt for egging her on like this, but he knew this was his only chance.

Ko stayed silent.

"You owe me an explanation."

"I don't owe you anything but if you must know, it was my Kekkei Genkai. It allows me to basically bring someone back from the dead but it took my own life force out of me which is why I'm so weak. If I didn't do that then...you'd be dead."

"You sacrificed yourself to save me?" He was in utter shock that she had this power and would risk it on him.

"Yes,"

"You didn't have to do that." Sasuke said with a hint of anger in his voice. He didn't need to be saved. He can't let someone help him. He has to do it on his own to achieve his goal.

"Yes I did. Sasuke, you have a dream to fulfill. You can actually achieve your dream and you have people here who care about you. I have no one. My family is dead and practically everyone in this village thinks I'm a freak. No one would really miss me. Naruto and Sakura would soon forget me. They don't know me at all, so I won't be missed."

Sasuke didn't know what to say. He just sat in silence watching Ko.

"We're a lot alike Sasuke. Zabuza told me that my clan was murdered, and Lord Hokage confirmed it. Apparently my family was murdered in front of me and...I don't remember it." Ko looked down with a doleful expression.

"Maybe it's for the best you don't remember." He told his teammate which made her look up at him in surprise.

"What do you mean?"

"I came home to my family murdered and saw my parents killed in front of my eyes. I can never get that image out of my head and sometimes I wish I'd forget."

"Good, I'm getting through to him." She thought inwardly smiling. Finally, after so many years being in the village, she finally had some common ground with Sasuke that they can bond with.

"I guess you're right." Ko sighed leaning back onto the bed.

"I'll let you rest," Sasuke got up from his chair and headed towards the door leaving her alone.

"Father, why did you slaughter a whole clan just to get to my mother? It doesn't make sense." Ko thought as she looked out of the window finally able to process what has happened during that mission and the information she learned.