Sasuke became our undisputable leader, his three new teammates following him without question to gather supplies to outfit ourselves for war. I required very little, however I accepted the simply black cloak which I was given so that I would be identical to the others, wearing my hood over my head when it began to rain. Since the other three were not known to the outside world of shinobi, Sasuke had them go to gather and collect information on Itachi's whereabouts instead of going himself, and I was also far too recognisable to go where there were many people.

So, we stayed behind, waiting patiently. "Sasuke." I reached out my hand, groping a little until I found his sleeve, feeling increasingly downcast the closer we came to the moment where all would end. "Am I…a burden?"

"What?" I flinched, lowering my head a little further as I looked blankly down at my feet, glad that I could still see the grass and notice individual insects between the emerald blades.

"Am I a burden to you?"

"Don't be ridiculous. You can take care of yourself." This did not reassure me, and neither were those the words I wanted to hear. For a grown woman, it was absurd that I should want the same comfort that a child would desire when they felt either insecure or upset. I was more than this, feeling as if my entire world was falling into darkness whilst my heart of fragile glass continued to crack further and further to the point of shattering.

"I could not protect you from pain, Sasuke. Nor could I kill Itachi for you because I am weak." Gradually my fingers slackened their grip upon his sleeve, allowing my arm to fall limp at my side as I released him from my timid grasp. "I am sorry." I could feel him looking at me, though it was impossible for me to tell what he was thinking or feeling. With the way that I am now, there would be no hope for me to be of any use except with my Mangekyo Sharingan, where I would at least be able to see through chakra and energy. "I am sorry I am useless at expressing my feelings. I am sorry I never asked you about your missions. I am sorry that I never understood your behaviours as you grew. I am sorry that all the burdens have been placed on you. I am sorry…I am sorry."

"Enough." Clamping my mouth shut, I listened as Sasuke exhaled a breath before his feet turned upon the grass, my ears catching the sound of his cloak brushing against the longer stems to signify that he had turned towards me and come to my side. "You do not have to feel sorry for anything, Yuki." When his fingers came to rest upon my chin, Sasuke lifted my head so that our eyes could meet, deep and warm to gaze upon. "I always knew what you meant, even when you tried and failed at something. I knew you always waited up for me whenever I returned late, and that you always cleaned so that I could come back to a perfect home. I know that you always would check on me in the night in case I had nightmares, I know that you always struggled and tried to open up to me, and encouraged me to do the same." Drawing my head to his shoulder, Sasuke rubbed his fingers into the back of my head as I allowed myself to lean against him.

"Sasuke-kun…"

"I know you did it all because you cared, because you always spoke with your actions, not your words." Peace. I finally felt peace. It was a euphoric sensation of enlightenment which cascaded through my very soul with glittering vibrancy, causing the cracks in my heart from years of burden and pain to be cast into an endless array of colours, turning the glass to crystal and changing my inner flaws into something utterly beautiful. "You have always been the only person I have trusted implicitly, Miyuki. Because I know that you see me truly as your brother."

"Sasuke…" If I was unable to see now it was because my vision had blurred with a misty layer of tears, thick swells of emotions rising until it felt as if I were floating. "I am always with you, Sasuke."

"Hm." I almost laughed for the ironic reply Sasuke gave me, smiling as he continued to tenderly pat my head as I trembled against him, a little overcome at his touching display. We stood together just like that, his fingers continually smoothing down my hair until suddenly I became aware of the presence of two chakra signatures, alerting me to imminent danger.

"Sasuke." My trembling stopped and I lifted my head, focusing upon those signatures. "We are not alone." Immediately Sasuke put his arm out to stand in front of me, glancing around before finally the first figure became more distinguishable, locating him directly behind me and in front of Sasuke.

"Who are you? Show yourself." As calm as ever, Sasuke remained standing in front of me as I turned around, squinting a little in order to see a little better against the harsh sunlight. "Those robes…"

"Huh, so you're Sasuke. You do look like Itachi!" The figure was wearing a robe identical to that of Itachi's, an Akatsuki robe. Searching through my memory the answer came to me in less than a millisecond. Tobi. Or at least, that is the name he goes by whilst a member of the Akatsuki. His real name…well. I shall save that surprise for later. In any case, it was not this Tobi fellow that we needed to be concerned about, for one look from Sasuke was enough to send him scurrying back to the treeline. Instead, we should have been looking up.

Sasuke was able to sense the danger just as Tobi's companion, Deidara, as he flew over our heads and dropped his exploding clay. Little time was provided for us to react, and Sasuke immediately summoned one of his contracted snakes to coil its body around the both of us as he grabbed my head and pushed it down, covering me with his body. In order to remain as little a nuisance as possible I stayed very still, not moving until Sasuke released me after the aftermath of the explosion had dispersed.

It was an impressive jutsu and the snake had taken a heavy blow, its hardened skin the only thing that had kept it alive. With a burst of white it disappeared, leaving Sasuke and I standing side by side as the two Akatsuki members faced us, their voices carrying towards us as they spoke. "Sharingan eh? He really is Itachi's little brother. You were only able to kill Orochimaru thanks to your Uchiha blood, right? You're just blessed with good genes, so quit acting so smug!" The one named Deidara seemed to have a particular dislike for Uchiha, judging by his tone of voice. Or perhaps that was just my imagination.

Regardless, the mere mention of Itachi's name was enough to set Sasuke off and he flew across the distance in less than a heartbeat, hand reaching behind him to draw his fine bladed sword. Tobi did not bother moving, standing still and acting dumb in order to fool the others as Deidara moved out of Sasuke's way. With my Sharingan I saw as Sasuke's sword passed through Tobi's body that it never once struck his flesh, rather simply ghosted through him. Kamui. So, he was able to shift parts of himself into his Kamui's alternate dimension. We had the same ability, though I had never utilised mine in such a manner.

I remained rooted to the spot, watching as Sasuke dodged each explosion which was sent his way, learning all he needed about Deidara's attacks. From this distance, I could see very little except the occasional bursts of light and fire, so I relied mostly upon hearing and the sense of feeling. The ground would rattle each time a blast went off, and I tracked Sasuke's movements through his chakra, ready to pull him into my Kamui to keep him from being hurt by the explosions if necessary. I knew that Sasuke was more than enough to handle this, so I kept myself out of the way for the most part, however when he progressed to the second stage of his curse mark, I knew that the danger was becoming all the more real.

Their battle continued on for what felt like a very long time, though I will admit I zoned in and out as my mind wandered, however when Sasuke's voice suddenly yelled to me, I snapped back awake. "Miyuki! Run!" My Sharingan were quickly activated in order to survey the situation, and when I realised that a huge cloud of chakra was coming straight towards me, I knew that I was in trouble. I had no choice but to jump backwards, using chakra in my legs and feet in order to move a large distance out of range of the chakra cloud, where microscopic bombs form an intense swarm which would destroy anything that breathed them in at a cellular level.

It was not a massive issue, for since they were an earth based jutsu, a lightning jutsu would easily diffuse them, if you were willing to use such a jutsu on yourself. Still, it was better that I was simply far out of Sasuke's way, though once I began to realise that their fight had moved from the ground, to the air, then back into the forest, I decided that now was the time for me to act. Sasuke will face Deidara's most powerful jutsu at any moment, and he will not escape entirely unharmed. I walked calmly, using my acute sensory ability to know where the trees lay in my path and moved directly towards Sasuke as he and Deidara remained unable to stand up, sat or crouched upon the ground.

"That's what annoys me about you the most! Both of you Uchiha!" Deidara was in the midst of yelling as I came closer, walking towards Sasuke from his back so that he was unable to see me approaching. "You think you're just so cool, and those eyes make me feel sick! Always judging me and my art, you have no appreciation of a true master or the beauty of my work, and it makes me want to kill you!" Deidara spoke with such angered passion, I had to wonder what exactly Itachi had done to make him feel so fiercely against us Uchiha.

"I couldn't possibly care less about any of that. I just want to know where Itachi is." I could sense Sasuke's chakra dip as he allowed his Sharingan to disappear, only angering Deidara further.

"So, you've retracted your Sharingan, do you really take me that lightly?" I could not see what was happening next, but I heard the sound of a shirt ripping, a few interminable grunts and what I believed was a squelching sound. I shall have to ask Sasuke about it later for more details, I was truly curious about that last sound. It were almost as if somebody was eating something. Did Deidara get hungry and need a snack? "This is my ultimate art. This time, I'm going to detonate myself! In death I shall become art itself, for no one has ever seen an explosion such as this!" Ah, that might be a problem for us.

"You're insane." Sasuke grunted, struggling to move for all his constant use of chakra.

"When I explode, Sasuke Uchiha, you will definitely die! You and that woman whose eyes sicken me just as much as yours! I had planned to kill you then finish her off for last, but this suits me nicely. The blast covers a ten kilometres radius, so there is no escape. Heh, tremble in fear, cower in awe, recoil in despair, cry your heart out! Because my art…" Now that I was a little closer and with my Sharingan activated, I could see the form of Deidara had completely receded, first having receded to nothing but his chakra channels which then were drawn into a single black orb which, just as I reached Sasuke, began to crack with a blinding light.

Immediately I summoned my Mangekyo Sharingan as Sasuke stared in horror, making to summon one of his contracted snakes to protect himself. As he did so I placed my hand upon his shoulder, causing him to look around to me with wide eyes. "Miyuki! What are you doing here?!" With no time to answer, Manda appeared around us with a hiss but I had already drawn the three of us into my Kamui, our bodies being pulled into a whirling mass of black just as the bomb detonated. Instinctively I turned in order to protect Sasuke, flinging out my arms so that my back received the first shockwave, burning at my cloak until all three of us were safe inside my alternate dimension.

Once we were there I cried out, dropping down to one knee and breathed heavily as I grasped at my shoulder. "Yuki!" Sasuke immediately dropped down beside me, assessing the damage. "You were lucky, it only burned your cloak and not your back, but you've still taken damage from the outward propelling force." Nodding my head, I heard Manda slither and hiss as he began to coil around us, a strong sense of anger rolling off his serpentine body.

Insolent little brat. You were going to use me as a shield for that blast. I should just eat you now. Manda suggested, tasting the air with his tongue once more as his head came towards us, a shadow falling over me and dimming everything I could see.

"Do not fear, I was able to save you." I huffed, needing a little time to recover myself.

"On that note, where are we?" I briefly explained to Sasuke about the Kamui, how I used it as an ultimate place of safety whenever my situation was dire. "Interesting, and this is a power you unlocked with the Mangekyo Sharingan?" Nodding my head, I pushed myself to stand up on my feet and Sasuke immediately pulled my arm around his shoulder. Now that he was directly beside me, I could see him much better. He had taken a severe beating, but he would have been worse off had he been hit by that blast. In any case, his leg was injured, and he was all out of chakra, so he will need time to rest and heal and I would too.

With my left eye activated, I brought all three of us out of the Kamui once I was certain it was safe, appearing directly before Suigetsu as I had searched out his chakra. "Sasuke! Miyuki-san!" He seemed shocked to see us so ruffled and injured, and surprised that Manda was also present. "So this is Orochimaru's familiar, Manda. Even he had trouble controlling the serpent, so how did you guys…?"

"We didn't." He answered, falling to his knees even as he had tried to support me, so I turned and rested my hands on his shoulders instead, trying to assess his injuries.

You are lucky that I was not killed by that explosion, little brat, but since your sibling was able to save us all, I shall let you off this time to return my thanks, but do not think you will be so lucky next time. Manda warned us, so I looked up towards him, only just able to see a large ocean of purple scales from his massive and long body.

"Our gratitude, Manda-sama. We apologise for this inconvenience." Sasuke looked as if he was not sorry for anything, but made no comment as Manda hummed thoughtfully then sniffed the air close to me, ensuring to memorise my scent before he disappeared back to his own realm in a puff of cloud.

"You know, you really shouldn't use animals as shields like that, you ought to treat them better." Suigetsu said almost sarcastically as he crouched down before Sasuke.

"I didn't have a choice, there wasn't much time and I thought I was done for, but Yuki saved me. Saved us both." In turn Suigetsu grinned at me, giving a chuckle as I slowly began to recover my breath.

"That's Miyuki-san for you, so cool and calm in a crisis, very dependable!" We all stopped when we heard Karin shout to us, she and Jugo racing towards us swiftly.

"There you are! I thought you might be here. Your chakra suddenly disappeared, I didn't know what to think, but I guess you were teleporting right?" Hm. That's right. "But what happened? Why are you both so beat up?"

"Just before we jumped, we were hit by the blast wave. My opponent was one of the Akatsuki, and was a lot stronger than I'd anticipated." With his explanation given, Suigetsu suggested that Sasuke and I needed time to rest up, whilst Karin pointed at Sasuke whilst declaring that she couldn't believe that he was the one who killed Orochimaru. "Orochimaru's illness made him weak. That's all I'll say about that." Lifting my head, I sensed a shift in the wind, and with the premonition that we were not safe staying out in the open.

"We must go." Reaching down I pulled Sasuke's arm around my shoulder to help him to his feet, our eyes meeting before I flickered out of sight with Jugo, Karin and Suigetsu following my lead. Soon. It will be soon over. I could count the coming of the end by the day.