(A/N: ok, just so y'all kno. When I did this first lil part, I was sitting in my dark, dark room, listening to some sad song… See… music influences me. So it's kinda overdramatic. But that's ok… Right? Newho like I said in the last ch. Big turning point. Where will they end up? I'm sure u'll love to see the ending. Hope u enjoy and please RnR)

Yukie fell to the ground, an anguished cry seeping from her lips. She was almost out of chakra, every move she made hurt. The forest around her was destroyed. She had taken her anger out on her surroundings, and was now out of anger and energy. Yukie bowed her head, resting her head in her hands, and closed her eyes.

"How did this happen?" Yukie asked herself, "Why did I let this happen?" Kotori had gone off on her own, feeling slightly unsafe around an angry Yukie. Sitting on the forest floor, more alone than she had been in years, Yukie finally felt it all sink in. She felt her control collapse. Everything was ruined. She had nothing left. No friends, nobody who cared. Nothing left. The words lingered in her mind as a tear rolled slowly down her cheek. Everything was ruined.

Yukie's body tensed and her head snapped up when she heard something behind her. Before she could rise and confront the intruder, Kotori nuzzled against Yukie's arm. She let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding. Kotori looked up at Yukie's tear filled eyes and mewed quietly.

Yukie forced herself to smile, "Hey, Kotori." The small black cat pushed herself under Yukie's arm to sit on her lap. She looked up at Yukie again, seeming to smile, and meowed encouragingly. "I now, Kotori," Yukie said, wiping the tears from her eyes, "I can just be such a fool some times." Kotori shook her head and meowed again as her tail twitched. "It is too my fault," Yukie said, looking at the cat in frustration, "I didn't even let Orochi-Kun explain. I just jumped to conclusions." Kotori's tail twitched again and her ears flattened against her head. Yukie sighed in reply and said, "I know he isn't Orochi-Kun to me anymore… but old habits die hard."

"So you really did leave for good," Leon said, standing behind her. "I didn't know whether to believe it or not… I guess I didn't want to believe it, even after Kotori told Koton." Yukie turned to look at Leon and Koton, now a small white puppy on his shoulder. "But… are you okay with it?" he asked cautiously.

Yukie didn't want to lie to him, and she didn't know how long he had been listening. "I'll be fine," she assured, knowing it would satisfy him enough that he wouldn't push the matter.

Leon sighed, walking over and sitting next to her, "What are you going to do now?"

Yukie shrugged and said, "My whole life was to help Orochi-Ku-um Orochimaru." She would never call him Orochi-Kun again. "I've never really had anything else. I suppose I'm just going to find my own place in the world."

Leon looked at her skeptically. "So, what, you're just going to become a wandering ninja?"

Yukie shrugged again, "There's nothing wrong with being a ronin. It actually sounds pretty relaxing. No worries, just wandering around, doing as you please. Who wouldn't want that?"

"Wouldn't you get lonely?" Leon asked.

"As long as I have Kotori, I'll be fine."

"Having a familiar with you is great and all," he hesitated, but pressed on, "but what about humans? Wouldn't you miss having human friends?"

Yukie smiled knowingly at Leon, "I have you as a human friend, don't I? I'll come and visit some time. Orochimaru can't keep me out of his village, whether he gets Konoha or not."

Leon sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, "You really are going to leave, aren't you?"

"Do you have a better idea?" Yukie returned, face hardening, "I'm not going back to Orochimaru."

"Why not!" Leon demanded desperately, "What did he do that was so horrible, anyway?"

"You didn't hear him!" Yukie shouted, losing control again. "He was talking about Talah's death like it meant nothing to him! It was like he was happy she was gone! He said it helped him, that she was more useful to him dead. He talked about her as if she were some toy, something he used and threw away! He talked about her like she was… like she was…" Yukie sniffed back the tears she felt coming.

"Like she was you," Leon finished for her, his voice grave. "It scared you to see that you weren't the only one he used regularly."

"He killed her to help himself," Yukie said, voice now faint and weak, "I was willing to die to help him, and he wouldn't have cared less that I was gone. We were all his tools. He used us all until we couldn't be used anymore. Then he killed us."

"Just like how you killed Kabuto," Leon added, voice just as quiet as Yukie's, "We were his tools. All ninjas are tools. You used to be fine with that, but something happened to you. You changed your mind and decided you didn't want to be used anymore."

Yukie sighed, "When did it happen? When did I change so much that my whole outlook on life was altered so dramatically?"

"Konoha changed you," Leon replied, holding Yukie's gaze in his, "They showed you a side of being a ninja you had never known, or even thought of before."

Nodding, Yukie elaborated, "Everybody was so carefree. They were all happy and smiling. Not the kind of smile you get in Otoga, but something true and joyful. At first, I thought they couldn't possibly be ninjas. But they were. They all fought to protect their village and the loved ones. They were more like real people than tools."

"It's something like that that will change a ninja. They probably think twice about their own ways when they see ours. Maybe they wonder why they don't train as much or aren't as strong as us. Different ways and points of view affect people… it just affected you more.

"Then you understand: I can't go back to Orochimaru."

Leon gave a quick nod and replied, "And you understand that I won't leave you."

Yukie's brain stalled for a second. She hadn't been expecting this. All she could think to say was, "What?"

"I'm coming with you," he replied stubbornly, "If you are leaving Orochimaru, then I have no desire to stay with him. Think about it, I was miserable until I met you, Sasuke and Talah. Talah's dead, I'm pretty sure Sasuke-Sensei isn't coming back, and now you're leaving, too. The only other one I actually like is Koton, and he'd follow me anywhere. So, I'm coming with you."

Yukie smiled, "Makes sense to me. This should be fun." She rose and so did Leon, "But you do understand that this little 'moment' we just had will never happen again."

Leon laughed, "Yeah. I know."