So, it's been a long time! I've had this chapter sitting in a word document for ages, and I wanted to keep writing it so it would be longer, but I figured that it would be better just to post what I have, since I haven't posted anything in a long time. There will be a huge author's note at the end of this thanking everyone who has been so patient. So, please have fun and enjoy.

I do not own anything except my OC's!

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"Awareness is the enemy of sanity, for once you hear the screaming, it never stops."

Emilie Autumn

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Upon her perch, Maiko took on the appearance of a ravenous vulture, peering down at the shinobi below with keen, obsidian eyes. They were ants from her roost on the peak of the bone structure. Fighting and dying. For what? They fought with vigor, excitement for their cause spilling from within. Maiko leaned forth, squinting at the peculiar little dots. They marched and they slashed. What was so great about their resolve that gave them this animation? Their cause. Their purpose. Maiko glanced back at the bone structure she had emerged from. Tobi had long since sent his signal, yet she hesitated, fearing his wrath for her delay.

If she went, how was she any similar to the marching ants? They served their purpose well, fighting where they were needed. Never done with their work, the creatures slaved on forever and ever until death. Is that what she was fated to be? Tobi's precious pawn?

Maiko stood, taking one last overlook of the battlefield before her. If it meant being like these struggling shinobi, if it meant battling with intent, if it meant living, she would be anything Tobi wished of her.

-:-

Kotone had never been so physically challenged. Before her, stood a menace of immeasurable strength, coming at her at an unimaginable speed, but she held her sword high and met Madara's blade with her own. She would later be commended for lasting so long in a battle with the legendary Uchiha, but at the present moment, she felt nothing but apprehension.

His Sharingan eyes sought to meet hers, but her hair brushed across his face as she ducked to avoid contact, swinging her chakra-enhanced katana at Madara's exposed underarm, only to watch in horror as her blade was deflected, caught by a single finger.

The Uchiha said nothing, but landed a direct hit to her stomach with his foot, sending her sprawling backwards into a handful of other shinobi who softened her landing, yet also fell to the ground in pain.

The air in her lungs had been knocked out completely and Kotone struggled to regulate her breathing, coughing up sand only to suck it back in as she gasped desperately for air. Something felt wrong inside of her stomach, and the white-haired teen realized that the simple skirmish with Madara had cost her a few ribs.

"You okay?"

Temari was there, with a hardened, concerned expression, her fan serving as a sort of shield for Kotone, who rolled onto her back to relieve the tension her abdomen was experiencing.

"Ribs," was the kunoichi's mere breathy response.

A massive gust, created by some nearby jutsu from Naruto, nearly sent Temari behind her fan as well, but both stood strong and she took a moment to peer at Kotone. The waxen girl knew better than to attempt to stand, thus, she had her milky eyes focused on the blonde teen.

"Stay here and play dead," Temari ordered, like Amaterasu had a choice, "You can't fight like this."

The elder girl yanked her fan out of the ground and charged, only to slow to a stop with a hopeless expression. Kotone followed her gaze to the sky.

A great meteor, perhaps twice the size of the battlefield, was raining down, its shadow consuming the desert like a snake swallowing hole its prey. The shinobi were panicked and overwhelmed. How could they compete with such power? The discombobulated soldiers were no match.

"This is on an entirely different level…" Temari gaped.

Reaching out before the fearful woman could spew more hopeless balderdash, like the men and women around who were running for their lives, Kotone clutched her fellow wind kunoichi's ankle with an iron grip.

"Keep your wits about you," she advised, "Do not be in thrall to this menace. Retreat!"

Temari scoffed, her fearful expression replaced by revulsion, "I'm not going to just leave you here!"

A shinobi shoved past the blonde, panic stirring in the air. She reached down and arranged Kotone on her shoulder in a way that may minimalize superfluous injuries, but the chunin with snowy hair emitted a pained whimper regardless.

"Tsuchikage-sama! He won't be able to keep that meteor at bay," Temari gasped, "We've got to get to Gaara; there may be a medic!"

Going against the flow, the two girls stumbled as hurriedly as they could; keeping their eyes on the meteor that was suspended in midair, held only by the efforts of the Kazekage and the Tsuchikage.

Gaara barely registered his sister's presence, sending a glance her way, seeing only that Kotone was on her shoulder, grabbing at her stomach in agony.

"Just stay down," Temari set the girl down on her back, "And-!"

Air, rubble and even people were blown away, Madara Uchiha's meteor being done in by a second, snuck in the shadow of the first. A sand wall sped up into the air to protect those in its shade, but they were still shaken, Kotone even being chipped by a chunk of rubble, the vague size of a kunai. It sent a flash of pain across her face, as it had struck her cheek, but she merely ducked even further down, hoping that she would not see the faces of her friends in the whirlwind of earth and blood.

The dust was beginning to settle, and sand dripped down upon Kotone's upturned face as she turned her bruised body over, endeavoring to keep her breaths light. Temari, who had suffered marginal injuries, leapt to her brother's aid, seeing as to how he had collapsed upon his arms.

"Gaara! Are you okay?"

The teen sat up, wincing at her ribs, blinking away the crust that had settled on her milky eyes. The entire landscape was torn apart, leaving no stone structures, merely remains of the godly powers that the undead Uchiha had obtained.

"I'm fine," the Kazekage coughed, looking over at Amaterasu, "You're bleeding…"

"Kotone! Your face!"

She had no response to the observation, allowing Temari to manipulate her chin in order to perceive her wound better. Apparently, the rock had caused a bloody puncture, but Kotone suitably brushed it off as nothing.

"The medics need but focus on the Tsuchikage. I will wait until all essential units are healed before I ask for assistance regarding my injuries," she explained.

The old man, who was tattered and bloodied from his bravely suicidal attempt to save as many as possible, was lying no further away than Gaara was. She let the Kazekage examine her through the hole in her shirt from an earlier injury, and his face showed nothing less of worry.

"Your ribs are cracked. You need medical attention."

Kotone frowned, trying to position herself more comfortably, "Gaara, you must focus on the enemy at hand. There is no reason for us to squabble amongst ourselves over something so trivial. I am but a chunin, and you and the Tsuchikage need more healing than I."

He opened his mouth to respond, but the Kazekage said nothing. He instead complied hesitantly, kneeling down to assist the Tsuchikage in standing.

It wasn't like Amaterasu couldn't handle herself. Though, she had been more injured in this battle alone, than many of the others in the past. Her arms had been torn open in that battle with Maiko, but the scars had faded. The lightning wound from the Raikage, however, would leave a tree of pink skin across her chest and middle.

As a young man leaned down to place his chakra-enhanced hands upon her stomach, he glanced back over his shoulder and retracted his hands.

"Enemies ahead at four o'clock!"

Charging like wooden serpents, the trees generated by Madara's jutsu tore towards the handful of shinobi, with the obvious intent of obliterating the survivors of the blast.

"Wood style…" Kotone gawped in awe, "Surely that is impossible..?"

A man, their sole healer, pressed his face into his hands, with a muffled cry of, "We're doomed!"

The trees were only feet from their position, weaving through the earth like needles, when Naruto rushed forward, sending both hope and fear through the onlookers.

"Naruto! Wait-!" Gaara reached out towards his friend, but Kotone forced herself to lean forward a smidgen and lay her own pale hand on his arm.

She assured him, though with a pained expression, "Naruto… can do this."

With seemingly no effort, Naruto summoned thousands upon thousands of clones, all conjuring larger than average rasengans, and obliterated the trees. It was at times like these that Kotone felt weak. Compared to Naruto, she was an amateur at best; he continued to grow and become more powerful while all else seemed to stay at some plateau of skill.

"Naruto," the Tsuchikage faltered, "Leave it be. We'll take care of the rest."

Temari frowned, stepping forward, but maintaining a fair closeness to Kotone, who attempted to prod her stomach with her fingers, "But, Tsuchikage-dono… You're.."

The blonde's eyes flickered to the old man's body. It was battered and beaten and even his hair was askew, tossed from its previously prim state.

"Hmph. The time to pick myself up has come, and there's not an opponent more worthy. I'll fight him!"

"You don't stand a chance!" Temari threw back, "You're too injured!"

Madara Uchiha and his partner leapt down from their peak, landing only yards from the shinobi forces. They could hardly be called an army any longer. The entire squadron had been wiped off the map with just a few jutsu from the Uchiha. Kotone felt her body involuntarily trembling.

"I'd hoped to test out a few more of my techniques," Madara sighed, "But you're dead on your feet, Oonoki."

Temari took a moment while the Tsuchikage and the resurrected shinobi spoke, exchanging heated words, to grab Kotone's arm and hoist her to her feet. The girl with the milky eyes kept her back as straight as she could, lessening the pressure put on her injuries.

"We've got to get you out of here," The blonde girl reasoned, "You're dead weight if you stay like this."

"Agreed, but the medical team is far from our current position. I could hardly find my way there alone, though I do not wish to take an able bodied soldier from the battle."

The taller woman seemed to pause for a moment, considering an answer, but her eyes flickered to the enemy, realizing they were charging for an attack, and she instinctively raised a hand to defend herself. Kotone squeezed her eyes shut when she realized that Temari was not shielding her body, but her eyes, as a blinding light bolted onto the scene for a split second, before revealing the remaining kage, poised for battle.

They all jumped straight into action, Tsunade leaping forth to heal the Kazekage and the Tsuchikage. Gaara seemed to peer back at his sister and his injured companion, with intense thought.

"Take her to the nearest medic, Temari," he ordered after a moment.

On any other occasion, there might've been protesting from the kunoichis' side, but the two firmly nodded. Seeing him from this angle, as a protector, as a leader, Kotone felt a hot glow in her chest. Perhaps it is just my ribs, she thought.

"Good luck, Gaara," She said, wrapping an arm around Temari for stability, "I'll see you soon."

-:-

"I need a needle to stitch up this wound, ASAP!"

"There's internal bleeding over here, but if we give him this-!"

"This woman needs healing ninjutsu! Someone get over here!"

"Sakura-san, can you look at this, please?"

Her hands were crossed, her tongue involuntarily sticking out, waiting to catch the bead of sweat that slithered down the bridge of her nose deliberately. Little wisps of hair stuck to her neck and face, nagging for Hiromi's attention, but she kept her focus, and applied more chakra to the gaping wound, perfectly placed in center of an elder man's thigh. He had come into contact with a legendary ninja, one of the Seven Swordsman, and had barely been dropped off at the medical center in time for the blonde kunoichi to help stop the bleeding.

"Ah, sir, please… Hold on, okay?"

There was hardly a lull in the hum of activity, with every station filled with a warm body or two, and sometimes, if they made a mistake, or if they faltered, a cold one. Just recently, a girl younger than Hiromi stumbled into the medical tent only to collapse onto the stretcher that now served as her final resting place.

Hiromi shook her head, hoping to also shake away the memories of the girl's face, and focused on the task at hand. The bleeding had stopped, and the scarring tissue had been given the chakra catalyst, hastening the healing process.

"When can I go back out?" inquired the man, beginning to sit up.

The blonde pressed her hand to his chest, forcing him back down.

"You won't be back up in a while, let alone out," she responded, "Just rest here for now, sir."

"But-! I need to get back out there!" He grabbed her wrist, desperate, "You haven't seen what they're facing… They need all the soldiers they can get!"

"Exactly, so, sir," Hiromi gently removed his hand, laying it by his side with a determined glare, "Rest. They need soldiers, you're right, but they need soldiers who can fight. If I sent you out there right now, you would be killed instantly. Now, if you would please just rest. I need to attend to other patients."

She left the man in his silence, wiping her bloodied hands on her medical uniform. There was a layer of dried crimson that remained afterwards, but Hiromi hurriedly rinsed it off before scurrying to Sakura, who was the understood second-in-command, for her next patient.

When Hiromi found her, the pink-haired kunoichi was steadily weaving a needle in and out of a man's flesh, sewing together a gaping wound that chakra alone could not heal.

"Sakura, the man you sent my way is recovering nicely. His skin cells accepted the chakra directly and are now healing… Is-… Is there anything else I can do?" She felt odd, speaking so quickly and formally, stumbling in the midst of her own pause.

The medical ninja looked up at her with a distracted look, obviously more focused on the cringing patient, "A few shinobi just arrived from Gaara's squad. No one's been able to attend to them yet."

"Kazekage-sama's squad?" Hiromi mumbled to herself, "Kotone was in there…"

Noticing that Sakura was awaiting confirmation, the blonde bowed, "I'll go find them right away."

She swept the tent entrance out of her path, striding towards the medical tent that served as the "entrance" to their camp. It was lightly guarded, which gave her little concern, since as she pushed past the fabric of the tent to enter, she caught the sight of Temari in the midst of a small crowd, supporting a hunched over Kotone, whose porcelain face was abnormally crumpled in pain.

"Kotone!"

Hiromi ran to her side, taking up the milky eyed kunoichi's other side.

"She was struck by one of the Raikage's lightning ninjutsu," Temari explained, keeping a steady pace with Hiromi as they dragged their mutual friend into one of the emptier tents, "And took a direct hit by Madara Uchiha. Gaara said that her ribs were cracked."

"Has she been active since her ribs were damaged?" Hiromi questioned quickly.

"Yes. She's been moving."

"Then there's the risk of a punctured organ. Help me lay her down."

The two women shuffled to gently lower Kotone to the stretcher, pausing only when she released a long groan at the adjustment in position.

"Just stay still, Kotone," Hiromi leaned in close to her friend's ear, using her free hand to pull the tail of white locks out from underneath a heavy head, "Let me help you."

Temari had a few scrapes, and was taken away by an unoccupied shinobi. She left the tent with a solemn glance at Kotone and a grim nod for Hiromi, telling the girl without words to heal the white-haired maiden.

Realistically, Hiromi calculated, it would take weeks, possibly a month, for cracked ribs to heal naturally. She pressed her hand gently on Kotone's belly, pulling up the scrap of a navy shirt to underneath the girl's breasts.

She hesitated. There was a morbidly beautiful flower shape of scar tissue that crawled up from her lower stomach to her chest. The Raikage's jutsu, Hiromi deduced. She ran a hand over the pink trail, until she felt the lump of a misshapen rib.

If they were broken, it would require more intricate medical ninjutsu. Ninjutsu was a medicinal gift, but it couldn't recreate bone. Luckily, it seemed there were only bent and cracked bones, but none broken.

Kotone seethed as cold gloved fingers rested firmly atop of her stomach. She had nearly lost consciousness earlier when Temari sped up their pace, hoping to outrun some of the enemy stragglers that may follow, and one instance, a white Zetsu claimed her foot, causing Temari to collapse, and Kotone to land violently on the limb of a tree, stomach-first.

Hiromi's soothing voice, telling her nurturing things that made her warm, lulled Kotone to a state in-between sleep and consciousness. Something similar to Hiromi's voice glided in between her ribs, somehow inside of her body, mending her pain, setting things in order, with gentle touch and a feeling that felt the way mint smelled.

She couldn't quite rest… Not like this, but it was something kind that made her head slump to the side, her white eyes fluttering closed at last. Hiromi watched her friend sleep, her hands carefully placed, with flowing green chakra healing the girl's wounds.

Hiromi felt something well up inside of her. She was helping Kotone. She was finally repaying the kunoichi in a small way. All of these years, it had been the white-washed Amaterasu that saved the blonde or gave her hope when the light seemed far, but now, seeing Kotone lay down with a peaceful look, Hiromi felt like she had some use.

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"Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity."

Khalil Gibran

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Thanks to everyone who has recently followed me as an author, this story or its prequel: (Silvercrises, PaulinhaEyva, IcedLady, ninetaileddemoness, gilliande, CandyPrincess3408, YookMeiXing, XYZ27, Shirone, Kaylain914, chrlnntv, WolfsBane54, Blue-Fire001, snowcoloredwolf, Taiga Yuichirou, Countenance, Duchess K, wolfielove15, Jikola, mariarosa, Demigod103, , , SillyBunny88, TheSynOfWolves, Ekiri Komori, NatsukiYuki)

Thanks to those who made me as an author, this story, its prequel a favorite of theirs: (PaulinhaEyva, IcedLady, ivorynight18700, tomoe toxic, CandyPrincess3408, YookMeiXing, AZ0MIN, QueenOfNight007, Kaitaiagirl, SpringTrap, Ali Kaulitz, EgyptianAssassin, Shirone, Prunes, Kaylain914, meslens, AnimeFan732, Yozora no Hoshi, WolfsBane54, Blue-Fire001, Manny27Lei, snowcoloredwolf, Psychotic Addict, Taiga Yuichirou, Countenance, Jikola, kerunrun, Tatobear666, , MinoUcette, SillyBunny88, TheSynOfWolves, Cleo C. Mika)

And last, but not least, thanks to those who reviewed!

(CandyPrincess3408) : Here's the latest update! I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reviewing!

(Shirone) : Thank you!

(Guest) : I'm glad you enjoyed it. I can guarantee that their interactions will be a bit awkward, all things considered... And I wouldn't put too much faith in Maiko. Thank you for reviewing!

(ShadowBloodNinja) : Well... You had plenty of time to catch up, I suppose! Thank you.

Wow. Thank you all for being so patient with me. I hope this chapter can suffice until I have time to write another. Since this story is slowly coming to a close, I've started on some ideas for other fics, and I recently published an Ouran High School Host Club story. If you're interested, I suggest going and reading it; I would really appreciate it.