Here's chapter two :) I hope you enjoy!

(chapter)

Azami lay, unconscious and beaten, in the midst of her ruined village and murdered friends and family. And there she lay for three days, until a coyote came up to sniff at her. Her eyes snapped open, and she snarled at it. It fled, yelping, back to its pack.

She sat up stiffly, her stomach gurgling and her mouth as dry as a desert. 'Desert...huh...'

She was too tired to formulate her plan yet, however. She tried to stand and was stopped by the pain in her arm. Leaning on the opposite arm, she stood carefully. Getting her bearings, she entered the nearest house, pausing to knock on the door out of habit before she remembered that everyone was dead. She got a glass and drank until her thirst was quenched, then drank another glass, knowing that she was dehydrated and needed the fluid. She grabbed an apple off the table and ate it quickly, then went to her home. In the backyard, she dug three graves. Seeing as how she only had one good arm, it took her many hours and a lot of pain, but at the end of five hours, three graves sat in her yard. Two were the same size, but one was nearly twice as small as those. She buried her parents tenderly, gently laying their bodies into their graves.

Then, she fetched her brother's body. Cradling him gently to her, she laid him into the small grave between her parents. As the last shovelful of dirt covered his pale, pain-filled face, tears began to course down hers. Throwing the shovel down, she laid down at the foot of their graves and cried, ignoring the pain in her broken arm.

An hour or so later, she was calm enough to make herself a splint for her arm to make sure there was no permanent damage. She sat on the roof of her house, staring out at her village...or rather, the ruins of it. She began to formulate a plan, speaking aloud just for the comfort of a voice.

"I need to get to one of the five great villages. Konoha or Suna is preferable. Suna is my best bet..."

Then, her sharp shinobi eyes caught a movement near the Kuwabara household. Hope in her eyes, she sprang over.

'I'll be happy if it's any of them, or anyone really, but please...let it be Masayoshi...' She thought, hope welling up in her throat despite her efforts not to get her hopes up. 'Outside of my family, he's the one I feel the most grief for. Please be Masa...'

She leapt down to where she had seen the movement and turned the body over. "Masayoshi! It is you!"

He coughed. "Azami? Azami!" He raised his hands to her arms, accidentally brushing her ribs in the process.

"Agh!" She yelped.

"I'm so sorry..." He murmured. "Are you hurt?"

She nodded. "He stabbed me in the ribs, and they broke my arm after I was knocked out. But, Masa...where are you hurt? Maybe I can help you!"

He shook his head. "No, Azami...I'm dying. Their shuriken...they cut me up well."

"Just show me, Masa...let me try, at least..."

Wincing painfully, he lifted his shirt. She gasped in surprise, clapping her good hand to her mouth. His stomach was a torn up, bloody mess, almost as if a carnivore had bitten him with its teeth. He lowered his shirt again. "That's why I didn't want you to see, Azami...you can't do anything for that..." He coughed dryly, a hacking cough with the sound of death rattling through it. "Besides...I've already lost too much blood...you just can't tell because my shirt is red." He finished his statement with a coughing fit.

"Masayoshi..." She mumbled, tears in her eyes. She laid her hand on his face. "Please...don't die...we're the only ones left, Masa, you can't die! I'll be all alone..."

He smiled up at her tenderly. "Azami, come here." She leaned down next to him. "Closer..." She leaned even closer to him, and he smiled. "Azami, you will never be alone. Though we might be gone in body, our spirits will remember you, and our memories will stay in your heart. No matter what, remember that. We will always be with you." He slid his hand behind her head and brought her down so he could press his lips to hers. "Always."

"Masayoshi," Azami trembled. "I love you...don't leave me..."

He looked at her sternly. "Azami...don't tell me that just because I'm dying. You like me a lot, but you don't love me. We both know that, although you might not want to realize that. Promise me something?"

Tears ran freely down her face as she answered, "Anything."

"The next time you tell someone you love them...promise me that it'll be for real."

"I...I promise, Masayoshi." She murmured as tears slid down her cheeks.

"Good. And, Azami...you're fifteen years old. It's going to be hard for you, but you've got your entire life ahead of you. Don't change because of all that happened in the past few days. Do me a favor, alright? Find someone new to care for." He placed his hand on her neck once more and pulled her face down towards his one last time. Her lips inches from his, he paused. "Goodbye."

Their lips connected, and Azami kissed him tenderly, her tears dripping onto his face. She felt his hand slip off her neck, and she caught it with her good arm, pulling away gently. She placed his arm down by his side and brushed his sweaty blonde hair off his forehead. "Sleep now, Kuwabara Masayoshi." She whispered, tears pouring down her face. "God knows you deserve to."

She stood and walked into her home, grabbing her ninja gear and reinforcing the splint on her arm. She grabbed a cloak to protect her from the deserts of Suna and left her house, leaving the village. As she walked, she thought. 'I'm sorry, Masayoshi, and to you as well, Mr. and Mrs. Kuwabara. I can't afford to bury you right now. It was Thursday when this fight began, it was Saturday when I lost consciousness, and I don't know what day it is now, but they'll be back less than a week from now. I've got to get to Suna, convince the Kazekage to send help, and get revenge for you and the rest of the village...especially for Yoshihiro. I'll bury you later...and I'll make a monument, a great one, for all of the fallen. I promise.

'I've just got to get to Sunagakure first.'

(chapter)

Well, I hope you liked it!:) And you guys get to pick whose name I write about next...Masayoshi, Yoshihiro, or Mitsuo. Review me with your choice!

BlackDragon333