Chapter 40 The Melting Snow

The first thing we noticed was the huge doorway, that was lacking…well…doors. We were able to quickly determine though what had happened to them. The doorway led to a huge room with a high ceiling. At one point it was probably that it was beautiful, but it was apparent that it no longer was now. Delicate pottery was in pieces all over the rubble strewn floor, which might have once been a deep red carpet. Beautifully designed curtains and tapestries were torn and shredded like paper, reduced to simple rags hanging from the walls or lifeless on the floor. Pillars that were built for the purpose of supporting the ceiling were now cracked and fallen giants, one even had even torn through the front wall. And what appeared to be a stone chandelier of exquisite design and craftsmanship lay shattered and undone in a bed of sharp melting ice.

None of these details had caught my attention right away, no, we were much to distracted; for when we turned the corner Hiko, looking a bad as the tapestries I had described earlier, had just released an exploding kunai from her grasp and had lodged itself in the abdomen of a middle-aged man, dressed in rich, but torn, clothing. His dark skin was riddled with creases that could only be created by a person who's brow is all ways knitted together and their mouth pulled down in a harsh frown. Now, though, that face was wide with shock and fear. He opened his mouth to say something, but I had no time to find out what it was. The three of us who had just arrived ducked down for cover as bomb's fuse reached it's end.

The explosion was deafening and the force it sent out was overpowering. I would have been sent flying down the stairs we had just climbed seconds before had it not been for Sasuke putting himself between me and them. I didn't mean to, but I clung to him, tightly holding to the fabric of his shirt, as though he would suddenly disappear and I would be sent tumbling. Something behind shattered like glass and cold draft came rushing in. Smoke was everywhere and dust clung to the sweat coating of our bodies. It surged into my lungs, and my body shuddered and I coughed violently. The arms around me tightened their hold.

Somehow both slowly and quickly the dust and smoke settled and silence made it's entrance, bringing with it a ringing sensation that settled in our ears. I let out the breath I had realized I was holding, my chest heaving. Though we were still sweating, the cold air chilled our skin and we lingered between hot and cold. I shivered, but it was warmth was all around me.

There was laughter and cries of victory that sounded from the room in a voice that could have only been Mizuko. I turned my head to see, to my great relief, that despite their physical appearance, the both her and Hiko were alive and well. My tense body relaxed and I leaned into the warm body around me with a deep sigh.

"Yukimaru!" I heard Mizuko's voice said. "Karasu!"

I turned again, to see my friend's face, though there was happiness in her voice when she had called my name, there was confused amusement on her face as she looked at me now. Quickly I recalled why warmth surrounded me. My face red, I pushed away from Sasuke, gave him a quick embarrassed glance, then rushed towards my friends. I flung myself at Mizuko wrapping my arms around her.

"I'm so glad your okay!" I said. "I was so worried!"

I felt the breath of her sigh on my shoulder.

"Yeah." She said softly. "But I wouldn't be alive if it weren't for Hiko."

We turned to her, and she blushed ever so slightly. "It was nothing."

Mizuko put a hand on her head and she winced.

"Who could have known small people could be so useful!"

Hiko gave a glare and slapped her hand away. I smiled before turning to Yukimaru and bounded up to him. I wasn't sure what to say so I just took his hands smiled wider. He blushed.

"You are very skilled." I said finally. "We couldn't have done it without you."

"T-thank you." He said, giving a small smile.

I looked to Sasuke as I released Yukimaru's hands. He stared back at me with the same blank look he always wore. I gave him a embarrassed grin.

"Thank you."

He just looked away.

Mizuko came bounding up behind me and put and arm around Yukimaru. He let out what sound like a surprised squeak. His face became bright red and his eyes averted hers.

"See? Even you can be useful!" She teased. "And smile more often! It's cute."

He mumbled something and continued to look away. Mizuko laughed, and Hiko came up and chastised her. The three continued to tease and argue (well Yukimaru didn't really) as I walked up to Luciano. He smiled, he may not have understood what we were saying, but he could read the relief and happiness on our faces, of that I was sure. His hazel eyes were soft and I knew what he was thinking about.

"Thank you, we would have never gotten here as soon as we did without you" I told him softly in Italian.

"No," He responded in Japanese. "I thank you."

He laughed.

"Now you can return to you family."

He nodded.

"It'll be nice to see them again, and my little sister, she's probably about thirte-"

The was a sickening sound

His eyes grew wide and the smile on his face faded. His mouth now hung open slightly in shock. He let out a strange noise.

"Luciano?"

I looked down.

The blade was covered with his blood, which dripped slowly to the floor. The blade had a scimitar shape.

Again a strange noise escaped from his throat. The sword was yanked back brutally. Luciano cried out sharply, and dropped into my arms.

"Luciano?" I asked, my voice growing urgent. "Luciano!?"

He began to release short wheezing breaths. Cradling him, I lowered his body to the floor. Those hazel eyes were budging as they looked up at me, pleading, tears begin to spill from the edges. His hand curled around my arm. The wheezing turned to short gasping breaths, quickening over time.

"Luciano?!"

His eyes focused on me completely, now practically hyperventilating.

"Io….Io…."He choked out.

Then his chest stilled, the light left his eyes along with a chilling sigh. The grip on my arm loosened and the body in my arms went limp.

"LUCIANO?!?!"

I shook the shell, hoping the light would return.

"Luciano! LUCINAO!" I screamed. "NO! NO!"

I glanced around, as if hoping to find something that would be of use, something that could return him. My eyes fell on a cage inside the throne room. Within the cage, a small songbird lay still.

There was an annoyed sigh above me. I looked up to see Osuzu tossing her hair to the side. She observed the blood on her blade with mild interest.

"What a moron." She said, her voice bored. "He shouldn't have betrayed Aisuji-sama."

She looked down at me and her dark red lips formed a cruel smile.

"But in the end what use is an idiot who fall for simple acting tricks. What a moron." She repeated, letting out a high pitched laugh.

Something inside me began to boil. A heaviness began to form in my stomach. My grip on Luciano's body tightened.

"You…" I said, just barely loud enough to be heard.

The room was dead silent. Osuzu raised an eyebrow.

"Hm? 'You?' You what?"

Somewhere, deep inside my mind, or maybe it was my soul, something snapped.

"YOU BITCH!"

I hadn't felt my body move, suddenly I was on top of her, continually slamming my fist into her face. I wanted her to bleed, I want that sharp nose, those thin eyebrows, those full deep red lips, I wanted them all to be crushed, all to implode into her face! Her stupid face!

Why? Why did he have to die? Why do they always have to die? He had a family to return to, but…but….

I froze, fist raised in the air. I didn't see it, but I felt the warm blood on my knuckles, running down between my fingers, sliding down my arm, where it dripped off at my elbow.

Osuzu looked up at me, her face emotionless, but it was covered in blood. Her nose was broken, smashed down and disgustingly crooked. The red of her lips were smeared, mixing with the blood, the teeth on the inside of her mouth chipped and breaking. Yet all she did was look up at me with swollen eyes and let out low raspy breaths.

I didn't feel anything. She was broken, like I had wanted, but I felt to satisfaction, I felt to redemption. She had killed Luciano. She should die. Then why didn't the pain end? Why did it continue to grow?

I felt a hand on my upraised hand.

"Karasu…" Said Mizuko's voice.

I didn't respond. I thought the building had started shaking again, but it turned out to be me.

"Karasu…" She repeated a little louder.

"No!" I said, pulling away from her touch.

"Karasu this won't-"

"No! I won't!" I drew back slightly. "I won't be like you!"

Osuzu continued to stare, her expression set like stone.

"I won't be like you!" I repeated.

Mizuko, took me by the arm, and brought me to my feet. I allowed her to do so, and followed her when she lead me away. Sasuke was the first person I saw, even though I really didn't want to see anyone. His face was only slightly altered. His dark grey eyes were open wider and his lips were parted just barley. Something about the expression hurt me, not because it was coming from him, it was just the emotion I read in it. I looked away.

There was silence around, the kind of silence that makes you want to scream, because all the emotions that make it are made of negatives, and their directed at you.

A soft groaning could be heard in the distance. No one paid it any mind, but when it began to grow louder as it traveled in our direction, everyone's attention was averted. The sound echoed over and below us, then abruptly ended. We exchanged glances, then the whole structure shuddered violently. We all swayed, trying our best to keep our balance. Yukimaru almost fell and held onto a nearby pillar for support. The groaning resumed, this time accompanied my a unnerving splitting sound. Everything jerked. Then it was still.

"What the hell was that?!" Hiko said, looking around nervously.

"I have no-" Mizuko stopped. "The ridge…" She murmured.

"The what-" I began.

The splitting sound grew louder and the whole building dropped down a bit. We hit the floor, almost bouncing. The groaning grew louder and a something heavy fell somewhere in the fortress. Cries of panic echoed through the hallways.

"The foundation is crumbling." Said the soft voice of Osuzu.

We looked in her direction, but she neither returned the favor, nor said anymore.

"We have to go guys!" Mizuko said urgently. "Now!"

The tone of her voice was enough to make us obey without question. We all bolted for the door, quickly calculating our best route of escape. I glanced back. Osuzu lay still on the floor, looking at the ceiling as it began to rain debris. Her look hadn't changed. I wasn't sure how to feel but then she looked over at me, and gave me what appeared to be a triumphed smile. I didn't understand at the time.

The debris grew in size and my view of her was blocked when the hallway began to cave it. The last thing I saw was that bloodied mouth curled into a smile. Then she was gone.

For a moment the ominous structure teetered on the edge of the ridge, groaning in protest, then it dropped, and the screams could be heard form the people who had been unable to make it out. They were quickly silenced though, once the fortress made contact and collapsed into itself. The sound echoed through the mountains, and sent shivers down my spine. It was a terrible event to watch, yet we stayed to do exactly that.

The remaining Kyu and any workers who had lived at the base, looked around aimlessly, some crying others cursing. Every now and again, I heard someone voice thankfulness. It was a strange moment, filled with mixed emotions, even for us.

We used one of the snow mobile vehicles to get back to the village. Mizuko and I snuggled together under a thick blanket, sharing body heat in order speed up the heating process, especially on Mizuko's behalf. She shivered but her eyes were distant, she wasn't there with me, she was in a memory, far away from where she physically sat.

I, too, must have looked distant. I saw the trees, racing past, as the snow settled on their branches and glittering in the light of the almost set sun. It glowed red like fire, dropping down behind the mountains in the direction where the fortress had once stood strong, as if leaning down to scoop up the lost lives and escort them to the afterlife, the smoke the rose between the peeks being those souls moving on. Moving on up into the fiery sky and into the soft clouds. It was a beautiful sight. But one soul wasn't moving on. I sensed, saw it, smiling in my mind.

The world blurred and fell into darkness.

She had been a different person at that moment. That's what Sasuke saw. Her eyes darkened up, something in her pulled itself free. He saw that in the way they burned crimson. He saw that in the way she moved. The way she tackled down her victim, the way her fist moved as though it had a mind of it's own. What he saw was not Karasu, what he was, was something else. What he saw was a being made up of darkness. What he saw was vengeance.

But most of all, what he saw, and what unnerved him the most, was himself.

Sasuke saw what he could have been his future. He wanted to reach out for her, tell her stop, tell her it was pointless. But he knew those words would be hypocritical even to his own ears. He would be telling her to not live the life he did. Was that what he would become in the future? An animal run my savage instinct? A being filled only with hate and violence? He saw all this in Karasu. And he watched without moving a muscle. He watched and refused to accept that he was seeing what could become of him. He refused to see himself in that.

She returned though, the crimson faded the malice melted. Her frail body shook, like he had seen before when she stood covered in blood. She cried out against herself, she cried out against her victim. She refused to be like them. Sasuke doubted that she knew who she was talking too. Maybe she thought she was talking to Osuzu. Maybe she thought she was speaking against the darkness in her heart. But he knew. He knew who every word and every syllable of that statement was directed at. He knew that statement was for him. She refused to be like him, she refused to be his future. In that short amount of time, they had made a connection and she hadn't even realized. Sasuke knew all of this.

He ignored it.

Instead he glanced back at the girl. Her head rested on the shoulder of her friend as she slept. The blanket was pulled up to her chin but he could still see the steady rising and falling of her chest. Her eyelids fluttered every now and again, her hair occasionally brushing across her face as the wind tossed it gently.

Something inside Sasuke warmed, though he might not have realized it.

They reached the small village when the stars had reached their peek and the moon hovered above, spying through the trees. Sasuke had suspected that the village would have long fallen into a slumber by now. Instead they had gathered, many holding candles as a source of both light and warmth. They were bundled and snow had gathered on their clothing and heads. Even Sasuke wondered how long they had been out there. When he brought the vehicle to a stop, their eyes watched him eagerly. He pretended to not even notice them and told Yukimaru to help get the others out from the back. Hiko was the only one who stared back directly at the villagers.

One of them couldn't wait any longer.

"The Kyu?" Asked a man with a short graying beard, his head covered with a cap. "The Kyu, are they…gone?"

"We saw the smoke!" Called out a women's voice.

Hiko looked to Sasuke, who finally turned his attention to the people. It almost seemed as if the people leaned forward in order to better hear the response. Their eyes were wide and waiting.

"Yeah." He said quietly.

Their face dropped to shock, to disbelief. There was an eerie silence, then the man who had first spoken up turned to face the rest of the village.

"THE KYU ARE GONE!" He yelled.

A huge cheer rose from the crowd. Women kissed their husbands. Children began to dance around and clap. So people raised their arms to heaven and praised a god of some kind in their various tongues. Even men began to start crying.

Hiko tried her best to quiet them, but they hooted all the louder. A large man came shoving toward the front of the crowd, until he was face to face with the shinobi. The worried expression that had formed his face when he had emerged now fell with relief and he smiled.

"Himoru?" Hiko called softly.

"I'm so glad to see that you are all alright." He paused. "Well, I mean alive."

When he noticed Sasuke removing a sleeping Karasu from the mobile, he approached.

"Give her here." He said softly.

Sasuke shook his head silently, Himoru smiled at that and gathered up Mizuko instead. She appeared so small in his arms.

When the crowd finally noticed the sleepers, they quieted down and allowed Himoru and the other to pass through easily. He took them back to his house naturally, where they were placed into the rooms of his daughters. Sasuke settled down on the couch where he was to sleep, and stared into the crackling fire before him, sending it's refuse up through the chimney. Outside the villagers had gathered and begun to sing, sometimes songs from their personal heritage that not everyone knew, but still hummed along with. Occasionally they sung something in the Japanese tongue. They waved their candles through the air in unison. Secretly, Sasuke wished Karasu could see it, he knew it would make her smile.

"They'll be forever grateful to you, you know." Came Himoru's voice from above.

Sasuke glanced up every so slightly.

"You've saved us all from a life of fear, and give our children a generation worth growing up in." He smiled kindly. "I thank you from the bottom of my heart."

Sasuke returned his gaze to the fire. Then placed his head on his pillow.

Himoru stared down at him a while longer, but when he realized he wasn't getting any response, he turned away. Sasuke listened to his receding steps, then closed his eyes.

"My goal isn't to save lives." He said, just barley loud enough to be heard.

Himoru's footsteps stopped. There was a long pause.

"I see." He said in a sad voice.

The next few days were rather hectic. The doctor came to Himoru's house to tend to our wounds. Mizuko had it bad, she was not only badly injured, but the cold had affected her greatly. She was restricted to bed most of the time and, miraculously, she never once complained about it. She slept most of the day away, only waking to eat, or to relieve herself. The rest of us had healed enough to leave the house within two days. During those days, many people had come to see us, bring thanks and sometimes even gifts, however, Himoru sent them away.

We tried to repair our clothing to the best of our ability but, some of it was beyond that. So we shopped for something temporary in the village. So many people approached us at that time, to shake our hands, to thank us. Whenever we tried to buy something they would give it to us for free, even when we insisted on paying, they refused to take no for an answer. Even the food was given to us for free. By the time people started brining gifts, we had learned to just accept them with a smile.

Truth be told, I didn't want them to thank us, I didn't want their praise. Mizuko told me of the goal of Aisuji Tawera. We had destroyed an organization of people who had simply wanted to follow their dreams, to prove wrong the people who had told them it was impossible. Yes, their methods were questionable, but everyone gets misguided. Perhaps they could have been reasoned with, then Luciano would still be alive. We destroyed the dreams of so many people we didn't know. How could I accepted their thanks? In the end though, why was it we had done what we had? It wasn't to free these villagers. It wasn't to save the world from a great threat. No. It was simply because Orochimaru saw this organization as being problematic for him in the future. Because they were a small thorn on the bush, that he knew might just end up pricking him, and thus had it removed.

Like the last mission, I felt no triumph, other than the fact that I was alive. Was it really worth it though?

I don't think I ever felt it was.

Once Mizuko was healed, Sasuke announced that it was time for us to leave. We packed up our things and loaded them onto the boat that would take us home. Himoru gave hugs to those of who would allow it, and shook hands with Sasuke. As we boarded the ship, people called out to us, wishing us luck, thanking us again. They continued to do so even when the boat began to pull out. They waved enthusiastically and I waved back. There on the edge of the dock though, I saw an elderly face with a milky eye. Lou raised a wrinkled hand up in a motionless wave. The smile on his face inspired mine to do the same. I continued to watch him until was but a small shape against the islands silhouette, and even still when that became a dot on the horizon. I never saw the place again.

The next day, Mizuko came and sat down next to me on the deck. The temperature had begun to heat up so she spent less time inside. Sasuke was leaning on the bow, watching the view ahead. Though my gaze was on him, my attention was not, I was deep in thoughts about the past week. Mizuko was quiet at first, then she began to stare at me. I looked over lazily.

"Yes?"

She leaned towards me slightly.

"What up with Sasuke?"

I looked at her quizzically. "What do you mean?"

"Like I haven't noticed." She said, still keeping her voice low. "I can see there something going on between you two."

I flushed.

"The-there's nothing." I lied.

"Mmm-hmm," she raised an eyebrow. "I have gone through geisha training you know. I've been trained to read emotions, especially male ones."

I sighed.

"He's obviously the chaser." She continued. "When did it start?"

"That one night at the inn after the first mission, not too long before we went to the bath."

She clicked her tongue. "Not smart." She said. "That was not a good time to make a confession."

"Well…." I paused. "It wasn't really a confession…"

She stared at me.

"He kind of well…just…" My face grew hot.

"He didn't!" She said, still keeping her voice low.

I nodded.

"What a dumbass!" She said with a laugh, shaking her head. "He obviously has no experience with these things."

There was an awkward pause.

"Oh!" Mizuko said suddenly.

I jumped at the sudden phrase. She pulled a small booklet from her jacket.

"What's that?"

She held it up. The cover read Horoscopes.

"I bought it in the village after I started noticing the strange behavior between you two."

Really? I mean really?

"You're both Leos right?" She asked.

"I…guess?" I wasn't really to sure to be honest.

She flipped through her little book, then scanned down the page. I waited quietly.

"Well," She began. "You seem to harbor most of the positive traits: generous and warmhearted, creative and enthusiastic, broad-minded and expansive, faithful and loving. However, not to surprisingly, Sasuke seems to have inherited the negative side of things: pompous and patronizing, bossy and interfering, dogmatic and intolerant."

"Defiantly pompous and dogmatic." I agreed.

"They are ambitious, courageous, dominant, strong willed, positive, independent, self-confident there is no such a word as doubt in their vocabularies,"

No doubt? Defiantly BS.

"… and they are self-controlled. Born leaders, either in support of, or in revolt against, the status quo. They are at their most effective when in a position of command, their personal magnetism and innate courtesy of mind bringing out the best of loyalty from subordinates. They are uncomplicated, knowing exactly what they want and using all their energies, creativeness and resolution to get it, as well as being certain that they will get whatever they are after."

Last part is defiantly Sasuke.

"Their faults can be as large in scale as their virtues, and an excessively negative Leonian can be one of the most unpleasant human beings imaginable, displaying extreme arrogance, autocratic pride, haughtiness, and excessive hastiness of temper."

Sasuke~.

"If jealously suspicious of rivals, they will not hesitate to use cunning, lies and trickery to discredit them. Self-centeredness, greed for flattery, boastfulness, and bombast, pomposity, snobbish superiority, and overbearing, and intolerant disdain of underlings; to whom they will nevertheless delegate the carrying out of minor details in their grandiose schemes, and from whom they are not above borrowing immoderately if an occasion necessitates it." Mizuko paused. "I didn't understand about half of that."

"Same here." I agreed. "But it sound like Sasuke."

We both giggled a bit, and the subject of our conversation turned his head back a bit. We both lowered our voice, glad that the wind was blowing in our favor. Mizuko continued.

"Any of these can be characteristic of Leo. Add to them a passion for luxury, a lust for power, unlimited….oh…" She stopped.

"What?" I asked, now interested.

She cleared her throat and lowered her voice even further. "…unlimited sexual lust,"

Great, absolutely perfect.

"and emotional indulgence, and a character emerges that no one would want to know either in public life or private. Fortunately it is rare that a Leo is so undisciplined as to give way thoroughly to this list of vices, and their tendencies to them are usually balanced by an innate wisdom. Those who are afflicted with them also have the intelligence it takes to consciously and actively overcome them."

We glanced at each other skeptically.

"In his or her relations with others the Leo type is open, sincere, genuine and trusting. Outgoing, spontaneously warm hearted and plain spoken, though never lacking in kindliness, Leos are more disillusioned than the average if let down by those they trust. They are not good judges of character and are inclined to favoritism and an exaggerated faith in their followers which too often ends in disappointment. They have a strong sex drive and are so attracted to the opposite sex that they find it hard to be constant; they can be so intensely sexual as to become dissolute. They may have numerous love affairs for their love of pleasure and beauty is liable to drive them from one attractive partner to another."

"Somehow that doesn't sound like Sasuke. He never really show much interest in relationships…well…besides…." I paused. "But if he is like that, what a douche bag!"

"They are very much inclined to deceive. Their marriages may fail for the same reason, yet they are sincere and generous to their lovers while love lasts, and will remain attached to their homes so long as it is run for their benefit. They demand service but are incapable of giving it."

She stopped.

"Is that it?"

She shrugged. "Everything that's interesting."

"I don't really buy that stuff." I said leaning back. "Sasuke doesn't even fit some of those-"

"You know," Mizuko cut it. "You're a Leo too."

"Yeah, but I'm not like that…" I said defiantly. "As I said, I think that stuff is BS."

She smiled. "Say what you want."

She leaned back and continued reading a flipping though the books pages. I looked forward to see Sasuke with his back still towards us, but he was glancing over his shoulder, I could see his eyes through his bangs as they floated on the wind. We stared at each other for a while, but like always, I was the first to drop my gaze.

Instead I looked at the sky. The clouds were clean and while, fluffy and soft. A seagull called out as it flew above, a few other following while echoing it's cry. The breeze felt nice and for just a moment, I thought I would like time to stop so that I could remain in this calming moment forever.

However, things like this are never made to last.

Author Notes:

And the arc ends!!!! Yayz! Kind of a sad ending, though I threw some horoscope info in the end there, so maybe you learned something new, lol. I hadn't really realized that I had give Karasu a Leo birthday, well, I did, but it didn't click that Sasuke was a Leo as well. Fail! *slaps face*

Anyways! I hope you enjoyed it. The last bit of the chapter wasn't too good, I know, but….oh, well, lol