I just realized how pitifully short all of my chapters have been thus far. Please forgive me This chapter was finished because of KijoKuroi who left me a review. Thanks for finding me after I left Quizilla.

"What's a wraith?" Kisame said, giving me an odd look. "And why should we be so afraid?"

I shot him an irritated look before explaining, "Wraith is mostly another word for ghost. Except that wraiths only generally show up right before or after a person's death. Obviously, they look like the person is going to or has already died."

"So, does this mean that we're going to die or something?" He questioned, apparently still confused.

I sighed, barely glancing back to answer him with a, "No, not necessarily," as I tried to figure out from which direction the wraiths were coming and how far away they were. Once I was able to figure out their location, I took off and heard Kisame say, "What's that supposed to mean?" before he and Itachi started following. As I got closer to where the wraiths were, dread started to fill me. I knew where this was. My kind may not be able to live inside the Hidden Villages but we did live near them. We were required to keep the balance between humans and nature. We were a sort of protectors, if you will. I can't imagine how horribly out of balance nature is right now because of my family's death. I only hope that Akatsuki assumed my family was the only one and our powers were a Kekkai Genkai because if they kill our entire race, the world will fall apart and everyone will die.

I skid to a stop in front of the gate, greeted only be eerie silence and the stench of blood. I put a hand on the gate and took a deep breath, attempting to ready myself from whatever lay within. I could sense the wraiths inside, waiting for me to make the first move. One more deep breath and I shoved one of the large wooden doors open and nearly choked. I had thought the smell was bad before but it was infinitely worse inside where the odor of blood mixed with the stench of decomposing corpses. They were scattered everywhere. As far as I could see, bodies were piled everywhere. As I glanced around, I was somewhat satisfied to see that there were also ninja bodies scattered as well. I suppose I may not have been telling the truth before when I said there are only two ways to kill us. We can be decapitated. It makes me extremely glad that Hidan didn't try that method with me. Still, seeing all the headless bodies of my kind is more than a little unsettling; especially considering the massacre of my family so fresh in my mind.

Itachi and Kisame walked up behind me. Kisame let out a low whistle as he surveyed the courtyard. I looked up as Itachi shot him a glare over my head but ignored it as I turned around to face the wraiths. Looking into the face of the wraith standing before me, a sob escaped before I collapsed to the ground on my knees. My head in my hands, I let the cries come, willing to make the reality before me only a dream. Not only had more of my species been slaughtered, whoever had done this had also taken my husband from me. I shivered as ice cold seeped into my shoulder. I grimaced in a painful smile as I saw my husband, trying in vain to comfort me. He opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came.

"Who's that, your boyfriend?" Kisame drawled, a smirk playing on his features. I shot him a withering glare and answered, "No, actually. He's my husband, you ignorant buffoon." I felt small satisfaction as Kisame gaped at me. My dead husband cracked a smile and pantomimed high-fiving me. I snorted and shook my head. Itachi clearing his throat brought everyone back to the harsh reality around us. I could see the question in his eyes and so I sat down, in the middle of a battlefield; to tell a love story. "He wasn't the first choice to be my husband. My father was searching the perfect match. He had many candidates, but none of them were good enough for him. This one was too tall, that one too skinny, any children from him would be too gangly and unfit for proper work. I loved my father, truly; but he was ruthlessly judgmental in picking out husbands for my sisters and me. Although, I suppose now I am grateful for it." I paused to turn and smile at my husband, smiling encouragingly at me from behind. Even in death, I felt my love for him beat strongly within me. It took hold of my heart and squeezed; the only outward sign the single lonely tear that would travel down my cheek before resting underneath my chin.

I quickly wiped it away before continuing my story, "I didn't approve of anyone because I didn't want to be married. If I got married, I'd be expected to have children. Having children would prevent me from going on any missions. I wasn't ready to give up being a shinobi yet." I felt the soft brush of Kouji's mind as he spoke his thoughts into my head, 'Do you remember the first time we met?' His thought does remind of the first time we met. Shaking my head, I explain the encounter out loud, "When we first met, I hated Kouji. I wanted to gut him on the spot. By that point, I'd had about enough of my father's meddling in my love life. He just wouldn't accept that I wasn't ready for marriage. I wanted to keep living my life. Kouji was perfect in my father's eyes, much to my dismay. Thus, our engagement was announced. The first time I saw him, I actually attacked him. I had been training and I ran at him with a kunai. He was quick, he blocked me and we stood like that for a few minutes. I was trying to kill him just by looking at him and he was just staring at me with that damn smirk on his face." As if on cue, Kouji smirked. I rolled my eyes at him. "Anyway, my father came storming out and lectured me in front of my fiancé about how I was being disrespectful. Eventually Kouji stepped in and stopped my father. He even said he would've done the same thing if he were in my place. I suppose after that I was a goner. He can be damn charming when he wants and he tried very hard to win over my affections before we got married. I never was quite sure why but I'm glad for it. He became my best friend, and in the end marrying him wasn't such a bad thing. It was probably the best thing I ever did." I smiled wistfully at my now dead husband.

I stood up and walked inside the house. I could feel that Itachi and Kisame hadn't followed me but when I turned around, Kouji had. It was at that point that the full force of what had happened hit me, and I lost it. I fell to my knees as great heaving sobs racked my body. I didn't care if the two Akatsuki standing outside could hear me. I lie on my back and let my grief take over. Through the steady stream of tears I could see Kouji, staring at me with a look of such love and sadness that it brought the cries back anew.

End of Five

Thanks for reading, I am sorry that my chapters are so agonizingly short. Hopefully to make up for that, I will be posting new ones much faster than I ever did on Quizilla.