Truth: He would never leave her.

Silence.

The day before they had walked with Miyako chatting happily with Daichi about his experimental jutsu. Now he was silent and uncomfortable in the oppressive pall of grief that his guards were giving off. He walked fast, just wanting to get away from them and back to his work. He'd never seen people to distraught.

Miyako stumbled along the road with tears rolling down her face. Every now and then she would sob, but otherwise she was silent. She'd lost her father and one of her best friends in the span of a season, and both losses were tearing into her heart painfully, clawing her open and making her grieve more than she ever had before.

Ayano was wallowing in self-loathing. She kept flashing back to the three dead genin at her feet, dead because she pushed them into something they weren't ready for. Once again, she'd pushed Kiyomi, hoping to drive her on to bigger and better things, and it had ended with her going mad with jealousy, attacking her fellow teammate, and then fleeing Konoha. Again she had cost the village a shinobi full of potential.

Sayuri was torn between rage and guilt. Kiyomi had left because of her, because she was constantly compared unfavorably to her. If she hadn't tried so hard, if she hadn't tried to help Kiyomi, which she apparently took as disdain… But then again, Kiyomi had tried to kill her, and there came the rage. How dare Kiyomi attack her like that, drugging their team members purely for a shot at her?

Daichi arrived at his destination and stood on his friend's doorstep. His research partner opened the door to let him in and Daichi turned back to thank his escorts, but they were already gone.

Kiyomi didn't know what happened. After the fight with Sayuri, everything was a blur. She wasn't honestly sure what had happened. Pain, blood loss, and emotion made for very hazy memories, and, she was fairly sure, some delusions.

She vaguely thought she remembered her sister's face, silver hair swept back into her usual bun, looking down at her sadly. She even heard Aiko's voice.

Then she had passed out, collapsing into blackness. All she knew was there had to have been someone, because when she woke next she was completely healed and a clean robe was tucked under her head as a pillow.

Kiyomi wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so she had taken the clothes and pulled them on before sprinting full-tilt back towards Konoha. If she was going to get away she needed to get her things and go before her team returned and told anyone about her abandonment.

She walked in the gate like it was nothing and the guards only glanced up for a moment to verify her before going back to their game of cards. She let out a breath of air and took to the treetops, heading back to her family's compound.

There was a certain vindictive pleasure in doing exactly what Aiko had done, in gathering all of her things into a bag and simply vanishing. She didn't even leave a note for her parents, just left the open wardrobe door wide and the bed neatly made.

She was almost ready to leave the compound, grateful it was empty, when her eyes caught on Aiko's door and she recalled her fevered delusion.

"Oh Kiki, what have you done to yourself?"

Kiki was a hated nickname Aiko had always used, despite Kiyomi's protests. Still, something made Kiyomi open the door and step inside, saying a last goodbye to her sister. Her eyes swept the room callously, forcing herself not to feel anything. Her eyes landed on the paper left on Aiko's desk from her last visit. With barely a thought, Kiyomi snatched it up and crammed it into her bag before turning and running from the house.

"Hey Lily-Girl!" Kotetsu greeted jovially as a ragged Team 9 staggered into the village. He and Izumo looked them over, friendly smiles falling.

"What happened to you?" Izumo asked. His eyes widened as he noticed one of their members missing. "Kiyomi?" he asked hesitantly, a sinking feeling in his gut.

"Gone," Ayano said hollowly. Izumo and Kotetsu both hung their heads in respect.

"She's not dead," Sayuri snapped at them, knowing what they were thinking. They looked at her in confusion.

"But if she's not dead, then what-"

"She abandoned us," Miyako said softly. Izumo and Kotetsu turned to her, startled by the pain in her voice. She looked back with watery eyes. "She tried to kill Sayuri and then she ran after she lost."

Kotetsu cursed under his breath and Izumo paled.

"Suppose you could say she pulled an Uchiha, eh boys?" Ayano said with a pathetic attempt at a laugh. "Kakashi's brat started a trend."

"Don't," Izumo cut her off sharply. "Don't hide behind your jokes, Ayano."

Ayano shook her head helplessly and gave him a weak smile. They'd gone on missions together, missions where they lost men. He was familiar with her defense mechanisms and so was Kotetsu.

"If I don't I'm gonna burst into tears, and no one wants to see that."

Izumo and Kotetsu were silent, looking over the destroyed remains of a team in front of them.

"Someone's going to have to tell Lady Tsunade," Kotetsu mused quietly. Izumo smacked him for his insensitivity.

"I'll make the report," Ayano said wearily. "You two… just go home."

Without another word, the three turned in different directions and headed off. Sayuri was barely holding herself together as she walked down familiar streets, remembering when she'd done so with a team that would never be whole again. She reached her door with tears balanced on the edge of her eyelids.

Kimimaro opened the door. He took one look at her and his face locked into a mask.

"What happened?"

Sayuri proved to herself what a mess she was. It took two words from Kimimaro and she lost it. She collapsed with a howl of grief. His eyes widened in shock and he caught her, drawing her into his chest, but her legs wouldn't support her.

"What the hell-"

Satoru burst into the room from down the hall. His eyes widened as he saw Sayuri folded into Kimimaro's arms, sobbing into his shirt hysterically. Kimimaro looked up at Satoru helplessly.

"Go to Ayano," he advised. Satoru hesitated, looking at Sayuri, torn between his surrogate daughter and the woman he loved.

"Ayano has no one. She has me," Kimimaro said, and Satoru submitted to his logic. He took off like a shot towards Ayano's apartment, frantic to find out what had the usually sedate Sayuri screaming and crying into Kimiamro's chest.

Kimimaro swung her into his arms, lifting her bridal style. He carried her to the couch and laid her down, unsure of what to do. Sayuri understood his hesitation, and directed him.

"H-Hold m-m-me."

Kimimaro was surprised by the request. She was not by any means averse to touch; in fact, knowing how much he craved the touch he'd been denied as a child she frequently touched him casually as they spoke, or allowed him to touch her. However, he'd always thought that had always been for his benefit, not hers.

Kimimaro lifted her once more. He sat down on the couch, leaning back against the arm, and placed her between his legs, drawing her back against his chest. His arms wrapped around her stomach. She sobbed harder as he hugged her close, gripping his wrist tightly with one hand. She twisted, burying her face in his arm as she sobbed.

"What happened?" Kimimaro asked quietly, at a loss for what could have her this torn up.

"Kiyomi… sh-she… l-l-left!" Sayuri sobbed into his sleeve. "She tried to k-k-kill m-me and then sh-she l-left!"

Kimimaro's grip on her arms tightened protectively. "She did what?"

Around her sobs, Sayuri managed to get the story out, including all of her emotions and thoughts during their fight. She poured her heart out to Kimimaro and cried her eyes out into his shirt. He held her the whole time, and it was heaven. She finally understood his affinity for touch. With Kiyomi's abandonment stinging, there was a perfect kind of comfort to be found in a solid assurance that someone was there with you.

"I won't leave again," Kimimaro whispered into her ear. "I will not do this to you."

Sayuri knew he wasn't lying. He would never leave her.

"Kimimaro. This is a surprise," Tsunade said, looking over her interlaced fingers at the Kaguya standing before her desk. She restrained a shudder. There was something really creepy about this kid, with his kekkei genkai and his blank face, almost like a bone mask. "You're not due to see me for evaluation for another few weeks. What's this about?"

"I wish to join Konoha."

Tsunade sat up sharply. "I'm sorry, run that by me again?" she asked, not sure she'd heard correctly. Sure, the kid had given them info on Orochimaru, but he hadn't even expressed any loyalty beyond that.

"I wish to join Konoha."

Tsunade sat back in her chair, fingering a cup of sake sitting on her desk. "And what brought this on?"

Kimimaro tilted his head, as if saying it was obvious. Tsunade raised an eyebrow in a way that clearly read 'humor me.' She'd been Orohimaru's teammate, she could do silent communication. Besides, she had a very good idea what this was about. It had only been a day since Ayano had staggered into her study and requested a drink in exchange for her report.

"Sayuri has been betrayed by a member of her team," Kimimaro began. "I wish to ensure she will always have a teammate she can rely on."

Tsunade raised her eyebrow. "Really? That's it?"

Kimimaro's eyes narrowed. "Is that not enough?"

Tsunade leaned forwards. "You want me to make you a member of this Hidden Village… because your cousin is having a rough time?"

"We don't know how we're related."

Tsunade snorted. "That's not really the main point here, Kimimaro. My point is, you're an ex-member of Sound. You used to serve Orochimaru, who's number one on our hit list. You expect me to believe you're doing a complete one-eighty because your cousin – or whatever she is to you – came home crying one day? I'm sorry, but I'm going to need more than that."

Kimimaro's face was blank. "My loyalty is absolute."

Tsunade scoffed. "I think Orochimaru would disagree with that."

"My loyalty is absolute… when deserved," he added.

"Better," Tsunade nodded approvingly. "Now, convince me." She sat back in her chair and took a long sip of sake. Kimimaro didn't look pleased with her blasé attitude. He didn't know she'd already decided. Her shinobi were dropping like flies lately and she desperately needed men. Kimimaro, with his kekkei genkai, was quite a consolation prize. She just wanted to know what his motives were.

"I have one person in this world," Kimimaro began. "I have one person who gave me a purpose not for their own goals. Sayuri asks only that I do not abandon her, and in exchange she tries to ensure I enjoy my life as I wasn't able to when we were young. I owe her my present freedom, my present pleasure, and my present opportunities. Everything I have now, I owe to her. I want to show her, prove to her, that I will not leave her."

Tsunade was surprised. This kind of devotion was rare to find, and almost scary in its intensity. She remembered seeing the fire in Kimimaro's eyes once burning in Dan's as he spoke of all that Konoha could be and her heart softened.

"Come here," Tsunade said, tapping the top of her desk. Kimimaro advanced and she snapped her fingers. "Wrists." He offered them to her and with a quick series of hand signs the cuffs that had been restraining his chakra fell away, clattering onto Tsunade's desk. Were Kimimaro a more demonstrative man, Tsunade suspected he would have been grinning like a loon. As it was, he only examined his wrists with a pleased gleam in his eyes.

"Is this an acceptance of my service?"

In answer, Tsunade reached into a desk drawer and plucked out a brand new hitai-ate with the Konoha leaf on it, tossing it towards him. Kimimaro caught it deftly.

"Betray us, and it means an execution," she warned.

"I understand," he nodded, looking down at the hitai-ate in his hand as if he couldn't quite believe he was really holding it.

"You're in luck," Tsunade grinned, leaning back and propping her feet on her desk, sipping sake like the cat that caught the canary. "We happen to have a team missing one member. How would you feel about joining Team 9?"

Kimimaro's hand closed around the hitai-ate tightly. "It would be my pleasure."

Sayuri was surprised when she opened her door to see Naruto standing on the stoop.

"Naruto?"

"Hey Sayuri," Naruto greeted, somewhat unsurely. They were friendly, but they didn't talk all that much, even less since they'd left the Academy and no longer saw each other every day. "Can I… come in?"

Sayuri nodded wordlessly and held the door wider. Naruto stepped inside and looked around. "Heh, nice place you got."

"Thank you."

Sayuri shut the door and turned to face him, crossing her arms over her chest. "What do you want?" she asked.

Naruto blinked. Sayuri had never been this downright unfriendly to him before. In fact, she wasn't like this with anyone unless they'd really pissed her off.

"I guess I just wanted to tell you that… I get it."

"Get what?"

Naruto stared at her hard, not sure if she was playing dumb on purpose. The way her jaw was clenched made him think she knew exactly what he was talking about. "You're not the first person to have a teammate turn on them."

Sayuri paled slightly, but said nothing as she moved to the couch, sitting down.

"Hey, look on the bright side," Naruto said with a weak laugh. "At least Kiyomi didn't run off and join Orochimaru."

"For all we know." Sayuri ruffled her hair in agitation. "No offense Naruto, but I'm really not in the mood for company."

Naruto winced, collapsing onto the couch beside her, groaning. "This really isn't going well! I had this all planned in my head, where I came in and said exactly the right thing and you felt better afterwards, and it would be really great-"

"You… came to try and cheer me up?" Sayuri asked in surprise. They'd never been close. She assumed that he, like many others when they heard the news, would merely note how unfortunate it was and then move on with their day.

Naruto shrugged, hand ruffling the back of his hair. "I mean, I guess I get it better than I lot of people… Maybe cheer up isn't the best way to put it, because I know you're not going to cheer up. I just wanted you to know it's not the end of the world. You just need a goal."

"A goal?" Sayuri repeated skeptically. "And what sort of goal would that be?"

"Bring her back."

Sayuri blinked. "Pardon?"

"Bring her back," Naruto repeated firmly. "Show her how much you miss her, drag her butt back here if you have to. Don't let her go."

"She tried to kill me!" Sayuri snapped.

"Sasuke tried to kill me," Naruto shrugged. "But that's just an excuse, isn't it? For a while, I tried to convince myself I hated him."

"But that doesn't work, does it?"

Naruto grinned slightly and glanced sideways at Sayuri. "No, it doesn't."

"Bring her back," Sayuri mused. "Do I have the right? If this is her choice?"

"I think considering you're supposedly the reason she left, you have more right than most," Naruto pointed out.

Sayuri buried her head in her hands and let out a gusty sigh. "Naruto, people give you a hard time… but I'm pretty sure you're the best person I've ever met."

Naruto blinked at her, startled. "What… really?"

"You have so much compassion… it's really quite impressive."

"Hey, thanks!" Naruto grinned, slapping her shoulder heartily.

The door opened and Kimimaro stepped inside. He paused at the sight of Sayuri on the couch, face buried in her hands, Naruto's hand on her shoulder. "Naruto Uzumaki," he greeted slowly. "What are you doing here?"

"I was… just going," Naruto replied, tugging his hand back when he saw the way Kimimaro was eyeing it. He looked back to Sayuri, who pulled her face out of her hands and smiled slightly.

"Thank you Naruto. I do feel a bit better," she admitted.

"Believe it!" Naruto cheered, before heading for the door. "See ya Kimimaro!" he waved jovially as he left.

"What did he say that has you so uplifted?" Kimimaro asked, seating himself beside her. Sayuri leaned against his chest, absently trailing her fingertips along the edge of his collar and feeling the texture.

"He just reminded me of some things," Sayuri said. "And he pointed out something very obvious that I missed."

"What's that?"

"That I may have driven her away… but I can also bring her back."

"And until you do, your team will not be empty."

Sayuri pulled away from him, looking back in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"I spoke to Lady Tsunade a week ago, right after it happened," Kimimaro explained. Somewhat guiltily, he reached into his shirt and plucked out a Konoha hitai-ate, the engraved leaf gleaming. Sayuri's fingers traced the shape, her eyes going wide.

"Tsunade-"

"She has made me one of Konoha's own, and placed me on your team," Kimimaro confirmed. "I will be by your side."

Sayuri's eyes went from the headband to Kimimaro's face. There was a moment of silence and then she burst into tears, lunging at the startled Kimimaro and wrapping her arms around his shoulder. She peppered his face with wet kisses as she cried.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you."

"You're…. welcome?"

Sakura's mission was Miyako. She figured that her softer touch would probably go over better with the quiet girl than Naruto's boisterous attitude. She made her way to the Hasekura compound and found the gate open. Melancholy still lingered in the air around the whole place and Sakura winced as she stepped inside.

This place feels so sad!

"You're Sakura Haruno, right?"

Sakura spun around and saw Akane Hasekura standing on a porch on the other side of the street.

"Yeah, that's me," she confirmed. "You're Akane. We met at the fireworks."

Akane smirked slightly. "'Met' is a strong word. Let's go with 'became aware of each other's existence.'"

Sakura smiled slightly in response. Akane nodded towards the large house at the end of the main street. "If you're looking for Miyako, she'll be in there. She barely comes out these days. Kiyomi on top of her dad," Akane shook her head. "Aiko would kill Kiyomi for that."

Sakura scowled slightly in confusion. "Who's Aiko?"

"Kiyomi's older sister."

Sakura's eyes widened slightly. "I didn't know she had siblings! She never mentioned it."

Akane's eyes were sad. "For good reason. Her sister ran off, a couple months before the Uchiha massacre happened. No one knows where she ended up. Aiko was a civilian, but she and I were pretty close before she left."

"I'm sorry," Sakura apologized. Akane waved a hand dismissively.

"All in the past, don't worry about it. Anyway, like I said, Miyako will be in there. I have a shift at the hospital to get to."

"Thank you," Sakura said, scurrying off towards the main house as Akane strolled leisurely for the gate. Sakura reached the door and knocked. She waited for a response, but none came. As she raised a hand to knock again, she finally heard shuffling on the other side. The door opened, revealing a haggard Miyako.

"Sakura," she greeted in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I… wanted to talk," Sakura explained awkwardly. Miyako cocked her head questioningly, but stepped aside and beckoned her in. Sakura followed her down a hall and into a small sitting room with two mats on opposite sides of a table. They sat down and Sakura looked around uncomfortably.

"What did you want to talk about?" Miyako asked.

Sakura winced. "I wanted to talk… about Kiyomi."

Miyako's expression tightened. "Did you now?" Her tone was warning and something Sakura didn't expect to come out of Miyako. But Sakura wasn't backing down.

"Yes," she nodded. "I wanted you to know… I get it."

Miyako smiled wearily. "Yes, I'm sure you do."

Sakura continued, "When Sasuke left," her voice trembled, "I kept thinking… what did I do wrong? Could I have stopped him? Did he ever really care about us? And then I saw what he did to Naruto, and it was so scary, to think he was capable of something like that… But it wasn't my fault," she forced herself to say, though she only half believed that. "Just like it wasn't your fault Kiyomi left."

Miyako braced her elbows on the table and buried her head in her hands. "Sakura, you're not telling me anything I don't already know."

"But there's a difference between knowing it an accepting it, isn't there?"

Miyako looked up sharply. This time her smile was real, even if it was melancholy. "Yes, there is. I keep feeling like… I should have seen this coming. I should have said or done something, even though I know it all came down to Kiyomi and her decisions. But for some reason… I can't force myself to accept that."

"Because it means we were completely powerless," Sakura nodded.

"Exactly. And I… I lead my clan. I can keep people from bleeding out even if we're miles from medical care. I can turn someone's body against them and put them under my control, like a puppet. I can vaporize someone with a touch. But I couldn't…I couldn't keep my team together."

"I guess what helps me the most," Sakura said slowly, "is knowing that… I wasn't really the cause. It was between Sasuke and Naruto. I don't hate Naruto for that, I don't, it just helps me to know that even if I couldn't stop him… at least I didn't push him away faster."

Miyako looked thoughtful. "That's… an interesting way to think about it. I… Thank you Sakura. You're right, that does help."

Sakura smiled sweetly. "No problem, Miyako."

Ayano was shaking. Miyako and Sayuri exchanged worried looks as they beheld their teacher. Kimimaro wasn't there. In fact, she'd insisted he stay home from today's training session, and since they'd arrived several minutes ago, she'd done nothing but stare into the distance vaguely.

"Ayano?" Miyako asked unsurely.

"Your word," Ayano blurted, jerking out of her stupor.

"Our word…?" Sayuri repeated, confused.

"I want your word, right now, that you'll only ever use what I'm about to teach you against Kiyomi."

Miyako and Sayuri were even more concerned now. They realized they'd been incredibly selfish, caught up in their own grief and not considering that Ayano had lost a student, how hard it must have been for her to see her own prized technique used by one student against another.

"You have it," Sayuri assured her.

"We swear," Miyako agreed.

Ayano nodded absently. "That's…. Right, that's good. So here it goes. Kiyomi turned my lightning technique against you… And I'm not going to let her get away with that."

Sayuri's eyes widened. "Ayano, you can't mean to-"

"I do," Ayano nodded. "I'm leveling the playing field. Kiyomi is not going to turn anything she learned from me against the two of you. She won't have any advantages from me. I'm not going to let her…" Ayano paused her rambling and stiffened, locking her hands together behind her back. "I'm going to teach you my lightning technique, on the condition that you never use it against anyone except Kiyomi. I don't want this getting around. I don't want old students crawling out of the woodwork begging me to teach them and pointing out that I taught you three. I'm teaching you this only so that the next time you face Kiyomi… you can bring her back."

Miyako and Sayuri nodded, each of them mirroring Ayano's stiff posture.

"What do we have to do?" Miyako asked determinedly.