A/N: First off, thank you you anonymous reviewer. I will do as you suggest in the future. I'm sorry that made you uncomfortable and I understand way better than you might think. But I'm also glad that didn't deter you from reading on!

Okay! So my poor back is feeling a little better, but it still feels like I fell down three flights of stairs. But! I'm obviously feeling better to write, so whoo! However, we're all caught up on chapters so they MAY not come as frequently. Then again, spring break is this weekend so who knows! Still sick though. Do you know how much it sucks being sick AND having a sunburn?! It's awful! I can't go five minutes without coughing up a lung and constantly burning and hurting. Ugh!

Enjoy!

Setsuko sat up in her bed, staring out the window at the vast desert that created the landscape. She was finally feeling well enough to at least sit up in bed. Temari had been by often, offering her comfort and an ear to listen. Kankuro had stopped by too, mostly to drabble on about goings on in the village. He mentioned that her advisor had been in the village since her unfortunate incident which struck her as odd. How convenient that he would show up just as she was almost blown to pieces. Wakana had left to be with Gaara, who she hadn't talked to since she screamed at him to get out a week ago. Her still broken fingers cracked as she tried to move them.

"Damn bandages," she grumbled in irritation to herself.

Turning her head back to her hands, she looked down at her bandaged body. Sakura had told her to get as much rest as possible until her stitches had healed. After she had reopened nearly all of them through her screaming fit, she was left back at nearly square one in her healing process. But maybe, if she was careful enough, she could finagle herself out of bed. Placing weight on a damaged arm, she cringed in agony as she ever so slowly got out of bed. Using the metal frame of the bed for support, she placed almost all her weight onto her less damaged leg and hobbled over to the window, with her I.V. drip scuddling up beside her.

Leaning against the window frame, she felt the desert breeze blow through her messy hair and sting her skin. She wanted nothing more than to leave this place and never come back. Right now, she felt so dead inside. The only people she ever called family had been slaughtered. The first man she ever loved was dead. Her first friends didn't actually know a thing about her. There was some weird thing going on with that blonde idiot back at the Hidden Leaf Village. Some crazy bitch wanted to maim her. And the one guy she was opening up for felt she betrayed him in some crazy way because she didn't tell him stuff. It's not like he was the most forth coming either! Crossing her arms in defiance, she huffed. The strain of her slowly boiling anger seemed to be too much for her still frail body as she began a coughing fit so bad that drops of blood stained the white gauze wrapped around her hand.

Setsuko

She stifled her coughing and looked up suddenly. Something had said her name. "He-hello?"

Setsuko

There is was again! "Who's there?" She looked around her room, but there was no one and nothing but white walls.

Release me

"Huh?" She couldn't understand what was going on? Where was this voice coming from? Thinking on it, she knew that voice. She had heard it somewhere before.

RELEASE ME!

The voice screamed at her so loudly that she had to cover her ears. She slammed against the window frame as the pain she had experienced in Konoha grew ten fold. Instinctually she tried to reach out for something, but there was nothing but air and her I.V. drip. Setsuko screamed as the temperature in the room began to drop drastically. It felt like her mind was splitting apart! Collapsing to her knees, she gripped at her hair, her fingers tangling themselves in the knots. The voice grew louder and louder. It shouted and raged at her to let it free!

The temperature dropped lower and lower, what little moister that was in the air froze. Icicles began to form on the metal frame of her bed and the stucco frame of the window; even the door was frozen shut. As the pain only grew, her scalp began to bleed as her nails dug deeper and deeper in to her skin, scratching and tearing away at it. If the pain grew anymore, it was possible she would scratch her own eyes out. Hunching over, screaming in agony, her eyes snapped open, both of them glowing. The floor seemed to disappear from view as images of the massive block of ice in her mind seemed to decay even further. She saw chunks of it falling to the meadowy ground beneath it that was now a frozen tundra. Setsuko shut her eyes, she didn't want to see it! She didn't want it to be true! She had never even wanted the power she possessed!

She heard a terrible, ear splitting screech that caused her to scream along with it and tear at the bandages on her face. The pain was far too intense! She could see glowing blue eyes through the raging blizzard and she finally passed out. Slumping to the floor in a broken heap, blood slowly dripped to the icy floor as it leaked from the open wound she had scratched into her face. There was a pounding at the door before it flew off its hinges. Everyone standing at the door was in shock, the nurses for their patient that now lay unconscious on the floor, and the ninja that looked at the room that had been frozen solid. Even the window was covered in ice.

By the time she had come too, she had already been moved to a different room and had new bandages put in place from the ones she tore off. Her eyes danced around the room wildly as she woke up, finding herself surrounded by people that she knew. Kazeku, Temari, Kankuro and even Gaara was standing off in the corner; all of them were there. Painfully, and slowly, she pushed herself into a sitting position, the moment she did though she had a coughing fit again.

She wiped the blood away and looked up at everyone, mostly at Gaara. "Why are you guys here?" She waved her hands, "Wait, scratch that." She paused to look directly at Kazeku, "Why are you here, Kazeku?"

The older man cleared his throat, "Things have gone from bad to worse Milady. Ever since Hui's disappearance and Maki's death, the village has been in total disarray."

Setsuko felt her breath hitch at the mention of their names, clinging to the blankets of her hospital bed tightly. "What of the others?"

"It seems that whoever is paying these assassins has let them run wild and take over our village. The other soldiers are dead or missing…" he trailed off, watching for her reaction, as was everyone else.

She felt a sharp pain behind her eyes, wincing and pinching the bridge of her nose. "Kazeku…"

"Yes Princess?" He looked at her with curious gray eyes.

Her eyes opened slowly, casting a glance towards Gaara who wasn't even looking at her but off in the distance with his arms crossed. That's how she knew him. "I wish to go home." all four of them seemed stunned, although Gaara hid it well.

Temari pushed Kazeku out of her way, standing in front of him, "What? You can't be serious!"

"I am though." Her voice was raw and oddly serious. It was the same tone Gaara had heard from her a week earlier when the Ice Dragon snuck into her room.

"You'll die if you go back!" she shouted, shock and worry etched on her face.

Never once did she look at the older Sand Sibling. "I'll die either way."

Temari turned to her baby brother, "Gaara! You can't just let her-"

"She's right." He said before she could even finish her statement, earning Setsuko's gaze.

She finally looked up at Temari with a sad smile. "By the way, I haven't gotten to ask yet but…where are Isamu and Aoi?" The air in the room seemed to become heavy and silent. They didn't even have to say anything. Her fingers dug further into the fabric of her blankets, earning echoing pops from her knuckles, "I see…Well, at least this way I won't put the lives of anymore of your people in danger."

"I understand Milady," Kazeku put a gentle on hers, "We'll leave as soon as you're better."

Setsuko began coughing blood into her hand and Sakura come walking through the door, "Alright that's enough for today. She needs her rest."

For days that was how it was. Someone would come by for a little bit before being told to leave as it was putting strain on her body. And every day she would cough up blood. Although Sakura assured her it was just residual blood being siphoned out of her body as it healed, it was still unnerving to cough it up every single day. Her days were long and boring as she spent most of her time in her room, in the quiet. The few days she would get to leave, were to be wheeled to healing sessions to make sure she was healing properly. Thankfully though, ever since the day she told everyone she would be returning home, that horrible pain in her head hadn't come back.

"Wait…" she paused as she forced her nurse to stop. They were on their way back to her room from a healing session and Setsuko was feeling rather well. Her body still hurt a lot, but she wanted to try and speed up the process by trying. "I want to try and walk."

"What?!" her nurse looked almost frantic at her words. "You're not ready for something like that yet!"

Ignoring the bumbling brunette beside her, she gripped the arms of the wheelchair. "We don't know that." She was talking mostly to herself as she grit her teeth in pain, pushing and forcing herself to her feet.

A few feet away, Sakura and Temari were watching the Princess struggle to get to her feet, hearing her nurse fret over her. "She's recovering rather quickly."

"It doesn't really surprise me. She's a stubborn Princess," Temari muttered with an amused smirk. Currently Setsuko was fighting with her nurse, who was desperately trying to get her to sit back in the wheelchair.

"She's nowhere near Naruto's recovery time, but that boy's healing is unnatural to begin with." A giggle erupted from the pinkette's throat as she watched the nurse evilly pat Setsuko on the back which earned a howl of pain from the blonde. "She should be good to go home within the net couple of weeks."

That sentence seemed to fill Temari with unease. "I don't like it."

Sakura looked over at her. Temari's face was serious as she watched Setsuko's back. "What do you mean?"

"She's essentially going home to die. I don't like it." Temari was digging her nails into her arms in apprehension about the situation.

"Well," she began, rolling her eyes towards Temari, "She's a Princess right? We have no right to say anything against royalty."

Although she hated to admit it, Sakura was right. Temari ground her teeth in aggravation as she left the arguing Princess with the nurses and doctors, telling them that she was fine. How could Gaara be okay with this? She wasn't blind! Although, something did seem different between the two; maybe something happened. She would find out from Gaara, even if he was almost impossible to extract information from. Why would he just be okay with her leaving to be executed? Angrily, Temari pulled her fan from her back and swung it, leaving a hole in a nearby restaurant; people giving her bewildered stares. She stomped her way to the Kazekage office, giving anyone that tried to talk to her a glare that meant certain death.

Setsuko stood by her window, watching Temari cause an angry scene below with an impassive look. The desert wind blew threw her finally clean and combed hair; she had been able to take a bath the other day. She felt the free hair brush at her bandaged cheeks with such a light touch that it almost tickled. Leaning against the window frame for support, her arms were crossed across her stomach almost in a thinking pose. The door behind her clicked open and then shut but she didn't bother turning.

"You wished to see me Princess?" Kazeku's voice asked as he stood somewhere behind her. The sound of his voice always made her skin crawl.

There was a moment of silence as she brought her head up to look out at the horizon. Another pass of the wind blew her long ponytail against her back, the many single strands tickling her neck. "Kazeku, tell me the truth."

She could almost feel his confusion. "The truth Milady? I'm afraid I don't understand."

She sighed, "I don't just have Yukiuta's chakra in me do I." Ever since she first saw the strange block of ice in the recesses of her mind, she had her suspicions but there was never any proof. If that assassin knew about it, then it must be true; right?

Kazeku cleared his throat, walking up behind her, "Why would you think that Milady?"

"I've heard rumors, plus my own suspicions." She turned around, a little surprised that he was so close but never showed it on her face. "Why was I never told?"

"We weren't sure ourselves. The great cryophoenix's body was always the hardest to follow. It always chose its hosts on its own." He gentle placed his hands on her shoulders causing her eyes to follow his hands before glancing up at him. "It chose those it deemed worthy of carrying such a heavy burden." He paused as he became eye level with her. The look in his eyes said everything; he was up to something. "Has anything strange been happening to you Milady?"

Setsuko stared into his gray eyes for the longest time, like she was searching for answers to her questions. "No. Not that I've noticed anyway."

He gathered her in his arms gently so not to hurt her, "Good. Nothing good comes from her being released." As she rested her head against his chest, he looked out the window with a dark look.

Meroko removed her mask as she walked towards the canyon wall. Her long blonde hair fell down her back, whipping it around to get it loosened from wearing such a confining piece of clothing. She couldn't wait until she could wear the clothes she wanted to wear. Looking over her shoulder, her eyes flashed purple for a split second before a smirk appeared tugging at her lips. Her powder blue eyes turned back to the rock wall in front of her only to watch it split apart and move as if doors opening just for her. They were, kind of. As she stepped through and the wall closed, she was greeted by the large, imposing older man that towered over her lithe frame.

"Ice Dragon." His greeting was short and matter-of-fact as he crossed his arms and stared down at her.

She gave him her trademarked grin, "Ero."

With posture only befitting of someone with high stature, she walked ahead of him briskly. Her long blonde hair swiped at her back with each step she took, her steps barely making any sound. The paleness of her cream skin almost seemed to glow in the tunnel with which they walked. All around them they were faced with an ice covered cavern of her own doing. When they arrived in Sunagakure over a month ago, Ero had carved out a hide away for them in the canyon the desert people used to protect themselves and she frosted over each wall with cold, sleek blue ice. The glow it gave made the caves seem magical.

In the echoing silence, the two walked for a long few minutes before the light of an opening began to blind their adjusting eyes. Once they reached the curved archway, Meroko's eyes fell upon four bodies sitting about, waiting. She silently scoffed to herself as she gazed upon the even number of genders. Two seemed to simply be watching as the other two were playing a board game of some kind. The woman playing was getting aggravated and was suddenly flipping the game over in anger.

"I swear you cheat at this damn game!" Seira stood quickly, pointing an accusatory finger at the young man sitting lazily across from her.

He choked out a laugh, "You wish I did. I can't help that you're an idiot."

Seira grabbed him by the collar with a glare of utter rage, "What was what?" she hissed through gritted teeth.

"Now, now Seira," Meroko's smooth voice cooed as she walked into the room with an authorative sway of her hips. "If you're going to threaten someone with an I.Q. of almost two hundred at cheating, you best have proof."

Burning eyes snapped to the icy woman without fear and scoffed, pushing Tao back into his seat which he promptly slipped off of. "He's no fucking genius."

"Says the woman who bites before she barks," Tao muttered from the ground, staring up at the frozen ceiling. From the floor he did a back flip just in time to dodge the board being driven into the ground where his neck used to be.

"Alright knock it off you two!" Meroko promptly scolded. Crossing her arms delicately across her chest, she tapped her foot against the floor and the ground began to rumble. Coming up from the floor, in the middle of the room, a large boulder of ice appeared with a flat surface and all of them gathered around it slowly, "It's time we get to play."