Chapter Forty-Three

Midori was finally starting to realize that Kimimaro, the man holding her, probably wasn't a very good man. Not to mention his finger nails against her throat were starting to hurt. She whimpered as the nails dug deeper. She really wanted her daddy. Mommy would be good too but she'd bring Kaede and wouldn't be able to help the best. Besides, her daddy was her favorite. Naruto-ji-san said it's because she's a 'daddy's girl'.

The angel man was talking again but Midori couldn't really hear him over the crowds. She thought he said something about banisters and ship-heads but that didn't really make much sense. And Kyuubi-chan was still growling at Kimimaro. That, more then anything else, told her that he was a bad man. And Daddy had always told her to stay away from bad men.

"Daddy…" Midori whispered and Kyuubi's ears perked up. He yipped something lightly and she sniffled. She reached up to rub at her runny nose and was surprised when Kimimaro didn't stop her from moving. Looking up she saw that he was completely focused on the angel man. Biting her lip just a bit, Midori shrunk away from Kimimaro's nails and carefully reached for her sandal.

She remembered the day her daddy had told her she was old enough for a weapon. Her mommy hadn't wanted her to have one but daddy said that she was a 'big girl' and 'what if she needed to protect Kaede?' Besides, Naruto-ji-san gave Shigure and Shinta a senbon each and they were only two.

Midori had felt like such a big girl when daddy showed her the special compartment he had put into the soles of her sandals. They were just large enough for a single senbon and Daddy had made her practice how to take them out without hurting herself for two whole days before he'd been happy with it.

Wiggling her toes, Midori pushed the small trigger that released the senbon from its compartment on the heel of her sandal. She couldn't move enough to actually grab the needle but that wouldn't be too much of a problem.

"Escuse me, Kimino," Midori said, her voice weak and teary. "I wanna go'd home."

"Sorry little one," Kimimaro said, his voice emotionless. "That won't be happening."

"Let her go," Yotaro snapped. "She's no use to you. She's just a child."

"Interesting," Kimimaro said, sounding almost amused. "You don't know who this child is."

"Does that matter?" Yotaro said. "Put her down and face me like a man."

"No." Kimimaro said and Midori shrieked as the bones in his finger tips pushed closer to her throat, this time piercing the skin and drawing small beads of blood.

"Leaf me alone!" Midori said as she started to kick. "Bad man! Bad man, bad man, bad man! Daddy! Daddy hep me!"

"Stop moving." Kimimaro's voice was stern but calm until the heel of Midori's sandal connected solidly with his upper thigh. The senbon in her shoe pierced right through to the bone and Kimimaro grunted in shock and pain. His grip loosened on Midori and she wiggled free. She landed hard on her hands and knees at Kimimaro's feet and she gasped for breath as the fall knocked the wind out of her.

The entire event seemed to move in a blur for Yotaro who couldn't quite grasp the full scale of the situation. It wasn't until Kimimaro had yanked the needle from his thigh and pulled a sword from his shoulder that Yotaro jerked back to the present.

"Useless whelp," Kimimaro said, bringing the sword down in an arc to cut off Midori's head.

"Stop!" Yotaro said as he launched himself forward but he was too slow. Bone met flesh and blood flew as Midori screamed and Yotaro watched on in stunned silence.

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Hikari was dying. She was more then aware of that fact but the last thing she wanted to do was let Itachi know. Just as she relied on him for strength she knew he relied on her as well. If he knew her body was starting to fail he'd kill himself trying to save her. But that would just be useless because then Kane would be without a father as well as a mother.

Kane…To be honest he was the only reason she hadn't given up yet. Yes, she loved Itachi more then anything but she really didn't think she'd have hung on this long just for him. Kane though, he was her baby and she wanted to see him grow up. To get his first hatai-ate or chuunin vest. She wanted to feel happy for him when he finds that special girl for him.

At her side Itachi let out a soft sigh and Hikari glanced over to make sure he was still asleep. Once she was sure that he was she carefully rolled over the side of the bed. The scars on her skin were almost too many to count and not for the first time she was actually grateful she was so pale and sickly. It was harder to distinguish just how many of the white flaws there were when most of them blended in with her current coloring.

Her limbs were weak as she crawled across the floor to look out window. Reaching up she grasped one of the bars and winced at the thinness that was her arm and wrist. What weight she'd managed to put on during her pregnancy (mostly due to Orochimaru's insistence that she be kept healthy) had long since vanished and she found that she was more ugly and rod-like then she'd been before.

What moonlight there was made her almost translucent skin glow in the dark as she pulled herself up to look outside. Her eyes scanned the roof tops of the rundown village and she sighed when no figures disturbed the heavy night. The small bout of rebellion there had once been had died out with the fires that had burned the Haruno estate to the ground but some part of her always hoped that someone would keep trying, no matter how hopeless it seemed.

Lowering herself back to the floor, Hikari huddled with her back to the wall and drew her knees up against her chest. It had been seven long years since Konoha had fallen and Hikari knew she wouldn't last the three more that marked the return of her sister and the other corner kids. Hot tears welled up in her eyes and she buried her face in her arms in an attempt to stifle her sobs. She didn't want to die.

Her jagged nails scraped her skin as her fingers tightened their grip on her arms and she gasped as she felt them punch through the paper-thin barrier. Blood dripped through unhindered from the crescent shaped marks and she had to force herself not to bit her lip. It was a habit she'd had all her life but one she'd been trying to break for months. She new from experience that her teeth would have the same effect on her lips as her nails did on her skin.

Her body was too frail. Her health was too fragile.

She was dying. And there was nothing she could do to stop it.

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"Will she be okay?" Ichigo asked as Kyo tiredly closed the medic room door. He ran a hand over his eyes and sighed in an attempt to calm his temper before he responded. Unfortunately, after the scare and exhaustion, he wasn't as composed as he would have liked.

"No thanks to you," he said. "What the hell were you thinking running off like that? All of you could have been killed."

"It's not really Ichigo's fault," Tenten said, her voice barely above a whisper. "No one expected that Kisho would attack us like that."

"But at least he's dead now right?" Temari said. "With as bad as Ino was hurt there's no way he could have survived…is there?"

"Kisho is the spider fusion," Shikamaru said. "While there is a chance that the poison did kill him it is a very slim one. More then likely the poison will have no effect on him and he'll just have to worry about a bad bite."

"So it really was all for nothing," Ichigo said, her head lowered in shame. "I'm sorry guys. So, so sorry."

"Beating yourself up over it won't change anything," Baki said. "We'll just have to hope those leaf women know what they're doing."

"They do," Kyo said. "And I have no doubt Ino will be fine. Tsunade-sama is the best after all."

"How long do we have to wait?" Chouji asked, his brow furrowed in concern.

"There's no way to say at the moment," Kyo said. "For now, we just have to hope and pray."

"I don't believe in God," Kiba said. "And if there is one, he's doing one hell of a crappy job."

"Let's go train," Neji said. "Waiting out here won't help anyone and we need to be stronger if we're going to take back our home."

"Neji's right," Tenten said. "Let's go."

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"It has been an hour Sakura-sama," Haku said. "We need to leave."

Sakura shook her head, tears staining her cheeks. "I can't just leave them Haku. Sasuke and Midori, and Naruto too, they're my family. Our family."

"Sasuke and Naruto can take care of themselves Sakura," Hinata said. "We have to believe that they'll come back to us. But for now we need to make sure Kaede and the twins are safe."

"But what if—."

"Sasuke-sama gave me my orders, Sakura-sama," Haku said. "Please do not make me carry them out by force."

"Think about Kaede," Hinata said. "Sasuke will protect Midori."

Sakura closed her eyes and drew in a shaky breath. When she finally opened her eyes again they were filled with a steely resolve.

"You're right," Sakura said. "I've always trusted Sasuke before, I'd be a fool to stop now."

"Come then, Sakura-sama," Haku said. "The ferry is ready to depart."

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When Sasuke raced into the scene between Yotaro and Kimimaro, he wasn't expecting to find his daughter coated in Zabuza's blood. From what he could see a diagonal slash had dug deep into his skin from his left shoulder to his right hip, severing his spinal column. Midori was shaking him as she cried, her voice hoarse from screaming his name.

"Zabu-san! Zabu-san wakes up! Don't go ta sweep!"

"Midori!" Sasuke said, dropping to her side as Naruto and Yume placed themselves between them and Kimimaro. "Are you alright?"

"Daddy!" Midori wailed. "Zabu-san got hurted!"

"Zabuza-san," Sasuke whispered, reaching down to check the man's pulse. It was weak but still there. "Say something if you can hear me."

Zabuza's visible eye peaked open for only a moment as he spoke.

"N-ow we're e-ven." He said before his eye closed again and his pulse stopped completely.

"Zabuza-san…"

"D-daddy…" Midori said. "Zabu-san's gonna be otay right? He's gonna wakes up right?"

Sasuke pursed his lips into a tight line as he pulled his daughter into a comforting hug.

"I'm sorry Midori." Was all Sasuke said before Midori's little heart broke and she started to cry anew.

End Chapter Forty-Three

Kaliea: I'm sorry that it's short, but then again almost all of my chapters for this story are short so it's not really a surprising change or anything. Actually, it's kind of amazing that I updated at all since I'm seriously debating scrapping this story and re-writing it from the beginning. Now that I actually have a solid plot in mind that would probably be for the best. After all, I've been winging it for…how many years now? It would be nice if I was actually knew what I was writing. With that said, I've put up a poll on whether or not I should continue this story or start over again. If you don't want to be left out of that decision then make your opinion heard. Till next time, Ja ne!