"If there ever comes a day when we can't be together, keep me in your heart, I'll stay there forever."

-Winnie the Pooh

Kikyo's eyes fluttered in her semi-conscious state. Where was she? What happened? Wha—

Pain.

There was pain everywhere.

The burning!

It started in the center of her back and creeped to every single part of her body!

Oh god it hurt!

Why was it hurting like this?! Her muscles contracted and the pillow her face was in almost instantly became drenched in sweat from the heat. She was dead. That had to be the only explanation. She was dead and had been sent to hell because she let everyone else die and because she was a bad person.

It took all of the eight year old's strength to be able to prop herself up on her elbows before carefully rolling to sit up. Between the pained gasps that were her breath Kikyo observed the room she was in. She was in a hospital room. The young girl's eyes scanned the room and found numerous objects by her bed. Stuffed animals, flowers, balloons, and handmade cards, obviously made by children, surrounding the bed.

What was going on?!

Then she remembered. She wasn't dead or in hell, she had survived. But why? Why would she be so special? Kikyo's hands trembled even more. Was she the only one left? Was she really the last of her clan? The eight year old could feel tears welling up behind her eyelids before she stuffed them back down. Why? Why did everything have to hurt so much? Not just her body, but her chest felt like someone had just reached in with their hand and gave her heart a good squeeze, leaving it damaged and weak.

What could she do? What was there left to do? Kikyo didn't have much hope for anything anymore. Everyone else was dead. Her mother, her father, everyone. For a split second she considered checking under the mattress or behind some of the bedside furniture, bored shinobi tend to hide weapons and draw on the walls when recovering. Before she could actually move Kikyo wanted to slap herself. How could she even think of something like that? A terrible spasm shot through her whole body, making her feel like she was being electrocuted.

But oh god it hurt!

But to take such a cowardly way out, She wouldn't be able to face her parents again in the afterlife even if she were able to go through with it.

But oh god it all just hurt so much and she wanted it to end!

The girl looked down at her bandaged and trembling hands, wishing all of this would just… go away. She ran her hands through her hair in frustration and felt that it was very uneven and some parts were charred black at the ends.

There was a soft knock on the door and Kikyo considered yelling for whichever doctor or nurse it was to just leave her alone because she didn't feel like dealing with their bullshit right now. The door opened and two adults stepped in. Kikyo's lip trembled ever so slightly.

"O-Oji? Tomoe?" Her eyes welled up again and she had to force back down just like she was supposed to. They were okay, they were really okay! D-did this mean it was all just a bad dream? A genjutsu? Was everyone really okay and this was all just a bad joke?

"Hi Kiddo, how are you doing?" Bakuryuu gave his niece a somewhat sad smile that was nowhere as bright as his smiles normally were. That's when Kikyo realized that she was stupid to think otherwise. They were still all gone.

"How many are left?" Kikyo dared not look up as her uncle sat on the bed beside her.

"Kikyo," Oji said sympathetically as he brushed some charred hair from her face. "Don't think about that kind of depressing stuff right now. Just worry about getting better, Sweety."

"Tomoe?" She finally gazed up, knowing she wouldn't hold back the truth just to spare her feelings.

The dark haired kunoichi sighed, looking very tired. "We're all that's left of the actual clan if you don't include Bakuryuu's children."

"Tomoe!" Bakuryuu scolded.

"So, Papa and Mama…" It was getting harder and harder to push it down. Kikyo's entire body shook and her uncle gently wrapped his arms around her, very careful not to touch her back but to still give his support.

"It's okay Kikyo, you can let it out." He petted her hair and pulled her into his chest.

"I-I c-can't! P-P-Papa told me never to because-because," She buried her face in her uncle's shirt. "It doesn't help anyone." Her voice cracked.

"You know, I love my brother, but sometimes he can be a real jerk about things." Bakuryuu rubbed the back of her head. "It's okay Kikyo."

"One of the greatest shinobi I ever knew used to cry," Tomoe noted. "He saved the lives of loved comrades and was considered a hero. There's no shame in shedding tears over those you've lost."

That was all the eight year old needed hear before gripping her uncle's shirt and sobbing into it. She was glad they were there, she really was. Her uncle's arms felt strong and she felt so small, but… they weren't the arms she wanted. She wanted her father. "P-Papa…" She didn't mean to sound s child-like, but it just slipped out.

"It's going to be okay, Kikyo." Bakuryuu petted her some more as her grip tightened on his tear stained shirt. "We're still here, we got you Sweety."

"No! It won't be okay!" she shouted through teary eyes. "They're all dead! Don't you get it?!"

"We're still here Kikyo. You still have us," he told her in a soothing tone. "You're not alone sweety."

Why? Why were they still there? Why hadn't they been killed too? Kikyo couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit of resentment as she continued to cry her eyes out. It wasn't fair! Why did they get to live? How come Oji got to carry on? Why did Hotaru get to keep her father when Kikyo's was gone forever? It just wasn't fair!

No! She should be grateful. Grateful that there was someone left and grateful that she wasn't completely alone for the time being.

"What's happened to us?" she asked almost pitifully.

"I don't know Kikyo, I just don't know." He kissed the top of the child's head. He squeezed her tighter and a sudden, painful electric pain shot throughout her entire body.

"Kyaah!" She instantly pushed her uncle away and her body began going into painful spasms.

"Kikyo! What's wrong?!" Bakuryuu went into an absolute panic mode, scrabbling to do whatever he could to relieve her pain. "Gah! What do I do-what do I do-what do I do?!"

Tomoe then proved to be the most helpful person in the room as she beat Bakuryuu over the head. "You're not helping you idiot! Go and check on your brats and give them an update. Be sure to tell Inoue that she's awake so she quits nit-picking every fucking thing! It she tries to flatten my hair one more time…!"

"I-I'll go tell them she's awake!" He pointed nervously and bolted out of the room.

"God, I feel sorry for him sometimes. But then I remember he's the one that married her."

"T-Tomoe." Kikyo tried to speak through the pain. It felt like someone was digging into her back with a white hot knife. "Make it stop."

Tomoe reached down and her hand hovered over the girl's back before gently placing it on the center. Even through the bandages and hospital gown Kikyo could feel how cold Tomoe's hand felt in comparison to her own skin. The kunoichi just added a tiny bit more pressure and it felt like she was branding the girl. "Kyaaaah! Stop that!" she screamed desperately.

Tomoe released her and bent down so she could speak face to face with the tortured girl. "Kikyo, do you know what was done to you?"

"I-I—" She didn't she had no clue and the fever wasn't helping her to think. "S-she was there and then she wasn't and suddenly there was this-this cage, it looked like it was made of lightning, and then she said something and then…" she flinched at the memory. "I woke up here." Tears welled up again in her eyes.

"What she did to you is Kyuketsukitou's finishing move, Idaina Ryu. It takes the affinity of the user and creates pillars with it to surround the target and traps them inside, then the wielder strikes through, concentrating most of the power of the pillars into a single strike that covers the target and sears the Ryu no Shirushi into their skin. I remember the first time I used it." Her eyes became misty with nostalgia. "My target was screaming in pain even after his heart stopped."

"Does that mean it is going to kill me? Just slowly?" Unbelievable. Just, unbelievable.

"Oh no, if it was going to kill you you'd already be long since dead." Tomoe corrected her. "But with the magnitude of the attacks I gotta say kid, I'm a little impressed you're still kicking."

"Gee, thanks for the compliment." Kikyo cringed again. "There's no way to fix it is there?"

Tomoe shook her head. "Not that I know of."

"Great, just great."

The next few days were the worst of Kikyo's life. Not once did she leave her hospital bed, not that she could, and every waking moment was filled with a horrible, crippling pain. But at least that was better than whenever she could actually sleep. Whenever she shut her eyes, the girl's mind was filled with terrible images of that evening.

"…Kikyo…Kikyo? Kiiiiikkyo~"

"Naruto, shush, she's sleeping! We're not even—"

"What are you two doing here?" Kikyo opened her eyes and lifted her head off her pillow. She hadn't seen anyone besides Bakuryuu, Tomoe, and Inoue came in a few times, but those were the only people the girl had seen besides the doctors since waking up.

Naruto held his finger up to his mouth as though he wasn't the one making the most noise. "The grown-ups wouldn't let us come in so we snuck in to see you. Dattebayo!" He wore a mischievous grin.

"No thanks." Kikyo didn't feel like talking to anyone. She just buried her face back into her pillow.

"Hey! Come on! We came here just for you! Dattebayo!"

Kikyo continued to ignore the loud blonde and pulled her blanket up higher.

"Naruto, I told this wasn't a good idea. Daddy said Kikyo's hurt real bad," Hotaru said in a sad voice.

"But—" Naruto's voice went from angry and determined to upset. "Sasuke doesn't want to talk to us either…"

Kikyo turned her head on the pillow to look at the other two. "Why doesn't Sasuke want to talk to you?" She didn't have the energy to spare a snarky remark, hard to believe but true.

"D-don't you know?" Hotaru looked at her sympathetically and it made Kikyo want to throw something at her. "Sasuke, h-his family is gone too. It happened at the same time as…" she trailed off.

"I…why didn't anyone tell me this?" Kikyo felt betrayed.

"Probably because they didn't want to upset you anymore. You're still really hurt." Hotaru eyed all of Kikyo's bandages.

"It doesn't matter, I have a right to know." Kikyo hid her face once more. "I wanna be left alone." She didn't hear them leave but when she lifted her head once more she was all alone again.

"Okay Runt." Tomoe barged in a few hours later. "Let's change your bandages."

"You don't have to do that," Kikyo muttered.

"Quit being so stupid and strip already." Tomoe slipped some gloves on her hands and pulled several bundles of bandages.

"Shouldn't an actual doctor or nurse be doing this?" Kikyo asked in a monotone.

"Oi, I know exactly what the fuck I'm doing thank you very much. Not only do I have medical training—"

"To be a tracker."

"—But I'm also the best person to take care of any wound Kyuketsukitou can dish out. I know that sword and what it's capable of inside and out."

"You only learned medicine so you can kill people more efficiently."

"Oh shut up and come here you little runt." Tomoe pulled up a wobble chair next to a table and motioned for the girl to move over to her.

The little brunette muttered curse words as she cautiously turned her blanket over and slow turned until the cold ground under her feet. First she put weight down on her right foot, it felt kind of weak and unsteady, but after popping her ankle she was able to ease her full weight onto it. Next came the left, she repeated the slow, careful process, thankful that Tomoe was being patient and quietly waiting for the girl to come to her. Kikyo finally stood on her own two feet and took a step.

Pain.

A burning pain shot from her left leg as she bent it and sent her into a painful flare. As soon as the pain hit she collapsed onto the ground and went into shaky spasms.

"Gaaahh!" Her fever shot up and she began to tremble. She-she couldn't even walk anymore! How was she ever going to be a shinobi one day if she couldn't even walk!

"Well, that sucks." Tadashi Tomoe everyone, number one sympathetic relative. "Come on." Tomoe grabbed Kikyo's under arm and pulled her back up.

"Wh-what the hell is this?!" Kikyo just couldn't understand where all of this pain was coming from!

"I'll show you." Tomoe helped Kikyo remove her bandages and what the girl saw made her feel sick to her stomach. On her back, no, not just her back but down her leg and wrapped around both arms was a dragon. Its tongue rapping around her left arm almost to her forearm and its long horn stretched along the back of her right arm to her elbow. The dragon's arms looked as though they were gripping at her left side as the rest of it twisted from her right side over her bottom down her hip and coiled its tail down her left leg down to her calf. It looked more like she had been branded than just burned. The edges were a definite, bright red and it faded slightly before becoming a deeper crimson near the center of the reptile. The darkest was the eye of the dragon, which was located in the center of her upper back, it was a deep blistery red that could almost pass as a black.

Kikyo's eyes were wide as she gazed at the scorched skin that now took up a good majority of her body. "Tomoe, did the sword…?"

"Frankly I don't know how you're able to move at all." She began wrapping the girl up once more.

"Tomoe?"

"Hm?" she answered but was still keeping her focus on the bandaging as to not disturb the wound further than it already was.

"Is this ever going to heal?" Looking at how bad this was gave her very little hope, but if Tomoe could just tell her everything was alright then—

"No. It's not."

Well… Kikyo looked out the window and watched her hope take a nosedive off the third story and she considered following it for a second.

"Tomoe?" Kikyo's lip trembled and she swallowed the lump in her throat. "Am I ever going to leave this hospital?"

The kunoichi continued to work on the bandages. "It's not impossible."

"Will—" She rubbed her eyes and took a deep breath so she could ask her next question. "Will I ever be able to become a shinobi?" Her voice cracked.

Tomoe finally paused from her task and looked at her younger cousin. She hesitated for a moment before answering. "It's not something I would recommend with this kind of injury. You would be too exposed on the battlefield and could put not only your life in danger, but the lives of your comrades as well."

"So no." Her shoulders shook.

"In the end it's all up to you." She finished up. "We can start by learning to walk on our own."

That… didn't go so well. An entire week passed and Kikyo could barely go across her hospital room without sweating out her body weight.

"Kikyo, it's time to get ready." Inoue entered the girl's room dressed in black and carrying black clothes in her arms.

"Get ready?" she asked in an almost monotone.

"The memorial service is today," she told her niece.

"Oh yeah." Kikyo had been so preoccupied with her rehabilitation that she got distracted. Her aunt cautiously dressed her and brushed Kikyo's freshly cut hair.

"I hope it grows back quickly," she said as she tried to flatten the short locks as they stuck out in every direction. "Your hair looks like you uncle's."

"Gee, thanks."

"Oh." Inoue realized that might not have been the best thing to say. "But-but don't worry, it still looks nice!"

"I don't care." Kikyo looked down.

"Alright!" Tomoe barged in, pushing a wheelchair. "I hope you're ready cause we're going!"

Kikyo spied the chair. "Tomoe, I can walk on my own."

The older brunette raised her eyebrow. "Oh really? Well, excuse the fuck—"

"Tomoe!"

"—Out of me! Please. Go on." She folded the wheelchair and slung it over her shoulder.

Kikyo gave her the best glare the injured eight year old could manage. "I will."

"Tomoe! Kikyo!" Inoue had her hands on her hips and glared at them both.

"I got this." Kikyo pushed herself up off the bed and stumbled a little as she walked across the room, feeling her burn react to her muscles moving underneath the mark.

Tomoe wore a bitchy smirk when Kikyo reached the door and her face was drenched in cold sweat. Fuck her! Kikyo did just fine… until they reached the stairs. The injured girl got down the third step when an electric shock spasmed through her body.

"I thought so." A hand grabbed the nap of her neck and yanked her backward into a chair. "Really should have went for the elevator, Runt."

"I…can… handle… the… fucking stairs!" If she couldn't go down some stairs how could she expect to ever get out of that damn place!?

"Face it Runt, you can't." Kikyo clenched her jaw as her muscles spasmed once again. But-But she wanted to walk on her own! She wanted to run and jump and hit stuff! She wanted to go practice kenjutsu! She didn't want any of this! She didn't want to live in a hospital bed and sit in a wheelchair for the rest of her life! It wasn't fair! Kikyo had to choke down some tears as she had to sit down and be wheeled to the memorial service by Tomoe.

"Hey Kikyo!" Naruto waved. It was odd to see him in black instead of his ostentatious orange. "Hey Tomoe!" God that kid needed to learn the meaning of inside voice.

"Sup." Tomoe nodded in his direction before her eyes darted over to the Yondaime and a grey haired man he was talking to then back to the boy. "Hey Naruto, wanna push Kikyo around? I gotta go talk to your dad a minute." She offered the wheelchair and the girl shot her a dangerous look. She better fucking not let that idiot push her around. She'd end up being rolled off a cliff if he was in charge of her.

"No-no-no!" she yelled up at the bitchy brunette.

"Sounds like fun! Dattebayo!"

Kikyo quickly scanned the crowd for the nearest responsible adult. The only one within earshot was Oji. Eh, close enough. "Oji help! Tomoe's trying to finish me off!"

The hyper adult's head popped up to Kikyo's plea. "What?!" He hurried over to the other three.

"I am not!"

"She was going to let Naruto push me around! I would have wound up being rolled off the Hokage Monument!" Naruto was then jabbed by verbal stab wounds.

"Tomoe!" He swiped the handles from her grip and pushed the girl along.

"You know," Tomoe bent down and whispered. "Snitches get stiches."

Kikyo gave her cousin a very serious look. "I already have to deal with this burn for the rest of my life, a few stitches is nothing," Kikyo told her before letting her uncles wheel her away.

Things settled down as the memorial service began. Kikyo sat in her wheelchair with her uncle standing right behind her and Hotaru to her side. The sheer number of people that were attending was astounding. It felt like the entire village came out to pay their respects to the two fallen clans. As the ceremony went on and more and more flowers were placed by the many pictures Kikyo could feel the despair sinking in again. Her eyes grazed the Tadashi side and choked a little as her eyes passed over every messy haired individual in the photographs. When it came time to pay respects to Fugaku-san and Mikoto-san was when Kikyo finally saw Sasuke. He was paler than normal, there were dark shadows under his even darker eyes, and he wore a somewhat half-scowl as he placed white flowers by his parent's pictures. From where she was Kikyo could hear the people behind her taking pity on the boy.

Poor child. To see such a thing.

He must have been so scared.

He must be so lonely.

Just look at him, he can barely hold it together.

Kikyo want to spin around and snap at the people. There was no way in hell Sasuke would ever appreciate this kind of treatment. Being looked at like a kicked puppy, he would most likely hit someone for thinking that about him. She looked at him and saw nothing but pure rage in his black eyes.

Finally it came time for Kikyo's parents. Oji was ready to push her when the girl put her hand up to stop him. It was just to the a hundred feet away, she could make that. It was the least she could do to honor her parents. The eight year old took the white rose from her uncle as she stood and took a careful step.

Okay, just take it slow and easy. You can do this.

The girl took a few cautious steps before her weak ankle twisted at an awkward angle and she collapsed onto her knee, causing it to bend and the mark to begin to flare up. It wasn't even a second before she was unable to move and had broken out into a cold sweat.

"It's okay Kikyo, let me help you," Oji said kindly as he gently pulled her back into her seat and rolled her to the portraits of her parents. Even from there Kikyo could hear the people back in the rows.

Oh, that poor little girl.

How serious is it?

My cousin works at the hospital, she says it covers her whole body.

She may not become a shinobi.

Forget shinobi! From the looks of it she may not walk again!

That poor, poor child.

Kikyo placed the rose down and tried to hide her frustrated and humiliated tears as she said her goodbyes to her parents. She just wanted all this pain and suffering to go away! She wanted to be able to walk and run again! She wanted to go to sleep without nightmares! She wanted her mother and father back!

She just wanted all this pain to stop!

Oji was more wrong than ever.

It was never going to be okay, not ever.