The pain that had come in an instant overtook Kikyo. She felt fire run through her veins and lightning strike her nerves as each second passed. Her body jerked and seized as she wanted to cry out for it all to stop. How much longer would it last?! Where was Tomoe?! Why wasn't she helping her?! Surely she could see, surely she could hear! She had to know that the girl felt like she was dying!

But no one was helping, the pain just continued to flow on and on like an endless river in hell. She would gasp for air, only to have the pain knock it right back out of her once again. Please, someone, just end it! Use the kunai! Put her down! Just stop the pain!

After what felt like years, her pain finally began to slowly ease. There would be times where her vision went from the black haze of agony to blurry surroundings and sometimes she would even hear talking or other noises over her heart pounding in her ears. Eventually though, things began to come back into focus and the girl wanted to cry over the first person that she saw over her.

"Tomoe…" Her voice was raspy and cracked as the word escaped from her mouth. The kunoichi looked tired and was sitting over her crushing something in a pestle. "Tomoe…" Her voice cracked again as warm liquid brimmed the edge of her eye. She didn't want to look weak, but she just hurt so much.

The exhausted Tadashi snapped her head at the sound of her name. "Kid, you're awake." She slowly reached out and set her hand down on the top of the girl's head. "Try not to move or it might act up again." There was an odd softness in the normally harsh kunoichi's voice. "It's gonna be alright, Runt." Tomoe picked up a small bag filled with some sort on liquid and placed it on the back of the girl's neck.

Kikyo let out a yelp as the sudden cold sensation seeped down into her neck from the bag, but after a second the cold bag of whatever it was felt like a breath of fresh air.

"Geez, kid." Tomoe placed several other bags on her back, sending a rush of coolness into the enflamed scar.

"What's in these?" she croaked.

Tomoe's face remained tense. "Something that'll help with the fever… a little. I'm trying to keep your core as stable as I can." The look on her face said that it was more easily said than done.

"Tomoe, how long…?"

"Four days."

Only four days?! It felt like years to her?! "Tomoe… wha… happened?" All the girl could remember was the searing pain and maybe some screaming, but that was more an assumption than anything.

Her face grew dark. "That little shit head, Law, thought it would be a fun strategy to swing his bokken into your back."

"Law…?" It took the girl a second to remember their traveling companions.

"Yeah." Her jaw was tight. "Don't worry about that right now, just try and do your best to relax."

The girl felt several muscles knot and snap like rubber bands. Her stomach lurched from the pain. That was so much more easily said than done. She flinched.

"I know, kid." Tomoe basically read her mind. She set another watch pouch on the back of her leg where the scar wrapped around it.

"Does yours… do this?" She grimaced from another spasm.

"It used to."

"Was it this bad?"

"Oh hell no." Tomoe let out a humorless chuckle.

"Did it… get better?"

The kunoichi chewed on her cheek. "A bit. I think I just got so used to the pain that my tolerance for it went up."

"Did you ever... let someone hit it... like that?" Kikyo laid with her face in the ground, so embarrassed she let this happen. She exposed herself, left everything wide open once again and paid for it. If Law had been a real enemy she would have been dead before she could even say 'shit'.

"There was an unfortunate instance or two where I found out how an impact would affect the wound."

"And?" Kikyo took more careful breaths, hoping it would anger the wound a little less.

"And I promise you I watched that place a lot more carefully after that."

No shit. "Yeah, I need to… learn that."

"You got a lot more to watch, Runt."

"Yeah." She rested her head back down on her arms. "It'd be... easier if I were a... Hyuga." She wished her lungs would cooperate long enough to form a normal sentence.

"Bah!" For the first time since she woke up, Tomoe showed a hint of humor in her voice that sounded like the good ole Tomoe that Kikyo liked to cuss out. "But then you'd be a stuffy bitch with a stick stuck up her ass. Pretty big price to pay just for being able to see behind you. Totally not worth it in my opinion."

"Maybe." She frowned. "Maybe a sensory ninja?"

"Ain't that easy kid. Sensory shinobi are born, not made. Granted, once a shinobi gets to a certain degree they do pick up some detection methods."

The girl sighed. Ow, mistake, big mistake! "What degree?" she was able to mutter.

"A very high one."

"Oh." Meaning she was fucked. She flinched again. "How long before…" she tailed off.

"Who knows, another day or two probably." Tomoe finished crushing her mystery substance and added it to a canteen. "Here, drink it all."

"What… is it?"

"Some pain killers from the Outside that we don't have back home they might help until we can get some food in you."

"Tomoe…" she complained. Food was the last thing from her mind right now.

"It's been days, kid. You need something in you."

"But Tomoe…" Sweat dripped down her face from the fever and her stomach lurched at the thought of food. "I'll throw it back up."

"Then we'll cross that bridge when we get to it." Tomoe sloshed the canteen around, encouraging the girl to take it.

Kikyo groaned as the older Tadashi carefully lifted her to a sitting position. Her back muscles twisted and snapped, punishing her for the movement. "Should I drink it all?" she wondered. "Or swig as needed?" She eyed the bottle.

"Drink it all like it's medicine—"

"—It kind of is."

"—Shut up. As I was saying, I would find it highly unlikely that you could overdose, especially with the amount I gave you, and I want to see how much of the edge this stuff can take off."

"Alright." She really hoped it didn't taste like shit.

"Tomoe-san! We brought back some—" a somewhat familiar voice called before a crashing sound echoed around them.

"What a fucking moron." Tomoe's narrowed eyes took on an even more hateful look than normal.

"You didn't drop it did you?" another voice asked.

"No, Law, it's safe. See!" Another crash.

"Just give me the fish!" he snapped back before coming into Kikyo's line of sight. Under one arm Law was carrying a pile of wood while the other held up several fish. "The idiot is going to starve us all." The boy sighed before laying down the wood.

"You two... still here?" Kikyo inquired after a large gulp. She had figured since she was out for four days and couldn't be moved that the two would have gone on without them. They probably only stayed because Tomoe promised to cure Law of his poison.

"Oh hey, you're awake." Law sat down cross legged and gave her an odd look.

"Wow, good job stating the obvious." She took another large gulp and felt her limbs numb a little. She peeked around the bottle, waiting for his snarky return only to be met with silence.

"Is this all you two could catch?" Tomoe asked the boy shortly.

"Without Corazon falling in the ocean again? Yes."

The kunoichi scoffed. "How fucking pathetic." Ouch Tomoe, and here she thought Tomoe's nature type was fire, not ice.

"Sorry, but it was the best we could manage." Law leaned back and crossed his arms, seemingly unphased by the coldness.

"Oh my goodness! Kikyo-chan! I'm so gl—" With a single eyebrow twitch followed the chucking of her canteen, the stupid fucking clown was knocked off his feet once more from the force of being smacked in the face by a child's canteen.

"I thought I told—ow, ow, ow…" The muscles in her left arm contracted and burned.

"You shouldn't have thrown that." Tomoe added curtly as she put on a pot to boil for some rice.

"Yes… thank you for the insight…Tomoe." The girl slumped down onto her stomach again.

"So you're still in pretty bad shape, huh?" Law asked.

Her ever so enlightening reply was a groan from within the dirt.

"Cora-kun."

"Yes?" The blonde clown sat up, the red imprint of the canteen still on his face.

"Come here and show me the map." She ushered and the man complied, unrolling a parchment as Law worked on skewering the fish and placing it in the fire.

"When will she be able to move again?" he asked, glancing back at the girl.

"A few more days, but now that she's conscious I can carry her."

"Meaning that we can head somewhere else." Relief washed over the man's face. "Maybe we can get her to a hospital."

"No use in that, now that the worst of the flare is over I can handle it. But we are in serious need of supplies." Tomoe traced her fingers over the map, scanning for something near their location.

"You couldn't be more right. I suggest we head here." He pointed to a part of the map. "Lynveel Kingdom. It's a big country with a very good economy and many ports. Supplies will be easy and cheap to come by there."

"But Cora-kun, what about this one right here?" Tomoe lifted an eyebrow. "If we have a good tail wind then it's just about half a day's journey."

The man paled and sweat covered his entire head. "N-n-no-no-no, Tomoe-san! That is a very bad idea! Monako Island isn't a very good place to visit right now."

"Why?" She shot him a bitchy glare and lifted her eyebrow, daring him to correct her.

"Aside from hazardous weather being a constant threat to the island, the country has been at war recently and the government has just been overthrown by an invading kingdom! I don't think it would be safe, especially for the children!"

"I'm not a child," both proclaimed simultaneously.

"Sure you're not." Kikyo couldn't tell which one Tomoe was waving off. "Cora-kun, that's stupid. The island you're suggesting it twice the distance and we're low on supplies as is."

"But this kingdom." He shook his head, looking nervous. "Their… it's… Calling them a country is a little bit of a stretch considering they move around. It's more like a mobile military with the general being their king. Most of their citizens are soldiers that were trained since they were children and on top of all that their technology is astounding. The Marines can't do anything about them because they are a country that's part of the World Government so they can go around and conquer whichever country they take a liking to."

Tomoe looked at him so a long moment. "And…"

"DID YOU NOT HEAR ME?!" His eyes popped out of his head.

"No, I heard you… I'm just not seeing the point."

"DO YOU NEED GLASSES?!"

"Cora-kun, let me lay it out for you. I was raised in a militarized country. I am a soldier. I have fought in war. I am not afraid of these people." She spoke slowly as though he were a child. "And if their technology is so superior I want to check them out. And you should too, considering if they are more scientifically minded that they could help Law."

Kikyo furrowed her brow. But, Tomoe was helping Law. She thought they were over the whole hospital stuff now considering Tomoe had told her last week she had made some progress on the components of the poison.

"But…"

"Listen, if you want to pussy out then fine, just drop us off at the island and leave, but their closer and I can't risk pushing Kikyo's body any further with a long journey on a boat."

"I…" He glanced from Law to Kikyo, then back to Tomoe. "You're right, Tomoe-san. The children are the main priority. We'll just have to take extra care of them while there."

"I'm glad you see that I'm always right."

"You're not always right," Kikyo muttered with a frown.

"Yes I am."

"No you're not."

"Kikyo, how would you like it if I smacked you right in your smart mouth?"

"Does it matter if I like it or not? You do it anyway." Maybe if she hit her hard enough it would knock out one of the nine-year-old's loose teeth.

The kunoichi swiftly backhanded the girl. "It's good to see you're feeling better, Runt." She smiled and pulled their dinner from the fire.

Even after having a full night to recover and Tomoe dosing her up with who the fuck even knows, Kikyo could still feel searing pain that continuously shot through her body as the little ship they shared with the two Outsiders cut through every wave.

"Focus, Kikyo." Tomoe patted the book she had the girl studying.

"I'm… trying…!" A spasm shot through her arm and she dropped her pen.

"Try harder. Just because you're a little sore doesn't mean you can slack on studies."

A little sore… THERE IS NO FUCKING WAY TOMOE JUST CALLED THIS 'A LITTLE SORE'! She was unconscious for days! That fucking bitch!

"Here." She handed her the bottle of medicine for the girl to chug. "Now, get back to it." She tapped the paper again.

She glared down at the equations that converted between true, magnetic, and compass north. She wanted to bark at the kunoichi and ask why the hell she needed to learn something like this now, but being able to navigate oneself is crucial when taking on missions in unfamiliar lands. It would be pretty damn embarrassing if a tracker ninja got lost while hunting down a target.

"Tomoe-san couldn't be more right." The clown agreed as he adjusted the sails. "With a world filled with so much ocean, being able to navigate yourself could mean the difference between life and death. Aside from the normal dangers of the ocean, there are many strange anomalies out there."

"Strange anomalies you say?" Tomoe lifted an eyebrow and wore her 'Outsiders are so easy to get talking ' face.

"Oh of course. I've already told you about some of the dangerous countries such as the one we're about to walk into." Did she sense a bit of bitterness in his voice? Yeah, probably. "There's the Grand Line where everything's topsy turvy and nothing makes any sense, the Calm Belt which is greatly unexplored because of the lack of wind currents, even some of the Blues have scary characteristics." The tall man adjusted the rudder.

"Oi, you're talking about the Dead Zone, right, Corazon?" Law asked.

"Dead Zone? Sounds like a fun vacation spot. Can we go, Tomoe? Can we-can we?" Kikyo mocked a child's plea.

"Oooooh no! You do not want that, Kikyo-ch…" He paused at her aiming her pen at him like a dart. Go on, say it. Give her a reason to poke out an eye. "Kikyo. I've never seen it myself, but I've heard stories." The idiot wiggled his fingers for a spooky effect. "It's this vast expansion of fog that spreads over a good part of the East Blue and even reaches into its Calm Belt. Storms rage and visibility drops to near zero once entering and as if that wasn't bad enough, there's a giant sea king that's said to guard the area like it's his territory. Sailors have said that they have heard noises coming from the fog. Any who enter are attack by the sea king." He stood up and raised his hands high. "It rises from the water in the form of a giant, three tailed turtle and says 'You dare invade my water, puny humans?!' before destroying any vessel in its way!" He swung his arms down, mimicking the motion. "And ships are nev—AHHH!"

Wow… it took him a whole monologue for his klutzy ass to fall overboard. If nothing else, Kikyo was impressed by the new record.

"Son of a fucking bitch, Cora-kun!" Tomoe's hand shot into the water before his bubbles could stop and pulled him back aboard.

"Man Corazon, you're so lame…" Law wore a sweatdrop.

"You're just now realizing that after… how many times has he fallen today?"

"Are we counting the times he set himself on fire in the process?" Tomoe lifted an eyebrow as a little fountain of water erupted from his mouth.

"Sure, why not."

"Sorry. I'm only paid to count that high when bodies are involved."

"He has a body."

"Not a dead one."

"You could change that."

"Maybe after we have lunch."

"Okay."

"That's horrible." Law crossed his arms. "Why waste the food on someone you're about to kill?"

"It's like comforting the lamb before you slit its throat." Tomoe pointed. "You show the lamb the knife and it begins to panic, its panic taints the meat. So don't show it the knife."

"Stop discussing my death as though I'm not here!" Corazon exclaimed.

"Okay, we'll just discuss it when you're out of earshot, Cora-kun." Tomoe gave him a fake smile and the clown face faulted.

Kikyo watched as the island came into view as the little ship grew near. The island didn't look particularly bad or damaged, but it didn't exactly look like the perfect vacation spot either. The girl could spot an enormous indistinct blob not terribly far from the shore, that must have been the invading country that the clown was talking about. And, it was either above or right behind the island, a pitch black storm cloud rose high into the sky, blocking any light that went might have gotten past the island.

"You see what I mean now?" Corazon pointed. "I'm not even sure the island's residents enjoy living here."

"Well if they didn't before, they sure as hell don't now." Tomoe eyed the blob floating off the coast.

"I can't argue with you there, Tomoe-san." The other adult shook his head.

"Alright, you three are to stay near the boat." Tomoe pointed when they came ashore.

"Why?" Kikyo frowned. She didn't like the thought of being alone with so much stupid around her.

"Because, Runt." Tomoe slung her on her back as the others moved their supplies onto the shore. "You can't move worth shit right now and it would slightly be a pain in the ass to be carrying you around while infiltrating a country."

"Then I should go too, Tomoe-san. I know the North Blue countries better than you do."

"No, I move faster on my own. Besides." Her eyes darted to the two young ones. "I want a mediator here incase these two try and kill each other again." Shit, Kikyo could feel the icy glare the kunoichi shot at Law. "If it seems safe then I'll come back and everyone can go to the market."

"Oh… alright then. I suppose we'll see you… and she's gone…" Tomoe disappeared in a cloud of smoke before the clown could even finish his sentence. Well, that was quick, maybe they were driving Tomoe crazy too. Maybe her solo trip into the town was more for a few minutes of peace and quiet than scouting out.

"So, what was with that Tomoe Death Beam that she shot you?" Kikyo asked Law as he sat on the ground as well.

She watched the boy furrow his brow. "Tomoe and I… aren't on the best of terms. I'm certain she wants to kill me."

"Ptf," she scoffed back and laid on her stomach. "Tomoe doesn't want to kill you. You're being overdramatic."

"Y—"

"Look at this, kids!" the clown had taken off his feathery cloak and held his hands out. "I can make anything I interact with to not make any noise! Calm!" He patted his own chest and an odd fog-like substance surrounded him.

"What does he think he's doing?"

"I think… he's trying…" They watched the blonde smash a glass vase only to have no sound come out. "To entertain us." They both shared deadpans at the clown's stupid happy face.

"Where did that gun come from?"

"I don't know, but I have a bad feeling about it." There wasn't even the smallest racket from what should have been an explosion.

"What kind of kekkei genkai is that?"

"A what?" Law averted his eyes away from the soundless show.

"A bloodline trait that runs in families. It gives them special abilities like controlling shadows or doujutsu."

"What? No. Corazon doesn't have anything like that." A horrible smell filled the air.

"Tell me he didn't…" Kikyo pulled her shirt up to her nose. "As soon as I can move again, his head is coming off."

"See? Isn't that cool?!" The idiot finally spoke again, a wide smile was spread across his face.

"What is that ability good for?!" Law barked back. "It's not even cool!" Verbal stab wounds covered the blond man's chest.

"No, it's useful. A shinobi would find it valuable." One of the stab marks lifted. "But such a skill is wasted on a klutzy fool like him." And they returned with friends. The sad clown fell to the ground, face first. "Anyway." She rolled her eyes. "Like I was saying, you're being overdramatic. Tomoe's not going to kill you, fuck, she even trying to find a cure for your poison." Dumbass. Tomoe was guilty of being a pain in the ass bitch, but she promised to look into the boy's poison and so far she's never went back on her word.

"Not anymore," he muttered.

"Come on, just be—"

"She told me so." He frowned down at her. "It was because I hurt you that she's not going to help me anymore," he said in a somber tone.

"What? No, I'll talk to her about it and everything will be fine."

"How come you're so forgiving? I nearly killed you. It's because of me that you were in such a delicate state for four entire days."

Kikyo rested her chin back on her arms and thought about it. "It wasn't really all your fault. You didn't know how bad it really was and while it was a real dick move, I feel like it's more my fault than anyone's for not being able to watch my own back." She paused as a muscle in her leg twisted and snapped like a rubber band. "This has shown me that if someone wanted to get the upper hand in a fight or even to kill me, that's all they'd have to do." She rubbed her right wrist. "If I want to live, I'll have to get stronger, a lot stronger."