Naruto: Kōkai

by Ken Miyamoto

After the failure of the Sasuke Retrieval Mission the Council of the Hidden Leaf decides to punish Naruto with banishment from the village forcing the hand of Tsunade. Now alone and no longer a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Naruto decides to take his newfound life into his own hands. Follow Naruto Uzumaki as he tries to find his place in the ninja world.

29. Chapter 29

Yo, it's Ken

Is it just me or do these two-week releases feel long? It's probably just me, not that I'm complaining it gives me time to write and try to polish the story as much as possible. That being said I'll just say it now, I ended up having a lot of fun with this chapter and well it ended up being the longest chapter I've written haha.

Anyway, let's get to reviews!

Kopi SuSu Dingin: Hey there! Thank you again for your questions on Discord. I hope you're back to 100% now. That being said I can understand how Yugao's reasoning seems a little forced, but I want to emphasize her character arc for this story being centered around grief while also contributing to the Danzo plot of making Naruto into the enemy any chance he could for his plan to work. Action is my go-to other than just storytelling so I'm glad you enjoy it. Thank you again for reading and I hope to see you in the next one!

Alexander4443: Thanks bro! Thank you again for reading and I'll see you in the next one!

Dragonkeeper10: Yugao was a character I wanted to write for a while honestly and I was looking forward to this chapter just so I can finally take off the mask so I can introduce her to the world of Kokai all the while beginning the downfall of Danzo's plot. Also, Tayuya! This was another apperance I had to keep under wraps for so long but another character I was super excited to write. Now as for wheter or not she's going to be an Uzumaki, I'll leave that question for you to find out as you read. You'll have to see haha. You know I gotta go back to the "Non-canon" peeps becasue I still consider those events techincally canon and would never pass up a chance to write for an interesting character from filler. Lastly Naruto and his amnesia you're in for quite the trip and that's all I'll say for now. Thank you so much for reading and I'll see you in the next one!

Jagsboy: Jags! Thank you for joining the Discord! This fight scene for this chapter was fun to write as I can kind of set the standard of strength for this arc as once more the stakes rise during our boy's journey also regarding the timeline this takes place before Blood Prison as Naruto has come into contact with Ryuzetsu but hasn't officially met her just yet, hope that helps. Yup, right now Naruto is still onboard with his relationship with Kuro though because both teens are a little oblivious in that area they didn't even think to nail anything down before going their separate ways. Also I'll give it to you, it's Tayuya and I've been excited for her arrival as she embrarks on her arc in this story along with Naruto and I have plenty of plans that you'll have to see. Lastly, Naruto's talk-no-jutsu has evolved along with his experiences and lessons he's received from living in the world and it's a sight to see. Thank you so much for reading and I hope to see you in the next one!

Guest Guest: Thank you, I wanted to end the chapter on a funnier note rather than some kind of dreadful one. Thank you again for reading!

Zidius: Hey there, I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. I won't speak too much into spoiler territory but Naruto for sure will be getting into Sealing Jutsu as well as discovering things about the Uzumaki, just you wait. Thank you again for reading and I hope to see you in the next one!

Atlin24: You got it! Now you'll get to see their interactions as they come into contact after the year and some change that has passed since then and I'm looking forward to writing it! Thank you again for reading and I hope to see you in the next one!

ecoBlade: Hey there, thank you again for your questions on Discord as well as the conversations. Here's that brand new chapter as promised, I hope you enjoy. Thank you again for reading and I hope to hear from you and see you in the next one!

Kreiger Techpriest: Krieger! I'm glad I managed to catch you off guard with this one, means the plan worked haha. Also, Yugao is a very under-utilized character and maybe I missed it somewhere but other than when she kills Hayate again to put him to rest during the 4th Ninja War I didn't really see where she had to go through the stages of grief and wanted to focus writing her character around that in a nice little twist on her character. Naruto ever the oblivious guy, to be fair he only has Make-Out Paradise as his only reference material when it comes to anything 'Liking' or 'Dating' wise other than Kuro haha. Thank you again for reading and I hope to see you in the next one!

ghilliesoot: Thank you, I appreciate the love of the work and hope you continue to enjoy. Both a Tayuya and a Kurotsuchi fan eh? Well, you are in for a treat then so look forward to it! Thank you again for reading and I hope I'll see you in the next one!

Spellbat: Thank you again for joining the Discord! So, the Hidden Star Arc did happen after the Sasuke Retrieval while Naruto's banishment happened after both events Hokuto had left during the brief period of the 'Filler' before Naruto's training trip in the series but before Naruto was banished if that makes sense. Also, regarding Yugao, her character arc is centered around grief and going through the five stages of it and I wanted to start her character in a low place considering other than the 4th Great Ninja War we don't really see her dealing with Hayate's loss and I wanted to write an arc for her regarding that. Naruto didn't use his sword while fighting because he was strong enough to defeat the beast without having to use his sword, he will use his sowrd again I promise but it will be up against stronger opponents. Naruto and Temari didn't have a relationship as much as there were feelings beginning to spark between the two, Naruto did at one point mention that to Kuro but he stated that he wasn't sure about where their relationship was there either. Lastly, yes, it's Tayuya and I'm excited also yes Naruto does have amnesia and I can't say much on that other than it's going to be fun and you'll ahve to read to see. Thank you again for reading and I'll see you in the next one!

Kabundio: I appreciate the high praise, the only thing I can do is my best and I'm glad it was binge worthy for you and I'll continue to do my best as we move forward. Thank you again for reading and I hope to see you in the next one!

Abash1: That's a great question, one of my big things (As well as something I hear a lot) is Jiraiya's spy network being a means to instantly find Naruto. In this case while his spy network is still reliable it isn't an instant thing they give Jiraiya a direction to follow but because Naruto is constantly on the move, he happens to find himself a step behind where Naruto went not to mention the large gap in Naruto's travels due to the Land of Iron, I hope that helps. Jiraiya is close to catching up to Naruto and that's all I'll say for now. Thank you for reading and I hope to see you in the next one!

You guys are always awesome with the reviews as always feel free to leave any questions, thoughts, or criticisms and I'll try my best to respond to all of them.

This chapter is an introduction chapter to Naruto's newest companion as we begin to move into the Journey to the East Arc and I ended up getting caught up in the chapter making it end up a longer one, so I hope you enjoy that. Tayuya makes her way into the story, and I have a lot planned for her and Naruto as they begin their interactions together. I also ended up changing the chapter title to match the chapter now that the cat is out of the bag, you'll also notice that the characters have updated for the fic as of this chapter.

I won't ramble on too much but this was a fun chapter for me and I hope you all are able to feel that while reading this one, there is a Discord for Naruto Kokai in case you wanted to kickback and chat with myself or other's regarding the story or even other things so I'll leave the link here /uTqpksqVVA for anyone to feel free to join for sneak peeks and I answer any questions that come my way except for spoilers haha.

Thank you again for reading and I hope you enjoy.

-Ken

Next Time! Chapter 30: The Gamble (02/21/2024)

{...}

Chapter 29: The Wildfire and The Wind

The breeze that day was gentle.

That was how she remembered it.

Cold and warm but quiet, like she had been there but wasn't really there. It was a strange feeling she couldn't quite describe.

Was this death?

The girl couldn't wrap her head around the feeling as if she was really dead then she would have felt nothing.

But feel she did, because the cruel talons of life held onto her yet.

She hacked while a metallic scent filled her nose, it was her blood. Slowly her eyes opened to a blue sky peeking through the branches and leaves of the tree above her.

Her brown eyes adjusted to the light while she slowly turned her head to look around herself, trees that had been torn apart with fine cuts surrounded her. She was beginning to remember what happened to her as her eyes continued to trail across her surroundings. She wiggled her fingers as she felt her strength beginning to flow through her weakly, she could turn her head and even flex her arms slightly.

However, there was something that she couldn't feel, no matter how hard she tried to feel them.

She couldn't wiggle her toes.

Or even feel her legs.

The girl's brown eyes looked toward her numb body parts before they widened, spotting the reason she couldn't.

A large tree laid on her legs crushing them underneath it.

"...FUCK!"

The girl screamed into the air staring toward the fallen logs on her legs while she clawed at the trees with her hands. The pain from her other various broken bones wasn't what made her scream, it was the shock of spotting herself like this.

As well as the fury she felt.

"That fan bitch! That pineapple headed piece of shit! I'll kill them! I'll fucking kill them!"

The girl yelled while she continued to claw at the fallen tree on her legs, she knew it was pointless, but she was too angry to care. Even if she had to gnaw them off, she was going to get out of here and find them, while she clawed at the log she looked toward the sky.

At least a few hours had passed since she fought them early in the morning; it must have been the afternoon of the same day now.

Meaning they couldn't have gotten far.

"I'll kill them! I'll tear them apart!"

The girl continued to allow her fury to motivate her to try to pry herself free from her wooden prison. Her eyes widened before she started to form hand signs, while she never truly focuses on offensive ninjutsu instead focusing on Genjutsu she had a technique or two she could use to at least try to pry herself free.

She began to mold chakra before she stopped staring at the log on her.

How was she alive in the first place?

The answer was obvious to her almost immediately, her chakra and what little she still had left was her lifeline.

The fact it still flowed through her body meant she was technically keeping herself from just lying there until she died. If she wasted her chakra, she had left on a technique she knew could fail at freeing her then she would just get herself killed.

"Damn it."

The girl grumbled while she allowed her reddish pink hair to drape on the log underneath her as her head hit the wood.

She was stuck.

That much was clear.

"Did that Uchiha pansy make it to Orochimaru?"

The pinkette asked herself while she thought about the boy running ahead while she held off Pineapple Head and Fan Bitch. The whole point was to escort that guy to Orochimaru, that was her mission he gave her after all.

That he trusted her with.

The girl growled before she started turning her head to look around herself, she had to get out and she had to make it.

She knew exactly how.

The girl looked around frantically for her tool, the one she's carried with her since she was a child. Her instrument she never allowed to leave her side no matter where she went.

Her flute.

She had enough chakra to summon at least one of her Doki, they had more than enough strength to take this log off of her. It could probably carry her for a while too if she used her chakra carefully.

She just needed to play her tune and-

Brown eyes slowly widened in shock while they landed on their target, the familiar metal shined in her eyes while she spotted her. The broken and fragmented pieces of it laid shattered just out of her grasp, along with any sort of hope she had.

Her eye twitched while she looked at her broken instrument, her hand reached toward the pieces regardless. Her thumb was barely able to touch one of the fragments while she whined lightly to herself looking toward the broken flute.

It had been too long now, she could no longer remember who gave her that flute. She just knew that it hurt more than her broken bones staring at its shattered pieces.

"Sakon… Kidomaru… Fatso…"

She said their names while she remembered the other members of the Sound Four, the team chosen by Orochimaru for the most dangerous of missions.

They were dead.

They had to be.

They were weak and they died because they were weak.

She was alive because she was stronger than them, she always knew that she was. Those damned weakling bastards. She trembled at the thoughts of them while she managed to grip her finger around one of the pieces of her flute. Her brown eyes stared toward the piece while she lifted it to her vision, her eyes narrowed around it before she shook her head.

"I'll kill them. I won't die because I'm going to kill them! They broke it, they killed the rest of those damn weaklings!"

The girl yelled while she concentrated her furious thoughts toward the black mark on her neck that turned into a bright orange color as they began to crawl across her skin.

The Curse Seal.

A weapon branded on their bodies made up of Orochimaru's chakra that allowed them to access strength far beyond their regular levels.

A weapon she earned to have.

Her executioner's axe for those who lives she would end.

Her skin turned into a darker color while her skin on her head tore as horns of bone grew through it, her teeth grew a little sharper while she pressed a hand against the log. Slowly she began to push it off of her legs while she put her other hand on the log sitting up slightly as the log moved.

The girl growled while she moved the log, more and more driven by her rage to free herself, she saw the nasty purple and red marks on her legs.

Her Stage 2 of the Curse Mark must have been what kept her legs from completely being splattered by the tree that landed on her. Orochimaru had given it to her because he believed in her, he trusted her, and she wouldn't let him down.

Because she was the strongest.

She wouldn't die, because she was the strongest.

The Curse Mark he had given her, she would use it to finish her mission and slay her foes. She would come out on top.

"I alone…am the exalted one!"

Tayuya yelled while she lifted the log higher off of her legs, slowly though she felt her arms beginning to tremble.

Her eyes widened as her skin began to pale on her fingers as she was losing strength, "...What?" She spoke while she watched the marks that had grown across her skin begin to recede back up her arms while her horns shrunk back into her head.

"Stop… stop it."

The girl said while the marks continued to recede toward her neck, "Lord Orochimaru, I can make it! I'm almost there, just give me another second damn it!" The pinkette yelled while she felt her strength continuing to leave her body while the mark had almost completely receded to her neck.

"STOP IT!"

The girl screamed while the mark returned to her neck completely while a small circle of smaller marks surrounded it, trapping it while the log she was holding fell back on her legs. The girl felt the back of her head hit the log she was laying on while she stared into the air in shock. Her hand went to touch her neck while she felt her curse mark.

She no longer felt his chakra, the only thing she could feel was the dull throbbing in the mark while her fingers shook touching it.

Orochimaru officially considered her dead to him, he cut off her access to the seal.

The girl blinked slowly while she shook, her breaths were shaky as she looked toward the sky while she thought back to the man she looked up to.

"What a miserable child, still clinging to life despite losing everything…"

His words from her past echoed through her head while the man stood in front of her burning childhood home. His slender pale fingers curled around a shining piece of metal while her younger brown eyes slowed toward the man holding it out toward her.

It was her flute.

She slowly looked up toward the pale man while he gave her a wicked smile.

"With your flute I buy your soul, miserable little one. Your life is now mine, a life that I will fill with many gifts as long as I own your soul. Take my hand girl and I'll end your misery. I'll give you purpose should you live."

The man spoke while the flames danced in her warm brown eyes while she reached toward her flute grabbing it from his hands.

Her smaller hand reached toward his before he took it gently.

"Wise choice, girl. Now then, let's bring you home shall we?"

The man spoke in a silky voice while she followed him as he held her hand, he guided her while she turned her head to look toward the dancing flames covering the house they were walking away from. She felt a twinge in her heart staring at it, for some reason she couldn't remember who was in it anymore.

She didn't want to remember.

When she tried to, it burned, just like the little house in front of her. If it hurt so badly to try then she wouldn't.

She was miserable, this man came to save her from that misery.

"Tayuya."

The small girl said while the pale man looked toward her for a moment before a grin spread out across his face.

"What a lovely name."

The man spoke while the young Tayuya allowed him to guide her away from the burning house, never realizing that she was grasping tightly on the hand that started the fire.

Tayuya, now a teenager older than she was back then stared blankly at the sky while she laid against the log she was trapped on.

He abandoned her.

Tayuya continued stared at the air while her lip trembled, she thought about when he gave her the small cap she wore on her head before they left on the mission to kill the Third Hokage. She thought about the way Jirobo scolded her about her unladylike speech, she would yell at him. Sakon would laugh and Kidomaru would try and fail to mediate trying to be the leader he wasn't and Sakon was supposed to be.

She hated everyone.

But out of everyone…

She envisioned Orochimaru being carried back by all of them after he lost his arms against the Third Hokage.

The way they worked together to help the man that had saved their lives.

She hated them the least.

Tayuya felt warm tears running down her face while she stared into the sky, slowly her hand touched her wet face before she stared at her fingers like the substance was foreign. She gritted her teeth while she stared toward her fingers while tears continued to stream down her eyes.

Her broken flute.

Those dead idiots.

The man that saved her and now left her for dead.

Why shed tears?

Tayuya roared while she choked on her own sobs clawing her fingers into the log trapping her legs with her fingernails.

"Stop crying, you damn crybaby! Stop crying! You have to move! You have to kill them! Those bastards! You have to kill them all! Before he completely forgets you! Before they die for no reason! STOP CRYING AND KILL THEM!"

Tayuya screamed while she clawed at the wood with all of her might while tears continued to stream down her eyes.

She couldn't stop.

She had to keep going.

She was the strongest.

Tayuya had to make it because she alone was the one who would.

So, he wouldn't leave her.

Days passed.

The blue sky above had turned into a reddish orange as the afternoon bled into the evening, the breeze shook the leaves of the trees while they fell touching Tayuya's face.

Her brown eyes looked hollow while she stared into nothing.

Her fingertips bloodied and the log trapping her legs covered in red scratch marks.

She couldn't anymore.

Her fury subsided and so did her tears, she wasn't making it. She didn't have a reason to anymore, she clawed and scratched.

For nothing.

Tayuya of the Sound Four, an elite team selected by Orochimaru of the Sannin. She, who fought for her life and won death battle after death battle for her curse mark.

Defeated by a log.

How pathetic.

Exactly what she was now, pathetic. She was truly alone now, abandoned and forgotten. Left for dead in the forest. Tayuya's brown eyes stared at nothing while she felt herself weakening, she pumped her chakra across her body to try to keep herself alive.

She was dehydrated.

Soon she would be dead.

That was perfectly fine with her though.

There wasn't a point to living anyway, not anymore.

She lost it all.

She wasn't strong enough.

She never was.

That's why she's going to die here, it was the fate of the miserable little Tayuya.

The girl coughed while she looked at her broken flute again, the pieces no longer shined. They were dull in the dying light of the day. Her last possession in her last moments, if she was some kind of poet perhaps, she would have found her thought profound.

Instead, she couldn't even muster a crass laugh at the tragedy.

Death sure did take its time, didn't it?

No… death wasn't taking its time. She was still running from it, still breathing despite the lack of reasoning. She waited for death to arrive yet as it grew closer, she ran further, she was a coward. A coward too scared to die.

How pathetic.

Miserable creature.

Just let go.

Tayuya continued to stare at her broken flute, wondering if somewhere it too existed beyond its life. A dumb thought, probably to reassure herself as a human approaching the end.

But damn.

She was kind of sad looking toward it.

Maybe if she had it at least she could play herself some kind of lullaby, maybe if it was in her hands, she could allow herself to be weak.

Weak enough to finally end.

Tayuya closed her eyes while she thought about the sound of her songs, she would play on the flute to herself. Her rare moments of peace. The best memories for her final moments before she reaches hell and burned away.

She coughed again while she heard a sound, slowly her eyes opened when she heard it not believing her ears.

They were footsteps.

The girl looked up toward a figure that stood above her, his dark eyes stared back into hers while she stared back toward him. For a moment she hallucinated that it was Orochimaru, he hadn't abandoned her. That he had come for her.

It wasn't and she knew that.

Tayuya watched the man lift up an axe while his dark eyes stared into her weak and hollow brown eyes. "Do you want to live?" The man asked in a gruff voice while Tayuya weakly looked at him, this guy must have been death.

Here to take her away.

She stared toward the man wordlessly while she slowly looked toward her broken flute, perhaps it was another hallucination. But she could see the metal of the flute shining again despite the light no longer touching it causing her eyes to widen slowly. Tayuya weakly turned toward the axe wielding man who stared down toward her still holding up his axe.

"...I'm scared."

Tayuya uttered toward the man in a slightly delirous state who stared back into her weak orbs while he stared back at her quietly. "You should be… it means you're still alive." The man said while Tayuya coughed, it was supposed to be a crass laugh, but it was only a cough.

How pathetic.

Tayuya nodded her head slowly toward the man holding the axe before she felt herself losing consciousness.

The last thing she saw was the man with the axe lift his blade before swinging it downward toward where the tree had her legs pinned.

{...}

Morning light shined through a window into her closed eyes.

She stirred at the light shining in her face before slowly her eyelids cracked open, Tayuya immediately jumped to sit up.

She panted while she looked around, the forest was gone. Instead, she was in a room in a small cabin. Her bed was by the window that poured in light that shined on her face.

Was this real?

Tayuya looked around frantically while the door to the entrance of the cabin opened, in walked a brown haired, tired looking man before his eyes widened.

"You're awake!"

He yelled now looking more energetic while Tayuya stared at the man like he was crazy as he approached her. Tayuya flinched while the man came closer to her, he reached out touching her shoulder while she shot a glare at him.

"Don't touch me!"

The girl yelled while the brown-haired man quickly backed off, "My apologies… you've been barely responsive for the past week and a half. I thought you wouldn't make it." The man apologized while Tayuya glared at him.

Week and a half?

She was in a coma?

She didn't remember leaving the forest, she was the man with the axe and thought he had killed her.

Now she was sitting here in a bed.

"Where the hell am I?"

The girl asked bewildered while the brown-haired man sat at a small desk by her bed pulling out a folder filled with papers.

"Well, you're in the Land of Grass. A small river village on the outskirts. You showed up one day after someone dropped you off here. You were in pretty bad shape."

The brown-haired man spoke while Tayuya glared at him, "You're a doctor?" The girl accessed while the man nodded.

"Yes, I am. You came to me pretty mangled, genuinely I thought you were a lost cause. I did what I could and you managed to push through it. It's a miracle you're still breathing."

The man said while Tayuya looked at her bandaged arms as she lifted them, she noticed her torso was also bandaged while she touched her chest wincing slightly at the contact.

"Ah wait. I should warn you, while I did my best there were some things, I couldn't save… you should take your time accessing your injuries."

The brown-haired man said while Tayuya's eyes widened as she panicked remembering she still couldn't feel her legs. She quickly snatched the cover off of herself to look toward them, she saw her bandaged legs before taking a breath of relief.

"Your legs were badly damaged, I tried but there was no way for me to fix them. You aren't able to use them right now."

The doctor said flinching at her reaction while she huffed, "The damn things still don't work huh? I thought you cut them off… I was about to be pissed." The girl spoke while the doctor raised an eyebrow.

"That… was not the reaction I was expecting."

The doctor said while the girl glared at him, "I'm a goddamm ninja. Blood and broken bones are my thing, so when can I start fucking walking again?" Tayuya asked gruffly while the doctor paled.

"Well… while amputation wasn't needed due to your legs still being properly circulated most likely due to your chakra flow… there were sensitive areas that even with extensive medical expertise that were damaged in your legs that couldn't be repaired."

The doctor spoke while Tayuya stared at the man, hanging around Orochimaru allowed her to pick up on medical jargon considering his experiments on multiple subjects including herself. This doctor was beating around the bush about something very important.

"Doc, tell me the damn truth."

Tayuya demanded while the man took a deep breath before he looked toward her with gentle yet sad eyes.

"You are never going to be able to use your legs again."

Tayuya stared at the man for a moment before she looked down at her bandaged legs while the doctor took a breath, "I know that's heavy news, but I just need you to breathe." The doctor tried to reassure her while the girl blinked.

"Bullshit."

"Excuse me?"

"I said bullshit… You're lying."

"Ma'am, I promise I'm not."

"You're lying! My legs aren't gone, they're right here, I'm not broken…"

"I never said you were but-"

"I SAID IT'S FUCKING BULLSHIT! YOU'RE LYING, MY LEGS I'M GOING TO WALK AGAIN I HAVE TO!"

Tayuya roared while the doctor took a step back while she sucked in a breath tracing her fingers over her legs, they still didn't feel a thing. "...Right?" The girl spoke quietly while the doctor looked toward the ground as her lip trembled while she continued to drag her fingers against her legs hoping she would feel something.

But she didn't.

"Fuck…"

Tayuya said quietly while her finger clawed the blanket on the bed, she gripped tighter while she stared out of the window.

She was stuck.

A cripple in some backwater village in the middle of nowhere, she had finally been free only to be told she was now trapped forever. Her legs broken beyond repair while the ones she wanted to kill were still out there and the man who didn't know she was still alive out there as well.

Maybe Orochimaru could fix her.

Her master was a brilliant man and was capable of what others would call impossible, maybe if she could get something out to him then he would know that she was alive and find her. He would fix her and then she'd be able to redeem herself for him, she would kill all of them. The entire team that was sent after Sasuke and end them all, that was what she could do.

Tayuya thought while she was interrupted but a dull throbbing on her neck where her curse mark had been, her eyes slowly widened while she looked toward the doctor.

"The mark on my neck… tell what it's doing, Doc?"

Tayuya asked in a low voice while the brown-haired man walked toward her inspecting her neck where the mark had been, "This seal… it's glowing orange briefly before turning black again." the doctor responded while the pink haired girl gave him a look.

Why was she still alive?

Tayuya was so elated about surviving in the first place she didn't think to question it, the curse marks depending on their user were basically insurances granting strength and also assuring death upon failure of retrieval should one of them be captured.

That's what she was told by Orochimaru.

So, with that in mind, the curse mark should have killed her after all this time if Orochimaru didn't know she was alive with that information she was given from him.

Unless…

Unless she didn't understand him properly on what he really meant, what if the curse mark didn't kill her because it wasn't supposed to?

What if this mark isn't supposed to just kill her, but something else.

Tayuya's expression slowly twisted into horror as multiple pieces began to fit into her head about the events that had occurred since she was defeated, her legs were crushed, she had access to the curse mark and the chakra it still had left but was cut off from it and now it was throbbing and glowing occasionally.

The curse mark isn't what was supposed to kill her.

No.

The curse mark is pumping out Orochimaru's chakra signature, marking her location as long as she was alive to locate her.

Orochimaru knew that she was alive, he cut off her seal and left her for dead only to activate the failsafe in the seal that marked her with his chakra. He wasn't trying to save her despite the fact that she was alive, and he knew that she was alive.

He was sending someone to kill her.

Tayuya's eyes glazed over while she stared at the bedsheets, she trembled slightly while she thought back to the way Orochimaru extended his hand out to her when she was a child saving her life from her miserable existence promising her a new life.

That man she looked up to more than anyone, was trying to kill her since she survived.

She was alive and he wanted her dead.

Tayuya no longer had any more use to Orochimaru now that he had Sasuke, she was just a loose end now.

Trash to be thrown away and killed.

Tayuya clawed her hand against the bed sheet while the doctor raised an eyebrow as she clawed it again but even harder, her teeth gritted while she dragged her fingers as deeply into the sheets as possible as she thought about the Sound 4 and Orochimaru.

She was useless.

A miserable creature again.

That was all she was now.

She clawed her hand into the sheets and dragged her bandaged fingers across it hard enough to cause them to reopen the wounds on the tips of her fingers, dying the tips of her bandages red, "Hey!" the doctor yelled while Tayuya kept clawing at her bedsheet.

In her vision the bedsheet briefly turned into the bark of the tree that had fallen on her, "Die…" she spoke while she clawed her hands against the bed sheets even faster.

"Die."

"Die, you miserable creature."

"Just me, die."

Tayuya spoke while the doctor looked toward the girl in shock as he dashed toward his desk pulling out a syringe sticking it into a vial while the girl felt her tears running down her face while she continued to claw faster and faster.

"Just die already!"

Tayuya yelled while arms wrapped around her the girl struggled in the doctor's grip while he kept her hands from clawing into the bed any longer, she sobbed and growled while the doctor held her steady enough for his needle to puncture her skin.

Tayuya continued to try to claw her bed as she got weaker and weaker, losing consciousness, "Die… Just die…" the girl spoke while her eyes began to shut while the doctor slowly laid her head down toward the pillow.

"Listen… I don't know what happened to you, but it's going to be ok… I promise it's going to be ok. We're going to take care of you alright? I won't let anything else happen to you."

The doctor spoke while Tayuya looked at the man in her fading vision before everything went black as she finally lost consciousness, in the blackness of her mind Tayuya saw herself falling.

She could see Orochimaru's face peeking out of the hole surrounded by the only light that illuminated her features, tears fell down her face while she fell as she reached her hand out toward Orochimaru who only laughed in an echoed voice.

"Miserable creature… Why reach for nothing?"

Orochimaru's voice spoke to her while she weakly reached out toward him still as he slowly slid a cover over the hole that allowed the light to touch her, the light slowly died away as Tayuya fell further into the darkness as Orochimaru's indifferent stare was the last thing she saw before she was covered in darkness.

It was an awful dream.

One that she would have hundreds of times.

{...}

-One Year Later: Current Day-

Day 367.

Still here.

Brown eyes slowly cracked open while they stared toward the ceiling.

A hand grabbed at the blanket covering her frame while she slid off the bed into her wheelchair nearby.

She tiredly wheeled herself toward a small closet sliding it open revealing several articles of clothing she pushed each piece with her hand before her fingers touched a pale-yellow piece of clothing. She grabbed at her shirt pulling it off of herself smoothly while she looked toward her pants, the girl traced her fingers over her legs.

Still nothing.

She grabbed the hem of her pants pulling them down as she struggled getting them off.

"Ah, fuck."

She grumbled to herself before she managed after a while to take off her pants and dress herself before rolling to the door.

No more time to waste.

A door opened slowly revealing Tayuya in a wheelchair, her hair had grown longer in the year that had passed since she had arrived in Kusasa Village. The place where she had been delivered to by the mysterious man before she was saved by someone else.

Well, 'Saved' at this point was far too strong of a word.

She kept her long hair tied up and kept under her cap while she used her wheelchair to navigate around since her legs even after a year still showed no signs of being able to function on their own, that still pissed her off beyond belief.

The wheels of the wheelchair rolled across hardwood while she left from her room into a small kitchen area that was connected to the living that had a couch, table, and tv she barely used, the sound of rustling was deeper in the kitchen while she turned her head toward the source of the noise.

"Ah, you're up early. I wasn't expecting you until at least the late afternoon."

The voice joked while Tayuya narrowed her eyes at the man before she stuck her middle finger up, "Fuck you, your PhD stand for Pointless Human Garbage." the girl spoke while the sound of chuckling came out of the kitchen while a brown-haired man now with a beard stuck his head out to look toward her.

"There's no 'G' in Phd."

"Anyone fucking ask?"

Tayuya fired back while the man laughed again, Dr. Kusakabe the man who saved her life all that time ago had taken her in and adopted her in a sense after her breakdown in his office. She's been living with him ever since that day.

The man wasn't perfect, but he always tried his best as much as it annoyed the hell out of her, he got her this wheelchair and helped her with the various things she couldn't do herself anymore because of her lack of an ability to use her legs.

He was nice, too nice. If she had met the man in her hay day, she would have killed him in an instant without blinking, a mindset like his and he was a goner if anything bad happened. He was also a giant pansy; he occasionally forced her to watch shitty rom-coms where he would bawl at the 'touching' moments.

It was all the same garbage to her, and his crying was annoying.

Kusakabe was a lot of things but he could take her crassness so she would at least give him points for that little tidbit.

"Breakfast?"

Kusakabe asked while Tayuya gave the man a look, "Nah, not today." the girl said while the man sighed walking out with full plates of food while she tried to escape out of the front door. She stopped at the smell of a certain food item.

"Ah, that got your attention. It would be a dang shame if little ole me had to enjoy all of the fresh baked donut rolls from Ms. Yaki's bakery all alone… A dang shame indeed."

Kusakabe spoke while the girl glared toward the door ahead of her, he was baiting her. He wasn't even trying to be slick about it either, the smell kept invading her nose while she shook her head. Tayuya didn't have time for this.

She had things to do.

Yet, not even a few minutes had passed before she was sitting across Kusakabe at the small wooden dining table with a powder covered baked good in her mouth.

"You are an evil man, I'll be seeing you in hell for your transgressions. Shitty bastard."

Tayuya spoke as she shoved another donut roll into her mouth while Kusakabe laughed at the girl, "You're welcome. I'll take your thanks when we finally go to hell I guess." the doctor joked while the girl exhaled out of her nose.

"Nah, I'm going alone. I don't want your sniveling while I'm trying to burn in peace."

She said while Kusakabe gave her a quick look, "You're dressed nicely, you going somewhere? Got some kind of date? Ah, that takes me back to when I was your age. Fifteen, young an-" the man was cut off by Tayuya narrowing her eyes at him.

The girl had been wearing a pale-yellow colored sundress, it had been the easiest thing she could slip into without summoning this idiot to help her. Her reddish pink hair had been tried up into a ponytail she had taken the time to tie up.

"I'm dressed for a funeral, wanna come?"

Tayuya asked sarcastically while Kusakabe chuckled, "Your humor is as impeccable as ever. I would hate to see the other guy." the doctor said while Tayuya didn't respond while she ate another donut before she took the last one off of her plate.

"Oi, you need to shave. You look like crap. You also haven't been sleeping so quit working yourself so damn hard and make sure to sleep tonight."

Tayuya practically ordered while Kusakabe raised an eyebrow, "Yes ma'am… what's gotten into you being nice all the sudden?" The man asked while the girl gave him a brief look.

"I'm not being nice, dumbass. I'm just stating facts, you got no one else around to look after you so you gotta start doing it yourself."

Tayuya said while Kusakabe gave the girl a smile before he took a sip of his coffee, "I still have you." The man spoke with a grin while the girl stared at him for a moment.

"Whatever… be good."

Tayuya said while she turned to wheel away from the doctor, "Yeah yeah. Oh, by the way I made you an appointment to do another check up on your legs. When you get back swing by the office, I think I'm getting closer to finding a solution for your legs." Kusakabe spoke while Tayuya paused staring toward the door.

"When I get back… sure, Doc."

Tayuya said while she wheeled toward the door reaching toward the handle turning it before she felt the breeze touch her face. "...Don't work too hard, when I'm gone." Tayuya said while Kusakabe gave the girl a confused look before she exited the door into the outside world, closing it behind her.

Tayuya sighed before she turned her head toward the rest of the village, today was just another peaceful day to them. The kids were playing, the adults were working and talking amongst each other, walking together with smiles on their faces.

Even after a little more than a year, she felt like a stranger.

She could look into the eyes of these people, yet she could never truly see them. She could live amongst them, but they could never truly understand her. Even standing on the same ground she and them were still separate beings completely, she was a wildfire contained by a field of flowers. Their peace and their apparent happiness was something she could never get or even try to pretend she understood.

Her life was war.

Their life was this lack of violence.

They were weak people that would crumple under her fist if she had the ability to close it around them. If she were still the same person, she used to be then all of these people would be destroyed by someone like her. Living among them for the past year felt exactly like that, she was a beast holding a dandelion asking it to look at her while the breeze blew the flower apart in her hands.

It was pathetic.

These people were pathetic and weak.

That was one of her reasons, that she could no longer live amongst them.

Hell, even at all.

Tayuya rolled through the pathways of the village while the occasional eye would land on her, "Hey Tayuya, getting some air?" One of the villagers asked while she gave the man a quick glance before she kept rolling along.

"It's Miss Tayuya, she's in her chair again!"

She heard children shouting while they innocently laughed at her while she just sighed in response. The girl kept rolling until she reached a shop stopping in front of its large window, inside of the shop were multiple baked goods on display.

"Ah, if it isn't little Tayuya."

A mature feminine voice spoke while the front door of her shop opened slightly, she had black hair tied into a neat bun with gentle violet-colored eyes.

"I ain't little, Hag."

Tayuya spoke while the older woman giggled, "Kusakabe came earlier, he picked up the donuts I made for you both. He seemed a little more energetic than usual." The woman said while Tayuya huffed.

The woman was Ms. Yaki, she ran a bakery by day and a small Izakaya by night. She was a hard-working woman who was still single into her 30's despite being one of the most beautiful women in the village.

Though Tayuya knew the reason for this.

"You need to hurry up and shove your tongue down that shitty doctor's throat. If you two give each other fuck-me eyes any longer I'm going to go bald from pulling my hair out."

Tayuya spoke crassly while Yaki blinked, staring toward the young girl before she began to laugh, "You say such the harshest things, Little Tayuya. Ever the sharp unladylike tongue with you." Yaki laughed at Tayuya who huffed.

"I ain't little! Anyway… seriously. Stop beating around the damn bush, just say something to the guy. He needs someone to have his back, he's useless on his own."

Tayuya said while Yaki tilted her head in confusion, "On his own? He adores you, surely, he wouldn't send you away. You are also being more direct than usual, is everything ok?" The black-haired woman asked while Tayuya stared back toward her.

"It's your reward. For making… mediocre donuts for breakfast. So just listen to me, alright? He likes you so quit wasting time."

Tayuya said while Yaki gave her a concerned look before she sighed, "You're such a daddy's girl." The woman joked while Tayuya flushed slightly before growling.

"That shitty doctor bastard isn't my dad!"

Tayuya yelled while Yaki laughed unconvinced by the teenage girl's outburst, the girl took a breath while she moved her chair to roll away.

"...You made good stuff occasionally, thanks. Don't work too hard."

Tayuya said while she began to roll away, "Made? It's not like I won't make stuff for you anymore. As a matter of fact, I still have some fresh goods. If you are going out for a bit, I'm more than happy to-" Yaki was cut off by the oddly gentle stare of normally angry looking brown eyes.

"Nah… that last batch you made was tasty. That was all I needed."

Tayuya said while Yaki watched the girl leave, the woman had a confused expression on her face while her fingers gripped on the door slightly tighter. Tayuya continued to wheel her way through the village until she got the edge of the village exiting from it as she took a look back toward the village, she reluntantly called home for a while.

One last time.

Tayuya then pulled her gaze away from the village before she rolled further away from it, her eyes spotted the river that ran by the village as she continued to roll toward it.

Days.

Months.

A year.

Tayuya felt the dull throbbing of her curse mark while her fingers touched the glowing mark gently before she rolled again. All of that time had passed, her curse mark continued to pulsate, her legs were still useless, and she had been trapped waiting for her inevitable end.

Yet no one had come to take her life yet.

Each day she opened up her eyes, she was filled with dread. Like death had made its home by her bed looming over her yet never taking her. Her executioner staring at her in the back of her mind, they could arrive at any day and take her life in a moment.

Yet they didn't.

She waited for days, then weeks but still was left with nothing by the empty sensation of a crawling dread. Tayuya barely slept, the weight she felt in her chest with each passing day got worse and worse as death was promised but never came.

It terrified her.

She wanted it to end and be quick if it was something that was going to happen, she accepted her death but instead was forced to live in anticipation of it. She was trapped with a broken body forced to watch as her end crawled at a snail's pace toward her.

Not allowing her to do anything but suffer until it came.

Orochimaru was a cruel man, but this life since the day he condemned her has been utter hell that she alone was trapped in.

She was tired.

But she was the strongest, she was done waiting and rotting while whoever was sent to kill her watched her suffer. She wouldn't be a coward anymore. If she was going to die and was destined to meet a grizzly end than who better to end her existence and she herself?

Tayuya had decided to become her own end.

The girl wheeled toward the mud by the river watching it flow while she stared into the blue water.

"There we go."

Tayuya said while she lifted her hand and undid her hair allowing her long reddish hair to flow in the wind before it draped around her, her cap fell to her lap as she stared at it.

She had never seen a funeral before.

Mostly when people died around her their bodies were just disposed of and never really honored or buried.

She was smart though; she would just make it up along the way.

Tayuya pulled at her pale-yellow sundress while she touched her face with her other hand, usually people were dressed nicely and looked fairly beautiful in a morbid yet meaningful way in death at least how someone described it to her once.

She wondered if she had looked the same.

She wondered when her corpse washed up somewhere that someone would find it and believe she was some kind of tragic girl making an escape from some cruel world. They would give her dead body more of a story than she herself while living would have ever had in life.

Tayuya stared at the water before her fingers clutched at empty air, she wanted her flute in her hands. It was her last personal item and the only thing she wanted with her in death, yet it had been long gone before her.

That admittedly made her a little sad.

However, she would make do where she could. Not like a begger could be a chooser after all.

Next, she believed people world say some nice words about the deceased before their burial. That was tough. Despite her arrogance, Tayuya couldn't really think of any 'nice' things to really say about herself.

She was strong.

No, the strongest.

But that was just a fact to her, not really anything nice in the traditional sense.

"...She played a good song occasionally."

Tayuya spoke out loud to herself while the breeze responded by gently blowing past her face, reminding her that she was alone. The reddish haired girl then let out a harsh chuckle, she had run her death through her mind thousands of times in her head. That she would die some warrior on a battlefield fighting a worthy foe for a worthy cause like once upon a time protecting Orochimaru.

But she didn't have that now.

No worthy death, no big climatic battle, just a girl sitting by the river's edge holding her own funeral before she died alone.

How pathetic… but it suited her perfectly.

Miserable little Tayuya.

Dying alone.

Yep, just the fate for her and her alone.

"Last words…"

Tayuya said while she thought of something that would fit her, just for one last little air of theatrics before she left.

"Good riddance."

Tayuya said as her final words before she nodded her head wheeling a little closer to the edge of the river. Her legs weren't working so just a simple dip into the river would catch her in the current and she would drown.

Simple.

Would drowning hurt?

No, that didn't matter.

Tayuya leaned before something caught her sight in the corner of her eyes, she had already been well aware that fate was a cruel mistress.

But this was just petty.

"The hell is that?"

Tayuya asked, ruining her last words while slowly the object floated closer and closer down the river toward her.

It was a person.

A young man to be exact, he floated toward her slowly with his blonde hair and thin whisker line covered face. His eyes were closed and he had a gentle expression on his face as if he had already met with death.

Tayuya meanwhile was pissed, spotting the body floating toward her.

She only asked for one thing for all of her suffering and that was to die alone. All by herself and yet fate's one last fuck you was bringing along someone she would die in the river with.

She couldn't even be left alone in death.

Tayuya watched as the body floated closer and closer while her eye twitched, her fist clenched, and her teeth gritted.

"Fucking hell!"

Tayuya yelled as she threw herself out of the chair into the mud, spite driving her as she crawled as close as she could to the approaching body pulling him to the shore.

"I fucking refuse, you hear me death?! Fuck you! I don't want your handouts; I'm dying all by myself goddamn it! Don't look down on me!"

Tayuya yelled while she dragged the young man onto dry land using everything in her that her frustration could muster. The young man's back hit the mud while Tayuya panted heavily staring toward the boy, he looked close to her age while she growled.

"Ha take that! You son of a bitc-"

Tayuya's words died in her mouth when got a closer look at the boy and noticed his chest was moving up and down, she crawled toward him until her face was over his.

"This bastard's still breathing?"

Tayuya said while she turned her ear toward his face and listened to his gentle breaths, she turned and looked at his face more closely. Her brown eyes widened in shock as she slowly recognized the blonde boy from the whiskers on his face.

"There's… no way…"

Tayuya said while she touched his face with one of her hands on the same cheek that a little over a year ago, she punched the shit out of when he jumped toward her. Tayuya flinched as her brown eyes were suddenly staring into a warm ocean blue staring back up toward her.

'Damn it!'

Tayuya swore in her head as the blonde's eyes continued to stare into hers undeterred by the shock on her face. "You're… that blonde shithead." The girl spoke while the boy stared at her in silence before he blinked, giving her a confused look.

"I'm blonde?"

The teen asked while Tayuya's jaw nearly dropped at the sheer stupidity of the blonde who suddenly sat up slamming his forehead into hers. "Mother… fucker!" Tayuya shouted while the blonde teen used his hands to start touching multiple parts of his own body investigating himself.

"I'm… I'm…"

The blonde struggled with his words while Tayuya fumed at him, "Starting out with a headbutt huh? Here to finally kill me for taking your buddy huh? Yeah, well do your fucking worst!" The girl yelled at the blonde while his fingers touched a necklace with a small jewel attached to it.

This day went from bad to worse, just when she thought she was doing fate a favor by ending herself instead it sends the blonde who she punched in the face after stealing his emo buddy and tried to murder his friends. She fished out someone who clearly had multiple reasons to kill her himself, guess fate really hated her if murder was the preferred option of death.

"Kill you? Why would I do that? What buddy?"

The blonde asked while Tayuya blinked at him, "Quit screwing around, Asshat. You know exactly what I'm talking about. I stole Sasuke, I tried to kill your friends. Quit patronizing me!"

Tayuya growled while the blonde tilted his head toward her, staring at her with genuine confusion on his face.

"Patronize you? I don't even know who you are."

The mystery blonde said while Tayuya shook her head before rubbing a hand on her face, "You're kidding, you have to be kidding me. This is bullshit. You're lying." The girl growled while the blonde rubbed the back of his head.

"I swear I'm not kidding, I wouldn't forget a face like yours if I wanted to."

The blonde said while Tayuya's eye twitched before she pointed at him, "You really are fucking with me! Spewing out pick-up lines you shithead bastard?!" Tayuya yelled while the blonde waved his hands in the air.

"Pick-up lines!? I was just being honest! Woah, wait a minute… you sound like you know me."

The blonde spoke more inquisitively while the exasperated girl huffed, "Yeah, I know you! I would never forget about you or your team!" Tayuya huffed while the blonde crouched in front of her grabbing her hands.

"Cool! So, uh... could you tell me who I am? I'm trying my best to remember but I just can't no matter how hard I try."

The blonde said while Tayuya stared into the boy's eyes, she couldn't find a hint of any lies. This guy legitimately didn't know who he was.

"I can't fucking believe this."

"Like I said I'm telling the truth, I… just woke up and saw your face. That's all I know."

"What a pain in the ass."

"So… who are you?"

The teen asked while Tayuya sighed, "I'm Tayuya of the… ugh just Tayuya." The girl spoke while the blonde snapped his fingers.

"You were my girlfriend, right?"

The blonde asked immediately, being slugged in the face by Tayuya who growled at him, the blonde groaned on the ground.

"Sorry, it's just your hands were soft and for a moment I felt something familiar in my brain."

The blonde said while Tayuya gave him an exhausted look, "Yeah… you're definitely making fun of me." The girl said while the boy groaned.

"I'm not making fun of you, I promise! It's just… there's something about you that just… Feels right."

The teen said while Tayuya's expression softened slightly, "I don't remember you being some smooth talking pervert. Guess whatever happened to you scrambled your brain too." The girl said the blonde tilted his head.

"So we were friends huh?"

The teen asked with a smile on his face while Tayuya narrowed her eyes at him, "We were not friends, last time we saw each other I'm pretty sure I was going to kill you." The girl said while the blonde sweatdropped.

"I must have done something to make you really mad huh? I'm sorry."

The blonde apologized while Tayuya looked at him with disbelief, "Sorry? I was your enemy, why are you sorry? I was actively trying to murder you." The girl spoke with a growl while the blonde blinked.

"Nah."

The blonde said while he chuckled, Tayuya blinked while she shook her head. "Nah? Nah what? I couldn't kill you if tried? Because I'm broken now huh?" The girl growled while the blonde placed his hand on the top of her head looking into her eyes.

"Nah, because you don't look like someone who would do something like that."

The blonde spoke while Tayuya's glare dropped, this guy wasn't afraid of her even a little bit staring into her soul with those eyes of his. She wanted to be pissed off but she couldn't… this guy just wouldn't allow her to be with a look like that.

Like he's looking at a person.

"You don't know that… the things I've done."

Tayuya said while the blonde boy gave her hair a little ruffle while the grin never left his face stilling looking it over her eyes.

"You're my friend. I don't have to know it… I can just feel it."

The teen boy said while Tayuya felt herself get moved ever so slightly before she shook her head looking back toward him. "I know a guy… he can take a look at you and find out why you're fucked in the head." Tayuya said while the teen pumped his fist in the air with a large smile on his face.

"Hell yeah! Thank you! I wanna try to remember you and other stuff as soon as possible."

The teen spoke excitedly while the girl stared toward him, technically the guy getting his memories back would be classified as horrible news for her. She was one of the ninja who stole away Sasuke after all and also the time they met he was more than willing to fight her for that.

She would be totally at his mercy the moment he remembered anything; she was a sitting duck. He would want to take her life. Then again, that's not exactly a bad thing in her book. Better this idiot then an alternative at this rate. She couldn't imagine the experiments Orochimaru would perform on her body if he got it. This guy was a pervert and an idiot, but she could trust he would get the job done and be on his merry way.

Like she already said, she would make it up as she went along.

"Now we have to get bac-"

Tayuya's words were cut off while she looked toward where her wheelchair used to be, the blonde turned around to look in the same direction. Slowly her wheelchair had slid in the mud and into the river that had happily carried it away, leaving the girl stranded.

"Son of a bitch!"

Tayuya yelled while the teen boy looked into the river watching it flow before he pointed a finger toward it.

"Want me to jump in after it?"

The blonde asked while Tayuya sighed heavily, "No… I'm fucking done with this river." The girl spoke while the boy nodded his head.

Suddenly Tayuya felt herself lift off the ground while her brown eyes widened in brief panic, "Oi!" The girl yelled while Naruto held her bridal style.

"We gotta go find that guy right? You gotta lead though, I have no idea where I'm going."

Naruto spoke while Tayuya looked toward the blonde before her hand touched his chest feeling his muscle. She didn't realize it just staring at his face but, hasn't this guy changed a lot since she last saw him.

He was easily taller than her now even if she could stand, when back then she had an inch or two on him. His blonde hair was still spiky but looked a little more styled than before, his face barely changed but his eyes seemed different. They look deeper, not the eyes of the same idiot boy from a while ago.

A year is a long time, but his growth spurt was ridiculous.

"Whatever. Now mush."

Tayuya ordered while the blonde began to move toward the village before he chuckled at the girl in his arms.

"I'm not a dog, y'know."

The blonde said while Tayuya huffed, "Shut up and walk." The girl said while the teen boy sighed before he walked forward.

"Hey."

"What?"

"I forgot to ask but you know my name, right?"

"You even forgot that?"

"Oi, don't blame me. I don't know how it happened."

"..."

"You do know my name… right?"

"Shut up, of course I do. I just… need a second."

"..."

"..."

"It's ok if you don't know."

"Shut it! It's Shithead. Yeah, Shithead Blonde."

"That's not my name, that's super stupid."

"Fuck you… then it's Blondie."

"...What's up with you and trying to name me like a dog?"

"Mush."

"Ugh, yes ma'am."

{...}

"Tayuya… Already bringing boys home?"

Kusakabe joked while Tayuya, now sitting I'm a chair, rolled her eyes at the doctor, "Ha ha ha. You hear me laughing? From how unfucking funny you are?" The reddish haired girl said while Kusakabe laughed.

"They grow up so fast, huh?"

Kusakabe joked with the blonde teen while he also laughed in response, "She's great." The boy said while Tayuya groaned.

"So, Mr. Uh Nobody. You got a name? Something other than 'Shithead' or 'Blondie'?"

The doctor asked while the boy shook his head in response, "Imagine that, the guy I brought in because he has no memory of who he is not remembering his name? How fucking incredible, right?" Sarcasm dripped from Tayuya's words while Kusakabe laughed.

"She's precious, isn't she? She's got quite the mouth on her."

The doctor said while Naruto nodded his head in response, nodding along with him.

"Yeah, her mouth is great."

Naruto said while the entire room fell into a dead silence for a few moments Kusakabe turned toward the girl in the chair as she fumed.

"I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU, YOU FOX FACED FUCKING BASTARD!"

Tayuya roared while Kusakabe started dying of laughter while the teen waved his hands in the air, "Did I say something weird? I said that because she says funny things!" The blonde tried to explain while Kusakabe kept laughing.

"Yeah, that's fucking weird! You goddamn loser!"

The girl yelled while the doctor tried to compose himself looking toward the girl sitting in the chair flushed and fuming.

"I've never seen her get that red before."

Kusakabe said through laughter while Tayuya growled at him, "Fuck you." The girl growled before Kusakabe composed himself after a little while.

"So, acute amnesia got it. I'm going to run a few tests, so I'll need to remove your shirt and roll up your pants."

The doctor said while the blonde nodded his head, "Got it!" The blonde said as he grabbed his torn-up fishnet shirt and pulled it off.

"Easy, we have innocent eyes in the room or so I thought."

Kusakabe teased while Tayuya scoffed, "Shut up, I ain't some perv." The girl said while the doctor chuckled before he stopped looking toward Naruto's shirtless body as he removed his pouch from his side.

Tayuya's eyes also widened slightly, staring toward the blonde's chest as he rolled his pants, "There we go… Everything ok?" The teen asked while the doctor blinked.

They looked at the scars that were on the blonde's chest and back, there was an 'X' shaped scar over the pec where his heart that led to his sternum stopped for a little while before it continued on his rib on the opposite side. There was another scar in the center of his sternum that was short and thin, along with several far smaller scars.

"...and you don't remember a single thing?"

The doctor asked while the blonde shook his head at the man, Tayuya stared at the teen's chest with disbelief. The life of a ninja is clearly dangerous, and scars are normal for a ninja but most of the ones on his body looked like they should have been fatal.

Yet he was running around with a goofy grin on his face.

"The hell happened to you after that day, Shithead?"

The girl asked while the teen shrugged his shoulders in response, "Looks like you two have far more history than I thought. I'm going to do some standard tests before we get to the main one, ok?" Kusakabe said while the boy grinned.

"Alright."

He said while Kusakabe started his tests on the more than willing teen who cooperated the entire time. "Great, now this last one is going to feel a little strange. Bear with me." The doctor said while he made a quick head seal before slowly chakra began to form around his palm.

"Ok, Blondie. I'm going to place my hand on your head and once I do I need you to tell me everything you can remember before Tayuya found you ok?"

Kusakabe asked while the teen nodded his head, before the doctor gently placed his hand on the top of his head.

"Uh… I was… Falling. I don't know where, but I was falling… then I felt the water. I hit the river and blacked out, I remember the was some deep growling voice, but it was faint, and I was floating in the river."

The blonde tried to recollect while Kusakabe nodded his head while his eyes slowly widened while he rubbed his hand around the young man's head.

"Ok, perfect. Thank you, Blondie."

Kusukabe said while the blonde sighed, "I'm not named after a dog." The teen said while Kusakabe chuckled before he began to write things down on his clipboard.

"So, what's the verdict, Doc? He hit his head, blunt force trauma?"

The girl spoke while the young man also looked toward the doctor who stopped writing on his paperwork on his clipboard. "Alright. Here, let me just show you." The doctor said while he took the paper off of the clipboard and placed it on the wall, there was a diagram of a brain on it.

"Pretty small, looks accurate."

Tayuya said while the blonde gave her a look with narrowed eyes, "Oi." The teen said while she snickered.

"So, this is a little hard to explain but I'll do my best. Physically, Mr. Nobody here is in perfect shape, not even a scratch externally or internally other than already existing scars."

Kusakabe explained while the blonde nodded his head, "Here's where things get interesting. There are no signs of blunt trauma or even an illness that may have caused the memory loss. Instead, there's a disruption in his chakra network." The doctor explained while the blonde tilted his head.

"Chakra?"

The teen asked while Tayuya nearly groaned, "Basically the moldable life-force of living beings. You're a ninja, get with the program." The girl said while the doctor gave her a look.

"Not exactly, you see chakra while it is connected to our lives doesn't necessarily make it our entire life force. Chakra itself has a specialized system that it uses to flow within the body, sort of like another nervous system. What makes chakra so important is that from birth chakra helps to facilitate and support the nervous system and various organs to function. The reason for this close connection is currently unknown other than unsupported theories."

Kusakabe explained while Tayuya raised an eyebrow in response, "So his brain chakra is messed up?" The girl spoke while the doctor pointed toward her.

"Sort of. So, what should be the case is that the chakra that enters the brain helps the processing of information and multiple stimuli; however, because of this function this makes the chakra network complex and highly compressed. Meaning there is a lot of sensitive chakra that should be there."

Kusakabe explained while he started drawing circles on the brain diagram, "Our friend here is suffering from a highly unusual case CCDS or Cerebral Chakra Displacement Syndrome. It's supposed to be an extremely rare natural condition usually related to advanced age, almost impossible to happen in someone as young as him. Emphasis on 'almost' that being said I have never seen a case like our friend here. These gaps are large, far larger than even the most extreme documented case studied. This condition is what causes the lapse of memory and therefore amnesia." The doctor said while the blonde's eyes widened.

"I have gaps in my brain?"

The boy spoke in disbelief while Tayuya gave Kusakabe a look, "So you're saying something did this to Shithead? Can you fix it?" The girl spoke while Kusakabe sighed.

"Because of the high complexity of chakra in one's brain, unfortunately I cannot… my medical ninjutsu is nowhere near the level to perform such a reconstruction. We would need someone like Lady Tsunade of the Hidden Leaf Village to perform the chakra surgery for such a sensitive network."

The boy's eyes widened at the name, "Tsunade?" he asked while Tayuya sighed.

"So, you can't fix him? His memories are gone forever?"

Tayuya asked while the doctor pointed toward her, "Yes and No." Kuskabe said while he started drawing circles in the circles.

"I cannot fix it, that is correct. However, in the most interesting twist of this entire case… I won't have to."

Kusakabe said while both Tayuya and the blonde looked toward the man in shock while they started filling in the smaller circles he drew.

"Unbelievably, the surgery has already been started… I've never seen anything like it but while I was looking into his chakra network, I discovered that the gaps in Mr. Nobody's chakra were way bigger before even his current state. That explains why he can even speak or think about his words. This young man's chakra is repairing itself. It has been for a while as if he is quickly regenerating his own chakra at an astounding rate. Because it's a complex network it still looks like it will take a bit of time. It's incredible!"

Kusakabe exclaimed while Tayuya looked toward the blonde, "So I'm repairing my memories on my own? I'll get them back?" The teen asked while the doctor nodded his head.

"Correct, at the current rate it looks like it will take a few days but slowly you should start to remember things. It's important you avoid situations that will disrupt this process and allow yourself to recover properly."

Kusakabe said while Naruto celebrated, Tayuya meanwhile found that her eyes landed on the seal on his abdomen.

The pieces started to fit together in her brain while her brown eyes widened, "Tayuya, this is great! I'll remember you, my name, and other stuff soon!" The boy cheered while she gave him a quick look.

"Yeah."

She said almost blankly while she stared at the seal on his body, all of the sudden a lot of things were beginning to make sense.

Shithead is a Jinchuriki of the Nine Tailed Fox, she forgot about that fact for a while but remembered Orochimaru mentioning it to them during the Konoha Invasion. That means that he was attacked by something, during some kind of mission from his village or whatever.

That's where things stop lining up.

What was he doing all the way out here in the middle of nowhere?

Who knows how long he was drifting, if he was on a team then they would have retrieved him almost instantly meaning he was alone.

Why would he be alone? Does it have something to do with those scars? More importantly, why was he alive without any signs of fresh scars from the Fox's healing but covered in old ones?

Something was off about this.

"My prescription is try to take it easy and avoid any and all rough blows directly to the head, anything like that would slow down healing progress."

The doctor said while the blonde gave him a salute, "Yes sir!" He responded enthusiastically while Kusakabe smiled at him.

"Now then Tayuya, let's get a look at those legs."

The doctor spoke while the girl shook her head, "Nah, I'm good." She spoke while Kusakabe sighed.

"Tayuya…"

"No, I said I'm fine. Now piss off about it. It's the same news as every damn time. They aren't coming back, and you can't fix that. Remember?"

Tayuya spoke with a raised voice while Kusakabe winced before he took a quick breath, "I swore to you that I was going to look into your legs to find a way to fix them. I'm not giving up on that, you know I won't." The brown-haired man said while Tayuya glared at him.

"I don't need your fucking pity. I need a new wheelchair and for you to quit telling me things I already know."

Tayuya growled lowly while Kusakabe opened his mouth to say something but closed his mouth again. "Fine, Blondie. Watch her for me, I'll be back with a new chair for the young lady." The doctor said while the blonde could pick up on the tension in his voice, before he walked out of the room.

"Asshole."

The girl huffed while the blonde suddenly got up from where he was sitting, he looked toward the girl who glared at him.

"What? You trying to pity me too because you think we're friends? You can fuck right off too you piece of garbage, I'm not some charity case for you 'good' people to ogle and boo hoo at. I don't need that nonsense, I'm strong. Far too damn strong to deal with your bullshit."

Tayuya spoke while the boy ook a step toward her, "I said fuck off, Shithead. I'm not in the mood." The girl said while the teen walked even closer to her.

"I said fuck off!"

Tayuya yelled before she swung her fist at the blonde's abdomen only for the teen to catch her fist easily. Tayuya stared at her fist in the blonde's grasp for a moment while her brown eyes began to widen as her breathing began to quicken.

"Miserable Little Tayuya."

A voice in her head spoke while she pulled at her fist in the blonde's grasp, "Let me go." She spoke while the teen didn't comply.

"Miserable creature."

The girl tried to snatch her fist away again, "Let. GO." Tayuya raised her voice while his blue eyes looked deeply into her brown ones.

He was staring at her.

Looking down on her.

Staring into her soul at the things she would never allow the world to see, she felt small looking at the blonde.

She hated it.

She hated it so damn much.

"...let go."

Tayuya spoke in a quiet voice while the blonde gently moved his hand from her fist to her wrist as he crouched in front of her. She watched as he placed her knuckles against his cheek, those deep blue eyes still staring at her. Tayuya hesitated for a moment before she swung, cracking teen across his face with as much strength as she could muster.

"You thought I wouldn't do it? You're so righteous that you'd allow me to punch your face to make me feel better. Of course I'd oblige, you are nothing to me and neither is anyone else in the entire damn world. Fuck each and every single one of you for trying to look at me and make me into something I'm not. I'm not you. I'm not some dumbass weakling. I'm not some broken thing you can coddle and fucking coo at. I'm strong, the goddamn strongest. I'm not some good sad little lonely person to save. And I'm not weak!"

Tayuya shouted while the blonde turned his face toward her, "Did it hurt?" The teen asked while Tayuya scoffed.

"No, of course it didn't. I can't feel shit in my legs, you stupid bastard."

Tayuya spat while the teen looked into her eyes again, "That's not what I meant… When I lifted you up to carry you, when you were told your legs wouldn't work, when you had to ask for a new wheelchair. Does that hurt?" The teen asked while Tayuya narrowed her eyes at him.

"It does. There you fucking happy? Happy that I'm broken? That I have to be reminded of it all day every goddamn day?"

Tayuya asked while the teen shook his head, "You aren't broken." The blonde said before he gave her a small smile.

"You son of a-"

"Close your eyes."

The teen asked while Tayuya gave him a look, "What?" She asked while the young man nodded his head.

"Close your eyes, please."

The teen requested in a firmer voice while Tayuya glared before slowly she closed her eyes, "There, goddamn idiot." she spoke while the blonde lifted a finger.

"Now think about your legs, about feeling them."

The teen said while Tayuya growled, "This is fucking stupid, it's been a year with all kinds of different bullshit methods, and you want me to use my imagination to make something happen. You're fucking ridiculous."

Tayuya spat while she heard the blonde sigh, "Just for a few seconds… Unless you are so afraid that I'm right." The blonde said while he saw her closed eyes twitch.

"Fucking shitty pride. Screw you, I'm not afraid of anything, especially not some brain-dead idiot."

Tayuya said while she was trying to remember what it was like to feel anything with her legs and disturbingly enough it was hard.

They were a whole part of her body and she barely thought about them for all that time when she just took advantage of them. Like they were always going to be there for her to kick the shit out of people with or to walk and run to places with.

Those times were nice.

It was warm.

Tayuya's eyes shot open when she looked down toward her legs, the blonde placed a finger on her leg.

She saw it.

But before she saw it.

She could feel it.

"...What the fuck did you do?"

Tayuya asked while she suddenly no longer felt his finger at all but could still see it touching her leg, it was brief and only for a few seconds but for the first time in an entire year.

She felt something in her legs.

"You aren't broken, just like I'm not good. How can I be good? I don't even know who I am or who I was. How can someone like that decide good or bad?"

The blonde spoke while Tayuya looked at him in surprise as he looked toward her with a gentleness to his eyes.

"I'm not a good person because despite the fact that it hurt you, I still picked you up and reminded you that you can't walk. I'd do it again too. You can say you aren't my friend all you want. I can refuse to believe you. I can do what I want since I'm nobody, right? So good, bad, ugly. You pick whatever you want to be, I don't care even a little bit."

Tayuya looked into the eyes of the blonde boy while she gripped her fist tightly, "Why?" She asked while the blonde scoffed.

"Cause you're my friend, you idiot. I decided that."

The amnesiac teen said while Tayuya's eyes widened staring at him before she sighed chuckling. "Screw you Shithead, don't call me an idiot." Tayuya spoke harshly but the blonde wasn't convinced due to her failed attempt to prevent herself from a faint grin.

"You wanna get out of here?"

The blonde asked while Tayuya gave him a look, "And go where? The village isn't a big place." She said while the young man threw his hands up.

"Anywhere, it doesn't matter. Just away from the doctor's office, clearly you aren't a fan." The boy said while the girl huffed.

"Whatever."

Tayuya said while the teen slowly lifted the surprised girl into his arms causing her to narrow his eyes at him. "Gonna cry? Go ahead ya big crybaby. That's why I made sure your face is close to my shoulder."

The blonde spoke while Tayuya laughed, "You suck at this." The girl said while the boy gave her a look.

"Huh? No, I don't, that was pretty bad. That was mean to say and I said it. You idiot."

The teen said trying to sound mean, but Tayuya only laughed at him again, "Oh yeah, real big bad S-rank criminal over here." The girl spoke while the teen huffed.

"Yeah, I'm the fucking worst."

The blonde swore boldly while Tayuya gave him a look before she looked off to the side. "Yeahhh, leave the swearing to me. You lack the taste for it, you fucking fairy." Tayuya chuckled while the blonde gave her a mock look of hurt before they stepped out into the hallway where he began to laugh.

"Screw you."

The blonde said while laughing causing Tayuya to chuckle as they walked out meanwhile down the opposite end of the hall Kusakabe with the new wheelchair in hand watched in surprise as they walked away. He saw it for an instant, it was so fast he didn't think it was real for a moment. But it really was real.

That little smile on Tayuya's face.

Kusakabe laughed before he gave the back of the wheelchair a gentle slap and a smile grew on his face.

When an unstoppable force meets an immovable object indeed.

{...}

"Oi."

"Hm?"

"You're kinda gathering unwanted attention."

Tayuya said to the blonde teen who looked around spotting multiple villagers staring toward them as he carried her through the streets of the village, "Oh. How come?" the blonde asked obviously while Tayuya slapped a hand on her forehead.

"If I have to count the number of fucking reasons why then I'll personally kill you for wasting both of our time."

The girl growled while in the arms of a shirtless guy randomly roaming through the streets without a single care in the world, the blonde still didn't have a clue even as he looked around simply waving his hands at the staring villagers.

A few women made a commotion while multiple other men quickly tried to break up the sudden commotion the blonde was causing unconsciously to him, "They seem really nice." the blonde said almost dumbly while Tayuya sighed heavily.

"Let's just hurry up an-"

"Tayuya?"

Ms. Yaki stared at the pinkette in the blonde's arms while her eyes closed before, she gripped her hands into fists, "Goddamn it." the girl spoke while the boy walked toward the black-haired woman.

"Oh, who's your friend?"

Yaki asked with a tease to her tone while Tayuya huffed, "None of your business, you damn cougar." the girl insulted while the blonde teen looked toward the women.

"So, she does the 'calling people animals' thing with everyone?"

The teen asked while Yaki snickered before Tayuya held her hand over his face, "Don't pay attention to him, this guy has multiple screws loose." the girl said while the woman smiled.

"It's nice you have a friend you seem comfortable with."

Yaki spoke while Tayuya huffed, "Shithead here isn't my friend, he's an over glorified vehicle while I'm chairless nothing more." the girl said while the blonde teen chuckled.

"Yeah, we're friends!"

The blonde exclaimed while Yaki's eyes brightened while Tayuya glared at him, "Shut up and get moving." the girl ordered while the young man nodded his head.

"Yeah yeah, it was nice to meet you ma'am."

The teen said while Yaki giggled, "You found yourself quite the gentleman, Tayuya." the woman said while Tauya glared at her.

"His eyes are up there, shitty hag!"

Tayuya yelled while Yaki laughed again before the pair of teens continued making their way out of the village before eventually making their way to a large field of green grass stretching out almost as far as the eye can see, the blonde stared at the large field in wonder while Tayuya huffed.

"It ain't all that impressive."

Tayuya said while the blonde teen stared toward her, "Not all that impressive? This is awesome! It's so green and free here." the young man said while the pinkette looked at the grass before huffing.

"Green and free to you… I've been here for an entire year. Trapped in the confines of this little village, this is pretty much an everyday spot for me."

The girl said while the blonde looked at the grass again, "It's because it's a nice and calming place, right? To get away for a while?" the blonde asked while Tayuya huffed.

"Getting all philosophical on me again, Shithead? It's just a place, nothing special or significant about it. It's just grass."

The girl said while she heard the boy chuckle, "Getting all cynical on me, Crybaby?" the blonde teased while Tayuya swung at him only for him to dodge it.

"Quit fucking calling me that, you haven't seen me cry once!"

Tayuya yelled while the boy laughed, avoiding all of her swings into a punch landed on him causing the girl to laugh while the teen boy chuckled.

"You're so mean."

The teen boy laughed while Tayuya smirked, "I'm a criminal after all, I do things whenever I want however, I want…" the girl trailed off while the boy sat up from the grass, he laid in to look at her.

"That must be nice."

The blonde said while Tayuya gave him a look, "Being a criminal? Isn't that the very opposite of nice?" the girl asked while the boy shook his head.

"I meant like, you probably have all sorts of adventures you can remember and think back to. Could you tell me a few?"

The blonde asked while Tayuya looked him in his eyes, it was still so strange to her. He had no memory of who he was, and his only personality is acting on his basic instincts of who he is, yet the shithead with his memories could be someone completely different.

What kind of person was Blondie before he became like this? Was he the same brash ninja as before or did the ninja world sharpen him into a darker person? It was odd that right now he was this nice guy without his memories but with them he could be so different.

She would know soon.

Hopefully he became the kind of person that would kill her once he remembered who she was.

"I'll tell you some other time."

Tayuya said simply while the boy groaned, "Aw come on, nothing? What about something about your family? Dr. Kusakabe seems like he's a good dad." the teen asked while the brown eyed girl clenched her fist into the ground gripping the grass in her hand.

"That shitty doctor isn't my father…"

The girl spoke while she remembered Orochimaru putting her cap on her head with that faint look of approval he would get occasionally, she remembered how Sakon would put her in a headlock and ruffle her hair, how Kidomaru would make fun of her for how she spoke so confidently, Jirobo sharing his food with her after a slug match.

A faint image of a small house burning away in the night while she held her flute in her hands as a small child.

"I don't have any family."

Tayuya said while the teen gave her a somber look for a moment before he slapped his face with both of his hands before scooping the girl into his arms again, "Hey!" the pinkette yelled while the boy stared ahead toward the grass.

"Neither do I."

The blonde said before he looked at her and smiled before suddenly began to jog while holding on to Tayuya, "Shithead, what the hell are you doing?" the girl asked while the blonde kept moving slowly becoming faster and faster his jog became a run.

"It ain't all lonely though, the world is a pretty big place. With plenty of fun people from what I've seen so far."

The blonde said while Tayuya gripped her hand onto his necklace in an attempt to hold onto anything while she felt him start running faster, "Shithead slow down! How are you so fucking fast?!" the girl yelled while the teen ignored her running faster still.

She began to feel her hair flowing while the young man held her tightly in his arms, becoming faster still as he ran a large smile breaking out on his face while Tayuya closed her eyes while the grass separated underneath the boy's feet as he ran.

"Feeling trapped in a large field of grass? I kind of was too, so I just decided to run!"

The blonde yelled while the smile stayed on his face, Tayuya slowly opened her eyes to look at the boy who stared ahead at the large expanse.

"Feeling trapped? Then we'll make our own freedom!"

The boy looked into her surprised brown eyes as the wind blew through his blonde hair, the pinkette felt her own hair blowing through the wind while she felt its cool air hitting her face. It's been a long time for her to feel something like this.

She hasn't moved fast enough to feel the wind flowing past her in a long time.

It felt almost liberating.

Tayuya couldn't fight the smile growing on her face as she allowed the wind to blow against her face, "That's the spirit!" the young man yelled while he yelled a cheer into the air without a care in the world while the pinkette laughed.

"Hell yeah!"

Tayuya yelled into the air while she felt a sensation of freedom cutting through the air without a direction just going wherever and feeling the wind, suddenly she felt the blonde's grip tighten around her.

"I'm still pretty lost and confused about a few things… but right now I know what I'm not confused about."

The blonde said while Tayuya's eyes widened, "Shithead what the fuck are you doin-" the girl was cut off as she felt the both of them shoot into the air, the girl screamed while they flew higher and higher into the air passing even the tallest trees in the surrounding forest.

"Oh shit!"

Tayuya yelled while she marveled at the sight she was looking at, they were way above the village, she could see how small it looked from the air. She could see the river as well as other distant things all while the wind blew through her hair.

It was beautiful.

Even while they were slowly beginning to fall back toward the ground, Tayuya felt like they were both flying through the air as free as the birds in the blue sky. She couldn't describe what she was feeling at this moment even if she tried.

But it felt amazing.

"I'm glad I have a friend like you."

The blonde teen spoke while Tayuya looked toward him with surprise while his blue eyes stared at her with a large smile on his face, he wasn't looking through her. He wasn't judging her through her soul to look down at her.

He was just looking at her.

They both fell back toward earth while Tayuya opened her mouth to say something, but her words died as a sickening feeling crawled over her as her curse mark throbbed.

"Misberable creature… why reach for nothing?"

Tayuya's bright brown eyes glazed over while her smile died on her face as she looked toward the teen, in the light of the afternoon sun he looked so bright like he was shining while in comparison she saw herself as a dim black thing in the arms of that light.

He wasn't like her.

She was a wildfire trapped in a field of flowers, imminent destruction surrounded by weakness of those who could never reach what she was. But Blondie was standing in that flower field, eyes closed and his hands out taking in the light and standing among the flowers peacefully.

He was free and she was in hell.

This freedom that he gave her a glimpse of was his freedom not hers, he had a world in front of him that was his to exist in. She had a sentence of death that only stretched so far before she eventually had to meet her end, should this guy try to hold onto her flames...

She would surely burn everything that he was.

If she was a beast watching a dandelion falling apart in her hands, then he was a human being sitting amongst the golden fully grown flowers.

He wasn't broken or trapped like her.

He didn't belong here.

A small gust of wind broke their fall while they hit the ground. Tayuya slipped out of his grasp rolling in the grass in opposite directions, she stared at the sky wordlessly with a blank look on her face while the blonde teen a little further away laughed.

"That was awesome! I can jump pretty high huh? I wanna try it again! Maybe I can go higher! I don't know what that wind thing was about but if I get the hang of it then maybe the landing could be better. The wind feels so great!"

The blonde excitedly chattered before he walked over to Tayuya, "You ok?" the boy asked while Tayuya looked into his eyes with her not as bright brown ones."

"Take me back."

Tayuya said while the teen tilted his head, "You wanna go back already? That was a lot of fun, right?" the blonde asked while the girl glared at him.

"Take. Me. Back."

Tayuya said slowly while the blonde gave her a look before he sighed, "Yes ma'am." he spoke as he lifted her from the ground. The trip back was silent as Tayuya directed Naruto toward Kusakabe's house where she was staying in her room.

Once the blonde arrived, he placed her in her bed and sat on the floor beside it, "Ah, makes sense. You must be pretty tired. That was a lot of activity." the boy said while Tayuya stared at her ceiling.

"Why do you even bother with someone like me?"

Tayuya asked while the blonde blinked at her, "Why not? You pulled me out of that river and talked to me. You know who I am except for my name. We're friends." the boy said while Tayuya gripped at her bedsheet.

"Where in the hell in any of that do you get that we're friends? Just because I was the first face you saw and said shit to you doesn't mean a damn thing. You were my enemy once upon a time because I stole something important to you."

The girl said while the teen shrugged, "I don't remember that, you haven't done anything to suggest you would do something like that." the boy said while Tayuya growled.

"You don't fucking know me! If I had my legs and all my strength, I would have killed you the minute I knew you were breathing. We are not friends! We are ninja, on opposite sides!"

Tayuya raised her voice while the blonde boy sighed, "Tayuya, I don't know what that means! I'm not a ninja, I'm just a guy for all I know. You didn't kill me, you pulled me out of that river!" the teen said, raising his voice while brown eyes glared at him.

"I pulled you out of that river so I could die alone!"

Tayuya yelled while the teen stared at her in shock while she let out a harsh chuckle, "Tayuya." the blonde said while she shook her head.

"No, you shut up. You are a brain dead nobody who can't even remember you wanted to kill me too. A loser who had to chase after his weakling friend with his tail tucked between his legs. You begged and pleaded to get him back and I punched you in the face for trying because you were a weak bastard. Just some piece of shit kid out of his depth. Against me, a pure cold-blooded killer."

Tayuya spoke, lacing her words with as much venom as possible, "...I don't care." the blonde said while the girl looked toward him with surprise as he stood his ground against her.

Even after everything she said.

"You don't care? Must you torture me so much after all I've been through? You're a constant reminder of my failure to do what I was tasked to do. You're presence alone hurts me more than any other pain. Yet you don't care?"

Tayuya asked while she saw him flinch slightly before he took a breath, "I don't. For someone so cold blooded you do a lot of not very cold things. Someone with a heart that's as black as you are trying to brag yours to be can't laugh the way you did. Smile the way you did." the teen said while the girl looked away from him.

"I get that you're hurting… but leaving your side to let you hurt alone isn't what I want to do. So, if it's so painful to have me around then you'll have to deal with it and I'll do my best to help you through it. I'm not abandoning you to suffer alone. Keep begging Tayuya, I'm not listening."

The blonde said while Tayuya huffed, "This delusion that you have of us being friends isn't real." the girl said while the young man huffed.

"It's real to me."

The blonde said while Tayuya growled at the blonde's stubbornness before she had a realization, she took a quick breath before she looked at him.

"You're right… I am hurting. So much. I think there's something that can fix it though."

The girl said while the teen looked at her, "What is it? I can find it." the blonde said while Tayuya pointed out of her window.

"Somewhere in a meadow out there, there's a four-leaf clover with purple leaves. It's very rare but it's said that it has properties that can help pain. Find that and it'll help."

The girl said while the teen hopped to his feet, "Yeah, of course! I'll find it as fast as possible!" the teen exclaimed while Tayuya looked away from him again.

"Don't come back until you find it. It'll only make things worse."

She spoke to him while the blonde nodded, "I won't, I'll look until I find it. I promise!" the blonde yelled as he dashed out of the house leaving the girl alone in her room while she scoffed.

"Fucking idiot."

The girl said while she stared at the ceiling, that was the thing about good people. When it comes to helping others, they can never help themselves getting into all kinds of stupid situations for other people, even for something she just made up.

With his stubbornness, he'll look and look only to find nothing. Eventually he'll become bored or regain his memories and just leave. Leaving him to go back out into the world and leaving her to stay trapped where she was supposed to be until death.

Exactly how it should be.

Tayuya sat in bed ignoring the dull feeling in her chest as she just stared at her ceiling, the musings of Orochimaru ringing through her head as she laid there alone.

Hours had passed and Tayuya never moved from her spot even as the sun was beginning to set, she flinched at the sound of her door opening, "Hey Tayuya, you were out for a while, and I've wrapped up my shift. I brought your new chair." Kusakabe said while the girl huffed.

"Just leave it there."

She said while the brown-haired man wheeled by her bedside before he took a step back toward the door, "Where's Blondie?" he asked simply while she shrugged.

"Told him to get lost and he did. We won't be seeing him again."

Tayuya said while Kusakabe gave her a look, "Why would you do that? I thought you guys were friends? You looked like you were having fun together." the man said while Tayuya scoffed.

"You too huh? Believing in bullshit. Me and that Asshat we were never friends. He's an old enemy of mine, somehow, we crossed paths again and I can't even kill him. Pathetic right?"

Tayuya said while Kusakabe gave her a concerned look, "Enemy? Kill him? Why are you saying things like that? Tayuya, you were joking and laughing with him. I have never seen you make those faces." the man said while Tayuya sat up to look at him.

"There you go again acting like you know me, newsflash dipshit you don't know a damn thing about me! Quit coddling me, acting like I'm just some child. I'm a ninja, doc. You know what that means? I slit throats and end lives at an order. I'm a wolf surrounded by you sheep. If I had functioning limbs and came across this place I would have razed it to the ground without a fucking blink."

Tayuya said while Kusakabe gave her a sad look, "Tayuya, listen to me." the doctor said while she laughed harshly at the man.

"There you go trying to play dad again! Fuck you, you're not my father. I'm not like any of you people, I'm not weak! I have no family, I have no friends, I have none of the weaknesses all of you carry! Your only saving grace is my tolerance and broken body. I'm a beast, you're all flowers. I'm waiting on some executioner to kill me and have been for so long. I'm nothing but a corpse and husk of the ninja I was."

Tayuya said while Kusakabe still had the sad look on his face while staring at her, her brown eyes remained sharp as she stared at him with another chuckle.

"I left this morning to kill myself… because of I'm tired. Waiting and waiting for the man I looked up to the most to come and kill me. I'm tired of existing around all of you while death teases me and makes me suffer in my personal hell in my broken body. That's the truth, that's who I am. You fucking happy, doc?"

Tayuya explained while the man rubbed his hand on his face, "Tayuya, I think you're full of shit." the doctor swore taking the girl back from his words.

"You calling me a liar?"

Tayuya asked while Kusakabe pinched the bridge of his nose, "I've known that you were a ninja for a long time. It was a theory considering your past and your injuries. I'm aware that ninja do horrible things in this world, that was a given. You're full of shit because you really don't want to think about the times when you weren't some ninja." The doctor said while his hand gripped on the door.

"As a doctor, my job is to heal, and I promised you that I would take care of you, and I have, and I will. Tayuya, you talk a big game, but you came into my office a broken and hurt ninja. I won't let you forget about this year when you were just a teenage girl. Run from it, avoid it, deny it. This year has said more about you then your little rant about your past ever has."

Kusakabe said while the girl shook her head, "Cut it out." Tayuya said while the doctor sighed.

"I won't. You're making excuses. You've always made excuses. I don't know what you've been through. I'm sorry that I couldn't fix you. I'm not sorry for taking care of you and helping you. You can't make me, and I won't let you push things away to make it easy on yourself."

The doctor said while Tayuya stared down into her lap avoiding the brown eyes of the man that was staring at her.

"Tayuya, people can be a lot of things in their lives. Yesterday isn't tomorrow. It's not today either. Today is today. So, your past is an excuse every time you bring it up. Because the girl that's sitting right here isn't a murderer, she's just hurt. I'm not perfect, I honestly want to try to be but I'm not. I want to promise that I can protect from the entire world should it want to harm you, I can't because you're right. I am weak, but that's not going to stop me from trying so bring it on whatever it may be."

Kusakabe said while Tayuya gripped her hands on her sheets still not making eye contact with the doctor as he allowed himself a little chuckle.

"It's funny, I'm not your father. But this past year made me think about how much I want to see you grow up. To become a strong person. I don't know what kind of person you are going to be when you do grow up, but I know that that person doesn't to be who you used to be. Regardless of all of that, no matter how you turn out or who you want to be. Good. Bad. As long as it's the you that you want to be. Then I'll do my best until you can reach that person."

The doctor said as he took a step backward looking toward the girl before he took a deep breath before a small smile landed on his face.

"And I'll love you no matter who you decide you want to be."

Kusakabe said while Tayuya's eyes widened before she heard the door shut, she quickly looked toward the closed door with shock on her face. Those words. A faint burning house entered her vision again while she felt her lip tremble as she gripped the sheets tightly in her hands.

She hasn't heard those words before.

She couldn't remember if she tried.

Right now, right as Kusakabe left, that was the only time she could even think about ever hearing those words in her short life.

Just him.

It didn't make sense to her, she was awful. A horrible being. A miserable creature. Yet, the doctor she swore at and could kill in a blink saw her as someone he loved and wanted to watch grow up like his kid. Her enemy, that she swore revenge on arriving to treat her like a friend.

None of this made sense.

This wasn't the world that she knew.

She didn't even know where to begin to explain anything that had happened just then, Orochimaru still peered at her in her soul, but she still felt warm.

It didn't make sense.

Her curse mark throbbed again as she leaned forward resting her head on her legs.

It didn't make sense.

{...}

A rumble shook Tayuya awake.

She didn't even remember when she had fallen asleep, but she must have drifted off while she was in deep thought. However, something else immediately came to mind, that rumble that she felt wasn't natural at all, nothing like an earthquake that wouldn't even happen here.

Her tired eyes widened a little bit as she sat up and looked at the door, "Doc?" she called while there was no response.

"Kusakabe, this isn't fucking funny."

The girl said while she felt another rumble and the sound of a small explosion completely shook her awake, Tayuya moved out of her bed and fell to the floor.

"Damn it!"

The girl yelled while she moved her body around, "Come on damn it. Move!" the girl yelled while she grabbed at her wheelchair forcing herself up the medical device before she sat in it wasting no time to wheel toward her door swinging it open.

"Kusakabe!"

Tayuya yelled while she saw out of the window that it was red colored and smoky, her breathing began to speed up while she wheeled toward the front door swinging it open before she made her way outside where she stared in horror.

Fate was indeed a cruel mistress.

For Tayuya she was already well aware of her multiple transgressions as ninja working underneath Orochimaru and had long established that there was a special place in a deep dark burning hole in whatever hell she ended up in after her death.

Yet, fate always had some kind of way to ensure that she knew that she was suffering, what better hell then the one on earth where she could be tortured in her life. Her executioner had finally arrived, and they brought with them more of that same suffering.

The torture of that grim reminder.

That she was a wildfire.

Tayuya's brown eyes watched as the multiple buildings and houses in the village were burning while she stared in horror ahead of her at the multiple injured and screaming villagers.

Surrounded by flowers.

"Go back inside!"

A voice snapped her out of her stupor while she saw Kusakabe's face, he was beaten and bloodied while a small group of ninja stood in front of him. Her face twisted while she watched him get kicked in the face, while she couldn't do anything.

"Stop it."

Tayuya said while one of the ninja pulled him to his feet, she couldn't hear what they were saying from where she was distance wise, but she did know that they were interrogating the man. Another hard punch hit his face as the doctor hit the ground hard. Nearby Ms. Yaki, who was also injured, reached her hand out toward the man who was being interrogated by the ninja that had arrived.

Why? Why tell her to go back inside? She knows what they want. It's her. She told him someone was coming to kill her, and it looks like it was these men. Why try to protect her?

It didn't make sense.

Tayuya moved her hair to expose her curse mark while Kusakabe took another hard blow, "Stop! I'm here! I'm right fucking here! Just stop it!" the girl yelled while Kusakabe looked back toward her while the ninja looked up toward her.

"Tayuya!"

Kusakabe yelled while one of the ninja approached her, the doctor immediately grabbed onto the ninja who turned around and punched the man again.

"Damn it! I said stop it! Quit being a goddamn idiot, Kusakabe! You'll die!"

Tayuya yelled while Kusakabe dragged himself on the ground and grabbed the ninja's leg, "Tayuya! Just go! Get away from here!" the man yelled while another kick slammed against his face as the other ninja joined in pummeling the man to get him to let go.

Why?

They just were supposed to come for her and yet they did all of this. Why? Kusakabe knew what she told him, why defend her? Why despite being weak would he try to fight back? If they took her, it would be over and yet he was being beaten to death.

To protect her.

"JUST TAKE ME ALREADY!"

Tayuya roared while the ninja looked up toward her before they began walking toward her, "Tayuya!" Kusakabe yelled as he tried to drag himself toward the ninja to try to stop them. Tayuya looked him in the eyes while she gave the man a small smile.

This was how it was supposed to be.

The only person that had to die here was her.

Turns out while she couldn't understand these people, she didn't want them to suffer for her consequences or her fate. It was bullshit and she decided not to humor the cruel mistress any longer.

Kusakabe cried as he dragged himself toward her as the ninja approached closer. Why would he do something like that for someone like her?

She wasn't worth tears.

"She's no-"

"Doesn't matter."

Two of the ninja said to each other while Tayuya faced them with a brave look in her eyes, "Well gents, you came all this way for little ole me. Do your fucking worse and leave. Do us all the favor." the reddish haired girl said while her wheelchair was pushed over sending her to the ground.

"Dick."

Tayuya said while another one of the ninja stomped his foot onto one of her legs, "Shit, she really can't feel a damn thing. A genuine cripple." the ninja spoke while she watched him kick at her legs as she gritted her teeth in anger.

They were toying with her.

She was right in front of them, why weren't they killing her?

Did Orochimaru really hate her so much for living that he would order her executioners to torture her even after all of this? Was she really so much of a failure?

Was she really such a miserable creature?

She laid on the ground while they were looking down at her and taunting her while Kusakabe struggled to get closer and closer, she felt herself gritting her teeth as tightly as possible while she tried not to look them in the eyes.

Oh.

So that's what it was.

A year had passed with the threat of death constantly looming in her thoughts as Orochimaru and whoever he was sending haunted her dreams, she had told herself that she was dead every single day when she woke up so that she wouldn;t be afraid the day that it came.

She was weak though.

Because even after everything she said and done, the big game that she spoke about.

She was still running away, scared of death.

She was supposed to be the strongest and she was still a fucking coward. She didn't want to look weak and useless, yet they kicked at and taunted her broken legs, she couldn't ignore the fact or the hurt from it because they were the reminder without ceasing.

Just end this already.

She wanted someone to force her to stop running away from death.

To not be afraid.

Tayuya watched as a blade was held over her face as one of the ninja tilted his head looking her in the eyes while her lip quivered, his cold looking eyes stared into her brown ones as he blade got closer to her face.

She thought about him.

Looking into the cold eyes she immediately thought of the opposite, maybe as a way to comfort herself in her final moments. The way his blue eyes shined as he faced her, when she hit him or mocked him. He never once looked at her for any more than what or who she was.

He must have been far away by now.

Free.

"Run far, Shithead."

Those sounded like appropriate last word, huh?

Tayuya closed her eyes while the blade came closer still to her face, "Wher-" the voice above her spoke before it went silent. The girl never felt the blade cutting into her as she continued to sit there with her eyes closed as tightly as they could be.

Instead, she felt something pressing into her hair gently.

Tayuya opened her eyes, she was sitting back up in her wheelchair while Kusakabe laid beside her and in front of her blue eyes stared into her brown ones.

"Told you I'd be fast, you crybaby."

The blonde said while Tayuya looked at the teen boy in shock, the teen was covered in dirt and his fingernails had dirt underneath them as well as he pulled his hand back away from her hair as he walked forward toward the ninja with a clenched fist.

Tayuya reached toward what the young man put into her hair while she stared at it in shock, in her hand was a small four-leaf clover with purple dotting it's still slightly green leaves.

"It's him."

"The Blue-Eyed Demon."

"The Dancing Blade."

"The Orange Ninja."

The ninja spoke while Tayuya looked toward the glaring boy as he pointed a finger at the ninja, "I don't know who you are, but you idiots hurt my friends. And for that I decided I'm going to make you regret it." the blonde said while the ninja took a step back.

"That's our target! Approach carefully an-"

The ground cracked underneath the sheer amount of force the ninja's face slammed into the ground from the teen's swing, the other three ninja looked toward the blonde who had immediately covered the distance between himself and them.

They quickly moved away from the teen who kicked at them while he lifted his fist away from the face of the ninja he punched stepping over the unconscious man while he glared with his ice blue eyes, Tayuya looked at the blonde for a moment.

Oh.

She was a beast holding onto a dandelion that was falling apart in her hand and he wasn't someone sitting among the flowers peacefully.

He was another beast looking her in the eyes.

"Fire Style: Fireball Justu!"

One of the ninja launched a fireball out of his mouth while the blonde ran directly toward it, he spun in the air with a kick ripping through the flames dissipating them before he landed right in front of the ninja slamming his fist into the man's gut.

"That's enough of the fire."

The blonde growled while the ninja hit the ground clutching his gut before he fell unconscious, "Next." the teen said while the other two ninja looked toward him in surprise. Tayuya watched the boy move as the other two men launched jutsu at him.

The blonde dodged and weaved through wind blades launched at him while rock was slung toward him aggressively that he also dodged through as well, his foot hit the ground as he spun on his heel launching forward slamming his foot into one of the ninja kicking him into the building, he slammed against pushing his foot down on the ninja until the building collapsed on top of the unconscious man.

The teen then turned his glare toward the last of the ninja who made more room between them as he started forming hand signs.

Blondie wasn't just taller; he was also strong. The blonde didn't perform even a single jutsu yet he dispatched three of the men with little to no issue with Taijutsu alone. This guy wasn't just stronger than when she last saw him.

He was a completely different ninja.

"Wind Style: Air Riding!"

The ninja yelled as he formed an air ball under his feet and started hovering on it. The blonde wasted no time rushing toward her as he swung his attacks toward the man who avoided them with the help of the wind sphere he was riding on.

The ninja narrowly avoided a heavy kick from the teen while he formed more hand signs, "Wind Style: Wind Torpedo Jutsu!" the man yelled as he took in a deep breath before he looked toward the young man and started blasting the wind projectiles at the blonde who was moving as best as he could to avoid the explosions of air that pelted around him.

The blonde flipped before he was hit with one of the blasts sending him rolling backward across the ground, the teen slammed his fingers into the ground stopping himself before he rolled out of the way of another large explosion of air.

The blonde ran low to the ground while he was avoiding more air blasts being fired at him before the ninja started forming hand signs, "Wind Style: Tornado Trap!" the ninja yelled as he made his last hand sign causing a large tornado to form around the blonde who began to spin rapidly from inside of it while the ninja weaved his arms around in a circle to make it spin faster.

The ninja kept moving his arms before he noticed something fly by his face, he turned and looked at the object, noticing a small rock had been stuck into the ground, he turned as more projectiles started from the spinning tornado flying at him with rapid speed.

"He can still aim in there?!"

The ninja began to move to dodge the projectiles while continuing to spine the blonde who kept throwing the rocks at him, the ninja continued to move and dodge the rocks until they stopped. He quickly looked toward his tornado slamming his hands downward causing the tornado to fold into itself before slamming against the ground sending out a gust of air.

The ninja noticed the blonde was nowhere to be found, he looked around before his eyes widened before he looked up noticing the teen throwing a punch. The ninja jumped off of his wind sphere while the young man collided with the ground.

The ninja started forming hand signs while he spotted the blonde get back to his feet, "Earth Style: Stone Crush!" the ninja yelled while two large stone broke out of the ground on both sides of the teen before the ninja closed his hands, slamming the stones together onto the blonde quickly.

The ninja's eyes widened when the stones cracked and broke as the blonde pried them apart with his hands sending them crumbling away while he launched himself toward the ninja throwing a punch that the ninja just barely blocked as it sent him flying backward.

Tayuya watched as the blonde teen slid back toward them, "Hanging in there?" the teen asked while Tayuya nodded her head.

"You finish the bastards off already?"

The girl asked while the young man shook his head while the dust around them was suddenly blown away by a massive build up of wind chaka while the ninja started forming a lot of hand signs, "There's one more." the blonde said while the ninja glared toward the teen.

"Wind Style: Jade Wind Dragon Jutsu!"

The ninja yelled while the wind turned into a green color and formed into a dragon that roared into the air before blasting toward them, "Shit! We have to move! You can't use jutsu and there's no way you can just take that!" Tayuya yelled while the blonde teen took another step toward the approaching jutsu while he quickly moved to ensure every villager was behind him.

"You idiot! Quit being so damn stubborn! You can't!"

Tayuya yelled while the blonde dashed back in front of her and Kusakabe, "Says who? I won't let anyone here get hurt by these bastards. I'm not leaving anyone behind either. Especially not my friends." the teen said while Tayuya gave the boy a look.

"That's insane! You can't just-"

"You scared?"

The blonde cut off the girl who stared toward him while he had a determined look on his face while he faced the dragon that was quickly, "It's fine if you are. Nothing wrong with that. I'm protecting my friends and because of that I won't lose. So, give all your fears to me and I'll face them all!" the blonde yelled as Tayuya watched the wind dragon slam into the teen's frame.

"Shithead!"

Tayuya yelled while she noticed the jutsu wasn't moving any further as she watched the blonde jump into the air while the dragon was still slamming into him, "Then I'll look at all of your fears and I'll tell them this!" the blonde strained while he began to spin.

Tayuya and the other watched as slowly the wind dragon began to lose its green color while the blonde spun it around himself, the girl watched in wonder while the blonde grinned before his glare landed on the ninja who looked toward the teen with surprise.

The blonde then spun before he kicked his leg toward the last standing ninja, the wind dragon blasted along with the teen's kick putting out the flames burning the buildings of the village while it blasted toward the ninja who took the full attack before the dragon exploded into a massive gust of wind.

Tayuya felt her hair blowing in the wind while the blonde landed on his feet in front of her and the crowd before he staggered a bit, he regained his balance while Tayuya looked at the boy in shock as he looked her in the eyes and stuck up his thumb.

"I win."

The teen said while the villagers cheered for the boy as he stood in front of them scratched up and slightly beaten as Tayuya sighed out a trembling breath.

"Unfucking believable."

The girl said while the villagers converged on the blonde who was given thank yous and hugs while she looked toward the beaten Kusakabe at her side, two complete and utter idiots. It was never any of their damn business and yet.

There they were.

Tayuya felt a small smile crawl on her face while she looked toward her lap, meanwhile nearby the blonde struggled in the masses of people who were celebrating him.

{...}

The blonde was securing his pouch to his hip while standing at the edge of the village, nearby was Tayuya in her wheelchair.

"You sure you want to do this?"

The blonde asked while Tayuya looked back toward the rest of the villagers who were staring toward the pair, "This place is your home." the teen finished while Tayuya's eyes lingered on the villagers' faces before she thought about a wildfire surrounded by flowers as her Curse Mark throbbed.

"Nah, this place isn't my home."

Tayuya lifted her arms while Naruto knelt down allowing the girl to climb on his back, he stood up while she held onto him, "The longer I stay here, the higher the chance more people will attack this place hunting me. The same goes for you too apparently." the girl said while the blonde scratched the back of his head.

"Little Tayuya, must you really leave? I know that the attack looks bad but-"

Ms. Yaki spoke while Tayuya gave the woman a look, "Looks bad? You were all nearly killed! If they hadn't arrived just to terrorize and interrogate, we wouldn't be talking at all. Frankly I don't have time to waste worrying about your lives being in danger. So yeah, I gotta go." the girl said while the woman looked downtrodden at her response.

"Make sure you give this thing back to Kusakabe when he wakes up, I don't want him accusing me of stealing."

Tayuya said while Ms. Yaki took the wheelchair before she quickly placed a bag into the girl's hands, "Here just at least take these with you." the woman said while Tayuya took the bag and looked into it spotting the donut rolls the woman usually made fresh.

"I heard they were your favorite."

The woman said while Tayuya gave her a look before she blinked and took a breath, "Thanks." the girl said while the blonde looked at the bag.

"Those look good!"

The boy cheered while Tayuya narrowed her eyes at him before she smirked, "Maybe if you're a good boy, I'll think about it." the girl teased while the blonde huffed.

"Oi, I'm still not a dog!"

The young man yelled back while the crowd laughed a little before Tayuya gave Ms. Yaki a look, "That shitty doctor is trash at looking after himself so hurry up and seal the deal with him. Take care of each other." the girl said while the black-haired woman nodded her head while she wiped at her eyes.

"Let's go before the waterworks begin."

Tayuya said while the teen gave her a look, "What, afraid to cry?" the blonde said while she growled at him before headbutting him slightly.

"I don't cry you fucking idiot! I'm not some big baby bitch like you are!"

The girl yelled while the blonde laughed, "Right right, I hear ya." the boy said while the sound of panting was heard while Tayuya turned toward the source of the sound.

"Tayuya!"

Kusakabe yelled while the girl's eyes widened, "What the hell are you doing walking around!? You shouldn't be moving; you'll open your wounds!" the reddish haired girl yelled while the bandaged doctor looked toward her.

"You're leaving?"

The man asked, ignoring everything Tayuya said while the girl nodded her head, "Yeah, I am. The only corpse on my conscience should be my own. I'll die somewhere less inconvenient for you people. And before you start there's no amount of begging that's going to get me to change my mind." the girl said while the bandaged doctor looked for the ground before he sighed.

"Ok."

Kusakabe said while Tayuya looked at him with surprise, "...I've known for a while now that you haven't always fit in here, because of your past as a ninja and how that made you feel trapped. I understand that you have to do what you have to do. I don't want you to leave. I really don't, but I do want you to be happy. Even if it hurts me, I'll always want that for you." the doctor said while Tayuya looked toward the man.

The shitty tv dramas.

The dinners at the table as he made ridiculous jokes that she barely humored.

How hard he always worked each day trying his best to help her and other people to the point he barely took care of himself, and she had to step in to make sure he at least tired.

He always did roll with her punches, she still had to give him that.

Tayuya thought about a time that had passed months ago when the doctor was really late returning back home one night leaving her wondering where he got lost at, right when she was about to go out and track him down, he came barreling in with a bag in his hand.

…

"Tayuya! I'm back!"

"Calm the hell down, what's got your panties in a bunch? If Ms. Yaki finally put out, then I would left you be."

"What? No... Anyway, I got these!"

Kusukabe then pushed her chair to the table and opened the bag producing donuts rolls from them, Tayuya looked at the man with confusion as he quickly moved around her.

"The actual hell are you doing, you crazy bastard?"

"Hold on!"

Kusakabe yelled while he ran into the kitchen before returning with a lighter, he opened another bag before he stacked the donuts into a pyramid before he stuck a candle in the donut at the very top. Tayuya looked at the stack with confusion.

"Happy…. Birthday!"

Kusakabe said while out of breath while Tayuya continued to look at the man with confusion even more than she had before.

"The hell is this?"

"Well, I figured that you've been here for a good little while and noticed that you grew a little bit, so I figured since I don't know your exact birthday then I'll have to make one. Which is today."

Kusakabe explained while Tayuya looked at the man like he was the dumbest thing she ever laid her eyes on before she huffed.

"Why in the hell would you celebrate the day when someone's born? That's such a dumb thing to do, there's nothing special about it."

Tayuya spoke while Kusakabe wagged his finger at her.

"That's where you are wrong. You are special, the day that you were born may not have been significant to other people before but now you'll have people who will celebrate that day with you. Because to us it's a special day."

Kusakabe said while Tayuya sighed, she was going to die at any time and this goofy idiot of a man decided to celebrate her birth. No one has ever done that until him and she couldn't see the point of it even if she tried to see it.

"Whatever."

Tayuya quickly blew out the candle before she grabbed a donut.

"You're supposed to make a wish."

"Quit being a pansy."

"Tayuya… it's tradition."

"Fine, then I wish for death to come sooner."

"Now you're just being dramatic."

"Pot, meet Kettle."

Tayuya bit into her donut savoring the taste of the baked good while Kusakabe watched her eat, she looked toward him while chewing.

"Why are you being so fucking creepy? "

"Tayuya…"

Kusakabe said while he gave her a bright smile.

"Don't talk with your mouth full."

"Oh, fuck you."

They both laughed while Kusakabe grabbed a donut and looked the girl into her brown eyes as she swallowed her bite.

"Thanks for being born."

The doctor said while Tayuya paused eating for a moment before he bit into his own donut.

…

"Hey Doc."

Tayuya said while Kusakabe looked toward the girl on the young man's back, "You aren't my father." the girl said while the brown-haired man chuckled at her response.

"I know."

The doctor said while Tayuya nudged the blonde to get him to start walking while he gave her a look before he complied, Tayuya gave the doctor one last look before she huffed.

"But you were a pretty shitty dad."

Tayuya said while Kusakabe looked toward the girl with shock as she turned, placing her head on the young man's shoulder, "Thanks for everything!" the blonde yelled while the villagers waved. Meanwhile Kusakabe sobbed a little while the pair walked away.

"Next stop, anywhere. Right?"

The blonde asked while Tayuya sighed, "Let's try another village first, Shithead. You're still half naked." the girl said while the boy looked at his shirtless body.

"Right, makes sense."

The blonde said while they walked further and further away, it made sense in her head. They were dangerous people and couldn't be around not dangerous people. That was the thing that made the most sense to her and that was what she would do.

Why be a wildfire surrounded by flowers, when she can be a wildfire carried by an unburnable beast.

This was what had to be done.

She was strong and that's how she knew that it was.

The strongest.

The young man kept walking while he felt Tayuya place her face against his bare shoulder while his eyes suddenly widened before a smile settled on his face at the sound of a faint barely contained sob from the bundle of reddish pink hair draping his shoulder.

"Let it all out, you big ole crybaby…"

The young blonde said while the girl continued to press her face into his shoulder wordless as the village grew smaller and smaller behind them as for the first time in almost a year.

Tayuya had left the village.

Meanwhile in the distance a shadowy figure slowly walked into the village staring past the crowd at the opposite gate, the metal of his blade shining in the light of the dying day.