A/N: If you're confused with the timeline, Jun's travels are taking him quite a long distance away and Kazue had to wait some time after the event that made Tenten late to the meeting at the mansion before Orochimaru and the others were drawn away from the hide-out. So, it's been a little while.

Her hands skimmed the surface of her slightly bloated stomach, outlining the bump and freezing when something beneath her hand shifted. For the longest moment, she simply left her fingers there, barely brushing the fabric above the barrier between her and the most frightening being in existence at the moment. Her eyes fluttered shut, replaying that small movement, rolling it over again and again in her thoughts.

Both reveling in it and wishing to have imagined it at the same time.

Strange, conflicting feelings. Hating the being and loving it, savoring it and wishing she didn't have to acknowledge it's existence. She had to wonder, which was the right feeling to have? Everyone around her would vote for the loving emotions, the ones that should spur her not to feel unsettled by the idea she hadn't stepped out of the village gates for what she considered entirely too long. A week, perhaps two at most, but everything had changed in that time. Her stomach that up till that point had only filled out slightly had begun to show, others were glancing at her, the secret news reflected in their eyes.

That little flutter of movement had become more common.

"What are you doing?"

Her gaze flickered away from her stomach as she shifted, curling into the shinobi at her side. He simply rose a brow, snapping his book shut with an audible thud and settling it on the opposite side of the small bed. Miki offered him a shrug, not willing to share her apprehension, as he was far from sharing her opinion, or at least far from sharing it verbally. If he had any hesitation about their ability to nurture a child- two broken souls tending to an innocent one- he'd yet to tell her of it. Instead, he'd argued against her admittedly negative feelings on the matter and had become increasingly overprotective, something that most people around them offered small, amused grins over.

Yet, he was the one currently confined to a hospital bed because of the fact he'd over-exerted himself and she was the one in pristine health.

His mask was no doubtedly hiding a frown as he turned, hand shifting her head so that she had to continue to look at him fully.

"Thinking again?"

She simply shrugged once more, easily tugging her chin away and moving so that they were in a similar position as before, her back curled against his chest, a warm, comforting position that she doubted would be as comfortable much longer if the little flutter had it's way.

"You were."

His tone was careful, yet she could feel the way his frame tensed apprehensively.

"Is that a crime?" she questioned, her tone a mixture of defensive and teasing.

A soft chuckle ruffled the hair on the back of her neck, but he didn't relax. Instead, he sighed a moment later.

"It depends about what you were thinking about."

She cocked her head back so she could meet his eyes, cool amusement gracing her lips.

"I can only imagine what thoughts you might think I could have that would land me- no us- in trouble."

This time when he chuckled it lit up his face. She couldn't help the echoing smile that appeared on her own. It was almost catching when he was in a good mood anymore. For girl who'd once been wary to even touch him in hopes of concealing what she considered unhealthy feelings, this was strange. Then again, given what was disturbing her thoughts most of the time these days, she had to question why something as simple as the mirroring effect that infected some couples unconsciously- something she only noticed because it'd been pointed out to her once upon a time- bothered her.

"Somehow, I doubt that you were really thinking those sort of thoughts," Kakashi retorted.

"I suppose it would be strange with you being stuck here," she replied simply. "The nurses might not like it."

He openly laughed this time.

"No, and neither would we once the gossip hit the village."

She studied his face instead of continuing the light conversation, which in turn caused him to tense and study her back. Eventually, she rolled over, her body turned towards his, her forehead inches from his.

"I was thinking about this."

Then, without any further explanation, she seized the hand laying on his side and lowered it to her stomach, lightly pressing it against the thin fabric. His eye never left her face, which was how she caught the instant surprise, the warm wonder that flickered across it when that small flutter met his touch after a moment.

"That...is that... her?" he wondered aloud.

"Or him," she corrected despite herself.

That wonder continued to cloud his expression as his hand stayed on her stomach, as if waiting for it to happen again and wash away any doubt about what he'd just felt.

"No," he informed her when a sudden impact against his hand caused surprise to cross her face. "It's definitely a her. Otherwise, it wouldn't be so violent."

Miki rolled her eyes and the amusement and wonder left his face as his eye once again studied her.

"What were you thinking about, when thinking about her?"

She didn't answer, giving him the answer to his question. Frustration, clear as ever, met the answer. When he began to open his mouth, she pulled away and slipped her feet over the edge of the bed. Kakashi simply sighed, watching as she stood, her entire posture going defensive before he'd even spoken a word. That action alone caused the words that might have left his mouth to change into an irritated grumble.

"Don't look at me like that. I have a right to be upset that you don't want the kid."

She flinched, one hand dropping reflexively to the small bump.

"I never said that," she muttered.

"You don't have to."

Her eyes flashed, settling on his face. He saw nothing different there then he'd been seeing for months now- fear. Despite the irritation she was showing, that was what was really there. Fear- pure and simple.

"I never said that," she reiterated. "Don't put words in my mouth."

His hands shifted in front of him, as if to ward off the venom in her tone. Some part of him noted the fact that perhaps he should have chosen his words more carefully, her temper had become rather volatile recently, something Hisoka openly blamed on her hormones. A comment that was met with a rather fiery display of said hormones. Now that she had already been primed to blow, however, he couldn't help the next words that escaped his mouth- it wasn't like he could make her more irritated than she already was.

"Then what else should I think of how you're acting, Miki?"

She didn't respond, but her eyes shone with fire. He probably shouldn't have, but he continued to speak, the words freely running now as if a dam had been released.

"You've been overworking yourself- something the doctor was telling you constantly when you didn't begin to show until recently. You've been putting yourself into more danger, taking more risks, like you're asking something to happen! You were pissed when Tsunade put you on leave- as if it wasn't the right action to protect the baby. What else am I supposed to think? Tell me!"

Surprise flickered over her face, then a defensive, even expression as she blocked out all indication of what might be crossing her mind. In response, he shifted on the bed into a sitting position, feet dangling over the side. She didn't move from where she stood, her hands simply clenching into small fists at her side.

For several minutes, nothing happened beyond their unwavering, silent war daring the other to step-down first. Something he realized with a slightly bitter feeling was happening more and more often. Eventually, she cracked.

"I can't do this."

Kakashi didn't stay anything, his silent stare prompting her to continue. In return, she stubbornly shut her mouth, the slight tremble to her form telling him exactly how troublesome those four words had been.

"Not as things are."

The words seemed to click something into place in his mind and Kakashi's eyes alit with realization.

"Miki," he began, surging to his feet. "You can't possibly think-"

"I am."

"But-"

"I can't just leave it alone," Miki argued, glowering at him.

"I understand, bu-"

"No, you don't get it," she interrupted. "If she was dead, I might be able to handle it. If she'd run away, I'd be able to handle it. If she'd turned traitor, I could handle it, but this... she's missing, Kakashi! Missing, who knows where she is or what's going on? How am I supposed to move on when it's like this?"

As she'd spoken, her voice had steadily grown until she was almost shouting. Tears sparked in the corner of her eyes, her fists clenched angrily in her lap. Ignoring the way she tensed the moment he stepped forward, Kakashi stopped in front of her, grabbing her hands and wrestling them out of the tight fists they'd curled into.

"You have to."

"How?" she demanded.

Instead of angry, her voice came out broken. The tears fell then, her clenched hands digging her nails so deeply into his that it wouldn't have been surprising if they broke skin. The sudden change in emotion surprised him, but he took it in stride as he raised one hand to brush a stray tear away.

"How... I... how can I do this if I can't even take care of someone else's child?" she questioned, her voice dying into a quiet, almost whisper like tone. "How... how can I have a kid... when she's still missing?"

For once, Kakashi was at a loss of words.

She'd finally given him the problem that needed fixing, but...

There was no good answer to that question.

The silence following her outburst could have lasted seconds or hours- there was no way of telling. They simply stood there, her angry tears and trembling form saying more than any other words might have done. When he opened his mouth eventually to say something- anything really- he was interrupted by a sudden rush of activity beyond the door into the hospital room. The two of them exchanged looks, Miki tearing her hands away to pull open the door.

"I'm telling you, I'm not staying here! I'm fine so let me the hell go!"

Miki paled, Kakashi simply tensing where he stood.

"Please, we just need to-"

"I don't care! I'm fine!"

Kakashi was a second too late to grab Miki as she darted into the hall, taking off in the direction of the yelling voice. When she reached the open area that stretched out only a few doors down the hall from where they were, she was shocked to the core. Fighting- and failing- to free herself from the multiple arms attempting to wrangle her onto a gurney was the one girl whom she'd scarcely believed she might see again.

"... Kazue?"

______________________________

She wasn't always conscious during the trip back. She would walk when she could- but for the most part she was carried by someone- not always the same person if the feeling of the backs were any indication. Not once did she relax- she couldn't, not really. There was an underlying voice in the back of her mind, one reminding her that her luck didn't work like this. She didn't get lucky breaks. She didn't pass out in the yard of the same inn that a group of shinobi- ones that knew her- were passing by on their way home.

She didn't voice these worries. Instead, she listened to the others when they would occasionally choose to chatter with her when she was awake. Naruto apparently was away as well and from what she gathered, he'd been with the sennin- Jiraiya- she'd caught sight of maybe once or twice before her.... equally long trip.

When they finally reached the village she talked them into letting her walk by herself. She wasn't being carried into the village. She'd gotten herself free- she was going to walk herself through those gates.

The expression on Kotetsu's face when he caught sight of her suddenly changed matters. She wasn't quite sure what it was about the shock on his face, but it was enough to make the situation real. Real enough that sudden her eyes began to fill with tears.

"I'm... back."

The word was quiet, almost whispered, but Sakura simply offered her a small smile, being close enough to overhear the two words that were brimming with more emotion than an entire speech might have done.

"Welcome home."

It was a blur after that. The man- the one who'd made her most uneasy about the group she'd found herself in- began to give instructions to them to take her to the hospital while he reported to the hokage, something which was interrupted as a girl she didn't recognize suddenly called out her name. The others seemed to recognize her however- calling her Kourin and listened to her offer to escort Kazue to the hospital while they all reported the results of their mission. They'd been wary of first, but after a short conversation, Yamato agreed to it.

Something about what the girl said did catch Kazue's attention, however, and practically steal the breath from her lungs.

"Noriaki-san said he was wanting to look in on someone... so he'll be there. He'll watch over her."

Noriaki.

That single name sent an ache through her that she could scarcely take standing up.

Noriaki- the person she'd taken advantage of having around growing up. She'd never doubted that he'd be there, never considered a scenario in which he wasn't there when she turned around. She'd missed her family, she'd longed for the village, but she'd had no word to describe what feeling being ripped away from her best-friend and protector had left. It was as if someone had removed a limb from her and left her with an ache that couldn't be soothed.

Yet, now, he was only a short distance away.

"Kazue-chan, right? Noriaki-san's told me a lot about you."

Kazue tried to focus- tried to pull her swirling thoughts from the emotions flooding through her- and only just managed to do so. Kourin- a girl with soft brunette hair that fell about her face and a slightly plump frame- simply offered her a soft, embarrassed smile as if she'd known that Kazue wasn't all there.

"He's... um... well, Noriaki-san's... maybe I should warn him... we should get going now, um.. do you need help?"

Offering the nervous Kourin a shake of her head, Kazue forced her feet to start towards where she faintly recalled the hospital laying in the distance.

"No. I can walk on my own."

Kourin- to her credit- simply offered that soft smile again as she easily kept herself even with Kazue.

"O-okay."

The silence that fell then was awkward. Something that shortly prompted Kourin to start talking, the girl apparently not comfortable with the awkwardness of the situation.

"I, um, recognized you cause... I've seen pictures and you used to come into the cafe. Do you remember it? It's that little place, he, uh... he used to bring you sometimes and when you... well he came a lot and... we talked so I know that you're his um cousin and that's why I..."

Flustered, the girl trailed off once more, shooting a helpless look at Kazue.

"I'm Hayashi Kourin," she explained. "I'm... Noriaki-san's... friend?"

Kazue- beyond surprise perhaps for this moment alone- simply accepted this matter for now, despite the fact that Noriaki had never made friends outside of the classroom without her prompting the occasion.

"Nice to meet you."

Apparently getting all the encouragement she needed, Kourin launched into another series of fumbled explanation, as if the girl was attempting to give her a lightspeed round of explanation over everything Kourin and Noriaki had done, although sometime she would pause and change directions with nothing beyond an almost endearing flush to her cheeks. Almost, because Kazue was slowly becoming aware of an un-becoming swirl of irritation building in her mind as they drew close to the hospital grounds.

She couldn't help it. It was as if she'd been replaced.

That idea was stolen from her mind as soon as the word hospital and the indications finally clicked into place in her mind. It meant being put in a bed and poked and prodded, perhaps stuck with needles and attached to an IV if they thought it was the best way to get nutrition into her in a short period of time.

"I'm not going in."

_____________________

She didn't hear Miki, or perhaps was so distracted by her struggle that the voice didn't immediately register, as Kazue didn't react in anyway. Instead, she proceeded to thrust her foot into the crotch of the medical-nin in front of her, sending the male to his knees as the obviously protesting girl proceeded to strike out in whatever way she could.

That was, until a nurse handed over a syringe that they miraculously managed to stick her with. She only managed to knock one more medic away before collapsing where she stood.

Miki could only stare in astonishment as the medics proceeded to load the girl onto the same stretcher that most likely had prompted the fit she'd just witnessed. She was frozen in place, wondering if perhaps she'd fallen asleep at some point without knowing it because this had to be a dream.

"Miki?"

Kakashi's breathless voice- most likely prompted by the fact he wasn't supposed to be out of his bed at all, let alone chasing her down the hall- snapped her to attention and she turned to stare at him with wide eyes that were beginning to water despite herself.

"Kakashi... they... that was... that was Kazue. She's... she's home."

A/N: So, she was going to come calmly... until I realized that Kazue probably has a new unparalleled fear of being treated. She can handle the items just fine, but she's not at all comfortable with being the subject. Anyways, a lot happened in this chapter, so I'll leave you guys here. Tell me what you think! Jun's up next, as soon as I finish gathering new Gotos!

P.S. This is another one of those chapters that I'll probably come back to edit at another point. The emotion in the ending sections with Kazue just doesn't seem there... but I'll find a way to make it be there :D