It was in the seconds Kurai hesitated that she plunged the kunai through his flesh.

She could see them, those few seconds.

They'd come after a pained noise had escaped her without permission- Kurai having put more pressure against her throat. His expression had faltered, confusion, astonishment, then horror playing across his face. His lips had mouthed her name, his grip on the kunai faltering somewhat. The genjutsu around them had wavered, her mind pulling to the present. It was all she'd needed, her hand scrambling against the dusty rock beneath them and locating the edge of her marked kunai. Her chakra instantly crept along it's cool surface as she spun it in her grip so that the blade was turned towards her.

Then, without hesitation, Kazue buried it in the back of his leg.

A sharp, hissing intake of breath fled his lips as he jerked backwards, blood gushing from the wound and coating her hand. The instinctive reaction when combined with her fierce hold on the kunai had torn it from his flesh, doing even more damage than her simple attack had done on it's own. The boy cursed, rolling off of her as he cradled his leg. Even an idiot could have told that the amount of blood that had already begun to coat the ground was unhealthy.

Within seconds he'd stopped moving altogether, his hands dropping limply at his sides. His mind was spinning, just barely bordering consciousness. The frantic thought that perhaps she should have been more careful flickered through Kazue's own mind.

If she'd nicked an artery...

"Don't move!"

The genjutsu continued to waver; the rock platform and forest floor flickering back and forth. Kazue lunged forward- her now sealed wound on her throat forgotten as she pinned the boy to the ground. His face was pale as a sheet. He was trembling, his body most likely going into shock from the sudden drop in blood pressure. Her hands scrambled to tear his pant leg away from the wound, the sudden return of their companions gaining little attention from her at that moment.

"Kazue? What's... Jun!"

The genjutsu must have fallen away completely.

She focused on his leg, pressing her hands firmly against the flesh and closing her eyes. As her chakra flooded the wound she felt for the injury, a sigh of relief soon escaped her lips.

It was just the barest abrasion, barely enough to allow blood to leak through. Anything more and he most likely would have been dead before she managed to do a thing. Still, even now she had little time to waste. Kazue carefully shifted her hands in order to use the jutsu needed to cauterize the nick to the artery. The amount of blood slipping from the wound following that was still substantial, but it was nothing she couldn't handle.

The nick had been the real danger as it was what had sent the boy spiraling into unconsciousness.

"What happened?" Tenten demanded, her tone almost frantic as she dropped to her knees next to where Jun laid. Her fingers pressed to his neck; Jun was as pale as a ghost. "What'd you do?"

"He's fine," Kazue answered tiredly, her hands still pressed to his leg.

"He's not fine!"

"He is," she shot back. "I checked."

Tenten didn't back down right away, her fingers dropping from his neck as her eyes swept him over from head to toe. The small boy's chest was moving in quick, shallow movements. His forehead was covered in a sheen of sweat she hadn't noticed previously; various cuts and bruises dotted his skin. They looked as if they'd been acquired during his escape, a majority of them accompanied by a dirty patch of skin that pointed at different greenery as the culprits.

Nothing like how he'd looked at the beginning of the day, but Kazue was right... to a point. Her eyes stayed on his face, which was how she instantly noticed when his eyes began to flicker open.

"He's waking up," she murmured, alerting her companion.

"Saichi," Kazue called out. "Do you have something--"

"Right here."

The boy was at their sides before she'd finished the question, a vial held in the air. It's contents were an unsettling, blue-green and the liquid moved sluggishly as he offered it in Tenten's direction. At the distrustful expression she gave the vial, he offered a faint, bemused smile.

"It won't kill him, just knock him unconscious. Usually I'd inject it directly into the system, but I suppose orally will do. It's fast acting either way and I doubt you'd be willing to let me stab him."

"... you're certain it won't kill him?"

"For the most part," he replied, his expression making it impossible to tell whether or not he was being serious.

"Eh? Tenten-chan...?"

The sound of Kurai's mumbled words pushed her into action. Tenten snatched the vial from Saichi's grip and pulled off the cap. If he completely regained consciousness then they'd no doubt be caught in another genjutsu in a matter of seconds. So, she caught his chin and pressed her fingers into the corners of his mouth. Seeming to understand that something was happening, the boy locked his jaw, refusing to yield to the rather harsh pressure she applied.

"Well, perhaps I'll have to stab him either way," Saichi mused. "I might have a pin on me somewhere, that would do minimal damage if you'd be willing to allow that...although I might have to use something different in that case. Perhaps a paralyzing agent..."

Tenten hesitated. There was another way... but...

The light breeze around them began to pick up in that all too familiar reaction to Kurai's genjutsu.

"... does it have to be ingested to work?" she asked, her face flushing red at the thought that had invaded her mind.

Seeming to understand what she was asking, Saichi's face lit up with amusement. Kazue paused, her eyes flickering up from Kurai's leg and to where Tenten had flushed to the tips of her ears.

"Just a little won't work as a drug, no. You have to take in the majority of it."

"... right."

She brought the vial to her own lips, pooling the liquid in her mouth. Then, as to be certain that she didn't accidentally swallow anything, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to Kurai's, although it wasn't him she was considering it to be at that moment. Shock stole any thought from the boy's mind as she managed to force the drug into his mouth. The second she was certain she'd transferred it all, she jerked away and ran the back of her hand across her lips.

He coughed, sputtered, but it went down. That was instantly followed by mumbled protests and the boy's partially open eyes sinking shut once again.

Tenten's face was as red as it could possibly be.

"My, I hadn't imagined that you shared that sort of relationship, Tenten," Saichi drawled.

"W-we d--"

"I'll have to keep this in mind. Perhaps he'll be more willing to listen to my father if he extends the offer to the two of you..."

Even as confused as the sentence left her, Tenten's embarrassment was stronger. She shot the boy a scowl and shoved the vial in her hands against his chest.

"Just take it."

At that same moment Kazue rocked back on her heels, satisfied with the aid she'd applied. He wouldn't be bleeding out on their trip home, at the very least.

"We should get going," she spoke up. "He'll be fine as long as we get back as soon as possible."

As she shifted to her feet, all three individuals seemed to come to same realization. None of them were exactly the muscle of their friend group (that would be a certain blond male) and the question of how they were going to lug an unconscious Jun home was an important one. After all, he may have been rather small, but he was still a muscled shinobi and therefore not the lightest individual in the world. In most cases, one would imagine that Saichi would have offered, but instead he was eyeing the boy with a frown and making no indication that he would do so.

Rather, Saichi offered them a closed-eyed smile a second later.

"I suppose I should continue on my way home," he said.

"... bastard."

"Saichi-kun..."

He shrugged, bemusement playing on his lips.

"It's not as if I'd be much help," he pointed out. "All of you are taller than me, you'd do much better than me."

Kazue sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"You're a bastard alright," she grumbled.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"You're coming with us," Kazue clarified, narrowing her eyes as she focused her gaze on Saichi. "We're going to have to report to Tsunade-sama about what happened and I want you to be there. You said you were in Konoha on business, right? Just extend your stay a little longer. Ai can live without you for a day, right?"

"Ai-hime."

"Kami, you're like Noriaki in another body. Ai can live without you for another day, right?"

"Kazue-chan, I understand that you may be unfamiliar with how the world functions, but a body-guard is not supposed to stay away from their charge for an extended period of time. It's common sens--"

"I know that, idiot!"

"I'll carry him."

The bickering came to an abrupt stop when Tenten spoke up, her eyes still focused on Kurai.

"He's... I'll carry him."

"... are you sure?" Kazue hesitantly asked.

"I am," Tenten replied with a nod, moving to a kneeling position. "Put him on my back, it'll be easier that way."

"... if you say so."

Within minutes they'd shifted the now completely unconscious Kurai onto Tenten's back. Even as she straightened, the action only slightly difficult, she became acutely aware of how solidly built Jun was. The scrawny kid had muscles beneath his skinny limbs; and he was warmer than she would have expected. Her cheeks burned and to avoid notice, she instantly started into the trees.

"You said we needed to hurry, right?" she called back over her shoulder.

Kazue hid a grin behind her hand, nudging Saichi with her elbow.

"Well, c'mon, I told you, you're coming back with us. Besides, I heard a rumor that there's a girl in Ibiki's unit that you've been hanging around. Don't you wanna see her again?"

Saichi- much to Kazue's disappointment- didn't raise to the bait. He simply cocked a brow in her direction.

"I have to wonder, with all the time you spend gossiping, how do you ever have time to train?"

"Why, yo--"

Before she could fully get out her sputtered response, Saichi had already taken off after Tenten. Scowling at his back, Kazue soon followed suit.

"Bastard."

___________________________________

Almost as soon as they'd returned, Jun was taken from them. No amount of protesting could prevent it, as he was currently dangerous after all. Only Kazue's insistence that he needed medical treatment earned the boy a room in the hospital with an ANBU guard instead of him being instantly shipped off to an unknown location in the village. She was pissed, certainly, but there was another important matter that stole her attention for a short time.

Miki's baby had come early.

This was admittedly no surprise to those who held even the smallest bit of medical knowledge- the woman had been putting too much stress on her body for the majority of the pregnancy. The premature birth was honestly the least concerning matter that could have occurred- even if the baby was just barely old enough to live outside of Miki's womb. When Kazue had heard the news, she'd instantly headed for the hospital nursery. She'd paused just around the corner from the room, however, her eyes caught by the amusing sight of Kakashi with his hands pressed against the glass, eyes wide with wonder.

He seemed to pick up on her in seconds, his hands dropping from the glass as he hastily shoved them in his pockets. His eyes switched from the nursery to where she stood, a bit of sheepishness on his face.

"You want to see her?"

"Her?" Kazue echoed. "It's a girl?"

He nodded, his pleasure obvious even with as little visible of his face as there was.

"A little, tiny baby girl. You can't see her that well from here... but she's beautiful."

Curiosity getting the better of her, Kazue walked over to where Kakashi stood. Like he had, she pressed close to the glass. There was no need to point out which was theirs, as her eyes were instantly drawn to a tiny, pink-skinned baby hooked up to a number of monitors. The baby was settled in the middle of a glass case with a few holes on the side. Atop of the case was the most curious site, as a seal had been placed on the glass. It only took a moment for her to drudge up the reason behinds the machines in her mind- she'd been doing research ever since she'd returned and learned that her teacher was pregnant.

Most likely, since the baby was so early all of the equipment was to help it breathe and receive any nutrients it needed. She'd ask later to make sure there was nothing seriously wrong medically. She doubted asking Kakashi would be the smartest thing she'd ever done- ruining his good mood seemed like a poor choice.

"What's the seal for?" she wondered aloud.

"We don't know how Miki's bloodline limit works," Kakashi explained, a much more serious edge to his words than before. Ah, it would seem she could ruin his mood without trying. "They were being careful. The seal is to block any chakra use, just in case she's inherited it and the bloodline limit is active from birth."

"Oh."

They fell silent, the rather morbid understanding of the need to prevent such a thing from happening hanging in the air between them. After a moment, Kazue forced a smile to her lips as she cocked her head back.

"Have you picked a name?"

Kakashi shook his head and the tense air disapparated.

"No. Not yet. We'll talk when she's awake- Miki was sleeping when I last checked on her."

Kazue nodded and looked back to the tiny baby tucked behind all the chords and glass that laid between them. Her lips twisted into a faint smile as she rested her forehead against the window. For just that moment, she could forget the entirely too serious matter of Jun's break. She could forget how the world just seemed to be spiraling out of control. She could instead just focus on the matter before her- the little baby with a tuft of silver hair atop her head.

She looked fragile, as if the slightest touch would break her.

'You'll be alright.' Kazue decided silently. 'Despite this world you were born into... you'll be alright. You've got the best parents you could ask for, even if your mom is a little eccentric. You've got the best home you could ask for, even if it seems to attract trouble like the plague. And... you've got all of us to protect you.

'You'll be alright.'

Even if the rest of them were far from it.

A/N: Well, there you go! One more arc and this book is done!