"Mat-chan?"

Yo straightened, the shinobi at his feet forgotten as he turned to face the hole in the floor Matsu had crashed through. The expression on his face unreadable as he darted forward and dove into the darkness, the sound of his feet hitting the cement basement reaching even Kazue's ears.

"Mat-chan, wake up!"

"Kazue."

Neji's soft spoken word startled her to attention. She released his hand, watching the shinobi easily shift as to land on small, solid space left on their level of the building. Within seconds she'd done the same. As Neji moved to take the short-cut down to Tenten and Jun's level, Kazue paused to tear the kunai out of her shoulder. The blood drenching the front of her shirt had slowly drawn her attention, resulting in her knowledge of just how serious the injury might have been. The sudden loss of chakra atop of the previous fight against Matsu almost had her swaying on her feet.

A swift shake of her head- however- and Kazue was following Neji through the holes.

It took the shinobi only a number of seconds to reach where Jun and Tenten laid. She went to Tenten first, pressing her fingers to the girl's neck and only breathing when she'd managed to feel a weak pulse beneath her fingers. It wasn't as strong as she would have liked, but it was there.

"She's alive. See if you can bandage her leg somewhat before the other one comes back, I'll check on--"

She cut off as Jun lurched to his feet, one hand pressed to the still oozing wound on his shoulder. The other was wrapped around his waist as if to hold the fractured bones in place.

"I'm fine."

The tone was simple, but Kazue narrowed her eyes in response. She could have sworn the boy had been out cold when they'd arrived. Instead of questioning him, however, she darted to his side.

"I'll be the judge of that."

Just as she'd moved to press one chakra infused hand to his stomach Jun shoved her to the side. The thud of a kunai burying itself in the wall echoed his movement.

"You hurt Mat-chan."

The cold words were a vast change to the childish tone Yo had used to this point. His eyes were narrowed, his body giving off the aura of an animal poised to strike. As Kazue caught her feet against the floor, keeping herself from falling due to Jun's sudden action, the man pressed his fingers together in a single handsign.

"Jun, get Tenten out of here," Kazue instructed, her hands pressing together in a handsign of her own. "The two of you are in no shape to fight."

"No."

Before the refusal had even registered in Kazue's mind, the injured boy lurched forward. Vines suddenly seemed to sprout from the wooden boards beneath their feet, curling around Yo's ankles. The man's eyes dropped to the plants almost disinterestedly as his hands finished the signs.

"Water Release: Gunshot!"

This time, it was Kazue who protected Jun. She seized his arm with her hand, dragging him towards her as near invisible globs of water crashed into the walls behind them. Within seconds of the action Neji had darted forward, striking towards the man with his palms. Yo- having drawn out a kunai with the intentions of slicing away at the vines beneath his feet- was sent flying back as one of the strikes hit him square in the chest.

"Water Release: Water Clone."

As suddenly as he'd been thrown back, Yo sent chakra formed water shooting from his lips. The clone sprouted next to Neji, spinning on a heel as it thrust its foot towards his side. He brought one arm up to defend against it, a kunai appearing in his other hand as he thrust it towards the clone. The clone sprung back as the real deal dove back into the fight- lunging at Kazue and Jun as he sent a series of shuriken hurdling towards the duo. Jun swayed on his feet, Kazue snaking a hand around the boy's waist and leaping back to avoid the weapons.

Yo landed before her and she instantly released Jun. Her hand dropped towards her weapons pouch, a curse escaping her lips when her fingers revealed to her that only one specially marked kunai remained in the pouch. Forcing herself to focus, she armed herself as she ducked a blow, both hands lighting up with the glow of the chakra scalpel even if only one of them held a kunai. Her opponent's eyes narrowed, but like most he simply continued in a fury of attacks, unaware of the danger that came with getting too close to the chakra.

Which, of course, was how within a number of minutes the man was leaping back to put space between them, one hand clasped over the arm hanging uselessly at his side. At that same moment, Neji landed a lethal blow on the clone, dropping both hands at his sides as the clone collapsed into a useless puddle of water.

For a second, neither side made a move.

Then, in a move highly uncharacteristic of herself, Kazue made an offer.

"If it continues like this, we will kill you. If you leave now, we won't."

No one spoke in the moments that followed. Neji's narrowed gaze stayed focused on Yo, who in turn was focused on Kazue. The reasoning was obvious to anyone who gave the offer a moment's thought. Neither side wished to see their allies used against them- as both side had unconscious members. An unconscious shinobi had no way of keeping a kunai from being held to their neck. As much as Kazue hated it- as she was internally berating herself for even considering the idea- she was also aware that they had no clue how much more blood Tenten could stand to lose. Then... there was Jun.

The boy was somehow still on his feet despite the blood covering his arm and whatever injury he'd been grasping when he'd first stood. The expression on his face was unreadable- unusual for the boy in question- and something about it had sent a chill down her spine the moment she'd noticed. Without needing to be told, she'd finally gained the answer to the question that she'd posed earlier that day before all of this had begun.

Jun was far from okay.

The sound of someone shifting around in the rubble beneath them caught Yo's attention before he'd seemed to come to a decision. He stiffened, his body turning slightly towards the noise.

"Mat-chan?"

"...Yo?"

The dazed voice echoed up to them and he pursed his lips, glancing towards the shinobi once more. She could see the debate that went on before he offered a grim smile.

"If we see you again, you're dead. I won't be playing next time... Tora-chan."

Then- with speed she hadn't realized the man could manage- he was gone. She quickly moved to the edge of the hole, her gaze locating where he stood a level beneath them, pulling Matsu over his shoulder with his good hand. As a figure silently moved to her side, she didn't pull her eyes from the man.

"...did I make the right choice?" she wondered quietly.

Neji didn't respond, but perhaps that was enough. Rather, he turned around just as the sound of someone dropping to the wooden floor behind them met her ears. Kazue spun around to see Jun on all fours, his entire figure trembling.

"Stupid, Jun."

She only blinked as the words escaped the boy's lips before he completely collapsed. Forcing herself not to overanalyze the hise choice of words, she darted to his side.

"We need to get them out of here. There should be a doctor in this village- the sooner these two are treated the better."

Neji nodded his agreement and as soon as he had Tenten in his arms the two shinobi fled the scene.

Had she done the right thing, abandoning the fight to protect her friends? Their mission had said nothing about taking down whomever might have been involved in Hikari's disappearance. They'd actually gone far beyond what their mission requested of them, so it wasn't as if that rule that the mission came first applied in this situation.

So had she been in the right?

Kazue wasn't certain.

___________________________________________________

Backup arrived within a day- the result of Noriaki and Lee's return to the Leaf. The squad- consisting of unfamiliar faces- had taken off after the two criminals. Kazue wasn't all that surprised to hear upon their return that all signs of Matsu and Yo had disappeared.

He hadn't struck Kazue as the sort to leave them a trail to follow.

Following the news and the decision that Tenten was safe to travel (although she would have to be carried much to the brunette's chagrin), the entire group of shinobi made the decision to travel home. One blonde in particular- however- found herself pulling back from the group as they started through the trees that would take them back to Konoha. Neji paused, saying something to the others before dropping back as well. Jun glanced back at them, but didn't stop. Kazue wasn't shocked- he had barely left Tenten's side after regaining consciousness.

"You're not coming?"

Kazue hesitated, her gaze flickering to the forest around them as if it would supply her with the needed words.

"I can't."

Neji studied her in return for the words, his expression unreadable.

"Hikari?"

"... that woman, Matsu... she said they were dead," Kazue replied, her tone quiet. "But... no one found her body. If she's really dead... I have to find her. Niisan... he won't..."

He simply nodded.

"Two hours."

Kazue frowned, her eyes finally turning back to Neji.

"You're staying?"

The boy didn't respond, turning and taking off into the trees.

"We'll start at the clearing."

She hesitated, studying him from behind for a moment before taking off after him. It wouldn't do any good to question him- she wouldn't gain any insight into his motives if he didn't feel like sharing them- but she couldn't help but relax slightly. Until that moment, she hadn't realized it but...

Kazue wasn't certain how she'd handle finding Hikari's body on her own with the knowledge that she'd let the killer go.

____________________________________________

Her head hurt.

Well, if she was going to be honest, everything hurt.

She was in more pain than she could have ever imagined- more than she'd felt in her entire career as a shinobi. It was simply that her head hurt the most and drew the majority of her fuzzy attention. She had become well aware in the... however much time had passed, that how fuzzy her mind had become wasn't a good sign. Nor was how limp her limbs felt, or how dark the world around her had drifted.

None of it was good.

If she was being honest, it wasn't even the pain or the limpness that bothered her the most.

It was the lack of feeling in her hand. No matter how hard she tried, her fingers wouldn't move. She was desperately wishing that it was only her imagination, that it wasn't the truth, but she had slowly begun to accept that it was.

Her hand was crushed beyond repair.

She doubted even the best team of medical-nin would be able to repair the bloody pulp it had become. Her blurry vision settled on it for a moment, on the crusted blood and oozing skin. Even if the blood-loss wasn't becoming overwhelming, she had no doubt that the infection that had begun to set in would be the end of her.

It was funny, Hikari wasn't officially an active shinobi any longer.

She'd been taken off of active duty, put on the code team years ago. She'd resigned herself to a life of paperwork and had been content. She'd gotten married, she'd had a child with the man she'd been in love with since before she was old enough to understand what love was. She'd taken care of him, made promises that she'd never leave the two of them alone.

Now, she was dying.

Despite that knowledge, she attempted to struggle to her feet. Just the effort alone sent enough pain through her to shove her mind into a state that was just bordering consciousness. Her teeth sunk into her lip to hold back the weak scream of pain. She wasn't sure where she was, but she knew that making noise would be unwise. A faint part of her remaining consciousness gave her the idea that she'd hidden somewhere in an attempt to conceal herself until help could come.

If help would come.

How long ago had that been?

Her already ragged breaths grew even more harsh, her eyes struggling to stay open as she stared into the dark around her.

How long had she been waiting for help to come?

How long had she been bleeding out on her own?

How long had it been since she'd watched her team be slaughtered around her- since she managed to drag herself away as the two culprits discussed who would dispose of the bodies. She wondered if they'd even noticed that they were lacking one- or if they'd cared. It must have been obvious to them that the entire team was dead- that no one could survive the injuries they'd inflicted.

She felt a single tear fall down her cheek. Amazement flooded through her at the realization- her body felt as if there couldn't have been a drop of liquid left in it. She felt as if every inch of her had slowly leached from her wounds.

Another slipped through the path that the first had carved on her cheek. There were no sobs to accompany it, nothing to indicate how fierce the emotion ripping through the girl in that moment really was.

After all, she was too weak for such displays. The energy it would have taken had long since been swept away.

'Hiso-kun...'

The name swept through her mind, urging her not to give up. Instead, however, it sent another, silent tear down her cheek, the salty flavor mixing with the coppery taste in her mouth. She let her eyes fall shut, then, as if it might keep the rest of the unshed tears from falling.

'I'm sorry, Hiso-kun. I promised forever...'

The fuzziness of her thoughts began to take over, each word becoming harder to link together as everything begged to be allowed to drift away.

'But ....I think my.... ... forever ... has come a ...bit .... ...early...'

Her body slowly relaxed against the earth beneath her, all of the tension beginning to fall away from her blood encrusted limbs.

'I love you... take.... ... ... take care of... him.'

The last tear slipped down her cheek.

'My... baby... take care of... I love....'

In the same second that the tear hit the earth, the sound of movement outside of her hide-out met the girl's ears. Even as the black took over, she was faintly aware of chakra infused hands dropping to her chest.

Had help come?

Or had the enemy returned?

She wasn't sure.

'I love you...Hiso-kun.'

Either way, she was done fighting.

'Goodbye.'

A/N: *trollface* 

Oh, and as I wrote end of the fight, I was thinking of how it's commented once upon a time that sometimes the wisest thing a shinobi can know (probably not in this wording, but eh, this is the gist) is when to retreat. So, yeah, your thoughts on that?

Also. 

*moar trollface* 

How you like that ending, eh?