Reunion

"Shhh!" She hushed him, sighing as she ran a hand through her hair. "Yes, Koto, I am and there's plenty of time to yell at me for this after the battle but now, this child is what i'm fighting for. She will NOT have to experience a life of not having a mother," She replied, her tone of voice slightly pleading as she took the child from its crib and holding it without waking it. The child looked a lot like her mother with a full head of black hair and already very pale skin. Kurai was very young, yes, but anybody could see that she loved her daughter a great deal.

He sighed as he propped himself up against the door frame. "So where's the father, and will he be helping us fight?" Koto asked with disgust as he sorta already knew the answer. As koto had a little fit, Peacock looked at the baby as if studying it, but then she smiled as she whispered "Aww your child is so beautiful, I wish i could have one."

"Koto, seriously don't get into that..." She whispered harshly as she looked away from the boy. He'd struck a raw nerve there. "No, he won't be," She replied after a few minutes, looking at Peacock with a gentle smile as she passed the baby into her arms. "Here...There, you've got her," She nodded and let go when she was sure Peacock was holding the baby properly. The young girl soon awoke and looked up at Peacock with a rather bemused expression before she began to gurgle and reached her little hands up towards Peacock. Her eyes were strange. One was icey blue while the other was Kurai's vibrant green.

Koto came of the wall, "Pea....leave and take the kid with you, I've got to talk with my sister." Koto stared directly at Kurai as if he was trying to kill her with his glare. "Now Koto, don't go and over react." Peacock added as he tickled the babies stomach and smiled.

Kurai placed a hand on Peacock's shoulder and nodded. "It's ok Pea, just go. There's a fire burning in the hearth downstairs, it'll keep you warm. Aoi doesn't cry a lot so she'll be quite happy with you," She told her 'clone' with a reassuring tone in her voice. It was a bluff, she was absolutely terrified of Koto, and with good reason. She'd never seen him lose his temper before but she had a feeling she was going to. She sighed heavily and turned to face Koto, fidgeting nervously under his gaze and looking at her feet.

Peacock nodded as she walked pass Koto and gave him a short glance and went out of the door. Koto rolled his eye and turned his gaze back to Kurai, "What the hell were you thinking? No wait don't tell me, you and that coward you called a boyfriend were in love, right? Well now look at yourself, you are a single mother and the father is a fucking dead beat that left you to fend for yourself." Yakikoto forced out, trying not to yell in her face and cause Peacock to come back up.

Kurai was silent for a moment, not moving an inch until she looked up at him once more. There was no emotion on her face as such, but her eyes were filled with a deep pain, one that had been developing for years. "Well EXCUSE me if I made a mistake, Koto. Excuse me if i was STUPID enough to let myself fall in love. I can't see the future! I didn't KNOW he was going to walk off! Jeez, it's not like anybody else gave a damn about me, so maybe it was nice to see someone actually care about me living or dying not JUST because I was the Kage but because they actually cared for me," She turned her back, turning towards the window. "You don't need to worry, I'll never be stupid enough to love anybody else every again.."

Yakikoto sighed trying and failing to calm down. "That's not what I mean. You can rush into stuff. Look at it this way, if you were to rush at me with a knife with out a plan what are your chances at success? And remember I said if you rushed ME." He asked her and waited for a serious answer from her.

"Oh yes, because having a child and rushing at you with a knife is EXACTLY the same thing," She muttered, sitting herself by the windowsill. "Honestly, Koto, out of everybody I was hoping that I would be able to count on you. I don't need a lecturer, I need my brother!" Her voice cracked as she snapped her head away from him again, looking out the window as her hands clenched at her sides.

"I don't know how to help you. I mean what can I do? Tell you 'aww don't cry everything will be alright, he was just not the one.'? Well guess what Kurai the world isn't always kind and I think you know that.

He said, hinting at the massacre of her family.

"You've got to grow up, and realize the decisions you make,and you made a very grown up decision, you had a child. Now you must make even better decisions so you're daughter won't get hurt from them."

"I can raise Aoi perfectly well!" She snapped. "It's not raising her I need help with!" She shot back rather defensively. "Don't start talking to me like I'm a child. I know how to raise my own daughter. When I said I needed my brother, I'm not expecting you to always be here to hold her whenever I get stressed. I don't need my brother for her, I need my brother for ME. How long were you gone, Koto? Hm? You don't think I missed you so much that it killed me?" She stood up, shaking her head. "Just...Forget it,"

Koto stood there and sighed again, "So what do you want from me, huh?"

She shook her head herself and walked right past him. "Nothing. If you don't want to help, then dont," She walked over to her bedside cabinet, pulling out a little pouch and tipped out a pill into her hand, which she quickly swallowed then winced slightly at the disgusting taste. "If you're really that disgusted with me, then maybe you should go," She murmured shakily. She would NOT break down in front of him. She couldn't.

"I'm trying to help, but what in the hell do you want from me. I don't know how to help you. Hell you're acting like you don't want me to help but you just want me to feel guilty." He said, getting frustrated.

"You've got a funny way of showing that you want to help, Koto!" She replied, coughing slightly. "What I want isn't for my brother to tell me that everything's going to be fine, because that would be lying. What I want is for my brother to stand by me despite my mistakes because my God right now you're one of the only people I have left!" She turned to face him now, waiting for what could be either a very good or a very bad response.