"Stay awake, Jackal, we're back in the land of fire, now." Cat's voice was urgent, almost pleading. "Just a little longer."

My heart was on fire. My blood was acid. There wasn't a part of my body that wasn't in excruciating pain.

Every movement Cat made beneath me sent lances of agony through my body. Cat was almost as injured as I was, so it was no surprise she wasn't exactly moving as smoothly as she usually would, especially with me draped over her back.

Every few seconds my perception would shift and the world would move in slow motion, the forest canopy visible in sharp focus despite the speeds my team was moving at. My heartbeat was irregular and weak, my chakra—the minute amount I had left—barely trickled through my pathways. I knew in that moment I was dying, but the poison wasn't going to let me go out easy.

I withdrew the chakra I had been channelling to my eyes, and immediately my vision was clouded. I could barely see a meter past my nose.

"Captain," I wheezed out, my lungs burning for the effort. "Leave me. I'm done for."

A grey-ish blur entered my line of sight. I could feel Hound's hot breath on my face. "Don't you fucking give up," he said, voice thick and tired.

Cat spoke next. "You have a little brother at home waiting for you. Don't you dare leave him alone." She paused for a moment. I could feel her shoulders shaking as she upped her pace. "And you're not leaving me, either, Hitomi. You're not dying. Not like this."

I let out a wet laugh at the sound of my name. "Breaking protocol, Cat? You already know I'm a goner. I'm slowing you all down."

"We're not leaving you behind, Jackal," Hound snapped. "End of discussion. We push on."

They picked up the pace once more until they were moving at well over the typical speed of an ANBU squad—and that 'typical speed' referred to a squad in full health. Our team was battered, bruised and bloodied. Our unexpected confrontation with the Snake Sannin and his fanatic followers had not gone well, even if I'd done him some serious damage at the end.

It should have been a simple mission. Our target was a civilian farmer who'd supposedly been seen meeting with an enemy shinobi. It turned out he had been seen.

And the shinobi in question was Orochimaru wearing some poor woman's skin, after the Sharingan once again.

A simple B-rank, a rather mundane mission as far as ANBU ops went, had suddenly turned critical. Rat had died in the opening skirmish, and thereafter all hell had broke loose.

If it had been Orochimaru alone, we could have won. I probably could've taken him alone. I'd done it before. He couldn't stand up to my Mangekyo.

And he knew that all too well.

Orochimaru, a dozen Jounin-level followers, plus the reanimated bodies of the Shodaime and Nidaime Hokages? We'd barely escaped alive. If it weren't for my Susano'o injuring Orochimaru and his subsequent retreat, we wouldn't have.

Then again, judging by the numbness setting into my limbs, and the coldness spreading through my body from my chest, it looked like I wasn't going to escape alive after all. The Snake Summoning bastard would have the last laugh after all—or, at least the Snake that had managed to bite my ankle would.

My hearing became muffled. I could vaguely hear Cat—Yugao—shouting something, but even with my ear right next to her mouth I couldn't understand her words. I tried to lift my arms to comfort her, but they wouldn't move. My body was too heavy. My chakra… I barely had any.

It was strange, but for some reason I wasn't scared. I hadn't been scared of anything for a long time. I'd been living on borrowed time, moving forward just for the sake of not leaving my little brother alone, stewing in his hatred.

With mother and father gone—and Itachi, too, if in a different way—I'd felt hollow. Like I wasn't even alive at all. An automaton that moved for the sake of my little brother.

So I wasn't afraid. This had been a long time coming. I welcomed it, even as selfish as it was.

I could finally see mother and father again.

My mind started fading, coherent thought becoming more and more difficult. The pain was still there, but I felt disconnected, like I was slowly drifting out of my body.

I'm sorry, Sasuke.

The world faded to black.

When Voldemort's killing curse struck her body, Harriet Potter welcomed her end. The last thing she expected was to open her eyes again. Compared to that shock, waking to find an eerily pretty black-haired asian boy staring down at her barely registered on the weirdness scale.

Especially when her mind was flooded, assaulted with twenty years of memories that did not belong to her.

"She's beautiful, Fugaku," Mikoto said softly, eyes fixed reverently on the child in her arms. "And her eyes…"

She trailed off, seemingly unable to put her thoughts into words. There were dark rings under her eyes and she was still coated in sweat, but she seemed full of life at that moment.

Fugaku was at her side, one hand resting on her shoulder, the other reaching down to gently stroke his newborn child's head.

"She is," he agreed after a moment. The child girgled and cooed at his touch.

Fugaku smiled at his wife, and Mikoto responded in kind. Here, with just the two of them, they could allow themselves to do so. They both returned their gazes to their daughter, Sharingan activated so they could remember every moment.

"What shall we name her?" Fugaku asked.

"You don't like Yumiko?"

Fugaku took a moment to find the right words. "It's not good enough. It doesn't fit her."

Mikoto nodded in understanding, but said nothing. They stared into the deep blue pools of their daughter's eyes, marvelling at their beauty.

Minutes that felt like hours went by before Mikoto broke the silence.

"Hitomi," she said. "Her name is Hitomi."

Fugaku nodded, a light feeling in his chest. He leaned down so his face was closer to his daughter's, having read that babies had poor eyesight at birth.

"Hello, Hitomi."

Hitomi gurgled and slapped him round the face with her tiny, chubby hand.

"I'm so jealous, Mikoto," Kushina said, pouting.

They were walking along the main street of Konoha side by side, with Hitomi swinging between them, each hand in one of theirs. Hitomi's delighted giggles were music to Mikoto's ears, so much so that she barely registered Kushina's complaints until a few moments later.

"Jealous?" Mikoto repeated, blinking. "What on earth are you jealous about, Kushina?"

Kushina gestured at the child swinging between them, then at Mikoto's swolen belly. "You have this beautiful little rascal"—she ruffled Hitomi's hair, earning an indignant squawk from her four-year-old goddaughter—"and now you're going to have another unfairly talented and beautiful child, I bet. Save some kids for the rest of us, eh?"

"I don't think it works that way," Mikoto said with a laugh. There was a moment of silence, and she raised a brow at the longing on Kushina's face when she looked at Hitomi. "Why don't you and Minato try for a child?"

Kushina's cheeks went as red as her hair, and she wouldn't meet Mikoto's eyes. "So, when's the new munchkin going to be born?"

The diversion was so obvious it was pitiful, but Mikoto decided to let it go. If something was really bothering her best friend, Kushina would come out with it eventually.

Mikoto ran a hand over her stomach. "Yakushi-sensei estimates we're going to meet him in about a month."

"He?" Hitomi spoke up, deigning to take notice of their conversation for the first time. She furrowed her brow and tilted her head. "How'd you know?"

"Your mother has special powers," Kushina said, grinning.

Hitomi gasped dramatically and snapped her head round to Mikoto, not even considering the possibility that Kushina might be lying.

"Mama has special powers?"

Mikoto just smiled and put on her best 'mama-knows-everything' expression. "I can see the future."

Hitomi pouted and turned to Kushina. "So that's how mama knew I didn't want to eat my vegetables."

Kushina roared with laughter. "That's right, kiddo. She's already seen that you and your little brother are going to be the best of friends."

"Really?"

"Of course, Hitomi," Mikoto cut in before Kushina could work any more mischief into her impressionable daughter's head. "You and your little brother might fight and disagree, but you'll always love and protect each other."

She would make sure of that.