When they reached the village, Kakashi took Ko to the hospital right away.

"Report to the Hokage and tell her what happened." Kakashi order as he walked through the hospital doors.

The hospital wasn't busy, so Ko was admitted right away. When Kakashi brought her into her hospital room, he sat her down onto the bed and gave her a gown to change in to.

"Sensei," Ko spoke with a hoarse voice. "Please leave, I want to be alone."

Kakashi could only nod at her request not knowing what else to say. He waited in the waiting room seeing if Tsunade would show to take care of Ko. He saw medical ninja walking back and forth going from room to room and went to Ko's only to hear her deny entry to her room. They tried to convince her to let them in but she still refused. Only being medical ninja, they didn't have any other skill in order to get into the room.

Kakashi was about to get up to talk to her but stopped when he saw Tsunade enter. She looked at him then the hoard of staff in front of Ko's door. She walked over to the door banging on it with her fist.

"Ko! Let us in!" She commanded.

"No....I can't." Ko finally spoke with a fearful tone taking Tsunade by surprise.

"Why not Ko?" She questioned with a light tone.

"I-I don't want to,"

"Ko, please let me in. It'll just be me, let me help." Tsunade pleaded.

It was silent for a few moments, but Ko finally opened the door letting only Tsunade in. Ko hopped back onto the bed sitting on it as Tsunade followed.

"Why won't you let the doctors in to take care of you?"

"It'll be a reminder of how weak and vulnerable I was. I just want it to go away." Ko said clutching her head.

"Listen, Ko. I'm sorry to say this but that's impossible. This is something you live with and grow from it. It'll be difficult but you are strong. By giving in, that will mean you're weak... Are you comfortable enough to let me examine you properly?" She said kneeling down to Ko's level.

Ko looked at her then at the floor then to her hands now folded on her lap. She sighed and took off her gown letting Tsunade examine her and heal most of her wounds. She looked over the main wounds at first tracing them with her finger making Ko shiver.

"Do the bruises hurt?" She asked lightly touching the bruises on her torso and thighs.

"A little," Ko answered almost inaudible.

"Do you want me to examine you more?"

"What do you mean?"

"Down there?"

"I wasn't raped if that's what you were thinking. Kakashi-sensei saved me before that could happen." Ko snapped which surprised Tsunade making her silent for a few moments.

"Alright, well your injuries are healing nicely. Even though they weren't medical ninja, they did a good job cleaning up your wounds. I'm afraid though that they will leave scars. If you were treated by a medical ninja right away, you wouldn't have needed the stitches. I'm just going to put some bandages over them, so they don't get infected."

Ko nodded and let her bandage her wounds feeling slightly uncomfortable when Tsunade was close to her face. The alcohol on the bandage stung her face the most making her flinch at the reminder of her newly formed scar. Tsunade finished and took a step back towards the door.

"How did you get captured?" She questioned.

"I was careless, I let my guard down then caught by surprise."

She was silent for a moment but then questioned her again.

"Do you want your teammates in here or do you want to be alone?" She asked.

"Give me an hour; I need to get myself together. I don't want them to worry." Ko answered.

"Alright, I'll let them know and have Kakashi chaperone them." Tsunade said with a faint smile.

Ko was thankful that she made sure her team stayed away. She needed to process everything to help calm herself down. She focused her attention on her hands replaying the events that happened.

"I can't be this upset, not this close to returning home. Why now? How could I have let this happen? I should've been on my guard. The woman threw me off, if it were two men, I would've been more vigilante. I didn't see her as a threat. I should've been prepared for anything. I can't stay here any longer, this village made me weak. If I grew stronger in this village, this wouldn't have happened.

The first man, I forgot about him and he was able to sneak up on me without me even sensing him. I relied on my eyes too much. I haven't been able to sense anyone since my eyes got better. I didn't think I'd need to sense people since I had my eyes, so I never trained. He moved fast and managed to put those chakra cuffs on me because of my slow reaction time. I was doomed from there. I can't let that happen again.

After that, I was in the basement... There's nothing to analyze, I was helpless and overpowered. There was nothing I could've done to free myself...maybe work on my strength. Why am I so upset about this? I can't even think about it without crying...I need a shower." She thought wiping her eyes.

Ko got out of bed trying to put pressure on her bad leg but it was still in pain, so she still had to hop towards the bathroom. She opened the door only seeing a tub but no shower.

"Great, I get to sit in my own filth." She thought as she took off her gown.

She ran the warm water filling up the tub then took off the bandages placing them on the counter next to the tub. Once it was warm enough, Ko stepped inside wincing once the water touched her wounds. She started to relax once the pain settled and let out a long sigh. As she cleaned herself, it was impossible for her not to stare at the bruises and cuts that covered her body. The vivid memories flooded her mind as she eyed each wound.

"Why can't I just burry these memories? I don't want to remember each time I look at myself...especially my face. I wish I were the one to kill him and not Kakashi. I wanted to see the life leave his eyes...he should've been my first kill."

Ko leaned back looking up at the ceiling not wanting to get out of the bath. She guessed the bath water was pretty hot judging by the steam coming off the water and her skin turning red but she was too numb to feel anything. She was disappointed that she had to cut laying in the water short to get ready for her team to show up. She put the gown back on and wrapped her long hair into the towel heading back to her bed. Within ten minutes, there was a knock on her door.

"Come in," Ko said.

The door opened and her three teammates stood at the side of the bed. She looked at each of them seeing Sakura looked uncomfortable, Naruto was grinning, and Sasuke was glaring at Naruto.

"H-how are you feeling Ko?" Sakura questioned with a nervous tone.

"Better, my leg still hurts though. I just want to get out of here." Ko replied.

"Lady Tsunade said you'll be here for a while."

"I don't understand why, I feel fine. I'd rather rest at home. Anyway, how did you guys find me back there?"

"When we regrouped, we knew something was wrong when you didn't show up so Kakashi-sensei used his ninja hounds to track you. We found the store and saw a few men and a woman in the shop-" Sakura started.

"Then we went in distracted the guys while Kakashi-sensei went to look for you. Sakura took care of the girl while Sasuke and I took on the two men. Sasuke was too helpless to fight on his own so I had to step in with my Rasengan and save the day!" Naruto interrupted making Sasuke glare even harder at him.

Ko took advantage of this moment. She had to act now if she wanted to leave the village.

"So Sasuke was the one who needed to be rescued once again by Naruto? Wow Sasuke, it seems like you're slacking. Hmmm you did save Naruto during the land of waves but he's the one who defeated Haku, he saved us from Orochimaru while you were down, he saved the village from Gaara, and now he saved you from two thugs? It seems like he's grown a lot since the academy but you stayed the same." Ko mocked eyeing the raven-haired boy whose anger grew even more.

"Ko! Don't talk to Sasuke like that!" Sakura scolded but backed up when she saw Ko's glare.

Sasuke's hand turned into a fist and his arm began to tremble as he scowled at Naruto.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Naruto questioned.

"Hey..Naruto," Sasuke said.

"Wha-what?

"Fight me.......NOW!"

"Huh?! What are you babbling about?"

"SHUT UP AND FIGHT ME!!" He shouted activating his Sharingan. "You thought you helped me? You're nothing compared to an Uchiha; you're nothing."

"WHAT!"

Sasuke walked forward standing in front of Naruto face to face invading his personal space.

"Sasuke, what's wrong with you!? Naruto, tell him to stop! I mean..." Sakura started.

"Well then....I was thinking about it too," Naruto agreed.

"Hey..you two, cut it out ok?" Sakura said.

"Come with me," Sasuke said walking away with Naruto following.

Sakura looked at Ko then at the door.

"Where's Kakashi?" Ko questioned the girl. Tsunade said Kakashi would be with them.

"H-he said he needed to do something and made us promise to keep Naruto in check." She replied eyes not leaving the door.

"Go Sakura, they need you more than I need you." Ko told her.

She nodded and ran out the door following the boys. Once she left, Ko took a pen and paper from the table next to her writing "He's ready". She then summoned a snake tying the note to him.

"Go to Orochimaru," She ordered.

The small snake nodded and slithered out the window heading to its destination. Ko activated her eyes seeing her team on the roof of the building. She watched as the two boys fought each other but they were holding back. The fight started to get more serious once both activated their strongest jutsu. Naruto and Sasuke were about to collide, while Sakura ran towards them.

"Idiot, what's that going to accomplish?"

Just as they were about to collide, Kakashi quickly ran right in the crossfire holding out his arms. Before they collided, he grabbed onto their wrists swinging them around into water tanks that were on the roof. Kakashi said something but Ko wasn't able to hear. She saw the snake returning through her window with a note.

The sound 4 are on their way. Sasuke will be leaving tonight and you will leave tomorrow.

There was a map on the back of the note showing her where the nearest base was along with the hand signs to access it.

"Hm, right by the valley of end. How ironic."

Ko didn't see her teammate's after the fight between Naruto and Sasuke. She figured they were too busy dealing with their own problems to visit her again. She was surprised when Kakashi walked into her room.

"Yes Kakashi-sensei?" Ko asked.

"I just wanted to check on you. I see you're doing well."

"Just the leg hurts but I'll be fine."

"How about your mental health?"

"I'm fine Kakashi-sensei, I'm a strong girl." Ko said with a fake smile.

"Did your teammate's come to see you?" He questioned.

"For a short time, Sasuke got mad at Naruto for boasting about him being stronger which made Sasuke snap."

"Hm sounds like Naruto. Well I've got some work to do, I just wanted to check up on you." He said as he turned to leave.

"Kakashi-sensei," Ko spoke making Kakashi stop. "Thank you for saving me. I don't know what would've happened if you didn't show up and I'm grateful you were there. I owe you my life."

"No need to thank me Ko, I'd do anything for my students." He said with a close eyed smile.

*Time skip*

It was early morning; the sun had just risen on the Leaf Village. Ko was woken up by the bright light shining in her eyes and saw a nurse in her room tidying things up.

"I see you're awake. You can be discharged whenever you're ready. Are you still having trouble walking?"

Ko stretched then got off the bed putting pressure on her bad leg. It stung but she could manage, she didn't want the hospital to give her crutches since she could never return them anyway.

"Feel fine, just a slight sting." Ko replied.

"Good, your clothes are on the chair and here's some pain medication for your leg." She said placing a pill bottle on the table next to her.

Ko nodded to her as she left the room closing the door to give her some privacy. Ko walked towards the chair but had to stop as the pain in her leg intensified. She hissed in pain as she plopped down in the chair slowly putting on her clothes. Ko looked at the shirt seeing Sakura picked this out since the shirt was light blue; she's never owned a bright shirt. Luckily, there was a gray jacket along with it which she quickly put on. She stretched once more then grabbed the pill bottle popping a tablet in her mouth. She waited until the pain in her leg was tolerable before walking out of the room heading to the main desk to check herself out.

Once she was out of the hospital, she headed home walking the empty streets of the village. It was still early so not a lot of people were in the streets. Ko took this time to tour the village for the last time taking in its beauty. She always did admire the architecture of the peaceful village but that was the only thing she enjoyed about it. She did like the feeling of being in a village surrounded by people, but this village wasn't for her.

The Leaf made her weaker, it feels as if she hasn't improved at all in the six years she has been in the village. If she stayed with Orochimaru, she would've been stronger than she is now. She will admit that the people here aren't as bad as her father described them to be. He always described everyone as weaklings and never cared about others, but Ko has seen the opposite. There were many shinobi in the village that are strong, but they held back never achieving their full potential.

She stopped at the academy watching the children entering the building. She didn't enjoy the academy but had some memorable moments. Most of them were of Naruto pranking Iruka to get out of class which she didn't mind at all. It was always a boring day at the academy and she never enjoyed the fan girls pestering her to stay away from Sasuke.

Her last stop before home was the cemetery. She needed to visit her grandparent's graves to pay her respects one last time. She found their graves and knelt down tracing her fingers over their names.

"I wonder what would've happened if you guys were still alive when Father was young. Maybe he wouldn't have left the village, but I wouldn't have been created...maybe I wasn't even supposed to be here. I don't fit in anywhere, so I guess that makes sense."

Ko got to her feet finally heading home to pack her belongings. It was about eight in the morning so Ko guessed the news about Sasuke leaving should be announced soon. Finally, she was home and started to pack up her things. She took out a few scrolls sealing her clothes in one while her weapons were sealed in the other. She didn't have many personal items in her apartment so there wasn't much to pack. The last thing she had was her team picture. Sasuke and Naruto glaring at each other with Kakashi's hands on their heads looking embarrassed while Sakura was smiling like the girly girl she is. Ko on the other hand was on the other side of Sasuke a few inches away from the group giving the camera a blank expression.

"I guess I'll keep it. They were my only friends here and it wasn't that bad with them. I may never know what friendship feels like again once I am back with Father...it'll be a good reminder of what a normal life would've been like." Ko said as she stared at the picture longer with a small smile.

She placed it in her bag then swung it over her shoulder. Using her eyes, she scoped out the village seeing the best way to leave without being noticed. She could see Sakura at the main gate hunched over most likely sobbing over Sasuke leaving. Everyone else was doing their own thing in the village and hardly any shinobi were around, mostly likely on missions. The best exit was close to the Hokage Mountain, the villagers were all in the shopping district and the shinobi were gone. Tsunade was in her office sifting through papers shouting at Shizune occasionally.

Ko made hand signs touching her necklace pouring all her chakra into it. She knew she'd have to pass the Hokage building and Tsunade would be able to sense her passing by leaving the village. She couldn't risk being noticed by anyone especially the person most suspicious of her. She ran on the roofs of the buildings avoiding any distractions or interruptions; she had to get out of there now. She wished she could run faster than the pace she was going now but without her chakra, this was the only speed she could go.

Just before she got to the Hokage building, she stopped on the roof looking around and trying to sense anyone around her. Ko hoped she was right about only sensing Tsunade and Shizune in the office since she couldn't sense any other chakra signatures in the area, so she pressed on. The gates were getting closer and closer making Ko's heartbeat faster with nervousness and excitement. Finally, she was going home after six long years being away. All she could think about was finally being able to be herself and let all her chakra flow throughout her body; no more hiding her power.

Ko stopped once she reached the wall. Even without chakra she still managed to climb it reaching the top and turned back looking down at the village she called home for half of her life.

"Goodbye Leaf Village, I must say I did learn a lot in my time here but nothing that improved my career as a shinobi. You have taught me that life could be better and there are nice people out in this cruel world, but I know this life wasn't meant for a person like me."

With a sigh, Ko jumped down from the wall landing on her feet immediately sprinting towards Orochimaru's hideout. Once she felt she was at a safe distance, she replenished her chakra finally able to run at full speed to her destination. She activated her Subete Miru looking around her making sure she wasn't followed. As she ran, she saw someone to her left a couple miles away immediately recognizing the body; Jirōbō. She ran towards his body already knowing that he had passed but needed to see it for herself. When she arrived, she stood over his dead body then looked over to an unconscious Choji. She could see the numbers above his body slowly counting down. She never got to know Choji personally but never expected him to hold his own against Jirōbō let alone killing him.

"Hm I guess everyone underestimated you Choji, I always thought you would be a useless shinobi. I guess the village does have some surprising shinobi." Ko commented as she turned away.

Ko traveled further from the scene only to discover Kidomaru's dead body next to Neji's unconscious one. Neji's numbers were also counting down but much faster than Choji's meaning he was even closer to death. She never liked Kidomaru as a child, he would also brag about his strength thinking he could defeat anyone in his way.

"This one isn't as surprising. Kidomaru was an overconfident idiot and probably took Neji lightly. Good riddance."

Ko continued on seeing Sakon dead in the distance, but she kept her distance. She could see a familiar figure with Kiba wanting to avoid them, but it was too late; he sensed her. Ko knew running wouldn't solve anything so she stayed put knowing Kankuro wouldn't be a threat. She waited a few minutes before he finally emerged from the brush of the trees.

"Hey there Kitty," Ko said with a smirk.

"What are you doing here?" He questioned as he got into a defensive stance.

"Awe you're not happy to see me? It's been a while." Ko said faking a hurt expression.

"You're helping them, aren't you?"

"Hm and what gave you that idea?"

"You were part of the invasion during the Chuunin exams. You helped destroy the village!"

"I did regret that though," Ko laughed.

"I had to clean up my mess for days after that, but you are right. So, what are you going to do about it?" She questioned tilting her head slightly. "You're completely out of chakra and Kiba over there doesn't look so good either."

"I can't do much, but I know you don't have to go."

"What do you mean?"

"Open your eyes Ko! Do you really want to go back working for that deranged Orochimaru? He's a master manipulator and will do anything to get what he wants even if it meant sacrificing everyone! Stay in the village and live a better life." He shouted.

"I appreciate your concern Kitty, but I don't have a choice in this."

"Yes, you do, the village will protect you."

"How? They couldn't stop Orochimaru from killing their own Hokage? Why would they help one of his followers? They'd rather have me killed than let me live in the village or be with Orochimaru. They know my power and would want to destroy me before Orochimaru uses it against them! If I don't go, he will track me down and kill me and destroy the village in the process. That's how this all works." Ko shouted back at him with a pained expression.

Ko knew Kankuro was right, but she had to go even against her will. She never thought of betraying Orochimaru when she was young, and the village showed her that there was more to life than just training and fighting but that was her life. She was made to serve and kill for her creator. She made hand signs summoning snakes making them wrap around Kankuro's weakened body holding him in place.

"Worry less about me and more about the fallen Genin. Two are close to death."

With those last words, Ko ran off but something kept bothering her. Kankuro knew somewhat of her true intentions in the village but never turned her in after the invasion. She wondered why he didn't speak up and inform the Hokage of her involvement. She stopped once she saw Shikamaru and his father standing over Tayuya's dead body, so she had to take a detour to avoid confrontation.

It saddened her that she couldn't say goodbye to someone she liked as a child. Tayuya would always help her train and she was even a good person to talk to when she was lonely. Without Tayuya at the hideout, she will be the only girl once more. As she pressed on, she could see a field of bones with a corpse towards the end of the field. She could also see Lee and Gaara heading back towards the village, so she felt safe enough to approach the body.

She sucked in a deep breath as a foreign emotion took over. Kimimaro's corpse was pretty terrifying up close. He had his curse mark activated and his body was still in attack mode with a giant spiraling bone aimed right at her. Ever since he was recruited, they trained together, they talked about their lives, they were friends. She stretched out her arm towards his face closing his lifeless eyes letting him rest in peace.

"I kind of hoped you'd still be alive by the time I got back." She said with a sad smile. "We only had a short time together and I really did think of you as a friend. Even though you were older, I was hoping that we would've had some sort of bond growing up as Orochimaru's weapons. Goodbye Kimmimaro, at least you're free at last." A single tear fell sliding down her cheek as she stepped away from his body.

Taking off once more, she finally could see the Valley of End where her two teammates had battled. It looked like she just missed the fight between the two since Naruto was unconscious on the ground with an injured Sasuke standing over him only to fall to his knees in pain. She quickly ran towards the two appearing behind Sasuke.

"Need some help?" She questioned which startled Sasuke.

He slowly got to his feet holding out a kunai. "I'm not going back to the village. You can't make me." He spat.

"Hm well if I really wanted to, I could easily just drag you back but I'm not going to do that."

Sasuke's expression turned from aggression to confusion as he lowered the kunai. Ko walked towards him putting his arm over her shoulder and put her arm around his waist holding him up.

"I'm taking you to Orochimaru." She said as they walked towards the forest.

The light rain started to fall harder on them which Ko was thankful for. She could see Kakashi a few miles back with Pakkun leading the way. By the time they arrive, they'll be long gone along with their scent. The walk to the hideout was silent but Ko could feel Sasuke glancing at her every few minutes most likely wondering why she was helping him. When they reached the cave, she let go of Sasuke making the necessary hand signs then slammed her hand on the ground.

The cave began to shake as stairs started to appear descending into the ground. Once it stopped, Sasuke made his way down the stairs but Ko hesitated. Her heart started to beat fast as images of the jewelry store stairs flashed through her mind. She took a shaky breath and descended the stairs into the darkness. She could see Kabuto at the end of the stairs with a tall man all bandaged showing his one snake-like eye and grey hair, Orochimaru's new body.