"Suigetsu!!" Akai yelled, jolting up awake. Her eyes were wide in fear, while her hands were shaking, reaching out in desperation. Closing her eyes, she took some deep breaths, wiping away the sweat from her face.

"Calm down, Akai..." She muttered, pushing herself up. She sat on the mattress, and opened her eyes once more, letting out a sigh.

"Seriously..." She mumbled, "I still have nightmares, yet tomorrow is the final. What the hell am I even scared of...?"

She stood up, and stretched her arms, looking at the calendar on her desk. "Thirteen years old, huh? I guess there's no cake for me this year... This is not Kiri, after all..."

Her eyes landed on a blue box next to the calendar. Walking towards it, she picked it up, to found a small tag attached to it. There's no name written on it, only a drawing of a small fish.

"Kisame...?" She wondered out loud, opening the box. Akai let out a gasp at the content. There's only a few things, ordinary things with irreplaceable memories.

The first one she recognized was a tantō, with black and gold hilt. She took it, and gently traced the blade, smiling when blood began to seep out. "You fixed it... Dad's tantō, which I broke on our first duel." She recalled, "Never thought I would see this blade again, and in it's perfect condition..."

She spun it around for a bit, testing it with her usual dagger-style fighting, before she put it down, and looked back at the box. A small light blue shark made of ice was put neatly, and this made her eyes got teary. It was her mother's favorite ornament, a gift she received from a Yuki clan's survivor. Akai carefully put the shark on her desk, letting out a small whisper, "Mom... I miss you..."

Wiping away her tears, Akai took the last item. A simple photograph, of herself and her cousins sitting and chatting together after a training session. She, Mangetsu, and Suigetsu were covered in dirt, mud, and scratches, but they were all laughing, smiling. They were happy.

Akai flipped the photograph, and read the message behind it. 'Happy Birthday, Akai', it reads.

"At least he remembers..." She mumbled, before she realized another written message, at the bottom right corner. 'Sorry', just one word. Frowning, she put it back to its place.

From her desk, she picked up a glass of water, planning to pour it down on her uncle if he was waiting outside, a thing he would most likely do. However, as she reached the windowsill, she froze.

On the ledge, a kunai was embedded, and strands of white hair was stuck onto it with blood, with a note tied to it's hilt.

She dropped the glass, shattering it into pieces.

Ignoring the blood on her feet, Akai's hands shakily picked up the note, and read the content, her eyes growing wide as her brain processed the words.

'You're a bad girl, little Akai. You should have gone following what I said, sweetie. Now I can assure you, that you will never get to meet your dear Hozuki ever again. But don't worry, you will die soon, anyways.'

Akai's whole body started trembling in fear. She clutched her shirt, opening her mouth. But her scream couldn't come out.

"No... Suigetsu..."

An image flashed in her mind, followed by another, and another, as she fell on her knees. She reached out, but her breath suddenly hitched.

"A-... N-No... S-Sui-... I-... Akh!"

Her right hand quickly covered her mouth, while her left one supported her weight. Tears fell from her eyes, while she started coughing blood, staining the floor in red.

The amount of blood shocked her. It's not getting any less, it was the opposite. Inhaling deeply, she soon regretted that action, when a sharp pain went through her chest as the cold air entered her lungs. Her coughing only got worse, her throat felt burning while her limbs went numb. Her eyes got blurry, and as she was about to lost her consciousness, someone slammed the door open.

"Akai, I heard a-... AKAI!!"

The voice snapped her back to reality, while Ibiki immediately ran and crouched by her side, rubbing her back. Her coughing fit finally stopped, and Ibiki turned at her with a pointed look.

"You have to tell me, Akai. I want to help you."

Akai weakly shook her head, still panting.

"Come on, let's go to the hospital." He told her. He was about to stood up, when Akai gripped his trench coat with her hand, staining it in her blood. Ibiki stopped, waiting for her next action.

"... I will... Tell you..." She muttered, before she turned at him. He almost let out a gasp when he saw the tears in her eyes, when he saw how fragile she actually is.

"But not now. I... I just need more time..."

"... Will there be enough time?" He mumbled in reply, and Akai quickly looked away. She hated how she had to keep secrets, but if she told them, they might treat her differently. And she doesn't want that.

"There will. I've survived this long, Ibiki. It's fine."

The man only frowned. "Alright." He said, as he stood up and ruffled her hair. She watched as he walked towards the door, but stopped when he reached her desk.

He stared at the blue box, and picked up the photograph. "Is this... Your cousins?"

"Yeah."

Chuckling slightly, he flipped the photograph, and raised an eyebrow.

"...Akai?" He called, "Why didn't you tell me it's your birthday?"

She shrugged. "You never asked, tashikani."

"I don't think I should have to ask when the child who lives in my house birthday is." Ibiki said, glancing down at the girl who smiled happily.

"Well, I wouldn't just tell you!" Akai said, smacking Ibiki's arm slightly.

"Well, Shin and Akito will be heading over here later for training. Since it's your birthday, we can cancel practice and celebrate."

"No! The exams are tomorrow! We need to let Akito train, tashikani!" Akai said, shaking her head.

"Do you doubt Akito's ability to win tomorrow?"

"No, I don't. He just... needs more training!!" Akai said happily.

"We're celebrating your birthday, Akai. Akito and Shin would agree with me."  Ibiki said.

"No, they wouldn't! They agree that training is important."

"No, we're on Ibiki's side." A voice said from the door way, and Akai glanced around Ibiki and saw Akito and Shin standing there, their arms crossed over their chests.

"But guys! My birthday will come again next year!" Akai said, pouting slightly.

"But it's already here today! Let us celebrate, please!" Akito said, smiling at Akai. She rolled her eyes slightly, before sighing reluctantly.

"Fine." Akai said, and the three males in the room smiled before Akai was dragged out of the room, her complaints following through the hallway the entire way through.

| * | * | * | * | * |

The three boys had dragged Akai all over Konoha, purchasing her small gifts and things from random shops and places that they passed, always making sure she got something that she wanted.

And it made Akai happy.

Strangely enough, Akai had been brought joy by the idea of people buying her things. It normally disgusted her, because she didn't want people to waste money on her. But for some reason, all of the gifts they were giving her made her feel like someone cared for the first time in a long time.

And it was really nice.

At the moment, Akai was sitting with her teammates on top of a hill, a blanket sat on the ground with random things of food set around them. Each one of the young people had something they were eating, and the shinobi were in a peaceful silence.

Which was broken by the birthday girl herself.

"Thank you guys, tashikani." Akai said with a happy sigh, her lips slightly perched. "This is the first birthday I've celebrated since my uncle... left." She said.

"It's no problem, Akai. You would do the same thing for us, so why would we not do it for you?"

"Yeah! We're more than a team, we're family. And family celebrates each other's birthdays." Shin said, laughing slightly as he patted Akai's back slightly.

Akai smiled slightly before she laid back down on the blanket, staring up at the stars. After a few moments, the two boys on her team joined her in the star gazing, their backs touching the hard ground gently.

"You know, we've never really done this before." Shin said. "Just hung out for hours. Of course we see each other every day, but with Ibiki as a teacher, we never get to just hang out without training."

"That's true." Akito said. "But that's also why we're one of the best Genin teams in the Konoha 11."

"One of the best and only one of our team is continuing to the final round." Akai said, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, it was Shin and I against each other so only one would come out of there, and you weren't in tip top condition fighting your battle now were you?"

"No, tashikani." She said with a nod of her head. "But speaking of the Exams, that's tomorrow, isn't it?" She said, raising her eyebrow slightly.

"Yeah." Shin replied, glancing at Akito.

"Are you ready Akito?" Akai asked, smiling at the blonde haired boy, whose cheeks turned a light pink color from her smile.

"Of course I am. Ibiki trained me, and I'm confident. Plus you two will be there cheering me on, so I have to win."

"Yeah, tashikani." She said happily, and the three settled into a comfortable silence, and after a while, all fell asleep on the hill.

| * | * | * | * | * |

When Akai finally opened her eyes, she found herself laying on her bed, already in her room. She slowly sat up, taking a glance at the clock. 11.58 p.m. Letting out a huff, she opened the window slightly. The cold breeze managed to trigger her sickness, and she let out a few small coughs.

She took a deep breath, pulling out her pills from her pocket. Swinging the plastic bag back and forth, a soft sigh escaped her lips.

"I really have gone soft..." She muttered, chuckling as she stood up, "I guess I should tell them... To at least return the favor..."

She went to her desk, and sat down. Taking a piece of paper, she grabbed a pen, and started spinning it around.

Akai knows that her teammates deserves to know about everything. Her sickness, especially. They trusted her, no matter what she did. They took care of her, they protected her, they made her happy even when they knew she was a criminal. Even when she didn't trust them as much as they do to her.

But she was never good at talking about serious matters. She was dying, and she didn't have the guts to say it out loud.

A burning sensation crept up into her chest. She let out a few more coughs, wiping away the drops of blood from her lips. Staring at the red substances at the tip of her fingers, Akai shook her head slightly, before her right hand began to move, filling the paper with words from the messy handwriting she had, the black ink staining the white surface as the message continues.

"If I had to leave... I want you all to know the truth. That's the least I can do." She whispered to herself, watching as a small creature flew in through the window.

And the little white moth landed at the tip of her finger.

| * | * | * | * | * |

Hey guys!

Not even 2000 words. Short, compared to the previous chapters. But we do need to give her some fun moments. Like, (almost) everyone loves birthdays, right?

By the way, this might just be chapter 17, but we have planned everything for the next chapters, even chapter 20. Yeah, the story is ending, just reminding you. A long (more than a single chapter's material), detailed, full of tension fighting scene had just been finished, written neatly, perfectly (in our opinion), ready to be put in chapter 19. The feels, guys, I can't take it. It broke my heart. I'm the writer yet it makes me wanna cry...

It's going to kill you guys. We felt no guilt, tashikani.

Anyways, aside from that, why don't you tell us your opinion on this chapter? Maybe also your predictions?

Don't forget to hit that little star button! See you!

~the evil writers