Thinking. That is all that Kouki had done for weeks since arriving back in Hinowa. She had isolated herself and kept to herself; everything was easier like that. Easier to think. Easier to be able to realize what it was she really wanted to do; all without her having to have any sort of outside influence on it. Her options were limited; she had to stop thinking for and about herself and start thinking about the three small lives growing every day inside of her.

Was Hinowa the best place for them?

Was Hinowa safe enough for them?

Would they survive a birth here in Hinowa with a considerable lack of professional medics around; especially since the birth of triplets was dangerous to begin with?

No.

No, they wouldn't. She truly believed that. She had tried to psych herself out of it, try to tell herself that it was possible for them all to be fine. But, in the end, after weeks of soul searching and trying to think, she realized she was only holding on to blind faith and that blind faith wasn't going to get her through everything.

So, the decision had come: she had finally decided what was more important to her - her children, not her relationships. If this meant that her children would survive their birth, that that would be safe, then that was all that mattered. Not the thoughts and feelings of everyone else involved: including herself.

So, the plan was to go to Makkura. To go take Hikari up on her offer. She was very much pregnant by this point but traveling wasn't out of the equation - not completely anyway. Though, it was dangerous given the psychopath, Ranmaru, she had heard that was roaming about. So, in preparation for her choice she had waited until nightfall and sent a message to Makkura via a carrier pigeon that said:


She watched the bird fly off with the message attached to it in the direction of Makkura, waiting until the bird was out of sight and she was sure the thing was well on its way, before she slipped outside. Using the shadows as cover she moved from one to the other; slipping quickly out of the village and starting across the brutal tundra with nothing more than a small pack of food and some clothing; and the warm, black furred, boots and cloak she had made herself. As she traveled, the night moonless and clouds keeping even the stars from being visible, the brutal nightly wind erased all traces of her scent and footprints in the snow....

The tundra wasn't going to last long; as even as pregnant as she was she made excellent timing across it.

With the birth of Alec's new daughter Artemis, Kurai's bodyguard duties for Avery were over with. He'd gone back to his daily training regimen of running laps around the village, and occasionally battling a shadow creature or 2 to keep the rust off.

Today was the day a Pigeon came flying into the village. It was a messenger Pigeon from the looks of it. Kurai signaled to the animal, and soon it descended to land on his right wrist. The scent that came from the bird told Kurai that it came from his old home, Hinowagakure.

After reading the note attached, Kurai came to the conclusion that nothing had changed there. Those other 2 so-called “leaders” had stopped paying attention to even the woman that was carrying their children, and had done nothing to ensure a safe birth. It made Kurai frown, but Kouki was making a wise move. There was no use staying in a village with morons not interested in her's and their children's well being.

Kurai folded up the note, released the carrier Pigeon, and took off running. ”...Kouki is coming to Makkura,” he said into his Wireless Comm, were everyone would be able to hear it. ”...She doesn't feel it wise to remain there with no medic, and the time of the children's births is getting closer. She's thinking that someone might try to stop her on her way here, so i'm going to meet her halfway.”

Little Kong was likely at home sleeping or eating. That was fine. This wouldn't take long, and if he ran into any threats, it wasn't as if he couldn't face them alone. Yokuchigakure and Kumogakure seemed to pass by him in a blur as he ran, not flying as to save the chakra in case he ran into any threats. Once past the mountains, it began to get cold. The horizon ahead was grey and snowy, meaning Kouki couldn't be very far away...

Kouki had reached the end of the tundra relatively quickly while continuing to use the cover of darkness to keep her hidden. When she reached towards the end she noticed that Kurai had been the one who had come to meet her half way. With a small smile across her face she pulled her cloak closed tighter around herself and stepped over to him. "Hello, Kurai."

She glanced backwards to see if anyone had followed her, but so far she couldn't sense or see anyone there. Figuring that Kurai would know better than her if someone was she turned her attention back to him. "I don't see or sense anyone there; especially Isao or Mizuko, though I'm sure you'd know better than me if they were there or not,  but I'm sure we should get moving soon. I'd rather not see a fight happen if it could be prevented; and it's freezing cold out here."

Her own blood was almost boiling in her veins of course due to her boil release; which caused a faint bit of steam to rise up around her against the coldness of the end of the tundra; something that was completely safe for her children of course. She would wait for Kurai to lead the way, unless of course he had another trick up his sleeve outside of land travel.

Kurai didn't sense any life forces. He didn't see anyone following her through Shinsai. This came as no surprise. He found himself now wanting to travel back to that village to destroy it again. Kurai was sure that if he did, he would meet no resistance. There was no fun in that; no challenge. Therefore Mizuko and that other guy, whatever his name was, they weren't worth it. Maybe they'd come to see what happened to their companion; then again, maybe they wouldn't, seeing as how it took them so long to come investigate the disappearance of their two best Shinobi.

Kurai said nothing as he picked Kouki up easily and lifted himself from the ground with his Flight Technique, then began to vacate the area quickly. He kept low to the ground, dodging around trees, boulders, and other people. Kurai carried her back through the mountains of Kumo and the deserts of Yokuchi. He didn't move as fast as he could have for her sake, but he moved fast nonetheless.

The darkness surrounded them again. In the distance were the lights of Makkura, signaling their arrival....

[Exit]