Hope burned up. Had this...god taken it away? Was that really all that was necessary. Juugo's expression filled with the hope, so naked and vulnerable, and then the expression shattered.

No, it was dim, much more than usual, but he could still feel it like a sleeping snake curled inside his chest. So it wasn't gone, just asleep for a little while, which was better than anything Orochimaru had managed. But it wouldn't last, would it, and then it would come out again, and he would kill, and kill, and kill again.

Juugo sighed. "No."

But he'd heard Orochimaru talking about chakra. No one had ever explained to him exactly what it was. It could be taken and shared, it seemed, and Juugo could put enough together to know it was very important to ninja. But what was it exactly?

"Chakra?"