Neji, Isane, and Shikamaru stood at the gate with Kakashi. He was signing out when Tsunade appeared. She had the rest of Team Gai with her.

"It would appear that there's a problem along the way. Team Gai will be going with you part of the way and splintering off to complete their mission." Tsunade smiled warmly at Isane and Neji. "I trust that wouldn't be too hard, Neji?"

"No, milady." Neji gave her a sort of nod of approval.

Isane didn't say anything, she was staring out at the forest instead. After a second or two, Tsunade made a small noise and Isane just gave a small wave of her left hand, as if she was incoherent to Tsunade. "I understand. I won't mind. It's Kakashi's decision, as he's the leader of the mission."

Kakashi gave his approval and Team Gai signed out as well. All of the Jonin took a defensive position according to Shikamaru's schematics. That way Ten Ten and Lee would be protected from all sides, should a tough opponent attack. Since it was getting closer to the darker hours of the day, Kakashi was already looking for a good place to land for the night and make camp for the whole squad under his command.

Finally, he stopped and dropped into a small clearing. "We'll make camp for the night."

Isane and Ten Ten set about clearing up space for a fire and gathering supplies for a long night. Isane spent most of her time making ointments and medicine for the "just in case" moment that wasn't bound to happen. Lee spent his time doing nothing but training, really. To add to that, Gai and Kakashi were having a staring contest.

Shkamaru just shook his head and laid down to watch the stars.

---Sunagakure---

Gaara looked up. Hoshiko was standing there, her hands clamped behind her back. Her long hair was tied back, like always, and she had a big smile.

"What're you doing at this hour? You know Baki's gonna throw a fit if you don't turn up soon, right?" Hoshiko asked, kneeling down. Her gray hair moved to reveal some of her old scar that was Gaara's fault.

Gaara had to look down at the books he'd dropped. "Why would he worry? He's angry that I'm even bothering to pass on some intelligence our Anbu corpse collected. He wants it to stay in the village."

"Well, if that's the case, then why is it that you don't care?"

"I just.... don't." Gaara stood up, brushing her off. He'd done this so many times in the last few weeks that he'd almost forgotten how close they'd been. This was insurance so he knew his siblings, his family wouldn't reject him again. Hoshiko had come up with the idea.

"Well, care for a stroll?"

"No. I have to leave tonight."

"Then I'll come with you."

Gaara stopped. He hadn't thought about that. Kankuro was training some new guys and Temari had a meeting-filled day tomorrow and the day after was her spare day to be spent doing her errands. He didn't have any support. He took a deep breath. "Okay, you can come. Just promise me you won't do anything dangerous."

"So, follow you or play your deco.... is that dangerous? Gaara, you know me. I won't jump into battle unless I absolutely have to."

"I also know you have a quick temper." Gaara reached over and patted Hoshiko's soft gray hair. "You are all I've got outside my family that's this close. Just come with me and come back, that's all there is to it."

Hoshiko smiled. "I've got a friend that I send messages to all the time. I think I'll see her." Hoshiko gave Gaara a quick hug so she could have her moment to be all of his attention. She had grown used to being the side-man for Gaara. She loved him from the sidelines. It gave him a reason to come back alive from dangerous things. He enjoyed their little pockets of time they spent counting stars or eating together.

Gaara had long since known that Hoshiko would be the one he'd marry. So, secretly, Hoshiko had asked for his hand, but was waiting to ask Kankuro and Temari for their approval. So, now, she might have leverage if her friend was as good as Hoshiko had said. Isane was a smooth talker and Hoshiko believed she could soften the blow for the two of them and make it easy for them to say yes.

---Isane---

She woke with a start when Neji touched her arm.

"It's your shift. Do you want to keep sleeping?"

"No, no." Isane slowly moved, her deep red hair turning orange as the fire embers blasted it with light. She reached up and slowly rose to her feet.

There was a noise and she reacted, but Neji grabbed her arm. "It's just Gai and Lee. They're still training. They've been in and out all night. Ignore them."

"That's because the power of youth drives us!"

Isane blinked. "The power of what?"

"Don't ask." Neji shuffled passed and found his little nook to sleep in.

"The power of youth is all that gives us strength! It makes us--!"

Isane had grabbed Gai's thumb as he gave her a thumbs-up and twisted it sideways. "Shush. People are sleeping. Go back to your, um, training?" She let go. "I don't want to have to put the two of you down for vulgar language and manners."

Neji shook his head. They had it coming. He settled down and prepared for a long night.