The people of Suna did not have to wait long to find out what happened to the missing nins. As the trials happened only the people related to those taken were allowed to know about it and attend. It was there that they were all told what happened, and why. Why their loved ones were being held and being tried. Most were happy to see that the Kazekage and his siblings were alive. More however were pleased to see that the strange woman that had become a part of them was still alive and well.

Most understood the laws of Suna in regards to traitorous acts against the Kazekage or against the ninja nation of the wind. Both had happened when these people not only plotted to kill the Kazekage, but also put a puppet Kage in his place. The minor players in the scheme were sentenced to life in the Suna Holding Facility deep in the desert.

The major players, the four greatest threats to Suna's continued movement towards prosperity and the happiness of its people were all sentenced to death as their trials ended. Only three did not get the privilege of a trial. The leader of the splinter faction, now known as the Cutting Winds and the two that had come closest to violating Hoshiwara during her time as de facto leader of the Wind clans. Those three were immediately executed. The leader of the Cutting Winds was executed by the Hokage, much to her satisfaction.

The other two, those that had a more personal bearing to the Kazekage and to Hoshiwara were executed by the two simultaneously. Gaara used his Desert Funeral technique while those that were in attendance to witness the execution were treated to the sight of what happens when every last bit of living energy is sucked out of a human being. The result was bloody, painful and deadly to the executed, while it was merely painful in the extreme for the executioner.

When she came into consciousness again a day later she was immediately asked why she chose such a technique. Looking around at her friends, and then to the man she had come to love she gave them a sad smile. "Life, all life is important. Those that do not treasure it do not deserve to keep the use of their life energies. So I put that energy to use in other ways. The reason I passed out was because he had such deep reserves of energy. I can only hold so much before I feel the effects of the foreign energy, so I did the next best thing. I shunted it out and into the grounds. It's painful to hold so much energy, not nearly as painful to merely be a conduit. I was both yesterday and I had to in order to complete the reversal of life."

Gaara, Temari and Kankurou had a good idea as to what she was talking about as all three of them had been taught in her own way what chakra was and how she manipulated it. The others could only marvel at her seemingly deep understanding of the nature of life.

The trials had been harsh on everyone as the last week had kept them all in the bunker until the final day when the announcement was made that they were all still alive and well. The imprisonment went without fanfare, many wives siblings and children saddened at the losses to their families or to the nin of the country in general. The Executions went with equal fanfare. The bodies burned and the ashes returned to their families.

Late in the night Gaara was wakened from a rare instance of sleep by the feeling of being watched. It wasn't an ominous feeling, and he was certain that the Ichibi would have taken care of the intruder had it been a threat. The person merely sat by his bed, watching him carefully, making no other sound than that of a hand moving occasionally to smooth out the fabric of the blanket that covered their knees. "Who is there, and how did you get in here." His voice was unnaturally harsh, from speaking in as low a tone as he could to keep from alerting his siblings.

The figure stood and all he could see of them was that they were wearing a hooded cloak and walking towards the shaded window. Still not putting the pieces together in his poor sleep crazed mind he waited for the figure to finish their action before determining a threat value.

The shade was drawn to the side and he could see that the hand that had moved the shade was feminine, Ichibi was still asleep within him, and was of no help in identifying the figure and he had reached the limit of his patience. Summoning his sands he restrained her and then turning her to face him pulled the hood of her cloak back to reveal her face. He nearly dropped her in his surprise. The face that had been hid from him in the shadows was none other than Hoshiwara, smiling serenely and not fighting her capture in the least. "I did not mean to disturb your sleep Gaara." Her own voice was rich and mellow in her own effort to keep her voice down.

"You." The word might have implied an insult, had the woman not seen the slight smirk the man wore in the moonlight. "Come here."

The sands forced her to comply, not that she was in the least unwilling. As she was brought over to the now exceedingly awake Kazekage she could see that he was clearly not angry with her, but instead had that studious look on his face that he had every time she managed to do something that had gone beyond his estimations of her. She cancelled that look quickly by leaning forward slightly and lightly kissing him on the nose.

Studious look gone in an instant he now looked at her with a look that was far more dangerous. It was a look she had seen only once before, the day she had come back from Konoha with Kakashi. One she secretly loved to see on him as it brought all of his features into stern alignment and changed him from good looking to "dangerously good looking". However all of her thoughts were brought to a screeching halt as his lips came in contact with her's, causing both the sand to leave her and her heart to slam dance in her chest. She had completely melted into him by the time he was done. As he tucked her in to the bed next to him she had not even begun to recover from the war her body had just gone through. She barely registered the words he spoke next as she felt him slide into bed next to her, pulling her close to him and letting her use him for a pillow, but when she did, she knew that she had found her home, her family, and her one to love. "I love you"