Sitting in an isolated sealed and secure jail in Suna, Mamoru had a lot of time to think about everything that had happened. It had been two weeks and five days since he had been captured by Aiko and the Suna shinobi. Aiko had yet to even come to look at him.

Mamoru wondered if he deserved this. All he wanted was to find his daughter and take her home. Was that so wrong? He only wanted what was best. On top of that, he had already lost too much time with her. Aiko was a young woman of twenty years now. It seemed that she was in love too.

"Gaara..." Mamoru said darkly under his breath. How had someone like Gaara managed to manipulate Aiko like that? Especially with the presence of the Third Eye in her, Mamoru had assumed it would be near to impossible to succeed in such an endeavor.

The thoughts made Mamoru cringe with disgust. He needed to get out of this prison and get Aiko away from Suna and Gaara. What he needed to do was much easier thought about and planned than actually performing though. His powers had been sealed. He had no weapons and no means of obtaining any either. The Suna shinobi had been very careful with him. It was actually impressive, however frustrating.

He stood up. His cell was made of a brown sandstone. It was completely solid around the sides, the back, and the top. The front had a barred door and there were two Anbu standing guard. Mamoru could not see their faces. He could see one was a female with a bear mask. Her hair was blonde and long. It was pulled back into a braid. She wore a long sleeved black shirt with an open collar. She had baggy black pants that were tight around her ankles with black ninja sandals. On her back she had a large bandaged sword. It was a little wider than a normal katana but it was much longer.

As for the other Anbu, Mamoru could not tell their gender. They wore a long baggy light brown hooded cloak. There was a darker leather belt around their waist which likely held ninja tools. The mask they wore resembled that of a scruffy brown fox. They were hunched over with their arms hanging lazily in front of them.

Mamoru stretched and he could feel the Anbu watching him closely. They certainly took their jobs very seriously. It was very uncomfortable being where he was. He had no privacy. Even so, it was lonely.

After a long bath, Aiko felt more relaxed. Things seemed to finally be calming down. With that calm however, she found herself wondering about Mamoru. She wondered how he was doing. Lately she was not feeling as angry towards him. The anger she had now, she felt she could manage with very little effort. Perhaps it was time to go and speak with him.

Gaara was in his office. He had just finished sending a team of chunin out on an A ranked mission. He was not worried about it. It was ranked an A but it was still something that he felt he did not need to worry over. The team that was sent was very skilled and he felt confident that they would be successful.

For a moment, he felt a heavy calm come over himself. Then he thought of Yasuo. He wasn't sure why but he began to feel worried. He could not ever be sure what Yasuo might do. He was unpredictable.

Gaara quickly shook off those thoughts. It was wasted effort as far as he was concerned. Today there was something else that needed his attention. He had been called to meet with the council regarding his marital status once again. Kankuro did not help the situation. He pressured them into bothering him about it instead because he was the Kazekage. He supposed that was understandable. It was difficult to see Kankuro settling down anytime soon.

Things had changed for Gaara significantly within the past few years. He felt more major changes coming whether he wanted to accept them or not. Perhaps it was time to stop avoiding those more personal subjects in his life.

Aiko headed towards the jail where Mamoru was being held. She wasn't sure why she felt that she needed to see him now. It worried her that she was not sure if there was a real reason that she was going to see him or if she was just merely curious.

Strangely, she felt that she might get in trouble for this. Still that was not going to stop her at this point. She continued on down the dimly lit hallway. It was very quiet and eerie. Eventually she reached a door that had a man standing guard. Upon closer inspection, Aiko recognized the man.

"Hiroaki?" Aiko asked.

He looked up and smiled at her. "Oh, hello Aiko. What are you doing down here?" He had been looking through a small book in his hand. He knew of course that Aiko was there but he acted casual and friendly to help keep her comfortable.

For a moment, Aiko paused. She brushed her hands gently on her kimono to smooth it out even though there were no wrinkles. "I was hoping to speak with Mamoru." She said quietly.

Hiroaki closed the small book he had been skimming through and put it in his vest. Then he gave Aiko a friendly smile. "I don't see why not. Of course I will remain in the room as well for safety reasons."

"And to listen in..." A voice echoed in the back of Aiko's mind. She knew it was the Third Eye. It seemed very annoyed at Hiroaki. Aiko did not mind him though. She found him to be very friendly and helpful. She did not mind if Hiroaki was present during her visit with Mamoru.

"I understand." Aiko agreed.

"Okay. Follow me then." Hiroaki said and turned to open the door behind him. Aiko followed close behind him. It seemed like it got even darker now. They walked down a set of steps and then down another long hallway.

Aiko found it very odd as they went on that they did not run into any other ninja. She began to wonder if Hiroaki was waiting on her for some reason. Had he known that she was going to be here? Had he been watching her?

She tried to shake away the thoughts. Hiroaki seemed trustworthy. Perhaps there were others present and Aiko just did not know they were there.

After a short walk further down Hiroaki opened another door and they entered a room. It was not very big but it was empty except for two Anbu. They were standing directly in front of a cell that held Mamoru.

Mamoru heard the door open and stood up in his cell. He approached the bars and looked out. He saw a familiar man but he did not know who he was. From behind him, a young woman stepped out. Mamoru felt relieved to see Aiko. He was hopeful now as well. Perhaps now he could make her understand.

Upon seeing Mamoru, Aiko felt overwhelmed. The room suddenly became heavy. She still continued towards Mamoru's cell. Hiroaki had put his hand up to keep the other two Anbu from becoming alarmed. Aiko suddenly realized that Hiroaki must be someone of a very high rank. It alarmed her a bit. It was hard to picture him being aggressive. He was a ninja though.

She caught his gaze. He could sense her unease. "Go ahead Aiko." He ushered her on with a friendly smile. It made Aiko wonder how real this side of Hiroaki was.

Aiko cautiously moved on towards Mamoru and let her curiosities about Hiroaki go for now. She needed to focus on herself right now. She approached the cell slowly and then stopped about three feet in front of it.

Finally she took a good look at him. He was wearing a plain set of dark gray clothes. His cloudy gray eyes had dark circles under them but still he smiled gently at her. She wondered if he was also trying to not intimidate her.

Aiko could not offer Mamoru a smile. "Why did you come here?" She asked plainly. She was hiding her emotions behind a neutral face. It was difficult but she was performing well.

Mamoru's smile faded. "I came to take you home." He spoke quietly but his voice still had an authoritative and dark tone.

A flash of familiar looking anger flashed in Aiko's pale eyes. Mamoru felt a bit stunned as she spoke. "If you would have simply spoken to me, you would find that I was already very interested in returning home. Why couldn't you just speak to me?" Her mask had faded now revealing more of her frustration and her wounded heart. "Instead, you lied to me and used Yasuo against me. You tried to turn me against Gaara." She looked at him with a harsh gaze. "You ruined everything!" She spat.

It seemed that Aiko could be much less patient and much more harsh than her mother Yuka. He thought hard for a moment and realized that Aiko was more correct than he cared to ever admit. He was behaving selfishly. Aiko, as much as Mamoru hated it, was no longer a child. He had missed all of that.

Mamoru dropped to his knees in the cell. He lowered his head, his long black hair falling over his shoulders and on the ground. "Please forgive me Aiko. Your mother would be ashamed to see me behaving this way. She left me ways to find you so that I might act as a father should, not as your ruler." Tears formed in his eyes. "I am so sorry Aiko."

Aiko was at a loss for words. Mamoru, her father, after everything that had happened was now on his knees apologizing to her. The stranger thing was, she believed him. She felt no hint of deception from him. She could not figure out what to say so she stepped a bit closer to him. Then she bent down and put a hand through the bar and touched his cheek.

She could see now. Through Mamoru's thoughts and feelings from the past and now his current and present self, Aiko could see his truths. He spoke sincerely. He also felt that right now his future was up to her. Aiko could not be sure if this was true or not yet, but she hoped that it was.

She slowly pulled her hand back and stood up straight. Mamoru looked up at her. Aiko finally offered him a smile. "I believe you. For now, please behave. I will be back soon." Aiko promised. She then turned and headed out of the room without saying anything to anyone else. Right now, she needed to see Gaara.