After having rested at the Kazahana household, we awoke early this morning and have set out on our journey to find Kenta and his group. Takeo and I walk between Mizuki and Tsutomu. Mizuki is on my left and Tsutomu is on Takeo's right. We've made it past the Land of Snow and are now heading back toward the outskirts of the Land of Fire. It is now late in the evening and have settled camp in the forest.

"Fire's ready," I finish blowing fire into some wood.

"I'm still pretty cold from the Land of Snow," Mizuki plops herself down by the fire and shivers. "I don't know how you guys stand it!"

"Years of being a ninja, I guess," I shrug.

"I've spent enough time in the Land of Snow to have gotten used to it," Tsutomu replies. "Takeo meanwhile has his ice release kekkei genkai. If he's out in the snow with no clothes on, he won't feel a thing!"

"Please don't give them that image of me," Takeo has his eyes closed.

"Same stupid comments, huh?" I bop Tsutomu in the back of the head.

"I speak only the truth!" Tsutomu claims.

"Yeah, but at what cost?" I place my hands on my hips.

Tsutomu and I chuckle. The four of us settle down and prepare our sleeping bags. After some time, Mizuki falls asleep with Tsutomu right after her. Takeo and I sit by the fire as we listen to the crackling flames.

"Where is the next destination to find Kenta and his men?" Takeo asks.

"We'll continue to travel the outskirts of the Land of Fire," I reply. "It seems their activity is mostly in those areas. I'm sure we'll find people with information on them."

We stare into the fire for a moment.

"It seems that Gina looks up to Takashi," Takeo says.

"Is that so?" I reply.

"Ever since she met him some years back, she's been curious about him. I wouldn't be surprised if she's infatuated with him."

"Well, they are about three years apart…"

"Hm? What does that have to do with anything?"

"It seems to be a trend in my family that there is about a three year age difference with whomever we marry. My father was about three years older than my mother, and Kakashi is about three years older than me."

"Interesting."

"Perhaps Gina and Takashi will fall into that trend as well...who knows?"

Takeo and I let out small smiles after that.

"Your son questioned about the time I was infatuated with you when we met some years back," Takeo says.

"Oh, I heard about that," I have a sweat drop.

"Does he...know much detail?" He sounds worried.

"Not much, thankfully."

"I still feel bad about the time I undressed myself in front of you…."

"Hm? Oh yeah… Kakashi was surprised about that."

"He knows?!" Takeo is alarmed.

"Relax, he's not upset," I chuckle.

"It was highly inappropriate…." He buries his face in his hand in embarrassment.

"He understands that you didn't know I was married. How could you have? I'd have blown my cover at the time."

"Still… I understand how he would feel now… I can't imagine another man behaving that way with my wife, undercover or not…"

I turn to Takeo with a small, admiring smile.

"Don't sweat it, Takeo," I comfort him. "It's in the past. Now, you, Koyuki and Gina...are family to us."

Takeo turns to meet my smile and is comforted, returning a small smile of his own.

"How is Sora doing?" He asks.

"Very well," I smile. "She's growing healthy and strong despite being born premature."

"That's great to hear. My family and I hope to visit soon to meet her. Maybe after this whole ordeal is done."

"Sure! That'd be fun!"

The sound of the crackling flames ensues again.

"In the case that my daughter and Takashi become romantically involved down in the future," Takeo says. "I'd welcome it."

"I would too," I smile. "But knowing Takashi, he won't realize how Gina may feel about him and would be completely oblivious to it… He may be a genius like Kakashi, but he can be quite the fool at times… something I fear he inherited from my side…" I sigh with a sweat drop.

"Only time will tell," Takeo chuckles.

I giggle and then turn my gaze up at the starry night sky.

At least a day and a half has passed since Mizuki and I have left Konoha. At the moment, the four of us are making our way into a small village late in the afternoon.

"Looks like we've found a place to have some food," I glance around the busy village.

"Yes! Food!" Mizuki exclaims in relief. "I ran out of snacks some while ago. Please tell me we're going to find some food now!"

"Food!" Tsutomu points at a restaurant nearby.

"Will you two relax?" I say. "Remember, we can't attract a lot of attention."

My eyes then spot an ice cream stand nearby.

"It's been so long!" My eyes sparkle as I quickly make my way to the ice cream stand.

"And you're telling us to relax…" Mizuki has a sweat drop after I make my way to the stand.

"She's still got that sweet tooth, huh?" Tsutomu chuckles.

"Yup. Takashi is the same," Mizuki crosses her arms. "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, as they say."

"Let's go get some food meanwhile," Tsutomu offers. "I'm starving! I want something fresh!"

Takeo shrugs and follows them to the nearby restaurant. Back at the ice cream stand, I'm eyeing all the different flavors.

"What will it be?" The vendor asks with a smile.

"One scoop of strawberry, please!" I reply.

He prepares the ice cream on the cone and hands it to me as I pay. I eat away at my ice cream in bliss.

"So delicious…" I smile happily.

"Cough up the money or else!" A man yells.

"Hm?" I turn toward the commotion.

At a nearby shop, an explosion goes off. Three men dart out of there and make a getaway down the alley. They're carrying bags of valuables.

"Can't I just enjoy my ice cream and not have to deal with some thugs?" I'm standing on a building wall as I look down at the three men.

"Mind your business, lady!" One of them warns.

"Yeah, or it'll cost you," another man takes a hold of his chain.

"Put the bags down and turn yourselves in," I continue to eat at my ice cream.

"Or else what?" The third man asks.

The man with the chain hurls the end with the blade at me. I manage to catch it at the chain and wrap it around my wrist, blowing fire on to the chain. The fire streams down the chain to the man and he's burnt badly, causing him to collapse. The men are shocked as they gaze back up at me, still eating at my ice cream.

"I told you to put the bags down and to turn yourselves in," I'm annoyed. "Now I've gotta make you do it the hard way."

"Get rid of her!" One of the men yells.

Before they can even charge at me, I'm already behind them. I hit the back of their necks and knock them unconscious.

"What happened?" Takeo and Tsutomu run down the alley toward me.

"These guys were robbing that shop," I continue to lick at my ice cream.

"You've managed to stop them," Takeo looks down at the three unconscious men on the ground.

"All while still eating your ice cream cone," Tsutomu grins.

"I wanna enjoy my ice cream," I casually say. "Where's Mizuki?"

"She's tending to the wounded," Takeo replies.

"Any dead casualties?"

"None, thankfully. Only a few injured."

I sigh in relief. We turn our attention to the thugs on the ground.

"Take a look at their necks," I continue to eat my ice cream.

Takeo walks over and gets on one knee to look at one of the men. He sees a tattoo in red ink.

"A tattoo," Takeo observes.

"They all have it," I say.

"What does it mean?" Tsutomu asks.

"It's the Japense kanji symbol for evil. That same symbol is on Kenta's neck," I take out the photo of Kenta from my pocket.

"No doubt about it," Tsutomu studies the photo.

"These guys can lead us to him," I turn to the men.

I finish my ice cream and dust my hands clean.

"You guys tie them up," I instruct. "I'm gonna check on Mizuki."

Takeo and Tsutomu nod. I make my way over to where some medical nin are tending to the wounded. Mizuki is speaking with one of the medical nin and finishes her conversation.

"I see you have everything under control," I stop in front of her. "What's the report?"

"Only three wounded," Mizuki replies. "No serious injuries."

"That's a relief."

"The village medical nin will take over from here."

I glance around the scene and see everything is taken care of in an orderly manner.

"You've come a long way, Mizuki," I say.

"Hm?" She's surprised.

"You've become an even better medical nin since the day you saved my ass all those years ago. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here. A lot of people wouldn't be alive."

"Denizu…"

I give her a sheepish smile.

"I take it you put a stop to those men," Mizuki crosses her arms with a smile.

"Yeah, Takeo and Tsutomu are tying them up," I reply. "Come on!"

I lead her away with me.

The three men are sitting in a circle with their backs to each other, their hands tied up and a bigger rope around their torsos and feet. We stand some feet away surrounding them. I've absorbed their chakra to the point where they can't fight off.

"Let us go!" One of them grunts.

"So what now?" Mizuki asks.

"We get intel from them," I respond.

"Psht! We're not telling you anything!" The man scowls.

"You don't have to," I shrug. "I guess it'll be the hard way with you."

"Huh?" The man raises an eyebrow.

I activate my sharingan and look into his eyes. I can see through his memories and manage to find a glimpse of Kenta himself. I also manage to catch glimpses of the killings of innocent men, women, and children, and other countless acts of horror. The man eventually shrieks in pain as he falls unconscious again. The other two men glance at him in terror.

"Who's next?" I turn my sharingan eye to the other two men with a scowl.

"No! Please! We'll talk!" One of them pleads.

"Nice," Tsutomu slightly grins.

"Where's Kenta?" I ask.

"He's got a hideout," the man replies. "In the outskirts of the Land of Fire, right at the border into the Sound Village."

"It's a hidden cave," the other man says. "That's where the rest of the Aku reside."

"Aku, huh?" I cross my arms. "And how many are there in this group?"

"There's just over fifty. All pretty skilled rogue ninja."

"Is Kenta there on a regular basis?"

"Usually. Or he's out finding recruitments."

"Where does he look for recruits?"

"He scouts the Land of Fire and anywhere he can reach for rogue ninja or shinobi who dislike the peace in these lands."

"So it's the peace that Kenta doesn't like?"

"He thinks it's pathetic and plans to take advantage with villages that think they're safe."

"Sounds familiar," Tsutomu glances over at Takeo, who just closes his eyes in thought.

"Alright then. That's all I need," I turn my gaze at the men.

They shriek as they gaze into my sharingan and pass out.

"So much for sparing them," Tsutomu laughs.

"They didn't spare a lot of people," I gaze down at the men after deactivating my sharingan.

A hawk screeches and glides down at my arm.

"It's Naruto," I examine the hawk's compartment.

I pull out a scroll from the compartment it carries and begin writing.

"I'll write to Naruto the details we've just learned," I finish writing. "These men will stay here in this village with authorities until our own Leaf personnel arrive to escort them to custody."

Once the paper is in the compartment, I send the hawk away.

"For now, we head to Kenta," I have a stern gaze.

It's nightfall. I'm walking some yards ahead of the group. Mizuki, Takeo and Tsutomu see how serious I've been since interrogating the three Aku men.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Tsutomu asks.

"Something's bothering her," Mizuki says.

"Maybe she needs to talk," Takeo suggests.

"Well it ain't gonna be me," Tsutomu has a sweat drop, timid of my demeanor at the moment.

"We rest here for the night," I turn back to them, causing Tsutomu to jump to a halt.

They all nod. After some time, we've gathered wood for me to start a fire. We sit around the flames as we finish settling down. I stare into the flames in deep thought, everyone else wondering what's on my mind.

"Denizu…" Mizuki finally breaks the silence. "What's on your mind?"

"You've been awfully quiet since we spoke with those Aku men," Takeo says.

I stay silent for a moment before closing my eyes.

"I looked into that man's memories…." I reply.

"And what did you see?" Mizuki asks.

"What he did to people under Kenta's orders...disgusts me," I grimly say. "I can't imagine what else the rest of those scum did."

Everyone is quiet for a moment.

"Many people are after these eyes of mine," I say. "Though valuable, they can often be a curse. Having to see memories of wretched people like them...it brings me into a state of kuebiko."

I let out a heavy sigh and gaze up into the starry night sky.

"I often wonder if the peace we've fought so hard for will last…" I say.

"Off on one of your deep topic discussions," Tsutomu teases.

"I guess we have hope as our only option," I laugh a bit with a small smile.

"Seems it's the best option we have," Takeo nods.

"Is that why you're gone from the village so much?" Mizuki asks. "You're gone from the village with Sasuke for months, maybe even years at a time… Not seeing your loved ones for that long...and it's to protect the peace we've had all this time."

I gaze into the flames in thought, knowing well that I cannot reveal the true mission Sasuke and I have. Mizuki is clever enough to have caught on that there's more to my mission with Sasuke.

"You're partially correct," I answer.

"Well...for what it's worth…" Mizuki gazes at me. "Thank you."

I gaze over at her and give her a small smile.

"I feel all warm and fuzzy inside," Tsutomu jokes.

"Shut up," I whack him on the arm with a smirk.

He laughs. We eventually fall asleep for the night, gathering enough energy to prepare for our possible encounter with Kenta the next day.