A/N: So... Kairi finally gets to Suna and we get to see her interracting with her family and friends.

Chapter 14.

Kairi was the guest of the T&I for a week longer before she was granted a release and escorted out of the village with a Konoha chuunin making sure that she'd get all the way to Suna relatively unharmed and would not attempt to turn around midway to spy on Konoha some more. Kairi had been given most of her gear back (she'd been taken to one of the buildings near gate unconscious so she wouldn't know T&I's location) but the chuunin held onto her fan and hair sticks sealed inside a scroll. Those she'd get back once in Suna.

The chuunin didn't offer a name and Kairi wasn't interested in knowing it. She just wanted to get home, get her armor repaired, reset a bit and then see what she could do to best aid her village.

Things didn't go quite to the plan though. Kairi barely stepped inside the gates when she was hit in the face with a new chuunin vest. Elder Chiyo was cackling.

"Congratulations on your promotion, Namikaze!" The old woman informed her. O-kay?

The Konohan chuunin was silently and impatiently standing behind her. Kairi rolled her eyes and held out a hand.

"I'm here. Mission accomplished. Thank you for escorting me, could I please have my gear back?"

The scroll was slapped on her palm and the chuunin turned away with a huff. Good riddance. But Kairi smirked. She hadn't expected to get the entire scroll… and thus a sample of Konoha's storage seals. This could prove useful.

Chiyo was eyeing her shrewdly.

"Walk with me, Namikaze." The elder turned away and Kairi needed to jog a couple of steps to catch up with her.

"I didn't know the elders could overturn Sandaime-sama's decision." The girl stated.

"The decision was foolish in the first place but that's why Ebizou and I co-signed it. Specifically, so we could overturn it. Rasa had no idea of the document and probably wouldn't have given your family name back to Kaito even if he'd strived to get it." Chiyo snorted.

"I see."

"And it was about the time to have you promoted. It was sad to see you floundering as a genin."

"I wasn't aware people paid that much attention to me."

"Silly girl. For all that you focused on improving and becoming an information specialist, you truly remained blind to your surroundings."

"I suppose… Suna is home after all." Kairi had to admit. No matter the harshness of Suna's environment and the solitary nature of the shinobi found there, it was still Kairi's home and still where she felt safe.

"Now though… Konoha was nice enough to send a missive about your release thought the diplomatic waffle reeked of leaf-trickery." Chiyo continued. "I'm taking you to the hospital for a check-up. There is every chance for those mind-readers leaving traps into you and though we have none of our own, we can still try to check."

Kairi grimaced. It was true. While she'd 'seen' what Inoichi did at her mind and felt every memory he rummaged through, it was still possible that sleeper-agent seals had been placed upon her. Thus hospital check-up was imperative even if there was a chance that they'd find nothing even when there was something to be found. But that was the unfortunate state of things.

"Then, by tomorrow evening you'll submit full reports on your actions on the battlefield as well as your stay at the generous hospitality of Konoha shinobi." The last part sounded like a quote to Kairi and she filed that one away for later inspection. "You may go home after a night at the hospital, your mother has been informed of your survival and return."

"Thank you very much, Chiyo-sama."

"Yes, yes…You'll have a week of relief from active duty. Depending on what the hospital finds, the decision might change. But use the time as you want to."

Translation, in the case of mind-traps she'd be kept away from the kage tower and official documents. And because of her stay at Konoha's T&I, she'd need to train and recover her strength as well as prove herself worth of her new rank. Well, that didn't sound too unreasonable.

"Am I to assume that I'll need to give verbal clarifications on some parts of my report if questions pop up?" Kairi asked.

"Naturally. We'll summon you then."

"Speaking of summons…"

"Your foxes apparently unsummoned themselves after you lost your consciousness. The talkative one… Shirin was it? … informed Amara about the change in your chakra's state and thus we knew about your capture… but naturally not of your fate."

"I see…"

They came to the hospital and Kairi was taken to the first underground floor. It was delightfully cool, nice change from Hi no Kuni's increasing humidity and Kaze no Kuni's general dryness.

Amara and Akane were there waiting for them. Kairi dropped her new chuunin vest on the nearby bed when she was swept into an embrace by her mother.

"Oh, my baby… My baby girl is home…" Akane sobbed to Kairi's short hair. "I was so worried when I heard you were captured. Who knew what those Konohan's would do to you despite Kaito's blood…"

"I'm home, kaasan." Kairi clutched onto the woman equally tight. "I'm home…"

Amara and Chiyo were nice enough to let mother and daughter have their moment, without interrupting them. There were no tears in the reunion but both Kairi and Akane were equally reluctant to let go of each other. Kairi especially because she only now realized how touch-starved she'd become during the six weeks of exams as well as the week of interrogation plus the travel times between Suna and Konoha. She'd always liked human contact. Her family and her first team had not shied from touch. And during the times when Kairi had not had a stable team after Koto and Yomi's promotions, she'd still had her hugs from Akane every time she returned from a mission. Not to mention that she'd never been almost two months away from home at once.

Eventually, reluctantly, the two Fuukatsus distangled and Kairi took a seat on the nearby bed for Amara to start checking up on her. The stomach wound was inspected and healed properly, same with signs of restraints that she'd chafed against when struggling. Chakra pathways examined from the suppression seals and her head inspected for foreign chakra traces. Everything was documented.

Nothing alarming was found. No seals or chakra traces. Kairi was ordered to acclimate to her current condition and use her 'free time' to get ready for future missions.

First, she needed to write her reports though.

Kairi did not spare words while describing her mission and later treatment but she wasn't too verbose either. Writing reports wasn't anything new to her and scrunching them when necessary was enjoyable. Everything and nothing like writing a thesis paper. And she included sketches on all people she encountered and places she saw and hoped that'd earn her forgiveness for revealing so much information about Suna's plans.

It was unfortunate but expected after all. And Kairi could only be thankful that her father's blood had shielded her from irreparable harm. Though she had now a distinct dislike towards the Yamanaka and sincerely hoped that neither official Konohans nor unofficial ones (i.e. Danzou and his ROOT) left sleeper seals or suggestions upon her. While nothing had been found the feeling of paranoia wasn't pleasant.

Thus, Kairi was ridiculously grateful to have been banned from the Kage Tower and administration center. Her report was collected by her mother and taken to be processed the next day and Chiyo herself handled the name change. Weird…

Or it was until Kairi remembered that Kaito's jounin sensei had been Chiyo's son. No wonder the old woman was so sort-of fond of her…

"Kairi-chaaaaaan!" A familiar voice shook Kairi from her thoughts and she looked up from her sketches just in time to get glomped by her first teammate.

"Yomi-chan!" It was such a relief to see the other girl, Kairi couldn't help but laugh. She'd been worried over who'd died and who survived in the aftermath of the battle because her closest friends were all people that weren't seen in the original manga and thus Kairi couldn't just check from the Archive whether they were meant to survive. But Yomi was right here and there was Koto too, meandering towards the café that Kairi had sat down for lunch.

"You are aliveee!" Yomi wailed, rubbing her cheek to Kairi's hair and clutching her neck. Kairi fought down the urge to wrench the arms away and concentrated on the hum of Yomi's chakra and the beat of her heart against Kairi's ear.

"I am alive. And I'm here. And you are causing a scene."

"Now, let Yomi-chan to have her moment." Koto grinned, sitting opposite Kairi and aiming a solemn look at her. "You were right by the way… Kazekage-sama definitely wasn't okay. He'd died months ago and since then it had been Orochimaru controlling Suna."

"…Yeah." Kairi sighed. "I suspected as much."

"Let's not talk about that, okay?" Yomi stopped her dramatic antics to plop next to Kairi and lean in to look at what she'd been drawing. "Ooh, is that the second phase field?"

"Yes. Konoha's training ground 44, commonly known as the Forest of Death. It was such an interesting environment that I had to immortalize it somehow."

"I've only seen Iwa's canyons." Yomi sighed, tucking her black hair behind her ears. "That forest would've been an interesting experience…"

"How did the exam go, Kairi-chan?" Koto asked right away. "You probably have talked more than enough about the invasion and stuff but tell us about your chuunin exams."

And Kairi did. She lamented her inexperienced and frustrating teammates. She told about her confrontations with Gaara. She told about Konoha's philosophies that she gleaned from Ibiki's instructions in the first phase and then Sandaime Hokage's speeches. She talked about training with eccentric jounin that called himself the Green Beast of Konoha. About talking with shinobi and civilians alike and enjoying it, even forgetting sometimes that she was doing espionage work.

"I liked it there. But some of the cultural differences were too staggering for me to ignore. I prefer Suna much more." Kairi concluded.

"I can see that." Yomi smiled. "What I saw Konoha, it looked nice but all the bizarre shinobi with weird kekkei genkai and hiden jutsu were difficult to ignore. I'm glad Suna is more stable."

"Very true. And we have not had any night time wake-ups either from Gaara wandering around." Koto agreed.

Kairi hummed at that, not commenting. Gaara had gotten some sense knocked back to him by Naruto. Probably. She had no idea how things had turned out with the Sand Sibling since so many things were already different with Konoha's Rookie 9.

"Well, it probably also helps that Kazekage-sama is not here anymore to order shinobi execute him and thus have the Shukaku go rampage." She stated, idly adding shadows on the trees she'd drawn. Her friends gave a considering pause before Yomi sighed.

"True…" The girl reluctantly agreed. It was hard to speak against late Kazekage so openly but even they had to admit some of the man's decision had been very questionable.

"I wonder who will become the next Kazekage." Koto said then. "Before, when Kazekage has changed, there has always been at least some canditates or at least someone directly apprenticed to the current Kage who could take up the responsibilities if needed until next Kage could be selected. With Rasa-sama… there was none."

"With so many excellent shinobi sacrificed to Shukaku and now some lost in that failed invasion, there aren't many to choose from… If they even meet the standards that is." Yomi joined in.

"Baki-sensei was the field commander at Konoha. And he was jounin-sensei for Kazekage-sama's children. Surely he will step up then?" Kairi frowned.

"Maybe…" Koto shrugged. "Baki-san is currently at the capital with Temari-san, negotiating with Daimyo so missions will start coming back to Suna. As Konohans are too short-staffed after the invasion will focus on Hi no Kuni's orders as well as their allies."

"Despite the failed invasion?"

"Yeah… They probably try to spin it as an intentional move to weaken Konoha. Anyways we need our economy back running and circulating money, even if it's within our borders."

Very true. And the reason why Kairi was dining at the café even though it would've been cheaper to go home and cook something. But Kairi had been saving from her mission pays for the armored vest and continued saving even after that. It was necessary. Especially with the repair costs for her weapons and armor coming up.

"The caravans are still running and nomad tribes have always made their requests for us. I'm sure we'll pull through this." Yomi stated optimistically. "No need to worry, just keep doing our best to help."

"Very true." Koto agreed.

Technically, Kairi probably should've checked on Natsuhiko, Hara and Souseki but… meh. She didn't feel like it. So instead she kitted on her gear and pulled on her knew chuunin vest. Kairi didn't like its bulkiness and shape but until she got her armor fixed, she might as well get used to it. At the Fourth Shinobi war everyone – even Temari – had been using the vests, to show uniformity.

The blacksmith that the entire Fuukatsu clan used lived opposite side of Suna from her home. The man didn't like the bustle of the markets and as he had an entire clan using his services, he had no need for additional clientele. So Kairi dropped Kogonhi at the smith before heading for the shop she'd purchased her armor from. They did repairs for their own armors.

"Hoo… What possibly could've gone through this?" The shopkeeper mused, inspecting the damage.

"A katana wielded by Konoha Anbu. She used some moon-themed kenjutsu."

"Ah… Moon Dance." The man hummed, poking a finger through the hole at the front. Well, attempting to. The cut had been a clean and thus the hole itself was narrow. "This should be easy enough to fix. Come pick this on two days and we'll talk about money then."

Kairi nodded. The damage fixing's fee always depended on the damage itself, materials needed to patch it up and the time used. Haggling when picking stuff was the norm and though merchants trying to swindle customers was normal as well, it was a test for your own good sense. How much were you ready to pay? Did your eyes notice anything in the wanted item that could dock the pay? Could you outsmart the merchant?

Suna's shinobi were self-reliant. The market place reflected that. The only items that had their prices regulated were most common food ingredients and food at restaurants and cafés. (Food stalls were whole different matter though.)

With most pressing errands done. Kairi turned to head towards the village gate. She needed to do her regular run and see if her records had suffered in the past two weeks or if her training at Konoha had given her a boost from her previous results.

Not everything goes to plan though…

"Huh? You're still alive?" Aggravating, irritating, frustrating…

"Hello, Hara." Kairi said through gritted teeth and turned around. "How are you? I hope you've recovered from your second failed chuunin exams." She flashed a tight-lipped smile.

"You…" Hara Jyari growled and took a step forward. Would have if Natsuhiko hadn't grabbed the boy at the back of is jacket and held him back. Kairi arched an eyebrow and then… slowly, deliberately lifted her arm to tap her new vest. Hara looked like he was ready to combust right then and there.

"Congratulations on your promotion, Kairi-chan." Natsuhiko talked over the boys' heads.

"Thank you, Natsuhiko-sensei. Good to see you made it alive back as well." Kairi grinned. Natsuhiko might've had some burns at the right side of his face and his forearms still bandaged but he was healthy and whole. And that's what mattered.

"You were part of the war effort then?" Nagaya Souseki frowned, something akin to respect in his eyes as he considered Kairi.

"Yes. I can't tell you what I was doing – that's classified – but I can say that there were reasons for my delayed homecoming."

The prissy boy's eyes widened a fraction in realization and even Hara was quiet. They guessed correctly that delay equaled capture which in turn equaled interrogation.

"I must be going now. The sun is soon too high for me to run." Kairi bid a goodbye, got one in return from Natsuhiko and then finally – finally – made her way to the gate.

Kairi pulled her hitai-ate, now bandana-style, tighter around her head and took out her notebook of her previous runtimes. She marked the day's date: June 4th, and tucked it away. Then she took a stopwatch that she jammed to a nook in the outer wall. It showed zeros.

Click.

She was off. She was running again. She was experiencing freedom once more.

Slowly getting back into the routine, that's what she was aiming for. Train, eat, go home, exchange gossip with mother, allow her to fuss over Kairi's short hair, help with maintenance of mother's prosthetics, sleep, wake up, bid mother goodbye as she leaves for administration, go to train…

Sense of normalcy, ah how you had been missed.

A/N/: Training in the next chapter! Oh, and I added finally a cover picture of Kairi in her current gear that she used in the previous chapters at Konoha.

Replies to GUEST reviews:

-Guest (1)
That's okay too. I try not be as slow as DoS is but I try not to rush either.

-Guest (2)
Yeah. Kairi will find out (through Reika) that Shikako is an reincarnate as well... But then... how to approach her about the matter? Without making Shikako panic and derailing entire DoS canon that is...? Shikako is very paranoid and if Kairi carefully watches her, she will notice it... and not say anything for the girl to retain her peace of mind. It already bad enough that Shikako will panic about "Naruto's cousins that were definitely not canon and omg Deidara is one of them!" So yeah... Gonna delay that revelation as long as possible.