Deputy Inspector Kinoko Uchiha is escorting Rasa, Baki, Temari, Kankuro and Gaara back to the Hidden Sand. Lord Third Hokage is letting them go on the condition that they do not try attacking the Leaf ever again. Next time, the Leaf will not be so merciful.

Rasa does not think they were merciful at all. Half his face is swollen and bruised, his nose is shattered and one of his arms is broken. He has never taken so much damage from one man before, and that's without the bruises all over the rest of his body. Rasa is one big bruise, and now the Leaf is making him walk back to the Hidden Sand, and with only one escort. The nerve of them!

They are nearing the edge of the Land of Fire. Soon they will reach the desert. However, the trees are not showing any sign of thinning out yet.

"Hey-yooo!" a voice calls from up in the trees.

Rasa looks up to see a man in a blue coat and an orange mask sitting in a tree. "What do you want?" Rasa demands.

"I made a new jutsu!" says the man, in a high-pitched, childlike voice. "May I show it to you? May I? Senpai doesn't think it's any good, and I am sad. Will you let me show you my new jutsu? Please?"

"Sure," says Deputy Kinoko. "Fire away - just make sure you don't hit us with it, okay."

"Oh, it will not hit you!" says the masked idiot. "It's not that kind of jutsu!" He stands up on the branch, only to lose his balance. "Waah!" the idiot screams, before latching on to the branch with chakra and making the tiger seal.

Rasa tenses. The idiot is aiming right at them!

Standing upside down on the branch, the idiot says, "Frilled Necked Lizard!" as his coat falls down around him, resembling the frills on a frilled necked lizard.

Everyone waits.

"Oh…" The masked idiot scratches the back of his head, embarrassed. "That's all there is to it."

Deputy Kinoko nods, apparently impressed. "Cool. It looks like a party trick to keep kids entertained. Is that what it's for, by any chance?"

"NOOO! YOU SAW THROUGH MY JUTSU! THE UCHIHA CLAN IS TRULY GREAT AND POWERFUL!" screams the masked idiot, running away at top speed and waving his arms about in the air as he goes.

"Um...What?" says Baki.

Rasa facepalms.

Temari grins.

Kankuro rolls his eyes.

Gaara bursts out laughing, holding his sides and rolling around on the ground.

"HEY!" Yells Kinoko in the direction of the retreating masked idiot. "YOUR JUTSU WORKS GREAT!"

"I AM SO GLAD!" floats back the reply.

The small group walks through the desert, heading to the Hidden Sand. Kankuro chats happily with Deputy Kinoko. "I thought it was poisonous," Deputy Kinoko is saying.

"Nah," shrugs Kankuro. "It depends on the cactus. Some have poisonous juice, some will make you hallucinate and some will quench your thirst." He trots over to a nearby cactus cuts some off and brings back a bowl-shaped piece of cactus with a sludge of white juice in the bottom. "This one's not poisonous. Try it."

Rasa catches up with the conversation when Deputy Kinoko goes to take the proffered cactus juice. "Don't drink that!" he says. "It could make you sick!"

"It's not poisonous, though," says Baki, unhelpfully. "It shouldn't make her sick."

Deputy Kinoko raises an eyebrow at Rasa.

"Go on, drink the cactus juice!" says Kankuro. "It'll quench your thirst."

"Don't drink the cactus juice!" says Rasa.

"I want to drink the cactus juice," says Deputy Kinoko.

"Don't drink the cactus juice!"

"Imma drink the cactus juice." Deputy Kinoko takes the cactus-bowl off Kankuro and drinks the cactus juice.

"So, did it quench your thirst?" asks Temari, eagerly.

Deputy Kinoko stares at the empty cactus shell and says, "It was very quenchy. I am quenched."

Kankuro starts giggling, Baki smiles and Temari hides her grin behind her hand. Gaara, of course, does not move.

Rasa sighs. "For one of the great and mighty stoic Uchiha clan, you are rather petty and impulsive."

"I am none of those things!" yells Deputy Kinoko, pointing at Rasa angrily. "I am your friendly neighbourhood Deputy Inspector Mushroom!"

"I get it, your name is 'mushroom', now please, Deputy Kinoko-"

"That's Friendly Neighbourhood Deputy Inspector Kinoko Uchiha to you, Kazekage-scum!"

Rasa glares at her and says, "I would hit you for that, but one should not hit a lady."

"I am not a lady, I am a mushroom!"

"I get it! Your name is mushroom, now stop acting like an idiot!"

"Hahahahaha!" Deputy Kinoko points at Rasa and laughs. "Your head just turned into a cabbage!"

"Great, now she's hallucinating," sighs Rasa, facepalming. "I tried to warn her… I will not be held responsible for this."

Deputy Kinoko starts humming a merry tune and dancing around. Then she grabs Gaara's hands and whirls him around with her, singing a popular song. Gaara seems to be enjoying himself for some strange reason.

Baki is grinning, and Kankuro and Temari are giggling.

"Are you quite finished?!" Rasa demands. "We need to get to the Hidden Sand!"

Deputy Kinoko stops dancing and clasps her hands together. "YAY!" she says ecstatically. "Let's skip through this field of flowers all the way to the Hidden Sand!" Deputy Kinoko grabs the nearest people to her - who just happen to be Gaara and Rasa himself - by the hand and starts skipping through the sand dunes, dragging them along with her. After a few steps, Gaara starts skipping too. Rasa manages to wrench his hand away and follow in a more normal fashion.

"This is one of your better ideas, Kankuro," Temari whispers to her brother.

The door to Jugo's cell opens, and Kimimaro looks in, smiling. "Jugo," he says. "I'd like you to come with me for a while."

"Where to?" asks Jugo, curious.

"Just outside," says Kimimaro. "You know I am dying. I would like to see the sun again before I die."

"Oh," says Jugo. "And you want me to go with you?"

"Yes," says Kimimaro.

"How long are you going outside for?" asks Jugo.

"Until I have seen the sun set and rise, and the moon and the stars, and felt the rain and wind and the warmth of the sun again," says Jugo. "Then I will come back inside and die in peace."

Jugo stands up. "Once you die, I will never set foot outside this cell again," he says. "I do not want to hurt anyone."

Kimimaro smiles. "It will be the last time both of us see the sky."

Deputy Kinoko whistles cheerfully as she walks. She is not even ashamed of her behavior while she was high on cactus juice. Kankuro and Temari assured her their father's reactions were hilarious. The sun is shining, the day is warm, Kinoko annoyed the Kazekage, and she is back in the Land of Fire, among the trees and singing birds. Yes, it is a good day.

Then Kinoko sees something in the forest, out of the corner of her eye. She walks backwards until it is back in her line of vision. There are two boys walking through the forest with a small flock of birds flying along behind them.

Unattended minors. She had better check to see if they are alright by themselves. "Hello!" Kinoko calls, waving.

The two boys, one white haired and one orange haired, stop walking and turn to look at her. "Hello," says the one with the white hair. He turns to keep walking but Kinoko trots over to the boys.

"What are you two kids doing out in the forest all by yourselves?" she asks.

"Walking," says the white haired boy. "What's it to you?"

"Oh, I'm just a passing policewoman, checking on two unattended minors," says Kinoko, shrugging. "So where are your parents?"

"Neither of us ever had parents," says the white haired boy. Then he staggers, nearly falling to the ground. He does not look well at all.

"Are you alright?" asks Kinoko, catching the boy before he hits the ground.

"I am dying," says the boy so matter-of-factly that is squeezes Kinoko's heart-strings.

"You poor thing," she says, sympathetically and carries him over to the nearest tree. She lays him down with his back against the tree. "You should rest. I think I'll stay here a bit."

"I'll kill you," says the Orange haired boy, with more bloodlust than Kinoko has heard from most adults.

"No you won't," says Kinoko firmly. "You are going to sit down beside your friend and we are going to talk like civilized people."

The boy shuffles over to his friend, sits down and stares at Kinoko. "You aren't afraid of me?"

"Why would I be?" asks Kinoko. "I'm a fully trained jounin and you're a kid."

"I still might kill you," says the kid. "Maybe...I don't really want to though."

"Then don't," says Kinoko. "I know! How about we all tell each other our life stories? It's good practice for the real world. Many times in a fight your opponent will stop the battle to talk your ear off. How about it?"

"Only if you go first," says the white haired boy.

"I will," says Kinoko. "My name is Kinoko Uchiha. What are your names?"

"I am Kimimaro of the Kaguya clan," says the white haired boy. "This is Bi-polar Jugo."

"Good, now that we are introduced, we can begin!"