Night descended quickly. Death had a certain odor and ominous that, at least to Akaya, was creepy and disturbing. She had never gotten used to it and imagined that she would. War was inevitable at this point, and yet, no one spoke openly about it. With the extravagant feast that was on the elongated table in a massive dining room, no one managed to say a word, moan, or even a sigh. Silence, along with the smell of death still imprinted freshly on Akaya's mind, drove the Shinobi insane.

As Shin Ryu observed everyone eating quietly, he cleared his throat to grab their attention. "Guess we don't need to discuss the incident. We were all there. We all know what happened. Though, we should get a plan set in motion."

Tajek nodded in agreement. "If we plan to take it back, we have to take major consideration on how to approach the village to begin with. Since it was an inside job, they know Konoha like we do. We can't sneak up on them. It has to be a structured confrontation."

Shin agreed, "The element of surprise won't be on our side. We have to plan a direct attack."

As Akaya ate her food, she reviewed everything she knew about her village. Konoha's layout was fairly simple, but there had to be something they were missing. Two entrances were marked on the east and west sides of the village, but the Hokage must have had a personal way out of there in case of an emergency. Nobody in this room would know where it was or where it led to. Still, there was one more point of access far enough away to potentially avoid detection. "Not necessarily., but nevertheless, it is still risky as a stealth entry."

Akaya examined her comrades' reactions as she took note of the board of strategies pushed into the corner of the room. She walked over to it and outlined the streets of Konoha from her memory. She envisioned the flower shop and the marketplace as she remembered them instead of how she knew they looked now. As she rebuilt her home on the board, she wished it was that simple to rebuild Konoha in reality. She put down the black marker, looking for one of a different color.

Aicirret interrupted the silence as she questioned Akaya's drawing. "There are only two entrances. You can draw Konoha a thousand times over, and that won't change."

Sesoni studied over the board intensely. He knew there was something missing from the layout, but he wasn't sure what it was. "What exactly are we not seeing, Akaya?"

Akaya continued drawing as she found a red marker. She started a network of lines that spread onto each street and filtered up to the Hokage's office and home complexes. She stopped it several inches outside of the west entrance.

Tajek remembered those lines and directions from a file his father trusted him with as a young genin. The file began everything for him, and by extension, Akaya. His father was not to tell anyone of the secret way out of Konoha for the Hokages, but as Akaya put the cap back on the marker, Tajek realized his father entrusted it with him all along. "The sewers...the Hokage's escape route is in the sewers. It's where you busted the walls with your blaster."

Shin Ryu examined the board carefully. Akaya's drawing depicted every curve and turn, except near the Hokage's office, displaying how easily a secret passageway could have been built there. "That's a good starting point, but has anyone been in the sewers? Is the layout strictly to the blueprints?"

Akaya sat down triumphantly in her seat. "I busted the walls in there like Tajek had pointed out. We had our first mission together there, and I can say this map is the sewer layout exactly."

Sesoni slowly clapped a couple of times. He was impressed by how fate had a way of tying things together in the end. Something so imperative to the future of Konoha was easily met with Danter's careful planning. Even Danter did not trust fate to line up for the village, and even in death, he was present in its success. "Then our plan is simple. We create two groups: one as a decoy with a full-on assault on the surface and the other to act as a stealthy infiltration unit below in the sewers. My nin can be ready for the task in six month's time."

Akaya's hopefulness vanished. She needed help; it was something she couldn't deny. However, time was of the essence, more so for her than for the mission. Akaya wanted some portion of her normalcy back in her life. "Six months? Is that the quickest we can assemble a team?"

Shin Ryu quickly answered, "My Shinobi need that amount of time to prepare as well." He smirked, "and to be honest, both you and Tajek could use some advanced training as well."

He took a deep breath. Humans were always so ambitious and impatient. "We also need to narrow down the leaders of this rouge squad. With time, we have a strong chance of avenging Konoha and collectively rebuilding it. Although you are anxious to fight for your nation, be smart. Don't you agree, Akaya?"

She nodded half-hardheartedly as she finished what little was left on her plate. Tajek knew she was pissed by her body language. She kept quiet, and her posture had lowered to a hover over her food. As she quickly dismissed herself for the night, Tajek momentarily felt the need to follow her, but Sesoni motioned to stay put. "Leave her be for now."

Shin rubbed his temple with his fingertips lightly to relieve the building pressure in his head, "She'll try to do things her way, regardless of what we do at this point. Be alive tonight because she will try to leave. That I can assure you of."

Tajek spoke up, "Then let me handle it. I know how to get through to her."

Sesoni chuckled, "Just like old times, isn't it Shin? Akaya is just as fearless and stubborn as her mother was."

Shin Ryu stood up and smirked as he, too, retired to his quarters. "Not even close, Sesoni," He raised his arm and motioned his hand back once. "Himeka was much more direct, and she didn't think things out as much as she should have."

Tajek added in as Shin was almost out of the room, "So, then she's just like, huh?"