Sato was never really sure how she felt about the village hidden in the leaves. She knew its people were the ones that had organized the attack on Yorugakure, but growing up her anger at the death of her family had never really been diverted towards the village itself and it's people. Indeed, the only thing the young Tasogare was worried about was the uproar her clan markings would cause with the older citizens of the village.

Konoha reared its head proud and strong as the trio crested a hill coming west. They had decided to take the main road to the village from Yoru; it would be a sign of good faith to make their approach to the village much less suspicious than, say, appearing in a small explosion of dark energy among the populous.

The Village Hidden in the Leaves lay at the feet of a diminutive mountain and even from this far away Sato could make out the carved heads of the past leaders of the Land of Fire. The village winked at her with all its suburban glory…

"Konohagakure is in the height of power." Shinri said unexpectedly from the rear, "Military and economic strength. It will be interesting to see how she'll stand after all this is over."

"Amen." Makuro said grimly, "I would just hate to see such a proud city fall."

Sato ignored the conversation behind her. She had only been to Konoha once before, and that had been at the dead of night. Yoake didn't know about it of course, she would have a fit if she knew. All the same, Sato couldn't pretend that she wasn't excited to finally be able to explore the great village without the dead of night as a cover.

It was useless for them to try and hide the Yorugakurene marks on their headbands, almost as much as it was useless for Sato to try and cover the curse marks running up and down her left arm. The trio approached the city gates, heads high and proud, watching the guards for any sign of trouble.

"Let's not try to pull anything over on these guys, ok?" Makuro muttered from the middle of their strange procession, "After they see we're from Yoru they'd love an excuse to bar us from the village."

"Legally they can't, you know." Shinri spoke up from the back of the pack again, "Konoha is extending hospitality to all six of the great ninja villages for the chunin exams, and last time I checked, that includes ours. If they're letting those Suna rats run around in their walls, they certainly will let us in."

"So we say we're here for the exam a day early." Sato mused, "Yeah…I could spend a day here frolicking and cavorting…"

"Or training." Makuro said sternly, "You forget, Sato this isn't going to be easy."

"I won't screw off the entire time, Kuro!" Sato laughed, flipping her hair, "I actually want to get onto some of Konoha's training grounds-they're loads better than the ones we've got back in Yoru!"

The three night ninja were now close enough to the gate that the guards could hail them.

"Where do you come from, and where are you going?"

"We are the night cell from the Village Hidden in the Night!" Makuro answered for both his fellow cellmates, "We are here for the second part of the chunin exams!"

"You're a day early." The shorter of the gate guards said flatly. The three teens ground to a halt in front of the two men and waited patiently, "We were told you would arrive tomorrow at noon."

"Change of plans." Sato said, cocking her head.

The man who had spoken first actually jumped when he saw Sato's curse scars.

I should have worn a jacket.

"You're the Tasogare!" He exclaimed, and it was not a question/

"Yes, she is." Shinri stepped forward, voice as level as ever, "And we suggest you let us in, unless you want to turn us away now."

"You're early." The shorter man repeated stubbornly, "Your escorts aren't here."

"We don't need escorts, we have the direct consent and permission of our Yorukage to be here!" Makuro said a little sharply (even though what he said was a lie), "She is meeting with the Hokage right this instant, and we both know it. She decided to stay the night here rather than journey back to our village and sent word for us to join her. Now I know that you know that all of this is true, so get out of our way and let us in!"

Sato turned, and penetrated Makuro with a hard glare, "You know, Yoake never told me exactly that she was coming to the Hidden Leaf Village. How do you know she's even here?"

"Where else would she be, Sato?" Kuro muttered, eyes on the shorter man, "Not like there's anything going on in Yoru, all the action is in Konoha. Besides, she told me this was where she was headed."

Shinri was sorely tempted to push past these two men and enter the village anyways, but he kept that urge in check. When dealing with a powerful village like Konoha, one had to keep up the illusion that one cared about their rules.

"Either you let us in or you don't." Shinri said, eyes closed.

The two guards traded glances.

"Fine." The first one said, "You can go in, but report to your Yorukage immediately and wait there for your escorts."

"Escorts..." Shinri and Sato muttered mutinously.

"Thank you!" Kuro said brightly, grabbing both his fellow cell mates by the arms and hauling them along, "We'll get right on that."