"I call this meeting to order," Neji said importantly. "What shall be the topic we start with?"

The six were seated in a rough circle in the sand, in the shadow of one of the larger sand dunes. Seishirou was seated between Tomozou and Hitomi, mostly so that the pink-haired boy could keep them away from their father. Likewise, they were between him and the Akatsuki-nin.

The three children immediately raised their hands. Neji looked between the three of them, and decided to pick Tomozou first. He was probably the safest choice. The other two looked at him mutinously. "Yeah, I want to know what you did to Suna." Tomozou had to admit he was proud of himself for coming up with the safest question, while getting some valuable information out of it.

"Contrary to popular belief, we didn't raid, destroy, or level it. We snuck in, located the Kazekage, and had him divulge all of the information we needed. It took less than an hour and little blood was shed," Neji replied calmly, glancing at Kakuzu for the last phrase.

Tomozou nodded, a bit dejectedly. Then, however, he realized the implication of his words. "Wait--the information. That was about the Bijuu's movements, right? Well--?"

"They're not in Suna or the Land of Wind," Sasori said curtly.

Three faces fell in unison; they would not get their missing parents back just yet.

"Anything else related to the topic at hand?" Neji asked, grimacing at the forlorn expressions.

"…Where do we go from here?" Hitomi's voice wasn't much above a whisper. It was downright pathetic, in fact. She looked up shyly at her father, lower lip trembling.

"To another country," Neji answered softly.

"Which one?" Seishirou asked lowly, using his hair as a shield for his eyes. Both he and his sister were definitely working the 'pathetic' angle quite thoroughly.

"Let's move on to another topic first," Sasori interrupted. He and Kakuzu shared a covert glance. Before he could continue, however, most likely picking his own topic to raise, Hitomi spoke up.

"I would like to know how we plan on rescuing mother and the others." Now she didn't sound quite so pitiful; the little girl was trying her hardest to be businesslike once more.

"Storm the base. What else?"

"How can the six of us go up against that many Bijuu?" Seishirou asked, voice still low.

"Three. You three are going nowhere near the demons," Neji corrected clearly. All three kids looked up at him in outrage, but none of them could even attempt to glare him down. "The three of us," he motioned to himself and the two Akatsuki-nin beside him, "We will sneak into their base. We don't plan on directly fighting any of them if we can help it. Though… With the three of us, we could easily take down a demon or two."

"Don't forget the fact that we're going to be rescuing two more Akatsuki members. That will tip the odds significantly in our favor."

"Seven Bijuu, six shinobi. Not horrible odds… We may be lucky and have a demon or two gone, too, probably tracking down another body," Kakuzu pointed out.

"What are we going to do while you three are taking down Bijuu, then?" Seishirou inquired, trying to keep his tone polite. He couldn't help the annoyance that seeped through, though.

Neji sighed. "You three are going to be staying in a village, hopefully one that is far away from where the Bijuu are stationed."

"There aren't many friendly villages around. Sasori said that the town we stopped in was one of the last ones that would host foreign shinobi willingly."

"That's true. But there are still a few around…" Sasori let his voice trail off. He looked pointedly at Tomozou. It took the boy a few moments, but finally, it clicked. He broke out into a wide grin.

They had already checked Iwa and Suna, and the next nearest significant country--at least, the one with the highest odds of having a 'friendly' village--had to be what he thought it was. "We're going to Ame, aren't we?" He leaned forward excitedly, still grinning. He would be going back to his own country, even if he'd only been to the village itself once or twice. He would be home, and on the way to getting his parents back.

"Ame?!" Hitomi looked startled. "It--It was destroyed."

"So was Suna," Tomozou replied happily. "Plus, the Bijuu are most likely to be in that area, now--and Dai-sama will let us stay there, especially with you two being Akatsuki--"

"Dai?! As in Daisuke?" Tomozou was taken aback when he suddenly had the attention of both Akatsuki members again. He could have sworn Neji just hid a smile, too.

"I-I think so… He's the leader of Amegakure. Didn't you know that?"

"Someone neglected to tell us that little bit of helpful information…" Sasori turned to Neji, narrowing his eyes.

"I heard it from Kakuzu. Don't look at me."

"I just heard of a rebuilt Amegakure. I didn't know the leader's name." Kakuzu wasn't exactly pleased with this revelation either, though.

Neji, sensing the building animosity, decided to change the subject. Quickly. "Next topic, now that you three know our destination…"

Tomozou was still too happy about Ame to say anything, and it appeared that Hitomi was too busy watching him to bring up anything, either. Seishirou sighed, feeling that it was up to him to get things back on track. "Sasori attacked us." That sure brought the other two back to reality.

"He didn't mean to actually kill you. I believe he was only working off excess anger." The way Neji said it made Seishirou sure that it was a lie. He narrowed his eyes, but didn't say anything else.

"In that case, I forgive you completely," Hitomi said with a shy smile. Both boys rolled their eyes at her.

"I don't recall wanting your forgiveness," Sasori snapped. Neji elbowed him in the side, but as the puppeteer didn't feel it, he chose to ignore it.

"I also forgive you three for leaving us earlier." Hitomi continued as if she hadn't heard him. Neji gave her a strained smile, but the other two men just snorted and continued plotting Daisuke's demise.

"Hitomi… Why did you get so worked up over our absence?"

Seishirou looked mildly alarmed at the question, and briefly debated answering it for her. In the end, he decided to shut up and let her explain herself.

She looked down at her lap where her hands were folded. "…I do not like to be left alone."

Tomozou paused briefly in his grinning, looking at her curiously. "…'Do not like'? That's a bit of an understatement there, don't you think?" Hitomi looked at him blankly. "The first time I found you, after the redheaded bastard left you, you were sobbing and you even threw up. When he came back, you wouldn't let go of him. Now, just when these three left for a few hours this morning, you had a tantrum and were in tears again."

"I-I vomited because of the Byakugan! I fell down the hill an-and--" Mortified, she could not go on, and instead buried her face in her hands. Tomozou suddenly felt like he'd betrayed her in some way, though he couldn't quite put his finger on how.

Seishirou, being Seishirou, decided to jump in to his sister's rescue. He glowered at Tomozou with his grey, ringed eyes. "You have a knack for being smart enough to pick up on things you shouldn't comment on, you know that?"

"You have a knack for being stupid enough to not even notice those things," he shot back. He probably shouldn't be arguing, but it was second nature to him by then. He'd been fighting with Seishirou since they met, after all, even if it hadn't been that long ago.

"Well, you have a knack for being--oomph." Both boys were suddenly forced face first into the sand. Kakuzu let go of them, retracting his hands and wiping them like he'd touched something dirty. Hitomi stared at him through her fingers. None of them had seen his threads before.

"Next topic," Kakuzu said curtly as the pair resurfaced. "We're assassinating Daisuke as soon as we get to Ame."

"No, you're not," Neji replied.

"Yes, we are. Pein said that if Midori ever went down, then Daisuke was going down--" Kakuzu realized his slip a moment too late. He turned to Tomozou with a grimace. Tomozou's eyes were glittering like jewels, and he looked as if he'd just received the present of his life. What better present could a curious child receive than the Akatsuki leader's name, anyway? "…Daisuke is going to die, regardless."

"Isn't it a bit late for any sort of punishment for the war? Plus, I know for a fact that it was Sasuke who killed her," Neji said evenly. He was carefully avoiding looking at either boy. Tomozou was still ogling, but Seishirou didn't seem at all interested in the conversation. Maybe it was just that he was comforting Hitomi, though.

"Orders are orders."

"Even to a dead organization?" That was toeing the line; even Tomozou understood that. He might not have completely understood the Akatsuki and their group, but he knew that they still had loyalty, when they chose to acknowledge it. Neji stared them down, however, and it might have been his words, or his eyes, but the two Akatsuki-nin dropped the subject.

In addition to finding out Seishirou's father's name, Tomozou gained a new respect for Neji that day.

-.-.-

The sun passed by overhead, but thankfully they were in the dune's shadow for most of the day. The talks subsided about sunset, just late enough for them to stay put and not travel any in Ame's direction, much to Tomozou's dismay. "Why are you so desperate to get back to the Land of Rain? There was nothing much there," Hitomi remarked as she poked the fire with a stick.

"Amegakure itself is where we're going, isn't it?" he replied. "There's a big difference between the village and the countryside. …More rain, too."

"I thought you said you didn't grow up in a village," Seishirou said suspiciously.

"I didn't. I didn't lie, either," Tomozou said primly, snorting in his direction. "I visited there a few times with my parents and Sasuke-san, though, when I was younger. It doesn't have any sort of schooling, either, since there aren't a lot of kids there."

"How does that make it a ninja village, then?"

"Villages don't need schools to make them ninja villages."

"Tomozou has a point," Hitomi said, breaking up the argument before it started. "…You said it rains a lot there."

"More like constantly." Tomozou beamed at them both. The girl beside him scooted away from his happiness shyly, blushing. Seishirou was the only one unaffected. "But it's not a bad rain, most of the time. Dai-sama says that you learn dozens of different types of rain by living there."

"This leader… Dai or Daisuke or whoever the hell it is. He seems to have Sasori and Kakuzu-san riled up, doesn't he?"

Tomozou's smile dimmed a few shades. "…Yeah. I guess it was because he killed someone in the war, and…" He trailed off, giving Seishirou the distinct impression that he was hiding something from him. "Anyway! Regardless of his crimes, he's a fun guy, and I think he's a great leader."

"Good thing no one cares what you think."

He ignored the bait and instead leaned in towards them. "Say…" He cupped one hand around his mouth and kept his voice low; the secrecy of the action immediately caught their attention and held it. "…What are we going to do about Sasori?"

"We should be kind to him again," Hitomi said at once, predictably.

"No, I mean… Sensei or not?"

Seishirou had to admit he didn't know. On one hand, he knew Sasori was a strong shinobi--they could all attest to that from personal experience--but on the other, Hitomi seemed to be the only one who could stand him for long periods of time. "…I don't think we should. I mean, he's only a puppeteer, so he wouldn't know that many jutsus, right? Why don't we try for Kakuzu-san instead? He--"

"No!" Tomozou hissed. "Kakuzu-san may have more firsthand knowledge of jutsus, but he has no patience for us. Plus, he doesn't have an egotistical side like Sasori." Again, Seishirou thought that there was more to it than just that. Unless he had more information, however, there wasn't much he could use to argue.

"…He still won't have much he can teach us. I know I don't want to be a stupid puppeteer," he said by way of concession.

Tomozou visibly relaxed, and this time, for sure, Seishirou knew that there was more to it. He just didn't know what, or how to get it. The pink-haired boy smiled slyly, and, with glittering eyes, he told them, "He might not know a lot, but his puppets sure do."

"How can puppets--"

"He must have a good understanding of how the jutsu works if he can control it in something like a puppet," he started excitedly. "And--think! All you need to learn something is an example and an explanation, right? Puppet gives the example, and Sasori-sensei gives the explanation. There we go! Instant ninjutsu lesson."

"…That still only covers ninjutsu. What about taijutsu and genjutsu?"

"Greedy, aren't we?" Tomozou asked, but he looked a bit crestfallen all the same. Even he knew that puppets wouldn't know much of either kind of jutsu.

"Father is a taijutsu expert." Hitomi spoke up for the first time in awhile. "He only knows two different styles and then basic taijutsu, but… He still knows them."

"Oh yeah, he does, doesn't he?" Seishirou nodded to himself, half pleased at Hitomi with remembering that, and half disappointed because it strengthened Tomozou's argument. "But… The Juuken style is only effective if you have the Byakugan."

"It still has a good series of blocks and teaches how to restrain your movements to stop from being wasteful," she replied matter-of-factly. Seishirou had never known his sister liked the taijutsu style that much; he'd always thought that she only learned it to get an early edge on her friends.

"What's the other style?" Tomozou asked curiously, tilting his head a bit to one side.

"I don't know the exact name, but it's practically the exact opposite of the Juuken. He used it a few times on me while sparring…" Seishirou winced at the mere memory. "It uses a lot of legwork and focuses on hard punches and kicks, rather than the softer blows of the Juuken. Didn't he learn it from a teammate when he was in a genin team?" Hitomi nodded.

"Then we have ninjutsu and taijutsu covered!" Tomozou exclaimed.

"Wait--I haven't agreed to this yet!" In his explanation, Seishirou had gotten ahead of himself, so he rapidly backpedaled now. "We haven't agreed to this," he amended, gesturing to both himself and his sister.

"I think it is a good idea," she replied placidly. "What will we do about genjutsu? It is important to have a balanced curriculum."

"'Curriculum'? Is this some sort of school?"

"With all of the villages' academies gone, I suppose it could be considered one. Is it not our duty to learn, as young shinobi?" The boys gave her matching blank looks. "…Plus, if we are more knowledgeable, it means we are stronger in combat. And if we are stronger in combat, it means we can kick serious ass."

While Seishirou stared at her in shock--not only for the curse, but for the phrase so casually said--Tomozou burst out laughing. "That was amazing, Hitomi-san."

"But it is true!" she exclaimed, a little miffed that she was being laughed at. "If we are dealing with such strong foes, we will need to be stronger than average genin--"

"You're not a genin yet," Seishirou corrected.

"Yet," the black-haired girl repeated thoughtfully. "…Regardless! We must get stronger to combat the Bijuu. Even after we rescue mother and the others, the demons will not simply disappear. At best, I would say that two at most would be destroyed in the rescue attempt." Hitomi took on a determined expression, making her little hands into little fists.

"She has a point," Tomozou agreed blandly. "We definitely can't count on the adults for this, either. They're the targets, anyway."

"So you're saying we have to protect them?" Seishirou said flatly with a matching flat look. "They are still stronger than us at this time, you know."

"That's why we're going to go start begging for lessons, right?" Tomozou stood up, planting his fists on his hips triumphantly. He grinned down at them. "First up is ninjutsu, and we need to go get Sasori-sensei to teach us."

"Father will teach us taijutsu as well." Hitomi got to her feet as well, and Seishirou didn't miss the shy, adoring look she shot Tomozou. He obviously wouldn't be winning this battle, so he stood up, too, and gave in.

"…Mother used to be a genjutsu expert when she was in active service."

"Oh, yes, I remember that now," Hitomi acknowledged. "…So that part will have to wait until after we have rescued her."

"I think ninjutsu and taijutsu will tie us up for awhile. We probably wouldn't have time to learn all three simultaneously, anyway." Tomozou nodded to himself. Then, with a wink, he said, "Well, ready to go con some adults into teaching us?"

-.-.-

The Kazekage looked down at his desk. Or rather, his face and eyes just happened to be directed downward; he was still in too much of a daze to do something such as looking. Ai was dead, and the Akatsuki were back, hunting the Bijuu again. He was old enough to remember the days before the war quite vividly, and he knew that no good would come of any affairs with the demons, even if it was presumably to corral them once more.

All he knew was that it brought trouble to his village.

Ai, Hanamura, and two chuunin guards were dead because of the Akatsuki and their 'questioning'. He was still walking with a severe limp. They got their information, so presumably they'd be on their way out of the country, but the Kazekage was not a naïve man. Nor was he particularly forgiving. He knew that the Akatsuki would only bring more strife in the long run if they did anything more with the Bijuu.

Revenge, too, was a factor in it; that much was clear in his mind. They had mercilessly slaughtered Ai. His eldest daughter… She had barely been eighteen. The beginning of her adulthood, and she was cut down.

"…They cannot get away with this. They cannot incite another Bijuu war. They cannot get away with this," he mumbled, pulling at his graying hair. Suddenly, though, the man's head snapped up. "Yoji!" he barked.

Immediately, the door opened and a younger man came in. He saluted and stood awkwardly at attention. "Yes, Kazekage-sama?"

"Go gather squads 2 and 6--meet me at the village gate in an hour. We're hunting down those Akatsuki. It's about time someone made them pay for what they've done to this world."

-.-.-

Next Chapter: The children start nagging, pleading, begging, whining, and threatening for ninjutsu training. After many failures, Hitomi shocks everyone by being the first to succeed. The Suna-nin attack, too, and Sasori benefits unexpectedly from it. After all is said and done, though, there's only one thing left to do: go on to Ame.