I didn't realize how it may look until the two ninja guarding the village gates pointed it out. I understood how many people may go into a frenzy if they saw someone who wasn't from their village carrying a dead body through their gates even though it didn't seem all that concerning to me. The two ninjas had me put Kimimaru's body in a black body bag before I could continue to the hospital in the village, that was where I assumed my students would be. Actually, anyone from this retrieval mission should be there for one reason or another.

As we walked through the village towards the hospital we were given curious looks. It was obvious that even though I now had Kimimaru's body covered, they could all tell what it really was. When we entered the hospital it didn't take very long for us to get recognized, or at least Lee was. "Lee is that you? You shouldn't have left, it's very important that you allow your body to heal properly otherwise you might never recover from your surgery." it was a nurse that I didn't recognize, she might have been someone that was looking after Lee before or she could have just been someone that knew about his health as I'm sure everyone in the hospital knew about him. She approached and took him from Gaara with a bit more difficulty than Gaara did while he was helping Lee walk. "You are going straight back to your room and if I find out that you left again I'll inform Lady Tsunade, she'll find you and bring you back. Hopefully she'll give you a piece of her mind too."

"I needed to help my friends, I don't regret helping them." Lee said.

Gaara and I were left in the reception area of the hospital. We approached the reception desk where I put Kimimaru's hidden body down on the floor so that I didn't scare the receptionist before I started to talk, "There should be three Mist genin here, they brought in some ninja who were on the Sasuke recovery mission."

"Yes, just give me a second." the receptionist pushed her large framed glasses up her nose and started typing on her computer. "The boy named Futto received a few cuts from a blade and some bruising. He's been tended to, but only after he insisted Zagura be treated first. It looks like he has had some difficulty controlling his chakra in large amounts and his right arm has been severely burned from that lack of control. The girl has been hovering around the two of them since they arrived."

"Can you tell me where they are?" I asked.

"Second floor room two-twenty-three." she replied.

"Thank you for your help." I picked Kimimaru's body back up and tossed him over my shoulder again before I started walking.

"I'll go with you." Gaara said. "I'm sure Temari and Kankuro are near."

I walked up to the second floor thinking about Zagura, I'm not surprised that he was the one who got hurt the most. I didn't think he would try using his chakra to assist him in the strength of his blows, not yet anyway. We haven't worked on that, at least not to the extent that he seemed to use it. I've shown them some of the taijutsu I learned from the seven ninja swordsmen. I shouldn't have shown them the Rokettokobushi, I should have known that one of them would have attempted it before they were ready. The Rokettokobushi is focusing chakra into the user's arm as they rush forward and slightly pass the enemy, as they do this they will slam their fist into the enemies stomach and force the chakra out while flinging their arm forward to send the enemy flying back. It's no wonder Zagura managed to burn himself, it's a larger area of skin to cover your whole arm with chakra than a fist and it would be harder to control because of that.

On the second floor, I used my sensing abilities to find anyone else that might be on this floor. I already knew where Hikari, Futto, and Zagura were, but I didn't know where everyone else was. I thought it was odd that I could sense Temari's chakra next to that of my students and while it was really faint, I could feel Kankuro's chakra too. He has gotten stronger, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to feel his chakra at all. It was so faint that it was barely noticeable, I'm sure anyone else would have overlooked it. They all must be relatively fine if they're left alone and I can't feel any changes in their chakra signatures other than Zagura's but I've been feeling his chakra slowly change for a while now.

The door to their room was open, I raised a fist to knock on the door frame but didn't wait for anyone to turn to me before I entered. The first thing I did was set Kimimaru's body down on the floor by the light switch. It was getting a bit annoying having to carry him around with me and getting the looks that I was from everyone who saw me.

"Lady Ketto, who is that?" Hikari's delicate voice asked.

"One of the ninja that was assisting Orochimaru, he's originally from our village so we will be taking his body back with us." I said. I stood after leaning down to set Kimimaru down, there wasn't a need for me to be careful with him, he was already dead, but I still felt a bit guilty thinking that how his life turned out was mostly my fault even though I know there wasn't much I could do about it. I saved his life, he should have been able to make something of it, Orochimaru must have gotten him the same day I saved him somehow or at least soon after, it's the only thing I could think of as to how his loyalty ran so deep for someone like this.

"But if he defected, does he really deserve to go back to Kiri?" Zagura asked.

I gave another look to the lump that is Kimimaru's body before assessing my students for myself. "Normally no, I'll tell you about this another day." Hikari was sitting in a chair at the foot of Zagura's bed. She looked unmarked, her ink black hair was still covered in the white cloth that covered her bun. The two pieces of hair that hung from either side of her face were still tightly bound by the ribbons she had interlaced with them, not a hair was out of place. However, her kimono was unmistakably stained with blood on her right shoulder and side. The receptionist downstairs said that Hikari was fine, so I could only assume it was someone else's blood. "How is Neji Hyuga?"

Hikari looked calm as she said, "When I got to him his chakra was very weak. You told me not to do first aid and you were right, there was nothing I could have done to save his life with the limited amount of medical ninjutsu that I know. I carried him over my shoulder and ran as fast as I could to the village without jostling his body too much. I didn't want him to lose any more blood than he already did. We didn't encounter any more enemy shinobi on our way back to the village. I wouldn't let the shinobi at the gate help me, I didn't want to waste time having to transfer him and I didn't want to risk more blood loss. They seemed shocked that someone of my size was able to carry him as well as I did, but neither said anything about it, I was just able to tell from the way they were looking at me. As soon as I got here some nurses took Neji from me and I haven't heard anything about his condition since then. I don't know how he's doing or if he's okay." she finished looking as if she had failed her mission.

"If he had died then you would know." I said. I walked over and placed my hand on her head causing her to lift her silvery-blue eyes to me. They didn't hold sadness, but they did show disappointment and I'm almost certain it was disappointment in herself. Futto was curiously watching our interaction from his perch leaning forward against the back of Hikari's chair. "The hospital staff would have been acting differently and his family would have been notified. You made it just in time, I'm sure of it."

"Lady Ketto, I heard that the new Hokage is the best medical ninja in the Leaf village. Can I ask her to teach me some of what she knows? I want my medical ninjutsu to get stronger so that I can help on the battlefield unlike today." she asked. She looked at me as if I was going to say no, which I wouldn't blame her for. I may be one of her idols but she knows a darker side of me than Futto and Zagura know about because she was fascinated and awed by my strength. During our training sessions I could tell that while she had a strong adoration of me she was also afraid of me. I moved my hand away from her head and let it fall to my side.

"I can see if we can stay for an extra day, but I can't promise anything. The decision is up to Lady Tsunade." I said.

"Ketto, what are you teaching these kids?" Temari asked. She was standing on the other side of Zagura's bed with her hands on her hips. "This one nearly destroyed his arm, he was able to fell a tree with a punch. It was impressive, but if he hurts himself while doing it then he shouldn't be doing it."

"I know, he wasn't ready." I knew that glaring at Zagura wouldn't have done much good, he would have just gotten angry and become defensive over his actions. Instead, I kept a look of indifference on my face as I looked at him. "Was it the Rokettokobushi? That's a B ranked defensive move, you're only on D ranked techniques and you should be more focused on perfecting the Tsuyoi Senkou."

"I've already perfected the Tsuyoi Senkou, I thought it would be easy enough to utilize that move as a full armed punch. It did what I wanted it to, so there shouldn't be a problem." he said. He looked off to the side of the room so that he wouldn't have to maintain eye contact with me.

I observed his right arm, it was lying on the bed next to him completely covered in bandages. While his shirt was already short sleeved, the shoulder of his right arm was burned away and his shoulder was also bandaged. From what I could see, even his fingers were wrapped. "While a shinobi is strong, they also know what their limits are. I admire that you were pushing beyond what you knew you could do and that you more or less got the results you wanted, but if you are going to do that all the time then you have no business being a shinobi."

Zagura's head snapped back over to me with widened pink-purple eyes. He looked as if he wanted to fire a sassy remark or two at me, but he held his tongue. He's gotten better at not talking back to me, he no longer acts like a misbehaving child, he's been learning to hold his tongue because he realizes that things could get much worse for him. Usually, I just have him do absurd exercises like once I had him walk underwater while being weighed down with rocks and had him do that the whole afternoon that we were supposed to be training together all because he lost his temper. I thought it was suitable to get him to cool down, he looked as if he wanted to complain about it the whole time, but he didn't say anything even when I joined him underwater casually adding rocks to the backpack he wore. In my defense, it was also a good way for him to understand his water release more if he had to focus on filtering air through the water so that he could breathe underwater like I could.

Temari stepped forward, her hands no longer on her hips. "Don't you think that's kind of harsh?"

"She's right." Zagura said. He looked at her and continued, "If I end up hurting myself all the time then what's the point of being a shinobi? I'm sorry, I promise I won't do any advanced techniques before you teach them to me again. I guess I just got impatient and thought I could do it well enough that I didn't even think that I would hurt myself."

"We'll have to work more with your lighting release so that you won't hurt yourself again." I said.

Zagura looked at me curiously, "You're not mad?"

"No, I think you already did a number on yourself so we'll just leave it at that." I turned away from Zagura to see Temari, "How have you been Temari?"

"Me? I'm fine, nothing really changed with me." she said. She crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes at me. "You started training these kids? Are they even genin? Look at how young they are!"

"Temari, I don't think it matters what age they are." Gaara spoke up. Temari's eyes widened as if she was surprised he even spoke up. "I wasn't there, I don't know what these kids are capable of but one thing is undeniable and that is their chakra. It's definitely not at the level of a genin, can't you feel it?"

"He's right, even as the weeks have passed us by, I can tell that our chakra has been developing beyond that of our past classmates." Hikari said. A small smile crossed her face as she looked at Gaara. "If Lady Ketto didn't seek us out and want to train us then we would never be where we are now in our development." her smile fell and was instead replaced with one of confusion, "I'm sorry, but what are you? Your chakra is heavy with bloodlust, I didn't think someone from the Sand would have such a craving for bloodshed as I would find back home."

Kankuro and Temari quickly looked at me, almost as if they were going to accuse me of telling children about the demon sealed inside of their brother. "Hikari is a more than exceptional sensor type ninja. I've been teaching her how to look for chakra signatures that are being concealed and because of that she's more intune to the ones that aren't being hidden."

Hikari continued to watch Gaara, "It's okay if you don't want to tell me. I was just curious about it. If I could sense Lady Ketto's chakra I think it would be similar to yours, or at least your bloodlust would be." That was something she's never asked me about before, not that I should let her feel my chakra, I haven't been utilizing Isobu's chakra as often because I now know that sometimes our combined chakra seeps through my seals when I do. It's less likely to happen if I just focus on using my own chakra, but still Isobu's words have some truth, "If you keep fusing our chakra together as you have been then it's only a matter of time before you'll either need another seal or stop using our chakra to stay hidden. Ketto, there's only so much skin you have available for another seal, so keep in mind that you may have to reveal yourself sooner than anticipated."

Gaara didn't spend a moment contemplating whether or not he should tell her about himself, when he said, "I'm the jinchuuriki of the one tailed demon. You can sense it because his chakra is restless and is constantly moving. I have limited control over him when I'm awake." Hikari nodded her head as she seemed to be in thought.

"Actually, I felt Ketto's chakra once before." Kankuro said. He was slouched in a chair near Hikari with his arms dangling off the arms of the chair. He looked bored, like there wasn't anything for him to do. There really wasn't, so I don't blame him.

Hikari leaned over the side of her chair to get closer to Kankuro with a curious look on her face, "What did it feel like?"

"Suffocating, I only felt it for a little bit when she used her chakra at my dad's funeral to destroy all of his chakra points. Apparently it's something that's done in your nation to prevent bodies from being used if someone were to resurrect them." Kankuro said. He continued to lounge lazily as he spoke, not seeming to care about Hikari's child-like wonder at needing to know something about me. "I was already wary of her before then but at that moment I knew that she could have easily killed me if she wanted to at any time. When she poisoned me during the ambush on this village it was obvious that she wanted me to suffer when she could have easily just cut off my head with her sword, I know she has the strength to do it."

"Really? I can guess how it feels, but I've never felt her chakra myself. I even wonder if her bloodlust was somehow stronger during the time she was younger and became an anbu. She doesn't talk about that time of her life with us. Almost like it's a secret, but we already know she was an anbu that served Lord Fourth closely." Hikari sat back in her seat with her hands in her lap. "My guess is that she's trying to maintain a certain image with us, but I'm not the only one who's curious, Futto and Zagura are too."

Futto shifted from one foot to another, "I'm curious, but not curious enough to talk about it like you do. It doesn't really matter what her chakra feels like. I think it will be overwhelming to us, you should be grateful that you can't feel it, you may become more fascinated with her but you'll also become more afraid of her than you already are."

Hikari's cheeks turned red as she got embarrassed. Her eyes widened a fraction before she closed them, refusing to look at any of us, for an added measure she turned her head to the side towards the exit. "That may be true but you don't have to say it out loud."

"It's not that big of a secret, it's obvious when you think about it." Zagura scoffed, "She did things for the Fourth that only he can trust her with, like killing specific people. I'm not stupid, everytime there was a rumor of a coup d'etat the potential threat suddenly disappeared, my money's on her for being responsible."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute!" Temari shushed everyone, we all turned to her to see her more than confused. "You're talking as if Ketto isn't an anbu anymore."

"She isn't." Zagura said it slowly as if that would make it easier for Temari to understand. I knew what was coming next but I didn't stop it, I should have already told them but how do you come out to say something like that? I didn't want to seem as if I was rubbing something in their faces, and it just didn't seem like the time with all of the hype over trying to recover Sasuke, we still don't know if there is anything to report on that.

"I didn't feel it was appropriate to tell you through a letter, so I decided to wait to say anything until we met in person." I said. Their gazes landed on me, it didn't really bother me that they were looking at me. I've been getting more used to many people looking at me since I've become Mizukage, each look has been imprinted on my mind. Ones of anger, mistrust, and loathing have slowly been transforming to ones of acceptance, curiosity, and appreciation. If I'm used to the more horrid stares then the piercing stares of curiosity coming from the sand siblings and the patient ones of my students are nothing in comparison. "With the nature of this mission, I didn't want to mention it until the immediate threat was taken care of. After I left Suna and got back to Kiri, I discovered that my duties within the village have changed drastically. As it turned out my uncle never made it back to Kiri, he knew that was likely when he said goodbye to us before we left here and he made a suggestion for the next Mizukage before he disappeared. That's why I told you not to visit Temari, everything was a mess for a while."

I looked to the doorway sensing someone approaching, it was Ishara. She appeared in the doorway with an air of confidence, it was as if she had a purpose to her movements. I realized that it was probably because she did have a reason and that she was more than likely looking for me.

"Can we help you?" Temari asked as soon as she saw her. She gave Ishara a glare. "We were discussing something."

Ishara stared at Temari through her anbu mask, her chakra didn't flare or seem threatening, if anything she seemed indifferent to her. "It's important that I report to Lady Mizukage now, I'm sure whatever conversation you're having can be continued later." Ishara turned away from Temari who's eyes widened upon hearing that to face me. "I was unable to retrieve the Uchiha boy, but I did manage to bring back a blonde boy that the nurses say is named Naruto Uzumaki. He's currently suffering extreme chakra deficiency and has burns all over his body. They think it'll take a day or two for him to wake up."

"I see, thank you for your report." I said. "I'll remain here with team Mizukage for a few days as I have something to discuss with the Hokage. However, you can return to the village." I walked over towards Gaara who was leaning against the wall near where I set down Kimimaru's body. "This is the body of one of the Sound ninjas, all you have to know is that he's originally from our nation. You are not to look at the body, just bring it to Chojuro and tell him what I told you. He'll take care of the burial."

Ishara followed me and hefted the body over her shoulder to carry it the same way I've been carrying it. After picking up the body she faced me, "Is that all, shall I return to the village now?"

"You may go." I gave her a nod to which she promptly turned away from me and left the room.

When I turned to face everyone else again I saw that Temari still looked shocked, Kankuro also looked as if he was frozen in his seat. Gaara was the one to speak first and I couldn't help but look into his turquoise colored eyes. "You've achieved your goal of becoming Mizukage."

"Gaara you knew about her wanting to be the Mizukage?" Kankuro asked. He was no longer lounging in his chair, he was now sitting at the edge of his seat with interest.

"We've talked about it before, she wants to prove to the citizens of the land of Water that she is more than someone to be feared and that she can protect the village as she was trained to do." Gaara said. He was still leaning against the wall with his arms crossed almost as if he didn't belong here. "I must admit that I didn't think she would become Mizukage this soon. Now I'll have to work towards becoming Kazekage."

"You want to become Kazekage?" I was expecting the question to come from either Temari or Kankuro, so I was a bit shocked to see that it came from Zagura. "From what Rinzo-sensei told us, you took part in the attack on the Leaf. You blindly followed orders leading up to the full assault and even then you didn't perform as planned. You couldn't control your tailed beast and you acted out on your own."

"Zagura, you shouldn't be saying things like that!" Hikari scolded him. She stood up from her chair by Kankuro to point at Zagura with a glare. She looked like a different person looking like that, I don't think I've seen her that angry before. "Who are you to lecture someone about their control when you can't even control your own chakra? It doesn't matter if he can't fully control his tailed beast, at least he has a goal. If he has it in his heart to be Kazekage then he will find the strength to fulfill his goal."

"What the hell are you talking about? Strength in his heart? It takes more than that to be a kage! You have to be physically strong too." Zagura snapped. His glare rivaled that of Hikari's.

"Will you two knock it off?" Futto said calmly. "It's embarrassing that you're arguing over something that has nothing to do with us in front of Ketto-sensei's friends. The two of you may have your own opinions on the matter but you don't have to do this now." Hikari and Zagura looked away from each other in a huff. "Besides, my father says that Ketto-sensei has the courage of water and he thinks that's a big part of why she was named Mizukage."

"Courage of water?" Kankuro questioned. His brows creased as he tried to think of what it could mean.

"It's our philosophy, not many people actually show the attributes or bother following it anymore. It was disregarded during the time of the Bloody Mist. Every once in a while someone would embody this, but it's rare." Futto walked out from behind Hikari's chair to stand next to her, making it easier for Kankuro to look to him for answers. "It symbolizes someone who possesses the strength in the face of extreme pain or grief to continue to do what must be done in the name of our nation. To push yourself even when it looks as if the odds are stacked against you to achieve your goal despite the odds. Ketto-sensei has proven herself from a young age. Father says that he started to respect her and her courage once it was known she could wield all seven swords of the Mist and started her training with the blades. He said that she shouldn't have survived her training, but instead she thrived. That's why he allowed her to be my sensei and why he supports her reign as the Fifth Mizukage."

"So that's why your father convinced your mother to let me train you." It makes more sense to me now, he truly did express his want of me training Futto. He wasn't afraid of me like I assumed he would be, he didn't even express any hatred for me which seemed strange to me at the time. I didn't think anyone would willingly accept me as fast as he seemed to. He even acted as if it was an honor that I would seek his son out as a pupil of mine when I thought it was because he realized that if Futto didn't have much of a ninja career he would at least be remembered as the Fifth Mizukage's student.

"If I asked, he would sometimes tell me about how Lord Fourth would assign him to watch your progress and report back to him." Futto said. A disgusted look crossed his face as he continued, "I'll always remember the time I asked about your training, when I first started at the academy a couple of years ago I thought you had it easy. You could receive training from whoever you wanted just because you were the Mizukage's niece and I thought of that as an unfair advantage. That was when my father sat me down and explained your training with Jinpachi to me. Father said that Jinpachi had no intention of training you and that his true goal was to kill you. He was furious that Lord Fourth pushed your training on them and he thought that if a weak little girl wanted to have her ass handed to her then he would do it, that's why he volunteered to train you first to either break you or kill you. After my father explained it to me I no longer held a hatred for you because I realized that you worked for everything you had harder than any other shinobi of the Mist. He wants me to be as strong as you are in every aspect of the word."

"Ketto, what was your training with this Jinpachi like?" Temari asked. Her voice was delicate, as if she knew that she wouldn't like what she was about to hear but she wanted to hear it anyway.

"I've never been told about any of Lady Ketto's training." Hikari mumbled, she was missing some vital information about one of her idols. She gave Futto a hard look, it almost seemed like she was upset that he knew something about me that she didn't already know.

"I guess I didn't realize I was constantly being watched throughout all of my training with the seven ninja swordsmen." I said.

There was a tug on my left arm, Zagura used his uninjured arm to lightly pull on the bandages to get my attention. "What kind of training was it?"

"Jinpachi's sword is Shibuki, the blastsword, full of thousands of explosive tags." I started, "He would set up a bunch of explosive tags on ninja wire along with some other traps in the forest. I was supposed to get out without setting any of them off while blindfolded. It was difficult, some of the explosive tags were set to go off at specific times. It took me a couple of weeks of trying and failing to dodge the tags but I finally figured out the purpose of the exercise though I didn't fully suspect he wanted to kill me. This happened before my shell-like skin developed so I spent many days having my skin torn to shreds, developing a tolerance to what it felt like to be in pain, after a while I started to become numb to the feeling. I suspected that Jinpachi had no intention of me actually succeeding in evading the explosives. I figured that I was supposed to set off the explosive tags to experience what it would be like to be on the other end of one of Shibuki's attacks, the day I realized that I ran headfirst into the course while blindfolded. To say that he was shocked was an understatement."

"What the hell was that brat?" Jinpachi sounded angry like he always does.

I pulled down my blindfold so that it settled around my neck and looked at Jinpachi. He had the top of his head wrapped in bandages while the rest of his long hair and beard that was decorated with a few beads dripped with rain water. His visible right eye glared at me like I was the one who killed his older brother when he thought he deserved to. If he was more than willing to kill his brother then I know for certain he wouldn't think twice about killing me too. I wonder why he hasn't actively tried to do that yet, instead he waits patiently for me to get through this forest of hidden explosives. I think he enjoys it when I set one off and it burns the skin from my body. Only a psychopath would revel in someone else's pain, but then again I'm not surprised, he is one half of the heartless pair. "I've completed the task, I may have set off some of the explosive tags when I wasn't supposed to, but I got out of the nearly impossible situation I was placed in. As a shinobi my pain means nothing. Whatever happens to my body doesn't matter as long as I'm able to complete my mission and report back to the village. That is your lesson right?"

Jinpachi's glare turned into a smirk as he gripped Shibuki that was leaning against the tree next to him. "I'm surprised you've come to that conclusion. I wasn't expecting it, maybe training you will be fun. Next we'll move on to what it feels like to receive a direct attack from Shibuki. You need to have a complete understanding on how it works if you want to be any good at wielding it." as he raised Shibuki with one arm in front his smirk changed to a sadistic grin. "Are you ready brat?" he didn't wait for a response from me, instead he advanced toward me. I braced myself for the attack, knowing that if I tried to evade the hit even the slightest that it would only aggravate him, which I did not need, especially since it looked like I gained some kind of respect from him.

"What kind of monster does that to a kid?!" Temari shouted. "Your uncle did nothing?!"

"He must not have been too concerned." I dismissed what was implied of uncle Yagura, he must have believed I was both mentally and physically strong enough to endure Jinpachi's training if he was the one who encouraged it. I was already told it was going to be difficult and that's what I expected. "Jinpachi and Kushimaru are known as the heartless pair, I didn't think anything was strange or wrong about the way they trained me because I already had an idea of the kind of people they were. Jinpachi Munashi killed his older brother because he tried to take credit for something Jinpachi did. I didn't see any of his advances as him trying to end my life, his heart wasn't fully in it. I'll admit that his bloodlust got the better of him in the second phase of our training, but I understood."

"The second phase?" Futto questioned, a look of confusion crossed his face. "That's when he started swinging his sword at you. I don't understand why you didn't block him, but that seems like the most brutal part of your training with him."

"I didn't block, because I finally earned some respect from Jinpachi after weeks of him watching me blow myself up. If I moved, that would have been lost." I said, after seeing some of the looks on their faces, I felt the need to explain more. "I spent so much time with him that I started to understand him, I even caught myself thinking like he would have in some situations. It was the only way I thought we could connect as a student and sensei."

"Lady Ketto, do you think you can tell me more about your time with the seven ninja swordsmen one day?" Hikari asked.

"Some day." I agreed. I decided that I shouldn't try to understand Hikari's fascination with me and that I should just share with her what she wants to know. I don't want her to think she should become like me, but maybe I'm only a part of who she wants to be. She also idolizes Ameyuri and I already know that she looks up to Mitsuru, I'm sure she also looks up to her father, uncle, and cousins. One day, I'll see the kind of kunoichi she'll become. I'm sure she'll be remarkable, especially if she also asked to be taught some healing by Tsunade. I'll have to talk to her about that and see if we can stay in the village for a couple of days.

"I'll admit that I didn't think you would become Mizukage, but I'm not surprised." Kankuro said. "Just from what I already know about you, I also believe that you have the courage of water. I also acknowledge how strong you are, I'm sure that over the years you've seen some shit that no one your age should have to see. So you almost have to be good at compartmentalizing everything that you've done and seen just so you don't lose your mind, that's a different kind of strength and it's one that not many people have. If you were doing all of your uncle's dirty work you would have become numb to it all at some point and there's your upbringing in the Bloody Mist that probably helped desensitize you from everything faster anyway. I don't doubt your physical strength, that was proven when you impaled that Sound shinobi after you threw your sword at him. You give orders well and you lead your team efficiently after the attack on the village and during the time you escorted us back to the Sand. I think you are a good choice for Mizukage, even if you are pretty young."

"Lord Fourth was even younger when he was made Mizukage." Futto said. He sat on the arm of Hikari's chair, not wanting to stand anymore. "I think he was fourteen." he looked at me to confirm.

"He was." I gave a slight nod of my head. "He had been the jinchuuriki of the three tails for a few years and was already on his way to becoming what everyone considered a perfect jinchuuriki, but even before that he was an exceptional shinobi. As a member of the powerful Karatachi family it wasn't a surprise that he was strong or that he was made Mizukage at that age. All of the former Mizukage are from the Karatachi family so it was more likely that he was made Mizukage after Lord Thirds reign or that I was, I honestly thought my distant cousin Mei would have been chosen over me but uncle Yagura apparently thought I was the best choice."

"I think you're the perfect choice for being Mizukage." Temari sent me a small smile that slowly grew into a big toothed grin. "I can't believe I'm friends with the Mizukage. We can visit your village knowing that you lead those people."

Before I replied, I wondered if I should say anything about the chunin exams and invite them to participate. Normally the sensei would decide if the genin team should participate but being that they took part in the last exams even if there was an alternate objective they still performed well enough so I don't doubt that they might want to participate for a promotion. I didn't see the harm in letting my students know about it, I still don't even know if I want them to participate already or if I should make them wait a year. "In a couple of months another chunin exam will take place and I've offered to host it in Kiri. Being that the three of you participated in the last one, even if it was for an alternate reason, I think it would be okay to extend an invitation to the three of you."

"The chunin exams have never been held in the Mist before. Foreign shinobi hardly ever go there." Gaara said. The stoic look on his face broke to show a look of interest, "I've never even seen a picture of it or heard anyone talk about what it's like there."

"We're having a chunin exam?" Zagura sat up straight and lifted himself off of his pillow. "This is perfect, I can show everyone how strong I am."

"I think you might be a bit too young, kid." Kankuro said.

Zagura glared at Kankuro with so much anger that Kankuro couldn't maintain eye contact. "Lady Mizukage was seven when she participated in an even deadlier test. That's one year younger than I am now. I've been training my whole life to be the strongest I could be because I needed to prove myself to someone who despite being my guardian hates my very existence even though I care so much for her. Her health hasn't been the best and that's why I need to show her that I'm not as useless as she thinks I am."

I didn't think Zagura was able to tell that Razuchi felt that way about him, I was hoping that he wouldn't ever know but it's kind of obvious that she doesn't like him. I understand that he wants to get her to change her mind on how she feels about him, that she'll stop treating him as one of her daughters mistakes and start being the loving grandmother to a child that has nothing and no one but her, but I don't think she can ever get over the loathing she has for him. She's hated his existence since the day she found out about him, I'm sure that it didn't help that for a while she thought Zagura was some unknown man's child. I wonder if Razuchi ever thought of her daughter as a whore when she refused to tell her who the father was, Razuchi could have assumed that she didn't know who the father was and that's why she didn't tell her or maybe that she was ashamed of who the father was. Either way Zagura's mother must have realized she made a mistake and by not revealing the father of her child she could have seen that as a way of making the situation more tolerable. It was probably around the time that Razuchi figured out who the father was and when her daughter died and she was given custody of the child that her hatred of him really started to bloom.

"Age means nothing." Gaara's face became more closed off again. "Besides, as their sensei it's up to Ketto to decide if they are ready to participate in the chunin exams or not."

"Lady Ketto, would you let us participate?" Hikari looked at me curiously. Her silvery-blue eyes met my gray ones. I'll have to admit that I'm impressed with my students' ability to meet my gaze, especially after I found out that they may still fear me.

"I haven't decided yet, as you are now, I don't think you would be able to perform as expected of you." I still didn't know how they would act while under pressure. The third phase of the exams that I have planned for isn't something that just anyone can be thrown into. "There is still time for the three of you to progress your skills. You haven't been together as a team for very long so there are some things I haven't seen in your behavior that I've been looking for."

"What's that?" Zagura demanded.

"I can't tell you, what I'm looking for is something that can't be taught." I gave a small smile that exposed some of my sharp teeth. It's true, you can't teach someone how they should act while under pressure or during a life and death situation, that's something that comes to someone naturally. This mission that we just helped with did put them under pressure a bit, but they weren't alone, they were paired up with several others who were also fighting for their lives with the same goal of defeating an opponent. Hikari didn't have to fight anyone, all she had to do was rush Neji back to the Leaf for medical treatment. She did exactly as I told her and didn't perform basic first aid, she just ran him straight back to the village as fast as she could and didn't let anyone get in her way. Zagura helped Temari fight a Sound ninja, the only thing I really know about his fight is that he used a taijutsu move that I haven't shown him yet and it burned the skin on his arm. I admire that he's trying to advance his abilities on his own, but he's reckless, in a way he reminds me of myself. Still, while under pressure his first response is to push his limits beyond what he knows he can handle. If I knew more about why he chose to act that way it would clear up some questions I have and I'll be able to accurately judge whether it justifies what he did. If he endangered himself for the safety of others then I could understand, I wouldn't encourage it but I would understand. I wasn't really told much about Futto's actions, so I don't know what he would have done. "Just be yourselves, it's not something you should worry about."

"That doesn't reassure me." Zagura mumbled.

I pretended that I didn't hear him, he doesn't have anything he should worry about. I believe he's a good kid, all I have to do is remember the way he cares for Razuchi even though he knows she has some hate for him. I don't know what was going through his head when he attempted the Rokettokobushi, I have a feeling that it had a lot to do with the fact that he's impatient to get stronger. I talked to Rinzu about Zagura's behavior and how he performed in his classes before we had our first training day together. It was easy to see that Zagura cares a lot about being someone with abilities beyond what everyone else his age is capable of. I don't know the true reason behind it, he could be trying to prove himself to Razuchi or maybe he thought he needed to show his classmates that even though he's an orphan that he can still become someone important to the village.

Rinzu said that as far as he knew Zagura didn't have any friends, that he never had any and that none of the other kinds even tried to befriend him. With what I know about Zagura I would say that he might be striving to get strong to show everyone that he can be someone for people to rely on. He cares too much, years ago I would have said he was weak for that and that he is far from being a perfect shinobi. However, even I know that caring isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's how families stay together and if that care is for one's nation it's even better. It's the only thing that I can fault Zagura for, but from what I can tell he knows how to separate personal matters from his ninja duties.

"So, you already know that we'll most likely be here for a few days." I turned to ask Gaara my question knowing that Temari and Kankuro are probably going to look to him for an answer anyway. "Are you going back to the Sand right away or will you stay for a while too?"

"We don't really have a reason to stay," he said. I noticed Temari's face fall and Gaara seemed to catch it too. "But, we can ask to stay too, we've been busy training and helping the Suna council as much as we can lately because it's been busy without a Kazekage. It would be nice to have a break even if it's a short one."

Temari looked surprised but happy. "Ketto, we can hang out and get to know your students. I'm still shocked that you even have students, but it looks like you're doing an amazing job with being their sensei."

"Thank you Temari."

A knock sounded at the door, it was a nurse covered head to toe in white protective gear complete with a head covering and surgical mask that was suddenly pulled down to rest on her neck. "Lady Mizukage, your presence has been requested in operating room three."

"I don't have any medical training, I wouldn't be able to help." I said. Who would want my help in the operating room? It can't be this person, I don't even know who she is.

"I'll brief you on the situation on the way to the operating room." she said. I couldn't think of anything else to say to her to prove that I shouldn't be helping, but she didn't seem all that bothered by my lack of medical training. My students are accounted for, Ishara already went back to Kiri, it has nothing to do with my nation. I suppose my curiosity got the best of me and that's why I chose to follow her out into the hallway. "Right this way, operating room number three is on the first floor. We currently have two patients that are in critical condition from the Sasuke recovery mission which is Choji Akimichi and Neji Hyuga, the latter of which is in worse condition. We are performing the healing resuscitation regeneration technique which is a medical ninjutsu that is used to heal severe, life-threatening injuries. To perform, it requires a full intensive care unit, staffed by medics with refined chakra control. The procedure lasts many hours, requiring the constant attention of the medics on staff and requires backup shifts to replace medics who have tired out. With two people in critical condition we're already utilizing more than one care unit and have switched to our second for both. We don't have enough medics that are qualified to keep rotating care units so Lady Tsunade suggested having you transfer some of your chakra to the current care units so that they can perform for longer."

It makes sense now, Tsunade must have remembered what my chakra felt like in Suna when we attended the funeral. I'm surprised that she thought of me when she's obviously busy with treating these patients and while I would rather not expose my chakra to others I'm not really in a position to refuse. I don't remember ever giving anyone my chakra, but I have looked into how to do it, so I can't use that as an excuse either.

"Will I need to change into something like what you're wearing?" I asked.

"Yes, the technique we're using requires us to use a sample of the patient's cells, such as a lock of their hair that would be placed near the injury to be used as a medium for the procedure. Any other exposed cells could compromise everything." She led me down the stairs to the main floor and to a room stocked full of medical supplies. There were some white jumpsuits like the one the nurse was wearing hanging on hooks along with sterile boots lined up underneath them. I didn't wait for her to start handing me things, I immediately detached my sword from my sword belt to lean against the wall. I used one of the jumpsuits to cover my Kukushibyo so that it would be less likely to cut anyone, hopefully no one will get close enough for that. Afterwards, I took off my sword belt and let it fall to the ground with my sword before putting one of the jumpsuits on. It was loose fitting and I didn't have to worry about my ninja sandals getting caught on the material as I slipped my legs in and pulled the top up to insert my arms and cover my chest. The nurse stepped toward me, "I can tie it in the back for you." I gathered my ponytail and settled it over my shoulder knowing that I would have to cover it completely. Once I felt the strings on the back of the upper part of the jumpsuit were laced, the nurse stepped away again. I looked through some drawers that were built into the counter near the hand wash station and found some covers for my ninja sandals. The nurse approached me again and held out a spare hair elastic that I used to put my ponytailed blue hair into a bun at the top of my head. Then she handed me something to cover my head with that looked more like a thin head scarf than the hood I was expecting. After my head was covered she gave me a pair of plastic gloves. "You're ready to go into the operating room now."

"Good, we should get going then." I said. I looked at myself one more time before walking to the door. My body has never been this covered before, the only part of me that was exposed was my face.

The nurse directed me out of the room and down the hallway to another room. There was a small circular light that was on above the door frame, I could only assume it meant surgery in progress, if not then I had no clue what it could mean as I don't ever really go to hospitals. The nurse knocked lightly on the door more as a warning because she didn't wait for a response before she opened the door and ushered me in.

The room was mostly dark with minimal lighting. I was able to notice the healing formulas marked into the entirety of the rectangular room. At key points there was a healer posted in a kneeling position, one on either side of Neji's motionless body, one at the upper left corner, another at the lower right, and someone on their knees at his feet. Neji looked pale and lifeless and his chakra still hasn't recovered even a little bit.

"Everyone focus!" the person at Neji's feet said. I couldn't tell who it was with their body being mostly covered but I remember that voice belongs to Shizune. She's close to Tsunade, so I'm not surprised she would be entrusted with a surgery as particular as this one. "I know we only have his hair to go off of to reproduce more cells but I know we can pull this off if we stay focused, don't give up!"

Light from the hallway disappeared as the nurse closed the door behind us. The only light source in the operating room came from the formula seals on the floor surrounding Neji that gave off a soft green light bathing all of us in its glow. The nurse leaned closer to me to whisper, "Shizune requested that you replenish her chakra last. She's gone for longer than anyone else without relief but she places the wellbeing of her team above her own."

"I see." I replied. Shizune knows that she's strong enough to hold out on back up until her team has been helped first. Either she feels responsible for them or she knows that she wouldn't be able to perform the mission on her own.

I walked up to the person that was kneeling to Neji's left. I'll admit that I hesitated before placing my gloved hands on their shoulders, this would be my first time having to transfer chakra to someone who wasn't dead, I'll have to be much more gentle than that. The person in front of me tensed up, but seemed to relax the longer my hands rested on their shoulders.

Once they relaxed, I started to transfer some of my chakra to them. It was a very light flow of chakra but it still managed to cause them to tense up again. I kept up the light flow of chakra until the person in front of me adjusted to it a little better. They remained tense for a while, but then there was a shift in their body as they seemingly accepted my chakra, their body was less tense and they leaned back into my hold a bit. I could still sense a bit of unrest and discomfort within their own chakra, but they didn't seem to care as much about the intruding chakra. Maybe they decided that they didn't care as long as they would be able to save their patient's life? Whatever the reason for them accepting my chakra, I didn't care. I started transferring more of my chakra faster while the person in front of me absorbed it like a sponge.

As soon as I had filled their max capacity for chakra they could store, I moved on to the next person at the upper left of the healing formulas. I didn't feel too different despite transferring a reasonable amount of chakra to someone, but I did feel lighter with each step I took to the next person. I was a bit worried about what would happen to these people once they have my chakra in their systems. Would it cause damage to them? How long would my chakra linger in their bodies?

I placed my hands on the shoulders of the next person, this would be my second time doing this since I've entered this room. This person was also tense when I touched them, but then again they could have just been so focused on the regeneration of Neji's cells and couldn't be bothered to be alert enough to tell that someone was moving behind them.

This person accepted my touch faster than the first, and the same could be said for when I started to transfer my chakra to them. They seemed startled by it, even a little frightened but they accepted the foreign chakra. While it took less time to actually get this person to relax and allow the chakra transfer, it took longer to fill their chakra bank. This person seemed to have more developed chakra than the first, but if it was more empty than the first person then does that mean this person uses more chakra to perform the same tasks or are they from the previous medical unit that was called to surgery?

After transferring chakra to the second person I felt a dull ache on my right temple, it didn't hurt but it was annoying. This is how I feel when Jiro and Mitsuru argue for long periods of time. Instead of getting myself involved with those fights I suggest they duel on the rooftop of the Mizukage tower, once they leave the ache in my head usually does too, but I know this one is different and it will only progress from here.

I walked around the edge of the room to get to the person at Neji's right, they were breathing shallowly as if they couldn't exert any more energy to continue with the procedure. This is probably why Shizune wanted me to replenish everyone else's chakra before her, she knew that they were all reaching their limits. It makes me wonder how she's holding on if this regeneration technique is so exhaustive on the body. Do people ever survive a procedure like this? At that thought I looked at Neji's motionless body to see that they moved on from working on the space above his heart, so I could only assume he was no longer in critical condition but then again, I didn't know how bad his condition was or if he really is doing better. He could have several other failing organs and that wouldn't be visible to someone like me who doesn't know what to look for. I could tell that his chakra was starting to replenish itself, but only barely. His chakra also started to circulate again, I had to concentrate to feel any movement and I'm not sure if that's better than before or not.

The third person didn't have the energy to tense up when I placed my hands on their shoulders. It wasn't until I gave them a portion of my chakra that they realized what was happening and they fought against the feel of my chakra invading their body by trying to jerk my hands off of their shoulders. My fingers curled into the material on their shoulders to keep them in place. I lightened the flow of chakra going from my body to theirs so that they could try to adjust to it. Their body trembled either at their exhausted state or at the feel of my chakra. If I had to guess, I would say it's because of my chakra. Their breathing evened out and the chakra that I already gave them should make them feel more energized and refreshed than they did before, so they must have felt overwhelmed by my chakra. There's really nothing I can do about it, they're just going to have to get used to it, but something tells me they won't.

I kept up a light flow of chakra, refusing to completely cut myself off from this person until they had a sufficient amount of chakra to continue with the procedure. They kept trembling and tried a few other times to get out of my grip, but I kept a firm hold on them. I don't know how long they have left to treat Neji, all I know is that I'll do anything I can to ensure he has a better chance at survival. I've long since gotten over the fact that he tried to kill his cousin whom he calls sister in the chunin exams. I can't really fault him for it, if I needed to I might have fought Zabuza with a true intent to kill. I always thought he would be the one to try and kill me because I was a burden to him, but he never did. Neji may have tried to kill Hinata but I think something was holding him back a little bit, even as he rushed in to finish her off it was like he gave up.

It took much longer before I thought I could stop transferring chakra to this person and finally move on to the next person who was in the lower right of the healing formulas drawn on the floor. The dull ache in my head became more prominent, but still didn't cause me pain. I felt even lighter than I did when I transferred chakra to the first person, it was like I was weightless and the feeling made me a little giddy with excitement.

This fourth person was carefully regulating their chakra output so that they could perform the healing technique for longer. They still had majorly depleted reserves but they were hanging on. Just like with the first two people I transfered chakra to, this person pushed against my intruding chakra a bit before accepting it. When I was finished, I moved on to Shizune with a slight wave to my step. I didn't need to be able to walk straight to transfer chakra so I disregarded my uneven pace.

My hands found their way to Shizune's shoulders, I was surprised that she lasted as long as she did. Her chakra storage was an immense space unlike anything I've seen from any of the other medics in this operating room. So it only made sense that it would take me longer to replenish her chakra than everyone else too. I was grateful that she seemed to accept my chakra easier than them too. I could feel that she was a bit tense and felt uneasy about my chakra, but she still accepted it easily.

Once I was certain Shizune's chakra was fully restored my hands fell to my side. My headache worsened and I could feel the blood rushing through my head with each beat of my heart. There was a foreign taste in the back of my mouth and my legs felt weaker. The chakra radiating from these people was my own, they would never truly know that they were temporarily given chakra from both the three tailed demon turtle and the Demon of the Mist. I just hope my chakra doesn't affect their bodies long term. I wouldn't want anyone to have to deal with that overwhelming chakra for long periods of time. I only really recognize my own chakra because of the part that is Isobu. The other part, the part that is me, my own inner demon, I could hardly recognize. Not that I would anyways, the seals on my body conceal my chakra from other people and myself.

I don't know how I feel about the Mists demon. It's heavy with bloodlust just as Kankuro said, it's suffocating. I can't believe my body is able to hold a chakra like that. It honestly reminded me of Zabuza's chakra. Only mine was stronger as if there was something added to it. While Zabuza was full of hatred over many different things that he had fueled his will to fight, I had my love for uncle Yagura, and dare I say it, my love for Zabuza too. Could it be that I had stronger feelings for why I fight?

"Ketto, thank you for replenishing our chakra." Shizune said. She was still on her knees at Neji's feet and didn't move from her position, not even to address me, "Because of you, we've been able to perform the surgery effectively and a bit faster than we normally would have. You can go now, you've done all you can for now."

"I'll be going then, I'm glad that I was able to help." I turned from her and started to leave the operating room. While I was replenishing everyone's chakra I didn't notice that the medic who collected me earlier left the room at some point. I think she mentioned replenishing the chakra of the other care unit too. I might not be in the best shape right now, but if I have to I can replenish more chakra.

The hallway was bright with light, it took me a while to adjust from the dark room I just came from but slowly my eyes became accustomed to the change in setting. How long was I in there if it's taking this long to adjust to being outside the room?

"Ketto, did you just finish with Shizune?" Tsunade was standing down the hallway a little bit and she was looking at me.

"I did, aren't you supposed to be in surgery too?" I wondered. She wasn't wearing any of the same protective gear that I was, she was dressed in the outfit with the green haori she was wearing when I first met her in the Sand.

"I was, until recently. My patient was in better condition than the one you saw." she said. "I've already seen your students, they've been set up with rooms in the Hokage building and have retired for the afternoon."

"Already?"

"The sun did set an hour ago, you've been in surgery for eight hours." she said.

That explains why I'm so exhausted. "It took longer than I thought to transfer chakra, some of them tried to resist."

"That's okay, I kind of figured there would have been some resistance either way and that's why I had you sent to the operating room with the most critical patient." Tsunade directed me to the same sanitation room I was in earlier so that I could change.

"Has Hikari talked to you about teaching her some medical ninjutsu?" I asked her at the same time I pulled the thin white head scarf from my head. It felt good to have a fresh cool breeze, I'm not used to being covered up this much, I've only ever been exposed to the elements so the feeling of this much cloth on my skin irritated me.

"She hasn't, but that boy who burned himself kept asking about you. I would say he sounded a little concerned about your sudden disappearance." Tsunade followed me and watched as I stripped out of the jumpsuit and protective wear covering my sandals.

"I doubt Zagura was that concerned, he might have been more worried over knowing very little about what would happen to us now that our mission is more or less completed." I reattached my sword belt before securing my blade to it. "What about the Sand siblings, they mentioned maybe staying here a couple of days too. I wouldn't mind seeing them a little longer."

"They've requested to stay and I told them they were welcomed for as long as they wished to stay. They also have been shown to some rooms in the Hokage tower." Tsunade waited patiently until I finished, I chose to leave my hair in its bun for now. Despite my pounding head I'm able to push aside the feeling at least until I can get myself to a room to sleep, that should be able to help. "Otherwise, the mission was a failure. All of the Sound ninja dispatched were killed, but Sasuke still got away. Now he's with Orochimaru, I'm not sure what will happen now that Orochimaru has Sasuke's sharingan. I'll have to come up with a new mission for a team to find and locate him before having them return Sasuke to the village." she paused, I thought of how in my village that would be a mission for the hunter ninja. Needing a specific sector of the anbu dedicated to hunting defected ninja shows the differences between villages. "I heard that your students were able to hold their own despite being so young. It seems as if you are quite the teacher, who would have known?" she gave me a big smile, I knew she didn't mean anything bad by it. She was right, since Utakata defected I've been doing solo missions. I don't really have much experience interacting with others, I surprised myself by being able to train those kids effectively.

"It's actually simple enough. You just have to be patient when one of them decides to do or say something stupid." I said. Tsunade walked with me out of the hospital and in the direction of the Hokage building. Even though I was weakened from transferring chakra, I tried to walk as if my balance wasn't thrown off. As long as I keep walking I can at least attempt to be less affected. I looked up at the sky as I walked, Tsunade was right, the sun did set while I was helping in surgery. "Do you have any students?"

"Only Shizune, but she hasn't been my student for a long time. As you've seen, she's able to perform the most difficult healing seal without me." Tsunade had her hands clasped behind her back as she walked next to me. "I haven't thought of taking on another student, but because you're the Mizukage I suppose I can show your student a thing or two. What did you say her name was again?"

"Hikari Yuki, she knows some basic medical ninjutsu but she wants to learn more advanced healing so that if she needs to, she can save one of her teammates while on a mission. She thinks that in order to be a successful team they would need a medic deployed among them and she took it upon herself to fill that role. She also has exceptional chakra control for a child." Tsunade listened intently as I told her about my student.

"I see, we can skip basic medical ninjutsu and chakra control so that we can move on to more advanced techniques." Tsunade said thoughtfully. When we got to the Hokage building, Tsunade directed me to the same area of the building I stayed in the last time I was here. All three of my students were still awake along with all the Sand siblings. "I'll leave you with them." Tsunade was about to leave me when she stopped suddenly, "Hikari, you should get some rest. I want you to meet me early in the morning at the hospital for training. I'll see you then." Tsunade then left us.

"I get to train with Lady Tsunade?!" Hikari exclaimed. "I didn't think she would say yes, I better get to sleep. Good night everyone." Hikari was just about to disappear down a hallway when she suddenly pivoted and sprinted at me. I wasn't sure about what I should do, but a part of me knew that I shouldn't let her fall. So I didn't move out of the way as she launched herself at me with her arms wrapping around my waist and her head resting against my chest. "Thank you for talking to her for me." She let go and ran off to where I assumed her designated room was. I was surprised by her actions, I thought she was too scared of me to want to touch me like that.

"That idiot." Zagura muttered. "She had to go and show emotion like that."

"Don't be like that, as long as she doesn't let it get in the way during a mission then I don't care." I don't believe showing emotion during a moment like this is a sign of weakness, it's when a ninja allows their emotions to lead them into making rash decisions that I'll disapprove of them. "Futto, Zagura, the two of you should get some sleep too. We'll do some training at the hot springs tomorrow, there's enough water there for us to do some sword fighting.

"Can I go with you?" Kankuro asked. Zagura and Futto looked at him curiously. "I've been working on chakra control since the last time we met, I think I'll be able to stay on top of the water for longer than before."

"Sure, you can join us. You can even fight Zagura if you want." I said. I turned to the two boys, "The two of you can go get some sleep too. I'll see you in the morning." Futto disappeared down the hallway, at first Zagura followed him but he lingered. "Tsunade said you were asking about me, don't worry about it. I'm in one piece, everything's fine." he nodded and left us. I let out a sigh, "Would one of you be able to show me to my room?" At this point I just wanted to try and rest, hopefully that would help get rid of this headache. The sooner I can crawl in bed the sooner I can drop my act of being fine. I felt a strong wave of unease hoping that no one would notice that I wasn't stable on my feet.

"I can show you." Gaara approached me, grabbing ahold of my arm and directing me down the hallway towards all the guest rooms. There was a look of shock on both Temari and Kankuro's faces as we passed them. I chose to ignore them because I could finally lay down after transferring all that chakra and that's all I really wanted.