Suzume was a blur among the rooftops as she tried to keep the cart in sight. Despite Gaara's sign to stop, she couldn't help herself from following. Once at the edge of the market, she was forced to stop anyway, and stood in the shadow of a building to see tiny specks, camels and their riders, joining the cart's flanks until it appeared to be a V formation like birds flying south. They disappeared beyond the horizon.

Suzume's eyes narrowed. The next second, she had disappeared from that rooftop.

Akira was hurrying along down the road and his eyes were flitting around for any sign of suspicious activity. The crowds were dispersing after the event, they were all talking excitedly about what had happened while the soldiers were helping the sick rogues up to carry them inside.

He needed to find the others as soon as possible. He ducked into an alleyway when nobody was around and hunkered down in the shadows. He took off his mask to take in a breath. His breaths left in puffs in the air. He got to his feet once again and, resolved, was about to head back to the streets when something landed in front of him and before he could pull out his weapon, a firm hand was keeping his wrist down and another kept his mouth covered.

He recognized the large black eyes and the face of his teammate behind the melting makeup.

"Suzume-san?!" Akira exclaimed around the hand muffling his mouth.

Suzume slowly let him go. "Sorry I handled you roughly. I was afraid you would be too loud."

He gathered her hands in his. "It's so good to see you!"

"I'm glad I found you too, Akira-senpai."

"How are we going to continue the mission without Gaara-sama and the others? Shouldn't we retreat and go rescue them."

Suzume went over their options. "We need to regroup with Baki-sensei and Ritsu first."

"That's a good idea." Akira nodded. "Before that."

He pulled out a drawstring bag and, from there, pulled out some makeup. "We need to fix you up, Suzume-san. Look up."

After reapplying Suzume's disguise, the two of them left the alleyway and found their way back to the main hustle and bustle. She figured they could head back to the room she and Gaara had shared with the rebels and see if there's anything they could find.

Suzume left Akira in the shadows of the inn and scaled the building up to the room. She landed inside and scanned the space. It was just as empty as they had left it. She started to search around and opened the cabinet to find a sack sitting there. She paused. It stared back at her. It was too obviously unhidden that she immediately became cautious. After making sure there weren't any traps, she picked it to unwrap it. Inside, there were spare clothes, a pouch of money, and a piece of paper along with a business card. She unfolded the piece of parchment paper to see it addressed to her disguise name, Akio. It was from Shiori, who Suzume knew was really Shun, telling her that if Akio ever changed his mind he should find the person on the business card and they would help him get to her. Suzume then turned to the business card. She froze.

Breaking herself out of it, she wrapped everything up again, then she left the way she came.

"What did you find?" Akira asked once she joined him again.

"I'll tell you later. We should stick around here. This place was the main point of communication. They might check here for us."

Akira agreed and the two of them scaled up the building and settled themselves down to wait. Akira placed a genjutsu around the room and the innkeeper so that the old woman would bypass and forget the room completely.

As it was the last day, it was more likely that Baki and Ritsu would check in before the end of it. The two of them decided if they didn't show up, they needed to act on their own from then on.

Suzume was sitting by the window, watching the people down below as they trundled past, as well as attuned to every sound passing by in the hallway. Soon enough, everything settled down and there weren't as many people about. It was almost morning now, having gotten to the inn around midday. The two teammates sat in the quiet, anxiety and anticipation bouncing between them.

It was almost five in the morning when Suzume rushed onto her feet, drew a kunai, and her arm flew to press it into a person's neck. Another blade was also held against her own throat.

The two shinobi drank in the sight of the other.

The newcomer spoke first, "What was the favor I asked you for when you came over to my house for the first time?"

Suzume visibly relaxed. "An autograph from two of the honorable siblings on their released book."

After a fraction of a second, Ritsu and Suzume withdrew their weapons. Suzume backed away from the window to let Ritsu and then Baki in. They still had their disguises on, Ritsu with his slightly flashy white mohawk and face piercings, and Baki with a curtain of dark hair and more taut features.

The four of them sat around the small room in the dark. The candle hadn't been lit when it was only the two of them, and it stayed unlit once they were reunited by two more of their number.

Baki naturally took the lead. "Report," he said in his disguise's nasally voice.

"We were on standby after our last report. Nothing happened between then and the event. We scoped out the information we were assigned to retrieve. Afterwards, my partner left to join the second team."

"Our team entered the area a day before today and after failing our side of the mission, the other two were meeting up with the previous team to discuss how to move forward. I was left to keep a lookout in a close location. Their meeting was interrupted by the event. I could not act as my team leader managed to signal to me that I shouldn't interfere."

"We arrived just as the event was happening and managed not to get caught up in it," Ritsu ended the reports by telling them.

After a moment of their Jonin leader mulling things over, he said, "What do you three think we should do?"

"I have an idea."

They all turned their attention on Suzume and saw an unnatural seriousness in her expression.

Baki leveled her with an appraising stare. "What is it?"

"I'm going to track down the three that were taken."

"How?"

Suzume brought out the sack she'd found and pulled out the business card from inside. She took out another business card from her own pockets. Baki took both of them, examined them and then frowned. "It's not for certain that he would have that information."

"It's all we have."

Baki frowned, first staring hard at the card and then at his student. "I approve. Take this one with you," he said, pointing to Akira. "Us two will remain here and do what we can to further the mission. If you meet a dead end, you return immediately. Since the Council knew about our mission, and Saboten knows that Gaara's team was here, he also now knows that the four of us are around. Everybody needs to be significantly more vigilant. Understood?"

"Hai!"

It was the crack of dawn when Akira and Suzume left through the window and into the crowds.

People were already clogging up the streets, as the break of day is when certain transactions and sales happen.

"Suzume-san," Akira said, "I think we should travel through the rooftops. It's going to be hard going through the streets."

When no response came, Akira looked around to find Suzume gone.

Akira turned around frantically, thinking for a second they'd been separated. Until he spotted her standing behind a crowd of people. He jogged up to her side to see her face darkened and heavy, her burning eyes fixed on something ahead. He followed her gaze to see an auction in front of them. The booming voice of the auctioneer cut through the swelling sound of the crowd, the people up front were calling out numbers and the rest were spectating, viewing a show of opulence they'd never get to participate in themselves.

But what hooked his eyes and drew a gasp out of his mouth was the object currently on sale.

Akira's hand immediately clasped onto Suzume's wrist, fearful of what she might do next.

"You won't find anything like these anywhere else!" the auctioneer was saying. "These items are from a deceased famous tapestry maker! It's a piece of priceless art..."

Suzume couldn't look away from the ocean waves. Somebody was whispering incessantly in her ear but a buzz in her body, the one itching to act was forcing the sound out. Blood was pounding into her ears, her muscles were tightening involuntarily.

Jabari was here.

She wanted to jump in and rescue him. This time she could reach him. She could make it up to him, right here, right now.

Slowly the sounds around her pierced through and she realized she was shaking, there was a lump in her throat.

But inside.... she knew it wasn't really him.

Akira's voice almost made her jump.

"Suzume-san!" He tugged on her wrist urgently. "Suzume-san!"

Slowly, she let herself be pulled away, but she never turned her back until Jabari was out of sight.

Baki and Ritsu left the inn, breaking Akira's genjutsu as they left. From what Suzume and Akira informed them, they thought the best course of action was to go ahead and continue with the mission and gather enough incriminating intel on the Councilmen involved with the blackmarket and the rogue shinobi. But now, they also needed to understand more about the revolutionaries.

"Sir," Suzume addressed Ritsu, "the woman you warned me to stay away from during the C-class mission is a part of the revolutionaries." She had told them during their meeting.

"Do you mean that buff looking one?" Akira asked, he had been near enough to hear what was happening. "Apparently she's one of the leaders."

The memory of the woman came back in full force to Ritsu, "I'm not surprised."

"What is this about?" Baki asked.

"My apologies, sir. I kept something from you." Ritsu went into relaying the interaction he had with the buff business woman and her suggestion of anarchy.

"I see," Baki said. "Is there a reason you didn't immediately inform me of this?"

Ritsu cast his eyes down, "I found that there was some truth in what she said."

"As do I." His students all looked up in astonishment. "At times, what goes against the powers above is what is right. If those are the words of the leader of this movement, I don't doubt that they are righteous in their motives."

Baki hit Ritsu in a pressure point making the boy go down, twitching in pain. "However, never keep information from me again. Understood?"

"Understood, sir," Ritsu managed out.

He rubbed that sore spot now as they walked through the streets.

Baki had kept the note from the sack Suzume had found, noticing the indentations apart from the written words on the surface. He had used the remaining time at the inn to figure out the symbols and managed to decipher some of its coded contents which had significant details. A lucky break.

From Baki's understanding, after Usi, the dead messenger, left the scroll, he was supposed to rendezvous with the leader of the rebels and her right hand. Then together they were supposed to leave the black market. They had also dropped off a shipment of alcohol, water, and rations to the main building which had all been poisoned. From the lack of guards now stationed around the building compared to the number Gaara had recorded before, they could presume that the poison had killed some of the regular guards, though the shinobi should only be affected by some side effects. Baki had located some of the bodies that were discarded and took a few samples of the poisoned guard's blood.

He used one sample for a quick examination which was enough to conclude that it was a new poison which was not catalogued in the poison records or used for mithridatism.

Baki could be sure that the rogue shinobi were out of commission for a couple of hours as a result of his examination into the poison. Where did the revolutionaries get such a poison?

"The rebels want to take control of the black market," Baki told Ritsu. "They informed Councilman Saboten that they would be attacking soon through the murder of his overseer. I'm sure that some of their people are still hiding in plain sight around the market even with their obnoxious show of their retreating numbers yesterday. We know more about the Councilman than the rebels. We didn't even account for rebels during the mission preparation."

"Were the higher ups aware of their existence?"

"Of course we were. We just didn't consider them a major concern. Rebellions pop up now and then, but they're quickly stamped out or they disperse away of their own accord. Perhaps this is a result of our negligence. This rebellion is bolder than the others. I never thought one would go as far as this one has."

"We don't know how much leverage they have over the people though."

"How about we try to find out exactly how much they have?" Baki pointed to a tavern across the way. "Let's ask around."

Soon enough, Baki was buddy buddy with most of the occupants in the tavern. The building was animated with men knocking back alcohol and roughhousing enough to break a couple of spindly chairs. Baki was in the middle of the action, winning arm wrestling competitions and pouring drinks he'd paid for himself.

"Man, Yuji," a man groaned, massaging his wrist, "you're beefed."

"Cough up the money, Rai," Baki said, smirking as the man scowled and threw a pouch of coins at him.

"What about you, kid?" the man addressed Ritsu. "You want to try a hand?"

"Trying to scrape your pride together by beating a brat?" Baki said gruffly. "How about you have another swig instead?"

"Don't drink too much. Those damn alarms might go off again."

"Ah, you're right. Fuck, haven't been properly drunk for months. It's such shit that I have to go out of town to get plastered."

"I never expected those inspections to actually work. Heard that they caught some shinobi the other day."

"No shit?"

"What, so that council-fuck had a reason for those things? It wasn't just to throw around his huge ego?"

"I'm sure that was the main reason. But what'd he want to catch other shinobi for?"

"Who cares? He can eat his own arse and spit out his stomach for all I give," one of the rough men growled. "Damn shinobi, damn Suna, thinking they own the nation just cause they can do a few magic tricks. We want our nation back away from those money-fucking scoundrels."

Baki leaned forward, "Since you hate their innards so much you must've heard of the rebels. They were there when they caught the shinobi. Whatcha think about them?"

All sound immediately ceased and everybody turned to look at them.

"Nothing," the man said, now with a strange gleam in his eye, "that's what we think."

"Where are yous from, anyhow?"

Baki tried to respond, but a man standing up from his seat threateningly stopped him.

"Now that I think of it, never seen your mugs around here before."

"We don't linger with outsiders. Get out."

"We--"

"Get outta here!"

Baki and Ritsu both rushed out of the tavern and the door slammed shut behind them.

"How did they figure out we were outsiders?" Ritsu asked lowly after they retreated to someplace more private.

Baki was in a deep silence, his eyes intensely focused. Eventually, he slowly said, "Loyal as a dog..."

"Sir?"

The veteran shinobi had completely left his rumination, now buzzing with the need to act. He walked deliberately out of the alleyway. "We need to get to the Councilman before they do."

"What's the problem?" Ritsu asked, close at his heels.

"They have the love of the people and Ashura knows we don't. If the rebels get their hands on the Councilman first and we take him from them, there will be a nationwide uproar."

"How should we--" A clatter of shattering glass drew Ritsu's attention.

"Who are you?! What game are you playing?!" There was a ruckus nearby with a store clerk and a decaying looking man on drunk legs.

"What? You gonna do something about it?" the drunk bandit chuckled. "You can't do shit."

He threw a punch at the store clerk with enough strength to make the man's head jerk backwards.

"Yasu?" Baki called Ritsu's alias, noticing his student's strayed attention, and followed his gaze to the scene. He also recognized the man. The pair shared a look and Baki nodded.

They disappeared.

The bandit had managed to get in a few good punches in, he knew it, but because of the haze of his drunkenness, the memory was hard to pin down. He staggered through the streets, turning into an alleyway to puke. His head cleared slightly as the alcohol left his system. Wiping his mouth, he continued on his way.

Shadows were moving oddly around him. One sped by on the ground and he looked up to see what was there. When there wasn't anything, he shrugged it off.

The alleyway was quiet, there was nobody around, it felt detached from the world. The shadows were stirring.

A shiver and the bandit spins around to see a hooded figure behind him. He cries out and stumbles backward. He runs, tripping over his own feet. Panic surged. He was going to get killed. Something flew by his ear and that something stuck to the wall. A blade. He whimpered, almost wetting himself. The drunken haze was making him sluggish, his limbs were too heavy.

He runs into a wall. There was nowhere else to go. Sobbing, he turns around to face the thing after him. They had followed him patiently and there were only a few more strides until the bandit could see their face.

Closer and closer, and the bandit pushed himself against the wall, wanting nothing more than to be away from there.

He was shaking as the person stopped a few feet from him. He gulped, waiting. The person removes the hood revealing to the bandit one of his own. A frightening ensemble of white hair and piercings.

"Wh-Who are you?!" the bandit said, stalling for time. "Why are you doing this?!"

Ritsu retreats his disguise only down to the base of his neck and the bandit saw the ponytail having shinobi brat from a few weeks back. The one he would never admit to having his ass handed to him by. The brat's face broke out into a devilish grin as the bandit gawked, shock taking away his fear.

"You again?!"

Ritsu's arm lashed out and three kunai lodged themselves into the wall behind the bandit, narrowly missing his face.

"Fucking hell...!" he choked.

When Ritsu advanced on him he let out a shriek and fell back onto his ass. "Wh-wha-what do you want?!"

Ritsu pulled out a kunai from the wall then crouched down to the bandit's level while brandishing it.

"Your cooperation."

Akira kept a close eye on Suzume as they blindly made their way away from the auction.

She was breathing heavily and her fists were clenched at her sides. He took it in stride and let her steam out her frustration. He was already impressed that she managed to tear herself away from the auction without making a move.

Loss damages the mind. He's experienced it firsthand and a million times secondhand from his peers. If they don't get their emotions in check it costs lives. Akira waited until they were out of the black market and into the open desert where they were the only ones around before speaking to Suzume.

"Suzume-san." He placed a hand on her shoulder and took it as a good sign that she didn't shake it off. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, her mouth closed tight, still refusing to face him.

"I'm really impressed. There are some adult shinobi who couldn't have held themselves back the way you did."

"I would've regretted it," she said quietly. "I don't have the leisure to do whatever I want."

Akira nodded, thinking it best to get her emotions out as much as he could. "What would you have done if you could?"

"Take the tapestry back," her fists released, "take him back. But I'm not strong enough."

Akira left the conversation there. He too had many regrets. People lived trying to escape from them, trying to fix them, but there really isn't any way to do so, and what more can a person do but do their best to not repeat the same mistakes.

Shinobi were people full of regrets, and they kill themselves because of them. It was only a matter of when they would break.

It only took them half a day to reach their destination. The sun was sinking. They waited until it was gone to approach the office. The adobe building was washed blue from the crescent moon stealing the warm colors from the sunset. A candle was glowing from within the building, the light leaking through the wooden window covers.

The man was closing up his office, his employees already gone for the day. He just finished up some paperwork and stood up from his desk to leave when a knock came from the door. Wondering if it was that forgetful youngster they'd hired recently, he went to get it.

He opened the door to see a hooded woman standing there. On closer inspection, his eyes widened and he pulled the door wide open. "Shun-dono! Come in, quickly!"

Once the woman crossed into the threshold, the man checked the street for any witnesses then closed the door tightly and barred it. He turned swiftly to his guest.

"Has something happened? What of the others?"

"It's just me this time," Shun said. "I wanted your assistance with something, if that's alright."

"Anything! Just ask."

She pulled off her hood and smiled elegantly. "Thank you. I knew I could rely on you, Musa-san."

"What is it that you need?"

"I need you to tell me everything you know about the rebels."

It took the man a moment to comprehend her words. "Huh?"

Shun threw off her cloak and before it had fallen in a crumple on the floor, she had a knife at the merchant's throat. He gulped, hurt in his expression. "Why are you doing this, Shun-dono?"

Musa watched in horror as the woman's hair retracted back into her skull and turned a soft brown, her size shrinking and her form broadening into a boy's figure, until the person in front of him was a young adolescent shinobi.

"What's going on?" he exclaimed. "Who are you?"

The sound of the lock turning and the door opening again drew his eyes to see a girl stepping over the threshold, the door closing tight behind her.

He recognized the girl, and his tension grew. "Kunoichi-san..."

Those wide eyes from before were on him again. "I'm here for that favor, salt merchant Musa-san."

Musa and Suzume were sitting across from each other at the small dining table that was meant for no more than three people. Akira was standing behind Suzume, watching the two closely. The salt merchant had his head hung low. His eyes refused to meet Suzume's gaze that was trained mercilessly on him. The kitchen was thick with tension and there was a dry silence, Akira couldn't even bear to glance down at his teammate and couldn't imagine how the man was feeling.

"I... can't, kunoichi-san," he finally said, appearing to hurt with every word. "I can do anything else, but never that."

Suzume's face didn't shift. She stared for a bit longer at him before pulling out the card he had given her when they first met and the card she'd discovered in their inn room. "If I hadn't known who this card belonged to I wouldn't have known you were related to one of the rebel leaders at all."

She looked back at him. "I want to ask you, was there any guilt in your act of gratitude to me because you were related to the rebels?"

"...Yes," he said, his lips trembling.

"And it isn't enough for you to tell me what I want?"

There was a sudden movement and Akira had his weapon out, on edge. He saw Suzume's raised, staying hand and relaxed. The merchant had fallen out of his chair and prostrated himself, his aggressive action had sent the chair flying back.

"Please! Just take my life instead! I'll give you back the life you saved. I could never live if I betrayed my people."

"I don't want your life," were her words above him. "I want you to stand by your word. If you can't inform me about them yourself, I want to meet them."

He gulped. "Meet them?"

Suzume stood from her seat and dropped to one knee in front of the merchant, who lifted his head to look up at her unrelenting eyes.

"Can you do that, Musa-san?"

They were wearing chakra cuffs. The metal locked their fingers so that their hands were unable to wiggle, never mind make hand seals.

Gaara knew should he call upon Shukaku, they could get out this instant. But he was aware that the tailed beast wouldn't speak a word to him, still silent in his cage. So for now, he waited.

The three of them sat on the floor where musty and damp hay was sprinkled across. It was an old styled prison with wood bars and iron locks. There were no solid walls to give their occupants privacy, they could see into every cell to their right, left, and the row across the room from them through the bars, though there was nobody else in there with them. Fire sat in torches along the brick walls leading into the prison and in placeholders throughout the area casting an orange glow to the already warm room. Natural light fell in through the entrance where stairs led upwards.

"These are from the Mist," Kankuro said after he'd examined Temari's cuffs as their hands were tied behind their backs. "This is their handiwork."

"Blackmarket and Mist are practically synonyms," Temari said. "Amazing how prepared they are to subdue shinobi though."

"Not subdue, mostly calm," came a voice and the muscular woman appeared around the corner and stepped down the rest of the stairs. "It's lovely to have you here, honored siblings," she did a mock bow. "How is the room treating you?"

"The same way my foot would treat your face," Kankuro said.

The woman laughed heartily as a short man with a stubbly chin and small stature with a grave face joined her along with the silver woman from before.

"Well, we are lacking in service and hospitality, so what'd you expect?" the leader said. "I'd say we're two stars."

"Why did you take us?" Gaara said.

"We heard that your team were out searching for the lost rogue shinobi."

"How do you know that?"

"You're in luck!" the woman said, bypassing Temari's question. "We have a number of them here, and then some. Open the cell for our guests, Shun. We'll lead them to the others."

Shun, with the manner of a person who has argued rationale and lost multiple times, complied. She swung open the door and stood aside to let them walk out. The shinobi were flabbergasted about the unlocked door. She said to them, "They're all rusted and we don't have the money to get new ones."

Gaara stood and walked out first. Once the group was climbing out of the prison, the muscular woman spun around to face them. "By the way, my name's Neha. It's nice to meet your acquaintance!"

They had been blindfolded the entire way into the cell so walking out and seeing the place was disconcerting.

It was an entire town, strikingly similar to the black market that Gaara wouldn't have been surprised if it had been. However, the energy and atmosphere of the town was different, that much he can tell. While the roughness and lack of organization of the black market was present, the people here smiled more, there were more yells after friends and more linked arms and children running through the streets.

When some of the townsfolk saw the three of them, they openly stared and whispered, the children went up to Neha and her companions fearlessly and asked who the strangers were.

"They're ruthless shinobi who came to kill us! But we stopped them, aren't we cool?!" Neha revved up.

"Whoa!" some of the more skeptical kids fell for it.

"They don't look that scary," said one of the older girls. "Ne-san, are you really here to kill us?"

"Not particularly," Temari answered flippantly.

"Be careful around shinobi, kids, they're trained to be deceiving."

Shun ended the interaction and the kids ran off again.

"Aren't they about the age when you send your shinobi out onto the field?" the short man asked.

Temari gave him a scalding side-eye. "Is there something you want to say about our education system?"

"Wow, you are scary," the words were playful, but they were thrown with disgust.

"They're still kids too, Taro," Shun placated softly.

They were led to a building with a wooden sign that had HOSPITAL etched into it. It was the most well kept building they've seen. The floor was devoid of sand, and as soon as they entered there was a chorus of people telling them to clean their hands at the row of sinks along the wall to their right. Temari took the chance to ask to have their shackles taken off but was interrupted mid sentence as Neha took her hands and washed them for her like she was a kid.

The makeshift hospital seemed to have a monopoly over the modern supplies compared to the out-of-date way the rest of the town was, with stainless steel chairs and sofas in a waiting area, the men and women who appeared to be the staff wearing plastic gloves, masks, and were carrying around stethoscopes and pagers. They were attending to senior citizens and children mostly, all skinny and weak looking.

The shinobi were led away from there and through multiple hallways before arriving at a separate ward. Neha knocked and, almost immediately, the door cracked open and a man peeked out. He took in the large group, then glared at Neha. She grinned.

"I heard you brought even more shinobi back, Neha," the man said like a growl. He directed his gaze on the aforementioned shinobi. "None of you look too crazy."

"What did we say about using that word?" Neha frowned. She reminded Temari of a comic book character with her too many exaggerated facial expressions.

"Aaah! Put a sock in it! I can do what I want in my ward. I'm the one sticking my neck out for these big babies, the least I can do is call them crazy."

"Can we come in, Ukai-san?" Shun asked.

"Why not?" he huffed before leaving the door for them to let themselves in.

The rebels let the shinobi go first and followed after. What they saw were about twenty beds lined up on either side of the long room. Some were vacated and some weren't. Some people were sitting on the floor, some paced around the room aimlessly, others stared out of windows or else laid in their beds doing nothing. None of them spoke or looked over at the newcomers.

Gaara recognized most of them. A couple were the recently escaped rogues, some were shinobi who should still be captive in the Blood Prison, and then some were long forgotten MIAs.

"They're all recovering from drug abuse," Neha said, her smile gone. "Ukai-san actually managed to help out one of them, but that guy was a recent victim, these ones might be too far gone."

"How did you manage to find so many of them?" Temari was staring hard at a shinobi who was fiddling with her fingers in bed who she remembered as one of Uncle Yashamaru's acquaintances before she went missing on a mission. Temari only really remembered seeing her around the headquarters once or twice.

"It's not like we are actively trying to," Neha shrugged. "But I guess I have a knack for it, or maybe it's just circumstantial since our group goes around abandoned towns and usually we find one or two there. Some escape on their own, some are dumped after they're of no use if they're lucky. Most are killed."

"Kind of makes you wonder how the Sand, with all their resources and people, usually can't locate even one MIA in the recent years," Taro said.

There was once a dark time in Sand history when newly graduated students would go out for their graduation test only for more than half to never return. There had been a serious talk about discontinuing the graduation test altogether. It was back when most of the desert had been mostly a mystery to the shinobi. Unlike most of the other great nations, Suna had actually been comprised of one clan and not multiple ones. So there were still areas of the Wind Country that were against them at first. Being relatively weak, bandits took advantage of an inexperienced village and kidnapped their number.

As a response, the higher ups ordered special jonin to disguise themselves as students to discover where the kids were being taken. Once they found where they were keeping them, the special jonin carried out another part of their mission: genocide. After that, there weren't any more huge cases of missing shinobi. Though there would always be a market for shinobi and bandits independent of any loyalty would always target them. Even the day Suzume went out for her own graduation exam, bandits had attacked her team.

"Nobles really like to drug the shinobi and see how long they can last. Pitting them against each other. Winner gets more drugs. The loser always ends up dead. Once they took too many drugs though, they become more and more unaware of themselves."

While Neha told them all this, the shinobi who had been staring out of the window turned to look over at them. Their eyes widened and their breaths shook and then they let loose a scream.

They were pointing at Gaara, crying and whimpering.

"What's wrong?!" Ukai rushed to calm them down.

"M-Mmm..." the shinobi screamed, "mmonster... Murderer...!" They could only scream after that, holding their head and rocking in their place. The noise and emotion made the rest of the patients whimper and cry and soon the ward was out of control.

"Get those three out of here!" Ukai told the rebels who quickly swept out of the ward.

They escorted the shinobi out of the hospital and took them as far as what appeared to be their main building of operations as no one else was around. There were maps littered across the walls alongside plans of their future attacks. The door slammed shut, the place became dim and the setting sun leaked in through the cracks in the blinds.

Taro who had been the most unfriendly of the three rounded on Gaara with a solidified hatred. "What did you do to get that reaction out of a fellow comrade?"

"That's none of your business," Kankuro answered with just as much fiery.

"Kankuro, stand down," Gaara said. His brother did so but still kept an eye on Taro.

Taro scoffed at this show of professionalism, "Look at that. How old are you? Twelve?"

"Thirteen," Gaara said, trying to hide a bit of indignation.

"Look at what they're doing to the kids! Oh... wait. You're the heirs to the Kagekaze title right? Gaara of the Sand, was it? I don't suppose you're aware of your country while living your lavish lives."

The siblings had nothing to say to him. Their silence spurred him on.

"Once the Sand got involved with the land of the rest of the Wind Country, your responsibility over this nation grew tenfold. Shinobi are there to serve their people," Taro said, passion reddening his face. "Aren't we your people, too? Ever since the budget cuts to Sungakure a decade or so back, the entire country plunged into a depression and a famine. A Hidden Village's state usually determines the state of the country it belongs to, our prosperity is your prosperity. Even then, the counselors of Suna only concentrated on increasing their own wealth. People have starved and died, their lives are on your heads!"

Shun stepped up and placed a comforting hand on Taro's shoulder. He deflated and rubbed his face, "I know, they're only kids. I lost control for a second. I'm sorry," the three shinobi were taken aback by this sincere apology, "it was wrong of me to displace my anger onto you kids."

"I don't think so, Taro," Neha spoke up now. "No matter their age, once they were born, they had responsibility over their birthright. What do you think, kid?"

The question was directed at Gaara and Gaara alone.

"I don't have a reason to answer your question."

Neha made an acquiescing expression. "I suppose so."

"But, I believe you're out of your depth," Gaara said. "This rebellion you're trying to instigate. No force you can gather would be any threat to us."

"You shinobi are only our first step," Neha waved his words aside, "our goal is the rotten daimyo."

"You won't get past your first step," Gaara promised, "and even if you do get to the daimyo, then what are you going to do? Take over the Wind Country for yourselves?"

"That's what we're planning, yea."

"You will never completely be able to defeat the Sand, at most you can lessen their forces. And if the other nations hear that we have been compromised by internal disputes, they will attack us. All you will have accomplished is the fall of the Wind Country."

Neha lifted an eyebrow and looked to her comrades for support. "What is this glum looking kid blabbing about?"

"You people do not understand the scope of the world and that is why this movement will never succeed," Gaara said.

In a flash the woman's comrades were on him, their blades pointed at his neck.

"Gaara!" Temari and Kankuro yelled.

"Don't you dare insult us," Shun hissed. "Don't you dare look down on everyone who have given their spirit to this cause."

"Shun, Taro, calm yourself," Neha said carefully as her two companions pointed their weapons at the shinobi.

The blade of the sword had cut into his skin slightly, but only sand trickled out. Shun retracted her sword abruptly and backed up. The rebels all stalled. Neha's eyes were wide.

"So it's true... how it's said Gaara of the Sand does not bleed."

There was a knock on the door. A man stepped into the room, felt the tension, and gulped. "Uh, Neha-dono, a hawk came for you." He held out a letter.

Neha accepted it and the man ducked out of the building. It was silent and everybody was still while she read the letter. Once she was done, she folded it up and put it back in its envelope.

"Well, for now, just relax," she said to the room at large. "Looks like I have to leave for a bit."

"What?" Shun went up to her. "But what about this evening?"

"I'm sorry, but something's come up, eh?" Neha said, gripping Shun's shoulder tightly. "Why don't you take these kids with you in my place?"

Shun closed her eyes and let out a breath as Neha walked by her and grabbed a cloak then left.

"I guess we could," Shun said finally turning around to face the shinobi again. "I don't suppose I have to tell you to be respectful."

The two rebels took them to an open street. The sun had set and a gathering of people had with them candles and lanterns, standing quietly, looking forward at an altar. On the altar was a picture of the dead rebel. The sand shinobi had only ever seen his face as he was in death, but in the picture he was smiling heartily, his cheeks were red as if from alcohol and it was as if the entire world was a laugh to him. There were many who were crying. He seemed to have been well loved in life.

Shun and Taro were obviously distraught, but their age and responsibility kept them from falling apart. The shinobi were also still in their company, they would hate to show any weakness to them.

The people quietly prayed, heads hung. Then at the end, they blew out the flames, letting go of the life that has passed. Slowly, people came up to a young woman and her children, giving them their condolences in the dark.

"You go ahead, Shun," Taro said. "I'll wait for my turn."

Shun nodded and joined the family. They watched the crying woman break down at the sight of her and opening her arms for a hug that Shun immediately gave, holding onto the weeping woman with all of her strength. After exchanging a few words, kissing the woman on the forehead, and patting her two children on the head, Shun left the family.

She was roughly wiping her cheeks free of tears as Taro and her switched. She sniffed. "I'll lead you kids back to the cells. Be good and stay put there for the night, eh?"

As they were settling themselves back in the cell, and Shun was closing the door for them, Temari stayed by the door.

"He didn't give you up," Temari said to Shun. "He killed himself the moment he got caught."

The woman gaped at her for a second before turning her face away quickly.

Her voice sounded strained as she spoke, "Not like I believed that for a second... Thank you."

Once the shinobi were alone, a click sounded in the silence. The cuffs fell onto the hay. Temari wiggled her fingers in front of her with a cheeky grin.