Ojos Asi [[private -- nyrax]]

Kiba tried to launch his attack, only to find something piercing his hand and stopping him in his tracks. He let out a pained yell as he realized that Sani had interfered in the fight. That bastard, Kiba would see his head on the ground one day. Sani was quickly becoming Kiba's number two enemy. The Inuzuka pushed himself to his feet as he watched Youki get away once again with his siblings. He just stood there for several moments, as if watching was going to help the situation at all.

He turned his head slowly as everything seemed to fade. Lights were getting darker, even darker now that the power was being blown out from the village. Kiba watched as they all rushed to Sasuke, trying to save the Uchiha's life. "Well....I count this as a win", Kiba said to himself since no one was around to listen to him. Within moments Kiba fell to his side, his head smacking against the ground and even causing a cut to form. Kiba couldn't feel it anymore though, his eyes hadn't even closed before he lost consciousness. That shock from earlier should have taken Kiba out, and him forcing himself through the fight was now coming back to haunt him.

Although less than Sasuke, Kiba too was going to need medical attention. Whoever found him would notice a smile on his face, despite his condition.

Shino quickly moved on to help Sakura. He saw Youki leave, and that was enough for Shino to know that this fight was over. He wanted to fire an arrow, but he knew that it wasn't going to do anything at this point. Shino turned before Kiba fell, heading towards Sasuke to do anything that he could to help. He pressed his hands down immediately, not moving or doing anything else until Sakura asked. While not a medic, Shino was never really bothered by blood. He just wanted to help at this point. "His skin is ice cold Sakura, and his heart is pounding as if he's been running for hours on end", he said in the hopes that it might help Sakura with her next phase of healing.

As Tsunade arrived and they had their conversation. Shino looked towards her as Sasuke let those last few words slip. "I think it's time for my report Lady Tsunade. I have found that Sasuke to be one of the most loyal and least suspicious members of this village. I believe that should the situation arrive.........he would give his life to save this village", Shino said as he looked down at Sasuke. "Send me to ANBU if you want, but they'll find my mind to be normal. Sasuke is the reason that we nearly killed Youki tonight, and he now has my trust"

Tsunade sighed, helping her apprentice to heal him. "He's dying..." She stated, touching his skin. The coolness was his body desperately trying to conserve blood by dropping his body temperature. In addition, his heart pounding was it struggling to pump blood to his body. Her medical expertise was much more advanced than Sakura's, allowing her to heal him much faster because she wasn't panicking. "He needs a transfusion." The Hokage told her apprentice. "What's his blood type?

"AB.." Sakura managed to utter. "Mine is O, I'm a universal donor." She stated.

"Forget that..." Sasuke mumbled, opening his eyes tiredly to look at Shino. "I'll die reguradless if there's no power in the hospital. The backup generator won't be able to save all the shinobi that were injured. Shino..." he mumbled. "There's a generator for emergency power in the basement of the Konoha police station. the basement is lined with prison cells of criminals, and at the end of the hallway, there is a stone wall. Write the kanji for 'Uchiha' on it in my blood, and it will open. In order to start the generator, it requires a shinobi with a lightning affinity to touch it. If you send a bolt through the handle, which is orange, it should at the very least restore power to the hospital. It was created when the village was founded as a means to protect itself. I read about it in the Uchiha archives, which is why my blood will open the door. Go." He ripped off his shirt that was soaked in his blood, handing him a piece of it. "That should give you the blood you need." He closed his eyes, feeling a stabbing pain in his wound.

Tsunade couldn't help but grin as she healed the husband of her apprentice. "it seems I've been underestimating you, Sasuke." She stated, looking at Shino. "Do as he says, he is right. All the shinobi that need medical attention won't survive if we don't get the hospital power. This better work, Sasuke."

"It will." He mumbled, tiredly.

Nervously, Sakura stopped healing him and shifted through her medical bag, pulling out a rather needle, a thin plastic tube, and a vile. Pressing the needle into her arm, blood dripped into the thin plastic tube, dripping it into the vile. It filled rapidly, and she filled two more until there were three viles of blood. Sealing them, she brushed a finger over the injury and it healed instantly.

“Sasuke-kun, I’m going to give you a transfusion now, okay?”

“You’re the doctor.” He muttered, closing his eyes tiredly. A prick in his arm alerted him that the transfusion started. Softly, he sighed, starting to fall asleep.

Once the injury was temporarily closed, Tsunade moved back. “He needs to go to the hospital. We need equipment to fix this, especially considering the extent of this injury. And this isn’t sterile. That, and we need to make sure that we can get out generator that's in the hospital to work." She stated seriously. The Hokage was safe, and for her to be away from the hospital did not make things any easier. She needed to get to get Sasuke to the hospital and have Ino and Sakura work on him while she made sure that the rest of her shinobi were alive.

Shino listened intently as Sasuke gave him his instructions, making sure that he heard everything carefully. He couldn't risk going back to Sasuke for instructions, there might not be enough time to make two trips. They needed to make sure that the power was back on so that the hospital could treat anyone who was injured during the attack. They had all fought Youki, but Youki hadn't come with just two siblings. More shinobi had surely been placed everywhere.

"Alright, I'll take care of it", Shino said as he delicately took the cloth that he was given. The blood might dry quickly, so Shino had to touch as little of it as possible in order to ensure that he had enough blood to write the kanji. "Hey, don't die on me now. You did too well for Konoha to lose you", Shino said with a nod before turning and running off towards the Konoha Police Station.

A lot of the streets were crowded with people, due to the attack after all. He needed to keep moving forward in order to get there in time. He moved around everyone as fast as he could, sometimes leaping over crowds that happened to be gathering in large amounts. Shino just kept moving, knowing that his mission was too important right now. He'd help transport the injured once he turned the power on.

Shino entered the police station, quickly heading down the stairs and following Sasuke's instructions perfectly. Everything was just where he said it was. He moved to the stone wall, creating the mark as asked. It opened up, seeing the handle Shino quickly touched it. He felt the power and soon began to see lights coming up. "Let's hope that we're in time", Shino said to himself before moving outside to help the wounded.

Sasuke grinned at Shino. "I can't die, I promised Shai that I'd be here, remember?" He asked, realizing why Shai's nightmare had scared him, but he also knew now that it wasn't accidental. That or he really was physic, in his own way. Letting out a tired sigh, he allowed himself to be healed, just enough for his body to be moved. However, he passed out before he could be moved, and slowly, sounds and movement started to become obvious around him.

When Sasuke woke up, he was in the hospital. The lights were on above him, and there were machines around his body that were running on the basis of electricity. Good, that means Shino had succeed. A loud beeping sound above him told him that he was alive, it also was starting to irritate him. Sitting up, holding his stomach, he turned off the screen, which stopped the noise, but still registered that he was alive at the nurses station.

Then, looking to the side, he popped open the machine beside him and punched in a five digit code. He moved up the digital display on the screen and closed his eyes. “I upped my morphine.” He explained, knowing that Shino was in the room. “I know Sakura’s hospital code.” Laying down, he looked at the clock across the room seeing that it was already mid afternoon. Damn, he'd slept a long ass time.

Shino watched as Sasuke woke up, struggling against the noise that was being made above him. Clearly after just waking up it was bothering him, Shino could understand. Hell, even while reading it was bothering him, but he left it on for the sake of Sasuke's recovery. He had assumed that it was important, but based on Sasuke turning it off for him he supposed not. "Glad to see you rise and shine"

"Hey you don't need to explain yourself to me, hell the villages sees us as Heroes now you know", Shino said with a tiny laugh as he got up and moved a bit closer to Sasuke. "How are you feeling?", he asked curiously. "Anything I can get for you?", the Aburame asked. Shino was covered in a few bandages, but otherwise it looked like he already fully recovered.

"I like the whole heroes thing." He stated, but was mostly teasing. He didn't need to be called a hero to feel like one, especially after what he had done. His actions weren't for anyone but himself and his family. It was stupid, but it was the only option he had at the time. What else was he supposed to do? Youki was out for blood, after all.

Sasuke chuckled. "Yeah... see if you can find me a dozen tomatoes. The juicy ones that are perfectly ripe." Part of him was kidding, but they were his favorite food, and he was sure that Sakura was going to lecture him about a diet that would help him recover faster. "The village thinks we're heroes, huh? What're they saying out there in the isolated world that is the village." He mused, knowing that he was the one mostly isolated.

Shino let out a tiny chuckle. "Don't worry, they aren't going to throw a parade or anything. But we have gotten a bit of a notice out there", Shino said with a smile. Sasuke finally got the recognition that he needed. How could anyone doubt his loyalty after everything that he did last night? It would have to be someone who wanted the entire village to think they were crazy.

"I'll try to get right on that", Shino said with a tiny laugh as Sasuke made his request. He wasn't sure if Sasuke was being serious, so he'd just answer his questions and go get them if he brought it up again. "Yeah, a lot of people saw Youki nearly die last night. He picked a bad place to make his last stand. He thought he'd show Sakura's death, instead they he showed just how mortal he was", the Aburame added.

"And by the way, actually it isn't you or I that they are talking about most............it's Suigetsu"

Sasuke shifted his body so he could look at Shino and still lay down. "What? No parade? What the hell, I want one of those. And a giant inflatable balloon of myself." He mocked, clearly joking, but the idea did sound comical in and of itself. Honestly, he wondered what a giant version of himself would actually look like. It was an interesting thought.

Shifting as a pain shot through his body, he closed his eyes. "Well, Youki is mortal, and I suppose he hasn't fought an equal in so long he's forgotten what it was like." He pondered. "That or the fact that he was so surprised by what happened he hadn't expected it." One of the real reasons they won was because of the element of surprise. Although Sasuke had been terrified when Sakura appeared, he knew that she was the only reason they had won the battle.

"Doesn't surprise me." He added. "Suigetsu is most powerful in the rain and with the full day of rain prior to the battle, I can't believe he didn't come and kill Youki for what he'd done to Karin." He looked up at the ceiling, his eyes wandering the tiles. "What did he do?"

"Yeah I couldn't believe it myself", Shino said as he shook his head. "But hey we are on a budget I guess", Shino added with a tiny shrug. "Konoha is being rebuilt, thankfully no one seemed to notice that the one building you destroyed was gone", Shino added with a smile.

"Indeed, thankfully the three of us were able to defeat him as well as we did. With luck he'll think twice about trying to attack us again", Shino said as he remembered the look on Youki's clone's face as that tag went off. "I can't wait till we are able to truly kill him", Shino said seriously as a smile came to his face. Shino never felt more powerful until today.

"Yeah, apparently it was all impressive", Shino said as he tried to remember everything that was said. "Apparently he went to the Hokage Mountain where a bunch of Kiri shinobi were trying to kill those that were fleeing. He showed up and apparently killed everyone, saving almost everyone", Shino added. "Apparently he's made quite a few new friends"

Sasuke grinned, envisioning the building he had destroyed. "Honestly, I think Konoha should let me destroy buildings they want to renovate. It sounds like a power trip, and it kind of is, but that was one of the most awesome things I have ever done." There was no point in lying about it, Sasuke actually really enjoyed blowing up that building. And there was always a chance he could do it again, right? Maybe...?

"Youki isn't foolish enough to attack so soon, he'll wait until he has an opportunity, and I'm sure this time it will be a trap. The most likely course of action is for him to send some of his siblings to do his bidding and testing our strength against them before he actually mounts another assault." If this was what he was doing, he wouldn't be attempting things right away.

Although Sasuke had seen Suigetsu battle, he had seen him go full out as well, and violently kill to protect others. He had also seen how he would give up a battle for the benefit of someone else, like when he traded Kiba's life for Karin's, which Sasuke never thought he'd see Suigetsu do. "He deserves it. Maybe Konoha will let the two of them go now. But, then again, with all he's done for them, I doubt that letting him go is on their priority list. If you had a shinobi that could do all he's done, would you just let them go?" Otherwise however, this heightened the chance that they would trust Suigetsu and send him out on missions, thereby making him a real shinobi. If Konoha trusted him and then released him, Kiri would likely accept him back without wanting his death.

"Aaliyah didn't come to this battle, I take it?" He questioned.

Shino let out a tiny laugh. "I can't say that I've ever done it myself, but I'm sure that it was a real blast. No pun intended there", Shino added. He hadn't thought about it till the words really came right out of his mouth. It was a mistake, but one that they could laugh at at least "Well I'm sure that they'll let you take out the next one as a favor to you. No one can ignore what you did last night after all"

Shino gave a nod of agreement as Sasuke pointed out that Youki wasn't going to be pressing for another attack. "Well if we could handle him as well as we did last night, I'm not going to be as worried about any of them as I was before", Shino admitted. The siblings were one thing, but Youki was on a far level above them. If they could handle him they could handle the siblings.

As Sasuke talked about Suigetsu, Shino gave the slightest of nods. "Well, his name is on the minds of the people. After all, we might have defeated the enemy but he went directly to the people and saved them. When I saw him in the streets earlier there were several people trying to speak to him", Shino added. He left out the fact that most of them were the daughters of mothers that Suigetsu had saved. "I don't know how Tsunade will treat them, but I'm just going to hope that it works out"

As Sasuke mentioned Aaliyah Shino merely shook his head. "Not from any report that I heard, if she was here she did it without anyone noticing", Shino admitted.

"Yeah, that fight did go much better than I expected it to." Sasuke confided honestly. They did win, after all, even if Youki had removed power from the village. Sasuke had a backup plan that restored it, or at least, he thought he did, even if it was a temporary measure. As long as people weren't trying to kill him for the power that the generator held, then the secret was safe, considering so few people even knew it was there. He wasn't even sure if the police knew it was there.

Speaking of, how had Suigetsu known that the shinboi where there? Sasuke's money was on Karin, considering her power to sense and how easily she could identify a person and tell information about them, even from a considerable distance. If they were using water, he was sure that she could tell, though he wasn't certain of the extend of her skill, just that she could identify a number of shinobi, and what they were in relation to gender, and of course, if they were human.

"I suppose it's a good thing she didn't come." He stated honestly. "After all, she's not hurt, right?" He put forth, trying to give Shino something positive to think about. Aaliyah being absent meant that she was unhurt, but would also most likely be doing spy work, and if she chose to slip away and see Shino, that was a possibility.

Sitting up slightly to look at Shino, Sasuke added. "The idea I had, about Suna..." He whispered. "While Youki is injured and weak would be the time to have it done. Even if it's something like suggesting the idea, it's worth something, isn't it?" he stated softly, not wanting anyone to overhear.

"Indeed, much better than any of us thought. I wanted to win against Youki, but I never knew that we'd be able to beat him down as well as we did", he said honestly. "Last time we fought against him we did well, but I thought that Youki would still win tonight. I attribute our win to you, you discovered everything that we needed to in order to beat Youki", Shino said with a smile. "Thank you so much"

"Indeed, I just hope that she's alright wherever she is", Shino said honestly. He knew that there were plenty of people that let themselves get injured in this battle, but he couldn't help but worry about Aaliyah the most still. "I'm sure that she's fine, she always is", Shino said with a smile. He had to believe that she was okay, there was nothing else he could do after all.

Shino listened to the last part that Sasuke whispered, listening to the words that he had to say. "You're probably right, I can have my father talk to Tsunade anytime", he said thoughtfully. "You want me to go meet with him now? I can tell Sakura that you're awake on the way out"

"In case you haven't noticed, forcing others into a corner and gaining advantages in battle is something I am quite skilled with. But Youki is not the type of shinobi to be fooled by the same trick twice, just as I'm not." He stated, but felt much better that his skills were reconized for once and that they were grateful to him for something. The progress they made was largely due to him, but also because of Shino. "I think that it was both of us. He couldn't handle a close and mid range fighter together, and I served to distract him from what you were doing."

Sasuke believed that Aaliyah was okay. She wasn't involved in this battle, and Youki wouldn't have been calm if he had killed her, or found out that she was a traitor. Quite contrary in fact, he would raged against the village and killed as many as possible. That and his army would have been much larger. "If something had happened to her, I'm sure you'd know. Sakura tells me that she can feel whenever something happens to me, though I'm not sure if it's true."

Something about women senses or some other nonsense. "Naw, let's wait until I can walk." He pointed at one of the machines that had a black back round and movement with green waves. "I'm sure she already knows I'm awake."

“Daddy!” Shai ran into the room and struggled to get onto the bed. Sasuke’s arm dipped off the bed and wrapped around the child’s back, his hand gripped his son’s waist and he pulled him onto the bed. Once on the mattress, Shai rested a hand on his father’s shoulder. “Where are you hurt?”

Moving the blanket, Sasuke revealed the bandages around his abs. Shai’s brows furrowed and his small hand drifted across the injury. “Does it hurt?”

“A little bit.” He answered, causing Shai to draw his hand away.

“Has Mommy kissed it better yet? That always helps!” he declared, as if she could heal the brutal injury with such ease.

Walking into the room, Sakura sighed and walked over to the bed. “Shai, I asked you to stay in my office.”

“I wanted to see Daddy.” The child smiled, happily, showing his victory in accomplishing said task.

"Oh believe me I noticed, I've only seen you in battle a few times and I noticed it's one of your strengths", Shino added with a tiny smile before hearing about what Sasuke had to say about Aaliyah. He had a point, had Youki believed that Aaliyah was actually a traitor and done something about it, he surely would have bragged about it greatly. He wouldn't mocked Shino furiously, making sure that he felt the agony that Youki wanted him to feel. "Yeah, I know you're right. Just can't help but worry when she's stuck with that mad man"

Shino suddenly turned his head as a familiar voice came from nowhere. "Well if isn't the little Uchiha", the Aburame said with a smile as he gave a small wave towards Shai. He watched as Father and Son had their bonding moment, seeing that Shai was okay now that he could see that his father was clearly awake. With luck that dream was going to be far from his mind by now. Shino slowly stood up as Sakura entered the room. "Shall I give you two time together?", he asked as he motioned towards the door.

Shai giggled and looked over at Shino. He waved at him when he saw him, but simply laid down with his father, not wanting to be apart from him because of all that happened. Though his dream was forgotten, he did understand that Daddy was hurt, and the young Uchiha considered himself the ultimate cure for everything.

Sakura sighed and smiled at Shino. "Kiba is awake now, and I'd appreciate it if you could get him to calm down. He's convinced that he's okay to leave, which he will be as soon as we finish treating the burn on his hand. It'll take five minutes, so if you can get him to calm down and relax, I would very much appreciate it." She told him, clearly tired. It was evident that she had not slept yet. Then, Sakura paused. "During the raid last night, Xerion and Kaliegh disappeared." She told him. "I'm sure they're okay, even though Kaliegh shouldn't be running."

Tsunade made it a point to summon Suigetsu and Karin to her office. She also sent a message to the hospital that she wanted to meet with Kiba and Shino and Shibi as soon as possible, so Ino was to heal Kiba so he was to leave. Then they were to come to the Hokage tower.

Shino turned towards Sakura as she began to speak to him, listening to the words that she had to say. Apparently Kiba was starting to cause some trouble because he wanted to leave. Man that guy was anxious, he probably wanted to get out in order to make sure that Hana and Tsume were okay. Shino didn't blame him, considering Youki's recent tactic it would be very easy for him to assume that he was targeting the family of his enemies. Kiba was an enemy after all. "I see, two siblings disappear during the raid, they must have met back up with Youki..........leave Kiba to me", Shino said before turning and heading out the room.

"Come on Ino I need to get out of here as soon as possible", the Inuzuka said in annoyance as his hand was being examined. "Look no flesh is falling off, give it a week and I'm sure that it'll be back to normal. I'm quite the fast healer after all", he lied. He just wanted to get out of there, he hated being in hospitals. Of course it was only a minute later that he saw a familiar face approaching. "Hey there Shino", Kiba said with a grin.

After having Kiba's hand examined and wrapped up, they disembarked towards the Hokage's tower on Tsunade's instruction. Shino wasn't certain what she wanted, but she wouldn't call them for anything small. She had too many things to focus on with the attack from last night.

Suigetsu was walking alongside Karin, heading towards the Hokage Tower just as they were instructed. "Man, Konoha really knows how to get back to damage control", the Hozuki said as he saw shinobi rebuilding buildings like crazy. It was amazing how efficient and prepared they were in order to deal with such a problem. "Kiri isn't this prepared. We focus more on positioning and battle strategies, planning where to place Shinobi for when we are attacked", he commented.

"Shut up and stop complaining." Ino chided, slapping Kiba upside the head and went on to examine his hand. She put some creme on it, moved her hand across it to heal it, and then wrapped it, telling him not to do anything strenuous until it was healed - training included. If he had to train because he was that stubborn, he was expected to not use his arm, or else he might lose his hand. It was also a good idea to soak it in water once a day or so to help improve circulation.

The Hokage smiled when the four shinobi she wanted to see arrived. She didn't have much time to address them, but she had already put it off for most of the day. "Alright." She stated, matter-of-factly. "For starters, I'd like to thank you for what you've done." She gestured toward Suigetsu and Karin. "Had it not been for you holding off some of the shinobi, and you alerting me and the rest of the village, I'm not sure what would have happened. The quick means in which the two of you moved impressed me, considering your standing and all that has happened her." A smile appeared on her red lips, fingers lacing together. "That being said, something was left in the village last night that you might want to take a look at. Bring it in!" she called.

Once she did so, two members of ANBU carried in the Hiramekarei and offered it to Tsunade, who was able to effortlessly pick it up. "Now." She stated, displaying the blade out to Suigetsu. "Both of us are quite aware as to what this is." Her voice sounded serious. "Which is why it is my duty as Hokage to report to the Mizukage that it surfaced in Konoha. However..." She cut him off before he was able to object, "I informed the Fifth Mizukage that it was in the hands of a Kiri shinobi, which has not been able to leave. Under the circumstances, she has permitted that you are allowed to keep it."

Sliding her hand down the short handle, Tsunade offered the longer handle. "It is a gift for what you did for the village. Ironically, this is the weapon that cut power to the entire village. Kakashi reported that when he and Gai were leading an assault to stop Youki's siblings from taking out the power, one of them threw the blade in order to complete his mission, but at the cost of his weapon, which is the most foolish thing I've ever heard of."

Letting it go, The Hokage now turned to Shino and Kiba. "As for the two of you, I would also like to thank the two of you for the battle that took place." She stated seriously. "Had it not been for the two of you, and Sasuke..." She painfully admitted. "I would have likely been forced to bury a great deal of shinobi by dawn, which is not something I enjoy doing. For that, I've decided to reward the four of you."

To be rewarded by the Hokage didn't seem like any small consequence. "For starters..." Her golden eyes rested on Karin and Suigetsu. "The two of you will not longer be considered prisoners, and I will assign you to missions, as if you were regular shinobi. With that, means that you will be considered residents of Konoha." The difference between residents of Konoha and a member of Konoha was that they were considered approved visitors of the village, as if they had chosen to come and had been given permission. "This means that you will be paid for your services to the village, and if you choose to leave the non-shinobi district and move into the shinobi district, that is your choice. However, I will insist that you have limited contact with Sasuke. This may sound paranoid of me, but I assure that it is him that I do not trust."

Now, the blonde's attention turned to Shino and Kiba. "I have overridden Akira's orders and removed Kano from the Inuzuka estate. He has been given his own space while he is here to assist ANBU and has been personally requested by me not interfere with your affairs. Unfortunately, I am unable to force him to comply. I have also confirmed that Youki did not steal any records that would compromise the lives of specified shinobi that had previously concerned us." It was clear that Tsunade did not want to go into detail about this matter.

However, she wasn't through with what she had done for them. "Akiko is on her way back to the village. Considering Youki's previous actions, ANBU kept her away from the village during the attack, despite her skill. She was not made aware of the attack until after the attack, and has been told that you both are injured, but alive. She is quite anxious to see you, Kiba." That almost went without saying. "Your records have been updated, and in according to you official mission ranks, this was added as an S rank mission, as was your infiltration of Youki when you both deceived and were trained by his siblings. You now have 2 S-Ranked missions. Congratulations." There was a pause and she added. "Considernig what you told me this morning, Shino, I have decided to void Sasuke's house arrest and have restored his standing as a shinobi of Konoha. Many members of the village saw what he did, and I believe that because he has earned their trust and yours, I should at least give him mine." Her fingers laced together and rested on her desk.

"I would like to thank you as well Shibi." She stated, knowing that he was just outside her office. "The assassin that came was not as I expected, and considering his attempt at Shizune's life, there is much I owe you. If there's anything you want, please let me know." Saving her first apprentice and killing a well known assassin that had been causing them trouble for almost a decade was an accomplishment, making Tsunade wish she could do more for him.

"One last thing..." She added to the younger group of shinobi. "I've arranged for you to receive $2,000 for what you have done. Each."

Suigetsu stood with his arms crossed as Tsunade began to address all of them as a group. Suigetsu had assumed that this was merely going to be a forced thanks, something that she needed to do so that the people would believe that they were all on the same side. It was going to be for purely political reasons, or so the Kiri shinobi thought. He listened intently, wondering what it was that she was going to say. At first the words were as expected as Suigetsu could heard the long and drawn out thanks. She could talk as fancy as she wanted, but it wasn't until the very end that something caught Suigetsu's attention. Something was left in the village? What could she possibly be talking about?

Suigetsu's eyes moved towards the door, widening as he saw what was coming through. It couldn't be? The Kiri shinobi just stared as the blade that he wanted more than any of the others entered into the room. The Legendary Hiramekarei, the blade that Mangetsu had used just before he had died. Suigetsu had tried for years to claim it, only to fail miserably. He had never even heard a whisper of where it was, and now it was just inches away from him. The words were lost on him, the only thing that he got out of Tsunade's words was that he was being granted possession of the blade. He took it slowly, just staring at it in wonder. Tsunade went on to say more about their position and how they were going to be able to go on missions and all that.

Suigetsu just nodded absently. "Thank you Tsunade......this means a lot to me", he finall said before looking up and giving the first actual bow of respect to the Hokage since he had arrived.

Kiba just gained a huge grin as Tsunade revealed that Kano was going to be removed from the Inuzuka estate and sent elsewhere. That was going to make life far more tolerable, especially now that Akiko was going to be coming back! He was glad that she wasn't there to see the fake Sakura getting stabbed, it probably would've greatly shaken her. Kiba didn't want that for her. At the mention of the missions Kiba just gave his classic grin. "Well well, my first two S rank missions and I passed them both. Not bad eh Shino?", he asked with a laugh as the Aburame ignored him.

Shino gave a small nod at the information. "Thank you Lady Tsunade, you have been most kind to all of us", he said before looking up towards her. "My feelings on Sasuke are still one hundred percent on us. He went out of his way to make sure that Youki didn't get to you in time. Had it not been for him, last night would have ended up much differently", Shino said simply. He wasn't saying Tsunade certainly would've died, but it definitely wouldn't have been as clean as it turned out.

And it was within that moment that his name was mentioned that Shibi suddenly flickered in. "Ah, your generosity has proven to be too much Tsunade", he said as he crossed his arms. "At this time I cannot think of anything that I require. So if you don't mind I'll just hold onto this in case I need a favor from you in the future", Shibi said with a little laugh.

Tsunade smiled at Suigetsu. "It is the least I can do, considering the village has proclaimed you as a hero they didn't know we had." She glanced at Karin, as if to say that the same went for her, which went without saying. A lot happened this morning, and she wanted to make sure that all bases were covered, when she was happy, she was quite generous and did not hesitate to reward the shinobi that deserved it, especially knowing what she did about Youki.

Karin was also quite surprised, but she managed to smile, looking toward Suigetsu. Needless to say, he would most likely going on far more missions than she would be. Taking Sugietsu's hand, she held onto it, knowing that choosing Konoha over Youki was the best move they had made in quite a while, especially considering how they ended up here.

Turning to Shino, Tsunade sighed. "Well,I suppose that Sasuke has proven himself to be loyal, despite his actions as a child. It's time that I gave him a means to prove to me his intentions... I don't think he will risk repeating his previous mistakes now that he and Sakura are going to have another child." Turning to Shibi, she grinned. "I would offer you some of my sake, but I'm going to need it to get through all the paperwork I have laid out before me. Normally I would have Sakura and Shizune do it, but Sakura is working at the hospital with Shizune."

Suigetsu just held his smile as he attacked the blade onto his back. Since they were going to see the Hokage, he had left the Decapitator Knife back at the room, not wanting to appear hostile towards the leader of the village. Now it was the perfect thing, since he could now equip the blade that he was now going to have to master. It was different than his previous blade, but he was certain that he could get the hang of it.

He turned towards Karin and smiled as he held her hand within his own. He gave a small squeeze before turning back to face Tsunade. Things were finally starting to look up, their prison might now start turning into a home. Suigetsu had a large amount of the people in love with him for what he did, so at the very least they had a good head start in this village.

Shino gave a nod. "Believe me, if Sasuke wanted to do damage I'm certain that he could. All of his actions point to loyalty though. He risked his life against Youki, and I fought alongside him the whole time and he didn't back down", Shino insisted. "He will prove himself to you one day, I don't know how but he will"

"Meh, perfectly understandable. Thankfully I don't need any more liquor thanks to a new friend of mine anyway", Shibi said with a laugh to himself. He was of course referring to Sasuke, but he wasn't going to let that slip to Tsunade now was he?

Tsunade nodded her head. "You're dismissed." She stated to all of them, knowing that she had to get on with her paper work. All of these forms were not going to write themselves.

Karin was in a better mood about all that had happened. She thought that things were going to turn out for the worst, the Hokage wanting to see them wasn't always a good thing, but it seemed that they were finally being rewarded. Hopefully that meant they would be able to leave, assuming they choose to. Considering everything that happened in Konoha, and with Youki, it might be safer for them to stay here until he was killed. It gave the two of them the protection of a village, which they did not have if they were to be set free.

"Sasuke is perhaps the shinobi that could do the most damage, it's why I had him under observation constantly." Tsunade told Shino. "And the anklet he wore stopped him from unleashing his chakra. It would suck out his chakra and drastically injure him if he where to raise his chakra over a reasonable level. It flared a few times when the two of you were together, but it's my understanding that he was training you."

The door to Tsunade's office flew open and Akiko ran in, jumping into Kiba's arms. "Kiba-kun.." She exhaled, holding onto his shoulders. "I was so worried about you.." She was dressed in ANBU clothing that was tailored to fit her. "Are you alright?" Her hands rested on his cheeks and there was a mask around her neck, hanging behind her back that almost looked like a dog. "Well... I can see you're alright, but are you truly okay? what happened to your hand? And what happened to my brother?"

Suigetsu just held his smile before turning and seeing Akiko rush over to Kiba. It looked like this was going to get personal, so he'd drop by later. "Let's go home Karin", Suigetsu said as he took her hand and lead out of the office. As they moved down the stairs the Kiri Shinobi looked towards Karin. "So what do you think of everything that just happened?", he asked curiously. Karin had a keen mind, so while he saw it as quite good she might have noticed something he didn't.

"I understand why you were suspicious of him, and believe me a week or so ago I wasn't much different. I let my anger get the best of me, because I remembered when several of my friends were brought home as near corpses when they had tried to save him", Shino explained softly. "I know that he still has much to prove, but I believe that he will............is there anything else that you need of me? My current assignment is over after all"

Kiba turned around as the door burst open, causing a wide smile to come to his face. As Akiko leapt into his arms he made sure to grab her. He did it with one arm though, since they said that overuse of the other might result in the hand completely falling off of the arm. That wouldn't be a pretty sight to see. "Hey love, don't worry I'm alright. My hand just took a bit of a shock from Youki", he said with a weak laugh as he remembered the pain that he was in. "And your brother...........just got his ass kicked by Konoha's finest", Kiba said with a wink. "He was on the run, another inch of damage and he would've died Akiko, you should have seen it"

Tsunade shook her head. "Not at the moment, Shino, no. You may leave if you choose to." She stated, smiling at him. "Thank you."

Karin silently agreed with Suigetsu and started to walk with him. What did she think? "That was more than just something she was obliged to do, but her lacking trust in us meeting with Sasuke alone states that first, she still does not know of what went on, and that just because we're allowed to move as guests, we're not the most trusted guests." She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "I think that we will be watched for the first few days to see how we react to our freedom." she added once they had left the Hokage tower. "And, that once we pass that test, she will assign us both missions, most likely separately to access our skill to the village as individuals, and then together, so see our collective benefit. Or we will just be accessed together. I doubt that she is willing to let one of us go and keep the other." There were many possibilities that the two of them might experience, but she wasn't sure what would happen in it's entirety. However, there had to be something that was going to happen. After the crimes the two of them had committed there was no way one battle would make it a thing of the past, but it did help to mask what occurred.

A rather surprised look came to Akiko's face and she smiled up at her mate. So, he actually was okay. His hand wasn't the color of the rest of his skin, but he seemed able to move his arm and he wouldn't lie to her. He was injured, but he could recover. That comforted her. "I can't believe Youki would attack the village, especially if it almost cost him his life..." she never considered that Youki could lose before now. Everything he'd done seemed to prove the opposite, that he was immortal. However, he got away... and that's what really mattered. Deciding it was best to change the subject, because she didn't want to talk about her brother, she picked up her mask, showing it to him. "Do you like it?"

The door to the hokage office opened once more and Jin walked inside. "You're never supposed to show someone your mask Akiko. It defeats the purpose of having one." He walked over and rested his hand on the top of her head. "But I suppose we can make an exception, okay?"

Akiko smiled up at him and nodded. "Okay. I won't show anyone else."

Shino gave a tiny bow. "Very well Lady Tsunade, call upon me if you have any need of my abilities", he said before turning and heading out of the office. Shibi gave a miniature salute before turning and following his son out of the Hokage building.

Suigetsu gave a solid nod as Karin began to voice her thoughts. "I have similar feelings, but still she must trust us a pretty decent deal if she was willing to give me this guy", Suigetsu said with a grin as he pointed to his new sword. Of course, it was only a moment later that his face twisted up and he thought about something. "Than again, maybe she'd feel more comfortable to have it here rather than Nomi or Kiri have it back?", he thought out loud as he wondered what Tsunade's motivations were for giving it to Suigetsu. Maybe Tsunade didn't even realize the importance the blade held with him? Suigetsu just gave a tiny shrug in the end and turned to look at Karin. "I agree, no matter what they decide I'm sure that they'll keep us here to see it through", he added with a smile. "So..........what ya wanna do now?"

Kiba just gained a tiny grin. "Believe me you should've seen his face Akiko, Youki had no idea what hit him when myself, Shino, and Sasuke attacked him", the Inuzuka said proudly. Youki was a huge threat, so the fact they were able to deal with him so well made Kiba feel pride in his own ability. As the mask was lifted up Kiba just gave a solid nod. "But of course I do", Kiba said with a smile as he touched it lightly. "Looks just like Akamaru", he said jokingly.

A moment later and Jin walked in, telling Akiko to not show anyone else the mask. Akiko seemed happy, and had gotten through training without incident. "Hey Jin............thanks for looking after her for me", Kiba said with a nod as he still held onto Akiko.