Ojos Asi [[private -- nyrax]]

Suigetsu's eyebrows lifted in surprise at Karin's comment. Was she being serious? If so, that was utterly amazing. "I admit that I don't know much about medical jutsu for...obvious reasons," he said with a chuckle, "but I imagine that kind of a skill must be extremely rare and valuable. It means you can heal more people in less time right? IF you use their charka and yours after all."

Karin nodded. "I can also manipulate the chakra of others. Sakura had me move her chakra around inside of Aaliyah's body through her chakra network in order to heal some of her internalized injuries that we normally wouldn't have been able to do anything about." She explained. "It's not as easy by any means, but I suppose that makes me better than most others at what I do."

"Still pretty dang impressive if I have anything to say about it," Suigetsu said simply. HE hadn't even heard of anyone else even being able to do that. "You have your gifts that make you unique, just like my water form makes me the perfect close range fighter," Suigetsu remarked as he looked over at her. "No wonder Konoha didn't want us to leave."

Karin laughed when he marveled at why Konoha didn't want them to leave. Among other things, Karin and Suigetsu had skills that any village would want. That was why Orochimaru had them in the first place, he had been building a super army in order to dominate the world and crush Konoha. It didn't surprise her at all, since she had expected them to do something like that, at least, she did once she woke.

In any case, her training was going well and it was much better than the method she had previously been using which worked on every before Suigetsu. "It makes sense though. All the villages want to feel secure with their shinobi, in case something happens. And, for Konoha, something always happens."

"That's true, you know have you ever wondered why Konoha always seems to be the target of so many conspiracies and crimes? I mean in Kiri we deal with the occasional uprising or a coup or some kind....but that's life in the blood mist," Suigetsu said with a laugh as he realized how crazy that must have sounded to Karin. Course everyone knew what kind of a reputation mist shinobi had, even if for the past few years they had been trying to step away from it.

"Konoha is the target of these attacks and conspiracies because of their shady business practices. I've heard things while I was working at the hospital. Some of the nurses have some nasty information about a lot of the clans, and not just Uchiha. There's a rumor floating around the hospital that one of the clan is trying to seize control of the Hokage office. I didn't really catch which one, but they think it's one of the dominant clans."

"Surprising," Suigetsu remarked as they continued their trip to the Hokage tower. "You'd think that after everything that Konoha has been through lately that the clans wouldn't be seeking such personal power," he remarked as he looked over to his girlfriend. It was amazing what obsession and desire could do to people, it tore them apart. "It'll be nice to finally get away from the insanity of this place."

"I don't understated why they struggle for power in this village so much. Their problem is that they have so many people who desire power that is screws up everyone else. I get the feeling that all the major clans have rivalries and hate one another because of the strife their forefathers had to maintain the hierarchy of clan status." She sighed, shaking her head. It was a good thing that her village wasn't like this. Even Oto, when Orochimaru was in charge of it, didn't run as Konoha did, and now she knew why.

Suigetsu gave a shrug. "Peace allows people to grow greedy and bored. They think that they're invincible because no one wants to fight them, and so they strive to gain more power within their inner circle. Konoha does this more than any village I know, their inner hatred has proven unfortunate at times," Suigetsu remarked. "I just hope that they can put aside all of that when Akatsuki and Youki knock on their door."

"Peace has that effect on everyone." She said with a shrug. "But Konoha most of all. There has always been a conflict between all of the villages and the fact that they're all in one place, fighting for status just makes it worse. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if there was more to the destruction of Uchiha than what we know now." She said, glancing toward Suigetsu. It was clear that she had never mentioned this to Sasuke, but it wouldn't surprise her in the least if there was more to the story.

"Still, let's hope they can defend themselves when the time comes."

Suigetsu glanced over at Karin curiously as she talked about the destruction of the village. He had never heard her talk about that before, not even just as a passing mention. He couldn't help but wonder how long she had something like this on her mind, she had never said anything to Sasuke about it after all.

"Konoha is strong. I might not love everything about this place but there's a reason that mist never conquered them," Suigetsu admitted. "With your information, Konoha will begin defense plans soon."

Karin could agree with that. Even Orochimaru had failed to destroy the village. He had gotten as far as to kill their hokage. But to her, that meant nothing. Orochimaru killed an elderly man in failing health that was on his last leg in battle. And, on top of that, it was his sensei, a man that he knew well to begin with. It was hard for her to reject Orochimaru now, especially since he had done so much for her when he was alive. Even if she knew it was a lie and he was only using her.

"Konoha is strong whenever something happens. The pride of the village overtakes all of their petty guilt and conflict and they ban together." She explained. "That's why they've continued to live through all of this."

"Well, let's just hope that they see whatever you've sensed as a good enough threat to unite," Suigetsu admitted as they continued to move throughout the village and towards the Hokage tower. It was one thing for a village to struggle, but it was another to have such a consistent internal conflict like Konoha so constantly did. Hopefully they could survive another round of struggles like that.

Karin agreed with Suigetsu. It was sad that this village had so much internal strife. It seemed that Konoha had more missing nin than any other village. Of course, that wasn't strictly true, especially since how many of them there were still alive, dead, captured, or otherwise dealt with. Most missing nin ended up dead or deflecting to another village and fought against Konoha. That was something that Orochimaru had done, to the point of founding his own village.

"Let's hope so."

Eventually they made their way to the Hokage tower. Unless something bad was really going on than Tsunade should be there. Course, with Aaliyah being back there was no telling what kind of internal security she might be dealing with. Surely her return from Youki was going to cause quite a few ripples. With that being said, he hoped that she'd have enough time to hear what they had to say.

"We really need to speak to the Hokage, it's an emergency," Suigetsu said to whoever was in charge of such things.

The secretary that was at the desk looked up and blinked. "I'm sorry, but the Hokage is not seeing anyone at the moment. Would you care to leave a message or make an appointment?" She asked, smiling up at the two of them.

Sakura was walking down the stairs away from the Hokage office and saw the two of them. "Good afternoon." She said to Karin and Suigetsu. She walked to the door, a little surprised to see them here. "Why are you here?"

"We need to meet with Lady Tsunade. I need to speak with her." Karin answered, looking at Sakura over her glasses.

Seeing what Karin was getting at, Sakura nodded. "I'll take you to see her. Don't worry about it." She smiled at the secretary and waved her hand, gesturing for them to follow her up to Tsunade's office. Once they went up the stairs, she knocked on the door. "Shishou, may I come in?"

"You better have sake with you, Sakura!" Tsunade called through the door. "Enter!"

Suigetsu was about to share a few "not appropriate" words with the secretary about how when someone said that they needed to see the Hokage, it was best to let them see the Hokage! Luckily for the secretary, Sakura showed up just in time to save her. Suigetsu's attention and patience was quickly fixed due to her arrival.

"Thanks for the help Sakura," Suigetsu said as he followed the girls up to the Hokage Office. Once Sakura received permission to enter, Suigetsu only waited for the other two to enter before he walked in himself. "Sup Hokage?" he asked before realizing that she probably wasn't really in the mood for any sort of small talk.

"We...I mean, Karin has some information that she thought you needed to be aware of."

After Suigetsu came into the room and greeted the Hokage, Karin closed and locked the door rather suddenly. Sakura knowing this information wouldn't be a bad thing, especially since she was the Hokage's apprentice. Karin knew that Sakura knew more about the village than most people did. She nodded to Sakura then turned to the Hokage. She explained what she had been sensing and what was happening.

Karin made sure that she explained everything and when she had been given a scroll, she was able to write information about each of the shinobi that came toward the village. She sorted them by village and even went as far as to identify what their chakra affinity was. If they came back toward the village, she would know immediately.

Tsunade considered this. She looked toward Suigetsu and Karin. "If this happens again, I would like you to take one of the shinobi and bring them into the village for interrogation. Leave the Kiri shinobi alone for now." She knew that she wouldn't risk angering the Mizukage. But, at the same time, she couldn't risk too much of their security. "If there's no way to only take one, then take all you need. But make sure that you leave no witnesses on a potential enemies part. Agreed?"

Suigetsu just stayed back and let Karin explain the situation, wanting to not get in the way. After all, he didn't want to provide any information that he wasn't positive on, and he really didn't memorize any of the information that karin gave him. So he kept letting the girls talk until Tsunade actually decided to give them a mission.

As they were assigned the mission, Suigetsu's smile just grew larger and larger as they were given their orders. He was glad to know that Tsunade trusted him to actually go out and capture some shinobi, he had wanted to get out and really let loose for some time. He'd have to avoid the killing, but at least he was going to actually get crap done. It had been too long since his last real fight.

"I can't wait. They always come at night, so we'll make sure that as soon as they're captured that we bring them right to you. They won't get away with the two of us on the case."

Tsunade nodded. "There is a special facility that ANBU uses to interrogate special criminals. Sakura, you know the location, I need you to bring them there." She said, turning to her apprentice. "I think that you should also tell Sasuke about this."

Sakura looked to her sensei and nodded. "Alright. Come on, Suigetsu, Karin." She said, seeing the look at her sensei was giving her. "Sensei?" She asked.

This time, Tsunade nodded. "Yes, Sakura. I know."

The pink haired Uchiha smiled and left the office, leading the others away. "Aaliyah is doing well." She added as they walked away from her sensei's office. "They expect her to recover, but we're having issues with security, it seems. Sasuke has been working on finding out where the leak came from, but we haven't found it." She said with a sigh. "The meeting room where we investigate criminals that are too powerful or too big of a risk to house them with general criminals. Juugo stands guard to make sure that no one leaves without clearance. I'm not sure what Sasuke did to change him, but he did a good job."

She lead them for the rest of the way in silence. They went into the non-shinobi district and moved into a restaurant. Sakura spoke to someone for a table, but rather than giving her one, they lead her into the backroom, out through the kitchen door and into an alley that was covered on all sides. From there, the restaurant worker, a young man not that much older than them, rested a hand on the wall and applied some chakra to it. A seam appeared and she slid it open and gestured for them to come inside. Once they did, she closed the door, leaving them in darkness. After a few seconds, purple lighting appeared, lighting the way down the hallway. She started to lead them down the hallway and then slowed and stopped.

Movement could he heard down the hallway. "Who's there?" came Juugo's deep voice, the silloeutte of his giant figure in the distance.

"Juugo, it's--"

"Sakura." He said, moving down the hallway to stand before her. He smiled upon seeing her and rested a hand on her face. "I have missed you. Is everything alright?"

Sakura nodded. "Yes." She gestured to Karin and Suigetsu. "We've been having security issues, and they might bring someone in to be interrogated. If that happens, you need to treat this shinobi with extreme care and caution. Can you do that for me?"

Juugo smiled at her then at Karin and Juugo. "Of course I can do that." He studied Karin and Suigetsu, making sure they were alone. "It has been a long time since I have seen you." He stated, watching the two of them. Juugo had been in charge of keeping Suigetsu away from Sasuke during the stunt they pulled. Juugo had been the major force protecting Sasuke and making sure that he stayed alive. "I did what I had to do." He wanted to make that clear. Despite everything he and Sugietsu had in the past and all they had been through, Juugo had come to respect Suigetsu. "Sasuke has done a lot for me. I had to repay him for that."

((sorry if this isn't my best post, I'm still quite a bit under the weather.))

Once again Suigetsu followed in silence as Sakura began to lead them to the location that Tsunade spoke about. It was good that they were going there now, after all there was no telling how quickly they would need to move back here. With this plan they could make sure to grab whatever shinobi they needed before arriving here. There wouldn't be any worry about needing to contact Tsunade or Sakura. The more things that they had in place, the more likely this plan was going to succeed.

As Juugo appeared Suigetsu couldn't help but be surprised. He had wondered where the giant went after the battle for the village, he didn't think that Juugo would be in charge of such a sensitive location. Guess Sasuke had really proven Juugo's worth to Tsunade, that was something at least. It was when he went in to his explanation that Suigetsu gave the smallest of grins.

"Don't worry about it. We all have to do what we have to do," Suigetsu admitted. "You did what you had to in order to help yourself and Sakura, can't say that I wouldn't have done the same thing if our roles were reversed. Anyway, it's all good."

Juugo smiled at Suigetsu hearing that explanation. In his current state, he was quite calm. During battle, he had purposefully used his body to transform and protect Sasuke, showing that he had gained considerable control. He faced both Karin and Suigetsu, strangely reminded of the prison in this situation. Never did he ever expect the three of them to be in Konoha, together, working for the village in such a way. It was quite surprising for him, but it was heart felt. He was glad things turned out this way.

Then, he finally nodded and turned toward Sakura. "Is everything okay?" He asked her.

Sakura nodded. "Everything is evening out. Tsunade-sama sent Shikamaru and Neji out on one of Sasuke's missions this morning. Sasuke insisted that he stay with Shino until Aaliyah wakes up and Tsunade couldn't seem to argue with him." She sighed, leaning against the wall. "There's still no sign of Youki."

"No surprise on that one though, that Youki has always enjoyed hiding rather than fighting anyone head on," Suigetsu added as Sakura spoke to Juugo. He had seen how quickly Youki ran when he became injured at the village's hands. He just continued to run and hide from everyone, never facing them head on unless he had an escape strategy. He didn't even believe in his own ability to fight, and Suigetsu saw him as nothing more than a coward.

"He'll show up soon enough though. The guy doesn't like to be disrespected, and with his knowledge of what Aaliyah has been doing for years....he's going to want some sort of payback."

"I haven't been able to sense his chakra." Karin added, as if that was some sort of consolation. Considering her unique skill, Konoha's possession of her made her an asset to anyone that wanted to prevent an attack, or a hindrance to anyone who wanted to mount an attack. It made her a target of attack, even though she wasn't a particularly powerful shinobi. Much the same was true of Sakura, even though she was powerful in battle, her real skill rested in healing the injured and putting shinobi back into battle. Someone like Sasuke would be unstoppable with a medic like Sakura. And, since they were married it made them an even more dangerous team. Much the same was the case with Suigetsu and Karin. he couldn't be injured and she could sense any threat over a large distance.

Sakura nodded, knowing that Youki would keep his distance for a while. "Shishou believes that Youki will send someone else to spy on his behalf. We have considered closing the gates to the village, but, it was decided by the elders that we should instead focus on new shinobi to the village and more carefully screening the actions of those who are not considered safe, been here a long time, or have little ties to the village. Karin, she'd like to to pay attention to any chakra patterns that you feel are moving too systematically or erratically."

The red haired woman nodded. "Alright. So, keep track of their W's?"

"Exactly."

Suigetsu moved against a nearby wall and leaned against it before crossing his arms. Although he had gotten better at carrying the Decapitator Knife around, it still took quite the bit of energy out of him, so while everyone was talking and discussing he just figured that he would rest up by using the wall to take some of the weight off of the blade. After all, with Karin's skill there was no telling how soon they might be on the hunt for some of the shinobi that she sensed before.

"So, what exactly is our first step going to be? I'm ready to go anytime."