["This Will End"--The Oh Hellos]

"Excuse me?" Temari said to Shine. "You mean as a matter of diplomacy, right? Not seriously."

"If you gentlemen and lady wouldn't mind giving us some time to talk this over," Shine said to the Rain shinobi, "I think we would do better without an audience."

"I suppose we could wait a few more minutes." Kyuu still seemed offended, but he'd probably come too far to let any chance at a success slide, no matter how unlikely.

He and the other two moved back several paces.

"Okay." Wally put his hands up. "I get it, you don't like Rain Village. But what's with the hostility here? They came all this way just to ask you to visit them--that's pretty nice of them to do. And without even know if you'd say yes, it took guts."

"Even if they were sincere," Kankuro said, "we don't know who else is in the village."

"The land is cursed," Temari said. "No one ever makes it out it alive, but rumors say that it never stops raining there. That's not natural. It's in the land, it's so full of darkness."

Shine and Wally both did not look impressed.

"Really," Shine said, as if they were children acting up in a supermarket, "this is your excuse? You're afraid of rumors?"

"Don't you think they're true?" Kankuro said.

"That it never stops raining? Might be mostly true," Shine shrugged. "But the rest? Come on, it's implausible. If no one ever escapes, where do those rumors come from? Jiraiya himself would have gotten away if he'd been smarter about it, but he stalled too long. It's not a matter of possible, it's a matter of being arrogant enough to go in alone. Which we wouldn't do. And you seem to forget that we are adept at escaping anything. Who but us would be so sure to escape Rain Village?"

Temari hesitated. "But there's still the possibility of being attacked by them."

"You really think people who are never attacked by anyone else are that good at fighting?" Wally snorted. "Pain was just overpowered. They've been soaking in their rain gear out there for years, and he had the whole village under his thumb uncontested. If they had powerful fighters, don't you think there'd have been a coup against him? He wasn't exactly a nice guy."

That was a good point.

"The Village is only about the size of a small city," Shine added. "Not like yours that are big enough to fill a whole cavern or valley. And it's not protected at all by the terrain. Pain was the only reason it was so formidable."

"How do you know all this?" Temari asked. "No one knows anything about it."

"You seem to forget that we know things no one else does," Shine said like she was stupid. "Didn't you think that might include Rain Village? Just because Wally didn't study it doesn't mean I didn't. I think I've a pretty good idea what it looks like, and I don't see it as any threat for us. Though the weather will be depressing, no doubt, but we've had enough bad weather already; that shouldn't deter us. The people can't be very brave there, being oppressed for so many years. And as for the possibility of an assassination attempt, that's nothing you might not face at home too."

They stared at her.

"Wait, are you actually thinking about it?" Shikamaru said. "Please, even if everything they said there was true, it's too big of a risk."

"And what is with this timing?" Karin said. "We get kicked out of Stone Village, and the day after that Rain Village offers for us to go to them? That's too unbelievable."

They glanced at her strangely.

"That's just what makes it so likely we should go," Shine said. "From the most cynical perspective, Rain Village would be plotting something and will be able to follow you even if you say no, and then you've made an enemy for sure. But in the light I take it in, this is God's timing."

"How do you get that?" Kankuro said.

"We had nowhere to go," Shine said. "And now we do. They were even delayed by their own lack of navigational experience enough to meet us while we were still here and not split off to the different villages yet. Any sooner and we would not even have left Stone yet. And that wouldn't have gone over well, would it?"

No, they could imagine how that would have gone over.

"But they could have planned it this way," Temari said. "We don't know that they're telling the truth."

"Why lie about that?" Shine said. "They could have just said they didn't leave in time to catch us in Stone if they wanted to lie. No need to say they got lost. That's way too embarrassing for them to be lying."

"That could be an act," Kankuro said.

"Their message is too usual in other ways to be such a charming ruse," Shine said. "You're all dismissing it because it doesn't sound menacing, but that's your shinobi way of thinking taking over. They're quite right to think that your help would give them greater status, and they most would want to protect themselves from being crushed by the other villages. No one in their right mind would threaten your life when their own village is so disliked by the others that if they were to kill you, the hero of the war, the other villages would unite and crush them. They know that if they befriend you, Gaara, the other Villages will be far more cautious about attacking them. This is a smart political move. This Mirai person is no fool. She's picked the winning team. You've already won over Mist and Leaf, and they didn't know that Stone hadn't accepted when they set out. That's 3 out of 5 right there. They're already in trouble if they end up on the other side of your wrath. So, I don't think they are lying. Killing you gains them nothing. Sand will just pick a new Kage and then crush them with the help of its allies if you die. Rain only profits from this if you like them."

Gaara was deep in thought.

"And that's a God thing," Wally said. "Because we had nowhere to go and were praying about it, and they showed up right when we needed to make a decision. This way we can stay together."

"They wouldn't really agree to this," Sakura said, astounded and horrified. "No way...Rain Village?"

"I don't really like it," Naruto said. "They killed Jiraiya. I know that it was not the whole Village, but I don't know that I want to go there."

"It sounds scary," Hanabi said.

Temari was turning over Shine's reasoning in her mind.

"Okay," she said. "I admit that makes sense. Why would they kill us? But that doesn't make it a good idea to go there. What good is our mission if they aren't an official Village? They can't be part of the alliance."

"I know I'm not hearing this right now." Shine was frustrated, and she threw her hands up. "I--just--talk to them, Wally."

She actually turned in a circle like she was so annoyed she was going to kick something.

It was hilarious, but no one dared laugh at her.

"Boy, she's worked up." Suigetsu only went so far as that.

But really, Shine's attitude about it was having the effect of making the Sand Three feel silly for not getting it, and that was probably exactly what Shine was wishing for, whether she was doing it on purpose or not.

Wally really looked almost as annoyed, but he was much more naturally chill about it than her. "Okay, maybe we're not saying this clearly enough." He gestured like 'duh.' "But, uh, since when is our thinking based on what serves us the best? I know you guys didn't just say that. Because if you did, we've gotta go back to square one, since that's been our attitude from the beginning. On our side, anyway."

"And we're not getting anything out of this," Shine reminded him.

"And we're not getting anything out of this," Wally added evenly. 

"Just devoting weeks of our time to you for nothing in return," Shine added again.

"Yeah, that." Wally folded his arms. "And you want to talk to us about it not benefiting you to go to Rain Village?"

"Oh, and don't forget to mention the part where we're facing unknown dangers that aren't even in existence where we live, and they're talking about dangers they can at least kind of anticipate," Shine put in.

"And not to mention the--" Wally began.

"Please stop, I'm begging you," Dabi cut in. "Shine, just jump back in here if you don't like what he's saying. We don't need an echo."

"Okay, I wasn't really on board," Shoto said, "but, given all the things you're saying, it's more sensible."

"I'm not sure I want to go to Rain Village," Momo said. "But I can't think of any moral objections to it. Just my own comfort--and that's not good reason."

"Sis, if I was going to worry about comfort, I wouldn't be out here in the middle of nowhere without a blow dryer, a hot shower, and a coffee maker." Camie waved her hand dismissively. "Rain Village sounds like a cool detour adventure to me. I mean, dismal maybe, but we're already in a dismal mood, so it can't get much worse."

"We're likely to face bad weather even if we don't go there," Temari pointed out to the ninja. "So that's not much of a reason, unless we just go straight home from here using a portal or something. That's the only way this gets that much easier for us."

"I won't do it." Shine folded her arms. "You go home, you do it alone if this is how it is. To me the answer is clear: I've told you before, we do not refuse anyone who asks for our help. Within the bounds of what's right, of course. And there's no sin in going to Rain Village."

"You realize you're asking us to do so the most risky thing any of us have ever done?" Ino asked. "Outside of the war, and even then it was less of a sure thing, because at least people have survived wars before."

"Oh please, don't make such a mountain out of a molehill." Shine dismissed her with an eye roll. "With no Pain around, it's not nearly as impossible. Isn't getting in the hard part? We've got guides here to take us there."

"You know, she freaks out when you do things like start fights in a hallway, but you tell her that this Village is an impenetrable death zone, and she's like 'that's nothing'," Suigetsu said. "Is that cool or crazy?"

"Shine is typically not one who reacts to anything the way you expect," Momo sighed, rubbing her forehead. "But as heroes, we're not really supposed to consider how dangerous an assignment might be when we do it. Rain Village might need help... I mean, they can't have much of a medical system over there."

Sakura looked up. "What, so we have to be responsible for them? Again, they've never done a thing for any village. They only look out for themselves."

"Sakura, ain't no one making you come with us," Dabi said. He pointed towards the Land of Fire. "Your Village is that way."

Sakura gaped at him.

Sasuke smirked slightly. "I really don't see any reason not to go," he said.

"Uh...you don't?" Hinata looked at him. "But even you have to think it's dangerous."

"Anywhere I go is dangerous, so what's the difference?" Sasuke shrugged indifferently.

"Your vote doesn't count for much," Shoto said sourly. "In fact, it's a bad sign."

"Shoto, enough of that talk," Shine reprimanded him sharply. "By now, Sasuke has earned at least some weight in these decisions."

Sasuke was very surprised to hear that, but not nearly as much as the others were.

"Still, he's only one person," Shine said. "But it sounds as if you heroes are with us."

"Bakugo hasn't said anything," Momo said.

Bakugo shrugged. "I'm game for any challenge. Anyway, I don't think a village of soggy NEETs is going to be much of a problem for us."

"What's a NEET?" Ino asked.

"It's like a leech on society." Camie put her finger in the air. "They don't work or learn or do any real crap." [The term stands for "Not in Education, Employment, or Training", if you want to know.]

"Usually they are also isolated," Momo added. "I actually know this slang."

"Are you proud of that?" Dabi asked.

"Actually...a little," Momo said, wincing. "But my mother would be horrified. My family just calls those people deadbeats."

"Okay, now I know what you mean," Shikamaru said. "This strangely would apply to Rain Village in a broader sense."

"You're all not really thinking about it?" Sakura said.

"Why not?" Sai said. "They've made a pretty good case for it not being nearly so dangerous. And do you really think Miss Likstar or Mr. West would guide us anywhere they thought we would die? They would never be so callous. I'm inclined to think this would work out."

"We could stay together longer..." Ino was wavering finally. "But...it's...scary."

"Oh, come on, there's so many of us, they'd never be able to take us out." Camie grabbed her arm. "Please, bestie, it won't be the same without you."

"Ino, don't fall for that." Sakura began to really think they'd agree. "This is a terrible idea, and she shouldn't encourage you to do it. I'm serious this time. It's not just that I don't like these people. Even I'm not heartless enough to want them to die in the Rain Village!"

"If you're serious about that, I'm touched," Shine said dryly. "But you're really worried way too much about us--and that is an odd thing for me to say. You don't have to come, Dabi is right."

"Wait, did we decide we're going?" Kankuro said. "Gaara? Come on, even if we were convinced the risk is negligible, Sand Village won't endorse this. What do we tell them we're doing?"

"I suppose we could say we stopped at another Village, without specifying which one it was," Gaara said. "They may not like it, but there are dozens of small Villages out here, and they wouldn't assume Rain Village would even be a possibility. The others won't be a threat."

"So you want to go?" Temari said.

"I don't know if it's really that I want to," Gaara said. "At the moment, I don't want to do anything that much. But, West has made a point that this may be a divine meeting...and I suppose we can't afford to ignore that. In any case, no Kage has ever had the chance to visit Rain Village with such ease, and turning it down might be a wasted opportunity even from a political perspective. If we do get in and out, we'll at least know more about it. In that way, the Village may understand...but only if we succeed. So I think I won't tell them till that point."

Temari sighed. "Yeah, I guess. Kankuro?"

"If you two go, I will," Kankuro said, very unhappy. "But on the record, no matter if it's a trap or if it's not, I think the rewards will not be worth the risk."

"Still, no one should go who thinks this is impossible," Gaara said. "All of you are free from any obligation to continue our mission from this point forward. I include Sasuke in that."

Sakura looked up.

"Though it sounds as if he's fine with it," Temari shrugged. "But since Leaf let us take charge of him for the time being, we have to make it official. Maybe put that in writing, since if we die in Rain Village and some of those people don't, they could just get accused of killing us."

"Oh, that'll happen anyway," Suigetsu said. "I'll just go with you. I'm kind of curious to see what this forbidden Village looks like. And it's Rain, so I'll be in my element."

"What about me?" Karin asked.

"What about you? You can just go to Leaf with Sakura," Suigetsu said.

"Naruto, you're going to Leaf, right?" Sakura pleaded with him. "Come on, your own master died there. This place is only going to be painful for you."

But Naruto was uncharacteristically somber right now. "I dunno, Sakura...maybe that's why I should go. Maybe it'll help make things right in some way. Jiraiya probably just wanted what was best for everyone. I don't know if he'd really want me to be scared of Rain Village just because he died there."

"Hey, that's not bad," Wally said. "I'm proud of you, Naruto."

"Yes, that's an admirable thing to wish for," Shine acknowledged.

Naruto wasn't prepared for that, and he brightened slightly.

"Oh, so you finally encourage him when it's dangerous?" Sakura snapped. "What is wrong with you?"

"Sakura," Shine said in a tight voice. "Please, just give up. I understand, but you're not going to win this one. We can already see how everyone is going to decide."

Sakura looked around.

Even Shikamaru wasn't saying no right now. He was just deep in thought.

"Okay," he finally said. "I'll go."

"You will?" Temari was kind of surprised.

"Might as well," Shikamaru sighed. "You're all going to. But, on one condition: You may want to hide the truth from Sand, but I want to let Leaf know what we're doing. If we don't come back, they can know that Rain is still hostile towards them and be prepared. And they can tell Sand then. It's just smart to be cautious. I don't think Kakashi will force us to stop, however."

Gaara nodded. "All right."

"Fine," Shikamaru said. "That's all I want."

Ino sighed. "Okay, I'll go."

"Yay!" Camie hugged her.

"I'm in," Sai said. "In case it was not clear before..."

"Me too," Naruto said.

Karin glanced at Jugo, who shrugged. "I'll go with them," he said. "I don't care how dangerous it is. They're the ones who have the life."

Karin frowned. "I can't go to Leaf without Naruto anyway...so I guess I'm stuck. Anyway, you'd probably die without me there to sense danger."

"I'm not being left out of this," Sasuke insisted. "Anyway, no one would believe me."

"I'm surprised you're self aware about that," Dabi said.

"Touya!" Shine said.

"Hey, it was kind of a compliment if you think about it," Dabi shrugged.

"I suppose getting rid of him finally was too much to hope for," Shoto grumbled in a low voice, but Momo could hear him.

Hinata and Hanabi were left to decide, and so was Tenten.

Tenten didn't like to...but she hated to be called chicken.

"I guess," she said.

"You really don't have to," Gaara said, "just out of obligation."

"I said I'll go," Tenten said more firmly. "So just drop it."

Hinata pursed her lips. "I don't mind going myself, but Hanabi...there is no way I can excuse this to my parents. She should go back to Leaf."

"I won't do it!" Hanabi cried. "Not if you're all going to Rain. I'll never be able to live with knowing I missed out on this! I've been doing okay keeping up with you all, haven't I?"

"We haven't had any real danger yet that we've had to fight our way out of," Shikamaru pointed out. "This is the most high level thing we've done."

"It's not fair!" Hanabi cried. "I can do this! You always want to leave me out just because I'm younger. What about David and Goliath, huh? What about Samuel?"

"Wow, she's really been hitting that book," Wally said.

"She's hard to argue with," Shine admitted. "David was likely no older than her at the time he killed Goliath. Look, I can't see any reason to make her go home. We really don't know that it's that much more dangerous than anything else we've done."

"But..." Hinata said, "things could... I mean...we..." She looked helpless.

"Honey," Shine said, "you're her older sister, and you're a great older sister...but you're not her guardian. I'm sorry, but I don't think it's your call this time around."

"There, you see?" Hanabi said.

Hinata sighed. "It's not that you're weak, it's just...we're..."

"I'll be okay." Hanabi softened a little. "They'll make sure I get out if anything goes wrong."

"Yeah, for sure," Wally said. "We won't put her in any crazy danger on purpose. And we have all of you to watch out for it. This is basically the most highly sensitive group of people in the world right now. You and Karin are as good as radar."

Hinata nodded. "I guess...there's nothing we can do but be careful."

"So just Sakura is leaving?" Wally said, doing a headcount.

"Looks that way," Shine said.

"Wait a minute." Sakura held up her hand. Which was very grown up looking for someone her age. "This is such a stupid idea, but if you're all doing it...and I can't talk Naruto or...anyone else out of it, then...you'll probably end up needing medical attention before this is over, so I should just stay. I can't go back to Leaf alone--they'll blame me for this!"

She frowned. "But it's still a terrible idea, and I think you're going to regret it."

"Hmm, agree to disagree," Shine said.

"Are you sure?" Gaara said. 

"Just stop asking me." Sakura frowned and looked away.

"Hmm, maybe she's more gutsy than we thought," Dabi said.

"Shut up!" Sakura frowned at him.

"This b---h is committed, I'll give her that," Bakugo also commented.

"Bae, the b-word is, like, not okay to these guys," Camie reminded him. "They don't know it's sometimes not an insult in our, like, culture."

Bakugo didn't really care if they knew that.

Shine nodded. "Well, though I still think this is not so risky as you think, I recognize that for all of you to do this when you do is showing considerable courage and probably more than we're showing right now. It's always the person who's the most afraid to start with who shows the most courage when they do the thing anyway. So thank you for that."

"Hey, but are we sure that they're still letting us come?" Ino asked. "They don't look happy."

Kyuu, Kosame, and Jakku did look like they were running out of patience.

Shine waved them back over.

"Sorry for the wait," she said. "We had to make some plans."

"We talked it over," Gaara said, "and after reviewing what you told us in more detail, we think it sounds like a good opportunity."

"You just changed your mind?" Kosame said, not sounding like she believed it.

"Not all of us did," Kankuro said. "But we were overruled."

"For the record, we'll be watching you real closely," Temari said. "If we think anything looks suspicious, we're gone. And we don't mind taking you with us."

"Why would you take us with you?" Kyuu asked.

"She means we'll take you down first," Kankuro said, with an annoyed look.

"Oh..." Kyuu said. "Well...understood. Though I'm still insulted by your initial response."

"Still--" Kosame nudged him. "--we didn't think they'd believe us to begin with. Considering that, it's a pretty big turn around."

"Yes...well, I just hope it's sincere," Kyuu said.

"Now he hopes we're sincere?" Dabi said. "Ironic."

"How far to Rain Village now?" Wally asked.

"From here?" Kyuu pulled out a pretty tattered map. "If we're in the right place... At least, I think this is the mountain shaped like a U..."

"No, it's this one." Temari pointed to the mountain next to that one. "White Peak...you see the snow higher up?"

There was snow on the mountain they were climbing, though they would have passed below it because the path cut around it and did not go to the top.

"Oh..." Kyuu said, embarrassed. "Of course, I just thought it was water damage... Yes, well, then from there it should take about...4 days perhaps?"

"Four?" Temari said. "We should be able to do it faster than that. Rain is here, right?" She pointed to the Land of Storms' center.

"Well...close to there," Kyuu said.

"Then it should take us 3 days or less," Temari said. "We're already halfway there."

"Hold on." Momo looked at the map. "This makes no sense to me. It took us much longer to travel just to the coast to get to Mist. How have we gone this far in only a day and half?"

"For us, that's fairly normal," Gaara said.

"But we're not that fast," Momo said.

"I did think you were lagging behind less," Temari mused. "Maybe you're finally used to walking."

"I've noticed this before," Shine said. "Remember? Some things go faster for us somehow."

"I can't believe it," Momo said. "We'd have to have been going the same pace as ninja for this to make sense."

"Hang on," Ino said. "Camie, race me to that rock there."

"Uh? Okay." Camie shrugged.

They both took off.

Ino got there only a few seconds faster than Camie did, and both of them were going at a  normal sprint.

"I don't get it," Temari said, measuring it with her fan.

"What's the problem?" Kyuu said.

"Huh," Shine said. "Can you go to the ridge there and try to find the right path to the Land of Storms? Since you're more familiar with it. We'll catch up once you pick out the point."

"I suppose..." Kyuu said.

"Like he knows," Jakku muttered.

"I didn't see you doing it better," Kyuu snapped at him as they headed for the point.

"Okay, what's going on?" Shoto asked.

"Yeah, was I, like, fast there?" Camie said. "It didn't feel that fast to me."

Shine took a careful look at Camie. Then her eyes lit up briefly.

She then nodded. "I think it's happening."

"What's happening?" Bakugo asked warily.

"This happened to us when we visited Remnant," Wally said, catching up. "Our powers changed a little. I mean, not in what they were, but how they showed themselves. We generated this thing called an Aura. After a while we started to feel ours get lower just like theirs did, and then higher. We acclimated. I never had it happen to me before, but it was weird."

"Sooner or later," Shine explained, "we acclimate. We start to resemble the place we're in and how it functions. It won't be a complete change, but it will start to make us seem a bit more like you. It's just how it goes. People adjust to their environment. Humans are adaptable creatures. If we're getting faster, it's because our energy is starting to affect our bodies the same way yours does. I doubt we'll completely become reliant on chakra, but Karin's already mentioned she's starting to sense ours more strongly. I don't think that's just her getting used to us, I think we're taking on the characteristics of your environment."

"But I don't want to take on its characteristics," Shoto said.

"Shoto, please, we're eating their food and drinking their water and breathing their air," Shine said. "All this becomes part of our bodies. That's why we have to watch what we do and do not touch and eat and absorb here. Too much of it could poison us, but in small amounts, it's just going to change what we're like, a lot. But it won't change your personality, don't worry about it."

"So we moved faster?" Momo said. "But didn't notice it?"

"We reasoned that the ninja are just naturally faster than we were because their chakra aids their muscle movements," Shine said. "Likely that's what happened to us. Our bodies are starting to draw on our souls' energy to make them faster and probably slightly less destructible. I don't think we'll get self healing from it--I doubt the change could be that drastic--but we might get a little more resilient here. See, the strain of living in a new place can make you weaker at first, so part of it could be you've come out of the culture shock. That can take a few months, but we've been going through things so fast, we've had to process it quickly. It makes the process difficult but effective."

"Why didn't you tell us this would happen?" Dabi asked.

"I think I did warn you we might notice some changes," Shine said. "But I didn't know for sure what it would look like, so I couldn't have warned you in any detail. But us getting faster is not an unusual change. We might jump higher too."

Camie tried hopping. "I do feel a bit lighter," she said. 

"Well, you have no idea how to use your chakra properly," Sakura said. "That was the messiest leap I've ever seen."

"Thank you, know-it-all," Camie said. "Like, we just got this power."

"I see this as a good thing," Temari said. "We're becoming more evenly matched, power-wise. Besides we're acquiring some of your abilities hanging around you. Why not the other way around?"

"But," Shoto said, "others not being able to copy our chakra or sense it was one of the advantages we had."

"Your powers still feel different than our chakra," Karin said.

"Remember that it was always also a risk that people would notice that about us," Shine reminded Shoto. "One advantage is one weakness in another way. If you're worried that we'll start to get tired when we drain chakra, I don't know if it will be that big of a difference. I think your quirk will still use the same biological tools as before. But the more likely thing to be affected is how fast your body gets tired just as a matter of course, without using your powers. But it could up our endurance."

"I'm not quite sure how it works then," Momo said. "I'm sure I used my quirk yesterday, and it was the same as before...but I have been feeling less tired just walking around and working than I used to. I thought it was just as you said, that the lag had worn off and we'd gotten used to being active in that way."

"And that's probably it...but this is just how it works," Shine said. "Don't try to understand too hard. It's a mystery. Honestly, even adaptability in normal biology is a mystery. Science can't really explain it. When we try to force it it usually doesn't work, but somehow in nature it does."

"You're really getting pissed that you're going to be less easily hurt?" Suigetsu said. "Geez. You still look human--what do you have to be upset about? Sometimes you ain't so lucky."

They glanced at him dubiously.

"I guess it's not a big deal," Bakugo said. "As long as we're the same people...and we'll go back to normal when we go home."

"Probably right away," Shine said. "Adapting to your familiar environment usually takes minutes for most people."

"I guess it's okay then," Momo said, more calmly. "I mean, I still don't really understand how it's possible, but if it's normal, and we'll go back to how we were later, then it's no reason to get upset."

"I think it's kinda cool. What if we get ninja powers?" Camie held up her hands like she was going to do martial arts.

"You want to have dark powers?" Dabi said.

"Well, nah, but what if I could summon earth or light or something?" Camie said.

"Sorry honey, but that's nothing like what you'll get." Shine shook her head. "It won't be that big."

"Darn it," Camie pouted.

"Well, if you're all done admiring yourselves," Temari said, "how about we start moving again? If we're going to Rain Village, I want to do it as soon as possible."

"As soon as we have a new target, you start rushing us again," Shikamaru said.

"They are impatient. I think we had better hurry," Gaara agreed. "I pray this was the right decision."

They all headed to catch up with the Rain Shinobi.

[This song seems to fit their decision here. I'm sure all of you were quite surprised by this turn. It was the plan from the beginning, but I never dropped any hints because I thought it worked much better if it came out of left field. Psych!]

https://youtu.be/Eq2vBlZoWIY

[AMV to "My Blood" by Narut9--I wish this one was for the larger cast, but this was the only one for this song.]