It seemed like only a tenth of a second had passed when she was snapped out of the illusion that had frozen her senses so completely. The image before her eyes changed in a flash, leaving her eyes and ears sore and sensitive. A loud ringing was all she could hear for the following few seconds. A soft groan escaped her lips as she felt her head pulsing, veins throbbing under her skin. Her eyes darted from one side of the room to another. Gin breathed a sigh of relief as soon as both her girls came into view. They were fine. They were fine. She repeated the phrase to herself, trying to calm her relentless heart from beating so rapidly.

The young mother darted to the other side of the room. Her hearing became clear again in time to hear Sanosuke ask her to leave. "Like hell I'm leaving! This is my fight. These are my children he took. I'm sure as fuck not-" a loud explosion made the room itself shake, debris starting to fall from the ceiling overhead. The source was one of the wings further to the south. No doubt Gendou had signaled the guards somehow. Gin stayed still for a moment, staring at Sanosuke directly in the eye. She gritted her teeth. He wasn't going to back down. His stubbornness and her need for revenge... They weren't worth risking the safety of her two little girls. Through gritted teeth and clenched fists, she swallowed her pride and wrapped a firm arm around each of her daughters. "Fuck, you fucking owe me for this!" She yelled as she ran out of the room as quickly as her legs could carry her. She made it halfway down before concentrating chakra on the soles of her feet and placing a seal on the ground. She held Chie and Reiko tightly, shielding them with her own body.

The silver haired woman crashed through several walls in a straight line. She had memorized the entire floor plan of the prison. She knew exactly where she was headed and how. The second her foot hit the ground once again, she placed another seal. She was where she needed to be - in the middle of the most highly guarded cellblock - in two more seconds. The entire place was surrounded in flames, prisoners running amuck, guards chasing after  them. The silver haired woman guessed that they would ignore her at least for a minute. She hoped to whatever god was out there that that was enough time to find Navi and get the hell out of this place. "Wind Style: October! She yelled.

In an instant, the wind around her became an extension of her senses. She could feel the shapes and silhouettes of everything and everyone within the block. She focused, concentrated on finding the fake Sanosuke's unconscious body. Her eyes opened, her sight now zeroed in on her target. Two more seals on the ground and she had managed to grab Navi as well as exit the building into the surrounding forest. She set all three of them down, leaning their backs against a nearby tree.

She turned to look at the burning building over her shoulder. Pieces of debris were starting to fall onto the ground, despite the fact that they were still contained to a single cellblock. It would spread to the surrounding parts of the prison soon enough. Leaving a shadow clone would be enough to protect the three of them while she went back for Sanosuke and stopped him from doing anything stupid. She was about to perform the jutsu and head back to where she came from when she felt an odd sensation pulsating in her head.

It was a strange mixture between dazedness and a jolt of electricity. It was vaguely familiar to her. Her suspicions were only confirmed when what she saw in front of her began to change and shift into darkness. She felt as if she were floating beneath a soft stream of water. It was a cold yet peaceful sensation. A figure began to appear, its edges faint and its shape struggling to maintain itself.

"Gendou," Gin said simply. Her voice echoed in the empty space of their linked minds. "What do you want? Why now?"

"It is a struggle to maintain this connection, my dear. Let's not waste it on silly questions." His voice came out just as hers had, his words barely distinguishable. "He's asking about an operative of the Court of Owls named Kikyo. I'm sure you know the names and read the files, your hatred for paperwork aside. He seems to have his own agenda, are you certain he came only to help you?"

Gin felt like she had just been punched in the stomach. Her eyes went wide and her heart skipped a nervous beat. No, he couldn't have ulterior motives. He cared for her - they cared for each other. She wasn't just a means to an end. She wasn't just another stepping stone on his way towards his goals. Right?

"I'm going to assume you're feeding the same information to the other four." It was a statement, not a question.

"Naturally. They're on a completely separate line, however. They won't know I spoke to you, not that it would make much of a difference. They're coming for you and they won't stop until either you or they end up dead." He sighed, as if defeated by the mere idea of it. Gin almost did the same, knowing she was tired of it all. There was a brief pause before Gin spoke again.

"Whatever you're telling him - it isn't willingly, is it?" Gendou shook his head slowly.

"He would do the same to you if you had the answers he needed." He said it with certainty and finality. His voiced dripped with honesty and even vulnerability. Gin almost believed him. "For now, however, you are an ally still. Get in the way of whatever he is searching and you will no doubt suffer the same fate."

"This - whatever torture he's putting you through - is only a fraction of what you deserve. You won't get any sympathy from me." Her voice came out as little more than a whisper, her words nonetheless harsh and steady. Still, they lacked any venom or anger.

"I expected none. It's been a pleasure, my dear girl."

Just like that, the connection was severed. The young woman gasped for air as if her lungs had been deprived of it for far too long. In reality, the jutsu couldn't have lasted more than half a minute. And all of what Gendou said... Well, she would have time to reflect on it later. For now, her children were safe with her. She hugged them closely, placing a kiss on each of their foreheads. Whatever jutsu Gendou had placed them under was now breaking, letting them slowly wake from their sleep.

"Mom?" Chie began, rubbing her eyes slowly. Gin smiled at her - a fond a genuine smile. "Mom! It really is you!" She said, letting a giggle escape her lips as she wrapped her arms tightly around her mother's neck. Reiko hesitated a moment before doing the same, her face albeit, much less expressive.

"I missed you both so much." It was all she could say. She knew they would have to say goodbye again soon. If they didn't return, there was no telling what would happen to the rest of the family still in Sunagakure. She would only let go of them once Sanosuke was back. She would motion for him to follow her and would guide him further away, until they were out of hearing range.

"You had no right... He wasn't yours to kill," she began. Her fists were clenched by her sides, her back facing him. Before he could protest or say anything about how she knew how he was dead, she would continue. "You wouldn't expect me to think that you spared him, would you?" She shook her head and stayed in silence for a moment.

Should she confront him? Ask him about what Gendou had told her? Ask about what he wanted with the Court of Owls? It was what she had come here to do, what she needed to talk to him about. He was hiding things from her. "Whatever. It doesn't matter."

In the end she decided not to. She returned to where they had come from and dedicated the all of her attention to her daughters until it was time to part ways once again.


[/b][/color]

As he ran through the hallways, Sanosuke was already planning his escape. The girls and Gin most likely would have already escaped by now. But for some reason he knew that Gin would have forgotten about the other reason why they had came. A certain hippy that they all knew well asked them to rescue his son for him while he was at the camp making sure nobody would invade it while they were away. It was the least the two could do after the man not only helped(though indirectly) them navigate through the cursed chakra draining tunnel, and also treated their injuries from being in said tunnel for too long. No doubt Gin was so upset how he kicked her out of Gendou's office that she completely forgot about the other reason why they were here. He had to save Koto while he was here. Turning swiftly around one corner, Sanosuke darted past doorway after doorway using his extreme speed to make sure nobody would register his features. As he ran, Sanosuke blasted off  massive amounts of wind chakra that was strong enough to make massive impressions on the prison's structure. It would soon be tearing itself apart, caving on its own weight from the chakra he was sending out. This will make all the guards leave the prison, less they be trampled by the stoned walls of the establishment. Gin and the kids should be fine, Sanosuke ensured that before he went ahead with his plan that they were out of the vacinity. That only left him to rescue the hippy's son and they could escape.

The kid shouldn't be too far, probably in a holding cell somewhere with all the other prisoners. With the very few guards that were still around that Sanosuke encountered, none of them decided to fight them. Their lives they held higher than fighting an elite Kumo shinobi that would easily kill them and be on his merry way; and even if they somehow dealt with him, they would most likely have spent too much time trying to kill Sanosuke that they wouldn't have enough time to escape themselves. So they all ignored the jounin to save their own skins. Smart move. As he reached the holding cell, Sanosuke couldn't figure out which was the hippy's son. What did he look like? There was only one way. He just hoped that his son would recognize this. "Secret tunnel...forrbidden lovers..." Sanosuke sang quietly but loud enough for it to travel into the ears of the panicking prisoners. He listened carefully until he found a tiny voice that was continuing the verse he was singing. That was him. Sending a chakra thread out to meet the source of the voice, Sanosuke let it cling to him. Tugging gently to ensure it did indeed catch onto his target, Sanosuke blasted chakra into the gates to tear them down. At that moment, all the prisoners piled out one after the other to escape. Leaving only a small boy with brown hair, wearing a vibrant necklace of flowers and puka shells around his neck. Yeah that was the hippy's son all right.

"Come on kid, we're getting out of here." Sanosuke said while holding onto the kid with one arm and using his free arm to focus raiton chakra into his palm. It began circling quicker and quicker with each second that passed. Very soon it was a spinning top that was close to slicing anything it touched to ribbons. "Destructo Disc!" Sanosuke called as he lifted it straight up as it was tunneling itself upwards making a perfect circle all the way to the ceiling of the building. As the disc traveled upwards, cutting its way into a perfect circle, Sanosuke threw one more chakra thread dead center of the disc. It stuck and pulled Sanosuke and the child up like an elevator. The jounin was feeding the disc more chakra to speed it up through the chakra thread that it was attached to. In a matter of minutes, Sanosuke and the boy found themselves on the rooftop of the prison. From where they were standing, Sanosuke could see how the entire prison was being evacuated. Guards and prisoners alike were leaving all to save their own lives. Their duties didn't matter. All that was left was survival.

Casting his eyes towards the distance, Sanosuke looked in the general direction where he sensed Gin's chakra last. They weren't too far from their original location. Focusing chakra into his legs, Sanosuke leaped up into the sky, higher than the prison all together as the two began gliding downwards towards where Gin should be. As he floated down, Sanosuke allowed himself to think about the words Gendou told him. So the Court of Owls were real after all. He believed they were just a legend that the crazed Suna assassin told him about after he was guarding Misoka's life. But from what the man said, it was as though he knew more than the Court of Owls were after him. But who was it? Was it an agent from them that was particularly targetting him? These questions were causing him much more stress than it was worth. The familiar chilling sensation from the back of his mind was tickling his conscious, whispering into his ears: it won't be long now...Sanosuke, you will pay for what you've done. No, it was just his imagination. Dead was dead, the ghosts of the past are just ghosts that cannot be given physical forms. Sanosuke chanted that message while he floated in the air to wait until they landed on the ground.

Once they landed, Sanosuke let the boy be carried on his back as he marched towards Gin's chakra signature. They would walk for 30 minutes until he finally came across their group. The kids were well at least, from their giggles. Sanosuke looked at them and let out a sigh of relief before smiling at them. At least they were safe. However that didn't leave the obviously pissed off Gin Kuroka who signaled for him to follow her. This couldn't be good. She must be pissed that he sent her off while he dealt with Gendou. Well he might as well let her have her dispute, putting the child down to converse with the others, Sanosuke followed the silver haired woman into the deeper part of the woods where they wouldn't be heard. Finally, Sanosuke leaned against a tree to hear Gin's words.

So she knew that she killed him, Sanosuke cursed under his breath. He wished that she wouldn't know, but Gin knew him too well. There was no way he was just going to let the bastard live. A small part of him wish that Gin wouldn't have known. "Yes I killed him. Only to keep him away from you. Whatever you were going to do to him would be far worse than what I put him through. I gave him mercy." Sanosuke answered while his arms were crossed. But what else did Gin know? Did she somehow know about the Court of Owls? Come to think of it, Gin was Kazekage she would have known about the Court of Owls by then. No that wouldn't have made sense. If his information was correct, then there would have been some mention of the last mission his mother went on before she ran off with Sanosuke's father to give birth to him. Gin would've known about his heritage way before they would have met. Gin wouldn't be keeping secrets would he? The court of owls were an elite group of assassins that followed the basic rule of all assassinations: no loose ends. They would use his family, his loved ones, to get to him. Gin can't have anything to do with this. The less she knew about his search for answers, the better. Should they kill Gin just because he cared about her, Sanosuke would never forgive himself.

Even so, Sanosuke was grateful that Gin dropped the topic. Well for now that was, there's no doubt that she'll ponder more about his discussion with Gendou. Hopefully he'll have come up with a convincing lie this time. He was just glad the girls were safe. He had come for this mission to ensure the girls were safe, nothing more nothing less. Seeing Gendou right there in his office at his mercy, Sanosuke couldn't help but pursue the man for answers. If he had any information at all to prepare himself to protect himself and his loved ones, then Sanosuke would have done the same thing over again. For now, Sanosuke was grateful. They had all come out of this in one piece. Now it was time for them to leave and head back home.

[exit]