It felt nice to finally have the sun be able to touch her skin again. After her mission with Sanosuke and after rescuing the twins, it was now obvious that the people that were after her knew very well that she was alive. She didn't know if they were aware of her exact whereabouts, but she knew that hiding her identity was something that no longer served any purpose at all. After her personal mission had been completed, she had sent her two daughters back to Sunagakure, fearing that the rest of their family would suffer if Chie and Reiko refused to return. They had agreed that for the safety of their siblings and their grandmother, the two would have to go back. With a promise to come for them soon, Gin had watched them leave. It still weighed heavily on her. Their relatively happy reunion had been short lived.

However, Gin knew that she had to increase her strength as much as possible to ensure that her plan was ultimately a success. She needed to kill the people that were holding her children hostage, that much she knew. But she was also aware that she needed to be quick about it, not to mention silent. Stealth was hardly the way she was used to operating, but she knew that she had no other choice if she wanted to keep the collateral damage to a minimum. She knew who her targets were already, she had known from the very beginning. It was the very people that had driven her out of her own village in the first place. After that was done, she couldn't really say that she planned on returning there permanently - she had built a new life for herself in Kirigakure no Sato, after all. Sadly, that was no longer her home. Someone else was already occupying her place as Kazekage, and lest that person - Suzume, was her name - decided to try to stop her, it would remain that way.

Gin could only hope that everything would run smoothly. If so, it would seem as if a random assassin was hired to kill Sunagakure's council. Nothing would be linked back t her, she wouldn't be seen and her children would be free. That was all that she wanted. But Gin had lived through enough to know that things never went according to plan.

That was possibly the reason why she found herself travelling to Iwagakure - despite the fact that she had little fondness for the place. Yes, she had lived there for a short time, but she still harbored some hostile feelings for the people of the village that had been in opposition to her own for so long. But she needed a medic that was completely unrelated to her in every way and that was likely the best place to find someone that fit that description. And so she found herself running from one extreme of the continent to the other. It would likely take her to days or so to reach there on foot, especially if she wanted to pass by unnoticed. This trip was personal business. She didn't want anyone to get involved.

Once again, the former Kazekage found herself needing surgery. She had developed a suitable replacement for the sharingan that she now had, implanted into her skull, which would put less strain on her body than the alien Kekkei Genkai. Her bionical eye would suit her better and could be easily replaced with use of the nerve port that she had constructed. For some reason, her contraptions worked better when she built them while drunk. These two things were no exception. Finally arriving at the gates of Kirigakure, she would dimply state her name. Much to the surprise and reluctance of the guard, he would let her in and personally escort her towards the Tsuchikage under his watchful eye.