Leaving Kumogakure behind was sad, in a way, but Reiko was glad to go. She'd been there far too long, partially due to the fact that she'd had to stay a bit longer when she caught a flu of some sort. You'd think the flu was a death sentence, given the way she was restrained when she tried to leave. Her parents had even sent requests that she be confined to her hotel room until she was healthy again. But, she pulled through it, like she always did (especially when it was something as weak as the flu), and now she was on her way back to Konoha, where she belonged.

Part of her was apprehensive about returning. She knew her team had long gone ahead of her, in fact, they were probably Chuunins now. However, that wasn't what bothered her. At this point, she was used to her peers drawing ahead of her. Had she not been, she couldn't have even survived the Academy. Not to mention that Hiroyuki had up and left. Little had been heard of her since, but as far as Reiko knew, she was completely gone. Her correspondence with her mother and father had proven that nobody had heard from Hiro while she was gone. She could only hope that one day she could get some information on where Hiroyuki had gone, and then she could possibly see her cousin again.

Another good aspect of her return came with her ability to do missions. She was closer to Chuunin than she'd ever been before. Just more time training, more missions, and then she'll have caught up to her peers, at least in rank. She'd have to work even harder to possibly hit Jounin the same time they did. Once it got to that point, however, it'd be well worth the effort. Plus if she worked hard enough she could master her Byakugan, and finally become somebody her clan could see has respectable, rather than fragile.

The journey itself took only a few days, when she moved at a good speed. It was sunny much of the time as well, save the point at which it began raining on the second day. Luckily, however, she'd been able to take shelter in a restaurant until it let up. Plus, they'd had some of the best dango she'd tasted in a while. Besides the rain, however, it was hot, so much so that she paused at one point to take her forehead guard off of around her neck, where she'd been keeping it while it Kumo, and to nail it back on her sash, where it belonged. Between that and pulling her hair into a bun with the strip of cloth the forehead guard had been removed from, she was able to beat the heat quite well.

The nights were the opposite, cold to the point that she kept herself huddled under the blanket of her sleeping mat as tightly as possible, even tucking the ends under her body to the point that she imagined she looked like a chrysalis. She survived though, and with no bodily inclination that her flu was returning.

By the fourth day, it was obvious that she had reached her country, even if she hadn't had a stop at the border. The trees seemed to grow taller by the mile, and the shade cooler. She even began to recognize places, bit by bit, and on occasion people as well. When she reached the point at which she recognized more than she didn't, she knew she was home.

The first step onto the Hyuga compound was even more of a relief. Part of her wanted to pause and fall asleep right there, now that she was in a location where she didn't have to keep on constant guard. She kept walking, however, pushing herself reluctantly to walk to her home, through the door, and collapse on the bed.

And there she stayed for the rest of the day.