Her brother catches up.

"What did you mean, 'we will meet again'?" he asks Elieyha.

She's quiet.

Then, "They held back Shukaku. Together."

"Mm?"

"The Kazekage. Only ever faced me alone. Everyone else evacuated. They stood together. But I couldn't kill them. I want to know why."

"Are you going to try again?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Uchiha Rian. She said, there has been enough death. And she did not kill me. And she was angered by the Kazekage's actions, though I was a threat. As was Uzumaki Mariko. Their way is different than the one we were taught. It may be better. With the failure of the invasion and the death of the Kazekage the village will be in flux. There will be opportunity for change."

"That's a big project for one person."

"I'm not alone."

"What do you mean?"

"I have the two of you."

Oh.

"You got me away from the arena. You fought for me. You came back to get me. I think that you will help me in this. Am I wrong?"

"No. I don't think you are."

"Good."

There remains the problem of Shukaku. If he stays wild, it will be difficult to convince others to trust her. She will have to change their relationship. Right now he is tired, sleeping. Time to plan.

Three days later, they get back to Sunagakure.

They're identified at the gate and waved in. The gate guards have drawn expressions, and there's a low murmur of worry within the village itself.

Hardly surprising, really. Is anyone going to debrief them?

They're told to report to the Kazekage Tower after a bit, where apparently the Kazekage's old advisers have hastily taken over his duties and split them among themselves.

To the tower, then.

They're waved into a meeting room, and met by a semi-familiar face - an old man, faced weathered and scarred, who usually lurks quietly in the background of any meeting.

"Team Baki. Report," he says.

By silent agreement, Kankurou does the talking. He quickly summarizes the leadup to the beginning of the invasion.

"At that point, there were unforeseen complications with Shukaku, possibly due to the Uchiha girl's Sharingan. Baki sent us away in order to give Elieyha time to recover control."

"Did the Uchiha use a genjutsu, or some other trick?"

"Unclear. Our background intelligence on the full capabilities of the Sharingan is sparse, at best."

A 'hmm' is the only reply to that. "And what happened then?"

"We retreated out of the city. A Konoha team pursued us. Tsubasa and I took it in turns to delay them, with mixed success. The team consisted of the Uchiha, one of her teammates, Uzumaki Mariko, who has extraordinary chakra and at least a secondary sensory-type ability, and Rock Lee, a taijutsu specialist. They also had a cat summon, I'm not sure whose."

"The Uchiha clan are known to have used cats as spies in the last war," the elder comments ofthandedly. "Was the enemy team able to close with Elieyha, then?"

"Eventually, yes. She allowed Shukaku to rebuild his body, but they were able to contain it until it ran out of chakra."

He frowns. "Three mere genin, even with an Uchiha, shouldn't have been able to last that long."

"They were no 'mere' genin. They were able to effectively coordinate under adverse conditions, using each team member's strengths to the fullest. They quickly analyzed my technique, found the weakness, and exploited it with precision."

Hn. "We will want a full report on their capabilities, then, if Konoha has produced another batch of geniuses. Continue."

"While they were occupied with that, Tsubasa and I met back up, and began to head in that direction. En route, we received the message that the main battle was lost and orders to retreat. We rejoined Elieyha after Shukaku had been subdued, and negotiated a truce with the Konoha shinobi."

"Of what sort?"

"That we each would return home, without further fighting."

"Reasonable, given the circumstances," he concedes. "Is there anything else of immediate note?"

"That's everything."

"Has anyone else come back yet?"

"Some of the main forces have, though the wounded are still being moved, and some have stayed behind to guard them, including your sensei. You are dismissed; I want to see a detailed written report on those three's abilities on my desk within the week."

"Yes sir." They decamp from the office.

"That didn't go so badly. Thoughts?"

"It doesn't sound like they're going to ground us."

"There's a manpower shortage. We make ourselves useful to fill it, build connections, reputation, reliability. When the question of what next is asked, we're in a position to provide input, or talk to the people making the decision."

"Subtle."

"While it would be satisfying, drowning the village in sand is unlikely to be a long-term solution."

"You shouldn't joke about that."

"Well, as long as it is a joke..."

"Regardless. Kankurou, I assume you'll be returning to the Puppet Corps?"

"Yeah. There'll be lots to patch up, new puppets to make. They might even pry Granny Chiyo out."

Nod. "Tsubasa?"

"The... general forces, I suppose. Village security."

"Good."

"And you?"

"I will be- unavailable, for a day or two. There is a conversation I need to have."

"With Shukaku?"

"Yes."

"...Be careful."

"I intend to."

"Don't forget about the report."

"We have a week."

With the immediate business settled and the other two in position to keep an eye on developments, she feels confident in departing for a cave she knows a ways away. It's not hard to slip out, things being as they are. She blocks the cave's entrance and spreads down a cushion of sand to sit on, and focuses inwards, looking for the place where the beast lurks.

She's successful.

"You dare disturb my slumber?" a deep voice rumbles from behind her, sounding like sand scraping against stone.

"You've felt more than free to curtail mine, these past years."

"Pah. You humans have no resistance."

"I'm still alive, aren't I?"

"On my sufferance only."

"And the Uchiha girl's. She and her friends dealt with you quite neatly."

"I wasn't even fully out yet! If not for you, I could've won that!"

"Alas, then, that we must work with the world as it is. You do have me. And I am stuck with you."

"A few years more, and I won't be."

"Perhaps. But tell me. Are you truly content to sleep all the ages of the world away?"

"You are a fool if you think I will not outlive your entire system. You humans are gone in but a blink of an eye to me."

"Why settle for outliving it, when you could aid me in reshaping it?"

"Hah! As if someone like you could teach the world anything."

"And what do imagine that I am like?"

"A typical human. Selfish. Violent. Short-sighted. Treacherous."

"Selfish and violent I do not deny, and do not view as points of shame. Short-sighted I contest, for if I was that, I would have long since given you free reign to utterly destroy my village. Treacherous likewise, for those deal fairly with me I have dealt fairly in return."

"Bah. And how do you propose to change the world?"

"By following the example of the Uchiha and her friends. I will show that there is a better way to live than endless, pointless conflict that does nothing but destroy."

"The Uchiha? Hah! That clan is all the same. Traitors and murderers."

"Not this one."

"You are a fool, then."

"Were you asleep the entire time I spoke with her?"

"Uchiha always have grand plans and ideals," he says, scoffing. "The grander their ideals, the worse it is when they turn their back on the world. They have created such wonderful destruction through the ages. That Madara was only one of many, and the Uchiha girl's eyes had his same energy."

"Would you prefer then to watch that happen?"

"You think I care what happens to you humans, beyond that you cease to annoy my esteemed self?"

"If you didn't, you'd spend more time asleep."

"I enjoy seeing you lot suffer and die, I admit."

"Is that all?"

"Is what all?"

"Seeing humans suffer and die. Is that all you care about in regards to them?"

He goes quiet for a few moments, seeming thoughtful. Then: "It's none of your business."

"So no, then."

"Pah. What do you care?"

"If I'm going to follow the Uchiha's example, I need you to stop fucking around with me. I'm looking for avenues by which I can convince you to do that."

"What, and spend the rest of my time locked away in silence?"

"Or you could help constructively."

"Drown you in blood, or have my esteemed self play sycophant to a bunch of meat-sacks... You're not making a good argument for your side." He sounds like he might be considering entertaining the proposition, though. For a time at least.

"Who said anything about being a sycophant? There will always be people who need killing. I just want it to not be everyone, unconditionally, for a while."

He considers this. "You have been boring, lately. Seek out new opponents to kill, and I will consider cooperating. Until you inevitably bore my esteemed self again, that is."

"I'll see what I can do about that."

"Hmph. This conversation is starting to bore me."

"We wouldn't want that, would we. Until later, then."

She retreats from the place inside and opens her eyes. That went... not as poorly as it might have. She brushes aside the sand blocking the cave entrance as she unfolds herself to stand up, and returns to her village.

The village is much the same as she left it. The level of frantic activity hasn't quite died down yet, as more people trickle in from the failed invasion.

...Best not to upset that just yet.

She makes her way to a little-used training ground to practice. If someone needs to find her, they'll be able to.

The next day, their team is called in to receive a mission. A group of bandits have been taking advantage of the scramble to harass travelers on the road; they're to go in and clear them out.

"Straightforward enough."

"What's our plan?"

"We use them to send a message. Maximum force. Sand may be reeling but we're not broken."

"Are... you sure that's what you want to do?"

"These bandits have broken any ties they may have had to us with their actions. They're not ours. They do not matter."

"I suppose that's true."

Off they go.

Step one: recon.

The group's large, and seems to have grown recently. Many of the bandits are armed with only improvised weapons - mostly slightly altered farming tools. The leaders seem to have better gear by a good bit. The bandits don't all clump together, instead having several camps working together, and a number are frequently out watching the roads or the surrounding area. (The camps are pretty well hidden by non-shinobi standards, but he's able to find them easily.)

Do they trade people between camps? Where are the leaders usually found?

There's some movement between camps, but not a ton. The leaders are in a different place in each camp, but generally the most well-secured, largest, and nicest looking tent, hollow, or other shelter.

He goes back to the others with this information.

"So?"

"They don't seem that dangerous. We could take them all out."

"They're a bit spread out."

"Yes. If they were grouped together a frontal assault might have been best. As it is, I think should split up and take out the leaders."

"With the leaders dead, the rest might surrender."

"Or they'll be that much easier to kill."

"Sounds plan-shaped."

"We'll move tonight. I will take the southern camp. Tsubasa, central. Kankurou, north. Meet back here when you finish."

Nods of acknowledgement, and everyone sets off.

The bandits at the southern camp are easy to take down, and make a concerted effort to surrender when they realize what they're up against.

The northern camp is better organized, with tightly ordered patrols. They don't surrender, even after their leader is dead.

The central camp bandits are a bit of a mixed bunch - the leader goes down rather bravely, and a few keep fighting, but one loudly surrenders and throws down his weapons, and a few others either stand down or hesitate, waiting for Tsubasa's reaction.

Anyone who stops fighting doesn't get attacked. Anyone who continues, does.

That leads to a lot of people stopping fighting. A few take the opportunity to try and run away.

Good. That's what she wants to have happen.

When she doesn't pursue, the people who surrendered all scatter.

And when the rest of them are taken care of she can go meet her siblings.

"We weren't taking prisoners, right?"

"Such as these are not worth the trouble."

"Well, good, because no one I fought wanted to surrender."

"Some of the ones at my camp ran."

"They can spread word. Suna is not yet gone."

Speaking of which, it's time to go back.

Suna is much as they left it, though some of the hectic running about has faded. They're made to wait for a bit, before being waved into a room with one of the Councilors to give their mission report.

He summarizes. Three camps of bandits found and taken care of. Leaders killed as an example, and lesser followers allowed to spread word of what occured.

The Councilor listens, stone faced, asks a few clarifying questions, then dismisses them.

"That went well."

"Of course it did. The mission was a success."

"Mm."

"You don't think so?"

"More than a success as a question of fact, it must be seen as a success by others."

"...You think not killing everyone won't be approved?"

"It is non-traditional. Keep your ears open."

"Right."

Things are almost quiet - 

Except there's discontented murmurs, here or there, often dropped when people notice the late Kazekage's children.

The Invasion was an unmitigated failure. A lot of different undercurrents of blame are boiling under the surface, but one thing's agreed - 

People are afraid. Few are powerful enough to take the mantle of Kazekage upon themselves, and the Council is being silent. No one's sure if Konoha will retaliate, seek peace, seek reparations...

"Well. This is a problem."

"People are scared. They need leadership."

"I don't think we're going to get it from the Council. They have to know this is their fault, but they don't know how to fix it."

"Trust in the institutions has been damaged. A demonstration of strength, a success, would help. Some salient enemy threat that can be countered."

"Other than those bandits, there's not really anything of that sort. And I hope you're not proposing to manufacture something of the sort."

"That would be counterproductive."

"Some indication of Konoha's intent would also help."

"Our intel network is still in disarray, and we haven't replaced the agents in Fire yet."

"We can't wait on external factors. We need to start from within."

"The Council isn't-"

"Then we bypass the Council and start from the bottom. Get more than whispers of what people are thinking."

"Most people don't want to talk to us. Because of- Father."

Her face twitches, briefly.

"Then go to them instead. Start the conversation."

"...You're pretty scary in your own right, you know."

"You two work that without me. I will... try a different angle."

The following day, Tsubasa and Kankurou stake out a table in a restaurant frequented by shinobi and discuss the Council's inaction in regards to the loss of the Kazekage in tones that are low, befitting the subject, but not inaudible, and in terms that suggest they don't approve.

There's a few glances, and some people are almost certainly listening in, but no one approaches them immediately.

"-if the Council isn't going to do anything, maybe we should."

"'We' as in us, or...?"

"Everyone. We're all residents of Suna. The city belongs to us as much as it does to the elders."

More people are certainly paying attention, now, though no one's unprofessional enough to blatantly let on that they're listening in.

"I doubt they'll take meddling kindly."

"If it'd mean them doing something it'd probably be worth it. We can't be the only ones frustrated with their inaction."

They bat the conversation back and forth in this vein for a while longer, until they've cast as much bait as is reasonable. Then they head off to a training ground, not taking the most trafficked way but also not conspicuously hiding their trail.

Someone who is at least doing a decent job of not looking like this was purposeful is at the training ground.

"Oh, hey," she says, looking up when they enter. She's a jounin they've seen around once or twice, who participated in the invasion and is visibly still in physical therapy for an arm injury. She's moving through exercises right now. Casually, "You're Baki's brats, right?"

"That's us."

"Baki's a hardass. Almost feel sorry for you." She grins, then, "Branching out past fighting lately?"

"Trying to, anyway."

"Good. More people need to be interested in things other than their blades, younger generation especially. Doubly so, for politics."

"It's harder to train with politics. More of a group effort sort of thing."

"That it is! There's some studying you can do, dusty old theory books and all that, but hell if I know what good it does."

"I've always found practice more engaging than theory in my studies."

"A diving in sort? Good, as long as you land on your feet. You two have aspirations, or are you just testing the waters?"

"We are interested in the village's success, but not for ourselves."

More genuine smile. "Good. It seems a bit silly, but people will be listening to you guys. Watching, mostly, but listening some. I think letting new blood have a say - improves things. Keeps us from stagnating."

"Time's always moving on. You don't want to get stuck behind it."

"You must have- thoughts of your own, about the village."

"Bluntly? Our previous path was stupid. We need to coalition build, not waste time, manpower, and energy on posturing." She has Opinions about the daimyo and the relative appropriateness of his nephew as a leader, but she's hardly going to voice those out in public like this. "That probably means a relatively new face; most of the likely candidates are already in their diplomatic ruts. And, no offense, but the Fourth took an ill view of potential threats to his power, which effectively hamstrung us on powerful new blood."

"We are well aware of our father's mistakes. But we are not entirely bereft of young and powerful shinobi, despite his best efforts."

"Hm. Anyone stand out to you? It's interesting to see who the younger generation hears of..."

"The current host of the Ichibi."

"Her? Strong, I'll give her that. Wouldn't have taken her as one for politics," she says, voice mild.

"She's not, really. That's one reason you're talking to us instead of her. She's smart enough to know when she needs help and not too proud to ask for it. The invasion made her... reevaluate her priorities."

"Smart. Certainly a refreshing approach, though the usual method is presenting a singular, trustworthy leader. People feel more confident that way, for some reason."

"A single target to take the blame, maybe."

"Does tend to be like that. Means one big screw up doesn't tend to drag everyone with experience down, though."

"But there's less of a chance of that happening, if it's a group that can work well together."

"Perhaps. I can name a few problems a group approach might have avoided, at least - if you're serious about this, I would suggest studying your history. Theory can't substitute for experience, but there's something to be said for letting other people make the inevitable mistakes for you."

"Good advice, thanks."

"Hm. Any other steps you're planning, beyond having conveniently timed political debates in conveniently public places?"

"We're still fishing for ideas and potential support, at this point."

"Good. You'll have a harder time convincing most people, and you'll need to convince the daimyo, too, and he's unlikely to take hints of things changing well."

"Do you think he might take actual change better than hints?"

"The tradition is for the daimyo to at least approve the Kazekage, if not outright appoint them. He'll be hesitant about anyone who reeks of revolutionary ideas, but if a change can be presented to him already made - well, he's not exactly prone to interfering with our internal politics."

"Good to know."

"I don't know for sure how easy a time you'll have convincing the other jounin when the time for approval votes comes around. That something needs to change, sure. That you three are the change needed? That's a riskier proposition."

"Well, that's only natural. We haven't yet shown any concrete value. But there's time to change that. What sorts of things do you want your Kazekage to do or have done?"

"More opportunities for and encouragement of increases in power, both in terms of fighting ability and political influence," she says immediately. "The old system discouraged development and learning of new techniques, and discouraged even jounin from getting at all involved with politics."

"More collaboration than competition?"

"Exactly. Stronger together, and all that."