"Hey, Dark Circles, where are you going?"
"..."
"Dark Circles, do you want something to eat?"
"..."
"Dark Circles, why aren't you talking? You haven't even told me your name yet."
Kousei looked puzzled at Gaara, who hadn't said a word since waking up.
Behind the two, Zabuza and Haku had different expressions.
Zabuza wore a look of confusion, as if thinking, 'Who am I? Why am I here?'
Haku, on the other hand, maintained a smile, watching Kousei with his uniquely gentle gaze.
The epitome of a virtuous wife and loving mother.
Their previous attempt to intervene not only proved useless but also exposed the fact that they had been following.
Since they were already here, the group simply decided to travel together.
Gaara didn't speak but had a clear sense of direction, as if guided by GPS.
Kousei, meanwhile, chattered nonstop along the way but never managed to get Gaara to speak.
If he hadn't uttered a few words during their first meeting, Kousei would have thought he was mute.
Since she didn't know where to find her father either, she simply followed Gaara.
Perhaps sensing Kousei meant no harm, or maybe because of her chivalrous intervention, Gaara, while not accepting the kindness, didn't refuse the little girl's company either.
The duo behind them were also categorized as 'friendly units' in his mind.
The four of them walked on and off, heading north from the Land of Grass.
-Mainly because Kousei needed to stop periodically to eat.
She seemed to get hungry easily... or perhaps the game caught in the wild simply wasn't enough to fill her up.
Zabuza and Haku were deeply aware of this.
Back in the Land of Vegetables, Kousei's single meal could equal their entire day's intake, making one wonder where all that food ended up.
When Kousei stopped to eat, Gaara surprisingly didn't leave alone for once.
It seemed he had tacitly accepted this little girl as a 'companion'.
As they walked, Gaara suddenly looked up towards another direction, then turned and started walking that way.
"Hey! Dark Circles, where are you going?"
Even as she asked, Kousei followed along.
"...Over there."
Gaara looked down at Kousei and suddenly spoke.
"Woah! You talked!"
Compared to what he said, the little girl was clearly more excited that he had responded.
It was as if she had won some kind of competition.
Kids will be kids.
Watching this tiny, super-strong loli hopping around and occasionally saying something to the two behind them, the hollow feeling in Gaara's heart seemed to be filling.
He couldn't remember anything.
The only thing he could feel was an endless emptiness.
It wasn't the confusion brought by amnesia, it felt more like… this was just how he was.
Apart from the fine grains of sand, everything else in Gaara's vision seemed like silent black and white.
-Until this noisy little one appeared.
She had saved him.
Gaara was very clear about that.
Although his consciousness had been blurry at the time, he could still remember what happened.
'What kind of family would raise a child as sunny as this?'
'Her parents must love her very much.'
Realizing his own thoughts, Gaara felt somewhat bewildered.
'Why was I having such thoughts?'
Shaking his head, that strong sense of guidance emerged again.
Even though Gaara himself didn't know what he was pursuing, walking in that direction seemed to be his mission.
Seeing Gaara start walking again, Kousei didn't bother talking to Zabuza and the others anymore and quickly chased after him with her short legs.
Behind them, Haku asked her softly,
"Kousei-chan, weren't you going to look for your dad? Is it okay to follow him?"
Hearing this, Kousei didn't even turn her head.
"A chivalrous hero can't stand by and do nothing. With Dark Circles in this state, I can't let him travel alone."
Hearing this, Haku looked at Zabuza.
Zabuza seemed to understand the gentle person beside him and sighed helplessly.
"Sigh… Let's follow."
Even though they had resolved to live a peaceful life, fate seemed determined not to let them spend their lives that way.
...
On the road to Takigakure-
Hiruko, wearing the mass-produced Akatsuki's black robe with red clouds, walked side-by-side with the member whose head was enveloped in a venus flytrap.
"Speaking of which, Takigakure seems to have something called [Hero Water]," Hiruko said, either to make conversation or to probe for information.
The Hero Water wasn't some top-secret information… in fact, Takigakure specifically publicized it as their trump card to deter other countries.
Indeed, with both the Hero Water and the Seven-Tails' Jinchuriki, Takigakure had the qualifications to look down on the surrounding small countries.
But compared to the Five Great Ninja Villages, they fell far short.
"Ah... is that the thing said to increase a Ninja's Chakra dozens of times after drinking it?" Zetsu's black-and-white face also showed a smile, as if interested.
In reality, however, both scheming individuals had their minds elsewhere.
For Hiruko, collecting five Kekkei Genkai Users to complete his immortality ritual was his ultimate goal.
As for the so-called Hero Water, it meant nothing to him after completing the ritual.
As for Zetsu, more precisely, Black Zetsu, he knew the true nature of the so-called [Hero Water].
It was said to come from an ancient tree within their village, but it was actually just a branch of the tree his mother planted, a product contaminated by the world's Natural Energy, with little connection to the real God Tree.
After chatting for a bit about Takigakure's Hero Water, the two fell silent tacitly.
Hiruko sighed inwardly, 'This guy Zetsu was really tight-lipped. No matter how I tried to probe, I couldn't extract any valuable information from him.'
Finally, his expression returned to calm.
"Don't forget the conditions you promised me. I help you capture the Jinchuriki, and you help me capture the Kekkei Genkai Users."
As he said this, Hiruko stared intently at Zetsu, as if trying to detect any flaws.
"Naturally... One of your targets is an Explosion Release User, right? Speaking of which, he's currently in the Land of Earth."
He was referring to a member of Iwagakure's Explosion Corps, Gari, who, like Deidara, possessed the Explosion Release Kekkei Genkai.
"If we're fast enough, we can help you capture him after completing the mission."
Black Zetsu's face wore a smile, but in his heart, he had already blacklisted this fool who didn't know his place.
'If we weren't so short-handed-'
'Once the Tailed Beast Capture Plane is nearly complete, you'll have outlived your usefulness.'
At this very moment, the Great Hero and his companions, the Akatsuki Duo, and the 'Where's Daddy?' group were all heading in the same direction.