When Mei came home after her graduation exam, she was greeted by Rei, Konan, and Tsunade with a big 'Congratulations'. It made her happy because she didn't expect them to throw a party for her graduation. This outcome was expected and she was leagues above the current graduates so she took her passing as a foregone outcome and yet... Her family decided to celebrate it. Mei's cheeks blushed as she meekly walked inside the living room, sitting next to Rei who instantly patted her head.

"Good job." He told her and Mei could feel her body being hugged by Rei. She smiled and reassured him. ​​

"I am fine." She said. "I had enough time to prepare myself for killing."

Rei looked knowingly at her form when he heard her telling him that. She had lowered head and slightly narrowed eyes and he knew it would bother her for a while but she had people who made it their 'mission' to make her feel better about it. That was, after all, the purpose of this party. He wasn't about to give her 'birds 'n bees talk, the shinobi version' and fuss about her 'first' kill. He would however make sure she had a great time and got any worries she could have out of her mind.

"Okay." He told her and with the corner of his eye could see Konan bringing a cake to the room. "I think it's time for a cake then! I made your favorite strawberry-flavored one."

Mei's eyes shined at the sight and she quickly turned towards Rei and hugged his waist. "Thank you!" Rei and the girls laughed at Mei's happy expression, and the celebration continued.

...

The celebration was over and Mei was fast asleep but Rei, Konan, and Tsunade had a meeting in the living room after tidying it up. They sat around the table with a cup of hot chocolate, talking about their future. After Tsunade encountered Jiraiya, she instantly told every detail she managed to glean from him to Rei who decided to start making use of his spy network. He got an incredible amount of information.

"Iwa's recruiting from slaves is intense," Rei said. "They already have around twenty thousand strong force of canon fodder. Apparently, they plan to bring down the Third Raikage and... us."

"Us?" Tsunade asked, furrowing her brows.

"The Downpour." Konan told her. "They will probably use the war, again make someone request us for a mission and then ambush us with ten thousand..." She turned to Rei. "right?"

"Yes. During the war, the village doesn't have much time to review every single request. Moreover, the village only takes requests from nobles and wealthy merchants, meaning high-profile people who would look extremely bad if the shinobi they requested was 'ambushed'. The village would know and most likely take their revenge but there surely is a lot of retards who would see immediate gains instead of long-term repercussions. Especially among the first sons of nobles. The important part is that the village wouldn't be able to warn or assist us. Nor would it do anything in our defense until the end of the war." Rei stated with a displeased frown. "Worse yet, rejecting a mission during wartime is really, really hard as if you try, the Mizukage will just order you to go and handle it. Money are important for the village and in wartime it is doubly so. The Iwa has it thought out pretty into detail while knowing the laws and usual behavior of Kiri higher-ups."

Tsunade groaned at that. "Kiri and their idiotic practices. In Konoha..."

"In Konoha, you have heaps of merchants pulling the economy for you." Konan snorted. "The situation is completely different so you really don't need to make the missions mandatory during wartime." Tsunade crossed her arms and reluctantly acknowledged Konan was right.

"Speaking of which," Rei started. "I want you to return to Konoha, Tsunade."

The entire room quieted down at that but Rei just smiled at the bewildered blonde before explaining. "We have the dimension and can see each other whenever and I know you would regret not helping your village during the war." Rei said and saw Tsunade was about to protest so he quickly cut her off. "Don't try to deny it. You might be fed-up with the higher-ups but the village is still your grandfather's memento. If I know one thing about the Senju clan, it's that they value their family above all else."

"But you are my family." Tsunade quietly said and lowered her head in embarrassment at being so easily seen through by Rei only to shriek when Rei pulled her to himself, laying her head on his lap, and coursed his fingers through her hair while staring into her eyes.

"I love you Tsunade." He said. "But that doesn't mean I demand you to forsake everything for me." Neither of them minded the teasing stare of Konan from behind her mug of hot chocolate as she watched them expectantly with a child-like giddiness dancing in her eyes.

Tsunade teared up but barely held her tears in as her head spun. 'No... but it's exactly what I want to do...' She thought to herself and her resolve to prioritize Rei strengthened. "Okay... but I won't fight for Konoha. I'll return to be the head of the hospital." She knew she would be given the position of the head of the hospital and that meant being in the council... hence knowing everything that would go on in the village. Tsunade had her own ideas and plans on how to help Rei and she would be damned if she let Konan outshine her! And... he was right. Deep down, she still wanted to minimize the casualties of Konoha in the upcoming war. She was raised there... indoctrinated there... it was hard to just let go.

Rei smiled and turned to Konan this time. "I think it's time for us to show ourselves during this war. I don't intend to always mind myself during a fight. Right now, we are strong enough to fight against S-ranking ninja so there is no need to hide our abilities." He informed her and the atmosphere in the room turned somber.

"Are you sure?" Konan asked. She was also fed up with always not using her paper release during fights only to keep it secret but she understood why it was needed.

Rei nodded in acknowledgment. "We will be defecting during the war." Rei dropped a bomb. "I have a sneaking suspicion it's not going to be good to be in Kiri after the war." He said and turned to Tsunade with a nod. "Root is really doing a good job."

While Konan knew what ROOT was, she tilted her head, not understanding what Rei meant but Tsunade's eyes widened. "You want to say they already work on preventing Kiri from attacking them?"

"No... not Kiri. Not yet, at least but I was informed some border outposts of Iwa were attacked by people clad in Suna shinobi attire. Funny that, since Suna has enough problems with itself since Rasa became the Kage as the Wind Daimyo utterly despises him and refuses to support the village..." Rei chuckled. "Same with Kumo and Iwa border... this time, it is Kumo's outposts attacked by 'Iwa-nin'. Peculiar how these people were always using fire Jutsu and were described as 'emotionless'." He shook his head. "I am sure there will be some kind of plot for Kiri too but Kiri is an even bigger threat than Kumo and Iwa to Konoha but on the other hand they have no confirmation that Kiri would actually really attack them so they will probably do something very covert and underhanded."

Tsunade bit her fingernail in contemplation. "I have no idea what would Danzo do but I am sure Sarutobi-sensei would go for public unrest or something."

Rei raised his eyebrows at her in surprise. 'Well, that would fit smashingly with the future situation, now, wouldn't it?' He thought in amusement. 'I am quite curious about how would they go about it though.'

"That doesn't matter. Kiri lost its value for us. There is nothing to gain for us here." Rei said and shrugged his shoulders. "So... off we will go."