Shen looked a little taken aback by her comment. "Listen, we're on this mission together, so you're just going to have to deal with me. If you didn't want to deal with me, then you could've chosen someone else before we left the gates of the Stealth! You are the captain afterall, you could've just done that. We're stopping for the night," he said sternly.

Lulu looked at him. "Fine! You can set up camp! I'm going to go and set up somewhere else! You can gather wood and things, and I'll watch. Besides, I need to practice something, and take care of...things." She looked coldly in the other direction.

Shen looked at her and nodded. He gathered abunch of wood in a pile in between them and started a fire. Then Shen sat up against a tree, his head down and his hat covering his face. As soon as he was sure that Lulu had gone to sleep he looked at her, got up and started walking away. Several hours later, when the sun was almost about to come up, was when Shen returned to the camp. He hadn't slept more than an hour the whole night, but he didn't look all that tired.

Lulu woke up at about midnight and got up. She had to go to the bathroom. She knocked on shens tent and said, "Shen, I'll be back." When no answer came, she opened the zipper to discover Shen wasn't here. "Shen?" She was mad now. She went to the bathroom and waited for Shen to return. She looked at him. "Where have you been!?"

Shen looked at Lulu. She seemed angry with him. He didn't understand why, she's the one who said she'd leave him behind. "I took a walk. Why, what's the matter?" He asked, his voice calm.

She turned around. " I can't go on a mission with my partner always dissapearing! I can't walk up to the village unpartnered, or they'll turn me away." She sighed. She had a strange feeling welling up in the pit of her stomach. She shouldv'e been thinking of Sukai right now for comfort, but she didn't. Instead, the face that popped into her mind was...No... i shouldn't think like that...I love Sukai.

Shen turned to the tents and started taking them down. "Didn't you say yourself that you'd leave me if I fell behind? Don't tell me you were worried about me," he said glancing at her. He put the collapsed tent into the backpack he was carrying with him. "You could've gone on ahead, I would've caught up and you would've made your point." He closed up his bag and looked at her.

"Oh. I thought I would've gotten too far ahead. I forgot that you were a wolf." She sighed and began walking. "Let's go, Shen. We have a lot of ground to cover in a short time." She didn't bother to keep her distance from Shen.

Shen looked at her. There was no way she'd forgotten he was a wolf. That was the whole reason she hated him. Something was up. He blinked when she said they needed to go. It had to've been the one time in the entire mission that she'd called him by his name. He walked with her, keeping just a little distance between them in case she decided to flip on him again.

Lulu walked with a rhythmic motion. She wanted Sukai to be here, to reassure her nothing was wrong. But, that wasn't going to happen. She had no expression, nor mood. She was simply walking on to complete her mission now. If Shen talked to her, she would answer. She would not begin a conversation.

Around evening they finally got to the gates of the Sand Village. Shen pulled out his passport to show the men who guarded the gates. When they got in, Shen looked around in amazement. He'd never seen such a beautiful town. Blinking, he looked at Lulu. "Lead the way captain," he said, giving her a small smile. He'd try to be nicer. In all reality, he hadn't been very nice to Lulu since the mission had started, or vice versa. Perhaps he could get her to reconsider her hate of him somehow.

(Had to change his name to meatch the scheme.)

Lulu walked into the village. She hung a right, and walked to the Kage Temple. She knocked on the door to the office. She heard him say come in, and she walked in on him. "Kazekage Loxr, very nice to meet you face to face. I am here from the stealth with my partner to renew our treaties."

Shen followed Lulu up to the Kage's building, and walked in behind her when the Kazekage said to come in. "I'm Shen Kurabara, sir," he said with a small bow. He didn't want to introduce Lulu, she might think it was offensive since she was captain. Most people did take it offensively. Shen was normally not good with things like this. You know the type, political matters and such. Which is why he'd never make for a good Kage. And he openly admitted this whenever the subject came up.

"I am Lulu Oni, heir to the Magma throne. The treaty in which was originally assigned this village has expired and henceforth it needs renewed. I have come here on Lady Tenkuu's orders. Should you choose to disagree this treaty renewal, we shall attack at once. Please be aware that Lady Tenkuu sent the two best fighters in the Valley beside herself to this meeting. Lord Kazekage, do I have your permission to renew our treaties?" She looked at him. He smiled and looked at Shen.

"Ahh what about this young looking boy? Has he come to fight, or simply escort you here?"

Two best fighters...? This was something he didn't expect to hear from her. Maybe she was just trying to show off, or did she really believe what she just said? Shen blinked when the kazekage addressed him. "Ninja of our village never travel alone when they're sent on missions." He couldn't help but turn a little red. "I'm nobody's escort."

Lulu noticed Shen turn red, and in turn turned a bit red herself. "I will have you know that I am perfectly capable of moving between villages by myself. If I wasn't, I would have a bigger escort than him. Besides, He's two years older than me, and yet I am his Captain. If anything, I am HIS escort. Now answer my question."

"Your his escort? That cannot be true. Tell me boy. Do you believe she is YOUR escort?"

Shen shot a sharp look at Lulu. There was one reason and one reason only that he didn't take the spot of captain when it popped up, and her being stronger had nothing to do with it. "I don't escort anyone, nor do I need to be escorted. This is a team mission, and we came as a team. And if you don't mind, we need your permission to renew the treaty that you have with our valley. Do you give us permission or don't you?" Shen was already getting a little hot tempered, but was managing to control himself so that he didn't raise his voice.

Loxr looked at them. "Really? Is that so. It seems to me that Lulu needed an escort, by the way she was dressed."

Lulu, now completely pissed, walked over and picked up the kage by the collar. What she did next was not regrettable. She threw his out the window. She turned to face Shen. "C'mon, Shen. We have to go. I'll explain why I just did that on the way." She ran out the door and headed to the gate.

Shen's eyes widened at what Lulu did next. Following her out, he said "A-are you insane Lulu?! Are you trying to get the Stealth in a war?" He was so confused right now. What the hell did she just do?!

They ran to the gate and out of the village with no problem, because no one knew about what she did yet. "No, I am not. I read his mind. He had a kunai in hand and was going to kill you. I-I-I couldn't let him harm you. Now hurry. They'll have learned of it by now."

Shen looked at Lulu and almost stopped running after what she'd said. He was about to kill him? Shen surely would've noticed any moves the guy made for a weapon, how could he have missed it? But it was what she said next that shocked him more. Looking at her for a few moments while he ran, he brought his gaze back in front of him. "Thought you could care less whether or not I died."

Lulu remained silent. "I...I have had a change of heart, I guess. Although I still dislike you, I understand you. You had no idea about what happened. And.. well, there's something else. Your people, the children of the Blazing Moon, are almost extinct. Those other werewolves are just normal werewolves. You are the last of your kind, as am I. I couldn't let your kind die out. Not this way..."

Shen looked at Lulu then back in front of him, remaining silent for a few moments. He didn't know what to say to that. "Thanks...." he decided on finally. "Now....how are we going to explain this to Lady Tenkuu?" He said with a small smile.

"I will simply tell her. If she disapproves, then I get removed from office. If not, yippee for me." She ran faster, until they were a reasonable distance away. She stopped and sat down, panting hard. "So. I will let you lead the way, Shen. I'm tired of leading this thing."

Shen easily ran at her pace. It would've been easier if he would turn into a wolf, but.... He looked at Lulu. She really needed to make up her mind. Stopping where Lulu did, Shen looked back. "They'll be sending ninja after us. No doubt about it." Shen looked at Lulu. She was tired, it was obvious. But if they stopped now, the other ninja would catch up in no time at all. Shen had an idea, but he wasn't too sure that Lulu would be willing to go along with it. He looked at her nervously and bit his lip before saying "Listen, we need to keep moving. I...I have an idea, but...." He looked off to the side a little nervously.