Meiko stared at Yaouri's little sister, trying to decode what she'd just said.  When Mieko finally did speak, it was with an air of authority that seemed to come naturally to her, "You and one other will come with me.  The other two will be escorted by half of this group, blindfolded, to the entrance of our fair village.  Pick who you would travel with, and with whom you'd like to send... Itchi, was it? ...to our vets.  It looks like the sooner we see your cat, the better."

Startled by this demand, Yami looked questioningly at Ino and Kankaro, hoping they would make the hard decision for her.  Kankaro just motioned for her to pick who would carry Itchi into the village and Yami picked Tenten to do it, nearly unconciously (she'd been the one who'd take care of Itchi whil Yami was in full battle mode and not concentrating on anything else, and had carried Itchi when Yami was too tired to do so),  and wordlessly asked Kankaro and Ino to make the other decission.

As much as it pained Kankaro to do it, he knew Yami would need female emotional support for the next few hours. "Tell Tem I'll talk to her when we get in the village." Kankaro's rough voice broke the silence that had pervaded since Mieko's startling declaration. "Mieko!" Kankaro's attention turned fully to the task at hand, scaring Mieko half out of her skin. "Where are those blindfolds? Tenten!" His now comanding voice seemed to slice through the empty air. "You can carry Itchi blindfolded without any problems, right?"

As Tenten mutely affirmed his statement, Kankaro's thoughts turned to the reaction he'd seen from this group of villagers when Shikamaru's group had been mentioned. 'How much do they know about us? Evidently, Temari's name scared them into accepting us into their village, so I can't imagine what their reaction would be if they knew Gaara, too, is traveling with us.  The Naara and Hyuga names seemed to cause quite a commotion as well.  Good thing they only know about Neji, if they knew a member of the main branch family was here too, it might cause trouble.  I'll have to make sure Ino doesn't say anything as it seems Yami's already been warned against saying anything that may reveal that group.  But by whom?  Surely not anybody in GHaNS. Tem has no idea about them, so it couldn't be her.  Choji, I believe, is just as in the dark about this unique situation as Tem, so it had to be either Shikamaru or Neji.  Something tells me it was Neji that warned Yami about keeping GHaNS a secret, or, at least, keeping Hinata a secret.  Yami, though very young, has proven herself smart enough this past week, so she could've figured out that if she needed to keep one member of GHaNS secret from her sister's ex-best friend Mieko, she needed to keep the whole group a secret.  Yes, that's what makes most sense to me right now.  Maybe Yami'll be smart enough to tell Ino while they travel.  I've got to figure out a way to tell Tenten without revealing anything to those around us, or to Tenten herself, if she hasn't already figured it out.'

All during his thought process, Kankaro had been silenly issuing commands with slightly perceptible movements that, had Yami, Tenten, Ino, and Mieko not been already watching for them, they wouldn't have seen them.  Kankaro himself hadn't realized he'd been giving any commands until Yami, Mieko, Ino, and galf of the group Mieko had brought stood on one side while he, Tenten, and the rest of Mieko's group stood facing them.  At a slight hand movement from Mieko, Tenten and Kankaro were blindfolded thoroughly, Tenten was given Itchi and a hand, and that group started out of the clearing into what Kankaro had previously deemed 'unfriendly territory' toward the village hidden in the shadows.

"Don't worry Kankaro." he heard Yami tell him as she was just getting out of his earshot, "I'll make sure Ino's been properly warned." There was a hint of humor in her voice, and Kankaro visibly relaxed, letting out the breath he knew he'd been holding slowly and purposely, hoping none of the villagers had paid him any heed.