Kannin looked at Konoha with tired eyes. It had only been a few months, but it seemed like years to him. He looked over at his sensei, now missing her left arm and ear, covered in fresh scars; he looked to his friends, and even though they had fully healed from their injuries by now, every time he looked at them, the image of their broken and bloody bodies overlapped with reality. Kannin had never once regretted his coming to this world until the war. He always thought he had a strong mind, but he wasn't made for this world, the constant bloodshed, the death, the terror. He finally felt like he didn't belong.
As they entered the village, the first things he noticed were the monuments. Large monoliths were scattered about a new funerary sector of the village, each with hundreds of names etched on the sides. Kannin looked at one, which alone had nearly 200 names on it, and then saw 9 more monuments behind it. It seemed like things with Kumo were going about as well as things with Iwa.
Hokage had given them 2 days to rest and wait for all their forces to convene before moving out for Sunagakure. Kannin's first choice was, of course, his home. For the first time in months, Kannin weakly opened the door to his house; it creaked when he opened it.
"...Mom...I'm home."
His words seemed to fall dead in the air for a minute as he stood in front of the door. He then watched as his mom slowly walked out from her room to the living room. Kannin could see her sunken and red eyes. In just a few months the lines in her face had dug ravines into her skin, and Kannin could see grey hairs sprouting from her head. He walked over, wordlessly, and hugged his mom, who returned his embrace without saying anything.
Usagi could tell that Kannin had been having a rough time. When she saw him in the doorway, he had a number of new scars on his arms and face. His eyes were lower and sunken in, and his already grey hair seemed aged. The beautiful forehead protector she had given him was scratched and dented in a few places, and his cloak was in disrepair. When they embraced, she felt his whole body shaking as tremors ran through his hands and legs.
She led him to the couch where they just sat there, holding each other, for a few hours. Usagi could tell her son needed this more than any words she had to offer, but she couldn't help but ask,
"What happened, honey?"
Kannin didn't answer, but Usagi could guess. She had never gone to war herself, but she was friends with many who did, and even years later those brave shinobi were haunted by the things they did and saw.
They spent the rest of the night together, mostly in silence, which Kannin appreciated
-
Two nights of sleep in his own bed, in Konoha, did a lot of Kannin. He was more energized and animated than before--and getting to see his mom lifted his mood a lot. The next day he went to see Kushina, since it had been a long time since the two had talked.
He found her in her home, making lunch by herself. He knocked on her door with their secret knock to let her know it was him--ever since her abduction, it became regulation to only allow certain people with certain permissions to see her, and that knock was a sign of trust. She let him in and they talked for a while. He asked her if she had heard anything from Minato, to which she said yes. He had sent her some letters, but communication had been terse to say the least.
"I guess things with Kumo are as bad as they were with Iwa." Kannin sighed,
"How bad was it?" she asked with a more serious tone
"We were outnumbered and out-positioned terribly. We barely had enough rations to feed us all, and supplies were basically non-existent until Jiraiya came. Things got better after that, but not until we got sent on a suicide mission to blow up a crucial supply nexus."
Kushina nodded thoughtfully and gave Kannin a big hug, which surprised him.
"You're going to Suna next, right? That's what all the wives are saying." Kannin nodded, "Well you need to stay alive, hear me. If you die I'll kill you. That goes for your friends too, okay?"
That brought a smile to Kannin's face, and he promised to come back to Konoha in one piece before saying his goodbyes. All in all, being home was good for his soul.
But the time eventually came for the Konoha forces to head to Sunagakure. Before they left out, the members of Team 4 were hastily promoted to jonin level due to their achievements in the first battle, their contributions to the general survivability of the Konoha advanced force, and to befit their new duties. Team 4 and another team, who had been taken from the Kumo front, were each given control of half the force. Shin and the other team's leader, a puppeteer by the name of Kirai were given joint control of the Suna Division.
Each member of the teams was individually placed in charge of 500 or so shinobi each, their very own brigades. Doing the math, Kannin figured the Suna Division was composed of roughly 4000 ninja, if all 8 team members were given equivalent leadership. That made Kannin a little more confident, he had gotten used to fighting with less than a quarter of that number against far superior foes, so he hoped to have a much easier time against Suna.