The Mission:

-------------------------------------------


"What do you think you're doing? You cant....you can't just leave"

Eight broken bones: That was how many fractures they had counted when Tenmei was rushed in to the Kirigakure's general hospital just two days ago. She was covered in cuts and bruises from head to toe and what remained of her tattered and torn clothes had been soaked in blood. Though, despite all the grazes and swelling, none of these minor injuries looked as gruesome as the electrical burns, imprinted across her skin and the deep insicion across her back, spanning the length of her shoulder to hip. She had been a mangled bloody mess and even after they had called in the best available doctors in this isolated land. Even though they had two other qualified medical hands and a handful of nurses working hard to save her, she was still standing at hells door for the hours it took them to bring her back around. In the end though, she was fine. All cracks and breaks had been sealed up, the bleeding was stopped and she would be fine to go back home in a week or so, just as long as she got some rest.

Rest. Was one thing Tenmei was bad at.

 
"If you don't get back in to bed. I am going to have to call someone and make you..."

"I'm sorry....I can't do that....."

And neither could they. Tenmei knew that those threats were as empty as her stomach. Her skin was as hot as an iron still and was radiating heat like a back yard camp fire. The nurse that had been in before had to ice and wear thick gloves, just so she could bandage around her torso without getting burned. There was no way, the orderlies hiding around the corner would be able to touch her without risking being burned over again...There was no way that she would let another innocent shinobi get hurt from her lack of control. 
The people in this village despised her enough for letting them die, for surviving when they didn't. If she had hurt anymore, they wouldn't be fighting so hard to make her stay.

But enough was enough.
With her shoulders, chest and waist all bandaged to protect the scar and the healing wound, Tenmei pulled her sleeveless shirt over her torso and slipped on her trousers, barely wincing at the pain.
She put her dagger back to her hip, tied her hair up and before the nurse had a chance to further argue the point, the ebony haired female spun and pushed a piece of paper in to her hand, looking her dead in the eye.

"I can't stay because I have applied for a mission....and it has been accepted. Yeah, I got hurt. I am not dead so I can still be useful. LOOK out there. SEE what is happening. We have bad men knocking at our gates and while all our strongest are out here fighting, no one is protecting us from the other shinobi. I....I wasn't strong enough to stop them but I am sure as hell strong enough to stop some low level fuck wits from messing with my home.

Now you can either help me with these damned bandages or get the hell out of my way"

No words. No comments.

The pale faced nurse simply nodded and rushed to assist in bandaging up her grazed arm and to adjust the bandages so they sat properly under her clothes. It would be uncomfortable for sure, but they would not be rubbing or digging in.  As soon as it was done, the young nurse dashed out to get some papers, as well as water and a few other bits and pieces....including the thermos of tea which she had requested when waking up that morning.
As soon as she was all packed, Tenmei was out of the door quicker than it took the medical staff to whisper good bye. She had always hated those places....the way they smelled, they way they looked.

She was glad to be out of there.

-----

It was unnerving....to be back here again

The blood had been washed off by the rain but Tenmei could still see the spot where she had been laying....dying underneath the body of one of her old friends here. She could still see the splattered pieces of  bone that had been wedged in between the wood.
But Tenmei didn't come here to look at her regrets. She was here because she had a mission to do....and accompanying her would be a member of her squad. Well....her new squad anyway. The others had disappeared somewhere and just like before she will be working with a complete stranger. She just hoped.....that he would not get hurt like the others had.  Tenmei would not be able to handle that.

Keep calm. Stay in control.
You will be fine

Early again, Tenmei made her way to the meeting point, a small gathering of trees just out of sight from the border.
Carefully....carefully, she sat down and pulled from her bag, the small thermos of tea she had packed before she left, pouring herself a cup and breathing in the steam that poured off the liquid. It was beautiful. She had gone without her life liquid for too long and tasting the sweet bitterness as it rolled off her tongue and down her throat. There was no better way to help her relax and forget the time.

Soon enough, she closed her eyes and allowed her mind to partially drift away from her reality.....while she waited for her mission partner to show up

It had been six days and six nights since Rei had begun his tour as the MIzukage demanded and externally he was keeping pace with the rest of his Chunin team, internally his body was beginning to run ragged. For the first time in Reitou’s life he wondered if he could continue at this pace much longer and what would occur to him once he couldn’t. Although none of his internal fears were expressed through his constantly calm exterior, Rei felt the cold chill of terror creeping up his spine even as he prepared for the next assignment that he was being given. Reitou was to meet a young Kunoichi and crush a small ring of smugglers who had been passing through the area and sliding weapons through the border to various countries that were not in good standings with Kirigakure.

Rei made his way towards the village gates, his green eyes catching the glances of several villagers who gawked at the young boy’s physical condition. Many of the villagers paid little heed to the tiny scratches and dark bruises that covered Reitou’s face and body but the massive scar on his left bicep. The scar was from the claws of a jungle cat which ambushed Reitou’s patrol and chose him as he was the smallest in the group. After they put down the beast the squad’s medic had to cauterize the wounds to keep Reitou from bleeding out, the searing pain was something Reitou wouldn’t soon forget. The glances caused Reitou to vividly remember the event and self-consciously rub the scars on his arm as he sucked harshly through his teeth.

After a few more minutes Reitou found himself outside the gates of Kirigakure and slowly making his way towards the rendezvous point where the mission would begin. As he walked his memory brought him back to when he knelt across from the Mizukage, he remembered her disapproving gaze as he flippantly retold the events of what occurred when he brought down the Hoshigaki known simply as Dunki. Part of Reitou wished he had put forth more effort to show some form of emotion when he was being debriefed, but a larger piece of him was thankful for the experience he was suffering as it was a way to gauge his abilities against some of his superiors and tell which areas he most needed improvement.

Soon Reitou arrived at the location where he was to meet the squad and crush the smuggling ring once and for all. Reitou’s stature made him naturally hidden by the overgrown brush at the forest’s edge but it also made it incredibly difficult for him to spot what he assumed would be two or three more Chunin. As Reitou scanned the forest in search for the rest of his temporary squad he already heard the whispers that they would utter and saw the judgments they would have based simply on his size and rank. The first Chunin squad he was assigned to had the same reaction as the second and the third, they all judged him prematurely before they saw him in combat and once that occurred he had earned at the very least some semblance of respect.

After a few moments of gazing upwards through the brush he thought he spotted one of his squad, he slowly approached the young woman from behind, giving the whistling tune of a songbird. Reitou had learned that song as a sign of a friendly shinobi approaching amongst many Chunin squads, he hoped the woman would recognize it as well. Reitou would wait a few moments before approaching the lady, coming up on her left flank.

Reitou got his first good look at her then; needless to say she wasn’t in much better shape than he was which worried him about the fate of this mission. Reitou cleared his throat to grasp her attention before speaking to her directly about the mission and what he assumed was the recon she had performed. “So what are we up against here? How many hostile forces are there and what weaponry do they have available?” Reitou asked in a hushed whispered in effort to hide their presence from the smuggling ring.