Mitsuo had sent a message by carrier bird to the Hokage telling him that his assignment had been completed, and that a package would be arriving shortly with two of the three ANBU agents that had accompanied him to Sunagakure no Kato. He had also sent a message telling the Hokage that he would be taking ANBU Tora with him to Iwagakure on urgent business. He had heard of a couple of good medical ninjas in Iwagakure who would do his implants for him, and wouldn’t ask any questions about them. He had pulled his white cloak back over his ANBU armour, his red and black striped feline mask still in place over his face. He had taken some time to recover after his fight and was now almost at one hundred percent, which was good because he would need to be. His ribs were still bandaged and his arm wasn’t fully healed but he would have to make due for the time being. It would be a long time until he could properly use his Katana in his right hand again, and he had been training using his left hand to make up for it. It was fortunate that he had always used his left arm before with his Tanto, the transition to the incredibly light Seijin no Ken being fairly easy.

Mitsuo’s companion, Tora, was wearing a mask with orange and black stripes, a black cloak covering all of his armour. The two of them had been assigned to the mission, and it was Tora who had found “Chita” after the battle, removing his ANBU related items and taking him to the Sunagakure no Sato hospital. He was the reason that Mitsuo was able to stand right now and walk on his own accord and Mitsuo was very grateful to have the man with him now. He looked back at the black cloaked ANBU, smiling softly beneath his mask and then looking to his side. He had heard the familiar sound of soft paw pads on the sand and knew that Chisoku had joined them, a hand moving to rest on the head of the king cheetah and petting him gently, a deep purr coming from the cheetah. He started to walk forward, an uneasy feeling about his destination, but knowing that he needed to do this to become the strongest shinobi he could possibly be.

It was no secret that Mitsuo was not a fan of Iwa nin, or more that he didn’t trust them after what had happened to his mother when he was a small child. She had been cut down and murdered in cold blood while trying to protect a member of the coveted Hyuuga clan, the famous wielders of the Byakugan doujutsu. Mitsuo had never forgiven the nin who killed his mother, and had made a vow that one day he would see them all dead. He knew it was a foolish vow, it being almost impossible to track them after so many years, but he still had to try.

The three companions walked to the edge of the Wind Country, staring into the Rock Country, a place that Mitsuo never thought he would step foot in. He stood in silence for a moment, trying his best to kill his emotions and do what needed to be done in order for him to become more powerful. He sighed almost inaudibly but just loudly enough for Tora to hear it, placing his hand on Mitsuo’s shoulder and saying softly, through the vocal scrambler in his mask “It’s alright hun, we’ll get through this together.” Mitsuo always felt comforted when he felt the familiar hands of the Hyuuga boy whom he loved resting on his shoulder. He looked ahead to the distance and made his way silently as a shadow into Iwagakure no Kato, preparing to seek out the nin that he needed to find.

(650/600 Travel Suna > Iwa complete)