The chuunin exams were finally over. But that didn't mean that things were going to get any easier for Tenmei Sotsuji.

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Standing outside the modest front door of the hotel, the ebony haired female looked down the busy street with her tired silver eyes.
Nothing had changed much since before the exams. People still glanced at her from behind their suspicions, whispering to their friends about rumours, gossip spilling from their lips like the false niceties of a prostitute's money laced kisses. The female shinobi didn't need to be skilled at Genjutsu to know what was on their minds.
A few days ago, Tenmei was introduced to the worst side of the desert, being told that in order to pass, she would have to trudge through the desert in order to find a tower she had never seen before, surviving the brutal heat and the freak rain storms. It was a bit of touch and go when the sandstorm him but like when she was a child, she made it through with what she had.

And then there were the battles. All five of them.
The first three had showed them a taste of what she was capable of.
Daimon had no more than academy grade jutsu and paid dearly for that lack of practice. She had merely held him and he had to be saved by the proctor. The next, she had flexed that same power again, setting the ring of ghostly trees on a fire that burned right until the proctor again had to send out a wave of ice that put out the flames... and her. It saved the Ayane from a deathy hot fate. And then Ukiyo....that lithe little Senju who had fought harder than the other two. Tenmei had caused third degree burns over her legs, luring a scream from her lips that called forth the Mizukage who pried her away. Hanbei was next. The bravest Shinobi she had ever laid her eyes on was reduced to a cowering ball on the ground. Though he did leave his mark on several bones and muscles.
And then there was Kichirou.....Sweet, sweet Kichirou.

Everything after that fight was like a bad camera reel. Most of it was blurred but there were a few moments that remained perfectly sharp. Clear. When her lips brushed up against his for that fleeting, adrenalin filled moment. Her oldest friend, lying unconscious on the ground, looking so peaceful, yet all burnt up and bloody. She remembered the refreshingly biting touch of Solstice's cold skin and the roar of  the audience deafening her ears. The long walk back to the hotel, through the back streets and around the places where people liked to gather. The last thing that the female registered of that day was the smell of tea and slipping under the scratching blankets where everything closed in around her and the world faded to black.

And now here she was, just like before.
Like the past week had never happened....If only.

If only.

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An hour had passed since her feet had moved from the spot by the hotel, and somehow she had found her way back to the gates of Suna. With Masanori leaving early with a group who had been eliminated in the beginning rounds and all the other Genin and Chunin finding their own groups to travel with, Tenmei was left to wait on her own for Solstice. Someone she had barely seen over the course of her time here. Naturally, she had her breif run ins at the end of the final matches but it was hardly enough time to form a conversation about how she was going and what she was feeling.
Needless to say, she had missed her friend and was looking forward to heading home. Even the long boat trip back seemed to be something she could handle providing she could sleep through the rocking.

Just as she was thinking this though....A shadow, cutting across the blinding glare of the sun, caught her attention. She didn't need to look up to know who it was. The cold breeze coming from her skin was tell enough. A small smile, slipped from the corners of her lips and she looked towards the fading footprints in the sand.

"Hey. You ready to head home?"

Solstice jumped to the ground before Tenmei as she rose to a standing position, looking over the land of sand, that she had quite honestly had enough of, she wanted to go back to the cooler climate of Kirigakure, she missed her mother, who would be running the shop while she was gone. Looking above to the sky, the sun glared down on them as she took her new mask and weapon which she had acquired while in the markets of Suna, their forges some of the best in the country as she had bought a good amount of supplies which would soon be couriered back to Kiri for their rebuild. Some of it as a thank you for helping with the Chuunin exams.

The convoy had to gear up and leave, but Solstice didn't need to hang around for them to get ready, looking across to Tenmei she nodded, placing a hand on her shoulder removing her mask and revealing her alabaster skin, and fine sculpted yet womanly features. Things are going to get a lot harder for you now Tenmei, you know that right? People hating you is one thing, you can escape it, you can escape within yourself. But people idolising you is something else. People are going to look up at you, people are going to expect you to always be at your best, and everyone is going to try to bring you down as a symbol to prove their own strength.

Solstice told her as she bid her to begin walking on the road back to Kiri, it was a couple of day trip to the boats, and the caravan convoy would no doubt catch up to them by evening, which meant that they would have blankets should they need them. Solstice sighed, thinking of all the things she would have to do when she got back to their country, but, this was a time of achievement for her, not a time to be thinking of her future and the negatives that was on the horizon.

I'm really proud of you Tenmei, you deserved the win and i have not seen someone fight like that in a long while, not since I was in the chuunin exams at least, it was like watching my fire using sister. She said with a laugh, arching each of her hands up and behind her head, she was still wearing all of her official Kage gear from the exams, the armour of the second Hokage, her gloves, her mask, her new blade, all of it needed to come back to kiri and there she would finally be free to dress in the way she was used to. Breasts bound and wearing effectively nothing.

Although...She began to remark slyly, a cheek coming through as her official nature as a Kage dropped entirely in place of the friend that was realy just a girl at heart. Kichirou was cute... She smiled, hoping to catch Tenmei off guard as they exited the city, and prepared for their long march home. The stress of leadership had been temporarily lifted from her face, replaces with the honest smile of enjoying Tenmei's company, she hoped dearly that some time on the travel there would be enough time to stop for tea, as well as rest their minds and especially bodies.

Solstice remembered back to her having to defend the exams from the outside threat of the small group of bandits, but after they knew the Mizukage was after their skins it seemed they had reconsidered their plans to attempt to paper bomb the tower that they were situated under, and then with the mysterious disappearance of the proctor, she had to stand in, though not reluctantly. Her eyes focused on the horizon and the rising sun, her cool skin glistened in the sunlight, thought the armour around her made things a little easier.