"My dear little candle. What have you gone and down now?
Did you really think that beating up someone like that would get them to accept you? I thought I taught you better than that"
 
"No. It wasn't like that I swear. I was protecting the village. He killed them. He killed...."
 
"Come now Tenmei. Excuses wont get you anywhere. Know where you failed and be stronger. It's okay.....you did okay"

--------------------------
  
It felt.....so real

Her sandled feet, tapping quietly against the water worn planks, creating small puffs of steam that whisped up from the slightly charred footsteps, trailing along behind her. The heavy mist that clung to the condensation on her flaw specked tanned skin and the thick salty scented air, was nearly enough to make her forget the dry heat that infected her lungs a little over a week ago...when she was somewhere else. This was her home. She had missed it dearly, and today: her job was to protect it.....And this time, she wouldn't be alone.
   He was there again. In fact he had been there for every mission since she got back, now that she thought about it.
Of course the young Chunin didn't mind it. Masanori had become a good friend in the days following Tenmei's return to Kiri. Helping her, sticking up for her when she had purposelfly missed the whspered leering. Even now as they walked to the border, shoulder to shoulder,  close but not touching, it was setting her anxious mind at ease.

Needless to say, she was looking forward to spending some time with him, away from the chaos of the busy-body village.
To sit down and have a proper conversation, talk about what could have been, what was happening next while helping others to keep watch. Tenmei truly had missed these moments of peace. 

....and then just like every other dream. It turned.

There were three of them.

Dark. Menacing. Creeping through the mist with an almost arrogant swagger as they approached the border of Kirigakure. It didn't take a jounin to see how much of a threat they posed to the village.
It was just the little things really. The scratch across the headband, confidently displaying his separation from his roots, the scent of blood on the knives he carried. Even the way the two accompanying members turned to him with almost adoring eyes, betraying their feelings to any observant outsiders, happening to look their way. The Sotsuji was not at all surprised to see the oldest member walking over to stake his claim despite the obvious risks to his life.....his team members life. And then...just like the reckless leader they all knew him to be....the Jounin attacked the leader with a cocky war cry, the others springing in to action, following his lead.

It was a shame that Masanori saw the danger when no one else did.
Such a shame that she was the only one who listened.....
And then everything went blurry.

It was all happening too fast. Red and silver streaks, flashed past her eyes, separating the scenes in her mind like a broken movie, crackling and freezing where the plot line counts while only showing her deleted scenes which her mind tried to forget. None of them stood a chance.
The Leader Jounin, the strongest one was the first to learn such, as he was reduced to primal meat every human was made from, right in front of the of the girl's horrified eyes, silencing the wrath that grew with her fire....and then Masanori. Despite his quick thinking, his wise words of warning, he too was felled by the athame claws of the demonic witch puppet, his chest cracking open in an array of red and blue. 
One by one her friends, the hoplessly brave people around her, fell like tin soldiers along her neighbours back fence. By the time she had worked up the courage to step in…to save these people it was too late…..they were already gone. She was always....that little bit late.

Then.


It felt.....so real.

The first impact: The electricity had slammed in to her with the force of a cement truck, throwing her back so suddenly, so violently, that for those few moments, those seconds where she was thrown like a ragdoll through the air, Tenmei nearly forgot what had happened....but everything came rushing back with the unrelenting solidity of the wooden planks as they came up to meet her with all it's brutality. It was crazy how she could almost feel her ribs, her wrist, her legs and five other bones cracking under the sudden pressure. The agony was almost....euphoric.
But it didn't stop there. No the pain had only just started. First, there was the pressure on the fractures. A warm embrace that left a bitter feeling, a further throbbing through her broken body as the weight compressed down on her lungs . But then it changed. Searing. Burning. From shoulder to hip it was like someone was dragging live wire across her back....over and over again.

The worst part though, was after.

Lying down on the ground, Tenmei looked up at those golden, predatory eyes. Hungry for the worship he was so wrongfully robbed of, and so full of hate....it matched her own gaze perfectly. Did he turn away? Did he come back to finish her off? She didn't stay awake long enough to find out. The world started to blur at the edges, before slowly....slowly...it started to close in on itself....and then Tenmei faded off in to black. A deeper stage of sleep.

It was so far away, she wasn't sure if it was part of the dream or one of those distant memories. Either way: Tenmei could have sworn that she was being carried away. Lifted gently from the chilled breeze of the water side and in to the normal heaviness of the mist. After that it was just feelings.
   Icy fingers pressed against the side of her neck, like narrow icicles feeling for a sign that her heart had not given up.
Concerned yelling close by, echoing orders that her hazy mind could not understand. There was the smell of fresh corpses, a new layer of that metallic crimson liquid.  Nothing was more overpowering than the feather light touches brushing up against the tender parts of her torso, sending shooting pain up the side of her neck. This was the last thing she felt before her mind started to fall back in to that abyss once more. The closed walls of her child hood memories. The last thing Tenmei remembered was glimpsing the trees rushed passed as traveled on leaving that bad, terrible, haunting place behind.

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

"Quick! Get her in to the emergency room. Prepare for an infusion we might need it. And you. Find whoever you can that is not currently out drinking or on mission. Where are those clean towels. Medic!!"

She was lucky. Incredibly lucky.

It had been a pretty easy day at the hospital so far. Patients came, patients left, patients stuck around and argued that there was something wrong until they were blue in the face. I was all pretty routine.....That was until that ANBU had shown up.
He had showed up so suddenly and kicked through the door, near knocking it off it's hinges before heading straight for reception, pushing past the line of sniffle nosed paranoids and anxious mothers. Usually there would have been chaos. Yelling and arguing for the stranger to get back in the line. However this time no one said a word.
The blood soaked girl, hanging lifeless in his arms was a good excuse as any. 

The special Jounin at the counter was nothing special. A lowly assistant to a younger medic, quite low on the food chain really.  But even he knew, with his most basic medical knowledge that the young looking female was in trouble. Sure, they said they had stabilized her...that they had covered the wound and attempted to stem the bleeding. This however would never been good enough for this amount of damage. Stabilsing was a far cry to actually healing her....
And without healing, she would die. No way a person could lose that amount of blood and survive without professional help.

Lying her down on the uninjured side, they were able to see the full extent of her injuries. The long gash that cut deep in to her shoulder blade, right across her back, slicing in to one of the processes of her spine. It continued across to join at the base of the older burns on her opposite hip. That seemed to be the worse of her injuries.
There was hardly a patch on her skin below the girls neck, that wasn't tinted by blue and purple splotches. Only the red lines of electrical burns hidden beneath the blood, was there as proof of what caused all this damage.

"Where are my medics?! We are losing her"

A medic frantically looked through the records of the hospital, finding anyone that could come and help. The ER was full today, with barely any doctors or medical ninja to go around. They were always understaffed, and they would take anybody they could get. He found a name he recognized, the name Maeda, Isamu, and his face lit up with joy. That was certainly someone who could help, the very same boy had worked for the hospital for 5 years before quitting just months ago. He was now 21, and a Jounin of Kirigakure; he had quit for personal reasons and also to pursue a path as a ninja, so he might not accept the plea for help, but it was still worth a shot. The medic grabbed Isamu's contact information and went back out into the lobby, shoving the paper in the hands of a messenger. "Go, find Maeda, Isamu. He can help with treating the girl who just arrived, while Nanderu and I can handle the surgery in the H-Wing and the rest of the staff can continue what they're doing. Got it? Hurry!" The messenger nodded in reply before swiftly sprinting out of the building and into the night.

The knock came to his door within minutes. Isamu, being the night-owl he was, was wide awake and reading doujinshi yaoi in his bed. He felt like a pervert for taking such joy in reading sexual stuff like that, but it was a guilty pleasure. The sound reverberated through his house and reached his ears, enticing him to get up and leave the yaoi on his nightstand. He slipped on a shirt so that his bare torso wouldn't be stung by the cold, night air of Kirigakure. His sweatpants would do fine in keeping his legs warm, so he didn't bother to change pants. He opened the front door and found the messenger standing there. "Uhm. Hi. What's up?" He asked, with a curious look. Messenger-nin almost never came to his doorstep unless it was urgent. Surely enough, the messenger retained a grave look on his countenance.

"We need you at the hospital, we're understaffed and nearly full of dying patients. You're one of the few medic-nin who can help." Now, in all honesty, Isamu wanted to just go back into his house and act like he had no idea, but now that he knew people were going to die without his help, he couldn't very well just let them. He was the type to prevent death, no matter how much he hated the prospect of working in that hospital again. He had done it for five years and was glad to be rid of it after it ruined his relationship with Ryu and threw him into depression. It had taken his old life and his innocence, and changed him. Seeing death like that, knowing that sometimes you just couldn't stop it from happening, sometimes he was just too late, it just got to him. Going back to that was a nightmare in itself, but if he didn't try, they would die anyways. He looked into the messenger's eyes, which were a jungle-green.

"Let me get dressed, I'll be right back out." Isamu shut the door, running over to his room again and sliding the closet open. He grabbed a scarf, a sweater, and some black pants, and slipped his white Medical-nin coat over them as he put them all on. He was back outside within seconds, and he and the messenger sprinted back to the hospital with haste. The familiar building came into view, and Isamu shifted uncomfortably when they arrived at the double doors. He stepped inside, and was immediately blinded by the bright white lights of the lobby before his vision adjusted and all around him were injured people and cries for help. The receptionist looked quite distressed, and a medic that he recognized as one of his former co-workers was talking to her, most likely the man who had sent for Isamu in the first place. Isamu approached him and patted him on the back. "I'm here. Where do you need me, Atsube?"


Atsube nodded, and started walking down the corridor into the F-Wing. "Follow me, I'll take you to the girl."

---

Training Chakra Scalpel
Word Count: 730/2,000

Deep blue eyes darted across the night sky as a very frantic ninja moved with blinding haste. He scaled rooftops with ease as he pressed forward, thinking of only one person. Only moments ago, a messenger-nin appeared at his doorstep with news of a friend in trouble. Tenmei was one ninja who he had taken quite a bit of interest in, especially after their mission together. She had even won the Chunnin exams, a feat that was impressive. Most ninja did not survive or pass the first round of the exams, much less win them on their first try. Apparently, the poor girl had been on border patrol when she was attacked. She was in severe condition, or so he had been told. A dark expression covered Strafe's face as he continued to make his way towards the Kirigakure hospital. He would never forgive himself if he let this girl die. She was going to do great things as a ninja, he just knew it.

There was also the problem with her heat, if he remembered. If she wasn't in control, most ninja would not be able to do much for her. He had to get there as soon as possible, as he would be one of the few who could counteract that burning touch of hers. "I'll save you, I promise." He wispered to no one as he neared the very familiar building. He knew the place very well and had worked there for many years. One could say that the hospital was a second home to him. The messenger ninja tried to keep up, but the Sannin's speed was vast and he made sure to use every bit of it. Within a few minutes, he appeared at the grand double doors, pushing them open and rushing through the threshold. He turned to see the receptionist being swamped with paperwork and patients all around him in need of help. It seemed he had come just in time. "Where is Tenmei?" He asked with confident tone as he walked up to the woman behind the counter. "She is on F-Wing. Isamu just got here before you. She won't make it much longer, so please hurry." Strafe's eyes opened wide as he heard the name. Isamu was one of the few medical ninja in Kirigakure that he trusted with his own life. The fact that he was here to help made him at ease, or at least a bit.

"Understood." Strafe said with a nod as he rushed to find the entrance down F-Wing and moved quickly down the corridor. He looked to see Isamu and another medic at the entrance of a room. "I'm here! Let's get in there and help." Strafe said to them as he opened the door and walked in the room. It was time to get started and keep this girl alive.

Advanced Recovery Method Training: 487/2000

It was a mess. The entire place was in turmoil, and through it all, Isamu followed Atsube through the halls and to room of Tenmei, a woman whom he'd heard of now and again but never had the chance of meeting. She was in bad shape, covered in broken bones and electrical burns, her blood tainting the gurney she laid on. Strafe had arrived, as well, and they were all in the room surrounding her. The commotion around her made it difficult for Isamu to see clearly, but by the looks of it, people were touching her skin and it was burning them. She screamed violently, her body lunging left and right. "NO!! Don't touch me!! Don't let them touch me. Stay away from me! Stay away...." Isamu felt sorry for the woman, and wondered what could have possibly happened to put her in this position, but that wasn't the problem at hand. He nodded to Atsube, who had wrapped a towel around her arm to stop the heat. Obviously, it wasn't holding up very well, and the room was starting to fill with smoke. Atsube looked unsure of what to do, and he turned to Isamu.

"Yes. Let's get to it! Strafe. Isamu. I follow your lead." Isamu turned to Strafe, then looked back to Tenmei. "Alright, we need to get her in stable condition. Blood loss isn't too much of a problem here, but she's got plenty of broken bones and electrical burns. I can handle those, to an extent. She's slipping fast, the issue how fast we can do it and not if we can do it at all. Her burning hands or whatever, those won't be a problem. Both my kekkei genkai and Strafe's can help with it; I have Medical Suiton and he has Ice Release. Atsube, I'm going to use a jutsu that will both restrict her and heal her slowly at the same time. Use the opportunity to give her anesthesia so we can proceed with surgery." Atsube nodded and went to fetch the appropriate materials.

Isamu spoke to Strafe. "You're going to be doing a lot here, alright? I'm going to use my kekkei genkai and it hold her down while it heals her. That doesn't guarantee that the water won't be evaporated by her skin. Keep the room cold using your Hyōton, and use any Medical Ninjutsu you can to heal these burns, my kekkei genkai won't be enough for those." and without further ado, Isamu made a series of hand seals. When he reached the final one, Dog, water began to come out from his mouth, like a fountain, until it encased most of Tenmei (except her head). He held the Dog hand seal, and called out. "Maeda: Umi no Shinsei." The water compressed, similar to the Water Prison Jutsu, to keep her restrained within its pressure. Her wounds began to heal at a slow rate, as the bones within shifted back into place and torn tissue regenerated. He kept his concentration on her alone throughout this process, and his motivation to keep her alive...

---

Training Chakra Scalpel
Word Count: 1,263/2,000

275/300:

Strafe's eye opened in horror as he saw the young woman thrashing on the table in pain and suffering. Whoever did this to Tenmei would pay, dearly. She screamed and attacked the medical ninja who were around her, burning them in the process. Strafe observed her face and body movements. She was obviously traumatized mentally by the battle that she survived, though barely. He looked to all the other medical ninja present in the room and saw their distress. They had no idea how they were going to heal this poor girl, but that was why Isamu and himself had been called in. He turned his head to listen to Isamu, who seemed like a doctor who was about to perform surgery. The progress that the Maeda clan member had made was astounding, even to Strafe. All of his ideas and commands were exactly what he would do himself. Strafe smiled as Atsube ran off to prepare the anesthesia. They had to make sure she was ready.

He listened to Isamu's plan with intent. It was intelligent and efficient. If Isamu wasn't careful, he could take Strafe's position as Sannin one day. "Sounds good. I've got just the jutsu in mind." Strafe said nodding to the man. He watched as Isamu created an impressive amount of water and wrapped it around the chunnin's body. He smiled as it started to heal her, but that would not last long. He could already see the steam starting to roll of the liquid, signifying that her body temperature was evaporating the water almost instantly. Strafe sighed and focused his body's temperature to drop, allowing the air around him to become chilly. This would be just enough to counteract her own body heat for a few moments. He then decided to help Isamu a bit further before performing a jutsu of his own. "I'm going to add a little more water to your jutsu, but it's also going to keep the water from evaporating so quickly. Trust me on this." Strafe said confidently as she lifted his hands in front of him.

Only moments after he lifted his hands in front of him, he created a ball of water that was unqiue in appearance. It had accents of light blue streaking through the water, signifying the Aisu chakra that ran through it. He focused on his chakra control while lowering the water to combine with Isamu's technique. After a little adjusting, he allowed the condensed water to spread evenly into the Maeda clan technique, dropping the temperature of the water enough to fully stop the evaporation. The first step was complete. "Now, The room temperature along with the lowered temperature of the water should keep it from evaporating. I'm going to use another medical jutsu to speed up the healing process." He said with a confident nod of the head. Strafe quickly formed the Ram seal and channeled chakra over to Tenmei's body. Her body started to glow with a blue aura, signifying that the healing process had started. With the combined medical expertise of Isamu and Strafe, Tenmei would be perfectly fine, or so he hoped.

Advanced Recovery Method Training: 1022/2000

Chakra 310/350:

Inhale

Atsube couldn't believe what he was seeing.
For three years he had been working in this place, patching up cuts, putting ice on bruises, healing the others and reassuring parents that their child is not dying. Not once in those years of medical training did he see anything like this.
She was pale, that much was certain. With every breath passed, the colour slipped further from her torn skin, stealing away the rose from her cheeks and the ferocious gleam in her eyes, leaving nothing but a ghostly shade of white that hung on her skin like a sickly sheet. But despite this...despite the lack of circulation and slowed heart rate, her skin was as hot as his mothers oven, burning anyone who even so much as brought their hand close. In fact.....it was almost like her body was compensating for the lack of heat it was getting normally.

Exhale

The second that icy droplets touched her scorched, bone white skin, it erupted, exploding in to a cloud of steam with an almost evil hiss, filling the sterile air with whispy snake like coils that swirled and danced up through the room, before dying away at the painfully clear ceiling....only to be replaced with a new handful of steam.
It was rare seeing this sort of display in such a cold place. Nothing ever got that here. Well... not hot enough to turn the oxygen in to tumbling white clouds anyway. Although it stole Atusbe's attention away for a few minutes, the injured girl brought it right back.
Just watching her, was heart breaking really. The way she helplessly tried to fight the water that tangled around her limbs, clinging to her skin like a cocoon, holding her in place. It was easy to see that despite her position, she refused to give in even though this female was no where near strong enough to attack this technique

"Use the opportunity to give her anesthesia so we can proceed with surgery."


He was already half way out the door when the words registered in his mind. With only so much as a nod to detail his understanding, the younger Medical nin headed out, disappearing around the corner with the echoes of orders following him down the hall.

----------

Inhale

She was scared. Properly.....scared.
Tenmei could hear the voices all around her....but they were strange. Distorted. Muffled. Distant. It sounded like they were calling to each other through a buzzing sandstorm, down the bottom of a valley where it echoed past her and yet she couldn't quit hear.
Those words were not the only thing that reminded her of that first exam. Everything here was so bright. The light above her, the pure white ceiling that covered her like the lid on a prison cell. The figures, watching over her like twisted angels, appearing as black spots across her eyes. It was terrifying.....simply terrifying.  She wasn't going to let these people touch her. She wouldn't let them hurt her again. Not like they hurt Masanori and those other people on the bridge.....

Exhale

The mask came down. Her muscles tensed up.
And Tenmei screamed as she tried to fight them away, one more time before the sweet smelling anesthesia started to take her away what little energy she had left.  Wthat fight she had left.....
 "NO!! I won't let you hurt them again. Leave me alone. Stop.....stop"
But her words were as empty as her attempts at fighting away the restraints. Useless. Slowly, the tension in her vessels started to slip away with the erratic breathing and the muscles loosened off one by one, relaxing in to the sedative that felt so good in her blood stream.
But....just as she was entering the blissful world of dreams....just as she was slipping away in to that beautiful world of bliss her vision cleared....and what a surprise when she saw a familiar face. Someone she had not seen in a good couple of months.

Tenmei could never forget those eyes. Stern, bluer than the ice they were so well known for, but warmer than her own skin.
Within seconds the relief extended out from the tightness in her chest to her own steel grey eyes, bringing forward tears that tricked down her cheeks, intermingling with the ground below.
 
"S....Strafe....I'm so sorry. So.......sorry"

And thankfully. Everything went black.

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

Breathing.

Atsube let out an audible sigh as he slowly pulled the mask away from the female's face, watching as her muscles slowly unwound one by one until her shivering form collapsed under the weight of her own exhaustion. Blacking out with the relaxing effects of the sedative.
That had been hard though. Stressful. The moment he put that mask on, attempting to feed her the anesthetic for the first time, she had lost it....more than she had before. The heat rose so high that he could have sword that, even with the cold of Strafe's ability the mask would melt right on to her skin.....
If it had not been for that moment....that fleeting moment of calm. She would end up worse than before.

"She's under. Let's get this done"

Atsube stared intently at Tenmei's laid out figure, waiting for the anesthesia to take effect. It took all of a few moments, and she apologized to Strafe in a low tone before falling unconscious. Atsube turned his attention back to the medics. "She's under. Let's get this done" Isamu nodded in response. So, surgery. This was something he hadn't done in a while, but he was never good at it to begin with. He always had someone else handle it back in his days at the hospital; he was too nervous, too shaky, he didn't want to mess up and end up killing someone just with a slip of the wrist. Yes, a slip of the wrist was all it took to slice an artery or sever a tendon, or worst yet, puncture an organ. He didn't want that burden on his shoulders...but today, he had to prove himself and overcome this fear. A life depended on it.

Tenmei was in stable condition, breathing steadily and unaware of what was about to happen, at least for the most part. Isamu held his hand up, and chakra formed a blade around it. The Chakra Scalpel technique. He brought his hand down to her chest, and cut her open. Her skin split like smooth paper between scissors, revealing a plethora of processes occuring within her. She bled slightly from the open wound, but most of her bleeding was sectioned in different areas of her body, primarily internal bleeding. He used his kekkei genkai to create more water, and poured it over her wounds and her organs, healing them slowly. She still seemed unstable though; her breathing and heart rate was heightened, as if she was hurt badly, despite her wounds being nearly healed. Then, he noticed it; one of her ribs was broken, and was pressing against her lung. This was bad...if it punctured, she could have trouble breathing. It could lead to pneumonia and other complications. If she was unlucky enough, it could even kill her. Goal #1...fix this rib.

"Someone heal this rib, or at least get it back into place. Be careful, though, it's almost stabbing her lung. Once we fix that, I'll close her up, and she should be fine, she'll just need a lot of natural recovery and physical therapy. "

---

Learning Chakra Scalpel
Word Count: 1,658/2,000

235/300:

His mind raced with the speed of a cheetah as the medical ninja focused on everything at once. He could trust Isamu, that much he was sure of, but he didn't know the skill level of these other people. Unfortunately, he had not had the privilege of working at the hospital as much as he would have liked, leaving him uncertain of their level of competence. His eyes shot from one subject to the other as he focused his chakra to heal certain aspects of the girls body, still using the Advanced Healing Method. Suddenly, he was snapped back to the dark reality of her condition as she spoke out in a low and weak tone. Tears streaked down her face as she seemed to be truly happy to see him. He could not help but respond with a tear of his own. The white lights danced off it's surface as it streamed down the Sannin's face and fell to the floor. As it connected with the tiles below, she fell into the slumber that she had been searching for. The poor girl was finally at peace.

Strafe shook his head to regain his focus and smiled at the girl. "It's okay, Tenmei." He said as calmly as possible as he heard Isamu's voice sound out. He looked quickly to see one of her ribs resting harshly against the surface of her lung. His eyes widened in urgency as he quickly focused chakra in that area. It would not be easy to fix such a problem without physically helping the process, but he could not risk the puncturing of her lung. Making a mistake like that could mean the end of her short life, and he would not allow such a fate to befall her. He concentrated on the flow of the chakra he was using, making sure the jutsu was perfect in order to heal her. Any complications would make matters worse and he didn't know how much more they could handle. "I'll try to heal the rib as quickly as possible. I might take another 5 minutes though, so please be patient." Strafe spoke confidently to Isamu as he did nothing but focus with the intent of saving her life. He could not live with himself if she died like this. Not here, not now.

What seemed like an eternity passed, but in reality it was only a minute and a half. Strafe could see the rib slowly healing and moving into to place. This was good. If he could continue the jutsu uninterrupted, the rib would be healed in the next few minutes and Isamu could seal her up. His eyes narrowed as he showed nothing but determination for the situation at hand. He would not fail. He was a Sannin of the village hidden in the mist, and he would prove their worth.


Advanced Recovery Method Training: 1506/2000

Chakra 300/350:

Strafe took over from there, working his way at the rib to get it back into place and heal it properly. His technique, in terms of surgery, was dexterous and precise, just as any decent medic's should be. Isamu nodded with approval and concentration as he watched, waiting, hoping...soon, Strafe had it stable and away from the lung with no damage dealt to any nearby organs. The coast was clear, and this operation was set to end. It had already been, what, 2 hours or so? Procedures like this always tended to vacuum away time, as all medics participating were so focused on saving the person in front of them that the world around seemed to slip by unnoticed. The O.R. was similar to another dimension, where all that mattered to those within was what was happening inside of it and whether the patient lived or died. It was all really...surreal, and beyond imagination, that they were actually saving lives, every day, in this building. If angels existed, medics were certainly the best of them.

Isamu closed Tenmei up, sewing carefully with the suture, until she was whole again. The blood was cleaned from around the room, and it was silent, save the sound of steady breathing from he, Strafe, and everyone else. Atsube didn't say anything, only patted Isamu and Strafe on the back before scurrying off to the H-Wing to do the surgery he was supposed to hours ago. Isamu looked to each one of those around him, then back to Tenmei on the table. "Good work, everyone, she's gonna be alright. Wheel her to a room and get her set up, will you?" he asked the medic across from him, who nodded and took Tenmei away. Isamu looked back at Strafe. "Never thought I'd working here again, but I'm glad we saved her. I couldn't have done it without you, Strafe, you're a wonderful guy." He gave Strafe a sly wink before turning. "See you around, I'm going home to get much-needed rest." he called out to the Sannin before exiting, and making his way out of the hospital.

He didn't even bother to wash off his clothes, he was too tired for that; he figured he could always do it later.

(Exit Thread)

---

Learning Chakra Scalpel
Word Count: 2,046/2,000 -Complete-

Strafe watched with joy as the rib slowly started to heal and return to it's natural position. Sweat rolled down his forehead as he continued to concentrate on the jutsu at hand. It seemed like the process was taking forever, but that was okay. As long as she was healed and out of harms way. After a few more minutes, the healing was complete. Strafe sighed with relief as he released the medical technique. Surgery was always something that took so much focus, that it left him exhausted. Not to mention that it was surgery on a good friend. Regardless, she would be okay and that was all he wanted. Isamu closed her up with care and the room's atmosphere lightened. Everyone was finally starting to smile and act as if it had been a success. Strafe turned to Atsube, who had been watching and assisting the entire few hours he had been in here. "Please make sure she is taken care of. If anything else comes up, you know where to find me." Strafe said with a serious tone that meant that he cared about Tenmei.

After listening to Tenmei on that mission so long ago, the poor girl had been through enough in her life. To suffer these injuries defending the village that she wasn't even fully accepted in was something that would stay with her. He turned to Isamu, who spoke to him. "Thank you for your help and I'm always available to help a friend. Please go get some rest, you did more than your share of work today." Strafe replied with a smile. A few more moments passed and Isamu left the room, probably headed home to sleep some. It didn't sound like a bad idea. Strafe turned to look at Tenmei once more. He watched as they cleaned up the area, making it look as if the surgery had not even happened. "I leave her to your care." He said nodding to one of the medical ninja in the room before nodding towards the young chunnin. He then turned to leave, walking out the door slowly and down the hall. He couldn't help but wonder what she would say when she woke up. She would probably want to speak with him, which was fine. It had been much to long since they had spoken.

He left the hospital and greeted by none other than Momaru. "Everything go okay?" The lion asked with a worried expression. "It went great, Tenmei is fine." Strafe said as he climbed onto the beasts back. "Good, I came as soon as I heard it was her. I knew you had it though." Momaru said trying to comfort the ninja, and Strafe simply smiled bashfully in response. It was time to go home and sleep. "Let's get to the house, Momaru." Strafe said to his long time friend. In what seemed like an instant, they were rushing from rooftop to rooftop, heading in the direction of the residential district. After a few minutes, they appeared at the house, stopping gracefully. "Thank you for the ride. I'll see you tomorrow." Strafe said as he nodded to his friend before walking inside the house. He immediately got to his room and stripped down. He laid down on his bed to try to sleep, though he doubted he would get any. The only thing he could think about was who was responsible for tonight. He would find out.

-Exit Thread-

Advanced Recovery Method Training: 2089/2000 [Completed]

Chakra 290/350:

It was a couple of hours later when Solstice had managed to fight the urge to rush to the side of her friend, she had to wait out of the room as the surgery was in progress, and though she had some of the right to burst in there, she left it to the professionals, and with bodies counted up on the patrol there was much that she had to do in the mean time, but the attack still needed to be documented, and a debrief from Tenmei was more than essential to learning the motives behind these people. Once Solstice was given the clear to enter the room, she walked in briskly, with a small burner and a tea tray, as well as her mother's assortment of herbal ingredients, hopefully it would be a nice surprise to see her friend here in hospital, and enough to put a small smile on her face.

Two ANBU were the only two who were able to survive the encounter, and neither of them had issued in a formal report with Solstice yet, something which she was eagerly awaiting, taking a seat in the room she lit the small hot plate with a tinderbox and allowed the water to be bought to a boil, laying the bed tray over Tenmei's knees without so much as saying a word until she was seated and comfortable. Smiling faintly, her eyes gazed up and down the length of her body, she seemed to have had her sheets changed in the time it had taken her to finish up her duties as the Mizukage, but she had put the rest of her now busy life temporarily on hold for her close, and probably closest friend.

Opening her mouth, hopefully to Tenmei's response, Solstice began to pour the two of them a cup of calming tea, to soothe her nerves as well as the pain, poppy and lavender amongst the aromatic flavours which began to fill the room when it touched the hot water. Hey, here you go, I bought you tea, Im sorry i could not come in earlier, the doctors wouldn't let me... she said sympathetically, hoping Tenmei would understand, Solstice would have felt terrible if she had somehow made the healing process more complicated than it needed to be.

Slipping her hand free of one of her cloves before sliding it across the sheets to Tenmei's and holding it for a short moment to console her that everything was okay, and convey that she was safe, and away from harm. At the very least for now, in this very moment, nothing could hurt the any more than they already had. So, what happened? How did you end up like this Tenmei? who did this to you? She asked with concern, and worry more than duty as a Kage, worry washed over her face, although she was a tad more direct than she had initially intended, the result was still the same, asking her friend if she was feeling better, and wanting to know how she was hurt.

Taking a cup of tea for herself Solstice's long black coat fell down the back of the chair to the floor her heart racing as she leaned inwards for the information she was hoping to hear. There was very little in the ninja world which was able to take on a boarder patrol like that and come out without a single loss on their own side, so, something went down, and they needed a play by play of what that something was, but, such thoughts did not cross the mind of the Mizukage, simply asking her friend in such a way as to begin conversation, kindness and warmth radiating from her in a strange juxtaposition, of warmth to cold.

She could feel Tenmei's heat radiating off her, though she had used some of her fire, it was not as hot as it usually was should she be in a pain-ridden state, but it was still hotter than usual. Solstice matched her heat to create comfort between them and their touch, searching Tenmei's eyes for an answer with her own just as much as her ears waited for her response. Take your time, you dont need to talk right now if you dont want to, im here...

Solstice listened to the key words which rang true as her friend spoke about the opponents and the nightmare she had faced at the hands of this man and the three people. As she ran out of tea, solstice poured her cup full once again, in hopes to calm her nerves. Though it was a terrible thing to think, and though she now had to send in the death reports of all those who had died there to their families and loved ones, praising them as heroes, at least some good managed to come out of this, and at least Tenmei was still alive... Solstice for a second forsook the thought of the others in thanks that her own friend had not died on the battlefield. Though it was a shame about Masanori... he was an aspiring young ninja, cut down before he had a chance.

But her words echoed...

There were three of them ... Two males and a female ... the one the strange female called 'Master' ... building up immense amounts of chakra and then our group leader was sliced up...and he used puppets...He used strings to cut up the Jounin...It was made of metal and heavy looking... it looked like a girl...a twisted metal girl...He moved like you did. ...he was employed by our country before. ...He claimed to have killed one of the Shichiouza and had their head as a present...He told me that he had killed many enemies and stopped wars of the mist...he had been doing things for Kiri for over twenty years...No one has heard of this... he also had this bell. It sounded odd, but once he did that.....the puppet and he moved separately. Like he didn't need to control it any more...He used a seal on his blade for something I don't remember... ... ...

This was more than simple valuable intelligence, and it seemed that a storm may be coming for the Kirigakure no Sato, but sitting here with her friend right now was more important to solstice, her hand gripped Tenmei's firmly as she leant close and ran a hand through her hair, ushering a calming, caring, caressing whisper in place of a small hush, repeating softly until she was able to calm her quiet enough to be able to talk and voice her opinion a little more to the distraught girl before her.

There there love, you did everything you could, if they are as you say then I doubt there was much that you could have done, with what you told me, in living, you have just saved a great many more lives. People do not hate you, I do not hate you, and nobody blames you Tenmei... Calm words which attempted to soothe Tenmei in her current state. Solstice just wanted all of these things to be over. She had a good idea of the things which Tenmei was the most afraid of now, in the time she had gotten to know the young ninja a lot had changed between them, she had seen the fear in her eyes when she had told her to release all of the fire which was pent up inside of her. Pictures paint a thousand words, and her eyes painted a pictures a thousand fold more.

The mist outside of the window was beginning to get denser as the night began to come closer and closer, casting the gloom of night over the village, foreshadowing what was next to come, but such things took time, and whoever this guy was, was going to need all the time he could to gather whatever forces he has and prepare to take on an entire country of ninja. Smiling softly toward Tenmei nothing could overpower the look of worry in the Mizukage's eyes, a compounded worry built on the foundation of her position within the village, her own friend from who she cared for deeply, the well being of the people and the ever present thought that she did not think she would have to be a part of more than one battle in the long run...



"I wish i Wasn't here,
I wish none of this had happened."

"See. It wasn't your fault. You did all you could. Don't cry my little candle. Listen to her now....listen"

"....okay. How did she know? How does she know?"


It took a while, but eventually the younger female quietened.
The stifled cries hushed to absent minded sniffing as she drew back the tears, while her trembling hands stilled to settle around the ice cold touch of her fingers. For those few moments.....those precious few moments, Tenmei closed her eyes and pretended for a moment that, none of it happened. That she never had gone to the pier that day and never saw those mercenaries as they approached with all the confidence she wished she had. That, their arrogant group leader didn't show hostility. No one would be dead, no one would be hurt.
And she would not here, cowering like a pathetic little child in the arms of someone she hoped to be like one day, wishing and praying that today just didn't happen.....
But like always, she knew these hopes were as empty as the things she was telling herself since she had woken up.

Slowly. Carefully. Tenmei untangled herself from Solstice and sat back upright in beds, brushing the left over regrets away from her red stained eyes. Before she knew it, her hands had then moved to pick up the newly filled cup of tea. Seemingly the only thing that was able to calm her down enough for her breathing to steady.

"That's it. There we go. There was nothing you could have done more. You survived"

While the tea settled her hands, the words settled her mind and Tenmei took a deep breath to suppress the last of her feelings.
He was right...so was she. She wasn't strong enough to fight them off but she survived all the same. Survived when no one else didn't
And now they knew what was to come. This was her purpose in this battle and now she would have to focus on getting better and getting back out in to the field.
Death.....had not had meaning for a long time now.

"They said....they said they wanted to keep me here over night to make sure I am okay, but I can go home tomorrow as long as I be careful not to exert myself too much.
Solstice....he is dangerous. The way he acted around his followers, the way he moves and fights. This guy is a natural leader whose Pride has been wounded. So please be careful..."

Be careful

She listened.

Even though her eyes remained on the brown speckled stain at the base of the cup, her fingers clenched tight around the warmly smooth porcelain, Tenmei took in every word her mentor, and friend had said.
For the most part, the Chuunin was a mite jealous of the Mizukage. Standing tall and proud with such confidence in her people and in her country.... while she still sat there; aching from temples to toes, wrapped up in the paper white sheets with all her regrets and misery, stitched on the bandages that covered the majority of her torso.
Tenmei had been living in this land for a short time, and she had witnessed the best and worst of these people. Those time where they would corner the younger ranked girl and beat her up for being that little bit different. The times she met those kind people that took her in and called her 'friend' after only meeting her once before....
She had learned early on that these people, both good and bad, were always strong and steadfast.... but unlike the ice blessed female beside her, Tenmei worried. Despite everything she had seen from Kirigakure, would their strength be enough.

Would they be good enough?

"You don't need to worry about me, I'm the Mizukage remember?"

That was right. She I was the Mizukage. She was the strongest shinobi in the entire village. Stronger than the Sanin, smarter, wiser. 
Surely this burly character she had seen at the border, the man who had done away with her so easily, so...carelessly, was no match for the Aisu clan member.... but there it was again.
That deep sense of doubt that niggled at her anxieties, fueling the nerves and the worries that ate away at her oxygen. Tenmei couldn't help but wonder who Solstice was really saying that too. Who was she trying to convince with those bold words? The chuunin wasn't as perceptive as most but she still got that feeling that those sweet reassurances were not just for the sake of her own self confidence. 

"I know you can hear it. She is worried too. You know what you need to do now...don't you?"
"Yes. No....I don't know. Please tell me"
"Silly girl. You need to get stronger. Be better. You can't help her if you just sit here feeling sorry for yourself. She wont worry as much if she is not baby sitting you all the time"
"But I...."
"Time to grow up...little Candle" 

He was right. He was always right.

".....people are going to be looking to you for guidance as well. So, you need to be there to give it, mmkay?"

That. Right there was what she was afraid of. 
Tenmei had seen the difference the moment she had walked out of the coliseum all those weeks ago. It was hard not to really. Every where she looked there were eyes full of hate, renewed jealousy, bitterness...and an anger that was almost tangible enough for her to taste through the dry salt tainted air. But, behind the passive masks of the ones that followed her victims, there was always something else. Something she had not noticed until today....Adoration? Pride? 
A little child, no older than five had clung to her with a bright smile, claiming she was now their hero. Their idol. But she had done nothing to stop the invaders from casually strolling past her breathless form. She had simply watched their footsteps as they stepped just out of her reach.  This hero had killed two members of her own team and watched helplessly as the others fell around her.....

She was no hero. 

"I will do my best. I promise. I won't let you down again"

A shadow of a smile, broke through her solemn features as she looked up to her mentor with a nod. 
No whisper of 'goodbye'. No gesture for good luck. The need for words were long gone and all that left: was the empty, drawn out moment of a held breath. The calm uneasiness before taking that first step onto an unknown path.
So...with Solstice's words weighing on her mind, she laid back down on to the pillows and allowed her world to fade to that familiar darkness. 
There, she would linger...before he would greet her with warm open arms and a kind smile, lulling her to a place she missed. 

And for just a few moments

She forgot.


--End Thread--