Mitsuo Hiruzen Sarutobi was distressed as he sat in the small chair inside of the somewhat sketchy looking building. He had fought foes that had brought countries to their knees and who had murdered countless people, he stared fearlessly in the eyes of an Uchiha who wanted nothing more than to end him and his entire village. He had killed the most feared missing nin in the entire shinobi world, Uchiha Hao, and, though he felt some fear, he had overcome it. Nothing bothered him so it seemed. Nothing, that is, expect hospitals. Mitsuo wasn’t afraid of dying on the battlefield, he knew full well that death was an occupational hazard and was to be expected. But dying on the operating table under the knife of a doctor whom he had never met, the idea scared the pride out of him. He knew that it was pointless to fear such things as he sat outside of the doctor’s office that he had been recommended to visit in Iwagakure no Sato by the Tsuchikage himself, Kazu Kanetsu, but he was still sweating and nervous. This was completely and totally out of his comfort zone and he tried to inhale deeply to calm himself down, only to feel the sharp pain of his broken ribs.

Ah yes, his broken ribs, the reason he was here in the first place… The breakage was the result of Mitsuo not completely paying attention on the field of battle during his final ANBU mission, one of the men in the group of missing nin being able to sneak up on him and punch him square in the side, Mitsuo’s smaller frame not being able to take the pressure as he heard the audible crack of his ribs breaking and felt the strain it put on him. It was all his fault for not paying attention and that was why he was here today. He had taken the time to carefully strip his ANBU armour and place it in a temporary apartment that he had decided to stay in for the time being until he could get a better place, and was wearing nothing on his upper torso but some tightly wrapped tensor bandages to try to keep down the swelling and deter some of the pain. This of course only added to the pain and that was why he was here in this office waiting on a doctor he didn’t know.

His short hair was a mess, hairs sticking up all over the place, as it had been difficult for him to wash and then towel dry his hair as his arms were difficult to lift over his head. His beard was coming in more than usual, a moustache starting to show on his lip connecting to his chinstrap as well as more hair on his cheeks and neck. He had bags under his green eyes, one emerald and one pale green, the bags having formed from lack of sleep and pain. He wasn’t wearing his glasses as he had decided there was really no point anymore; he didn’t need to wear them to keep up appearances. He was wearing an Iwagakure forehead protector around his neck to keep up appearances, and because he liked to wear a forehead protector around his neck, and he still wore his gauntlets and bracers out of habit. His muscular body was glistening from the sweat and the bandages started just beneath his pectorals, going down to just above his naval. He wore his new strap pants and boots, which he found to be quite comfortable, and was currently unarmed for the first time in a long time, save for his tanto Chita no Kiba, which he kept strapped to his pants, another convenient use for them.

He was wringing his hands together nervously, awaiting the nurse to call “Hiruzen Hiroshi” and hoping it would be sooner rather than later…

(1566+650=2216/2500 Wings of the Saint brought over from here~)

Guanyin Nanashi, Special Jounin of Iwagakure, and future head medic of Iwagakure hospital were looking over some files that laid upon his otherwise barren desk. The soft, rhythmic sound of welled trimmed nails thumping against the dark mahogany furniture, was the only noise in the otherwise quiet and quaint office. Of course the office belonged to him, he having received it upon becoming an apprentice to the current hospital head – Sakino Marise – a welcoming present of sorts. A lone eye looked around the place, various rewards and certificates hung on the otherwise plain white walls, displaying his progression through the medical ranks along with milestones, amongst them were a few personal pictures of him and some of the staff members were placed here and there, aligning the left wall were a brown couch that were big enough to sit three people comfortable and a small book shelf fill to the brim with books, this along with the desk that he was sitting at were the only furniture within the room. But like many have said before it's not the stuff in the room that makes it what it is, but the aura that one feels upon entering it, and surprising enough Nanashi's office, from what he has been told, had a pleasantly warm and welcoming one – people finding themselves extremely at ease upon entering his domain. He couldn't help but to chuckle at such a notion, waving off any who questioning his laughing. It was just to ridiculous to believe that him of all people has an office that screams inviting! Oh the irony of the situation. . .

Knock!

Knock!

Knock!

Nanashi's head turned towards the door, closing up the folder that he were looking at before telling the person to come in. An eye brown arched briefly at the nurse who walked in, the name of said nurse having momentarily slipped his mind, but knowing for sure that she was one that worked with him on a few occasions, and being the personal assistance of Marise, Nanashi having lost that title after the recent eye surgery performance. Motioning for the dark brown haired woman to come closer, her large brown eyes that once were nerves now full with curiosity and innocents, shifted from the pictures that hung on the way and back to the man sitting behind the desk. With a clear of throat, shuffling of feet, hands bringing forth a brown folder and a paper slip that were hidden behind her back, she spoke her voice lighter than the clouds themselves “Sorry for intruding Guanyin Nanashi, but Lady Marise wanted me to hand you this folder along with a letter from the Tsuchikage. The latter being of importance.”

The first part wasn't that odd Marise always sent him files over patients that she were either transferring over to him or wanted a second opinion about, so with that he took the folder and placed it to the side. He would look at that later. Now for the next thing, something from the Tsuchikage? Nanashi couldn't help but to mused about what exactly Kanetsu Kazu wanted with him, while unfolding the paper and began to scan over it, nodding briefly before folding it back up and setting it to the opposite side of the table. Well that's an interesting request. . . Looking back at the nurse who had remained quiet throughout the whole thing he spoke calm, startling the woman who apparently was day dreaming, “Thank you for delivering this to me, tell Marise that I will look at the folders after I'm finish with the Tsuchikage's request.” Standing up and moving around the desk, Nanashi guided the woman out, hand on her back as they both left the office.

Moving through the hallways, Nanashi founded his way towards front part of the hospital, or rather the section where walk-ins came in for whatever reason, scanning across the few people in the waiting room, some he new and others he didn't, his voiced ranged out clearly causing all of those to look at his direction “Hiruzen Hiroshi?”

No sooner as the words left his lips, Nanashi waited a few minutes before turning around, and heading towards the room where he would treat the patient. A male nurse, one of the few under his command, repeated the name again, waiting for that individual to rise before directing them to the room where Nanashi would be waiting, dressed in the typical blue medical garb.

“The Tsuchikage told me to be expecting you. So tell me what's wrong?”

---

Learning|Cleansed| B-rank | 766 out of 1350(1500 x 0.1 = -150 words)

Hiruzen Hiroshi… Why did that seem familiar to him? Mitsuo wasn’t all there for the moment and it took him a second to realise that he was in the hospital, snapping back to reality as he heard the name called again. He realised that he was Hiruzen Hiroshi; it was the name he had decided to tell Tsuyo Hyuga and Kazu Kanetsu that his alias while he was in this village would be. He stood up, clutching his ribs in pain as he did and inhaling sharply as he walked over towards the doctor, who was a handsome young man if not for the eye patch. He looked the young doctor up and down and smiled softly, walking into the office and taking a seat once more, again gasping in pain with his ribs. He knew that he should have come in sooner but he had an aversion to hospitals for the most part. As he looked back to the doctor attempting not to clutch his ribs, he adjusted the Iwagakure no Sato headband around his neck and sighed softly.

“Well Doctor, I’m here because I managed to get into a spot of trouble on my last mission. I stopped paying attention for a second and managed to get a few of my ribs broken. I know I should have come in earlier to get them fixed, but I’ve just been so busy since…” He stopped for a second, having been about to say arriving but instead thinking to himself before speaking and adjusting his speech. “Since returning to the village. The Tsuchikage sent me to speak with you, I hope that is alright.” He could tell he was pale and shaking, he wasn’t sure if it was from the pain or the fact that he was sitting in the doctor’s office and was just nervous. Either way he felt like he was getting dizzy and nauseous, something that he wasn’t entirely used to as he had dealt with a lot worse things in the past. He brought his hand up to his head and placed his forehead in it, shaking his head and running his fingers through his hair. He didn’t know what was wrong with him but he certainly wasn’t happy about it.

“I don’t know what else is wrong with me.. I hope you can help me doctor..” He sighed before laying back on the doctor’s chair and wincing, nearly slipping out of consciousness but keeping it together for now.

(2500/2500 Wings of the Saint complete~ 129/??)