Compared to the epic battles and raging inferno that nearly consumed their lives atop Mount Baekdu, the journey home was relatively quiet. Aside from the fact that some of the electronics on the KNS Nagato Yuki had to be repaired, everything was smooth sailing. Jo had spent most of his time in the sick bay; he had come out of the atomic detonation and resulting free-fall with surprisingly few injuries. A few sprung ribs, a dislocated shoulder, a minor concussion, and a plethora of cuts and bruises were all he had to show for being blasted out of the sky. The injuries sustained to his face during his fight with Revolver Ocelot and Enishi’s Titan were the most visible, resulting in a few stitches in the middle of his forehead near the hairline and his nose and eyes swelling nearly shut.
Fortunately, with the help of modern medicine and some old-fashioned ice and heat rotation, the swelling went down and his face had almost returned to normal (not counting the bandage across his forehead and the butterfly strip across the bridge of his nose). The once black-and-blue bruises around his nose and eyes were now a sickly greenish-yellow, though that only meant that he was healing. The rest of the bruises on his body only hurt when he bumped or otherwise jostled them, and his left arm had been out of a sling for two days now, and only gave the smallest twinge of pain if he tried wind-milling it too quickly. Jo silently thanked Raiden (not the Author) for the government-issued horses that had been sent down to the dock for them to ride back to the Gates. He was also thankful that there was a spare set of fatigues on board the ship that he was able to wear, otherwise he would've had to try and put back on what was left of his stealth suit (some scant shreds of kevlar and armor plating). Jo had to admit that he looked rather dashing in the swirls and splotches of brown, black, grey, and tan; the fact that he was wearing Ocelots beret (newly adorned with a Kumo military pin rather than the Marsh one it had recently borne) at a jaunty angle and the obscene .50 Desert Falcon Handbolter on his right hip made him all the more debonair. Dressed in military regalia, his injuries became more like badges of honor rather than unsightly marring.
The sheer cliff walls on either side of the shinobi team felt familiar to the genin, and instilled a feeling of both apprehension and solace. Peace at the thought of returning home; trepidation at the thought of facing the father of the girl he loved. Oh, did I mention she’s the daughter of Takaki Masao; Sennin of the Main Branch, Jo’s immediate commanding officer, and wielder of the most deadly hairbrush ever conceived by man? Well, now you know.
Jo reined up at the gates, the hooves of his chocolate-colored arab crunching on the gravel of the road. Butterflies tossed and turned in his stomach as emotions began taking their toll on the road and war weary young man. He missed his family, he missed his girlfriend, he missed his friends (though honestly, he’d only had the one). He was afraid; for him and for Saeko. What if her father forbade them to see each other? What if he pulled rank and stationed them so far apart and scheduled their leave so that they’d never be able to see each other even if he did consent to their relationship? What if he met them at the gates, brush in hand, ready to strike Jo down for his insolence?
’Strike me down, and I will become more powerful than you could imagine…’ A thought growled in the back of Jo’s mind. Jo blinked hard and shook his head. Where the hell did that come from? He had been feeling irrational bouts of a whole gamut of emotions over the last few days; wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony. Jo had simply been shrugging it off as teenage irrationality, but this wasn’t the first time he’d heard the voice that wasn’t his in the back of his mind. ’Are you going to let one man stand between you and the woman you love? She is YOURS! TAKE HER!’<i></i>
Bile rose in the back of Jo’s throat, and his heart began pounding a rapid staccato against his chest. All of the nerves in his body were on fire; every muscle tensed for action, as if he were about to go into battle. With extreme effort, Jo swallowed the rage (and not a little bit of lust) and bottled it back up inside him. ’What’s wrong with me?’ Jo’s mind screamed. He was always so rational, his emotions under control and his disposition even and measured. He resolved to go to the Temple of Raiden if he heard that voice one more time and get an exorcism done, or at least get a charm to ward off evil spirits. Oh, what was he thinking? Those were for schoolgirls and children! It must just be exhaustion from being on the road for so long and almost dying. A couple days off with a good book, maybe a trip to the theatre with Saeko, or another visit to the hot springs for a massage and a soak would get him feeling back to status quo.
The genin raised his hand and waived to the gate guard. ”Hail! Genin Narashi Jo, The Hand of the Sennin: Mochizuki Tama, Chuunin Kichida Kazuhiko, and Gate Captain Ishikawa Zaku requesting entrance!”
Also, the Queen of Bear is a "she" indeed, just don't have a "Queen" label. Oh, entry granted.
