[Honō Mako]

Kuebiko was quick to make a decision and got up before directing Mako to the tarps that had once been strewn over top of the goods in the merchant’s cart. Given the situation, it seemed like Kuebiko wanted to carry the burn victim back on a tarp and wrap up the body of the old man and simply make one trip back. Mako agreed with the decision to take the body back with them, because it meant that it wouldn’t be subject to the wilderness and the animals of the forest. As a result it’d make it easier to return the body to the family so they could arrange funeral rites.

It did complicate things a little bit with having to bring back the burned bandit leader, but rather than bring that up he’d simply pull the tarp out of Kuebiko’s grip before confirming out loud, "Yeah, that’s probably for the best. Come on Hanatarō, show me where you found the body.” The young lion cub would slowly walk off to a bush about fifteen to twenty meters away from the cart, and hidden beneath it rather haphazardly was the body in question. After laying down the tarp and pulling the body out on top of it, he’d make note of the fact that the location of the cuts made by the bandits likely meant that the old guy didn’t die quickly.

When everything was said and done, they probably left the old man gasping for air and slowly bleeding out beneath a bush; and since the body was not quite cold to the touch yet, it meant that he’d probably died just before the two shinobi got there. Mako would take a deep breath and swallow his anger as he wrapped the body up in the tarp and carried the corpse in a fireman's carry over the shoulder. He wasn’t the strongest individual so it was the best means for him to carry the body all the way back to the village where they came from. Once he was ready he’d quietly dismiss his familiar, "Sorry Hanatarō, you should probably go back home.” At his master’s behest the lion would disappear in a puff of smoke, and Mako would be the only one to walk back around the cart.

"I sent Hanatarō back home, we should be able to manage without him from here.” Mako would feign a smile as he continued, "You can take the front Kuebiko and I'll bring up the rear to make sure no one does anything funny.” The young Honō would do his best to keep the body slung over his shoulder and wait for Kuebiko to get everything in order. Once he did, Mako would follow closely so that if anyone tried to do anything he’d be able to intervene before they managed to do anything nefarious. Kuebiko would likely be able to handle such a situation by himself, but it’d likely require him to drop the burn victim which wouldn’t end very well for that bandit.

Kuishinbou Kuebiko

[Kuishinbou Kuebiko]

What a miserable march home. It didn't take too long, since they weren't all too far from the village, though it was certainly a longer return trip than traveling out had been. Shinobi could move more quickly than the average civilian, so combining that with the fact that they had to move carefully with the bandaged bandit, and it made for a bit of a trudge. Plenty of silence for every single person in this entourage to contemplate what had happened, and what would happen in the future.

Though the bandits got antsier as they got closer to the village, clearly looking around for an escape, none of them actually cut and run. Whether they were concerned enough for their friend that they wanted to stick with him, or were afraid of ending up in the hospital beside him, was unclear, and ultimately irrelevant. Either way, they were sufficiently motivated to be good prisoners and come along mostly willingly.

By the time they made it to the gates, the burned bandit hadn't regained consciousness. Kuebiko thought the man should count his blessings for that fact. He would've been in an agonizing amount of pain if he had, and the pain medicine in Kuebiko's first-aid kit was decently strong, but not strong enough for his injuries.

The gate guards mobilized quickly to help them impound the bandits and request back-up from the medical corps, who were able to take the injured man into their care and rush him to the hospital for proper treatment. 

They equally helped with taking the merchant's corpse to begin processing.

All was resolved. Or was it? Mako and Kuebiko were left together to write their mission report on what had transpired, a common thing for a shinobi team.

Kuebiko took a deep breath, releasing it slowly, trying to let go of all the tension that had built in him during that mission. It didn't work.

"You need to control your temper on the field," he informed Mako, clearly restraining himself. What he wanted to say was far less patient than that.

[Honō Mako]

The walk back to Kusagakure was miserable and quiet. Not only were the Bandits antsy the entire trip, but Mako was initially still seething about the fact that they had killed the old merchant just before they got there. So despite his hopes that one of them might try to make a break for it or try something on the walk back to the village none of them did. Making the trip at a walking speed also meant that the journey was much longer than the initial trek out, and by the time the gates were in sight he’d cooled off significantly. The bandits were looking around the entire time trying to find a way out, but they eventually resigned to their fates.

Overall the gate guards did their jobs wonderfully and apprehended the bandits they had brought back with them and requested aid from the medical corps to take custody of the bandit that Mako had left gravely injured. He was practically rushed off to the hospital immediately, and the thought of the guy basically being uninjured because of medical ninjutsu by the end of the week grinded Mako’s gears a little but it was what it was. Mako would also hand over the body of the old merchant over to the gate guards, relieving his shoulder which was almost numb at this point from carrying the body all the way back. He’d rub his shoulder with his left hand as both him and Kuebiko made their way back to fill out their reports.

It was around this moment that Kuebiko at least let loose a little of what had caused those sour looks during the mission. Mako would simply apologize after thinking about the best way to approach the situation, "Yeah, sorry...” He’d let a sigh leave his body before continuing, "It just pisses me off that they were perfectly content with taking another man’s life just for a little extra money.” He still had a lot of anger in the moment, and even now that they'd finished the mission he was still holding a lot of it back. He’d write out the details of what happened, even making note of him being the cause of the one bandits’ terrible burns after they had already apprehended the suspects.

He’d stop writing and look over at Kuebiko before adding, "But you didn’t see the body, man. They didn’t stab him in some place where he'd die quickly. He probably laid on the ground slowly bleeding out hoping somebody would come and save him for who knows how long; and those monsters just sat around the campfire afterwards laughing it up.” He’d clench his fist around the pen, almost breaking it before finishing his long-winded thought, "I think those monsters deserved far worse than we gave them, but you're right that this isn't proper conduct for a shinobi... So I'll do my best not to act on my anger next time.” Mako would put down the pen rather forcefully, finished with his general report but not quite walking away just yet.

This was probably the muddiest mission he'd been apart of. He'd captured bandits and shinobi before but this was his first mission seeing the direct aftermath of such an awful act. He wasn't going to use his freshness as an excuse to Kuebiko, he knew he shouldn't have done what he did during the mission but he did it anyways.

Kuishinbou Kuebiko

[Kuishinbou Kuebiko]

Seeing that Mako had cooled off almost took the fire out of Kuebiko, too. It was hard to stay as mad at him as he was when the man was admitting to his own wrong-doing. Still, admission didn't take back what he'd done. He made his own notes on his report. The evidence they'd found, the failure to control the initial mode of contact, the treatment he'd rendered on the injured bandit, limited as it had been. The fact that the bandits had traveled with them peacefully.

Part of him wondered... It was as Mako said. The merchant was on the ground bleeding for a while. If they'd looked around more to investigate the scene before launching into a fight, might they have found him? Might they have saved him? It was a pointless thing to question. It was an unfair thing to question. It was the kind of question that would haunt him. Kuebiko left that speculation out of his report.

"I'm as disgusted with what they did as you are. I don't have to see the body to know it was a cruel, terrible act," he said, still measuring himself. "Still, to do that to an unarmed, already captured man... That's not justice. That's torture. That won't bring anyone back. We are out there to complete a mission, not to deal out judgements, and he was already going to face punishment. There is no justification for what those men did, but we also know nothing about the circumstances that brought them here."

There were terrible people in the world, but Kuebiko had found that they were far less common than the shinobi academy would lead people to believe. Most individuals weren't just evil for the sake of it. One didn't reach a place where they killed for money out of nowhere. He thought of the rebellion in Ten'ei, the small force there that had taken many people hostage in demand of money from the village leader because their families were sick and they couldn't afford to treat them.

[Honō Mako]

Now that everything was practically finished, Mako would finally take his first look at the hand he’d punched the cart with and stare at the dried blood that had stained his hand wraps. His eyes would remain glued to the bloodied wraps as he listened to what Kuebiko had to say. The guy spoke a lot of sense, and although his words made a lot of sense it made Mako wonder how the guy kept his cool in such a terrible situation with such terrible people. It was obviously a part of their shinobi training, but just because someone was told in the shinobi academy to not let their emotions control their actions didn’t make it easy.

Mako didn’t like the fact that Kuebiko likened what he did to unnecessary torture, and although he didn’t want to agree he knew that Kuebiko wasn’t entirely wrong. The young Honō didn’t make eye contact while his ally spoke, and simply let his words soak in and marinate. It was obvious that he shouldn’t have caused such severe harm to the captured bandit, but the only thing that had flashed through his mind at the time was the pleasant talks he’d had with the merchant as he’d talked about his family. He’d even told Mako he’d bring them to the village at some point so everyone could meet them.

"Well yeah, once it’s all said and done it’s easy to realize all that in hindsight.” Mako’s gaze would return to Kuebiko not with anger or resentment, but a simple determined curiosity, "But how do you remain so level headed in the moment? Like sure the academy tells us to keep a level head, but all I could think about when it happened was the old man talking about his family and everything inside of me just boiled. At first I thought that you didn’t care, but just the looks you gave me while we were out there made it obvious that wasn’t the case.” It was hard to say from the outside with certainty why Kuebiko had such an easy time restraining his emotions out in the field.

There were a lot of potential reasons such as experience or simply a distaste for fighting, but he kinda wanted to hear it from the horse’s mouth rather than try to draw a conclusion of his own. It was unfair for Mako to draw a conclusion about something like that after just meeting the guy and doing a single mission with him. While he waited for an answer he’d start unwrapping the hand that he’d damaged against the cart. It’d be important to get the dirty cloth off of the wound so he could wash it the next chance he got to prevent an infection from setting in.


Kuishinbou Kuebiko

[Kuishinbou Kuebiko]

Mako inquired how Kuebiko remained so calm. In all honesty, Kuebiko felt he didn't. He'd been angry, snippy, though he supposed he could've made things worse. Most of that had been internal, he hadn't externalized it. In that way, maybe he had stayed calmer under pressure. It wasn't necessarily a positive trait - it was more survival instinct than anything else. So how to quantify that?

"My line of work prepares me for it, I guess. I'm a doctor, but I also specialize in search-and-rescue. Finding missing civilians, tracking down corpses, finding shinobi who have gone missing on a job... I see the worst things people are capable of doing to one another on the regular," he explained.

"It's... awful. It never gets easier. But I'm also not surprised by it anymore. I suppose I've also developed this sense that... When the bodies mingle, when you treat patients and prisoners, you learn, more deeply, everyone is human. Shinobi don't like to think of it much, because we're doing it for the greater good, but we destroy lives as much as anyone. Those men we arrested could have families at home they were paying for, children who want them home safely. Them being our enemy doesn't change that."

Watching Mako unwrap his hand, Kuebiko took out his first-aid kit again. His wrap bandages were depleted, but he still had some antiseptic to offer the man.

"Growing up, my family... My clan is a very warlike one. I grew up listening to them tell stories like the ones those bandits did. Laughing about the enemies they killed that day. I don't want to... be like that. I don't want to harm others out of desire or emotion or amusement, only necessity. Being motivated by that helps me restrain myself."

[Honō Mako]

Mako listened intently as Kuebiko would ruminate aloud about why he was capable of remaining calm while out on the mission. Unfortunately none of it really translated really well to Mako or the specialty he’d built up over the years; while he had definitely done rescue missions, his Ops leader quickly realized that Mako excelled in combat and most of the missions he was on required him do whatever necessary so that his team could be capture their target. He was first and foremost a combat expert, so he was put in scenarios that would foster that.

When Kuebiko offered some antiseptic, he’d graciously bow his head a little not to interrupt him and clean his wound as Kuebiko finished his explanation; and once he was done explaining Mako would wince as he applied the antiseptic to the wound and reply rather casually now that the anger had subsided, "Man, that’s rough and a lot to be on your mind all the time.” He’d chuckle at how simple his initial reply was before continuing, "In my most recent missions since I became a Chuunin and more recently a Special Jounin, I’ve mainly been pushed more towards specializing in combat: partially because of my skill set but also because I actually enjoy the thrill of a good fight.”

He’d keep going as he thought back on the mission, "After seeing what came out of me today, I get that I probably need to temper that side of me a bit more so I don’t become a ruthless cold blooded killer.” He’d pause just for a moment trying to find the right words before elaborating, "If it’s not second nature and I’m bogged down by similar thoughts to the ones you have mid fight, I just worry that it’ll cause me to hesitate in a life or death situation. Not that I’m particularly worried about dying, but I promised my dad I’d do my best not to.”

Now that he’d finished his point he realized how quickly he’d come off topic and gestured with his hands before adding, "I guess this is all kinda unrelated though, it’s just why i wasn’t thinking today is all. I can probably afford to slow down and think more when it’s just bandits.” The young Honō was incredibly different from what most people expected from shinobi, in social situations he was open and kinda scatterbrained. Once he finished cleaning off his wound with the antiseptic he’d start blowing on it a little and handing the antiseptic back to Kuebiko.

Kuishinbou Kuebiko

[Kuishinbou Kuebiko]

Mako discussed his own perspective on things. The expectation the village has had for him, the role he's been pushed into. Versatile combat specialists are an essential part of the shinobi structure, and that concept truly makes Kuebiko sad. Mako didn't seem to mind it, didn't even wince at the thought of it, but it was exactly the kind of thing Kuebiko wished he could change.

People made into weapons. What happened to people who's primary purpose was to fight? Mako said he promised his father he would do his best not to die, but so many shinobi died young. It happened every day. To make it over thirty was a blessing.

"I understand. Allowing yourself to get distracted can spell disaster, sometimes. Keeping a clear mind is important on many missions." He was certain there would be times when his ideology would endanger himself and others. He hadn't faced it yet, luckily, but he knew such moments were out there on the horizon.

"Still, I'm glad you acknowledge that you can afford to slow down. Being ruled by emotion can be just as catastrophic... That's another thing," he said, tone already mildly chiding. "Take stock of a situation before you rush in, too. We were lucky this time that the ones were approached were actually bandits who had committed a crime. What if they'd just been travelers and you'd kicked one for no reason?" Maybe there was no point positing what-ifs, but still!

[Honō Mako]

Mako would chuckle a little bit when Kuebiko asked about the potential of him kicking a traveler before answering, "I did maybe jump in too fast, but i noticed the knocked over cart and bloody blade before I kicked the guy. If everything had looked normal I would have hopefully been able to stop before I got that kick off, but if not you would have been able to heal him if I made that mistake.” He’d give a toothy little grin because it was maybe a little unreasonable to expect the medical shinobi to clean up his mess, but that was kinda his thought process after Kuebiko had mentioned it

If those people around the campfire had seemingly been innocent, he would have just apologized and leaned on his companion's medical expertise, "It was my first mission out in a while, I kinda just wanted to get a couple more kicks and punches in, but you practically neutralized the whole lot in a single jutsu. Genjutsu is a little unfair against thugs like that.” It’s not like he hadn’t realized it before, but he had refrained from using genjutsu originally when he jumped in because he wanted to have a little fun. He could have potentially used a similar technique and made them all dizzy, but it would have meant he didn’t get to do that sweet roundhouse kick.

Mako would quickly clasp his hands together, one still wrapped and the other that still had drying antiseptic on it, before promising, "I’ll slow down a little bit next time though, promise.” At this point, however, the mission was practically complete now that their mission reports had been filled in. Probably the most worrying thing for Kuebiko was that he had mentioned a next time. The young Honō could tell that things were winding down though, so he’d awkwardly start inching away, "Thanks for the antiseptic, but I really should be running. I have some errands that I should run after this.”

After that he was practically running away from the situation before Kuebiko could reprimand him again. Also with things winding down the situation was starting to get a little awkward and Mako wasn't really good with those kinds of situations. Next time they teamed up he’d do his best to be a little more slow, at least slow enough to take in the situation entirely before jumping in. This mission might not have changed much though because he still would have jumped in after seeing the turned over cart, but at least he wouldn’t have put that guy in the hospital with his lava jutsu.

Kuishinbou Kuebiko