Be careful little eyes what you see... [Private]

[Saitou Rei]

The fullness of spring - or at least, Kumogakure's version of it - had finally fully settled on the mountain. In Konoha, everyone would be shedding their winter jackets, hats and scarves and opting for lighter materials. Kumogakure, however, was a different story -- or at least Cronopolis was. The immigrant-heavy sub-city held ex-pats from Water Country who had shed their layers upon moving the northern territory alongside Fire Country natives who even now clung to warmth of their coats. Rei was among the latter, dressed in dark blue pants tucked into knee-high boots, a red button-down that her scarf blended into, topped with a long black jacket. It was a slightly more professional look than the one she normally donned; cleaner. A blade strapped at her left side and a ninja tool pouch on her right would bring the ensemble together with an air of military importance accentuated by the girl's resemblance to the Medical Sennin - er, former Medical Sennin. Of course, nothing could have been further from the truth.

Today's mission? Continuing research. Why get all spiffed up for research? Well, because today's research time wouldn't be spent digging through books at the library. She'd done enough of that. Today, a black leather messenger back hanging from her shoulder held about a dozen shinobi files, each one of them a ninja that had been present on the day of the Attack at the Gate as it was currently known. Some of them simply had not yet filed a debriefing report and would need to receive a reprimanding. Others, however, had reported information that the young Kaibutsu Hunter deemed worthy of further prodding.

Starting in order of which seemed most promising, she was brought back to where it began for their village. Hyuuga Honnou had gate duty today. From his photo she vaguely remember having fought alongside him, though admittedly some of the details of the fight atop the monster's head were a bit fuzzy given what she'd gone through immediately after. She showed her dossier to the ground guard before explaining that she was here to speak with Hon. The man sent the message over the radio before explaining that he would be along shortly. And so she waited.

[Private -- Requesting Hon]

 

[Honnou]

Even in the midst of guarding the Dragon Tooth Pass along many other shinobis from the Hidden Cloud, Hon found it dearly necessary to focus on the area where he saw the accursed ‘goo’ escape along with the girl. The faint view of them had printed onto his head, so that he could think about it later without forgetting such interesting details of the aftermath of the attack. The icky thing that escaped the monster’s back just emitted danger all free and on its own out there, and what was the Hyuuga left to assume from it? Was it just as hostile towards the village as the monster was? What was its connection with the girl who disappeared a mere moment after he spotted her with his all-seeing Byakugan? And… were they going to show up again?

At first, he didn’t know what to do with this. It was clear as day that he saw both entities at the battlefield, and yet he feels left to assume things since the very rocks that he checked out afterwards at their positions helped him so little. No footprints or pieces of hair, nothing. He didn’t like being left to assume so early in the case of his. Since the goo escaped from the monster, he could guess that it was a fail safe and thus hostile - a way of prolonging the monster’s essential survival should the worst happen. But the girl… she hadn’t been present on the day before that very moment. Nobody else had seen her, too.

His deep thoughts were put aside by the radio speaking out his name and requesting his presence. He closed his notebook and put it back in his small back-sack before flickering away and reaching the location noted to him by the radio speaker. Per standards for a gate guard, he donned a Kumo nin vest with protective plates as well as plates on his front arms and shins. Both carpals of his arms wielded hidden, retractable blades that were discreetly kept away from sight when having his arms rest, but despite wielding what many other guardians had on, his red strand made him stand out. Some of his colleagues even began calling him ‘Μονόκερως’, a word whose meaning he held no knowledge about.

When his feet touched the ground again, after braking his free fall using the wires launching out from his carpal blades, he stood face to face with a Cloud Shinobi whose face he recognized. And he hoped that she would, maybe, remember his face too; red strand, shining eyes, key appearance. She was the one who randomly charged downwards the monster's belly for some odd reason… wait, she was okay after that? That was good. Hon smiled a little with that confirmation. The day was a dark day, indeed... despite their success in defeating the threat, they did lose in their own end.

“Greetings,” he greeted her, “Glad to see that you look fine and all…” He was genuinely worried about her whereabouts after that stunt of hers back at the attack, and he wanted to express that to her.

 

[Saitou Rei]

"Thanks, I was glad to hear that you had come out fine as well. I do hope Leroy didn't jostle you too much," the kunoichi replied, her smile melancholy. "There wasn't much time for introductions on the battlefield - my name is Nanjirou Rei," her words were briefly interrupted by a polite and customary bow, "and actually I am here today on official business on behalf of the Kaibutsu Hunters to ask you a few questions about your report from that day. Could I borrow you for a few minutes?" Her grey eyes flicked toward the ground guard before gesturing to the small structure several yards away, the one typically used as a holding place for visitors while entry approval was pending. "…privately?"

While it wouldn't be the end of the world if she had to come back another time, each day that passed with no further light on the current condition of the Monster King's army threatened to drive the kunoichi mad. Even now, the mark that had been burned into the center of her chest just above the wound from that day itched with anxiety. Though her shinobi training was enough to keep her emotions hidden, her fight to maintain that composure increased each day with this cursed mark. It was unfair, really, to pin so much hope on this boy -- but when had the shinobi world ever been fair?

 

[Honnou]

Remembering the fluffy creature who flew Hon around the monster in aid, he nodded in recognition. “I’m fine,” he assured her quickly. Her name was then announced to him as Nanjirou Rei, and Hon was fairly sure that she wasn’t the first Nanjirou that he had met before… but his memory pushed him no further than a mere stomach feeling.

It was official business that he was called. The Kaibatsu Hunters were tasked with dealing with hostile creatures such as the likes of which attacked the gate, although that example was far too hostile and wide for any single-player shinobi to bring down on their own. Hon felt that the business that she expected to talk with him was about the day that the monster attacked, and he began flickering images in his mind about the possible things that she wanted to know of. He was close to her during the attack thanks to the aid of her contract creature, and this would also provide him with a chance to find out just what happened to her that led her to charging straight down. Therefore, he nodded once more and accepted her request. “Sure,” he replied, agreeing to have a talk with her in a private setting.

He had no idea that Rei was on the edge due to the special condition. Neither did the young Hyuuga know that what he knew would be crucial in the aftermath of the monster attack. “You lead the way, Rei. I’ll tell you what you need to know.”

 

[Saitou Rei]

A small sigh of relief escaped through the kunoichi's nose before she nodded and began leading them toward the half-way hut. Giving a few quick knocks when they arrived at the door, she waited for a moment in the quiet before turning the knob. The room was thankfully empty, though there was evidence of a recent visitor in the warm tea-kettle that sat atop a small wood-burning stove not far from the single table and few chairs that adorned the room. The fire had been put out since the Kumogakure natives thought it too hot to run a fire in the spring, but the kettle was still steaming. Turning to meet Hon's eyes, she raised her eyebrows and nodded her head in the stove's direction. "Looks like they didn't finish the pot. Ought not let it go to waste, eh?"

If the ANBU agreed, Reicheru would pour them each a cup of the black tea before taking up a seat at the table opposite Honnou. Removing her messenger bag and placing it on the ground next to her, the kunoichi reached in and retrieved two manila files. Placing both on the table in front of her, she opened one that Honnou would likely recognize as his debriefing report from the Monster Incident. Pausing to take a sip of the beverage, Rei glanced between the report and the shinobi in front of her before getting right into it.

"First of all, thank you for service during the battle." This had become a customary line for everyone they interviewed about the incident, though it admittedly felt awkward coming from a the Genin. "We've never dealt with a genjutsu attack so large and so potent, we really needed every hand on deck from those that broke out of it. Of course, everyone's focus at the time was the big freaking dinosaur on our doorstep, rightly so. Still, it's made it hard in the aftermath to determine conclusively if that monster was the one who had cast the genjutsu or not. It seems unlikely, given the amount of concentration such a powerful illusion would require…" her voice trailed off, Kagetsu Yuii's voice echoing in her mind. "…and how unlikely it is that a mindless beast like that would be capable of such a technique." Her stomach turned at the lie, and yet that was how their Sennin wanted the story spun for now.

"Needless to say, we've been pouring over reports and it seems most people only remember the dragons and the dinosaur. But not you." Spinning the file around to face Hon, she pointed to a highlighted section toward the bottom. "You mentioned here seeing a girl? One that wasn't fighting the monster, and that was accompanied by a… slime organism? Is that right?" Rei's eyebrows raised in feigned doubtfulness. While it was true that they had long confirmed by way of her and Maik's visions the existence of the symbiote monster species, she needed to be sure of Honnou's confidence in what he saw. "What can you tell me about that?" Even as she raised the mug to her lips once more, her cool grey eyes kept trained on the boy. 'C'mon, Honnou. You're our best shot at this thing.'