Chapter 2: Those who look up to the Sun

the commotion inside as well as the rest of the ritual would only last another half an hour and afterwards most of the kids would have left either having failed or not having been chosen for the test in the first place.
Only another 3 would have succeeded the test and would be walking out of the building escorted by Isago. Who would glance back at Hiten, Meran and Hina and give the trio a smile and a quick wave as he would walk off with what seemed to be his new team.

A little later the doors would open once more with 3 medics bringing out Akira on a stretcher, her shoulder bandaged up and most of her other injuries seemed to have been tended to as well. one of the medics was still performing some sort of medical technique on her to subdue the pain of her wound for now.
Next to Akira, Meran's sister, the Sabaku Jounin Kazenkou.
She would have a little fain smile on her face, clearly being tired and also obviously somewhat distressed with Akira's situation.
"So.....congratulations on making it this far....all of you."
She would say but then force herself to summon a more vivid looking smile and even smirk a bit raising her index finger up forcing that carefree and goofy personality of her that she was mostly known for to surface again. These Academy students would have today seen the rare few moments where Kazenkou would show her serious and caring side as well as her angry one, well, just the tip of the iceberg on that one for many still remember the television broadcast of the Chuunin exam where Kazenkou participated in the finals against Konoha's Haruno Sakena and the Village of Konoha became overrun with Kyuubi-chakra powered zombies that looked like little Kyuubi's but had a living human host on the inside, luckily a lot weaker than the actual fox or a jinshuriki, but still, the wrathful face full of killing intend, rage and malice that could potentially kill a regular person that would dare gaze into them from them getting a heart attack out of fear would be memorial for anyone who saw the broadcast followed by the redhead summoning what seemed to be a sea of sand and taking out a large number of these strange invaders. Meran would have seen her other sides plenty of times being her brother and them living in the same house, for everyone else it was definately a rare treat that required something serious to happen would it cause Kazenkou to loose her happy go lucky mask.

"Now for the final question to see if you all are truly worthy of the title of shinobi. "
She gave all 4 of them a sly smirk and then placed her index finger to her lips as she chuckled towards Akira.
"Now then you 3...." She looked back to the rest.
"Isago just left with his team, another team has been assigned to Souran....and a special team will be given to Ranmaru, there are no other people that passed this far. Now comes the question. What do you think this means for you three?" She smirked and awaited their reply.

Akira raised her eyebrows at Kazenkou's 'congratulations' cardboard on a stick. It was the second one she'd seen so far. What was up with Kazenkou and her cardboards?

She endured the medics and their healing techniques, gritting her teeth together and trying not to make a sound. Luckily the pain subsided after a while and she couldn't help the sigh that escaped her lips. There, finally, came the relief.

When all was done after half an hour she was carried outside on a stretcher. She wished badly she could walk, but realized she had to take it easy for now. A slight sense of humiliation overcame her as her friends came in sight, who were all standing on their own two feet. She quickly suppressed those feelings though, realizing there was nothing to gain from it. What mattered was that she had her headband and was deemed worthy, just like the rest of them.

And it appeared they were one of the few, at that. Akira glanced around herself and noticed only three others who had succeeded at impressing the teachers. Dear god, what did that say about the quality of the genin their village produced? She wondered if they'd hit an all time low.

Regardless, she thought as she looked back at her friends who looked at her with concern. We've made it. And Kazenkou...

The young woman had concern for her as well, she could see. How strange... but she supposed if she was to become their teacher, it would be a good thing. She wasn't complaining, Kazenkou had already proven to her she could be counted on to be there when they needed her.

"Now for the final question to see if you all are truly worthy of the title of shinobi," Kazenkou spoke. The way she held her finger to her lips and chuckled at her made Akira grin a little and keep silent. She already knew something the rest of her friends didn't.

As Kazenkou turned around and faced Hiten, Meran and Hina, Akira let her gaze fall on them as well, awaiting their response following Kazenkou's next words.

One particular sentence stood out to her: "...another team has been assigned to Souran..."

He had actually become a teacher? A jounin sensei?
Oh, how I pity his students...

Another half hour went by, filled with talking, finding the coolest places and faffing about with her puppet. (At one point Hina let Chouchou flip the bird at Meran's back. She didn't think he'd noticed it, because he kept asking why she was laughing so hard. Hiten saw it all.) she watched as failed student after failed student walked out. Were they the only ones who had made it? One the one hand it felt good that Sunagakure didn't settle with low quality shinobi. On the other hand she didn't think that there were that many poor students. 'Better luck next year,' she thought, with some amount of smugness of having made it herself. In the end only three other students had passed. And walked away with Isago. She wondered how long they would survive out there with their passive sensei.

When at last Akira was brought out of the building she rushed towards her. 'She's okay!' She thought. She had known that Akira was safe, but still, seeing it with her own two eyes caused relief anyway. She went to stand right next to her stretcher and smiled down at her. "Good to see you're still alive." She said. With slight humour, but mostly genuine happiness. She listened to Kazenkou speaking and immediately answered, "You're going to be our sensei, Kazenkou-san?! Awesome!" She gave a beaming smile and looked at the others in excitement. This was so awesome! Kazenkou was super strong, surely she could teach them a lot. Plus, they could really trust her. Hina ciuldn't wait to tell her parents. Though she was slightly curious about the teams of Souran and Ranmaru, since only three other students had passed, she didn't think about that too much.

Hiten shrugged. "I think the next test should prove to the village that we are worthy of being called a shinobi of the sands. The other team will probably try to make our lives miserable. But I don't think we should underestimate them. And at the same time hope they do underestimate us. One thing is certain we should not drop our guard untill all the tests are over."
He got up and walked towards his team. "Anything I forgot sensei?"

Kazenkou smiled and nodded in agreement when Hina said that she was gonna be their Sensei.
She would chuckle a bit bashful placing her palm to her cheek when Hina would add in the 'Awesome!' bit behind in.
"Well...ehh...glad you're happy about that." She said smiling and then shaking her head thinking of something to herself then when Hiten began talking.
She would open her eyes once again as he asked her if he missed anything and glanced over at him shaking her head no.
"Nope! You pretty much covered it. Now with Akira-chan's injuries she should rest up in the hospital for tonight. The rest of you should probably rest up as well. You'll need all the energy you can muster for the next test. This part was the combat section. The next part is something only few hidden villages test their Genin on, the actual shinobi part. A survival exercise. "
The woman nodded and awaited if her students had any objections to this.
"This is not a competition, however, do watch out for the other teams as you know who might put them up to something. So like Hiten said, it's best not to drop your guard. Even for the remainder of today."

She then thought to herself and nodded to the medics to start rolling on with Akira bringing her towards the hospital as Kazenkou nodded to Meran next.
"I'll go talk to father about what happened here just now, let's see what he thinks about this. Something fishy is going on here and this has got to stop."
She spoke sternly and somewhat worried, the political situation in the Village and Country at large was a concern for everyone, but it was especially so to those who were more intimately involved with the matter. The redhead Jounin felt her Village falling apart due to the greed of some individuals and felt a great urge to stop it, at least that is how she felt about it in her perception of reality as the other side surely would have their own retort as to why what they do is best for that same village she tries to protect and perhaps that was what was making the whole situation so damn complex.

"Good to see you're still alive."
Akira smiled at Hina. "Had you really expected anything different? I'm stubborn as a mule, I won't go out so easily." She flashed her a cocky grin, though it quickly molded back in the small smile. "And congrats on having made it. Not that I'm surprised."

She nodded as Hiten spoke, agreeing with his words. She'd just gotten a preview of what was in store for them. Lots of people out to get them. Well, let them come. They could have some right back at them.

When Kazenkou responded to Hiten she referred to her as Akira-chan and her head made a slight jerk towards the young woman as she wanted to make a quick retort, but she decided not to. For now, at least. Kazenkou didn't mean any harm with it. Some other time perhaps, for now she felt too tired to get worked up.

"I'll be able to participate in the survival exercise right?" she asked Kazenkou and hoped for the best. She wouldn't want to miss it for the world. They were finally a team, and not just that. They were a four man team! The impossible made possible.

Hina smiled. Glad to see that Akira hadn't lost any of her cockiness. And what Hiten said. She thought about it for a minute. Yeah. They would have to be very much on their guards. Even today, as Kazenkou said. One thing made her wonder though,
"Kazenkou..sensei," she tested the suffix on her lips. "Why don't all the villages have a survival exercise? Isn't surviving a very vital part of being a shinobi?"

She was however very glad that Kazenkou would talk to Gaara. It felt comforting to know that someone would try and stop this. Whatever 'this' was. She really wanted to talk to her own father as well, but he was currently off on a mission. She hoped he would be home soon. Luckily her mother was home, she could talk to her about everything that had happened today.

She got pulled out of her thoughts by Akira asking if she would be able to participate in the next test. Hina looked hopeful towards Kazenkou as well. Akira just had to participate! Hina wasn't even sure if she would be able to pass if she didn't participate. She probably could. Unless people like Souran wanted to bitch about it.

"By the way, Kazenkou-sensei," she asked, "Will the survival test be in teams or will we have to survive individually?" She didn't doubt that she'd be able to survive on her own, but it would be more fun in a team. Plus, the teams had already been announced, so people would probably seek each other out anyway. And there was the added bonus of people getting a feel of their team mates as early on as possible. They were a special case where they already knew each other very well from before they were a team, but it wasn't uncommon for people to be put in a team with other people they hadn't even ever spoken to, even though they had all been classmates for years. It happened.

Kazenkou sighed a little worried and uncertain at Akira's question as she looked over the girl once more.
"I think you might be, if you're willing to go into it with an injury. But it all depends at how they fix you up and how well you rest during today and the coming night. It might worsen and then I will sadly not be allowed to let you participate." She sighed again looking down a bit disappointed, clearly disliking being the one to bring about potentially bad news. But then she would force herself to smile and chuckle a bit uncomfortably trying to cheer Akira a bit still. " But I am sure you'll be fine and ready to go come tomorrow morning so dontcha worry." She closed her eyes and nodded smiling widely.

Kazenkou then shrugged at Hina's first question.
"Heck if I know. Konoha used to be the first village to give those kind of excersises, but now they rather have each appointed Jounin decide what their excersise will be and it's supposed to be for the Jounin to check the skills of the aspirant Genin and to teach them about teamwork. Sunagakure has kept using the original form of the survival excersise since the very beginning. Field survival. "

she nodded the she nodded again to the next question with a hum.
"Uh-huh! Teams."

Akira frowned as she heard the news. "Lots of rest, huh. And even then..." It sucked that she didn't know whether she was going to participate. "Well, they'd better fix me up good at the hospital. I'm good at survival... and besides, will I even be able to actually pass the graduation exam if I don't participate? I think I do not."
She huffed, flicking a couple of stray black hairs out of her face with the hand on her good arm. "Not doing the field survival is not an option."

Hina didn't like the news about Akira maybe not being able to participate either. And apparently Akira was wondering if she would be able to pass as well. Though apparently she was a bit more pessimistic about it. "Maybe you could get a different kind of survival test once you're healed again?" she put forward.
"But, you know what! I have a great idea! We're going to have a slumber party." She looked around. "All four of us." She looked slightly sheepishly at Kazenkou. "No offense, Kazenkou-sensei. I'm sure you'll understand." She looked at the others again, with a smile on her face. "We could sleep over at my place. I'm sure mom won't mind and there's plenty of room. We will go to bed early and keep an eye out for you. For each other, simply." She gave a wicked grin at her next words. "Nobody messes with our team." The grin and words held a promise. A promise of pain to everyone who would try. Though, let's be honest, it would've been a lot more threatening had she not been a fresh genin. But, hey, she would also get up there with her power, some day. And Hina was sure that as a team, they could give people all sorts of hell. "So," she went back to her normal smile, "Good idea?"

Akira pressed her lips together in a thin line. "I'd love a slumber party... and to be honest I'd like the idea of staying the night someplace... safe." She looked at Meran's older sister then. "I don't wish to offend... but anyone can walk in and out of the hospital, especially higher ranked officials and jounin..." Like that cretin Souran...
What if he came back to finish what he'd started? He'd been out to lethally wound her, that fucker hadn't held back. She doubted hospital walls would keep him out. But how to put it politely...
"I just think it would be nice if I could spend the night recovering somewhere... near some strong Kazekage sympathizers?" Was that worded good enough to get the message across? The strongest shinobi in the village was Gaara, and seeing that Kankuro was Gaara's brother, spending the night at Hina's place was second best. She'd definitely feel safer there than she would in a hospital room, alone.

She shrugged, winced as she felt her shoulder protest, and smiled awkwardly. "Just putting it out there..." And then, after a quick thought: "I do realize I'll need to be under surveillance of medics though... Do you think I'll be safe in the hospital, Kazenkou-sensei?" Better get used to that honorific behind her name.

Kazenkou sighed lowering her shoulder as she heard the girls speak.
"I don't believe they'd go that far, however they do seem to have taken up rather extreme measures of approach lately, so we can't rule it out that they'd stoop so low as to attack or otherwise harm one of their own that is hospitalized. It's still a possibility."
She said pondering as she sighed again deeper and with more concern now as her eyes were going from spot to spot her mind racing.
"But without the needed medical care and just a simple sleepover I'm afraid Akira won't be in the condition to participate tomorrow, making that option kind of a tricky one to take."

She would place her index finger to her lips and look up at the clear sky humming to herself a bit as she thought of a way to act.
"How about this for now, you guys go with Akira to the hospital and keep an eye on her for now. I shall go speak with Father and see what can be done to solve this whole mess. Just make sure you'll be alright until I get back."
The Jounin sighed and then as she passed would ruffle Meran's hair.
"That's mostly to you notepad-san! If anything goes wrong I'll be blaming you the most." She said with a teasing chuckle as she would then proceed to walk towards the Kazekage Tower.

The medical nin holding Akira's stretcher on wheels would then look a bit worried also having overheard a bit of the conversation obviously.
"Don't you guys worry, we'll stick close as well and make sure you'll all be alright. Now shall we get moving?" One of them would ask the 4.

Hina was glad that Kazenkou seemed to be taking them seriously, and was even contributing with her own ideas as well. It felt good not to be talked to like they were little children. For, even though they were children, they were shinobi! Shinobi-Hina couldn't help but snigger at the "notepad-san" though.

She nodded at Kazenkou's words and said, "That sounds like a good idea, Kazenkou-sensei. We'll go with Akira to the hospital and stay with her there." Everything was going to be fine. Kazenkou was right, nobody would probably try to hurt Akira or one of the others. However, could you blame them for being paranoid? Shinobi were practically trained to be paranoid, and this particular group could relatively easy get caught up in political crap.

When the medic nin asked them if they were ready to get a move on she simply nodded and followed along when they would start moving, staying as close to Akira's stretcher as she could with the four medic nin surrounding it. Seeing the medical nin reminded her of her own ambitions in learning some medical jutsu. 'Perhaps I should undertake some more action in that department.' she thought. Because, just look at the situation at hand. What would they have done if they had been out in the field on a mission? There were no hospitals out there.

As the group had a fun little chat with Kazenkou, Meran just stood in a corner, his fists clenched with fury, how could the three be so comfortable with her, had he not complained enough about her in the past to get them to know that he was far from happy with her as their sensei.
Even Souran would have been better! No, he would not go that far, but he could not see why Ranmaru couldn't be the one or even someone who was not at the testing!

Off course Meran knew and that is why he gritted his teeth. Kazenkou was the only one that his father could trust, the only one he'd leave his son and niece in the care of. They were his cards in the big game of houses and he needed to protect them. And who better to take care of them besides the precious Kazenkou...

Time slipped on by, but Meran's anger did not wane, all he knew was that they four were still in trouble and the future would not get any brighter for them. As Kazenkou ruffles Meran's hair, he would huff in response to her remarks.

He would wait until she was out of earshot before turning towards his teammates and express his bottled up anger.

"How can you all be so happy with HER!" He said angrily, ignoring the medical shinobi. "The only reason we should be happy is that she is the least likely option that would hurt us! She gives me the blame of everything, is daddy's favorite and worst of all, if she could live in Konoha, she would! She is probably jealous of Temari for living there most of the time! And the way she used to talk about her fight with that wolf guy, you'd think she'd marry him given the chance! Come on guys! How can you be happy, she'll make my life a living hell!"

Meran was far from happy and anyone of them could see he was more upset with this news, than he had been for a long while. His sand moved irritatingly through the air, mirroring his feelings, like it also had emotions bottled up, it could not express.

Hiten looked at Meran when he started to share his frustations and shrugged. "Meran.. It's only temporary and she could teach us. Also we should take our advantage of this situation and use the situation to become stronger."

He turned around and pointed to the walls around the village.
"The day we leave the safe borders of the village shall be a day for the rest of the world to remember. And the day that we can prove that Sunagakure belongs on top. It's gonna be hard. But I know we as a team will be able to do it."

Relief washed over her as she heard her friends and teammates would be accompanying her to the hospital. She flashed them all a smile, glad she wouldn't be alone.

"Don't you guys worry, we'll stick close as well and make sure you'll all be alright. Now shall we get moving?"
She nodded to the medic who had spoken. "Yes, let's." She felt drained, the battle and her injuries having swallowed most of her energy. All she wanted for the moment was some quiet and an opportunity to rest.

That's when Meran voiced his frustration. "...Come on guys! How can you be happy, she'll make my life a living hell!"

Anger bubbled up again, both at being denied her quiet and rest, and at his outburst that seemed absolutely unjustified to her at the moment. She was lying down on the stretcher but was immensely tempted to get up and get over to the redhead to hit him.
She didn't, of course. But she hoisted herself up a little, using her good arm, and her cold grey eyes glimmered irately as they turned on him. "What are you moaning about? If it wasn't for her I would have died just now! While you were celebrating your victory she protected me! So sorry for not joining your pity party, Meran."

The moment the words had left her mouth she knew they'd been cutting. Too sharp, perhaps. She looked away briefly, clenching her jaws shut and listened to Hiten as he spoke to Meran. He was much calmer than she was. That was good. Probably better than her reaction.

Her tongue was quick as a whip, sharp as a knife. They knew how she was.

Still, as she calmed down, she started to regret her initial reaction. Meran wasn't fond of his sister, she knew that. He had talked long and often about how she was his father's favorite, how she loved those rainbow eating peace loving hippies from Konoha, and how she got him punished for things that weren't his fault. It seemed she just liked getting on his bad side and he resented her for that.

So when Hiten was finished, she faced Meran again, voice milder this time. "Hiten's right, you know. She's strong, we can learn from her." She sighed, thinking how difficult it must be for Meran to accept what had happened mere moments ago. But she was realistic and she wanted him to see that too. "Look Meran, she won't define our team and she won't get between our friendship. And after what happened today, please realize that she's not against us. God knows she's already proven it to me. Don't resent me for not rejecting her.
Please don't be like that.

Hina's smile froze on her face at Meran's outburst. Shit. She'd totally forgotten about that. Memories of her and Meran being blamed for one of their innocent little jokes by Kazenkou flashed before her eyes. 'Our pranking days are over.' she thought, dramatically. And she almost felt guilty for being so happy about being put in a team with Kazenkou. She didn't have any siblings, and sometimes it felt like she was missing something, but if she looked at the relationship between Meran and Kazenkou maybe it wasn't too bad to be an only child. She felt much happier "picking her own siblings", like Akira, Hiten and Meran. She could choose the people she wanted to have her back.

Listening to the words Hiten and Akira spoke she realised she had nothing to feel bad about. Meran must realise that Kazenkou clearly was one of the better (if not, the best) choice for them. She wasn't shocked at Akira's sharp words. Akira was known for being harsh at times. For reasons they knew. It was just the way she was. And she was right. Meran would just have to suck it up.

She didn't really have anything to add and just made agreeing "mhm"-sounds with the others.

A hurt look appeared on Meran's face as Akira snapped at him. As if he would not have helped her if he had known about the fight! He would have been right next to her, if this had been a team fight. But he had not known that she was in trouble, had not known that she had need of saving.

"That is low Akira!" Meran said with a sad tone, the anger disappearing. "You know that any one of us, would have helped you if we'd know about it. And you should know that we'd be cheering you guys on from out here, instead of celebrating our own success. Yes, I am happy to get to the next round, but only because you guys are as well. That hit was way below the belt."

Meran turned around saddened for the lack of support from his teammates, was this their life now? Pawns in the big game, having to be glad of the small mercies?

His shoulders slumbed as he looked up at the terrace his father stood not all that long ago. He wanted to know how his son was doing? Or how his son would handle the news of being tied even closer to his sister. Gaara knew the two could not get along, even though the two were similar, was this his punishment? Or his duty?

He felt hurt by the lack of support, he would have figured that at least Hina would have supported him, but she just remained quite quiet at the side lines.
"I could never resent you Akira, but I cannot be happy with her as our Sensei. I am sure she could teach us plenty, in between her photoshoots and besides the ettiquette lessons on how we should behave."

Suddenly Meran would turn around fire in his eyes. "So be it, if you guys accept her, then I must as well, but I will not pose for some Magazine and I will not stop pranking!! In fact, I think I have a new target." Meran's playful grinn reappears, seemingly excited to get his sister with one of his pranks. She'd be sorry she got assigned to this team... Surely she would!

"I'll show her protection! She'll be mad at her sand for not protecting her as well as I will protect Akira! Let's go!" And Meran started to walk towards the hospital as if it was not him, holding them up. Grin on his face, that his teammates would know he was up to his usual tricks.

"That hit was way below the belt."

"So maybe you weren't celebrating, fine. Point is she protected me," she bit back at him.
Low? She'd been low? The fact he hadn't been there wasn't the point! She'd said it out of anger and to spite him--which obviously worked, but now he was trying to send her on a guilt trip. No luck shoving that down her throat though, it would only make her nastier.

The point was that Kazenkou had protected her when it counted, and no amount of his upset would change that.

"I could never resent you Akira, but I cannot be happy with her as our Sensei. I am sure she could teach us plenty, in between her photoshoots and besides the ettiquette lessons on how we should behave."
She almost smirked at his attempt at humor, had she been in the mood for it. "Ugh, I can't imagine it'll be like that."

However, Meran abruptly made a 360 and proclaimed that if they accepted Kazenkou, then he must as well. "But I will not pose for some Magazine and I will not stop pranking! In fact, I think I have a new target."

Akira raised her eyebrows. Well, that was sudden. "Do whatever you want, I won't stop you." And Hina would likely ally up with him, too. Not that she felt bad for Kazenkou. She was a grown woman, she could handle herself.

He got her thinking though. Would Kazenkou force them to pose for the media?

Or worse, would the media find them first?

Funny, she'd never even given this a thought. She imagined herself on a cover spread, looking like Kazenkou in the latest issue of Hot Sand Diamonds. Before a light blush appeared on her pale cheeks she quickly shut her eyes and shook her head to herself. Never, not at something like this. The absurdity of it all. "And I won't lend myself for a bikini-shoot either."

With a huff she lay back down on the stretcher, choosing to ignore Meran's last words. It was something about Kazenkou and sand not protecting her like Meran would protect her...
Dear lord, was it that time again. Always Meran with the flirts. When would he ever stop that.

Hina listened to her friends, well, she didn't want to call it "fighting", but they surely weren't agreeing. "So maybe you weren't celebrating, fine. Point is she protected me."
"We know that she protected you, Akira, and we are all grateful to her. But I know you understand Meran's point as well. Whe couldn't see anything of what was going on in there. As soon as we saw you were seriously hurt we were at the door almost instantly. What's more, we were worried even before you were hurt. Mainly because Guuzou's a jackass." She muttered the last part.

At the words "etiquette lessons" Hina got mixed emotions. She didn't particularly like "her own" etiquette lessons, that her parents would give her, but she knew it was her duty. However, she knew Meran's opinion of them all too well. Oh, how many times she had heard him laugh at her and mockingly imitate her mother with a "Sit up straight, Hina-chan!" She almost, almost hoped that Kazenkou would give them lessons in etiquette. Just to see Meran's face. A wicked smirk appeared on her face. Yes, that would totally be worth it. Perhaps she should.. suggest this idea to Kazenkou.

Hina ran to catch up with Meran and walked by his side. "You, Meran, look like a man with a plan. Care to share?" It seemed like he was over the Kazenkou-sensei-part.

"And I won't lend myself for a bikini-shoot either." Hina turned around to fix her look on Akira, wicked smirk growing into a wicked smile. "Awh, but Akira-chan," she said with fake disappointment and knowing full well the suffix would irritate her "I was hoping we could go for a double bikini-photoshoot." She turned to look back at Meran. Hoping for an amusing reaction at the mention of Akira in a bikini. Now that everybody was out of immediate life danger she easily went back to joking around.

The joking around wouldn't have much time to last however sadly for the team as when they would enter the long straight street towards the hospital of Sunagakure one of the medics rolling the bed would sigh and lower his head "Ohw boy. I was hoping they wouldn't be there."
He groaned out displeased as he nodded forward towards the hospital gate where several camera crews were stationed 4 to be exact each with a commentator that held a mic handy to ask questions. Luckily they were still too far away.
"Well, same here, sorry kids. But it seems like news is slow this week either due to the weather or lack of interesting politics." The other medic would say annoyed.
The woman medic who was still from time to time performing her iryo-ninjutsu on Akira's hand would stop the one she was currently performing and sigh.
"Damn the media. What are they even good for? And wasn't this supposed to be like...a Hidden Village, huh? Why did the Daimyou ever impose a transparency media law on shinobi anyway? It was a whole international wave of it too...darn! If only there was some way around them." She would complain clenching her fist.

even though they were still a good 250 meters away from the hospital gate and the media they seemed to have already been spotted as the camera crews looked at them with excited and hopeful eyes.

Hiten smirked as they slowly walked towards the hospital. "Double bikini shoot? What about Meran and me?... We would look fabulous in bikini... C'mon how cool would that be?" The boy had a big grin on his face and had an absent yet dreamy look in his eyes.

When the group neared the Hospital and spotted the journalists he sighed and the smile melted away from his face. "We could use the mist to make camera's useless, And maybe Meran knows a trick or two to make the journalists even more useless than they already are... This however requires timing but... I could make it appear slow... Your call guys."
He looked at Meran and Hina and smiled, knowing full well what could and would happen.

The big grin on Meran's face did not falter and seemed to get a bit brighter of the thought of Akira in bikini and he laughed out loud when Hiten wanted himself and Meran to join in the shoot. "I am afraid the girls have an unfair advantage over us, Hiten. "
He was glad that Hina did show some support, but he intended to forget the whole Kazenkou Sensei, that is, until he HAD to think about her, that did not stop him from planning something though.

Just when Meran was walking over to Hina to whisper a plan in her ear, the press came into view. "Looks like we have company...." He heard about the action Hiten wanted to take and his knowing smile made the grinn reappear. "Nice camera's they have there.... It would be a SHAAAAMMMEEEE if something were to happen to them.." Meran winked at Hina. Would she behave like Ettiquette required of her, or would she help protect the privacy of their friend?

Meran quickly analyzed the situation. Looking at the skill level of the journalists, if they seem too focused to notice stealthy movement around them. He also checked whether he himself was stealthy enough to pull the maneuver off. (Skill check: Investigation, Stealth, Saton)

His plan was to either disable the camera's or remove the tapes/film from them, ruining them latter.
He was not too comfortable with camera technology, but he knew that the information was stored on either a roll of film or a tape. So he would aim to ruin that stealthily with his sand, either inside or outside the camera. Preferably outside of the camera's.

Should all else fail, sand inside a camera can never be good, though it would be more drastic.
"Guys, I'll take care of the camera's, can you guys get their attention? Perhaps that bikini shoot or something." He winked at Hina, knowing full well that she and Hiten would make sure to get the attention from the media.

The medical lady smiled and let out an intrigued little chuckle glancing to Hiten as he made his propositions.
"Mist, huh? I assume you mean Kirigakure no Jutsu? That is an interesting approach to the problem indeed, we could even combine fogs, if you know what I mean."

She said now grinning in a bit of excitement.

One of the medics however sighed and looked less exited and more pained as he rubbed the back of his head looking at the situation at hand with a displeased face and great reluctance to face it.
"Yes, all fine and dandy. But how do you suppose we should pass by them without being seen, while rolling up a person in a stretcher and all. Your friend here laying down can't exactly sneak. Also breaking their camera's they might find proof we did it and then place a lawsuit on the Village." He would groan displeased. "So don't get too exited either, Yuuyou-chan." He nodded to his female comrade with a bit of an apology in the bow movement for the potentially disappointing news.

"Yeah!" The other male medical nin seemed to agree speaking out his exclaimed agreement together with a deep ironic sigh, he too obviously didn't like the situation and thought it sucked, especially for the Academy students, but he unlike his companion didn't seem reluctant at all to face it head-on if needed, hands at his sides and a confident smirk on his face.
"Fushou-kun is right, It's not like they're going to let us just pass simply because their camera's are out of order. Heck it wouldn't surprise me that if we did that they'd just send another few dozen of those camera crews INTO the building itself." He pulled a sour face at the last thought and half whispered to himself. "Please no.." It seemed as a medical nin he had his fair share of negative experiences with media people in a hospital.

The medical woman would growl a bit clenching her fists.
"Fushou-kun! Ichiro-kun! What the hell is wrong with you guys today? You are no fun!" She huffed and folded her arms.
"So what? We just give up and face the music?"