A/N: A million thanks to Eryn Michaels for her wonderful work

UnExeptional - chapter 2

The first thing she registered was a strong smell of medicine, then how much her throat was dry, and lastly the whispers of conversations in the distance. Mitsue opened her eyes slightly. A face appeared in her line of sight.

"Well, well, you really are a tough girl." A familiar playful voice spoke. "I'm glad."

She parted her lips and tried to speak, but no sound came out. Her tongue felt swollen in her mouth.

"Here, have some water."

Mitsue gratefully accepted, but when she tried to get up, she felt a handon her shoulder.

"You better not move."

The glass was brought to her lips and she drank eagerly, shivering a little when the movement caused a huge discomfort in her stomach.

"Easy, girl. We don't want to tearyourstiches" The voice was still playful.

Things were starting to focus now. She was in a white tent, laying on a litter. It was the medical facility. By a gap on the tent she could see a medic nin healing a man's arm. He seemed to be in excruciating pain. Suddenly she became very aware of the deep pain in her stomach.

"Ahh…" Was the first sound that she managed to make.

"Yeah, I know. It hurts." The man beside her took the glass from her trembling pale lips. He leaned over her and slowly his face came into focus. It was Kyoichi, Kushio's twin brother and her old teammate. A kindly smile played on his lips.

"Kyoichi, what am I doing here?" Her voice failed a little, but the meaning was understood.

The smile vanished from his face and was substituted for a look of concern and censure.

"You were seriously injured on the third day of the war. You came here almost dead. Gave us a hard time but we were able to fix you. With a few more days of rest you should be just fine." A tiny smile appeared in his face again. "I warned that I did not want visitors!"

"I'm sorry." She gave him a weak smile. Her attention was taken by medics bringing another litter to fill the space beside her. He was groaning low and two medic nins rushed to attend him. A look of concern spread across her face. "The war is not over?"

Kyoichi shook his head sadly.

"We are at the end of the fourth day."

Mitsue tried to get up, but a pounding (or throbbing?) pain took her body and she fell back with a loud groan.

"What are you thinking?" Kyoichi scolded. "I told you to be still!"

"I have to… help… battle." She answered with the ragged breathing from the pain. She motioned to get up again, but Kyoichi hold her down.

"You are not in any condition to help anyone." He said calmly. Then, with a little note of danger in his voice, "And you better obey me, or I'll dope you and you will only wake up in the next war."

Mitsue stared at him for a while trying to figure out if he was being sincere. She opted to obey for the pain in her stomach told her that he was not being overprotective.

"All right… But can you please at least tell me what is happening out there?"

"Well, the last thing I heard the Kages were fighting against a resurrected Uchiha Madara…

"Hey girl, wake up." Mitsue heard a voice call her in the darkness of her dream. That dream. She forced her consciousness to follow the voice, anything that took her from the bloodiness.

"Humm…" She mumbled while waking up.

"Are you all right?" The same voice said. She turned her head in it's direction and realized that the bed by her side was occupied by a nin.

She blinked a few times until he came into focus. Then his face's purple paint gave the identity of her tent's companion. He was Kankurou, the Kazekage's older brother.

"Yeah… Why?" She asked, incapable of realizing why he was worried. Nothing was hurting…

"You were whining in your sleep, looked like you're suffering." He answered lifting his shoulders.

She looked him upside down. He didn't look hurt.

"Why are you here? What happened?"

"Exhaustion. I was drained of chakra. And you?"

She pointed to her stomach.

"They almost turned me into sashimi." She said in a very serious tone.

Kankurou laughed loudly.

"I like you, girl. What's your name?"

"I'm Mitsue, from the Sand. And you're Kankurou-san, I highly appreciate your work." She smiled.

Kankurou winked.

"Well, Mitsue, I do hope that you do not became sushi until the end of the war. I would hate to lose contact."

They both smiled and closed their eyes to get back to rest.

Mitsue was bored. She had been lying in the litter for days, without permission to get up by herself. The worst was that she couldn't even fight against the forced rest, since when she tried to went to the bathroom alone she couldn't take two steps before laying in the ground, panting in pain. She missed Kankurou. He stayed just a few hours there, but was an amazing companion. It was a shame that they probably would never talk again, even though he said he wanted to. As much as she pretended that status did not matter, that was the reality. Her father was still a Chunnin, and her mother was not even a nin. She, herself, would probably Chunnin forever. Her teammates had become chunnins at thirteen, but she only manage to climb up the ranking last year. Her only advantage was above average intelligence. Very above indeed, but only intelligence does not guarantee anything. It was true that she could defeat much more powerful enemies and make good, quick strategies because of her intellect, but there is always a time in which a nin must rely on their strength, and she did not have much. Mitsue sighed in her bed. It's a sad reality. She liked Kankurou a lot. Actually she liked all three siblings of the sand. Temari exuded strength, a true warrior, fierce and just. And the Kazekage… Well, he protected and trusted her. She smiled again remembering his words. "It seems perfect. Thank you." She was so engrossed in her thoughts about the Sand Brothers that didn't even realized the tumult forming outside. It was only when she heard Kankurou's voice that she returned to reality.

"Where is my brother?! Let me see him!" His voice was filled with worry and anger.

Mitsue couldn't hear what the medic nin replied.

"What do you mean you can't tell us?" Temari's voice floated to her ears, Mitsue winced, she sounded… dangerous. "I know he is the Kazekage, but I'm HIS SISTER!"

The answer was too low again, but she could hear the roar of anger that followed it, and decided to see what was happening. Very carefully she lifted herself from the bed and walked towards the tents edge. She found herself in a lit corridor, where further down a large concentration of nins were trying to calm two angry siblings.

"Temari-san. Kankurou-san, please, you're disturbing the patients." The medic nin that seemed to be in command muttered.

"I'll stop disturbing them as soon as you tell me what is happening to my brother!"

"But sir, I already told you, this kind of information is confidential. He is the Kazekage, we cannot reveal any details of his heath…"

"It's alright. I can take care of it." Said a voice behind the commotion. The medic nin gave passage for a medic with bright pink hair.

The nin walked towards the siblings, wiping her bloody hands on a cloth. A thought flashed like thunderbolt in Mitsue's mind, and she felt her stomach twist with the certainty that it was the Kazekage's blood.

"Sakura." Temari said a little more controlled, what allowed certain despair to be heard in her voice. "Tell me what is going on with my brother." The phrase was somewhere between a request and an order.

Sakura glanced reassuringly to the other doctors and some of them dispersed.

"Temari-san, Kankurou-san… I wish I could tell you better news, but the true is that the gravity of his injuries is higher than we thought. Your brother is unstable, and we have five nins working working on stabilizing him." Sakura stopped and took a deep breath. "However, we have motives to be hopeful. It will probably take days, but it seems he will recovery completely. His body is responding well to the jutsu." She added in a lighter tone. "Any modification and I'll let you know, but I don't think anything will change for a while."

Mitsue realized she had been holding her breath while Sakura was talking. She released the air slowly and a bad feeling, anguish, filled her heart. What happened to the Kazekage? She really hoped he would be okay. She turned to go back to bed. But the movement made her body twist with pain, and, before she knew it, she loosed a scream and saw the ground approaching quickly. A pair of strong arms caught her before she hit the ground. Dizzy with pain, she failed to see the face of her savior, and it was only when he put her back in bed that she could recognize him.

"Hey, Mitsue, want me to call a medic?"

She looked at Kankurou's tired face, the marks of worry around his eyes, and felt the sudden urge to cry."This is so wrong. Good people should not suffer this way."

"No need, thank you." She smiled faintly. "Maybe we should call a sushi chef.

She saw a sad smile grow on his face.

"None of that. You promised you wouldn't turn into food."

"I never promised you anything." She laughed of the displeasured grimace he made. "But I'm fine now, thanks for the concern. Listen, I… I heard about your brother." A shadow crossed Kankurou's face. " I hope he'll be okay. I really do."

He looked away and muttered a thanks, his attention now focused to Temari, who was entering the tent. Mitsue realized for the first time how tired the nin looked. Her hair fell over her shoulder, loose from the usual pigtails. A cut on her eyebrow marred her pretty face, and wires of dried blood ran down her clothes. Her eyes, while dry, were tinged with a hint of red and were encircled by large dark rings.

Temari's eyes wandered around the room, stopping first on Kankurou, then on Mitsue. A flash of recognition passed over her eyes.

"Hey… you're Mitsue, the strategist…"

Mitsue confirmed with a nod.

"You're alive…" Temari said in a distant tone. "Gaara will be happy to know…" Her voice failed.

Kankurou stood up and held his sister. She finished the phrase with her face buried in his chest. "If he survives to hear…"

Mitsue closed her eyes and wished she was anywhere but there. She didn't want to intrude on their privacy that way. But she didn't hear the sound of crying, or the murmurs of comfort. She remained with closed eyes until she heard a rustle. When she opened it, they were no longer in the tent.

N/A: I know this was a short one... The next will be bigger, I promise!