Natsumi reached involuntarily for her throat. The bruises dimpled painfully under her fingers; she dropped her hand again with a grimace. "As you see. I slipped up, let my opponent get behind me. If I go to the regular medics, my family will find out; my father and older brother both have plenty of connections in ANBU. And there was enough of a...disagreement, about my joining, that I'd rather not let them know I got injured on my first mission."

Especially when it had been so stupid. She should have expected a ninja; she shouldn't have left her back open. And she certainly shouldn't have needed rescuing.

"I can get away with turtlenecks and long sleeves until I heal, but I took a bad blow to my shoulder." She grazed the fingertips of her right hand over the point of her left shoulder. "I can't lift my arm easily, and my grip's still a little numb. I don't--"

He was injured, too. He moved stiffly and slowly, as if the injury or the lingering effects of the poison still pained him; and he'd been tired enough to break usual habit and sleep in the middle of the day. Natsumi flushed. "It's a terrible imposition. I'm sorry."