Investigation Mission: Searching for Clues

[kininata]

Kininata stood outside the gates of the Village, waiting patiently for his team mate to arrive. The wind caught his long red hair, causing it to glide in the air freely even as the rain started to drizzle down upon him. He weapons were all hidden away wrapped within a series of bags, pouches and sacks, bundled together like a poorly-organized travel bag. The only thing that might have possibly made him look like a warrior was Jinyasho hanging at his hip, and the way he held himself - otherwise, he seemed like an somewhat ordinary traveler bearing the complexion of a man from the Land of Rain.

'Where the hell is he?' He said to himself, his arms crossed as his patience started to wear thin. This was the day they were supposed to head out for the Fire Country to start their mission, and while he had not anticipated Tenshin to get up and be here at the early hours of dawn, he was expecting him to show up before mid day.

[raijutsumi]

Tenshin sighed as he strained slightly carrying his pack. Compared to the overly-equipped Kininata, the young Genin of the Sansutomu had very few possessions with him - a set of needles hidden sleekly under his coat, his backpack containing his travel gear and his uniform belonging to the Dojo, and the robes he was currently wearing. He used very few other items in comparison to his team mate, but considering his health, carrying them was still a strain on him.

'Sorry I'm late, Kini. Family decided to let me over sleep...' He said apologetically, hoping that he wouldn't inquire further so they could get started. 'So, your the body-guard to the travelling monk then?' He said that with a smile, seeing that Tenshin was now looking more like a monk on a spiritual journey than a ninja, and Kini looked like a overly-packed mercenary.

[kininata]

Kini smiled widely at first, then a light chuckle emerged from his face. He had not actually notice, but Tenshin was telling the truth. Placing his hand on his comrades shoulder, he wore a bold, sincere grin. 'You know, we might actually get around to liking each other at this rate, Tenny.' Slapping his shoulder lightly a couple of times, He turned back to face the road heading eastwards, and waved on to his comrade. 'Lets get started on this mission then!'

With a fresh vigor in his movements, Kininata started walking briskly down the road away from the Village, a smile still on his face even as the rains came down upon the pair of them.

[raijutsumi]

Tenshin winced a little as the hand landed on his shoulder, the muscles there pounding with pain. He was in no fit shape for a fight, not for some time yet, but he could just withstand Kini's seemingly renewed personality, then he might gain enough of his former health and strength back when the time is right. 'Yeah, onto the mission.' He had to run for a few moments to catch up to his invigorated comrade, but once there he managed to keep up with his speedy pace, starting smile himself. This was his first mission with the former victim of his bullying days, and hopefully it would be the start of something interesting and adventurous... as long as he could hold out.

[kininata]

Kininata slowed his pace down after the first fifteen minutes of the journey, catching glimpses that Tenshin was struggling to maintain it. He had heard the rumours of his illness, heard that he was still recovering even now... but to see how much it had affected him. In the academy, Tenshin was among the strongest students there were, and for a while, he was the better of the two even after they graduated. But now, seeing him struggling like this... a minuscule part of him was glad, a part of him from the days he remembered being picked on because he was the "Ice Ninja of Rain"; and the rest of him felt sorry for his condition, and guilt for that small piece of him that enjoyed seeing his former bully struggle.

For the next few hours, they kept a steady walking pace, Kininata occasionally stopping to take a break for himself... even though he rarely needed it. Tenshin would smirk at him, making the odd tease about how he needed to get some real training done to stop slowing them down, but Kini could live with his comments. He suspected just how badly Tenshin was handling his illness, and nothing he had seen so far made his suspicions false; whatever was affecting him was draining his strength quickly. The regular breaks would slow their pace, certainly, but at the moment there was no reason to rush head long at full speed. The mission might take weeks to complete, giving them both time to come to terms with their different strengths... and weaknesses.

By the end of the first night Tenshin was covered in sweat, his body shaking ever so slightly not from the cold, but from exhaustion. Kininata layed on his back, pretending to be huffing with fatigue himself if only to make his comrade feel a litter better about himself. I hate seeing him like this. He used to be so much tougher... I hope he recovers from this thing soon, because if he doesn't improve, he may have to quit being a ninja. He tried to keep that and other similar thoughts in the back of his mind, but it was likely that the medical nin back in the Village and probably some of his own Clan members had said a similar thing. In truth, he was starting to wonder why they let him out on a mission at all, given his health... but that was not his concern. He was a Genin now, not the Amekage; he only needed to make sure he followed orders... and for the mean time, ensure Tenshin didn't over-exert himself.

[raijutsumi]

The end of the first day had shown Tenshin that he was just strong enough to handle a day's travel... and that he was sore over his entire body. There was not a single muscle in his body that did not feel like it had been strained, pushed, twisted and drained of every ounce of strength they held as they camped for the night... and he would have to do this for several days before reaching the capital of the Land of Fire. He stared over at Kininata, seeing that he too was showing some signs of being worn out... but within a moment of looking carefully he could see that he was faking it; his body was reacting wrong to being exhausted, and he was actually trying too hard to seem like he was tired.

He had been worried about getting back into anything that might put too much strain on his body... but to find out that even a day's travel was wearing him down was beyond what he thought his illness had affected him. Maybe I should have turned this down. That was the singular thought in his mind as he lay by the fire, struggling for warmth, trying to understand why he had tried to push himself in the first place...

... Hirikase stood before him, his face looking grim. 'You are too you to try and achieve Shuugoumanako, and too inexperienced. You run a terrible risk by trying this without proper training, Tenshin.' The Genin stood defiantly in front of his mentor, his hands shaking. Tenshin's only response before making the attempt to achieve the Gathering Eyes was 'I can not be a asset to the Village if I can not master my own blood, sensei. I can not be more than I am without those eyes...'

...the attempt had failed; his Chakra had been literally drained through his entire body, he was left blinded, unconscious, and nearly dead because of the Manako-Shingai. His consciousness was the first to return to him, a week later his normal sight, and finally his bodies strength returned enough for him to sit upright... that had been two weeks ago. even now he would feel dizziness and see a blurred image of the world at times, as though his body were on the verge of collapsing again. Yet, he had duties to perform... duties he was now bound to.

The night passed on quietly, the pair not saying a word to one another, and before they had realised it, the next day had started. He felt stronger this morning, a little better than before. He was even up before the red-headed former Kage - so much so that he only stirred from his sleep when he could smell the simple meal Tenshin had cooked for them. 'Come on, sleepy head. We'll be at the Fire Country border at the end of the day, unless you keep lounging around.'

[kininata]

...The ice collapsed around him. He was trapped within the cavern, unable to escape. He clawed at the walls desperately, trying to break out, until his hands started to bleed from his lack of success. All he could hear was the roar of a great beast, something coming closer to him. He cowered into the smallest corner of the collapsed ice, trying to hide himself from whatever was coming towards him. The ice wall ahead of him was torn asunder, revealing a familiar figure with ice blue eyes. 'Get away from me!' He yelled, but the ice-covered hand stretched out to-

-He bounced up almost instantly at Tenshin's words, looking as though he had seen a ghost. After a long moment, he sighed in relief, grinned at the food being cooked, and dodged every question about what his dream was about whenever he was asked. That was a new one. He thought to himself, curious as to where it had come from. The breakfast wasn't as good as ones he had cooked for himself, but it was edible. His mind wandered often during the first hour of the day, trying to figure out why the figure with blue eyes was familiar, and why in his dream he was so scared of it. However, after a while, he brought his mind back into focus to realise that Tenshin was not struggling as much today in terms of keeping the pace.

they kept walking for some time, Tenshin showing only a few of the signs of exhaustion that he had done yesterday, and was fairly proud that he had lasted so long today and done so well. Eventually, seven or so hours after they had started off in the morning, Kininata stopped at the edge of the forest and looked out ahead; rolling hills, green grass, a couple of mountains in the distance. He recognised the terrain fairly quickly. 'Hello again, Land of Fire.' He whispered to himself under his breath, and waved Tenshin to join him. 'There we are, my friend.'

[raijutsumi]

Tenshin was breathing easier today, and his muscles were not as painful as before, nor did he feel as tired. He had been told many times from his mentors and fellow Clan members not to physically push himself... yet now it seemed that the opposite was doing more good for him than not. So, almost gleefully, he ran up to catch his team mate and see what he was seeing.

Within moments he paused, staring out to the vastness of the horizon before him; hills, green grass, open ground... as much as he loved his home land, to see the Land of Fire again after such a long time was a joy. It brought up some bad memories, of his old team, of his attempted rescue of the former Kage Corrin Maeda, but now it was something better. He turned to Kini and smiled. 'Nothing like seeing this place to make you glad to miss the rain.' He chuckled a little, and started walking onwards with his team mate - for the Land of Fire awaited them.

[tetsu]

Moved.

[kininata]

Kininata smiled at the sight once more, turned to his team mate, and waved onwards. They still had a distance to go before reaching the first of several towns and hamlets to begin their investigation. In truth, he was more worried about actually doing the investigation part of the mission rather than coming across ambushers or hostile ninjas; subtlety was never one of his strongest talents, and neither was getting information out of common people with ease. At least, that was not the way he had been raised by his father. However, if he was to prove that he was more than just a walking weapon, he was going to have to do the best that he could to show that he was more than that.

the next few hours of walking were not too strenuous on either of them, and he noticed an improvement in Tenshin's movements and stamina; being out on this mission seemed to have made him much more healthy than he had been just days before. Of course Tenshin would never admit that he had been ill at all, just so that he could claim that he was simply giving him a break. The members of the Sansutomu Clan had always been an overly proud group of people, treating any weakness they had as a minor inconvenience that could be ignored. Of them all, he had seen this most certainly in Tenshin, both when they were at the academy together and during their time as Genin.

The night came quickly, and before long they were setting up a small camp. 'I'll take the first watch, Tenshin. You get some rest.' There was a certain reluctance from the Genin at first, but after a few minutes Tenshin was fast asleep before him. He was tired, and it showed in how quickly sleep had taken him from the waking world... but that was not the worry he had. Here, they had no backup, no reinforcements, and very few resources. If anyone wandering around were to come across them now, it would not take much effort for them to take them both on... and considering that he was unsure that Tenshin was fit to fight at the moment, it would likely be a fierce fight should it come to that.

[raijutsumi]

Tenshin slept uneasily that night. His body may have seemed as though it had improved, but it ached and throbbed throughout his "sleep", keeping him unable to do anything but feel as though he should not have pushed himself so hard all those weeks ago... regretting it. He had been warned so many times, and he was paying for it every inch of the way since then. Still what little rest he managed to get was enough to take his shift in the watch. 'Get some sleep, Kini. I plan to keep ahead of you tomorrow.' He said to the former Kage, and waited patiently until he fell asleep... where he could verbally wince in pain at his muscles. It felt as though they had been set aflame with the day's travel.

He pulled out a small pouch from his pack, given to him from Hirikase, and pulled out two small pills - yellow, slightly oval, full of a strange blue dust. He grabbed some water, tossed the pills into his mouth and drank them down into his throat. The taste was bitter, foul, almost worthy of vomiting out, but he controlled himself as he took them. He had been told that they would stem the pain he would endure while he was travelling, let him rest easier if he started having troubles - considering how much pain he was in now, he started taking them.

The night shift continued until he could see the glimmer of sun rays on the horizon, and started to prepare breakfast again. By the time Kini stirred in his sleep, a bowl of rice and a large up of water was waiting for him. 'I never met anyone who could sleep as heavily as you, Kini.'

[kininata]

Kininata stirred from his slumber, his mind not troubled by the strange dreams he had been having recently. He slept well for the first time in quite a while, and grinned widely at both the breakfast before him and Tenshin's comment. 'I like to get alot of rest. Means I don't have to nap in the middle of the day.' He said that with a smile on his face and dug into the rice meal. Within a short while, they were packed away and continuing their journey towards the nearest encampment of people - Otafuku Gai. It was another day away from them, if their information was close to correct, but that would more than likely closer to the Village of Leaf... and risk being under attack. It was necessary.

The day moved on rather quietly, neither of them speaking to the other, but instead just walking onwards over the rolling plains of grasslands and the scent of spring air filling their noses. The was a little moisture in the air and the ground, but Kininata had found this place too dry for his liking - probably because of spending most of his life around alot of water-saturated air. It wasn't long before the night began to fall on them again, and camp was once more set up for the night - tomorrow, their first destination would be within reach, and they could begin.

'Tenshin, you take the first shift, I'll take the second.'

[raijutsumi]

Tenshin nodded to his team mate, took a sip of warmed water, and watched patiently as Kininata rolled under his cover to rest for the evening. For the first time in a while, he didn't feel tired at night - ever since he started his recovery consciously, he had struggled to maintain his stamina during the night, falling fast asleep within a couple of hours of nightfall. Tonight, he felt full of energy and was quite eager to do the shift. So, with a bowl of the remaining rice from his meal and a small fire to keep warm, he looked outwards towards the open landscape where he had once travelled almost a year ago... when he and his former team mates had tried to foolishly rescue the former Amekage Corrin Maeda.

He remembered how he had been back then - quick, cold, calculating, and he pushed himself more than he thought was now reasonable. Back then, Kininata was off to the Chuunin exams, and he was stuck in the Village. Now, Kininata was vastly stronger than himself - even if his illness had not taken hold - and Tenshin had barely strengthened himself at all. If anything, he had fallen behind even those who were coming out of the academy these days. Then again, he didn't feel a rush to push his training anymore... he knew that he would get strong eventually, and that he would get back into his own rhythm. He just needed to get over the illness that moved through his body and his eyes, and get choose a path that would let his get back into the swing of things again.

The night air was cold, chilling his bones a little more than he had anticipated. He wanted to use his "eyes", wanted to see the cold air around him so he could find a better spot near the fire... but he had to resist that now more than ever. He had been told several times not to use his eyes until "he was better", but they never told him what they thought that was. So, the cold air continued to go through him until eventually he felt it was long enough, and he a jabbed Kininata in the ribs. 'Get up, lazy.' He was grinning slightly as he said that, and while the red-haired former Amekage stirred from his slumber, Tenshin dove under his covers and nearly hugged the fire for warmth as he started to drift off to sleep.

[kininata]

Once Tenshin was sound asleep, he stood up, brought his hands together, and created a single Mizu Bunshin. Leaving the clone on guard at the camp fire, he headed off a short distance from the fire, and looked out into the surrounding landscape, waiting for the man who had been following them. He had known that he would be followed the moment he left the Village, and right on cue, a shadow moved out from a nearby bushel - a member of ANBU who had shown a great deal of loyalty to Kininata while he had been the Amekage.

'Chuunin Torei. I'm sorry that we haven't spoken since I left office. I've been rather busy.' As he spoke, he grinned slightly, and scratched the back of his head. Chuunin Ayame Torei had been a member of the ANBU commander's Hougatsu's squad until he was murdered by a Missing Nin. Now, she was just another ANBU... except that she reported to Kininata even though he was no longer the Kage. She had been ordered to keep her distance from him until he was away from the Village, and now that they were a good two days out, she approached him.

'Amekage-Sama.' She bowed before him, taking off her mask and letting her raven-hair drop below her shoulders. 'As you thought, the murderer's death was caused by a member of the Rain Village, but the details have been left secret from me. However, it seems that no other Kage's are reacting to the events of the last six months. Rain appears to be safe for the time being.' At least I'm getting better at working out how things work in this world. Nagaku did teach me that, at least. He scratched his chin, and turned to Tenshin - still soundly asleep.

'Excellent work, Ayame. Go back, and keep an open eye on our new Kage. I want to know if anything about him needs to be dealt with - Missing Nin being in that office is hardly something to ignore... especially that one.' Chuunin Torei nodded in agreement, and vanished quickly before either could speak again. He was fully aware of what the new Kage was capable of, and he had no intentions of being caught offguard with this one. He intended to make sure he was ready if anything happened. In the mean time, he returned to the camp, dispersed the clone, and returned to his watch.

In the morning, Tenshin was awakened, and they pair eventually carried on their way to the first town on their search.

[Nira]

Moved

[kininata]

(Well, with my village having an inactive Kage "again", I guess someone is gonna have to step in and try to keep things together. With that in mind, I guess I'll cancel this mission and go home.)

THREAD CLOSED. Heading back to Village of Rain.