A short trip out and back (Travel)

[kininata]

Before Kininata could finish his journey to the first village to search for their mission, Tenshin seeming eager to get underway along with him, something rather unexpected happened. Ayami Torei, who was supposed to have returned to the Village and maintain observation on the new Kage, was standing before them, appearing from the ground. Tenshin at first reacted with a defensive posture, but recognised her as well from the Missing Nin incident nearly six months ago.

'Ayame, why are you here? You had your orders.' Kininata said, his posture changing from the Genin relaxed pose he had just gotten around to using again to the familiar, uncomfortable stance of a Kage.

'I'm sorry, Kini-sama, but the Amekage... well, he seems to have gone missing.' She said that with a whisper, loud enough for the wind to carry it to them, but to go no further. 'I returned to the Village, and failed to find him anywhere he had been spotted to frequent. His office seemed unused for some time, and any questions I ask about his location remain unanswered. Regardless of where he is now, he is not where he should be.' Ayame bowed slightly, almost starting to crouch down before him as she had done several times before while he had been the Amekage.

Kininata sighed heavily, as though a great weight had once again dropped on his shoulders. He had really only just freed himself from the binds of leadership, returning to a easy life, to find himself being hinted at to return to that particular torture again. Tenshin gave him a stare that showed he felt sympathy for him, and Ayame showed her loyalty to him. 'Why me...' he whispered to the wind, as though to ask the world why they kept dropping these problems on him. He stood there for a minute, wondering if he could out run what he knew was bound to be coming, and found no answer.

'Ayame, head back, and tell the council that I'm heading back to the Village to find out how ANBU managed to lose another Kage. I'm getting tired of hearing about these things.' With a blink the Chuunin vanished into the ground and was most likely hurrying across the land back towards the Village. Kininata sighed again, all the motivation sapped from him as he turned around. 'Back home we go, Tenshin.'

[raijutsumi]

Tenshin was quite angry at the whole situation. Another Kage in less than six months, another incident taking him out of the office. He had thought that the Village was finally getting stabilised, and now this happens. He could see that Kininata was trying his best to hold back his own anger about how completely botched the situation was, but he wasn't able to help him in any way with the problem. He was, after all, just a Genin, a low ranking member of his clan, and hardly in the shape to help anyone including himself. His illness had been reduced while he had been out on this overly long walk, which was the good thing, but it had also become a waste of time. In truth, he would have rather spent this time training to see if he could push himself harder now than he could several days ago, but they needed to rush back.

The two young men sped along the ground, using their Chakra to push themselves harder and faster this time around, hopefully halving their time to return. Tenshin felt a pang of pain through his body the moment he stirred his Chakra, but after a few minutes the pain went and he relaxed back into a travelling pace with his team mate. Team mate... the target of my bullying, the ice ninja of rain, the former Kage... how things change. He smiled at his own thought, and did his best to keep pace with the red-haired Genin of Rain.

[kininata]

The Chakra Kininata was using to move at his accelerated pace was holding steady, his body now quite accustomed to his long journeys under the enahncements of Chakra surging through its muscles. He glanced back often to ensure that his Sansutomu team mate was behind him, and he seemed to be holding his own for the mean time. Neither of them spoke during the speedy trip, leaving him too much time to ponder the situation - time he would rather spend cracking skulls or training.

As his feet landed on a grass-covered patch to launch him forwards towards ground not too dissimilar, his mind went over the possibilities: He could return to his position as Kage, stronger than before, and with the experience of his past mistakes fully understood. He could make a stronger leader than before, bring a little order back to the Village... but he was still too weak, too naive to hold that office for long. Another assassin would come, and this time, he felt as though that his lucky escapes from death from more powerful, skillful ninja's would run out this time.

His feet caught the edge of a small pool of water, glistening in the mid-afternoon sun, as the next solution came to mind: another Kage voting. Chances are at least one strong, semi-reliable Ninja could be called upon by the people to serve as Kage, but seeing as the last two Kages had both been voted for and either gone missing or killed, very few would take up the role if voted for.

He paused for a moment, checking on his comrade, before taking another Chakra-charged step towards home. The final option was to have a temporary leader - a majordomo - until a strong and suitable candidate for Kage emerged from the current ranks. It was the better option, the more likely one for the council to accept, and still put Kininata far off the list for being in charge again. He smiled at that option as he continued his hard pace to Rain.

[raijutsumi]

Tenshin suddenly lost his footing: it wasn't that the ground was uneven as his foot landed on the soft soil, or that he caught a stray pebble at the wrong moment - his whole body decided to suddenly to collapse as he touched the ground. Feeling like his strength had left him, he simply flopped over onto the ground, his face slamming into the grass, and he felt the stabbing pain throughout his body - every one of his pressure points felt as though they had been stabbed by needles at the same time. After a few seconds, the pain subsided, and the feeling in his body came back, but he was down long enough to draw Kininata's attention. Damnit... I guess this thing is going to torment me for a while still. He stood up, his stance sowing signs that his body was not acting completely as it should, and then made his best attempts to carry on. He could feel that his Chakra was being sapped away faster than it should have been, but he had to keep going. He caught up to Kininata, but before the red-haired ninja could ask him what happened Tenshin skipped right past him and carried on towards Rain.

After traveling for another half hour, his body seemed to return to how it had been earlier that day - energized, awake, and rearing to go. It gave me an attack? Is this going to happen at any time, even in a fight? The worries of what his illness might do to him started to torment his thoughts as he carried on back home over the familiar terrain of the Fire Country.

[kininata]

[tetsu]

Moved to Rain.

[kininata]

The familiar tree line that scoured the terrain of his home country came into sight at last, and in that moment a burst of energy surged through him like a second wind. He needed to get back to find out who's head he was going to be smashing in for letting another Kage go missing. Within minutes his feet were no longer touching the soft, grassy plains but were now moving from tree to tree in the Country of Rain. He turned, seeing Tenshin was struggling slightly with keeping the pace, and slowed himself back down again to let the Sansutomu ninja catch up. 'Come on, Tenshin! You can rest when we get back!' He yelled, waving him on and then taking up his former pace.

He had growing concerns for the ninja. Yes, his eyes were a powerful asset to any team, but judging from what Hirikase had told him about what he went through, and based on what he was seeing of his peformance, he was better off being assigned to low-key, non-combat missions for the immediate future. If just travelling was wearing him down this much, a real fight might prove fatal to him and those in his team. He could not let him risk that... but he was just a Genin now, and it wasn't his concern. The forest thickened ahead, and he saw the familiar markers, placed where only Rain Nin know where to look, and guided their path towards the Village.

[raijutsumi]

Tenshin could feel the sweat trickling down his face, his spine, wherever it would move. His body felt as though he had been pushing himself for days on end, and yet he still forced himself onwards. His Chakra was nearing its limit, and he could feel that his stamina was waning. He was trying to focus his mind, bring his attention back to the here and now - back onto reaching the Village. All he had to do was reach the gates, and he could rest. He could recover. So, he just had to last a little longer, resist the pain in his muscles and the strain on his strength for a little while longer. He caught glimpses of Kininata ahead of him, seeing the red-haired ninja moving through the tree line as though he had barely pushed himself at all, even in comparison to how Tenshin had been months ago. He could now see the real gap between their power and skill while he was in this condition, and he sighed. I'm just another talentless Genin. His thoughts broke his concentration, causing his foot to slip and he started to fall.

He let out a brief call of fear, and quickly regained his composure. Focus, just a little. He clasped his hands together, looking down at the terrain below. Drawing a little Chakra from his reserves, he initiated the Shunshin, landing on the ground before he gained any real speed that might cause him harm. He saw that Kininata had stopped for him, waiting patiently. 'Damn slippey branches.' He said loudly, making sure Kini heard him before making his way again, this time along the ground rather than in the trees.

[kininata]

Finally feeling the wear of his body, pushing himself hard to race back to the village, Kininata started to slow down his pace. He recognised the patch of forest he was in, and knew that within the hour, the pair of them would be back at the village - the elders could wait another hour before he came to them and started pounding on their skulls. He stopped, catching his breath, and turned around to see Tenshin almost a hundred feet behind him; his movements showed that he was worn down almost entirely now, on the brink of collapse itself. He formed several hand seals, creating two water clones, and sent them to help his team mate out. At first, he would likely resist the efforts, but considering his condition, the Sansutomu Genin would soon be unable to refuse the help; and that was exactly what happened. After a couple of minutes, Tenshin was carried to Kininata's position, the former Kage grinning at him. 'Whoever thought that I'd have to carry you around, eh? Don't worry, we'll enter the village on our own two feet. I just don't want to leave you behind back there.' Tenshin nodded, unconsciousness taking him, and the four figures carried on for the next hour, reaching the Village Gates.

[Exit to Village of Rain]
[Closed]