"RISE AND SHINE! UP AND AT'EM BOYS!" that shrill little voice of
Tsu's could go far and pierce right into the pain center of your brain when she wanted it to "WE'VE GOT A MISSION ON OUR HANDS!" She clutched the letter tight in one hand, grinning widely and waving it around as if it were a flag "If you're not out here in five minutes I'm dragging you out of bed no matter WHAT you sleep in!"
He was in midair, about to kick a practice dummy; when Tsu's shrill voice sliced right through
Kano's skull. He lost his composure, colliding with the dummy instead of landing his kick. As he slid down the dummy, he groaned and collapsed onto the mat. "Ugh....a mission??"
Upstairs there came a loud thud, a groan, then shuffling. As
El reached the landing he yawned widely, rubbing his right eye and adjusting his mask. He stood there for a moment, remembering what his father had said long ago.
A mariachi's hours are late, for evening is the time for poets. He almost fell asleep standing there, sort of hovering, trying to decide if he where awake or not.
"Miiiission time!"
Tsu giggled, waving the letter around madly and making it snap slightly in the air "Come on boys we haven't got all day!" She really was going to pull them out of bed if they didn't appear in a second.
Hinji opened the door to the main house from his room. The spot where Oita's puppet had clocked him was a nice purple bruise now. In his hand he held a wadded up piece of paper that was supposed to be a new summon scroll till Tsu screeched.
El drug himself down stairs. It was times like these that he regretted his decision to become a ninja.
Kano got to his feet slowly and grabbed a mirror. There was a huge red mark in the middle of his face from where he collided with the practice dummy. "Gah....I hope that fades soon..." He mumbled as he ambled out to where the screeching was coming from, rubbing his sore nose
"There are my boys"
Tsu said happily, shaking her head and giggling slightly at their slightly worse for ware looks "Come on, cheer up, we've got ourselves a mission!" She held the piece of paper out in front of her triumphantly, then sliced the top open so quickly the boys didn't even see what she'd done it with. "Lets see now" Tsu giggled, fishing out the paper inside and starting to read.
Hinji joined the others upon disposing of the ruined scroll. He stood patiently waiting for her to finish reading the missions statement so they could be informed.
It took a moment, then slowly a purr came from
Tsu as she read the letter, an actual purr. She lowered the paper slowly, her eyes cat like as they gazed up at the three boys, and her teeth strangely pointed and bared. She looked almost like a strange feral child. "Boys" she giggled softly, still purring "We're going hunting." She folded the paper away and grinned at the three in front of her "Get what you need for a few days out of town, if you don't pack food you catch your own dinner. You don't catch that you go hungry."
Hinji frowned, he didn't like long excursions in the sun. "What exactly are we hunting?" he asked wondering why they were being sent on such a pathetic mission.
"We'll discuss it later"
Tsu giggled, waving her hands to Hinji "Go on, go get packed. They're expecting us out for a few days so we can start later, so it won't be as bad for Hinji." She giggled softly and shook her head "This is only a C-rank mission so don't expect anything too bad... but still, be prepared."
Hinji grumbled quietly to himself as he turned and left the main room to pack. He realized that he probably wasn't going to be able to bring his scroll supplies so that would reduce his pack load.
Kano's face lit up as soon as she mentioned they were going on a mission finally. And HUNTING at that! "Why can't we leave right now???"
"It'd be best if we set off later"
Tsu said with a slight shrug "We're in for a bit of a trek, so I'm making sure Hinji doesn't suffer too much." She gave a small giggled, still hiding the letter from them "He's going to need aaaaall the energy he can muster."
El reached the bottom landing at about the exact time Tsu Sensei was ushering them off to go pack. He hung his head, turned around and headed back up the stairs. If they where leaving later he might be able to grab a short siesta ... Oh wait, he was going to have to prepare his rations...
Maldito.
Kano rubbed at his face again. He looked at Tsu and grinned, "So are you going to come get us when it's time to leave or do we just have to be at the gates at a certain time?" She hadn't exactly said that part and the other two members of his squad didn't seem to want to know that.
"I'll come get you, I want to see how quickly you can get ready. I'm giving you a bit of warning to pack up because it's a special mission, but a ninja must always be prepared for the unexpected"
Tsu said with a sage nod of her tiny head "So pack up, be prepared, and don't get nervous alright? It's your first mission, but it'll go fine. After all, you've got a lucky cat for a teacher."
"Oh I wasn't worried. I've gone hunting before. Just a bit curious as to what it is we'll be hunting."
Kano said as he turned to go and pack. He waved goodbye to his Sensei as he did so
El came back out of his room, more on auto response than anything. He was vaguely listening to Tsu Sensei and Kano, not really processing any of the information. He grabbed his pack from the living area and disappeared back down the hall and into his room.
Tsu tutted to herself as El drifted around sleepily, the boy was one lazy ninja. "Need to get him into shape" she muttered to herself, sighing and watching El's hat bobbing with his slouched walk "Make him wake up."
Hinji came out back out of his room with his pack over his shoulder and his staff in his hand. His shadow raven made a small squawk from his shoulder as it balanced itself as he moved.
Tsu stretched slightly and groaned, clicking her back loudly and grimacing at the noise "M-mmmmm.... Lets hope this is doesn't go too bad, I'd like our first mission out to go smoothly."
The next time
El appeared he was auto-gliding into the kitchen where a bit of rummaging could be heard. He appeared again on the return trip to his room.
There was a soft "whump" as
Tsu landed on El's back, clinging on tight and making sure El wouldn't be able to buck her off. "Come on boy" she giggled "I gotta wake you up."
"ACK!"
El exclaimed and having not expected his Sensei to attack him promptly fell over forward. "I'm awake!" He exclaimed, his face mushed into the floor, the majority of his head covered by his lopsided sombrero.
Tsu giggled and wriggled her backside, pawing at El's back with her small fingers as if she was a cat settling in to sleep "Sorry El, but I'm a cat, and you wave something slow and vulnerable in front of my face and I'll tear it up."
"Lesson learned sensei."
El said with a sigh. If not being alert at the crack of dawn would force him to endure being pounced upon, he would attempt to change.
"Good"
Tsu said, getting off of El's back and pulling him onto his feet slowly "Because I'm not the only thing that can strike without warning."
"Understood."
El told her and straightened his poncho. "Permission to pack sensei?"
"Permission granted"
Tsu said with a small giggle, shaking her head to El and sighing "I'm only looking out for you boys, you realise that right?"
"Yes sensei."
El agreed "I have written my mother about you and she is well pleased at your attentiveness. She says you will help us stay out of trouble."
"Good... good"
Tsu giggled, rubbing her hands together and grinning like the cat who ate the canary... She suddenly perked up and smiled at El "I hope this does go well, you're my first team."
Hinji's head picked up at that. He turned to look towards the two of them. "You have never lead a team before Tsu Sensei?" he asked curiously.
"Never"
Tsu said, nodding to Hinji with a small smile "This was an opportunity I jumped at... mostly because my clan wasn't doing anything else and I wanted to prove I could handle the missions. Looking like puberty skipped you over can really suck sometimes."
A strange look crossed
Hinji's face at this news. He had expected their Sensei to be a well rehearsed leader of ninjas, not an amateur with something to prove. He felt a grim foreboding come over him and he turned his attention back to a blank spot on the wall.
Kano came out of his room, a pack on his back and a large spear in his hand. "So what are we waiting for again?" He asked curiously, seeing as everyone was out in the main room again
"Both El and Hinji work better later in the day"
Tsu reminded him, sticking her tongue out slightly "If you're that full of energy I could take you for a small training session to keep you occupied."
"Seriously??"
Kano asked with enthusiasm. They'd all been rather busy in this last week doing not a whole lot at all. He was eager to get out of the apartment
"I will be ready shortly."
El said and returned to his room to finish packing. He defiantly didn't want to get pounced again and was spotted crossing the hall into the kitchen. A few moments later he came out with a parcel or two and returned to his room to finish packing.
"Sure, but nothing too hard"
Tsu giggled softly, shaking her head at Kano's eagerness "We've got a long trek ahead of us and I don't want to carry you the last few miles." She giggles slightly and stuck her tongue out at El as he practically scurried past, not sleepy anymore "Boy's learning quick. Come on Kano, lets see if I can't set you a challenge." She turned and headed out to the wooded area they'd been training in before, it was the one Kano knew best after all, and it kept him in control.
"I function just fine at any time of day."
Hinji said in defiance once Tsu had gone outside.
Kano set off after Tsu as she lead the way back to
The Training Woods. His pack slung across his back and his hunting spear in hand. He was eager to set off on the hunt, but what he wished for more than anything was to know what prey they sought. He had no doubt it would be some mightly fearsome beast.
The scent of cooking food radiated from the kitchen and began to fill the house.
El was hard at work preparing his rations for the coming mission and had woken up a bit, munching as he worked. Since his hands where busy he hummed and sometimes sang to himself. Mostly in his native language.
Some time later,
Kano returned, hefting his spear over his shoulder and sighing. "Gah...."
As Kano entered the house with a spear,
Hinji's eyebrow raised in curiosity. "Nice walking stick." he said plainly.
El's head came from around the door and he asked "Are you two hungry? I made far too much."
"That's all it's good for really. We can't use lethal force on this thing we're hunting...it's exceedingly rare and dangerous, but we can't use the proper force to hunt and trap it."
Kano explained to his teammates. It was an absurd thought to him. He was about to sigh, when he heard El's question. "Starving dude."
"Come, come."
El beckoned "I am afraid the spirit of my mother entered into me." He put his hand behind his head and smiled, stepping out of the way of the door to reveal quite a spread of music ninja cuisine.
Hinji entered into the kitchen as El beckoned them and gazed upon the spread of food. "I didn't know we even had this much food in the apartment."
When
Kano saw all the food that El had cooked for them. "Dude....did you clean out the cabinets? This is a little ridiculous."
"My mother insists that I am too thin."
El explained "Her letters have come in great boxes and the stuffing in these boxes you see before you." He'd was embarrassed to reveal that his mother was so worried about her nino that she was sending him parcels of food.
"Why complain man? If she keeps it up, we won't ever have to buy a meal in this village!"
Kano said with glee as he grabbed a plate and started to pile it high.
El smiled, glad that Kano wasn't going to poke fun at him and his over protective mother. "I hope the food is to your liking. I am afraid I know no other way to prepare it than as we do at home. I cut back on the spices, visitors to our village often complain that our food is too hot."
"There's no such thing as too hot, dude."
Kano told him with a smirk. It was nice to know that some people liked the temperature to be higher in their foods. He was from the Village Hidden in the Volcano, they liked their foods to be either spicy or sweet. He preferred the spicy, leaving the sweets to desserts.
Hinji scanned the food and saw nothing that interested him. He never had a taste for food other then what he had been raised on. Part of his training was to survive more on what you could scrounge and thus he had developed a great taste for mushrooms, especially those that grow in the cave of his home.
El piled a tremendous lot of food on his plate and sat down in his usual seat. With a mouth full of fajhito he asked Hinji. "Are you not eating Hinji?"
"I ate earlier."
Hinji lied. He had taken to waking up at the crack of dawn as the smallest amount of sunlight made it nearly impossible for him to sleep. Even though he didnt have any food he still joined El at the table.
After piling his plate high with food,
Kano stopped at the fridge and grabbed a drink before sitting at the table to begin the feast.
El was glad that Kano was pleased with the food and dug in himself. He had manners, his father had insisted on that.
Hinji had just finished snacking on a pale green mushroom that he had snuck into his mouth. "When are we leaving for this hunt?" he asked growing impatient quickly.
"Well I did put the mission off until later for you"
Tsu's voice came from outside the window as a very paniced bird was released from her grip "But if everyone's ready... now."
Hinji stood up very promptly and left the table. He walked over to the living area and slung his satchel over his shoulder and stood by the door tapping his foot and fuming.
Kano stuffed a bit more of the food into his mouth before grabbing an armload and rolling it up, slipping it into his bag with a grin.
El smiled as Kano filled his pack. That was just what he was hoping for. He felt extremely useful to the team now, they wouldn't have to worry about scavenging for food on their mission. He quickly shoved the perishable items from lunch in the ice box and scooped up his guitar and pack, putting it on beneath his poncho so it was relatively hidden.
"That's my boys"
Tsu grinned from the window, her cat like eyes peering over the sill so she could watch they scurrying about to get ready. She rubbed her hands together, hopped in and stood beside Hinji at the door as she waited for the others to join them once they were fully prepared.
Once he was finished packing the food into his sack,
Kano joined the others at the door. He had already been packed before going to train with Tsu earlier. There was just no way he was going to pass up food like this
As usual
El brought up the rear but he was ready and snatched up his guitar and slung it over his back. "What are we waiting for?" He asked even though he knew he was the cause of their delay.
"Come on, top speed!"
Tsu giggled, shaking her head at her boys, they were always so demanding of her. She took off out the door, leaving it open behind her but trusting that the boys would shut it behind them as they left; she was leading them to the edges of the
INC forest.
Kano opened the door and walked inside, heading straight for the couch. He was still blushing rather profusely, despite the long walk from the green house.
Hinji came in second followed by his large shadow creature, who had to twist and turn to be able to fit into the door. "Set them there on the floor." Hinji instructed and the creature did so. Once its task was fulfilled it vanished into a puff of black shadowy smoke. "Your packages are here in the main room whenever you feel like getting them." He told the others.
"Why don't you come and sit with us, Hinji?"
Kano offered him with a friendly smile. "Don't you want to hang out with your friends?"
There was that word again.
Hinji shrugged and walked over to where Kano was. "What is it that we shall discuss?"
El came in after Hinji's creature and coughed, waving away smoke as it disparate. "For one..." He coughed again. "How Kano did at the greenhouse."
Kano was grinning from ear to ear. "I think I may not have listened to you, El."
Hinji was completely in the dark about what they were talking about, but he figured it would probably be better not to ask.
Kano turned to Hinji, realizing he didn't know about it. "With our recent mission proceeds, I purchase Kami a gift. To show her how I felt. El said I should take things slow when I give it to her..." He looked awway for a second and smirked, "To put things simply, I did not listen."
"Kano... what did you do?"
El was a bit worried. Kami was a different sort of girl. As different as his Akane, but quite opposite. By the look on Kano's face there was only one answer. "You kissed her didn't you?"
"Fraternizing with the enemy boys?"
Tsu laughed, walking out of a shadow filing one nail as if they had known she was there all the time. She forgot that she was small, quiet and saw very well in the shadows sometimes.
"But they are not our enemy, sensei. If anything they are to be our allies."
Kano explained rather smoothly. He suddenly didn't feel like talking about what they were speaking of anymore.
"It was a joke Kano"
tsu said softly, waving a hand at him "I'm actually happy you two hit it off like this." She let out a little giggle and shook her head, her cat eared hat flapping slightly "It's sweet really."
"We have not yet heard if Kami reciprocated Kano's feelings or not."
El Reminded everyone. "As far as we know she may not have... Tell us Kano, what happened?"
"She kinda went into a daze...and wouldn't talk anymore."
Kano said sheepishly, trying not to look at Tsu, who now seemed like the proverbial elephant in the room.
"Hrmmm..."
El took his usual seat and crossed his arms, placing one hand on his chin as if he were thinking very hard. "Was it more of a stunned sort of dreamy daze or the bad kind before they slap you?"
"Well, Kano's head is still on his shoulders so I assume it was not the bad, pre-slap kind."
Hinji said.
"Like Hinji said, she didn't slap me. That's for sure. I think she was just kinda stunned."
Kano tried to explaiin. The blush that was there from the second after the kiss, was still present.
"Can you perhaps reenact it?"
El asked. "Hinji, would you mind playing Kano, Kano, you be Kami."
Hinji looked at El with a look of pure shock, "I think not."
El shook his head. "You don't have to kiss him Hinji. That's just... wrong... disgusting and wrong..." He had a full body shiver at the thought of two men kissing. "No just, lean forward and lean back, Kano will react as Kami did and I will guage how well or how bad he hurt his chances." El sounded like he knew exactly what he was talking about. Like he knew everything there was to know about girls and how to woo them. He was thirteen for crying out loud, but that didn't mean he didn't know something.
"I'm sorry, but this is the cutest thing I have ever heard of. And I've seen kittens trying to climb trees"
Tsu said with a small giggle, shaking her head and smiling up at the three boys. She gave a small shrug, then said slowly "You could just ask me of course. I have lived for several more years than you... And you won't have to mime kissing anyone. Promise."
"No offense Tsu Sensei."
El told her. "But you are a girl. You do not see these things from a man's perspective as we do." For a boy who had never had a girlfriend and couldn't quite get up the nerve to talk to the girl he wanted to be his girlfriend, El certainly did sound like he knew exactly what he was talking about.
"And you have no idea of the workings of a girl's mind"
Tsu raised an eyebrow at the boys "Any of you. Buuuuuut if you're going to ignore the only female around here who you KNOW will stay silent about this..." She tutted gently, shrugging to herself and starting to walk off. Maybe she'd go lay down on the roof for a little while.
"I like to think that because I didn't get slapped, that she must have enjoyed it."
Kano deduced with a smirk
"Well..."
El said quietly. "She is rather... What is a good word for it... we call it vi'vo, but I think the closest word I have found in your tongue is... Spunky. I think you might be right Kano. Your ends would be crispy now if she did not approve of the action."
"I'm just really hoping I didn't scare her off with it..."
Kano said quietly and looked at his other teammate. "What do you think Hinji?"
"I think that I have little knowledge in this area and can't contribute much."
Hinji said with a shrug. "Though, I think that Kano is in for an interesting trip."
"Trip? Am I going somewhere?"
Kano asked, wondering what sort of trip he was going on
"It's a figure or speech, Kano."
Hinji said.
"What does it mean?"
Kano asked him curiously. He had never heard that before.
"It means that the events that are to unfold following your kiss will be interesting."
Hinji explained.
"This requires a celebration."
El said getting up from his chair. "We should go out. See what fun there is to be had for three young ninja looking for trouble."
"Why are you so bent on getting in trouble?"
Kano asked El with a smirk. He personally felt as if he had been in enough trouble for the day
"Again, another figure of speech Kano."
El told him. "I just think a little fun might help us grow closer as a team... I mean, Hinji doesn't even know how to dance."
"Why should I know?"
Hinji asked.
"Because it is a vital piece of culture. Everyone knows how to dance, even if they don't realize it."
Kano told them both.
"We should teach you now, so when you find a pretty girl to dance with you don't step all over her feet."
El suggested. "I can provide music, You have any girl shadows in those cards of yours?"
"I do not believe that I will be finding any pretty girls to dance with."
Hinji said, "Mainly because I will not be looking for one."
"Kano, would you please talk some sense into Hinji?"
El asked. "Hardly fourteen and he's going to burn out before he even becomes a chunin."
"He doesn't have to do anything he doesn't want to. But he does have that mysterious thing goin on. Maybe we can use him as a wing man?"
Kano offered
Now it was
Hinji's turn to be confused. "Wing man?"
"The three of us go out and the girls are attracted to your mysteriousness
. When they approach to investigate, boom! We've got girls." Kano tried to explain as simply as he could. He knew El could probably put it more eloquently.
"You have a girl remember?" El told him. "And... I do too for that matter..." Even if she had no idea that he existed. "Perhaps we should be Hinji's wing men?"
"I have just said, to obviously deaf ears, that I will not be looking for a girl." Hinji said a bit frustrated.
Kano looked at him curiously and was silent for a moment. "Dude...you're not...you know?"
Hinji did not. "Dedicated to my art? Yes, yes I am."
"No...that's not what I mean..." Kano said, he leaned in a whispered quietly, "You don't...you know...like guys?"
El sucked in a long gasp and his eyes widened. Needless to say, by his reaction to Kano's statement, boys in his village did NOT engage in such activities.
"What!? No!" Hinji said before giving Kano a sharp jab in the stomach with his staff. "Can't believe you think that!"
Kano jerked back from the blow and clutched his stomach. "Dude relax! I was just asking. I mean seriously, you're the one who doesn't want to go out looking for girls."
El laughed. "Perhaps we should leave Hinji alone about the subject... For now any way. But mark me Hinji, come your birthday, you're going to dance with a pretty girl."
"I don't care about dancing or flirting with 'pretty girls'. I would much rather spend that time researching and practicing a new summon scroll." Hinji said, quite irate.
Kano sighed and shook his head. "You're too serious man. But I get your point...women are distractions."
"Says the man who kissed a girl just this afternoon." El said crossing his arms. "I've not even..." He trailed off there, unsure if he'd ever mentioned his unyielding flame for Akane.
"You've not what?" Kano pressured him with a smirk. "They may be distracting, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't enjoy them when we can."
El chose to ignore Kano's first question and move on to a different statement. "If we must, let us respect Hinji's wishes for now, but I am still interested in finding what distractions this village can provide."
"I think I saw a hot spring earlier." Kano suggested with a grin
El lifted his eyebrow, though one couldn't really tell behind that heavy black mask he always wore. Any hot spring was a good opportunity to locate his lady fare Akane... though not that he would sully thoughts of her by trying to peek at her in the girl's springs, but a friendly "bumping" into her would be a nice surprise... just to say hello. "Hinji, would you be interested?"
"Is it covered?" Hinji asked, wondering if it was shielded from the sun in any way.
"It should be dark in about an hour." El said. "If it's not, you can hide under that big hat till it is."
Hinji thought about it for a few seconds, "Alright, then I shall accompany you two."
Kano hopped up and couldn't help but grin. "Awesome! Let's go right now."
"Splendid!" El said smiling. "I will be back. I must get some things." And he stood from his usual seat and left for his room.
"What...what should I take with me?" Hinji asked Kano.
Kano thought for a moment. "Hmmm....well, something to cover your junk would be appreciated. No offense dude, but the last thing I wanna see in the hot springs is your twig and berries."
Hinji fixed Kano with a look that said, I'm about to jab you again. "Obviously Kano. Other then the obvious things, what should I bring?"
"Are you two not ready yet?" El asked from the hall entrance way. Other than his mask he was dressed in a very small set of red white and green swimming shorts. They looked more like girl's swim bottoms than boy's really. Without his poncho to hide most of him he looked much smaller than ether Kano or Hinji. He was thirteen, but built more like he was eight or nine. He was small and though training had strengthened his chest and arms, he still looked like a series of twigs bundled together by nothing more than his deep brown skin.
"There's not much to do in a hot springs other than relax, so trunks and a change of clothes is about it really. The obvious things." Kano told him with a shrug. He looked at El and nodded. He was ready without ever having to leave the room, his shorts often doubled as swim trunks for him.
"I...I don't have any 'trunks'." Hinji said looking between the two of them.
"I have another pair." El said. "That is if you don't mind wearing the colors of my homeland..."
"I've got an extra set of shorts, if you're rather something that covered a bit more, Hinji." Kano pointed out cautiously. He couldn't believe that El was even calling that banana-hammock a swimsuit.
"I believe that I will wear your extra, Kano." Hinji said upon receiving the offer.
"Alright, gimme a second to go grab 'em for yah." Kano replied and headed back to his bedroom to retrieve the extra shorts. In truth, he had plenty of extras. It was the only pants he really wore. If he didn't have extras, he'd have to spend all that time and effort sewing any tears that developed
"What's wrong with mine?" el asked, completely oblivious.
"The more coverage I have, the less I will burn." Hinji said with simple logic, "That and it looks like a single sneeze would cause me to expose myself."
Kano couldn't help burst out laughing at Hinji's explanation. He coughed at the end of it and shook his head as he brought out the spare shorts.
"Thank you, Kano." Hinji said as he took the shorts to his room to change into them. When he returned he was still wearing his kimono. "Are we ready to go?"
El tossed his towel over his shoulder and threw open the door. "Come on, before all the good spots are taken."
Hinji moved over to the door to wait for Kano.
Kano headed over, "Don't you think I should lead the way, El? I am the one who knows where the hot springs is." He grinned and stepped out first, leading them off to The INC Onsen
Stumble!