Fire: Walk With Me [P - Mission]

Age : 31 Posts : 2547

Spoiler:

Tensei laid in his bed sound asleep, his snore echoing through the entire house. He didn't usually snore, only when he was extremely tired. He had been out on a mission the day before, a tough one, that had drained him of all his energy. He was starting to really exhaust himself with how many missions he would go on. There were days when he wouldn't sleep, he would work for a full twenty four hours straight, and then sleep about four hours. But this was how he liked it. Stubborn, he felt that sleep only wasted his time. Instead of doing something so useless, he could be out trying to make the world a better place. This obviously an unrealistic idea, as he often fell asleep unintentionally. Something wasn't right though. He had been having the same dream every night to which he couldn't make sense of. It scared him like a nightmare would, but Tensei felt something different about it. It wasn't like a dream, it felt real.

The dream starts off with Tensei sitting in a wooden rocking chair, his legs bound to the legs of the chair, his hands tied behind it. The walls are covered in red that give off the smells of blood. The floor is laid with simple black tiles. The chair rocks back and forth. Tensei tries to speak up, to yell for help, but can't even open his mouth. He hears a small tap on the tile, coming from behind him, but can't turn around to see who it is. The tap starts getting closer and closer, and Tensei's heart starts to beat in sync with it. Each time the tap gets louder, so does his heartbeat. The tap is close now, and the chair stops rocking. Tensei is still unable to see who, or what, is behind him. The smell of blood is oddly, abruptly replaced by the smell of the ocean. Long strands of blonde hair cover his face, as if someone was kneeling over him. When he looks up, the hair is gone, and he sees his reflection of himself in a mirror on the ceiling. But something's not right about the reflection. He's not 20 years old, he's in his 70's, his hair full of gray and his skin full of wrinkles. His eyes widen in shock, and they don't stop, so much that they pop, and now everything is darkness. His voice comes back, and he starts to scream, until he hears the taps once more. This time, it stops in front of him and not behind, but he still sees nothing but darkness. "Shh shh shh..." The voice of a young woman says. Suddenly, Tensei feels his hand being rubbed. "Fire... walk with me." She whispers into his ear, and that's when Tensei wakes up. It's always the same.

He gasped for breath, his heart beating extremely fast. After a moment, he recovered and sighed, looking up at the ceiling. "Fire. Walk with me." He repeated to himself a few times but couldn't seem to make any sense of it. He sat up and grabbed his poetry book from the nightstand, and flipped to the first page. "That's it." he mumbled to himself, pointing at a line that reads, I walk with fire, and you walk with me. It wasn't quite the same thing, but it was still too coincidental. Tensei didn't even remember writing that line, though that was because it dated a few years back. Something obviously weird was going on and it bugged the hell out of Tensei that he had no idea what it was. He sighed again, setting the book down as he got out of bed and headed for the shower.

In a matter of minutes, he was already out. His hair still wet, he had his Jounin attire on and a blue towl wrapped around his neck. He wasn't really sure whether he had to go out or if he was just going to get the day off, but if he was going to get a mission, he had to be prepared. He sighed, hearing three taps on the window. That was the sign. He walked over and opened it slowly, finding a pigeon waiting for him with a note tied around it's neck. "Hey Benny." he said, stroking it's beak for a moment as he read over the note. He couldn't believe what he was reading. This wasn't the first time he had been called to investigate something like this, which he found to be odd considering he wasn't really an investigator. Even though he had always been successful in the past, he didn't understand why he would be picked for investigating the murder of a young girl rather than a professional. He looked at the bottom of the note, where the team members were usually listed, and immediately gulped. "M-Miku... Tetsumi?" He spoke slowly. This worried him greatly, as he still hadn't admitted to her that he had grown a huge crush ever since they attended the Kage Summit.

He wasn't going to let it get in the way though. Or he didn't want it to at least. The shock on his face quickly went away, and he grabbed everything that he needed, then walked straight out the door. The note said that he and Miku would meet at the Shinobi Courtyard before they headed down to the small village known as Tsuinsakari, by Rice Country. He swung his Jitte around continuously as he walked to the courtyard, taking his time, practically procrastinating. This wasn't good. If they were going together, Tensei wouldn't be able to think about anything else other than Miku, and solving murders took concentration. He wasn't just wasn't too happy about going to the courtyard because whenever he did, other ninja would try to talk to him, presumably only because he was the Raikage's brother, and he didn't want to stand there and make small talk with people like that. When he arrived, about ten minutes after he left his house. There were many ninja there, standing around conversing. Suddenly his fears came to life as he heard his name being yelled from behind him. He half turned, looking down at the ground with his hands in his pocket. It was a rather overweight, overzealous Chuunin that looked up to Tensei ever since they had been put on a mission together. "Oh, hey." he said with little enthusiasm, and looked around for Miku. She hadn't arrived yet. He was starting to get anxious.

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Sleep was important to Miku Tetsumi; that was a fact. After all, when one aspired to be a hero, one needed plenty of energy to burn. So there the young woman was; sprawled all over her bed. Covers laid half way off and pillows appeared from one end to the other. That all went unnoticed by Miku, but only because she was in a rather peaceful stage of sleep. At least until a beam of sunlight shone through her blind-less window and consumed her dark bedroom. Upon impact with the sun's rays, the young woman winced and stirred.

The sleeping beauty was slowly waking up; making almost inaudible groans as she tossed and turned, knowing perfectly well she would not be going back to sleep. Miku sat straight up and groggily looked around her bed; her sleep induced mess clearly evident. She smirked slightly at herself, finding it somewhat funny. Before a short giggle could be let out, a yawn was released instead. Finally, she dragged herself out of bed and towards her kitchen; throwing her messed up blankets and pillows back onto her bed while on her way.

It was like most mornings. She awoke and the first thing she went after was breakfast, if she didn't then she headed for the shower first. However, today was of the former option. The young woman who was just almost wide awake began eating at her kitchen table. She pondered how her day would go like she usually did in the morning. Would she be going to the Hospital to do her doctor duties? Maybe she would train with her precious Genin? Perhaps it would just be one of those days where she didn't have any work to do?

Just as she put her thoughts on pause and began cleaning up her dishes, something caught her attention. A tapping emitted from her kitchen window; the source being a bird. It wasn't just any bird however. Given closer look, it appeared to carry something. 'A message?' she perked up. She waltzed over and opened her window whilst taking the note and reading it's contents with eager emerald eyes.

The kunoichi twitched her lips into a small frown with the mention of the murdered young girl. It wasn't the first time she had dealt with a mission concerning death, but even so, it was still somewhat saddening. Miku wouldn't let that bother her, though. After all, it left more room for her to act like a hero. 'Rice Field Country, hmm? Been awhile since I've been there.' she mused while finishing up the note; last bit being her assigned team members. Or at least in this case, team member.

"Tensei... Hougaku?" she questioned aloud to no one in particular. The man was Lady Raikage's brother. Aside from that well known fact, Miku had spent a short amount of time with him during her visit to the Kage Summit. They hadn't necessarily socialized all that much, but the kunoichi found something intriguing about him, none the less. She took a liking to him, but sadly hadn't been able to see him since the Kage Summit. This would be interesting; that's what the young woman had concluded as she brushed her reddish, pinkish, vivid bed hair. She needed to get ready, of course.

After dressing herself with a black tank top, grey nylon pants, black ninja boots, and Jounin vest; the only color that really stood out from her was her long locks of citrus-y hair. That usually stood out, anyways. Securing her hip pouch tightly; the kunoichi was out the door and quickly making her way to the Shinobi Courtyard. She wanted to see if she would be the first one there. It was like a little game. As speedy as she was with her walking, she soon found that she had not been the first to arrive. Miku jokingly pouted in her head before perking up back to her usual self.

She spotted the tall blonde, but she certainly hadn't been the only one for his name seemed to echo around the area. He was the Raikage's brother, after all. 'What a celebrity.' she teased while letting out a small giggle; approaching. "Kukuku! Sorry to interrupt, but" she spoke in direction of the Chuunin conversing with her team member, "we have to be going on a mission. It's been awhile, Tensei, kuku! Hiya!" she cheerfully spoke with a wave towards her fellow Kumogakure Jounin.

Age : 31 Posts : 2547

Tensei sighed as the Chuunin ran to him, kicking the dirt around under his feet in boredom and annoyance. The thump of each step was increasingly loud, undeniably due to his weight. His eyes now fixed down at his feet once more, he knew that if Miku made him wait too long, he'd probably go crazy dealing with people like the man who was running up to him. It took him a while of running to, this once again probably due to his size. Tensei was a nice person, he'd never make fun of someone because of their weight, but that wasn't why he disliked the guy. When he finally reached Tensei, he was out of breath, and Tensei simply extended his hand for a friendly shake. He'd tell him to get lost if he wasn't such a nice person and didn't hate social confrontation. "Yoooooo, Ten-senpai!" The man yelled, his voice carrying through out the entire crowd.

Tensei's eyes widened for a moment. He had forgotten the man's name. "Hi.. uh..." he started, but was interrupted anyway. "Where are you headed off to? Let me guess, some top secret assassination?!" The man questioned, making Tensei uncomfortable. "It is top secret. If I told you, I'd have no choice but to kill you." Tensei said, smirking rather menacingly in amusement. The Chuunin gulped loudly, followed by an over exaggerated laugh, to which Tensei joined in on. Suddenly, he felt the tap of something tap the back of his head, which felt like a sword sheath. He removed his Jitte from it's holder, spun himself around, the Jitte spinning around his fingers, cutting what was a sheath in two.

It was Tensei's best friend, a Chuunin by the name of Kira. Tensei stood frozen, his face of a confused expression. The last time he had seen her, they had gone on a mission that went terribly wrong. Kira almost died, and terrified, she had decided that she wanted to quit being a ninja and live a normal life. "You're slower than usual. Distracted?" Kira asked, and then chuckled a bit. "I'll always be faster than you." Tensei said, eyes closed, he brushed himself off and put his Jitte away.

"A non-shinobi shouldn't be in the shinobi courtyard." He spoke harshly for no reason in particular. There was a pause of awkward silence for a moment until Tensei felt the sudden pressure of a fist connecting to his nose, and he fell to the ground. "How does that feel, for a non-shinobi?" Kira said, happy with herself. She laughed as Tensei held his nose while picking himself up. "After a lot of thinking, I realized it's stupid to quit just because I'm scared of dying. I knew the risks when I signed up, right?" She said, her eyes fixed on the ground. This giving Tensei the impression that she was lying. In a flash, he was directly in front of her, about two feet away. "Assuming the risk of dying is a lot different than experiencing it. I was the same way my first few years as a ninja, it goes away in time." Tensei spoke, now softly. "Thanks, Tensei." She leaned in, and they both hugged.

"So what are you doing now?" Kira asked as they both released. "Heading to a small village. A girl was murdered, and their authorities don't have the training or experience to solve it." Tensei said, his face now practically emotionless. He had seen so many terrible things that they hardly even effected him anymore. "Murder, huh? Of course they'd give you something like that. Reminds me of the good ol' days." Kira said, and sighed. "I'm assuming they replaced me?" She questioned. She rather enjoyed her time with Tensei, as she had a secret crush, and also admired his knowledge and skills.

Immediately after she asked, Tensei heard Miku's voice and smiled. His heart started to pound. He returned her wave. "Hey Miku-chan." was all he said. Kira's face grew of aggression, and then calmed. "So this is the Miku you're always going on about?" Kira asked, and Tensei's heartbeat raced faster, his face of shock. He felt like punching her, but that would look a little strange. "Sorry Kira, time for us to be going, it's a long travel to Rice Field. Race you to the gates, Miku?" he asked, and took off before she even had a chance to respond.

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The young woman continued to smile happily at the tall blonde. Actually, she was really just smiling in general and at nothing in particular, but having someone to smile at was all the more better in her quirky opinion. Miku did this often; it just seemed to happen naturally. Sometimes she didn't even know she was smiling; a trait that must have been descended from her father. It was true that interrupting was rude and that the bubbly Jounin would normally stray away from doing such, but this was for a mission. A mission that could possibly result in her filling in the 'hero' like role.

She did however give a small bow of her head towards the lady and the plump overzealous Chuunin; hands clasped as if she were about to pray or something of the sort. She couldn't say that she recognized them or knew them personally. None the less, manners were key. It was then that after Tensei's short return greeting, the lady near him spoke up. It was simple what she had said, but it resulted in Miku raising her eyebrows and grinning similar to the deviant that was a Cheshire Cat.

"Oho ho ho ho! I am spoken of?" she questioned in her oh so playful tone of voice. It could be said that this was the reason most probably didn't take her seriously. Even those of lower ranks, such as Genin, occasionally had problems accepting the nature that was their odd sensei and that she was actually a nineteen year old Jounin. Could you really blame them, though? It amused the upbeat kunoichi greatly to see such a shocked expression upon her team member's face. So was it true?

She went to break the somewhat eerie silence only to find that Tensei had done the honors of doing such. He had completely changed the topic and while it was true that the trip to the Rice Field country was somewhat long and tedious; he surely could have addressed the lady's statement, but chose not to. In fact, the Kumogakure Shinobi had up and darted off for the Village Gates. "Oh, pssh! No one said go or start, Tensei!" she jokingly yelled after him while childishly stomping a foot down onto the ground with a thud. It was kinda true, though. A few shinobi around the area looked at her questioningly as if to ask if she was seriously throwing a little tantrum fit. Of course she wasn't really, but then again, she was unpredictable.

"Bah, he's not gonna slow down. Better start running, then. Must be going. A pleasure to meet you, um- Kira!" she quickly spoke to the young lady; giving a small bow before turning quickly on her heel and darting for the Village Gate. Her ninja boots clacked and thumped loudly against the paths of the Kumogakure no Sato; running and jumping around in hopes of being victorious. Her hair whipped all over the place with every sharp turn; small series of cackles emitting from her. Many stopped to stare and question whether they had actually just saw what they thought they had saw.

Soon, she approached the gate, hoping she had won the little race of their's. It would probably be one of the most fun she would have until the mission was over and the Kumogakure duo returned to their home sweet home.