And I had, the time of my life! ~Travelling Topic~ Back to Konoha!

Age : 29 Posts : 3640

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The time had finally come. Kimiko had managed to beg the nurses to let her be released from hospital even though she wasn't technically healed yet, and left that morning with high hopes and more spirit than usual. Her bandages were all still in place so she looked like a walking mummy, but she didn't really care. The wounds from her lost fight would fade, and soon she would no longer need her bandages. She was extremely happy that she could finally leave the depressing hospital where she was only left to brood over her loss, and she could focus on travelling back to Konoha; her beloved home.

"Bye everybody!" She shouted over her shoulder at the hospital staff that had come to see her off. Although they didn't want to admit it, Kimiko had grown on them in the short while she had been a patient there. Especially the larger red-haired nurse who had personally been assigned to watching over the younger girl. She was weeping on the doorstep to the hospital and blowing her nose in a very over-the-top fashion. "Goodbye, Kimiko-chan! Take care! Come back soon! But don't be injured again; no, we don't want that!" She howled, sobbing some more. Kimiko snickered slightly and shook her head, smiling at the nurse from the gate. "Hey, don't worry granny Arkane!" She couldn't resist laughing then. Every time she called Arkane this, it annoyed the hell out of her. Instead of weeping buckets, all of a sudden Arkane stopped and took a menacing step forward with a fist raised in the air.

"Now you listen here; if you call me that one more time you'll know about it, got that?!" She yelled, her cheeks flaming as red as her hair and all her fat wiggling comically. Kimiko laughed even harder, pushing open the gate and shutting it behind her again. She saluted the staff who were nicest to her one more time, and grinned deliberately at Arkane. "Granny." She stated loudly and then took off running down the pathway, hearing shouts and screams of anger coming closer. "Calm down now, Arkane-san!" "Yes, she's gone now, and think of the sending off you've given her!" There was a small pause, and then Kimiko heard more sobbing. "Ohhhhhh! I went and did it again!"

Kimiko stopped running, slowing down to a nice steady walk. Although she was anxious to get home to see her mum and dad, and her friends, she needed to take it steady. Otherwise her wounds would re-open. Short bursts of running were okay as long as they weren't prolonged, and if she felt her stitches strain she had to stop. It would take another week or so for her to be healed properly, and then another week of taking it easy just to make sure.

The more she thought about her wounds, the more she wanted them to heal so she could carry on training to get better. She'd gotten over the initial worthless feel of losing, and now she was just determined to get better. Upon meeting Mitsu, this passion only burned brighter; the Will of Fire and her dream.

"Hold on Konoha! Here I come!" She shouted out loud with delight, punching a fist into the air and grinning while she walked.

{OOC: More posts to come!~}

Age : 29 Posts : 3640

"La la la, going back home, la la la, from the tournament, la la la." Kimiko sang cheerily while she wandered out the village gates of Getsugakure, earning strange looks from the guards stationed there. She held onto the straps of her rucksack while she walked, a wide smile never leaving her face while she progressed down the dirt road. It would take her a couple of days to get home, probably longer since she wasn't allowed to rush. But that was okay. It was a nice route from here to Konoha, so she would just enjoy the scenery and keep on going. When night fell she could set up camp in amongst the small throngs of forest on either side of her. It wasn't like the lush green trees and undergrowth like in Konoha, but instead the trees were more sparse and there was little plant life below the high canopies.

Luckily there appeared to be no scary wildlife as of yet, but that could be because it was still bright outside. Maybe when night fell they would show themselves... no, everything would be fine. The more she worried about such things, the more likely she would become paranoid and not sleep well. Kimiko subconsciously smoothed the bandages around her forehead, a weird habit she had picked up while recovering in hospital.

It was going to be a rather lonely journey back to Konoha since she was by herself, but she had been alone on her way here as well. So it wasn't that different in all honesty. It didn't take her that long to get here though, due to being fit and well at that time. If only she had anticipated being this injured, she could have buddied up with some others from Konoha and came home at the same time as them. She could have journied home with Mitsu, but her new friend's wounds had healed quicker than her own and she could go earlier.

"Never mind! Just gotta keep walking! Gotta keep going!" Kimiko reminded herself brightly, rounding a sharp corner in the road and looking straight ahead once more. She hummed loudly under her breath, enjoying the fact that nobody was around. It meant that she could be loud without anybody thinking she was a bit 'special'. "La la la, walking down a road, la la la, from the Moon village, la la la, when I get home, la la la, mum'll make me a sandwich!" She then burst out laughing at her rather strange song that she thought up on the spot. "It takes skill to make up such a cool song." She decided, nodding her head.

Age : 29 Posts : 3640

And so, the rest of that day went by rather quickly; the once tranquil air filled with Kimiko's random song bursts. Before she knew it, the sun was starting to set, and she realised that she would have to make camp for the night. "Hmmm... where to go, where to go..." She pondered aloud, finally picking a random spot to turn off and set up her tent. Ah, tents. How wonderful they were if one could put them up properly. But of one could not, they quickly became a traveller's worst nightmare.

The latter of the two applied to Kimiko, having tearing open the tent bag and loosing loads of the needed poles. She resisted the urge to swear out loud, and started to fumble across the ever-darkening forest floor for the lost connectors. When she eventually found them and tried to insert them into the tent, she heard a horrible ripping sound as she made a large hole in the material. "You've got to be kidding me!" She whined, throwing aside the blasted tent and sulking for a few minutes, knees up to her chest and folded arms on top. "Stupid tent... now I can't use it..." She sighed and inspected the damage properly in the fading light. Across one of the tent panels, there was now a large vertical rip where she had missed the place to insert a pole. She scrunched up the ruined tent into its bag, along with the weird bendy poles and put that alongside her rucksack beside her.

"At least it's not raining... I can sleep outside with no problems." She said to herself optimistically, looking up at the clear sun-streaked sky. That little sliver of optimism made her forget about the useless attempt of pitching her tent and relaxed her as she leant back against a tree trunk; sliding to the floor gently. It was going to be a pleasant day tomorrow too judging by how red the sky was, and the temperature now was lovely and mild. Kimiko had no idea how far she had travelled today, but she knew that she felt satisfied with her progress. That was all that mattered, right?

Using her rucksack stuffed with clothing as a pillow, Kimiko curled up to sleep; ready for another day...

Age : 29 Posts : 3640

"Hehe... stop tickling me..." Kimiko giggled and squirmed in a daze, feeling somebody tickling her. She lazily opened her eyes, waiting for them to focus on whoever it was causing her to wake up in such a way. "Oh, it's just you, Mr Raccoon..." She yawned and turned back over, closing her eyes again. Then, as if it had finally dawned on her that a raccoon had been tickling her side with its whiskers, she sat bolt upright and screamed in surprise. The poor raccoon made a startled cry and leapt about ten feet into the air, retreating behind the tree Kimiko had slept next to. A hand flew to her heart while she tried to calm herself down after such a shock, crawling on all fours behind the tree after the raccoon.

It was sat there quivering also in shock, squeaking when it saw Kimiko and backing off. "No, it's okay!" Kimiko insisted, holding up her hands in a placating gesture. "Calm down... I'm sorry... I was just startled..." She said quietly, kneeling back onto her knees. The raccoon slowly edged forward again, sniffing the air with its nose as if searching for danger; its beady black eyes focused on the human in front of it. Kimiko dug into the pocket of her shorts, finding the piece of bread that the raccoon was after, and held it out in front of her. She smiled happily when the little raccoon ran forwards and took the bread gently from her palm, nibbling on it gratefully.

"You were just hungry, huh, little guy?" She asked it, not expecting an answer since it was an animal after all. Animals couldn't talk. "Yes, indeed I was. Thank you for your bread." The raccoon said after eating the food, making Kimiko once more recoil in shock, eyes wide and looking warily at the animal. "Y-You just spoke..." She finally managed to choke out through her initital scare. The raccoon tilted its head to the side and slowly nodded, hopping forward a couple of steps. "Of course I did, silly human. I was originally a shinobi-bred animal for battle until my owner passed away. He taught me how to speak your language." It said, the whole time speaking in a voice that radiated authority. 'Well this is new... being scared and belittled by a raccoon...' Kimiko thought with a sweatdrop.

"Okay..." She sighed with relief, getting to her feet and walking back round to where her bags were. To her surprise, the raccoon followed her. "You know, not many people stop here, and if they do they're scared off by me speaking... would it be awfully rude to ask if I could travel with you for a little while?" The raccoon asked slowly, looking up pleadingly at Kimiko. She shifted a little uncomfortably and then nodded. "No, I don't mind at all." She laughed nervously.

'At least now I don't have to talk to myself, I guess...' She thought, shrugging her backpack onto her back and looking at the raccoon who was waiting to see which direction they were headed.

Age : 29 Posts : 3640

When it started to reach the late afternoon, Kimiko could see from atop the hill they were walking down that they were nearly out of the Moon Country. This made her smile; she was getting closer and closer to home... with the strange talking raccoon... she found out that his name was Itsumi, and his owner had been specialised in the breeding of shinobi-orientated animals. Unfortunately, when he refused to hand over a specific animal to a client because their intentions weren't honourable, he was killed and the house he lived in was burnt down. Itsumi had been lucky to escape due to the other animals being trapped and slaughtered also.

"How long ago was this, Itsu-kun?" Kimiko asked curiously while they walked, turning her head and looking straight at the raccoon who was sat upon her shoulder. "I don't remember... possibly a couple of years ago, I cannot be sure." He said slowly, as if trying to recall an exact date but failing to do so. Kimiko smiled sadly at the little animal, gently patting his head. She'd grown quite fond of him as the day went by, and he was good company. Even though it was rather strange to be talking to an animal, and having it talk back, it was better than having no company at all; no matter how weird it may be. "You should come back with me to Konoha, Itsu-kun. There's plenty of other raccoons near my house, and I could come and see you sometimes too. How does that sound?" She asked Itsumi, whose little black eyes lit up slightly. "Really, Kimiko-san? That does sound wonderful. If it's no trouble..." Kimiko held up a hand and grinned. "No trouble at all!"

The pair crossed over the border of the Moon Country, and continued onwards. The sun wasn't setting yet, and Kimiko was determined to get as far as she could every day to try and reach Konoha much quicker. Due to walking at such a steady pace, this meant that she didn't really get tired either, so everything was working out rather beautifully.

They crossed over a bridge, and Kimiko stopped halfway along to gaze down at the fast-flowing river below. A waterfall was providing the river with the propullsion needed to travel so fast; the roar of said water becoming the only noise one could hear for miles around. Strangely enough, the sound was soothing to both Kimiko and Itsumi who had been walking through nothing but silent forest all day. Although they had each others company and kept talking, the silence laid thick and heavy on them like an oppressing blanket in the woods on either side of them. So the waterfall and river provided a refreshing break.

"We should get going again." Kimiko finally spoke, leaning back off the side of the bridge and stretching to loosen her tightened limbs. "Right you are." Itsumi stated and thus they set off again, determined to find a good place to camp until the sun began to set.

Age : 29 Posts : 3640

True to their expectations, Kimiko and Itsumi finally stumbled across a nice clearing set slightly back off the dirt road for their camping spot. The ground was worn down and trampled upon; signifying that other people stopped here often. Despite this, the place was deserted. Kimiko placed Itsumi down on the floor and dumped her rucksack, yawning and stretching as tiredness started to wash over her. The sky wasn't as bright as it was yesterday, so it was already rather dark. Using what little survival skills she had, Kimiko gathered some dry sticks from around the trees, piling them up and crouching down next to the little mound. She used another twig to rub in between the pile as fast as she could manage in an attempt to get a spark, and thus make the fire spread.

After quite a lot of cursing and muttering, she finally got the spark that she needed. "Yes!" She said happily, looking up at the sky and seeing it had become a lot darker since when she had begun. The fire quickly took hold of the small pile, since the sticks were dry; perfect kindling material. It crackled away, casting a warm glow around the area and providing her with comfort.

Although she now had Itsumi with her, and he was also a comfort because he was company, a fire or any kind of light was also nice to have. "Wonderful job with lighting that fire, Kimiko-san." Itsumi complimented, scurrying towards it and curling up to get comfortable. Kimiko smiled at the praise, and brought her rucksack slightly closer, not wanting to stray too far from the fire or her new companion. "Looks like I did learn something from dad's little camping/ survival talks." She laughed gently, resting her head on her rucksack again like she had the night before, turning on her back and gazing up at the starry sky.

It was an airy, clear night, and thus the stars were all out in their full glory. Kimiko remembered something that her mother said to her once upon a time, maybe perhaps on the subject of travel; the exact details were hazy. But she could always remember the statement. 'No matter where you are, just remember that we're all under the same sky, maybe looking at the same bright star.' Instinctively upon thinking about it, she scanned across the sky looking for the brightest star, instantly spotting it as it was bigger than the others. She didn't have a clue about the exact science behind it, or what the name of it was, or any of that. All she knew was that the star was large and shiny, so it was pretty.

"Night, Itsu-kun..." Kimiko yawned, and before she could hear the raccoon's goodnight, she had drifted into sleep. Another day of travelling had gone by, leaving one or two more until she was back home.

Age : 29 Posts : 3640

The sun rose on another day, waking Kimiko up with its dull rays. She groaned and rolled over, rubbing her eyes and seeing that Itsumi was already awake. That didn't surprise her in the slightest weirdly enough, and she yawned as she sat up on the ground. "Mornin', Itsu-kun." She said sleepily. She was met by a mirror from her backpack as Itsumi showed her the state of her bedhead, and she sighed deeply in frustration. "You really are a rough sleeper, Kimiko-san." Itsumi noted, putting the mirror away and handing her a brush also from her backpack. "I keep telling you to call me Kimi." She pointed out, dragging the brush through her hair until she was satisfied with the feel of it.

After that little exchange between the pair of them, Kimiko dug out some bread for them to eat. It wasn't much, but she'd also packed food pills that they gave her in the hospital which would be better to eat later on. Itsumi didn't complain either way, quite happy eating only bread and the food pills also. Kimiko originally wanted to bring better food, but she realised that it would soon go bad from being in her rucksack and travelling so far.

They ate 'breakfast' (bread), and set off once more. Kimiko really wasn't sure where they were; all she knew was that they had to keep following the pathway in order to get to Konoha. She'd memorised the twists and turns before the tournament, so if ever there came a cross-roads, she'd know where to go. She didn't really understand the geography behind it, however. And whenever Itsumi asked where they were, she couldn't answer him with a direct location. "Have you got a map?" Itsumi prompted, and Kimiko looked at him as if he was speaking another language. "No..." She said slowly, shrugging and continuing. Itsumi sighed and jumped up onto her shoulder, his tail hanging down her back and swishing slightly.

"We'll be lucky to get back to Konoha at this rate..." Itsumi muttered.

Age : 29 Posts : 3640

Despite Kimiko's obvious clueless approach to where they actually were, they were making good progress. The forests were starting to thicken, and instead of looking sparse their leaves were vivid green and plentiful upon the trees. This signified the arrival into the Fire Country. Itsumi was shocked they had managed to come this far without getting lost, and regained faith in Kimiko's judgement.

"Heh heh, we're pretty close now, Itsu-kun." Kimiko gloated, grinning widely in triumph. Itsumi squeaked a little and shook his head, looking down the dirt road. "Do you think we'll be able to make it to Konoha today Kimi...-san?" He asked, making Kimiko groan at the formality the raccoon refused to let up on. She then frowned a little with thought, tilting her head this way and that as if trying to decide. "I don't know... maybe, or maybe not. If I speed up a little, I bet we could." She grinned, quickening her walking pace. The sooner she got home the better; even if it was night-time. She couldn't wait to see her mother and father whom she had actually missed quite a lot while out in the Moon Country. She could see all her friends again too, and of course get back to training (when she was supposed to, that is). Not like she'd pay heed to that anyway...

"By nightfall?" Itsumi questioned, bringing Kimiko out of her thoughts. She nodded, keeping up her quick pace. "Yup." She looked up at the sky, judging the time of day now. It had gone lunch, and both of them had a food pill or so each. So maybe it was now four o'clock, since they'd been walking for a good number of hours after lunch. They'd soon see when they arrived back in Konoha what time of day it would be. Kimiko was hoping that they could make it today; that would be the ideal thing for her. But just another small amount of tomorrow wouldn't be that bad... Thinking about home made Kimiko walk faster and faster without realising it, a wide smile on her face.

She'd make it home tonight; and that much was final.

Age : 29 Posts : 3640

Kimiko yawned, rubbing her eyes while she continued to walk up the dirt track that led to Konoha. She was determined not to stop despite it being dark, because she had this feeling that they were close. "I don't think we're going to make it today, Kimi-san." Itsumi said apologetically, turning and looking at the tired girl who just carried on; disregarding his comment. She instead turned to look at him in return and managed a weary grin, popping a food pill into her mouth to try and give herself some more energy. "We're nearly there." She insisted, carrying on regardless. There came a hill and she pushed herself up that, rounding a few corners in the twisty road.

All the stars had come out, shining brightly up above in the night sky. The moon was nearly full tonight, casting a ghostly white glow down and acting as a light for Kimiko so she wouldn't fall over stray branches in the road. Either way, she kept tripping over her own feet, so it wasn't much help in that respect. But the moon couldn't help her if she was tired and wasn't paying much attention.

Just when she was about to give up and say that they should set up camp, they rounded another corner and right before them were the large village gates of Konoha. A wide smile spread across Kimiko's features, washing away all her fatigue with just seeing the village again. The Hokage Monuments rose up in the mountain at the back, and the only thing seperating her from home was a stretch of dirt road. She broke into a run, ignoring her muscles and wounds screaming at her to stop. She kept going until she stumbled into the village, panting for breath and grinning to herself. "See? We did make it, Itsu-kun. We're back home..." She sighed contentedly, walking forward across the deserted market place.

Her house wasn't far from the centre, so she kept trudging along, once again feeling tiredness wash over her after that burst of energy. It felt like forever, but she finally saw the lights in her house aglow, and she heard the piano music that her mother was obviously playing drift through the air towards her. She sighed and nearly fell against the front door on the porch, throwing it open and catching it so it wouldn't bang against the wall. "I'm home!" She shouted loud enough for her mum and dad to hear. Itsumi hopped off her shoulder and sat nervously next to Kimiko, wondering what was to come.

Both at once, her parents burst into the hallway, and her mother flung herself at Kimiko; wrapping her arms around her daughter and laughing with delight. Her father noticed the raccoon sat cowering against Kimiko's legs, and made a confused grunting noise. "What's with the raccoon, Kimi?" He asked, walking forward and crouching in front of Itsumi. Kimiko laughed, struggling a little in her mother's grasp so she could see both her dad and the little raccoon. "Mum, dad, this is Itsumi. I found him when I was travelling, and he can talk. I brought him here so he wouldn't be lonely anymore; his owner died a while ago. There's loads of raccoons in the woods behind the house, right?" She explained, and her mother nodded slowly. "It... I mean, Itsumi... doesn't have fleas, does he?" She asked, narrowing her eyes on the animal.

Itsumi looked about his person, and shook his head. "No ma'am." He said politely, swishing his tail. Although Kimiko had forwarned her parents about Itsumi speaking, they were both equally as surprised as she was the first time she heard him talk. After a couple of moments in silence, everybody burst out laughing. "Welcome home, honey." Her mother said gently, giving Kimiko a warm smile and stroking her hair.

'It's good to be home...' Kimiko thought happily, closing her eyes peacefully.

{End of Topic}