by CHAPTERS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Alright, so I'm letting you know right up front that I'm a really slow updater xD xD Just letting you know. Story time!
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The air was heavy with heat, it was almost heavy enough to be considered humid, but it hasn’t rained in the Hidden Storm Village for quite some time now. The wind made it feel like a furnace, as Pein walked down main street, she felt as though she might melt and burn up all at once. Villagers who had business outside of the cool insides fanned themselves with whatever possible, one even fanned themself with a dead leaf. Pein picked a piece of paper up that had been stalking her in the wind, she accordion-folded it, and began fanning herself as well.
Bad day for a black t-shirt, good day for short hair, she thought as she wiped the sweat from her bare neck. Maybe I won’t grow it out…
The summer months increased the number of people in the village. Ninja from all over the land of Way Of The Ninja visited the Storm Village on a regular basis. After the war with Sand, which Storm lost, the Hidden Sand Village invaded Storm, causing a slight upheaval before the villagers settled down and got used to the lifestyle. Soon enough, Sand pulled out of Storm, but that left very few ninja in the village, and less activity. The Raikage, Ketsu decided to keep the village relatively open. Soon, ninja from Glacier, Inferno, and even the occasional Mountain villager began showing up at the small village’s gates.
The gates themselves, were not big themselves. Surrounding the village on three sides were open grasslands, blackened by the recent lightning-induced fires. On the other side was an expensive forest, and on that side there was a large gate. You could see for miles on the grassland sides, so far that you could just make out distant mountains and maybe a desert on a clear day. Through the forest was the way to the ocean. Behind the Kage building, where Pein was heading, you could see the tundra where the Glacier village resided. Pein reasoned that it must have been warmer there as well, and didn’t bother with wistful wishes for the same iciness.
The Kage building was a rather large circular structure. It was painted orange on the bottom (which the Raikage once told Pein really unnerved her but didn’t have the time to choose other paint color options) and had a pagoda-style roofing, the tiles were in green. The rest of the building was painted a grey-ish white, almost matching the lightest of storm clouds that day. The dry dirt clouded around Pein’s ankles as she hop-skipped the last few steps to where the guards -- who waved her through -- were posted. She threw her makeshift fan into a garbage bin, and began climbing the stairs.
Guard changes were made when the Kage position switched from SilverLegionnaire to Ketsu. Pein rarely made her way to the Kage building during Silver’s rule, when she did pass by, the guards looked at her suspiciously, watching to make sure she didn’t make any funny moves. They did this with any villager that came from another before settling down in Storm. Pein had been in Shadow, then Mist, before stopping in Storm and staying. She knew of a few others who, during that time, made their way into the Storm Village from others and had received the same sort of treatment, soon she wasn’t bothered by it.
Up the twisting, narrow, windowless stairway was the way to the third floor, where the Raikage lived. Pein set off at a leisurely pace, pushing the claustrophobia away that plagued her every time she walked up those stairs.
You’d think I’d get used to it, she thought in annoyance. Racing up the last set of stone steps, Pein listened to her footsteps turn from clacking sounds to actual clomps as she hit the bamboo flooring of the Kage’s residence.
The Kage building had five floors, each with high ceilings and whitewashed walls. It may not seem like many floors, but in between them was thick stone, making it seem taller than it was. Of course, the pagoda-like roofing made it seem taller anyway. Out of the nearest window, Pein could see her house in the residential district. She could also see the blackening clouds starting to roll in. She sighed and turned to Ketsu’s office door, kicking it once, not bothering to knock.
“It’s unlocked!” called Ketsu from the inside.
“No it’s not Kage!” Pein called back, jiggling the handle for emphasis.
“Yes it is!”
“Uh, no it’s not!”
“I’m pretty sure it is!”
“I’m pretty sure it’s not! And why would you leave it unlocked anyway?” Pein heard the Raikage sigh and the creak of a chair. Footsteps and the sound of many locking devices being unlocked sounded and the door opened to reveal Ketsu’s tired face.
“Pein. Who would have guessed.” she said sarcastically, turning back to her desk.
“I’m just that annoying.” Pein retorted, plopping herself in one of the chairs in front of the Raikage’s expensive desk.
“So… What did you need?” Ketsu asked before going back to what she was writing.
“Uhm…. Are we sure about the protection from the fires in the village?” There was a silence at the other side of the table. “…Ketsu?”
“I heard you…”
“Sure don’t seem like it…”
“Hey now. Just because it doesn’t seem like it--!”
“Dude… just answer.”
Ketsu paused for a few moments, Pein yawned. Thunder sounded far away, you could hear the clock ticking.
“Why do you ask?” Ketsu finally asked, startling Pein out of her trance.
“Uhm. Why wouldn’t I ask? I mean… I’m just looking after the village and--” Pein stammered.
“Don’t tell me you’re paranoid.” Ketsu had a hint of a laugh in her voice.
“I’m NOT paranoid, but… I don’t know. I mean, what if the fires hit the village? And like… burn the village down and stuff!” Pein’s eyes widened as she started flailing her arms for emphasis. Ketsu blinked a few times before howling in laughter.
“Do you realize how crazy you looked just then? And it’s fine! We have volunteers fighting the fires for Ryo and mission cried and you know. It’s okay! Though we could stand to have a few more firefighters…” Ketsu lost herself in thought as Pein slightly fumed in silence.
“Yeah we could have a few more. Some that are skilled in water jutsu maybe? Because Storm ninja are skilled in lightning jutsu and lightning is what’s causing this trouble in the first place!”
“You’ve got your little cyclone-thingy,” Ketsu pointed out.
“Yeah well… that’s mostly wind, that’s not very helpful.”
“Fine. If it makes you and your infernal cat feel any safer I’ll get more firefighters. Only you’re going to fetch them with two other ninja. From Mist village.” The silence hung in the air after Ketsu’s orders.
“Uh. Okay. Two others? From Mist Village? We don't have any Mist visitors. Does my ‘infernal cat’ count?”
“No your infernal cat doesn’t count, and you're getting the firefighters from Mist village. Take Darnas and Aki or something. Some days...”
“Okay--”
“And I’m NOT taking care of your cat! That thing hates me!” This time it was Pein’s turn to laugh at her Raikage.
“Harlequin doesn’t hate you! And she goes with me as a companion anyway.”
“Good. That means no litter box to change. Now… go find your teammate people things before the storm hits. Don’t want you getting rained on now do we?” Ketsu laughed. Pein gave her an annoyed look before thanking her and racing out of the office, and out of the building.
Last edited by PeinQAkatsuki on Sat Aug 07 2010, 04:43; edited 10 times in total
it's still in my inbox. I totally forgot about it. 
Toshiro~ ^_^ x3
