**Lightning Fires**Chapter 2

The air outside the Kage building was a drastic difference compared to the air inside. Pein wished that there was an air conditioner button somewhere that turned the heat down outside.

That’s what I get, she thought. I complained all year that it was too cold, and now look where I am. She power-walked through the village to her neighborhood, she knew that both Darnas and Aki lived in as well. She passed by a plethora of Storm ninja she knew, and out-of-Storm ninja as well. Most of them waved or said ‘hi’ but it was obvious Pein was on a mission for something, so no one talked much more than that.

“Gotta find Gramps, gotta find Aki…” she muttered under her breath until she came to a house a few doors down from hers. All of the houses in the Storm village had thatch-like roofing, and whitewashed cement walls. If the houses catch on fire, Pein thought. At least the walls won’t burn down… She knocked on the wooden door a few times and waited.

“Come on, Aki, open the door…” No answer. Pein banged a little louder. Then she put her ear to the door and listened closer. Music was playing. Pein sighed and walked around the house to where Aki’s bedroom window was. Sure enough, she could hear Aki’s music coming through her stereo and could see her lounging on her bed. Pein knocked on the window. Aki still didn’t notice.

“Seriously?” Pein said in exasperation. “Okay, it’s time for drastic measures.” She pulled the collar of her shirt up and onto her head to cover her face and put her headband over her eyes.

She turned and hoped she was facing Aki’s mirror that was facing the window; counting on that Aki would notice her reflection in the mirror. Pein began moving back and forth, similar to a zombie.

“BLARRGHGHRRR Akiiii looook aaaaaat theee wiiinnndooowww…” Pein rasped loudly. She began moonwalking back and forth. Soon she heard a “What the…?” and an opening of a nearby window.

“Pein?” Aki asked.

“Finally! You answered!” Pein took off her headband and pulled her shirt down, and saw she was facing someone else’s backyard. The owner of the backyard was giving her a funny look, and Pein whirled around to face Aki.

“Oh. Well. FAIL! Anyway we have a mission to get firefighters from the Mist Village.” Aki blinked at Pein, not sure if she should laugh or not before nodding.

“Alright. Who else is going with is?”

“Darnas if I can find him,” Pein said. “Pack stuff or whatever and I’ll meet you by my house in, like, an hour or so.”

“…Okay then. I’ll see you in an hour!” Aki shut her window and Pein walked out of the backyard towards Darnas’s house.

“Now. It’s all a matter of whether Darnas is home or not,” she said to herself. She was there within a matter of minutes and began pounding on his door. “Hey! Darnas!” she called. No answer. “Darnas!” Still no answer. “HEY GRAMPS OPEN THE DOOR!!!”

“Uhm. Granz. Right behind you,” a voice said. Startled, Pein spun around fast enough to lose her balance and fall off the steps.

“OUCH! Not fun…” she muttered before standing up too fast and falling back down. “Okay, I’m just gonna sit here. We have a mission!” she exclaimed, but Darnas was laughing too hard to say anything back. A minute or so later he stopped enough to talk halfway functionally.

“Alright. Where to?” He laughed a bit again.

“Are you finished yet?” Pein laughed. “Me, you, and Aki are going to the Mist Village for more firefighters. Oh, and my cat's coming too. Anyway we’re going to get a couple more firefighters. Get packed and stuff for the journey and whatever and I’ll meet you in front of my house in an hour.” Pein stood up slowly and walked down the pathway carefully.

“Okay I’ll see you then! Don’t fall or anything!” Darnas called after her, slightly laughing. Pein stuck her tongue out at him and started for home.

Thunder sounded again, louder than earlier, and Pein could already see lighting forming in the distance. Great. I need to get home and hurry up. She took off running, making the dry dirt fly up to her knees as her sandals hit the ground. She got to her house as the lightning began flashing on the outskirts of the village. She put her key in the lock and went inside.

Harlequin mewed a greeting when Pein opened the door. The black and grey patched cat sat on the rug and looked at Pein with her green eyes.

“Hey sweetie…” Pein stooped to pick the cat up and carried her to the bedroom. She plopped the cat onto the bed and began packing her backpack with clothes and other necessities for a mission.

“We’re going on a mission to the Mist Village,” she explained to her cat. “To get more firefighters that are skilled in water jutsu. Hopefully we’ll get a couple, maybe more, who will be willing to help us out, you know?” Harlequin purred and laid down on the bed. Thunder grumbled above the house, and the small cat growled back at it playfully. Pein laughed and zipped her backpack up.

“I think that’s all we’ll need,” she said before sitting on the bed petting the sleepy cat. “You can catch your own food, I hope?” The cat looked at her owner and blinked her knowing eyes. “Of course you can. Stupid me, I shouldn’t underestimate you.” Pein laughed and laid back. She half considered taking a nap while she waited for the other two to show up, but realized that if she did, she wouldn’t be able to get back up. That’s how it goes, she thought. I’ll fall asleep and not wanna get back up and move again. Minutes passed, and the clock on the wall bonged out that it was two in the afternoon. Soon after there was a knock at the door. Pein sighed and got up to answer the door, Harlequin following on her heels. She opened the door and peered outside. There stood Aki and Darnas, ready to go.

“You’re ready, right?” Aki asked with a smile.

“Oh yeah. Just lemme get my bag.” Pein rushed into the bedroom and grabbed the backpack that she would be living out of for a few days. “Let’s go,” she said as she left the house and locked the door before picking her cat up.

“You’re taking your cat?” Aki asked.

“Yeah… I mean it’s not going to be like a big mission or anything. We’re just going to get firefighters.” Pein replied back. The thunder above their heads clapped louder.

“We better get going, unless you guys brought umbrellas.” Darnas said, making the other two laugh.

“It didn’t rain for forty days and forty nights!” Aki exclaimed, laughing. The three started running and laughing towards the Kage building on the other end of town.

*****
“Alright, you ninja and cat, listen up.” Ketsu said, pulling a map out of her desk. “In case Pein didn’t already tell you, you’re going to the Mist Village for firefighters, though I suspect she did in her stress.” Pein rolled her eyes.

“She did, don’t worry.” Aki replied.

“Good. Now, let’s have a look at the map…” Ketsu unfolded the old-looking map and searched for the Mist Village.

“There it is. On the other side of the forest. I think you know how to get there, but just in case you don’t, take this map.” She handed Darnas a newer map from the inside of her desk.

“Why not that one?” Pein asked, referring to the one Ketsu was looking at.

“This one’s really old, and the humidity of Mist is likely to make it disintegrate.” Ketsu explained before turning back to it. “Okay, judging by the distance between here and there, I’d say it’ll take you three days there, three days back. Unless you can run fast and would like to run the whole way there, which would only take you two days there, two days back. Or, you could go around the forest, but that would take six days to and from, and you’re more likely to get struck by lightning if you walk through the plains.” The Raikage waited for someone to say something.

“…Okay. Any special requests for firefighters?” Darnas asked.

“No, not really. Just anyone who’s willing. Now, go ahead and--” Ketsu paused while waiting for a thunder clap to pass. “--start your journey. See you when you get back!” Ketsu folded the map and sat down in her desk. The three began to walk out of the office when a lightning strike hit the building, causing the power to go off.

“Awh crap.” Ketsu said before standing up and walking out into the hallway. “HEY! SOMEONE GO TO THE BASEMENT AND FIX THE CIRCUIT BREAKER THING!” she yelled.

“IT’S BEING DONE NOW!” someone called back.

“THANKS! Stupid lightning.” Ketsu turned back to her ninja. “Go ahead and start off. As long as it wasn’t serious, the power will be on in a matter of--” The lights suddenly switched back on. “Seconds? Anyway, see you three! Good luck!”

I gotta say, this story is incredibly amusing. It's good, I enjoyed the last two chapters. And it's nice seeing a shift from the normal WotN-based story: start in Sand and bring others in.

Seriously, have you ever noticed how almost all stories either begin in Sand or Q (and/or Renden and/or Yoyo) are there? Always. Anywho. Back to this story.

Yeah, definitely liked it. I hope the general upbeat theme of this story keeps going. ^__^

Thank you xD Haha that's why I started it in Storm :D I notice that never start out in Storm so I'm like "I want mine to!" xD Haha I hope to keep it upbeat! :O I had to de-bold that one sentence though -___-; I bolded it so Aki could help me with what it should say and I forgot to de-bold it again xD

And now we have our adventurers ready to go!

aweseom pein~ can't wait for more~

Thanks guys~~ :D :D

Why didn't I read these earlier?