**Lightning Fires**Chapter 5

So I promised to a few people I'd have a new one out tonight! Which I have! :D xD So here you go~
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The team of Storm ninja and the two firefighters were ready to go, but Keya convinced them to stay overnight to rest up. Pein found the dampness to be a bit annoying, especially when your bedding is rather damp from the humidity. It wasn’t like the humidity of Storm; no this was a wetter kind. It was ocean humidity, much more damp and it set into things better than the stifling plains kind. The humidity in Storm was much more miserable in the sense that you could barely breathe in it, but Pein liked being dry.

So this is why I moved, she thought as she flipped her damp bangs out of her face, only to have they flop back in front of her eyes. Pein sighed. Des and Keya sent the two Mist ninja home so they could prepare for living in the Storm village for awhile. Keya took them to a ramen shop for dinner. She offered for Des to come also, but he said he had ‘kage-ly’ duties to attend to. When they arrived at the shop, Pein and Aki smiled. They remembered that this shop had the best ramen in all of WOTN; not even Storm’s ramen shop could compare.

The shop itself didn’t change much. Same noodle-colored walls, same orange paper lanterns hanging above the tables, and even the tables were the same. The only thing that changed…was the menu.

“‘Pork, beef, and chicken Ramen’?” Aki asked incredulously. “…Honestly? That doesn’t even sound good.”

“And what the heck is Sushi Ramen?” Darnas remarked. “Do you put raw fish in it or…?”

“Okay, okay they changed the names,” Keya said. “Though I’d like to know what Darnas is seeing because I don’t see any Sushi Ramen. I only see Shrimp.” Darnas’s eyes narrowed before reading again. “And as for your Mixed Meat Ramen, Aki, it’s actually pretty good.” Keya looked at Pein, expecting a complaint.

“What?” Pein said. “I’m not complaining… I just can’t find the beef ramen!” Keya sighed and pointed at the “Moo Noodle Ramen.”

“Is Shrimp the only NORMAL name on this menu?” Aki asked.

“Well, besides Teriyaki.” Keya replied.

“Ready?” the chef called from the back.

“Yeah I think so!” Keya replied, looking at the other three. “What do you guys want?”

“I’ll just take the Moo…Noodle ramen.” Pein said.

“Uh, I’ll have the Sush- I mean Shrimp,” Darnas said, still staring at the menu.

“Teriyaki. Just… yeah.” Aki looked disgruntled.

“We’ll have an order of Mixed Meat, Moo Noodle, Shrimp, and Teriyaki ramen!” she called to the chef. The chef grunted in reply and began cooking their dinners. Keya laughed slightly and turned back to the visiting ninja. Darnas yawned suddenly, causing Pein to yawn, which caused a chain reaction around the table.

“I guess you guys are tired,” Keya said, laughing.

“Yeah,” Aki replied. “We’ve been in the forest for forever, and then with Pein jumping at every little thing--”

“Not every little thing. And now I have Bob Marley stuck in my head, thanks Aki.” Pein snapped.

“And irritable?” Keya asked cautiously.

“NOT IRRITABLE!”

“Sure sure Granz…” Darnas said, yawning again. Pein glared at him before yawning herself. The chef came forward with their orders.

“Here’s your orders. Eat up!” He smiled and went back to the kitchen again. Keya took a healthy bite of her ramen, while the other three poked at theirs.

“Oh-kay, th’ namths don’ matt’r you free!” She exclaimed through a mouthful of noodle. She gulped, continuing “It’s still the same ramen that Aki and Pein remember, and I’m sure you’ll like it too, Darnas, if you try it.” They blinked at her before trying it themselves.

“Well, the teriyaki tastes pretty good.” Aki admitted.

“So does my… Moo Noodle was it?” Pein added, eating more as she finished her sentence. Darnas mumbled an agreement through a full mouth. After dinner, Keya let them stay in one of the spare rooms in her large hut.

“It comes with being an ex-Mizukage,” she explained. “I get a huge house, plus I get to choose whether I want to do missions or not! I usually do but…” She trailed off, narrowing her eyes at something on the wall. The Storm ninja looked at her strangely as she took off her shoe and smacked a rather large water spider. Pein’s eyes widened. Spiders weren’t her favorite things in the world.

“HAHAHA! Got it! It’s been bugging me all week, no pun intended.” Keya laughed and turned around to see Pein’s terrified expression. “Okay, I don’t think there’s any more, alright? Don’t worry!” She led them to the guest bedroom and rolled out three futon mattresses. “I have like, five. I don’t know why! They came with the house, but I’m sure you’re not complaining right?” Aki shook her head as Pein flopped onto the nearest one.

“Oh sweet, sweet soft mattress…” she said, her voice muffled, face buried in the cushion. Darnas sat on the one next to the far wall. Aki thanked Keya, and laid on the middle one.

That night, Pein dreamed for the first time in a while. Lately she had been too exhausted from missions to even CONSIDER dreaming, but tonight her subconscious was showing her a strange movie. She could see people she recognized, like Aki and Ketsu, and who looked like they may have been Q, the Kazekage of the Sand Village. She also saw various other ninja she vaguely recognized, but didn’t quite process who they were before she heard a voice speaking.

“They’re looking for members of… clans…” The voice, which sounded like Q’s the more Pein thought about it, kept breaking up and she missed certain words of what they were saying. “They targeted… of… Teishoku clan…” Teishoku clan?! Pein thought. Isn’t that that one chick Reshii’s clan?! Before Q could finish what he was saying, Pein shot up, drenched in a cold sweat.

It seemed like it was late. Darnas was snoring and Aki was breathing evenly. Pein looked out the window that was set into the mud wall. She could see the moon towards the bottom of the small rectangle. She flopped back onto the mattress, and it didn’t take her long to fall back into a dreamless sleep.


The next morning dawned just as humid as the day before. Aki woke Pein up by kicking her in the ribs.

“Man, get UP!” she exclaimed, kicking Pein again. Pein grunted and sat up, putting her head in her hand. She yawned before standing up, stumbling over the wad of blankets that tangled around her feet.

“Stupid blankets,” she murmured indignantly, kicking them off. She began wandering aimlessly in her disorientation before Aki grabbed her shoulders and led her to the doorway.

“The bathroom is next door, to the right. No your other right.” Pein swerved in her course and walked into the bathroom next door.

When the beds were rolled back up into the closet, and the blankets were folded neatly, Aki said they had to leave. Keya, still only halfway awake, asked them why they had to leave so soon.

“We have to get back to the village before any more fires spring up,” Darnas explained. “Assuming that Reshii and Temari are--” Before he could finish, there was an excited knocking on the door. “Awake.” he finished feebly as Pein walked over to open the door.

“Hey!” Reshii exclaimed excitedly. “We’re ready!” Temari contradicted her by yawning largely.

“I can see that…” Aki said. “Well, thank you Keya for giving us a floor to sleep on last night. We’ll see you soon, yeah?”

“No problem!” Keya beamed. “Take good care of our ninja.” With that the three Storm ninja and the two Mist ninja left. On the way out of the village, Pein ran into Des, literally.

“OOF!” they said at the same time. Des looked at her in annoyance. “Are you even awake yet, Pein?” he asked.

“Yeah I am!” Pein retorted, rubbing her shoulder. “Are you?”

“Of course!” He turned to the other four. “You leaving already?”

“Yeah, we need to get home before any serious fires start.” Aki explained. “Thanks for letting us borrow two of your ninja. They’ll be back as soon as fire season is over.”

“Alright then. Later, everyone.” To the two Mist ninja he added “Take care of yourself.” Reshii beamed back at him.

“We will Des! Don’t worry!” she said excitedly.

“Yeah, don’t worry Des.” Temari smiled serenely. “We’ll be alright.” Pein looked at her.

“That’s the first time I heard you talk!” she exclaimed as they made their way through the gates.

“Oh.” Temari laughed. “Sorry. I was too tired this morning to say much, and yesterday I was too overwhelmed. I’m Temari.”

“Oh I see. I’m Pein, that’s Darnas--” Darnas gave a peace sign. “--And that’s Aki.” Aki smiled back at Temari before pulling her map out.

“It’s so much easier to get to Mist than to return from it…” She studied the map with extreme concentration. Reshii slid up in front of the map and looked at Aki’s left middle finger.

“HEY!” The outburst made Aki jump, throwing the map in the air with her. “You’ve been in Mist!” Darnas caught the map as it floated down while Aki gave Reshii a weird look.

“Huh?” she asked.

“Your finger! The ring tattoos! You’ve been in Mist! Then Storm… Oh! And then Glacier! And in Storm again?” Reshii looked at Aki.

“Uh, yeah I was in Glacier for a while before I went back to Storm,” she replied cautiously. Darnas looked a bit lost, so Temari began explaining the tattooed rings.

“Each village has its own color,” she began. “Mist is blue, Sand is orange, Storm is purple, Glacier is a more icy blue, Shadow is black, Mountain is green, and Sun’s used to be yellow, but now Inferno is red. They’re there to tell others where you’ve been, and you get them every time you move to a different village. And, in Aki’s case, if you move back.” Darnas looked at his own left middle finger and indeed saw the purple ring of Storm.

“Oh I remember this,” he said. “When I came to WOTN I got this as soon as I moved to Storm.” Reshii moved to Pein’s hand and saw the three bands: black, blue, and then purple being the final one.

“You were in--” she began but Pein interrupted her.

“Shadow, Mist, then Storm, I know.” Pein sighed tiredly. Reshii looked at her in puzzlement. Aki cleared her throat, but the Mist ninja still didn’t look away from Pein’s annoyed face.

“Uh,” Aki started, but Pein interrupted her too.

“I don’t remember much from when I was in Shadow. All I remember is moving to Shadow as I came to WOTN, meeting a few people, but then all is blank. Until, of course, the day I packed up and moved to Mist.” After she explained this moodily, Pein’s face brightened and she smiled at Reshii who looked embarrassed. “Don’t worry!” she said to the Mist ninja. “I’m just a little sensitive about it is all.”

“…Hey Reshii.” Temari said. “Did you show them your camoflauge abilities?” Reshii looked at Temari and grinned.

“Of course!” she exclaimed before entertaining them by fading herself into the background and back out again.


*********
“So. You’ve returned.” the voice called from the darkness. “So, what did you find out?”

“Not much.” Shiro replied, walking into the center of the room. “Just that they can control their lightning jutsu far better than normal.”

“Idiot!” the voice snapped. “That’s not the information I was looking for! Every moron in the know knows this!”

“Well sorry!” Shiro replied hastily. “They said that no one is supposed to know though, outside of Storm ninja.”

“They’re right, but most idiots can at least deduce that they can control their lightning jutsu. Don’t be ignorant!” The voice sighed deeply. This kid was more annoying than he thought. He began pondering what to do next when another voice spoke up from his side.

“Don’t blame the boy,” it said. Shiro looked up expectantly. Was someone defending him? “Not everyone knows everything about the village ninja just because you do.” it continued. Shiro looked gratefully into the general direction of where the voice was coming from. It was infinitely dark in the room, and Shiro couldn’t see more than three feet in front of him. The only light was the light that shone upon him, obscuring his vision.

“I don’t care,” the first voice said tiredly. “I sent him out to do something extremely important. Now look where we are.” The second voice sighed.

“It’s not your fault,” he said to Shiro. “He’s just stressed out that Ama went missing.”

“I have a right to be stressed out!” the first voice protested. “Don’t you see? He knew much more than he was worth! And now that he’s left, I realize that I was stupid to trust him!”

“Don’t you see though?” the second voice said soothingly. “Ama can’t go into villages anymore without causing an uproar. Nearly everyone, except for a couple of villages knows that he’s gone. He can’t go marching into any Kage’s office and expect to go undetected. Don’t worry so much.” The first voice sighed deeply and seemed to turn to the desk in which he was sitting.

“Now,” the second voice continued. “Which village are we targeting first? And which clan?” Shiro could almost hear the first voice smirk.

“This one.” His finger made a small noise as it hit the wooden table. Shiro guessed that there was a map on the table. “And the first clan? Well, that’s simple. Target the one we know is vulnerable right now. And soon… my dear Shugo, soon, we shall be unstoppable.”

This is not ama. I'm just too damn lazy to sign him out.

So, my dear Pein. This was longggggggggg. But that's good. Though you spent a lot of time on the subject of ramen. I, for one, think that chicken ramen would be good. It sounds good.

Des is going kage-ly things. That made me smile.

And Keya has it made. She gets all the perks of being a kage without having to do any of the kage work. Nice.

Good stuff, keep it going! And I like how you've thrown ama in as a potential threat, though he doesn't really do enough to be a threat. LOL

yay! nice pein :3

Thank you! :D And I really thought Ketsu was Ama messing around for a second xD "This is not Ama." xD xD

It wasn't ama. It was me.

I know xD But I thought it was Ama messing around though for a minute xD

Wait what huh? *confused*

Anyway *huggles Peiny-pain* I loved it! :* When are you going to post the next chapter? :o

Wai... wha.. uhmm... GO GRANZ!

If you need an editor, you know who to PM :3

Thankies Kaga and Darnas :D

Kaga: It'll be out later today probably >D

Ketsu: Thanks~ I shall keep this in mind :D :D xD

*pushes saba out if the way*

If you need a second editor you know who to PM! :D :D :D

*is the first non-Storm poster not counting Yoshi who doesn't count*
And the plot thickens~
*dundundun*