Symone: A Naruto Side-Story - "The Heart Of Rain"
Chapter Ten: Across The Hot Sands & Through Wet Grass! Bangai's Troublesome Voyage!
"Damnit... where the hell is Bangai? I didn't think that bastard would actually leave!" spoke Renji to himself, sitting at the table in his cabin as he looked around curiously, not knowing what to eat for dinner since his cooking abilities were very limited to things such as cereal and steamed raman, which only seemed to be small meals to keep his hunger at bay as he looks down to the hardwood floor, speaking out to himself again, "...that fucking kid".
Authors Comments: Hey-oh! Hope this one is truly enjoyed! Not sure what to say, but I feel something should be said since all(or at least most) of the newly introduced characters from last Chapter have seemed to develop personalities of sorts, all ready keeping a fan in awe was Renji... who seems to be coming along as something of my own personal favorite, replacing Mikomi...almost! That is... until I draw up a wicked image of Renji-kun and admire it more than Mikomi-Sensei's! Anyway! Time to see what's up with out new pals in the story... and well... see what's really going on with that comical Bangai. Oh! ...and PS: This is my first fic/writing that has made it in to the double digits in Chapters. This is a moment of celebration, my friends! Not only that, but these happen to be the longest pieces of work I've ever done. Looks like we got ourselves a winner, eh? Okay... now... Ready? Yoshi!
-Across The Hot Sands & Through Wet Grass!-
Man has journeyed since its beginning on the Earth to a new destiny each turn they took. Every turn ended up being a decision of life or death. Sometimes you can come across the wrong path and undoubtably be harmed or brought to hindrances, though if the right path can be chosen by any chance, Hope & Heart can easily be found. Which path will man walk today with wings of charity in mind, blowing through the winds...?
"This heat is worse than I first guessed!" thought Bangai as he is seen walking through what seemed to be a nearly endless desert. The wind rattling in mid-air as it seemed almost as if it were racing towards the half-moon. "I should be there soon. I'll set up camp for now since the night is taking my vision away too much. Plus, all this sand is getting in my frikin' eyes!" spoke, then yelled Bangai as he starts rubbing his eyes with such ferocity. Bangai bites his thumb and sheds some of his blood. He creates a summoning circle in the fragments of sand as he then performs a hand seal, calling out the identity of a jutsu, "Kuchiyose No Jutsu!(Summoning Technique!)" as he slams his palm in to the sand as smoke engulfs the area in front of him as suddenly, a small 10x10x10 house of logs emits from the ground of sand. Bangai then walks to the tiny wooden home and takes a piece of paper out. He slaps it against the tiny door and with the blood on his thumb writes the kanji for "Blind" on it. He then performs a handseal as he speaks out the name of another jutsu, "Buraindo Shounin!(Blind Witness!)", placing his two index fingers together in it's seal and poking into the paper, casting a Genjutsu on the house, allowing it to seem as though it has disappeared incase someone troublesome came along to disturb his presence. "I'll get moving bright and early tomorrow morning. I should be at Sunagakure(Hidden Sand) in less than half a day now" thought Bangai as he walked into his temporary home, shutting the door silently.
The sun had just risen in view about an hour ago as Bangai is seen walking out of his temporary house the following morning. "Kai!(Release!)" yelled Bangai as the Genjutsu he had placed on it the night before is banished. The house then disappears in a cloud of smoke as Bangai takes down a sip of water from a can he had brought along, walking ahead, wiping the sweat that had beaded up on his forehead away as the sun boils the ground of sand.
Several hours had now passed as Bangai is seen breathing hard. His face now drenched in sweat. His shirt soaked down his chest in the shape of a 'V'. "This is getting to be insane! It's so hot!" said Bangai to himself out loud as suddenly... he seen a weird shaped pattern of rock just up ahead. His eyes glowing from both - sweat and joy. He runs towards it at such a pace unexpected for such a comical man as the image becomes more and more clear. He then see's it. He see's the hidden entrance to the Hidden Sand Village! Bangai runs through the mountains of rock to the entrance, but suddenly, kunais' comes swirling down at him, missing him by the slightest margin as he jumps back a bit. He looks around surprised as Hidden Sand Jounin swoop down in front of him. "Who are you!" yelled one of the few Jounin. Bangai replied, "My name is Yokogoa Bangai. I have come quite a distance from Tsunzaku(Wind Country/Rain Country border) to meet here with officials from this village in reference to the Hidden Rain trying to invade and conquer our piece of the Wind Country!". "...and what's that matter to us?" arrogantly and rudely spoke one of the Jounin. "Well... I've come on a journey hoping to get some assistance from your village to bring back and hopefully rid of the Hidden Rain ninja's that keep trying to invade and assassinate our village and my best friend!" stated Bangai as a Sand Jounin appeared behind him, speaking, "Sorry, kid. Sunagakure can't take on any missions right now from outsiders. We're too busy reconstructing our society. We lack the ninja power, we're too busy constructing a Government, we have most of our ninja out already on public missions, and basically... we can care less right now about a tiny piece of land that's getting invaded by such a poor country! Sorry, kid... but leave". Bangai's eyes had widened with sorrow. "But..." he spoke as he was quickly interrupted. "But nothing! Get on out! We can't have you causing us any problems! Leave!" yelled the Jounin in front of him. Bangai looks down, turning around slowly as he bumped in to the Jounin that was behind him on his way out of the country. "Renji can't do this alone anymore!" thought Bangai with a troubled, angry tone. The Sand jounin then disperse back to their apparent look-out posts. "I need to get help! There's no other way! How? What can I do?" yelled Bangai out loud to himself as he falls to his knee's., slamming his closed fist into the sand as it swallows him to his wrist. "Wait! There's still hope!" thought Bangai out of shock as he had apparently thought of an answer to this problems. "Maybe I can pay some Hidden Grass ninja to come down to Tsunzaku! It's the closest village to Tsunzaku besides the Hidden Sand!" thought Bangai as he then looks down to the sand with a depressive smirk. "If only I had money though..." spoke Bangai. "Still... maybe I should go anyway. Maybe if I plead, they'll give me some help, even if it's weak help. Help is help!" spoke Bangai as he then smiles a bit, getting up. He wipes the sand off from his clothing as he runs on ahead.
Night has sunk in as Bangai is seen walking still. Almost a whole day has gone by. Bangai is seen outside the border of the Hidden Grass. "Okay! This must be the border. The village city should only be a few hours inside the country" he spoke, looking at all the woodlands ahead. "It's far too dark to go in such a place, including with all the tree's! I guess I have to stay here for the night" said Bangai.
Bangai now appears a few minutes after arriving at the border to the Grass Country inside his summoned house, seen with the Genjutsu placed around it just as it was last time. "I have to believe that tomorrow shall be the beginning of a new way of life. No matter what, I HAVE to bring back ninja!" thought Bangai as he looks up at the low ceiling which seemed to be hovering above his head. "...have to!" he thought as his eyes slowly closed... falling asleep on the bed he had been laying on.
"Gurgle-gurgle!" is heard as Renji is seen laying in bed back at Tsunzaku village as he thinks to himself, "He's been gone for two days...". Renji's sharp, aggressive yet sexy eyes then slightly twitch as he finishes his thoughts, "...I'm so...so...hungry..." as he rolls over. "DAMN YOU BANGAI! YOU BETTER NOT BE FUCKING AROUND!" yelled Renji out of no where. "Mrow!" screeched a startled cat that had reacted by Renji's yelling apparently as Renji closes his eyes, tilting his head towards his pillow. "Teh!" expressed Renji as he decided to go to sleep as the half-moon shines vibrantly down on his face, drowning out the stars in the sky.
Bangai had journeyed to Sunagakure to unfortunately receive terrible news and attitude from the aggressive Jounin look-outs and was forced to go to the 'Land of Grass'. Will Bangai be able to find his way through the darkness of the woodlands to find the village he had been driven to reach? Will he find what he needs in the Grass or will he be left empty-handed? Chapter Eleven shall spell out the answers. As for Renji... will he ever get something decent to eat without his best friend and favorite chef, Bangai? Only the shortest of time shall tell.
Within the darkness(Unknown location): "Shouten-kun. Give me 2-3 days and I'll tag along with you to finish what I started with that fool, Renji!" spoke a man in the shadows seen barely on what seemed to be a nursing table, referring to the other shadow hovering above the voice as it was apparently the ninja Shouten. "Alright Bankoku. Just don't slow me down when our moment comes. I love the taste of blood more-so than you... so let me enjoy it!" spoke Shouten in a silky, low, soothingly decrepit voice as he referred to the man on the table as none other than Fuku Bankoku. "That's fine with me. I have a habit of breaking bones. Leave all of them to me and we won't have a problem" spoke Bankoku. "Teh!" arrogantly sighed Shouten as you see his shadowed image walk out of the room as the dim light from the slightly opened door shines on his smirking lips. Bankoku then remains in the dark room alone as he thinks to himself, "Next time we face, Renji... I won't injure myself before hand. You... will DIE!"
Author Note #2: Sorry! I know I promised Mikomi & Symone(Hope & Heart -wink-) that they'd appear, but unfortunately, that's not how my mind came across in this session, though from the looks of this Chapter, you can pretty much say they'll appear next Chapter for sure, but in what way? Who knows! We'll see what goes down! Sorry for breaking the promise! This will shortly be Symone's story again in no time!