Akazaki Takashi was furious to say the least, but it was understandable. How would you feel if you came back from a long absence to find that your two best friends had gotten into a fight and one of them wasn't even in the village anymore? He would never admit that Jizouko and Mirai were his best friends though.
He didn't even knock before storming into the Yume household, clutching the hitai-ate that had been left on his front porch tightly.
"Takashi-kun? What're you doing here?" he ignored Kyoko's question as he stomped up the stairs to Mirai's bedroom.
He slammed the door open, made his way over to her bed, and ripped the covers away to reveal his blonde team mate.
"Takashi? What the Hell?" Mirai shrieked as she grabbed for the blankets.
He didn't trust himself to speak so he threw the hitai-ate at her instead.
"What? Is this…?" she gaped as she picked it up.
He nodded stiffly.
"You don't think I had anything to do with this, do you?" she looked up at him helplessly.
"Get ready," he finally said as he turned around to leave the room, "we're going to go get her."
"There's nothing you could do to change her mind," a new voice cut in.
Takashi halted in his movements when he saw a blonde woman leaning against the doorpost with her arms crossed over her chest.
"What do you mean?" he demanded as his eyes narrowed.
"I mean that she's set upon this course," the woman said as she matched Takashi's harsh look. "Maybe in another life things would be different, but not in this one. She's been hurt and needs time on her own to heal."
"How do you know? Have you ever met her? Do you even know her name?" Takashi frowned.
"It's because I never met her that I know these things," the woman scoffed as she pushed off the doorframe.
"I'm still going," he declared before looking back at Mirai. "You coming?"
Mirai remained silent as she looked down at her blankets.
"She won't be going anywhere," the woman said and Takashi fixed her with a cold look. "Her training starts today, whether she likes it or not. I trust you can find your way to the door, Akazaki."
A pregnant silence fell over the room as Takashi grabbed the hitai-ate and left the room, making sure to roughly push past the woman on his way out.
"Are you really going to go through with this?" Ichiro asked as he watched Takashi pack his weapons' pouches.
Takashi remained silent as he inspected a kunai.
"You know if you're gone too long both of you will be labeled as rouges…"
"I know," Takashi grunted as he attached a pouch to his belt.
"And still?"
"She would do the same in a heartbeat," he said as he stopped moving and stared at an old photo on his dresser.
"We can cover for you for maybe a week," Ichiro said after a pause, "but don't push it."
"Tell Kaa-san we're out training or something," Takashi suggested as he left the room.
Jizouko sat at the edge of a small stream watching the fish swimming lazily in it. Who knew when the next time she would have meat would be, so she planned to catch two and save one for later. She wasn't very far from Konoha, not even a day if you were running, a little over two if you were walking. She had figured that it was a safe distance because she guessed that no one would be looking for her, not like they had been with Sasuke.
I wonder if anyone's even noticed, she thought distractedly as her eyes locked onto a particularly large trout. She had just found breakfast.
Before she could reach out and grab the fish from the water there was a sharp cry as a bird snatched the fish in the blink of an eye. The bird landed on a low branch and began to tear into the fish's scales. She narrowed her eyes as she gave the bird her best dirty look. She recognized it as a hawk with light brown feathers now flecked with blood and silver scales sparkling in the morning sun.
She sighed as she stood up straight; she had stayed as long as she would let herself. She didn't bother consulting a map as she started on her journey again, she couldn't quite explain why, but she felt that she already knew the way.
The hawk let out another sharp cry before taking off again into the sky. Jizouko paused and watched its course and noted that it was flying towards the village.
I better pick up the pace a bit…
"So that's where she's heading," Takashi murmured as he stroked the hawk's brown feathers. "Thank you," he said as he offered the bird a piece of meat.
The hawk cried sharply before it pecked at the meat, downing it in a little less than ten seconds. It cried again as it spread out its wings and flew off into the treetops.
Takashi followed by jumping onto the branches and leaping from tree to tree, keeping the bird in sight. It was now only a matter of time until he caught up with her.
