peachpit: Hurray, Kankuro-sama comes into the story finally!
Kankuro: Damn straight!
Naruto: HEY! How come I'm not in this story? ;;
peachpit: I'm letting you do my disclaimer's for me, aren't I?
Naruto: sigh Yeah...peachpit doe not own me...
Taking a deep breath, he stood dead still on the branch. With hawk eyes he scanned his surroundings, looking carefully for any signs of life. Seeing none, he let out a breath and continued hopping stealthily from one tree to the next. A long, oblong object hanging over his shoulder against his back swayed with him against the wind. It was becoming heavy, and it was getting hot.
Wiping a bead of sweat from his brow, Kankuro came to what he thought would be a safe place to rest. He set aside the peculiar entity, resting it against a tree. Looking upward, he could see dark clouds through the thick leaves of the trees. It would be raining soon.
And yet it was still so humid outside; He began to wish he had not worn his usual outfit of nothing but black. Since it was about to rain, Kankuro thought it would be wise to find a place to lay low for the night.
Or was it the day? He had been traveling so long, and the sky had been an ominous dark purple since he left, he couldn't tell what time it was. He could taste the bitter humidity in his mouth. There was going to be a storm soon. Maybe not today, but soon enough.
He muttered a curse under his breath. He had been traveling an endless trail searching, but to no avail. How many days had he been looking? Four…five? Somewhere along there. All this rain had covered the bastard's tracks, making it difficult to know which direction to even begin.
But Kankuro was practically a Jounin by now. After returning to his village post to the Chuunin exams three years ago, he had been sent on missions here and there by the Kazekage to help everyone and their Grandmum.
Kankuro sighed heavily and propped himself against the thick trunk of a tree. He had been sent alone by his brother, the Kazekage, on a rescue mission. Gaara must have thought he could trust Kankuro with returning their sister.
He looked to the sky again after hearing a loud crash in the distance. A spider web-like flash of light cracked it's way across the blackening sky soon afterward. He frowned when he felt a thick drop of liquid pelt him in the face.
"Damn rain…" he muttered before seeking shelter under the thick leaves of the tree. Rain began falling at a steadier pace now, slowly dampening the dirt and grass. Kankuro scowled.
"Shit, like tracking these bastards wasn't hard enough for me already…" He cursed.
Sighing, he leaned back against the tree and wiped the annoying droplet of water off of his face. There was no use trudging around in the rain for now. Most likely he would just get lost, and that was all he needed. Just when he felt his annoyance build up, he felt a pang of guilt course through his system.
Temari was out there somewhere, probably a lot worse off. That is, if she was still alive. The thought made him begin to worry.
But of course, it was Temari after all. She could take care of herself until he got there to rescue her. At least…he hoped so.
Shaking all negative thoughts from his mind, Kankuro decided it was best to try not to think about that at the moment and get some rest. He still had a lot of traveling and tracking to do, and he was exhausted from searching non-stop for over a day.
Sighing for what seemed the umpteenth million time, he pulled his black cap over his eyes and tried his best to get some shuteye.
After an hour or so passed, Tenten knew the warehouse front and back. Temari had gone through not only the whole main room where the girls were to sleep, but through several hallways and doors Tenten had not noticed before. It seems this place was a heck of a lot larger than Tenten had perceived , and she had thought it huge to begin with.
Tenten had thought it would be wise to stick with Temari, seeing as she knew the ways of this strange place much more than she did. Although the older girl claimed to have been here only a few weeks, she gave off the impression of knowing every nook and cranny of the entire place.
Temari brought Tenten to a room in the back of a hallway.
"This is the laundry room." she stated.
Tenten stared blankly.
"It's almost empty aside from a few buckets and rags…" she observed.
"You have to wash whatever you want clean yourself," she explained. Tenten gave a look of disgust. This was probably the reason all of the sheets looked so filthy.
Tenten's eyes trailed to a side of the wall that held what looked like a row of lockers.
"What are in those?" She ventured, pointing towards them.
"Those have these clothes," Temari pointed to her and Tenten's faded blue, less than attractive uniform, "they also have aprons and stuff."
"Aprons?" Tenten questioned.
"If you get sent to work at the Hotel, you gotta wear an apron. It's like some dumb policy or something." Tenten nodded, though she did not entirely understand.
Tenten was tempted to finally ask about this Hotel everyone had been mentioning, but she figured she would find out soon enough and it sounded like something she would be less than enthusiastic over.
"We should head back to the main room," Temari said, glancing at a crooked clock on the wall."The Hotel gets busy around noon and if you aren't over there your first day here, it'll just cause a world of trouble for you."
Tenten nodded half-heartedly and began following the older girl through the unkempt hallways. As they walked, Tenten took notice of all the high, cracked, glass windows that were around the place. Every one of them was fifthly. She closed her eyes for a brief moment and took a deep breath.
"So…what are your brothers like, Temari?" The brunette said in an attempt to spark a conversation.
"They're okay." Was her only response. Tenten got the impression Temari wasn't very interested in sharing anything about her family at all, so she left it at that.
When they reached the main room, a lot of girls were missing and a few were wearing slightly off-white aprons. The ones who were wearing them seemed a lot busier than the rest.
Temari spoke up,
"They usually don't send me over until six, but you should stay around here just incase they send you earlier than they would me,"
Tenten shot an apprehensive glace at Temari,
"I…I hope I go the same time as you…otherwise I wouldn't know what I'd do…" She glanced downward at the floor.
Hesitating, Temari slowly placed an awkward hand on Tenten's shoulder.
"It'll be alright, I'm not the only nice person here, you know."
Tenten nodded, though she seriously doubted her words. Glancing to the other end of the room, she couldn't see a single one of her comrades. Where…?
"T-Tenten-san…" a familiar shy voice piped up from the left. Turning, Tenten's dark eyes met those of the Hyuuga heir once more.
"Hinata!" Tenten said. "Thank goodness, I didn't know where you had gotten to…"
"That man," Hinata gestured towards a room towards the right, "he took the others to another building next door…I don't know why."
Tenten tried to suppress the gulping noise she made while trying to rid herself of the lump in the back of her throat. Hinata continued to stare at Tenten with concerned eyes, hoping for a positive response.
There was a loud noise that interrupted the awkward silence. The three girls lifted their head up and saw Akitaro trudging towards them after slamming a door to a side hallway behind him. Hinata and Tenten held their breath. Temari stood there with a hand on her hip.
"Okay," He began, facing a handful of girls that were standing nearby. "We need some of you to go to the Hotel and clean things up again for a big job we have reserved." He paused, as if he was making sure they were listening, then continued once more.
"We need…you two, you…" he began pointing to girls at random. There was a fearful suspense ringing in the brunette's ear.
"You, and…"
A fateful finger landed on Tenten.
"You three."
Kankuro woke with a start when he felt a splash of cold water finally weigh down the leaves above him and drop on his head. Jumping up quickly, he darted his eyes around for any signs of a threat. Realizing it was just the rain, he cursed and slipped hit hat off.
A mess of unkempt, messy brown hair fell in a tangle over his eyes as he wrung the water from his cap.
"Geez, I'm asleep for thirty minutes and it's starts raining waterfalls from the sky," he complained as he placed his still damp hat on his head.
Wringing out the hat did nothing, as the rain had begun falling through the trees and soaking everything it touched. Angrily, Kankuro picked up the object leaning patiently against the tree, and slung the soggy wrappings over his shoulder.
"I hate the rain," he muttered as he jumped to a nearby tree branch. "We never get rain at home,"
He squinted and wiped some liquid from his face, smearing his face paint.
Taking a quick look around him, Kankuro tried his best to determine which direction he should go. The rain made it difficult to determine, but he eventually decided on South.
With a grunt, Kankuro began jumping tree branch to tree branch to continue his search for the lost sand-village kunoichi. Although he was still exhausted, the thought of his sister still being alive drove him to continue despite his fatigue and hatred of rain.
peachpit: Thank you so much for reading this.
Kankuro: It's boosts her self-esteem.
Naruto: STOP COMING HERE! Only I'm supposed to help her with opening and ending things!
Kankuro: Baka.
peachpit: Gomen, Naruto-kun... TT.TT;;
Naruto: pouts