Mission:

Of all the days to sleep late, why today?

Arumi threw some clothes on, grabbed her travel bag and her portion of the Kemuri mail. There was no time for making breakfast, she just crammed a couple cold pop tarts in her mouth as she ran out the door. She couldn't be late, she was gonna go see Kenji.

Arumi came sprinting up to the barrier entrance, about ten minutes behind schedule. She was already in a foul mood. Chinatsu was never going to let her hear the end of this. They had a long road ahead of them, and the mouthy chuunin was probably going to be sassing her the whole way. Sure, she was still thrilled that she was going to see Kenji, but she wasn't looking forward to Chinatsu seeing her boyfriend. The bomber girl was going to give her a hard time about him, too.

Besides, the trip there was gonna SUCK.

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Natsu stood at the barrier, and signed checking the time again, then her stuff. She was dressed in her mission's gear again and hair pulled back. The majority of the mail they were transporting was already packed on to the large clay bird behind her, save the important ones that rested in her backpack. 

The blonde shook her head she had waited long enough. Chi sighed and stepped onto the large predatory clay bird, before taking to the air. She glanced down one last time before taking off. She nearly fell laughing. Arumi looked so disheveled with her back pack hanging of her shoulder, cloths mismatched, and cloak flapping behind her as she ran. "Cutting it close Four-Arms! Just about to leave you!" 

Still fending of fits of giggles she formed several hand signs before slamming her hand onto the bird below her feet. She laughed again as her feet suddenly fell though the clay the rest of her following. Chinatsu appeared again a strange set of wings on her back arms open wide. She landed on the ground; the clay hardening and falling away. Natsu stood up from her crouch smiling before she turned a tad more serous. "In all seriousness that was cutting it really close."

She looked over at the four foot by six foot by one and half foot box (4x6x1.5) box she had strapped to the large eagle and shook her head. "I now know why getting mail between villages is so freaking unreliable, unless it is official stuff...Anyway it seems we got slammed with some more stuff. I have the really important stuff in my bag, but most of it is on the bird if you want to add yours."

Natsu nodded approvingly seeing Arumi also had her travel bag. "Anyway the trip should take us three to four days weather permit optimal travel time. The eagle will follow from the air while we move on the ground. We're cutting threw the forest a bit, so there is a chance for bandits, but I doubt we'll have any issue. Question's before we get going?"

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Arumi rolled her eyes, lifting her pack onto the bird. It was already starting. She fastened everything on, trying to ignore the hurricane of sass that was just beginning. She had an odd friendship with Chinatsu. The two of them were pretty close friends, but they showed it by hassling each other almost constantly. At every opportunity they fought, sparred, traded insults, and generally pissed each other off.

All right, all settled. She still looked a mess, but she could always tidy up a bit on the road. Either that, or blame it on travel. The genin brushed herself off, pulling her cloak around properly. She was a bit more presentable, but still a work in progress. This sucked, she had wanted to look nice for Kenji. Instead, she looked like a complete fucking mess. Arumi shot Chinatsu a glare, falling into step beside her. “Yeah, can it Boom Bitch. Let's just get moving, okay? I wanna get to Kemuri pretty soon.”

The travel time at least was reassuring. It would take a while, but with that amount of cargo they couldn't be going too fast. At least she would have time to get in proper visiting condition, though. She would make sure to be up bright and early the next few days. Arumi thanked the Three-Headed Father that she'd packed the night before, she had everything in order for the round trip.

Finally, the two of them were ready to head out. Arumi started marching, eager to be out of town. “Let's make it more like three days. I got places to be.” The gate guards cleared them to leave, and they were off on the open road with their cargo and their big-ass clay bird.

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Chi rolled her eyes, "So says the girl that showed up late." She signed them out before taking off setting a good pace. There was a storm at their tail that she hoped to outrun, but that was an if.

The bomber shook her head a bit Arumi seemed tense. "Relax dork, we have three days of travel ahead of us. It's an easy mission. What are you so worried about?" Sometime she wondered about what was going on in the girl's head.

She turned her gaze skyward, the blue not hinting at the impending doom. This was going to suck like hell. Chi pushed them, breaking only to eat a small lunch of trail rations before moving again. They had made good time before Natsu cursed and directed them toward a hollowed out tree. She glanced up at the sky, calling down the bird in with them before hitting her head. "A storm is coming through. A really big one. We're going to suck here for a bit. We're going to need fire wood and hunt down something to eat. I'd say we have an hour most likely less before we're caught." The young Taiyo cursed again. She hated this mission so much right now.

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Of course Chinatsu would get a dig in about her being late. Arumi had expected that sort of sass from her partner. She really enjoyed their banter sometimes, but right now it was just getting on her nerves. The only thing keeping her infamous temper in check was Kenji. She knew that starting a brawl with her teammate now would delay their mission, and by extension her meeting with her dapper gent. There was also the fact that she would probably lose, but Arumi would never admit that to herself. If someone were to mention that fact, she might throw caution to the wind and start the brawl anyway just in an attempt to prove she would win.

She stopped for a moment to stare when Chinatsu asked why she was in such a hurry. Had she really forgotten? After all the teasing she'd gotten about Kenji, this was quite the shock. “Kenji, duh.” She shook her head in disbelief, picking up the pace for a second to catch up to the chuunin. Maybe the bomb girl had knocked a few memories loose.

Arumi was about ready to pitch a fit when they were forced to stop. It was official, the weather hated here. Maybe it was her pact with the Three Headed Father, he was renowned for not getting along with the natural world. Either way, they would have to tough it out. She could tear wood free easily enough with claws, and her other jutsu could let her catch some food. “I could Frog Tongue us a few small animals.” She paused for a moment, thinking. “Wait, have you seen that jutsu?” She wasn't sure if she had used it around Chinatsu before. These things were so hard to keep track of sometimes.

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"You seem more tense than normal even with Kenji involved." She shrugged, chalking it up just to her not being a morning person. Natsu honestly like sparring with the younger girl, physically and verbally it was always interesting. It had become a contest of who could insult the other more creatively. She found it strange when Arumi was serous; to be honest it was scary.


Frog Tongue? She filed that away to the weird things that her friend could with her body. "Um no, you've never used that around me before. If it will do it quick then let's do it. The air pressure is dropping quick. This is going to be bad. I can take fire wood if you want to get food." 

Natsu returned with a bundle of fire wood and kindling. She cheated a bit with a spark of lightening to start the fire. She set the other wood aside as she waited to her companion to return. The sky rumbling with energy; Natsu could feel the energy humming inside of her , her lightening cracking the same way. It felt invigorating. When Arumi returned the blonde sealed the entry with an earth jutsu to keep out the wind and rain. 

Chinatsu spread out her sleeping bag and laid back listing to the rumble outside the tree and feeling the storm inside herself. It was weird that no one in her family could really explain what she was feeling, all the other's in her clan had fire or water and sometimes wind for their second element, no one had lightening. "Hey Arumi," She sat up on her elbows and looked at her friend. "Have you ever felt your chakra react to your element. I mean have you ever felt the wind move inside of you?"

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Arumi just ignored Chinatsu's comment about Kenji. She had reason to be nervous, but she really didn't feel like explaining them. Last time she had met Kenji, they were dressed to the nines. When they were dressed at all, that is. She didn't want to meet him looking like a mess, and she especially didn't want to meet Uncle Jim looking a mess. The Keukage was supposed to be a very serious, disciplined kind of guy. He might make a fuss if his adopted son was dating someone who looked like a disaster area.

She went off to hunt, channeling her chakra through her body. Her tongue became stronger and more elastic, while her ears stretched to long points. Arumi could hear the forest around her, with a few small animals scurrying around. She focused her attention on a pair of rabbits. Her tongue shot out, wrapping around one's neck and dragging it in. The sudden pull snapped its neck, killing it. The other was off running, but Arumi had already grabbed the first catch and was shooting out her tongue again. It didn't get far.

The monster girl returned to their campsite, smiling proudly. Her mutations had been banished, and she was carrying a freshly killed hare in each pair of hands. “Guess who found dinner!” She sat down inside their makeshift shelter, quickly skinning and gutting the animals with a kunai. It was a skill she had picked up from her clan. They were supposed to keep up the barbarian savage facade, and hunting was a good skill to have for that.

Just as they were settling down for the night, Chinatsu had to bother Arumi with some stupid question about elements. Truth be told, the elements had always been tricky for the Hirano. It was a struggle getting them to respond at all, and when they did the clan's corruption always crept in. She really didn't feel like explaining all that, Arumi had some sleeping to do. “Nope. Go to sleep, Boom Bitch.” Arumi rolled over, pulling her sleeping bag around her ears.

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Jutsu used:

Chi looked over at Arumi and signed before laying back. She looked at her hands letting chakra flow. sparks dancing across it when ever the lightening outside flashed. She let it go before closing her eyes letting herself sleep.


"Arumi pick it up, we're almost there." She shouted back jumping to the next tree branch. Three days camping in the wood one day of traveling through the rain had left Natsu slight irritable and and a mess. They had also had the bad luck of running to bandits as well and were covered in bllod as well as mud. Natsu's hair was tide out of her face but was still sticking her skin. 

At least she could say she looked better than Arumi. She was the front liner and had more blood on her and the weather hadn't been any kinder to her. They had ran though the night trying to make up time. So some it up, she felt as bad as Arumi looked; absolutely shitty. 

She skidded to a stop in front of the gate and saluted handing them the mission's scroll before calling her giant bird down, with the rest of the mail. She handed him her Id and head band as she waited for Arumi. They still had to drop the common stuff off and hand deliver the important scrolls before they were done. This mission was the worst punishment ever. Sure they were still going to pay her but god damn it still sucked.