New Classmates

Ayachi Takeo wrote:
Takeo only got two days a week off of his job of running around the village, presenting mail to total strangers. It was an important day for him because he could do anything he wanted on an unlimited time budget. What better to do than partake in the find art of sleep.

Needless to say, the knock that Takeo heard emitting from the door did not come as a pleasant surprise for him. Whatever this interruption was, it better have been good enough to have interrupted Takeo from his fine art.

He didn't have to get out of bed. The messenger in question knew Takeo well. They had coordinated delivery routes with each other before and had met each other on a multitude of other occasions. The courier simply shouted through the door.

"Dude! You better not still be in bed. You've got a lesson as we speak down at the village gates."

Takeo's eyes shot open, his body suddenly springing to life as adrenaline flowed throughout his system. He flew upwards out of his blanket like a cat who's fir just met water but managed to tangle himself in the sheets in a way that managed to let him simply slam to the floor, his legs having been in a tight bind. He quickly scrambled out of the sheets, like a snake whose life depended on him shedding his skin. Takeo rushed to his dresser, pulling his leather jacket over the black T-shirt and jeans that he had worn to bed the night before. He didn't have time to comb his hair, though it wasn't as if he was planning on doing it anyway. He preferred his hair to be unkempt.

He had had to do a lot of convincing to qualify for this lesson, the maximum limit having already been met when he applied. Being late would not be a good way of showing that he lived up to the description he had on his application. Of course then again, mooching wouldn't either. Fortunately, Takeo had at least had enough foresight to pack the night before. Unfortunately, he didn't have enough hindsight to remember that this was the date that he was having that lesson, especially when he was in the semi-concious state affiliated with napping.

Takeo had gotten lucky. The message was obviously meant to give the location of the lesson, as it was not mentioned before, except for the fact that they would be camping in the ruins. If it weren't for his courier acquaintance, he would have let the lesson slip past his mind until it was too late to go. Not showing up definately didn't leave a good impression.

He grabbed the scroll, reading it as he charged out the door and throwing a coin at the courier as he ran. The message said the exact same thing as the courier already described. He threw the message to the side, hoping there wasn't some homicidal eco-friendly ninja hiding in the shadows.

Fortunately, there were no homicidal eco-friendly ninjas to be found and Takeo managed to get to the gates of leaf without a hitch. As a matter of fact, he had managed to arrive an entire thirty seconds early, the rewards of being a courier becoming clear. It seemed like the faster couriers could arrive thirty seconds before they left and while Takeo wasn't that fast, he would be able to manage a quick run like that. He remembered how he couldn't even run more than half a mile without collapsing only weeks before, when he started his job both as a shinobi, and as a courier.

The gates always had at least a few ninja of various ranks going out and coming in from missions for the entire day. You might even occasionaly be lucky enough to find a loyal member of leaf going nuke on those rare days. But today, there were only a few figures there. Among them was a small girl, sucking on a green bib and holding a teddy bear as if she had just been weened. There was no way this girl could be an academy student, could there? It definately wasn't the teacher. Takeo hadn't gotten that far behind his classmates.

The rest of the shinobi here were chuunin and up, most of them wearing the vest they were given as honors for their positions. Among this group, it would be impossible to find this Sunaku Niwa, as Takeo had never met this shinobi in the past, and from the distance that Takeo was standing, he wouldn't be able to tell that the cross-dressing shinobi was anything other than a true female of the force. Takeo had learned that a great way for somebody to realize that they are looking for you is to act like you are looking for somebody, and that is just what Takeo did. Besides, Sunaku Niwa would have an entire thirty seconds to find Takeo before he was late.
Great time by any courier's standards.

Noiru Aki wrote:
Late, I can't believe it! I hope Hibiki would be alright... I can't believe I stabbed somebody in the shoulder... God... Oh and hope the kunai is still there... I would now really love to have it as a charm or something...
Aki ran as fast as she could. She had seen the courier carrying the message as she was trying to help Hibiki.
Oh God, I shouldn't have left him...
Anyways, Aki knew it was too late to turn back. She looked around when she was in the spot metioned in the message. There was somebody not so far away. And a sand clone.
She walked closer. She guessed she was now on the right spot.

Aki looked around once more. Seems that her sister, Mei, was late too. She didn't seem to be here. But Aki noticed two other persons. She walked even more closer so she was just some meters away from the person she thought was Sunaku Niwa.
Mmm... Sensei?

Little Hirosue sat up with a slouch on the wooden bench.
Deciding what to do. Thinking what to do.
Gave up waiting and just lied down on the seat.

Little Suweh looked at the bright blue sky.
And admired the beauty of the big white clouds.
All the while sucking on to her green bib.

Little Hirosue hugged her teddy bear with her little arms.
And Saya, her little friend gave a squeaky sound.
Button black eyes staring at the big blue sky.

Little Suweh began to grow sleepy as time went by.
And slowly closed her bluish white eyes.
Dreaming. Of nothing? Waiting. For nothing?