Just Traveling!

Chapter 21: Strange Day

The day was dreary as Rayne and her team of monks continued to rebuild the Temple that was torn to pieces by the Akatsuki, using her earth abilities to recreate the walls, implanting several steel plates inside in order to reinforce it to withstand a large amount of damage if they were to be attacked again. It’s been a few days since she saw Asuma’s team but she knew of the outcome that was to happen and quickly made herself busy. She reformed the temples, the statues, even the old map on the inside. They even allowed her to go into several sacred buildings to help rebuild.

After finishing several buildings, she leaned against one of the many tarps that was hung over others to help keep out the rain that was supposed to appear. Rayne tried to tell them that she could simply place a barrier of ice to avoid the rain but they quickly rejected the idea, stating that it was too dangerous to perform. They did not want anyone to spot her at all, even if it meant to keep her inside at all cost. Even Sora who had appeared yesterday began to watch her, making sure she doesn’t go beyond the wall. At first she was annoyed at being tailed by the monk, even freezing the ground and causing him to trip did not stop him, but after a while she started to talk to him.

At first she grew agitated when they refused to let her outside to repair the steps, but seeing their look of pure worry when she stepped outside made the guilt that was hiding grow a thousand times worst and she quickly walked back inside. Much to their relief of course, and allowed her to help with the inside. Suddenly a loud boom from the thunder made everyone freeze, but looked to Rayne when they heard her yelped.

Shaking her head, she muttered to herself, “Just thunder, just thunder, nothing to be scared of-” BOOM! That time she screamed before running into a random building. Her trusty sooty owl following as she too flew to avoid the weather. The monks stared at her a bit before chuckling at her antics and continued on working. They only had a few more buildings to refurbish before they would continue with their prayer and practice.

Now the rain began to pour, causing the monks to hurry inside for shelter with Rayne who was looking outside, watching to see if there were any lightning waiting for her. Every so often she would whisper loudly, “I know that jerk is out there, laughing her ass off for my misery of the lightning just because she could throw lightning bolts at me.”

The monks for a while stared at her, before they figured out that she was talking about her friend. They were upset that the other spirit did not join her, but hearing the other’s reassuring words that she was safe and knew what to look for calmed them down. As the rain continued to fall, something on the ground began to shake, as she quickly leaned down her whole body to the floor. Feeling the vibrations of the rain, she felt something heavier treading their way to the temple.

Instantly she was on her feet, pulling out a long staff of steel from the ground, and facing it to the front of the door. The monks’ reaction was immediate as they formed a barrier around her, each pulling out a kunai knife.  Ignoring the sounds of the rain, she concentrated on the vibration of the group,

“There are at least four of them, possibly five. I can’t be sure since the rain is so loud,” she whispered to the whole group.

They didn’t respond and just waited, listening for the explosion of the explosive tags, but nothing happened. Instead there was a rapid knock on the door. Blinking, Rayne looked at the monks who refused to budge before sighing loudly. With a wave of her hand, the doors swung opened. She knew that she was taking a big risk but she trusted Life and herself to protect the monks. They froze when they saw the doors opened, but relax with she didn’t lower her guard and continued to wait. Sora stood directly in front of her, his clawed weapon in hand as he prepared to pounce.

Soon the doors revealed several shinobis wearing long rain coats walk quickly to where they were before they stood before the monks. Huffing, one of them took their hoods off, causing the whole group to tense but Rayne smirked as she saw the familiar blond hair of Naruto. Sora was the first to calm down before the others lowered their stances to match hers’.