Tag For Keeps

And So It Begins
"Can you walk any slower?" Kimiko shouted at Akemi from the end of the path.

"Yeah, hurry it up." Her older brother Hikaru chimed in.

Suppressing her urge to smack both the bratty children on the sides of their heads as she approached. It had been awhile since Akemi had been assigned a mission, 4 weeks in fact. Though Akemi had taken advantage of the surplus of free time to train, she had longed for a mission, simply to ease her boredom. Acting as the sole guard for two rather unpleasant teens was not the mission she had in mind. Hikaru and his younger sister Kimiko were the children of one of the wealthiest merchants in the Land of Fire from what Akmei knew. They had been brought to Akemi out outside the boundaries of the Hidden Leaf Village by a team of five chunin. Their father had began traveling to the Land of Craters with his caravan, while his children were to be escorted South, to The Land of Tea where their mother resided. The task had seemed simple enough, an easy task for a ninja of Akemi's caliber. No one had told her the hardest part of the mission would be NOT killing the people she was supposed to protect.

Kimiko was an attractive young girl of 16, her long brown hair cascading over her back, obscuring the pink floral pattern on the expensive Kimono type overcoat she was wearing. The Kimiko's knee high boots had a similar pattern, stretching from the fur peering out from the inside of the boot to the thick heel that added an inch to Kimiko's height. Her brother Hikaru was only a year older, sporting a sleeveless shirt, no doubt showing of the weapon tattoos on his arms. Apparently his father dealt in rare weapons, several of which were now a permanent part of his son's body. A heavily embroidered black and gold staff ran up the teen's right arm, surrounded by am equally decorated whip sword of the same color. His left arm bore a set of decorated knives laid out across his flesh. Hanging from his expensive leather belt, Hikaru had a sheath completely concealing a finely crafted knife. Akemi knew it was finely crafted, because she had helped make it. Her and Yoru sensei had spent hours crafting a blade that was both beautiful and efficient. That knife was now around the waist of Hikaru, son of one of the richest merchants currently in existence. The thought left a bad taste in her mouth.

Hikaru and Kimiko had been nothing but a thorn in Akemi's side since they had left the village. They were typical spoiled brats, nothing less and certainly nothing more. Kimiko went into a momentary rage every time dirt was kicked up from the trail and onto her attire. The outbursts occurred every ten minutes or so, the spaces filled with Hikaru making passes at Akemi, the last of which Akemi had threatened to drag him by a broken leg to their destination. The edge in her voice and the threatening look in her eyes had convinced Hikaru to remain distant from Akemi for now, but it was likely only a matter of time before his arrogance once again got the best of him. In addition, the siblings seemed to view Akemi as more of a servant than a hired bodyguard, constantly showing displeasure with her pace, whether slow or fast and insisting she perform laboring tasks such as carrying their bags when they got tired, which had been about 90% of the journey so far. ''Worst. Mission. Ever.'' Akemi thought as she began grinding her teeth.

"Your so slow." Kimiko exclaimed. "We're never going to make it there in time if you keep slacking like this, and I am not sleeping outside on the dirt. If it gets dark before we reach the inn, you better come up with something fast."

Hikaru slowed to allow Akemi to come even with him, stretching one of his tattooed arm over her shoulders. "Are you tired?" he asked with a tone that somehow emanated his confidence. "If you like you can rest in my room once we get to the inn?"

Akmei shot Hikaru the same icy look she had before, getting him to immediately remove his arm and take a step away from Akemi. "I told you to back off." Akemi said with a hard edge in her tone. "I'm getting really sick of these advances. If you keep this up, you won't like what I do to you." Despite them obviously being a threat, Akemi's words didn't seem to have the desired effect, as Hikaru continued to look at her with a smug grin on his face.

"Your so rude." Kimiko joined. "Our father is paying the Hidden Leaf a lot of money to keep us safe. We were told you were professional, not rude. Stop being so rude."

Akemi could feel the veins in her face bulge for a moment before she took a deep breath to calm herself. Arguing with the brats would do nothing but slow them down. It was in Akemi's best interest, and theirs, that this mission be completed as quickly as possible. So far nothing had gone wrong. Akemi could only hope that the remained of the mission go as smoothly.