Ch. 17 - Awkward

On a table surrounded by the Furious Five and Jin. They were all eating happily except for Tigress who kept glancing at Jin from time to time and when their eyes met, they immediately looked away as if they were caught doing something bad.

Soon, as time passed, the Furious Five started noticing the sudden weird atmosphere between Jin and Tigress.

"Uhm, is there a problem between the both of you?" Viper was the first one to notice and also the first one to ask.

"W-what?" Tigress, who glanced at Jin for the umpteenth time, suddenly noticed the weird looks that her fellow masters are giving her.

"Hmm, I could smell something going on here." Mantis said while squinting his eyes.

"I-it's nothing. I was just thinking about our mission today." Tigress swiftly found a reason and said.

"Oh right, now that you said that. I still can't believe that some bad guys would actually use orphans to do their dirty work. Ugh, now I want to finish this meal and immediately rescue those poor babies." Viper's words immediately changed the topic, much to Tigress and Jin's relief.

As much as possible, they don't want what happened to them last night to spread out.

To Tigress, it is because she wanted to keep a strong persona that doesn't waver even in the face of love while to Jin, he doesn't want the Furious Five to know about it because he thinks it is troublesome. With Monkey's personality, the words would surely spread as fast as a forest fire. That little monkey can't keep his mouth shut at things like this.

In short, they both have the same goals but different reasons.

*Thud!*

Seeing Master Shifu opening the door, they all immediately abandoned what they were doing and bowed to Master Shifu as they greeted him.

"Master!" They all said in unison.

"All of you, finish your meals immediately and prepare yourselves with your mission. Jin, come with me, it is time for you to receive the Dragon Scroll." Master Shifu said to the Furious Five before finishing his sentence while turning his attention to Jin.

"Yes, master." Jin nodded his head and directly gulped the entire noodles in his bowl before following Master Shifu out.

"The Dragon Scroll! He's finally getting it! I gotta witness it!" Monkey excitedly said before gulping the contents of his bowl and started running outside. The rest of the masters also did so and followed Monkey, even Tigress wasn't spared and wanted to see her Dragon Scroll for herself.

***

"The Dragon Scroll." Jin stared at the ceiling in amazement, specifically the Scroll that is residing on a dragon head's mouth.

"Yes, it is the Dragon Scroll." Master Shifu was no exception, even he was amazed at the sight of the Dragon Scroll despite how many years he always sees it.

"Step aside." Master Shifu said and noticed that the Furious Five entered the Jade Palace, though he just ignored them since it doesn't hurt for them to watch and besides, he wants to look cool in front of his students.

Master Shifu then started twirling his cane as the wind followed suit and commanding the wind to carry the small petals around the Jade Palace.

*Swoosh!*

At first glance, it looks like Master Shifu was having a hard time, however there was a glint in his eyes that said otherwise.

After a few twirls, the petals slowly flew in the air and at some point, one petal landed at the end of the scroll.

Just after a few seconds, the balance of the scroll shifted at where the petal resided until it fell from the dragon's mouth.

"Huu!" Master Shifu then extended his cane, catching the Dragon Scroll before it fell on the water while at the same time, the end of the cane slowly lowered down a bit as it caught the Dragon Scroll, creating a single but wide wave of water.

Unknowingly, the Furious Five held their breaths in the process and when it was finally done, they all sighed in relief. Meanwhile, Jin just stared at this in amazement.

"It's yours." Master Shifu then gracefully presented the Dragon Scroll to him, holding the scroll with both hands as if it was the greatest treasure in the entire universe that a single touch would scratch it.

"Thank you, Master." Jin gave his thanks before grabbing the Scroll from Master Shifu's hands.

'Should I make it as dramatic as Po in the original?' Thinking of this, Jin removed the cap of the scroll before coming to a decision.

Under the anticipating gazes of Master Shifu and the Furious Five, Jin opened the scroll flashing Jin's face with gold light.

"Oh my god! This can't be!"

"What is it?" Seeing Jin's shocked face just increased their curiosities and now they're dying to know what Jin saw in the Dragon Scroll.

"It's too much! I can't breathe!" At this point, Jin was on the verge of kneeling while his eyes were still glued on the 'contents' of the scroll.

'Is this the true power of the Dragon Scroll?!' Even Master Shifu was waiting in anticipation. In his expectations, Jin would suddenly be covered in bright light and inside that light, Jin would transform into a being worthy to be called the Dragon Warrior!

"Ahh...AHHHHHHHHhh.... It's empty." Just when things were about to get so intense, Jin decided to drop the act and spit the real content of the scroll.

"W-what?" Master Shifu stuttered as he was confused at what Jin said.

"Look, it's empty." Jin then proceeded to show the 'content' of the Dragon Scroll.

"No! We mustn't look!" Master Shifu immediately diverted his eyes away from the scroll, while the Furious Five also did the same.

Peeking with his one eye, Master Shifu immediately grabbed the Dragon Scroll, looking at its empty content in confusion.

"If it's empty, then what's with you shouting earlier?" Viper also saw the empty content and asked Jin about his outburst earlier.

"Oh, yeah about that. I was just being dramatic, you should've seen your faces! Hahaha!" Jin then started laughing out loud, making their faces twitch in annoyance and anger.

*Bam!*

"You had me worried for nothing!" Tigress yelled at him in fluster as she tried to punch Jin on the face.

Luckily, Jin managed to catch Tigress's punch and couldn't help but tease her.

"'Me?' Is my little kitten worried for me? I feel blessed." Jin said with a cheeky smile, making Tigress blush at realization.

"N-no! I said 'we'." Tigress immediately tried to refute his words however, the Furious Five weren't on her side this time.

"I also heard she said 'me' instead of 'we'." Mantis pointed out.

"Yeah, me too. I thought I was the only one who misheard." Monkey added in, and so is the rest of the Furious Five, making Tigress blush more.

Heck, even Master Shifu was looking at her with raised eyebrows.

"I-I'm out of here!" Cannot bear the embarrassment, Tigress immediately escaped the embarrassing situation. Her speed was so fast that it took her a second before disappearing from their eyes.

Meanwhile, there's only one word that is running on Jin's mind.

'Tsundere.'

***

After getting the Dragon Scroll, the Furious Five got bored and started preparing for their upcoming mission. After all, who's interested in an empty scroll? Who knew that an old but wise turtle turns out to be a scammer?

At least that's what is in their mind as Jin knew the true meaning of the Dragon Scroll, and he's not gonna tell them after all, he's the Dragon Warrior not them.

Jin also soon started preparing as this time, he'll lead the mission for the first time and it's not wrong to say that he's not nervous.

Yes, he has the Jin Kazama template for Kung-Fu and shit but Jin doesn't have any talents in leading an elite squad towards a mission. Maybe the original Jin Kazama can but Jin still hasn't unlocked the 100% of Jin's Template.

Still, Jin wanted to lead the mission, not because he wants to feel the authority to command such a group of masters but because he needed to take this as an experience towards his future path, who knows when he will someday lead an entire army by himself.

***

"Are you all ready?" Seeing them nod their heads, Jin finally took off along with them.

Their destination isn't that far as it is just on the other side of the mountain, it's similar to the Valley of Peace except that it is not the Valley of Peace.

During the journey, Tigress seems to be trying her best to ignore him, even when he asks her if she wants to take a break however, she just answers with a 'un'.

'Did I go too far with my teasing? I thought it would work since I read some novels and fanfics about it. How come their teasings worked while mine don't?' Jin grumbled inside his mind but nonetheless, this didn't hurdle them from their journey as it only took them 2 days to arrive at the other side of the mountain.

As expected, they were welcomed by the citizens and Jin finally knew the name of the Valley.

The Valley of Tea.

It's those kinds of valleys, where it is mostly ruled by merchants and such instead of the Valley of Peace which is ruled by Kung-Fu.

'No wonder even the orphanage could be taken advantage of, no Kung-Fu Master is protecting the Valley of Tea like how the Jade Palace protects the Valley of Peace.' Thinking of this, Jin wanted to take a break first since they've been travelling non-stop and besides, he wanted to taste the tea here.

Maybe there's a reason why it's called the Valley of Tea.

|-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_|

You can visit my p@treon to read 15 advance chapters and if you want to support me. (www.p@treon.com/SlimeSage) don't forget to change @ to a.