Minding Her Own Business.

[Hishime]

Sitting in a dark corner of the bar, a deep sigh came from the girl’s full lips. Her jet-black hair was covering her left eye, and her ocean-green eyes seemed to be focused on the bar table, as if she was deep in thoughts.

“Excuse me, can I help you?” The young girl looked up as she heard someone talking to her, only to see the barkeeper standing in front of her. It took some time before she realized that he had asked her what she wanted to order. “I’ll have some sake..” she replied without any hesitating.

The barkeeper just looked at her and raised an eyebrow. “How old are you exactly?” he asked her in a somewhat rude tone. “Old enough..” Hishime replied in the same rude tone and glared slightly at him. “Hnn..” The barkeeper turned around and grabbed a small cup and a bottle of sake, then slammed them on the bar with a loud thud.

“Thank you.” Hishime said in a cold and rude tone, giving him another glare. ‘Why does it bother everyone if I just want to order a drink?’ she thought angrily to herself and poured some sake in the cup. ‘Its none of their business anyway..’ Hishime took a small sip and sighed again.

[ken]

A dark figure stalked its way through the sandy streets of the Sand Village's central district. It was late, everyone was either asleep or drunk at this time of night. A dog howled somewhere out of site, which was quickly followed up by another agitated howl from another animal nearby. This continued for some ten minutes. The dark figure didn't speak dog, but it sounded as if they were arguing.

Even the animals were drunk at this hour, it supposed.

The figure shivered gently as the wind picked up, its breath puffing out in clouds before being snatched away by the breeze. That was the probem with deserts: unbearable heat during the day; freezing cold at night. The figure stopped beside a small dusty bulding between two large housing blocks. A warm light spilled out from the windows and doorway, and illuminated the bottom half of the figure's hooded face. It smiled when it noticed the small sign next the door reading, 'INN'. The dark figure entered.

The bar area was small and gloriously warm, with tables and chairs crammed so close together that it looked like an art form. A lone drunk man lay asleep at the back of the room against a wall, with someone sitting at the bar in the time old fashion of someone down on their luck. The bartender stood absent-mindedly cleaning a glass in the same way that all bartenders stand whilst absent-mindedly cleaning a glass. The cloaked figure took a seat at the bar, and pulled its hood down.

'Something very hot and very alcoholic, please, sir,' the abnormally pale man said, shaking the day's sand from his messy hair and rubbing his tired eyes with a bandaged hand.

With the way he felt, Izanagi would need it.

[Hishime]

The young black-haired girl slowly looked up from her cup as she heard another person enter the inn. She turned her head to the entrance of the small building, only to see an older man also sitting down at the bar. Immediately as the man sat down, the 15 year old lowered her head and stared at her empty bottle and cup again.

“Hey, barkeep..” the girl spoke with an emotionless voice, without looking up. “I’d like to order the strongest alcoholic drink you have..” The barkeeper looked at the young girl and sighed, not really knowing what to do with this girl. “I don’t care about the price..” Hishime added as she got no reaction from the barkeeper.

She was glad she looked older than she really was. She was actually 15 but she looked more like a 17 year old. She guessed this was mostly because of her dark make-up and chest-size. She sighed deeply as another glass was placed in front of her. As she lifted the glass and brought it to her lips, she took a quick glace at the person who was sitting next to her.

Hishime didn’t recognize the man, she figured that she’d probably never seen him before. She took a small sip and closed her eyes slightly as she felt the liquid burning in the back of her throat. She didn’t knew how she was going to pay for all this, but she didn’t care at the moment. The chunin carefully placed the glass back on the bar and took another quick glace at the unfamiliar man.

The young kunoichi placed her head in both of her hands and stared at the glass. “Drinking away the pain..?” she asked. The question wasn’t really directed to anyone, but more to herself. “Probably..” She answered to her own question. She closed her eyes again and yawned.

[ken]

Izanagi swirled the hot liquid around in the small clay cup in his hands. He eyed it in silence for a whole five minutes, then knocked it back quickly. It burned like hell in more ways than one, but it woke him up and warmed him tremendously. He didn't fancy it as something he'd drink too often though; it tasted and smelled like mint flavoured paint thinner.

'Hey, barkeep,' said a girl next to him. It was a young voice, wavering slightly under the weight of too many drinks. Izanagi watched from the corner of his eye as the reluctant barman approached her. She asked for the strongest drink in the place, a request the barman hesitated in fulfilling but carried out none-the-less. Money was money, he supposed.

Izanagi quietly ordered a more sedate drink and nursed it for a while. He was thinking. He had about five hours before he had to move on and get to work, and he was never one for waiting. Patience was a virtue he had heard of, and then decided he wanted no part in. He considered asking for a room, getting his head down and resting for a few hours, but he worried about not waking up in time. And he didn't like the idea of asking the barman for a wake-up call at five in the morning.

'Drinking away the pain?'

It was the girl. Izanagi turn to look at her. She was younger than him, definitely, but he couldn't tell by how much. Seventeen or eighteen maybe, with hair darker than coal and a dress sense that was less than adequate for the conditions outside. She was very pale looking. He didn't answer her at first because he wasn't sure if she was even talking to him. Izanagi had once witnessed a drunk man have an intense conversation with an empty table about the existence of the gods. She answered her own question either way.

'Probably,' she mumbled.

Was she talking to her drink? The barman appeared to sidestep away. Izanagi turned back to his drink, took a sip and cleared his throat.

'Just enjoying the heat, girl,' he said. 'Nothing is wrong with me.' He waited a beat and gestured for the barman to pass him the urn of water behind the bar. 'But if you don't mind me saying, you don't exactly look too good yourself.'

[Hishime]

It took a while before the words of the man reached her mind. Hishime looked up from her glass. ‘You don’t exactly look too good yourself.’ She repeated his words in her thoughts. She looked at the man, as if she didn’t understand what he was saying. Then she turned to her drink again and took another sip.

She thought about his words for a moment. ‘Don’t look too good yourself..?’ She lifted her glass again and shivered slightly as the cold glass met her lips. She took another sip and sighed deeply after the burning feeling in the back of her throat.

“What do you mean by that?” she finally asked the unknown man. She didn’t look at him this time, just started at her drink after she placed it back on the dark-brown wooden bar.

[ken]

'What do you mean by that,' the girl asked.

Something was wrong though. The girl had the distinct sound of a drunk being annoyed. Was it something he said? Izanagi thought fast.

'I mean you look a tad ill, that's all,' he said levelly. Unfortunately, Izanagi was never very good at dealing with drunks. Twelve heavily armed bandits he could handle; a lone drunk girl with very little on was another story. He did the stupid thing and continued talking. He also did the stupider thing by not getting up and walking away. 'Maybe you should take it easy on the drinks. Especially if you're thinking of walking home any time soon. There are people out there who might take advantage, you know.'

Probably wisely, the barman put down the glass he was polishing and calmly left the vicinity of the bar.

[Hishime]

A small smile appeared on the young kunoichi’s face as the man finished speaking. “Don’t worry, I can take care of myself..” she said, slowly picking up the glass and took a small sip. “I don’t have a home, I’m not welcome anymore..” She lifter her hand and shoved some hair out of her face, but it soon fell again, like usual.

“And I’ve been raped before, but not when I was drunk..” she added and sighed slightly. She was glad she didn’t act really aggressive or crazy when she was drunk. Only sometimes she’d become a real flirt. But whatever would happen, she was used to it, and not scared of anything.

The 15 year old laughed a little, “And it’s not like anyone would care if anything happened to me..” she spoke again after swallowing some more of the alcohol. She raised one hand and placed it against her throat after that burning feeling disappeared, closing her eyes slightly.

[ken]

Izanagi waited for the girl to stop before he thought about saying anything. He opened his mouth. Then closed it. It was difficult to say anything back to an emotional drunk. He nodded his head slowly and downed his drink.

'Fine,' he said eventually. He stood up and gestured the bartender over from the back corner of the room. The barman obliged and, very carefully albeit, approached him. Izanagi bent down low to the short bartender's ear. 'If you have a room left, give it to the girl,' he whispered, dropping a few coins into his willing hand. 'Keep the change.'

The barman stared at the coins in his hand for a moment, slack-jawed. Business hadn't been fantastic lately. He gathered himself, and nodded to the pale man enthusiastically, before disappearing upstairs to prepare a room.

Izanagi turned back to the girl and smiled.

'The barman is readying a room for you. Stay here tonight and take it easy.' Izanagi's smile disappeared. 'I have to be going now, kid.'

He pulled his dark hood up over his face and began walking towards the door. The girl was a shinobi, she had to be. She had that look about her. A drunk look about her, but a drunk shinobi look, none-the-less. With the work that Izanagi was planning that morning, a ninja would be a problem - inebriated or not.

Either way, he had to get out of here before she sobered up and started asking questions...

[Hishime]

Hishime looked up again and followed the man with her ocean-green eyes as he stood up and spoke with the bartender. Her jaw almost dropped as the man turned back to her and spoke again. “But..” she started, but was already cut off by his next set of words.

“But, I don’t even want to stay here!” she yelled after the man as he walked towards the door. She stood up from her seat, and almost tripped but soon caught her balance again, and walked after the man. She grabbed his sleeve before he could exit the inn. “I cant stay here, I have some business to take care of..”

Maybe she wasn’t sober at the moment, but she definitely knew what she wanted and she didn’t want. Even if would’ve been sober, she still wouldn’t have wanted to stay at this inn. She’s always lived outside, and didn’t find it save to stay at an unknown place.

[ken]

Izanagi had just stepped into the cold, dark night when he was tugged back inside by the sleeve. It was the girl.

'I cant stay here,' the girl whined. 'I have some business to take care of.'

Izanagi pulled his hood down again, utterly puzzled.

'Business?' He said. 'What "business" exactly? Have you seen the weather out there? No offense, girl, but you are hardly dressed for the indoors, never mind a freezing desert night. I would strongly suggest that you wait for sunrise at the very least. And sobering up goes without mention.'

Izanagi paused for a beat, then sighed gently and rubbed the back of his neck. What the hell was he doing? He'd killed shinobi younger than her in the past for goodness sake, and here he was being held back by a half naked drunk girl? He'd come in here for a quiet drink to wake him up and wait out the weather, and this is what he gets.

'Look,' he said calmly. 'Do what you want. I have paid for a room for you because you said you had nowhere to go, and the weather out there is terrible. But if you do not want to take it, and would rather wander out there in the bitter cold - fine with me, I will use it. Do not say I didn't warn you, though. Either way, make a decision; I am not letting that paid-for room go to waste.'

[Hishime]

“My business is my business, like your business is your business..”

Hishime quickly let go of his sleeve and silently waited for the man to finish talking. She sighed again and thought for a moment.

“Sir, I really appreciate it, but I cant take the room. It’s your money, you paid for it, not me.” She shook her head slowly, “Don’t worry about me, I’ve spent a lot of nights outside, in much worse weather conditions. I’ll manage.”

She tugged her somewhat cold hands in the pockets of her skirt and gave the man a small smile, then nodded, “Yes, I think you should take it. Like I said, I’ll be fine. But, if I may say, you look like you could use a good night rest.”

She laughed again and untied her jacket around her waist, then carefully put it on. “I’ll be going, get some sleep, ok?” Without waiting for a reply she zipped her jacket and walked out of the inn.

She shivered a little as the cold wind met her pale, bare skin. She tugged her hands in the pockets of her jacket and then started walking away, without looking back at the inn or the man.

[ken]

Izanagi stared as the young girl disappeared out of the door and into the blackness of the cold night, disappearing into the wind. He turned and sighed gently, closing his tired eyes lolling his head. She was right, of course. He hadn't slept in over thirty hours. His mind could be trained to function while tired, but his body couldn't. He would get a few hours rest at least - he'd bought that room now, anyway.

'You were staring at her butt the whole way out, y'know.'

Izanagi froze. And glanced to the back of the room. A man was standing near one of the dusty tables, his face shadowed in the gloom. He took a swig from a bottle in his hand, and smacked his lips approvingly.

'The Inuukubi doesn't allow its children to get laid,' he said, a row of perfect white teeth flashing into a malevolent sneer. 'Isn't that right - Izanagi?'

Izanagi's hand went straight for his blade. This man knew who he was, and he knew of the Inuukubi. Something was up.

'Who are you?' He growled. 'I recommend you speak quickly, that bottle won't halt my knife.'

'Hold your horses, pal. I'm on your side,' the man said. 'I'm a messenger, sent by your boss.'

'You mean my father.'

'Whatever, man,' he shrugged, taking another deep drink from the bottle at his side. 'This stuff tastes great.'

'How did you find me,' Izanagi asked suspiciously. He relaxed, but didn't take his hand of his weapon. He still wasn't sure about this guy.

'Coincidence,' the man said flatly. 'You just happened to walk right into me.'

'Of course,' Izanagi said dryly. Sounded like a bit more than a coincidence to him. He ignored it however. 'What's the message, then?'

'Your task has been moved back a wee bit. It no longer comes into action at dawn.'

Izanagi said nothing. They stared at each other for a long while. Neither flinched.

'By the way,' the mystery man said with a little smile. 'Your mission officially started about forty-five minutes ago. Best get a move on.'

The colour drained from Izanagi's face, if such a thing were even possible in a man as pale as he was. Like lightning, he turned and bolted out the building in one liquid movement, his cloak billowing out in his wake like a pair of raven's wings. Leaving the messenger on his own with his bottle. He held it out in front of him and upturned it. A few ponderous drips fell to the dry floor. He frowned.

'Bastard didn't even buy me a drink.'

[Hishime]

Hishime just continued walking. She did feel another presence, but she didn’t recognize it, so she didn’t really care. She was breathing more heavily than usual, but she guessed that was just normal because of the cold. She shivered again, but even though she was getting cold, she didn’t really care.

After a while, she quickened her pace and then gently jumped up, carefully landing on the roof of a random house. She yawned slightly and slowly ran her fingers through her jet-black hair. She closed her eyes for a couple of seconds, actually enjoying the cold breeze hitting her pale skin.

The 15 year old sighed deeply before slowly bending through her knees, and then carefully sat down. She hugged her knees tightly, and buried her head in her arms. Her breathing was heavily and somewhat uneven.

As she sat there in silence, she ran her fingers through her hair again, without lifting her head. She just sat like that for a couple of minutes, thinking about what had happened in all the years that had passed since she’d left this village.

Soon, her grip around her knees loosened and with a small sigh, she fell backwards. She didn’t make a sound as her back touched the hard roof. She slowly moved one hand over her stomach, to her chest and half unzipped her jacket, giving her a little more space to breath. As she laid there, her arm next to both sides of her head, and her chest rising in an uneven motion, her eyes slowly started to close, she was slowly drifting off in a light sleep.

[ken]

He was confused. Very confused. Izanagi had heard of messengers being sent out to inform field agents before, but he'd never heard of a mission being pushed back in such short notice. It all goes without mentioning the guy in the bar. When Izanagi had first arrived, he had been asleep at the back of the room like your typical alcoholic bar regular. Next thing he knows, the guy's up and shiny as a button; and the worst thing was that Izanagi hadn't even sensed him awaking and moving around. He definitely wasn't on the ball tonight. And it still bothered him that he'd encountered him like that.

A coincidence it most certainly wasn't.

Izanagi had scaled a tall housing block across from the inn and was observing the dense city of the Sand from on high. A starfield and crescent moon provided most of the ambient light, with only a few pockmark torches at street level doing anything similar. The wind was powerful at this height, and colder than it was at ground level. Izanagi fished inside his fur-lined cloak and produced a folded piece of stained parchment. He unfolded it - a feat in itself considering the gale - and inspected it's contents. It was a map, showing all the major streets and buildings of the city - including one building very clearly marked with red ink. He looked up from the paper and tried to get his bearings, picking out landmarks and rechecking the directions printed on the map. Satisfied, he crushed the paper into a ball, held it in the air and set it alight, sparks dancing from his hand chaotically.

Izanagi stood slowly.

'Time to go,' he said to himself.

He unhooked the buttons on his dark cloak and tore it off with one hand, holding it out to his side with an outstretched arm. It flapped and whipped like a torn flag in the wind, before Izanagi released it to be carried away into the darkness. His all white attire was now in full view, including his weapons and pouches full of equipment. He pulled his long frayed scarf up over his mouth and nose, and wrapped it tight.

Izanagi took two deliberate steps toward the edge of the building, drew his blade. And jumped.

[Hishime]

The young kunoichi laid peacefully, slowly drifting off in a light sleep. Then it happened…

A loud howl of a dog ran through the silence of the cold desert night. The eyes of the young girl shot open and in one single movement she was up her feet again. Of course, the alcohol had taken a toll on her body and mind.

Her deep ocean-green eyes slowly scanned the area, not realizing it was just a dog. As she couldn’t see anything, she just sighed and tugged her pale, cold hands on the warm pockets of her jacket.

She just stood like that for a few seconds, and then…

BANG!

The young chunin clumsily stumbled backwards, almost losing her balance as she was hit by something, right in the face. It was only very small, but it also came very unexpected.

She moved her hands around and over her face, trying to get, whatever it was, out of her face.

After a few seconds of clumsy, fast movements, the thing that had hit her suddenly fell off her face, on the ground. The young girl fell backwards because of all her weird movements, and landed on her butt with a loud thud.

Hishime groaned a little and rubbed her sore butt as she slowly stood up. She gently bended through her knees and reached for the object.

Eyes formed in a death glare, she carefully picked it up. It wasn’t very hard and not big at all. She ran the thing through her cold, pale hands. “What the heck is this thing?” she thought to herself out loud. “Its definitely not a rock.. but then what is th--PAPER!!” the young girl yelled out, eyes wide.

She brought it closer to her face so she could take a closer look. ‘It definitely is paper..’ she thought to herself and carefully unfolded the paper with slow and gentle movements.

The chunin carefully stood up and stretched her arms in front of her, taking a better look at what was on the paper. ‘It’s a map.. of suna..’ she thought to herself. ‘Why would someone have this?’

She stood there, studying the map for a few seconds, and then..

BANG!!

“WHY ME?!” Hishime yelled as she was hit by another object, a large object. It almost completely covered her body.

She stumbled forward, getting very close to the edge of the roof. “WHY IS IT ALWAYS ME?!” she screamed as she lost her balance, and slipped off the roof.

She groaned loudly as she hit the hard, cold ground. The large object gently came down with slow movements and landed on top of the girl, covering her completely. The map was still in her hands, but she’d accidentally ripped it a bit as she felt.

With one movement, the girl rolled over and jumped on her feet again. Now she saw what the large object was. ‘A cloak..’ she thought to herself and carefully picked it up. ‘A white cloak..’

Then it hit her, it was from that guy from the bar! She eyed the map again, now noticing a small red mark on one of the buildings. Without hesitating the girl took off, holding both of the objects in her arms, to the marked building, which wasn’t far from there..