Minding Her Own Business.

[ken]

Izanagi landed with the barest hint of a sound, his body crouched. His heart hammered in his chest with the adrenaline - he always did feel elated in his work. He listened for a moment. Dogs howled, and the wind responded with its own whine. All ambiance; nothing to worry about.

He dashed forward silently and pressed his back against a dusty wall opposite him. He was still a good three or four stories above ground level, on some storage building between housing blocks. Just above him a window glowed from within. That was his target. He listened once more and, satisfied, hoisted himself up to the window via a rusty drainage pipe. A shadow moved across from behind the boarded window and a man coughed and spluttered sickly from inside. Izanagi positioned and braced himself in front of the window, his blade between his teeth. With one great push the boards caved in and splintered, and he swung himself inside in one fluid motion - landing in front of a middle-aged and very shocked man in his nightgown. The pipe he was smoking dropped from his mouth.

'Urg,' the man managed. Before being slammed against the bedroom wall by his trespasser, a knife against his throat and his mouth covered by a bandaged hand.

'Good evening, Satori-san,' Izanagi whispered to the trembling man. 'The Inuukubi have a few questions for you.'

[Hishime]

Her breathing was even more heavily as she ran through the darkness of the night. She didn’t know what was going on, but she knew that at least something was going on. And she knew it had something to do with that guy she’d met in the bar.

‘It must be here somewhere..’ Hishime thought to herself, and came to a sudden stop. She quickly looked around her, but didn’t see which building it was. She opened the map again, scanning it for a few seconds, and then looked around her again.

Her deep eyes rested on a large house. She could see two shadows moving in front the window and smirked a little. A small groan was heard, and then followed by another male voice, the man’s voice. She couldn’t really make out what they were saying, only something about ‘Inuukubi’ and ‘Questions’.

Without making a sound, she bended through her knees and jumped, landing on the building in front of the house the man was in. A large grin crossed her pale face, now being able to see what was going on. If only she could fully hear it...

She slowly sat down and swung her almost bare legs over the edge of the roof, making sure she wouldn’t make any sound. She watched the man and another man she didn’t knew, enjoying what was going on.

‘So.. he’s an assassin?’ she asked herself, and couldn’t help to grin even more. ‘Awesome.., but I guess its better to keep an eye on them, and maybe I would even be able to help..’ Her grin changed into a sadistic smirk. It has been quite a long time since she’s seen blood...

[ken]

'Please! D-Don't hurt me!'

The man clearly wasn't one who believed in the saying, 'grin and bear it'. He spoke pathetically, with a tiny, rasping voice. One too many tobacco leaves Izanagi wagered.

'I have no interest in harming you, Satori-san. I am just here to ask questions. Please stop crying.'

'I-I don't know anything! I've done n-nothing wrong! Please--!'

Izanagi pressed his diamond-edged blade closer to the sobbing Satori's throat, and tightened his grip on both of the man's frail wrists behind his back. Quite wisely, he shut up.

'I am terribly behind schedule, Satori-san. The sooner you answer; the sooner I leave.'

Satori calmed himself for a beat, still breathing hard, and swallowed. He licked his dry lips.

'Wha-What do you w-want to know?'

'Your son is a former shinobi of this village, he went AWOL more than six months ago. Been hunted since then. I am correct, yes?'

'What of him? I have no idea where he is, if that's what you're after!'

Izanagi considered this for a moment.

'Liar,' he said matter-of-factly. 'He has been seen meeting with you on the same day of each month since he disappeared.'

Satori-san's face drained of colour. There was the visible look of utter fear about him now. His breathing had all but stopped.

'I... I don't know what you're--'

'He's been giving you money,' Izanagi said irritably. 'We have eyes everywhere, Satori-san. Your son and his friends seem to find the life of a highway bandit fairly pleasurable. At least he still has time to keep his dear old father in the money. Frankly, I am shocked that the hunter-nin of this village have not found him yet.'

'You... You don't know what you're--'

'Talking about? No, I am fairly certain of my brother's information. All I want to know from you is where he and his little bandit posse is hiding, like I said. I think you can answer that for me.'

Satori was a ghost now - whiter than the clothes that his captor wore on his back. His mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. The only reason he was still standing was because Izanagi was holding him up.

'I... I-I have no idea where he is.'

There was the barest hint of hesitation from Izanagi. Then, he spun the frightened man around one-hundred-and-eighty degrees, drew a kunai from its holster - and jammed it into the back of Satori's leg. The man crumpled to his knees, his pained cry muffled tight by Izanagi's hand.

'Shall I ask you again, Satori-san?'

[Hishime]

Hishime’s smirk grew even bigger and more sadistic than it already was at the sight of the blood. “Such entertainment..” she whispered to herself, no longer caring if anyone would hear her.

In one quick movement, she stood up and took two kunai from her weapon pouch, holding one in each hand. She laughed quietly to herself. Quick as lightning, she jumped forwards and through the already shattered window. She gently rolled over the floor before coming to a stop.

“Having fun?” she asked both of the men. Her voice and eyes were showing her sadistic desires. She slowly stood up with one gently movement, her grip tightened around her kunai.

“Playing around so late at night, what a shame.” Hishime raised her voice a little. “This cant be tolerated.”

She didn’t mean what she was saying, she actually really enjoyed it. It wasn’t really because of the alcohol that she was acting like this, she wasn’t sober, but the alcohol never really had a very bad effect on her.

[ken]

He had only just finished crippling Satori when Izanagi heard it - a whisper behind him, outside. In a flash the wounded Satori was dragged to his feet and made to face the breached window, with Izanagi positioned behind him holding him up as a hostage. A blur passed through the opening, rolled and recovered in front of him inside the sparsely lit room. And he couldn't believe what he saw.

'Y-You!'

It was the girl from the bar - kunai in her hand and still looking a little worse for wear. And still wearing very little for that matter. Something was odd, though, besides the unexpected appearance. That smile for one; it had all the characteristics of what Izanagi had come to call - very quietly it must be said - 'mental shinobi syndrome'. And he was still working on a decent name for it.

'Having fun?' The girl smirked wickedly. 'Playing around late at night, what a shame.'

Izanagi wasn't really listening. His eyes were darting about the room, working out the best course of action for his escape. There was a low table to his left with cushions positioned around it on the floor, a large screen to his right that led to another room, and an open doorway to his south west that led to what appeared to be the bedroom. And then there was the window he had come in through. And the girl was in the way of that.

'If you are here to try your luck in taking this man from me,' he said, 'then take my word for it when I say it is not worth it, miss.'

Izanagi stared down the girl. One thing was evident. She was wearing very little in the way or armour on her arms and legs, and that was a mistake. If push came to shove, it was simply a case of severing the tendons in her legs and making a break for it. The less-than-lethal route was always the preferred route in these situations.

'Listen now. My fight is not with you, shinobi,' Izanagi said collectively. 'But I guarantee you that I will use force if you do not let me get my answers from this man.'

There was an uneasy quiet. A half-unconscious Satori groaned wretchedly as the ache in his leg intensified. Izanagi took a deep breath, relaxed, and said:

'Your choice, ninja.'

[Hishime]

Hishime sighed deeply and her smirk vanished, “No, sir, I’m not here to take that man from you.” She stated while slowly shaking her head. “I don’t even know him.”

She looked at the pale man, and gave a small innocent smile. “I don’t want to fight you, at least not yet, and definitely not here. But, of course, if you attack, I’ll have to defend myself. And believe me, I wont hold back.”

The young girl sighed again and looked away, carefully placed both kunai back in its holster.

“Calm down.” She said and looked at the men again, still a small smile on her face. She took a few silent steps towards them. “Even though I’m a ninja, I promise I wont tell anyone about this. I give you my word.”

She suddenly came to a stop and now stood 1 foot away from to man who was held hostage. She slowly raised one hand and gently lifted up his head. With her green eyes looking straight into his, she whispered with a soft but serious voice.

“I’d answer his questions correctly and without hesitation if I were you. Then, maybe, he wont hurt you anymore.”

As she pulled away and let go of the man’s head, she quickly winked at the pale man before turning around and walking a few feet away. Then, she slowly turned around again and leaned against the wall, while giving another small smile.

[ken]

Perhaps it was just his luck; perhaps it was the gods' way of having a laugh. But Izanagi's work lately had been riddled with pointless fights, irritating people and, most of all, schizo shinobi. And they were all usually linked in some way. This girl was just the latest to be placed on top of the pile. He considered his options again: he could try his luck and make a break for it, which could land him in another fight; he could throw caution into the wind and incapacitate the girl for security's sake, which, again, would cause a fight; or lastly, he could roll with the situation as is and retaliate if she pulled something funny. Not funny haha, but funny slashstab. The bad kind of funny.

'I have your word, shinobi,' Izanagi said eventually, sheathing his blade. He reached down and yanked the kunai out of Satori's leg and holstered it. The old man reacted with a pathetic groan. He bent down low and hefted the injured man onto his shoulder, and opened the screen into the neighboring room. It was another living area, slightly bigger than the one they were in, with two couches and a chair in the centre. Various ornaments and pictures hung from the pale walls and a foreign looking rug was stretched out in front of a small stove. A very fancy stove. The money Satori was making out of his son's pirating must have been substantial - even Izanagi was impressed.

'And miss,' Izanagi said to the girl as he wandered into the living area. 'I want you to stay where I can see you at the very least.'

He plonked Satori down heavily into the chair and straightened him up roughly to keep the moaning man conscious.

'...L-look, I'll tell you... where he is,' Satori managed. 'But... please, don't hurt my s-son.'

'That is entirely up to your son, Satori-san.' Izanagi said with a sigh. He was getting a headache now. Too much happening at once tonight. He fished inside a large pouch on his hip and produced a small vial and a bandage. He bent down in front of the injured man and looked up at him, holding the two medical items up for consideration. 'You tell me where he is, and I make sure you don't bleed to death. Hai?'

Satori nodded sleepily. Izanagi smiled darkly and stood up.

'Hey girl,' he called into the opposite room. 'I have a little job for you.'

[Hishime]

‘I have your word, shinobi.’ The pale man said. Hishime nodded, “Hai.” she muttered quietly. She grinned a little as the pale man yanked the kunai out of the older man’s leg. Something changed inside her at the sight of blood. She felt the familiar strange feeling in her stomach, and a great desire to kill, but tried hard to ignore it.

The black haired girl followed all of his movements with her eyes. As the man opened the big screen, she carefully took a step forward and peeked around the corner out of curiousness.

Her jaw almost dropped at the sight of couches, ornaments and many pictures. “How rich is this old dude?!” she muttered under her breath. She quickly looked at the pale man as he spoke again.

“Hai, wakarimasu.” Hishime replied and nodded again.

The young shinobi kept her eyes focused on the men as she stayed in the other room. ‘Looks like he’s finally going to get some answers out of that man.’ she thought to herself and smiled a little more.

As the pale man knelt down in front of the injured man and held up a vial and bandage, Hishime slowly shook her head.

‘Hey, girl,’ the man called out to her, she looked at him questioningly. ‘I have a little job for you.’ Hishime thought for a moment before replying. “What kind of job exactly?” she asked the man as she slowly walking towards him.

She came to a stop a few feet away from them and glanced at the man’s injured leg. “Will you allow me to take care of that wound?” she asked the pale man, “I’m a medic-nin.”

[ken]

Izanagi gave the tiniest of smiles. 'Way ahead of you, shinobi,' he said. He held out the two items - the vial and the bandage - and said, 'Douse the wound with the liquid in the vial, and bandage it up tight. No need to waste chakra on him, medic-nin. The wound is not that bad. I am just trying to keep him awake so I can get a straight answer.'

He placed the two items on a small round table next to the chair Satori was sat in, and gently pushed the items over to the girl. Then, he turned his attentions back to his captive.

'Okay, Satori-san. Speak.'

[OOC: Ooh, a short one today. ]

[Hishime]

Hishime gently knelt down in front of the injured man. “If you don’t mind, I’ll be using my own stuff.” Without waiting for a reply she reached for the pouch on her hip and pulled out a small bottle of light purple liquid and an injection needle.

“Don’t worry, Satori, this wont hurt that much.” the young shinobi carefully placed the items on the table and then gently lifted up the man’s injured leg and rested it on her knee.

She took a good look at the wound. ‘Its not that deep, luckily, but it can still cause a lot of trouble if I don’t do this the right way.’

The pale girl carefully placed her left thumb close above the wound and slowly added pressure. “How badly does this hurt?” she asked the man while taking a quick glance at his face.

With her other hand, she reached for the bottle and the injecting needle, while still holding the pressure and waiting for a reaction. With one hand, she opened the bottle and put some of the purple liquid into the injection needle.

Then, Hishime carefully placed the needle on his bare skin, very close to the wound. As the needle sank into the man’s skin, she kept glancing at the man’s face. Finally, she came to a stop and slowly injected the liquid.

With one gentle movement, she pulled the needle out of the man’s leg and placed it back on the table. Then, she reached for the bandage and quickly unwrapped it with one hand. She took one side of the bandage in her left hand and held it against the side of his leg, then carefully started to wrap it around, tightly, like the pale man said.

She held the bandage in place with one hand and reached for the pouch on her hip again with her other hand, and pulled out a safety pin. She opened it with one hand and attached it to the bandage, to keep it in place.

“All done.” Hishime said and smiled a small smile. She gently lifted his leg off of her knee and placed his foot on the ground, then slowly stood up and looked at the pale man, still smiling a little.

[ken]

[OOC: Made up for my uncharacteristic short post with a whopper. Pour yourself a brandy and get ready for an all-nighter. ]

Izanagi eyed the girl, stone-faced as she tended to Satori with her own medical equipment. He picked his own items off of the table hesitantly and dumped them back inside the pouch on his hip. Satori himself took a while before he had the energy to talk properly - which is saying nothing for the fact that he was being tended to rather uncomfortably with a needle. The girl finished her work fairly quickly and gave both men an innocent smile. Izanagi retaliated with the most brief of stares.

'Satori-san,' he said sternly, locking on to the bandaged man once more. 'Time to talk. Where is your son hiding?'

Satori inhaled deeply and shook his head to clear the stars from his vision.

'I want your word, ninja,' the wheezing man breathed. 'P-Promise me you won't hurt my son.'

'Your son is a bad person, Satori-san. And I do bad things to bad people.' Izanagi folded his arms and turned away. 'But... murdering him is not on the agenda; so you have my word that I will not kill him.'

Satori appeared to relax little, and took another gulp of air. There was a long pause.

'He's... My son is still inside Sunagakure.'

Izanagi flinched. There was a beat of pure dead silence - the kind of silence reserved for chapels and particularly strict libraries. Then, he turned and let his eyeline drill straight into the back of Satori's head.

'That had better be the truth, Sat--'

'It is the truth... He's been staying within the city as a safety measure. The hunter-nin have... they've been looking everywhere but the city since his disappearance. And there's a reason... there's a reason the hunter-nin are after him. My son has skills; skills the shinobi of this village would rather others didn't have. He's an espionage specialist - he's good at hiding, and cities are apparently the best places to hide.'

Izanagi regarded the captive man with shrewd eyes. He was telling the truth as far he could tell, and he could tell pretty damn well.

'Where in the city is your son,' he asked coldly. Satori shook his head slowly.

'I... I don't know. He changes places constantly. But... I know someone who will know - another ninja... my son's former teammate. His name is Kei Nakamura, lives in the north of the city, don't know where exactly. He's been aiding my son with his hiding since the start. You find him... and you'll find my son. Now please... leave me in peace.'

Izanagi thought for a moment. He hadn't heard of this Nakamura before, but then the Inuukubi wasn't almighty in its spy work. It was still fledgling group. He just happened to be one of the first. He made a decision to himself, and nodded slightly.

'Satori-san, that is all I need to know.' Izanagi smiled. And then the most confusing thing happened. There was an audible crack, like the distant whisper of thunder, and a gout of blood spewed from Satori's neck. The man choked and gargled on his own blood for only a few seconds, before collapsing forward onto his expensive rug where he remained deathly still. Izanagi's blade was drawn and in his hand, his arm outstretch, blood dripping from his weapon. It was as if he had never moved. He turned his head to look at the young shinobi barely a few feet beside him. And smiled in the most sincere way possible.

'How would you like to help me put some bad men away?'

[Hishime]

Hishime watched both men carefully as she took a few steps backwards and leaned against the wall. She slowly closed her eyes and followed the conversation, she didn’t let her guard down though.

‘So he’s good at hiding, huh?’ the girl thought to herself. ‘Luckily, I’m pretty good at tracking. And I know this city, mustn’t be too hard to find him.’

‘Kei Naramura?’ she thought, “I’ve never heard of him before.” Hishime spoke quietly but in a still audible tone. She didn’t open her eyes as she spoke. She made sure she’d remember everything the man had said, the name, and where he was, everything.

‘Satori-san, that is all I need to know.’ She recognized the voice of the pale man again as he spoke. Then, suddenly, she heard a strange crack and she felt a weird, thick kind of liquid on her face, arms and legs. Her eyes shot open.

“What the hell?!” This was all that came out of her mouth. She just stood there, staring at the limp body on the ground and at the man. Blood slowly dripped down her body.

She felt that strange feeling in her stomach again. Her heart started to beat faster and faster. She was lucky that she was still standing against the wall or else she would’ve probably fell on the ground.

The sight of blood always seemed to change something inside her. But, the young girl quickly shook it off before the feeling even got the chance to get worse.

‘How would you like to help me put some bad guys away?’ The girl eyes the man again, her eyes wide, full of shock but also full of bloodthirst.

She smirked that strange smirk again, “Of course..” she almost said in a whisper and whipped some blood out of her face with her thumb. Then, she licked the blood off and gave a small laugh.

“Of course I want to..”

[ken]

'Very good,' Izanagi smiled. He relaxed his stance and wiped the blood from his blade on the chair Satori had been sitting in - had been alive in - barely a few seconds ago, and sheathed it behind his hips. He turned and wandered past the girl nonchalantly and into the room with the broken window. There was a cupboard at the back of the room; he opened its oaken doors and rifled through the various clothes inside. A few minutes passed and, satisfied, he returned and threw a dark green cloak at the girl.

'Apologies, it is not exactly your colour. Either way, I want you to find a washroom in this place and clean that blood off you. When you are done, put that on and get me by the window in the back room. The last thing I want is the authorities of this place to find you covered in a dead man's blood. Take your time though, I will be waiting.'

Despite appearances, Izanagi wasn't one for trusting outsiders - especially ones that rain on his parade and act crazy. But this girl was different somehow. Not trustworthy exactly - far from it in fact. Just different. He had a good feeling about her, he supposed, a feeling that she'd be capable if nothing else. He also had a feeling that she was mentally insane. But then from his experience lately, what young shinobi wasn't? And if his instinct about her turned out to be wrong a little further up the line - he could always kill her.

He could always kill her.

[Hishime]

(OOC: Long one for me, well, longer than usual XD)

Hishime quickly raised her hand and easily caught the dark green cloak in mid-air. Then, without saying anything, she turned around and walked away, off to look for this so-called ‘washroom’.

As she slowly walked, her hips moving gently at her pace, she looked around. She suddenly came to a stop as she reached a white door in the corner of the room. She carefully opened it. And she couldn’t believe what she saw.

There was a huge room with a white floor and white walls. A large bath stood in the middle of the room and a wash table with mirror in a corner. All this stuff looked really expensive. ‘Wow, man, this dude is was rich!’

She slowly walked in and closed the door behind her. She walked towards the large wash table, and then looked in the mirror. She let go of the cloak, and let it fall next to her on the ground.

A young girl around the age of 15 was staring at her and gave a weak smile. Her jet-black hair was covering her left eye. Her skin was very pale and she was wearing some black make-up. Also, her hair was pretty messy and there was blood on her face.

Hishime quickly looked away from the mirror and now eyed the silver faucet on the wash table. She raised one hand and gently turned the handle.

She shivered a little as she cold water met her pale skin. She let the water pour in her hands before quickly lifting both hands and splashing the cold water in her face. The girl continued this for a while until all the blood was off her face. Then, she slowly removed the long glove on her left arm, which was also covered with blood. She put it in the pouch on her hip. Hishime tried not to eye all the scars on her arm, but they were actually pretty hard to miss. She poured some water in her left hand and quickly cleaned her other arms. The sink slowly filled itself with blood and water. Hishime tried her best to ignore it and then moved to her legs. She poured some water in both hands and quickly cleaned the blood off her legs.

Some blood and water dripped on the floor, but she didn’t really care. She grabbed a towel, which lay near the large bath and dried herself off. Then, she looked in the mirror again and gave a small smile at her reflection.

In one quick movement, she dropped the towel, picked up the dark green cloak and walked towards the door in a quick pace. She opened it, walked through and then closed it again.

Her ocean-green eyes searched across the room for a moment. Then, she walked towards the room she’d last seen the pale man.

She was carrying the cloak in her right arm, so the scars on her left arm were still visible. She would lie to herself if she’d say that she didn’t care about it. She just hoped he wouldn’t notice and most of all, didn’t question about it.

“One thing.” Hishime said to the man in a cold voice as she entered the room. Her face, arm and legs were still slightly wet, and reflected some of the light. “Don’t threat me like a kid. And if you try to kill me, I’ll be sure to take you with me to the afterlife.”

[ken]

The weather was cold outside still, but the wind had calmed to a whistle. Izanagi leaned against the sill of the broken window and studied the the obsidian sky. The heavy wind earlier had blown in a little more cloud cover than was usual for a desert environment and the moonlight was being blocked frequently as a result. As far as sneaking about in the dark was concerned, it was as good as it got in an arid place like this - pity about the street lights though. He stuck his head out the window and took a quick look at the street below. With the window's position at the side of the building and the presence of another tall structure to the front and left of the opening, he could only see down to the immediate right of the housing block. Two men in long khaki ponchos bearing the Sunagakure symbol wandered into the light of a street lamp, talking in hushed irritated voices and rubbing their arms furiously under their overclothes. Probably complaining about the weath--...

Wait.

They were armed - the end of a katana sheath stuck out from under their ponchos. Their matching dress suggested village officials at first, but the presence of weapons screamed authorities. Izanagi slowly pulled his head into the room a little, but kept his eyes glued to the two men. They seemed more interested in bitching about everything and nothing, and neither of the two seemed in a hurry to go anywhere. They were annoyingly slow, but eventually, both men disappeared out of view. A door clicked open at the far end of the living room. He stepped back from the window and turned to greet the girl as she approached him. The blood from her skin was washed away, but there was no hiding the stains on her clothing; and short of slipping into her birthday suit, that cloak was going to be a requirement. Although running through the streets starkers probably would've been more suspicious. Izanagi was about to say something when she cut him off.

'One thing,' the girl said in a voice about as homely as the temperature outside. 'Don’t treat me like a kid. And if you try to kill me, I’ll be sure to take you with me to the afterlife.'

Not a muscle moved on Izanagi's face for a full five seconds. Then, he smiled in the most honest way possible. It was vaguely unsettling.

'Of course, miss,' he said, bowing his head. 'But this is not the time for pleasantries - I expect there are authorities in the area, so we can get acquainted properly once we are in a safe location. You mentioned to me in the bar that you had no home, but you know this place better than I do. And if you want to help me, you are going to have to find us a spot to lay low until sunrise. Can you do this?'