A Leap of Courage.

  Souji had never witnessed such breathtaking scenery during her many years of travel, astonished due to all the vibrant colors within her proximity. Leaves ranging in both sizes and colors danced among the quintessential shrubbery, slightly decaying as the material had composted itself. Humidity had always been Souji's biggest hatreds of all time, up until she encountered the beautiful shades within the sky. Smog stretched along the country-side growing transparent, beams of sunlight fighting their way through. Tree-tops looked majestic as they were engulfed by the smog, almost as if they never ended. Birds echoed in the distance, animals frolicked within the river-bank. This, is what one should classify nature as. So innocent not one animal feels any need to be stressed or angered with a human in their proximity. "There's no other place you'd find this kind of tranquility..." Souji sighed happily, enduring the peace and beauty around her. Sweat dripped off of the little girl, the scorching heat being at it's high for the day. mirages danced upon the dirty trail only several meters away from Souji, condensation dripping from the base of the trees. "Jesus, I didn't realize how hot this land got..." Sighed Souji, grasping her necessities preparing to walk further along the path. Something didn't feel right, air around the Hyuuga stood still while the smog continuously thickened. Such sounds of tranquility ceased the further Souji ventured, almost as if she had completely left the atmosphere. "T-this doesn't make any sense..." Questioned the little girl. "I'm almost positive my altitude hasn't changed by much, what happened to all the noise? It's as if somebody di-" Her shoulder's relaxed, quickly undoing the bindings on her back. Hurling towards the earth, Souji firmly grasped onto her Bo staff sticking her left arm straight out. "There's only one way to be sure if I'm being watched."

  Elegantly, The Hyuuga's eyes clasped together focusing for a brief moment. Shouji's veins tensed up, chakra constantly emitting into them as she opened them wide. Sadly the Hyuuga wasn't capable of using her Byakugan to the full extent, however it was enough to pick up on three presences in her proximity. "Well well well, what do we have here boys?! Looks like a prize for the boss man!" howled the closest individual, sounding like a boy in his early twenties. Despite the fact he was covered in smog, Shouji's Byakugan is still capable of picking up the presence of his chakra. "Good job fool, I didn't think ya'd be able to catch us anything in one-thousand years, let-alone a Hyuuga?!" Shouted back another voice, seemingly older than the other boy who spoke. Souji nearly gasped witnessing the amount of chakra being produced by the individual, most likely being the squad's leader. Silent giggles above the supposed leader, however Souji didn't necessarily classify him as the main threat seeing how long his preserves were. There was no other way to put it, she was ambushed. "Shit, this is bad..." Breathed the Hyuuga, her body slowly locking up due to her anxiety. She wasn't capable of hiding her trembles, her staff shaking weakly against the ground. "Come on, damnit... Move! If you don't move you-" paused Souji's process of thought, her brain rocketing around inside her skull as the eldest knee'd her in the jaw. Impact so devastating Souji's body rolled merely five feet, blood stains along the side of her Kimono. Dazed, the teenager managed to get back onto her feet, blood pooling out of the side of her mouth due to the impact. "O-oh my god... What the hell am I doing?! I'm not no fighter, especially with what I've endured..." Contemplated Souji, her eyes filling with tears as the negativity continued to infiltrate her little bit of left over confidence. "H-hide.... I need to hide, there must be somewhere... If I don't find some form of solitude they'll kill me!" Breathing heavily, the Hyuuga sent her arm backwards, using her other hand in order to gain momentum behind her bow staff. Rocks and dust flicked at the group of thugs, coming back for another swing. With momentum so fierce from her previous attack, Souji dragged her staff once more before her. Another wave of rocks and dust shot towards the group, the Hyuuga pouncing off the opposite direction using this chance to gain some distance between them.

 "Damnit this isn't the first time you've had to get yourself out of a situation like this!" Gasped Souji, pressing her palm against her chest breathing heavily after making distance. Angered voices traveled throughout the forestry, bouncing from one location to another. If it wasn't for the Hyuuga's Byakugan, pinpointing their location would be merely impossible. "W-wait!" She thought, "Maybe, just maybe I can use these wonky woods to my advantage!" With a leap, Souji rocketed herself onto the branch above her. Placing both her hands together against her lips, she'd take a deep breath before shouting. "H-hey over here!" the teenager nervously mumbled, hopefully loud enough for the group to her bounce from tree to tree. Sliding down the trunk, Souji pressed her legs against the base launching herself. Catching herself in a somersault she'd be off on the run again, having no choice but to endure her anxiety in order to overcome it by brute force. "O-oh shit!" mumbled Souji, running full-speed into the side of an old hut. Board's exploded upon impact, splinters falling merely like confetti. Luckily she managed to only scrape her arm slightly, her
Byakugan readjusting to the lighting of it's new proximity. Dust caused her to cough up a storm, the stench of mold overwhelming Souji. However, a glow within a book's structure on the case before her caught her eye. Curiosity which one couldn't elaborate grew as she placed her hand against it, pulling the book out elegantly. "What on earth is this? Most importantly, why are my eye's-" before she was capable of finishing her sentence, a fine piece of paper slipped between two pages onto the floor. The presence of chakra moving along with it, placing the book back into it's proper home.

 Souji bent down picking up the folded piece of paper, stumbling through the garbage inside the hut moving closer to the light. "What in the hell is this... Why is there chakra emitting from it?" Questioned Souji, opening it up. Black marking's traveled from every side of the page, creating a circular design within the middle of the paper. A seal lied within the epicenter, the source of chakra emitting from the letter's of the written Kanji. "Weird... Maybe if I channel my chakra into it..." Questioned Souji, placing her palm against it slowly channeling chakra within it. Heat continuously grew under her hand, completely unaware of the seal com-busting. "Aaagh!" The little girl howled, flicking her hands back and forth in pain. "Nothing more than a stupid trap!" Sighed Souji, blinking several times before acknowledging how smoke instantly appeared, filling the shed almost instantaneously. Coughing, hanging her head out the window, the Hyuuga did whatever necessary in order to get some air. "I need to stop fooling around, just because I'm decently fast in this state doesn't mean I've made that much dis....- paused Souji, staring absolutely astonished to what lied before her upon the scroll. Her Byakugan trying to make out what it is exactly. Pre-lit candles stood on a wooden pedestal, engraved with some of the finest art Souji had ever witnessed. "D-id I just do that? How, why, when did that happen?!" The teenager freaked, amazed by what had happened before her very own eyes. Between the two candles lied a tattered piece of paper with worn writing, almost deteriorated to the extent of being merely impossible to read. Her eyes tensed up, her pupil's focusing on the first line, making out the writing the best she could:

 "To whomever discovers this supposedly "cursed" longbow, perhaps one may desire to hear this soon to be folklore. "A master blacksmith encountered Yuri Luminous, a soon-to-be renowned Fletcher who stumbled upon his shop. Yuri's sharp tongue managed to land him a business opportunity as the man's assistant, creating bow's and other necessities while the blacksmith manned the iron. Sales skyrocketed due to the pace of weaponry being manufactured, even promoting local hunting for nearly two years until a dreaded day. A casual customer walked into the shop, spouting nonsense of curses to the blacksmith blaming him for his bad omen. While hunting with one of the bow's he had bought previously from the store, he noted a weird glowing coming from the middle of it's holster. Before the customer was capable of making out the pattern, the glowing vanished. Since of that day, the man hasn't been capable of using his special techniques with the bow. "Cursing" this individual to eternity. Shortly later, the blacksmith had no other choice but to shut down his shop due to going bankrupt, Yuri Luminous never seen again." Discussion's of burning the weapon in order to purge the curse away from the villager's quickly grew amidst, leaving me with no other choice but to steal such a weapon in order to seal it. That is until a future generation stumbled upon's this Generic Seal, taking on the task of locating this item. Perhaps they'll find better usage of such a unique weapon."

 Below the note was another tattered piece of paper, several rips travelling into the center of a wonderfully drawn map. Clearly is was created several hundreds of years ago by an explorer who traveled Haven Country thoroughly, similar landmarks being noted that still stood today. A red notch estimated at two-hundred yards away from Souji's current proximity made Souji curious, voices beginning to echo closely within her distance. "Oh shit, I forgot about those guys... Luckily I have the upper-hand this time!" She smirked, her Byakugan already activated for battle. The presence of the two weaker grunts continued to make their way towards the shed, Souji sighing in relief possibly having a chance at redemption. Quickly, the little girl glanced around noting the mahogany dresser lying against the wall beside the wall she previously created. "I got it..." Souji giggled, lying beside the dark side of the dresser. Her foot rammed against the siding, causing the aged wood to creak loudly. Both presences continued to get closer as the seconds grew closer, the Hyuuga biting her lip in order to calm her anxiety. The instant both guy's entered the shed Souji pressed her feet against the heavy wooden material, sliding it a foot as the all light ceased to exist within the building. The two quickly lost their confidence, panicking as she had the upper-hand, using their Chakra to her advantage. Souji twirled her Bo Staff around her neck, moving both hand's to the side hurling towards teh ground. Tensing both wrist's up, she'd use her weight's momentum to flick the opposite side of her staff directly at her opponents.

 Instantly the grunt closest to Souji slammed into the wooden boards, his neck fractured in several locations as his friend lied beside his screeching horrendously. Luckily the individual closest enemy took most the impact, resulting in the other's spine being struck. Perhaps one or more of his vertebrates were ruptured, however Souji didn't know at her caliber of expertise. "You disgusting pigs... Chasing around your own kind, taking whatever they have just to benefit yourself. Humanity is nothing but disgusting bugs, I was simply put here to stomp on' em!" Shouted the Hyuuga, smashing her Bo Staff's end into the man's skull. The strike was more than enough to keep the individual at bay, resulting in an open wound along the side of his temple. Souji's eyes widened, shocked that she had injured somebody so badly. Wood siding literally snapped into two as a club jokingly tore through the structure of the shack, the Hyuuga's ribs popping before the impact shot her through the riggity shack. Broken Board's scraped her up something fierce, lying almost twenty feet from where she stood previously... "Someone of t-that power could only mean one thing...." She whined silently.

 Both of the grunt's bodies were picked up by their leader, staring into their faces as tears dripped off of his face. Neither seemed responsive, incapable of talking back. Souji knew that the individual she had struck along the temple had passed on, his chakra's presence nowhere to be found. "So, you've decided to write your own fate... Haven't you, Hyuuga scum?" jabbed the man, placing both of his comrades beside one another on the gravel path. No matter how hard Souji tried, her exhausted body collapsed every time she'd try to get off of the ground. An agonizing sharp pain traveled throughout the Hyuuga's body, the man's toes sinking into the woman's soft fragile flesh. Force strong enough to rise Souji nearly a meter into the air as his foot left her gut, coughing up mass amounts of blood. Both arms reached down to grab onto the little girl, simply being thrown similar to a rag-doll into one of the cavern's along the mountain-side. Rock's caught on her skin, shredding her to pieces while her body bounced along the surface. Souji glanced at her body, completely covered in her blood from the almost never-ending amount of minute cut's along her body. "S-so much pain..." She cried, tears falling down her cheeks pulling herself out of harm's way. "How can people cause other's so... Much... Pain... It just doesn't make any sense to me. Why do we have to live in such a corrupt world..." Just like last time, her anxiety quickly heightened resulting in the Shinobi beginning to lose most of her confidence. Within moments she had been turned into a joke, pummeled to a pulp with little to no effort necessary. Maybe this is truly what her fate had in store for her, or was it?

Within the depths of the cave where she crawled, similar markings to what she had encountered in the shed stretched along the cave ceiling. They continued to spiral around one another as they met at the end of the cavern. A circle formed where it seemed something could be placed, Souji's heart ached trying to remember what the note in the shed specified earlier. She'd reach into her pocket pulling out the folded tattered piece of paper, the marking's within the cavern reacting to it's chakra. A glimmer peaked at the top, spiraling down towards the circular symbol on the side of the wall. Souji used every ounce of strength she had in order to get back onto her feet, shakily grasping onto the wall clasping the tattered piece of paper between the wall and her palm. Channeling chakra directly into the seal, just as Souji had previously a large cloud of smoke emitted once again. To her dismay, no weapon resided within the hidden chamber as it had been already taken. "Are you serious?! That's bullshit!" She howled, throwing the seal onto the ground in rage. Moments passed before contemplating how she could used this to her advantage, climbing into the chamber while activating the seal from the inside. If there was any way of survival for this Genin, hiding is definitely it.

 "I swear I'm going to crush those Hyuuga's eyes in to dust whenever I find her, who cares about the reward momentarily..." Grumbled the grunt, his voice growing louder and louder as Souji shook within her confined area. Without thinking the teenage girl entered the cavity without realizing there wasn't any airflow, running out of oxygen as time continued to tick. Her lungs weakened as her breathing slowly started to cease, beginning to feel light headed before the man turned around decided Souji wasn't within the proximity. Without hesitation her hand slapped against the wall of her confined area, activating the seal once more releasing the Hyuuga from her small prison. "O-oh my god that was too good to be real, did I seriously get away with that?" Gasped Souji, grasping onto her chest with her hand as she'd shuffle around to find her Bo Staff. Unlucky for her the brute must had noticed the weapon, taking it while continuing after the little girl. However she felt more relief that it had been her Staff other than her life. Souji then began her voyage throughout the caverns of the cave she had been knocked into, slowly making her way closer to the glorious sunlight. Heat stretched along her cheeks, light peaking inside of the entrance of the cave before she was capable of truly acknowledging her wounds. From head to toe the Hyuuga's body was covered in dirt and blood, clothing torn nearly completely off. Clearly she had to find some form of medical attention before Souji passed out from exhaustion. "You're almost there Souji... Just find your way to the village, that's all you have to do in order to survive like old times." Coughed the little girl, wiping the excess blood from her previous wound away from her mouth. Out of all experiences, such agonizing pain never triumphed what Souji was currently enduring. As dawn creaked, guards spotted the poor girl limping within the proximity's distance rushing to assist the injured Hyuuga. Several Shinobi rushed to get a splint for Souji to lie on while others went to gather assistance from present medical Shinobi. Once contact had proven to be successful, they were on the way throughout the gates in order to get the proper medical attention necessary for a complete recovery.

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