Butterfly Hunting [Private]

It was a bright day in the missing nin black market village. Well, town, really- a few crowds were wandering about, though none looked particularly interested in anyone else. In other words, no fights or robberies had broken out that she could see. Good, that meant she could take the short road to her destination. The Akari noble intended to go to a scroll shop, one that specialized in higher rank offensive techniques that typically weren't taught in your ordinary ninja academy. She had no idea what she wanted at this stage, but that was okay. They usually had a large selection, and the people there were relatively helpful in picking out techniques for their customers to learn. She scratched the side of her ear awkwardly as she proceeded across the main road. She felt a hand slip into her pocket, but she had no ryo for him to take. She grabbed his hand and yanked him to the floor. Once he had stumbled to the earth below with a loud, solid thump, she continued walking as if nothing had happened. She yawned. Perhaps she could get something to eat on the way there? She stopped by a food stall, noticing the shopkeeper there. She was a tall woman with white hair, which was tied up and went to her waist. She possessed piercing red eyes that had an unearthly energy to them. She was... kind of pretty, actually. She vaguely wondered if she ever looked like that to anyone back when she was a member of the wind daimyo's court. Amaterasu certainly hoped so. There was great power in appearances, and it was frequently overlooked. But having an intimidating appearance could enable you to avoid conflict altogether, or having a non threatening one could lead to a decisive victory if an enemy underestimated you.

"Hello, may I have three fried rice balls?" she requested simply. The girl then handed over the ryo amount that was listed on the sign. It took a couple minutes for the snack food to be made, but once it was handed to her, she thanked the shopkeeper and went on her way. She chewed delicately on her snack, not wanting it to disappear to fast. There was no need to rush things, either in life, combat, or... food. Her mouth watered slightly. The scroll shop was around eight minutes from where she was standing. Amaterasu cut through a few decrepit alleyways as she traversed the terrain, wondering what they would have for sale in their frequently changing stock. Hopefully, it was something powerful, that would save her life. Those kind of things were always nice. Plus, it was her goal to learn two fire jutsu of every rank- so far, she had D and C rank down, and was halfway through the B rank. If she purchased a B rank scroll today, she'd only have A ranks and E ranks left. Well, of course, and S ranks, but she wasn't strong enough to attempt those yet.

Eventually, the young Akari noble arrived in front of the scroll shop. It was a smallish building constructed of wood. She entered, pulling the door outwards. It creaked as she did so, and when she stepped in, it was to the smell of old books. A few candles illuminated the walls, which were honeycombed with little pockets for storing scrolls. The man at the front desk, and old fellow who was reading a book and marking his part with a senbon, raised his eyebrow as she walked in. The girl nodded to him and opened her mouth to voice her greetings, but she was interrupted.

"Ah, yes, Himawari, was it?" he responded, using her alias. She nodded. "Ah, yes. You requested some fire jutsu scrolls last time. I'm assuming you've learnt those and are coming back for more...?" Once again, she nodded. He snorted. "Well, don't just stand there. Tell me what you want."

"I'd like an offensive B rank technique, preferably one that has the fire affinity." she said. "The stronger, the better. It's for use in wide scale combat." Amaterasu further described. The stranger nodded sagely, standing up from his desk and hobbling over to the left side of the building. He scanned the scrolls with his eyes.

"I think A ranks would be better for that, but I suppose that's none of my business," he said to her, muttering something beneath his breath. "Ah, here's a good one- Karyu Endan. Fire Dragon Flame Bullet. It's about as strong as your regular B rank, but if you hold it for a little, it grows in power to roughly A rank level. Does that sound good for you?" he asked, turning to face her. Amaterasu nodded excitedly and pulled out her ryo pouch. How much would a scroll like this cost...? B ranks tended to be rather expensive, due to their power and instability. He raised his hand. "No need to pay me. You've bought enough scrolls in the last few days to have me set for a year! Bahaha!" he laughed in a booming voice, patting her on the back. "Good luck with that technique, young lady. Tell me some stories when you've reached S rank, alright?" he continued, slapping the scroll into her open palm. He was giving it to her for free? But... He must have seen her expression, with how perceptive he was, but the man chose to completely ignore it in favor of returning to his book and marking his progress with an old senbon.

"Thank you!" she said gratefully, nodding to him as she left the building. She could've imagined it, but Amaterasu could have sworn that he smiled at her on her way out. It was nice to know that not everyone out here was a complete and total scumbag. Just most of them... Probably including her. This was worth around three thousand ryo, and she had gotten it for free. The thought still boggled her mind, but she didn't pay attention to it. For now, she had a jutsu to learn.

WC: 1,012
Total WC: 1,012

The next day, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the scent of a warm summer breeze wafted through the air. She decided to relax the rest of the evening in preparation for learning the jutsu, Fire Dragon Flame Bullet looked, well, intense, and she wanted to pool up all the chakra she possibly had in preparation to learn the technique. The girl found a quiet, empty field of daisies around half a mile away from the black market village where she decided it would be perfect to train. She got out the scroll, unfurled it from its bright crimson ribbon, and began to read through it. In a delicate, beautiful handwriting, the process of completing and casting the jutsu were listed. There was an impressive amount of hand signs required, capping in at about seven. It started with Ram, and then went onwards to Horse, Snake, Dragon, Rat, Ox, and finally, Tiger. There was no way she was going to remember that, however. She scratched the side of her head awkwardly. Might as well get to practicing. The journey of a thousand miles and all that. Well, at least that's what she thought she was going to do. The young Akari was promptly rudely interrupted. A loud crashing noise reverberated throughout the meadow, causing her to jump up instinctively, activate her Golden Eye, and form the raging armor of Soul Expulsion around herself. The girl jolted around, kunai in hand, eager to find her target and potential assailant. The stranger there was dressed similarly to the man from Takamura, wearing grays and blues. A knife was clenched in his hands, one that looked to be more suited for cutting vegetables than people, and he charged forwards. She flinched backwards and to the sides, going circular around him. A knife pierced the air next to her, Nicking her ear. Hot blood ran down her ear, and her eyes narrowed. Another knife was in his hands already, and his arms were poised back to throw.

This attack, however, the young Akari dodged much more easily and fluidly than the previous one. As she saw it coming, she performed a simple sidestep, allowing it to fly a foot away from her head. Next, she formed the hand seals for a powerful attack- the great fire ball- and let it roar in front of her. The daisies that were in her way were reduced to ash, and it almost caught her target. He made a wild leap to the side at the last minute, only getting his shoes uncomfortably warm but not burned to the third degree. Another two knives came flying at her, and she managed to dodge them both with a decisive duck. This time, she decided to charge forward, already racing through the hand seals for her next technique- piercing darts. Six little rods of flame coalesced mid air, and darted towards him. He cut three of them through with the dagger, dodged two, and a final sixth dart pierced his left arm, cauterizing it as it raced through. She snarled further, golden eyes narrowed in an attempt to intimidate her attacker. However, he did not falter, nor even look away. He simply pulled out another damn knife and chucked it over. This one, since she had ample warning, she was able to grasp by the hilt. She clenched her fist even further, the wood handle starting to crack under her iron grip. She flung it to the side, and it buried itself deep into the earth. Amaterasu, in a fit of fury, grabbed a kunai from the pouch at her thigh and flung it over, the speed moving faster than he could comprehend. It buried itself deep, deep within his skull with a sickening squelch, and he fell to the floor, completely limp, harmless, and very, very dead. She was panting wildly, and she slowly deactivated Soul Expulsion as well as her Golden Eye. It had taken quite a strain on her chakra system to do such a thing, so she nearly collapsed once the jutsu was complete.

In fact, she did collapse. She fell backwards, landing on her back in the daisy field while she took frantic breaths in an attempt to remember how to breathe. She laid like that for half an hour, and the bleeding in her ear eventually stopped as well. When she finally sat up, and eventually stood up, it was only to investigate the body and retrieve her kunai. A sickening voice in the back of her head rang out. This was the second time someone had tried to kill her. This was becoming more of a pattern than a one off occurrence. She really needed to find this 'Taka', and soon, before one of their attempts finally succeeded. Furthermore... How did they find out where she was? She was almost 100% sure she had left no trail, and it was awfully odd that they were able to find her smack dab in the middle of nowhere. She scratched her head awkwardly. This was becoming a much bigger problem than originally anticipated. She needed a way to calm down. Maybe she could head to the tavern or something, get some cider. Or whatever people these days got. She picked up the scroll she had attempted to learn and wiped off the dirt. A little bit of blood was smeared in the top corner. Damn it all to hell. She'd find who did this and rip their head off. Nobody had the right to treat anyone like that- much less her. Whether or not it had to do with the fact she was a noble didn't matter. These people were clearly too dangerous to be left alive. And the quicker she could end them, the quicker she'd be able to sleep well at night. She grasped the bloodied throwing knife in her hands, wiping it off on the dead man's shirt before returning it back to her inventory. She'd find all that out later, though. For now... Well, surely no one would care if a missing ninja took a day off.

WC: 1,019
Total WC: 2,031

(exit)

Claiming: 2000 words to http://naruto-role-play-rpg.forumotion.com/t36477-soul-expulsion, which upgrades the tech to A rank, 31 lonely words to http://naruto-role-play-rpg.forumotion.com/t28935-katon-karyu-endan, and 10 stats

Approved (Valen)