Thunderstruck [Private]

The day began rather innocuously. Supposedly, Amaterasu and Andalusa were supposed to rescue the hostages tomorrow, or perhaps the next day, depending on the time it took him to complete his puppets. By this time, the young girl had already learned and mastered both light AND lightning release- and it was time to learn a few jutsu to supplement that. At first, she was convinced that she needed some all powerful A rank or S rank technique, but... Well, it couldn't hurt to start out with the basics. Perhaps she should start with something smaller, to get a hang for the new elements. She mostly had fire technique scrolls on her, because that was what her father gave her. But he also had a small affinity for lightning- perhaps there was something in the bag? It was worth a shot. She tumbled out of the bed, walked towards a chair at a wooden desk that was by the window, and opened up her bag. Pulling out a small satchel from inside, she opened it and dumped out its contents. Piercing Darts. Exploding Flame Shot. Great Fireball. Phoenix Fire. Demon Lantern. Fire Dragon Flame Bullet. Great Fire Annihilation. Great Fireball Shower. She scratched her head. There were a couple of techniques in the bag left... She reached in and pulled out the last two scrolls, placing the rest back in the bag. Raiton: Sparks. Raiton: Chidori. She had previously heard of the legendary technique of Kakashi Hatake, and it seemed to advanced for her at this time. But surely the Spark technique was easier? She placed Chidori back in the satchel with the other jutsu. She unfurled it, looking down at it's contents.

It seemed to be an E rank technique- good. It would create a fifteen foot cone of electricity that would expand outwards as it went, and it required one hand seal. It didn't seem that powerful or complicated, but who knew? It could potentially serve as the basis for a future technique or something. She opened the window and stood in front of it, channeling chakra into her hands. She focused on vibrating it, and a small spark leapt between her fingers. Good. Next, she formed the Snake seal. her fingers felt staticy as she did so, and she felt a great pressure building at the back of her throat. Suddenly, she spat out a huge ball of lightning energy. It was rather small when it first exited, only an inch or two wide, but it rapidly expanded in size as it went out the window. the Spark technique ended up at about fifteen feet long and wide. It remained still in the air for around twelve seconds, dissipating as it hit the three meter mark which limited the jutsu. She scratched her head. She had achieved it on her first try. Either this jutsu was super easy or she was getting better at ninjutsu... Amaterasu hoped it was the latter. She'd need all the skill she could get if she wanted to rescue the hostages...

WC: 508
Total WC: 508

A few hours later, Amaterasu Akari, former noble of Wind Country, had left the small hotel to wander the village. Andalusa was busy doing something with the blacksmith, Kaito, which left her free reign to do, well, whatever she wanted. She scratched the back of her head awkwardly. She needed to plan for the village... Maybe she could do that? Andalusa she had a feeling would help out, as long as they remained partners (friends?) she needed to prove herself to him that she meant what she was to say, however... Maybe have blueprints for it? A location in mind? A plan? All of those sounded like good ideas. But she would also need more people if she intended to do this. Two people don't make up a hidden village, after all- she figured she'd need around five other people, not including her, to have a feasible chance of doing this correctly. Her friend was a strong puppetry specialist- while she was exceptional at ninjutsu. Already that was a good base. Maybe recruiting a taijutsu specialist? A medic? Hell, someone who favored weaponry? She scratched her head. It wasn't like she could choose. She'd simply have to find people willing to follow her and work with them, regardless of her own personal feelings towards whatever their strengths were. She walked across the street, head held high and posture perfectly straight as she did so. A breeze blew by, rustling her hair and startling her out of her thoughts. Maybe she could think this through further at a tavern or something.

It took a few minutes to arrive at the town's tavern- a smallish establishment with around ten tables and a bar. She sat at a table in the back corner in such a way that she'd be able to keep an eye on everyone else in the building. Next, she pulled out a pencil and paper. She'd want to build the village in a place with natural defenses that would be difficult to locate. A dense forest? A vast mountain? Hell, a canyon so deep you couldn't see the bottom? She scratched her head. And loathe as she was to admit it, she couldn't exactly just rebuild Sunagakure. That would attract too much attention from Kumogakure no Sato. Besides, she really hated the fact that none of her village helped while her Kage was murdered. No, she'd rather build a village with different ideals. She thought of the places nearby. There was Haven country, but there was already a major village located in that region. Rain country? A good idea, but also located very close to existing villages. Swamp country? That was close to Hoshigakure, but... Maybe she could form an alliance with them or something? Yes, Swamp or Forest country, the bordering location, sounded good. They were relatively defensible, due to the harsh landscape and climate, were not without resources, and best of all, they were far away from the most hostile forces currently existing in the ninja world. Kumogakure and Kirigakure.

Perfect. Now she had a location, she'd just need to scout it out in person to find a sound location. Perhaps a tropical rainforest or jungle or something? Those were hard to traverse, were so rich with resources it was ridiculous, and further more, they were hot enough that she'd feel like home. And they had lots of water and natural creatures that could aid her as well. Good. At the top of one paper, she marked two things down. Swamp Country? Forest Country? Now the question remained about what village she'd like to build. It would be fun to start her own, but it might be easier to rebuild a village lost to the ages. That way, she had something she could already work with. Customs, general attitude, et cetera. Next, she began to mark down something else. Takigakure? Iwagakure? Amegakure? Tatsumakigakure? Yukigakure? Scratching her head, she marked 'Yukigakure' off the list. Tropical village and hidden snow did not mix very well, after all. Iwagakure didn't seem to fit very well, either. What giant rocks were there to be found inside a jungle? Not many, as far as she could tell. ...Not that she had ever been in a jungle. It sounded kind of fun to visit. She couldn't wait, actually. Swamp country and Forest country. There was a lot of rain there, so... maybe Amegakure? She could rebuild Amegakure... or something. But first, she'd need to know more about Ame itself. Maybe a quick trip there, first? Even if it was technically Kumogakure territory, as long as she didn't cause too much trouble, she should be fine, right?

Still, she didn't feel easy. She would've marked that bit down as well, but suddenly, she found that she couldn't. A large hand had rested on her bare shoulder, squeezing hard. Amaterasu looked up. A tall, imposing man stood behind her. The reek of alcohol burned her nose. Oh no. She jolted up, knocking her pencil to the ground, and attracting a bit of attention. She tried to pull away, but he was too strong. A few eyes of other patrons wandered near to her, but none seemed to care. Was this a regular occurrence for them? How much of an asshole could one be? He held out his hand expectantly as she whipped around to face him. With a jolt, she realized what exactly it was that he wanted. Her ryo. She didn't have any, and based on the look on his face, the man didn't believe her. His hand clenched down further, grinding her bones beneath her skin, and suddenly, she had had enough. Amaterasu lunged forward, grabbing his face and knocking him off balance. That wasn't it, though- she squeezed hard, as hard as he did, and harder still. But that wasn't enough. She enabled the flow of chakra to her limbs, and her arm felt a huge surge of strength. It compressed harder, harder, and harder, until a sickening crack had echoed through the establishment. She had broken his skull with her bare hands.

WC: 1,011
Total WC: 1,519

Promptly, she left the tavern, after scooping up her papers and picking up her pencil on the floor. She stepped over his writhing body, careful not to trip, and scurried out the front door. Perhaps they wouldn't remember her? It was unlikely that they wouldn't- her dress, her posture, and her hair all seemed to leave a lasting impression wherever she went. She felt the patrons' and the bartender's eyes on her as she left the building, burning into her back like molten embers from a fire jutsu. She shook her head. At least she was sending a message. Don't mess with Amaterasu, or else... She would squeeze your face really hard. And break it. Yeah. Perhaps she hadn't left the best impression with this town. Associating with the blacksmith, who was openly a missing ninja from Konohagakure no Sato, And also squeezing to moderate skull discomfort (not quite death) the local guy who grabbed her and tried to take her ryo. She scratched her head. Whatever. She had bigger things to worry about. Namely about the village, but also about scouting out the ruins of Amegakure no Sato, Forest Country, and Swamp Country. She figured she could travel pretty quickly, but Andalusa was considerably slower. She'd have to wait for him- or leave without him. If she was quick, she'd be in and out before he'd notice. Or she could leave him a note or something. Whatever struck their fancy, she supposed? Amaterasu yawned slightly, rubbing her stinging palm. Whatever she had done had left its toll.

The chakra flowing through her hand was powerful, but she still needed to be careful so as not to hurt herself, or worse. She figured she could only use that technique once in a while, perhaps more frequently if she managed to up her durability. Nonetheless, it was useful to know. She couldn't just use that technique to grab faces, after all- she could grab puppets, or limbs, or kunai... Maybe even one of the smoke bombs she kept in her weapons pouch. That would be useful. She stretched, flexing her fingers as she did so. A civilian who happened to be walking down the same sidewalk that she was watched her warily, giving Amaterasu a wide berth. Had rumors of what she had done already spread so quickly? She didn't know whether to be flattered or disappointed. Maybe a little bit of both. She shook her head, grabbing the papers clenched in her left hand a little tighter. She knew what she was going to do now- she was going to investigate the rumors of Amegakure no Sato before proceeding towards Swamp or Forest country to rebuild the former hidden village. She was going to abide strictly by the policy of isolation- except perhaps for an ally village or a close friend. The thick jungle would definitely help with that- as would, perhaps, something else? Maybe a dense fog, or jungle critters, or a wall of some sort? She scratched her head. Yeah, she could work that bit out later.

Now, however, she just needed to focus on getting stronger. She'd almost mastered her primary affinity, Katon, but didn't have much to show for her secondary affinity- lightning. Hell, even her tertiary, light. She scratched her head awkwardly. All she had for raiton was a flimsy E rank, and she legitimately had no light based techniques to speak of. She'd need to fix that sooner rather than later if she ever wanted to call herself 'Akari' in public again. She already possessed the first level of the Golden Eye- but the secondary level and how to activated it remained unknown to the young noble. She'd have to figure that out eventually, as well. She couldn't afford to accept second best in anything- that was the way people get killed. Eventually, though, she came to a stop at a small beggar. Without another word, she tossed a few ryo at his feet, and walked away. Suddenly, a scroll hit her in the back of her head, and she whipped around. Nobody was there, and the beggar hadn't moved. It had to be him. Was this his way of saying thank you? She picked up the scroll. Temporary Paralysis- D. A D rank jutsu? It sounded useful, though- Paralysis couldn't be that bad of a technique, could it? She opened the scroll with her remaining hand and picked it up. It had one hand seal- the Tiger seal- and it would paralyze anyone unless they could immediately resist with sheer muscle power. Supposedly, however, it required quite a bit, so she wasn't too worried.

After Storage Displacing all the items in her hand, she decided to give the technique a whirl as she walked back to the hotel. She formed the tiger hand seal, channeling chakra into it and reaching out in an attempt to bind someone else. Of course, nobody was there, but it was the thought that counted. She felt a significant drain on her chakra. Much too potent for a D rank. She figured that meant that she had the physical technique part down, but she needed to up her chakra control or else she would quickly tire out. This time, she tried the Tiger seal once more, but tried to focus on little binding ropes as opposed to huge, clanking chains. It must have worked, because this time, the chakra drain was noticeably smaller, about the range of a D rank. That was good- she'd managed to get down the temporary paralysis technique. Hopefully she could further master it so that it would become more useful in combat? She was excited for it- not the act of harming another human being, of course, but rather that of testing out everything she had learned so far. Was it enough to keep her alive? She certainly hoped so, or else everything she had done so far would be for nothing. She yawned hugely as she entered the hotel, climbing up the stairs to get back to her shared room with Andalusa. Promptly, she sat back on the bed and fell asleep, unaware of what was to come the following morning.

WC: 1,029
Total WC: 2,548

The morning began slowly, in a dazed and confused manner. Amaterasu was exceedingly uncomfortable, as if she had fallen asleep in an awkward position and her muscles and body were going to make her pay. She groaned to herself softly. She couldn't see any light shining on her eyelids- it must've been pretty early in the morning. No use in waking up just yet. She rolled over onto her stomach, and her eyes jolted open. This wasn't a bed- it was a stone floor. It felt cold on the bare skin of her arms and shoulders. Where was she? It was in nearly complete darkness. She looked around and couldn't even see herself- the young Akari channeled chakra into her eyes, and her Golden Eye activated. She could see the outlines of something resembling a cell or small room. The reality of her situation began to set in. She hadn't fallen asleep here. She must have been kidnapped... But by who? She found some bars in front of her and touched them- the coldness of the iron seeped deep into her bones. Strangely enough, though, her kidnappers didn't bind her fingers- they must have not known she was a ninja and just thought she was a travelling noble. Just as she was about to prove how wrong they were by melting the bars into a mushy, boiling liquid, a door slammed open from somewhere and light flooded in. Instantly, she deactivated her golden eye. Maybe she could learn something here? Their motives remained to be seen, so perhaps she could try and find out where they are. It was decided, then- she would play the victim. She began to shudder in a manner that she hoped wasn't too manufactured for the moment and looked down. She had to bite down slightly on her tongue so as not to burst out laughing at how dumb the situation was. Amaterasu tried to make a mental list of what she needed to know. One- who her kidnappers were. Two- where they were located. Three- who was in charge. With that mental checklist prepared, she now needed to decide how specifically to pretend in order for them to reveal that information in an innocuous manner. Acting helpless would certainly assist her. Maybe by studying the food intake of what they would give her or what they smelled like would also help. The man in front of her was tall, leaning on imposing, and had a hand axe strapped to his belt. Good- if it was strapped too tightly, it would be harder to reach. He had a thick tan, numerous scars which decorated his bulging muscles, and a scowling expression that might have been intimidating for other past victims. She didn't find herself too afraid, however- she'd been in life and death situations more often than she could count. To put it simply, this man simply wasn't scary compared to the prospect of losing one's home village in the blink of an eye. She let out a massive shudder as he approached.

"W-who are you?": she managed to stammer out. "I demand you let me go at once!" she yelled, hoping that she sounded as unsure as she intended it to. The man simply laughed.

"Hah, typical noble bitch thinking she owns us. We're going to get a lot of money out of you, and you're not going to cause any trouble for us or else you'll find yourself at the business end of my axe." he said. His voice tended to grumble out in a deep manner. Judging by his tone, he completely supported the idea of chopping off a limb or two. She needed to be careful here... But they intended to sell her for ransom. That was information she could use. There were only so many people willing to buy off a noble... Perhaps they wanted information of some sort?

"What is it you want? Information? Money?" she said quickly enough that he wouldn't notice herself stumbling over the words. She was genuinely curious to see what he would say. If it was information, she'd need to kill these guys AND who they worked for. If it was money, she'd simply need to kill these guys and attempt to spy on who they worked for to measure their intent. If it was something else, however... Well, she supposed that she would have to see what would happen and go from there. Not everyone was just interested in information and money, after all- perhaps their aim was for something else entirely. He let out a deep, guffawing chuckle.

"No. What we want is your bloodline." a deep shudder overtook her body, this one completely real. How did they know? Who told her- Andalusa? But based on her previous interactions with the boy, it probably wasn't him. It was just a coincidence that they were together at the time that it had happened. "You used to be a noble of the Wind Daimyo's court- that might fetch us a pretty penny as well." he continued. Her brows furrowed slightly. Again, how did they know this? There had to be someone else who was working as an informant or something. She had been exceedingly careful in traveling to cover her tracks and leave naught a trace- something that had been drilled into her as an Akari from a young age. Hell, her clan's special technique, Art of the Akari, focused entirely on passing without trace. That meant that someone she had interacted with along the way must have known or successfully deduced who she was and then proceeded to sell out that information to someone else. But who? Hachi? Kaito? None of them seemed to be like people who had done such a thing. Perhaps it was another refugee from Suna who had recognized her? It was possible. She didn't know too many people from her home village, as she spent most of her time in the Daimyo's court. Maybe it was a member of the court who was selling her and her bloodline?

It made sense, but who? She couldn't think of any nobles or ninja who were greedy enough to sell out one of their own for a bloodline. That left one question left- where she was. How could she best ask the question so that it seemed to stem from her natural curiosity and not from the fact that she planned to melt his skin and escape? As it turned out, the young Akari noble didn't actually need to worry about such a thing. After all, the instant the stranger opened his mouth to speak, he answered the question for her. "We'll be taking you to Shadow Country. We're almost there... And then, well." he said. She nodded. Okay, she was still in the same country where she had started out, and wasn't too far from the village. It was only away by a couple hours. Before the stranger could even blink, her hands flashed forward into the Dog and Horse hand seals.

"Fire Release: Demon Lantern!" she hissed, and two oni heads made of pure, boiling flame appeared in puffs of smoke next to her. One lurched forwards suddenly into the iron bars, reducing it into a dripping mush that she decided that she didn't want to step in. The other, once the bars had fallen apart, launched towards the man, who was currently busy trying to run away. It was no use, however. The head traveled much faster than him, and it tore through and cauterized his chest before he even had the chance to scream. Amaterasu waited in the cell for a few minutes for the dripping metal to dry before activating the first stage of her Golden Eye. She couldn't see any chakra signatures immediately... Good. Using all of her Akari training, she moved silently across the room and picked up two innocuous pouches. Believe it or not, they were her weapon pouches- and it was good luck they didn't open them yet or else they would have figured out that she was a ninja. Be grateful for the little things, she supposed. She felt the drain on her chakra from the Demon Lantern technique and shook her head. She had considerably more stamina than normal if she was able to cast such a technique and just shrug it off like that. She wasn't saying that she could do so over and over and over again, of course, but it was better than nothing now that she could. Amaterasu hummed to herself as she strapped the weapon pouches back to her thighs and let her skirt fall partially over them, effectively hiding the weapons from regular view. Now to figure out who else was here and eliminate them. From the way he talked, there would likely be no other hostages, as they were specifically after her and her Akari bloodline. That meant that she wouldn't have to worry about potentially protecting anyone else who would prove to be a liability. She nodded to herself. Good. Now she had a plan.

She walked to the closed door that would lead into the outside world- or, at least, the rest of the kidnapper's base. Behind it would be the rest of the bandits. There would be no mercy or no restitution after she opened it. If she left even one alive, they would run off and tell everyone else that she was there and a ninja. She couldn't afford to let that happen. She had too much to prepare for and too much to do to allow that to happen. Amaterasu clenched and unclenched her fingers. She would do it on the count of three. One... Two... She slammed the door open to arrive at a larger room made completely out of stone. There were three people there... Good. She could easily get them all. The young Akari quickly flew through seven hand seals- Ram, Horse, Snake, Dragon, Rat, Ox, and Tiger. A giant dragon made of pure flame flew out of her mouth, gaping maw open wide and claws extending to either side. It flew across the room quickly, reducing everyone inside to foul smelling piles of ash. Once it reached the end of the room, it had expanded in size and heat before crashing against the wall in one final triumphant roar. There were a few windows that she looked out of, careful not to step on the piles of ash as she approached. There were lots of trees nearby, and she could see a winding trail a ways off. This must've been close to the main road, then? Or at least it would lead there. She opened the door to find herself finally outside of the kidnapper's building. She took in a deep breath, using her Golden Eye to scan the surrounding area for any unwanted surprises. Much to her pleasure, there was nobody around as far as she could see. Good. That meant that she could safely travel the roads back. But... Well, should she? It might be nice to lie low for a bit and find out who was really trying to end up killing her for her bloodline. Maybe someone in Haven Country could help her? Or maybe she could visit just for kicks or whatever. Yeah, that sounded like a good idea. She'd head north. Andalusa could live without her for a little bit- once he had his puppet, surely the hostages would be fine? She scratched her head awkwardly. Whatever. She walked down the road, hands at her side and head held high. It would be a long trail back to the main road. She walked at a relatively quick pace that other people would be having trouble keeping up with- but due to her natural speed and endurance, she managed to keep up pace just fine. She hummed to herself a little lullaby from Sunagakure no Sato, one that felt nostalgic to her ears as she progressed down the slightly overgrown path. Hell, depending on how long she'd been gone for, maybe Andalusa wouldn't notice her absence.

Yeah, maybe her partner hadn't noticed? She deactivated her Golden Eye. Based on the position of the sun in the sky, it was roughly noon. That would be reasonable time for her to have taken a walk, or scouted out the surrounding area or something. She stretched hugely. Oh, there was the main road! She quickly made her way towards it and promptly started walking northwards. Eventually, it would lead to the little village that her and Andalusa were staying at. And from there, well. She could do whatever she wanted. Maybe leave her partner a note that would explain what had happened? That seemed like a solid plan. If he was still there when she returned, she'd ask him to help her build a village. It seemed to be a solid plan. She nodded to herself. Hopefully he hadn't left to free the hostages yet by the time she'd get back- it had been a few hours already. She scratched the side of her head. All of her papers for planning, blueprints, and other things were in her Storage Displacement, meaning that they would have been safe from the whole kidnapper bloodline fiasco that had just happened to her. In fact... If she was heading north, why not ask Hoshigakure for assistance? Or at least do a little surveillance on Hoshigakure ninja to make sure they were the type of people she would like to be forming an alliance with. If not... Well, she'd find someone else Kirigakure was a no, Kumogakure was a no, maybe Konoha? They were under Kirigakure rule, if the events of the last few months ago were remembered clearly. no, Hoshigakure no Sato was her best bet. She needed to form as strong of a bond as possible with as many ninja from Haven as possible to further encourage such a thing. She stretched her neck, spine cricking as she did so. She'd been lying down in that uncomfortable cell for quite a while. It was a miracle her clothes were intact and almost completely clean. As horrible as they were, at least they didn't do anything too creepy... like strip her or something. The events she had just been through were ones she'd hoped nobody else would have to experience, but it really ended for her the best way it possibly could have for someone in her position. All was left was to investigate the people who had hired them to kidnap her... Rage boiled in her gut as she thought further. The fact that someone had known who she was, what she had been through had the audacity to try something like that boggled her mind. She'd find them and put them down, and then she'd never have to worry about anyone being out for her bloodline again. She flexed her fingers, bones creaking in anticipation as she did so. She'd already crushed one man's skull with her bare hands. What were a few more?

WC: 2,510
Total WC: 5,058

(Exit)

Claiming: 500 words to http://naruto-role-play-rpg.forumotion.com/t37857-raiton-sparks
1000 words to http://naruto-role-play-rpg.forumotion.com/t29089-iron-claw
1000 words to http://naruto-role-play-rpg.forumotion.com/t31830-temporary-paralysis-technique#241712
2500 words to http://naruto-role-play-rpg.forumotion.com/t24494-art-of-the-akari

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