With Friends Like These [Private]

Spoiler:

It was a bright day in the small black market town of Worchester, and Amaterasu was looking for a job. Though a former noble and rather unused to manual labor, perhaps she could make money doing something else- something only a ninja could do. An assassination, a rescue, whatever they wanted. She made her way towards the town's tavern, a place where she had previously cracked a man's skull with her bare hands. Her white robes billowed behind her as she walked forwards, shoulders and head held high. She pushed open the door and walked in, and suddenly, every eye was on her. A few patrons were turned towards her, as well as the bartender and waitress, but she was not particularly interested in them at the moment. No, she had her eyes on the job board which was posted on the right side wall. The young Akari strode over past tables and chairs until she was standing directly before it. There were many jobs there- a few required assassination. In fact, several did- the assassination of a drug lord, the assassination of a kage, the assassination of a small village leader- all seemed slightly over her pay grade, however. She rested her hand on her chin and her brows furrowed. Rescuing hostages, teaching merchants and caravans a lesson... And something called a bedlam job. She took it off the wall, curious, and began to read. It seemed to detail pickpocketing- she was to steal the valuables of as many high class citizens in a certain area, and her payment was that she would be able to keep every ryo she had earned. It sounded good- not really a risk of death involved, unless there were super strong ninja upperclassmen she was uninformed of. She folded it up neatly and tucked it into her weapons pouch before promptly heading back out in to the scorching sun. It warmed her skin pleasantly. The light of the sun shone into her eyes, but thanks to her Golden Eye, where it might have burned a hole in her retinas, it was merely as intense as looking directly at a bright lamp, or perhaps a fireplace. She stretched. This job was located in the next town over- might as well head there now. It was roughly thirty minutes away if she moved at her full speed, which was definitely a plus to her. But she needed a small plan, first- how specifically was she going to do this without noticing? Most of her talent lay in blanket ruination with her powerful fire jutsu. Well... she DID have a few jutsu that would prove helpful. Namely, transformation to avoid getting caught, storage displacement to get rid of stolen items and ryo, and temporary paralysis- which would stop people from moving unless they were exceptionally strong. Worse came to worse, she could just use her Art of the Akari skill to move completely silently. Not even her clothes or footsteps would make a sound if that was the case.

It sounded solid- use transformation to lure people one at a time into an alley, use temporary paralysis to restrain them, and then rob them. Though it might have the potential to backfire, as once news got out that there was a ninja attacking people in broad daylight, one of the local ninja villages might be alerted to send someone after her, and she didn't want that. No, it would be better to knock them out or something once they were paralyzed. A good thunk to the head might do that, or perhaps a sideways chop at the neck...? She shook her head. She could contemplate these things as she went on the road. Amaterasu began to jog lightly. Well, by her standards, at least- she was moving much, much faster than most trained ninja could sprint, and she wasn't even at half her speed yet. Within around thirty seconds, she had exited Worchester and was back on her way to the small town where she had first met Andalusa. The cafe was still there, undoubtedly- though she wondered if it was open today. Maybe she could stop by before anything got too serious...? Nah, it would be best not to attract any attention to herself when doing the job whatsoever. If even one person recognized her, it could spell her end once a ninja village got hold of that information. A jounin level shinobi harassing the upstanding townsfolk? That wouldn't stand. She exhaled a ragged breath as she proceeded, unconsciously speeding up slightly. She could see the town she was heading towards in the distance- a mere speck on the horizon, but one that she was rapidly approaching at her breakneck speed. Chakra enhanced her muscles, and a sudden burst of agility sent her forward. Not quite a body flicker, as it was closer to a particularly odd application of a taijutsu technique, but she decided to remember it for later. She never knew when stuff like this would become useful, especially in a profession such as hers. She stretched her arms, jumping slightly over a rock as she did so so as not to trip over it. Tripping over a rock at such a high speed would have disastrous consequences. The wind blew in her hair, blowing it behind her and out of her eyes as she ran. It was oddly freeing, in a way, to be moving so fast, as if nothing was holding her back except her own limits. No village, no enemies, no friends- just herself. Just Amaterasu. She looked up slightly. The neighboring town was much closer by now, and it would probably only take her three minutes to get there. She knew for a fact that she had been traveling for far less than twenty seven minutes- perhaps thirty minutes away was just an estimate for civilians traveling on foot. She'd been jogging for hardly four minutes, and she was nearly there. She passed trees, potholes, puddles, and other still lying bodies of water. Oh yeah, hadn't it rained the other day?

A few minutes later, she was standing in an alley in the small town she had left the other day. It was startlingly familiar to be back. She wiped the sweat of her shoulders, stretching her back, arms, and legs before she could proceed to do what she had been brought here to do. There were numerous upper class citizens in the area, and someone wanted them taught a lesson. She wasn't entirely sure what they had done to procure such a punishment, nor did she really care. Business was business, and if one of the nobles didn't agree or wanted revenge, well, they better have enough money to make a separate contract. She had a privacy policy of not revealing her clients- unless, of course, something huge was on the line. A big opportunity, her life, her reputation... Some things she was willing to compromise for. She walked out of the alley by this point, blending in perfectly with the upper class crowd. She moved amongst them as she had back when she was a noble of the Wind daimyo's court. Though each man and woman walked with straightened posture, they lacked the elegance and grace she had come to expect when dealing with upperclassmen. Perhaps her time in the court had spoiled her. Amaterasu moved through the crowd with refined movements, a single vibrant butterfly in a room full of moths. Her hands were tucked in front of her, and her fingers were hidden underneath the long sleeves of the robe she had donned just for the occasion. She just needed one person. One person with a lot of money... She scanned the crowd unobtrusively and subtly. A few people were wearing rich clothing, but didn't appear to have any money on them. One man she saw was loaded, but one look at his samurai guardsman had her looking back around the crowded area for a different target. It was always logical to take the path of least resistance, after all- no need to start an altercation of any sort if it could be avoided. Eventually, she found someone. A man dressed in a bright blue kimono, walking alone. Most of the people around him were focused on other things- perfect. Suddenly, she leapt faster than everyone else in the vicinity could see and keep track of, grabbing him by the shoulders, slapping a hand silently in front of his mouth, and running down the nearest alleyway to hide behind a building. Ironically enough, it was the exact same cafe she and Andalusa had first met at. It was pouring heavily then, and she asked to sit with him as there were no other tables. She vaguely wondered what her life would be like if she hadn't met him. Would she still be alone? Would she still be sane with nobody to talk to? She didn't know, but he wasn't the priority to Amaterasu right now. Currently, the mission was the most important thing to her, and she intended to finish it.

She looked down at the man in her arms. He had long, flowing black hair, blue eyes, and pale skin without callouses which all went to show that he had probably not worked a single day in his life. She wondered what would happen to him after this- this certainly would count as a traumatic experience, being kidnapped and thrown behind an alley. She dropped him on the floor, getting his kimono covered in dirt, grime, and a few other things that she didn't want to know. Before he could open his mouth to scream, her hands flashed at a lightning speed into the Tiger seal, and her chakra raged through her body like a bonfire. The skin in her hands heated up, not uncomfortably, and the feeling of rushing warm water flowed through her veins. Suddenly, her victim froze. He couldn't move, couldn't blink- the only thing he could do was breathe in and out. Yeah, she would definitely be in his nightmares for a while. Before the jutsu could wear off, she patted his sides in an attempt to find his wallet. It took around five seconds to find a leather pouch. She opened it, and nearly whistled aloud. There must have been a thousand ryo in it- damn. With a rat hand seal, all of the ryo inside was promptly storage displaced. She clipped the empty leather bag back onto his waist, and when he finally stood up and began to scream and cry, she was running away across the rooftops faster than anyone (except perhaps the samurai) could even track. She sped up even more, and more, until she reached her full speed. By this time, she was back on the trail towards Worchester. Had she really done the right thing by robbing the defenseless man, though? Probably not, but it was better him robbed and terrified than dead in a ditch, like how most of the missing ninja contracts wanted their victims to end up. At her lightning fast speed, she managed to reach Worchester in a matter of around three to four minutes, and before anyone on the streets could even stop her to say hello, she zoomed away into the hotel, went upstairs, and into her and Andalusa's shared room. She collapsed onto the bed finally, panting slightly as she did so. Damn, that was one hell of a workout. She formed the rat hand seal once more, and watched as all of the ryo inside the bag spilled out onto the bed. Doing a bit of quick mental math, she managed to guarantee its amount- there was exactly a thousand ryo here. She could survive off that for quite some time. Nodding to herself, she pushed it all together into one large pile, pushed it into a spare plastic bag she had lying around, and placed it on the table. Perhaps she could find something to spend it on later? Either way, it didn't matter right now. She just wanted to sleep.

WC: 2,016

(exit)

Mission: Fishing for Trouble (D-rank)

Claiming: 1,000 ryo
3 AP
2,000 words towards http://naruto-role-play-rpg.forumotion.com/t39127-moyasu
except I'm also putting the 1,000 ryo towards that as well.

TL;DR: 5,000 ryo - 1,000 ryo = 4,000 ryo, divided by two for the wordcount is 2,000, and I'm putting 2,000 words from this thread into Moyasu, so I think I'm just straight up claiming the thing? Correct me if I made a mistake.

You'll have to wait until the suit is approved or change your claims.

Popping in because I'm going through topics that need replies. Approved.