In a forest near a small village in Tea country, a flash of green flickered through the trees. This flash jumped from tree limb to tree limb. The dying circle of the sun gave the green flash an eerie glow and with the speed that it moved, it looked like a bolt of lightning.
Finally the glowing figure came to a stop at the edge of the forest. With the glow giving off the silhouette of the figure, you could tell that it was a young woman. Jade green eyes looked out through the leaves to see the said village lights not too far in the distance. Looking behind her for the umpteenth time that day she pulled out her midnight blue cloak and deactivated her bloodline limit; causing her eyes to turn back to an aqua blue. The glow of her green chakra that had surrounded her dispersed and her form was covered in the young night's shadows.
Pulling her hood over her head to cover up her identity, she summoned chakra to her feet and darted towards the village. It was only twenty minutes later that she reached her destination. The village was small; average for missing-nin locations. Nothing special. It was more of a stop for desperate travelers or shinobi in need of shelter. On such a cold night, the bars would be packed and hotel rooms booked.
With this in mind, the cloaked woman hugged her cloak tighter and made her way towards the inn, all the while ignoring the drunken cheers and a brawl in the bar not more then fifteen feet away. She walked into the lobby of the hotel and took a mental note that there was a group of three Leaf-nin at a couch, drinking. Hmm…What are Leaf Shinobi doing here? They must be passing through.
Not bothering to take her hood off, she went to the desk where a grubby short man sat with his nose in a magazine. She wrinkled her nose at his stench and waited a moment for him to acknowledge her.
"Sorry but there are no rooms tonight. Try the other inn on the other side of town," he said in a hoarse voice without looking up from his reading.
"For your sake, you better hope there is a room, old man," she said in a demanding, but almost lyrical voice.
Immediately the man fell over his chair in surprise, effectively spilling his coffee all over his magazine. The woman rolled her eyes. "Oh…it's you," he said with an apologetic voice as he sat up. "O-Of course we have your room." He dug in his desk frantically until he found the key. Handing it to her, he noticed that he had the wrong key. Oh Crap! Quickly he took the key from her reach and laughed nervously, which sounded more like a cough. "Uh…I forgot it in my office…I'll be right back." And he was out of there.
She held back a frustrated sigh and rubbed her temples. All she wanted was a room to rest. Her mission had been a long and tiring retrieval…but at least it paid well. Taking a glance around the room out of boredom she noted the changes in design.
Same ugly frosty pink walls…same leather couches…same coffee table…sigh. Nothing new…big surprise. Rolling her eyes again, she noticed the leaf-nins in a deep conversation.
Uhm…What is the gossip now? She shifted slightly and summoned chakra to her ears to hear.
"The Hokage got word that Uchiha Sasuke isn't with Orochimaru any more…Do you think he'll return to the village?" asked a young man with spiky black hair that had blue tips.
"Nope. The Hokage won't let him. He's still a traitor. Man if I see him then I'll kill him myself." This was an equally young man who had a bandana style forehead protector that covered up his bald scalp.
"You two need to listen to the whole story before you make rash decisions on fighting the Uchiha brat," spoke and older man with a hood on. He looked rougher then the other two. He downed a cup before continuing. "Uchiha Sasuke killed the snake Sannin. He even got a little group together called Hebi to go after Uchiha Itachi. So obviously, he is strong…If we encounter them, we are to avoid them and send a message to ANBU on there location. That means no fighting," he said as he pointed to the two younger nin.
"Here you…are…miss," panted the manager who had finally got the key.
She turned her attention back to the man and took the key, and placed a handful of money on the table. She turned down a hall, ignoring the good night that the short man called to her.
So…Orochimaru is dead…That means I can search the Sound base. In the past 6 years, she had searched for her clan's scroll that contained her bloodline secrets. With Rai, for that was her name, being the last of the Chigiri clan, she didn't have any one to teach her of the clan's power. All she knew was that there were three scrolls with the secrets but two were unknown. (Remember that for future!) One, though, was located in top secret files…Yup that was real helpful.
Anyway, Rai knew that it was in one of the hidden villages, either in the Kage's private scroll room or in ANBU HQ. Of course, Rai couldn't just walk in and ask for it…She was after all a missing-nin. But that was where her thieving abilities came into play. At least her father taught her one good thing before he was killed.
She came to a stop at her door and slowly opened the door a crack. She did a quick check over on the door to see if there were any traps. Once satisfied, she opened the door and walked in. With a soft click, the door locked and she turned the lights on. She then proceeded to check the room. She put a trap by the window and door while hiding a kunai in the bath room and behind the head board.
She walked into the
bathroom and took her cloak off. She set it by the sink and looked in
the mirror. Her blue eyes were dull and bags from lack of sleep where
visible. Her lips were chapped from the wind and her normal pale
complexion looked bloodless from the cold. At least her hair was
healthy. Her platinum white hair hung to her mid-back and where
filled with black highlights.
(The unique hair color was common
trait for Arashingan (storm) wielders. For example Byakugan has the
pale skin and pupil-less eyes and Sharingon has black hair and black
eyes.)
Rai's eyebrows furrowed as she stared at her scar. She ran an index finger from the top of her right eye down across the bridge of her nose to her left jaw. She couldn't find herself to hate it. To her it showed her determination and what she had to go through to come this far in the game.
That's all this was…a game. A game of survival, a game of desperation…
Her gaze lowered to the symbol that acted as a necklace. Around her neck was her forehead protector to show that she was from Kumogakure (Cloud Village) and through the cloud was a scratch that branded her as a missing-nin; branded her with freedom and a life of take. Though she was one-if not the best- thief in the missing-nin world, she hated stealing…but she had to get by some how.
She gave a wry smile to her reflection. She could handle killing someone just fine. It was an every day thing for a shinobi. But she hated to steal from those who had worked for there money for selfish needs. That was why she stole only as a last resort and even then she only took what she needed.
Rai turned the knob to the sink with a fingerless gloved hand. The knob turned with a small squeak and she splashed water in her face. Shaking her head she went to lay on her bed. She reached into her kunai pouch and pulled out the scroll that had caused her mission to be so troublesome. It was a simple scroll that was inlayed with a copper tone. She rolled it absent mindedly through her fingers as she stared at the ceiling.
She began to think about her own scroll that she was after. She couldn't remember her family except for a few broken memories. She was only ten when the clan was killed and she barely escaped with her life. Through the struggle to stay alive with hardly any skill out side of a genin, she had learned to control stage one and two of her bloodline.
Stage one, as she learned, caused her to run faster then average speed. This gave her the green bolt like appearance which added to her infamous reputation as the Jade Flash. Stage two made her actions only faster and her chakra supplies regenerate to full force. Though she had entered stage two, she still couldn't figure out what else it did. That was why she needed her scroll. To have power so her missions would be easier and in the end made living easier. As an R-ranked missing-nin, life could be tough.
She had searched every where for her scroll. Every where except Konoha, Oto, and Ame. But with Orochimaru dead, she could go in before the new Kage reads her scroll. Of course, she didn't know where the hell the Sound Village was, but that's why she had resources. With that though tin mind, she rolled over and went to sleep.
* * *
The next morning, Rain made her way towards a small bar at the end of the village. She walked with a quick step as she tried to distance herself from the inn; hoping the distance would keep her from burning the hotel down. She was irritated at the incompetent manager for actually tipping off a few ANBU hunters, a day travel out of town, about the Jade Flash staying at his hotel.
The nerve of that coward! She thought angrily. Whatever… It's not like they'll catch me.
Rai entered the bar and spotted a familiar man in the far corner booth. She made her way over and there sat a young man with long spiky brown hair who sat drinking tea. He was about 26 years old and wore blue clothes with a silver sash that held his prized sword. His amber eyes looked up at Rai as he took his time examining her.
She still had her hair down like always and her aqua blue eyes were bright with its own fire that he admired. She was beautiful in a unique way. She carried herself with pride and her uniqueness gave her aristocratic features. Even so he had seen prettier women, though very few. Her scar, in his opinion, hindered her beauty, but in the same way it complemented it very well.
"What a wonderful day. I do miss the stars though," he said as he raised his glass to take a sip.
"Ah. But the stars will shine brightly, for you acknowledge their beauty." She replied.
"Perhaps so but what of the moon?" he sat his cup down and refilled it with jasmine tea.
"Do not worry about the moon. She is humble in her beauty and will show no jealousy." Rai took a seat across from him as he poured her a cup of tea.
"It's good to see you, Rai."
"Like wise, Shintaro." She took the cup in her hand and breathed in the smell of Jasmine. Turning her attention to Shintaro, she continued," You really should get a shorter code to know if it's really me."
Shintaro chuckled. "But Rai-chan, it's poetry." His smile turned into a half hearted pout. "It reminds me of you."
Rai smirked at his flirty-ness. "Oh-is that so? Would I be the stars that you grow tired of just to turn around miss so much or the moon that comes second to you?"
He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Oh, come on now, Rai-chan. That's not a fair question."
"You only say that 'cause you are a coward to answer the question."
His hand dropped down and his eyebrows furrowed. "That's not nice. You're not supposed to insult your Taro-kun--OW!" He rubbed his forehead where Rai had flicked.
"Psh-Don't be a pansy. It didn't hurt that bad, Taro-kun," she teased.
"Don't mock me…You didn't have to use your chakra. You know what it does to people." He picked up his tea again and drank it down.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. I can't help it if my chakra is lightning based."
"I guess you're right. Anyway, how was your mission?" Shintaro put his elbows on the table and rested his head on one hand.
Rai pulled out the scroll and set it in the middle of the table. "Pain in the ass, but I still got it."
Shintaro took the scroll and looked it over before giving a satisfied nod and putting it in his sash. "We'll get paid quite a bit for this one. But not as much as the next mission I have for you." He reached into his hip holster and pulled out a different, plain scroll. "According to these clients, some Stone-nin stole a box of priceless weapons from a noble clan. It's an R-rank mission which is your specialty. Other then that, I wasn't informed of what clan it is or anything, just the basics."
"We'll have to hold off on that one. I have a personal errand that I have to take care of first." Rai glanced around at the corner of her eye at the rest of the bar to see if there were any eaves-droppers.
Shintaro's expression turned serious and he sat back in his chair with one arm over the back and the other on the table. "What would be so important not to take this job? This isn't like you Rai-chan."
Amber met aqua as they stared for a few moments. "I need to know Orochimaru's main hide out."
Shintaro studied Rai for a moment. "Why? You do know that he's dead, right?"
"Hai, I found out recently." Rai looked around again. "You know what I'm looking for. I've looked in all the villages except the three. If Orochimaru is dead then this is the best time to get it before the new Kage reads it…if he hasn't already."
He sighed and leaned forward. "I don't think letting you leave with this information will be very smart. Knowing you, you'll end up in the biggest trouble and I won't have an employee." He stared at his empty cup before looking back at her. "Well what do you want to know?"
Rai gave a big grin. "Thanks, Taro-kun. I knew you'd help me."
"Yeah, yeah. You just have to promise me not to be reckless and to come back."
"Why wouldn't I come back? I've gotten in and out of the other villages with hardly any problems."
"Because one," he held up one finger," Orochimaru had countless experiments that have no records on there abilities. Two," he held up a second finger, "all sound-nin are crazy and dangerous and three," he held up the third, "the place he favored at is underground and is worse then any maze. The odds of you coming back unharmed are unbelievably slim that I wouldn't bet a cup of tea on it." Rai studied Shintaro's eyes and knew what he said was true. But she had to do it.
"Don't worry Taro-kun." She smiled. "I promise on my life that I will come back. Kami, knows that you'd be lost without me."
"This isn't a time to be joking around." He rubbed his temples with his fingers to try and relieve his coming headache. "I want you to swear on a bottle of Jasmine tea."
Rai inwardly rolled her eyes. "Fine. I swear on a bottle of Jasmine tea that I will return."
Shintaro smiled. "That's more like it." A waitress came by and switched the empty bottle with a new one. "Now what is it that you want to know," he asked after the waitress left and he pulled out a scroll. He unraveled it to show that there were multiple seals with all the hidden village symbols. Shintaro looked thoughtful as he looked over the seals and rubbed his chin. As soon as he found the Sound symbol, he bit his thumb and placed it on the seal. A poof of smoke later revealed another scroll filled with even more unknown seals.
Rai sweat dropped as Shintaro began the same process of looking for the right seal. Finally, another poof of smoke later and there was once again a third scroll on the table, but unlike the first two, this one didn't have seals, but instead was a map. It showed tunnels and tunnels of what looked like a maze along with blue prints of exam and medical rooms.
Rai grabbed the map and began to look over the base. "How do you stay so organized?"
"The first scroll is seals of the hidden villages. Inside each seal are hide outs, smaller village information, maps, blueprints, weaknesses, ect." He took the map away from Rai who gave him a glare.
"Now listen," he said as he ignored it. "This on the north east end is where you have to enter at in order to be to closest to you destination. Go down these three halls," he traced with the end of a senbon needle, "and at the end of the third, on the 9th door to your right, is the scroll room." He looked up from the map. "Now remember if you are being followed, do not make yourself a door through the wall. All you will end up doing is causing the place to collapse or end up in some experiment's room."
"I don't need a medic-nin's advise whose 'trick-of-the-trade' is stealing information so valuable it could destroy a hidden village."
"You make me sound like a bad guy. You're the one who got me most of this information.
Rai shook her head and smiled. "So how far away is it?"
"Shintaro paused as the tea cup touched his lips. He thought for a moment and Rai could see the wheels turning in his head. "Hmm… I'd say for a seasoned shinobi it would be about a weeks travel. But for you in Arashingan flash step I'd say 3-4 days-give or take if you run into trouble."
Rai began to giggle softly.
"What's so funny?" Shintaro asked as he tilted his head to the side.
"I forgot to tell you. I finally learned how to go into stage two of Arashingan since the last time I met you. My normal flash step has sped up ten-fold. It's harder to control but I've gotten the hang of it."
Shintaro reached across the table and rubbed her hair. "That's a good kid."
She gave him a dark glare and swatted hi hand away. "Do that again and this 'good kid' might cut off that hand."
This only caused his smile to grow, much to Rai's disappointment. "Ahh-you're so cute in one moment and so deadly the next. No wonder you're my employee. I taught you well."
Rai stood up from her seat and grabbed her scroll and cloak. "Well, I better be off then. See ya."
"Remember your promise," he called out to her. She waved her hand over her shoulder to show that she heard him.
Shintaro watched Rai walk away until she left the bar. His smile faded and he looked back at his tea. He hoped his suspicions where wrong about Orochimaru. If he wasn't, he wouldn't know what to do.
Wait. This is Rai I'm talking about. Of course she'll be fine. I trained her after all…He smiled to himself. What was he worried about? Nothing bad would happen—
Crack
His smile vanished and amber eyes narrowed. He looked at the source of the crack to see his tea cup chipped down the side…
Bad omen.
He hastily drank his tea and got up to leave with a scowl in place.
Orochimaru…you better be dead.
End of Chapter 1! Cha! That was a bit…okay it was boring, but please please PLEASE hang in there. The next chapter, Rai goes to sound and might meet up with a certain some one…maybe not…maybe so…maybe not. Well you'll just have to see.
Until next time –
Ja ne!
