Kei walked down the street, trying to ignore the glares the civilians were giving her. She fought the urge to growl at them, knowing it would make them worse. An internal whine to her prisoner did nothing, so she mutely continued. She hated this village, she hated it's people, so what reason did she have to stay?
As soon as she thought that, she stopped, rattling the bars of her mental cage. "Why did you wake me up, woman?" came the familiar growl. She quickly shut him up with her idea, quickly disappearing to her cave home.
Well, calling the cave her 'home' would be a stretch. It was rather big, but it lacked any kind of 'homely touches', with only a beat-up blanket as a bed and a fire pit. She pulled out her measly dinner, a moldy piece of bread, waiting for nightfall. "You sure you want to do this Kei?" He asked. Kei noted it was the first time he referred to her by name. 'I'm not an idiot, Banryuu. I know the risks.' The risks of what exactly?
Raiding the Jutsu Library and abandoning the village. If she was caught, she wouldn't be killed- she'd be tortured. 'All I have to do is get away before they realize what I've done.' He quieted for the moment. It was easier said than done, even though fooling the librarian would be easy that would only get her Genin justu. To get the Chunin and Jonin level Justu, she would have to fool the Chunin guards.
But if she was determined enough, she could get it. Then all she had to do was make it to Fire Country.
As soon as the sun hit the horizon, she got up and went to the Library. Right before she got there, she ducked into a corner and henge'd into a Genin. The Librarian smiled and waved her through. "We'll be closing soon, so you better be quick." she warned. If not for managing to get a hold of Chakra Cards, she wouldn't know her elements- Earth and Fire. With that valuable piece of information, she wouldn't have to grab everything on every element.
She went to the section with the scrolls on Fire first, and quickly stashed all of them into the backpack. There weren't all that many, since this was a village of mostly Earth users. The Earth section was more sizable, and they all went into the backpack as well. Checking the time, she created a Clone, and had it leave to fool the librarian.
Once the librarian left, she waited until the Chunin guards had fallen asleep. Moving quickly, she stole all the jutsu she could get her hands on. After a brief internal battle, she grabbed books and scrolls on sealing, poisons and healing as well. She accidentally dropped a book, which didn't make the guards awake. Kei was tense for awhile after that anyway. On her way out, one of the guards sneezed, and noticed her. Kei gave an 'oh crap' smile to the sleepy guard, before taking off as fast as she could.
She managed to get out of the village, since the alarm brought the gate guards to the library. 'Damn fox! Some energy would be useful right now!' she mentally yelled, starting to hop trees and boulders. The forest around Iwa was sparse, with boulders making up most of the area.
Banryuu didn't respond, and Kei tried to hold her speed up, but she began to falter. She gritted her teeth, trying to ignore the burning in her legs. She had trained her body and mind as well as she could, but her age was working against her. There was a limit to what an eight year old could do, after all. Right when she was going to give up running, Banryuu gave her a burst of energy, and she was able to run, and dodge the kunai and shurikan thrown at her. She snatched what she could- want not, waste not.
Banryuu was being strangely quiet, and Kei tried not to worry about him, too focused on getting into Hi no Kuni. 'Banryuu, how far away is the border?' she asked, even her mental voice showing her exhaustion. She was barely out of throwing range, and was wondering why none of them had thrown Justu at her yet, but when she turned to check, Banryuu yelled 'In front of you!' Kei looked in front, and managed to do an ungainly jump over the Jonin. 'Fuuuuuck!' Kei mentally yelped as they began doing hand signs. A few seconds later, some boulders and stone dragons detached from the earth and flew at her. Kei waited until the last second before intentionally missing a branch, plunging about twenty feet. That saved her from the shock of the impact, but some shrapnel was flying, and Kei's keen ears heard some swearing, signaling at least one Iwa nin had been hit.
Kei still didn't question Banryuu's silence, and was thinking how to avoid the jonin. They could easily overtake her, but they seemed to be holding back 'Must be planning something.' she decided, trying to sense if any more had tried to get in front of her. She didn't sense any, but that didn't ease her mind much. She tried to recall the maps she had studied. 'To get to Hi no Kuni, I should go through...Taki...Might have a chance to rest there while they ask for permission...Then beeline to Hi no Kuni, where I will be home free!' She figured she must be close, and began to slow down.
Banryuu growled, warning her, but Kei ignored it, keeping a steady, slow pace. Slow for a ninja, that is. Kei heaved a sigh of relief, the stress on her legs lessening. The ninja behind her suddenly sped up. 'I must be really close to the border for them to get so desperate!' Kei enthused, before noticing the ninja in her way. She noticed the Iwa headband first, and her heart sank. Then the slash across it registered.
