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Even the fastest of Shinobi would not be able to make it to Sunagakure in less than five days. So Izumi's travel would be long and into enemy territory for part of the way. She exits the village and heads off quickly heading southwest. This particular path is one she has only done twice before. Both times were to return prisoners to the Land of Wind. The last time she went she was acquainted with the Kazekage.
She remembers him well. Not much taller than herself, this deep, blood red-headed man was a ridged, but fair leader. His piercing blue eyes lined with black were softened with the love he had for his village. No one expected him to become kazekage, but he left the Village Hidden in Leaves with the intent to run his country no matter how much the elder villagers protested. The young villagers found hope in his achievement and they all backed him with complete sincerity. Being a jinchuriki, she finds hope in his success, but the only difference is that no one is aware of her situation.
She continues on the same pace for another one hundred fifty kilometers reaching just outside of Shimogakure - the Village Hidden in Frost. The air around her becomes frigid as she wraps her cloak around her body a little bit tighter. The sun has already dropped over the horizon coating the mountains in a golden haze. The mountains are painted in white and pines decorate the slopes with green dots. Her breath leds her as she moves through the snow to find a resting area.
The nights in Shimogakure can be cruel if one is not prepared. The temperatures can drop -30 degrees Celsius while the wind chill can drop that even fifteen degrees further. Before the wind starts, she sets up her tent heating her body with her chakra preparing for bed. The wind starts to whistle rocking the tent slightly as she eats a food pellet and unzips her sleeping bag. She slips under and rolls on her back with her hands behind her head. Her eyes slowly droop and she drifts off to sleep.
"I have dropped off your prisoner, Lord Kazekage," Izumi states giving him a deep bow.
"Thank you," Gaara replies in his sultry, monotone voice returning the bow. "Your services have been very much appreciated."
"Of course, it is my village's honor," she says making eye contact with him.
The scene of the kazekage's office morphs to just the two of them standing in a room, his room. She feels his hands skimming down her sides searching her entire body with his eyes. His breath is hot against her cheek as he frees her hair from the braid. He leans close to her mouth, his lips parting, not breaking eye contact with her…
She gasps shooting straight up her heart pounding. Shit, she thinks, I hate sleeping while my chakra is trying to keep my body warm. She always has the craziest dreams when her chakra circulates through her body during sleep. She rubs her eyes and stretches looking at the time. Five and half hours of sleep is a little over what she was aiming for, but still keeps her ahead of time. She gathers her things and heads out heading on a path that goes around Shimogakure due to the fact that her village and this one do not necessarily get along.
The snow is coming down thick skewing her view and only allowing a ten-meter visual of her surrounds. As her body moves through the thick snow, she abruptly comes to a stop as a figure enters her sight. They both are standing still as the snow pelts their bodies. The person before her stands about six feet tall and the frame suggests a male of about one hundred and eighty pounds.
"Identify yourself!" she shouts reaching for the senbons placing them between both her hand's knuckles. The cloak shields both of their movements towards their weapons.
There is no answer, but the unidentified male rushes forward and the glint of his sword makes her move out of the way just as quickly. She looks down as her body hovers above the ground throwing her senbons towards his body. He dodges them almost as swiftly as she dodged his sword. He looks up revealing that the bottom half of his face is covered by a black cloth. His eyes are grey as the night sky within this land. She throws six more senbon where he stands, but only to be deflected by his sword. Her feet land on the branch of a pine tree waiting for his next move.
He's quick, but his movements aren't as fluid as most Jonin, she thinks watching as he sizes her up. Who are you?
"It must be killing you," he laughs circling the tree, "not knowing who I am, Izumi Akayama."
She slightly smiles at his need for control, but does not answer his silent desire for back and forth conversation. She sits on the branch with her legs crossed moving her hands quickly in one of her favored jutsus. "Hidden Cloud Jutsu!" she shouts as her body disappears and reappears behind him pressing her chakra into his shoulder blades. His body is encased in a white cloud holding his body captive.
He struggles against her jutsu as she walks around to face him. Their eyes meet and she pulls down his mask revealing his face, which cannot be more than eighteen years old.
"Now, what is your name?" she asks calmly holding up one senbon.
He tries to spit in her face, but she just moves her head to the left avoiding it. She chuckles and within a blink of an eye she jams the senbon deep within his solar plexus chakra. He screams in agony and she states, "I just cut off your solar plexus chakra which is tied to your ego, your will and your sense of self. You are probably familiar with this particular chakra point if you are familiar with any torture techniques. Most skilled Jonin know how to overcome an attack on this specific area, but I have a feeling you are not a skilled Jonin, are you?"
He struggles to fit the words that want to form so badly. "No, I-I am n-not," he answers his words exacerbated.
"That's what I thought," she murmurs searching his face. "But you do know who I am, don't you ?"
"Y-yes," he replies tossing his head to the side to break free of the jutsu.
"Why are you after me?"
"There i-is a bounty o-on your head," he answers through his teeth.
"Oh," she says in surprise, "by whom was this bounty placed on my head by?"
"Jugo," he groans.
"Ah," she concedes, "he must know I am on my way to Sunagakure. Is he feeling threatened?"
"I-I don't kn-now. H-he just w-a-ants you d-dead," he stammers.
She weaves another senbon between her fingers contemplating what to do. "You must not know me well if you had the audacity to come at me unprepared," she glares. "I am somewhat insulted."
"I-I didn't come unp-prepared. I-I was just t-the distraction," he stammers once more as she barely dodges a kunai. She hears the rip of fabric as it nicks her cloak pinning itself into a nearby pine.
She scans the area quickly scouting five assailants who all immediately lounge towards her. She throws multiple senbons at her opponents only slightly nicking them. They surround her in a formation similar to what Special Jonin teams practice from her village. They are all runaways, she thinks as she defends herself from an onslaught of kunai and shuriken. All from my village, she figures out seeing the glint of their headbands.
Her anger begins to seep as she plays offense against these pathetic excuses of human beings. Her body begins to swirl with great velocity as her eyes close and hands form another jutsu. The snow surrounds her like a barrier and bolts of lightning flash within the grey wind wall. Her eyes fly open, "Lightning Cyclone Jutsu!"
Thousands of electrically charged kunai and senbons fly from the isolated storm stunning the missing-nin and killing only two. Izumi's feet touch the ground as she looks at the bodies twitching from the shocks. She looks over at the boy still enclosed in her previous jutsu with a slight delight seeing a horrified look on his face.
She binds the living shinobi together cutting off any form of chakra to be used to escape. Once finished, she sends a note to Kumogakure stating their location and status.
"Hopefully," she calmly states tightening the bindings, "they get here before you freeze to death, but they may not move as quickly as you may want." She stands making eye contact with the conscious, "I thought Jugo would only allow qualified shinobi to take me down."
She shrugs readjusting her gear and making sure everything is in order. She begins on her journey once more. Even with this delay I can make Sunagakure in five days, she thinks as her feet slap against the pine's branches. Hopefully there are no more interruptions.