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Ch. 4 A New Target

The sun had fully risen by the time Saylin opened her eyes. She sat up abruptly, causing the room spun around her. Her head felt heavy, and she fell back against the wall, groaning as it protested her sudden movements. After two long minutes of watching tiny dots of color swirl in her vision, Saylin tried to get out of bed, only more slowly this time. Thankfully, she had more success.

She randomly selected her clothes to wear, and took a quick shower. After changing, Saylin walked into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of milk and cooked an omelet for breakfast. The creamy milk and warm omelet made her taste buds light up after a dull night of sleep. Now fully awake, Saylin put the dishes in the sink and brushed her teeth. The mint toothpaste overpowered the taste of her breakfast while stinging her mouth with its flavor. She eagerly spit out the foamy paste and rinsed her mouth with water; her teeth were now squeaky clean. Finally, she completed her morning duties by brushing her hair. "I don't have class today, so I'll get some more food, I'm almost out. Then I'll see what Gaara is up to." She assigned herself as she tied her shoes.

Before leaving the house, Saylin stepped back into the kitchen and opened her cabinet next to the refrigerator. Standing on her tiptoes, she reached into the cabinet and pulled out a large blue cup. Inside, filled to the brim, was a stash of gold coins. She grabbed a handful of coins and jammed them into her pocket. Once she had all of the money she needed for shopping, she put the cup back were it originally was, and closed the cabinet. Once she was finished, she walked outside, locking the door behind her, the change jingled at an embarrassing volume as she walked.

Full daylight hit her hard; it was a big difference from inside her dark house. "Wah!" She cried, using her hand to block the sun's yellow light, big neon colored blotches appearing in her vision. Only seeing out of the few normal spots of her eyes, Saylin walked into the market and browsed through the goods being sold on the street.

It was an uplifting, cheery site. The people were almost always helpful and happy. There was even an excited, spring-like aroma to it, like a combination of lavender and vanilla, but slightly floral, like a rose.

The vendors were always laughing and talking among themselves; a friendly lot. They had been very generous to her when her parents died; some brought extra supplies for Saylin until she could support herself. They had even let her take some extra food when she couldn't afford any. On top of that, when she was of age, they offered her part time jobs, so she could earn some extra cash. One of her favorite vendors, Satsu, was in a good mood today. She had sold a rare herb to three out of town folk. Satsu also whispered that the three were obviously inexperienced in the ways of herb buying and had overpaid her. Satsu, being a cunning old lady, hadn't told them and had laughed when they left.

Saylin had soon accumulated a week's worth of fruit and vegetables. After paying for them, she purchased three pounds of rice. Once she had finished shopping, an eerie sensation washed over her; she felt like she was being watched. It was that foreboding sensation that something luck was about to take a turn for the worst. Saylin looked around, eyeing the crowd carefully. "Help!" Someone screamed in a loud voice.

Everyone in the market stopped talking, and turned around to face the voice. The source of the voice were three masked warriors. They were all dressed in black, but they let their faces show. One of them held a small boy, no older than five, a kunai pointed at his throat. No one moved; Saylin's blood ran cold and her eyes widened.

"Hello again my good sand villagers. Care to tell us who is the best fighter here? It would be a shame to massacre all these people because one person didn't volunteer." The tallest one growled sadistically.

The crowd began to murmur, and Saylin found her remembering something Gaara had told her, "You have the best grades, and skills, of all of the sand village ninja, and everyone knows it."

A man behind Saylin tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around slowly and when he saw her face, he exclaimed, "Hey, you are Saylin Miyakoe, aren't you?"

"Yeah, that's her!" Added another person before Saylin could answer.

"I heard she is the best ninja in the entire village! Go take them! Beat them up!" Someone else shouted.

"Save my boy!" Sobbed a woman, throwing herself at Saylin's feet, crying hysterically.

"Come forward, Saylin of the sand village. Unless you want the boy to die." The tall ninja announced, catching parts of the conversations, pressing the kuni harder against the boy's throat. The child gasped and squirmed, but the ninja holding him just squeezed him harder.

"Let him go!" Saylin shouted, trying to sound brave. "This is bad, really bad. I don't even have my gear with me!" she thought franticly, "but I have to try." She grimly pushed her way through to the front of the murmuring crowd. It parted for her as she faced the three ninja.

The ninja holding the boy removed the kuni from his throat and kicked him, sending him running back to his crying mother.

"How long will you last, Saylin Miyakoe? Will you fight us, or cower before us like the others before you?" He asked in an amused, delighted tone.

"I've heard of you three, you have no shame or pride to murder and abduct people the way you do." Saylin replied, getting into a fighting stance, "I choose to fight!"

"You are a brave, I'll go easy on you." Said the ninja who had held the young boy hostage, "if you wish to learn something about fighting, watch carefully."

That ninja made three simple hand signs hand signs, and rushed forward. Saylin sprinted to her right, knowing he meant to somehow paralyze and knock her out like he did the other two sand ninja they captured. A blue light shot out from his hands. When Saylin saw the light out of the corner of her eye, she leapt into the air. The bolt missed her by a hair's breath, hitting a man behind her, making him drop to the ground like a ton of lead.

"Someone take him and get out of here! Call the Kazekage, or the black ops!" Saylin ordered the crowd, making the hand signs for a clone justu. They fled down the road, screaming.

As she was making the last sign for the jutsu, one of the other two ninja collided with her. Saylin cried out in surprise as he slammed her against the ground.

"You are smart, but not smart enough!" He shouted, trying the paralyze jutsu. Saylin pushed herself out of his tackle and jumped behind him, making the signs for a fire jutsu. Suddenly, five kuni rushed at her, and pinned her against a wall, one hitting her in the process.

Saylin let out blood curdling scream as one of the sharp knives pierced her right leg. She gasped, feeling short of breath, blood flowing down her knee. For a second time, they had attacked her before she could finish a jutsu.

"So much for the sand village's best graduating ninja." The tallest one snickered, putting emphases on 'best'. "I'll paralyze her." He said to the other ninja. To Saylin he said, "You are a horrible ninja, you can't even…" He rambled as he started again, remaking the paralyze jutsu hand signs.

Saylin struggled to breath normally. She had a gash in her leg that was six inches across and half an inch deep. It bled hard, and soon, her leg was soaked in blood.

"Get a hold of yourself!" She commanded herself, searching for a way to get her off the wall. Saylin felt a piece of sharp wood that was chipped off underneath her left foot. She used chakara to attach it to her foot, and kicked it forward, aiming for the talking one. Saylin released her chakara on the wood when her leg was straight. The shattered wood torpedoed towards him and slashed through his hands. It successfully disturbed his chakara flow and splintered his fingers before hitting him in the face.

"Have a taste of your own medicine!" Saylin snapped between pants. She pushed with her good leg, but couldn't get off the wall. The kuni that held her hands and legs in place were driven in too deeply into the wall for her to do anything. The talking ninja screamed and fell down in pain but disappeared with a loud "Poof!" "A solid shadow clone?" she thought, "Then where's the real one?"

With another poof, the real ninja appeared in front of her, smirking indigenously. With no other cunning tricks to try, outnumbered, and out of her league, Saylin bowed her head in defeat.

"Very nice. You use your head in battle, but it wasn't enough this time." He chuckled, "I believe I win," he hissed in a sickeningly sweet voice, his face right next to hers, "Good night." He whispered.

Saylin remembered feeling a rage towards him consisting of her utmost anger and disgust. She wanted nothing more than to rip herself from the wall and punch him, but she couldn't do anything to stop him from knocking her out. Before he paralyzed her, she could have sworn she felt something soft rush around her right hand harden. Before she could see what it was, Saylin felt blinding pain in her stomach, one that made everything fade to black.