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| - "Can you walk any slower?" Kimiko shouted at Akemi from the end of the path. "Yeah, hurry it up." Her older brother Hikaru chimed in. Suppressing her urge to smack both the bratty children on the sides of their heads as she approached. It had been awhile since Akemi had been assigned a mission, 4 weeks in fact. Though Akemi had taken advantage of the surplus of free time to train, she had longed for a mission, simply to ease her boredom. Acting as the sole guard for two rather unpleasant teens was not the mission she had in mind. Hikaru and his younger sister Kimiko were the children of one of the wealthiest merchants in the Land of Fire from what Akmei knew. They had been brought to Akemi out outside the boundaries of the Hidden Leaf Village by a team of five chunin. Their father had began traveling to the Land of Craters with his caravan, while his children were to be escorted South, to The Land of Tea where their mother resided. The task had seemed simple enough, an easy task for a ninja of Akemi's caliber. No one had told her the hardest part of the mission would be NOT killing the people she was supposed to protect. Kimiko was an attractive young girl of 16, her long brown hair cascading over her back, obscuring the pink floral pattern on the expensive Kimono type overcoat she was wearing. The Kimiko's knee high boots had a similar pattern, stretching from the fur peering out from the inside of the boot to the thick heel that added an inch to Kimiko's height. Her brother Hikaru was only a year older, sporting a sleeveless shirt, no doubt showing of the weapon tattoos on his arms. Apparently his father dealt in rare weapons, several of which were now a permanent part of his son's body. A heavily embroidered black and gold staff ran up the teen's right arm, surrounded by am equally decorated whip sword of the same color. His left arm bore a set of decorated knives laid out across his flesh. Hanging from his expensive leather belt, Hikaru had a sheath completely concealing a finely crafted knife. Akemi knew it was finely crafted, because she had helped make it. Her and Yoru sensei had spent hours crafting a blade that was both beautiful and efficient. That knife was now around the waist of Hikaru, son of one of the richest merchants currently in existence. The thought left a bad taste in her mouth. Hikaru and Kimiko had been nothing but a thorn in Akemi's side since they had left the village. They were typical spoiled brats, nothing less and certainly nothing more. Kimiko went into a momentary rage every time dirt was kicked up from the trail and onto her attire. The outbursts occurred every ten minutes or so, the spaces filled with Hikaru making passes at Akemi, the last of which Akemi had threatened to drag him by a broken leg to their destination. The edge in her voice and the threatening look in her eyes had convinced Hikaru to remain distant from Akemi for now, but it was likely only a matter of time before his arrogance once again got the best of him. In addition, the siblings seemed to view Akemi as more of a servant than a hired bodyguard, constantly showing displeasure with her pace, whether slow or fast and insisting she perform laboring tasks such as carrying their bags when they got tired, which had been about 90% of the journey so far. Worst. Mission. Ever. Akemi thought as she began grinding her teeth. "Your so slow." Kimiko exclaimed. "We're never going to make it there in time if you keep slacking like this, and I am not sleeping outside on the dirt. If it gets dark before we reach the inn, you better come up with something fast." Hikaru slowed to allow Akemi to come even with him, stretching one of his tattooed arm over her shoulders. "Are you tired?" he asked with a tone that somehow emanated his confidence. "If you like you can rest in my room once we get to the inn?" Akmei shot Hikaru the same icy look she had before, getting him to immediately remove his arm and take a step away from Akemi. "I told you to back off." Akemi said with a hard edge in her tone. "I'm getting really sick of these advances. If you keep this up, you won't like what I do to you." Despite them obviously being a threat, Akemi's words didn't seem to have the desired effect, as Hikaru continued to look at her with a smug grin on his face. "Your so rude." Kimiko joined. "Our father is paying the Hidden Leaf a lot of money to keep us safe. We were told you were professional, not rude. Stop being so rude." Akemi could feel the veins in her face bulge for a moment before she took a deep breath to calm herself. Arguing with the brats would do nothing but slow them down. It was in Akemi's best interest, and theirs, that this mission be completed as quickly as possible. So far nothing had gone wrong. Akemi could only hope that the remained of the mission go as smoothly. ________________________________________________________________________________ With his prey now down to one knee, Seitoshi knew now was his moment. Tightening his grip on the two punch daggers, his adversary's blood still glistening off the dagger in his right hand. The poison had worked to perfection, kicking in after several minutes and hindering the movements of his enemy, making her an easy target for his superior Taijutsu. Though the girl retained more movement than the previous victims of his paralysis toxin, it was obvious the girl no longer had the speed to keep up with him. His next flurry of moves would finish her, leaving the red head incapacitated and bleeding out. She would likely die just as he dragged the two brats form the girl's pitiful Earth barrier. "You were a difficult adversary." Seitoshi stated as he began a slow, methodical walk towards Akemi. "In a straight up fight, you would almost certainly have bested me, but unfortunately for you, smart shinobi aren't taught to fight fairly." Seitoshi's walk gradually picked up speed until he in a full sprint, dashing towards Akemi with his dagger protruding from between his knuckles. Akemi grit her teeth as Seitoshi closed the distance between them, the light catching the daggers in his fists. The situation was dire. Akemi's movement speed was greatly reduced thanks to whatever poison Seitoshi had dipped his daggers in. In addition her chakra was running low, thanks to whatever had been done to her previously in the battle. Everything Akemi had gone through, only to be taken down by some lowly mercenary? Seitoshi was already within striking distance, his feet leaving the ground as he jumped, spinning in the air with his cocked back. In a moment, Akemi knew she would feel the sting of steel as her jugular was cut open. That moment when all hope seemed to be lost for the young woman, she had closed her eyes from the sheer suspense of the fastly ending battle. The weapons that had been use against her had seemingly halted their assault. Later came the sounds of clashing metal and growls of Seitoshi. Once she would reopen her eyes, Akemk would lay them upon a follow leaf shinobi. Clashing with the worn out Seitoshi, he had seemed to quickly gain the upper hand. As Seitoshi would swing his punch dagger at young man, all his efforts would be effectively blocked by Seika's own weapon. Concerned for the condition of the fallen female Seika quickly glanced at her. "Hey! Can you stand?" He shouted, as the brawl between he and Seitoshi began to intensify. Akemi looked up at her newly arrived savior, shocked at his sudden appearance. It took a moment for Akemi to rise to her feet, though she felt off balance almost immediately and staggered back. Akemi couldn't help but stare at the new arrival as she tried to maintain a vertical base. There was the pestering though that she had seen him before, that he wasn't at all a stranger. It may have been the hits to the head, or the poison in her veins, but Akemi couldn't place the tall dark shinobi. Pushing off of his new adversary's sword, Seitoshi jumped back, distancing himself form the new target. "You have no business interfering with this matter." Seitoshi growled. "If you want to die as well I'm happy to grant you your wish, but otherwise you should just leave." Seitoshi maintained a combat stance, eyeing the opposing man warily. "Yeah yeah...." Seika cut the man off, placing his sword back into its sheath. "Are you alright? " Seika questioned directing his words to the injured woman. "If you could inform me of what was just taking place... It'll be fantastic.." Seika glanced back over to the man, eyeing him, reading his chakra levels. "Actually. Hold that thought. I'll deal with him first." Mere moments after speaking, the black hair shinobi sped off from sight reappearing next to Seitoshi ready to aim the handle of his sword into the man's side with a single draw. It was rare for someone to use the basic body flicker technique so expertly in combat, but regardless Seitoshi was ready. An attack to his left side was the most logical, as it provided his enemy with the most room to maneuver and Seitoshi's arm was visibly cut, the wound form the young woman's Kukri still stinging. Seitoshi's prediction was correct and his hightened reflexes again proved useful as he blocked the handle of the black sword with his open palm. "Impressive, but predictable." Seitoshi muttered. Pushing the sword to the side, Seitoshi leaped back throwing both of his daggers from his hands towards the opposing man. "Yeah.... Maybe it was." Seika replied with a smug grin. Seitoshi had made Seika's sword be deposited back into the sheathe before him could fully release it, Seitoshi would then throw both punch daggers at him. And when being in such close proximity, Seika would have little time to react to evade both despite his amazing reflexes. The right dagger had arrived before the left, sightly tilting his head the left--the right dagger soared past-- the left quick approached, leaving little room to completeky dodge it. By moving his head in opposite direction, Seika barely evaded the dagger's path, only suffering a minor scratch to the side of his face. "Oh boy was that close!" He exclaimed jokingly. "That was pretty nice.." Seitoshi looked at the young man, puzzled by his lack of seriousness. Either he was naive and oblivious to the seriousness of the situation or down right cocky and oblivious. Either way, Seitoshi hoped that he would stay that way, leaving him open to attack and ending their battle quickly. The young man was undoubtedly skilled, as he avoided contact with both the daggers and was only lightly grazed by the Wind Release chakra surrounding them, so the more confident he felt, the better things would be for Seitoshi. "Your a fool." Akemi called out, looking at her savior as she staggered back and fell into a sitting position. "And you can barely stand up on your own..." Seika retorted, placing his hand upon the handle of his sword. "Say...what's your name? You seem awfully familiar." Akemi stared back at the young man with a puzzled look, partly confused as to why he wanted to know her name in the middle of a battle, and partly because she also had the pestering feeling that she had seen him somewhere before as well. "Are you here to chat or are you here to help?" "Well.... I came here it help you. But I don't think I want to with that attitude." Seika replied pushing out his lower lip. Despite him looking as if he wasn't paying attention to Seitoshi, he was in fact paying close attention to the latter just in case he decided to strike while Seika was "off guard". A clever ruse by the young man indeed, but Seika was too experience to be caught off guard by such a simple trick, but his opponent didn't know that. Rapidly manuuvering his hands into the Tori hand seal, Seitoshi unleashed a volley of condense air bullets, several of the projectiles aimed at Seika, but a majority aimed at the ground between the two combatants with the intention of forcing a cloud of dust into the air. Seika stood unwithered from his spot as the air bullets soared past his body. They exploded on contact with the ground, spawning dust from the very places in which they struck. The dust cloud begun to cover the entire area, greatly impair the vision of those who aren't experienced in sightless environment. "Relying on creap tactics are we?" Seika taunted, gripping the handle of his katana. "Don't get all high an mighty with me." Seiotshi's voice called from the dust. "Cheap, dirty, underhanded, that's how shinobi are supposed to fight. All you shinobi from the Great Nations seem to think the way of the ninja is a path of honor. How laughable. Nice guys will always finish last." The dust immediately around Seika quickly dissipated, but a swirling could of dirt and dust remained immediately in front of him. A silhouette could be seen in the dust, the human shape just barely visible to Seika's well honed eyes. The dark shape in the dust leaped forward, Seiotshi emerging moments later with a long spear in his hands, the pointed metal spike aimed directly at Seika's chest. As the distance between he and the point of Seitoshi's spear thinned, Seika quickly sidestepped, barely dodging the stab of the dull blade. Quickly unsheathing his sword again, Seika aimed to cut directly through the man's body. Once he was complete through, the "man" turned into a puff of smoke, declaring him to be a distraction from what the real Seitoshi was planning. "Did you think I'd fall for that?" "Of course not." Seitoshi stated, having maneuvered himself roughly five yards behind Seika. "But I think your overlooking something." Though Seitoshi's clone had indeed perished at the hands of Seika's blade, the spear that the clone had attacked with remained in the ground, the shaft pointing in the air at a forty-five degree angle. Without warning, the shaft of the spear exploded, sending wooden splintered in all directions. "Damn!" Seika shouted at his eyes widen from surprise. "I didn't expect that." Without a moment to spare, Seika used the body flicker technique again to speed his way over to Akemi shield from the barrages of wooden shards, taking on the full force of each wooden spike. "Shit those hurt." He weakly joked. "Are you alright?" "I'm fine you fool." Akemi stated, her voice flat. "Good.. Now you get to watch me beat the crap out of this guy." Seika spoke, revealing the same smug grin. "Such arrogance from someone who was just nearly blown to pieces." Seitoshi mocked form the treeline. "I take it your done testing me, right? I'm anxious to get the real show underway." "I suppose so...... That is if you are ready." Seika chuckled, turning away from Akemi. "Bring it..." Pleased his opponent would not longer hold back, Seitoshi couldn't help but let a grin creep onto his own face. He had already had his fun ambushing Akemi, and was now hoping for a challenge form her dark eyed savior. It wasn't too often Seitoshi was given the chance to battle anyone significant in a head on battle. Usually even significant opponents fell quickly from Seitoshi's ambush tactics. A change of pace would be refreshing. Whipping a scroll from his tool pouch, Seitoshi unraveled the paper until the scroll stretched out the length of his arm span. The scroll was dotted with sealing symbols every six inches, each seal containing one of Seitoshi's many weapons. In a puff of white smoke, dozens of weapons flew from the scroll. Kunai, swords or various sizes, spears, sickles and many other weapons began falling into the soil, sticking into the soil and forming a perfect circle of weapons. "Enough talk then." Seitoshi stated, producing two more punch daggers that peeked out from between his knuckles. "Don't disappoint me." The talking now over, Seitoshi rushed forward, his speed seemingly greater than it had been in the previous clash. As he came withing striking distance, Seitoshi leaped forward, unleashing a flurry of punches and kicks. "Heh." Seika chuckled, prepping himself for another bout with Seitoshi. With Seitoshi speeding his way over to Seika, the young man reequipped himself with the flashly black katana yet again, bring it up just in time to meet one of the punch daggers. The contact from the two metals sent sparks soaring into the air, the two quickly broke before reconnecting again. Faster and faster, the brawl raged on... The two shinobi seemed to be equally matched, neither gaining an edge over the other. Back and forth they launched and dodged attacks from the opposing fighter. The two broke away for split second giving Seika anoption to switch fighting game. In doing so the black haired man preformed a single backflip while reaching into his pocket. After landing Seika threw a single kunai that he retrieved from his pocket. With a slight tilt of his head, Seitoshi narrowly avoided the kunai, the weapon whizzing past his ear as it flew into a thick tree trunk on the edge of the wide dirt path. Swiping his hand, Seitoshi tossed a small black sphere, at Seika, which exploded into a purple mist several yards before contacting the young ninja. With the poison gas quickly dispersing into the air, Seitoshi exhaled a powerful jet of air from his mouth, pushing and spreading the toxic gas forward towards Seika. With the gas now dispersed over a wide area, dodging was a virtual impossibility, leaving Seika to either fall back or brave the toxic fumes. Regardless, Seitoshi believed himself to have the upper hand. Once the poison bomb exploded, Seika immediately held his breath, refusing to breathe in the toxin filled air. Seitoshi pushed the toxic fumes in Seika's direction. Using the kunai his threw mere moments ago, Seika instantly moved to it's location placing his hand on the tree truck. After relocating, Seika launched that same kunai toward Seitoshi's feet. As the poison mist dispersed, it quickly became apparent to him that his target had evaded the attack. Judging from his battle experience, Seitoshi assumed Seika had somehow managed to get behind him and reacted quickly by jumping forward and throwing a shuriken as he spun around. Seiotshi's assumption proved correct, and his shuriken collided in mid air with a kunai, the same kunai his enemy had thrown at him earlier. It only took a few moments for Seitoshi to put two and two together, landing on the edge of his circle of weapons as the final dots connected in his head. "A transportation technique." Seitoshi said in a way that sounded more like a statement than a question. "I'm guessing somehow related to that unusual kunai you keep throwing at me. Could that possibly be the Second Hokage's Flying Thunder God technique?"
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