"They don't recognize us as one of them or a threat." Tatsuo grumbled as he sat at the head of his meeting. All of the top shinobi of Takigakure were gathered in the main hall of Tatsuo's home. The village head had just caught wind that the five great nations were going to be 'auctioning off' tailed beasts and, currently, Takigakure wasn't even in the running to receive one.
"Why don't we invade them and show them our strength?" One of the shinobi requested.
"They speak so highly of peace among all nations, yet they want to keep all the power for themselves." Another chimed in. "They're nothing but greedy bastards."
"Our village has plenty of skilled shinobi!"
A fifteen year old Risa sat next to her father with her hands clasped in her lap, listening to everyone's complaints and anger. She too was frustrated with the lack of acknowledgement their village received, however she wasn't sure that invasion was the best option at hand.
"We have weapons too. Kakuzu is our best fighter. Risa's right behind him."
"Yeah, they could go toe-to-toe with these so-called 'kage'!"
Risa looked up at Kakuzu, who was quietly listening across the room from her. He didn't show any agreement or denial with anyone's words and she wondered what he was thinking.
"No offense, but we should not send a woman out for a man's fight." Someone's voice rang out. A couple of others voiced their agreement, which in turn caused an uproar of more angry voices.
Kakuzu watched his partner's head turned sharply in the direction of who was speaking, but her father instantly shut her down before she could make a response.
"Enough! I will take all requests and concerns and evaluate them." Tatsuo quieted the room. Clearing his throat, he adjusted the opening of his robe before moving into the next point of their meeting. The rest of the meeting droned on and the moment it was over, Risa would've left if the village head hadn't called her over.
"Yes, sir." Risa greeted him. Tatsuo glanced over the female with a sense of pride. Although she was fifteen, her age couldn't fathom the amount of experience she had. He didn't want her to start over thinking the comments of some of her co-shinobi, but he figured she wouldn't based on her personality.
"I have a task for you. I need you to infiltrate a message for me."
"A solo mission?"
"Precisely."
After receiving the details of her mission, Risa left the hall and made her way back home to pack a few things. Her father wasn't home and her mother didn't ask too many questions so she could be in and out quickly. She would've stopped to see Kakuzu before she left, but she was told since this was a solo mission, the less people that knew where she was, the better.
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Travel had been easy-going as the navy bluette made her way towards the east. She figured from the tip that was given to her, the best way to get to her destination was to move along the borders of the Land of Iron, then head down south. It took her nearly a week and a half to make the journey and find her targets.
"We should stop in this town for the night. I'm tired of sleeping in trees."
"You just want to go there because of the brothel."
"You caught me man."
Risa sat back in the shadows and watched two men, who had stopped to take a break, head into a nearby traveler's town. She'd been trying to determine from watching their actions which male had the scroll she needed, but she had to find a good way to steal it regardless.
After a few minutes, she jumped down from the tree. The reason Tatsuo sent her out here was because she was one of the best at stealth. She went by the motel first since that was the last place she'd seen them go in. Their room was on the second floor with no windows so she would have to go through another way. Once one of the men left, she took her chance and climbed into the vents.
A gas filled the air of the room and the male immediately covered his nose and mouth, looking around for where it came from. Before he could take a few steps towards the door, he felt his body slowing down and, soon, he was on the floor. Risa kicked open the cover and slid out of the vents.
"W-Who..."
"I'd give up on talking because ya won't be able to do that soon either." She started looking around for the scroll.
"What... did you... do to me?"
"Poison mushrooms." She answered easily. "Once ya start smelling them, it's too late. I'm assuming your partner has the message?"
"Mes...sage?" He could barely speak at this point. Next his muscles would cease to move and he'd die of asphyxiation. His eyes barely widened in realization. "Y-You... T-Taki...."
Risa waited until he stopped breathing, then checked his pulse to make sure she'd finished the job. Now she was going to have to go after the other one. Personally, she wanted to keep her kill count down, especially since her mission didn't call for it, but unfortunately that wouldn't be the case.
Heading over to the brothel, she didn't know the best way to infiltrate so she decided to wait until her target came outside. Wanting to look natural, she took her hitai-ate off and placed it in her pouch before going across the street to have tea. It had been hours and he still hadn't come out. Deciding to speed things along, she went inside the brothel to find him.
"This isn't the place for a little lady like you."
Risa turned around to see a male about twice her size looking down on her. He had to be either the bouncer or the owner since everyone else had ignored her presence.
"I'm looking for my boyfriend. He's 'bout this tall, dark hair, obviously a foreigner." She motioned while placing her other hand on her hip.
"How do I know that's your boyfriend?" The male smirked. "Been plenty of people out here looking for trouble. I've been keeping this place clean for years."
"How much do ya want for him?"
"Something you aren't willing to give."
Picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder, the male promptly escorted her out and dropped her outside the door, telling her to go home. She was trying to go in semi-legally, but now she was just going to say fuck it.
Heading around back, Risa decided to go up the side of the building and peer into the windows until she spotted him. She got halfway up the building, when she finally found her person. Sliding in through the open window, she kept an eye on the sleeping male in the bed as she searched for his belongings. His escort must have stepped out of the room for a moment.
Spotting the male's pouch, she finally located the scroll she needed. This wasn't the ideal way to do things - quite amateurish actually - but she was already in too deep. It was going well until she sensed a spike of chakra behind her and was caught in a headlock.
"Who are you? Speak!"
The now awake male demanded answers, but Risa wasn't giving them. She pushed back and wrapped her leg around his to trip him so they both fell back onto the floor. Pulling a kunai out of her pouch, she stabbed him in the leg, causing him to weaken his grip around her throat. Coughing, she wasted no time in bolting towards the window and jumping out.
The angry male was on her tail and she knew she wasn't going to be able to shake him. Discreetly dropping spores, she kept moving before doubling back to the same area. It wouldn't take long for her mushrooms to take effect if-
"You made a fatal mistake."
Risa couldn't move her body. The forest around her was becoming distorted and she knew she was caught in a genjutsu. Normally she could try to dispel it, even though she wasn't the best at genjutsu, but this one was different.
"It's crazy that you're just a kid."
A shadow with red eyes appeared in front of her. She wanted to back away, but her feet were still frozen to the ground. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she wondered what she did wrong because her spores weren't working. His arm raised and she closed her eyes, letting out a slow exhale and relaxing herself. Maybe if she tried to calm down the adrenaline rush, then-
Suddenly, the male erupted into a coughing fit and Risa opened her eyes to find the forest was back to normal. Blood was pouring out of her enemy's eyes, ears, and nose. Finally, her jutsu was taking affect. He would also die of asphyxiation if blood loss didn't kill him first.
Backing away, Risa disappeared deeper into the forest and tried to get away as quickly as possible by using the trees. She usually didn't see her end products up close, so she wanted to get the image out of her head immediately. It didn't help that she was already beating herself up for making such a rookie mistake on her first solo mission. She was following the trail she'd marked when she got off balance, feeling the after effects of the genjutsu. Falling to the forest floor, the navy bluette rolled through the brush and fell over a cliff side.
A/N: *le gasp* Risa no~~
Eat well, sleep better! (I'm really thinking of making this my slogan now lol). 'Til next time!
- Mira