Merchant, Vendor and a Ninja [Solo]

{Part 2 of HERE}

As Ami was got up with the letter in her hand, she looked once more at the dying man before her. A part of her felt bad that she had had to resort to such lengths just to intercept his letter. But had he been just a little more co-operative, just a little friendlier, she wouldn’t have had to kill him. She closed her eyes for a moment before turning to go back to the village, tucking the letter into her pocket. She was going to deliver the letter back to her village, having no interest in knowing its contents. The girl was just about to walk towards the Gekkousato gates when she felt something whiz by her. Blood trickled from her cheek, her face with unmasked surprise as she stopped. A kunai had scraped her face, her hand touching the cut lightly. Without turning around, she would simply stand there, her katana still in her hand. This person had very good aim. Her left hand reached to her weapon pouch and as she turned around to face her opponent, she would send three senbon in the direction of where she guessed the kunai had come from. The look of surprise unmasked as she came face-to-face with her next set of opponents.

In front of her, beside the dead samurai, was the fruits vendor and a man wearing merchant clothes. So, they were working together…she thought to herself. The girl knew that at least one of them was a shinobi, judging from the weapons that he used, or thieves that had raided an outpost or something. Whichever one it was, she was going to find out soon enough. She watched as the fruit vendor jumped out of the way of her senbon. At least his reflexes were good. He pulled out another kunai and some shuriken. Her eyes darted back and forth between the two men knowing that if they worked together she may be screwed. The girl smirked, well there was really no use to stand around and wait for someone to attack. She ran forward, her katana poised and ready to strike. As she neared the two men, she decided to change her game plan. The girl would first attack the merchant looking man, her blade attempting to slash his torso, her vacant hand reaching for her weapon pouch again and shooting her own kunai at the other man. She only had a few seconds to aim the weapon at the fruit vendor so she wasn’t surprised that it wouldn’t connect.

The merchant man would grab her hand swiftly, his grip firm as he twisted her katana wielding hand so that the blade was now poised upward. Crap…she hadn’t expected his grip to be this strong, or rather that he wouldn’t use any weapons against her. She had become so used to sword combat that she half expected him to counter with his own blade. He threw her against a tree to the left, taking her blade from her as he did so. His strength was unquestionable. The girl stood up slowly, looking at the two men. They were in sync, their attacks strategically timed together like they had rehearsed it beforehand. She thought to herself for a moment. She now had a weapon specialist and someone incredibly strong in hand-to-hand combat. “Byakugan…” she breathed, the veins around her eyes forming and her vision transitioning. She would now see that her assumption from before was correct. She could see the faint blue chakra points in their bodies. In her mind she would have to devise a plan. Ami wondered if it was wise for her to eliminate one first, and decided to go for the fruits man, simply because he had cut her face.

Her movements were much steadier now as she returned her sword to its sheath. The Hyuuga way was to get up close and personal, and that was what she intended to do. Her Byakugan allowed her to see all the important chakra points in the man’s body and all she needed to do was find an opening and strike. She remembered that the fruits man was carrying a kunai and some shuriken. If her assumption was correct, he would go for a ranged attack since weapon specialists often were mid-long ranged attackers. Ami smirked as she got close to the man, her eyes narrowing as she concentrated her own chakra. Her attack would be quick, as she struck sixteen of his chakra points. It must have stunned him as well for he simply stood there, unable to move. Smiling a little wider now, the girl would proceed to the more advanced palm technique, striking the next sixteen chakra points. It had a very desirable effect, as he literally dropped to his knees, perhaps unable to grasp what had happened to him. She would take a kunai from her weapon pouch and in one clean motion slash him on the right side of the neck. “This is to teach you never to attack a woman’s face.” She whispered the words in the man’s ear as she slit his throat, his blood overflowing onto her hands and shirt.

She turned her attention to the other man who looked visibly shocked. He didn’t seem like the type to beg for mercy even when he was actually really scared. He lunged at her with an attack, attempting to punch her in the face. The girl would take his fist with her vacant hand, grabbing his wrist this time the same way he had grabbed hers. She gave him an innocent smile before taking the bloodied kunai and stabbing it first in his outstretched arm. A high pitched scream like that of a woman’s escaped his lips and her smile would widen just a fraction. She then kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying to a nearby tree. Ami couldn’t stop, her eyes narrowing and killing intent evident on her face. She would rush forward, the man still recovering from the kick. She flicked her wrist that was holding her kunai and jabbed it in his chest, feeling him give a groan of pain as she stopped just inches from his face. She left her kunai in his chest, releasing the grip from her own weapon and took a moment to look at the bloodied scene around her. A little shocked as she always was after such bloodied encounters, she would make her way slowly back to her village, the letter still safe in her pocket.