Travelling Back Home with a Guest

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Kokoro found the overly worried merchant oddly amusing as she and Shizuka took on escort duty, leaving the safety net of the Moon Village. She was surprised to see the truckload of chakra-induced wood that the little man was trying to guard with his life. She had actually expected something...more extravagant or lavish. But she guessed that the wood had its purpose since two shinobi and two guards were escorting the cargo and the man. She was rather interested in what the wood was used for, having not seen anything quite like it since she became a shinobi.

Hours would pass as they walked silently down the road and slowly into unknown territory, at least for the Inukura. She had never traveled before, her first time traveling with Shizuka to the Moon Village to deliver the package. Now they were going on another one and this time there could be bandits or wild animals along the way. The idea of bloodshed excited her, her cannibal instincts getting the best of her. She would turn her attention back to Shizuka, just in time to catch her question. Many people have asked her this before and each time she would have to think before she spoke. "My clan uses Taijutsu mostly and I like to play with pointy things." she smiled at her. "What about you, Imino-san?"

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The Inukura would smell them before she would see the men hiding behind the hill. Her aquatic eyes narrowed as she focused on the scent, all the while glancing over at Shizuka. Had Kokoro said something wrong? She was beginning to worry when she thought she saw the woman's face lace with a certain...sadness it seemed. Living on the streets had taught the girl to survive the hard way, being without parents had taught her the importance of survival through strength. And of course, being bullied in the academy taught her to win respect by fights. Even though she didn't think she was in the wrong to think these things, the look on Shizuka's face made her uneasy. Was it wrong of her to give in to her animalistic nature? Did Shizuka see her any differently because of it?

Pushing the thoughts momentarily out of her mind, Kokoro focused her attention on the hiding men. She heard her partner give orders to the guards and nodded her head in agreement to keeping one of the men alive. By then they were within five meters of the men, and she would call to them, her words cold and cutting. "So we going to keep playing hise and seek or what?" Kokoro wouldn't wait for an answer though as she dashed forward, her hand traveling to her weapon pouch. She would throw three shuriken in the direction of the hill, pressuring the men to come out fron hiding to face her. She wasn't there to play games nor did she have time to play with them. One of the men would charge forward towards her while two men would go for Shizuka, perhaps noticing the other woman being stronger and more worthy as opponents. The two men each carried a standard sized katana while the man coming at Kokoro was a double sword wielder.

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The girl glanced over at Shizuka, knowing that she could take care of the two so that Kokoro could concentrate on the one man that was coming at her with his double swords. She smirked at her own opponent who was charging at her with his double sword. It was odd how people thought they immediately gained an advantage because they carried more weapons. The Inukura would wait for the man to come towards her, with only one of his sword unsheathed. Her eyes watched his movements closely and she would see that her shuriken had missed him completely. Perhaps she needed some more precision practice, so it seemed. Kokoro could see him come at her with his sword, aiming a horizontal slash to her torso. She would unsheathe her own sword and clash their blades, her eyes never leaving the hilt of his second weapon.

The deadlock wouldn't last long as she pushed her weight against her own blade, in turn pushing him back. She would concentrate her chakra to her fingers and push out a bolt of lightning at the same time, a jutsu that she had learned recently. It was just her luck that she didn't need handseals to use this technique and would aim the lightning at his right shoulder. It wasn't a life threatening attack obviously, but it was one that could potentially stall his movements. As she watched it connect, she would gain the opening she was looking for to release herself from the deadlock, sliding the metal of her blade across his intending to grab the hilt of his sword.

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Kokoro's blue eyes would glance over at Shizuka. It seemed that she was doing just fine. The girl would turn her attention back to the bandit who had regained his momentum, twisting his blade just in time so that she wouldn't be able to grab it. He slashed at her, to which she countered and for a good few minutes it would remain that way. He had unleashed second blade on her in the process, and she found that it was quite difficult to actually block two blades with just one. But she had her agility and her height to her advantage, she supposed. The girl smirked as she connected a slash to his left shoulder, feeling her blade to flesh. It excited her tremendously as she sought and craved for more.

She would notice that one of the other bandits was killed at this point, and one ran for his life as Shizuka let him go. Kokoro would finish off the battle quickly. She sent another lightning bolt to his head, stalling him as she pushed the hilt of one of his katana out of his hand. She would cleanly slice his torso horizontally, a swift motion that she had learned from years of training in swordsmanship. As he fell to the ground, a surprised look on his face, she would sit on him, driving her sword in his back straight down. "Remember my name...Inukura,,," her voice was a low whisper as she slid the sword out of his back, hearing him give a weak scream. She would always give her name to every enemy she killed, a sign of respect perhaps, or just boasting rights. But this was the first time she would give out her real name, a little taken aback that she had actually done so.

The two kunoichi would continue down the road, heading to the Sun Village.