Crimson Petals [Solo]

At least she wasn't killing bears...at least she wasn't killing bears...she repeated the phrase over and over again as she made her way out of the administration building, a new solo mission in hand. Ami couldn't even count with one hand now how many bears she had killed in the past few weeks. It scared her that she could and would slaughter this many, even though she was lawfully and dutifully expected to do so as a shinobi. If they hadn't caused trouble for the villagers, or tried to kill innocent people, she would not have killed them. That was her justification, as feeble as it sounded. So when she saw that there was another mission that didn't have anything to do with wild animals, she jumped at the chance. It was only when she read the details of the mission however that her heart sank. Instead of eliminating a bear, she was required to eliminate a person. It seemed that the blood thirst would continue, fueled by her own village. Which for once she didn't mind...

The young girl read the description of her target carefully. The person was a petty criminal, having done petty crimes like theft and arson. It seemed that he had chosen to start his adventures in the past couple of weeks, often breaking into jewelry shops or setting fires to random garbage cans in parks. There was no thought process to his crimes, as far as she could tell, probably highly dependent on his mood. It also seemed that his only thought process lay in doing different crimes according to the week. Two weeks go he started with arson, and then last week he was breaking into people's stores. Since the beginning of this week, reports of more arson began to surface. So that was his pattern...which was easy enough for Ami. All she had to do was stake out at a park, going through in her mind the number of parks that were in Gekkousato. She figured that he wouldn't go back to the same parks he had already been to, which meant there were at least four big parks left in the village.

One of them was her favourite park as well, with a huge forest of cherry blossom trees. If he set fire to that park...in any way, she would kill him right then and there. The girl would make her way to her favourite park, on the outskirts of Gekkousato village gates. It was a very nice place, crowded during cherry blossom blooming season with families and flower lovers. Even when the flowers wrer not in full bloom, this was a popular place for picnics and just getaways from busy village life. Ami sat on a low branch of a tree. She was so used to sitting on tree branches that it was second nature. It felt strange to not have sake at that moment, as most of the time she spent sitting on tree branches she always had some kind of drink with her. But no, not today. She was on a mission after all. Her eyes swept the park. From where she was sitting, not many people would even notice she was there, the cherry blossom trees hidden at the back of the park.

That was fine with her. The girl sighed and waited, her eyes drifting to the skies above. The sun was setting, its rays less unforgiving as it prepared itself to be replaced by the moon. It was a little chilly tonight, half regretting not bringing a coat with her. She closed her eyes for a moment, reflecting on her shinobi life, her ears still alert for any noise or strange disruptions. And she wouldn't have to wait long. There was movement from about three meters away, the sound of footsteps walking on crisp grass made her open her eyes immediately. Not many people came to the park after sunset, most people going home to their families or at least to grab a bite, Not a muscle in her body moved as she listened, the sound of footsteps getting closer and closer. He was coming this way...she mused. The girl continued to just listen, her eyes cast downwards until she saw the top of a head. He had stopped right underneath her and brought out some matches. What was he doing??

As though to answer her silent question, he took a match and lit it, flicking it at one of the cherry blossom petals. She was quicker perhaps, her hand flew to her weapon pouch and retrieving three senbon. She threw them at the match as it was in midair, hoping to counter it so that it wouldn't land on the beautiful flowers. Ami didn't even bother to speak, no words could even begin to describe the anger she felt for the man. She immediately jumped down from the branch, landing almost on top of him, her hand once more grabbing a kunai. As she brought her kunai to his neck, her other hand grabbed at his throat, the anger so apparent in her eyes. She continued to not speak, her grip merely tightening with every second that passed. She watched as his eyes bulged, as he tried hard to take in whatever air he could. But her grip wasn't one he could just shake off. It was unfortunate that he was a tiny man. Had he been the same height or build as her, perhaps her work would have been cut out for her. She lifted him by the throat, his little feet dangling in the air. The girl brought her kunai down on his arm, slashing his tendon as she did so. She was going to cut all the tendons of his arms and legs, not because she particularly wanted to torture him. She only wanted him to remember before his death that it was a bad idea to play with fire, especially at the expense of flowers.

Ami only wanted him to suffer, and watch as his blood tainted the pink petals around them.