Jade tipped her head back, feeling the burn from the alcoholic drink wash down her throat.

She wasn’t wasted. She wanted to get wasted, though. Things would be so much easier if she was just wasted and unable to think and unable to comprehend, only able to sleep it off. But no, she wasn’t wasted, and that was a disappointment, even as she downed another gulp of the vile, bitter substance that only seemed to help relieve her burdens by an ever so slight, negligibly pitiful amount.

Today had been another failure. Oh, no, she had managed to complete 2 D-ranks today, and the citizens of Iwagakure had been very happy that she managed to aid them like that all in the frame of one morning… but the afternoon was when it all went bad. She had went to Suezo, promised information about her mother and father - her missing parents for almost ten years. He’d taken an entire month’s worth of pay, and just directed her to an anonymous tipper in the marketplace, with such a precise description of the man she couldn’t have missed him.

Or so she thought.

She’d scoured the marketplace for hours, before stomping back up to Suezo’s office in his posh office in one of the bank guilds in Iwagakure, splintering his desk and smashing a few antique china in her fury, only to be brushed off by the man and his bodyguards. Even right now, his words stung in her ears, hours past midnight when she was still trying to forget her anger.

Jade looked around the place. It was a bar. Sort of. It was also a place where shinobi were meant to kick back and relax. Or, at least, overall, it was supposed to be that. The Rock Pit was its name, and it was the most famous place in Iwagakure for patrons, especially ninja, to unwind after a long and stressful day. Oh, Jade had a long and stressful day alright, but none of the activities here had seemed appealing, especially since she was still in such a pissed mood from having been tricked. It didn’t even matter that she had lost a month’s worth of cash, but having been tricked about information regarding her parents? About the two people she had dedicaed her life to finding? That was unacceptable, and she was going to make Suezo pay for it eventually, even if he had come through all those times.

She heard a loud crash and realised that someone had just been picking fight at the bar. Ah right, this was the bar area of the Rock Pit. There were a few other areas, but what Jade really needed tonight was a good drink, a good pass out, and a good hangover in the morning. And damnit these drinks weren’t doing it for her.

What was worse was that she didn’t even find this part of the bar interesting. Somehow, she had wandered into the more sleazy parts of the bar, and now that she was seated in a booth located in one corner of the bar, with see-through glass windows being the sole reason no one wanted it, she didn’t feel like getting up and relocating, but she was severely tempted to. All around her she could see young women grinding against ninja, or others even making out on the table, and such views were making her sick.

Maybe that was why she couldn’t pass out.

She took another swig of alcohol before realising that the bottle was already half-empty. Hah, half-empty, half-full. Was this more of that pessimistic nonsense? With how long she had been searching for her parents with almost zero information, hell yeah she was a pessimist, at least for tonight, and anyone who had a problem with it could say so to her face, and she’d reply to theirs, only her words would be done with her fists instead of her lips.

“You have to understand that you win some and you lose some, Jade,” Suezo had said with a grin, that pudgy face of his full of warts, with that slick back hair and pinstriped blue business suit covering his pudgy body. “And in this case, I won myself ten thousand ryo and you just lost yourself information about your parents.”.

Damn that mother f*cker.

She downed the rest of the bottle, trying to at least get her brain muddled up enough that she could wipe that smug grin off of her memory banks, ignoring the burn that tickled the back of her throat, but when even that didn’t work, she threw the glass bottle angrily to the side, feeling slight satisfaction at the sound of it shattering on the ground. She was aware, slightly, of the few odd looks that the still-sober patrons gave her, but she was too angry to care.

She buried her hands in her head, resting her elbows on the table in front of her and letting her eyes rest on the mahogany table, and the many natural patterns on it.

“I still love you…” she whispered to her parents, their faces flashing across her mind. “And I will find you…”

WC: 883

Shindou Genzou and Sena Nara.

Two of them were runaways from one of the most influential man on the planet - Sena’s father, also known as the Golden Nara Demon. The man had earned that nickname, because he was apparently so rich that his wealth was only equalled by a few people on the planet, earning him the nickname ‘Golden’, while ‘Demon’ was a reference to his ruthlessness in his business deals, often gobbling up the smaller businesses and throwing the employees out of the window, effectively shutting out any competition to his own growing businesses, which in itself spanned severation sectors of the economy and were located not only in several villages, but in several countries.

The Nara civilian had built his wealth up from the ground, and the swiftness that he had done it with had earned him his nickname. Whether he liked his nickname or not was one thing, but having a nickname alone which reverberated even across the shinobi populace would make anyone think twice before they thought about crossing him, and this psychological effect had also been played like a fiddle as the businessman used it to further his own riches, cutting the deals of others that were detrimental to his businesses while seizing control of some assets and contracts that would only compound on his wealth.

It would take fools to willingly cross him. And in this case, even the neighbourhood genius Shindou Genzou, and adopted brother of Sena Nara, could be known as a fool.

It was known that no one crossed him without paying the price, and the fact that they had lived as long as they did was not luck, but likely a small deal made by his wife to enable her daughter and their adopted son - Sena and him respectively - to live a few years of their lives in peace. This much was a given, since there was no way a man like that would not have either hunted marksmen to take them out, or hunters to bring them back. Either that, or he just couldn’t afford word to spread in the markets, legal or otherwise, about him losing two of his children, since it would be hazardous to his reputation if word got out that even his own offspring couldn’t bear him. It would deal a massive blow to the psychological profile he had been building of himself all this while, and now that he had let them go for so long, he only had to be even more cautious should he make a move.

Shindou knew he was going to make a move. That much was certain. And to prepare for this, Shindou had made several contacts, most of them spread out about his poor neighbourhood. Where they lived, his sister was known as the Angel’s Touch, the woman who offered her healing services indefinitely and free-of-charge, regardless of the time of day, severity of the injury, or the amount of medicine that was used to heal them, and all of it was funded out of her own pockets and her own time and energy, with no one helping her work. It had gotten her a sort of reverence among the local populace, and he as her brother, who had supported her all the way, was also far from being looked down by their neighbours.

This strong bond was the only reason their neighbours had yet to out them to their father, and this strong bond was also the reason their neighbours had taken up the dangerous task of being their informants, particularly of the underground world, where information was the strongest currency, and Shindou and Sena got it for free.

This strong bond was also the reason Shindou was now trailing in the red light districts, with Sena trailing before him. One of their neighbours had apparently picked up word that his father had gotten in touch with the local information broker far more often than he normally did, indicating that he was up to something. Now, it was seldom a smart task to go where his father went, since that would probably only get him caught sooner, but Shindou was aware that whatever his father had planned, it was not going to be good, and so had visited the man in his large office, head of one of the banks.

They had called him Suezo, and Shindou had disliked him immediately. The man had been unwilling to give out secrets, but a small beating or two that he had given generously to his bodyguards seemed to change his mind, and since Shindou didn’t want to alert his father to his actions, he had demanded for all of the recent information that Suezo had given out. Three stuck out in his mind, and he was now investigating the last of those three, having brought his sister along for her own safety.

The two of them found themselves inside the Rock Pit, a place where ninja were supposed to head to relax after their heavy missions and difficult responsibilities were all but done for the moment. He searched the area, looking for a woman who matched the description of Jade Crystal that he had managed to get out of the sleazy man. She had been asking about informants who could lead her to her parents, but it seemed… fishy to Shindou. Two people who hadn’t been seen for awhile, suddenly being asked for so religiously across the village? Something about it smelled wrong, and he had to investigate whether ‘parents’ in her requests had really been her birth parents who had long since been gone, or if it was a codename for informants.

He spotted the girl sitting in one of the corners and motioned for Sena to follow him. There was an empty bottle of alcohol on the table in front of her, and the girl herself had her hands buried in her face, sadness written on it.

She didn’t seem dangerous, and in a place like the Rock Pit, that kind of thing was normally not faked.

Even still, Shindou motioned for his sister to sober her up. He wanted answers, and if it was for his sister, he wouldn’t care if he intruded on other people or not. Sena walked up to the girl, before placing both hands, glowing green, on her head, and moving them down her body to speed up the natural breaking down of alcohol. Meanwhile, Shindou took a seat opposite her and moved the alcohol bottle aside, closer to the window, so it didn’t block him as he tried to look the woman in the eye.

“You’re Jade Crystal, aren’t you? I heard about you from Suezo Kawagishi,” he began, both hands folded in front of him on the table professionally. “I just want some answers, and if you answer them properly, then I promise no harm will come to either of us.”

1164 words

OOC: Sooo sorry for the late reply. T.T

“I still love you…” she whispered to her parents, their faces flashing across her mind. “And I will find you…”

At this point, Jade had begun tearing up. She had absolutely no clue why, but she just felt so much anguish. Maybe the loss of her parents were finally hitting her, and they were hitting her hard. Maybe she was finally beginning to realise that it was likely a futile search for two people who she would probably never see again, and be forced to only hold close to herself in her memories. Maybe she was just dreaming, taking on such an ambitious quest on her own. Maybe that was all it ever was. Maybe being tricked by Suezo had been a given since she was just a young girl trying to take on a task that would probably baffle even the greatest minds in the world, seeing as how there was zero trace of her parents whatsoever.

Just as she was about to slam her head onto the table and cry herself to sleep, she felt someone - no, two people - approach her. She was a ninja first and foremost, and that little bit of alcohol, while enough to maybe mess with her head and get her a bit woozy, would not be enough to take her out of commission to the point where she was unable to sense, through her chakra and through her instincts, that people were walking directly at her rather than just passing by.

She didn’t really care. It didn’t really matter what they wanted. She didn’t have much money; it wouldn’t be worth extorting it from her for the repercussions that they, as ninja since only those types were allowed in the Rock Pit, would get into. If they wanted a perverse evening, then Jade didn’t really think she was in the position to argue or say no. Cognitively, most of her functions had already been shut off, and she doubted that with as much grief as she was feeling, she could fight back properly anyway. If she resisted, she’d be taken by force, so if they were beginning to get uncomfortably close… there was nothing she could do.

Maybe there was nothing she wanted to do. It was hopeless anyway.

Just then, however, she began to feel her head clearing up. She felt someone’s hands on her head, and she could tell that chakra was flowing through them, and she suddenly began to feel fresher. Her vision cleared up, from hazy and blotchy to the once sharp vision that she had been used to for her whole life up till ten minutes ago. She felt the pair of hands drop down to her shoulder before one rested on her back and one rested on her stomach, and she was about to shove the man off for inappropriately touching her - she believed she could take them now that her head was cleared up - when she realised that it wasn’t a man.

The girl herself couldn’t even be considered a woman. She was just like Jade’s age.

Only then did Jade realise that the girl was actually trying to help her get over her drunken state, bringing her back to sobriety with the use of medical ninjutsu, and Jade didn’t know if she wanted to be thankful or to lash out at her for making her waste an entire bottle of alcohol. However, Jade restrained herself when she realised that there had to be a good reason that someone had come here and specifically decided to help her get over her inebriation, when there were dozens of other ninja who were in worse condition than her. That alone proved that they were looking for her, not looking to help.

The fact that the dark thoughts were now receding also helped her stop herself from punching the girl, or the man who now sat in front of her.

“You’re Jade Crystal, aren’t you?” he asked.

Jade gave a slight but quick nod, eyes narrowing at him, especially at his next words.

“I heard about you from Suezo Kawagishi.”

She tightened her fists, which were also on the table, but refrained from acting. There were many reasons why Suezo wanted to contact her, but she knew that none of them were good. And if these two people were contacts he had sent her way, then she wouldn’t lose to hear what they had to say. Besides, hitting the people hitting you often led to very unruly medical results which she didn’t want to deal with.

“I just want some answers, and if you answer them properly, then I promise no harm will come to either of us,” he had said.

Jade cleared her throat before leveling her eyes at him. This didn’t seem to be the sleazy information brokers that Suezo often directed her to. No, this guy acted more professional, as if he wasn’t trying to sell her information for money or a favour just to get by another day in his life. And she saw his eyes. As plain black as they may have seemed, she could tell that he was a dangerous man and one not to be crossed, but one that had already been crossed, and she decided to stay her hand. If it came to it, she would do her best to escape, but only if it came to it.

“Very well,” she answered, clearing her throat again. “What does Suezo want of me?”

928 + 883 = 1811

“Very well,” Jade had answered, without even asking for his name. “What does Suezo want of me?”

Suezo? Did she think he was an informant for the banker he had just extorted information out of? That was curious. Maybe her history with Suezo ran deeper than he thought. He had seen her swallow when he had asked for that particular tidbit of information, and he believed that it was only out of goodwill towards Sena for having healed her up so properly - the girl always was talented with medical ninjutsu - that Jade was willing to consider giving them what they want without a hustle, since the information he had swiped from Suezo indicated that she was rather prone to violence if provoked.

It wasn’t in the hard-headed way. No, she wasn’t hot-tempered, but most Suezo’s notes on her (and not all of them had been impartial and safe for public viewing) had stated that she was cold and ruthless, pragmatic to the extreme and willing to do whatever it takes and sacrifice whoever it took to get what she wanted or needed. She was willing to throw aside all distractions for the sake of her ultimate goal. Unfortunately, what her ultimate goal was still eluded Shindou. That was the one information he had been unable to pry out of Suezo, though the man was more likely to hold onto it out of selfishness than wanting to protect her.

But, it didn’t matter what her ultimate goal was. So long as she steered clear of Sena and Shindou, he wouldn’t have a reason to label her an enemy.

Even still, the very thought that he could have been mistaken as an underling of Suezo Kawagishi was almost laughable, and it took nearly all of his willpower not to chuckle in his seat. He was also glad for the scarf that hid his lower face, for he was sure that right now his lips were twisted upwards in a genuine grin. But, how could he not be amused by the situation? Just hours ago, he had been sitting in the man’s very office, with his two big and burly guards beaten up and lying in fetal positions on either side of Shindou, who had taken his seat in front of a very frightened Suezo. The man had been willing to offer him nearly any information he had wanted at that point, but he had only found three that truly caught his eye.

Jade’s ultimate goal, for one, was something that had remained a secret.

Of course, as he had said, that was none of his concern.

“I’m not here on Suezo’s behalf,” Shindou said, his two hands still remaining clasped on the table professionally.

Sena had already finished healing Jade by now, and deeming her to be in acceptable health. She retreated back to Shindou’s side of the booth. She stood beside him, not bothering to sit down, and a small part of Shindou felt as if he were a businessman, and Sena was his secretary. The thought once again almost brought a chuckle to his lips, but the seriousness of the situation dawned on him again almost immediately, flushing out all humour from his eyes.

“Instead, I want to know what you know about an individual named Kyoden Nara,” Shindou proceeded. “He is a Nara businessman who is one the more influential individuals in Iwagakure, and I have reason to believe that you are in possession of intelligence regarding his whereabouts or plans. If you would kindly share them with me, we can conclude our business.”

607 + 1164 = 1771 words

“I’m not here on Suezo’s behalf,” the man in front of her mentioned.

By now, the green-haired girl had already finished freshening Jade up, and she felt as if she hadn’t had a drop of alcohol in her system the entire night. It reminded her about the less flashy but still equally useful properties that medical ninjutsu had, and she noted it down for later to read up on medical ninjutsu and, if it truly did catch her eye, to learn a few techniques which could possibly save her life in the future. After all, she didn’t have too many offensive techniques capable of damaging the enemy, so it was only logical that the only other option would be to survive and outlast him and his wounds.

“Instead, I want to know what you know about an individual named Kyoden Nara,” he had then continued without a pause. “He is a Nara businessman who is one the more influential individuals in Iwagakure, and I have reason to believe that you are in possession of intelligence regarding his whereabouts or plans. If you would kindly share them with me, we can conclude our business.”

Kyoden Nara. Of course she had heard of him. As the man in front of her had introduced, he was a Nara businessman who was highly influential in Iwagakure. The man himself ran several companies, some involved in trade, others in accounting, but all of them had something or another to do with money, and it was no surprise that the man himself was loaded on ryo. He often appeared on the front pages of financial magazines, or was quoted by economic books, as well as appearing in the newspapers every now and then, signifying the vast influence that he had, and his relative importance in the country’s economy.

However, as much as Jade knew about him, she didn’t truly know him. She had never met the man in person before, nor had she even seen the man in person before, only catching glimpses of the tall man lauded as the perfect husband, if only he wasn’t already taken, in reading material whenever she perused the more quiet and calm, though not necessarily safe, parts of Iwagakure. Whispers had gone between the gangs about how they could have used his backing or his money, but would never do so for the man was too smart to be fooled into such a deal, while men often expressed jealousy at his wealth and fortune, with women giving him equally abundant amounts of praise and desire.

All in all, it was your typical celebrity, only the man had gotten famous for his money, and that was all Jade knew, which wasn’t much more than the common villager. She highly doubted that was what the man in front of her was looking for.

“The only things I know about Kyoden Nara are what you can find elsewhere. I know he’s a businessman, as you said. I know he’s a hot topic among the youngsters, male and female, for differing reasons. I know he’s very wealthy and in some cases almost flaunts his wealth for the fun of it, though you can never tell with his stoic face. However, I don’t know any information that might pertain to you or him personally, especially not his whereabouts and plans.”

Curiously enough, the man’s whereabouts always did remain a mystery to the people. While the location of his mansion was well-known (and how could you not, with its size towering over many other houses, even ignoring the fact that it was built on a hillside) the location of the man himself was more often than not a mystery, for he was always travelling on business tours or making negotiations with various prestigeous or shady organisations. It was one way he kept his wealth, by being one step ahead of his competitors at all times, but it was also something that irritated the authorities whenever they tried to track him down to question him about one of the many dozens of questionable moral practices his companies adopted.

Jade looked the man in the eye, hoping that her answer was satisfactory. She wasn’t in the mood for violence tonight, but this man certainly seemed as if he couldn’t care less if she wanted to lie down and sleep. In fact, he looked as if he would be more than ready to put her to sleep, and the thought that he would do it mercilessly sent a small shiver up her spine.

Either that, or the alcohol hadn’t worn off completely.

Nevertheless, Jade was aware that her information wasn’t enough, and wracked her brain to see if she could think of anything else. However, sober as she was, her brain wasn’t as active as she would like it to be, so there was a chance that she could be missing some sort of information on the man. After all, if this person had heard of her from Suezo, then Suezo most likely thought she had something to do with Kyoden, and as sleazy as the bastard may be, the one currency he dealt in - information - was almost never wrong. Ever. She might have heard something about Kyoden, for all she knew, and just not be in the state to recall it. While she heavily doubted it, it was more than possible that it could happen. However, instead of waiting for her to recall it, Jade realised it would be better for them to inquire Suezo directly, even if he would be even more volatile towards her and her goal if word ever got out she pointed them back in his direction.

As such, Jade let out a sigh as she addressed the man again. “If you heard about me from Suezo, believing there to be a connection, he may know something I don’t. You can go back to him to ask for anything, but I doubt he’ll tell you for free. He never does, and sometimes he doesn’t even pull through. So if you’ll excuse me, I would rather be going right now. And thank you for your help.”

That last part was addressed towards the medic beside the man, and Jade got up from the booth, proceeding to leave the Rock Pit.

[Exit]

1070+1811=2881

Spoiler:

“The only things I know about Kyoden Nara are what you can find elsewhere. I know he’s a businessman, as you said. I know he’s a hot topic among the youngsters, male and female, for differing reasons. I know he’s very wealthy and in some cases almost flaunts his wealth for the fun of it, though you can never tell with his stoic face. However, I don’t know any information that might pertain to you or him personally, especially not his whereabouts and plans.”

Shindou didn’t show any emotion externally, but internally, his mind was racing. So this girl, Jade Crystal, didn’t know anything else about Kyoden Nara than the ordinary citizen. While he would normally have suspected and gone into extreme detail why she was lying to his face, and there were plenty of reasons, with the prime reason being that he had heard of her from the man who was supposed to have information on his father, but he could read her eyes and her face, and he could read her exhaustion. He knew she wasn’t lying to him, though it didn’t matter to him whether it was out of vocation to do so, or if she was simply too exhausted to try and keep a straight face while lying directly to him. None of her facial muscles indicated she was lying. No tightening at the back of her jaw, no unnatural relaxation of her throat, no kind face, no clenching of teeth, no control over the eyebrows, nothing. She was clean, which left Shindou back at square one.

Jade then sighed, catching his attention again, and his eyes darted from the tabletop to meet hers, staring intently into her eyes as much as she was his. “If you heard about me from Suezo,” she continued, “believing there to be a connection, he may know something I don’t. You can go back to him to ask for anything, but I doubt he’ll tell you for free. He never does, and sometimes he doesn’t even pull through. So if you’ll excuse me, I would rather be going right now. And thank you for your help.”

The last part of her statement - the thanks - had been addressed more so to Sena than to him, and he remained stoic on the table as she got up and left, while Sena gave her a gentle bow of respect before taking the seat opposite Shindou, where Jade was recently seated moments ago.

“So what now, big brother?”

“Now we go home,” Shindou said. He wasn’t satisfied with what he got tonight. It gave him nothing to use on Kyoden Nara, and in fact it only introduced another variable into his calculations in the form of Jade Crystal. Who was she? What were her motives? He needed this information to properly factor her in, or out, of his plans and his predictions. “You must be exhausted. We’ll continue this tomorrow.”

And with that, both sister and brother left the Rock Pit, and its drunk inhabitants, behind.

[Exit]

516 + 1771 = 2287 words

Strength from D-1 to D-3: 850
Speed from D-1 to D-3: 850
Endurance from D-2 to D-3: 450