“An abandoned military construct left over from the last shinobi world war has existed in secret, hidden in the dense, untamed foliage of the forest to the South East of the village. It’s primary function while it was still operational was a detention center for particularly dangerous POWs. As such, although outdated by today’s standards the security measures that were in place were rather extensive. Blueprints and most documentation regarding the construct were destroyed after the war, leaving us with few specifics about what dangers you may encounter. Data gathered from similar detention centers of that time have been included in your debriefing files. Regional scouting parties have informed us that there have been suspicious levels of activity in that area over the last few weeks. Any level of activity surrounding that location is potentially dangerous. Clear the area of any wanderers or travelers that may be loitering and ensure that the compound has not been breached. Should you find that it has, you are expected to find out by whom and for what purpose. We remain in the dark about what information might still be held in that compound, but whatever it is, it is classified and is to be kept safe at all costs. Danger level from potential enemies is estimated to be low. Danger from the potentially still active security in the compound however, is high. Be careful.”

“Sounds like fun,” Sayomi muttered to herself sarcastically as she folded the slip of paper that had her mission debriefing inscribed upon it and continued to wait for the partner that she had been assigned for this mission by the kage’s office, “Ah well, might as well just get it done.” She casually brushed aside a few strands of stray hairs that draped over her face and let out a sigh, “Orochi Risu, huh? Interesting name. I wonder if she’s equally as interesting…” Folding her arms she would lean her back against the village gate, the rendezvous point given to them along with the mission by the village’s administration, kicking her heel up against the wall to hold support herself.

In her mind she played the mission debriefing over and over again, dedicating each line to heart and ensuring that she was prepared for the task at hand. “Shuriken? Check. Kunai? Check,” one by one Sayomi crossed off the items in her mental checklist while she had time to spare. Arriving early had its advantages. At the very least she would never have to worry about being rushed. Aside from that, Sayomi valued punctuality, and viewed those who lacked it to be inadequate. More than one potential partners had been left in the dust because they were just a few minutes too late. It helped weed out the stranglers that were incompetent, but still somehow made it through the academy and squad systems; a preliminary test if you will. All there was left to do was wait and see whether this new person would pass or fail.

---

503/1500~

Getting a mission wasn't really a problem, but to be paired up with someone else was. Risu wasn't keen on cooperating with others if there was no benefit from it. She had a bad history with teamwork, resulting in the death of her entire team, after that she lost her interest in teams, as she always vyed that she would be more than enough to handle any kind of mission on her own. That which she lacked in power, she compensated with her skill to quickly oversee any kind of situation and make the best out of it.

She sighed, when looking at the report again, sure an old army hideout did sound interesting and sure she was willing to explore the old place, but why on earth did they decide to pair her up with someone. Did they think Risu wasn't strong enough, did they see her as too weak to handle this simple thing on her own, how foolish and how ignorant of them to threat the future head of the Ouroboros Clan like that...all of them, all those people from the advisory council, her uncle included, were just some old geezers who werent fit to be real shinobi anyhow, all defunct hokage candidates.

"Hmm?"The young girl slightly hummed when she noticed the name of the person she was going to be working with. The name on the bottol of the report simply made the insult complete...putting her together with someone of the Uchiha clan, making her wonder who was going to keep an eye on who, after all, both were part of clans with a...murky history considering Konoha legend, Madara on one hand, Orochimaru on the other. The very thought of working together with an Uchiha simply caused the young girl to show an utterly rare, wretched and twisted smile. "Uchiha Sayomi...interesting, maybe this mission is going to be more fun than I had thought."

Putting on her purple jumpsuit and her silk white shirt, hanging her Konoha forehead-protector around her neck, resting the plate itself on her collarbones, while clipping her hair to the sides with some purple pins, Risu grabbed her belt with her utensils pouch and her waterflask with her, she wouldn't take her medical equipment, since that would spoil the fun and so far, she wasn't really focusing on her medical skills anyway.

In a rush, she jumped through the village's rooftops, landing near the outskirts of Konoha, peering out of a tree toward the gate she was supposed to be meeting this girl, noticing the figure at the gates, Risu jumped down from the tree, walking towards the gate as if there was absolutely no rush in things, after all, this was nothing more than she herself would be able to handle, so her main focus was to simply see what this other chuunin was made of.

"Really, these old geezers these days, not knowing I'm more than enough to handle this sort of mission, I hope you wont be much of a hindrance to me," The young Orochi Lady said to the Uchiha woman, a smirk plastered on her face, while her eyes simply squinted a bit. She simply passed her companion without giving her even a glance. "Well, are we moving or are you allowing me the honor of doing this mission on my own?"

While she said that, she made no effort to wait, having already memorized the location of the hideout during the early morning, Risu darted off, through the gates, showing off her high level speed, though silently hoping the uchiha girl would be able to follow...just for the fun of it.

619/1500

The sound of approaching footsteps compelled Sayomi to open her eyes and look in their direction from the corner of her eye. What she saw was a girl approaching; young looking… almost too young to be a shinobi despite the Konohagakure forehead protecter hanging around her neck. The girl’s hair raven hair was clipped back with purple pins that matched the purple colored jumpsuit that she was wearing. That combined with her youthful appearance and her little “utility belt” made her seem like a genin fresh out of the academy, overly enthusiastic about entering the shinobi world. “Well, at least she still has fun with it,” Sayomi thought to herself, letting out an amused huff and smirking at the thought. “But…” her mind went on as she examined the kunoichi’s pale, almost sickly looking complexion, not unlike that of Orochimaru from the old Sannin stories, “Could this be the girl from the Orochi clan that is meant to accompany? She certainly looks snake-like, but they wouldn’t seriously give me a kid to babysit, would they?”

The manner with which the girl strolled towards the gate casually with no particular urgency however, made Sayomi doubt that this was her partner. Surely she was just a passerby… or at least that was what Sayomi would have preferred to go ahead and think before the comments the girl made as she walked on by. “Kids these days, how rude,” Sayomi mused to herself as she watched the girl stroll on by without so much as even stopping to introduce herself or make eye contact, “Cheeky little brat.” Without another moment’s hesitation the girl would take off through the gate, accelerating far more than was necessary as the location of the compound was not terribly far out. What purpose this achieved other than cutting their travel time short by a minute or two and being obnoxious Sayomi didn’t know, but one way or another she would have to make her way over there anyway.

Allowing a deep sigh to escape her lips Sayomi would take off after her “partner”, although she had no interest in speeding up to try and chase her down. Instead Sayomi would simply maintain enough speed to keep the girl just within her sights at a relatively steady distance. Gracefully she leapt from branch to branch in the dense forest, never staying in place long enough for her impact on the tree to be noticeable. She made sure however, to stay out of the line of sight of Orochi Risu should she turn around to check her rear. There was no reason to make herself known just yet. If this girl wanted to play games, Sayomi was in a good enough mood to appease her.

---

964/1500

The other girl seemed to be of practically the same level as Risu herself, but she gave the young Orochi lady some bad vibes, almost like her uncle, her eyes seemed so void of actual emotions and more of a mockery towards those things. Even her own snake-eyes couldn't give such a cold glare, that was really something interesting for the young girl to notice, making this entire mission only more interesting.

She really wanted to see what this woman was capable of, more so than earlier, simply because of that one, cold look in her eyes. Risu could already predict how they would end up...fighting over who is the strongest, she'd actually be looking forward to something like that, a chnce to face off against the clan which brought forth legendary shinobi like Madara, shinsui, Itachi, Obito and Sasuke and the sharingan, which inavertadly also leads to putting Kakashi into that list.

Looking back after half a minute speeding over the ground, she could see that the woman was following her through the trees, which was smart, since jumping required less energy than running at a constant speed, leading to Risu cutting off her speed and jumping upwards to reach next to the Uchiha woman in the trees.

"So you're an uchiha?" The young girl said in a soft gleeful tone of voice, giving a feint smile. "I wonder...why did they put us together. It's a mockery to the both of us. I noticed it earlier, you're stronger than you make people believe, aren't you?"

Suddenly Risu jumped down, halting right in front of what appeared to be some kind of closed off well of some sorts, with a steel lid in between its concrete circle. This should've been the entrance to the hideout, but even with her senses, she had no certainty on the safety or any traps of the entrance. "Oh, now I understand why they wanted you with me, or the way around if you prefer so. You can spot the traps, while I can make us get through"

Thinking about it, Risu remembered that Sharingan was quite an interesting doujutsu, since it seemed to have a lot of aspects of many other doujutsu like for instance the byakugan from the hyuuga, especially when it came to the point of looking at chakra.

The young girl looked rather expectantly at the Uchiha woman, just to see if this one had at least awakened her sharingan.

1038/1500

Some ways into their travel towards their mission’s destination the Orochi girl would cut short her sprint and instead leap up into the trees. Sayomi wondered for a moment what had changed the Orochi girl’s mind and compelled her to abandon the little show she was putting on earlier and come to Sayomi’s location, but her interest quickly waned. “Not that it matters,” she shrugged off silently, “We’re almost at the compound anyway.” The jovial tone and the smile that Risu threw Sayomi’s way made her wary, causing her to raise her right eyebrow in response as she looked back her way. The Uchiha was a naturally suspicious person, but seeing someone do a complete 180 in their behavior, seemingly with no provocation, only made her more so. “Hmmm, yes. I am an Uchiha,” she replied callously, her gaze set straight ahead, “I would imagine that they put us together because they believe our skill sets compliment each other’s, at least for what they are asking us to do. Teamwork is an occupational hazard of being a shinobi, it’s best not to take it as a slight. No matter how strong, there is only so far one can go alone.”

Time and time again throughout history those words had rung true. Both of their ancestors were testaments to the futility of isolating oneself. Madara, Orochimaru, Sasuke; despite all of their individual powers they knew that they had to seek allies before any of their plans could come to fruition. Sayomi knew that she herself would likely one day need to venture out and seek allies if her ambitions were to see the light of day. It wasn’t like she hadn’t tried before, but all of the partners she had been paired with had been so… fragile. She would let out an amused huff at the Orochi girl’s comments about her apparent strength. The girl was perceptive, she had to give her that. She had probably been posturing this entire time in an attempt to gauge Sayomi’s capabilities as best as she could before the mission began. “If we’re lucky you’ll never have to find out the answer to that question for yourself, Hebi-chan,” Sayomi answered slyly, turning to face Risu with an almost sinister smirk.

Once the duo arrived at the designated location they would jump down from the tree tops to ground level where the entrance to the compound was supposed to be found. “It appears so,” Sayomi answered as Risu pointed out the ability of her sharingan to see chakra and its utility. While its perceptive abilities fell short of the Byakugan, it would be enough for a task of this level. Taking a few steps out in front of her companion and in front of what they assumed to be the entrance Sayomi would activate her Sharingan. Her side brushed bangs draped over her right eye, covering it, but her sharingan could see chakra through other materials regardless. “We’re not the first ones here,” she said cryptically, “the seal that denoted the location of the entrance has been broken, and recently based off of the fact that I can still see the residual chakra left over. Whoever it was that entered is most likely still inside.”

---

1500/1500- Mission complete

18~

Puttin two asocial people together to do a job, one haughty and competitive, the other an apparent silent type. Even if their individual skillsets would be complementing eachother, it still seemed as if someone had been pulling a joke on the both of them.

Risu had seen the woman's facial expression from the corners of her eyes, while listening to the reply she gave to the Orochi's earlier comments. She seemed smart, even calculated and well composed given the way she talked, sounding distant and almost cold just like Risu imagined her to be, making her just more intriguing and mysterious.

"Sure, we all have our limits," The young girl would react almost nonchalant, without any actual interest in what she was saying herself, simply because it was an obvious statement. "However, to grow and gain more strength, more power it would be necessary to go beyond those limits.

As for the latter comment made by the Uchiha woman, the young Orochi lady simply fell silent because she did not know how to react to this hidden threat and the apparent insult that came with it, an insult to both her appearance and to her status, but because the Uchiha woman did not know her name, she couldn't know the depth of her insult either.

When her forced companion had examinated the entrance, it seemed that she had found some remarkable signs, depicting that the seal to the entrance wasn't simply broken, vut also that the person, if it even was a person, was still inside.

"Well...if there's something inside...I guess we better get in there with as little sound as possible." Risu suggested after the examination made by the Uchiha chuunin. Squinting her eyes a bit, while contemplating if she even had a jutsu that would allow them to get in without making too much sound. Yet, realizing that wasn't the fact, she just wanted to be certain to see if the lid could be removed or opened without exerting to much force.

Luckily, a little push seemed enough for the lid to swing open, revealing a dark tunnel below, with an iron ladder at the side, making it look like a sewer's manhole.

"Just saying, but do you have any sensory jutsu besides your sharingan?" It was a simple, but necessary question. Risu didn't want to be depending on thise woman inside such a narrow tunnel down if she did not have the fully grown sharingan or any decent sensory jutsu. "If you dont, I might better go down first. We dont want your precious sharingan to be overused, dont we?"

Climbing over the well's concrete circle and grabbing a hold on the thin iron bars that acted as a ladder, Risu went in first, slightly tensed because she was getting into unknown territory.

1500/1500 mission completed
15/???

Sayomi sat back and observed as the young Orochi she had been paired with got to work with the information that she was given. First came a cautious musing regarding the use of stealth in response to the unknown threat that they may be preparing to face. This musing was followed by a silent moment of contemplation, surely the girl weighing her options and skimming through her mental rolodex for a method to approach the task. After seemingly completing her preparations to get this mission underway in earnest, Risu would step forward to the well-like object and place her hand on the lid. Oddly enough, it didn’t seem to take much for the entrance to reveal itself either. A slight nudge was seemingly all it took for the lid to be moved, revealing a darkened tunnel with a steel ladder to.

“No, I do not,” Sayomi replied in a disinterested tone to Risu’s question about sensory techniques other than the Sharingan in her repertoire, “I’ve found the addition of supplementary sensory jutsu to be largely unnecessary. There is little that my eyes do not see, but if you insist I’m not going to argue with you about it. But you’re probably right. Why overuse my ‘precious Sharingan’ when you can sniff things out with your tongue, right? Lead on princess.” She made a wide, demonstrative sweeping motion with her hand towards the tunnel as she said her last sentence, as if to clear the path for Risu. The snark in her voice was evident, but it didn’t seem to bother Risu at all as she went ahead and mounted the iron bars that led down into the compound.

For all of this girl’s cautious speech and insistence on these sensory jutsu she had, it really did seem like she was going in blind. Sayomi would keep her Sharingan activated and look down the now open well in order to ensure that there wasn’t anyone waiting for her on the way down. Only after she had descended to the bottom safely would Sayomi leap down into the tunnel, foregoing the use of the iron ladder that Risu utilized. The drop to the bottom of the well wasn’t that steep anyway. “Well hebihime we’re here,” Sayomi said teasingly with a haughty smirk, “Go ahead and strut.” With a silent chuckle Sayomi would raise her hand in front of her mouth, bent at the wrist, index and middle finger extended outward. She would then begin flicking her two fingers up and down in an imitation of the motion of a snake tongue.

---

1500/1500

458~

Apparently most doujutsu users rely mostly on their eyes, in this case, Sayomi seemed not to be an exception on that statement, relaying the fact to Risu that she indeed had no other sensory jutsu than her sharingan and though The Orochi lady very much knew the benefits of the occular prowess of the sharingan, she was quite certain that her own Snake Senses Technique was much more versatile when it came to the use of it.

Another sneer or two were directed at her, but in a way being called Hebihime wasn't all that much of an insult, as a matter of fact, Risu made a mental note to remember that nickname, since she thought it to be actually well-fitting in her case. The earlier comment of sniffing out things with her tongue was not so well accepted, because it wasn't really so that she actually had all characteristics of a snake, only a very light skincomplexion, some reptillian eyes and the snake symbol of the clan, though she did have to admit silently that her Snake Senses Technique was derived on the actual senses of a snake, which meant discarding sight in the favor of smell, hearing and so much more and with the wide range of that technique, it was no wonder that the Ouroboros clan had brought forth so many good spies and trackers for the ANBU in recent years.

"Hmm, you like sneering at people...probably the Uchiha's godcomplex I'm sensing," Risu retaliated rather bluntly, a soft chuckle escaping her lips while she suddenly made a half snake seal combined with a half yin seal, after which her golden irises turned gray, while her eyewide turned completely dark purple. "Well, one thing is certain, this place is way bigger than I had actually expected. My hightened senses go up to thirty-five meters all around and still I dont seem to have reached the limits of this place."

Turning around for a bit, in the pitch black space, she seemed to hear a slight dripping noise, a thick and viscose liquid, almost like...oil.

Turning around again, certain clicking and hissing sounds reached her ears and she did smell and even taste the oil in the air. Taking a few steps into the darkness, her hand reached out and pressed a tile she could not see.

A metallic 'click' ressonated through the darkness, followed by a sudden flash of light, as rows upon rows of torches started to flare up, revealing a multitude of wide, long corridors stretching out from the round, bassinlike room they had ended up at, after getting through that entrance. With a simple nod of her head, Risu's eyes returned to their 'normal' state, her senses returning to their usual limits.

"I didn't sense anyone nearby, so that would mean that intruder or whatever it is, is beyond my thirty-five meter limit," The young Orochi Lady said with a soft grin on her face, while she looked around, turning her head from left to right, trying to see if any of those similar looking corridors would lead to something ineteresting."Let's test your luck, shall we...take a pick Uchiha-baba!"

1500/1500

554/???

“Uchiha god complex?” Sayomi repeated curiously, “No, I don’t think it’s anything like that. I don’t really associate with other members of the Uchiha clan. They take themselves too seriously. I don’t see the point. They’re not a particularly fun group of people to be around. I’m sure you’re aware of our history and the way our eyes work.” Sayomi’s eyes would shift off to the side for a brief moment, thoughts and memories of her past flooding back in. “And how people still look at us…” she thought to herself bitterly. A look of anger surely had flashed on her face for a moment, but it was one she was sure to immediately correct before turning back to face Risu. “I sneer at you because I can’t help it,” Sayomi said cheerfully, smushing the Orochi girl’s cheeks with her hands, “You’re just so adorable, hime-chan!” The whole display was done sem-sarcastically. Of course she was exaggerating and doing most of it to tease Risu, but she did find her child-like appearance to be endearing, her smartass remarks included.

Sayomi would simply sit back and observe as the Orochi girl get to work. She didn’t get a frontal view of Risu as she stepped forward, but the girl did a decent enough job of explaining the what her sensory technique would accomplish; heightened senses at a 35 meter range, although the specifics of what that entailed were unknown. It was certain that it allowed her to move around in the absence of light however, as she was able to locate the switch that would ignite the torches in the hall even in darkness. She even decided to allow Sayomi the choice of which path they would follow, although that was mostly covered up by a certain comment she made that made Sayomi’s eye twitch.

“Who are you calling baba, you little brat?” Sayomi roared in her head, taking the slight rather personally. Sayomi was… very conscious of her appearance, to the point of vanity. To be called old was unacceptable. Still, knowing that this was part of Risu’s little game she kept her composure, deciding it best to fight fire with fire. “Baba?” she said, demonstratively flipping her hair in Risu’s direction, “That’s not very nice hime-chan. Don’t worry, someday you’ll fill out.” As she made that remark Sayomi bent forward a bit, pointing a single finger at her companion’s chest. “You have good features. When you get older I’m sure the boys will be all over you! Konoha’s own little porcelain snake princess. Just don’t show them the tongue thing… or do. Maybe they’ll be into that kind of thing.” Sayomi winked and would once again do her snake tongue imitation with her hand at Risu’s face along with a hissing noise.

“But that’s neither here nor there,” Sayomi said casually as she took a few steps forward, “I can give you fashion tips later.” Raising her hand she would point to the path directly forward from their position, “Forward is the only direction worth moving in. Shall we?”

---

1500/1500

997~

Was this woman serious or not, even after deciding to ignore her comments and sneers, not to mention her constant hints towards her snakelike appearance and her ancestry in a way, Risu could still not figure out what motivated this Uchiha woman, what drove her to be so...obnoxious, yet intriguing, this really was worth a little bit of investigation.

"No matter how twisted the way is to that so-called eternal Mangekyo Sharingan and no matter how powerfull such a doujutsu may be, I have absolutely not the slightest ounce of interest in it," The Orochi girl laughed almost cynically at Sayomi's hint towards the long centuries of bloodshed within the clan just for that single achievement of gaining the clan's strongest occular jutsu. "Where some of my ancestors did everything to gain the power of the Uchiha, I find it rather pathetic, as my very Snake Senses jutsu alone halves the effectiveness of the sharingan upon me. It's no use in being a genius because of some hereditary doujutsu, it is way better to be called a once in a generation prodigy due to the ability to think out of the box and create jutsu that could and would counter the abilities of the most fearsome clans around. For instance, I am working on an enhanced version of the hidden mist, just to annoy those Baka-gans frol the hyuga clan.

When the Uchiha woman touched Risu's chest however, the young girl cringed a bit and took a step backwards. It wasn't that she had no selfesteem or no desire to be loved, but she simply could not love someone without the memories of her former teammate Kaoru upsetting her.

"Who...cares about my appearance," The young chuunin said a little bit sour, her expression having turned slightly gloomy and cold. Obviously she did care a bit about it though, as when the Uchiha woman turned around, Risu's hands went to her chest, cupped a bit and she seemed to blush when thinking about being a real adult one day. "Hmm, straight ahead, that's so unlike your behavior...or mine.

Moving forward through one of the tunnels wasn't that bad of an idea perhaps, given the fact that they had not a single clue of where they were actually going, what they were going to see or who or what had broken that seal at the entrance, though for now Risu still thought it could've been done by accident by an animal or so.

"I wonder what the army did in here, doesn't look like some regular storage space me," The snakelike girl sighed, while continuing to be vigilant on her surroundings. "Oh, let's take a peek through the first door we encounter, okay?"

1500/1500
1021/???

“Unlike my behavior? What a strange thing to say,” Sayomi mused to herself curiously, standing in place as she pondered her companion’s words rather than proceeding to the chosen path, “Could it be that you believed you have deciphered the mystery that is my mind and have complete knowledge of who I am? You know what makes me, me? You really are an interesting girl hime-chan, you know that? We seem to share an appreciation for power however, so I’ll impart a bit of knowledge on you. As someone who has spent their whole life in the pursuit of power, I can that the distinction that you are making between strength derived from a circumstance from birth and strength acquired independently is of little consequence. I don’t know what it is that you seek power for or what your ambition is, but there will come a point where such foolish pride and unnecessary distinctions will only hinder your progress. Do not be so quick to discard the wisdom of your ancestors. Their powers stand as benchmarks for shinobi centuries after their deaths. Even as the stories of their accomplishments begin to delve into the realm of myth their names inspire both awe and fear in the hearts of those who have never laid eyes on them. The world is a bigger place than you know hime-chan. Being a big fish in a small pond is only satisfying until you lay eyes upon the vast unknown of the sea. In the pursuit of power, there is no room for vainglorious, short-sighted judgments and prejudices. Those who do not recognize that before they leave their small pond become feed for the monsters that await in the depths. You do not know me, nor my behaviors. I seek power. Whether it comes from these eyes I was born with or a jutsu that I have learned makes no difference to me. The only things that matter are the results.”

Sayomi’s voice grew more cold and callous with each word she spoke. Her facial expression was stern and unwavering, not that Risu would have seen it as Sayomi never once turned to face her as she spoke. As quickly as her chilling and cryptic monologue came however, she would revert to the condescending and taunting façade that she had been using previously. “But that isn’t something you have to worry about, is it Hime-chan?” she said playfully turning to show Risu a haughty smirk akin to those she had worn earlier, “Ah, but your question! This was a detention center from what I was told, used to hold persons of interest and dangerous prisoners of war during the last great shinobi war. This wasn’t the only such construct of its kind. There are apparently abandoned compounds like this all over. They were made underground, with several feet of concrete and steel enforcing the walls to prevent outsiders from digging their way in. Stories say that once you were dragged down into one of these detention centers you would never again make it outside. Intricate seals blocked the entrances and other than the single opening the compound is said to be virtually impregnable. Particularly useful if you wanted to erase someone from existence. Rumor has it that after the war they saw some use by the villages as a way to dispose of potential threats within the village or those who stuck their nose in a bit too far where it didn’t belong. One night you’d be assailed by agents dressed in all black, dragged under the ground, and simply disappear. Records of your existence would vanish, photo identifications, the works. All that would be left of you were the memories of those that knew you, assuming they weren’t dragged away as well. Once they died off your name would disappear from the annals of history. Quite the frightening thought.”

---

1500/1500

1656~

Risu's facial expression seemed to turn into a mixture between unbelief and irritation when hearing Sayomi reply to her earlier contemplation toward the differences in power and the girl's own vision upon such a weighted subject within the shinobi world. It was true that in reality the difference on how one obtained power did not really matter, nor would it make any real difference when it cale to be a battle between the two sides, but it was simply in that way that Risu had made the decision for herself to look upon those who were gifted as people who most of the time make the mistake to rely heavily upon that gift, even disregarding the other aspects of their own succes in favor of that one gift.

"Well I disagree with most things my ancestors believed," The young chuunin almost laughed, when they passed the first corridor without any doors to look at or anything even remotely interesting, except for maybe the fact that near the end of the corridor, a broken wire was laying on the floor and there were obvious burnmakrs on both walls at the very place the wire should've been hanging. "If I followed my ancestors' path or at least that of those most notorious till today...me being near you, would be like putting a rattlesnake in a chickencage, in other words, it would simply be asking for troubles. However, I desire not to equal or defy my ancestors and their power. I do not wish to know all jutsu or become immortal. Those are but trivial and unimportant things, doomed to fail, even for those as strong or stronger than the kages of today. What I desire is simply the truth, the knowledge that belies every aspect of the shinobi world. If that means I'd have to suffer or I'd have to face a loss, I can manage it, for I have suffered and felt pain beyond that which usual people could take. I will know everything that I desire to know and in that way, I will gain the power I desire, that's all there is in my opinion: knowledge.

With the double door at the end of the corridor solehow blasted to shreds by what Risu perceived to be a set of explosive tags gone off long ago, the Orochi Lady had all the proof for the Uchiha woman's explanation on what this facility was. After all, why would there be a trap here and back in the corridor, so many diffused traps meant this was a place worth fighting for, a place with secrets, meant to be hidden from all the prying eyes of the people above, hidden from the world itself.

"I wonder if we'd find something remotely interesting here," The snakegirl said, while peering at the stair hidden in the darkness of the room behind the destroyed doors. "How many floors did the report say this building had? If we could get down quick, this wouldn't be so irritating and so tense."

1500/1500
1534/???

“Knowledge, hm? The most valuable resource of all,” Sayomi mused to herself as she and Risu made their way down the corridor, “Well, I can’t say her answer surprises me given what I know about her so far, but I wonder if she knows the significance behind her own words. There have always been those that boasted the ‘knowledge is power’ argument, but few who could make their claim a reality. Knowledge is a resource, but it is not a substitute for true power. It is only a means through which to acquire more. She speaks of the idea of truth so casually as if it were something so simple to grasp. Only those who have seen truth can hope to understand it.” This girl thought quite highly of herself and had no qualms with speaking as if she had already surpassed her peers. Sayomi wondered what she intended to do with this knowledge once she obtained it. She sought the truth of this world as if there was some bigger picture to be seen. There wasn’t.

As they proceeded forward the duo would come across a set of doors that had been blown off their hinges. The scorch marks and the warping of the metal denoted extreme heat and concussive force, most likely the result of explosives. There was little information to be drawn from the scene whether the explosion was a trap or the work of intruders. The explosion seemed to have been relatively recent, which made a forced explosion in an attempt to get through sealed doors even more probable, but it was probably too soon to assume that. Behind the double doors however, a stairway down could be seen, one that Risu seemed to be fixated on once her attention had shifted away from the wreckage.

“What? Don’t tell me you’re afraid of the dark,” Sayomi said, offering a teasing grin as she made her way over to the stair case, “If this is too tense for you already then you can fall back to the village. Don’t worry, I’ll tell the office upon completion that you stayed the whole time. There are supposed to be 8 floors in this place, including the one we are currently on. Whatever we are looking for is more likely than not further down. Anything of real value is probably located somewhere at the bottom, in as secure a location as possible. Luckily for us, whoever came through here before us seems to have been clumsy and already started setting off the traps, which means that we’re much safer than we would be had they not come. The nature of the traps probably has dwindled their numbers down a bit as well. If there are any left they are probably wounded or on edge about running into more traps; easy enough prey to clean up.”

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Quickly, the young Orochi girl turned around towards Sayomi, lashing out with her hand at the Uchiha's face, yet restraining herself just in time, he hand just a few milimeters away from Sayomi's cheek. Her eyes had opened completely, though her pupils had narrowed to a very fine slit. A sigh escaped her lips slowly and softly, almost like a slissing hiss.

"Don't you dare imply that I'm a coward," Risu said, while gritting her teeth. Obviously the idea of her not completing this mission, making herself to be a shame of a shinobi just for the reluctance to go into the darkness was ridiculous. "My problem isn't the darkness, it's just the fact that I dont like to wander around for too long. This place doesn't really seem to be enjoyable and neither is the company."

With a quick turn on her heels, Risu turned the other way, walking into the darkness at the stairs, hopping down to the next floor without so much saying a word.

The young girl's silence had a reason though, as she glanced at the Uchiha woman with each step she made, thinking so far Sayomi had not shown to be unreliable or even remotely dangerous to her, though somehow this Uchiha gave her the chills, not only because of those cold eyes of hers, but simply because she was the same as her uncle in so many ways.

The entire teasing was a mask for the Uchiha, that much was obvious. Risu had seen it before, those cold eyes, those quirks used to cover the true, chilling nature of a person. Yet unlike Orochi Enaka's skillfully hidden darkness, this woman had it escape through the cracks of her facade a bit more than often.

"Somehow, you remind me of my uncle," Risu confessed, while she walked theough the darkness of the stairs, deciding she'd go down as deep as possible, only to see those stairs reached down for just two floors, ending into another corridor. "Hiding your true nature is fine, but refrain from doing so in my presence. You're to easy to read, not to mention that maskerade persona of yours simply annoys me. Got that?"

It was no hidden threat in the way Risu spoke, she was obviously annoyed and did no effort in hiding it. The longer she was around this person, the more she started to believe they'd be fighting eachother before they completed this mission, if things progressed the way they did.

"Wait.." The snake girl would suddenly say, as a murler rose through the corridor. "Did you hear that?"

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“So that did it, huh?” Sayomi mused to herself as Risu’s anger flared up, “It doesn’t take much to break her I guess.” Sayomi stood unflinchingly as Risu spun around, swinging her hand around as if she was going to slap her. Sayomi found the girl’s actions as amusing as her response. She was awfully touchy about the coward comment. Surely there was a story behind that, but Sayomi doubted she was going to hear it anytime soon. All she could do was chuckle as the girl stopped her hand before it struck Sayomi’s face. “Don’t be so sensitive hime-chan,” Sayomi jeered, “No need to get violent. Don’t tell me that in your pursuit of truth and knowledge you never came across the value of self-discipline. The first person to lose their cool is often the first one to lose their life.”

Sayomi would follow her companion down the stairwell, trailing behind her and making no effort to hide the amused smirk. For whatever reason, the way she was making this girl feel so on edge with her teasing brought Sayomi quite a bit of enjoyment. The thought of taking a step back and giving the girl a bit of a respite crossed her mind, but was almost immediately discarded. Why ruin all of the fun when it had only just started? What was the worst that could happen, she got slapped? She would let out an audible chuckle in the darkness from behind Risu as they made their way down two floors.

“Remind you of your uncle?” Sayomi repeated in an inquisitive manner, “You said something interesting. Hiding my true nature? Easy to read? Ok, I’ll humor you hime-chan, since you can read me so well you should know what kind of person I supposedly really am. Do you think it wise to ask me to be myself? Or more so, do you think it’s safe for the ‘real me’ to be around anyone?” Sayomi’s teasing tone could still be recognized through her words, but there was definitely a difference between the way she spoke earlier and then. Her voice was much colder and distant than it was before. A hint of aggression could likely just be heard as Sayomi decided to give this girl a glimpse at what she was asking for.

Risu would stop as they entered the corridor on the lower level, prompting Sayomi to stop and inquiring about a noise she had heard. “What is it?” Sayomi asked plainly, “Did you find something interesting?” Sayomi figured that they would encounter someone down here eventually. After all, someone had opened the seal at the entrance before they had even arrived. That was the first possibility that crossed her mind as the likelihood of anything else living down here was slim to none.

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"Hmm, Losing my cool?" The young girl said with a rather indifferent expression on her face, tilting her head a bit to the side, as if she was leaning on some ilaginary pillow, trying to reconstruct her thoughts of earlier and what made her lash out like that, only to give Sayomi a sweet, yet somehow misplaced smile and a hissing whisper:"If I really lost my cool, I wouldn't have been able to refrain myself from actually hitting you, isn't that true?"

It was a perfect way to see how messed up Risu's psychological stability was, with switches between a good girl persona, a coward's persona and a cold and distant self. So many experiences had created her into what she was, not to mention that she didn't even know she was a mentally instable, ticking timebomb. Unlike her Uncle or Sayomi, these changes came natural, not like some well cared for maskerade, but as different aspects of her own self.

"People who dont show their true nature, most of the time do this to prevent others from getting hurt," The Orochi Lady said calmly, even with an air of understanding, but there was no elpathy or sympathy in her voice, just a mere statement, nothing more. "But purposely created masks belong to those who are willing to cast aside what they have or add to themselves what they dont have. Basically, these masks are made to hide monsters and it intrigues me to see those, who unlike me, are monsters on the inside rather than the outside. It makes me curious...do I want to see the secret behind those masks?"

At the end of that corridor, with the sounds having become clearer and easy to define as being human voices, Risu increased her pace a bit, only to get in front of a thick, wooden door, which appeared to be locked. No traps in sight, but still...a locked door was a hindrance just the same.

"I hate locks, especially when I dont have a key," The young Chuunin laughed dry, her right arm cocking backwards, while with her left hand, she grabbed the door's handle. A surge of chakra went through her skin, remodelling the skincells in shiny white scales on both her arms, from the tips of her fingers up to her shoulders.

The sound of wooden boards shattering resonated through the corridor, while Risu had slammed her scaled right arm through the door, grabbed the lock on the other side and unlocked the door.

"After you," The Snake girl said with a grin on her face, her arms still covered with scales, which surprisingly fitted perfectly with her originally snakelike appearance, giving it an even more snakely look.

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Sayomi would brush off the remainder of their discussion on the previous topic, acknowledging that no amount of debate or re-education was going to convince this girl that she was anything other than right. These know it all types were all the same deep down. It was probably best to just allow her to do what she wanted and let her think whatever she already though. Verbal debates were a tiresome practice and one that Sayomi would not be locking herself into just to argue with some child. She wasn’t ready to see what was behind the masks she thought she saw, those who know better know that taking a peak behind those masks isn’t worth the trouble.

After proceeding down the hallway further the duo would encounter a large wooden door that was blocking their path. Rather than try to think of a way through or attempting to pick the lock like Sayomi expected however, Risu seemed to use a jutsu to reinforce her arms and punched through the door. Sayomi raised an eyebrow at the entire display, not so much surprised by the scale-like appearance of her arms while the jutsu was active, but rather Risu’s display of brute force. These thinking types were usually averse to the idea of using strength to bully their way around. “Oh well,” Sayomi thought to herself as he attention turned towards the sound of approaching footsteps coming towards them, “It looks like we have company.” Just moments later a small group of 5 men came stomping out of the dak corridor, brandishing low quality weapons one would expect of a band of random thugs.

“Well, well,” Sayomi mused, the clicking of her heeled shoes echoing through the hall as the group of men made their way towards the duo, weapons drawn, “You boys wouldn’t hurt a damsel in distress, would you? Two women, all alone, lost. Don’t be shy, I don’t bite. I can’t say the same for my friend here though, but hey maybe one of you is into that kind of thing.”

“Keep your mouth shut, bitch!” One of the men yelled out, gripping the handle of his sword and leading the group towards Sayomi’s location, “We’re the ones asking the questions here. Who the hell are you and why are you here? And if you lie to me I’ll slit that pretty throat of yours!”

Sayomi stopped in her tracks and winced at the man who was so bold as to speak to her in that way. “Hmph, how rude,” she scoffed, disgusted by such brutish behavior, “Is that any way to speak to a lady? Oh well, you won’t be speaking for much longer. There will only be screams.” A quick series followed by a flash of fire that illuminated the narrow corridor in an orange glow, surging forward into the cornered group of men. The great fireball jutsu, a staple in the Uchiha arsenal would punish those brash enough to raise their weapons at Sayomi. Truth be told she would likely have done the exact same thing had they been nice to her or not, but knowing that the group she was roasting were less than gentlemen certainly did make it a bit more enjoyable.

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The footsteps of other, unwanted people resonated in the corridor, which were revealed to be belonging to a group of around five armed, yet otherwise not really noteworthy men, who seemed to be of the 'kill first, ask later' type and they displayed that attitude quite obviously wit their appaling manners and renouncement of a peaceful solution.

Yet before the young chuunin could actually say or do anything, her partner in this mission;Sayomi, had already engaged in a short exchange of words, followed by what Risu had expected from those men, loud threats and scolding at Sayomi's address, which did not seem to fall into good ears with the Uchiha woman.

"No, wait..." Risu tried to say, before the Uchiha woman created and shot off that scorchingly hot fire chakra of hers in the form of a fireball rolling through the corridor, burning everything and all in its path.

Screams of pain and agony filled the corridor, the smell of burned wood and cotton, heated iron and steel, as well as the sickening stench of singed hair and scorched flesh cringed up into Risu's nostrils, while she stood silent and frozen in front of the display of Sayomi's cruelty and savagery. There was no other way to describe what she had done, as it was obvious her fireball jutsu would have the chance to run wild, enabling the men to get away in time and though they were not dead yet, those poor slobs wouldn't be able to react to anything other than their own burning flesh and skin.

In the meantime, Risu tried to move, feeling rather sluggish due to the fact that the fireball jutsu had also burned away most of the oxygen in the corridor, but also because she had to notice to her own disgrace that her hands had started shaking again. It had been some time ago that she had to deal with the uncontrollable shaking. She felt the cold grasp of fear around her heart, while the screams continued to pierce her ears.

Trying to close herself from the pain she felt, the deep seeds of agony inside her mind starting to take root and confusing her, Risu quickly ran through the corridor, a few tears welling up in her eyes, as she tried to ignore the pleas made by the heavily punished men.

So cruel, this woman's a monster...a monster...

Then it happened, as a long, blade swung into her direction, she reacted almost purely on instinct by jumping aside, her feet touching upon something made out of paper, before she could react, the paper ignited and a large explosion through her away to the other end of the corridor, where she smacked against the wooden door with a loud crackling sound.

She had lost consciousness, slumping against the broken boards of the door, with smudges of blood on her legs and chest, while her blood also ran down her face.

Two men came out of a chamber into the corridor, grinning and swinging with their blades. They were pleased with the results, as they turned their attention towards the woman at the other side of the corridor. "One down, one left to go ey missy. If you're nice, you wont end up like your friend there."

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All that could be heard as the roar of the flames subsided was the moans and screams of agony as the men felt their skin seared off of their flesh, along with Sayomi’s amused chuckle. The flickering orange flames dancing in the shadow filled corridor brought a smile to Sayomi’s face. To her there was nothing more satisfying than moments like these. The sight of them writhing in pain on the ground, the sound of their cries, the smell of their flesh still burning as the unextinguished flames lingered, all sent a rush of excitement through her veins like pure adrenaline. The realization of her dreams, to bathe the wicked in a sea of flames, was right before her even if only on a small scale.

She paused for a moment to soak it all in before beginning to step forward. While bright and flashy, the great fireball jutsu was not the most powerful of her jutsu, so it injured the men but they were still very much alive. Leaving them there with untreated wounds would probably have led to their eventual death, but where was the fun in that? Eyeing the sword of the man who had mouthed off to her laying on the ground, she intended to pick it up and use it to deliver the killing strokes herself. The irony was simply delicious, to be killed with you own blade, the same one you had previously pointed at your killer. How amusing that would have been had her moment of triumph not been interrupted by the commotion behind her.

She turned around just in time to see Risu jumping out of the way of an incoming sword, only to land on a paper bomb trap. The explosion was too sudden for either girl to do anything about it and as a result, Risu was sent flying across the hall by the concussive force, crashing into and breaking a set of wooden doors that lay just over Sayomi’s shoulder. Sayomi turned to check on her companion, but did not step towards her, her attention turning to the two men behind her that initiated the attack. A quick glance at Risu and Sayomi could tell the girl was out cold. “I guess it’s not such a bad thing,” Sayomi thought to herself as she turned to face the men, condescending words ringing through her ears, “At least she won’t get in my way. Still, I’ll have to check on her when I’m done.” Abandoning her previous plan to finish off the group from before, Sayomi would reactivate her sharingan and dash forward towards her targets.

As she closed the gap on the first of the two men he would thrust his blade forward, a move Sayomi would avoid by leaning her head to the right. Taking advantage of his outstretch arm she would use her left hand to grab his wrist and lock it in place as she drove her right palm into the back of his elbow, breaking it at the joint. Spinning around from that position to behind his back, she would grab the tanto strapped to his waist, unsheathe it, and drive it through the back of his throat. As the second man came down with a vertical slash she would spin around, using the body as a shield before throwing it at her assailant. Sayomi would immediately grab the first man’s katana off of the ground and immediately charge the second, driving the blade as hard as she could into his gut at an angle, lifting him off his feet in the process and into a wooden door in the hall. Picking up the second blade from the floor, she would thrust it into his gut once again, securing the impaled body onto the door before turning to her injured companion once more.

Inspecting Risu’s body Sayomi surmised that the damage wasn’t too extensive. If anything the unconsciousness made it seem worse than it was. The paper bomb was old and the seal had weakened, leaving it less than fatal. She would have to wait until the girl woke up to see if there were any concussion symptoms. Either way, there was no way she was going to be able to continue the mission, carrying this girl on her back and she wasn’t particularly keen on leaving her there unattended with these thugs running about. She let out a deep sigh as she took a seat on the ground Indian-style and repositioned Risu so that her head rested on Sayomi’s lap. “This kid…” Sayomi mused to herself, tearing off a portion of her shirt to cover the more serious burns after cleaning them with some water from the canteen she found on Risu, “I guess I’ll just have to wait.”

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"Well well, I knew those useless slobs werent a match for any kind of shinobi," A deep, grating voice resonated through the corridor, when suddenly the broken doors shattered, splinters flying around dangerously, when two men with swords came out of hiding, pointing their blades at Sayomi, disregarding the fact the unconscious Risu."Oh, apparently they did a better job than I had thought, but still, that little girl is still alive...pity."

Behind the two swordsmen, a massive hulking mass of muscles revealed itself. A man of easily seven feet high, with a pale blue skin, razor sharp teeth and long blueish black hair. This was obviously not someone from Konoha, which the forehead protector dangling at his belt only confirmed. This man was a shinobi from Kirigakure.

"Murame Hoshigaki, is the name, killing is the game," The brute laughed, pointing at the Uchiha woman, motioning his two men to finish the little girl off, while he would deal with the woman himself. With a grin on his face, he jumped from his location in one single, mighy leap, cocking his enormous left arm backwards, aiming to crush Sayomi with a single strike. "Always a pity to be killing some damsels."

"Hey, I know who this is," one of the two men appointed to deal with Risu laughed. Crouching next to the girl, his sword close to her chest. His smelly breath cringing up to the still unconscious girl's nose. "It's that snakebitch from the village. Hey, we could ask some hefty ransom for her you know. She's rekated to konoha's Shadow Reaper and the White Snake of Konoha. they've killed many of kiri's soldiers backs in the day. Pity that White Snake's dead, I would've loved to have my way with her, but this one will do."

The other swordsman only laughed, his chest shuddering while the loud cackling came through his throat, yet an instant later, he suddenly fell silent, when his comrade gave a soft yelp. Just as he had been trying to tear off the girl's shirt, a scaled hand grabbed his wrist in a vicegrip, followed by the sound of snapping tendons and a loud agonizing scream.

"You bitch..." The man, who's wrist was broken muttered after his scream, yet only to see that Risu had woken up and had managed to grab his sword, the metal screeching under the pressure of her scaled hands, when she suddenly pulled the sword towards her, slightly leaning aside, so the sword would only stab the wall, while she herself slammed against the man's nose with her head.

Slowly, the girl stood up, her head still hanging forward, her movements sluggish, almost like a marionette. Her hair, soaked in a combination of water, blood and dust hung accross her face, yet when she straightened herself, looking straight into the eyes of the man with the broken wrist and nose, her distorted face became visible.

Her eyes had widened, her pupils narrowed to thin slits, while the pulsating bloodvessels in her eyewhite were easily visible. Her face had an eerie, erratic and almost insane glow, with the blood forming lines accross her forehead and cheeks, while her lips were curled into a diabolical smile.

"Oy oy, weren't you supposed to be unconscious?!" The other man yelled, trying to help his partner, who had just been dealing with the girl. However, before he could react, his comrade got a fist planted right in his face, proppelling him backwards against a wall, where he would slump down unconscious.

Risu simply ignored the other man and went straight for the unconscious body of his comrade, her hands instinctively forming sole seals, after which her scaled hands were covered by two long, whiplike appendages made out of water

"Heh...heheheh, hahahahaah" Risu's insane laughter followed suite, as she was lashing out withe those whiplike appendages at the unconscious man, tearing apart his clothes, while thin, half an inch deep cuts started to form after each lash she gave the wounded man, yet when she wanted to dash out her tenth strike, the other man finally acted, swinging his blade towards her, resulting in it slashing against her right arm, leavin only a shallow cut within the scales and as her blood started trickling down her arm from the cut, the insane snake girl turned around to the man who had dared to interrupt her fun.

She still had that same disturbingly freaky smile on her face, yet the whiplike appendages lost their form for an instant, as she threw her arms towards the armed man, who was thrown through the corridor, with two relatively deep cuts on his chest.

Before he could even stand up, Risu had planted her foot upon his swordarm, while she sat on his bloodsoaked chest, her scaled hands reaching for his head. With another frantic cackle, she started pushing her thumbs against his eyes. No matter how much the man screamed or squirmed, the result remained the same, as he fell silent, when her fingers gauged out his eyes.

Pulling her thumbs out of the man's sockets, she licked the blood off of her thumbs, while looking at the Shinobi from Kirigakure and Sayomi, tilting her head to the side, as if she was contemplating who she wanted to have next. "Heheh, He didn't see things eye to eye with me."

After saying that, Risu started walking slowly towards the boss and Sayomi, still moving sluggishly and with her head tilted aside "Can I play with you too?"

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As Sayomi laid the back of her hand against her unconscious partner’s forehead, the silence of the underground corridor was broken by the booming sound of a wooden door being broken through. Sayomi turned her attention to the newly created opening to see three men walking through, the third of which being an enormous, blue freak. Taking in everything they said as they drew closer to she and Risu’s location, Sayomi set Risu aside and raised herself up from the ground. It appeared as though there was one more mess she would have to clean up during this mission. More importantly, her companion was now out of commission and vulnerable, meaning that she would have to fight these men and keep Risu safe at the same time. It was hardly a favorable proposition, but one she would be undertaking all the same.

She would step forward to meet the men head on, yanking a katana out of the man she had previously impaled on the door and dragging it against the stone floor as she walked. The sound of iron against stone echoed throughout the hall, only being interrupted as she raised the blade to block the attack coming her way. The blade itself she was blocking was heavy enough without the wielder’s massive strength. It was all she could do to simply hold her guard steady. “Then it’s a good thing you won’t be killing anyone anymore,” Sayomi growled as she pushed back against her assailant, “This damsel will be taking your head.”

Her attention immediately shot over her shoulder as she realized the other two men had made their way over to Risu. “Shit,” she thought to herself, “I need to get over there now. They better not lay a fucking finger on her.” In the moments following however, the laughter and crude remarks of the two men would be replaced by screams of agony and an almost maniacal cackling that Sayomi could only vaguely recognize as the voice of Risu. The Hoshigaki swordsman that had previously engaged her in combat would withdraw his weapon and jump back, allowing himself to spectate the fall of his two associates.

The veil of snark and sass that Sayomi had been masquerading under up to that point would be immediately lifted as the situation changed with Risu’s apparent mental breakdown. A far more serious expression would take the place of the taunting grin that she once wore. An almost apathetic scowl sat on her face, her eyes low and empty, showing only the faintest hints of her underlying arrogance through the darkness. “No, you may not,” Sayomi replied over her shoulder to Risu’s unstable approach as she stepped in between Risu and the final remaining assailant. “I told you the consequences of losing your head. You’re done here. Stay back and wait for me to finish up the job.” Sayomi had no intention of moving. In her current condition Risu was nothing more than another variable factor. She was a danger to not only the mission and Sayomi, but to herself.

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Blood, blood everywhere, on her hands, on her face, on the ground, on the walls, on the ceiling, the blood was everywhere. The girl stood in the center of all that blood, enraged by it, maddened by the very smell of the iron inside the red liquid. A taste of coins in her mouth, a red mist had gone over her eyes, no longer capable to maintain the cursed blood of her lineage, no longer able to restrain the pain and mental agony, Risu had turned into what she had despised for so long, a mindless beast.

But despite the bloodthirsty, menacing look and behavior she had and displayed, inside her mind everything was black as the night, darker than the void of the universe.

She was alone in that place, crying and affraid. She suffered in soltitude, no one to lighten the load, the burden she had carried for so long. Memories started flooding through her mind, memories she had thought to have lost, but which had solehow managed to stick around.

The masked men that had humiliated her, her first kiss with Kaoru, his blood on her hands. Inside her mind she screamed, terrified and...alone.

The young woman covered in blood listened to the Uchiha woman, tilting her head a bit to the side again, her eyes going from Sayomi to the leader of the thugs, a creepy grin appeared on her face, after which she started to fall into a frantic laughter again, with her left hand rising to her mouth, she suddenly fell silent and licked the blood from her hand, which no longer had the scales on them, making that very act seem so much more gruesome, with her slender, pale white skin splattered with the thick red liquid.

"Done?" Risu said calmly, her tongue sliding across the palm of her left hand, the droplets of blood dangling frol the tip of her tongue before she swallowed the liquid. "Tasty...I want more

Her first movements were sluggish again, as she was eyeing both shinobi, but her first choice was apparent, she seemed fixated on that woman now, who had the gall to tell her off, why didn't she just allow her to play a bit.

As she suddenly increased her speed, Risu rushed through the corridor towards the two shinobi, quickly forming a few handseals, after which two massive snakes made out of water and mud crashed through the ground and were launched at Sayomi and the Hoshigaki shinobi, their maws open and ready to chomp off a large portion of their flesh, but despite these aggressive actions, this insane assault, someone who observed Risu, would've been able to see that she was shedding tears, tears that mixed with the blood on her face.

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Risu broke out into a cackle once more after having her approach halted by Sayomi, stopping to lick the blood from her hand and comment about how tasty it was. “Please, is that supposed to scare me?” Sayomi mused to herself as she watched Risu’s reaction to her command to fall back, “as if I’d be taken aback by such a juvenile display.” Sayomi would stand unyielding, arms folded, as Risu slowly moved towards her direction. This girl had lost it, and it looked like Sayomi was going to have to put her down as well if she couldn’t snap her out of it. Unsurprisingly, Risu’s stumbling stroll in Sayomi’s location would become a sudden dash, to which the Uchiha would respond by activating her sharingan, almost out of instinct.

With the visual prowess afforded by the sharingan, Sayomi would be able to follow and record the hand signs Risu was making into her mental rolodex. It was immediately apparent that she did not recognize that sequence of hand signs, but at the very least, her ability to see chakra would allow her to determine the elements being molded in the creation of the jutsu. “So suiton it is, huh?” she pondered, taking the new information she had received and using it to prepare for the incoming attack forming in front of her, “how inconvenient.” As two massive, serpentine forms of mud erupted from the ground below, Sayomi prepared herself to make her move. Allowing them to travel as far as they could, she would perform a last second flip, focusing a small amount of chakra into her feet to stick to the low ceiling in the corridor. From her new vantage point on the roof the Uchiha would immediately relocate Risu, examining her in preparation for the next move. Sayomi’s eyes would wince however, as she noticed tears flowing down from her companions eyes, quite a few of them at that. These weren’t accidental tears. Risu was crying. Somewhere beneath the maniacal cackle she was weeping.

“Suiton: Suijenheki!” she would hear called out beneath her as the hoshigake summoned a wall of water to defend against Risu’s assault. Using the wall of water to hide his movements, he would ready his blade once more, erupting from within his own jutsu to attack the charging Risu. Leaping out from the water he would attempt a vertical, two-handed slash with his great sword, aiming to split Risu in two. Sayomi would immediately jump from the ceiling and kick off of the side wall, performing a jump kick which would strike the man in the side of the head and send him tumbling off to the side, effectively ending his assault. Sayomi would make no effort to charge against the incoming Risu, nor take a defensive stance or draw a weapon to defend herself. With her sharingan, her hand to hand combat capabilities would make protecting herself quite simple, but that was not her aim. If Risu continued her charge, Sayomi would simply wrap her arms around the girl in an embrace, bringing Risu’s head into her chest. She needed to calm the girl down, and there weren’t many things she could think other than that which would accomplish that task. If Risu would not continue her head on charge however, she would react accordingly.

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1059~

A silent scream in the darkness, a young girl frightened and alone. She knew exactly what she was feeling: the fear of being alone, the fear of hatred towards her, the fear of being abandoned once again. All culminated in the darkness that had surrounded her in her very core. The loss of her parents when she was five, the loss of Kaoru, the only guy who looked beyond her appearance, the loss of Momo and Hamada sensei, she felt all the pain, fearing the loneliness more than anything. A silent scream in the darkness that had swallowed her, whike tears flowed from her eyes.

Like a sadistic, unbound monster, Risu charged at Sayomi, practically ignoring the fact that not only Sayomi had managed to avoid getting stricken by her snakes, but the Hoshigaki shinobi as well, she wanted to simply get a taste of that arrogant woman's blood, soak in it, drown it it. She wanted to swallow her whole, or rather, she thought she wanted that to happen, as her tears showed a completely different thing.

In her ignorance, she did not notice that the Hoshigaki shinobi had gotten beyond his water wall and had pressed into an offensive meassure, aiming to cleave the young, yet far from innocent girl from top to bottom.

Everything seemed to happen in a flash, as Risu's eyes widened, seeing everything in slowmotion occuring right in front of her. How the Uchiha woman's foot planted itself in the side of the shinobi's face, proppelling him to the side, where he crashed against, or rather through a wall head first, no longer giving any reaction afterwards.

Being grabbed, or rather hugged so tightly by Sayomi right after she had stopped, Risu seemed to crumble and fall apart completely, as an initial ferral roar turned into a scream, a cry, loud and heartbreaking, as her tears did not end welling up in her eyes, rolling down her cheeks in a strong flow. Her legs went limp, almost buckling through them, as she continued to cry out loud.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!!" She snickered in between cries and tears, her small chest heaving heavily from every heartrendering cry she let out, not really obvious if her words were directed at Sayomi or not."I'm so sorry, I'm sorry, please don't hate me!?!"

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Risu’s violent roar would change to a pained scream and eventually into desperate cries as she allowed herself to fall into Sayomi’s embrace. Sayomi could see the tears streaming down from Risu’s eyes, dampening Sayomi’s blouse in a mix of tears and spattered blood from earlier as she cried, pressed against Sayomi’s chest. Then suddenly, as if all of the strength had left her body and left her like nothing but a ragdoll, Risu’s legs ceased to support her whole weight forcing Sayomi to squeeze her tighter in order to keep her standing. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!!" the girl would cry out as she sobbed uncontrollably into Sayomi, "I'm so sorry, I'm sorry, please don't hate me!?!"

Sayomi would shush the girl softly, stroking the girl’s hair reassuringly and letting her get out whatever she felt she needed to. “Shhhh,” Sayomi would reply to Risu’s apology, “Now now, none of that. I don’t hate you. You don’t have to apologize. You’re fine now. Everything’s fine. They’re taken care of. It’s just us here now. Just let it all out.” A situation like this was not exactly in Sayomi’s wheelhouse, who rarely dabbled in the activity of consoling others. Quite frankly, she was more experienced in causing others to cry than making them stop. But it wasn’t like she could just allow Risu to carry on what she was doing earlier, not could she simply ignore the girl’s tears and not try to calm her down.

“Just take as long as you need, okay?” Sayomi said into the weeping Risu’s ear calmly, “You’re safe now, no one is going to hurt you.” Sayomi wasn’t sure if this was even helping, if her embrace or her words were accomplishing anything other than filling time until the girl calmed down. Either way however, she would remain there until Risu regained her strength and was ready and able to move on herself.

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1403~