Mission Info:

The sun began its descent to the horizon, setting the sky on fire. The Academy courtyard had only a few students left, the rest dashing home after a long day of classes. Those who lingered in the courtyard enjoyed their well-deserved freedom, swinging on the swing set, playing tag, playing in the sandbox, and laughing with their friends.

Hidden behind the facade of a nearby storefront, Kokoro stared with disdain in the direction of the Academy, unblinking, for around the corner came her target. A tall, lanky boy barely old enough to be called a man ambles nonchalantly to the courtyard. He wore a loose black vest and long, baggy brown pants. He wore a striped cap atop his head, and the strands of hair that peaked from underneath were black and greasy. Kokoro was tasked to kill this man. Admittedly, she had never taken the life of another, but this man was a criminal, someone who prayed on the innocence and naïveté of children. Death seemed like the appropriate punishment. Kokoro witnessed the man motion a kid over to the edge of the wooden courtyard fence. She bore a whole through him with her eyes as she watched him sweet talk a young girl in a black and white polka dot dress and hand her a tiny plastic bag with an unknown substance inside. Kokoro tightened her hand into a fist, and she bore her razor-like teeth. Her feet wanted to bolt in the man's direction, and her fists wanted to suckerpunch his temple, but her entire body remained rigid as a statue. Much to Kokoro's anger, she could not attack now and risk blowing her cover. She had to be patient. After a few minutes, the man in the black vest began to walk away from the Academy, skittishly turning his head in every direction. Kokoro pulled up her black hoodie over her face and moved out from behind the storefront, following his movement.

- - - - -

Dusk was reaching its end; the sun's face barely peeked out from the horizon line. The man ambled with hands in his pockets down the streets of the slums, no doubt going back to his house, the address of which Kokoro was given in the mission report. Kokoro traced his movements from across the street and kept a good distance behind him. Luckily, the dim light of dusk was Kokoro's ally. Kokoro's bright yellow eyes allowed her to see the man as clear as day. The man only had the street lamps to guide his way, and they did not shine bright enough to be able to illuminate Kokoro across from him.

Then the man suddenly turned to the right. Kokoro quickly hid behind a telephone pole and watched him closely. The man walked up the front steps to a small dilapidated white house with broken windows and stepped inside. This isn't his house, Kokoro thought as she raised her brow. She looked behind her, briefly scanning the empty alleyway. There in the damp, cold shadows lay a collection of metal trash cans, a perfect hiding spot. Kokoro leapt over them and squatted down, watching the front door of the house with burning intensity. When he comes out, I'll be ready for him.

- - - - -

Kokoro's eyeslids drooped frequently, but she shook her head, rousing herself awake again. The man had been inside for more than an hour. Finally, she saw the curtain on the doorway rustle.
Slapping her face, she tried to maintain her focus on the front doorway. The man emerged, pushing the curtain out of the way. She glided down the steps. Kokoro, stepping around the trash cans and aiming dead on at the man in the black vest, formed a hand seal. "Earth Release," she whispered. "Double Suicide Decapitation."

On the other side of the street, the man was just about to reach the street from the bottom step when he halted. He made his way back up the stairs and opened the curtain with one hand. He shouted inside, "I'll be back here tomorrow. I promise. I lo--" Suddenly, bits of earth flew up from the street below and two hands grabbed the open air and retreated back underground. Then the stones of the streets bulged, and like a fish breaking the surface of the water, a figure exploded from beneath the street. The man turned, alarmed. Kokoro and the man stared at each other face-to-face in silence. The man's face turned pale. He leapt over the side of the stairs and bolted down the street. "Damn!" Kokoro growled. Forming another hand seal, she shouted, "Partial Beast Transformation: Reptile Stance!" Kokoro buckled forward and dropped on all fours. Her hip joints gave an audible crack, and her legs flattened onto the street. Her ankle readjusted with another crack, laying flat, contorted in an inhuman angle. Her arms followed in a similar fashion, and her vertebrae lengthened loosened. Kokoro exhaled heavily, exposing her teeth. To her, the process felt like a morning stretch. She then crawled after the fugitive down the streets of the slums. Each reach of her arm was accompanied by her opposite foot stepping forward, covering more ground than she could on two feet. She felt the wind blow past her face, a feeling which she seldom experienced. Kokoro reached closer and closer to the man, despite him sprinting as fast as his legs could take him. Kokoro, who was a block away from him when the chase ensued, was almost a meter away from him now.

The man glanced over his shoulder, and from the corner of his eye, he could see the girl in the black hoodie with a set of razor-sharp teeth gaping. The man screamed helplessly. He suddenly veered to the right, escaping into an alleyway. Kokoro skidded on the street, regained her footing and followed in suit. The man's eyes bulged wide as he realized that the alley came to a dead end. He rotated around to face his pursuer, panting heavily and sweating. Kokoro stood on her feet, readjusting her joints with a series of cracks. She then walked slowly and deliberately towards the drug dealer. Her yellow eyes burned. "Give up." The man in desperation ran towards Kokoro and yelled, winding his arm back for a punch. Kokoro continued walking forward unfazed. As his arm thrusted forward, Kokoro wrapped her hand around his and used her other hand to press against his chest. Sweeping his leg with her own, she pushed the man down onto the floor of the alley with a thud. Kokoro's hand wrapped around his throat, and her other hand held his arm to the sky.

"Don't kill me! Please!" the man whimpered.

"Why not? You're a criminal," growled bluntly.

"You think I like doing this? A-and I don't do anything else other than the dealing. I swear!" Kokoro tightened her grip and caused the man to gag.

"Liar!" Kokoro roared. "I just saw you come out of that house. What did you do, huh? Sell some drugs in another kid's living room? Shake him down for money? Huh?"

"N-no! That was my grandmother's house!"

Kokoro stood silent for a moment. She loosed her grip slightly. "What?"

"My grandmother. She always needs her medicine, but its so expensive. My deadbeat parents won't even let her move in with us. They won't even help her. Some falling out or something. I dunno. This is why I do this! This is why I'm a criminal!"

Kokoro stared at this whimpering man with a softness in her eyes. Her hand slid off of his throat. The man got onto his hands and knees and coughed. Kokoro slowly rose onto her feet and continued to watch this poor man writhe on the ground.

"Leave," she said. "Bring your grandmother with you, and don't come back to Sunagakure."

The man looked up at Kokoro shocked and perplexed. He pulled himself up from on his knees. "Leave? Where the hell do you expect us to go?"

"I don't know! But if I don't kill you, someone else will, and your grandmother will die." Her tone softened with maternal kindness. "You need to leave. Now." She turned and began to saunter out of the alley.

"I'm sorry..." she heard behind her. Kokoro then heard a rapid succession of footsteps behind her. She turned, and the man was staring her dead on in the face. Kokoro buckled over, overwhelmed with a sudden throbbing pain in her stomach. Looking down, she saw the man plunge a knife inside her. Her entire body become numb with rage. She lurched her hand forward and grasped his throat. The man gasped. Fighting through the pain, she pinned him against the left wall. She raised her fist and crashed it into his face, breaking his nose and spilling blood onto the alley floor. She hit him again and then again and again, losing track. The entire moment was a blur. Kokoro yelled at the top of her lungs. With each punch, she shouted. Nonstop, she slammed each blow square into his face. Kokoro's voice became hoarse from the yelling. After a countless number of strikes, Kokoro began to slow down. Her throat was raw and aching. She let go of his neck, letting his corpse drop to the ground. Kokoro pressed her hand and her forehead against the brick wall and began to weep. Tears streamed down her face. Kokoro cried alone in the dark alleyway with the image of the man's frightened face ingrained into her mind forever.

1687/1000