Evening. End of a hard day of work. The sun is starting to set and people are making their way home. This is the street most visitors avoid... By most I mean all that don't travel by see. Filthy smell of cheap booze, old fish and sweat seem the least of the problems. After even a brief moment here the stench does not only soaks in your clothing, but also skin. Why would people even be her? Simple, their passing trough. This one of the few streets of Konoha illuminated already, pubs, casino's and bordels poorly disguised as inns. Pure sailors paradise and a nightmare to whoever has to pass trough. House and establishments tightly pressed together, leaving no rooms for alleys (probably for the best), therefore leaving everyone on this one lane. People pushing against each other like cattle. Loud music, smoke coming from the few chimneys and masts of the ships docked near by. You could consider traveling by roofs, but then again anyone with common sense would recognize this as a suicide. These roofs are there just for show, making it a miracle the seagull dump on them doesn't make them collapse.

Giketsu passed over the damp ground. He was blending in the crowd. Oddly enough he wasn't in a mood for play. It was the atmosphere. Giketsu was always dead serious when passing trough. His art was delicate. Getting caught can turn out to be quite lethal here. Targets had to be visitors. If your recognized, you might just as well quit. Luckily this wasn't the place people would choose to look anyone in the face. Giketsu passed trough the step with fluid movements. He seemed to be adjusted to the crowds fluid movements like rhythm, passing people like a shadow. Giketu kept his head low, yet scanned the are for a target. Nor his looks, nor movements gave him away. He was gray, he was silent... he was one of the mass.

A guy named Sero had managed to show Shibirin, directions on how to get back to the village. A visitor like he otta learn to carry a map on him, incase he ever got lost, which is what had happened in the dense forest just outside Konoha. Nevertheless, he had managed to find his way into the village, or at least what he thought was the village: these streets were filled with faul stench and lots of unfarmiliarf faces. By unfarmiliar, he meant the majority of them did'n't take pride in the village enough to wear their forehead protectors, but then again, this could mean they weren't ninjas, but more villagers and travellers like he. He made hsi way down the streets sloly, wondering whether or not that Sero guy had given him the right directions. He looked up and over the large gatherings of people and saw the village kages' monuments, 'Yup this is Konoha alright,' he thought to himself, as he made his way towards a huge crowd gathering around some sort of gambling card game.

Shibirin didn't bother to stay to see what was happening from what he had learnt back in Suna about Konoha, large gatherings of people couldn't be trusted. One minute you are just seeing for yourself what's happening, the next minute you lose a leg. This statement was obviously exagarated, but basically, it meant that people would pick-pocket you whilst you were around large groups of people, such as this one. By the time Shibirin had realised what might have been going on, he had already spent about 5 minutes around the goup of people, just starring at the somewhat rigged card game that was surposed to make you rich.

'A sheep that obviously has wandered away from herd' Giketsu thought to himself as he noticed the stranger. Giketsu could read it in his face. He was lost. The perfect target, if not for the caution. Giketsu as no amateur. First he followed his target making sure he wasn't seen himself. Then, obviously you had to spot something to loot. The sword... It seemed to be the most valuable asset. The kid didn't seem to be wealthy enough to keep anything valuable in the pockets. This was a job for someone of Giketsu's caliber. What was the best part? The sheep was distracted.

Giketsu approached carefully. A tap on the kids shoulder. A strong firm tap to make him shiver and probably turn over to Giketsu where he would be put up against an open palm before him. Giketsu coughed and spoke up in a terribly low voice. " Spare some change mister... " . Giketsu still kept his left hand pressed on the mans shoulder causing discomfort. Why? Simple. It takes just one blink. Once the kid would blink just once, Giketsu would use this millisecond to swiftly pull the whole sword and its holster over the mans head leaving it hanging in Giketsu's hands behind him. The attention should be kept to Giketsu and his empty arm demanding money. The stench and the uncomfortable contact should be telling just one thing. Get that creep away from me!

Shibirin felt a tap on his shoulders. At first, he made it off as a fly, though it must've been a pretty large fly becuase the seconds time around, Shibirin had no choice but to see what had disturbed him from his concertration on the strange card game. He had a hinch that the dealer was cheating, as they always did but he couldn't make out how. He didn't even know how the original game was played, but something was fishy alright.

As he braught his attention around the back of his head, where a rather short guy had been tapping his shoulders stood there asking for change. 'Is he homeless or is he just playing around with my head?' he thought to himself. Just as he reached into his pocket, deciding that he should at least give back to this village for his time being here to the poor, he noticed his sword and sheath fly right off his shouders, over his head and into the guy's hands. The guy then made a run form it, but that sword meant too much for Shibirin to just stand there in owe, no. He went after it. He chased the guy down the streets, round the corners and pretty much everywhere the guy went. "You rotten thief, give that back this instance or i'll have your head cut off with it when i do get it back!'!" he yelled out to the guy, but it was hopeless, he just kept running, until they stopped in a dark alley, where the he and the kid seemed to be puffed out from running. Shibirin managed to just outrun the kid at the end and took hold of his arm before he could escape.

Giketsu was caught in the back alley. Quite lame. yet this was the only option. Caught on the streets? No thanks. Caught by the hand? Only because Giketsu allowed it. The grab was followed by a sudden stop... Stop of running that is. This was only the point of liftoff. Giketsu ducked and even pulled his hand towards himself causing the man to probably trip over him leaving him to his own dexterity. Drop, land ,whatever... Giketsu didn't care he had taken his opponent here for a reason. He was caught red handed. Even if he did escape his career would probably be over. Regardless of the opponents reaction to Giketsu's sudden ducking, he stood up and raised his hand forth. " Stop! " he said in firm voice. It was against Giketsu's belifs to kill. Not like this.

Shibirin felt his arm being pulled by the guy, before a sudden jerlk of the hand and Shibirin had lost his grip on the guy's arm. He didn't bother to grab his arm again, he had him right where he wanted him, or was it the other way around. Regardless of how he was going to punish the guy, one thing was for sure: he damn wanted his sword back, imediately. "Give, me...the sword and i just might let you live" he said firsmly to the guy.

Shibirin, to be honest, wasn't up for a fight right now. He knew if the kid was a shinobi, then he'd probably be of Genin level as he was. The fight would go on til the both lay on the ground, tired. Though without his sword, he might just lose that battle. He now reached out his right arm in front of the guy, he knew exactly what he had to put in it, the sword.

Giketsu stood there as he looked down to the kids hand. " You will get, under one condition ,you forget my face and the fact you ever met me. " He then slightly pulled the sword out of its holster, peeked at the blade and then slid it back in. " If not, I can't promise I that I shall hurt you ,but what I can promise is the definite destruction of your blade and anything else you might find valuable. " Giketsu was confident. He knew that his opponent had pretty much no chance to retrieve the blade. Not if Giketsu wanted it to stay with him.

There was no chance that Shibirin could forget a face that had just stolen the most precious item he owned. He couldn't let such a crime go unpunished, though seeming as he wanted to avoid any and all forms of fighting, he knew he'd need to have the guy believe him that he would forget his face. "The longer you have my blade, the longer i remember your face, but if you want to fight for it, i'll be more than happy to sharpen its cut with your face," he said boldly. He wanted to cut to the chase: nobody takes his sword and expects him to just look over the situation.

Giketsu smirked. " Now, now... Emotions won't get you anywhere. Especially if your the one to blame. After all, you were the one to "loose" it. " Giketsu didn't show no intentions to fight. He seemed rather serious and confident. " Right now I'm offering a deal. I'm bartering. If you don't like my offer... I can just as well sell your swords and find another hunting ground. " The offer was simple. Sword for silence. Silence could be guaranteed in another way, but this was against Giketsu's principles. Thieves honor... outsiders wouldn't understand. You live by it or you do by it. Nobody likes traitors, nobody likes failures...

Shibirin let out a smirk the slid his right foot back and allowed his body weight to fall on to it. He looed out to the side for a split second, tilting his head slightly to the left as he re-directed his attention towards the guy. Was he seriously trying to play mind games with Shibirin , or did he just assume he was that dumb? Obviously neither of the two were going to keep their promise. As soon as he got his blade, Shibirin would most like walk off to go tell others about this man and Shibirin was sure if Gike did give him his blade back, he'd later try and take something else of Shibirin, this time with more stelth than before. This was what any other human would do if they were in either situations.

True, Shibirin wanted his blade back, but he wasn't going to settel down to the man's terms just like that. What made him more annoyed about the matter was that it was a thief who was trying to negotiate him. What was that saying again? Never trust a thief, that's it. Shibirin had the money to buy another one, which he was planning on doing once he had got back to Sunagakure that is. He was willing to break a leg for this sword, however, since it had been specially made by his dead father Tatsyuaga. It was more than a weapon to him, it was his last and only connection to his dad.

He now quikly brought his arm towards the guy's chest and quickly attempted to push the guy away. Nothing too offensive, mroe a taunt than an attack really. "The only way this conversation will end with both of us alive, is if you give me that sword right now," he paused, to let this statement sink in to the low-life ninja's head. He'd then continue, not giving him a chance to reply to that. "honestly, i do not care about who you are, yet, but if you continue to hold that sword away from me, i will be forced to write you die on my hitlist, for life." Though he didn't want to get into a fight, the guy was pushing it. Shibirin was known to be cocky, back in Sunagakure. He never got along with anyone in the village, all because of one comment to the Kage that night. He had been hated by most ever since then, but in Konoha he was acting differently. He was being kind to the locals and wasn't asking too many stupid questions, but this guy was pushing it. He waited to hear what other clever stalling this guy had up his sleeve, but what would come out of his mouth next would determine whether or not Shibirin smashed his face into the ground and whether or not Shibirin forgot his face like he wanted. [ color=white]'Juts one more move...'[/color], he thought to himself, as he waited for the golden words that would flip the pages on to a new chapter...

A push? Was the kid serious? That was a provocation. Bad call. " Attitude like this will bring you nowhere. My conditions were simple. There's two things by which you can judge a man, his handshake and trustworthiness of his word. You obviously have quality of neither. " Giketsu was loosing hopes of the man settling for a deal. Yet violence was not in Giketsu's nature. A major failure? Indeed. The conversation was leading to the inevitable. Among his own people Giketsu was known to be as quite dumb and quick to anger. Normally the situation would apply, but his duties were sacred to him. A promise to himself...

That was it. That was what it needed for Shibirin to lose it. This guy had pushed his luck way too much, and though he didn't want to result into violence, he had no other choice. He wasn't going to do as the guy said and 'forget' his face. Seriously, would you expect a stranger to forget you after taking his/her most precious belonging?

He came at the guy, but as he got so close to him that he could land a punch to the face, he spun around in a 180 degrees motion, making him face the same way as his opponent, but he didn't stop there. He then lifted his back leg and quickly stretched it out towards the guy in a kicking motion. The kick was aimed at the guy's chest and if it did land, Shibirin would turn around and most likely electrocute him with his jutsu til he had to let go of the sword

Had he obligatory resort to violence? Even if he did, did he really intend to pull something like this off on Giketsu? As the kid approached Giketsu raised the sword slightly forth for a defensive purpose, but then again a punch never came, instead his opponent turned around. Turning your back to someone your assaulting? Not to mention a close combat fighter? Obviously not a local...
A kick? Pfft, about the time Shibi had turned his back Giektsu was already at the side ,so once the kick came up he just had to reach for the leg with one hand, while still holding the sword in the other. As he had the hold of the leg he just slightly pulled it up and intended to sweep the opponents other leg, which was the only thing, besides Gieketsu, holding his opponents lower body above ground. In case of a successful sweep Giketsu would let his opponent fall forth. Then he would use the sword, while its still in the holster to first catch opponents sweeped leg before it lands and raise it up holding the blade sideways to push it slightly under opponents knee to prevent him from pushing the whole leg back. Then a spread of legs would follow and about the time the opponent would probably catch himself on his arm, he'd just stomp opponent down with the leg he used to sweep. Where'd he stomp? What do you think? Right in the balls!!!... Thats if everything goes as planned.

Shibirin had used the leg that was furtherest from the guy on purpose, incase his kick had been grabbed, which was the case. He saw the sword held in the other arm, different to the one holding his leg. He noticed the guy trying to sweep him off his feet by pulling on his right leg, but Shibirin couldn't allow him to do such a thing. It'd place him at his mercy, something Shibirin hated more than losing, having to oblidge to another's will. No, Shibirin was bette than that, and he was ready to counter the guy's counter with his own.

As Shibirin was flipped off his feet, he twisted himself forward into a small frontflip and most likely his opponent would release his hold on his leg, or his arm would be harshly twisted and may cause him to sprain it, or judging from the force Shibirin put into the kick, pop it out of the joint. Though Shibirin didn't master in tai jutsu, kicking and flipping was what he could only do. As he flipped he swung his free leg across to connect with the guy's jaw. Shibirin didn't know how much it'd be effective to the guy, but s soon as he landed the flip with a crouch, he did a sideways tunnel roll away from his opponent and soon got up to his feet

Why was the guy making things complicated? Chances of ending this with as low amount of traumas as possible seemed to fade. This wasn't helping the kid to retrieve his sword either. Anyways, legs are obviously stronger than hands, why bother and waste energy holding them once the sweep fails? And then... Preparing another kick coming upwards. Seriously, was he not learning? This required another approach. Giketsu made a swift hop back, just enough to leave the reach of the kick and... What do you know, leaving opponents stomach wide open. Normally a slash would apply, but Giketsu had no intention to actually hurt the aggressor so he chose just to attempt a straight kick, aiming for opponents lower torso, right in the belt line. A kick would this probably hurt and throw Shibi away quite easily, since it would be his balance center Giketsu hit, yet since the strength would be nowhere strong enough to crush pelvis it'd be more of an intent to keep distance.

Shibirin took note of his new position, but he had missed out the fact that his chest was left wide open for his opponent to hit. Still, he had a way to avoid this, but it was'n't very effective. He did a 180 pivot and arched his back, this would meen that the kick would land on his back rather than his stomache. The kick didn't seem hard enough to break his spine and when it had landed, proved his theory right. Was this guy even trying, or what? Shibirin then stood up and took a few steps back, they had been fighting up close for too long, and by that, he meant that this guy was better at close ranged attacks than Shibirin was, so a little distance would do him just fine.

He stared at the guy and smiled. "You really like that sword, don't yuh?", he asked, as he fixed up his glasses and re-positioned his stare at the stranger. He had every right to throw another attack at him, but not right now. He knew better than to attempt to hit him directly, it wasn't an effective strategy to use, maybe it was because he was a tai jutsu master, or just lucky.

After the kick was more or less successful he just watched Shibi get up. Giketsu just stood there like if nothing had happened. He wasn't very enthusiastic about this whole fight. Especially since he just wanted to get away. " This piece of metal? Not really... Though I could probably kick a weeks wage out of it. " After finishing his response Giketsu rose the sword slightly higher than his shoulders edge pointing to the side. Giketsu's right more precisely. Then he just inspected it, obviously judging how straight and well balanced the blade was.

Shibirin stopped and thought, for a while. He was looking at this all wrong, all wrong indeed. This guy wasn't trying to start up a fight, nor did he want Shibirin to go home swordless, no, he just wanted what all thieves like: money. Of course, Shibirin didn't have any with him at the time, but he then recaped the guy saying soemthing about forgetting his identity. He then looked back at him and said, "So, you really want me to forget you?", as if he was re-thinking the offer of getting his sword back for his silence.

Easily, Shibirin could've lied and told the guy he'd forget his identity and go around telling people what had happened, but that was what baffled him to this moment: how could the man trust Shibirin, a stranger to forget his face after the display of thievery he had just show cased? Still, Shibirin decided to play his game for a while, but not exactly as he would've wanted. "How about i forget your face, over a drink. That way, you tell me what to forget about you, and i will do as you say," he said towards the guy. Was he inviting him fo a drink? Maybe so, but would the ugy agree? Shibirin had meant to say, "Come and tell me all about you, because you may come in handy in future times when i need a thief", but that would've been too soon to reveal to a guy he barely knew

Now the guy was speaking his language. " A drink would be fine, but first... You'd have to PROMISE to forget about this whole situation. Lying is one thing, and its quite common, so its only a promise I trust. As a man which believes in the strength of ones principles, do you promise to keep you mouth shut? " Giketsu lowered the blade. The kid could of course lie. Yet again Giketsu truly believed in a given promise... That and he was well aware of the fact he needed just a moment to disappear in the streets. Also, nobody like snitches. Running around town yelling that a guy stole a sword and then returned it? You're either ending up in asylum, as village idiot or simply with a Colombian tie.

Shbirin had a lot of questions to ask this guy before he forgot about him. The incident, he could look over, but this guy interested him more than any other Konoha nin he had met on this trip, that and he was the only Konoha nin he had met. He now didn't view him as a thief, well, not towards him any ways. Though the guy was a thief, Shibirin was starting to feel more attached to the guy, maybe this drink of theirs would prove benefitial for the two. Of course, he'd need to first go back to the apartment he stayed in to retrive his wallet, so he said to the guy with the most honest words he could think of in the short given time, "You have my promise, and now for my sword?" he'd say, extending out his right arm for collecting his promised tool.

Giketsu heard the phrase and smirked. He then stepped forth, grabbed the sword by its holster, somewhere in the middle and turned the sword towards Shibirin. The swords blade would be pointing towards Giketsu and the handle towards Shibi. No doubt a symbol of trust. After all, if the kid decided to strike Giektsu would be at disadvantage. " Honor among thieves is the ancestor of all honor. " Giketsu stated and then laughed a bit. " ... even if sometimes means having no honor at all. " Giketsu would peacefully pass the sword. Only thing he thought about was... how about that free drink?

Shibirin saw the guy had finally decided to hand ove the sword, this meant that he had put his trust into Shibirin, or merely into the words Shibirin had said to him. Either way, Shibirin didn't have second thoughts about the drink, he still wanted to learn more about this guy but also he was thirsty and a tab bit hungry. "Give me a sec, i need to run home and retrive my wallet'" he said to the guy, as he placed his sword where it had come from. He then said to him, before he replied to the other question, "Tell you what, i'll meet you there at the bar, just have in mind what drink you want and i'll pay when i come."

Giketsu scratched back of his head as Shibirin put on his blade. Retrieving money? Sounds reasonable. This day didn't end up too well, trying to steal something else would be just begging for trouble. Anyhow most places you could get a drink at already knew Giketsu and never as the good customer. Mostly not even as a customer. Showing up there without money would be plain stupid... Even for Giketsu. " How about I wait for you outside the establishment? You could serve as...uhm... cover. " oddly enough Giketsu was serious about this.

Shibirin should've guessed that the bumber thefts the guy had done, would've put him on the 'do not trust' list in almost if not all of Konoha's shops. He probably had a criminal record, one not too big but one in all. He smiled towards him and said, "You rotten thieves, see what troubles your 'work' get you into?" he said jokingly, knowing that the guy could care less about visiting shops as a regula citizen.

He then began to make his way home, or at least he thought it was home. He had a map this time, so he wouldn't get lost as easily as before. If he managed to find his way back home using this map, then he could use it to navigate him around Konoha without any doubs of gettting lost. He called out behind him, "Seeyuh there," before disappearing into the crowd.

Giketsu watched as the Shibirin walked off... ' Why is he heading for the bordel? ' Giketsu though to himself. But then he thought ' Meh, let the kid have some fun, he deserves it... ' Anyhow Giketsu put his hands into his pockets and as the kid disappeared in the crowd Giketsu went the opposite way. Who knows, maybe he actually does meet Giketsu there.

[Exit]