Settle the Dispute! [C-rank]

Cinderella · 1 Settle the Dispute! [C-rank] Sun Aug 14, 2016 1:54 am

Cinderella

D-rank

84

Spoiler:

Cinderella’s heels clicked and clacked against the concrete pavements as she strolled leisurely through the streets of Iwagakure no Sato. It was a wonderful, beautiful place, it was for sure, despite the hardy climate that forced its inhabitants to endure or break. The conditions seemed much harder in this small hidden village than that of the large sprawling, prospering capital of the Land of Earth, and it was likely why ninjas made this place their home rather than the flourishing capital… or maybe it was the other way around, since the capitals existed long before hidden villages were a thing. Cinderella didn’t quite bother. She’d read many books telling of both sides of the equation, where hidden villages first sprouted and then those who weren’t able to cope flocked instead to the more prosperous places before turning those into the capitals of the country, while others instead insisted that it was the other way around, and that ninja who wanted to live in a harsher environment were those who had instead grouped together from the various villages, towns, and cities in their respective countries to form hidden villages capable of challenging the might, or even exceeding that of, their country’s counterparts.

As she walked, she eyed the scroll in her hand. It was… supposedly some important deed to a piece of land, but unfortunately, to her, it was but a slip of paper with a small signature at the bottom certifying that all the contents were exactly in order. It wasn’t too much that a ninja couldn’t fake, and half of her wondered amusedly if that was indeed what had happened – that Iwagakure had just faked a small deed so one of the two families that were arguing would stop their nonsense and carry on with the tasks that were supposed to work in Iwagakure’s favour. It made sense that the village ruled by an autocracy wouldn’t care too much for the internal squabbles of one of its own, especially when it was much easier to simply make them work together through, as the village implied, the ways of ninja.

She twirled it once, then twirled it twice, before she gripped it hard in her right hand, fingers closing around the cylindrical object as she heard fast and uneven footsteps approaching her. The rhythmic pitter patter of the feet around her fell into a quiet step, as she moved herself through the throngs of people that were already awake at eleven o’clock in the morning, likely to go about getting ready for opening their afternoon businesses or getting together with their friends to enjoy a quick drink at the nearby cafe before they split for their own individual jobs again, having caught up regularly throughout the weeks as people grew up. This uneven pair of footsteps, though, fell out of place with everyone else’s, and it was the clear indication that someone was sprinting, and considering they were getting marginally louder, that someone was sprinting towards her.

Sprinting towards a ninja was generally a bad idea, whether for the person in question or for the ninja being sprinted towards. This was mostly because you generally didn’t want to sprint to a ninja, given that they were ninja and were equipped with all forms of deadly techniques, even at the lower ranks, that were capable of causing irreversible destruction to any untrained civilian whose body wasn’t up to par to match such techniques. Another reason was that the person in question was always giving themselves away unless they knew some method of masking their footsteps, but Cinderella was sure that even if such a thing had come to pass, she’d have successfully caught onto it before it had come to reach her anyway.

So, her left hand shot out behind her, gripping tightly the wrist that was extended to reach for the scroll in her right. She pulled the small wrist in front of her, along with the small boy that the wrist was attached to, and she saw fear in his eyes at having gotten caught as easily as he did, before struggling ensued as he tried to yank his wrist out of her grip. Undeterred, she only tightened her hold on him, causing him to give a sudden shriek from the pressure being applied unto his arm. Releasing her hold on him, she noticed and smirked at the attention that they’d gotten from the passers-by, particularly her show of force, though said action was already enough to deter most people from looking on. Women, because it was a glare that all women were familiar with – do not interfere – and men… well, there was only one thing that could make men turn away that quickly, and Cinderella needn’t go into details about that.

“And what’s a little boy like you doing running up to little me?” Cinderella asked in a mock voice, kneeling in front of his scared figure.

“I- I- I wasn’t running into you! I swear! Please, let me go!” he cried.

“Oh? But your hand was reaching for my hip. Please don’t tell me children start so young nowadays?” she asked. “I could bring you to the police for that, and I don’t think you’re too young to be juvenile.”

“No-no, miss! Please!” He cried. “I was just doing this for my daddy!”

“Oh? And who is your father? And why would he want you going after women like me?” she inquired with a mock smile. “Surely he can’t be teaching you those already. You’re far too young, my dear.”

“No! He wanted me to get the deed so the Rudaku can get the land!” he confessed. “Please don’t hurt me!”

She released her hold on him as she took a step towards the two families’ districts. The Rudaku wanted it? Perhaps they thought a new Genin would be delivering this seemingly unimportant piece of document, that they would be able to swipe it from under their noses and make the edits before presenting it to the other family in hopes of claiming more than their fair share of the land, or perhaps even outright taking everything in the process. After all, those in a ninja village, while retaining their morales, also often were influenced by the ninja that they spent so much time around, often hoping that they could play at least a small part of a ninja within themselves and make for small, subtle pushes here and there. This was one example that the Rudaka were attempting, to take the scroll from under other’s noses and to use it for their own benefit. Granted, one didn’t normally need ninja for that, but Cinderella felt this lay more in her profession’s expertise than the more traditional matter of bribing others for their unequivocal support in business or family-related issues.

Her head shot to face his slowly retreating figure. “Lead me to your father, please.”

The boy shivered in fright, and she kneeled down at him, giving him that glare and smile again, something that seemed to strike fear more intense than that already burning in his heart, as he slowly and shakily nodded to do so before walking off at a slow pace, often characteristic of someone who was nervous and anxious of what their destination would bring them, with Cinderella following behind him at a languid pace. If he were walking slowly, it was barely a crawl for her, and she could only be amused at what would have made him feel so scared. Most likely it was the very same father who had ordered him to attempt, rather poorly, to take the scroll from her to the deed to their land, and very likely it would backfire on them when he realised that he’d failed in that. After all, one didn’t just undermine the village’s authority, especially when that village supplied protection for you, so Cinderella was almost expectantly sure that he was going to face some serious fines or sanctions from the village. Whether it would extend to the rest of the family though, was up to question, likely determined by how important the family was to the village, and whether it was a worthwhile venture trying to make an example out of them.

The trip there was slow, but Cinderella took in the sights of the village, in a part of the village that she seldom had a chance to head to, simply because it wasn’t something that fit in her tastes. There were people who weren’t going about their lives as flamboyantly as she was normally used to, while those at the other end of the financial spectrum also existed in droves, seeing the many fancy houses that decorated the place, a hard juxtaposition from the shacks that were often built up dangerously on the other side of the road. Alright, so this was something that she could likely use; the dissatisfaction that some of the people had. After all, one knew that it wasn’t those with the guns that one should be afraid of, but one that was without, for they had nothing to lose whether they won or failed.

Her sightseeing was stopped short when they reached the Rudaku family compound, where the elders were arguing loudly against a group of people that she almost certainly recognised as the opposing family, having seen their faces on the mission description that she’d been provided back at mission assignments. Smirking to herself, she walked confidently up to the two parties, facing accusations from them both as to who she was, before a quick tap of the scroll on the table made their faces go pale as they realised that this was the ninja who had sent the deed from the village’s department. She toyed with the idea of accidentally setting it on fire, and their eyes bulged when the edges of the scroll singed before she put it out with her chakra, enjoying the looks on their faces at the very idea that she would go so far. She then tossed the scroll on the table, watching it unfurl halfway and quickly reading and scanning the contents and realising the likely ending of this one story, before she turned and walked away from shouts of equal parts joy and despair, with the former heavily drowning out the latter.

[1755]

[EXIT]

[C-rank / 1000]
[E-rank Jutsu / 500]
[Speed, Perception, Reaction Time / 75 x 3 =225]

[Leftover WC / 30]

1 Settle the Dispute! [C-rank] Sun Aug 14, 2016 1:54 am

Cinderella

Latest topics