Fighting was simple. Gin had always considered it a way of life, one that she could gladly live by for her entire life. But that had changed over the years. During her work as Kazekage, the young woman had been held back by politics and red tape of all kinds. At times, she felt that she was nothing more than a political pawn, a mere image or symbol to hold The Hidden Sand Village under some semblance of order and structure. But that was in the past. She had left her position and had chosen to disappear for the good of her family. Her heart ached at the thought of her children growing up without either parent. She had been unable to say goodbye to either of them. She hadn’t been able to even take a picture of them. Anything that connected them to her would eventually be used against her. She couldn’t risk it. She would be hunted down, she knew as much. Either because of her former connections to her late husband or because she had left Sunagakure, the Elders of the village would find a way to incriminate her for something that she hadn’t done or even had even contemplated doing. She would become a political scapegoat, used to settle the nation and assure a false sense of peace.

The former Kazekage knew enough of how the world worked to know that her children and her mother would become political hostages. She also knew that if she were to kill the Elders, she would become a target to the common public and her children would still be in the same amount of danger. She had meditated over the subject for a long time. In the end, she concluded that it was best to leave altogether and start a new life under a fabricated identity. She let out a sigh as she saw the man before her. He seemed honorable enough. He had proven only a short while ago that he valued his comrades, unlike most bandits that the young mercenary had met throughout her lifetime. Usually, they were scum, but this man had apparently adopted the doctrine of stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. It was a noble task indeed, but one that would likely get you a large amount of very powerful enemies. But Shinobu hadn’t been sent by some noble aristocrat that had paid a hefty fee to see his revenge fulfilled.

Rather, Shinobu came under orders of Aoi Bara – The Blue Rose. Apparently, she was to defeat this man to recruit both him and his group into their ranks, or at least to strike a deal where they would fight for the organization that she had only recently joined. The man in front of her was dressed in full armor and held a shield in his arm and a spear in the other. His outfit and weapons no doubt slowed him down a considerable amount but compensated for that by giving him a great deal of protection. Shinobu would either have to aim for his head or apply a greater deal of force into her attacks in order to defeat him. She held one of her summoned weapons – Jishin – in hand. The hammer was blunt but it carried enough force behind it to at least put a dent in the man’s armor.

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Gin would have rather avoided such a confrontation under any other circumstance. In fact, she would have liked to avoid having to ridicule him altogether. Of course, she loved a good fight, more so than most people out there. The prospect of fighting someone with her full strength, the idea of a challenge – it all kept her going and wanting to seek out more and more ways in which she could feel alive. But of course, she disliked picking fights when she knew that they would often lead to harmful outcomes – not for herself, but for someone who ultimately did not deserve. Nevertheless, this was her job now. The Blue Rose wanted the bandits that served under this man, and as their faithfully employed mercenary, she had no choice but to deliver. The former Kazekage held the hammer steadily in her left hand. She would keep the fact that she was currently using a prosthetic limb with certain modifications a secret until she saw an opening to use it. Her plan was to use the hammer and its ability to modify the earth and surrounding landscapes mainly as a distraction. If she could get a couple of hits in with the weapon, all the better. But her main offensive tactics would lie in using the blade attached to the wrist of her prosthetic arm to slice through an opening in his armor and effectively win by paralyzing him completely.

In any case, it was best to get started. The sharingan beneath her eye patch was activated. She would be able to track his movements more effectively and therefore dodge and counterattack. The man charged at her. His sword was held tightly in his hand. His movements were quick and his stance was quite good. But Gin had the upper hand. Her training and experience were extensive. She blocked the blade with a swing of her hammer. The man could feel the sword caving into the pressure caused by the other weapon and therefore leaped back in order to keep it from cracking and ultimately breaking. His men tensed, almost ready to intervene, but they knew better than to defy their leader’s orders. Gin took advantage of the distance between the two of them in order to swing the hammer with her full force towards the ground. A stream of sharp spikes sped towards the man, who was forced to roll sideways to avoid them. With help of her sharingan, Gin was able to track where he would go. She ran at her top speed and managed to appear behind the bandit leader as he stood from the ground. She swung the weapon in her left hand once again. It crashed against his back, denting his armor. The garment had absorbed most of the damage, but he was obviously in pain. Gin sighed, wanting this to be over as quickly as possible.

She stared at him for a moment, letting him get up. She had a sense of honor in battle and refused to strike someone who was lying on the ground. “Give up,” she said. It was a suggestion, a plea, even, more than a command. But she already knew that the prideful leader would refuse. She would have lost all respect for him if he had in fact given up so easily. But he stood up and charged at the former Kazekage once again. And like the time before, Gin was quick to react.

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It was obvious that the blow to the bandit’s back had limited his capabilities. He was trying to move through the pain, charging at Gin. His blade now seemed to be embedded with chakra, specifically used to create a current of streaming lightning through the metal. Gin would have to be careful to avoid it, though she didn’t think that there would be much trouble with this. Her reaction timing was impeccable. She sidestepped, managing to dodge the man’s attack. Now it was time to swiftly deliver a coup de grace and finish this once and for all. Gin had ducked in order to avoid the blow. She used her hammer, which was now in direct contact with the ground, to stream chakra into the earth. She swiped her leg under the man’s feet in order to trip him backwards onto the spike that Gin had created from the soil beneath her. It pierced the armor cleanly and went through the bandit’s shoulder. He would survive, but it would be a long time before he ever got to wield a sword again, if ever. Now that the fight was clearly over, the former Kazekage willed the weapon in her hand to disappear. It seemed that preparing to use the blade on her prosthetic arm was a waste of time. She didn’t need it after all.

The other bandits were now tending to their leader’s wound. She looked at them. They seemed fearful of her, but at the same time, ready to follow any order that she gave them. They were hers to command now - that was for sure. Subsequently, that made them a part of the Aoi Bara. The Blue Rose kept on growing stronger every day. Maybe it was worth sticking around after all to see where this all led to in the end. I would without a doubt prove to be interesting, to say the least. She had never been too fond of life as a criminal, but then again, she had never been incredibly righteous, even during her time as Kazekage. She was willing to bend and break the rules whenever she thought it was necessary. And now that she was to be considered an outlaw, she could only assume that she needed to do so in order to survive. As far as her sense of morality was concerned, she found herself excused from any sort of reprimand or punishment. Now, going back to the matter at hand, she had a new band of followers to introduce to the organization.

[Word Count: 1500/1500]