Old Battlegrounds

"So someone comes.."

The voice did not sound at all threatening to me, however I had long since learned that things were never as they appeared. Shifting my position, I sought to examine my opponent, one could tell alot about someone just by appearances. It seemed however that she would not let herself be seen so easily, it took a few moments before my eyes could find the one who spoke. "So far from your village, have you come alone? Or should I expect a welcoming party?" I asked although I was not too concerned in the least. I sought an honorable fight yet death in battle was the desired outcome no matter what sort of battle it was. I would fight and kill until someone killed me.

"I can assume the nature of your visit is not friendly." even before the words left my mouth, I knew the answer. I was their sworn enemy, in fact if they knew that I was the very reason for the shift in diplomacy there wouldn't even have been an exchange of words. "As a soldier of Kusagakure I want exactly what you think, I came here seeking only a fight." I responded as my hand drifted slowly into the holster that held my kunai. It would be quickly spun around my finger as I drew it into a ready position. "Turn now and tell them of my coming or fall here. Either way, my kunai will be sated."

"..."

It seemed that just like me, she would not back down knowing the rules of her own country well. If there was an outside threat, neither Kusa nor Ame were ever known to simply retreat and wait for it to be dealt with. I would prepare myself mentally for the task at hand, were I to succeed, the life of what appeared to be a young girl would be snuffed out. The blood of a child would be on my hands, however that was the cruel reality of the shinobi world. Sometimes there was no helping the things that had to be done, I could only hope that there were worse monsters out there than myself to burn in the fire.

With the flick of my wrist I would unleash my kunai towards her, letting her know that I was serious. Should she purse this course I would fight with all the strength I possessed, there would be no quarter. After the kunai left my hand, I would begin to form an all too familiar dance with my hands, channeling my chakra but what was to come would not be allowed to manifest it's self just yet, I prefered to wait a moment and see what she would do. The stage was set and only one of us was going to leave alive.

"The only way I'll go quietly is dead. Do your worst, I know I will try and do mine."

We no longer needed words to describe what was going to happen here, our actions would speak for themselves. Before I could even begin to make my move however the sound of a weapon whistling through the air would reach my ears. There was no real time to react however as the dark steel was masked by the cloudy weather of this forsaken country. With a dull thud I would listen to the sounds of "tearing flesh" as I let out a roar of pain. It seemed this imp of a woman would only annoy me with her antics. I would fall to my knees as the chakra from my last technique gathered inside of me.

"Keh.. you're pretty good kid.." I spoke, sounding like that kunai had sunk in pretty deep, a truly remarkable hit had I not prepared myself. I would let out a few coughs before my body slowly turned to nothing but a watery substitute, losing all of it's substance to the muddy ground as I collapsed into a puddle. My true position would now be at the same distance from the girl, just shifted about ten meters to the left, a kunai in hand once more. Using the travel path from her last throw, I would unleash a kunai as well, showing her that I would play her little game, ninjutsu could wait for now. However in the back of my mind this seemed all to convenient. Was I playing into some sort of trap? For now I would keep my guard up.

As quickly as I had thrown the first, a second would take it's place in my hand as I strafed left. I would begin the process of attaching an explosive tag to the kunai as I moved, keeping my eyes glued upon where I last knew her to be.

There was no rewarding sound for my efforts, simply the dull thud and splash of my kunai hitting dirt. A smirk tugged at the corners of my lips as I knew that this kunoichi would at least put up some sort of effort. It was nice to see combat that didn't come down to who could crush their opponent with the biggest jutsu. Surveying the area quickly, I would throw my kunai down into the mud, allowing only the explosive note to protrude from the surface, I had no use for that now. It seemed we would play a game of cat and mouse, she had vanished from my sight which made this all the more exciting.

"Genjutsu tricks hmm.." I pondered aloud as I watched the area around me. I would be on the look out for any change, any sort of foot step or print out of place. While I kept a calm composure on the surface, I knew I would be hard pressed to fight back against something I couldn't see. Drawing out one final Kunai I would move back slowly, seeking some sort of cover I could put my back against. There was no way I would let this kid sneak up on me and take me from behind with her tricks. Without a second thought I would find a tree to back against and prepare myself. My hands would form into seals quickly, creating two water clones to stand at either side and shift places with me.

"Heh.."

It seemed that the battle had come to a stand-still, neither of us were going to make a move. However my assumption was wrong, she had been moving this entire time, forming a tricky plan with her genjutsu. As the hand seals for my clones went to finish, I would find that I was hit with a sudden wave of nausea. My eye sight in the dark was much more keen then others, my eye sight period, to be more exact. I would find that I was hit like a "truck" by this overwhelming blast of color that would be unleased. My knees would buckle for a moment as I struggled to keep my will my own, I would not lose to a mind trick.

The only thing I could think of was to detonate my tag which I had placed nearby, at least then I wouldn't have to see the colors anymore. I would fight against this tooth in nail, inching my hand forward as much as I could, however it would fail me in the end even with the explosion of my tag. "W-what is this.." I muttered under my breath as I felt the darkness close in around me. Small dancing swirls of color remained in my vision even with my eyes closed, there had been no way around a genjutsu cast within another one. 'Heh they were right after all, too much focus on ninjutsu.' I thought to myself as I blacked out. My body would fall face first into the mud, breathing calmly as if asleep.

What now..?

There was a gently touch on my neck as I slept, it caused me to dream. My mother used to rub my back when I had trouble sleeping as a child, her touch was something like that. All of this would change rapidly however as it became a nightmare, a sudden burning sensation before there was nothing.

Nothing..

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Death'd