Adventures in the Forest (Contract Search)

[Fujiwara Minako]

The ancient forest never really changes at all when it comes to life’s daily weather. The winds were breezy, but the leaves were colourful, and this is just how Minako likes it. She felt much more at peace while in the forest, and not during the city. Probably because the whole place was so much more peaceful, hearing the birds sing and feeling some of her blonde hair dancing along to the breeze, it felt refreshing and she felt like she was well and truly happy in the area.

Minako sighed softly as she decided to jump off the tree and go for a slight wander across the forest, to check out its many sights and to give chase to some butterflies or something of the sort. Well, probably not butterflies, but it would be interesting to see what hidey holes she could find. While she didn’t know where her little misadventure will take her, she was sure that it will be a fun and exciting one indeed.

Spinning around while she walked through the crinkly leaves and the nice smelling herbs, the female continued at a steady pace. It started to get rather warm beneath her mask, and with nobody around, she decided to pull down her hood and let her mask down, revealing the three scars on her side, and more blonde hair to contend with.

So far, her little adventure didn’t really come up with anything interesting. She did find this a good little search though, she found some hiding places for if she needed to hide herself or give out surprise attacks. She found some lovely trees to rest on for if she gotten sick of the tree she would usually hang out on. She even found a lovely little stump that she could sit on if she ever felt like she wanted to sing.

Starting to feel her laziness come over to her, Minako decided to sit on the stump and sighed softly to herself, she has done enough adventuring for today, and the wind felt so good on her unmasked face while she resided at the forest clearing. It was strange though, she actually wished for someone to be there for her. Yet, at the same time, she was also quite enjoying the ambience that the scenery provided, it was like she was to live and die in the forest.

“It’s so pretty…” The female whispered as she stood up and walked towards a tree, slowly letting her hand touch it’s cracked surface before she bit her lower lip. “The forest is my home, I feel so connected to it. Why though?? Why do I feel connected to nature so much?? I wasn’t even born in the forest, so this doesn’t make sense to me…” She whispered some more before she released her hand from the tree and placed it beside her before walking backwards to glance at it’s beauty.

“To see you safe…” She began to sing, losing control of her vocal chords as she let her voice continue on. “To watch you grow… Visions of love, my only hope… This loneliness... Is worth the price… I'll protect you with my life”

Words: 529
Total: 529
Goal: --​

<i></i>

 

[Tomomi]

YOU HAVE FOUND THE FELINE CONTRACT! DO YOU ACCEPT OR DECLINE THIS CHALLENGE?​

 

[Fujiwara Minako]

I accept! *superhero pose*

 

[Tomomi]

It was a beautiful day in the land that was known as Lightning Country as the birds were chirping, the bunnies were hopping, and there was a sense of joy and excitement in the air as we found the heroine of our story at a familiar place that she frequently visited. If one was watching her from a distance, they could tell that she was relaxed and providing herself some alone time that she probably needed considering that she was a servant of the Hidden Cloud aka a shinobi. It was likely that she had chosen this location in particular because it held some sentimental value to her or maybe she just enjoyed the scenery. In either case, that was where she was chilling like a smooth criminal right now and there was likely going to be a thriller before all was said and done!

Unfortunately for her however, her enjoyment would likely evaporate quickly as the skies above began to turn gray and a rumble was in the air. Luckily, the skies had decided to be gracious and not open up spilling their tears onto her yet, but it was likely that she would be dealing with that matter soon enough! But, that tree that she had been touching mere moments earlier would sadly be a victim of the weather as a lightning bolt came from the sky nailing the tree and causing it to split in half as a creature appeared right where the split would occur.

This creature would not speak at all as it stood there with its arms folded across its chest and give the kunochi a smug look as it admired its work that it had just caused. However if she was able or willing to look at it in more detail, she could notice that electric currents were coming off of the creature, but fortunately were going right into the wood of the tree thus keeping her safe for now. As for the weather, the sudden change of the weather had shifted back to the beautiful skies with fluffy clouds floating across them and one could see some animals returning again after the abrupt appearance of this creature.

 

[Fujiwara Minako]

The singing stopped and the forest fell silent, Minako wasn’t sure what was going on, but looking up at the sky, she simply put it down to the weather, because as she looked up, it was probably going to chuck it down any second. Maybe it was a good idea for her to evacuate the forest… she didn’t want her clothing to get wet, and she knew if she decided to remain in the rain then returned to Yusuke, he would be very angry at her.

Sighing softly, Minako took a few steps back, ironically waving goodbye to the tree. That was when the tree suddenly split in half thanks to an almighty roar of thunder. Minako screamed loudly as she fell backwards. The tree was ruined, that was for sure, but it was what was standing in between the now split tree that shocked her the most. For at the centre was what seemed to be a creature, the creature stood tall and proud. Did this creature… come because of her song?? Nah, that can’t be right, otherwise the creature wouldn’t of caused such pain to the tree.

Standing up slowly, the female walked towards the creature with her hand out. For some strange reason, she wanted to pet the creature, she wanted to greet it with open arms, and she wanted to scold the little so and so for hurting the tree. However, she felt if she attempted that, he would probably hurt her. Minako was not ready to go to the hospital for a second time in her shinobi life.

“Heya little cutie…” The female spoke as she walked towards them some more, albeit slowly, unsure whether it was a good idea or not. “What’s up??” She figured it would be a good idea to speak to them first, try to get herself bonded with the creature, especially if they were also a regular of the forest.

Words: 320
Total: 849
Goal: --​

<i></i>

 

[Tomomi]

It was true that thunderbolts and lightning were very, very freighting as the heroine of our story fell onto her buttock and emitted a small yell at the magnificent appearance of this thunder creature which seemed to take on more and more characteristics of a feline as it stood there staring at little Minako. However, the smol little kunoichi, who actually was taller than the barely five foot creature, would actually try to be friendly with the creature probably due to being either a silly little child or she just was naive and willing to put herself into danger.

Eventually, she would begin to address the creature in a friendly demeanor, but the thunder kitty didn't seem all that thrilled as it continued to glare at her as she continued to take more and more steps towards it. After a little while of watching her approaching, the creature would emit a loud sigh before stepping off of the downed tree towards her causing the ground around it to radiate in electrical currents as its eyes began to glow a golden color. As it stood there, it would begin to address her: "Hello Mortal. I see that you decided to grace me with your presence by coming into my forest and touching my favorite tree. I am well aware that you have been doing this for quite some time as I have been watching you from afar, but it is time that you stop touching my favorite tree. If you do not, I will have to unfortunately conjure up another storm or two to teach you a lesson. But, I doubt that you wish to feel that so maybe I will allow you to meet my little claws instead as I have not tasted a good quality meat for hours. What do you say?"

 

[Fujiwara Minako]

Minako tilted her head the moment the creature spoke. This was indeed a strange creature, they looked like a feline, except everything looked strange and different about this feline… What mattered the most though, was the fact that despite it’s stripy exterior and thunderbolt looking tail, he was being a bit of a douche…

“Sir, you claim this is your favourite tree, yet you have destroyed it??” She was confused and she had to tilt her head for a bit as she crossed her arms. “Can’t be your favourite tree now if it’s destroyed, can it??” Minako threw them questions back at him in quick succession, in hopes that it would throw him off slightly. Throwing people off was fantastic because it leaves them with speechless intents.

“And as for your offer, I will have to decline, because you destroyed the tree yourself, and because I had no knowledge that it was so sentimental to you.” She announced as she bit her lower lip. “Is there anything else you can come up with?? Because while I did want an adventure in the forest, I most surely didn’t expect this bullcrap.” She was starting to grow more aggressive by the second. Although she really didn’t mean to, she was just being extremely defensive about herself.

Apart from them stern words, Minako wasn’t really sure what to say exactly to the strange creature that looked like a feline but not a feline at the same time. Now she wondered what the feline was going to say to her back, she could imagine they were going to be very angry at her to say the least, but she already said her piece. It may be good, it may be bad, but if there was anything that had to be true about it, it was the fact that she said some reasonable factors.

Words: 309​

<i></i>

 

[Tomomi]

Our little thunder kitty would listen to her response in regards to what the feline had said to her. It was truly not unexpected that she was going to offer her own douche-like sling right back at it considering the cat was truthfully behind a little bit of a douche and also not making much sense at all. She would comment on the tree and how it was sentimental to the creature and yet, the creature had destroyed it in possible anger, but more likely, because it could and it was trying to show off in front of this human who had "invaded" its territory. However, she had gotten the creature good with her comments as the feline stood there with a dumbfounded look on its face as its eyes closed and electricity was screeching from its body; it appeared that she had hit a nerve on the creature.

Luckily for her, the creature would calm itself down as it opened its eyes back up and emitted a defeated sigh. She had won this verbal confrontation between them, but the creature would not let her win the metaphorically war! No, their bickering was long from being over if she managed to keep the feline's interest long enough before it decided to kill a deer or go adventuring to another part of its home. But for now, the feline would look right back at her and simply ask: "What do they call you, Human? I am a male feline as you can tell."

He would then fold his arms across his chest as he took a moment to ponder if he should continue to talk to her or if it was a bad idea to do so since she did "invade" his home. He would decide to allow her to have the honor to spend more time with him as he continued: "My name is Raijū and this is my home and has been for decades now. You are actually the first human who continually decided to visit and touch my favorite tree. That tree was precious to me and I destroyed it because it was my honor and what I valued the most in this world." This statement was not necessarily true in the grand scheme of things considering there was plenty of other things that Raiju enjoyed to do and treasured more than a tree, but he had to throw her a facade to see if she would bite it like the gullible individual that she appeared to be. However if one truly wanted to know what this creature valued the most in the world, they would actually have to go to the realm of the felines that could only be accessed by a select few individuals that had shown their worth to the overlord of all felines. This girl was not there yet nor was it likely that she would be.

In any case, Raiju would continue: "I thought you would touch it once or twice when you visited, but you kept touching my tree and it was starting to conflict with my dignity. The tree had to pay so nobody could be happy anymore with having it." Again, he was likely making no sense but that was what the protagonist of our story had come to realize thus far or so it appeared! Maybe, just maybe, this was also a facade all along or this creature was truly a mysterious and confusing individual. Only time would tell.

 

[Fujiwara Minako]

“What do they call me??” She bit her lower lip as she was asked this. If she was going to be honest, she wanted to tell him about herself, but before she could speak for herself, the feline spoke. Minako couldn’t comprehend with what they were saying, although she will admit, the name suits the feline… to say the least.

“Raijū, my name is Minako. Well, Fujiwara Minako. I am a Shinobi from the hidden village in the cloud, also known as Kumogakure. I must admit, I don’t care if you destroyed it for honor or anything. Personally, I don’t care about honor, I care about survival and have cared about that for a long time. You hurting the tree like that means you destroyed it’s survival and happiness.”

Biting her lower lip, Minako wasn’t sure what the hell she was saying once again, this feline seemed to make her question her motives… a lot. That doesn’t matter though, because she was sure that they could eventually have a nice conversation if they manage to find some sort of middle ground. They appeared to have some sort of similar personalities, but they were also very much different from each other. This did not matter though.

“Enough chit chat. Do you have any other questions for me??” The masked female asked Raijū. “It can be anything. I am sure we are curious about one another after all…”

As Minako asked that important question, she looked away. Was he going to ask about her mask? Was he going to ask her about her life? Just what was he going to ask the blonde shinobi that touched his favourite tree? There was so many things that he could ask the young woman, so it merely made her more curious. She just hoped that he didn’t ask something that could make her angry.

Words: 309​

<i></i>

 

[Tomomi]

The mysterious creature in front of her had rambled on once again, speaking complete nonsense for anyone that was watching from afar or if one was simply Minako that was in front of him. He seemed to be somewhat obsessed with this tree and upset that she had touched it one too many times which was his reason for his anger and manly display of destruction. Let's be glad that Kiri wasn't around or she would have mentioned how trying to be manly showed weakness in a man in the end. In any case, this woman in front of Raijū would speak giving her name to the strange creature that stood in front of her along with giving some minor details about herself like she was a shinobi from Kumogakure. She also would had to get a little dig in about destroying the tree as the feline would show a hint of annoyance on his face as his body was beginning to radiate static-energies. This was not going to turn out well if she continued down this path of thinking.

Luckily for them both, she would decide to change the subject. She wanted to know if the creature had anymore questions for her which he obviously did since a hooman had invaded his home and made him angry enough to destroy his favorite tree. The question that Raijū would have to ask himself though was how many questions would he ask and how personal did he want to get with them since she was still a shinobi and likely capable of causing him harm if he left his guard down. He actually would have to ponder these thoughts as he would bring a paw up to his chin and emit an audible "hmmm". This would go on for a few minutes or so before he would nod to himself putting his paw back down to his side and simply saying: "Okay. I am ready."

Another brief pause would be given before the creature looked her right in the eyes and asked the following: "How old are you? Are you single? Why do you enjoy coming out here to my home? Do you think we can be friends? And most importantly, why do you wear a mask to conceal your face since I am sure that what is underneath is beautiful." After he was finished questioning her, he would nod again before simply stating: "What do you wish to know about me?"

 

[Fujiwara Minako]

Minako was sure that the cat was just being ridiculous now. His barrage of questions included if she was single, and even involved the thing that she wanted to avoid; her mask. The female wasn’t sure if she wanted to do this, but if it shut the feline up, so be it. Placing her hands behind her mask, she unloosened it and as the mask dropped onto the floor, her face was revealed once more, and after sorting out her hair, her scars were also revealed once more.

“I was bullied, my mother arranged some kids to do so and at one point they jumped on me and such, injuring me and I ended up in hospital. I have these scars to commemorate for it and let’s just say I am not really happy with my mother because of it.” She was honest in her answer. “It is why I am what you see right now.” Her brown hues glanced up at the feline as she spoke it. “I didn’t know it was my mother who organised it until one of the kids who jumped on me spoke out to me about it…”

Sighing softly, she crossed her arms and continued to answer Raijū’s questions, first with the age and if she was single… Which, was a strange question.

“And well, I am 19 years old, I am single, because I am an absolute wreck. Yes I do because I feel like I belong in the forest more than the streets, and yes, I think we can be good friends if we decide to put all our differences aside.” She admitted as she uncrossed her arms and placed her hands on her hips. “About you… hmmm… I am not good at being nosy.” This was a girl who was asked if she wanted to know anything about the creature in front of her, and that very same girl is sometimes so lazy that she cannot feel emotions or understand emotions to a degree, the feline was very lucky today in that aspect, as she didn’t feel so lazy.

“What are you really…? And where is your home exactly??”

Words: 358​

<i></i>

 

[Tomomi]

This oddball of a feline would cross his arms in front of him as he finished speaking as it was time to see how Minako would decide to respond and explain herself to him. As she did, he would listen to her intently as he would give an occasion nod here and there to acknowledge that he was listening to this sad, sob story. As it was presented, it appeared that the shinobi's mother had been the culprit behind her reasoning for covering her face due to scars. Now, it didn't truly matter as Raiju truly did not care one way or another about her sad backstory, but it was simply the polite thing to do which was stand there and be silent as she spoke.

Eventually however, she would turn to his questions which would perk his ears up and give a small, devlish smirk on his face. As she told him more about herself, he smiled as she was still young and single which meant that she was ideal to become something truly special in his woods if the time called for it which it did not right now. Many thoughts were going through his mind about her as he examined her from head to toe as she continued speaking and allowing himself to listen to her words with meaning. At the end of addressing his questions, she would then have her own questions at him and he chuckled as he stood there.

Luckily for her though, she would not have to wait long as he responded almost immediately to her question and it was quite direct: "You ask me silly questions that you already know the answer to, Minako. I am the one who lives in this ancient forest and guards over the creatures that inhabit it from the failures of mankind and themselves. I am the one who is as fast as lightning and strong as the thunder that inhabit your skies. I am no deity if you were asking based on my name, but I have tangled with some of the strongest felines in the world including the celestial white tiger known as Byakko and I have seen this world in peace and in chaos. I am much older than you and I believe that you could learn quite a lot from me. For I am Raijū, the feline guardian of this forest and the one that has graced you with my presence!" If there was anything that Minako could say about him at this point, it was that he was somewhat of a dick and had quite the ego about himself. However, he did also provide some interesting insight into himself that could prove to be more of a conversation starter in the future if she didn't piss him off enough that he decided to rain down his strength and power on her.

Then suddenly after he finished addressing her questions, he would speak once more to her. It appeared that he was trying to be polite and showing some honesty, but would Minako believe his words or think that he was simply trying to fool her? Only time could tell as he said the following: "Minako, you were scarred due to your mother. But, your bruises, scrapes and scars make you who you are so you should be embracing them even if cosmetically, it isn't the prettiest sight. A scar can show a story often more than the story behind how one got it can. Something for you to consider as you grow up as life is going to leave scars on you and how you handle them and present them can say a lot about you to others."

 

[Fujiwara Minako]

It was clear, this cat was officially a douchebag. They were going about as if they were had one gigantic ego. This was not cool! They acted as if they were a king of the whole forest, yet she knew that the kitty wasn’t. In fact, nobody owned the forest, actually, a lie, everyone owned the forest. This meant that Minako could touch any damn bloody tree she bloody wants, and nobody will have the ability to stop her!

However, the feline also said something rather interesting, and Minako knew that the feline was right in that regard. Her scars usually told a story, and no matter how much she will be able to hide it, it would remain there for the rest of her life. Luckily, they will fade in time, but it won’t stop them from remaining on her cheeks for the rest of her life.

Speechless, Minako looked away slowly from the cat, she struggled to comprehend them words and even had to cross her arms in a tsundere-like fashion. While it seemed that she understood a lot more about herself, she also knew that she had to embrace what she had, love herself and understand that nobody can be perfect. In fact, there may be someone in the world with even worse scars than her. From this, she is now starting to appreciate that she was even alive in the first place.

“I have no words…” She spoke. “Maybe I do need to start appreciating myself a little more… I don’t do that quite often, and I am rather terrible with a lot of things in my opinion to the point that I think the worst in every situation.” She admitted. “But I can now take a look back and reflect on the things that I need to sort out on my own accord.”

Words: 308​

<i></i>

 

[Tomomi]

As Raiju stood there listening to this less-than-ideal looking woman, he could hear in her voice a hint of sadness as she spoke. Her body language was showing that she felt defeated as the words left her mouth and her eyes were filled with disappointment or maybe a hint of sadness as well. In other words, her douchebag-like nature that she had been showing earlier had seemingly vanished and there stood a different woman in front of him, one of which was not acting like a shinobi and woman of one of the notorious Hidden Villages in the world. She was instead acting more or less like a teenage girl who was letting her emotions get the better of her and letting them dictate everything else. Now, Raiju could not be for certain that she was actually sad and hurt or if it was merely an act to see how he would react. But, he felt that she truly was letting her true emotions out to him now and he felt a slight of disappoint that she was showing her weaknesses even if they were indirectly.

As she finished, he would respond sternly and directly to him with the following: "You do need to appreciate yourself more for who you are. After all, you cannot go into the past and try to correct a wrong as that is physically impossible to do. You were hurt in the past, but that doesn't mean that you have to continually be hurt as you grow more and more. So stop trying to hide the past physically and embrace yourself for who you are. You are Fujiwara Minako, a shinobi of the Hidden Cloud Village and you have lived a hard, enduring life that will only make you a stronger woman and fighter." He would then for the first time in their conversation walk over to her and put one of his paws on her shoulder as he looked right into her eyes. It was only then that he would speak once more: "Have some satisfaction from your past to now, it makes you who you are and you are not like anyone else in the world. You will never be me, I will never be you, and that is a good thing because I am the guardian of this forest and must protect it with my life as you must protect your village with your life."

 

[Fujiwara Minako]

There were clearly a few things that needed to be addressed, but at the same time, the douchecat was literally making sense, until he became a douche again and mentioned about protecting the forest like she needed to protect Kumogakure like the shinobi she was. There was no problem with this, except with the fact that he was sounding like a douchebag again, which she didn’t want.

However, she was willing to put the… differences aside. Even though it was clear that the both of them had quite a few issues to attend to, they also knew that they both had a duty to attend to. Minako looked to him and smiled softly before crossing her arms. It seemed that this little talk of theirs was a very valuable life lesson, for the both of them. It also seemed that fate lead them to have this wee chat of theirs, and because of this, Minako seemed to be careful of it.

“I will always be protecting.” Minako declared as she unsheathed Titania and Oberon, two of her favourite weapons. “This is what I use for fighting. They aren’t much, but I trust them a lot, they have helped me through many things and have gone through my training. I will keep my word, I will protect Kumogakure, as much as possible.”

Now, she was sounding like a douche herself again, and she was probably not making sense, but this whole conversation triggered her into bringing them out, she wanted to prove to the cat that she was well equipped to protect Kumogakure. “I know I am not perfect, but I gotta do what I gotta do best…”

Minako really wasn’t sure where this conversation is leading her to anymore, but she was also worried for the douchecat to disown her and then feck off like a flightless bird or something… she just hopes that isn’t the case.

Words: 317
Training: Marked​

<i></i>

 

[Tomomi]

As Raiju stood there with his paw on her shoulder, he would listen to the blonde's response to him and it appeared that they were finally meeting a middle point between them where their douche-ness was in check. As he listened, he would smile at the girl as she stated that she would always protect her village and then pull out two weapons of hers that she used for fighting. They were both elegant-looking creations that clearly showed that they had almost been through the same amount of struggles as their had. Nevertheless, they were quite interesting specimens to this thunderous anthropomorphic creature as he would get close to them and examine them thoroughly.

Once he finished examining them, he would nod at her with a smile and simple say: "So these two weapons are what you cherish the most in life right now? I mean they are interesting weapons, but why don't you show me what they are capable of doing in a fight against me. It may even show you and I that while we are different in various ways that we truly did have something inside of us that we prided ourselves on. So what do you say, Minako of the Hidden Cloud? Should you accept, I will not hold back against you though!"

As the feline finished his response to her, he would step a few meters away from her and take a stance that clearly showed that he wanted to spar her and see what she was capable of doing with herself and her weapons. Now, obviously, neither of them knew what the other was capable of doing in combat and this fight could very well turn into an epic, but only time would tell. However, Raiju was more or less trying to take a different approach to Minako to really gauge who she was and what her life truly meant to her as words between them had proved to be effective at times and other times, they were chaotic to put it mildly.

 

[Fujiwara Minako]

It seemed… that the feline cat thing was interested in her weapons. In fact, at one point, he even had his paw on her shoulder as he investigated them. While he done so… she felt calmer, like she was being reassured or comforted, yet, she wasn’t being comforted or anything at all. It was a strange feeling and she wasn’t sure if she liked it or not exactly. But the feeling that did wash over her was indeed impressive.

Hearing his words, Minako gulped slightly, she… didn’t expect the creature to feel the need to have a spar with her. In fact, Minako is still a bit shaky with her sparring because of certain things, but she was sure that this will help her improve as well.

“For your question, yes, they are. I don’t have much else to cherish except from my family. These weapons have helped me, if that makes sense… As… for that fight against you. I accept… and like you, I won’t hold back. No point in holding back.” She mentioned as she saw the beast step a steps back. This was Minako’s chance to get herself ready too, and she made sure to take full advantage of that. How?? Well, she immediately went into stealth, trying to hide her view from Raiju.

She didn’t know what to do now, but she intended to use the high ground somehow, she just… didn’t know how to just yet without attracting attention of some sort. There was one thing that Minako made sure she done though, and that was to place Titania and Oberon back into hiding. She was not going to use Titania and Oberon against Raiju… instead, she wanted to use Cinderella. That’s what she done, she brought out Cinderella, her trusty bow. Excitement started to swell up in her stomach as she done this, but at the same time, she was not going to let that affect her.

Words: 323
Training: Marked​

<i></i>

 

[Tomomi]

As the majestic and mysterious feline in front of Lady Minako took his steps back and positioned himself ready to fight her, the Cloud kunoichi had disappeared from the battlefield almost instantly without a single trace of evidence for him to use to find her. Of course, he had his natural enhanced hearing and eyesight to try to track her down, but they were proving useless correctly as he scanned the area and tried to listen for any movements that would give away where she was hiding if she was even around anymore. But, there was nothing. Absolutely nothing and this was irritating Raiju as he crossed his arms and stomped one of his feet into the ground causing a small tremor in the ground as his body was giving off a lot of static energy.

Aside from this display of anger that was slowly formulating more and more, the thunder kitty had not truly done anything as he was waiting till the optimal time to strike. However, he would move one of his fingers around in a circle and the skies above him would darken as rain began to come down in the air and one could hear rumbling from above. It appeared that this mysterious creature had somehow changed the weather of the area to suit his combat style and abilities better; this could prove as quite a benefit to this creature or it could severely backfire if Minako had some tricks up her sleeve as well. But, this creature also had the possibility of using the skies above to cover a wider area of land and potentially scorch it in trying to find this blonde-haired human who simply was interesting and slowly building up her confidence in herself.

At the moment though, he would allow the skies above them to do their thing as he stood in the open and waited to see if Minako would continue to hide from him or if she would try to take a shot at him sneakily and try to get the first blow. While this matter was annoying him, he knew it was a smart decision from her as she was likely studying him from afar and trying to gauge his strengths and weaknesses to get a better idea of how to tackle the situation that was in front of her. This kitty was no dummy if anyone could at least say that, but his patience would only last so long before he would begin his own assault on her if he had to. He didn't want to take the first shot, but he had to, he would.

 

[Fujiwara Minako]

Crap, rain, this is just what Minako most certainly wanted. This completely sucks as this could most certainly screw her over. Now she was unsure what to do… Should she continue with what she can planned, or should she use a different sort of tactic… that was an idea… She had Cinderella for a reason. Cinderella was another weapon of hers which also had some history embedded, pretty much like all her weapons did.

But… wouldn’t that be cheating to an extent?? She supposed so. With this mindset, she decided to not use Cinderella or Rapunzel, she decided that she was going to keep to what Raiju wanted: to use her butterfly swords in a battle against him. These were the weapons she loved and cherished after all, she wanted to show that off the most.

While it rained, Minako made sure to use the surrounding bushes to her advantage, that way, she could walk in them, make some noises for distractions, then go around in different bushes to do the same. Minako most surely had a plan, and it was only thanks to the fact that it was training… the mud that surrounded them, it would easily picked up, it would also be easier to blind someone and make someone susceptible to keeping their hands on their face in order to rub off all that yucky mud… Bending down slowly, Minako made sure she made no noise as she picked up the mud from underneath her…

Standing up just as gently, Minako made her strike with the mud, running up to the kitty and attempting to shove some mud in the kitty’’s face before suddenly appearing behind Raiju, obviously ready to strike with some sort of deadly precision.

Words: 289​

<i></i>

 

[Tomomi]

As the storm above them continued to grow in intensity and strength, Raiju would stand there in the open and continue to look around in the surrounding area. In this storm that he conjured up, he could not find anyone and this kunoichi from the Hidden Cloud was certainly using her training as a shinobi thus far masterfully. Stealth, after all, was one of the basic shinobi techniques that were taught in the Academy nowadays in all villages and a good shinobi knew how to use this taught technique with elegance and flawless which was what Minako would do. In all honesty, she could have hid out of sight and waited until Raiju got even more annoyed before striking as it would have likely opened up more opportunities to strike him down and show her talents as a shinobi.

But, Minako chose against that and instead rustled some bushes as she walked alerting Raiju to her general whereabouts and teasing him to make an attack that may or may not have hit her. However, he would choose against it and this would prove problematic for him as she would reappear again and dash right towards him as he fired off attacks from his fingertips with little to no avail as she threw some mud into his face and ruined his gorgeous fur. As Minako was behind him waiting for another chance to strike him, her opponent would stomp his foot again into the ground in clear annoyance as he managed to locate her position thanks to her footsteps and the softened ground beneath them before firing off a senbon-like lightning projectile or more like twenty or so at her to try to slow her down as he began to deal with his pretty, little face and remove enough of the mud to be able to see once again. This dirty trick to him would make fighting her quite difficult and if Minako managed to evade some or all of the senbon-like projectiles, he knew that she was going to attack him while he was at a slight handicap.

Unfortunately, he could only grab at his face and try to remove the mud as he stood there as the rain began to fall harder and some stray lightning bolts would hit some of the trees nearby setting them ablaze while others would simply split in half down the truck. Yes, Minako had angered this thunderbolts and lightning, very very frightening kitty and she needed to take advantage of the situation that was given to her or feel the angry wrath that Raiju could offer if his visibility would be returned to him.