In the Ring - Back to Civilization [Rensuke]

[Samejima]

Naoki heaved some deep breaths. She hadn’t fought this hard for this long in a while, and her fatigue was starting to show. It was to be expected, as each show was an hour long and she was the only fighter the boss had left. Stupid loopholes, stupid quintuplets! The only saving grace was that her arena was a labyrinth and she was capable of hiding, taking out her foes by ambush… If she had been forced into one of the regular cagefights, she would have been wiped out in an instant. The burly hunks of meat weren’t just strong, they were fast too. It was all she could do to dodge them and elude pursuit before launching several kunai into any opponent’s back, catching them off guard and slipping beside them to knock them down with a leg sweep.

“It’s just business, sorry,” she’d whisper to each of them, before decapitating them with a sword she’d picked up nearby. The crowds always went wild. She had by then grown strong enough to pierce bone with her now-dull kunai, using wind jutsu to put a little extra pierce in her stabs. She has been recycling these for months now, and it was almost time for her monthly pay, which meant she would finally replace the kunai with all she’d saved up from the past few months. She couldn’t remember how long she’s been in this endless cycle: Fight, eat, sleep, meet comrades, fight, lose comrades, eat, sleep, and so on. The number of people she’s met and left behind was innumerable, and it showed on her face. Haggard, pale at the best of times, and scarred. She had a scar across her right cheek from a particularly torture-happy opponent, and her cheek now pained her if she didn’t chew just so.

“Ma’am, I’m ready for my monthly pay!” she bobbed cheerily up to the bosslady. The murder was second nature to her now. She didn’t know these people, and she didn’t have to care. She buried all their faces, their stage names, their last words, everything was repressed so her fragile teen-aged mind wouldn’t need to think of it. Upon being given her money, she immediately rushed up to her bunk bed and retrieved her savings from the akabeko she’d gotten from a friend way back before all this happened. How did she even get into this mess, she asked herself as she walked to the arena store. Simple; the little blind genin was caught off guard (read: asleep) and tossed overboard the ghost ship, washing up on the beaches of a hostile environment. The only refuge she found was with the bosslady, who offered her a place to stay in exchange for her life in the ring.

This turn of events was about as stupid as it got, and the worst part is she would now have to deal with never hearing any of her old friends. Not Riyota, Sousuke, any of the Toraono clan… or Tsubaki. What she’d give to hear the songstress one last time… She clung to her memory as well as she could, and found that it got more and more heart-wrenching whenever she recalled it. Eventually, she accepted her fate. She was going to murder more and more people, and she was going to have to leave any semblance of her old life behind, including those she cared about most. Her parents must be heartbroken… Her aunt must be worried sick… Kuro-dono must be too busy to look for her… Naoki was no longer a part of that world.

But as all humans do, unless they met an untimely end, she got over it after about her third year in the ring. Samejima Naoki would not be taken down by some existential crisis, she told herself, Samejima Naoki will live on, one way or another, even if she no longer lived in the hearts of those she cared for. She could no longer laugh heartily without experiencing some form of pain, but she always strove to find reasons to do guffaw like the old days. It was the only thing she could do, and it was why she was the boss’s favorite. She doted on Naoki like her own daughter, slipping her the occasional piece of candy or cake, and sometimes even her own beef rice bowls...

Which is why it pained Naoki to have to leave her.

Just as she settled into her stage name and the possibility of being adopted by the bosslady, she was met with a proposition: Help the authorities bust this illicit gladiators’ arena and be rescued. And the one who infiltrated the place? That same little boy she rescued Suna-knows-how-long ago, and he hadn’t changed a bit. ”What do they call you?” she asked, used to this way of asking people what she wanted them to be called. Most denizens of the arena that she came across usually either didn’t know or didn’t want others to know their real names.

 

[Kazumi]

Just a hair over six years had passed since Ren had awoken in his new home. Time was a strange thing for him, compared to his fully fleshed out counterparts. Biological functions such as sleep or eating were unnecessary, the only aspect of that which might mirror such requirement were the replacements of the carmots that supplied him, his chakra reserves. So, when he had gone inactive for the better part of five of those years, the passing of the time had barely registered to him. He did have to do it, however, he had to do his best to attempt to repair the damage that had built up over the unfinished state of his conditioning.

Once he had fully awoken, he had went about making some modifications to his primary chassis, ones of which he dreamt about in his unconscious state. Venting of excess chakra was no longer required with some careful modifications to the artificial coils. In addition he had even managed to make improvements to his core sensors, and while the fine tuned acuity of detecting chakra coils were lost, much larger gains were made in overall awareness. He was able to detect the location and position of nearly every object and creature within a fifty meter radius with inhuman accuracy, and he even managed to optimize the sensors to the point that the chakra consumption was reduced down to near zero levels. He was unsure if his creator would admonish or praise him for the modifications, and while he never knew the man personally, the deceased mad scientist was the closest thing he could claim to have been a father... even though it was he who indirectly robbed him of his.

A month had passed, and while he was still under surveillance within the walls of the city, he was trusted enough to be given an official shinobi designation, a pay stipend and the requisite responsibilities that came along with this post. Emotions were still very difficult for him to fully grasp, but traces of pride and excitement lined the edges of his thoughts as he accepted his 14th mission from the kage: Shut down an illicit fighting ring somewhere in the deserts of Wind Country. That had been nearly two months ago to the day when he had set out from the village's gates. It had taken that long of traveling through the dry desert heat, small and large villages alike before he finally located the elusive hot spot of criminal activity. Any other shinobi of his rank would have either died of boredom, exhaustion or dehydration in the time it had taken; there were certainly benefits to his artificial body.

"Ren," he answered bluntly to her question, looking up toward the taller woman. It had taken him a short while to recognise the woman as the girl who had been his rescuer, but once she spoke it was unmistakably her. Had he believed in such, it would appear that the universe was driving things full circle. "Samejima Naoki, correct? According to Sunagakure records, you were declared deceased almost six years ago. It is fortuitous that records of your demise have been greatly exaggerated. It is less so that you would be found here, and according to my findings, complicit with the illicit activities that have transpired here." He broke his unblinking gaze from her and shifted it around the small side room they found themselves in. A few seconds later he turned back to face her once again, his voice speaking smoothly and clearly with that unnerving flow that sounded almost unnatural. "Given our history, I would wish to offer you an arrangement. As the shinobi assigned to closing down this facility and apprehending the higher ranking individuals responsible for the management of the facility, I offer you the opportunity to assist the village in the completion of this contract. Should you accept and the mission be deemed a success, there is a significant possibility that you may be reinstated into the village, should you choose to do so. If you refuse, then I will offer you this one opportunity to leave before operations begin. Should you refuse both offers, than you will be designated as a prime combatant, and will need to be dealt with accordingly."

 

[Samejima]

Gulp. I guess I'm a criminal now... Naoki thought, with a somewhat taken aback look on her face when the kid informed her of the fact that this ring was indeed illegal. Of COURSE this place is illegal, why didn't I think of that? Man, now there's even less of a chance I'll be able to head back home... The now-sullen expression betrayed her homesickness, but she quickly tried to put a poker face back on. "Yeah, that's my name. And why should I believe you're here to shut it down for Suna? For all I know, this is perfectly legal and you're here to mess up the "system" we have..." Naoki trailed off, and sighed. "Other than the fact that I know gambling is illegal, and that there's a good bit of cash being waved around at every one of the bosslady's hot dates. Yeah, okay, you got me." She settled into a more comfortable position, sitting with her hands supporting her behind her back. She neglected to invite Ren to do the same, but it was more out of forgetting than rudeness. "Look, I'd be more than happy to accept your offer, but... There's some good people here. You're not apprehending everyone in charge are you?"

She hesitated, wondering if he was open to any sort of negotiation after the already generous offer he was making her. "It's fine if you do need everyone though. I'm sure even she wouldn't try and get off scot-free." The bosslady had a rather noble character to her, and Naoki had nearly zero doubt that she would offer to be taken with the rest of them, making this whole line of defense for her moot. "So... You're saying there's a possibility that I'll be let back into the shinobi forces? How likely is that, if I cooperate?"

Edit: [MFT]

 

[Kazumi]

Ren did not immediately reply to Naoki's final question, remaining quiet for a few seconds as silence hung in the air. "Uncertain. Odds are significantly higher if you cooperate here and now, however if you do not... you will not be mentioned in my report." He had subdued a few individuals to make it this far into the stronghold, and if the yelling sounds that were now being heard in the distance were any indicator, it seems that those bodies had been found. "My primary objective is to see that this facility is permanently closed and that those responsible are apprehended so that another proxy does not open up within a relative time frame. Associated individuals are to be killed or captured, but whomever is designated as the owner or operators are to be taken alive if possible." The shouts and calls could be heard closer now and from a greater number, it would appear that the outsider's presence has most certainly been noticed. "Speaking with you has diminished my capability to complete this in a timely manner, if you are to assist, do so now. If you are not, then you are to leave immediately."

 

[Samejima]

"Relax, infighting happens all the time around here. Let me go and smooth this over real quick." She jogged quickly in place so as to seem slightly tired out, and ran out to those who discovered the bodies.

"Hey Nao-chan, did you see who did this?"
"Yeah right. No way this blind bimbo would've seen nothin', dumbass!"
"You know what I mean! Was it one of the Odawara brothers again?"
"Naah man, I think I heard those jangling jester bells again tonight. And you," she turned to that one individual who insulted her, "You oughta know better than to diss me. Wanna end up like him?" She jerked her head menacingly at one of the bodies.
The goon laughed nervously. "F'course not ma'am, all in good fun ya know? Run along back to bed, we'll get this sorted out for ya."
"Aight. And don't fuckin' call me that!"
"Gotcha Nao-chan!"

A somewhat loud "Dillholes!" could be heard, as well as some guffaws as the two headed down the hall slapping each other on the back.

"All taken care of." Naoki grinned. Subterfuge was one of the many tricks she'd picked up over the years. "As you've seen from my cooperation, I'm ready to help. Decided it'd be better to get home and put my family's mind at ease, y'know? So what's the plan? Are we just going to set everyone free and nab the higher ups before taking off?"

 

[Kazumi]

Things were proceeding far from his expectations. Firstly among them, he had discovered than a shinobi from Sunagakure was not only alive, but was eager to return to service. There were a number of questions he had for the woman, but they would have to wait until the proper time to pose them. He remained quiet until the other men had left the area, keeping a leery gaze on them and her. "Curious..." he remarked as he reached into a pouch around on his sash, pulling out a stack of at least two dozen explosive notes. "Take half of these into the reaches. They have been primed to my chakra, and will detonate when I release them. As I am sure you are familiar with the structural layout, place these in key locations around the lower levels of the facility. I will place the remaining array on the exterior." Splitting the stack in half, he reached out to hand the set to her.

"Once completed, head towards where this superior is. Also, give me the knife there." He makes a small gesture to the nearly perfectly concealed weapon in Naoki's possession. I will use it to track your position. Should you flee or perform any suspicious activity, I will immediately know of it. This is a stipulation to my offer, and is non-negotiable." He extended his free hand out for her to place the knife in. "Until the matter is concluded, you are to be treated as a missing shinobi, and you will be treated as such."

 

[Samejima]

A little surprised she would be doubted, seeming to forget that she had been participating in an illegal business for quite some time now, Naoki nodded her understanding and gave Ren the knife. "It's... It's very precious to me. Please don't lose it." Taking the tags and shooting Ren a quick salute, Naoki took off for the support pillars of the underground levels. On the way, she passed various familiar voices, voices she knew were just trying to survive. If she hadn't been part of Suna's shinobi forces before, she would've died like the rest of these people, about to go to sleep thinking they would see another day of this hellish day-to-day they call life. The mere thought was causing her to form a rather somber expression on her face, and everyone picked up on it. "What's the matter," and "You don't look so good kid," those voices would haunt her for the rest of her life. This was just murder, just like every other time she killed... Except it wasn't. It wasn't like the other times. She hadn't prepared herself for this... She wasn't prepared to take the lives of her comrades in arms, even if she hadn't met most of them very long ago.

She arrived close to the bosslady's quarters. She still had half the stack to place--the bosslady always wanted her office to be reachable as quickly as possible by all parts of the ring. She may not be dealing legally, but she dealt with her fighters like they were family. Even more so with Naoki, whom she had expressed a willingness to adopt once she saved up enough money. But deep down, Naoki knew that there would never be enough money. The way she spared no expense on advertising but would sometimes let the fighters go without food wasn't unlike a more Spartan method of discipline, as some of them were prone to acts of violence towards their own ring members. It got to a point where Naoki got suspicious about her having just let some fighters starve to death because they had become less than feasible to maintain with their injuries and constant maintenance requirements. No... I guess it would be better to kill them now, and not let them die slowly on the inside... If they haven't already. Maybe... Maybe if I just told a couple people to leave... But they might jeopardize the mission... Why can't I feel okay about this...

She turned away from the bosslady's quarters and carried on with her job. Her real job. The first real job she'd had in years. A few more stuck close to the bottoms of the pillars to make sure they weren't easily detected, and she was done.

Knock, knock.

"What's wrong Nao-chan? Did you have a bad dream?" Her playful voice chirped from behind a few bookshelves. She seemed to be rather distracted right now.

Shiina​

I'm here... Now what? Naoki stood stock still, very unnatural for her usual disposition.

 

[Kazumi]

The knife dissipated from sight a few moments after Naoki handed the blade over. "Do not delay. If you are not completed within twenty minutes, I will be forced to presume that the plan is not proceeding as intended and I will detonate the tags." Ren remained motionless as Naoki saluted and dashed off, watching the woman dispensary into the reaches. Dividing the task should help to keep the plans on schedule, but relying on an unknown factor was introducing a large amount of risk into the equation. "I do hope I am not made to regret my actions here." He softly commented to himself before he turned and dashed out of the room, melding into the shadows as he began laying the seeds of destruction that would take this place down.

It did not take more than ten minutes for all but one of the tags to be placed, primed and ready to detonate. A thought of detonating them now crosses his mind, but it faded as soon as it came. The reward would be worth the risk, both to repay his debt to that woman and to increase the value of the mission. Statistically, every successful mission that the shinobi woman would be able to participate in past this point would be due to decisions he made now, and the value of that alone outweighed the risks.

 

[Samejima]

"Hey kid, what's wrong? Talk to mama Shiina, you haven't been this gloomy since your first couple kills!" Shiina had noticed that her favorite little fighter was in distress, and walked over to examine her more thoroughly. She'd spent tens of thousands of yen on this girl, and a psychological problem was the last thing she wanted now. "It's boys isn't it? You wanna date but there's no one in this trash heap cute enough for you?" She spent a good chunk of cash on "spa days," which Naoki has been informed by others was code for hiring male courtesans to perform for her, among other things. Naturally, Naoki didn't question any of this, but as she now reflected on her bosslady's actions she wondered: Were the lives of those others so useless to her that she would rather spend money on a night of pleasure than another's life? "I... I have something to tell you." She paused, gathering her thoughts as Shiina drew ever closer. "I-I think... I think I want to l--"

The words scarcely left Naoki's lips before her reflexes caught on to Shiina's movements, and her ears picked up on the sound of a dagger being unsheathed. Bounding out of the way of an apparent hug, with a suspiciously hidden hand behind Shiina's back, Naoki's face scrunched up into an expression of anger, confusion. What the hell... "What the hell are you doing?!"

She heard a dark chuckle. "You were wanting to take over the ring weren't you? I knew it! I knew you were sick of having to kill, day after day after day... You wouldn't stand all this for more than a few years was what I figured but you'd held out for so long, been so reliable and even managed to survive the higher tier opponents I had planned for you... Your death would have been the perfect public execution, the perfect juicy piece of promotion I needed to get one of my side rings into the spotlight... But why..."

Naoki remembered a conversation they had just before that last match with the quintuplets. "You can forfeit whenever you want, remember that. Don't try too hard. You've fought long enough haven't you? If you're wounded enough in the battle, I can take you out! So don't worry about getting hurt, okay?" She had thought it was a safety net, but it had been a trap? "You... you wanted me dead?" There was no substitute for family. "You were going to let me die, weren't you... You...!" There is no other family she can join. "Bitch! I'll beat you to a fucking pulp!"

She made the right decision. Everyone here deserved to die.

[MFT]

 

[Kazumi]

With the last tag attached in the top right corner of one of the rooms near the gates, Ren's half of the task was completed. Five minutes remaining until the deadline, and Naoki hadn't moved much in the past few minutes. Surely the woman wasn't considering to go back on her word? Even so, it wasn't a risk he could take. Sticking to the shadows and keeping out of sight of the few wandering souls, Ren made his way hastily towards Naoki's position. Recalling the layout of the facility, it didn't take long to conclude that Naoki had stalled in the head office. Perhaps she had completed her task already and was awaiting him... or perhaps she had another change of heart.

Rounding the corner towards the office, Ren's light feet kicked up small trails of dust as he reached towards the forearm sized scroll tied to the back of his waist. Unrolling it to its full length, he pressed his palm against it as it hung momentarily in mid air. He slid to a stop next to the final bend that lead to the office door where he heard talking up ahead. The cloud of sealing smoke quickly faded as a ragged puppet floated silently behind him. It resembled a tan colored spinning top with a barrel of a body, two thin and long arms and a loosely attached humanoid head. It's design was not exactly to his liking, but his limited materials required that he make do until he could procure more adequate supplies for more acceptable puppets.

Keeping himself concealed around the corner, Ren peeked around, seeing the back of some woman, knife in hand as she faced down the hall towards Naoki. Judging from what he could make out of her, that appeared to the woman matching his description. Perfect timing it would seem. With only the barest of sounds, he moved his fingers and hand which caused the puppet to silently float around the corner, looming like a wooden shadow above and behind the woman as she and Naoki spoke. It hung there silently for a short while, waiting for the perfect opportunity, and once the woman began to speak once more, he allowed her to do so for two sentences before the wooden machination 's torso opened up and a dozen cords ripped out of its dark depths. The cords shot towards the woman with the intent of snaring her before violently ripping her back through the air and into the puppet's body, where it would suddenly snap and lock shut, trapping the woman inside.

 

[Samejima]

Shiina didn't have much else of a choice now. She didn't think the girl would get that upset, and she certainly hadn't seen Naoki genuinely angry up until this point. "N-now now, let's not be rash! I can still help you out of here, you don't have to kill me! I'm not--" And that was the extent of what Naoki heard from her before whatever it was that crept up behind her trapped her inside. The violence of the action likely caused some noise, and it was duly reacted to by the still-blind(ly raging) genin. "What?! What is going on here?!" She whipped around, hearing Ren behind her as well as some others coming down the hall from the screaming. "Fuck, we need to go... Is that thing yours? We have her, let's get out. People are coming down the hall because..." Naoki was still visibly fuming, and she wasn't planning on reflecting on her mistakes just now. "That bitch planned on killing me in that fight this morning... She's been setting me up with people just so I'd die, isn't that just--!"

She considered flopping down on the ground. Just letting her knees go weak from how enraged she was at that point in time. She was still standing, and would follow Ren if instructed to leave, but her knees were weak, and she herself was very distracted.

 

[Kazumi]

Ren stepped around the corner and walked over towards his floating puppet, which in turn floated over towards him as well. He placed a hand on its wooden shell, feeling the woman struggling to shuffle around inside. "Did you finish placing them?" He asked calmly, still looking at the somewhat crude puppet. It took a moment for him to look away, registering that Naoki was barely able to stand on her feet for some unknown reason. "If not, you have five minutes until I detonate them. I suggest you either place the rest of them or drop them now and follow. I will be waiting out front. I would recommend great haste." Without chance for a full response, Ren turned and dashed away from Naoki, his prize floating along behind him as it matched his speed. A large man popped up around the corner, looking confused and angry, but both left him as the mass of the pupped smashed into him, causing him to crash into the far wall as Ren disappeared around the corner as he headed towards the exit.

 

[Samejima]

Without giving her a chance to answer nor gather her bearings, Ren had rushed off and left her behind. There was a loud crash, and it caused her to come to her senses. I need to get out before the tags detonate... I should go get my stuff and bust out, probably the easiest way to leave. So she ran back towards her backpack and what few possessions she had, along with her clothes and the little red bobblecow, stowing them away before strapping on her kokyuu and taking off. Oh! I should ask for my knife back later.

Upon making it out relatively undetected, she stood around for a bit to detect any sign of a disturbance, presumably Ren's puppet with the struggling backstabber inside. Were she to locate him, she would approach him slowly. "All done. Gimme back my knife, and let's blow this joint."

[Topic left as soon as Ren's done]

 

[Kazumi]

Ren was waiting atop a dune, half a kilometer away from the compound as Naoki emerged. She hadn't made it that far outside when the exact moment of five minutes had passed. Silence seemed to overtake everything just for a moment, before a thundering explosion erupted behind her. The pressure and heat of the blast wave, while non-lethal, was likely strong enough to knock her from her feet and send her tumbling away with a few scrapes and cuts from the landing. A plume of dust and sand covered the area where Naoki had been just moments before, turning the once bustling arena into a crater of rubble and bodies within a beat of her heart. The odds that there were any survivors of the blast were minimal, and those that may somehow have managed would likely die of heatstroke or dehydration far before they could manage to dig themselves out.

Unshaken by the blast, Ren continued to loom atop the dune, the first traces of light from the sun glimmering over the horizon. "Had you delayed even a few more moments, I would be returning alone." Given her training, it would have been possible she could have survived, but without resources and with the damage the destruction might have caused her, her odds of surviving the ordeal were not very favorable. "Come. It is a three day journey back to the village. It would have been one, but we will need to account for your needs as well as that of the prisoner. Let us be off." He turned from Naoki and began walking his way down the side of the dune as both he and the floating puppet dissipated behind the sandy crest.

[Departing Topic]

 

[Samejima]

"Ow ow OW! Geez, you couldn't have fucking waited a couple seconds?" Naoki shouted up the dune, dusting herself off. She was lucky that most of her torso and legs were covered by the training weights she had on at all times. There were bruises, but no cuts that would have the possibility of infection. She sighed. "What are you anyway, some kind of puppet? You haven't changed a bit since the last time I saw you." She wasn't expecting an answer, but would follow after, albeit rather sullenly.

[Topic left]