Side Story: 12 Trials of Mai - Complete -

[Ganryu]

Mai Sanada has kept herself quite busy lately, taking up 12 missions in under a month. Some of them simple, some of them incredibly hard. She's met new faces and met old. Either way, her travels have had quite the impact on her.

-------------------------------------
Trial #1
------------------------------------
Mai yawned as she kept reading the book in front of her. It wasn’t exactly the most thrilling, the history of the Hidden Grass village, but hey, the Hokage himself had lent it to her, so she was going to do her best to read it. Being a jonin seemed like the first dream Mai could actually grasp. Hero was a vague term, the Mizukage was far out of her league, and after what she’d learned, she wasn’t sure she WANTED to be a clan head.

She had a Kekkei Genkai and wasn’t ever told about it. Tch. All this time Mai could have killed someone in one of her rampages, all without knowing why. Honestly, it was a miracle she hadn’t managed to kill anyone with it yet. But that was part of the reason Mai was traveling, to get to know herself, and get to know the world.

A nasally voice sounded from behind her.

“Are you sure you can protect me while reading a book? Like, how would you know if we were being ambushed? I’m going to have to report you to your village if you carry on.”

Mai sighed.

“There’s a dog half a mile in front of us, 13 birds in a half mile radius, and no one on the road, at least no one I could see, for about the same distance. A ninja who has to look about is a pretty damn bad one. The good ones have some passive sensing tech. Me, it’s my hearing. What about you, can you keep up, your breathing is getting pretty heavy.”

“Well excuse me, I’m not a monster like you are, we’ve been walking full pace since this morning! My feet hurt! I want to stop lunch! Can we slow down?”

Mai closed her book with an extremely annoyed sigh.

“This is fast…? Ever tried cardio? Fine, go do whatever.”

SLUG HIM!

NO ITS A CLIENT!

HE’S RUDE!

UH…. I can’t think of a reason not to, but don’t do it!

Shaking her head she sat down in a tree and unpacked a quick lunch, looking out in the distance. The road seemed so much different than the leaf. Sure, there were trees here, but they weren’t as large as the ones in the Leaf, or magical like the forest of Jukai, but it was interesting just the same.

-------------------------------------------

Having dropped off the client, Mai opened her scrolls up, along with a map she’d just bought. That was one of her twelve tasks, what was next? There were a few options around here. The closest was cleaning out bandits. Mai raised an eye as she reread it. She had grabbed these mission off the Hokage’s desk, this one looked like it was about to be upped in difficulty, some chunnin had already been sent, and had never come back. Stretching she sighed.

“Sounds the most fun, but I gotta be responsible. I’m still sore, and Mum told me to wait a bit before straining myself. A broken bone might heal easy, but all the torn muscles aren’t doing so well. Speaking of which…”

Mai popped open a bottle of pills, grumbling about feeling old as she chugged several.

“Alright, I’ll save the bandits for later. First I gotta clear out Black River. Some beasty keeps attacking the fisherman. Mission: Find the cause, and if possible, deal with it. Hehehe. Well, I hear a swim’s great for exercise!”

 

[Ganryu]

-------------------------------------
Trial #2
------------------------------------
A fisherman looked out dazed at the black river, he’d been here 50 years, he’d been born by this river, and he would die by it. His afternoon lull was interrupted as a face peered into his boat.

“It’s the demon of the river!”

He flailed his fishing rod at the creature walking in the river, only to have it disappear. Taking deep breaths, he heard a voice behind him.

“So… what’cha know about this river monster?”

He felt something give in his chest and fell over.

Next thing he knew, he was awake in his house, with his wife talking to someone inside.

“Yeah, then he just fell over.”

“I’m just glad someone was able to help him back home. Where’s your boat?”

“Boat?”

With a roar he flailed in bed.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing! Nearly gave an old man a heart attack!”

“Pretty sure I did. Don’t move too much, its a bit dangerous for you right now. I can bring ya back some fish or something to make up for it, just rest a bit.”

The man felt weak in his bed and shook his head.

“What do you want, ninja?”

“Well, I hear tell there’s a river monster around here. I’m supposed to scout it out. What’cha know about it?”

“Bah. The river monsters in the north of the river, by the waterfall. Where we go carp fishing. Takeda went up there, never came back. Kenshin went up there, never came back. You go up there, you ain’t never gunna come back.”

“Well then, looks like I’m going for a walk! Take care!”

-----------------------------------------------------------

Well, the river lived up to its name, it was as black as coffee. It almost made Mai wonder what was under it as she walked up it. She shivered slightly as all sorts of images came to mind. Maybe it was a shark, or a giant squad! It could be anything… Aaaaanything.

“Ya know, maybe one of these days I should invest in a therapist…”

Thinking about her classmates she shook the idea way.

“Nah they’re all weirder than me. Nagisa’s a sociopath, Hideki has a harem, Aiko’s probably the most normal one of the bunch (and that’s saying something), Katsumi was so shy she’ll probably have a heart attack herself by 30, Yukari had massive parental problems, and I feel like there was one other guy I knew… Meh, couldn’t have been that memorable.”

As Mai made her way to the northern part of the river, she heard a massive roar of the waterfall. Well… That was good. Still no sign of the river monster. Mai furrowed her brow… The roaring was way to loud for a waterfall. What else could be churching water this much?

She barely dodged out the way as a massive maw opened under her, snapping shut with enough force to send her flying back to shore. A massive head glared at her. It was serpentine, and the neck was slender, a bit of hair proceeding from its head. It let out a massive roar that dazed even Mai before submerging again.

“Was that a #@%’ing dragon?”
================================

A messenger hawk arrived in the Leaf the next day, requesting reinforcements, a full team of chunnin, delivered to Aiko Uchiha, Hideki Ukita, and Yuuki Uchiha, who were available.

Hey, its Mai, was sent out to scout a monster in a river. It’s a bloody dragon, I miiiight need a bit of help to kill it, I believe a team of chunnin should be good enough. It’s big, but that’s it. Think you can get here by tomorrow?

Hideki read the mission statement once again, it had been the fifteenth time he had done this. He indeed had read it right, a fucking dragon, they were being sent out to kill a fucking dragon!!! What? Were the jonin to busy? Was this a set up? Was this a prank from Mai to have them show up and it’s just an eel?

Or maybe this is how he dies?

Either way, Hideki sure as hell wasn’t going to let Mai die fighting this dragon in a fist fight, at least in a unfair one. He could bake a cake with these new arms… But.. beat a dragon…? A water dragon? Does elemental affinity even apply to dragons!?!

Fuck it, hes gonna die someday, if he goes down fighting a dragon, thats how it’s gonna go. As far as deaths in battle go, you can’t beat fighting a dragon. Getting his equipment, hideki set out to find his wayward friend.

Yuuki leaned against a tree near the village gate, a similar letter in hand. Of all the missions he’s gotten so far… being called to supposed fight a dragon easily topped the list. His mind wandered while he waited for his teammates to arrive.

How big was it? Could it even be killed? Maybe something could be made from its remains if they could kill it. Would Nagisa have any interest? She was usually looking for ideas for new tools and weapons. Of course, this was assuming it was an actual dragon and not some genjutsu or something.

He nodded to Hideki as the other chuunin drew near. “So… a dragon, huh?”

“Yep, a dragon.” nodded Hideki.

As Aiko approached, the temperature dropped, but to a lesser degree than usual. The frosty chuunin couldn’t remember a time when Mai actually asked her for help. Had she even requested her personally? Whatever the case, she was supposedly going to fight a dragon. Mai may have been stupid, but she didn’t lie about these kinds of things. Well, at least not to her.

Aiko’s eyes perked up as she saw two of her fellow ninja near the village gate. “Hey Hideki, hey Yuuki. Either of you seen the dragon yet?”

“Not yet, not sure if it’s a dragon or not but…” Hideki trailed off, looking down. “...Guess we should hurry though.. No telling what trouble mai will get into…” he started to turn to the trail and head off.

“You know,” Yuuki pushed himself away from the tree, quickly matching Hideki’s stride. “I don’t think I’ve ever actually worked with Mai. But if the stories are anything to go by…”

“They’re true, all of it.” Hideki added.

“I mean, she might already be eaten by now, so she won’t be much of a problem then,” Aiko grumbled, following them at a short distance.

“So be ready for a headache then... “ Yuuki sighed, “awesome.”

----------------

The group could hear the scuffle before they could see it. Mai was skipping rocks across the river, until a certain beast would roar from it, and attack the shore, with Mai suddenly fading to black and appearing on the otherside. The reptilian beast would look at her and sink back into the water until a couple rocks later cause it rise up again to attack her, only to find her gone again. She noticed the group and waved across the shore.

“Hey guys. Sweet, they sent the squad-” she faded again reappearing on their side of the shore. “Who’s that? I’m Mai, of the Sanada.”

Mai flickered again, but this time the dragon eyed the squad on the shore with all of its anger. It waited a second, then struck at the three.The beast was massive, but didn’t seem that fast. Its scales shined golden.

“FUCK! SCATTER!” Hideki yelled as he grabbed Aiko and leapt up into the air over the gigantic dragon’s strike, he was certain yuuki could get out of there but… well… he couldn’t turn down a chance to princess carry Aiko.

Two birds, one stone, err… Dragon.

Yuuki lept to the side, his body already beginning to turn to paper. “Yuuki Uchiha,” he threw a handful of kunai rigged with explosive tags at the dragon’s maw. He wasn’t sure if it would do much, but they needed to start getting a feel for what this thing was capable of.

“Damnit Hideki! After we kill this giant dragon I’m killing you too! I’m not some damsel!” Aiko protested, as she wiggled out of Hideki’s grasp, allowing herself to drop down towards the dragon. As she fell, she drew her katana, pointing it downwards in order to try and put a hole into its head.

The dragon roared as the explosive tag went off, writhing in pain. Aiko’s landing on it, however, did much less as her sword more or less bounced off of its gleaming scales. She would also now have the problem of the dragon bucking like a mechanical bull thanks the the hole in its gums. Baring its teeth, it swiped its tail at the the party, a large wave flying at them. From the other shore Mai called out.

“Yeah, I tried kicking it earlier, didn’t do much. That explosive tag looks like it pissed it off real good though, more than anything I’ve tried.”

Mai shook her head, tapping her forehead trying to think.

“Hey, Aiko, think you can get its eyes? Or in between its scales? I wanna try something out.”

The dragon continued to squirm in the water.

Hideki landed with lightly upon the ground once more the main thing this snake had on them was size and control of its territory Ie: the water. However, being a earth affinity Ninja, Hideki had an idea on how to solve this issue, and create a nice big barricade against that wave.

Weaving his chakra, the young man quickly began performing handsigns, finishing of with what appeared to be a snap of his fingers…. From the ground around him came two positively immence stone arms, the arms ending just at the end of the forearm but positioned as if they were attached to the young man’s body.

Earth release: Prideful Stand

“Alright… Let's see.” he spotted it, a nice large looking boulder, untouched and unmoved for likely years. Which was suddenly uprooted by one of the outstretched arms. “Catch!” and with a big wind up, no movement from the boy himself with his actual arms now crossed.

The boulder was tossed with impressive speed, blasting through the wave and sailing through towards the serpent, the wave split and disfigured from the force.

“I’ve got the eyes,” Yuuki called as he slid to a stop beside Hideki, a few sheets of paper trailing in his wake. That earth release jutsu of his was going to be invaluable in dealing with the waves. “Why am I not surprised we find her taunting the fucking thing?”

Tapping a seal, he summoned a pair of arrows and quickly wrapped explosive tags around them. Those scales were looking to be a major issue…Even with the sharingan, following the beast’s thrashing was difficult. Another tap on a seal conjured forth a shortbow, the Uchiha quickly loosed both arrows at the dragon’s eye.

Aiko’s sword barely made a scratch on the dragon’s scales, her sword bouncing off and knocking her off the side of the dragon. Before the dragon’s wild thrashing could clobber her to death, Aiko planted her feet on the frozen water beneath her, and body flickered back near Yuuki and Hideki.

“Its scales are a lot harder than I thought. What are you planning this time, Mai?”

The dragon again roared as a giant boulder slugged it in the head, and two arrows hit it in its eyes. Its head shook lazily afterwards before falling into the river again.

Mai flickered back to the group with a shrug.

“Trying to think of one. This things tough, it’ll be back in a few minutes angrier than ever. I’ve kicked it half a dozen times. It’ll come back. Seems its scales absorb the damage more than prevent it, cause I’d think that boulder would’ve killed it. Man, Hideki you got alot stronger. Paper boy’s attacks not at its scales seemed to hurt it. So… huh… Hey, Aiko, want to freeze its stomach? Other than that, uh…, not sure?”

After about a minute, a massive splash signaled the dragon returning, with a large spin of its tail, it sent half the river it seemed like at the group, only to be followed with a headbutt in case of earthen shields.

111111111111
11111111“Bludgeoning damage tends to break through flexible armor well enough, scaled skin doesn’t give to much padding anyways… If what i got her works, I might just crash it’s skull open… But… Well… thats if this hits… if we avoid that wave… Pin it long enough, maybe open up a soft spot… I got gravity and a gigantic stone arm on my side for the strike….” he tried not to look to proud of mai’s complement, which failed, his face red and smug cat-like smile giving it away completely. The young man leapt up in the air to avoid the strikes incoming once more.

Aiko didn’t waste time listening to Hideki’s explanation. She took off to the left, getting out of the way of the dragon’s headbutt at the very least. As the wave of water came down upon her, she brought her hands up, and froze the water right around her, stopping it.

Yuuki body flickered to the side, narrowly missing the two blows. “Safe to say we pissed it off…” Red eyes watched the enraged serpent thrash, Hideki’s idea was an option but that first rock didn’t seem to faze it all that much. But the explosive tags… “Hideki,” The Uchiha called, “how big can you make those hands? Big enough to pry its mouth open?” A tap of a seal brought a small yet heavy box into his hand. “Packs more punch than just an explosive tag. Mai’s fast enough to get it in its mouth I bet.”

Mai nodded. “Probs, I ain’t slow. Think Aiko can freeze its jaw to the water under it?”

“Enough, just need material… Gonna be one big fist..” Hideki landed upon a still standing tree, starting to pool his jutsu into making one large fist, the stone fist looking carved into a large demonic arm, sharp and clawed with various markings pulsing along it. “It’s dense, hard and… Well heavy as shit.” he moved the singular arm about a bit damn thing was big as a car.

At least it had good control to it still.. Not that it truly needed it.. No real reason to sue something that big for fine operations, but this? Definitly was no fine control scenario.

Heres hoping Aiko can stop the thing.

“That’s quite a request. It shouldn’t be a problem though if it doesn’t swallow me whole first or something,” Aiko said to herself, as she took off sprinting towards the dragon. As soon as the dragon’s eyes locked onto her, she body flickered onto the water in front of its path forming a handisgn as the dragon turned to her, jaws wide. In a big burst of chakra, Aiko took a forceful step forward and thrust her hands out.

She did more than just freeze its jaw to the ground, she froze at least half of the creature to the water. The river was forced to flow around a big hunk of ice holding onto the underside of the beast.

Aiko didn’t stop there, she formed another handsign, forming ice swords that launched back it to the sides of its mouth. The ice blades flew forward, piercing into the soft flesh. Where they were at, the dragon would be in a lot of pain trying to close its mouth.

Mai stopped for a second in awe of Aiko’s ice. She’d gotten a helluva lot strong too. Everyone was. Still… Mai wasn’t stopping either! She faded to black before reappearing in front of the massive beast. It eyes here wearily, trying to bite but failing. Mai felt a bit of pity for it… But this thing had killed fisherman. Dropping the bomb on the ground in front of her, Mai kicked it straight down the things throat, jumping backward.

“GOOOOOOOOOOAL!”

Hideki himself wasn’t done either, with his modified floating arm now looking rather menacing, he prepared for one more dragoon jump, sending him high into the air, shooting up like a rocket high above the pinned dragon.

Placing a hand upon the arm he began to slowly start the descent… The stone changing shape more, looking more and more dense as he began to fall faster and faster! Utilizing Earth release: Added weight rock technique the stone arm became heavier and heavier and heavier until Hideki disconnected from it with his prideful stand jutsu and leaping off the back of it, hurtling the stone fist down on its own.

The stone fist was heating up upon its descent, hurtling down like a meteor upon the snake’s head. And impact it did, the fist slamming down atop of it’s head and bringing its mouth to a crashing close upon the swords that were piercing it’s soft flesh and impaling it further!!

A massive blast followed from Yuuki’s single hand sign, blowing the head clean off, leaving the rest of the long serpentine partially on the shore, and partially submerged. Mai blinked, covered in the blood of the animal.

“I feel kinda bad for it…”

Looking back to squad 6, she ran up and wrapped her arms over Aiko and Hideki’s shoulder’s, hanging off of them and giving them a new coat of paint.

“Man, feels like forever since we did a mission together. Not since those Star ninja. And, uh, nice to meet’cha Yuuki. Man… Who coulda thought we’d do this like two years after the academy. Hehehe. So, I gotta report this to the village and such, then got… a few more missions out here. Anything change in the Leaf recently?”

Aiko didn’t respond to Mai’s question, quickly sliding out from under her arm. She proceeded to try and wipe the blood from her arm, but quickly realized there was too much to do anything about. “Damn it, Mai, don’t cover me in this damn dragon blood! I’m not trying to smell like Hideki’s armpits for the rest of the way home!” Aiko paused her rant, looking over at Hideki, her eyes narrowing.

“And you! Why the hell do you feel the need to try and carry me out of harm's way all the time? Have you ever seen me get hit by any stupid attack like that? Speaking of stupid attacks, what the hell is that giant fist? Who would waste their time making something so useless to a ninja?”

“...Good to see yea to Mai... “ he sighed, Aiko’s words were stinging more than usual. Guess he's been gone to for long so his immunity has faded a bit. “Alright, next time I’ll just leave yea then… And for your information I can make more than one, even a lot of them should I choose!’ Hideki grumbled, man this blood was really warm…

Actually, it was really hot. Really, really, really hot. And it was messing with his head.. Ugh… the hell…

Mai laughed loudly, reverberating around the area.

“Somethings never change. And I don’t think they ever have to. Good to see ya’ll.”

“Yea sure…” Hideki’s face began to flush. “..jeez… It’s.. really hot here…” this wasn’t good.. Just what was this blood doing to him…? Hmm… Wait… he sniffed it… Hmm... This.. probably wouldn’t be that bad… He's heard of some recipes using this… if done right…

“Hey guys, I gotta collect some stuff before I head offseeyeaguysIgottagohahahanothingwrongeverythingisfineohgodwhyisthishappening?” Hideki slowly began to shrink away from Mai and Aiko, forcibly turning away and hunching over, red in the face as he leaps away, his speech having hurried to a very quick pace as he had tried to keep facing away from the young women…

“Graceful. Freakin’ Graceful…”

Aiko frowned at Hideki. What the hell was he on about now? Aiko scoffed and headed towards the dragon to bring some stuff home before she returned home. Her dad wouldn’t believe her if she didn’t bring back a tooth or some scales.

~

 

[Ganryu]

=============================================
Trial #3
-------------------------------------------
Mai had the goofiest smile on her face as she climbed vertically up a mountain. Seeing her friends had been good for her. Killing a dragon? Even better. She wondered if the fishing village would honor her request. It was a strange one, but the meat she delivered had been appreciated, so…

Looking around Mai shook her head. A blizzard was blowing, and Mai did NOT do good in the cold. Her perception was near purely auditory. Not that would help with the wind blowing.

“What sort of freakin plant grows on the side of a mountain by a stream?”

Suddenly she cocked her head as she heard a strange… whistling sound? What on earth? Climbing a few more feet, she saw a bright light. Ever being the curious type, Mai quizzically approached it. It was a sheer white plant.

“Huh. Fits the description. Thought it would be a little more… normal. Guess it is mythical if it can survive here. This thing supposed to create a cureall, with chakra from leylines of the earth. Well, mission accomplished.”

After a bit of messing around to harvest it, Mai laughed maniacally, releasing her Tree Climbing, literally falling from the mountain.

===========================================
Trial #4
---------------------------------------

Mai was smiling brightly as she detoured north. MOST of her missions were in the south, but there was one in particular she had nabbed in the Land of Rivers. Climbing her way up the side of the waterfall, she took a deep breath.

“Good to be back.”

She flinched as less pleasant memories came with it, but… Good or bad, this place had helped Mai grow. It was the first place she’d ever felt mortal with. She hated it, but… at least she hadn’t done anything too stupid lately. Seeing smoke in the distance, she laughed, and body flickered as fast as she could towards it.

“Get my materials, Lord Masamune?”

An old muscled man turned around, looking directly at her with a good eye, a lazy one drifting off.

“Lord? Tch, I’m no Lord. Didn’t I tell you to call things by their proper name. Mister’s a stretch, but I’ll take that instead. Where’s Kabutowari at?”

Mai went deathly silent, turning pale.

“Ah well, ain’t worth ya life for. Huge target on your back anyways. And yes, I did get your materials. Dragon scales, can’t believe ya managed to send so many up river…”

Suddenly a stick hit Mai in the head seemingly out of nowhere as he pointed behind his forge. A pile larger than his house loomed in the distance.

“Can’t you see the damn pile! Blind ninja. Can’t believe you put an entire village to work shipping the damn thing.”

“Whole village… I just asked them to send some’of, didn’t think they’d send the whole thing… minus the one’s Yuuki took.” Mai said rubbing her head.

“Tch, people are grateful when you save them. Gave’em enough meat to last the winter I hear. And it sells for quite a price. Steak they gave me was pretty damn good. Now I assume this wasn’t just an act of goodwill. What’cha want. It ain’t a year yet, so don’t know why ya came.”

“Well, you said I couldn’t afford you. I was hoping this would help change your mind. Also, here for a mission, some deliveries from a black smith who unretired.”

Masamune laughed and laughed.

“Fair price. Alright. I think a ton of dragon scale’ll do for a payment, just a bit. Name your item.”

“Greaves. I can’t use my hands anymore, but I’m still a ninja. If I lose my feet, I’m done. If I can afford them, I’d like some gauntlets too.”

“Ha! Sounds about right. And the items your bringing back are in the back. I requested 3 ninja, sure you can carry them, little girl?”

“I thought you said to call things as they really were?”

“Ha! Fine, Mai Sanada, can you carry them, and your new armor?”

“You bet you.”

Mai went inside to fine an entire array of armors and swords. She didn’t know who had found out about Masamune in the Leaf, or who could afford him, but someone clearly had a large order. Quickly gathering them in a sack, Mai walked back outside.

“Mind if I stay a night or two while you work on the items?”

“Don’t bother me none. Though, everything’s got a price. Are you going to be ready?”

“Yeah… I’ll be ready in about a month. Bringing someone to help me. Hopefully.”

Another stick blow made Mai body flicker away. She was surprised to fine Masamune right behind her.

“Hehe. Don’t think I’m slow now just cause I’m old. I’m older than your village. Don’t say hopefully, you’ll get her or you won’t. Are you ready though? Masamune’s only become more popular. I’m afraid he might reach out to some undesirables soon.”

“The Yoake….”

“Yeah… heard about the trouble they been giving ya. Don’t worry, been keeping an ear out. He’s getting popular around here, but Akai Kyodai ain’t heard nuttin’ yet. You better take care of that before things get real bad. Anyways, go help yaself to some tea. I got work to do, and an adoring fan’s appreciated, but horrible for concentration, git!”

Mai instinctively covered her head and disappeared. She liked Masamune.

 

[Ganryu]

=====================================================

Trial #3
-------------------------------------------
Mai had the goofiest smile on her face as she climbed vertically up a mountain. Seeing her friends had been good for her. Killing a dragon? Even better. She wondered if the fishing village would honor her request. It was a strange one, but the meat she delivered had been appreciated, so…

Looking around Mai shook her head. A blizzard was blowing, and Mai did NOT do good in the cold. Her perception was near purely auditory. Not that would help with the wind blowing.

“What sort of freakin plant grows on the side of a mountain by a stream?”

Suddenly she cocked her head as she heard a strange… whistling sound? What on earth? Climbing a few more feet, she saw a bright light. Ever being the curious type, Mai quizzically approached it. It was a sheer white plant.

“Huh. Fits the description. Thought it would be a little more… normal. Guess it is mythical if it can survive here. This thing supposed to create a cureall, with chakra from leylines of the earth. Well, mission accomplished.”

After a bit of messing around to harvest it, Mai laughed maniacally, releasing her Tree Climbing, literally falling from the mountain.

===========================================
Trial #4
---------------------------------------

Mai was smiling brightly as she detoured north. MOST of her missions were in the south, but there was one in particular she had nabbed by the Hidden Waterfall. Climbing her way up the side of the waterfall, she took a deep breath.

“Good to be back.”

She flinched as less pleasant memories came with it, but… Good or bad, this place had helped Mai grow. It was the first place she’d ever felt mortal with. She hated it, but… at least she hadn’t done anything too stupid lately. Seeing smoke in the distance, she laughed, and body flickered as fast as she could towards it. She'd asked a request of the small fishing village they'd fought a dragon at, and she was curious if they'd done it.

“Get my materials, Lord Masamune?”

An old muscled man turned around, looking directly at her with a good eye, a lazy one drifting off.

“Lord? Tch, I’m no Lord. Didn’t I tell you to call things by their proper name. Mister’s a stretch, but I’ll take that instead. Where’s Kabutowari at?”

Mai went deathly silent, turning pale.

“Ah well, ain’t worth ya life for. Huge target on your back anyways. And yes, I did get your materials. Dragon scales, can’t believe ya managed to send so many up river…”

Suddenly a stick hit Mai in the head seemingly out of nowhere as he pointed behind his forge. A pile larger than his house loomed in the distance.

“Can’t you see the damn pile! Blind ninja. Can’t believe you put an entire village to work shipping the damn thing.”

“Whole village… I just asked them to send some’of, didn’t think they’d send the whole thing… minus the one’s Yuuki took.” Mai said rubbing her head.

“Tch, people are grateful when you save them. Gave’em enough meat to last the winter, I hear. And it sells for quite a price. Steak they gave me was pretty damn good. Now I assume this wasn’t just an act of goodwill. What’cha want. It ain’t a year yet, so don’t know why ya came.”

“Well, you said I couldn’t afford you. I was hoping this would help change your mind. Also, here for a mission, some deliveries from a black smith who unretired.”

Masamune laughed and laughed.

“Fair price. Alright. I think a ton of dragon scale’ll do for a payment, just a bit. Name your item.”

“Greaves. I can’t use my hands anymore, but I’m still a ninja. If I lose my feet, I’m done. If I can afford them, I’d like some gauntlets too.”

“Ha! Sounds about right. And the items you're bringing back are in the back. I requested 3 ninjas, sure you can carry them, little girl?”

“I thought you said to call things as they really were?”

“Ha! Fine, Mai Sanada, can you carry them, and your new armor?”

“You bet you.”

Mai went inside to find an entire array of armors and swords. She didn’t know who had found out about Masamune in the Leaf, or who could afford him, but someone clearly had a large order. Quickly gathering them in a sack, Mai walked back outside.

“Mind if I stay a night or two while you work on the items?”

“Don’t bother me none. Though, everything’s got a price. Are you going to be ready?”

“Yeah… I’ll be ready in about a month. Bringing someone to help me. Hopefully.”

Another stick blow made Mai body flicker away. She was surprised to fine Masamune right behind her.

“Hehe. Don’t think I’m slow now just cause I’m old. I’m older than your village. Don’t say hopefully, you’ll get her or you won’t. Are you ready though? Masamune’s only become more popular. I’m afraid he might reach out to some undesirables soon.”

“The Yoake….”

“Yeah… heard about the trouble they been giving ya. Don’t worry, been keeping an ear out. He’s getting popular around here, but Akai Kyodai ain’t heard nuttin’ yet. You better take care of that before things get real bad. Anyways, go help yourself to some tea. I got work to do, and an adoring fan’s appreciated, but horrible for concentration, git!”

Mai instinctively covered her head and disappeared. She liked Masamune.

 

[Ganryu]

===============
Trial #5
----------------------

It is said some missions catch ninja completely off guard, while others some were born to play. And Mai was born to play the hero.

“Justice wins again!”

Standing atop about 10 stuntman, Mai flashed a victory sign. She was dressed in a very… flashy superhero suit. She even had a cape, and the coolest mask she’d ever seen. She wondered why all ninja didn’t wear capes, they were superfun.

“Cut!”

Mai suddenly slumped her ‘victory sign’ fading to shaking hands. The director laughed.

“Man, I don’t think I’ve seen someone have this much fun for shooting in a long time. Cut it back on the stuntmen though, I don’t need to higher another doctor on set. You guys alright?”

One of the stuntmen flashed a peace sign in the pile. Another groaned.

“Damnit Iga, just cause she’s a chick, don’t pretend that didn’t hurt. It's also a kunoichi.”

Mai shrugged.

“Uh… sorry, I’ll try to be more gentle. This is tons of fun though. Almost makes wish I could do this full time! When’s the film festival?”

“Oh, about a week. I think we can finish filming in three days, and I can pull a few all nighters to get it ready. Thank you so much for coming on such short notice.”

“No problem. Do you know where I could buy a suit like this? This thing's super fun!”

“Uh… I got a letter of introduction with you telling me specifically not to let you take the cape… or anything else... but mostly the cape. Weird, I didn’t think it’d actually come up. Anyways, we’re a small indie company, but if you could tone down your acting a bit, you’d be more than welcome. I mean the superhero movie festival is an annual event.”

“Man, you have no idea how much I’d love to say yes! Buuut, well, I got stuff I gotta do otherwise. Why superheroes? Not like there’s anything that Miss Majestic can do that I can’t. Why not ninjas?”

“Too much blood, hits close to home. People watch these movies to dream. They need heroes to look up to, who could be them. Being too dark ruins that.”

“Yeah… world could use more heroes. I’m tired of blood money myself. But yeah, I’m ready for the next scene whenever those guys are.”

A stuntman tried to stand but fell back over.

“Five more minutes…”
(Costume's totally like Scarlet Witch's)

 

[KageYuuki]

Trial #6
Mai cracked her neck as she walked out of the cave. It was starting to be surprising how many of her missions were in caves. This one was interesting, rescuing a bunch of bandits who got lost in one, and then arresting them. Hiding in them made you more likely to get lost than anything. As she moved, she heard what sounded to be an elephant mowing down the cave. She couldn’t see anything, but Mai’s hearing was such that hardly mattered. She kicked. Invisibility meant nothing if your stealth was shit.

“Who are you?”

A masked shinobi faded into view as the kick connected, sending him skidding back. Pale blue eyes glared at her from behind a mess of black hair. “Who cares?” The greaves and bracers were definitely new, likely as strong as that mesh she wore. Blades were useless here.

He was already moving through handsigns, water pouring from the jars on his belt.

Water Release: Water Heavens Convergence

“I do. If you’re here to fight me, I want to know the name of the stepping stone I’m adding. And why you want your ass beat.”

She watched the water flow. Waterstyle. If she were a ninjutsu specialist. But she wasn’t. Mai faded to black, trying to get close enough to kick the man.

The water snapped forward, forming a dense shield in front of him. He clutched an orb of water in his hand, “Ninja don’t really ask a lot of questions on the ‘why.’ You pissed someone off enough for them to want you dead, simple enough.” He threw a punch, a stream of water launching from his strike.

Coiled Serpent

Mai struck at the incoming punch with a chop. She had to know something, even if this hurt a little bit. Did his defense work in front of his incoming hit, or would it give way? Besides, how strong of a hit could he give? The guy looked like a chick.

His shield of water did move between their strikes, yet the blast of water seemed to pass unhindered. The jet of water struck Mai in the center of her chest, the attacker jumping back then. “Hmph, not half bad… At least this won’t be boring.”

Mai went flying back, hitting the side of the cave. She’d had worse, but it wasn’t exactly a love tap, and her armor did really little against bludgeoning or a jet of water. His armor, on the other hand, seemed to very effective against her blows. She just had to hit him harder.

“Look, either your an assassin who says nothing and strikes from the shadows, or your a brawler who won’t shut up like me. Pick a side! Be chatty or shut the hell up!”

Mai let him make the next move.

He rolled his eyes, pointing at her. Another orb of water formed in front of his finger, spinning and compressing before firing at her.

Water Release: Water Spirit Wave

Mai responded with a kick at it, not having much of an option.

Leaf Whirlwind

The kick and orb collided, water spraying everywhere but not really doing much damage thanks to her greaves. Already, he was following it up with a crescent kick, a stream of water connected to his foot.

Serpent’s Strike

Mai moved as the crescent stuck at him. This was her chance, even if it hurt. She body flickered into the kick, stopping at the moment of impact to tank the entire blow with Solid Earth, then body flickered forward to the boy, kneeing at him with her full force as he kick ended. The water felt like it left a bruise from her shoulder to her chest, Mai wasn’t going to keep taking these, but if she was close range she could at least try something.

With most of his water dedicated to his serpent’s strike, the shinobi’s shield was thinner. Mai’s strike was able to break through it and send him tumbling back. He sprung back to his feet with a wince and formed a handsign, pulling more water from underground.

The pain started to turn to excitement as time slowed down. The sheer amount of damage Mai had taken had taken any sanity she had. She was already above him, following up with a falling kick at full strength.

Leaf Drop

“FASTER! COME ON! HIT ME HARDER!”

Seeing her incoming kick, he flew through handsigns. Looked like there was some truth to the rumors on the Sanada.

Water Release: Great Geyser

Mai became quickly acquainted with the ceiling. However, considering how slow it seemed to her, she managed to land on her feet. A torrent continued to push again her, but at this point, something like a waterfall wasn’t going to stop her. Taking a second while drowning, Mai braced herself against the wall, then focused the chakra against the ceiling, flying as faster than the current downward. In a blink, Mai was on the ground again, stomping on it hard enough to send debris upwards. Unfortunately, the water disoriented her a little so she was a few feet from Ryu. Coughing, Mai glared at him as if she was about to talk.

*Gurgle*gurgle*

Water armor coated his entire body, seemed he wasn’t taking any chances of her breaking through the shield again. Even with the mask, she could see the smirk in his eyes, “Ryunosuke Mizuchi, since you wanted to know so badly.” The same orbs of water from before were scattered across the ground, spinning as pressure built up in them. They’d fire as she drew near.

STOP! STOP! STOP!

A voice said in Mai’s head. At the same time, another voice told her this was her chance to use everything. That high she was feeling now, she could feel more. This Ryunosuke could MAKE her feel it. The fact he was wanting to kill her was a little concerning, but that high!

Mai coughed out a large amount of water, then whistled.

Genjutsu: Freedom of Movement

Mai ducked under the orb this time. It was less a bullet this time to Mai, and more a dodgeball. Or an old lady bowling. The problem was Mai was also an old lady like this. She could see everything, but she seemed to move so slow…

Rushing Ryuunosuke, she drew her two wheels. Her fingers going from shaking to straight all of a sudden. Panting, she announced her name same time as she punched at him with her wheel.

“Mai! OF THE SANADA!”

He seemed to grin then, using another coiled serpent to knock her wheel aside towards the wall. He threw a punch with his free hand, aiming at her nose. Ryunosuke would admit it was odd, seeing her go from hardly moving her fingers to clutching a weapon. A ruse, or some kind of jutsu?

Mai responded with an uppercut to his punch with her other wheel as her first strike was thrown asunder.

STOP! You could kill him if you don’t hold back!

Even with the water armor, that wheel stung a bit. Water clung to both wheels as he jerked to pull her arms away from her body, snapping a front kick at her chest.

Taking the kick, Mai stumbled backwards. Even with solid ground, that one hurt. Why the chest? She hadn’t kicked him in the balls! Time to fix that. The entire time she stumbled back, she crouched, her leg muscles bulged.

Rapid handsigns as she stumbled back, water collecting in his hand.

Water Release: Water Whip

With a crack, the whip shot towards her ankles.

Mai flinched as the whip hit her ankle. She felt something tear. If it wasn’t for her genjutsu on herself, she’d definitely be unable to move it as easily. The whip pulled tight, but if she Ryu thought that was enough, he’d have another thing coming. Mai crossed her arms as she felt the whip tighten. Her entire body felt strong for a second. Well, time to give it some slack!

Mai kicked off the ground with an extreme amount of force. Normally it was a fast bicycle kick. This time the ground cracked beneath her as she kicked off.

So this is the gates. It feels… so good!

First Gate: Tenrin: Heavenly Wheel Kick!

Mai flew like a missile upwards, both her feet aimed straight at her opponent’s family jewels. Inwardly Mai hoped this Ryu’s armor was great. Outwardly she cackled like a witch.

The kick easily tore through Ryunosuke’s shield, sending him crashing into the ceiling. Even with his armor and a shield trying to cushion his rocky collision, he was pretty sure he blacked out for a moment there. Whether from the kick or the resulting collision… it was hard to tell.

“Holy…. Fuck…” He coughed, struggling to even push himself back up.

A foot landed straight on his back, stomping him back into the ground. Mai’s body was screaming, but a combination of her genjutsu and her Senkichi, her kekkei genkai, prevented it from going down. She stomped again and again. A crunchy sound from each footprint.

“Come on! Get up! I WANT MORE!”

She raised it above his head before something in her head went off.

STOP!

Mai bit her lip, her genjutsu breaking and her falling over. Her high faded as she met the ground.

“DAMNIT!”

She screamed at her lack of control, looking at her would-be assassin. She’d nearly killed someone again.

Squirming more out of frustration than anything, she turned to him on the ground, and barked.

“Who sent you!?”

A cough, weak and bloody. The action sent bolts of pain through his entire body. “Wouldn’t… know. Don’t… meet clients…”

“You kill people for people you’ve never met? The hell?”

Then again, Mai had just about killed this assassin for no reason. She could have stopped. She could have figured out his weaknesses…

With a great deal of effort, she stood up and made her way to Ryu.

“I’m dragging you to the nearest village. Move and I’ll break everything else.”

 

[Ganryu]

Trial #7 -See Bandit Beatdown-
=============================

Trial #8
=============================

Mai walked through the slums glancing at the various decrid buildings. Some were rotting, some had fallen in on themselves, and what was worse, there were people still in some of them, squatters.

"Man, I hate going through these areas. "

As she spoke, she felt something pressed against her back.

"Give me your money, lady!"

Mai turned around to see a small boy holding up a knife at her. Mai's only reaction was to raise an eyebrow.

"Are you trying to mug me?"

"Uhuh."

"With a stance like that?"

"Y-yeah! Hurry up and give me your money!"

Mai disappeared, reappearing behind him as she punted him into the air, and watching him fly. A small object fell from his hands as he dropped the knife. On his descent, Mai whistles. She tackled him out the air to stop any fall damage, but held his knife against his throat.

"Ya know, there's a saying, those who live by the sword, die by it. Tell me, would ya kill me by the blade? Would ya? What if I couldn't protect myself, would you stab someone then?"

The boy, understandably, started to cry. Mai pressed the knife handle back into his hand.

"Ya need money, right?"

"Uh... right?"

"Well, come on then, come earn it with me. I hear you try to mug someone again, I'll beat the shit outta ya, but help me with my mission and I'll consider it hard work. 5,000 Ryo sounds fair to me."

"W-what mission? I couldn't possibly help a ninja."

"Sure ya can. I'm just shaking down some deadbeats anyways. They hired us for a bodyguard mission from the Leaf, and then never paid. Act tough and you'll be fine. I've seen ninja younger than ya. I'm probably not too much older."

"Who didn't pay?"

"Oh some dude's named Sakamoto."

"The Sakamoto gang? They rule these streets! They could make your life a living hell?"

"Or I could shake them down, take the money, give ya some, and move on. Which sounds better to you? Got anything worth keeping round here anyways?"

The boy just looked down. His head said 'no.'

"What's ya name."

"Kenshin."

"Great! Let's talk about your knifework on the way there. There are two main grips I want to go over. Foregrip has more range, backgrip has more power, now..."


=========

By the time the two made it to the building, the boys head was swirling. Mai had managed to talk about knives for a good half hour... and was still going. By this point, she was going over how fight defensively with one, and showing off a scar on her arm. She suddenly stopped.

"Well, here we are. Go on, knock, and tell them why we're here."

"Wha-?"

"Want'cha money, gotta work. Honest day's work for an honest day's pay."

"Ain't ya a ninja?"

"Yeah... guess I'm a pretty bad one. Ain't never killed a man, I scream constantly, and I like a fair fight. Oh well. Well, go on."

The boy gulped, shaking as he faced the door. After a second he knocked. Nothing happened. He looked back to Mai.

"Well, go on, knock. Scream why you're here!"

"I -ur... This is going to get me killed...

Hey, uh, we're here for the money for the Hidden Leaf? Please don't kill me!"

"Bah." Mai walked up and kicked the door, sending two pieces smashing against the opposite wall. A dark hallway met them, and no further sounds. "Well, go on in. Let's go collecting!"

The boy walked forward obediently, a little more confidently, but still twiddling his thumbs.

"Come on, ya tried mugging a ninja, this ain't the dumbest thing you've done all day. Be proud. Full of confidence. You can't buy pride. "

Nodding full of regret, the boy started to look around the compound. Everything seemed to be moved, like they'd vacated premises. Mai stood back leaning against a wall.

"Huh, maybe I shouldn't have made such a grand entrance into the town."

"W-what did you do?"

"Hehehe... may have kicked a gangster into the lake."

"But we're in a dry plateau!"

"Smart kid, ain't'cha. And that's why everyone noticed me."

The kid looked through a desk, it being empty. After a second, he knocked it. He then grew a smile as he lifted the bottom of the draw out of it, revealing bills and bills lying in the drawer.

"Yeah, there are false bottoms here. Hehe. Looks like they didn't leave after-"

Before the kid could move any further, teh roof tile over him shot downwards, a man in a black cloth and with a koachi flying down at him silently. The kid screamed and raised his arms over his head. It wasn't til thirty seconds later he realized he wasn't dead. Panting he tried to find out what happened. Looking to his left, he saw the outline of a man cut out of the wall. On the other side he saw Mai in a fighting stance, one foot out and the other grounded.

"You scream like a girl, hahaha, should have heard yourself."

"Y-you think this is funny? I nearly died!"

"Nah, ya didn't. Knew that guy was there from the start. Just like I know the other six in the panels here."

Suddenly the room exploded with activity, false panels and tiles flying out the woodwork as men scrambled out of them running to the front door. Mai faded to black, and suddenly six more holes appeared in the wall.

"Mission didn't include beating them up, but it just felt right. So, cost of the mission they were supposed to be was 50,000 Ryo. Grab that for me, would'ya? I can give ya a room at the inn for a day. Prob better than sleeping in some chimney."

============

Mai went to bed with a curious expression on her face as she left the money next the kid.

============

Next morning, Mai woke up to find an empty bed next to her, and she sighed. Some people...

She then found a bag next to his bed. Curious, Mai counted the money inside. Only 5,000 Ryo short. Kenshin probably hadn't seen her count it over his shoulder yesterday. Mai sported the biggest smile as she took to the streets. She found him easily, looking confused as he roamed the streets.

Keeping to the roofs, Mai watched. The kid looked mornfully at a fruitstand and passed right by it. His fingers twitched, but then he approached the owner and then paid for it.

Continuing watching, Mai saw him do this several times, but he never once acted on it. Finally as he headed down a dark alley, Mai appeared in front of him out of nowhere. The kid screamed, holding up his little knife for self defense.

"I decided, I'm going to take you for the next few missions! Money's to be made, come on!"

"What?"

"Well come with me for a bit! I could think of a thing or two for you to do, but I gotta see ya in action first. Good pay, fun skills. Come on, be a ninja with me!"

"I... guess?"

Before the kid could react, Mai faded to black again.

Sanada Style: Abduction Jutsu!

 

[KageYuuki]

Trial #9

Standing in the Hokage’s office, Yuuki shifted slightly. This was definitely one of the more more unusual missions he’d ever been given. He’d seen Kennichi’s work before though, he couldn’t deny the man had talent. But hiring ninja for a photoshoot…?

And on top of that, he had to spar Mai.

Yuuki had to resign himself to the fact he probably wasn’t going to be able to move for the next few days.

Mai, on the other hand, shook with excitement. She was more dressed up than normal. While she had SOME pride in her looks normally, albeit not much, today was for a photoshoot. Granted, having to ask her mom to put on the makeup had been a bit of a shot to her pride. The fact she looked like a painted doll didn’t, she looked damn fine. Then again, not like Mai could have put on makeup if she wanted too. Looking at her hands, she wondered if whoever she eventually married would have to do makeup too…. And cooking… and…

By the time Mai had made it to the shoot, she looked more down than Yuuki did. She looked over to the photographer and Yuuki.

“So… how does this work… Seems like we’re the two worst ninja to ask to do a photoshoot. I’m faster than some ninja can catch, and Hideki told me Yuuki’s quote-unquote ‘boring’. You want us to make this flashy as hell, or an actual spar? Yes, I read the mission description. I always read the mission description.”

Yuuki shot her a dark look.

Kennichi laughed, a mess of blond hair and freckles he hardly looked any older than the pair in front of him. “Then this will definitely be a good challenge! Capturing the art of a shinobi in motion, no fun if you guys are making this easy for me.” He tapped a sturdy case in his hand, “I snapped some good shots of some pretty fast ninja in the last chuunin exam, we’ll see what happens.”

He circled the pair, bright blue eyes studying them from behind thick framed glasses. A short nod before giving the Hokage a short bow, “thank you for letting me borrow your shinobi for the afternoon.” Kennichi was already striding from the office, “Let’s go~!”

Mai turned to Yuuki and Kennichi.

“You want a prolonged spar or a short intense one? Imma… little afraid of going a little crazy in a prolonged one anyways… But whatever the client wants. Also, uh… sorry Yuuki?”

Wish this was against Yukari… She knows about how I get anyways.

“Well if you guys are more comfortable with a short match, I can definitely work with that. Most fights between ninja aren’t long lived anyway.” Kennichi blinked, “oh! I was so excited I didn’t even introduce myself. Kennichi Suigin, at your service.”

“Yuuki Uchiha,” He eyed the photographer. While actually excited to work with him, Kennichi was far more… energetic than he expected.

“Sweet. I’m Mai, of the Sanada. Imma give you my best then. Well, Yuuki, ready to go when you are. I, uh, I got exactly two minutes in me I can use my hands. It’d be a waste to do that for seal of confrontation. Can we start with a whistle instead?”

“Yuuki Uchiha and Mai Sanada… got it!” Snapping open the case, Kennichi pulled out his camera and checked it over. “You have no idea how glad I am I didn’t end up working with an Aburame. Don’t get me wrong, they’re great ninja! But… the bugs…”

He shuddered before snapping a few photos of the pair facing off. “Can’t use your hands, hmmm. Then before you guys actually start… Yuuki, can you give me the seal of confrontation? Show me the cool and collected Uchiha.”

Yuuki raised an eyebrow at him for a second before shrugging and doing what he was asked. He tried not to pay attention to how close Kennichi got a couple times.

“Great! Mai, Mai, if you can’t really use your hands then show me your usual stance then. You’re a taijutsu master, let the camera capture that.”

“Well, like I said, I can use them for exactly two minutes, really technical answer as to why, but if you want my regular stance before that…”

Mai braced herself, putting her arms up close to her defensively, and her legs out. The stance alone gave Mai a small amount of excitement, her grin widening and her eyes starting to turn wild. Or as Yuuki would come to know the expression as, fun times.

“There’s that fiery passion and confidence I was looking for!” The shutter clicked several more times before Kennichi jumped back out of the way. “Alright, ready when you guys are.” He made no effort to hide the grin on his face as two sharp whistles cut through the air.

Yuuki would likely notice that Mai’s whistle was infused with Yin chakra. In a way, it was cheating, she was starting off with a jutsu already active. However, the yin chakra only covered Mai, outlining her nervous system. It was a genjutsu Mai cast on herself. Her fingers instantly changed from shaking to a skillful touch. She reached behind her, grabbing her wheels, and faded to black. What Mai didn’t know, however, was about Yuuki’s sharingan. She was used to people being surprised about her reappearing in front of them. No matter how many times a ninja had seen it, no one was ever prepared for a blitzkrieg they never saw coming.

Mai would ‘reappear’ in front of him, in reality just dropping back down to her normal speed, as she kneed forward at his chest. Mai already had her berserker grin on.

Tapping the seal on his wrist, Yuuki quickly scattered tags in the air right where she would appear. The word cripple was scrawled across them. As soon as the tags left his hand, he body flickered back and began focusing his chakra. Mai’s speed was no joke, he needed to slow her down. Sharingan or not, he couldn’t physically keep up with her at a close range.

Mai saw the tags appearing, and laughed. She held her bracers in front of her face, blocking the only really exposed part of her skin as she dove through. She filled her body with yang chakra for a moment, expecting it to be explosive tags. Several of them would press against her blouse and pants, before Mai shot off, still after Yuuki. Yuuki would see them not seemingly connecting to her body underneath.

“Damn that’s going to hurt when they go off, but I ain’t going to stop for a little thing like that!”

Yuuki’s eyes narrowed as the seals failed to take hold. Sure, they stuck to her, but something was keeping them from activating. That jutsu of hers? Having built up enough chakra, wings of paper formed on his back. No, the yin chakra seemed to mainly connect to her hands. The yang chakra didn’t touch the tags either.

Mai stepped forward again with her bodyflicker, while waiting for the tags to go off. Seeing as they didn’t, or even if they did (she didn’t care), she aimed a bodyflicker straight past Yuuki, thrusting at a wing with one of her wheels in hopes of destroying it. Hitting him with a wheel might be poor taste, but paper was free game!

Focusing chakra to harden the wing, Yuuki was able to keep the wing from tearing. Though the blow did spin him somewhat. The Uchiha took advantage of the momentum to loose a volley of shuriken at Mai before jumping and taking to the air. He was still getting the hang of flight, but a few seconds would be enough.

Mai raised her bracers over her face to protect it from the shurikens, only taking a few scrapes to her edges, and then saw Yuuki start to take off. She slightly snarled at it, like a dog. She could probably turn off her jutsu and just deal with him through sheer stamina… but that’s not what would get the photographer a good photoshoot. Mai braced herself, her feet sinking into the ground, and she barked.

“KENNICHI! Eyes here! This is about to end in the next few seconds. Also, can ya keep up?”

The photographer had been running all around the battlefield, even sliding under where Yuuki had taken off from to get better shots of the two. “I think so! Man, I’d kill to be able to make clones like some of you guys.” He was already back on his feet, running to get a further shot.

Mai’s teeth bared and she watched Yuuki in the air wildly. The amount of pressure she was building up, it looked less like she was going to jump after Yuuki, and more like she was going to try and clear the atmosphere. She said she was going to use everything in a short burst, and damnit, that meant EVERYTHING. Takara could be mad later. Mai, then crossed her arms.

Yuuki eyed her warily. The sheer amount of chakra now flowing through her, things were quickly slipping away from just a sparring match. He had intended to test that armor of hers a little further, see if the exposed skin on her face and neck were really the only weak points. But, well, fuck plan A…

A few sheets of paper were already starting to fall from his clothes as he waited. Sure, he had gotten faster at turning completely to paper with Dance of the Shikigami. But he had a sinking suspicion he was still going to feel this…

Mai roared, primal and furiously. And then she kicked up from the ground with a bicycle, not even bothering to aim in Yuuki’s even general direction. It shot Mai above where he had been flying, and to the side of most of the papers. Mai wondered for a minute how he would like wearing his own explosive tags (as she wasn’t even remotely familiar in other sorts of tags)

Tenrin: Heavenly Wheel Kick

For a second, nothing happened, then a vacuum boomed, sucking in everything into a single column, pulling Mai into it, all the papers, and Yuuki, likely mixing all three together. As long as his paper wings were up, he’d be fine! They took a blow from Mai before, surely they could take another.

1st Gate: Cross Strike!

Mai laughed wildly into the wind. Below two objects crashed into the ground like two meteors, her wheels had left her grip at the end of her slash. Mai couldn’t feel them anymore. In fact, Mai really couldn’t feel much of anything as she left the skies.

Yuuki had remained intact long enough for his eyes to widen as he was suddenly sucked into the whirlwind. His now paper body being loosely held together was meant to help dissipate the blow Mai had prepared, it also didn’t stand much of a chance against the winds. Her cross strike was more than enough to send the hundreds of sheets flying all over the battlefield.

Unfortunately, the Uchiha wasn’t the only one caught in the vacuum of Mai’s attack. Kennichi had practically faceplanted, barely keeping his camera from being crushed beneath him. Or ripped out of his hands. There was nothing the dazed photographer could do to protect it from debris, he was pretty sure he heard the glass lens breaking.

Or maybe that had been his glasses.

...Why couldn’t he move? “Uh… guys?” Kennichi’s voice was muffled against the ground, “A little help? Please…?”

A thud could be heard as Mai crashed a few feet away from him, still giggling in a semiconscious state.

Kennichi wriggled in vain against the pair of tags that clung to him, only pausing when a series of scream could be heard from the nearby hot springs.

A few hours later the trio sat in a restaurant, Kennichi insisting on treating them while they looked through the developed photos. With his glasses missing and bandages taped to his forehead and cheek, the photographer looked like he’d been in a fight too.

Yuuki rested his forehead against the table, keeping the broken nose and black eyes from view.

Mai could hardly move, but seemed in extremely high spirits. It was fun to have a chance to go full out from time to time. Fact Yuuki could take it was even better. She’d offered the photographer to replace anything broken, but now there was something more on her mind.

“So, how’d the photographs turn out? I’mma be impressed if ya could keep up. Don’t know if I’m fastest in the Leaf, but definitely up there for everyone in my class and all their sensei’s. That was fun. You have fun, Yuuki?”

“Yeah, sure,” he grumbled. Wooden rinse buckets should not be able to hit that hard…

Kennichi hummed as he flipped through the photos, a bright little melody that was bound to get stuck in your head. He sorted them into piles, good shots in one and the blurry pictures in another. There was even one of the rock an instant before it smashed his camera lens. Surprisingly, there weren’t too many blurred to the point you couldn’t make anything out. “I’d say I’m pretty happy with a lot of these! Love the lighting on this one,” he held up a picture of their initial standoff, just as Mai started her opening lunge. “Go ahead and look through them if you want.”

 

[Ganryu]

Trial #10 - Dancing Flames
----------------------------------------------
Dearest Hokage, we require assistance. We, The Dancing Flame, have an upcoming performance in the south of the Land of Fire. The problem though, we are down a member, Toyo. You’ll notice that this is the same letter we sent you earlier, well that would be because the last ninja you sent us didn’t work out. We’re perfectionists, and we work until we have it right. He was… not perfect, and it seems like our practice damn near killed him. And that was the warmup~! So… if you could send us someone with a little more stamina, we really need another performer!

Mai approached the large circus tent a little confused. D-did ninjas regularly get asked to perform? She’d already tried being a movie star, and that was alot of fun, what was the harm of a little dancing? It sounded too easy honestly. Sure, they mentioned working some poor guy half to death, but some ninja were wimps. Anyone could make handsigns (other than Mai), but it took dedication to train every day enough to be fit.

“Hey, you guys the Dancing Flame? I’m Mai, of the Sanada. Was told you needed another dancer, and well, here I am. Want someone a little more fit than the last guy, well, meet the fastest ninja in the Leaf. 100 pushups, 100 situps, 100 squats, and a 10 kilometer run every day is what I call a good warmup!”

From the group of dancing performers emerged a tall dark skinned man, his strong tree trunk-like arms crossed and stood a good 3 feet taller than Mai, his pot belly sticking out quite abit as well.. He was ginormous, damn well looked like a dark skinned Sanada from all the muscle, he was covered in burn scars that he seemed to wear like marks of pride.

“So you’re the one they sent us eh? Yea look like yea got a better chance than the other one.. Hmmm…” the deep treble of his voice rattled one’s heart like standing near an immense drum beat. “The last one didn’t last in our warm up, for it is not ONLY a warm up, but one in the literal case!” the dancers behind him seemed to take up this que, starting to light the flames that they would be dancing with on both ends of their poles, several already spinning the dangerous looking implements in circles, leaving trails of mystifying flame in the air.

“Come then! We shall show you the steps! Clear your mind of what you know and forget your fear of fire! Here, we come to it as equals! Letting the flames in our hearts speak to it as a comrade!! Each beat of our hearts filling us with fiery PASSION!!!” he clutched a fist in the air, getting a collective “HOORAH!” from the dancers, each with a razor sharp focus.

‘Think you can do this? The last barely lasted a day.”

An insane laughter and pure look of joy from Mai likely answered his question better than any words could have. Mai honestly thought this was going to be boring. She watched every detail, she’d need it later. This was worth spending Genjutsu: Re:Life on!

“Think I can do this!? THIS IS AWESOME! Uh… I can’t get too excited, medical and all that stuff, but I’ll show you passion! Show me what you want! I’m one of those ninjas no jutsu works twice against because I remember everything by the next day. Whatever part you have for me, I’m in!”

This. This was Mai’s element. The domain of fire.

The man let out a rancorous laugh, a laugh that shook the very floor beneath them. “THIS! This is what I’ve been talking about! Abit of damn confidence! Not some damn sneaky willowy waif who acts all secretive and mysterious, worthless I say! Have some personality damn it!”

The man lifted up a pole and handed it to her. “Now, keep watch of the others, we’re gonna do this without the fire at first, but then, we set them alight! You will have a key part to this dance, Remember what i said, confidence! Falter and you will be burned, thats how fire works you see!

Follow it, it’s movements, it’s sway, it’s ferocity! BE THE FLAME!”

“BE THE FLAME!” repeated the other dancers, men and women looking as fired up as their boss.

“Each burn is a lesson, one you must take to heart and understand why it happened. Life, it works the same way, fire is life, life is fire!”

“LIFE IS FIRE!”

Mai liked this bunch. For a minute she slightly imagined doing this for a job. Nah, she was a ninja, but this was a cool mission at least. She limply held the pole, she could actually grab it here in a second once she knew what she was doing. She watched every moment like her life depended on it, and made the motion for them to continue with it. She could fill in any spot after words, but only if she didn’t miss it.

Immediately following the dance, Mai, first, blinked, second, sat down on the floor.

“Give me a second to memorize that. Ain’t got anything fancy like a sharingan to help me remember, but do got genjutsu. I’ll be right back with you.”

Sitting on the ground, Mai painfully made some hand signs. Her fingers never seemed to want to follow her these days, but she supposed it could be worse. She’d rather have her legs than hands any day of the week.

As soon as she finished, suddely Mai awoke to see the dance in front of her. Mai watched the part she knew was hers. Then she watched it again. And again. Finally Mai joined in, just a shadow in a memory. The shadow of a flickering fire.

And after the tenth time, Mai made the ‘kai’ symbol, looking up at the troupe.

“‘Kay, got it.”

With a whistle, Mai firmly grabbed her pole, and walked up confidently. And she danced. Mai hadn’t really had the chance to do something this fun before. To let herself go and move with the music. She liked it. Still, it felt… hollow. Mai was just following the movements of the dancer she’d watched. Step for step, rhythm for rhythm…. There was just him, not Mai. Still, mission was a mission.

“Good enough?”

Mai asked collapsing more than anything. She could totally do it again, but her chakra reserves did have limits.

“EH!? Kid yea did it perfectly but whatchyea fallin for? Need water? Gotta stay hydrated!”

“HYDRATED!”

“Yea don’t to repeat that.”

“GOT IT!”

The boss came back with the water bottles, they had a big ass stash nearby as.. Well.. this WAS sweaty work. “Though yea did it perfectly, whatever trick\ yea pulled there certainly, uh, did the trick!”

Mai nodded.

“Just alot of chakra to remember all that, alot of energy. Think that was just a days worth in what, 5 minutes… So… I’ve got a question. I can copy anyone’s moves given enough time, but well… something felt missing. Felt like there’s more. Mind showing me about dancing in general? Might be fun, who knows. Hell of a workout for even me!”

The man rose back up, the slight worry dissolving from his face as he let out another rancorous laugh. “BUAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! I like your guts kiddo, alright, let's put you through some stuff, this dancing will help yea get quicker on yer feet, yea may be a ninja but no ninja can become a full on dancer in a day! We’ll fix that footwork of yours!”

 

[Ganryu]

Trial #11
===================
See Trespassers.

 

[Ganryu]

Trial #12
===================
Ninshu - Mai's ultimate Trial - Part I
===================

Mai continued up the path to the Hidden Waterfall Village. She visited Masamune regularly around here, but she’d only been to an inn inside once. The fact she had any missions at all here was a miracle. Afterall, most of the small villages had just about openly revolted against the Hidden Leaf. Then again, she had taken missions the Hokage was approving and working off of, so… she’d best be careful… for once. Or at least delay whatever chaos generally followed Mai. That, and this was the last mission of the batch. Ever single mission she’d been out on for the last month, she’d completed. Minus the bandit one, but that had received the Hokage’s blessing.

“What have I learned anyways. I said I wanted to see the world for myself. My clan lied to me… but I can see how our Kekkei Genkai is kinda pain in the ass. Still, shouldn’t they warn us about it then? Then again, the Sanada are ‘just a bunch of berserkers you have to keep on a leash’ as that Hyuga jackass put it to me once. I think I’ve done more than been on a leash though. I’ve made some good friends, made due with my injuries. I stared in a movie, and learned to dance. My nindo’s stronger than ever, and Yukari’s seemed to have managed without me. Think it's been worth it, even if I don’t get to jonin, I’m happy. I’m me. I’m Mai, of the Sanada or not, I’m Mai.”

Listening to the breeze again, Mai didn’t bother going forward. She just listened. The most calming sound of all was that of her heart. Taking a long breath that lasted half a minute, Mai exhaled, then started walking again.

“Time for a perfect record, he-he.”


=========================


Looking at the scroll again, Mai double-checked it time again. It literally said ‘Meet me under the oak tree. THE OAK TREE in the village. I’m needing a sword retrieved from some nobleman. I don’t think its too hard, but I’d like to discuss it in detail. You can accept or decline then. There are some details I’d rather not discuss via letter.’

Well… there were several oak trees, but Mai had the oddest feeling she’d found it. Looking at the massive tree overlooking the entire village, she was faaaairly certain. Walking under the roots, Mai realized this still could take some time to find someone. Who was she even looking for? The whole letter was suspect.

Sitting and meditating for a second, Mai found the nearest heartbeat and was off. It was at the heart of the tree. Finding him, Mai saw an old man in a black robe.

Mai didn’t remember moving, but her foot was inches away from his head, and she felt a sword pressed against her neck.

“Murasame…”

“Sanada.”

Both sheathed their weapons, looking mutually unhappy. A drop of blood dripped down Mai’s neck. He’d been faster. If either followed through, she’d be without a head, he’d get a limp kick.

“Of all the -” they both started at the same time, then stopped. After about a minute, both took a seat on a root, and Murasame began.

“Alright, first and foremost, I don’t know the ranking of this mission, and I’ll pay what you need. Send a better ninja if you must, Sanada. As for the mission itself, well, let me start laying out the story. DON’T interrupt or this contract is void here and now. First of all, my master is an idiot.” Mai snarled. “But he taught me how to blacksmith, I won’t lie. I believe a sword should kill, and so my swords are sharper than any other. He believes they should protect, so his are more durable than mine. The fact is, the two of us are the best smiths in the world, because we use ancient techniques. Forgotten ones. We put our souls into our blades. Other blacksmiths talk about how they do so, but they are figurative. We are literal. Each piece we make is part of us. And some little wench went and smashed twenty of my blades. That.Hurt.”

Mai moved to object, but a stare cut her off. She hated Murasame with a passion, but if he was telling her this there was a damn good reason. She cast a quick genjutsu to calm herself/stop her from breaking the old man. He continued.

“Now, there are a lot of reasons this technique is lost. We don’t even remember the proper name. I think it was Ninshu, but who knows? Probably better lost. Masamune warned me not to teach another the little secret. I thought he was blabbering on about me being a disappointment, so, naturally, I didn’t listen.

I took Shuten as my apprentice. Ambition at its finest. He wanted to make the world’s strongest blade. So I happily taught him to blacksmith. And he made fine blades. So I showed him our little secret to REALLY blacksmith. He took a shine to it. I hate to say it, but he was probably better than me.

Now, if you think I’m evil, you should have seen what Shuten did. He realized a way to use our technique is such a way as to disgust me. I think swords should kill. Its natural. Blood to make’em, hah! Fine! But what he did crossed a line. Something tells me someone like you would vomit if I told you the… finer details. And that’s saying something after the horrible things me and Masamune do that you lot don’t know about and never will. Hehehe, suffice to say, we’ve been around for a loooong time. But a summary of Shuten, he decided not to use his soul to make the swords. He’d bind others to it. Brutally. Now, I can’t have such a man reflect on me!”

“So you want me to take him down?” Mai finally chimed in.

“Bah, as if you could. I killed him years ago, before you were a gleam in your father’s eye. Anyways, I’ll forgive that interruption. But I killed Shuten, but I never could find his stache. They are more incriminating than anything else. Worried me sick for decades, but then no one ever heard of them. So, I thought I was safe. But then… I heard rumors. Rumors that made me worry. A samurai in the Land of Frost proclaiming him the bane of the ninja nations. Nothing new. But… the blade he carries. It’s Bājin Chikara. I’m sure of it . I’d know that blade anywhere. I can’t hunt him down myself, and I can’t have my village knowing the information. But I can hire a Leaf ninja to discreetly take care of the problem.”

“I won’t kill him.”

“A) I’m the client, you will, or someone else from the Leaf will. B) I’m not asking you to. Break the sword and I’ll be happy. Breaking my things is what you excel at, isn't it? Normally, I’d suggest this is a higher rank mission, but… you should do nicely. You’ve destroyed so many of my blades already, almost fate you should break my foolish apprentices. And other ninja might just blab this information, and make it public. You won’t, because you know what would happen to Masamune if you did…”

“What would happen? He might get more fame with a forgotten technique.”

“Hah! Innocent as ever. We’re smiths, how do you think we got to be so old?”

“Healthy life decisions?”

“HahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!. No. There’s a piece of our soul in each of our weapons. It connects to the user of our blades. When that user dies, there’s often a bit of life energy left. Yang chakra I believe you call it? Well… Hehehe, it’s great for a long life, I can tell you that. Why I make so many blades. Now, Mai, of the Sanada, Leaf ninja, do you accept this mission? Or do you believe a better ninja is needed.”

Mai took a moment to think, the calming genjutsu helping her sort her thoughts.

“The mission will be done either way. I do, however, have to report to the Hokage whether or not I accept this mission. Expect results in a fortnight. ”

“Good… good. Probably best if you do it soon as you can though. I hear this samurai was heard fairly close to Fuji… I think that’s the Lightning Daimyo’s summer house, and more importantly, in the Land of Lightning, outside your jurisdiction, unless you want an incident of course.”

Mai nodded dully, and Murasame seemed disappointed he couldn’t get a rise out of her.

“Bah, whatever. Either way, go on. I’m meeting a senile old man here to play Shoji. Its been a while.”

As soon as Mai left the giant tree, she released her Calm genjutsu, and kicked a root hard enough to make the tree shake. This mission was way out of her league… but she was probably could get to this samurai faster than another other ninja. She’d have to let the Hidden Waterfall send a hawk detailing what she was about to do to the Hokage. If she failed, someone had to take care of it quickly. Mai had tried to stick to C-ranked missions, but this… this was A. And she was taking it with or without permission.

 

[Ganryu]

Mai shivered slightly as she bodyflickered through the snow. She’d left in such a hurry she hadn’t really dressed for this weather. That, and buying winter clothes in approaching summer was a little bit difficult. Not that the Land of Frost cared what time it was. There was the seasons of winter, winter, winter, and superwinter. Still, this mission was important if what Murasame had told her was true.

Mai smiled. This was her first chance to prevent an international incident! She just hoped she wasn’t jumping the gun… again. She stopped with a frown, more snow falling on her.

“Why am I really doing this… Do I want to help the Leaf, or prove that I’m awesome just to fail again… Shit, I can figure this out later. I got to stop this guy.”

It was about half a day later when Mai found a figure, standing atop a mountain’s edge. Immediate jealousy hit her… he was dressed warmly. Mai took a deep breath.

“Are you the samurai with the blade, Bājin Chikara?”

The samurai rose an eyebrow, his hardened face barely turning to the new source of noise amidst the wind. A single blade lay strapped to his side, the sheath looking like it was once beautiful but scarred and blackened from fire. The man turned towards Mai, his long ponytail being blown in the wind as she saw the long starburst shaped scar across his left eye.

The man glares down upon Mai, his arms crossed and singular eye staring down upon her shivering form. He took in a deep breath and finally spoke back to her.

“Indeed, I am,

No need to introduce yourself young one,

I do not know who you are,

Not your name,

Nor your creed,

Nay, not your clan,

But I know what you are,

You are,

Ill prepared.”

And at that moment the man seemed to blink forwards and already be upon Mai, the blade held high and crackling with intense energy, the blade impacting her body with an immense explosion that rattled the mountain, causing a gargantuan avalanche on the other side of the mountain.

Mai went flying into the snow, panting more in shock than anything. Mai had barely enough time to react with Titan’s Flesh, her defensive jutsu to take a punch, before it resounded against her chainmail. The shock was less the pain (which was definitely, definitely. definitely there), and more the fact someone had just blitzed her. Standing up, Mai, heard a rumble before she could even assess how much damage she’d just taken.

“What the hell are you?”

This was a samurai, right? The same samurai that were dying out due to ninja? Mai moved her ass, jumping as a sheet of snow passed under her feet. The game just changed.

“Tch, doesn’t matter. You're fast. Well, so am I!”

Mai faded to black, reappearing with a knee strike in front of the samurai. At least she no longer felt cold.

“Fool!” the samurai wasted no time, the knee was intercepted with the pommel right upon the cap with a forceful strike, the man’s eye narrowed as he placed both hands upon the blade and slashed upwards, the blade catching against her greaves but the eruption of force still forcing space.

“I am a true samurai, and with this blade I shall carve out a new land.” her cut the air with a downward slash, the chakra extending far out further than the blade, causing a massive eruption of destruction to rock the landscape and follow Mai in it’s wake of devastation.

Mai dived to the side, only for a second allowing herself to glance at the destruction. The avalanche was literally cut in two for a moment. Mai’s head snapped back to the samurai as time slowed for her. But Mai did not advance. Mai panted in the cold as she rode the snow for a minute, flashes of a sword appearing in her stomache passing by her again and again.

I’m going to die. I’m going to die.

What the hell was this feeling? She felt cold and was sweating. Totally shouldn’t happen.

‘Hmph.” the samurai lept forwards, landing upon a rock and sending the flat stone surfing down the wave of snow like a surfboard, his sword pointed forward and at the ready the next he saw of the young lady… “Just why do you come here child, this fight does not belong to you!”

Mai shook her head, sliding onto a rocky outcrop as snow cascaded down the mountain.

“Yeah it does… more than you know. That sword you have, it was made by killing someone. If anyone figures out how its made, we’re all screwed. I walk the path of not killing, I have a hard enough time living in the age of ninjas. It’d be harder if we kill just to make a sword. That, and I’m a Leaf Ninja, don’t you hate ninjas? Well? Come at me.”

Mai gave a false grin. She had to be confident. She was Mai. So this person was fast. He hadn’t killed her yet. She could still do this. She could still be better than him. Mai ignored something warm drip down her temple, and raised a foot high into the air.

Leaf Drop

She smashed the rock she was standing on, and kicked it at the samurai, sending a spray of debris at him. Mai then body flickered to the side, hoping the distraction would let her blindside him.

“Hrmm?” The man furrowed his brow and launched yet another cleaving explosive line fo destruction upon the incoming debris, the explosion caught it all and sent snow scattering into the air. But through this cloud the man thrust forwards through, a straight line of the deadly chakra drove forwards in a ray of death, it hit the ground in front of Mai, but the eruption of explosive energies once again sent the terrain skywards, the mountain beginning to look pok marked by the battle.

Mai took a deep breath at the incoming explosion. Every time she got close, he cut it off with an explosion. If she couldn’t stop it, there’d be no end. Crossing her arms, Mai unleashed the first gate, and pressed off against the snow.

First Gate: Tenrin: Heavenly Wheel Kick

Mai used everything she had against the incoming explosion, trying to literally force her way through it. Gritting her teeth, Mai still felt much of the explosion rock her body… but she managed to stop it pushing her back. Pressing against the snow, Mai body flickered forward. She whistled next, drawing her two wheels.

“Overly reliant on your sword! What will you do if I stop it!?”

Cross Strike!

Mai made an X slash at the man, concentrating chakra across her whole body. Insanity generally served Mai well, so what was wrong with trying it again? Mai was less trying to hurt the man, and more stop his blade… by taking a point blank explosion.

What was the worst that could happen?

The man’s eye watched as she came forwards, hsi instincts were honed, his body was strong and his reflexes were second to none. Overly reliant on the sword? When you have a tool, you must use it, and use it rightly! As such he did.

Bracing he caught the cross slash upon the sword, but shifted forwards and leapt past Mai, unleashing a series of smaller slashes that were too quick for the eye, sending several small gashes fo energy towards her.

“And just how will you manage that? You know nothing of the will of the samurai.”

Mai had expected one big explosion, and a slash that she could easily catch in the blades of her wheel. The smaller explosions were a little harder to deal with, making his blade elusive. And the explosions meant keeping up with it, even with her kekkei genkai. W-was Mai losing a close quarter fight? Gritting, Mai’s feet started to fall slighting in the snow.

“And you know nothing of Mai will!”

Screw it, Mai used her head. Following another blow, Mai swung her wheels in a side slash and headbutted forward at the man.

Once again the man braced for impact, his sword raised horizontally, until he swiftly turned the blade slightly, reflecting the light of the shining sun into her eyes, using that moment to slide diagonally backwards and stopping his slide just short of a steep cliff.The avalanche finally leaving them with a barren mountainside and a flat plain to fight upon.

“You fight well for somebody so unskilled, in the very least you have tenacity.” the man spun the blade and sheathed it, still holding the handle. “I shall give you but once chance to leave, go and live your life, this does not involve you… The power of this sword shall bring about a new era of peace, I won’t have you interfere with my duty.”

Mai cursed at the glare, losing her balance, and just barely able to catch herself from the side of the cliff, the avalanche dragging her some distance from the man.

The man offered her a chance to leave, giving Mai a chance to catch her breath. Her entire body was shaking. Taking a point blank explosion could outright kill some ninja. Her Titan’s Flesh jutsu was beyond helpful, but it could only go so far. Compounding it with her Freedom of Movement that let her use her hands meant Mai was burning through her chakra like it was a firework. Oh… and the gates. That hurt too.

Meanwhile, this guy hadn’t taken a single blow. She should probably give up. This guy could give Takara a run for her money. Hell, the fact Mai had even survived was amazing. She should be proud. And she’d called the Hokage for the appropriate help. She should definitely do the smart thing.

“I give -” Mai stopped paralyzed. She closed her eyes and opened them again. Why couldn’t she just admit defeat once in her damn life?

A smile formed despite herself. She was such an idiot...

“Sorry, guys…”

She stared directly at the man as she approached him.

“Mai.” She said simply not breaking her stride, her refusal to back down plain. She then moved a little faster, and a little faster, breaking into a sprint towards the man, flickering like a shadow towards him.

The man closed his eye and side stepped, and lashed out with an arm grabbing the young woman by the neck with his outstretched hand. “You use that trick to many times… An observant opponent can see through it after the second or third…” the man tightened his grasp, the sword still in it’s sheath.

“So foolish…. You would have been a strong samurai… But you lack discipline and the intellect to know when not to engage a stronger opponent…” the man stood tall and his grip was like iron. “Goodbye Child, know that you die in honor.”

Mai found it was hard to banter when you were literally getting choked…. Not that it was necessarily the worst way to go… Struggling against his grip, Mai found it only getting tighter and tighter. Desperate, she eyed his sheathed sword, and her arm reached out to it, grabbing it in its sheath. Mai remembered Murasame’s explanation that the sword had a soul. Whoever was in that sword was Mai’s only hope of at this point not dying, forget winning. No. Never forget winning. She shot out her chakra, forming it on the fly to a simple genjutsu, a simple message to resonate through the sword, through Mai’s whole body into whoever she was touching. The sword, and the samurai.

Help!

Mai didn’t remember much of what happened next after the message rang through the sword. All she remembered was the bright, bright flash. Then the ringing. She remembered white all around her as snow fell. It was quiet… really quiet.

====================

 

[Ganryu]

A ringing in Mai's ears was the first thing she noticed as she opened her eyes, a bright flash of light blinding her.

"Ugh... what'd I do this time?"

Sitting up abruptly (And regretting it), Mai looked around to a familiar room, and a familiar feeling. A heartbeat monitor set up to her, white sheets, and white rooms.

Might as well be her home away from home. Only, this time was different. Mai regularly hurt herself, but she'd nearly died this time. Only other time she'd done that was against... other swordsman. Mai was starting to hate the weapon. Impaled by one, cut on side missions, and now having been exploded? It was getting ridiculous.

Suddenly worry flooded Mai, something worse than her tattered body. Had she failed? Glancing around the room, she saw by her things, and with it a blade. Mai tried moving, but barely made it an inch forward before pinching an IV. Sitting back down she sighed.

She'd won. She'd beat that samurai, and gotten Shuten's blade. No, Masamune had taught her better. She'd gotten the blade, Bājin Chikari.

The fight was scary though. Mai had been, completely, and utterly outmatched. That samurai was stronger in every single regard. It was honestly sure luck she'd succeeded. She shouldn't have. Mai liked a good fight, but she never wanted to fight something like that again. With an scowl, Mai imagined him again.

"How is it no matter how strong I get, there's always someone stronger? Shosuke, Daisuke, that samurai. Always someone stronger. Is there a point to me getting stronger?"

Mai's face became more peaceful.

"Yeah, yeah there is. Always a reason to get stronger. Means I can do more. I travelled around the world. I've encountered things some people in my class couldn't have imagined: dragons, samurai, S-rank ninja, dancer troupes, movie stars... and there's still a whole lot more I want to see.

I know what sort of ninja I want to be. I still want to be a hero. I still would love nothing more than to beat down the Mizukage. But well... those will come. Those will come. But I have bigger things to do at the moment."

Mai smiled, and laid back to rest. After several boring hours, silence prevailed. She felt like she should have SOME recognition for getting this blade back. But, well, if her friends heard she was in the hospital for the 10th time this year, who'd care? Why did she care? Well... she did something big. Then again...

"Maybe its better if no one recognizes my missions. I can focus on the important things. It is what I want now. I want to protect this village."

She then eyed a nurse, and realized SOMETHING she could do. The sword. It was supposed to have a soul in it. She called the nurse over to let her see the sword. The nurse was put out, but Mai insisted... fairly vehemently.

Grabbed the blade, she unsheathed it halfway, and rested her wrist against the blade. All of a sudden, she wasn't in a hospital room, banged up and injured.

She was in a dark place, a campfire infront of her. Looking around, it wasn't like it was dark, it was just... nothing. Mai could still see herself. Infact... Mai looked at her hands. There were no scars. Mai's brow furrowed, but she started to tear up, and move her fingers.

"That's the first thing you notice? Tch. I take it you're going to force me to use my power too?"

Mai shook her head, and looked up. There was a man standing with his hands folded infront of him. He had a large frame, dough like nose, and the symbols '爆破' (explosion) on his chest. A member of the explosion corps of the Hidden Stone. But there was no headband on him. He looked kinda young, and angry.

"Cry all you like, but there's no reason your soul should be injured even if your body is. Well, most of the time. What does my master want from me this time? Go kill an orphanage? Start a rebellion?"

"Are you Bājin Chikari?"

"Hell no. That's the name of my prison. I'm Ichinose Gari. I really don't like talking, so whatever it is you want, get it over with. I just want to know what atrocities you'll do with my Kekkei Genkai this time."

Mai stood, wiping away the tears, and looking him dead on.

"I'm supposed to destroy Bājin Chikari. "

"You'd kill me? Thank goodness. I was thinking I'd have to live through this nightmare time and time again. Well, go ahead, snap the blade."

Mai look him dead in the eye.

"I can't kill you. I don't kill."

"WHAT? Come on, it's my greatest wish. I've seen a hundred years of violence, being unable to do anything but kill people and do the unspeakable. Decided wasn't worth fighting and just starting going along with whatever my master wanted."

"You helped me when I asked for it, didn't you."

"...Tch. Well, yeah. You needed it, weak little thing. Why don't I just work for you if you're not going to kill me. You're a weak little thing. You could use a blast in your life."

"No. I'm going to get stronger my way. You were literally murdered to make this sword, I'm going to destroy it. But I'm not going to kill you."

"Bullshit. You'll try for maybe a year if you're nice, then give up until someone else claims me. BREAK THE DAMN BLADE."

"I-I..."

"Tch. Look at it this way. I'm already dead. Forget you ever met me. Just break a sword."

"Fine. If I don't break you out in a year, I'll shatter the blade."

"If you want to get any dreams done in life, you've got to have some resolve! I'M DEAD! Break the damn sword."

Mai was suddenly back in her hospital bed.

She wasn't going to kill. Buuut... He was already dead. He was. She didn't kill because she wanted to be remembered by her enemies. It wasn't like there was an actual noble reason for it. Did she want this person she'd never fought to suffer just so he could remember her name?

Mai whistled as she held the blade with both hands. Why couldn't life ever be easy. She started to relax in her bed trying to think what it was she could do. Taking a deep breath, she twisted her hands. Metal snapping could be heard down the hall, a medly of nurses hurrying to check on her.

-Mission Complete-