Boys Will Be Boys [Solo Mission]

From shadow to shadow, a dark-clothed figure snuck through the quiet forest. Hara Kin was on the move, following the trail of her target, two targets actually. They were bandits who had been terrorizing these nearby areas for months. Rumors told that they had been in the Konohagakure academy long ago, but dropped out due to failing most of their grades. Apparently something had stuck, however, because two average chumps couldn’t cause this much trouble without packing some techniques. Hee, this should be entertaining at least. She was hot on the trail and they were last seen somewhere around here... In that dull, brown building up ahead.

Inside, it was a rowdy night at the small, nameless inn, even though the place was almost empty. The innkeeper, an old geezer with more wrinkles than patience glared at his customers, two burly brothers guzzling booze and laughing at each other’s boasting. They had scared the other guests away hours ago, but at least they had money, a lot of it in fact. Deep down, he knew where it was from, but he wasn’t foolish enough to confront two grizzled muscle heads and ask where they had gotten their wealth. He could only keep carrying them more booze and hope they would eventually just black out.

However, the commotion was cut short by a feminine voice piping up. "So you are the silly duo that has been robbing the locals. I was hoping you’d look more amusing, but I guess I shouldn’t expect so much from some academy dropouts." The brothers looked up, only to pale from the sight of a blonde woman in a dark jumpsuit standing on the ceiling and smiling mischievously. She dropped down and landed on the table without so much as making their mugs clatter. "Well then, are you going to come quietly, or-?" Before she could even finish the question, older of the brothers threw down an odd smoke bomb, filling the room with a thick cloud of gas and the duo dashed away.

"Hah, right, I didn’t think so either..."

As soon as the criminal duo got out, the younger one performed few quick hand seals and blew a flame into the inn. In a blink of an eye, the gas lit up with a mighty explosion, setting the entire building on fire. The brothers gazed upon the flames and nearly managed to get a mad cackle going, when a ghastly sight stunned them. From the blazing building, the dark shadow of the blonde woman waltzed out practically unharmed. She had the innkeeper on her shoulder, injured but still alive. Setting the old man aside, she glanced at the burning building and then back at the criminals. "See? This is what happens when you smoke indoors."

Unfortunately, the two men weren’t in the mood for jokes. The moment Hara looked away to make sure the geezer was still drawing breath, the criminal duo bolted deep into the forest. Hara’s form blurred as she dashed after them. Flickering between the branches and bushes, she caught up to the escapees in a heartbeat. ...Well, caught up was bit of an understatement. To be more accurate, she ricocheted off two trees and planted her sole against one brother’s face in a dynamic entry. The other brother immediately retaliated with a small fireball. It forced her to back off and go on the defensive as the twins started a well-practiced attack formation. Even the Kitsune had to go all out with her maneuvers.

After a dizzying game of hide and seek, they finally managed to corner the tricky woman. The younger brother tossed a flurry of shurikens as a distraction. Hara ducked underneath and rolled back. Meanwhile the older brother also dodged underneath and lunged at the woman, managing to wrap his hands around her throat. First she tried to resist, managing to make them both slam against a tree and nearly slipping between the fat fingers. There was an odd sensation, like he had been seeing the woman in two, but the man ignored it and only squeezed tighter. The struggle was brief and soon the woman fell limp within his crushing grip.

Sadly, the victory was short-lived, as hearing a teasing giggle behind him made him shiver. "Aw, isn’t that bit rough for brotherly love?" The criminal slowly turned around, only to see the same mischievous female smiling at him, standing where his bro had been just a moment ago. He stared at her for the longest while, face frozen in utter disbelief, before turning his focus on the person he had been strangling. The genjutsu faded. It wasn’t the woman in his hands anymore...

But his own brother, pale and lifeless.

By now, it seemed like the bigger brother might pop a vein from sheer anger and he gritted his teeth together. The realization of what this strange woman had just tricked him into doing... Forcing a brother against a brother... It made his blood boil! He screamed something incoherent about a crazy bitch. However, the woman’s smirk just widened when the man charged again. She caught the incoming punch between her elbow and knee. A spine-chilling crunch stopped the man cold as his arm shattered under the sudden pressure. Without wasting a beat, she spun around and swept him off his feet with the famous Konoha swiftness.

One painful flip later, Hara had the man pinned against the ground face down. A sly smile crept on her lips and she leaned close enough to gently breathe in his ear, whispering the last, mischievous word he would remember before a mind-twisting genjutsu swallowed him. "Enjoy~" For what felt far too long, he was assaulted by a horrifying vision of his brother slowly dying on his arms. The wounds were too deep, the bleeding wouldn’t stop, the help wasn’t coming... It was like a pure nightmare... But as the images of his pale, lifeless brother flashed before his eyes, it all felt so sickeningly real.

When the poor bandit finally regained consciousness, he found himself tied to a tree, right next to his brother. The devilish woman was in front of him, smiling, staring. He pleaded for mercy, trying everything that crossed his mind. Threatening, reasoning and finally bargaining. Hara only tilted her head. "Anything I want, hm? But what if I don’t want anything at all?" Her giggle and smile didn’t even seem human anymore. "What if... I’m just happy to see you suffer?" As she revealed a kunai and approached the unconscious brother, the man finally broke. A map, he screamed, there was a map in his pocket, revealing of the location of their stolen treasure. All their loot would be hers to take if she just let them go.

Hara stopped and reached into the man’s pocket. She pulled out a tattered piece of paper and opened it thoughtfully. Finally her insane smile melted into her usual one. "That’s a good boy." While she turned to leave, the man breathed a sigh of relief. The moment she was gone, he would struggle free, grab his bro and run. His hopes were silenced when the trickster suddenly stopped. "Oh, by the way..." In a blink, she appeared right in front of the man, with her hands locked in the rat hand seal. "Sweet dreams~" According to the team sent to retrieve the captured criminals, the man was still screaming by the time they got there...

SPOILER: Click to show

{Jutsu and equipment used:}_{Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu
Kitshunsin
Dainamikku Entorī
Magen • Shūdan Fūten
Kawarimi no Jutsu
Kōsa Hō
Konoha Reppū
Magen • Narakumi no Jutsu x2
10 ft of steel wire}