Starring:
Date: May 19, 2014
Summary:
Ari comes across an Iga assassin in the middle of a job.
"Crossing Paths"
Miati Forest
It was a normal afternoon along the border of the Land of Fire. Many trade wagons made their way around this time, beelining for the nearest town to sit and wait until finally reaching Konohagakure. Ari was one of these people, guiding a wagon of trade pulled in by a duo of horses. She was making her own route, while keeping an eye out on other potential traders who may or may not have something she would like as well. A soft yawn escapes her lips, guiding the horse by the reins, her long cloak breezing in the gentle winds as she casually strolls a long. A single blade katana garbed at her hip.
Today's mark is a rather simple merchant who happens to be a bit ahead of Ari on the trail, but the job is well-paying nonetheless. As the wagons come to a certain point in the forest, there are nearly invisible wires strung throughout the streets, though they may as well be completely invisible to a non-shinobi eye. As soon as the man crosses into this area, flower-shaped shuriken would home in from all around via wire direction with intent to stab into his body and strike so many vital points there'll be no chance of his survival.
"In…teresting…" Ari voices quietly under her breath, a set of piercing azure eyes carefully looked forward, witnessing the instantenous slaying of a main… She couldn't quite make up what happened but there were some interesting glints of metal visible from afar, difficult to make out within the thick of the forestry. With that moment she merely raises a hand, ceasing the movement of her wagon as she moves forward with cautious, carefully peering about for anything else that might catch her attention…
With a pulling of reigns, the wagon whereon the man was slain comes to a halt. A moment later, a figure in a black hooded robe drops out of the trees onto the wagon to secure the body and wrap it up to be delivered for the bounty. "Looks like easy money today," Asashi's voice rings out as he wraps the body up and tosses it on the back of the wagon like it's just part of the goods being delivered, covering it with other things so as not to draw attention.
There was still an onlooker within the forest, carefully evaluating the slain man, and then his body being moved onto the wagon as normal goods. She grimances and lightly shakes her head, using this as a momen to carefully move forward, her palm bare against the hilt of her blade. "Are you purposefully being sloppy to garner my attention?" Ari asks from afar, keeping her steps careful in case she too also feel into a trap of the cloaked man's design. " It seems like you are taking my job away from me… Though I suppose it should be quite obvious that I'm not the only one to trek this trading path,"
"I could be," Asashi says with a smirk as he looks over his shoulder at the woman. "Taking your job? I'm just doing one that I've been assigned," he says, reaching up to pull his hood back. "This man was a mark, and now he's going to be turned in. Simple business. If you're a merchant, you should understand that, right?" His voice never really changes tone, making it hard to distinguish if he's playing coy.
"Turned in?" Ari perks a brow, her eyes gazing at the blood drenched about the ground beneath them. "It seems like there isn't much to turn in other than a bleeding sack of meat. Who do you work for? Yourself?" Ari presses her question, a hinting brow of curiosity began to arch, perhaps it was a little surprising that Ari wasn't that weirded out by his balatant show of violence. " I certainly do understand that business means business, though I wonder if your business is truly meaningful,"
"Nothing more is needed since this is what was requested," Asashi says, shrugging his shoulders. "Yes, I work for myself. I'm a freelance assassin." He then quirks his eyebrow at her curiosity, canting his head slightly. "Meaningful? Why would I care about that?" he asks, glancing down at the body then back up to her, as if wondering if she understands why he killed the merchant.
"Because thing with worth anything unless it has a purpose. Do you simply conduct "business" because that is all you are good at?" Ari asks him curiously, before then loosening the tense of her brow. Casually she brushes off her cloak, steping forward to get a better look at him. "Wouldn't it be better to have more merit to your business? Maybe even make a little more Ryo?" She asks further, obviously trying to get a little more information out of him.
Asashi quirks an eyebrow at the woman's question, though he doesn't say anything in return just yet. At her final set of questions, he chuckles a bit and shakes his head. "So, in other words, you want me to work for you or some group you're a part of then?" he asks, deciding to push things toward her point. "I honestly don't care a bit about merit, but making a bit more money for what I do may be something I'd look into."
"I do have a group… a small but very efficient group. I wouldn't be considered the sole leader however," Ari explains as she watches over him, gudging his light chuckle with a faint smile of her own. "We are simply a network of individuals who help eachother survive the tolls of the shinobi world. If you are interested in aspiring for greatness… I'd be happy for you to come along with us," Ari explains while peering at him intently. "We don't lord over one another but there is one specfic task which needs to be done… " Ari goes on to say, but doesn't elaborate. Gauging his interest.
Well, that figures. A small group that wants him in on it. Still, having an extra source of income that may pay higher for his skills may not be a bad thing. "Well, so long as you don't expect me to give up my current way of doing things, we may be able to work something out," he says with a shrug of his shoulders. "What exactly is your specific task?"
"I honestly could care less about what you do in your own time. I don't mean that offensively," Ari replies back with a breath of honest, before pausing and keeping a keen gaze on him. "To be quite frank, I'd like your assistance in the subjugation of Amegakure. I want that village village under our control as a base of operations," Ari proposes the deal to him. "You seem to have a nack for traps, so I'm interested in knowing just what else you may be capable of,"
Asashi listens curious to the woman's proposal, pondering that over. Helping take over a village for a base of operations. "I'm an Iga, so, if you know anything about our Kekkei Genkai, you know part of my abilities, but I also have the ability to create organs with poison in them, something the rest of my clan can't do. Traps and other uses of shinobi tools are a big specialty as well."
"I used to be good friends with an Iga a few years ago. Believe it or not I know exactly just how resourceful you all can be," Ari speaks softly with a hint of a smile. "He didn't mention poison however…that is certainly a unique trait and even more useful… It seems like your specialty would be intelligence and assassination… Perhaps a way to gain some insight and information before we kick off the take over,"
"Indeed," Asashi says, giving a nod then looking the woman over. "Just one question… Who are you?" he asks. "I can't exactly go joining into a group with people who I'm not acquainted with at all. I should probably also ask who the others are in case one of the jobs I find in my "lists" happens to be a bounty for one of them."
"My name? Asano Ari," She introduces herself formally, inclining a light bow of her head. "I'd like to keep the other names underwraps for the time being, if they end up dead by your blade then they honestly aren't of any use," Ari replies back to him with a smile. " The plan should work…. it will take some time to get everything organized and ready to go. Perhaps we can have formal introductions once we get closer to that time? Typicall you can find me in the Land of Rice until then,"
Asashi smirks a bit at the woman's comment after introducing herself, finding that amusing and perhaps liking that a bit more than is normal. "So just kill whoever my mark ends up being. Convenient enough," he says, shrugging his shoulders. "Is there any particular name for this group?"
"No name jsut yet, putting a name on things this early might…spur something negative. I want something we can all agree on as…there won't be one particular leader for this organzation once we get things going… Taking over Amegakure is going to be incredibly difficult… Not only do we need to remove their leadership but we also need to turn them into claiming us as their sole protectors," Ari explains, nibbling slightly upon her bottom lip. "Everything will come in time, I'm absolutely sure it won't be hard for us to meet again soon,"
"Understandable," Asashi says with a nod then reaches into a hidden compartment of his robe to retrieve a flower-shaped shuriken. "This has a hidden slot where you can attach a note inside," he says as he extends it out to her. "If you need to call for me, stick a note inside that slot and stab it into a post or a tree. That's usually the quickest way to notify me that you're in need of my services."
Inclines a nod to Asashi, reaching out to take the flower shaped shuriken. " Sounds like we have a good understanding then. I will certainly let you know when we may begin and start formal introductions. Until then, be safe? Though I don't think I need to tell you of that," Ari replies back. "I don't have a fancy way for myself, just come poke me in the Land of Rice when you need to speak with me personally. With that said she turns her eyes back to the wagon at her back, snapping her fingers to get the horses attention, after all it was time to move along. " I will need to get going, though I do appreciate this conversation."
