The Steamy Thoroughfare [Prequel]

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The weather was changing. It seemed as if there was no such thing as autumn anymore; the seasons blended together now, mixing for awhile, then abruptly changing. The wind tussled her neatly pinned buns a bit, but Juujika had never been one to be superficial. She was far enough away from Konoha now that she could let herself go, be someone totally different if she wanted. Yeah, that sounded nice.

At this time of evening, she knew that there would be villagers of all kinds -- people stumbling down the alleyways in drunken stupors, babbling and laughing. What could be so funny, she had no idea, but she liked to hear their ramblings, young and old alike. Tired from walking, she decided to slip into the hot springs and rest in the small thoroughfare behind it. At least there she could still feel the relaxing effects of the spring.

Juji sat on the damp ground as she pulled off her wooden sandals, then laid them beside her as she leaned back on the large rock behind her back. Perhaps there would be some interesting talk in the spring tonight, she thought.

Interesting?

Perhaps.

So far, all she could hear was the laughing of the rich old men and their whores for hire, or “ladies of the night”, rather. Eventually, she was dozing off, her eyes becoming heavier with each obscene joke. Just a little nap...

...no one would even know she was missing.

Just a little...nap...

-------

Darkness.

Pure darkness was all she could see, not even a flickering of the lanterns through her eyelids when she had awoken. Juji, not quite grasping her surroundings, rubbed her sleep heavy eyes and attempted to look around, thinking she was still dreaming. Was she till in the same village, behind the same rock in the same passageway near the same hot spring? Frantically, she sat up straight and rubbed her eyes again. They were finally adjusting to the pitch darkness of the thoroughfare she was resting in, but it wasn’t enough. Juujika had slept too long in her hiding place, and the owner had shut down for the night...

...or so she thought. Faintly, there were two voices resonating in the direction of the spring.

“I won’t. I can’t give you the scroll for such a low price. My head is worth much more than that, and that is what I will lose if anyone finds out I possess it.”

Juji froze -- all she could do was listen.

[Kazu-kun]

"AND STAY OUT!!" shouted a large, muscular man as he tossed a golden haired man to the ground. Dusting his hands off the bouncer glared down at the person he had just tossed out into the almost empty street. Slowly standing to his feet the golden haired man patted his black track suit, ridding the dirt that had gotten on it from the fall. In comparison, the two men were complete opposites. The golden haired man looked like a twig when placed against the muscle bound titan of a man that had thrown him out of the small pub. Green orbs glared up at the bouncer, who returned the glare with one of his own. "Y'heard me! Scram!" the bouncer shouted, slamming his fist into his palm.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm leaving. Got what I needed anyway," the thin man said as he stuffed his hand in his pockets, and walked off down the dark street. After walking for a little while a sigh would escape from Kazu, and he glanced up into the cloudy sky. "What to do...what to do?" he asked himself, and then looked around before spotting a passageway that seemed to lead towards the hot springs. Figuring he had nothing better to do, and he was sure that there still had to be some girls in the spring at this hour he decided to go into the small thoroughfare.

As he walked down the small passageway he noticed a girl sitting on the ground for reasons unknown to him. "Oi, what's a little girl like you doing in a place like this? Especially at this hour?" he asked scratching the side of his head. The girl seemed vaguely familar, probably one of the kids he saw running around Konohagakure. Or maybe someone back from Chirigakure no Sato, he couldn't tell. All he knew was that she looked familar.

[Juji]

Juji, still slightly frozen, looked up at the boy who had found her hiding place. He did not look familiar to her in the slightest, but she felt a sudden, silent bond to him. Maybe it was because she was scared out of her wits right now, or perhaps it was her longing to have a connection with someone other than just herself. Whatever it was, it would have to wait. Something fishy was going down.

"None of your business--" She spat in a whisper. The voices on the other side of the wall were still oblivious to their conversation, but she could not bring herself to afford them the same courtesy. Once again, the voices caught her ear.

"...look, we had a deal." The low grumbling voice snarled calmly.

"Yes, we had a deal. We had one until I found out how much this thing is worth! You're trying to cheat me out of a fortu..."

Juji, not wanting to hear anymore, attempted to zone the conversation out, then stood up from the ruddy corridor's floor below her and dusted off her cropped pants. But it was too late.

"...I may just sell it to someone a lot more appreciative of my efforts." The weaselly little man snarled.

"Is that so?" Just then, a deep, dark laugh exploded from the gullet of the snarling man, and there was a loud crack akin to lightning behind the wall, accompanied by a scream of pain and horror. Juji's eyes widened in disbelief, and she looked to the boy in front of her. He had to have heard that too.

[Kazu-kun]

A sweatdrop formed on the back of the Chūnin's head after the girl told him to mind his own business. What was with this village? He had heard that this was the place to go when you wanted to have a good time, which he was having, but the people here were so rude. Make one too many innuendos to a pretty girl in club, and the bouncers throw you out. See a girl sitting by herself in a small alley, and she tells you to buzz off. What was up with these people?

Paying her comment no heed the blonde haired teen continued to walk towards the sitting girl, driven by his curiousity. There were some questions that he had to ask, which she'd have to answer least she wanted him to tag along with her for the rest of the evening. However, as he neared her his curiousity would drift from the girl to the conversation that was taking place on the other side of the fence. As he drew closer to the girl their voices grew louder. There was something about a deal, and about an item of great value. By the time Juji was attempting to ignore the conversation Kazu had been completely entralled. A mischevious grin had formed as a glimmer appeared in his eyes. Whatever they were talking about he wanted it. With his speed he was more than certain that he could steal it before they even knew what happened.

Unfortuantely, that little scheme would never come to fruition as there was a loud cracking sound -- similar to that of a lightning bolt. A screech of pain and a malicious laugh echoed throughout the dark thoroughfare. Immediately, Kazu went from mischevious to serious, and judging by the sound of the footsteps one of the men were heading there way. Grabbing the girl he pulled her behind a nearby dumpster, and covered her mouth. Pressing his back against it he glanced over the side to see the man running down the opposite end of the alleyway. It was too dark to see who it was or get any useful information on his appearance, so he decided to check the next best thing.

"Stay here," he said to the girl as he let go of her mouth, and swiftly leaped over the fence. His eyes shifted around the area, and then he saw him -- the other man that had been talking. Rushing over to him Kazu noticed the hole the size of a fist that bored through his torso. There was already a pool of blood forming around the body, and death was almost certain for the man. So, Kazu would try and get as much information as possible while the man still lived.

"Hey! Hey! You still alive!?" he asked as he knealt down next to the man, and looked down at the hole. It was bad. Really bad. The man didn't have much longer. "What happened here. I need to know what happened."

[Juji]

Juji listed from behind their malodorous hiding place as the perpetrator make his escape down the other end of the thoroughfare, fortunate enough for them. From the sound of things, two went in, but one came out, and if that was the case, Juji did not want to get in the way of the one trudging out of the alley to make his escape. As the blond haired boy dashed off without her, she leaned her head back on the dumpster, eyes wide, her chest heaving up and down from the excitement. It was almost like she was hyperventilating.

Normally, Juji was quiet, she was always keeping to herself, keeping out of trouble. It was mostly due to the fact that she did not want to mess up her nice little set-up in Konoha. Sandaime had been gracious enough to let her live there, so she always made sure she would stay within the lines and stick to protocol. But, her natural instinct was much more adventurous than her placid exterior. So, on an itch, she hopped up from her spot to follow him.

As she peeked around the corner, she saw the man with the hole is his chest, no doubt going into shock before he died. His eyes were wide, body limp, and his mouth was moving as if he were whispering something. As Kazu pleaded with the man to let him know what was going on, Juji dashed over to the mans body and crouched there, putting her ear to his face to hear whatever it was he was trying to say. If she wanted to know his last words, this would be the time. “. . .wrong. . .scroll. . . haha. . . my. . .pocket. . .” was all the man would keep repeating. Even when the words became fainter and fainter, she could still hear a labored, gurgling laugh spill upon his lips. Juji jumped back with a slight screech and stared at the man, then looked up at the boy. “I- I can’t really tell....what he’s saying. I don’t know what it me--”

Just then, the man grabbed her wrist and began to convulse violently, his eyes fixated upon her as if giving her his dying charge for revenge. Juji screamed, kicking the man and attempting to pull away, but to no avail -- at least not until he stopped still, dead. Yanking her hand from him, she scurried over to the edge of the private hot spring and plunged her hands into the water. Her heart was racing now, her mind following suit, and after a few seconds, she began to breathe slowly and deliberately, trying to regain some sense of homeostasis within her body. It would be a few seconds before she moved again, but she was not done yet. There was one more thing to do.

Slowly, she shoved her hand into the mans pants pocket and dug around. Nothing.

“Where is it...where...” She mumbled as she patted the corpse down. Finally, she felt a lump in his breast pocket of his jacket, and quickly she peeled the jacket apart so she could yank the scroll from his inner pocket.

Footsteps.

Her eyes went to the door of the spring, then back to Kazu. “Jackpot!”

[Kazu-kun]

The light was fading from his eyes. His face was growing pale. The man was barely struggling to maintain consciousness. He was as good as dead. Despite this Kazu continued to try and pull as much information out of the man as possible. Being so focused in his efforts the Konohagakure Chūnin failed to notice that the girl he had left behind was now crouching on the opposite side of the dying man. It wasn't until she put her head near his lips to catch the final words that he seemed to be chanting at this point.

Ceasing his actions Kazu let the blond haired girl do what she needed to do. The manner in which she was handling the situation was far better than that of any normal kid. This only helped in his theory that was was indeed a kunoichi, most likely from Konohagakure -- he hadn't had enough time to look for a hitai-ate. Hearing the dying laugh of the man sent a chill down his spine, and frieghtened Juji enough to cause her to scream and jump back.

Recovering quickly she began to explain what she had heard, or at least started to. Before she could get to anything specific the man, in a seemingly last ditch effort at revenge, caught a hold of her arm as his body violently convulsed. Moving quickly, Kazu attempted to pry the hand from her wrist as she screamed and kicked at the man. It wasn't until his body finally stopped that she was able to break free. Immediately she made a break for the water to wash her hand, which would be a normal reaction after an incident such as that. Remaining silent, Kazu watched and waited to hear what she had to say.

When she returned she would not speak, rather she searched the body. Raising an eyebrow he merely watched. As she peeled back the man's jacket Kazu's ears twitched as he heard the faint sound of footsteps. Frowning slightly he looked over his shoulder towards the door, and then back at the Juji, who was now holding a scroll. He smiled at her when she said "Jackpot," but became serious again after looking over his shoulder.

"We should get out of here. We can't have been the only ones to have heard what happened here," and with that Kazu grabbed her hand, and led her back to the thoroughfare. Once there, they could find a safer location to get a closer examination of the scroll.

[Juji]

Juji allowed herself to be dragged from the secret exit into the thoroughfare by the boy, and once they were there, she looked down at the end of the alley to see the silhouette of others running past. “We can’t stop here. No doubt they’ll be searching the place.” The tables had turned now, and Juujika found herself grabbing the boys hand and pulling him off in the opposite direction, further down the humid, dark corridor.

Once they reached the rock wall at the thoroughfare’s dead end, she looked around, then spotted another dumpster like contraption. “Up there!” she pointed, looking up to the roof. She climbed up upon the dumpster, but before she could motion for the boy to follow, three figures appeared from their secret entrance to the spring, all the way at the other end of the corridor.

“HEY! YOU TWO! STOP RIGHT THERE!” a booming voice rang out. Juji’s eyes became wide, and she began to panic slightly, turning to grab onto the window edge right above her. If the duo was caught, they would most likely be accused for this mans death, not to mention the fact they had stolen a blood covered scroll from the corpse. They would no doubt use that as probable cause against the two. “Come on! What are you waiting for!?”

[Kazu-kun]

Once they had arrived back in the thoroughfare the Chūnin stopped and looked around to get an idea of where to go next. As he looked around he noticed three figures in the distance headed in their direction, and before he could get a chance to move he felt a tug on his arm. This time, the girl was the one that was leading him, and he would allow her to take the lead for now. They continued to run, their assailants in hot pursuit. Their attempts to escape would seem futile as they approached a stone wall at the end of the narrow alleyway. A dead end. Turning around Kazu looked to see how much distance there was between them and the men chasing them. If neccesary he would fight them off, but in this cramped space his fighting abilities would be severely limited.

Hearing her call out to him caused him to turn his head to glance over his shoulder. She was currently attempting to climb up a window in an attempt to escape. As the men drew closer Kazu decided that he didn't have time to keep up the charade of being a normal civilian. His hands swiftly went into his pockets, and came out holding two small black orbs between his fingers. Raising his hand above his head he tossed the orbs at his feet, and upon impact the dead end was filled with a thick black smoke. Without any hesitation Kazu grabbed the girl and ran up the wall onto the roof. Once there he would dash across the building, moving at a speed that surpassed that of a typical shinobi, and leaped to another building. He would jump across two more buildings before stopping on the top of a tea house.

Placing the girl down on her feet he panted a little. Moving at that speed was an easy thing for him, but he never had to do it while carrying another person with him. As he caught his breath the girl would most likely have caught notice of the metal plate on his white skull cap that seemed to glow in the moons rays. On the plate was a symbol of a leaf, a dead give away that he was a Konohagakure no Sato shinobi. A moment would pass, and he would have fully recovered from the run. Standing up straight he looked at the girl, and extended his hand.

"Let me see the scroll."

[Juji]

After being whisked atop the roof, Juji knew that she was in the presence of another shinobi, but her presumption was made fact when she saw the forehead protector. But as he asked for the scroll, she yanked back, then stuck it in her shirt. "I knew you were a ninja!" she said loudly, her brow furrowed. "And no way. Finders keepers. Did you see what I had to do to get this thing?" Juji began. The people below clearly had no idea where they were now, for she could hear them below yelling among themselves.

"Where'd they go?"

"I didn't see their faces--"

"They were just kids, they're not capable of what we saw..."

"...they may have evidence..."

"...or they could be guilty!"

It would only be a matter of time before they found them, so Juji, not so much concerned about the boy with her, ran over to the edge of the roof and peeked over. Everyone was running toward the hot springs, so she was gonna head in the opposite direction: to the village entrance. With a last smile and a wave, the girl leaped into the open dumpster below, then climbed out and began to sneak down the street to the gate.

[Kazu-kun]

A dull look crossed his face as she yanked the scroll closer to her, and stuffed it into her shirt -- as if it were some impenetrable safe. Lowering his hand Kazu sighed. She was a hard-headed little girl. If he wanted to get the scroll from her he'd have to either convince her to give it to him, or take it by force. The latter of which was unpleasant in his eyes, as he viewed women as delicate and precious beings that deserved respect. Or as much respect as his perverted nature would allow. There was also the matter that it would seem more than a little pedophilic for him to stick his hand down a twelve-year-old's shirt. If she were a little older he probably wouldn't have minded so much.

Glancing down off the rooftop he could see a bunch of people heading for the hot springs. A murder had just taken place, and in a village such as this one gossip had already began to spread. That only meant that the village would be going into lockdown soon enough, so getting out of the village now would be the most sensible idea. Turning his attention back to the girl as she smile and waved at him before starting her decent from the rooftop Kazu simply shook his head. "You can't run from me, y'know."

Chuckling a little to himself as he watched just climb out of a dumpster he decided that he'd give her a little bit of a head start. He was an Oinin, his job was to track people down for a living. Tailing a twelve year old wouldn't be too difficult for him. Besides, there wasn't much else he could do tonight, so he decided to make the most of it by toying with her. As she stealthily made her way down the street she would soon see Kazu leaning against a wall with his arms folded.

"Aye, aye. Where do you plan to run to?"

[Juji]

Juji had been ducking through people who were either shuffling toward the scene, or who were oblivious to what was going on down the street and standing in her way. She did not know what she was going to do with her new found treasure, or how much trouble it could get her in, but she did not care at this point. All she could really think of was the fact that she had something important, and it was probably in her best interest to get it back to Konoha.

With all of thin running through her head, she was distracted enough to run past the boy from before, not paying him any mind until he spoke. Juji stopped in her tracks.

"What are you? Some kind of freakishly fast ninja guy?" she asked, a brow raised as she questioned him. "And I'm taking this back to Tsunade-sama. She'll know what to do with it." After she finished her explanation, she started wisping through the crowd again.

Once she went through the gate, she ran over by a tree and caught her breath. As she leaned against it, she noticed that the sun had gone down over the horizon, and darkness was beginning to settle in for the night. How would she get back to the village now?

[Kazu-kun]

With an amused chuckle Kazu pushed himself up off of the wall, and watched as the girl ran off towards the gate. Shaking his head a little he sighed, and simply started to walk towards the village's gate. So naive, he thought to himself as he made his way through the throng of people. Being in no rush Kazu stopped at a stand. There he ordered three dango on a skewer, and then continued after the girl. He'd wait until she was out of the village before appearing to her once again.

Following the sutble tracks that she left behind it was easy for Kazu to catch up to her position. Though, he stayed far enough behind her to keep his presence hidden. Seeing her stop at a tree, most likely to catch her breath, caused a smirk to form on his face. He was going to have fun messing with her. In the blink of an eye his body would flicker, and would reappear in a branch of the tree she was resting on. His movements hardly made a sound, a testament of his nickname of Sashiashi [ Stealthy Steps ].

"It's dangerous for little girls to run around in the forest. Especially at this hour," he said to her, his voice holding a rather sly tone. Having taken a seat on the branch he simly looked down at the girl with a guileful smile. It was a long way to Konohagakure no Sato, and at this hour it would be rather hard for someone who was unfamilar with the terrain to find their way back. If she wanted to get back, she'd need his help.

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Juji

---

"Oh yeah?"

Juji panted in response to Kazu's comment about the dangers of the night. "And it's dangerous to guys to try and take stuff from me against my will. Usually it affords them a knuckle sandwich with a side of missing teeth. You want fries with that, buddy?" Her hands on her knees, Juji took in her last few resuscitative breaths and stood upright to look at the boy eye to eye. Well, almost. With the slight height difference, it was a little difficult to do so. Juji, her eyes fixated and narrowed on his, her fists clinched, and her jaw set, stared straight into the boy for a few seconds before speaking. "You think just because you're older and bigger you can bully me around. Well, that's not how it's gonna happen today, pal. Let's get one thing straight--"

The girl pointed a finger at him, then proceeded to poke his chest as she spoke each word. "I'm-- no-- pushover. Got it?" Juji was never this outspoken or stubborn, but for some reason, something about the boy was familiar. And even though she knew he was a Konoha shinobi who could kick her butt from here to Wednesday, she refused to back down. Besides, once one talks a big game like that, one would have to back one's words up, wouldn't one?

"I can make it back to Konoha myself. I don't need you."

[Kazu-kun]

"Yup," Kazu would interject with a tone of complete confidence as he decended from the tree. Hearing what he could only assume was some sort of indirect threat caused him to chuckle lightly to himself. She really was an amusing person to him. When she narrowed her eyes on him he quieted his laughter, making it barely audible as to hear the rest of what she had to say. Seeing her finger raise towards him got him to stop laughing, but it was only replaced by a look of amused fear as she poked his chest. Once she had finished speaking her mind the Chūnin chuckled to himself once more.

"Aye, aye," he spoke in a calm voice, stifling his laughter. This girl really was amusing to him. Her confidence in herself, her devotion to her village, her stubborness. In a way, she reminded him of himself if only by a little bit. "That all may be true, but what will you do when the spirits come?" Upon asking this question his face took on a more serious tone.

[Juji]

“S-sp-spirits?” Juji asked as she stepped away from the boy and looked around over her shoulder. Ohsnap. Why did he have to go and mention something that was going to probably have Juji shaken for the rest of the night? She didn’t have a mother of father growing up, so when things scared her in the middle of the night, she was forced to face them head own. Nightmares went uncomforted, phobias went unchallenged. But she wouldn’t let this boy scare her into giving him the scroll.

“W-well, I mean, I guess you could tag along on the way back. But don’t think that means your getting your hands on this scroll.” Juji wanted him to know that she was aware of his intentions. But she had raised herself not to trust every average joe, even if he was a ninja.