Prison Gate

A highly monitored area.

It had so far been a quiet night, like many others. The guards made their rounds, either patrolling the perimeter or standing at their posts in the towers. They were comfortable, not much happened here, and not many prisoners rebelled against them. Sure, the fresh meat got a little riled up now and then, but with time, they all settled down eventually.

"Fools." Raichii mumbled under her breath. She sat, crouched nearby on a rocky cliff-side. The ninja had grown lax, and lazy in their days here. They needed a little bit of spice in their routines, she believed. And how generous of her, to be here to administer some. She pulled up the neck of her shirt over her face and slid on her tiger-faced anbu mask. And in a puff of smoke, she was gone.

One of the guards grew alert, being a sensory ninja and feeling the horrible chakra that had slinked its way here. He shook his head, forming the proper hand signs and focused on the source. It was hardly necessary, though as Raichii slammed the head of his fellow guardsman against a pillar. The stone cracked from the impact, and the man fell to the ground in a satisfying bloody mess.

The sensory ninja jumped up onto the roof in response, but in the process, Raichii now was aware of him. She turned to him, smiling under her mask, "A ninja should not show fear. Are you afraid, dear?"

"What are you doing here, Ninja of the Leaf?! Our countries are under truce!" He barked.

"Yes, well that's no fun, now is it?"

The man screamed, a blade emerging from his chest, Raichii had appeared behind him in a flash. She could already hear the other ninja coming to his aid. She vanished again, appearing on a roof on the far side. She flashed from roof to the other, until jumping down onto the ground below. The guards had thinned when they went to investigate, so she'd bought herself some time. She rushed down the path, placing tags on the buildings as she went. She was headed back towards the front gate.

Sounds of soft padding were the sounds of Sadako's movements. The land of lightning was certainly a treacherous place....treacherous but for a skilled ANBU as herself it seemed like a normal D rank mission. The wind whipped against Sadako's fox ANBU mask like an icy knife....it was a windy day in the land of lightning....the sky itself seem to foretell the unfortunate events that awaited her once she reaches the prison.

She stopped suddenly, stooping down to ground level. Removing her black glove Sadako made a few hand signs before slaming her hand against the ground. A wave of invisible pulsations rippled through the earth, enabling her to read the vibrations that her prey had left behind. Within moments she regained the trail of her target and continued moving towards the prison.

As she approached the many ninja who had now come to the gate to cut her off, she took slow steps, forming hand signs rapidly before fire shot forth from her mouth. The explosive tags she'd set went off, and prisoners became free from their cells. The fire spread like a disease, feeding the chaos that was now to ensue. Prisoners took the woman's presence as their chance to retaliate, and so they eagerly joined her struggle. While she was fighting off the ninja surrounding her, she left the weapons from the fallen for the prisoners to take. She was dripping in the blood of her foes by the time they'd killed off the majority of the guards.

Raichii's last act for these now freed men was a thrush of explosive tags at the gate, so they could flee. As it came crumbling down after the blast, Raichii walked through, and then vanished into the trees with a flash, wanting no thanks from the men she'd let loose. Some would get away, some would get caught, and some killed. It mattered little to Raichii. She certainly hoped a hand full would make it out.

She stepped into a clearing, wiping the blood from her garments. The moonlight shined down on her like a spotlight, she, who had played a magnificent conqueror.

What seemed like a flash of leaves whipping past the woman stained in blood, a figure appeared silently behind her as if out of thin air. The figure's fox mask illuminating a light tint of blue in the dull moonlight, "Its been a while." muttered she beneath her mask, "You haven't lost your touch Kato-san."

The ANBU then simultaneously drew her short sword in one smooth motion as if it were an extension of her own limb.

The blood-drenched woman seemed neither bothered nor phased by the other's sudden appearance. She wiped her blade clean with her long sleeve as she stepped forward and courteously turned to her visitor. "Well hello there, Sada-chan." She slid her mask up onto her head to show her face. She was smiling like she would have had they run into each other at the grocer's shop. "What's a little bird like you doing way out here? Bit of a walk I'd imagine." She rested her blade on her shoulder, and her hand on her hip. Hidden behind her smile though, was a watchful gaze.

"Don't act so civil with me Kato-san." said Sadako inching forward slightly, not quite ready to make an attack yet. By the tone of her old comrade's voice she could tell she was being cautious and probably watching Sadako's every move, "You know why I am here." she said her voice trailing off like a roll of fading thunder.

There was a long moment of silence, as the wind drifted between the two of the them. Raichii frowned, and with a sigh, she said, "Yes, you always have been a good little Kunoichi, haven't you. Can't say I've changed much either. I am stronger than you though." That polite smile was taken by a sly, and clever one. She was still bold as ever, to say the least.

"We'll see." replied Sadako simply, "Its been a year since we last confronted eachother....I wouldn't assume right away Kato-san." her voice lowering in some sort of rumbling growl, "Though whatever you have against the leaf is better suited at another time....that is if you make it out here alive."

The threat rolled off Raichii like water. She'd fought many after she had left the leaf, and there would be many more after tonight. Sadako was looking for blood, but the only blood she would get would be her own. The situation was not entirely favorable to Raichii, however. She had things to do, places to be. She didn't have time for ghosts from her past.

"So what's the Leaf telling the public about me? Wouldn't want them to have wrong assumptions after all." She dropped her blade to her side, ready for Sadako to come at any moment.

Raichii had left the village without goodbyes to her old teammates. She was not regretting it, but she wondered what the blind bird had thought when she got the news. Anbu, Raichii Kato murders the entire council of the Kato Clan in cold blood, then up and leaves the Fire Country, vanishing like a leaf in the wind. Sure, the crime fit the boot. Did Sadako see it coming though?

"That is for me to know." She replied, sensing Raichii change her stance, "Though....I suppose out of the sake of our past, I'll give you a chance to come back to Konoha nice and quietly...." she stated firmly. Not that Sadako was prepared to fight her ex comrade she wanted very little bloodshed as possible. There was already a stir of repetitive vibrations coming from the prison. Probably some lightning ninja looking to seek revenge on the hidden leaf ANBU that attacked them.

Raichii didn't have the same senses as Sadako, but she could still hear the uproar of angry lightning ninja that had survived, and decided to speak her answer with her hands rather than by mouth. In a violent flash, Raichii was in front of Sadako, and swung her blade down upon her.

Her keen senses never seemed to fail her. As soon as Raichii brought her blade down, Sadako brought her blade up to intersect it. The blades met as a flash of lightning crackled through the air. The blades clashing as metal hit metal mimicking a roll of thunder.

As Raichii knocked their swords from one another, she aimed a kick in Sadako's gut, before jumping back and setting the woods on fire with the same jutsu she used earlier on the guards. She was toying with Sadako, using minor jutsu's and conserving chakra. Sadako would have to prove she was worthy of Raichii's true strength.

Sadako instinctively dodged Raichii's attack. A low rumbling growl echoed from her throat as Raichii began setting the woods aflame. Like flames would stop her. Sadako retaliated making a few quick hand signs with in moments a crisp blue o electricity began forming in her palm. The sound seemed to resemble the sound of a thousand birds chirping.

With Raichii's tracks still fresh, Sadako used the flames as some sort of cover. The instant she was close enough to Raichii she emerged from the flames fearlessly. The flames itself seemed to part as she emerged from the flames---the vivid blue dancing around fiercely in her palm cracking and licking the air like the fire behind her.

As Sadako drew her attack, Raichii spotted a lone lightning ninja forming handsigns at the edge of the clearing. Her eyes narrowed as she moved swiftly towards Sadako. She did not attack her directly, however. She faked her out, swerving to the side as she threw a kunai, and continued onwards, into the cover of the trees.

"Farewell, Sada-chan!!!" She called back before forming some hand signs and vanishing in a flash. Meanwhile the lightning ninja's justu was activated, and other ninja jumped out to provide support.