Thundering hooves pound heavily on soggy grass, echoing in the overbearing silence. Ominous overcast tints the atmosphere a dull and somber gray. The unavoidable mist stings her skin a high velocity, and a dark mane whips ferociously under her fixed gaze.
"We should be nearing the first flower's location," Katsume calls back to the woman with a death grip on her slick leather jacket.
"A-alright...but could we slow down!" Yui's grip tightens as she tries to shout over the wind.
Katsume gives Dakuhosu a gentle tug on his mane, and he gradually slows to walk. She pats him on the neck as she glances at the dome-shielded sky. Yui's white knuckles regain color as she loosens her grip, and Katsume swings her leg over to dismount. The young woman watches as Katsume approaches a massive, battered tree, walking in a circle around it and picking at the bark.
"Uh...what are you doing?" The noir-haired girl stares skeptically.
Katsume doesn't turn to address the woman, paying no mind to her skepticism. "Welp, it'll waste precious time to determine the direction by the sun's location in the sky, and the clouds aren't exactly on our side today. So, the quickest way is to find an old tree and whichever side has the thinner bark is most likely southeast. Fun fact, should you be lost and without a compass."
Yui deadpans. "You're a ninja but don't carry a compass?"
"Nope. I'm what you would call an expert in tracking, so there's no need." Katsume smirks smugly.
"But what's the point if you already know where the flowers are?" Yui questions.
"First, I must determine if the user's jutsu is a perfect replica or a cheap imitation. If it's a replica of my jutsu, the flowers will be on each focal point of direction, eight in total: North, North-East, East, South-East, South, South-West, West, and North-West. So if we go to one of the focal points, southeast in this case, and I find the flower, it's a good chance it's a replica, which isn't great because that would mean that our jutsus would cancel out. Usually, the stronger would prevail, even if it's the same style." Katsume explains as she walks alongside Dakuhosu, the three heading toward the Southeast.
"So, basically what you're saying is...unless your partner can break the dome, we'll lose whether we find the flowers or not?!" Yui exclaims.
Katsume drags her hand over her face with a groan. "Geez. Were you even listening? I said it's not great. My kekkei genkai isn't my only weapon, but Kakashi was right when he said not using it puts me at a disadvantage. However...I hate losing, and that's my advantage."
Yui stares down at the woman incredulously. Does this psycho seriously think that a desire to win is an advantage? Everyone wants to win, but that doesn't give her an edge, does it?
"You see, this jutsu wasn't always as complex as this...I made it that way after over a decade of training to master it. So, in addition to my hatred of losing, you could say I'm pretty fucking pissed that someone cheated their way and stole all of my hard work." Katsume adds lowly as she glares ahead.
Suddenly, like the flip of a switch, she perks up and faces Yui with a cheeky smile, causing the young woman to flinch in response.
"Don't worry though, 'cause they'll pay with their life," the ivory-tressed woman chirps, pointing to something ahead in the distance.
A shiver runs over Yui's spine. "...scary," she mutters. She blinks away her terror of how the woman could say something so casually, cheerful even, to see the image of a little red rose nearly glowing–practically calling for attention.
YOU ARE READING
The Huntress
FanfictionKatsume is the daughter of Jiraiya and Tsunade after a grief-led, drunken fling. She grows up without ever knowing her parents. Tsunade leaves Katsume with a woman she saved during the Second Shinobi War, the Old Bat, after her birth. She grows up l...
