Fearless [Naruto]

Chapter Four: Taira's Demand

A/N: You guys may have guessed this already, but for a bit the majority of the story's gonna be focused on Kazue. Miki's plotline will take time to develop and, well, you know what's wrong with Jun's. XD

The moment that the fifth shinobi appeared, Miki knew she was royally screwed.

Given the fact she already held a kunai in each hand, she was more than prepared for the ambush, but Miki had to admit that the numbers were leaning in a rather discouraging direction. Honestly, she'd only asked a question. Who would have guessed that it would turn the entire tavern into a war zone?

Oh, look, there were six now.

Where the fuck they coming from was what she wanted to know. Cursing under her breath, she glanced over her shoulder to discover two more blocking the path to the doorway. So, there were eight in all. Despite all of this, Miki didn't budge from from where she'd relaxed on one of the many red velvet couches that decorated the tavern. Her hands were thrown up over the back, kunai resting against where the cushions dipped down. Rather, she simply cocked a brow at the slowly growing number.

"I'm warning you now," Miki said, pitching her voice so she could be certain it was loud enough to be heard around the room. "I'm in a piss poor mood. If you don't want to die, you'll put your weapons away and discuss this matter like intelligent individuals."

As one might guess, her words did little good. The first shinobi launched themselves at her, several shuriken burying themselves in the back of the couch as she ducked out of the way. Her kunai came up, skimming the shinobi's cheek as she landed a rather solid kick to their gut without standing. Honestly, did they think the fact she was sitting down meant they could approach her without caution? The shinobi was sent skidding back as they clutched their gut and doubled over coughing. Several of the others followed in the idiot's lead, launching attacks which she deflected without any real effort.

"Dammit," she hissed when one of them managed to skim her arm. "I. Just. Want. To. Talk!"

With that, she slipped her katana from its sheath and lunged off of the couch. With a movement that the majority of the shinobi in the room couldn't hope to see, she slid the katana smoothly through the shoulder of the offending male. They went still instantly, Miki jerking the katana from their corpse with little concern. The others backed off, as if only just then realizing that the woman before them might be just a bit more than trouble than they'd originally guessed. A grim smile crossed her lips, Miki settling the tip of her katana were two of the floorboards met.

"Now," she began. "Two options. You keep being morons and I take you all out without a second thought. Like I said, I'm in a piss poor mood and you're making it worse. If you haven't noticed the lack of forehead protector, I'll point it out to you now. No one is watching me at the moment to make sure I don't wipe your asses from the face of the planet."

She paused in her speech, meeting the uneasy eyes of the shinobi around the room. Her appearance when doubled with her rather wide-spread reputation should have sunk into their thick skulls by this point. She held little doubt that most of them should have placed her name, forehead protector or not.

"Or, there's option two. You answer my question and I'll walk out that door. This option leaves you breathing."

Hesitation swept over the faces of the enemy shinobi.

"Do we have a deal?"

Unsurprisingly, they seemed to calm down somewhat.

"Good. Now, let's talk. When's the last time you saw these men..."