Strolling Amongst Stalactites

Consequences

Last Time:

The Cave ninja smirked as she felt her clone leave the village and head their way with supplies. They just had to get those supplies and it will be a mad dash for her village ...

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Naruko suddenly bolted upright as a drop of water hit her forehead and looked around in a panic when she saw the kunoichi was missing. "Jade!"

"It's alright, Naruko. I'm out here." Jade smiled as she came back into the cave. "I'm sorry, little one. I wanted to check that no one was following us."

"We aren't, right?" Naruko asked hopefully as she hugged the kunoichi.

Jade shook her head, "No we aren't," (but why? Demon vessels are considered valuable ... did something happen? ... or do these fools not care?) Jade pushed her thoughts aside and started breakfast by grilling a couple fish she caught. When the rain stopped a nearby stream flooded and started flowing next to the cave. She was able to get close to the stream without leaving Naruko alone. As the fish cooked she wondered what was happening in Konoha and hoped her clone had answers.

"Jade ... what's the village hidden in the Caves like?" The little girl asked curiously as she nibbled her cooked fish.

"It's a beautiful and dangerous place. It started as a village of refugees a long time ago, before Konoha even. The village grew in secret and it is very powerful despite having mainly women ... I would tell you more, but I can't until I get you there." said Jade as she tossed her fish skeleton down and buried it and Naruko's so that no trace of their presence was left behind. Jade then packed everything away into her storage scroll. The kunoichi scanned the area and nodded in satisfaction that no one could trace her. With Naruko secured on her back she took off into the trees.

The obvious change in direction compared to the way they were traveling before made Naruko curious, "Why are we going this way now?"

"You have a good sense of direction, little one. Well I wanted to go a very different direction to see if anyone was following then double back a bit and go the way we need." she explained to the young girl.

"Oh ... oh! I get it! It's to confuse anyone who might find our trail, right? They won't know which way to go?" exclaimed Naruko.

"That's exactly right, Naruko. Oh, you would make a great spy ... or assassin." Jade pondered playfully. A proud smile came to her lips from behind the black mask, "We're going to meet my clone and grab the extra supplies before running to Cave ... thankfully, that storm erased our scents so we don't need to worry."

With a nod signaling that she understood Naruko held on to the ninja's neck. "Hey, Jade ... what can kunoichis do?"

"Oh many things! Bounty hunters are a specialty in Cave and assassins. Spies are very skilled too. Then there's Breeders." Jade bit her tongue and scolded herself for bringing up that profession with a five year old, but it was too late now so she decided to explain a little more when she saw a curious look cross the girl's innocent face. "A Breeder is a brave woman who uses her own body to collect abilities from other villages. It's one of the oldest kunoichi professions, but it's your choice. No one can make you be a breeder or any of the other professions." She added deliberately trying to avoid the topic of how the 'abilities' are 'collected'. "Of course, there are other careers too. Why do you ask?"

A sad pout formed on the blonde's lips, "The hokage ... I heard him saying that women shouldn't be ninjas because they aren't as strong as men and they would be best suited ..." Naruko paused a moment to remember Sarutobi's exact words, "spying from brothels, relieving shinobi's needs and increasing the number of future ninjas." She nodded in satisfaction as she repeated exactly what she overheard not realizing that the information she just relayed was affecting the kunoichi she was riding on.