Painless (A Naruto Fanfiction) [Completed]

Chapter One: Asari Kazue

The promise was simple- she wouldn’t get hurt this time. She wouldn’t do something that he’d taught her brought pain.

'Simple.'

How was it that only moments after they’d found the thieves she ended up breaking that promise? They’d been told that this was a C Rank mission. Perhaps their information was off.

The kunai that embedded itself in her thigh was the first sign that the promise was broken. The second sign, however, was when she’d managed to conceal herself from the thieves and get a good look at where she’d felt the weapon hit. After all, without checking the impact she had no way of knowing if she was hurt. Pursing her lips in annoyance, she grabbed the kunai by sticking her finger through the hole and swiftly drew it out before gripping it lightly in her hands.

Her teammate had left to let their team leader know that they’d found the thieves. Perhaps if she took care of them before he and the others had returned then she’d be able to prove that she didn’t need to make promises like that, she could handle herself fine enough.

“Where’d the brat go?”

She bit her lip to keep from laughing in response to the question that reached her ears from the forest floor below. They were smart enough to know they were being followed, but not smart enough to discover where a simple genin had hidden herself? Perhaps she’d given them too much credit when they’d located her the first time. She must have given something away, or perhaps something had fallen when Noriaki had left her.

Closing her eyes, she quietly focused on the sounds coming from where she’d heard the voice. It wasn’t hard to catch the next hint of their location- it was as if the thieves weren’t even trying to conceal their movements. The crunch of their footsteps on the ground made them as obvious to her as if she had been looking straight at them. She twirled the kunai around her finger one time before catching it with her hand once again and sending it flying towards where she’d heard the movement. The second that the kunai had left her she changed positions, leaping from the branch she was on to one up higher that she was certain would give her a better view.

The moment her feet landed on the branch, however, she almost fell off of it in surprise. One of the thieves was already there, eyeing her with something close to contempt. A sigh escaped his mouth a second later.

“Honestly, what were those morons thinking sending kids like you after us?” he questioned, raising one hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. “It’s insulting.”

She didn’t respond right away, swiftly trying to put more distance between her and him in the trees. She doubted that there was actually much danger in this position, there wasn’t really a chance that he’d know how to fight someone like her, but it was better safe than sorry. If she got anymore blood on her Noriaki would scold her when he got back.

“Hey, kid, how old are you anyways?” the man asked without dropping his hand.

She blinked, tilting her head thoughtfully. Perhaps he had a problem fighting someone her age? He had said it was insulting.

“Thirteen.”

“Damn.”

A bit of irritation began forming in the back of her mind. From the sound of it he felt more than just insulted, it was as if someone had burdened him by putting her in front of him.

“That doesn’t mean you should lower your guard,” she grumbled. “Just cause I’m a kid.”

The man shrugged, dropping his hand this time and turning his attention to the forest floor.

“Hey, Ai, it’s just a kid. You shouldn’t get so worked up. What would you have done if you’d killed her?”

That bit of irritation that had begun to form became full blown annoyance.