Ficlet: Death
Summary: It was said that whenever two equally skilled ninja fought, the one with the sharper tool would come out the winner.
Notes: I was just talking to ivy_tsuta, when suddenly Sakura's clan symbol (is that what that circle is?) evolved into a bullseye. This ensued. Sorry, Sakura. X)
Disclaimer: Naruto (c) Kishimoto and probably a bunch of other companies whose names I don't know. No material profit being made here.
Death
It was said that whenever two equally skilled ninja fought, the one with the sharper tool would come out the winner.
Whoever it was that had made that comment had probably died not knowing how their words would travel the world, passing from mouth to mouth, or how much they would influence the way ninja operated. After all, no matter the village of origin, all ninja learned to foster a certain obsession with their weapons that might be considered borderline pathological.
They liked to carry as many knives, needles, throwing stars, seals, scrolls, pills and bombs as they could possibly fit into their compact weapon pouches without them weighing badly enough to rip the belt that held them. It wasn't uncommon, either, for those with more experience to replace meditation with a good weapons' polishing session, finding a few seconds of staring at their reflection upon the flat surface of the blade more enlightening than any amount of soul-searching.
Almost in contradiction, there weren't many who used swords. Even though they were the ultimate sharp-bladed weapons, their size made them impractical and so only the very skilled made them their primary tool. Something similar happened with bows and arrows. These were strictly reserved for missions with special requirements.
"Take the shot," a faint voice crackled through the kunoichi's earpiece.
"With pleasure," the girl replied, unslinging a long bow from her right shoulder. It was easily two meters tall and reinforced with brown leather. The sleek design belied the instrument's power and deadliness, but not the expertise required to handle it.
The kunoichi reached into her quiver to extract an arrow. The feathers at the end were meticulously arranged, browns shifting into greys in a pattern of natural camouflage, and the polished shaft glided smoothly against the skin of a gloved hand as she knelt into a shooting position and pulled the string taut.
The wire cut into her fingers but in response she only pulled it further. If she could still feel pain, that meant it wasn't as tense as it could be.
She sighted along the arrow and aligned its trajectory with the back of an unsuspecting ninja wandering nearby. The target's red clothes even had a circle drawn on their back and that was what she aimed for. The space between them was clear. With nothing to disturb her weapon once released, it was a perfect shot. Her prey wouldn't even know what hit her.
Maybe her target finally sensed the eyes that were on her, because light green eyes suddenly turned to face the tree branch where the killer hid.
It was too late.
The arrow was already flying.
Notes: I was just talking to ivy_tsuta, when suddenly Sakura's clan symbol (is that what that circle is?) evolved into a bullseye. This ensued. Sorry, Sakura. X)
Disclaimer: Naruto (c) Kishimoto and probably a bunch of other companies whose names I don't know. No material profit being made here.
Death
It was said that whenever two equally skilled ninja fought, the one with the sharper tool would come out the winner.
Whoever it was that had made that comment had probably died not knowing how their words would travel the world, passing from mouth to mouth, or how much they would influence the way ninja operated. After all, no matter the village of origin, all ninja learned to foster a certain obsession with their weapons that might be considered borderline pathological.
They liked to carry as many knives, needles, throwing stars, seals, scrolls, pills and bombs as they could possibly fit into their compact weapon pouches without them weighing badly enough to rip the belt that held them. It wasn't uncommon, either, for those with more experience to replace meditation with a good weapons' polishing session, finding a few seconds of staring at their reflection upon the flat surface of the blade more enlightening than any amount of soul-searching.
Almost in contradiction, there weren't many who used swords. Even though they were the ultimate sharp-bladed weapons, their size made them impractical and so only the very skilled made them their primary tool. Something similar happened with bows and arrows. These were strictly reserved for missions with special requirements.
"Take the shot," a faint voice crackled through the kunoichi's earpiece.
"With pleasure," the girl replied, unslinging a long bow from her right shoulder. It was easily two meters tall and reinforced with brown leather. The sleek design belied the instrument's power and deadliness, but not the expertise required to handle it.
The kunoichi reached into her quiver to extract an arrow. The feathers at the end were meticulously arranged, browns shifting into greys in a pattern of natural camouflage, and the polished shaft glided smoothly against the skin of a gloved hand as she knelt into a shooting position and pulled the string taut.
The wire cut into her fingers but in response she only pulled it further. If she could still feel pain, that meant it wasn't as tense as it could be.
She sighted along the arrow and aligned its trajectory with the back of an unsuspecting ninja wandering nearby. The target's red clothes even had a circle drawn on their back and that was what she aimed for. The space between them was clear. With nothing to disturb her weapon once released, it was a perfect shot. Her prey wouldn't even know what hit her.
Maybe her target finally sensed the eyes that were on her, because light green eyes suddenly turned to face the tree branch where the killer hid.
It was too late.
The arrow was already flying.