[open] IT'S A NINJA THING, YOU WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND

[obstinates]

Who: Naruto A MASKED NINJA (sageraging) and anyone who sees him
What: Using Naruto logic, our intrepid shinobi has decided to be a ninja for once and is breaking into purist owned businesses in an attempt to make those business owners paranoid so they will hire Naruto and Kakashi's new security company and then the two ninjas can gather info from the inside

Comments

[usedfall]

It was merely a chance encounter that had landed Sheena in the breakfast side of the food court one night, around 2 AM. She had been walking back to her room two days ago, when she came across an alien woman who was extremely distressed. Apparently, she was an inventory worker, and while she needed off one night for her sister's wedding, her boss hadn't given her the day off. In fact, he threatened to fire her if all the inventory wasn't done by the end of the week. She would never be able to finish it all if she skipped a night, so Sheena (after hearing her story with many tears and clinging) had agreed (out of pity, really) to cover the shift for the woman.

It's not like the boss would ever know -- he'd only see the work done, and apparently Sheena was the only person even willing to give up a night's sleep so the woman could attend her only sister's wedding. So here she was, with a clipboard and a small light to keep the area lit, counting chairs in the food court.

"Who the hell would steal chairs...?" she muttered as she turned one over, observing the mark on the bottom to check for it's authenticity (rather than it being some chair just dragged down there from somewhere else). Check. She scribbled something on the paper and moved to another table, where she bent down to check the table, and to make sure it was still in good condition. Bad tables needed to be removed and replaced, so no one would get hurt. A lawsuit would be terrible for the bosses.

Damn, this was a boring job. She couldn't imagine doing this every night for her entire life. Or even a month.

[obstinates]

After his run-in the night before, Naruto decided to take things much more careful this time. The food court was, usually, deserted at night. It wasn't difficult to determine which of the restaurants catered to those who weren't friends of the refugees, especially to someone who was in the food court a lot.

It was those businesses that were his target this particular evening.

That night, however, he wasn't alone. It wasn't difficult to see the small stream of light moving back and forth in the seating area. Naruto watched from his spot, perched on top of a space hot-dog stand. He couldn't risk moving at that moment, not until he was certain of what was going on.

Who the hell would be out at that time of night?

[usedfall]

No one who really wanted to be, that was for sure. As this whole thing dragged on, she regretted getting herself into it a bit. She was glad she could help someone out, but who knew her job was so mindless and -- oh, gross! She pulled her hand back from the table, shaking it. Yeah, she knew people stuck their gum underneath tables once they didn't want it anymore, but that table was stacked with it and it was still wet.

She wiped her hand on her pant leg grabbed the clipboard, scribbling the word GUM in bold letters on Table 34. Hopping on the table, she reached up to check the lighting structure right above it -- only to find five lightbulbs missing from it. Seriously?!

"Okay, I guess people can sit in chairs, but lightbulbs are five credits in a store. Geeze," she muttered again, jumping down from the tale and almost slipping backwards (they don't call her the clumsy assassin for nothing).

"A-ack --!!" she flailed her arms as she almost fell back, catching herself at the last minute. She lifted her foot, once stable, finding that she stepped on a piece of loose garbage. The janitorial staff must've taken the night off, the bastards.

[obstinates]

O....kay.

This chick didn't seem to be too threatening. He could probably get in and out in no time without her even realizing he was here. She seemed familiar in some way. Maybe they'd spoken on the network once or twice. He got around so much he couldn't remember everybody's face that he spoke with.

With surprising gracefulness, Naruto flipped head over heels and twisted before landing silently on the floor below, his feet glowing dimly as chakra cushioned his fall. They continued to glow as he sprinted through the area where customers walked.

If only it were that empty during lunchtime when Naruto usually visited.

He clasped his hands together as he ran and was soon joined by two clones on either side who split off to take lookout positions as the real Naruto flipped into another stand and landed behind the counter to begin his silent ransacking.

[usedfall]

And for a few minutes after, she continued what she was doing, not noticing much, until that ping snapped, and she turned her head around, staring into the darkness. She had been trained well enough to realize something was off when she didn't even really realize it. But this could also just be her own paranoia -- hell, it could even be a rat. But her grandfather had always told her to never ignore her senses... so she put her clipboard down.

Ah... there was still a lot to be done, though. And if she was going to finish what she needed to finish, she couldn't spend her time hunting down a rat. It would just put too big a dent into her schedule, especially if it were nothing. So... a summon it was. She closed her eyes and held her hands up, palms together, fingers pointing to the ceiling. She calmed herself, focused her energy, and released it downwards. Bringing it back to herself, slowly, she whispered, "I call upon the envoy from the dark abyss. I summon thee, come Shadow."

The shadows begin to pool as the summon rises, darkness leaking out of it's very being, as it lived in the deepest and richest darkness back home. It continues to form it's thin base and continues up to form a torso that resembles that of a man, with a elongated arms. Basically, this. It was an eerie being, one that often put those who could sense it on edge. Sheena had been, when she had to first fight the summon, but now she was more comfortable with the gripping darkness.

She nodded at the summon, "Do me a favor? Just scout the area, make sure there are no kids or weird rats around, okay? Let me know what you find."

The Shadow gave a nod, staying silent, and pooled into darkness on the ground, and then separated into different directions, blue slits for eyes the only indication that it wasn't just a trick of shadow blending into the wall. She sighed, grabbing the clipboard again, glancing into the shadows once more before checking another chair, alert for Shadow's call if she need be. But really, chances were it was just some kids who were trying to be badass by sneaking out at night, at worst.

[obstinates]

Naruto continued his work silently, slicing open bags of food and generally making a nice mess. He had to use every ANBU trick Kakashi taught him to make sure nothing could be traced back to him or any of his comrades. Up to that point, things were going flawlessly, even with that lady in the food court.

Things had been going so well, in fact, that Naruto was getting reckless. He figured his clones could see anything that needed to be seen. So far, neither of them had warned him of anything. It was when he had just sliced the last of the flour bags did he feel like things were a little too dark even for someone with better than normal nightvision.

In any case, his task was finished.

He moved to the window and hopped over the counter once more, landing crouched in the walkway of the food court. Now he just had to find that chick again so he could formulate his escape plan...

[usedfall]

The Shadow was fast, making quick work of the surroundings, like a silent deadly predator. Not that it would attack without Sheena's say so, but it certainly had a mind of it's own, and it had been darkening the surroundings subtly, but eventually it would become evident that the darkness weighing on the area was not a natural one. It spotted the clones, and Naruto, roughly around the time that Naruto had finished up his vandalisms, so there was nothing that could be done about that.

The blue eyes slitted even more, watching his movements like an alligator just skimming the top of lakewater. No, it wouldn't attack, but the pact maker must be informed of this individual. It closed in, spreading itself, out and blocking the exits in the area with it's form. There was nothing natural about this darkness in the area now, it was thick enough that it even engulfed Sheena's light, so much so that she frowned and turned on her heel. If that wasn't a sign of it finding something, nothing was. So it probably did find some kids hanging out.

Tch, she'd have to go give them a kick in the ass and send them on their way home, then. There was nothing good about kids hanging around closed establishments.

She noted the pools of darkness blocking the exits out of the immediate area, knowing the Shadow meant for her to see the nuisance for herself. Not that it was impossibly to break through the pools of darkness, but a normal kid certainly couldn't do it. Someone with skill could fight their way through them, but she wasn't entirely worried about that.

So she slipped through the darkness, keeping to the wall, her feet barely touching the ground and making no noise as she moved. However, she couldn't see though this darkness any better than anyone else, so she used her other senses, trying to find who -- or what -- was there. And... it was odd, but kids were usually extremely easy to find.

Whoever this was, they were more advanced.

Eyes narrowed, she proceeded with more caution, worried that this could actually be a threat.

[obstinates]

It was much harder to see now. He quickly dispelled his nearby clones in an attempt to check his surroundings by using their memories. The situation was the same with them. They couldn't see much at all. This sort of darkness was like a genjutsu or something.

Naruto sucked at genjutsu.

"Crap," he mumbled under his breath, annoyed enough with his circumstances that he couldn't help but say something. He was stealthy, but he was also Naruto.

In any case, the only thing to do at this point was proceed carefully and quietly back the way he'd came. If worse came to worse, he could use some exploding tags to try and light up the area, but that would draw more attention than he needed. Even Naruto, as unsubtle as he was at sometimes, could appreciate the value of stealth in this situation.

If he was caught, his friends could suffer too.

He moved quietly, feet glowing dimly and eyes slitted under his mask. A flick of his wrist had his hidden kunai shooting out of his sleeve, caught by his hand and held in a reverse position, ready to deflect and defend.

[usedfall]

Sheena was in a similar position, despite the Shadow being on her side. This was the sort of darkness that your eyes didn't adjust to, because there was no light within it. She couldn't even see the light of her lamp anymore, despite having left it lit and she hadn't traveled too far. And while the Shadow could probably see where the intruder was, she couldn't. With the way it was acting, however, something told her that it believed that it was a threat to her, for whatever reason. It wouldn't create such a heavy darkness if it were just some kids or a homeless person -- that just didn't make sense.

So she reached into her back pocket and pulled out a paper seal -- a power seal -- an offensive seal that didn't pack too much of a punch, but was good in situations like this, when she didn't know what she was facing. And after a few more minutes of stealth, it seemed obvious that this wasn't going to get her anywhere. It looked like she'd have to take a more direct approach -- so she felt against the wall for a painting. Once found, she slipped a seal underneath, a fire seal.

After quickly dashing away, moving a good distance from the spot, yet leaving her still in the general vicinity, she crouched down against the floor. The seal hissed, almost like the sound of a firecracker when it's first lit on fire, and made a cracking noise -- one that was loud enough for anyone in the area to hear. Because the seal was behind the painting, light cast from the tiny explosion was minimal, yet still somewhat visible.

And she remained still, totally still, and listened. If they were offensive, they would most likely approach. If they were only interested in escaping, chances were they'd move away from the noise. But those were only chances -- she'd only see what would happen by paying absolute attention and being utterly careful. Things don't always work as you'd expect them to.

[obstinates]

Naruto's sensitive ears picked up the sound first. He was able to discern the direction and then see just barely some sort of light. Whatever it was, it almost reminded him of the firecrackers he used to prank Iruka with.

He stopped dead in his tracks and weighed his options. On the one hand, he told himself he needed to get out of here without any incident. On the other hand, he was Naruto, and his curiosity was eating away at him.

The darkness was too much like genjutsu, and he didn't know of anyone on the ship that could form a genjutsu like this except maybe Sasuke or Itachi. They were supposed to be in space however, which made Naruto all the more intent on finding out who--or what--was casting the illusion.

There was only a moment of hesitation as he summoned a clone to his side. After the two exchanged nods, the clone sat down, legs crossed, and remained completely motionless. It was working on Naruto's backup plan.

In the meantime, Naruto decided to draw out the other person by rushing the area where the noise has came from. He was definitely the offensive type.

[usedfall]

Whoever was there, they certainly weren't the defensive type, and the urge to rush out and face them head on was strong. She had a number of options, really, and she could hear Tiga's voice in her head, telling her to think things through before rushing in. She could call back her summon and catch them in regular darkness, with easier sight, but with the way they were moving around, if she did that, there's a good chance they'd get the better of her or run before she could peg them down. Or both. She could barely sense the approaching target, she only could tell they were there because she had been focusing so intently. Had she been otherwise occupied, she might have missed it. They -- It -- whatever -- moved quickly and with purpose.

She could try to lead it somewhere, but once cornered, what would she do? What if they thought they were being attacked, and were only offensive out of fear? Or what if they were some crazy serial killer who she just ended up stuck with? -- Dammit, screw Tiga, thinking about all the possibilities was just a waste of her time. She needed to act, and quickly, to keep up the fluidity of movement. She couldn't stay indecisive forever, even though she was unsure about what she should do.

Staying low to the ground, she moved quietly, placing fire seals on the floor as she went. She was moving back toward where she had originally been before all of this had happened, which meant she was cornering herself, but if she could catch this ...person... or thing... by them stepping on one of the seals and setting them off (which would probably lead to their pant leg being singed, at most, they weren't full blown explosive seals) might catch them off guard and give her a great opportunity. They were too swift on their feet to catch like this, even if she cornered them.

However, while throwing down seals, she bumped into a chair (of course, her luck), which made a generic wooden chair siding a bit noise, that brrr sound. Shit. Well, that had basically given her position away. If it hadn't, she'd be the luckiest ninja alive. She couldn't take any chances on her having any sort of good luck, so she ducked and spun around a bend, dropping the seals more sporadically as she went. She wouldn't know where they were if she needed to come back this way, but if they followed, there were more seals in their way.

[obstinates]

Naruto had been busy checking where the noise came from. He'd poked around with his kunai for a bit, trying to find the source of the sound when he heard a chair scooting across the floor. Immediately he rounded on his heels and dashed toward the new sound. He had to move quick if he was going to catch whoever was in here.

Idly, in the back of his mind, he wondered if that lady was okay. If she'd been hurt by the other person, Naruto wouldn't be happy.

When he stepped on one of those seals, he cursed as the tiny explosion caught him off guard. He flipped and landed one one knee as he slapped at his pant leg and the smoke billowing off of it. "Goddammit..." It was some sort of explosive tag or something, which made him also decide that the earlier firecracker noise was the same thing.

To the clever, deceptive mind like Naruto's, he realized the noise before had been a diversion so the other seals could be placed.

Alright. His clone should have had enough time. He released the clone and immediately felt the natural chakra it had been gathering enter his body. With all the added benefits that Sage Mode gave him, the world looked a lot different from before. He could sense the energy of the other person running in the other direction, and like some sort of chakra sonar, he could feel the rest of the seals.

Grinning in excitement (he really did enjoy using all his talents as a ninja after working hard to earn them), he summoned a single clone that ran forward, triggering each and every seal along the way. With Sage Mode, its movements were far swifter and its endurance was far greater, and Naruto followed directly behind it.

Except Naruto, the real one, followed by running along the ceiling. His intent was to corner whoever it was with the clone.

[usedfall]

Planning that all out would have been cool of her -- the first distraction, and then placing the seals as all part of a plan -- but it really had just been her bullshitting and thinking on her feet. She tended to do things as they came, especially when it came to scenarios when she needed to be fast. Full, thought out plans were something she was working on, and that was something she needed now. Sure, the seals on the floor were a good warning, but whoever it was, was setting them all off. The sounds could tell her the speed of approach in the beginning, but once the seals got more sporadic, she couldn't tell if he was approaching at the same rate. The differences between planting seals and throwing them down in a hurry, anywhere you could manage.

And really -- setting them all off? That either meant this person had horrible luck, or they were doing it on purpose. One would think that getting hit by one of the seals would stop you in your tracks, so you could proceed with caution. Whoever this was, she needed to corner them before they cornered her. That's the way this was headed, she could already tell, because this wasn't a huge area. They were very close to where she had been doing inventory, and there was a little more space beyond that before they hit a wall. And the shadow was still blocking the exits, so there was no leaving. Not that she intended to -- she wanted to know who or what this force was. She couldn't learn that if she ditched, could she? Plus, there was still inventory to be done. Huh, to think, only about 20 minutes ago she'd been dragging her heels and checking chairs, and thinking about texting Zelos out of boredom as she worked. Now she was caught up in something with little idea as to what it was.

So she kept moving back, but held up her hands and extended her energy. She felt it spread out of her and downward, lending it to the shadow. With a nod, she gave the shadow a jolt, and commanded it to catch her pursuer. Using Sheena's intertwined energy, the shadow fluctuated, and to one staring in the dark, the darkness would literally pulse. It was almost like being inside of something -- well, because it was like that, really. However, Sheena had no idea about the dual Narutos -- she hadn't figured her pursuer could both be on the ceiling and on the floor. While she did know of similar ninja tricks, ninja from her world were not nearly as advanced as those from Naruto's world, so something like shadow clones were extremely unfamiliar.

Which led to the shadow's dilemma. It fully intended on grabbing the other party with it's dark tendrils, but... which one? While it could spread out to scout, those were parts of it's body. It needed it's entire body to create arms enough to grab and entrap, which meant that it could only grab one Naruto. And Sheena hadn't given him the go ahead as to which one (because she didn't even know!). Quickly, it slid to the clone, choosing to try to wrap itself around that one.

Really, it was quite creepy. Just running along in the dark when the dark suddenly tries to wrap itself around you.

[obstinates]

Setting off all the seals had been Naruto's own form of distraction. He wanted his opponent focused on the noise and how it got closer. If he was lucky, it might even instill some small bit of fear in whoever had placed the seals when they realized that they weren't slowing down Naruto.

Or, his clone rather.

The clone tried to struggle as it was stopped by the shadow. It squirmed and wriggled, even pulling out a kunai to try and slice at the darkness. In the end, it was no use, and the clone was trapped. What little bit of chakra Naruto had given it to sustain itself was soon completely used up, and the clone disappeared in a puff of smoke, sending its memories back to the original.

And Naruto, once he realized he was directly over the other person thanks to his ability to sense their energy in Sage Mode, he quickly pulled his hands in close to his side. Another benefit of Sage Mode was the ability to create his signature attack without the aid of a clone simply by using his senjutsu aura to form the shell of the attack.

Once the glowing ball of swirling chakra was formed in his hand, it lit up the area around him, giving a perfect view of the masked individual as he launched himself downward like a missile. It was only when he was a mere few feet away from her when he realized it was the girl from before.

"Ah--SHIT!" A last second clone summoning was the only thing that kept him from hitting her with the attack. Instead, Naruto's newly formed clone tackled him out of midair and sent him sprawling into the tables and chairs of the foodcourt.

Seconds later, the attack detonated, rocking the area and sending debris flying.

[usedfall]

When the shadow let out a signal of triumph, and then distress, Sheena knew something was wrong. It all happened so quickly, the confusion over what had happened and then the snap of realization, the pricks on her neck and the build up she could just feel in the air -- and turning around just in time to see the attack. It was fast -- to fast for her to actually get out of the way -- so she had been bracing herself for some serious hurt when ... the figure was tacked out of the air by -- itself? Or something quite similar - and went flying into the table and chairs she had so painstakingly checked and marked on that damn little clipboard.

And then shit blew up.

She let out a noise of surprise and crouched into a defensive position, her arm in front of her face, as debris from the area went flying. Shards from the lightbulbs in the light fixture and wood from the furniture scratched her up a bit. The shadows dissipated, from her lack of hold on the summon, and vanished altogether, leaving the area in normal darkness. She held still for a few seconds, waiting for the area to stop trembling and the debris to stop throwing itself at her.

And that could have hit her.

... It was a scary thought. It'd probably would have knocked her right out, and if it hadn't, she'd be easy enough to finish off. But why had the figure stopped -- ? Or... well, it sort of flew out of the air, that didn't make sense either. After taking a breath and stopping herself from trembling, she gripped her hands into fists and ran over to the crash scene, climbing over and shoving destroyed things out of the way to get to the figure.

[obstinates]

"Good job bein' stealthy," Naruto mumbled to himself as he lifted a large piece of debris easily over his head. Super strength had its benefits, as well as super endurance. He didn't feel anything, but his brain did feel like it'd been knocked around in his head a few times.

When he stood up and let the debris fall to the ground with a loud thud, he glanced over to see the lady coming towards him. He rubbed the back of his head for a moment before grumbling to himself. It'd probably be time for an explanation. He did destroy half the food court after all.

Most ninja would probably try to get the hell out of there, but he'd almost flattened that girl, so he figured he owed it to her.

"Hey, what the hell, lady? It's dangerous around here, y'know!"

Okay, so maybe that was less of an explanation and more of an annoyed question.