“Kurai! A man from the Administration building came by and left a note! It's addressed to you and looks pretty important!”

His mother's voice woke him from his slumber. He turned over and sluggishly made his way out of his bed, wiping the stuff from his eyes. Pulling on the top of his black body suit, Kurai did a zombie walk to the bathroom to relieve himself. His bladder drained and empty, he made his way to the kitchen, where his mother was handing him an envelope sealed closed with a Hinowa symbol. “You two must really be making waves out there, besides what you did to those kids over in the garden. But I don't hold that against you or your sister, I know both of you did what you felt like you must. Keep up the good work!” said his mother, rubbing her hands through Kurai's wild black hair, which he didn't mind because she always did that.

His hair was now sticking in all different directions, but he didn't care about that either. He fixed himself a sandwich and poured a glass of orange juice. Sitting at the kitchen table, Kurai peeled open the letter. The contents describes a special mission designed just for him, probably from Kouki or one of the other heads of the village.

An outsider was in the village of Hinowa. He was likely here to gather intel for where ever he was from; Kurai assumed Makkura, in an attempt to find out the strength of the village before coming in and destroying the village again. A suspicious individual by the name of Nikuya (Butcher) was a regular patron of bars, and had been shooed away from the Administration Complex several times. There was a picture included with the note to show what he looked like. If this man was indeed an outsider for another village, secretly gathering information on Hinowa for his superiors? He was a dead man. Killing, Kurai tended to avoid it, but it wasn't beneath him. He was only 15 but had killed before, when his family was out on the road, frequently moving from place to place. Someone coming along and attempting to ruin his new home was more than enough reason to kill again.

Deciding to wait until night fall to begin his own investigation, Kurai lounged around the house all day, doing push-ups and other strength building exercises. When darkness fell, Kurai made his way to the area of the market where the bars were located. He'd been sitting around for about 10 to 15 minutes, looking just like anyone else out that evening when he spotted the man. Currently he was attempting to flirt with a group of ladies, but seemed to be doing a horrible job of it. He walked past a certain alley and was suddenly snatched off of his feet, to be dragged behind several buildings and be thrown into trash bins.

He gathered himself, yelling numerous obscenities, to see a 15 year old kid with a black body suit standing over him. Red eyes glared down at the man in the trash. “What the-who-what is this? What are you doing?”

”...You're not from this village... You're here to gather intelligence for your superiors, trying to figure out how strong we are. Who are you? Where are you from?”

“What?... I am a proud resident of Hinowagakure! What are you talking abo--” He was interrupted by a kick to his face, sending him yelping and sprawling back into the trash. Sitting up again, he wiped blood from his nose. “...Look kid, I don't know who you think you are, but you have the wrong idea--” Another kick sent him backwards into the pile of trash once again. This time the man jumped up and took a stance. He threw a punch back at Kurai that Kurai leaned to the side to avoid, then a side kick, causing Kurai to go low and sweep the man off of his remaining leg. He fell violently onto the back of his head.

His head smacking against the hard ground must have woken him up to the fact that this kid might actually kick his ass, or worse if this kept going. Nikuya got up and attempted to escape. Kurai rose up an Earth Wall in front of him as he was looking back to see if Kurai was giving chase, and he ran smack into it. The impact against the wall, which sank back into the ground afterwards, was enough to cause several documents to come spilling out of his black robes.

Kurai retrieved these documents. Within were detailed descriptions of Hinowa's strength: who ran the place, who guarded the place, entry and exit points. There were even details about him, and his sister Hikari. This is what made Kurai frown. “...A proud resident, you said?... You're a dead man and you don't even know it yet...”

“I could say the same of you!” barked back Nikuya. He was exposed now, and had no choice but to take out Kurai if he wanted to keep his cover. With Kunai knives in either hand, Nikuya began trying to stab Kurai. In the midst of the swings, Nikuya created 2 other clones, each with their own set of Kunai knives, yet none of them were able to touch Kurai.

He lured the man back into this alley for a reason. When first arriving in the market this evening, Kurai raised a large stone from underground and crushed it down into a fine powder. After a “Violent Heel” dispersed one of the clones, and a “You're Too Close” combo to another (A combo devised by Spook consisting of a fist to the groin, three punches to the mid-section and an uppercut-like blow to the chin, usually sending the victim airborne) which also caused this clone to disperse into smoke, Kurai performed his Great Whirlwind kick, sending Nikuya speeding into a wall to then fall into a pile of grey powder. A large dust cloud rose, and within Nikuya could be heard coughing.

Kurai turned and began leaving the alley. He said nothing else to Nikuya as the powder seemed to have a life all it's own. Nikuya began to scream, but his mouth was filled with the substance, silencing him, and his body was covered head to toe. The substance began to crush the life out of the man, and he lived long enough to feel his bones simultaneously begin to snap and pop. The powder totally constricted upon the man, crushing him into nothing.  Kurai approached one of village security and asked that he deliver Nikuya's intel to Kouki directly. He felt no regret for doing what he did to the outsider, for he'd made it personal by gathering information on him and his sister. Kurai didn't get a chance to find out where the man was from, but somewhere down the line he felt like he'd find out.

Word Count: 1,162