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"Kitsune: Scene 1" (Radat) He was in hell… “Aaaooowww” A boy in his early teens, garb in black and blue and sporting a dark bandana, was traversing one side of a river, heading south. He was walking with some difficulty, one hand clutching his stomach. He was in pain… “Oooooohhh” I guess I deserve this… ’You certainly do you hentai swine…’ Mocked imaginary words that Sasuke would expect from a certain girl, who’s probably miles and miles away by now. Followed by a vision of a slap…slap (two)…slap (a third), and climaxing with a kick in the shins… “Aaaooowww!” Sasuke clasped his forehead, massaging the headache that compounded along with the complications in his abdomen. It has been like this since he finished all of the strange food that was unintentionally left by Millie, not that he didn’t have enough rations for himself. Or he could have subsisted by foraging what nature could have provided. But instead, he had to risk eating those supposedly unappetizing morsels. At least that’s what he taught at first. They were good, weren’t they? Besides, a ninja is supposed to be open to new experiences if he’s to exploit and to adapt them in his training. Sasuke’s stomach growled and made sloshing sounds in response. With his hand still in his temple, the boy-ninja bemoaned. “Who am I kidding? That’s probably the lamest excuse I ever thought of, even Mondo would ridicule me to no end if ever hears of this. The truth is I lost discipline in myself. How could I’ve been so stupid? Baka, baka, baka…” The boy-ninja mentally pounded himself of his folly and his predicament He continued traveling south on the east side of the river that would eventually lead him to Radat. Sasuke estimated that he’d get there very soon. It was pass midmorning when Sasuke caught sight of the sluice gate, that which was the signature of the port town of Radat. The discomfort in his stomach was still there but was tolerable compared a few hours ago. With an improved gait, Sasuke proceeded towards the eastern side of the bridge-like structure. “Please I wish not any trouble” “What’s wrong luvly, think can’t handle the three of us together. We heard ya handled twice our bunch in a day” A scene was developing at the one end of the sluice gate where Sasuke was heading. A group of three men, all unsavory-looking, have surrounded and are harassing a woman. The men wore mismatched clothing that look to have been unwashed for at least a week. The same condition could be said of there faces and bodies. One wore a scarlet bandana that seems to cover his balding head. The lanky one had a bad set of teeth, which shows yellowing. While the third, which’s burly in physique and the last one to have spoken to the woman, sported an eye patch on his left eye. The woman was dressed in a pink kimono, with white lilac designs. Her long black silky hair was worn long and straight. She looks as if to be in her late twenties but this diminishes little the beauty that graces her, which makes her appear younger. Indeed Sasuke has seen very few such true beauties in his lifetime, save perhaps Kasumi. “What ever are you saying?” the distress in woman’s expression was evident with the implications of what one of the men had said. “C’mon now we’ve heard what folks say bout you. We’ll make it worth your while” the gangly man suggested with a leering smile, exposing his yellowish rotten teeth. Sasuke thought he saw a glint of danger in the woman’s eyes, like that of an animal when cornered, a dangerous sign. Such looks were reserved for those trained in the martial arts, but Sasuke has his doubts. The outfit she’s wearing is to restrictive for any dynamic movements to be executed without sacrificing modesty, the best she could would be a half run. Or perhaps there’s something about this woman that Susuke was not aware of. He decided to observe further. “Come here you…” the burly man grabbed the woman by her right wrist. “Let go of me!” the woman beauteous face contorted to anger in response, while struggling with effort to get free from the man’s almost crushing grip. “Oooooh, a feisty one. I like that in a wench” teased the patch-eyed man. Okay waiting is over. “Stop!” The participants of the scene suddenly turn to the source of the objection. All have mixed expressions upon seeing the youth facing them. The two whom Sasuke determined as the flunkies displayed some annoyance in the their faces, while the burly guy with the eye patch and the one holding the woman, had an amused look as if considering the boy-ninja as of no consequence. The woman meanwhile showed her concern to the sudden turn of events but appear to have some doubts to the intervention of the boy. “Huh, oh its just a little shrimp. Beat it kid” snickered the man with the bandana. “Yeah, like what he said,” added the lanky guy while giggling silly. “I’m not a kid, and if you know what’s good for you, you better leave the woman alone” answered Sasuke while his free hand, his right hand, was flexing for anticipation. “What’s this slut to you kid? Is she your mother or something…?” asked the patch-eyed man. “WHAT!” was the response of both the woman and the boy-ninja but in the case of Sasuke, his eyes seem to bug out at the insinuation. “Or perhaps…” turning to face the woman with a wicked smile. “He’s one of your younger customers by any chance? “WHAT!” retorted the woman, but this time it’s her eyes that bugged out. “Eeewww…I didn’t expect that you’d to stoup so low. Imagine, hitting on younglings…” said the slight-built man who was getting excited and amused at the same time. “No! No! No! I know not this boy. He is of no relation of mine. And how DARE you imply such a vile thing!” said the woman; quickly salvaging what dignity she had left. Sasuke could only contemplate that last few exchange of sentences between concerned individuals with a dumb-found look. How dare that baka of a gaijin to think that I’m related to that woman. Surely they’re the uncivilized barbarians they are thought to be. Hmmm? There’s that word again… “Hmmm…well then” Sasuke suddenly returned to reality, as the burly man began to address him once more. “Listen kid, I dunno who you are? But it seems to me that you have no business here. Why don’t you just run off to mommy now, she must be very worried sick about her little boy. Now we wouldn’t want anything to happen to mommy’s little boy would we.” “You tell him Grog…hehehe,” added the lanky man while crackling with glee. “The name’s Sasuke and it’s best that you leave any reference to my mother or any member of my family out of this matter. And yes this maybe none of my business, but I’ve gotten this far involved already, and besides it’s not right for the likes of you to keep on harassing this woman whom obviously does not wish your company. And finally if that was a threat” Sasuke’s eyes narrowed into slits with dead seriousness. “I’m not at all a bit impressed.” “Hey boss this kid is beginning to getting on my nerves. Let me take care of him,” suggested the balding man with a bandana to the one named ‘Grog’. “Hmmm…Okay Lann, but make it quick. My urges are beckoning me” The woman almost paled at that remark made by Grog. “With pleasure” The one called Lann proceeded towards the insolent youth. He began sizing up his adversary. He observed that the boy probably just turn into his teen years, definitely still a kid and an impudent punk at that. He was dressed in a blue tunic over black cover-alls and wore a dark bandana that framed his unkempt brown hair. Besides the duffle bag he was carrying, Lann also noticed a hilt or wand-like object protruding just beside the youth’s burden. “Hey kid nice looking sword you got there. Didn’t your parents ever tell not to play with sharp objects?” Lann was closing up the gap. Fifteen feet. “I already told you I’m not a kid. As for this.” Sasuke began tapping the hilt of his ninja-to in response. “I don’t need it to deal with you.” Sasuke let his duffle bag fall onto the dirt-covered ground. Ten feet. “Why you little punk…” Lann quickened his pace. Three feet. “I’m gonna wipe that smart ass look off your…” Lann tensed the muscles in his right arm, pulling it back. His fist forming into that of ball, holding out the energy that he was about to release till last second. One feet. Sasuke remained still where he’s been standing since all of this began, a slight smirk formed on his face. This infuriated Lann more so as he lunged his blunt extremity towards its intended target. Contact. “What the…” Lann’s fist contacted nothing but air and an empty space where the youth used to be, causing him to nearly stumble due to his momentum. Similar reactions were apparent on the faces of the others concerned. All witness with a blink of an eye the boy simply vanishing out of existence. “I’m right over here,” taunted an all to familiar voice. Surely enough it was Sasuke, but this time he was standing besides the stone railing of the bridge a few feet away from his original position. “What!…How?…” Lann had a priceless look on his face. “What was that you were saying earlier? ‘Wiping someone’s smart ass face’.” Sasuke’s grin widened, his facial expression showing dark amusement. Lann immediately turned towards the direction of the boy, his good arm readying to strike home. Lann lunges, but again his attack connected nothing. “I’m right behind you…” taunted the voice originating from behind the balding man. Lann made a one hundred eighty degree turn, hoping with luck that he would hit something. His wild swing yielded no success; his quarry wasn’t there anymore but has blinked onto another position. And so the strange dance continued for some time. Lann never got any closer in hitting the youth even once as the youth seem to constantly blink from one place to other. But little did Sasuke’s audience know that this simple ninja trick was beginning to tax the boy-ninja’s endurance. Sasuke had to do something. It suddenly dawned upon Sasuke. What was he to do with his attacker? He had reservations of killing his opponent; as a matter of fact Sasuke had never killed anybody in his entire life. Ironic that after training in the Arts, which included killing, that he would momentarily debate on the value of life. But his moment of hesitation nearly cost him. Lann’s fist was a couple of inches from Sasuke’s face but the boy-ninja managed just in time to tilt his head enough to dodge the blow. Had his reaction been slower… Your beginning to become careless again Sasuke’ mentally mused the boy-ninja to himself. ‘I must do something and fast. But what? Then it came to him…With lightning speeds that he trained for, Sasuke maneuvered himself once again beside the stone railing of the sluice gate. “Hey Lann I’m over here!” called the youth. Lann by this time has been huffing hard from exertion. However he had no plans on giving up. “Stand…still…Wait…till I…get my hands…on…you” Once more Lann lunged for the nth time. Again the boy-ninja disappeared from view only to reappear directly behind the balding man. Suddenly Sasuke executed a leap kick, hitting Lann squarely on his butt. The momentum of Lann’s movement, coupled with the force of Sasuke’s blow caused the balding man to topple over the stone railing and into the river below. Landing on his feet, Sasuke sighed with relief. That’s one less ruffian to deal with. Now then… The boy-ninja then turned to face his somewhat amazed spectators. Going into a fighting stance…”Who’s next…!”
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