Welcome to the Thunderdome

[Niro]

Fukusha, Kinomichi was bored. Recently promoted from genin straight to special jounin due to his actions during his scouting of Spirit's Nest, the young man was now stationed at the most important duty to the general shinobi populace.

Guard duty. Specifically, morning guard duty.

Perched upon the mile-thick wall that served as Iwagakure no Sato's primary defense, the Fukusha's eyes narrowed as he spotted a scout approaching in the distance. Normally, they'd come back at certain times and swap out patrols so it was...unusual to see one coming back at this specific time. Deciding it was strange enough to check out, the goat-eyed shinobi made his way down the wall and into the main pathway up through the mountain range and to the front gate. By the time he had completed his descent from the monstrous structure, the scout had made it to the gate with a woman bound and gagged under his arm.

"Do I even WANT to know?" Michi asked the young shinobi, the deadpan look on his face spelling out everything one would need to know.

"Some lady, found her forcing her way up the mountains towards us. Definitely weird enough so when she wasn't expecting it I uhhh...snuck up behind her and smacked her upside the head hard enough to knock her out. Have fun." The other special jounin was quick to dump the unconscious woman on the ground in front of Michi before taking off without another word.

His lime green eyes blinked at the figure on the ground several times before his face turned into a scowl aimed at the other shinobi. Bastard. Michi removed the gag and prodded her lightly with his boot.

"Oi, lady. Time to wakey wakey..." He muttered as he continued to prod.

[LunarCataphract]

Her trip to Iwagakure, based on the vague memory of that map her father showed her all those years ago, had at first been going fine. Not pleasant mind you, or even all that enjoyable, but it was easy and simply been a matter of putting one foot ahead of another. Then she had stopped to catch her breath, take note of her surroundings and adjust her cause. That’s when she had been ambushed, caught off guard…no that was not true. She had been on guard but she’d still been caught out, ambushed by one who somehow evaded her notice. Unacceptable……

She would kill them. Twist off their head, tear out their spine and paint her face in the blood! That accursed fool had, somehow, managed to ambush HER of all people! HER?! And undetected at that?! It was only now, that Hajime was recovering from unconsciousness to find herself being kicked, that she put together what had occurred! And she was bound! Gagged as well! Tied up like a common criminal! Or some escaped slave from the fighting pits! Her lips pulled back in a snarl as she began to gnaw at the ropes, trying to bite through them even as she sought to wiggle her arm free. Still, at least her captor had the good grace to ungag her.

“Untie me and I will spare you from a slow and excruciating death.” Yet her eyes….they spoke murder. Whatever fury she had for that cowardly ambusher was put on the back burner for now. Her fury, the full depth of her murderous hatred, was now directed entirely towards the idiot prodding her. She was going to twist that stupid leg off his off and shove it so very far down his throat that he would be breathing toenails! Death, and a painful one, was the only thing promised by her golden eyes.

She rolled onto her back, hiding her hands from view as she channelled chakra to them, forming a metal spike over the only limb she possessed. She would attempt to cut through her bonds with this, hoping her captor was so used to the idea of a shinobi needing hand signs to work their arts, that he wouldn’t notice the change in her chakra flow. If all went well she would soon have her limb free and be able to give these imbeciles the death they so surely deserved.

[Niro]

In an instant the Fukusha was regretting pulling away the gag. The moment the woman gained consciousness she began to gnaw at the ropes like a rabid dog. Michi couldn't really blame her but he would've at least asked what happened and who the person standing over him was. Nope, she just went to threats of violence even while bound. This one was going to be a handful, he could already tell. Releasing a big sigh the young man shook his head at her request to be untied.

"Why would I untie you when you're squirming around like that and threatenin' me? I should be typing you up tighter I figure." Michi commented as she began to roll onto her back. "Oh no you don't."

Michi grabbed her tied up legs with both hands and did his best to flip her face down. In the scuffle, he could see the telltale glow of chakra forming around her hands. At this he let out a loud groan, contorting his body to pin her face down while he rested on her lower back with his hands firmly gripping her forearms. "Can't we just do this the nice way? You tell me who the hell who you, why you were beelining it to Iwa, and why the hell you're so damn hostile? Maybe the ropes could even go away too but nooo, someone just had to be a pain!"

[LunarCataphract]

“Oh I’m sorry. Are we offended that the person you cowards ambushed and knocked out doesn't like being tied up like a dog?!” She snarled, releasing the chakra building up in her hand, allowing it to dissipate. She had been caught out, flipped onto her front and pinned face down, forced to endure the indignity of having a person ON top of her! And if that was not bad enough, he had the sheer audacity to complain about the situation like this was her fault!

“Fine maggot. I seemingly have no option. I am Mikazuki Hajime. I was beelining for your village so I may join and as for my hostility? I’m sure you're not so pig-headed as to be unable to figure out such a thing but if you are, then perhaps I have made the wrong choice in village.” She ceased her struggles for now, opting to preserve energy for a later escape attempt. That opportunity would come eventually, unless she was to be slain today.

“To elaborate, I have murdered my way to freedom from the slave ring I was in. They forced me to be a gladiator for the majority of my life but they outlived their usefulness, so I killed my proclaimed owners and now I am here. I have no skills in life except how to kill. What existence other than a Shinobi could I adopt?” It was a lie, not a full lie but there was definitely some distruth to her claim. It was true that she had no life open to her except a Shinobi but pursuing that path was not what brought her to Iwagakure.

[Niro]

Michi sat atop the woman as she told her his tale and blinked as she finished. Well, she was a bit more forthcoming with information than he had anticipated. He also couldn't notice any signs of lying as she spoke but he really didn't expect to find much with her face down in the dirt.

"I'll let you up and undo the ropes in a minute. The reason you got ambushed is pretty simple; Iwa didn't earn a lot of friends during the war that just finished up and someone just making their way for the place without a headband puts the scouts on high alert." Michi explained as he got off the blond and began to pick at the knots of the ropes. "I can't say yes or no to you joining the village as I'm just a mere rank and file. I can take you there however and point you in the right direction as long as you don't try to rip my legs off."

Michi finished the bottom knot and freed her legs before moving to the top set. Not willing to waste his time picking at it, he swiftly drew a kunai from his waist pouch and sawed through the threads. Patting himself off as he stood up, he offered her a hand to help stand.

[LunarCataphract]

“I suppose I can not fault you for that but you do seem rather stupid. If I was truly part of some malicious scheme to attack and assault your village, would I have been so easily captured?” It did not occur to Hajime that by asking that question, she had revealed the possibility of herself purposefully allowing herself to be captured to get people to lower their guard. Still, Hajime was not a shinobi and so the mentality of that shadowed world was entirely foreign to her. Still, at least she was being untied now.

Hajime rolled onto her back, raised her legs skywards and kicked forwards, rising up to her feet in a sudden and energetic movement. Rude it may have been to simply ignore the offered hand but given the circumstances, perhaps one could not blame her for being so suspicious. She had been attacked, knocked unconscious and tied up by the Iwagakure security forces after all.

“Hmmm……” Her eyes tightened, pupils constricting, forehead furrowing. An irritated expression was most definitely decorating her face, the frustrated scowl aimed directly at Michi. She was toying with the idea of just…ripping him apart. Of tearing limb from limb, of making a bloody smear out of him but for what felt like the only time in her life, she decided to restrain herself. This was the outskirts of Iwagakure, not the fighting pits. She could not throw her weight around as she used to.

The bloodlust faded, melting away slowly but surely as the amputee took a deep breath. Her features softened, relaxing, transitioning from irritated scowl to forced smile. The very idea of having to play nice with people frustrated her to no end but as the old saying went, when in Rome does as the Romans do.

“Our deal is struck. Lead the way…but do not dare break our pact.” As much as she did not like kissing up to people instead of simply taking things, she did not have much choice. Hajime was yet to devise a way to forcibly extract information from people. How much easier would that make everything she thought.

[Niro]

"You'd be surprised by what one could achieve by a simple act." Michi quipped as she ignored his offer of help up completely. "Well, okay then." He withdrew his hand and placed it back at his side, a small sigh escaping him in exasperated realization she would more than likely be a handful. As she stood up and stared him down, Michi was very keenly aware of the feeling of being sized up. Not a stranger to such gazes, Michi looked her over and noted she was missing her right arm, tucking the information away for any later need.

Finally her threatening gaze turned into a forced smile and the Fukusha wanted to laugh. It very much did not suit her, especially with the first impression she had given. With a soft snort, Michi began to lead the way through the mountain paths leading to the ridiculously thick wall which signified the entrance to the village. Several hundred feet high and a mile thick, the wall was one of the few things Michi found incredibly strange about the village. As they approached the structure, Michi rapt his knuckles across a specific section of it in code and stepped back to wait.

It didn't take long before a wall was seemingly carved out of the stone instantly and slid across to reveal an entrance with another shinobi blocking it. The older man looked over the two and scowled before directing his gaze at Michi.

"Who the hell is she?"

"Earth Country citizen displaced by the war." Michi lied easily, not really caring to explain everything to the man in front of him. The wall guard turned to look over Hajime with a hard squint, his eyes finding her lack of an arm and relenting.

"Fine." The shinobi turned on his heel and allowed the two entry into the wall. Once through, the entrance behind the two would close. Torches lined the hall and the wall guard began to perform a handful of handseals before the ground they were standing on began to move forward like a conveyor belt. Their speed picked up as they moved further through the structure before coming to a stop and an exit formed.

Expelled from the wall, the two stood at the very beginning of the village of Iwagakure. Mountain ranges lined the far edges of the topside of the village, their peaks extending into the heavens while the skyline of the city-like village seemed to be unending from their position.

"We're heading to the Kage building first, c'mon." Michi called out as he began to walk his way towards the center of the village.

[LunarCataphract]

“Hmp. Perhaps….but that is not how I do things.” Hajime was a gladiator. Her solutions were violent, destructive, complete, overwhelming. She crushed her opponents and problems through brutal and merciless displays of violence. Dancing around things, subterfuge and other traditionally more shinobi associated solutions…they were not for her. She was a gladiator. It was a past that she had left behind but the experiences she went through were a part of her. Any system was inevitably changed by the information it took in.

Still, Hajime had achieved her initial objective: being guided to the Village Hidden by the Rocks or, as it was natively known, Iwagakure. Hajime genuinely expected the challenge of finding one of the hidden villages to be more difficult, more demanding, more challenging and a lot more dangerous. Hmmm….perhaps she was wrong in some of her assumptions, namely those about the secrecy and mercilessness of shinobi. Hmmm………Hajime simply followed her guide, rather impressed by the nature of the door through the wall.

“Yes. As you can see I….suffered due to the conflict, in more ways than one.” She lied as naturally as she had breathed, a talent cultivated throughout her years as a gladiator. Deceit was neither something she approved of nor condoned. It was simply a thing people…did. There was nothing special about it. No inherent maliciousness or justice. Considering it just another behaviour was what enabled her to lie so well. After all, were you really lying if lying was just a way of speaking? She walked through the opening, standing still upon the moving platform.

Finally…she was here: Iwagakure. The village spread out before her, its numerous buildings extending towards the distant mountain range. The colour and just the general design of the village caused it to, from Hajime’s perspective, slowly melt away into the mountains. From a distance she could understand how the village remained hidden and its location protected; especially when you factored in the shinobi patrolling the region. Still, all of that was rather minor compared to the revelation that her current ultimate destination was the office of the Kage.

“As you wish.” Hajme wanted this all over with. Her goals lay elsewhere within this village…but for now she would play along with this theatre.