High Expectations [Group]

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The Sun Village was always so hot and dry, almost too much so for the young Hyuuga as she made her way to outside of the village gates. She had received one of those messenger pigeons, or whatever you call the birds, from Gekkousato. There was a client, some wealthy man, that wanted to travel from the Sun to the Moon village and knowing that Ami was currently there, had requested her assistance. For once she was excited to do a mission, since most of her previous missions have been about killing wild animals that it was nice to actually escort someone somewhere. It made her feel more...important, if that was even the right word. She thought perhaps she was finally being recognized in her own village, and wanted to make a name for herself in the other village as well. She had done some many collaboration missions by now that people were surely to know of the green haired kunoichi. Ami entertained the idea, wanting to become the strongest shinobi but also make a name for her clan as well.

She sat by the village gates, her black dress picking up the warm wind that was brushing through the desert plains. She propped herself on one of the rocks, her katana to her right and the mission scroll in her hand. The Hyuuga knew that she was waiting for one other person, which from the sounds of the mission seemed to fewer in number than she had expected. When she had done an escort mission in the past for Moon, she was always paired up with at least two other ninja. It would only mean that this person was strong, and could handle any circumstances with ease. Ami looked forward to meeting her partner, wanting to learn a thing or two from this person if he or she did prove to be as strong as what she imagined. It was also her practice to learn something new from every mission, be it to improve her awful sense of direction or the fighting styles of her teammates. It made each mission special for her, something that helped her get through some one them. She sat looking out at the desert, her eyes resting on no point in particular as she waited. It was early morning and the weather was nice, which made the escort just a little bit easier.

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"Genkumaru Iwamura, at your service."

Ami would look up to find herself staring up at a very muscular red haired man. At first glance, people may be intimidated of his looming frame and build but his aoft voice and kind words made up for it any intimidation the girl would have felt towards him. His name was Genkumaru, a name with a nice ring to it. She would give him a smile and stood up from her seated position. "Hyuuga Ami from Gekkousatou. Pleased to meet you." It surprised her that she felt the need to be formal with the man, perhaps his appearance distracted her from her usual nonchalant self. She was not wearing her headband so she thought it would be polite to let the other know that she wasn't from his village, although that wouldn't have been dofficult to guess anyhow.

She would grab her katana from its resting place against the boulder, her lavender eyes moving away from Gen to the desert area around her. She had no idea who the person they were supposed to escort was but had received information that one of their guards would be meeting them here to take them to their customer, so to speak. She would see a man of almost the same height as her approach them after a moment. From his clothing, nobody would have guessed he was actually a guard, wearing a black shirt and pants with only a sword in his hand. "Red Scallions," she breathed the words that was the code for their mission, thoroughly amused that it was scallions above all else. The man would nod his head and gesture for the two of them to follow him.

He led the onto a side road, away from the gates and prying eyes of passerby. The shinobi would see a carriage of sorts,covered by a dark green cloth. Behind the carriage was a smaller one, where four guards would be standing around it. They wore something of the same attire as the man who had picked them up. As they drew near the big carriage, the man would finally speak, his voice husky and low. "These are the weapons Gekkousatou has requested from our master." Simple enough to understand, Ami thought to herself and nodded her head. She didn't really care what was inside nor who the supposed 'Master' was. She turned to Gen and spoke, her own voice a whisper. "Looks like we're on cargo and bodyguard duty. Do you mind taking care of this and I'll join these guys over there with their Master?" Her voice was light as she nodded to the standing guards.

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There was an eerie feeling in the air that unsettled the Hyuuga as she would make her way to the small carriage where the supposed Master was. She couldn't really put into words why she didn't trust the guards, merely leaving it as a gut feeling. As Genkumaru hoisted himself up top of the big carriage, she rounded to the smaller one, her eyes casting at the guards who were still standing. The girl would approach the window of the carriage, about to speak when she was almlst stabbed in the face with a sword. The blade had torn through the window when she neared it, her hand flying to her own blade while stepping back swiftly, the sword still pointing to her nose. A man would tear out of the window then, running towards her.

A trap!

Ami kept moving backwards until she could see she was two meters from a tree. Perfect! Stopping abruptly, she bent her body backwards, making an arch with her upper body so as to escape the still incoming sword. Years of training had taught her body flexibility. The Hyuuga would aim to kick her right foot at the man, using her own blade as leverage to balamce her little arch. She hoped that Gen would see this and come snd help her, noticing the four guards starting to make a move on her as well. Where was the real merchant? Did they kill him already?

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Ami was grateful to Genkumaru as he came to her assistance. She hated the idea of being ambushed, even though that was already a common occurrence that it shouldn't phase her. The Hyuuga would watch as Gen swiftly took control of the situation, his demeanor changing dramatically. He seemed at first glance to be so much scarier than just a moment earlier. The two men that were hit by the redhead would fall to either side of her. It was quickly evident that the other two remaining men would try and ambush Gen, trying to fight him with their swords while the two already injured men would go for Ami. That was fine, she thought to herself, activating her Byakugan to see their chakra points clearly. Since they were within range, she decided that it would be best to eliminate one out of the two of them first, while keeping an eye on the other man in case he also decided to attack.

Now the situation was more defined, the two men who had watched Gen from before closing their distance to around five meters. One of them would move to slash him in the torso while the other rounded to the back of him, hoping to make an attack from behind. Both of them seemed to be more skilled at using their weapons than anything. Ami concentrated on her opponents, valuating the situation as she waited for them to attack her. One of the two would run towards her with a katana, a classic head-first attack. By now she had fought so many sword users that she was almost reacting on second nature, her blade in front of her to block. If they thought she was going to be an easy opponent, they would be deadly wrong, her expression changing as well. Her eyes were cold and calculating.

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Ami wouldn't have much time or energy to watch Gen fight his two opponents as her own opponents decided to mess her with her mind just a little. The girl had blocked the sword attack with her own blade and had expected a sword fight. As one man would try to use a low kick to her legs, her instincts told her to jump upward, twisting her sword hand so that the deadlock would be lifted. She was a Taijutsu user as well, in fact more of one than a swords user. She would go to grab the leg of the man not realizing that the other man who had tried to kick at her leg was following up with a sword attack. She would have grabbed the leg of the man in the air and swung his body like a top against the tree behind her but was caught in the abdomen with the other man's sword.

A little gasp escaped her lips as she felt his sword in her body, the blade digging deep within her. Her eyes changed, activating her Byakugan instantly when the man pulled his sword out of her body. If he thought that she would be stunned enough to not be able to move, he was quite wrong. She enjoyed seeing her own blood, much more so feeling pain. It drove her to be ruthless, and the next moment the man would find his sixteen chakra points hit rapidly, followed by another sixteen. Ami had used two of her eight trigram techniques.

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The gentle fist style was definitely anything but gentle, as she jabbed her fingers continuously and effortlessly into the chakra points of her opponent. She could see his eyes widen a fraction, stunned that she had the capability of such an attack. It made to show how little people knew of the Hyuuga clan and their abilities. She smirked, her finger landing on a chakra point at his shoulder blade for the final strike. She would step backward a little out of habit, watching as the man fell forward. He tried to move, she could tell, squirming a little as he lay there. But it was no use as most of his chakra points were temporarily disabled. The girl would walk, slightly wobbling and approach his body. She knelt on his back, her weight pushing on him and listened as he groaned.

In a swift motion she would unsheathe her second blade, driving the pointy metal into his back as she knelt on him. He gave a scream, his blood pouring. Ami would draw her blade out slowly, the idea of adding more pain to him from slow movements giving her a rush she had never felt. His scream echoed in her ear, and for a moment she wanted to hear more. The girl would grab the man by his hair, wrenching his head towards her before taking her sword and gently...ever so gently slicing his neck. It was almost too clean, his blood now on her hands and clothes. Ami would let go of his head a little after, the rush from before fully disappearing from her eyes. She had killed someone, ruthlessly again, and it hadn't been her intention.

She got off the dead man, fully feeling the pain in her abdomen for the very first time as she winced. Gen was already by her side at this point, having taken care of the other man for her while she had fought. She watched him rip the end of his shirt to help stop the bleeding of her wound. The girl swayed slightly, her hand grabbing his arm as she did so. Every muscle would relax, give in to the onset of pain. But she would remain conscious, not wanting to create extra unnecessary burden for the man before her. "Thank you...I'll be okay." she would attempt to stand, of course to not success.  

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It seemed like she was always getting hurt on missions, and this one would be no different. She felt Genkumaru pick her up, not even bothering to protest at that point, and carry her to the weapons cart and putting her down gently. She shook her head at his apology, finding it absolute nonsense that he was apologizing for her mistake in judgment. "I did this to myself...don't apologize." her voice was a soft whisper as she closed her eyes, knowing that she was in safe hands. The trip to the hospital was quick, thanks to the very capable Gen, who had gotten them there in half the time it took normally. She was happy she could at least count on him, feeling him pick her up once more and carry her into the building.

How often she frequented a hospital was beyond her but she was quite experienced to the treatment. Having been stabbed multiple times, the doctor didn't even have to explain what he was going to do. Ami only knew that her wound would be closed, as though nothing had happened. Such was the magic medics could do, which had prompted her to want to be a medic herself. The girl appreciated the responsibilities of a medic and wanted nothing more than to help others who were in pain or were injured, like she so often was. As she thanked the doctor and walked out of the room moments later, she would meet with Genkumaru once more. Right...they still had a mission to finish! She followed Gen out of the hospital, propping herself back up to the weapon cart.

"Thank you for saving me."

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"Hyuuga Ami, tell me about yourself? What is your Nindo? What drives you?" The use of her full name somewhat startled her. Not many people called her that and it almost made her jump. The girl thought for a moment before replying. When she was an academy student she would always get this question, but ever since becoming a Genin she had almost never heard it being asked again. "I am a Hyuugan and as a Hyuugan we swear to protect the village and its people. I want to be strong, not only as a woman but as a shinobi. It sounds vague, but I want to be the strongest shinobi in Gekkousato." A very far-fetched goal, she knew, but a goal nonetheless.

The cart would continue down the streets. She would observe Genkumaru a little more closely now. She had been so preoccupied by the commotion from earlier that she had not taken a good look at him. He was definitely scary in appearance but his personality seemed to be kind and gentle enough. "What about you?" she was genuinely interested in what he had to say. Ami didn't usually have much time to chat or talk to the people she went on missions with, taking the opportunity to get to know the man before her.

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Ami would nod her head as she listened. There was definitely truth in what he was saying, perhaps more truth than she willed herself to admit. He seemed like a righteous man, a man who was willing to go to extreme lengths to uphold law and order while protecting the young and weak. She liked that about him. Many shinobi nowadays were power hungry, obsessed with being the best of the best that it was sickening. Although her clan was no exception, she was never one to believe that she was superior to anyone else. She wanted to be strong, but not a tyrant, and definitely was not one to fight or spar with people just to prove she was stronger.

"Indeed, the wold has become a strange place. It used to be much simpler to live and to operate. Now everyone is more concerned about themselves than others," she paused before turning her head to face the red haired shinobi. Her gaze met his and she would smile. "It's nice to see someone so human again, so to speak. Someone who is willing to lend a helping hand not just for personal gain or benefit." and she meant every word of what she said. She despised what the world was now molding itself into and hoped that there would be more people like Gen to uphold the systems and order.