Stranger in the road (Suoh)

[Yuki]

Her forehead protector hidden, it didn't take much to get ahead of Suoh as he left the town.

When they were good and far from earshot of anyone else, she decided it was time... Suoh was the only one around to come to her rescue.

"No! Give it back! Help!" She smacked a stick across a tree for the loud cracking sound that Suoh would hear. She already had a good black and blue bruise on her cheek from earlier that day. She fell to the ground, laying the now broken stick in front of her, with the badly bruised cheek facing up for Suoh to find her unconscious body...

[Suoh]

Suoh had been in no hurry when he left the village. He had stopped just outside of the gates to tie his forehead protector around his right thigh and to wrap the string of hematite prayer beads three times around his wrist. It gave his anger time to come to a boiling point, and he'd need it. He hadn't been back to Water Country since he had been a small boy; thinking of the place still brought back memories of the chaos, of the loneliness and loss, and of the black carrion crows...

But they had touched his Oki, and they had touched her unkindly. He could have overlooked a great many faults in that village if they hadn't done that, but they had broken his chief rule and they had touched what was his. He hated when people did that.

He heard the cry and the crack and veered off course. It was a force of habit, really, to investigate a female voice. He had a job to do. But he moved quickly and silent as a cat in the direction the sounds had come from.

[Yuki]

In the center of the road, a petite, but beautiful girl lay unconscious. The stick used to render her that way beside her, and there were scuff marks of a struggle all around her. Her blouse was slightly torn, and if she had been carrying a purse it was gone. In the dim light, the ugly black and blue bruise contrasted so well with her light skin that Suoh would easily pick it out.

She seemed to in very good physical shape despite how small she was, and looked to be about 19. If it wasn't for the dirt and the bruise, Suoh would think there was only two professions she could possibly have - runway model, or stripper...

[Suoh]

Suoh approached her warily, calmly performing the hand seals to dispel any genjutsu that may have been used in the area. The scene seemed clear enough, a robbery of some sort, but there was no telling how far away the woman's attackers were. They were hardly men if they had only taken her purse if she looked like this and was helpless against them. He gazed down at her thoughtfully. Yes, she was certainly beautiful, but not his type. He liked his petite women to be brunette, his blondes full figured. Anything else he'd take as he found...

Still keeping alert for any sound or movement, Suoh knelt down beside the young woman lying in the roadway and tapped her uninjured cheek lightly to try and rouse her.

[Yuki]

The woman slowly came around... Her eyes fluttering, and looking dazed... When she saw him kneeling over her, she screemed and skittered back, and then yelped again it pain, clutching her ankle... She looked like she would cry from fright...

[Suoh]

"Easy love," he said soothingly. "I'm not here to hurt you. I heard you scream and came to see what happened." He moved the chain of the kusari-gama that was tucked into his belt to let her see the forehead protector on his leg. "I'm not one of them."

[Yuki]

The girl was breathing erratically and whimpering softly... But she seemed to relax a little bit when she saw the ninja symbol on his leg... "They... took my purse..." she whimped out, her hand coming up to her cheek, and she winced when she touched the bruise...

[Suoh]

"They left you something to remember them by," Suoh nodded, watching her reach up to touch the bruise. "Look, you're not far from a Hidden Village right now. I can help you get there if you wanted to see about sending someone out after whoever took your purse, maybe about seeing you safely home..."

[Yuki]

"I... I can manage..." she said, trying to sound sure of herself and failing. But when she tried to up, she whipmered and colapsed again... She wasn't going anywhere on that ankle it seemed...

[Suoh]

Suoh had suspected as much. He could carry her and still run; she didn't look like she'd weigh much. He could then pass her off to one of the jounin patrols and be back on his way. He could make up for lost time, it just meant he wouldn't be able to dawdle as much as he would like. Still, no great loss.

"Here," he said, lifting her up into his arms. "Allow me."

[Yuki]

She squeeked, but once she was in the air, she relaxed, holding on to him... "You're really kind," she said softly... "I don't mean to be a bother..."

[Suoh]

"No, it's fine," he said, and he sounded sincere as she stood and began to run back towards the village. "You're just lucky I was out this way so late. What's a girl like you doing out here at this hour with no escort?"

[Yuki]

"Would you believe... Somehow... I knew I would meet you if I came out here?" she asked shyly as if admitting to buying into horoscope or some other fortune telling device...

[Suoh]

"Then I believe I have a bridge you might be interested in, and very reasonably priced..."

[Yuki]

"You didn't seem like the kind of guy who believed in fate..." and Suoh would feel something pierce his skin, feeling like a mosquito or the like. "But trust me... I knew I'd meet you here," she said.

His vision would already be swimming. Soon, he'd be completely out...