| [May. 28th, 2009|07:16 pm] |
"It's Shiota Natsumi, actually. My father calls me sweetheart." He didn't--'Little Bird' had been his name for her almost from the first--but the tall man's reaction was worth the lie. You didn't often see someone trying to fit surprised, amused, and working on a come-back all into one expression.
Natsumi smiled sweetly at him and dropped her eyes to the brief again, skimming through the last few lines. The thieves were expected to be at least chuunin-rank ninja, which explained the B-ranking; there were two of them, possibly more. The dead guards had been killed by bladed weapons at close range. Perfect. Her shoulder was fully functional again, with only a greening bruise to remind her of the injury; she'd be able to pick their targets off at any distance she chose.
She closed the brief and finger-combed her bangs out of her eyes, thinking. "If they're foolish enough not to take cover within the shrine itself, I should be able to take them out within seventy-five meters. At close range, I'm much less effective." The shame of her brief struggle with the ninja in the dungeons of Yoshioka Castle still rankled, even as the last of the bruises faded. She took a deep breath and looked up into his eyes again. "If that works for you, I'm in." |
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