I feel a sharp object against my neck, the sensation followed by the sound of a young girl speaking. "You better not move if you don't wanna get stabbed." It's hard to believe that someone—much less a girl this young—was able to get behind me so effortlessly.
"You're lucky I didn't stab your throat... If it were anyone else but me that found a gross man so close to the village, they'd have slit open your windpipe," the girl tells me after letting go of the knife in question. She then tosses something onto the ground next to me.
"This is... a weapon?"
"That's right, I wanna get even stronger! What better way than to see how tough men really are?" she exclaims, putting her hands on her hips and sticking them out at me.
I'm still a little perturbed by the actions of this young girl, but it seems she's not going to kill me for no reason; in fact, she seems almost excited about something. I hesitantly take the weapon in my hand and look at her. "You really just want to train?" I ask dubiously.
She looks up at me with an expression that makes it clear she thinks of me as some sort of inferior creature. "Train? Don't be silly, I'm gonna beat you down!" With that, she steps forward like a bolt of lighting.
My eyes widen at her sudden approach; the speed at which she's moving is simply unreal. Her kunai comes swinging through the air toward my head, but before it can reach me, I parry its path with my own blade. I'm suddenly thankful for the intense training my old Sensei made me go through when I was younger. I knock the weapon from her hand with a flourish, pushing her down with a gentle kick to her legs. She lets out a cute grunt and drops to one knee.
"Grr..." she growls, clearly annoyed at herself. "You're strong... For a man." She's breathing heavily now, and her face is bright red.
I smirk slightly, "So, you're a man hater?"
Her cheeks flush even more, but she quickly regains her composure. "I don't hate men," she answers slowly.
"But you keep saying that you want to beat me up and prove how strong you are," I say, taking a step closer to the downed girl.
"Well... you're actually the first man I've ever met. I wanted to see if you were really as scary as Sensei says. If not, then I would have been able to beat you easily, since I'm much stronger than any other girl in the village!"
"So since I beat you, that must mean I'm really scary, huh?"
She shakes her head, "Not scary, really, just kinda strong." She glances away, her cheeks reddening, "So, um, do you think we could train a bit more? I wanna get stronger!"
I smile at her enthusiasm, "Okay, but I need one thing from you if we're going to be training together—what's your name?"
"Benisumomo, but I guess you can call me Benis if you'd like."
***
We've been training for about an hour, and Benis has bested me a few times in our bouts, though I've beaten her far more. We're in the middle of our latest duel when she disarms me by twisting my arm around and pushing me to the ground, landing roughly on top of my chest. It's only now that I truly see the child before me, her small buds pressing gently into me through her sarashi. She's breathing heavily again. "That was pretty close, you're pretty strong—for a man," she pants out. After a moment Benisumomo looks down at me again, a strange look on her face.
"Hey, Mister!" Her voice takes a sudden change, sounding almost urgent. "I feel kinda weird right now, can you make it stop?"
I open my eyes to find that the little kunoichi is staring directly into them, her cheeks flushed, her lips slightly parted as if waiting for something to happen. I shrug, not wanting to end up with another knife at my throat. "What kind of feeling are you talking about?"
She doesn't seem to hear me; instead of answering, Benis leans forward and places her hands on either side of me, her hot breath tickling my cheek as the young girl begins moving closer. She stops just inches from my mouth, her little body trembling with anticipation. "Hey... you think this is why we're not allowed to see men, 'cause they make us feel all funny?" She closes her eyes, a faint sigh escaping her lips. "Can we do some special training? To make me less weak to men? I wanna be stronger..."
I nod, giving Benis a gentle kiss on her neck, eliciting a surprised yelp. I continue