Chapter 20: Sora vs. Akane
" I'm surprised, and touched, by the fact that you decided to stay behind. Pray tell me, is this due to some foolish pride you Leafs hold so dear, or is it that arrogance that I seem to admire so much coming from someone like you?" Akane asked, cracking her knuckles as she slowly slipped out several senbon needles from her pack, although from the distance Sora was standing, it was unclear if they were poisoned or not.
" Maybe a bit of both...I hate being in debt, especially towards an enemy, so I'd like to pay my dues in full, right here, right now!" Sora exclaimed, slamming her fists powerfully, the sound of her hands hitting one another making a loud resounding thud. Akane noticed that Sora slipped out her fingerless gloves before unwinding the bandages on her hands, dropping them aside, before slipping her gloves back on.
" Hoh, did you remove some limiter of yours?" Akane snickered.
" In a way, yes. My taijutsu techniques deal a lot of damage to my body if used excessively, so Hiroshi made a special bandage to reduce the damage by dampening the effects of the shocks I can create with this fists. It reduces the damage done, but it keeps my bones intact for a longer period of time," Sora answered. " However, I don't think I'll be needing it in this match. Time to go all out!"
" I wouldn't have it any other way," Akane laughed.
Sora looked behind her. Her comrades were long gone, and she could not even feel their presence. She felt more comfortable now. She could have just gone along with what they suggested, but she wouldn't have none of it. Akane was a little psychotic, but honest. If there was anything Sora took pride in the most, it was keeping a promise. She didn't feel angry or spite about her friends leaving, but felt sorry for leaving them in such a fashion. Well, it wasn't as if she was going to let them down anyway. She would finish this match and catch up with them. A perfect win for them this time, if she could say so herself.
Of course, she would have to beat Akane first of all.
" Do you want a change in position, or will this place suffice?" Akane asked.
" What's with the sudden generosity?" Sora asked.
" It would be more fun if you could really fight at your best, so perhaps you might have a suitable area to fight in your mind," Akane answered.
" There is no point. My fists are my weapon. I can fight anywhere and anytime," Sora answered.
Akane burst out in a fit of laughter, seemingly enjoying herself. " Yes, I would not have it any other way," she replied.
Both combatants merely squared each other up, not moving an inch. In such a situation, the first move may be the decisive factor, and a false move from the beginning could easily mean the death of a shinobi. There can not be any mistakes in the first attack, none at all. Sora had to agree that the tension was killing her somewhat.
" Tell me, why do you want to fight me so much?" Sora asked.
" What? You don't feel the same way?" Akane asked. Sora didn't reply, but merely looked at her. " It's a thrill, you must agree with me as well. Both of us live to fight, it runs in our blood. We seek the thrill, the adrenaline rush you can only achieve by coming within inches from death. We naturally seek each other out, you and I. If it were under different circumstances, we would be rivals to the very end."
" I don't know about you, but there is this...thing, something I cannot explain, which gives me a thrill when I match fists with you. Perhaps we are both hot-blooded, slightly psychotic bitches just looking for a fight. It...gives me no higher pleasure. You...complete me..." Akane replied.
" Well then," Sora exclaimed, with some excitement in her voice. " I'll do my best not to disappoint!"
It took less than the span of one second, but Sora disappeared from the spot she stood on before. Akane turned her head in an instant, spotting Sora flying towards her with a spinning kick aimed directly for her head. She dropped to her knees and jumped away to avoid the imminent threat. The battle had started, and it was going to be a fight to the death.
Sora had no idea what compelled her to accept such a dangerous proposal. Certainly, if she had not done so, it might be the bodies of her comrades and not the enemies that will be lying scattered all over the forest floor right now as both girls battled it out in a frenzied battle right now. Still, she had to question herself as to why she accepted this challenge. Was it for revenge? A show of bravely and pride? Or was she just being plain rash as per usual?
There was barely any time to think about it. The next attack was coming.
Sora skidded to a halt, grinding her left leg hard onto the ground to stop her advance, before spinning around in a 180 degree arc, going back to face Akane. Senbon needles flew past her at high speeds, thrown by trained hands. Sora avoided them all, twisting her body around to avoid being hit, the needles passing harmlessly by her as she managed to avoid every single one. Akane burst towards her, swinging her hands at her face. Sora raised her right hand to catch Akane's punch.
All of a sudden, something slammed into her left cheek, hard.
The sudden surprise strike knocked her silly, throwing her several meters backwards, rolling on the ground hard, making her head go dizzy. She quickly shook off she stupor, before jumping away just as Akane threw a bottle in her direction, spraying acid all over the spot she previously stood on. Akane didn't give her time to assess the situation, as she came flying towards her. Several meters away from her, she kicked off from the ground, before executing a flying kick.
Sora observed her attack carefully. Fighting her twice before gave her ample time to study her fighting style, especially the taijutsu aspect of her attacks. She watched as she kicked off the ground, before her body started to spin as Akane pulled a twist to build momentum. The spin came a split second too slow, and Sora could calculate it will lack speed to reach her in time. She raised her left hand to intercept the blow, prepared to launch a counter-strike.
However, something hard slammed right at her right jaw.
Sora staggered back in pain, her head spinning after being hit twice. She felt one of her teeth become loose, and she spat it out along with the blood mixed with it. A missing tooth was nothing, she could fix that later. She needed to find out how Akane seemed to be slipping through her grip.
" Heh, my attacks too fast, or are you being lazy today?" Akane replied.
" Neither," Sora replied, pulling out a kunai.
" Oh, and how do you think that kunai is going to work in your favour in beating me?" Akane asked.
" ...Whoever said it was for you?" Sora muttered, grinning broadly.
Without hesitating, Sora stabbed the kunai to the base of her left hand, piercing through her flesh and spraying her blood on the ground. Akane looked in shock, not at the audacity of her actions, but her methods.
Sora figured she was being tricked, and knowing Akane full-well, it was probably poison. Thus, some sort of poison, administered in some form she was currently unaware of, was tricking her eyes, giving an opposite image of Akane. Right was left, and left was right. Her senses were still working properly, but obviously, Akane seemed to managed to strike her in the direction opposite from where her intended strike was supposed to land. Sora had no idea if this was an effective method, but she knew by causing sharp pain to her body, she would be able to focus her mind, and hopefully through the pain, it won't make the poison cause her to see illusions.
" Hahaha! You are crazy, merely fighting through instinct!" Akane laughed, amused at her method of dispelling the poison. " Heh, so you figured by causing pain to your body, you can focus better and hope the poison won't get the better of you. You really are ridiculous."
Sora merely raised her wounded hand and flicked it, goading Akane to come. " Just shut your trap, and come get some," she replied.
Akane threw herself towards Sora, who leaped backwards as she took a wild swipe at her. She dodged the next attack, swiping back and forth as her hands came flying in all directions. Sora merely backed away, avoiding the strikes as Akane attacked all over in every direction.
" Is dodging the only thing you can do?" Akane taunted her.
All of a sudden, Sora grabbed her hand, gripping it as tight as a vice, threatening to not let go. Akane suddenly looked up in surprise at Sora.
" Bitch, so you lied, huh? Well, not that I didn't see that," Sora replied, grinning happily.
There was a blur of movement, but Akane had already expected the strike to come, so despite Sora's attack speed being faster than Akane's, Akane's hand was ready to intercept the attack, and intercepting the attack it did. However, as soon as Akane grabbed hold of the hand that was about to slam into her face, she was suddenly assaulted by a splash of some sticky fluid that smelt like blood in her eyes.
" Shit!"
Sora's hand broke free, and Akane sort of knew where it was going, and lifted her hand to block the attack. Her fist slammed into Akane's palm, but Sora's sonic attack managed to send ripples of shock waves down her arm, breaking the bones in her arm. Sora grinned wildly as she heard the bones in her arm snap slightly, knowing she had practically incapacitated her entire right arm with the strike. Akane skidded back, ignoring the pain, looking at Sora with some sort of hunger in her eyes.
" ...You...you really do fight by instinct..." Akane replied, not the least disturbed by the fact that her arm was broken. In fact, she sounded happy, delighted more like.
Some simple poisons that trick the senses could be dealt with like genjutsu, but inputting pain into their senses to cause the brain to focus due to pain, ignoring the effects of the poison affecting the senses. However, some poisons aren't that easy to be dealt with in such a fashion, and Akane's poison was one of them.
Akane had to congratulate Sora on her feint. Sora stabbed her hand in an effort to deal with Akane's poison. Despite Akane bluffing her, she didn't take it, or perhaps due to Akane trying to bluff her, Sora managed to figure out her attempt to do such a simple method to fix the poison affecting her system with pain was a worthless attempt. Still, she managed to use her injury to her advantage, spraying her blood to confuse Akane as she went for the attacking blow.
Akane's poison was something that effected the eyes. It was a special poison that attached itself on her nerves on her eyes, which changed her perspective on what she saw. It changed her views, left became right, and right became left, like a opposite view in a mirror. Despite that, under such short time, Sora seemed to have gotten used to this problem.
She did not overcome it by figuring out how to move...it is due to her fighting instinct that she managed to get by with...Akane thought, feeling impressed.
" You don't seem to have a distinct fighting style...you just go with the flow, with your instinct, moving where your instinct tells you to go, moving where you feel is right...impromptu, and on the spot," Akane replied.
" Are you tying to bore me, or shall I get on with it?" Sora asked.
Akane leaped backwards as Sora threw several shurikens at her. She had garnered a distinct advantage now that she had managed to disable one of Akane's arms, but this match was far from over. Akane was one tricky customer, and Sora had no idea how she managed to poison her in the first place. Was it during when she gassed all her comrades?
Akane threw herself right towards Sora. Raising her hand, she blocked a strike to her head, absorbing the force of the impact as it slammed right next to her head. Akane dropped her hand and flicked it forward, while Sora whipped her head aside to avoid the attack, her hand grazing her cheek slightly. Sora grabbed her hand and attempted to pull her forward to make her lose her balance, but Akane dug her legs deep into the ground, trying to stop Sora from getting the better of her. However, in a match of strength, Sora would win hands down, and a second later, with a surge of strength, Sora flipped Akane 180 degrees over and slammed her hard on the ground.
Akane rolled out of the way the instant she had the chance, because Sora immediately slammed her fists on the ground, and ripples of shock waves blasted through the ground, sending chunks of rocks and debris flying all over from just one hit. Sora swung her leg at Akane, who managed to roll aside in the nick of time to avoid the hit. She was unnaturally agile despite having one of her arms broken.
Sora decided not to risk close-combat just yet. Despite it being her forte, Akane still could prove dangerous when up close. Her knowledge in poisons were just minimal, and Akane's level of usage in poisons was way beyond her level to take care off. She would have to stick to long range for the while.
" Oh well, we'll see how well you can play..." Sora replied, forming her hand seals.
Akane caught her performing her jutsu. Instead of interrupting her, she decided to wait, as if eager to find what trick she had up her sleeve. All of a sudden, Sora inhaled sharply and spat something out. Akane wasn't sure what it was, as she could only make out a faint outline of a glob flying towards her, but she had enough suspicions to suspect what it was.
The glob struck the spot where she was standing at high speeds, probably with enough force to break the bones in her legs if she waited a second longer. The moment the water glob hit the floor, it exploded, sending showers of water needles all over the place. Akane could not move fast enough to avoid the attack entirely, so some of the water needles struck her right leg and arm as she avoided the attack, skidding to a halt after she jumped away quickly to avoid the attack.
" Surprising, never thought of you as the ninjutsu type," Akane replied sacastically.
" Oh well, it just supplements my attacks," Sora replied. " Water Release: Needle Missile Barrage!"
Sora fired out more high velocity globs of water, all aimed around Akane, blasting all over the place, showing water needles in a large net to surround Akane. In an instant, Akane threw out a large number of her poison vials, and the water needles struck the vials she threw all around herself, shattering and dampening the effects of the water needles.
" Needless worry...I wasn't really trying to attack you with that attack, you know," Sora replied.
Akane suddenly realised that she could not move her legs. Looking down, it seemed that all the water Sora had shot at her now seemed to coagulate at her feet, immobilising her. Sora stood at a distance, using chakra control to control the water as she please from a short distance away.
Without wasting any time, Sora leaped at her and executed a spinning kick. At the last moment, Sora saw Akane flicked out a bottle right at her leg, but she didn't really care at this point. Her foot came smashing into Akane's face, knocking her backwards, breaking the bottle Akane threw at her. The impact of her kick was followed by a painful stinging sensation, like acid on her bare skin. Despite that, she still managed to kick Akane with some brute force, throwing her backwards, sending her crashing into a tree.
" Bitch..." Sora muttered, dropping on her knees to check on her leg. Akane had thrown something caustic on it, but it wasn't overly serious. She took out her water flask and drenched her leg with, soothing the effect slightly but still doing nothing to fix it. " Dang it, I'll need Hiroshi or Suzumi to fix this..."
" Why? Can't fix it yourself?" Akane suddenly asked.
Sora's head instantly shot upwards, looking around warily. Akane was no where to be seen. Apparently, Sora had underestimated her constitution. Akane still managed to hid herself despite all the damage she seemed to be taking. A powerful blunt trauma to the head and a broken arm, yet she still manages to retain the agility of a panther. Sora looked around her surroundings, wondering where she went.
" Come, come catch me..." Akane replied, her voice echoing all over the place, like some kid trying to tease her friend. Sora carefully kept her eyes and ears peeled, ready for any sign of danger. Sometimes it was times like these she wished that she had some convenient tracking ability, so none of her opponents could do shit like this to her. " Why are you waiting?"
The first thing that her ears picked up was a hissing sound. Sora dove to the front of her, just as a purple cloud descended right above her head. Extending her leg to stop her advance, she looked upward, but only to see the tree branches, purple smoke, and sunlight shining through the branches, nothing more.
However, something suddenly grabbed her from behind, an arm, gripping her neck tightly. Before she knew it, something sharp and painful hit her in her shoulders, making her yell in pain. She tried to break free, but the arm seemed to be holding her tighter than ever.
" Miss me?" Akane whispered to her from behind.
Sora's arm swung upwards in an instant, smashing into Akane's face. Once she had slackened her grip, Sora pulled herself free from her grasp, before moving some distance away, looking at what Akane had hit her with. She found a senbon needle stuck on her shoulder, and she yanked it out forcibly. Blood dripped down her shoulder, and she could feel the warmth of the sticky fluid drench her left side of her body.
" Hahaha...pretty," Akane laughed maniacally, as if sharing a personal joke.
How the heck did she get behind me so quietly? I didn't even noticed her approach...Sora thought to herself. Just as she was pondering on the reason, her vision seemed to fade slightly. It was during that span when Akane suddenly disappeared from view.
" What?" Sora exclaimed. However, her vision faded once again, blurred like she just had taken too much alcohol than she was allowed to consume. Instinctively, she shot to the side, just as Akane landed right behind her.
" That was quick..." Akane laughed.
However, Sora didn't reply. All she did was form her hand seals, and focused her chakra to her hand. Violent shock waves erupted all around her, and the ground she stood on started to crack open, forming small fissures. Sora looked darkly at Akane, while she merely looked at her, feeling amused.
" Initial Gate: Open!"
Akane could feel a rush of chakra and energy flowing through Sora's body, as her body powered up for the final blow. Sora was risking everything for this final attack, because if she failed, it would be over for her. She could only afford one strike, and one strike only. This will be the decisive blow.
" ...Tch, up for it?" Sora asked.
" ...Bring it on..." Akane replied.
With a roar, Sora leaped at Akane, her hands raised high, ready to slam into Akane. In reply, Akane took out two pills, one red and one blue, crushed them in her hand, and prepared to throw her attack.