"Hehehe, I'm gonna rip you apart!" shouted Akari. He brought up his habds, revealing a pair of cat's claws, their long, curved blades glinting in the stadium light as he dashed towards Kirema. Idiot, thought Rikou, sitting forwards slightly as Kirema shifted.
He fell into a crouch and quickly took out the opponents legs with two swift, sliding kicks, spinning on his left hand and using it as a pivot point to trip the Grass-nin. Akari fell forwards, but hit the ground with his hands first, springing himself back upright and slashing down at the place where Kirema had been moments before.
"Gotta be faster," said Kirema, slashing his nekotes at Akari, who moved just in time as they ripped the shoulders of his black outfit to shreds.
This guy can't possibly beat Kirema, he's too fast. Rikou turned her head slightly to better view the battle, the kama's on the outside of her body jingling slightly against the metal railings.
Kirema kicked out at Akari, who caught it and spun him, sending him towards the ground. But he also landed on his hands, instead twisting akwardly around in what seemed to Rikou an impossible postition, before flipping up and kicking the Grass-nin in the chest, sending him flying back towards the wall.
He's gotten more flexible, she thought as she watched the Grass-nin lift his body off the ground and pausing as he faced Kirema. His black outfit was suddenly ripped apart a vines, vines, burst from his body, completely surrounding him before receding, leaving him in a green and white, untouched outfit.
Two thorned vines erupted from his wrists, each with a number of thorns running along it. He charged at a confused Kirema, who barely managed to flip backwards and avoid entanglement in the vines.
"Gotta be faster," said the Grass-nin, using Kirema's words against him as more vines shot from his arms, wrapping around Kirema.
Kirema lashed out with his nekote's, reinforcing the metal claws with chakra and manging to cut away the vines, but the Grass-nin came up behind him suddenly, holding a kunai to his throat. But Kirema reacted quickly before the vines could wrap him up and crush him.
He shifted, turning his foot outwards slightly before raising his knee up and quickly pacing his foot just above Akari's kneecap. He suddenly dug it in and slid it down with amazing force before sliding it down his shin and into the base of his foot, leaving a red slide-mark all the way down. The Grass-nin cried out in pain and Rikou squinted to see what had happened, gasping as Kirema twisted his foot painfully deeper into Akari's. He was wearing a pair of ashiko's, sanadals with four small, sharp spikes coming out from each of the soals.
The Grass-nin fell away, and Rikou could cleary see the damage. His kneecap was... not where it was supposed to be... and his shin was spliced open. His ankle seemed broken, and his foot... His foot was crumpled, a large dent with blood pooling in it just past his ankle. But Kirema wasn't done.
As the vines fell away, twisting on the ground for a moment before retreating back to tAkari, Kirema stood fully, dusting off his blue-flamed trenchcoat, moving over to the fallen Grass-nin and pulling out a white cloth that was neatly folded.
"Too slow," he said, kneeling down and covering his mouth with his cloth, forcing it on him and pinning his arms with one hand as his movements became more feeble. A moment later, the Grass-nin passed out, falling limp and slumping back. Kirema stood and placed his hands in his pockets, removing them with no cloth and no nekotes.
Hayate stepped forwards, kneeling beside the Grass-nin and running his hands across his body, checking vital signs before standing.
"Kawa Akari is unable to continue this match, so therefore... Unkei Kirema is the winner!"
A team of medical-nin appeared and lifted the Grass-nin onto a white stretcher, carrying him out of the arena as Kirema came up the stairs and rejoined them.
"Well fought, Kirema," said Kanzu, ruffling Kirema's hair as if he were a small child.
"Stop it," said Kirema, pushing his hand away, Kanzu smiled, he always did this to annoy Kirema, and it worked every time.
"What was up with that guy? What was with the vines?" asked Ken, turning to their sensei.
"Most likely a bloodline," he answered simply.
"So I defeated a bloodline with only a bit of taijutsu? I thought they were supposed to be the ultimate weapons," said Kirema, dusting off a sleeve.
"They are, it just depends on what the bloodline ability is and how well the user applies it."
"So basically," said Ken, thinking about it for a moment. "Basically this guy sucks at using his bloodeline?"
"... I guess you could put it that way," said Kanzu, looking oddly at Ken.
"... You've gotten stronger, Kirema," said Rikou quietly, turning back to the arena.
Kirema fell back into his normal place, behind Rikou, standing and leaning on the rail and looking down at her. "You would have noticed if you ever came to training. You sleep all day and never train with our team," he said. Rikou was about to reply, until she saw the next two names on the board.
Tsurugu Misumi vs Kankuro.
Rikou suddenly stood, knocking Kirema off balance and causing him to fall back as she stood to better see Kankuro.
"Oww..."
She turned to look at Kirema, helping him up. "Sorry..."
"Why the sudden intrest?" asked her sensei, glancing down at the Sand-nin and the Leaf-nin who were now facing eachother. Rikou turned back to the arena.
"That's her boyfr-"
Kirema was cut off by Ken, but Kanzu caught what he was saying.
"Boyfriend? The Leaf? Or... The Sand?"
Rikou said nothing, waiting for her brother to start the battle. She caught Kankuro's eye and smiled as he grinned up at her, closing his eyes as he grinned cat-like.
"Please take this seriously, Kankuro-kun," she whispered as he turned back to face Musumi.
Kanzu heard her though, and narrowed his eyes. "You should not go near gennin from other villages, Rikou," he warned. But she wasn't listening, the battle was about to begin and Kirema and Ken stepped up beside her to watch.
"We will now be beginning the fourth match," announced her brother as the opponents faced eachother.
"Unlike Yoroi, even against little punks, I show no mercy," threatened Misumi. Kankuro grinned.
"I'll say it now, if I put my techniques up against you, it will be over immediately, so forfeit now. I will end this quickly."
Kankuro grinned wider and reached up to one of the straps that held up the Karasu puppet on his back. "Then I also..." he fully removed the wrapped up puppet and placed his hand on it, standing it upright beside him. "Will end this quickly."
"I won't give you a chance to do anything!!" shouted Misumi, charging at him and forcing him to block, releasing the wrapped up puppet and letting it fall to the ground.
Rikou gasped as, instead of making solid contact with his upheld arms, Misumi's arm wrapped around it, snake-like, bonelessly, elastically. A moment later, Kankuro was completely wrapped up in Misumi's flexible limbs, one arm wrapped solidly around his neck from behind as Misumi began to strangle him.
"It's over, looks like your boyfriend's out," said Kirema, sighing boredly.
"Far from it," she said, causing the other two to look over at her. "That's not Kankuro-kun."
"What!?" asked Ken, turning back to where Kankuro was being suffocated by Misumi. Hayate looked just about ready to step in as Misumi tightened his arm around Kankuro's neck.
Rikou flinched, hoping she was right as she heard a loud, sickening crack and Kankuro's head slumped forwards.
"He broke his neck," said Kanzu. Rikou shifted, glancing at where the wrapped up puppet lay abandoned on it's side.
"Damn... Idiot... you made me kill you," muttered Misumi. Hayate sighed and stepped forwards..
"Don't Hayate," she muttered to herselff.
"He's dead," said Kirema, eying Kankuro's motionless body.
"I already told you, that's not-"
Rikou was cut off as Kankuro gave a twitch, his head turning around fully to look Misumi in the eyes. "Then, is it my turn now!?"
"His face!" exclaimed Ken, pointing down at Kankuro, who was slowly becoming less and less Kankuro like.
Rikou smiled as she watched, he's getting better as well. Kankuro's face began to crumble, purple kabuki face-paint and all, and his clothes were replaced by a rough-cut rag as his body grew an extra pair of arms, wrapping around Misumi, and his hair grew brown and bushier. A moment later, where kankuro had been standing, now hung the Karasu, one of his puppets, from Misumi's neck.
The wrapped up thing on the floor beside the Karasu and Misumi suddenly twitched, a black-gloved hand appearing from within the bandages and pulling, sending the bandages flying in circles as Kankuro appeared in a crouch and they fell around him. He had one of his hands held out, strings of chakra visible, as he held up the other one to keep the bandages from falling on him.
"He... he's a puppeteer!?" asked Kirema, staring down at Kankuro. Rikou grinned slightly.
"I'll go easy on your neck," said Kankuro. There were a series of sickening cracks as he twitched his fingers, causing most of the bones in Misumi's body to break. Hayate stepped forward as Misumi's body fell limp in the grasp of Karasu.
"This battle cannot be continued. Winner, Kankuro!"
Kankuro let Misumi drop to the ground as he pulled Karasu back to him, letting the puppet fall across his shoulders and picking up the bandages, heading up the stairs. Rikou pushed off from the banister to go and meet up with him before he could return to Gaara.
"Rikou! I told you not to fratenize with members of other villages!" hissed her sensei, reaching out to grab her arm. But she was already past him and halfawy to Kankuro.
"Kankuro!" she called out, intercepting him with a hug. "That was great, you almost fooled me."
Kankuro smiled as she oulled away.
"That guy was nothing, he didn't even land a scratch on me," he said, putting down the Karasu and crouching down beside it, starting to wrap it back up.
Rikou glanced down at the current match, where two girls, a blonde and a pink-haired girl were having what looked to her to be a cat fight. She frowned slightly at their crude technique.
"Everyone has improved so much except me. I haven't even trained alot lately except with my brother when he teaches me the five dances of Konoha. And right now I only know one of them."
Kankuro glanced down to the girls as they blasted eachother back, knocking themselves unconcious, and frowned. "Not everyone, you're way better than those two. But..."
She turned back to face him as he shouldered the now fully wrapped up Karasu. "What?"
'I want you to promise me something," he said simply. She glanced down at the next two opponents, and saw Temari, one of the three Sands, and a dark-haired Leaf gennin, Tenten, facing eachother.
"What is it?"
"Well," he said. "This narrows it down a bit. But promise me..."
She watched as Tenten was thrown back by Temari, who had opened her fan fully and was saying something to the Leaf-nin.
"Promise me that if you get Gaara you will forfeit."
She turned back to Kankuro as the fight ended, and to his suprise, laughed quietly, a thing she only did around him.
"What's so funny?"
"I'm not stupid enough to throw away my life this early," she said, but stopped laughing as she looked upon the next match, Nara Shikamaru versus KinTsuchi.
She turned around fully, placing her hands lightly on the railing. "Not that stupid... I still have five years left... only..."
Kankuro came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her neck gently before resting his head on her left shoulder.
"Doctors are always wrong," he whispered into her ear. She closed her eyes and relished in the moment. She turned around and buried her face into his chest, squeezing her eyes shut tighter.
"Doesn't matter, it'll still hit me soon."
She felt Kankuro shift nervously and broke aprt, turning her head slightly and stepping back as she saw Ken, Kirema and Kanzu all standing there. She stepped further back from Kankuro, who shifted uncomfortably.
"Uhhh... I'm gonna go now," said Kankuro, glancing at the back of Rikou's head before brushing past them and heading back to his own team. Rikou narrowed her eyes dangerously, glaring back at her sensei angrily.
"What do you want," she said, her voice low and dangerous as she glared at them.
"Rikou, think about what you're doing before you do something stupid," warned her sensei.
"Why would you care? It's my life," she muttered.
"Yeah, but if it affects others, especially the village in any way, it isn't just your life anymore," said Kanzu.
She narrowed her eyes further, pausing as her brain worked harder for a moment. "Something's wrong."
Kanzu said nothing, but his expression had become more stoic. He's trying to hide his expression.
"You're hiding something. You should've known I'd see through that. It happened today, didn't it. The Anbu," she motioned to one of the doorways where a faint shadow was standing. "Have been patrolling lately, the jounin and chuuninn are jumpy and alert, even the Hokage has bee more active."
"I knew you'd notice. If anyone would notice, it would have been you," said Kanzu, trying to avoid further confrontation. But she was not done.
"The village is in danger, isn't it? Something bad has happened, something that has caught the eye of the village leaders..." she paused here, letting her sharp words sink in. She was at least as smart as a normal jounin, but she could see that her sensei had underestimated her this time.
"Ugh, I told you, snesei... This is why you shouldn't have spoken with her, she always twists the conversations around and uses it against you," muttered Kirema, turning away slightly.
Kanzu smiled. "You're so clever, Rikou-"
"You're avoiding my question, sensei. Is it... Is it the Akatsuki?"
"Listen to me, Rikou!" he said, grabbing her arm tightly. She gasped and tried to pull back.
"... Let go of me, sensei... you're hurting me..."
"Not until you listen to me. Don't go near the gennin from the other villages. I know you have better sneses than almost anyone in this stadium, so trust yourself when you feel something is wrong. Listen to your instinct and stay away, it might save your life."
Rikou stopped struggling as Ken vanished, his name had been called.
"There's no life to save in the first place."
"Then why are you still alive?"
Rikou laughed softly, something her sensei and Kirema had never heard from her. It wasn't soft or because something was funny, it was cruel and harsh. "What do you mean? My body is dying more and more every second, don't you get it? I can spend less and less time outside, my medication is steadily increasing, my bones and muscles are deteriorating...
"Two years, they told me, two years until I will have to be permanently hospitalized. It's pointless for anyone to spend time on me, trying to teach me to become a shinobi, heh. And you don't need to worry about me denying my fear, I'm always afraid. Afraid of pain, afraid of death, afraid of losing people closest to me. I have alot of weaknesses, I make a horrible shinobi
"You also don't need to worry about me finding out too much infrormation about whatever is going on around here. If there's one stupid little thing I've learned from my dull life it's that knowing too much makes your life considerably shorter, if you know what I mean. Now let me go..."
She snapped her arm away easily from her sensei, brushing past him and stopping before Kirema and glaring at him before brushing past him as well. She noticed Ken sitting a ways off, leaning against the railing and watching one of the fights. She came up next to him.
"I'm gonna forfeit," she muttered. He turned to her.
"No, you're not."
She remained silent as she watched the battle between Akamichi Chouji and Dosu Kinuta.
"How many more battles are there? I want to get some sleep."
"One more after this," he said.
"So, I'm next then? Last?"
He nodded.
"...I suppose I'll try this year.... try to get to the Third test..."
There was a large explosion, and when the dust cleared, the Leaf-nin, Chouji, lay in a pile of rubble on the ground.
"The winner for this round is Dosu Kinuta!" announced Hayate as the medical team tended to Chouji. Dosu moved back up to the second level. Rikou closed her eyes as she saw the digits on the board begin to move for the last time today.
"For the last match," announced Hayate. "It will be Tsuta Kuzu versus Gekkou Rikou!"