'Have no fear.' came the man's silky voice whispered in the girl's right ear as she gazed out upon the large expanse of the earthy field they were standing on the edge of. On the opposite side there stood the young man Mika had briefly seen a day or so ago, staring at her blankly as Kabuto told him the rules of the battle he and Mika were about to embark on. 'You are ready.' Mika Tikaake highly doubted that she was "ready" as the man had said, but she would certainly give it her best shot safe in the knowledge that Orochimaru would never let Kimimaro kill her, although she did doubt that she would be in that situation.
'I know.' she answered confidently, trying to mask her ever-present nerves. She balled her small hands into fists to stop them from shaking wildly around, her eyebrows pulled into a resolute frown on her pale forehead as Kimimaro caught her eyes for a blink of an eye. As though from miles away she could hear her sensei repeating the rules in a low voice to her, telling her about secret tactics which would help her defeat this new opponent. She watched as Kabuto stepped back from the young man across the field, checking his clipboard uninterestedly and making his way over to a couple of seats where Mika could see a couple other spectators watching curiously.
'I have no interest in you dieing.' came the man's voice again, suddenly perfectly clear to the young girl as she continued to scowl resolutely over at her adversary. 'But try and do as you will to the boy.'
The moment those last words had slipped past the man's thin lips, an intense feeling of bestiality came across the young girl, making her want to pull her opponent apart limb from limb, see him beaten: he wasn't as good as she was… he wasn't worthy of Orochimaru's affections, unlike her. She was the only one worthy of Orochimaru's interest, his smile, his teaching. She ran forwards as the young man opposite her did the same, crying out in pleasure at a chance to prove themselves in front of an audience. As they neared the centre of the field she watched as the boy's arms turned from hands into long, white, deadly sharp spikes which he thrust at her with agonising precision, jabbing at her body where he knew her vital organs lay hidden by the girl's chalk-white skin and young tummy. She elegantly twisted her waist around in one of the many Tikaake dance moves, thanking her lucky stars that she knew it, before jabbing her own hand up and telling a number of roots which were dormant just below the boy to leap up and throw themselves at Kimimaro. The branch-like roots slapped at the boy's body viciously, leaving angry slashes where they had ripped the skin, before being sliced away effortlessly by the white haired boy who glowered at the brown eyed girl who glowered back. They circled each other for a moment before he threw out his left hand which morphed into a lance-like spear, thrusting it at Mika who parried it with a swipe from a pylon of water which then raced towards her opponent, concealing him for a moment.
She frowned through the faint mist her waterfall had created, straining her eyes to see what had become of him… whether she had crushed him yet. But instead she saw a white shell shielding him from everything outside, including whatever she threw at him. As she watched it slowly opened and the boy stood up, still scowling menacingly at her while the bone from almost every bone in his body receded, leaving him in his original form. She scowled back as she began to realise why Orochimaru said that this would be an interesting fight, and why he had said to "try and do" what she would with him: it was easier said than done. He made a few quick hand movements and several clones appeared by his sides, all glaring at Mika as they began to make their ways slowly towards her. She could feel them moving as the earth he had used to create them contorted elegantly to do his bidding, but she made a brushing movement with her left hand and they all fell to the ground, regaining their original form of small mounds of earth.
'You clearly don't know what you're up against.' she told him in a low menacing voice as she gave him a tiny provocative smile. He didn't even glance down to inspect what had once been his clones, but simply smiled back at the girl darkly.
'Neither do you.' he answered forebodingly, he lifted up both his hands and raised an eyebrow while his lips returned to their neutral positions. Mika narrowed her eyes suspiciously as she watched Kimimaro's hands slowly elongate and become what looked like thick, razor-sharp blades from about his elbow down. Her eyes widened again as she realised that he was somehow making his own bones change shape, making them become weapons. She squealed as he slowly put his hand over his shoulder and gradually pulled out what looked like his spine, vertebra by vertebra. She ducked just in time to miss the lasso-like bones as they lashed out at her, she commanded the air around her to solidify therefore protecting her against the next attack but it was hard work keeping the air solid and she knew she wouldn't last long. She felt the long rope of bone slash at her protective cocoon viciously, making her grind her teeth with effort before letting the air go and instructing a large inferno to cover the boy, burning everything it touched. She got back to her feet as the flames smashed angrily around the boy whom she could no longer actually see, but she knew better now than to let her guard down and sure enough out of the blaze came a spear-like bone with what looked like a hand at the end.
She fought valiantly against the hand thing, but somehow it managed to wrap itself around her waist and pulled her into the inferno which she had created. She told the flames not to burn her and felt the heat diminish dramatically, instead licking at her skin affectionately and making her hair float around her deliciously. She winced in pain as the bone around her waist tightened suddenly, making her fiddle desperately with the bonds holding her and slowly getting tighter, she could see where the boy was sitting protected from the flames by the same thing he had used earlier. She suddenly had an idea and cried out in pain as she was squeezed even tighter before clenching her right fist, imploring the soil beneath him to engulf him in his little defensive cover. She let the flames die away gradually, as she prayed her idea would work, the rope of bone squeezing ever tighter and a small trickle of blood snaked down her chin from her gritted teeth.
Suddenly the bone released it's grip on her and the shelter around Kimimaro leapt open, leaving Mika to fall to her knees and the young man in front of her fight off the oncoming earth, which was ferociously trying to engulf him. He had changed colour now from what Mika could see through the scorched grass and the smoke and the dust flying around, his skin was now a sort of dull brown and his eyes had somehow changed, although the young girl couldn't quite put her hand on how. She spluttered and spat out the blood in her mouth, wiping the residues from her chin and getting to her feet again with a resilient frown, discreetly making sure her skirt was still hiding everything important and vaguely wishing she could change.
She ordered a lightning bolt to crash down, but it missed the boy who was still dodging the ground while it tried desperately to swallow him, slashing at it with the blades ha had for hands. She swiped her left fist around and watched as the air around Kimimaro enclosed on him, forcing him to stop and be overwhelmed by the mud which slunk around him in a powerful twist, covering every last inch of his body other than his head which stuck out like an awkward thumb. Mika relaxed for a moment, relishing in the sensation of victory which was already pumping up and down her small body, taking over from the adrenaline which had previously been keeping her going. But it was short lived. With a growl of frustration, one of Kimimaro's blade-like hands smashed through his solid earthy prison which had been incarcerating him, but now lay crumbled on the ground at his feet.
'I told you…' he growled, his chest heaving from the effort and his eyes full of anger and frustration. 'You don't know who I am.' The young girl brushed her long plum coloured hair out of the way and glared back ferociously, trying to mimic his look of anger. 'You don't know what I can do.'
'Neither do you.' she answered darkly as she bent her knees a little to gain a bit more balance. She blinked and the next thing she knew Kimimaro was throwing his spine at her again, wrapping it around her shoulders this time and stopping her from using her arms… what he was unaware of though was that she didn't need her arms. She growled and gritted her teeth as she dug her heels into the ground, holding herself away from him for as long as she could before he dragged her towards him. She commanded the roots below the surface between the two fighters to rise and hold onto the rope of bones binding her, making sure that he couldn't pull her to him, and the roots below Kimimaro to bind him.
They both scowled at each other menacingly. Both wanted to win, both wanted to show off their power to Orochimaru, show him they were worthy of his recognition. But one wanted to be his main favourite again, the other wanted to stay that way. It was a battle for favouritism, a battle for love, a battle for recognition. As Mika thought about it, why did she want to stay his favourite? Why was she so intent on being recognised and loved by the snake-like man sitting a safe distance away from where the two young shinobi and their powers were wrestling. Periodically she felt the bones around her shoulders pull a little tighter, making her groan and wince a little, in turn ordering the roots around Kimimaro to constrict a bit more and watching his face pull a little. Why was she fighting so hard for something she knew she would probably have anyway, and why did she want it anyway? But for some reason she was, and she wasn't about to let the boy opposite her win and replace her in Orochimaru's affections. She suddenly remembered how Yama had always said that she was useless, that because she was a girl she would never be as good as he was.
In front of her she saw Kimimaro holding his hand up and the blade turning into a long spear with an arrow-like point at the end. She growled as the bone around her shoulders tightened again, before acting. All in less than a blink of an eyes, she ordered the roots around the rope of bone to pull it downwards, the roots around Kimimaro to constrict to breaking point, the air in his lungs to evaporate, the ground beneath his feet to swallow him up and the water she had summoned and was now gently trickling below his feet to crush him. She watched in satisfaction, as everything slowed right down, and all that she had ordered happened and Kimimaro disappeared below the ground, the rope around her slackened and she was able to breathe freely again and she heard enthusiastic cheering from the stands.
She smiled proudly over at the pale skinned man who was beaming at her with his permanent sinister frown, sure now that her position of main favourite was safe. She moved as though in slow motion, tweezing herself out of the newly slack rope of bone which fell to the ground with a small clatter, stepped over them and started making her way unhurriedly over to her proud sensei who was welcoming her with open arms. Suddenly from below her, the arrow like end of Kimimaro's spear surged making the young girl leap back in fright, before jabbing out at her and stabbing her in the stomach, just below where her top finished.
'Mika!' cried Orochimaru in mild surprise as she fell to her knees, clutching her wound which was bleeding freely and ripping the bone out of her soft flesh, before bending double over the wound.
She growled out in pain as she suddenly felt electricity coursing through her being, she opened her eyes and saw a faintly yellow light flashing around her and sending sparks in different directions. She noticed that she was still grasping the end of Kimimaro's spear which had stabbed her, and cried out in anger and pain, roaring at the piece of bone in her hand and watching in mild curiosity as an electric shock wave seemed to shoot out of her hand which was clutching the bone and down the spear, into the earth where it disappeared down the hole Kimimaro's bone had created. She could vaguely hear shouting from behind her and in front of her as she screwed her eyes up against the pain, not really caring what was happening to her, just wishing the pain would go away.
'Mika, listen to me!' came Orochimaru's firm voice away to her right. She opened her eyes a fraction and looked over towards where his voice had come from, searching for his familiar face during this unfamiliar experience and saw his firm face watching her steadily. 'Current your energy into your wound.' he commanded her forcefully, in a determined voice which told her that he knew what to do. She growled in pain again and did what he told her, trying to force her energy to go towards the deep wound which was still bleeding freely and stinging like hell. She could feel the shocks every now and then but nothing like what she knew she was supposed to be doing, she screwed up her face against the pain and against the concentration as she tried again. This time she screamed out in agony as the electricity stabbed at the wound like a thousand white hot blades all at once, all in the same place, twisting inside the wound as though trying to force it even wider open. 'Keep going.' came his encouraging voice as she continued to scream, the tears pouring out of her eyes before sizzling in the heat and the electricity around her, 'I will tell you when to stop.' he told her, his voice faint against the sounds of her anguished screams and the loud crackling of the electricity on her skin, in her hair, around her entire body… all accumulating around the small circular stab wound in her stomach. It seemed like and eternity, as though the pain would never end, as though she was going to die of the pain but finally she heard his voice again, calmer this time. 'You may stop now.'
She let the energy fade away in an instant and lay back down on the cool earth, panting heavily as she tried to regain control over her shaking body, she could see shapes moving around her and unfamiliar faces flashing before her. Her head was killing her, it was as though a clamp was being slowly tightened on her skull, gradually constricting her brain more and more, her stomach was throbbing where her wound was and where the electricity had been hitting her. She didn't know she could do that… had Yama been able to do that? Did Orochimaru know she could do that? The question floated in and out of her mind as she fought to keep her eyes open while they slowly tried to roll back into the back of her head.
'Go to sleep, Mika.' came Kabuto's soothing voice from her left, she tried to see what his expression was to try and get an idea of what might be going on, but her vision was painfully blurred so she gave up and closed her eyes.