Starring:
Date: February 11, 2012
Summary:
An exhibition match between one Shirokiri Rise the challenger and Satonezu Eremi, the unfortunate victim of the former's interest! An early series of misunderstandings forced the hands of an Uchiha to deny a request and wanderer as a tempoary referee of sorts.
"First Promotion Exams - A Soldier Tears Down The Gate: Rise vs. Eremi"
Sunadome Arena - Fighting Ring
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From the ground floor of the arena, one can truly get a sense of the sheer size and spectacle of the place. At its widest point, the colosseum is nearly a mile in circumference, and the domed ceiling is roughly fifty stories overhead. Needless to say, trying to take it all in can be dizzying. The floor of the arena is made up of a number of massive rolling sand dunes, about a hundred fifty feet tall at their tallest point. In the very center of the arena, a simple, well manicured lawn of green, rather like an oasis, marks the primary battle spot. The lawn is a little larger than a standard boxing arena, and is even equipped with a small pond, no more than five feet across.
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"Okay Rise-chan. It took a little work, but your free to — " Is all the doctor can get out of his mouth before looking up into a blank space before him… then back at his hands holding the torn remnants of a piece of gauze. "… Bah… Kids these days…"
Meanwhile, at the Sunadome!
"Okay, Okay.. just take a deep breath." Rise's chest swells. "offm gain-gaaahaaaa….. Yoshi! Let's go Rise-nee-chan~ We didn't send out all those letters for nothing now did we!?", Rise exclaimed to herself in blissful ignorance to the few people milling about the lobby entrance to the stadium. After all, would it not be more important for her to stay psyched up for a change for a little improptu duel against Eremi and Naru? A duel she spent the past three days agonizing over after mailing and finally resting as per the good doctors orders for a change!
Unfortunatly, the ninja post meant for Naru (after a rather rushed attempt at filling out the general stuff like 'fight me' blah blah 'at an hour past noon' blah blah) ends up delivered to Ryo instead. An error on her part in putting down only Uchiha genin rather than specifics and what have you. e.e; Thus, an even more blissfully unaware young Shirokiri waltz into a thus far empty arena smiling brightly.
Even though it had been some time since leaving the caves early, instead of heading back home to Konoha, Eremi had decided to hang around Suna and see the rest of the exams through. There were still some of his friends and newly acquired acquaintances he had promised to root for during their matches in the tournament, so leaving completely wasn't an option. Not yet at least.
Most of his days were spent in the flower gardens of the village, a place that reminded him more of home then anywhere else in this overly hot and sand filled place. For the environment that surrounded it, it came as a bit of a surprise when he managed to come across it. Though, not as much as when he received a letter from a courier that had managed to track the young boy to his location. Apparently he was more known then he had thought he was or perhaps just a lucky find by the Suna Mail system.
Either way, Eremi didn't dwell on it for long and began to read the letter sent to him, from a Shirokiri Rise (Assuming it was signed and such c.c), requesting a 'spar' of sorts over in the fighting arena. It took him a moment at first, but eventually he was able to recall the name to that of a young girl he had bumped into during his times in the cave. The two of them had battled the spider and won, perhaps mostly due to their ability to work well together. So why fight against?
It didn't make sense to the boy, but he wasn't one to turn down a request. So after gathering himself up, he quickly made way to the destination, moving through the lobby and entering the grand arena. Off in the distance he spotted the girl, Rise and couldn't help himself but smile. With an extended hand he waved, "Hello Rise." Continuing closer toward the other. "It's good to see you."
Ryo himself had been keeping busy inside the village. He was only here to watch Naru, but since she lost her match, he figured it was almost time to head home. That is until he recieved a letter asking for a spar from someone he really did not know. He would happily oblige though. The boy stopped packing his things and made his way to the arena. He was pondering just what type of guy this Rise was.
"Likewise Eremi-kun!", She replied and bowed her head as got within a few meters of her. However, as soon as her head rises she spots Ryo entering the arena as well from her peripheral, eliciting a frown from the girl as well as half-hearted glare as soon as she turned fully to look at the monk. "Uhm… Eremi-kun.. do you know who that boy is?", She asked while Ryo was still hopefully outside of earshot.
She crossed her arms beneath her breast as she waited patiently for Eremi to answer, or for Ryo to introduce himself. By which time her expression softens a little to avoid giving /too/ much of the wrong impression.
The fact that Rise actually remembered his name and calling it out before him, only made Eremi's smile widen that much more. Only meeting once before and not in the best of circumstances, he had figured the girl would have simply forgotten him, but maybe that is the exact reason she hadn't. Perhaps the same reason he was still able to recall details about her as well. Name, features, fighting style and attitude. Even with all that, he was sure there was still far more left he had yet to see.
Coming a few feet closer, he slowed his approach before finally stopping and relaxing some. Allowing his hands to rest at his sides as he awaited the inevitable. The fight that is to happen. Though when he heard the question, he raised an eyebrow then turned around only to spot a bald boy. It was hard to make out, but Eremi tried nonetheless as he squinted for a bit before finally turning around. "I met him a few times. He's Uchiha Ryo, from Konoha of course. Did you invite him as well?" Tilting his head he was quite curious just exactly was going to happen here.
Ryo walked forward and looked at both Eremi and the strange girl. He then glanced around before producing the letter he had recieved. "Somebody named Rise asked me to be here. Not sure what he wants with me, but thats who I am looking for." the boy states. He then offers a bow towards Eremi. The boy had no idea what he had just walked into.
Rise replied is only a slow negative headshake before leaning back with one hand propped under the elbow of the other and a thumb against her lips. "Uchiha Ryo… Uchiha Ryo…..!", She facepalmed lightly, then dragged her hand down her face, murmuring "Otou-baka.." behind her hands by the time Ryo eventually arrived…. and subsequently pissed her off within ten seconds after his words finally sunk into her conscious. 'He? Did he — Was he implying — ' Rise's hands balled up into a tight, shaking fist at her sides as she opennly glared Ryo. Killing Intent wafting from her in waves for a few moments before the pain of biting too deeply into her lips snaps her out of a potential rage out moment.
For now.
"What /I/, Shirokiri /Rise/ would like, is a just one little thing. An equal level spar against someone kinda like me — " She sweeps a hand over to Eremi, smiling tightly. "And not.. which I guess you'll do if ya can handle it…. baldy." Rise adds with a quick sweep towards Ryo, openly annoyed at the boy by looks if her words weren't enough.
Eremi watched Rise for a few moments, seeing how she responded to being told the other boys name. It was clear she didn't have much of a clue at first as to why he might be here, that is until Ryo himself produced the same letter that he had received. "Hello Ryo." An incline of his head would be given in return. There was much he wanted to talk to the other from Konoha about, but that would need to wait for another time, hopefully not too long after what ever happens here concludes.
For now, his attention went back to Rise as she spoke. Staying where he was, he shifted his weight some back and forth from one foot to another, but when a hand was directed at him he stopped what he was doing and straightened up. "Let me get this straight….You intend to take on the both of us at the same time?" It sounded like a difficult task for the girl to manage, but if she was able to, Eremi was glad he didn't end up fighting her in the caves.
Rise smirked. "Well, that would make things interesting for me but… *headshakes*.. that's not entirely what I meant this to be fore." She admits, smiling sheepishly. "But, I guess that doesn't matter much now, huh?", She asked of Ryo as he walked away. She expected no answer, of course. Instead she rolled merely rolled her eyes before focusing them intently on Eremi.
"Hmm.. Well, in anycase. Do you think you can handle taking me on a lone?", She asked teasingly after folding her hands behind her.
Kousako had been watching from the sidelines as the three had been in the area. It looked like someone had sent a challenge letter to the boy, Ryo or whatever had been said. Now he looks to be backing out. Kosa thinks this might be a good opportunity to test himself against more than one opponent… So he raises his voice. "I'll accept your challenge if you like."
"I see." Eremi didn't of course, but with Ryo suddenly leaving, whatever Rise 'meant' would be left unanswered. "Later…." He tried to get off as the other vanished quickly. Something that he had noticed Ryo does quite often. Though it was none of his concern, he could only shrug as he looked back to the girl that was staring at him.
Blushing some from feeling a bit awkward, he'd force himself to smile through it, "I…" He'd swallow hard before continuing, "I could definitely try, I don't know if I could go toe to toe with you evenly, but I'll give my all and with the barrier being up I won't need to worry about getting hurt too bad myself."
Slowly Eremi shifted his feet beneath him, pushing it against the ground to give himself room from the girl. If the fighting was about to happen, he wanted to make sure to be ready. Before the two could begin though, another seemed to interject. Turning to see the newcomer, Eremi eyed the other carefully, "I…I'm not sure what's going on anymore."
Rise peered at Eremi in disbelief as she watched his response, honestly wandering if the same boy who helped her back in the cavern was the same one. A few other thoughts start to float in as well as a result of sizing up Eremi more in detail. Thoughts she rejsected feverently with a few negative headshakes and her cheeks tinged pink.
"Why'd it have to be…. Huh?" She murmured at first before turning around to face the newcomer. "… Mmmmm… In which case its settle. A three way spar!", She exclaimed pumping a fist into the air. "Neh, Eremi-kun. Settled yeah? Or did you really wanted to team up against me?"
Eremi could only watch with a smile at Rise's enthusiasm, though a little befuddled as to why she wanted to fight specifically against him, he didn't think there was ever a moment in their brief time together where he displayed himself in such a way to require such. "..wait what?" Quickly taken by surprise at the girls last question he shook his head at the answer, "No, no." He started scrath at the back of his head nervously, "I thought that was what you wanted." Looking away, "I don't think fighting against you is a good idea at all, I'd rather it be the way it was in the caves against the spider."
Sighing deeply, Eremi gave himself a few more seconds before glancing toward Kousako who seemed to be stepping away now, retracting the previous offer to allow the two genin to spar. "But if you really want to, Rise. I will happily oblige." Turning to face the girl once again, "We might as well anyways, here in the arena with the barriers and the spectators that are currently watching us as they wait for the combatants from the exam." Once again he'd shift another foot or so back before slowly raising one hand in front of him. "I am ready if you want to start."
Rise could feel her enthusiasm drop with just about every word spoken by Eremi. Because of almost tangible doubts drifting to the forefront of her mind, Rise is slow to answer or even to give any sign that she had been listening in the first place…
"Huh? O-oh, right.. Uhm, yeah. I mean.. *groans*.. nevermind. Let's just get started okay?", She asks uncertianly even as she shifted into her own defensive stance. Despite Eremi being her opponent, Rise eyes kept shifting to her surroundings at first along with her stance subtly. "Yoshi.", Is whispered subtly before she bursted forward to try and test Eremi's defenses. A few punches aimed at his chest, an elbow straight into the stomach, and a quick sweep kick.
Standing there, waiting for Rise to say something or even make the first move, Eremi was slowly growing more and more anxious. He had purposely avoided fighting her in the caves for the certainty he felt when first they met that he would surely lose. Now the same feeling had easily resurfaced facing against her and he was being forced to face it. Something the boy would have rather just left in the caves. Unfortunately for him though, it was too late now.
"Eh?"Tilting his head some when Rise finally spoke up, muttering something barely audible as she looked away. The act was enough to cause him to lose his focus and be caught of guard when she rushed at him with a flurry of blows that hit one after the other before he was finally able to leap away and regain his composure. "You're fast." Clutching his chest with a hand, "And strong. This will indeed be a hard one for me." Swallowing hard as a hand went behind his cloak, "Hopefully I can give you a challenge as well."
Suddenly his hidden hand appeared, snapping forth two kunai across the field and clutching one hard in his hand. Not wasting any time, Eremi followed behind the thrown weapons, his eyes watching Rise and trying to speculate which way she may dodge, if at all. Getting close enough, he waited for the right moment before taking a quick step to the side of the girl, then spinning around with a backfist.
Even after making contact with her first few moves Rise stayed on guard, flipping away after missing the sweep and stay low with a hand close to her combat blade. "I hope so as well, Ere — " She cuts off immediatly upon sighting the kunai flying towards her. A quick shift of her hand to a pouch followed by a flick sends a few of her own kunai to intercept Eremi's own. Unfortunatly, one flew to wide forcing her to side-step out of the path of the second one.
With an arm raised and the other supporting it she stood her ground against the block. "Tch! Not.. bad.." Rise emitted through gritted teeth, pressing away Eremi's fist if need be just enough to duck down and try and sweep the genin completely off his feet. Hit or miss, Rise is right back on him with an axe kick.
The force of his punch was easily stopped by two arms that looked quite similar to his own, wrapped in several layers of gauze that were tightly bound. It wasn't surprise Rise was able to do so, she probably practiced as much, if not more then Eremi did on taijutsu training. The bandages being a clear sign of such. What was surprising however, was the girl instantly countering with a low sweep for his feet. Seeing this, he quickly flipped backwards on to his hands, then pushed off of them to land on his feet once again. Still not being out of harms way, he crouched low, bending at the knees before leaping back and into the air, giving himself distance from the girl coming down with the kick.
"I seem to be warmed up a bit, hopefully it wasn't just a fluke." The moment he landed, he began to unravel some of his own bandages, just enough to allow them to dangle at his sides on each arm. Satisfied with the amount, he ran forward at Rise, allowing the bandages to trail behind him until he threw his arms ahead of him then quickly snapped them back to wrap around the girl. Not stopping their, he flew forward with an extended leg.
"Good, because I'm more than ready for a bit of fire.. er, figuratively." She replied with a nervous smile in her voice. In waiting for his next move Rise began to hunker down more in refusal to give any ground. A /big/ mistake on her part that left her to slow to keep from being tangled up in bandages during his charge or to avoid the kick to the chest knocking Rise right off her feet. The force of the kick was thankfully enough to break her out of the bandage bind and hit the ground in a roll until she could recover in a slide crouch. "Cmpf!… Not, too bad… But let me show you — " She rose straight into a sprint back at Eremi, and vault high yet just low enough to lash out with a kick at Eremi as soon as he appeared blow her.
"how we do things in Kumo!", She yells out mid-leap, and staggering a few steps upon landing before leaping forward in a spin to try and chop into Eremi's side.
The moment Eremi touched the ground after making contact with his kick, he took the kunai that was clutched tightly in his hand and cut away the loose bandages, leaving them to fall on the ground. After which, he looked straight to Rise, seeing how she was fairing. Naturally, he couldn't ask if she was okay, to do so might be considered an insult. So he bit his tongue and instead watched as the girl quickly regained her enthusiasm from earlier as she sprinted toward him.
Making a vain attempt, Eremi tried to continue to keep his distance, but Rise was simply coming up too fast and in seconds was upon him, kicking him in the chest causing the boy to stumble. One attack after another and being able to correct himself in time, he wasn't able to avoid the chop that hit him in the side, making him crumble to the ground in a heap.
He was in pain and never fighting under a protective barrier before, he wasn't sure how they were supposed to help exactly. Keep the pain, but prevent the deaths? The pain alone can be enough to make you seek an end, yet none will come. An ultimate torture if you can't defend yourself. Whatever the case, Eremi couldn't thing long on it and from the position where he was sprawled out, he haphazardly chucked the held kunai at Rise before rolling onto his back, swinging his feet up and kicking them forward to take him to his feet in an instant. Using that same momentum, he jumped up into the air with a succession of kicks to keep Rise at bay.
Rise hesitated in going on upon seeing a downed Eremi. Honestly wondering if the Satonezu was gonna give up so soon. Frevently and silently she hoped for the opposite despite the pain it was causing him. She was, after all, still /more/ than ready to keep going despite the pain in her chest flaring up incesstantly now that she stopped moving to wait. In narrowly avoiding a kunai tossed at her such worries are pushed down under a brief surge of shock, then a light giggle of amusement once her eyes locked back onto Eremi.
Her amusement is short-lived by a new pain in her leg this time in trying to overpower Eremi's spinning kicks with her own. The first spining her about in mid-air before the second planted itself into her side, launching her away. At the very least she /did/ keep from having to hit the ground rolling again by twisting around in time to hit at a slide on her feet. "Not ba-*wince*-d Eremi-kun… not, bad at all…… but, isn't it time you stopped holding out on me?", She asked, slipping into a full on defensive stance as she waited… and watched.
Landing on his feet, Eremi was fully expecting to have to defend himself from another onslaught of attacks. Instead what he saw was Rise several feet away collecting herself after the failed counter. This gave him enough time to take in a well needed deep breath to help in relaxing himself. "Is it over?" He'd ask before tilting his head in wonderment and curiousity. They both seemed to be in the same condition and were trading back blows almost hit for hit. There wasn't much more to be learned from this spar. At least, that was what he had thought.
With Rise's question posed, Eremi found himself in a bit of shock and wonderment as to what she meant. The only time she witnessed what he was capable of was fighting the giant spider. Then, in an instant, it occurred to him exactly what she meant. Realizing this his eyes went wide in disbelief. The thought of using one of the gates for a mere spar was absolutely absurd. Not only could it be overwhelming for Rise to handle, it also had adverse affects for an under experienced user.
Shaking his head, Eremi was prepared to simply say no to such an idea until he remembered the protective barrier. Was it truly capable of allowing him to go in and out of the gates without taking considerable damage to his own body. There was indeed only one way to find out. "Alright, Rise. If you insist." Taking in a few more breaths he focused on the first gate. Normally such a process took a little longer, but with each use it comes easier and like turning a handle of a door knob the gate pushes open and his muscles twitch and ache in response. "I'm ready."
Rise's eyes would seem to glint in response to the recognition reaching Eremi's own. A smile blooming and growing teethier as the seconds ticked by of waiting for Eremi to decide. She had a gut feeling to say the least of why the hesitation on the Konoha genin's part, and would've even taken his calling things off right then and there out of a refusal to take things so far.
"Alright, Rise. If you insist."
The moment that single phrase left his mouth Rise clamped her mouth shut completely to keep from roaring in approval before fumbling around to pull off her jacket and start fiddling around with one of the pockets until a pill is in hand. "Itada — " She stops just short of devouring the pill to look at it more carefully. A soldier pill, but the 'unique' one her father had given to her as a last resort to use 'inside' the caves and nowhere else. "… Otou-baka really thought he was gonna fool me with this phony thing… still, since I never did get a chance to test it…"
Not a second more of hesitation is wasted before the pill is swallowed whole… but nothing happens. "… Hmpf! Knew it was…wha.. *shudders*.. whoa.." Heterochromatic eyes began to dilate, blue streaked hair frizzed out and started to elongate by an inch, and lastly Rise's already sun tanned skin started to redden as an on rush of power had her a little twitchy in the hands with a renewed fire in her eyes. "Come."
Movement. The higher the movement the more attracted Rise's eyes became to the object. Thus a spec in the wind grabs her attention first followed by the kunai twirled then tossed by Eremi. Steadily Rise's gaze had remained on the projectile as a hand twitched over the hilt of her weapon; but the moment Eremi started to run Rise watched, and acted on pure instinct in drawing up her combat knife to try and deflect the incoming weapon. She fails unfortunatly in keeping the blade from richocheting past her shoulder after making contact, but pays the wound little mind; especially after Eremi practically teleports closer just for a punch. Fist met palm without a wince or a sway in the shirokiri's stance.
Kick to the side on the otherhand at least forced her to move… and yet, as soon as she spun back around from the force of the blow only an extremely faint bruise on her cheek is the appearant result. "More, more, more, more!", Rise called out as she lashed out twice with the knife still in hand before leaping up to try and kick the Satonezu in the head! A feint only to build up momenteum to carry her off her feet, drop her weapon, then land in a one handed handstand and try to pull Eremi's feet from under him.
BLOCKED
That was something Eremi hadn't expected to happen with such ease. Especially not once he had opened the gates. He figured it would have given himself a bit of an advantage between the two, but clearly he was wrong. Just what exactly did that pill increase for the girl? Power…speed…anything else? Was there a way to combine that with the use of his gates or were the two still evenly matched, continuing hit for hit? One thing that stuck out most in the boy's mind was the possibility of how well they could work well together. How insync their attacks could easily become one and yet, they were nations apart. When the exams end the chances of seeing one another were slim to none. The only thing he could do now was hopefully leave a lasting impression.
It was still clear they were both holding back. Both not delving deeper into stronger attacks. However, Eremi was losing the luxury of continuing to do such. Eventually the gate /would/ drain him and leave him relatively useless. He had to do something before then. So after Rise finished her flurry of knife swings, some missing and others hitting him, he quickly vanished only to reappear next to the girl in her one handed hand stand and giv a prompt upward kick to send her in the air only to follow up with a series of kicks.
With her eyes widen after just barely capable of tracking Eremi's movement, Rise moved on pure instinct in leaning back and twisting slightly just enough to roll with the kick should it land. Unfortunatly for Eremi, Rise is not even grazed by the uplifting kick. Nor the second succession of kicks that followed thanks to a greater yet somewhat wasteful effort being put into spring out of complete range from them. The moment Rise's foot so much as touches the ground afterwards she is vanishes completely to the normal eye just to reappear at Eremi's feet. Ready, willing, and executing his own technique against him albiet with after pushing off the ground more to actually reach the Satonezu's chin.
Success on her part would force Eremi to endure being bear hugged from his shadows as gravity takes over. Failure however would give him but a moment to try and get out of the path of a more direct full on tackle hug combo.
As the rounds continued on, even with giving it his all and the first of the eight gates being opened, it was clear Eremi was slowly, but surely losing being drained away. Enough so that no matter the strategies, he wasn't able to keep Rise so much on the defensive as he would have liked. This being most apparent with the girls effortless attempts at avoiding not only his shadow of the dancing leaf, but the leaf great whirlwinds that quickly followed after. Then again, perhaps this just goes to show it wasn't a bad judgement call on the boys part for deciding on forfeiting from the exams early on after all.
The last of his kicks missing, he'd land on the ground only to look around the area in hopes of spotting Rise. His head would turn and out of the corner of his eye he was sure he noticed a quick blur of motion and it was at that instant he knew what was about to happen, but it was too late for him to be able to do anything. The girl was already beneath him at that time, kicking upward and connecting with his chin with enough force to send him airborne and temporarily stunned. Still Eremi would try to correct himself, not wanting to be the intended receiver of an attack that he couldn't defend against.
Squirming about as if constrained, there was a moment he felt as if he was free, but it all slipped away as Rise's arms wrapped around his chest and locked in place. Their was a split second where he worried this might be the front lotus, a skill so devestatingly powerful that he doubted even the protective barrier would be able to save him. Then he felt the tight squeeze about his ribs, knocking the wind out of him and almost knocking him out as they both slowly headed toward the ground. Having no intention of doing such, Eremi reached deep within himself…to the next gate and quickly forced it open. The surge of power being more then enough to falsely rejuvinate him to his previous state and easily power out of the bear hug.
Once free the boy spun around and landed on his knees, hunched over and holding himself up with one hand. He was winded and felt as if he was barely able to move. "Thiss….was a great….spar." He glanced up with half lidded eyes to lock on to the girls heterochromatic ones. "I hope you….would be able to say the same." He swallowed hard as his head drooped down and he used his other hand in conjunction to lift him back to his feet on shaky knees. "If you are still around later…before everyone heads back to their…respective villages…maybe we could do something else..you think?" He took a few deep breath as he look on.
Although later she would deny it every asked by someone who managed to catch the look in her eye, Rise was enjoying crushing Eremi in a hug in more than one way. But for all the strength she mustered both from her own reserves and those enhanced by the pill even /she/ could feel her hold slipping with the mid-air change undertaken by Eremi. Still, she tried to keep him compressed. Tried out of fury and frustration to break Eremi in half… but to no avail against the surge of energy summoned up by the boy.
As soon as Eremi was free the Shirokiri too spun around to land at a crouch. The light in her eyes nor the rest of her body relaxing for a moment. If anything she looked ready to spring at the boy to try and finish him off. She resisted the urge just barely thanks to the sound of Eremi's forced attempt at talking sharpening her focus more thoroughly on the boy, and relax a little. "Uhn.. That was.. excellent… And I.. I… I…" She trails off into a inaudible string of whispers with her eyes averted before snapping back around to look at Eremi. "I would love to Eremi-kun! Just.. uhm.. yeah, I'd like that." She murmured the last, blushing lightly and more furiously as she approached Eremi as calmly as the soldier pill would allow. "H-here.. come on. I'll help you back to a medic or somethin.." She whispered to Eremi if allowed to get close enough to kneel, then wrap around his waist after placing or guiding Eremi's own around her neck.
"…. Arigatou.. Eremi-kun…"
