Starring:
Rain, Akomura, Kanami, Natsuki
Date: October 29, 2010
Summary:
World Ninja Competition match. Natsuki vs Kanami. Natsuki reveals her Jinchurikiness. Kanami wins when Natsuki yields.
"First World Ninja Competition - A Theatrical Throwdown: Kanami vs. Natsuki"
Ring 2 of Peach Pit Stadium
The stands were a quiet roar of chatter as the previous battle comes off the field, one limping, and the other… limping triumphantly! After the two disappear to the cave like entrance, a figure enters the ring. The telltale lavender eyes shoot around the crowd as he raises his hands once he reaches the center of the ring. His voice booms out as the crowd was hushed for the time being.
"For your next spectacle," a dramatic pause of a couple moments, "Seishino Kanami," one arm gesturing to one entrance to the arena, "hailing from the Land of Rivers, Versus!" His other arm gesturing towards the opposite entrance to his right, "Sassahara Natsuki, hailing from the Land of Fire!"
A Lady In A Red Dress left Arena 1 behind. Calling herself 'Hino Rei', the elegant, beautiful, graceful woman departed while the match between Saito Jon and Kirryu Moriko was still underway. She left behind Mune to gather 'data'. And at some point during the walk from the first Arena to the second, as she passes behind a series of pillars lining a walkway, Hino Rei stops being Hino Rei. She is replaced by a gaunt figure, with skin somehow even paler than
before. Her clothing has shifted as well, individual parts of it changing with every pillar she passes behind, until finally… Something very unlike Rei makes her/its way to the ring…
The names of the participants are called, and the crowd is excited despite the relative lack of fame attached to Kanami's name. Is Natsuki famous? Who knows! But for the people of Kusagakure, at least, this is a very exciting event. They have never had anything like it here before. So where is this 'Seishino Kanami'? Where is this 'Sassahara Natsuki'? Kanami is nowhere to be seen, but presumably Natsuki is at LEAST approaching the ring now… Right?
Approaching the ring, Natsuki certainly was as she walked nervously through the doors that lead to the ring from the lobby. She looked plain, dressed in simple brown trousers and sleeveless kimono gi style top. Around her waist was a simple woven belt that matched the ties on her legs that cuffed her pants in the traditional style of monks. Her young eyes looking around the stadium, noting various things that had been left for cover, rocks, trees, and a few wooden blinds. She bit her lower lip, starting to feel the pressure.
Her skills had never been put on spectacle before a crowd like this before. Normally, if someone watched, it was either the children of the Academy or like her sensei or sometimes even the Hokage herself. However, never were there every people in the seats cheering on the combatants as they locked into some kind of bloodsport. Luckily though, the stakes were not all that high and efforts had been made to ease long term damage from these fights. However,
somethings could be damaged no matter how hard the authorities tried. What if the young chuunin made a fool of herself? She didn't mind the thought of losing, but to lose badly, that wouldn't be cool. These thoughts and others filled her mind as she tried take in the sights, feeling a little squeamish as the moments ticked quickly by.
As she heard Akomura make his announcement, she looked up at him, "Um, scuse me. I'm not really from the Land of Fire. I've spent most of my life in a monastary in the Land of Earth. However, I do work as a shinobi now for the Land of Fire." She stated, thinking it was important for what was to be known of her remain as accurate as could be. "Anyway, where is Kanami-sama?"
Rain has observed the majority of the battle, nad he would miss the climax as he moved towards the next match. It was better to miss the end of one match… for his purposes, in order to see another. Besides… he figured that the one know nas Hino Rei may have ducked out specifically to get herself a seat for this match. However… he did not spot her. It wasn't too suprising considering the amount of people… but Rain was good at spotting note worthy details, especially so boldly dressed. Not entirely disappointed as she never mentioned attending this match, Rain would find himself a seat in one of the private boxes this time. While they seemed father back, their high rise position, and support hovering over a couple of the back rows, actually allowed for a much better view, especially for the discerning eye. Mostly, it allowed for privacy and sound dampening. Taking a seat and relaxing, Rain would focus his gaze, sharingan and all, on the coming event.
As the participants were announced, he would over hear the fact that one of them was from his country… literally his birth place as well as the country he now owned. That was… something. There was talent like this from the Land of Rivers? He hadn't viewed the talent… but it was enough to be in this tier of the tournament. This likely meant that this Seishino Kanami was no logner residing in the Land of Rivers. A shame perhaps… Rain would see if it was truly a shame he may wish to rectify.
Akomura turned to look at Natsuki as she addressed him, and he nodded, "Though, that is your current home of residence, is it not? Or do you wish me to make a correction?" He asks this with an honest face, no smile or show of anger as she made the commentary to him. He glanced to the other entrance for Kanami before he breathed slightly, a bit of a sigh. "She has only a few moments, or this bout is forfiet." He stands there staring at the opening in the wall, patiently waiting for Kanami to arrive.
The buzz of excitement turns a bit to confusion in some places as people wonder where Kanami is. Then a child spots something up above and tries to point it out to his grandmother. "Look! Look, Obaa-sama! The ghost from that movie!" The grandmother just pats her grandson and says, "That's nice, dear." But then some guy sitting next to the kid looks up too, and stares. "No, he's right!" The grandmother blinks at the man blandly. "It IS the ghost from that movie!" Then other people start looking up to see what the fuss is. This spreads until
everyone is looking up and pointing and talking. Not everyone thinks it's a ghost, but people are definitely concerned. Why?
Because standing atop one very tall pillar, there is a woman that will just plain die if she happens to fall. And she is presently swaying side to side slightly. Long black hair is hanging down in her face like some sort of 'The Grudge'-style ghost. It looks like it may have once been elegantly styled. But now it is all straight and stringy. She stands there with her arms hanging
limply at her sides, in a seemingly ragged white kimono, with a blood-red rope as a belt, tied into a huge bow-style knot behind her back.
Then, as everyone stares and chatters, the bare-footed woman simply falls forward. The crowd immediately goes into an uproar, and screams are plentiful. The woman plummets like a stone, falling perpendicular to the towering stone pillar… And then… A cloud of smoke erupts from the spot where the woman hits the ground. The dust obscures her corpse for several seconds.
The stadium goes dead silent for a moment, but before the cries can erupt, the cloud clears… And reveals the ghost woman is standing, looking unharmed. "I have come," a rasping, mournful, female voice states plainly in a way that can be heard all over the arena.
Akomura takes a peek at the decending body through the smoke… as well he'd have a very easy night if the competitor killed themselves. This is also why he didn't move a muscle to rescue her, as he knew better. Once the display was made, Akomura would represent the challenger and declare that the match was to begin. "I have a feeling this is going to be a very confusing fight to the audience… but still, keep it clean as far as the rules ladies. FIGHT!" and
POOF, he was gone.
Natsuki looked to the proctor and shook her head, "Oh, I suppose it's okay. If people want to hire me for missions, they'll be best off looking in Konoha after all." She said, offering the proctor a warm smile. She then hears the commotion as people turn their attentions to Kanami. Natsuki stands a little tense as she watches the girl stand up on the pole. As she falls forward, the chuunin springs into action, attempting to make it to her to catch her. She would be moments to late and stand at the site of what would have been her impact with a slightly confused look on her face. When Kamani finally spoke, Natsuki looked at her with concern. "Are you okay? I mean you were there, then…" she points to the ground "and now … " yeah, Natsuki was a little lost. "Sheesh, and I thought Kiri nin were scary."
The sheer theatrics had Rain pleasantly surprised. Showmanship in and of itself was a lost art when it came to most shinobi… even as showmanship was essential to their way of life… atleast in the public eye. And what was more public than scheduling a contest for an audience? Many things can be brought about by such actions, including intimidation, or a lack of reality for the opponent to grasp. Rain would clap a few times while the diplomats were leanign over gasping and trying to figure out what happened. "Hopefully… the rest of you is just as pleasing to the eye… Seishino Kanami." he would state before glancing towards Natsuki. He had brushed over her files when he was in Konoha, but alot of them were… classified. He could have looked, but he didn't have the time, nor did he have the inclination to make the time. This would be
informational in that sense as well.
Kanami hears the announcement to begin. She does not do anything in particular except stand there, arms limp, Natsuki a short distance away from her. The question of if she is alright goes unanswered. The match has begun. The wind suddenly blows through, carrying away the last of the dust cloud. The evening grows late, and as the sun dies in the distance, a deep shadow is cast over the fighting ring.
There is a quiet sound from somewhere nearby. Repeated, but muffled. Then Kanami slowly raises a black bag from behind her, and holds it out in front of her with her right hand. Her arm seems to tremble with the effort of holding it up, as though whatever was inside was enormously heavy… Or as though she were enormously weak. The bag is moving around, and the sound MIGHT be recognized as the mewling of a frightened kitten. Why does this woman have a
kitten in a bag with her? How is this going to help her win this match!?
Then she draws the bag close to her body and turns away, hunching herself. Her face still cannot be seen thanks to that draping black hair, but it seems evident enough that she is untying the bag. Especially with the mewling grows louder, and then turns into the pathetic attempt at threatening yowling that only a kitten could produce.
Reaching one arm in, back turned to Natsuki… Kanami suddenly whips around and THROWS something! The bag remains in her right hand, but there is suddenly no more mewling or yowling coming from the kitten. It lies on the ground. If Natsuki does not move, it lies right at her feet. Otherwise, it remains inbetween Kanami and the Konoha/Iwa kunoichi. The throw didn't kill the
kitten.
Because it has been dead for quite some time. Its eye sockets are empty holes, with maggots crawling around and in them. Its limps are rigid in a position of death, mouth agape, gums having blackened and peeled back from the teeth as they dried out. Blood has splattered all over. This cat has been dead for a long time alright. And yet it was meowing just a moment ago. And Kanami was carrying it around for some reason? This is… Sick. Disturbing. Frightening. Most people can't tell what was thrown and could not hear the meows in the first place. They're just too far away. But for Natsuki, it would be all too obvious.
Then Kanami begins to laugh. It doesn't sound like laughter at first. More like dry sobbing, coming spastically, and wracking her form. But the repetition soon makes it evident that she is indeed laughing. And then the bag is held up and aimed at Natsuki, and a trio of lengthy serpents come streaking out of the black sack, trying to bite Natsuki!
The whole kitten thing, well, it just didn't seem like something a normal person would do. It seemed a bit odd, a bit suspicious, and with a bit of a jolt she figured it out. She smirked slightly and nodded. "Not too shabby." She stated as if she was commenting on the weather. Having just cleared the genjutsu, the snakes actually took Natsuki a bit by surprise. She attempted to
do a back handspring away from the bag as the snakes first emerged, but the scaly beasts still found their mark, sinking their fangs into Natsuki's flesh. "Snakes, why did it have to be snakes?" she muttered to herself as she attempted to pry them loose from her arms. She made no other real efforts at this time, preferring to wait to see if the venom would take hold or if she was lucky enough to get away with just a dry bite from the reptiles. Not to mention, she
thought it may be wise to work on a small chakra reserve just in case it was needed.
Kanami never claimed to be normal. She IS odd. So yes, she does odd and abnormal things. But one thing is obvious, and that is that she is not foolish. Maybe she's crazy. Maybe she's just strange. But after using two moves like that in the first round, she must be a bit low on energy. After the snakes retreat back into the bag, she draws the sack close to her body again. Then she holds her left hand up above her head and a sound like a hundred serpents hissing at
once fills the fighting ring. Nothing appears to be happening other than the sound-effects, but to those who can sense or see Chakra… There's a sphere of Chakra forming over her left palm, very condensed. She brings her hand around and then underneath her stringy hair, and then makes noises as though she were eating something eagerly. Almost immediately her Chakra Level spikes upwards.
She takes no further action yet, instead consuming her 'meal'.
Natsuki observed the snakes returning to their bag and the unique method of consuming chakra that Kanami practiced. She blinked her eyes a time or two, pondering how to handle this girl. Taijutsu wouldn't be very practical if she wanted to stay away from the snakes. Her options would be rather limited. Distance fighting. She frowned for a moment and then formed her hands together, her fingers flowing through a series of seals, the air around her hands would be charged and a slight crackling sound could be heard. Suddenly, the charged air would move, in a flickering of light, the lightening would travel across the area, in a somewhat sporadic way as it moved to strike Kanami. The attack technique was simple enough, and Natsuki would use it twice consecutively as she continued to ponder how to best approach her conflict with this strange girl with a rather disturbing relationship with snakes.
Laughing that dry, choking laugh again, Kanami appears to fall forward again, like a limp, dead body, just as Natsuki sends out those two streams of electricity come at her. She appears to hit the ground flat on her face and then turn into white powder or dust that POOFS outwards in a dense cloud. Then, from behind Natsuki, somehow 'walking' very swiftly on her hands, while her legs and lower body drag on the ground, Kanami comes charging in! She lunges at Natsuki
from behind, unless she is detected in advance, and attemps to wrap more snakes around her that in turn attempt to bite her and poison her futher. Their venom is painful, but survivable for a ninja. The more negative part of it is the itching and the faint dizziness that follows each bite. It's distracting. Possibly distracting enough that when Kanami attempts to cling to Natsuki,
wrapping her arms around the younger kunoichi's waist and just hang there, she might get a bit of a hold on Natsuki's mind.
Okay, this was becoming embarrassing and at least a little bit annoying. She just wasn't quite fast enough to evade the snakes and yeah. She didn't seem to like that one bit. However, it would seem as if she did nothing, even as the heavy clone of snakes (that she didn't know were snakes) hung on her body. Her hands began to become covered in a bluish black flame as suddenly, Natsuki reached one of the hands over her back and attempted to claw into the
Kanami's flesh.
The Kanami hanging onto Natsuki just continues to laugh while that odd fire bursts into existence, but when she is attacked with the flaming claws, she she seems to shriek loudly and high-pitched, wailing like a banshee, until the screams seem less and less human. And eventually, it is evident they are NOT human, as Kanami has been replaced with a mass of writhing serpents that is now hanging and draping on Natsuki. One is being burned presently by those flames, thrashing as it sizzles and streams smoke. The rest are just trying to get out
of the area, slithering away across the arena floor.
Then, the real Kanami, standing on the far side of one of the stone pillars that are littered around the arena to serve as cover and platforms for fighting, crawls around to the side facing Natsuki, and two glowing red eyes appear even through the curtain of scraggly hair that continues to hang in her face. A moment later, Natsuki might feel as though it is hard to breathe for some reason. Is this the venom making her air passage constrict? No time to wonder on that front, as Kanami's left arm is tossed out towards her opponent, and that arm transforms into what is likely to be the thickest snake that Natsuki has ever seen. It stretches across the distance and attempts to bite the Jinchuuriki with teeth that are not quite serpentine in nature. More like a wolf's teeth with snake fangs mixed in. Then Kanami just tries to reel Natsuki in by that serpent, like a worm on a hook… Assuming that attack hits, at least.
The genjutsu, she knew it was there before, it wouldn't surprise her to be there again. There was the venom of the snakes, that could also be causing her current symptoms, though for the life of her, she couldn't remember one that would seize the chest immediately. Of course, whichever it was may be handled by slicing into her arm where the snakes had bit and to try to pull out the venom. It was a long shot but one she had to take. Between the continuing pressure on her chest, and the pain of cutting into her own arm, she fell to the ground. The
kunai drops from her hand as it brushes the body of one of the snakes. Natsuki then struggled to evade the henged snake, rolling out of the way but still being snagged by its fangs. She muttered a curse and staggered back to her feet, leaping towards Kanami with her hands poised for the strike. The swing from her left arm would be just out of reach, though, the fire of her chakra would feel cold to the skin of Kanami should it actually strike. The second strike though,
would be much more on target as she attempted to rip into the girl's flesh.
As Natsuki is reeled in, the arm that was previously a snake turns back into an arm. The Jinchuuriki swinging at her causes her to hiss out, "Kkkk!" and then Kanami lets go. The first blow almost hits, thanks to how close she was when she attacked, but a combination of being dropped from about a dozen feet above the ground, and Kanami bursting into another cloud of white dust, like powdered bones, results in the second attack missing by a wide margin.
Natsuki falls from the pillar that Kanami was attached to, right towards the ground… And a waiting Kanami, looking up at her. The black hair hangs a bit away from her face now, revealing a normal human chin, and hints of a mouth that is nowhere near normal human. Black lips that are peeled back in a snakeish smile, and between those lips… Teeth that belong only in the nightmares of Hell's worst sinners.
That is what Natsuki is falling towards. And whenever she arrives, Kanami lunges forward to 'embrace' the other kunoichi. And if it succeeds? Kanami vanishes like a phantom, leaving Natsuki wherever she happens to be standing. If that 'embrace' worked… Then a moment later, as Natsuki is probably wondering where her opponent went, a pair of skeletal arms tear their
way out of the girl's ribcage, just below her real arms, and start attempting to STRANGLE her.
This match will probably not be one to tell the children about in later years.
Genjutsu, genjutsu, don't fall into it. Don't fall, *BITE* the clawed hands of the Jinchuuriki dug into her flesh. She winced slightly, damn taijutsu and fighting fricking genjutsu hurts. She thought, just not as bad as the hot hypodermic needles called fangs that have bitten into her flesh several times in this fight. As the blood dripped down her leg, the blue black cloak of the
bakeneko began to spread over her body. With it, some of the chakra that had passed to the corpse of the snake earlier began to reanimate it. The slightly charred creature twitched and flicked a moment before slowly traveling across the area towards its master. It was time for a taste of her own medicine, Natsuki thought as the beast within her willed the snake to bite its own master (or at least try to). Then the chakra within it would begin to become a bit
uncontrollable as it exploded into hunks of gore and searing chakra.
Kanami notices the charred snake slithering over to her. You want to know how she notices? Because the snakes she uses are sort of 'psuedo-snakes'. They are snakes that are created through Chakra… But not really MADE out of Chakra. They just exist temporarily somehow. The ghosts of snakes? Who knows? Thus, they typically vanish after being used. That one would remain is… Not normal. Even by the bizarre standards of this fight.
Kanami reacts as any reasonable crazy ghost lady would when one of her own imaginary — and yet physically tangible — snakes comes towards her without her telling it to. She just stands there and lets it bite her. Dust starts pouring out of the wound. When the dead snake explodes, and spatters her in gore, she seems to be blown away by the detonation. Literally, it's like she just turned into a pillar of dust and blew away.
The difference, this time, is that the powder doesn't just vanish. Instead, it swirls around and around and around, turning into a vortex that… Turns into a woman. A woman who was previously spinning rapidly in place, somehow hovering horizontally in the air, but now floats upright and touches down lightly on the ground a fair distance away from the bloody remains of the snake. Now there is a very NON-ghostly woman standing before Natsuki. Her hair
is straight and smooth, and clean, and shiny. Her skin is white as a china doll, looking fragile as porcelain. She is wearing a luxurious white kimono with draping sleeves, that has the pattern of snake scales in faint-black outline all across its surface. The pattern is cleverly made to appear three-dimensional, like the scales are real instead of fabric.
Around her waist is an emerald obi that appears to be made of snake skin. Dangling from golden chains from the obi are two Noh-style masks. One is the mask of an ugly white-serpent. It is presently held in hand. The other mask is a blank white canvas with black eyeholes and a pouting, black-lipped mouth. No nose or other features. And on Kanami's face… A third Mask. A 'Noh-men'. It is simply a woman's face with black designs like flower blossoms on the cheeks.
Pure-white eyes stare out at Natsuki, veins visible in the sclera, but no irises or pupils.
"How nice to finally meet you, Sassahara-san." Kanami's voice comes out, pleasant and not at all dry and rasping and frightening. She bows towards her opponent, then she puts her hands together in a focusing seal, and an aura of blue-white light begins to highlight her mask's edges. "We may proceed when ready."
So, Kanami is just NOW getting started. Natsuki shook her head slightly and sighed. "I could borrow the strength push myself farther, but there would need to be far more at stake than a little bit of pride for me to risk giving up what control I have. I thank you for a good fight to this point, and yield the rest of the official match to you. Perhaps though, in the later rounds of the tournament we will meet again. If that is the case, I will push myself to my limit in an effort to secure victory for my village and myself." She said calmly. "Agreed?" She asked as she stuck her hand towards Kanami for a handshake.
Kanami tilts her head, the fixed smile of her mask not indicating her true emotions. But still, even though this could be a trick… She lowers her hands from their focusing position, and then moves forward across the distance between the two of them. Then she accepts the hand offered daintily and bows formally. "Of course, Sassahara-san. I would be delighted to have a 'rematch' with you. You have a great deal of potential, based upon my observations so far.
You need only a few more years of experience. Thank you for a delightful warm-up, however. It is always interesting to see what sorts of things others will come up with."
All the while she speaks, her head moves about, slightly nodding, or tilting, to emphasize the fact she is speaking, just like in a Noh theatre play, where one must use all aspects of one's person and belongings to entertain and communicate with the audience. She then raises her voice, after her clearing her throat slightly, and calls out, "Sassahara-san has forfeitted to me! She fought bravely and wisely, but this match is over! Please applaud her bold efforts in
the tournament so far!" Then she releases Natsuki's hand in order to step back and clap her hands together lightly, assuming the crowd will do the same. She turns and begins walking away towards her side of the ring's exit.
The proctor observed the discussion of the two shinobi and smirked. He looked out to the stands and called out, "Sassahara Natsuki has yielded the match to Seishino Kanami. Let's hear a round of applause for their match." He stated in the manner that was fairly normal for a ring announcer, a mix of enthusiasm but still a tone of non bias. "Well done ladies. Now, time to move on to the next match!"
