Starring:
Date: December 20, 2012
Summary:
Eri and Rise showcase their potential during the final rounds of the Jounin Promotion Exams with Goh officiating.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Second Promotion Exams - Imp Against Angel - Rise vs. Eri"
Dammed Arena
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At the foot of the great march of bones that dams this tall canyon of blue-gray granite, under the shadows of the stands: the Kirigakure arena. Rivulets of water still escape the base of the dam and dampen the gravely bed of the dry river. The length of the canyon is limited by a raised platform at the south end featuring the referee's post and a large display board announcing the details of the match.
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One of the last exams of the round, and the very first that Goh had actually /wanted/ to do. There were no bonus things for Goh to be rewarded with this time. Why the pickler had wanted to do this match in particular is anyone's guess. Only a few would know the true reasons.
With that said, Goh had nearly not made it. He had failed to check in for a routine security check, something that all proctors needed to do. Yet just before the match was about to begin, he arrived. Certainly not in the same fashion that he arrived at the others though. In fact, it's quite regular. He walks in through one of the doors, heading out into the arena. The first thing that's noticeably different is that he grips a wooden cane. Limping into the middle of the floor, he collects himself. Not as easily seen by the crowd, but easily viewable by the fighters, is the huge amount of bandage strapping he has across his torso. No doubt about it, Goh was heavily injured and still recovering.
Sucking in a breath, he announces the two contestants to be Rise and Eri. And then, with some more heavily assisted walking from his wooden stick, he slumps against the side wall, exhaling slowly as he does.
"Kumo, Kumo, Kumo!"
Sanado would shot from his seat in the stands while he watched over the following match. It didn't matter who won as Kumogakure would come out on top in both the #1 and #2 Jounin brackets. It made Sanado feel proud of being an academy student for the village, but it also set the bar a little high for him. Which meant he'd have to do a ton of training the moment the exams were finally over.
Hearing the names of the two competitors as Goh spoke them, he knew of one, Rise. She was a bit mean to him, like most others were that were older then him, but the way they did it seemed like they wanted to make sure he didn't get hurt. So they actually cared about him? It was confusing for him to think about…Why couldn't they be nice AND worry about his safety. Oh well. "Go Kumo!"
Eri skips happily out onto the field, blowing kisses out to the crowd before glancing over at Goh for a moment. "You ok fella? After the match I can treat you to a victory dinner in my honor." She giggles softly before looking over Rise for a moment. "Just remember, no matter who wins, our village is the real winner today. Hope we have a good match today! I wanna go home soon!" She shrugs faintly before crossing her arms in front of her as she focused on her chakra, her white aura surrounding her slowly. She keeps her eyes on Rise as she waits on her to ready herself as well. Eri hasn't met this opponent before, but at least she was from Kumo as well, so even if she did lose she wouldn't have to feel bad about it.
There is no skipping happily, or limping painfully into the arena for Rise. She was late according to her alarm clock, a.k.a step-father, so the young shirokiri entered running frantically into the arena with a could size debris cloud kicked up in her wake. Unfortunately for Eri, because Rise kept running some of that very debris cloud would drift over and consume both Kumo nin before it fully dispell. "Sorry I'm.. *cough* *cough*.. la-*cough*-te." She forced out in-between breaths, then straightened herself out fully and regarded her opponent. Soon after a mixture of clear jealousy and annoyance flickered in her eyes, but before she could open her mouth to try and cut Eri down something catches her attention from the corner of her eyes.
"Goh-sa-sa-san.. *clears throat*.. are you okay?", She asks worriedly.
"Fine." Goh grunts back to both, watching as both make themselves into the arena. With Rise being so late, his head does tilt a little bit. Though she had arrived, so he pays it no mind. "Alright girls, you know the drill by now. I'll step in and stop this if I have to. That, or the winner is determined by someone conceding." Would he really be able to stop them in such a condition? Obviously the officials of the exams thought so, or he wouldn't be here!
"Now … without anymore ado. The last round of these exams will begin. Fight!" He drops an arm sort of lazily, indicating for the pair to go at it!
Squinting with all he had, Sanado's eyes would peer down at the arena floor to that of the other girl besides Rise. What was with that ghostly aura…Are those wings? Could she fly!? That would be amazing if so and he'd ask for a flight given the chance, but for now all he could do is sit back and wait for the match to start. He had no clue who would win in this bout as he knew so little about both competitors, but if he were to take bets, he'd place all his money on Goh, the proctor. Because the proctor can stop the match at any time and that is a win in his book. :)
Eri tilts her head at Rise curiously as her opponent doesn't seem to make any motion to get ready for combat at all. Now she -could- use this opportunity to her advantage, but that would be unfair and mean. "Um..sweetie, we're supposed to be fighting, remember? Now because I'm so nice, I'm going to give you just a little longer to get ready." She taps her foot pretending to get impatient and looks up at the stands to wave at her adoring fans, at least in Eri's mind they adored her. "Hear that? Not only is the great and beautiful Kiyotani Eri strong enough to make it towards the finals, she's -also- generous!"
Rise nodded faintly in agreement, at least for the time being. "Tch, I have'n forgotten ya — .." She cuts herself off mid-tirade upon finally noting the ghostly wings adorning Eri's back. And while she could not fully understand what they could mean, the sight of them were enough to put off mouthing off for now and focus more intently on sizing Eri up. Afterwards she shifted back into a basic taijutsu stance while idly freeing a pill from her reserve pouch to down a second later in one swallow. Within several moments later muscle tone becomes more apparent, her hair grew both further out and wild, and an almost feral gleam was hinted in her eyes. "I'm ready." She stated roughly.
Although beyond waiting a few seconds more to see if Eri would take the first move, Rise's impulsive nature eventually drove the girl into taking up a few shuriken and let them fly.
Eri giggles softly as she fades away from view, the shuriken seeming to phase through her to the other end of the arena. The real Eri had quickly flickered behind Rise to watch her closely. "So close, you almost had me. Maybe the next time." She tilts her head in thought thinking on what to do next. It would likely be best to tire her out. Still she didn't have many tricks to pull out and use, the last match was so repetitive even Eri couldn't stand it. She shakes her head slightly seeming to return to reality. "Oh yes..the fight..well here love, my turn." She motions through some hand seals as she softly whispered to herself. "Feel the heat." With that done she pulls two of her own kunai out, flicking them ahead of her, although likely not as skilled as the way Rise did it.
"An illusion." Rise stated blandly the moment her shuriken passed right through her target, then turn to the left and right in search of her opponent. The longer she had to wait to find her 'fellow' Kumo nin the more she grew agitated about the whole ordeal. Her re-appearance (presumably in the same spot) gave her pause, but before she could even consider launching another test barrage she felt pressure behind her back. She of course whipped her headback to try on reflex, growling gutturally. It dies in her throat the instant her eyes met peculiar white eyes of a Hyuuga. "Hi.. Hiros — " She bit back the rest and tried to pull away, but when biting down harder on her bottom lip didn't break the illusion with pain, Rise found it harder to resist. In the end, she melted into the hug with eyes closed, cheeks pink, and a faint, blissful smile in place.
Her warrior's instinct saved her from completely caving in, but still, the weakness left behind from the heat left her too weak to put much more effort into evading Eri's attack then a hasty couple of side steps. "You, you, you!" She growled weakly and bared her teeth before rushing headlong at Eri. Leaping as soon as she got within range to try and deliver an opening round house, then pursue with a dash step and sweep around to try kick her legs out from under her, if not weaken her long enough to channel a rage fueled punch to the gut.
Feeling a bit overly confident Eri waits for Rise to get closer, intending to flicker out of her path. Rise moves much quicker than she could anticipate however, and she ends up getting his with that round house. She makes a hand seal, leaving her illusion to deal with the rest of her attacks while she flickered over to safety. Eri winces faintly and rubs the wound, before shaking her head. "See! Told you that you'd be able to hit me! Not getting anymore of those in hopefully." She giggles softly before staring down Rise, watching her movements closely. She had to be patient with this fight, Rise was definitely a lot stronger than her, so it'd be best if she tried to wait until she wore herself out.
"Ca-caracal!" Rise exclaimed as she fell through Eri's latest illusion. A quick tuck and roll maneuver followed by a spring and mid-air twist saves aids in her quick recover. Unfortunately for Eri, this also meant that the second her feet touched the ground the chuunin would be off again. Circling at first both Eri's until the illusion fully faded, then charging the one that remained. As she grew closer a Kunai is launched ahead of her. A decoy more than an actual attack, and one she intended to make the most use out of by slowing down just enough to for wind to stop disrupting her hearing.
If it missed (which was more than likely miss as far as she was concerned), Rise would stil seemingly keep up the charge forward for another few feet; only to abruptly changing course with a powerful leap and trust her ears instead of her eyes to guide her this time. "Ya shouldn't be giggling so much!", she yelled out as she spun about, trusting her conditioning now to both deliver the leaf great whirlwind upon her enemy without fail!
Goh watches from the side, his eyes staying locked onto the scene. To be honest, this was the first time he had seen Rise fight. And despite having agreed to take her on as his apprentice, the pickler had spent ZERO time with her. Taught her nothing. Not even one session.
It was complicated, really. Rise was still a Kumogakure ninja, and Goh was busy himself. So there was little time for the whole mentoring thing. Not even part time, much less ful ltime. He was hoping to change that, as soon as the exams were over.
Sucking in a breath, he exhales slowly. This would be interesting. Eri had Rise completely outclassed. Rise was probably physically stronger, but it matters little when you can't hit your opponent. How was Rise going to deal with it? A hand lifts to rub the scruff along his jawline and chin. Thinking.
As Eri watched Rise she smirks faintly at the comment, and performs another hand seal as her opponent ran towards her giving her another illusion to fall through. The real Eri stands a little ways off, and shakes her head at Rise. "I shouldn't? I don't see why not, I mean I got set up with a rather easy match. I have every reason to be happy!" She giggles again, almost nearing a cackle, perhaps to spite Rise or perhaps her change kept her from behaving more seriously. "How about I step it up a little hmm?" She begins going through her hands seals, her eyes locked on her opponent as she speaks up. "Your dreams come true." Even after that flow of chakra was sent Rise's way Eri did not stop performing her hand seals, stopping on one as she intended to send the illusion she forced on her earlier again, only much longer than last time.
This fight for Jounin's was hard to interpret. Rise was moving very fast and you could tell there was power behind her blows, however it was like the girl was living in the past. Where ever Rise would attack, Eri was no longer there, having moved some where else, but there wasn't anything special behind her movements. Another thing that was odd were the lack of attacks coming from Eri. Sure there'd be several hand signs as if she might use ninjutsu and Rise would respond by throwing out hand signs of her own or perhaps even cut herself which was weird, but what was Eri actually doing during this fight? Sanado could only hope they'd teach him before he graduated the academy. This fight was confusing.
"An easy match huh?" Rise murmured as she turned around fully to face Eri with eyes cast in shadow thanks to her own, albiet rough, bangs. "Your gonna look down on me.. just like them.. neh?" She continued bitterly, unknowingly letting her chakra fluctuate as Eri's genjutsu battered against her mind. With rage quickly building up with every word uttered the wild fluctuations became more focused into a wall. Unbending before the weight of fantasy and memories evoked by the stream of illusions. "Ya don't know a — *winces then gulps*… No, I need to — …" She slowed down her thoughtless walk towards Eri and shook her head as if that alone would be enough to dispel the red haze blanketing her mind. The taste of more blood in her mouth ultimately provides the focus she needed to keep the haze at bay, but still… she needed to act. So, with scarcely a second thought Rise finally unsheathed her combat knife and rushed forward. Slashing at Eri's arms whenever they SEEMED to present themselves and striking a few times to try and injure the older girl's leg.
Sadly, all of efforts only amount to dashing/bashing to pieces Eri's look a-likes.
"Stop the fight!" Cries the voice of an official, who is now dashing out onto the arena floor. "The proctor has lost consciousness! The fight will resume once the substitute arrives!" Off to the side, it seems that the pickler known as Goh has indeed fallen asleep. He is not wounded or bleeding, though. Just … exhausted.
As he's carried off by two men, it seems that the two girls are now suspended from combat until the reserve proctor arrives.
As intoxicating as rage tended to be for Rise — especially when backed by ANY type of soldier pill — it was not so mentally all-consuming as to keep the girl from taking note of any changes to her surroundings. Merely to delay her long enough for the officials words to finally sink in. With a start, the young Shirokiri whipped around in time to see Goh get carried off on a stretcher. She pursued them almost immediately, but stopped after a few short steps and half turned back to regard Eri with indecision clearly written in her eyes. After a pregnant pause in which her gaze only shifted once to peer down the path that the medic nin took Goh, Rise lets out a guttural growl, clenches her hands , and stomps her foot before turning fully to face Eri. Reluctantly, Rise bowed her head. "… I'll surrender this match to ya this time Eri-chan, but I want a re-match with ya someday… aight?", She demanded more than asked, but still lingered long enough for a reply to be given before just rolling her eyes and taking off; only to stop briefly to pass along her resignation from the match to an official.
Needless to say, most within the crowd might not be too thrilled once the announcement is made. >_>
