Starring:
Date: September 5, 2015
Summary:
Saito Yorishiro and Hebisuuhai Sakuya work on something other than wall-walking, as Yori attempts to train Sakuya in a sparring session while Sakuya dreams of one day proving her worth to her parents on the big stage.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Serpent Genjutsu Style! Illusions of Grandeur!"
Kanayama Hiko Arena - Fighting Ring
This is definitely where a chuunin-exams tournament would be held, Sakuya can just hear the crowds go wild! Cheering her name as she inevitably beats up on some poor sod far weaker than she! Of course, she is likely the weakest genin, given she was the most recent to pass the academy exams. Still, she can dream. Right now, with hands upon her hips, she is daydreaming as she stands up on the ledge overlooking the arena. Behind her are the seats that many people would sit down in if there was an event. She remembers attending one here when she was little….
To help her out of her daydream, Zuzu would bite their master on the bottom gently, causing her to jump and fall down onto the soil below. "Zuzu, you hype, I was being vainglorious!" She says as she rubs her bottom, tears peeking from her eyes. "… But, someday, me and you are going to make a name for ourselves here. We'll show my parents they're terrible people, ne?"
Zuzu pokes from Sakuya's collar, moving along clothes to do so. She/He has something to say about that. "You're so stupid. Still holding on to those silly ideals of yours. Why don't you just resign yourself to obscurity, like a real Hebisuuhai?" Sakuya flicks at Zuzu's head, causing the snake to retreat back into her outfit. "I'm not even a real Hebisuuhai, clearly. Do you see -any- social hebisuuhai, Zuzu? Didn't think so…" So then why is she alone in an empty arena. "Just wait, Zuzu. One day I will step out into this arena, and walk out a chuunin. Then they'll regret abandoning me."
Yori had been planning on coming into the arena for a bit of training so that he could avoid the crowds of the training center. The arena had been listend as free at this time so there shouldn't really be anyone there. AT least, that's what he expects. When he hears a pair of voices as he gets near the young Saito pauses to listen at the fringe of his hearing. He recognizes the voices and, after hearing what they have to say, he walks the rest of the way into the arena with a small smile. "I think they should already regret that Sakuya-san," Yori says. "And I think if you want to be well known then you should work towards it, despite what others may or may not think of you doing so."
The tensing begins, as Sakuya's face turns flush. Of course someone was listening her during her mooments of reflection. Sakuya stands still of course, hands on her hips as she swallows hard. "Y-yori, where did… y-you come from?" Sakuya asks. She doesn't move to even look at Yori. Though, thankfully, Zuzu was right there to help speak while Sakuya was in the middle of her little crisis. He/She speaks up. "Wow Sakuya. You're so loud Yori heard you from across the village. So cute." Zuzu snakes out of Sakuya's collar. "Come on over, Yori! Did you hear about the part where she was cooing about how cute she thought you were? Or how about the little doodle she has of you in her no-UWAAA!" The snake was forcefully yanked out, and was being bitten on by Sakuya, whom was at wits end. "YOU STUPID HEBI! NYAAAA!"
Sakuya has a little vindictive snake, doesn't she?
Yori blinks when he hears what Zuzu has to say and he blushes lightly. "Um, no, I didn't hear that Zuzu-san. I don't think she would say such things," he responds quickly to the snake before things can get any worse. "And I was just coming in to do some training. I didn't realize anyone would be here. It was listed as free one the schedule, so it is open to anyone…um, just didn't expect anyone." He raises a hand to rub at the back of his neck nervously as he watches the two snake types go at it, uncertainly.
Sakuya drops the snake on the ground, when Yori believes she would -never- do anything like that. "You're completely correct Yori." She gained composure rather fast. "You're a team-member, I don't think you're cute at all." She shrugs. Zuzu seems to give her master a glare. Sakuya places her hands behind her back, clasping them there, as she walks out towards the more tiled parts of the arena. "I like Inuzuka-kids more, clearly. Anyways!" She turns on her heel and faces her comrade. "I was hoping I could test my skills on someone. Right here, in this Arena." Yori would be roleplaying her fantasies. The fighting in a crowded arena fantasy, of course. "I still can't walk on walls, but I'm sure we won't be doing any of that. Fight me, Yori!" She says as she points at him!
Yori blinks repeatedly at Sakuya when she says he's not cute at all. That…hadn't been what he'd meant…and that was just kind of mean! The boy recovers before Sakuya turns back around and he just nods a bit. "Um…hai…" he kind of mutters to himself more than anything. "Um…you really should keep training your wall walking Sakuya-san…but it can wait for now."
Girls are complicated. Yori will learn someday. Regardless, Zuzu crawls up his master's leg, because she has already demanded his assistance. Sakuya places her hands on her hips, flicking her tongue as she says the following… "Round one! In the left side of the field, Asato Yori! Paperwork master! In the right side of the field, Miyazani Sakuya!" The snake bites her leg, causing her to yelp! Zuzu corrects his master! "You are Hebisuuhai, fool. Is that how you are seriously daydreaming? He's not your real father!" Sakuya growls. "Shut up, Zuzu." Sakuya drops into a loose stance. Her clan's Taijutsu, meany for flexibility above power, means that she has to be able to respond to attacks properly. "I'm not gonna go easy on you Yori!" Zuzu chuckles. "Hai, Yori. Just because she thinks you are cute doesn't mean she is going to go easy on you!"
Yori walks off to one side to remove his sword belt and pick up a wooden blade before returning to his spot a short distance from Sakuya. When she starts off calling out their names and such he just says, "It's…um…Saito…" He's just so confused at this point. And then Zuzu makes that last little jab and he blushes lightly again. Especially after what Sakuya said. It just…adds to his confusion. "Um, whenever you're ready Sakuya-san…"
"Just like we practiced, Zuzu." Perhaps confusion is her greatest ninja tool! Yori would quickly find Sakuya running towards him. "HA! The crowd goes wild as Sakuya comes in for the attack!" Sakuya narrates just as she stops her dash a yard or two in front of Yori, before jumping high and offering the far more experienced shinobi a most basic of kicks!
Maybe Yori was still distracted by what Zuzu was saying…or may by Sakuya speaking through her every movement…or maybe he was just reacting a little slowly today. Whatever it was he started to bring his arm up to block the kick but was too slow and got hit and stumbles back a few steps. He smiles a little at Sakuya and rubs where the kick hit. "Ahh, good job Sakuya-san. I see you are quite difficult opponent. I'm sure the crowds will be cheering for you." He keeps rubbing the spot like it hurts a lot more than it really did and so doesn't attack quite yet.
"Ah, Yori!" Sakuya shows a little concern when her spirited attack lands. "A-are you okay?" She asks as she backs off a moment. "I didn't… I didn't think I'd actually hit you in the head like that…" Sakuya notes. Zuzu would chuckle, underneath Sakuya's clothing. "Aww, isn't that cute. She's concerned for your well being!" The black-haired snake grinds her teeth as she charges again, throwing lighter yet harder to dodge punches. One aimed towards Yori's neck, the next at his chest, all the while she snakes her foot behind his, so that her last attack would knock him off balance.
"Ummm…don't worry about me Sakuya-san, I'll be fine…" Yori assures the girl softly, raising his hand to brush aside her punches before backflipping over the sneaky foot. By now he's just kind of ignoring what Zuzu says so that it doesn't distract him, although Sakuya's words still kind of haunt him! At least for the moment. "Don't hold back Sakuya-san…" After that's done he brings the wooden blade up from his side and slices lightly down towards her shoulder.
A firm sword strike strikes Sakuya's fore-arm as she attempts to block the strike, "Oww!" She would whine, as she steps backwards to rub her arm. "That's… That hurts quite a bit for a sword strike." She notes with a groan. "Yori-san, if I don't hold back, I'll have to use things that are kind-of dangerous…" She doesn't want to -hurt- Yori. Not badly, anyways. "Okay! Okay, fine. If you'll shut up, Zuzu, I'll let you fight too. Here I come!" Sakuya barks.
Her next three strikes resemble exactly as she did last time, but it was a ruse. One strike in the neck, one strike aimed towards the chest, the third strike came from her sleeve just as she struck out at Yori-shiro's chest. It was Zuzu, fangs bared…
Yori shakes his head a little at Sakuya. If she thought that hurt…heck, he'd been holding back quite a bit to make it a lighter strike! And it was only wood! But he wouldn't mention that at all. "Um, don't worry Sakuya-san. I can promise I've been hurt a lot worse in other spars. Like ones with Michiko-san and Raikage-dono. I'm not saying you couldn't hurt me, but it's nothing to worry about. I have bandages…and the hospital isn't far…" When she punches at him again he blocks them again with his hand, then jumps back quickly when he sees Zuzu snaking out to bite him. "That was better," he says with a nod before he steps forward to aim two quick and relatively light blows to either arm from the wooden sword.
The first strike against her would hit, she certainly intended to block it. "That stings!" She complains as she jumps back to dodge the next strike. Zuzu appears to be missing, for some strange reason. That reason becomes inherent when the snake, whom slipped out of Sakuya's clothing to the ground discretely and behind Yori, would hiss and lunge, attempting to bite the chunin on the bottom. Sakuya would attempt to coordinate her attacks with Zuzu, lashing out with not only a Kunai she produced from the collar of her kimono, but failing that, she'd also try to sink her fangs upon Yori's shoulder. "Surprise!"
So Ryouji comes to the Hiko Arena. He's got a few books and scrolls with him, and looks down from the stands where he was planning to read where no one will bother him. Ryouji notices the pair fighting down below and sets his books and scrolls down on a seat. He mumbles, "Let's see what we have here." Crouching, Ryouji leaps, flying through the air and hitting the ground with a poof of dust at the floor of the arena. He's far out of the way of this fight, so there's no chance he'll be in the way. Ryouji probably wants a closer look. He tilts his head as he leans against the wall. He calls out with a wave to the two, "Don't mind me, just getting a better view." Might as well get comfy.
Yori had noticed when Ryouji had first come in and so he hadn't noticed when Zuzu slipped away. When the young Saito looks backs he doesn't even notice the snake is missing since he's usually secluded inside of Sakuya's clothing anyways. He only notices at the last moment and half turns at the slithering sound before she bites his butt cheek ;-; This causes him to yelp in surprise moreso than the pain it brings. He notices the kunai just in time to move back but he has to raise his arm to get it out of the way and Sakuya finds purchase on his upper arm. He doesn't cry out this time but only winces as he finally manages to break free and jump a little bit away. He tries to ignore the pain as much as possible as well as the venom involved. "Very good Sakuya-san and Zuzu-san. That was much better. Now get ready." That's the only warning before he moves forward, the wooden blade swinging once towards Sakuya's arm and once in a sweeping strike at Zuzu. He keeps them light still of course.
Sakuya was so focused, she didn't even realize that Ryouji had sat down to witness the fight. Sakuya unhinges her jaw with a smile as she moves away, "The crowd goes wild! Sakuya has dealt major damage to Yorishiro!" She says as she moves backwards just in time to dodge a swing. Zuzu does the same, by dodging forward and attempting to wrap around his legs. Sakuya squees in delight as she runs and attempts to knock Yori off his feet by planting her feet against his chest. "Come on! Yeah!" Sakuya says in childish excitement! This was in all honesty, rather fun. Especially when Yori has restrained himself so that she isn't electrocuted or worse.
Ryouji giggles at Yori getting bit, but even Yori should know that distractions on the battlefield is par for the course. Ryouji claps as the snake bites and calls out, "Good job, Sakuya-chan." He gives a little yawn and still watches, sounding interested. The crowd isn't going 'wild' yet, but they are intersted in the fight.
Yori waits until Zuzu thinks she has him wrapped up before he just…kind of disappears. With a bit of chakra he flashes away from the attacks of the pair and instead reappears behind Sakuya. "Focus Sakuya-san," he chastises lightly, though even he has a small smile…despite the bleeding bites and the poison that's still working it's way through his body. He moves forward and uses the sword to try and lightly strike Sakuya in the back of the knee to cause it to buckle before continuing on and trying to slide the blade tip under Zuzu to launch the snake into the air.
Sakuya is quite surprised. Body-Flicker. Yori's voice allowed her just a moment to react, as she jumped into the air. "Eh!? That was definitely a body-flicker!" She recalls this jutsu from the books. Yori-san was getting a bit more serious now. Sakuya had already exhausted her techniques. She has no genjutsu that can really be used offensively, thus, the airborn ninja prepares to drop-kick Yori… That was until she saw Zuzu flying in the air. "Zuzu!?" She squeaks. "W-where are you going!? G-get back here!" Instead of attacking Yori, she sought to catch her Nin-snake before he met with a terrible fate… This leaves her clearly open to attack.
Ryouji watches the snake go up into the air. While a body flicker isn't as fast as his blur, he's keeping his eyes on Yori the whole time, it's still impressive. He nods his approval, then starts digging in his pockets, "Now where did I put that?" He unfolds a flap on his pouch and pulls out a chocolate bar. "Ah, snack time…" then unwraps said chocolate bar. He begins to munch on the bar and looks back at the fight. Thankfully, Michiko isn't around to prod him into a spar. He wasn't feeling like getting pounded today anyway.
Yori watches as Zuzu goes up into the air and, while he wouldn't let the snake come down full force, it seems that Sakuya is going to catch the snake. Which just means he can use it as a lesson. He flashes up behind Sakuya, waits for her to catch Zuzu, then reaches down to lightly bop her on the head with a fist. "Even if you're going to move away and help someone else Sakuya-san, you still need to watch your surroundings."
Sakuya raises her hands in the air to catch her Nin-snake. Nothing could be any more important, even despite all the times her snake has vindictively assaulted her with mean words. "Oh, are you okay Zuzu?" she asks. Just in time for Yori to bonk her on the head. Oww. Zuzu crawls into her outfit through her sleeve, looking seriously shocked at his sudden flying lessons. "Yori-kun…" She says, holding her head. "I… It was really low to do that to Zuzu!" She says, as she starts to sniffle. "… Waaaaah!" She would bawl, but it was all fake crying, for a few moments later she throws out a quick punch! "Right, Yori-kun! I'll be more observant in the future!"
Yori again disappears from in front of the punch, apparently not having fallen for the fake crying and all that. "It was really low for Zuzu-san to bite my butt too," Yori reminds Sakuya. His poor fanfare cheek! He takes a few more light swings at Sakuya with the sword, giving her a chance to get away while making sure it won't hurt that badly if she /is/ hit.
Well, she never claimed to be any good at even basic ninjutsu, so while dodging the first strike, she attempted a few hand-seals to attempt a surprise strike, but her hand-seals were too slow. The second blow hits her shoulder. "Ack!" She snake hisses. "I deserved that, for trying something new." She says as she rubs the bruise she received. "Okay! Okay… I concede…" She sighs as she raises her right hand. "And the winner of the Chunin exams is… Saito Yorishiro! The crowd goes wild!" Sakuya quickly sits down and groans, as Zuzu slithers out of her clothing and complains. "Sakuya, you idiot. You're clearly not tired. Get up and fight some more…" To which, Sakuya replies, "Zuzu, part of being a shinobi is knowing when to retreat." Sakuya says with a nod. "I'm retreating, because wooden swords hurt quite a bit…"
Ryouji gives a yawn and pushes off the wall. "And another spar ends." he says, looking up the wall. Ryouji crouches and leaps, using his swift release chakra to propel himself over the wall and back into the stands. He lands on the rail, pinwheeling backward as he almost loses his balance but hops off before he falls. Ryouji turns around and drops into a seat and opens a book, one he was planning on reading before noticing the spar.
Yori chuckles softly at Sakuya before he shakes his head lightly. "I can't win the Chuunin exams since I'm already a Chuunin," he says as he reaches a hand down to help Sakuya back to her feet. "You did well Sakuya-san. Um, you too Zuzu-san. And you even remembered my name this time." He looks back to Zuzu after that and nods to the snake. "And, uh, Sakuya-san is right. Sometimes you have to retreat and regroup, even get reinforcements. Escaping with vital information on your opponents is better than sacrificing your life and that of many others because they didn't know what you might have learned."
Zuzu doesn't like that. After all, snakes are rather driven by more primal instincts when it comes to combat. Zuzu doesn't reply, but Sakuya certainly yawns before noticing Ryouji… "Wait… when did he get here?" She asks. "… Ryouji, did you appear before or after I bit Yori-kun?" She asks. "It's not that important I guess… Thanks for letting me test my strategies, Yori-kun!"
The Reizei puckers his lips a bit in thought, "I think I got here right as you bit Yori-san." He shakes his head, "No, a ninja should expect and overcome distractions in battle. So me being there is mute." He pops open a scroll and looks at it for a moment and sets it down, "Then again, maybe I was part of the spar to begin with?" He grins at the idea.
"Ah, yes Ryouji-san arrived at about the same time, actually," Yori says, failing to mention that it distracted him for some reason or another. Good or bad way, who's say! "Of course Sakuya-san. I'm here to help you whenever you need it, you know. You can always ask for me if you want to try something new or work on something. Like wall walking." Hint hint.
