Hello Again (Private, NK)

Cool, alright then.

Angel’s series of blows landed though not exactly where she aimed but she was pretty sure it had the same effect as if she had hit Aya where she intended to.  The combo was mainly done to show some sort of skill in taijutsu though it was very true that Angel was holding back.  Her abilities were based around being quick not necessarily powerful.  Angel was not surprised when her attacks were blocked so easily.  However the snap of teeth hitting themselves was always one of the sounds that made Angel cringe. Her final blow landed on a log that had taken her friends place.  Good the girl was able to use the substitution jutsu to optimal effect.  Angel was proud of her friends’ skills.  However the blood she spat out confirmed Angel’s fear that she had damaged the girl’s mouth somehow when her teeth bit down. 
 
Angel stood and waited.  She had no problem letting Aya set her shoulder before continuing.    Honestly she didn’t want to fight Aya at anything less than her best.  As Aya did so Angel casually waited, arms at her side 20 meters from the tree that Aya was sitting in.  The pop of her shoulder and subsequent look of pain in her face confirmed that Angel had damaged the shoulder with her kick, worse than she had wanted to.  Luckily the two of them could stand around and fight for long periods of time if they allowed each other to heal with medical jutsu in between.  But her break was cut short as Aya Declared she was set and then moved suddenly.  The motion was obviously to reengage in combat.  Angel rotated her left side away from Aya in preparation and put her weight on the balls of her feet for quick movement.  Angel watched as Aya threw the two kunai at her.  Angel was again impressed As Aya had pulled off an amazing technique of hiding one kunai in the shadow of another.  Though for an experienced shinobi the trick was not too hard to see through.  As the kunai flew Angel focused her face becoming serene.  Her right hand twitched.  Suddenly the kunai stopped in midair halfway between the two of them, as if gripped by an invisible hand made of Angel’s will.  The explosive tag however angel didn’t notice till the bomb exploded.  Luckily the range didn’t affect either of the two of them.  The kunai would then fall harmlessly to the ground.
 

The cloud then obscured her sight of Aya.  Angel looked around to try to tell which direction Aya would come from.  “That trick was nice.  Don’t feel discouraged at all.  Usually that trick would work with a bit of a distraction.  I am impressed with your combat skills.”  Angel would continue to look around.  “So show me a bit more no need to hold back.  I trust you.”  Angel wanted Aya to have the initiative.  If Angel did too much damage to Aya then the girl might not be able to heal either of them after the fight was over.  There was no point in pushing too hard on the girl.  At this point Angel was pretty sure how much her friend was able to take.

The redheaded medic was surprised when Angel didn't simply move out of the way, since it would have been easy, and she was increasingly surprised when the kunai stopped in mid-air. She blinked owlishly at the sight, and sent out a probing wave of chakra to try and see what had caused it. What she sensed made a few things click into place in her mind. The chakra burns in her fingertips from before, and the precise amount of chakra in her hands now allowed Aya to deduce that Angel was a puppeteer. A puppet master, well at least she had a better idea of what she was up against now.

However, with the kunai being in mid-air like that, it also meant that when the explosive tag did go off, no damage was done to either of them. Which she was a bit split about, she was glad that Angel wasn't hurt, but disappointed that her trick didn't work.

Angel was speaking of how she was doing well, and how she was impressed, and that she could go all out. In truth, she didn't actually have any truly offensive techniques, it was mostly her mind and her weapons that were her greatest advantage. However, that didn't mean that she wasn't dangerous in her own right. Far from it. In many battles a good plan had beaten out brute strength, and while Angel was no brute and was no doubt smarter with her experience, Aya liked to think she was a little more creative than most.

So, with that in mind, the redhead used her Body Flicker, to move straight through the cloud of dust. Sending her chakra out in every direction to make it harder to track her, she pulled out her Heavens Sorrow Ninjato with her right hand, performing a basic diagonal downward slash that, if successful, would cut from Angels shoulder to her opposite waist. As she swung, she pulled out one of her storage scrolls and emptied out half of her makibishi around their feet. Or, more importantly, Angels bare feet. Even if the formally shy girl had tough soles, these little buggers are sharp enough to pierce leather. And she knows from medical studies that the girls feet would suffer should she step on one.

And she did all this before her feet had even touched the ground. Letting the left foot touch the ground with the tip of the sole, and bringing her right leg coiled close to her body, she twisted so her right side was facing her opponent, and struck out similarly to how Angel had kicked before towards the ribs just below the chest, only with a lot more force. If this attack hit, then Angel would have at least three broken ribs and be heavily winded.

Whether or not this attack was successful then she would set her left foot more firmly on the ground to launch at Angel at top speed with the aid of chakra, and would then bring a knee up to drive it into her chin. Striking out again to hit her in the collar bone this time, again either breaking it or causing hairline fractures to spring up, and send her flying across the clearing. She would land, skidding for a moment, and stay low to the ground.

Taking a few deep breaths to replenish her oxygen levels, she flexed the hand holding the scroll, rolling it back up and placing it back in her pouch. Holding her blade in a defensive position, she smirked a bit "Thank you, though I don't have any truly offensive jutsu, I make due easily enough" she half-shrugged, and watched her friend intently. Her sharp eyes looking for any injuries to either exploit or heal, because chances are they would be taking a break soon, and maybe she could even help Angel with any medical techniques she wanted to learn. Granted she only knew two, but it was better than none. What medic didn't know medical jutsu?

Angel sensed the pulse in chakra as it moved outward trying to disguise itself, or something.  Angel was a little disappointed that her trick with the kunai hadn’t caused as much amazement as she would like.  She guessed that Aya might have figured it out.  Oh well might as well show her another trick or two.  Angel pulled out the scroll she had labeled with green to quickly tell them apart.  In a puff of smoke she emptied out the contents.  Suppressing her chakra to almost nothing, Angel used the Body flicker masked in the smoke from the scroll to vanish into the trees leaving Kairi in her place.  Kairi looks identical to Angel down to the facial expressions.  The puppets left arm would be coiled up similar to how angel had her arm.  Also in her right hand she held the Keyblade Heartbreaker.  From an outside point of view one might think that the scroll was only holding the sword.  Watching from a distance off and keeping her chakra suppressed Angel orchestrated the fight.
 
Kairi looked around and saw Aya emerge from the smoke cloud.  Raising her sword to block the slash from the girls weapon, Kairi was a bit slow intentionally so. The ninjato bit into her shoulder and she grimaced as the blood red fluid soaked into her clothes slowly.  Using the puppet master technique Angel even threw her voice for Kairi to welp then groan with the strike.  This was all to create the illusion.  Now both of “Angel’s” shoulders were impaired.  And as Kairi stepped back in recoil, a spike pierced her foot causing her to drop to one knee, gritting her teeth.  The kick that followed would hit her shoulder instead of her ribs due to her position.  The imagined damage would be a lot and with a wince and a scream from Kairi it could be perceived as such.  The next two blows would connect as planned and send Kairi across the clearing and into a rock.
 

When the dust settles Kairi would pick herself up and dust herself off as if none of the attacks had fazed her at all.  Angel loved to cause confusion with her puppets.  Kairi put the heart breaker in her other hand and extended her right hand.  In a flash of light another sword materialized in her hand, this one much larger.  “So I have been gathering these blades from all around.  It seems these things fell to the ground in some kind of meteor shower.”  Kairi continued as if they hadn’t been fighting.  “But it seems that this one is more special than the others I’ve come across.  It’s like the one Key to rule them all.”  Touching the swords together the larger sword glowed and the Heartbreaker disappeared.   “Seems if this Chi-Blade comes in contact with any of the other swords it absorbs that Keyblade’s power.  The weirdest part is I don’t know how I know this or how I know the names of these swords.  Some crazy space magic.”  The Chi-blade disappeared once again leaving Kairi’s hands empty.  “You good with taking a break?”  Kairi would ask.

All the attacks, minus the sward slash, were actually successful. Which automatically set off alarm bells in her head. Aya narrowed her eyes as Angel got up and dusted herself off, her mind working in overdrive to explain why she would allow herself to be attacked like that. There was just something off about it. She looked down at her blade, looked at the blood red fluid there. Bringing the blade close to her face and sniffed at the red liquid, and her eyes widened in realisation. That wasn't blood!
 
But then... what could it be? She looked up as another blade appeared, and she belatedly realised she hadn't noticed the first one come into existence before, and Angel explained a bit about her weapons. The larger one glowed and the smaller one disappeared into nothing, or was just absorbed by the larger sword, by the sound of the puppeteers explanation. She watched as Angel worked the blade as though it didn't bother her shoulder, and how none of her attacks seemed to have truly wounded her. Her eyes, which had been widened as she watched the display, narrowed again.
 
"You're not Angel" she stated suddenly, sharply "But yes, I would like a break. Oi Angel!" she called out loud and clear "Come out so I can check your arm!" she hadn't used much chakra, so it wouldn't be a strain like it had been before. As she walked towards the boulders she placed a hand on her cheek where she had bitten the inside, and her hand flickered green. Within seconds the tiny bite from both her inner-cheek and tongue were painless and healed, she moved her tongue around the formally wounded cheek and found nothing that would hint it had every been damaged. Well, that was easy. She sat down on a sun warmed rock and waited for Angel to appear, the real Angel, that is.

Angel dropped out of the nearby trees and headed over to the rocks that Aya was sitting on.  Kairi walked toward her master and Angel sealed her back into the scroll for later use before completing her approach to Aya.  “Whew that was fun.”  Angel would say rolling up her sleeve and presenting her shoulder to Aya.
 

After Aya was all done healing her which probably wouldn’t take too long as the break was minor and she didn’t use it and the bone had had no time to set, Angel would ask “Sooooo what now?”

(sorry for the short post.  I'm drawing blanks right now.)

(That's alright, we all have off days)

Aya waited until her companion had sat down and presented her arm, raising her hand as it glowed green, she placed it over the swollen and bruised area. "You're training to become a medic, yeah?" she asked absently, knowing the answer and so didn't wait for the reply "I'm assuming you've never learned nor tried Mystical Palm Technique, which is what I'm using now" she said, allowing her chakra to seep through the skin.

The kekaichu reacted immediately, but upon sensing the familiar chakra they let her be. "When you first try it, do it with your eyes closed, the mental imagry can be overwhelming and give yourself sensory overload, not a pleasant thing to experience" she said, focusing on mending the minor blood vessels in the skin that had burst, which essentially is what bruising is. The swelling went down a bit with that, but now she focused on the more prominent injury.

"Normally, especially when in the field, you heal the more serious injuries first and either do a quick path up on the minor wounds or leave them altogether, but since we're in a safe place I don't have to abide by the rule" she added, then went silent as she focused on the fracture.

She wasn't experienced in bone-related injuries, but she knew that they were stubborn during the healing process. She created a layer over the fractured bone, so it would heal smoothly and without any lumps that would rub against muscle and tendons, which was a relatively uncommon problem with fractured bones, but it still happened. Next, she filled her chakra through the cracks, acting like stuffing and allowing her to encourage the bone to mend evenly. Soon the only sign of there ever being a fracture was the slightly thicker, stronger, segments that had originally cracked.

"With healing any bone" she said at last, doing a quick scan of the area and lowering the swelling and soreness "you have to make a brace with your chakra, so it will heal in the right 'direction' and not end up jagged or lumpy, which it painful and crippling if not fixed. But bone it stubborn, and it takes effort to keep everything going properly, though this is more with breaks. Fractures are easier to deal with, since you just have to make sure the bone heals smooth, so no friction between bone and nerves happen" and that was the simple version, the longer and more detailed version had actually taken her days to read through properly and understand. Once she was finished, she leaned back and worked on her own shoulder.

Working on the damaged socket was easy enough, repairing the muscles and tendons was a simple affair, and honestly it was more painkilling than anything else. No major tears or breaks, and the stretched flesh was easy to fix. She barely even had to focus, but this was mostly because it was her own body. It's easier and there's less chance of doing anything wrong, because the chakra can basically direct itself. but that is a very different story when working another persons body.

"Sooooo what now?" Angel asked, and as Aya absently checked over herself, healing any little thing she might have missed or not noticed during the fight. Leaning back so her arms braced her, the redhead bent both her knees and allowed her head to roll back, enjoying the warm sun.

"Talk, I suppose. The fight wore me out quicker than anticipated, and the healing has left me notably drained, and since I don't have any real offensive techniques, there's not much point in continuing now" she replied casually, soaking in the sunlight "That trick with your puppet, with how they bleed? While it is clever, the smell is a dead give away. Somewhat literally" she chuckled "blood has a metallic smell, like heated copper, the red substance that your puppet bled smelt nothing like that. If your truly want to fool someone, just add a metallic compound and no one will be able to tell the difference, theoretically" Aya started after a moment, flopping onto her back and staring at the passing clouds.

Aya watched as her redheaded friend tried the Mystical Palm Technique, and couldn't but smile at the easy success she had, even if she was tempted to pout for the same reason. It had taken her hours to get it right. And then she promptly responded to her comment on the fake blood, and she quickly transferred it to medical dialect otherwise it would've gone over her head like the lazily floating clouds.

Angel laid next to her, and as they watched the clouds she spoke of how she could train her in the more offensive techniques, and found herself staring at Angel in amazement. To share techniques, even ones that everyone knew, was considered a sign of great trust. Even if Aya liked the puppet master, in truth they barely knew each other. She hoped she wouldn't disappoint her friend. "I would be honoured if you could help there, and in return I could teach you 'Delicate Illness Extraction' since your learning medical jutsu. And I know a lot of puppeteers use poison, so this would be really useful for both of us" she said, happy to be of help and even more that she may have just got herself a teacher.

Then Angel spoke of her father, how he saved the village that wasn't even his and just left afterwards. How she hadn't known any of that until recently. How that is why she trains, and her fears for a future that may come true. Honestly, the idea that Angel might have the ability to glimpse at the future didn't surprise her that much, since there are so many weird bloodlines in the world, what's one more?

"I don't think its silly, ninja paranoia maybe, but not silly" she said quietly, and was able to sense when Angel fell asleep. Then, rather suddenly, she started shaking and moaning like she was in pain. Sitting up quickly, Aya started at her friend as she practically convulsed on the spot, noticing the signs of someone about to vomit, she rolled the girl on her side and cleaned up the girl as best she could. Moving her away to a more secluded area, she sat there and waited for her friend to awaken. When she did, she spoke quietly.

"Yeah" she drawled "no kidding" but then she mentioned how this dream was different, somehow. She shifted a little, unsure of how to proceed. "Well, should we report to our Kage? If we're take on this challenge, it'd be best if we were prepared" she stood and offered a hand to the girl "Come on, if nothing else lets get some tea and dumplings, and then we can try some techniques when you're ready" she grinned, more than willing to jump aboard this potentially crazy ship and sail off towards an unknown horizon.

Aya suggested that they tell the Kage about her dreams.  Angel thought that was a terrible idea.  She didn’t want to tell anyone about her dream really.  She didn’t think she was crazy but considering what had happened in her dream she didn’t want people thinking she was.  “Let’s get those dumplings, I don’t want to bother the Kage with dreams right now.”


[sorry short post again off my game.  I’ll do a longer post on my next one.]