Morning at the Dojo (io,nk)

Queen held the gaze that the anbu returned, she even began to feel a bit self-concious of the fact that the stranger seemed to hold herself so well. It’s to be expected from someone of such high caliber in Konoha, yet the blonde girl could’t help but feel a sense eeriness. “Thank you, but no, I won’t need it. I rely on my skill rather than luck” The girl simply responded. Luck was only for the weak who couldn’t protect themselves, and had to rely on some sort of higher entity to spare their poor souls. It was slightly apparent to Queen that the anbu didn’t believe the girl based on her response, just like all the others she had told. She’d show them, show them all soon that she was the one of the thousand of kids who would do as she said, and complete her lifelong goal.

“Besting people is what I do best.” Queen remarked without emotion, as she began to walk off towards the skipping rope where she had left her gym bag. She was feeling kind of parched and figured she’d get a sip of water before continuing her training. She had wasted enough time as it is, and if she wanted continue speaking high and mighty, she’ll need to continue her training to back it up. If it was one thing she hated, it was people who couldn’t support their claims, and the blonde wasn’t about to be a hypocrite to her own beliefs.

Queen’s ears perked as the girl snapped her fingers from out of view. The blonde turned around just as the wild haired women suggested taking it out in the ring. To some, it would seem like a waste of effort. Who would possibly ask a young teen girl to go against one of Konoha’s top ninja? Sadistic assholes who liked to watch children get beat up, that’s who. For Queen, well she saw it as an opportunity. If she could best one of the best, then she could surely get the attention of the village’s hire ups, and maybe they would finally allow her to take the Genin Exam. The girl wasn’t stupid, she knew the odds were against her. Hell, she could tell that much from the minimal actions that the anbu demonstrated earlier with the punching bag, but Queen would be damned if she would refuse a match.

The girl simply replied with a nod before gracefully stepping into the ring. She would stand on an the opposing side of the anbu, placing her hands up in front of her in a typical fighting stance. “You’re the guest here, so I’ll let you make the first move.” the girl spoke, as she began activating her bloodline from behind the scenes. Her aura that was invisible to all those but her began to extend outside her body once more, just as it did earlier before. The blood in her veins began to circulate faster as she felt as if her body was enhanced. The aura formed a barrier like structure around the dome, which would allow Queen to have a better grasps of the movements that her opponent made within the ring. It was obvious to practically anyone that this wasn’t much of a fair fight, Queen was just trying to even the odds a little more. Looks like the water was going to have to wait

Let the match begin.

No, the Inuzuka could not really agree in good conscious. Even the most skilled fighter in the world needed a bit of luck. It never really hurt anyone. In fact, the anbu operative recalled more than a few times in which she had lived thanks to luck. Yes, luck was the mercurial weapon every shinobi wielded whether they liked it or not. Though now was not the time to get preachy.

I suppose I should level the playing field a bit.

As the girl moved to the ring, Ashi returned to where Chai still slept. Taking a breath she began removing the armor. It would hardly be fair to fight with it on. Plus the woman felt much more comfortable without it on. Sure, it helped in the thick of a fight, but there was nothing like the weightlessness she felt after taking it off. At times the armor felt like a second skin and could get constricting. So, in a matter of a minute or so, the anbu had removed all the armor that once clad her body. All that remained was a white tank top, baggy black sweatpants that looked a lot like those worn by jounin. Topping off her new outfit were her wrapped hands and bare feet-yes she removed her shoes.

Ah, that is much better!

Putting all her armor into a pile, Ashi messed up Chai's hair with a hasty stroke. This of course woke the none too happy Chai from his restful sleep. However, the ninken would not even bother to lift his head. Instead he would simply open his eyes and give Ashi the 'Are you serious look?' or as close to that look a dog could get.

"Watch my stuff will you, Chai?" Ashi asked, giving him a final pat on the head. The brown mutt still made no move to get up. Though, his eyes did shift from the pile of armor to Ashi and back again.

Close enough you sleepy bum.

Turning on a dime, the woman made her way to the ring. Were one word to describe how the anbu moved into the ring it would be 'confident'. Long strides and a small cocky smile that looked all too natural on her feral features were perhaps the most defining aspects of the woman as she strode forward. Reaching the ringside opposite her opponent Ashi audibly sighed before ducking into the ring.

The ground in the ring felt cold to her bare feet and for a moment she was second guessing her lack of footwear. However, all her petty thoughts were quickly silenced with Queeny granting her the first move. How nice of her!

"Very well," Ashi replied, nothing else need be said.

Dropping into her customary southpaw stance, Ashi took stock of her opponent before her. The blonde's stance was solid, but whose wasn't when not actually fighting? Bringing her hands up in front of her to match her southpaw stance the right arm led while the left was ready for an opportunity to deliver a nasty cross. She was ready for a fight.

Edging forward and taking care to not forfeit her footing with each step, Ashi came within striking range in a matter of moments. In fact, the moment she was within range, the woman let out quick right handed jab. The jab itself was aimed for the Blonde's nose moving with a speed of 50 and strength of 30-no Ashi did not fight clean in the slightest. In tandem with the jab, Ashi began to shift her weight forward onto her right foot; there would be a follow up attack. However, it depended on how Queeny responded to the jab to the nose. Ashi's opening move was more a probe for information than anything else.

Let's see how you defend your center-line, Queeny.

Queen had continued to step into the ring, but from the corner of her eye spotted the wild haired woman walking towards her dog. If the girl had known she was taking a pit stop, she would have gotten her sip of water. Oh well. The girl waited patiently on her side of the ring, watching as the anbu removed her armour and left it by her pup who still slept comfortably by the bleachers. The blonde fighter’s urge to pet it still prickled through her fingers. He was oddly adorable in his deep slumber. She just wanted to cuddle with it… Queen shook her head slightly to remove the thoughts from within. She could act tough and play tough, but she couldn’t help her regular teenage impulses. Though, she could definitely try and hide them.

The anbu had stripped down to nothing more than a white tank top, and baggy black sweat pants. The two females were practically matching, except Queen wore a pair of black leggings. She didn’t like the loose feel that sweat pants provided. The anbu finally made her way to the ring, a smug look spread across her face. The woman finally stepped into the ring with bare feet. She wasn’t the only one who decided to train bare foot. The blonde fighter made the instant realization that this may not have been the Anbu’s first time in the the ring.

The dog lover got into stance, slowly approaching the blonde step by step, the girl showing nothing but a relatively calm expression. Her form was good, rather so, better than just good; and based off what she saw earlier, she knew that she couldn’t take the anbu lightly. Just as she got into striking distance, the girl aimed a jab with her right fist straight towards the girls nose. The moment her fist began it’s movement, the girl detected it through the course of her spiritual energy. Moving in sync with the punch, Queen, moving at a speed of 65, ducked her head under it as it was coming while throwing a jab of her own; Her right fist aiming towards the woman’s chin at a speed of 65 and a strength of 29. Two could play rather dirty. If her attack managed to connect, she would proceed her attack on the potentially stunned opponent to do a side kick aimed towards the anbu’s centre at the same speed and strength as her jab using her right foot, all in the while being attentive to how the dog lover would respond.

Not bad.

The blonde was able to duck the jab and probably would have gotten a shot in on the anbu had she not taken into the stance Ashi was in, southpaw. The right foot forward with her right hand leading with the left protecting the face and looking for a deadly cross or two. Certainly, Queeny had ducked herself behind Ashi's guard, but, in doing so, had opened herself up to an easy counter on the part of the anbu. The punch meant for Ashi's chin would be intercepted with ease. After all, despite the difference in speed, Ashi only needed to readjust her left arm slightly to catch the punch on the inside of her forearm while the blonde needed to move a much greater distance. Ashi's far greater strength would prevent her opponent's punch from simply knocking her own arm into her chin and making her look like a fool.

My turn.

Not skipping a beat, Ashi pressed the attack. When her forearm and the blonde's fist impacted, Ashi's right hand was in the process of recovering from the thin air it had just punched out. However, by that same token, the anbu's shifted weight to the right foot now came into play. Queeny, in punching upwards with her right hand, had left her right side of the body open to the left knee that was already moving up at a speed of 50 as the blonde's sucker punch was mere centimeters away from being stopped by Ashi's forearm. If all went as planned Ashi would block the punch and a few moments after the Inuzuka's left knee would impact Queeny's stomach with a strength of 50-more than enough to knock the wind out of her and send the girl stumbling back a bit at the very least.

If the Ashi's attack found its mark she would take a few steps back from her, hopefully, reeling opponent and recover her former stance as quickly as possible to await Queeny's next move. If, on the other hand, the blonde found a counter then anbu would play it out from there. Time would tell.

[pm me if I am making no sense. I wrote this rather quickly as I wanted to get a post out for you before tomorrow. Sorry for making you wait three days too...]

It was going, going, but her attempt was foiled. a move that had worked so often on those that she fought was so easily apprehended by this woman. Queen was absolutely shocked. She knew not to underestimate her obviously skilled opponent, but she had never faced someone who had the same ability, or yet, even better than she was at martial arts. Though, she had to save her awe for after the fight since this was no time to get caught up in technicalities. Her forearm was caught before she as able to strike the woman’s chin, and being caught in the anbu’s apparent firm grasp only meant that another attack was coming to the now immobilized girl.

Her aura gave her the first hint, as the girl’s left knee was coming in to strike the girl in the stomach. The girl may have been incredibly strong, but she wasn’t any faster than Queen’s own movements. Since it was clear that there was no getting out of the dog lover’s grasp, Rei was going to just have to block the attack. Using her free hand, the girl easily brought it down to intercept the rising knee with plenty of time before it struck. The impact of the two caused a string of pain to shoot up her arm as the blow was like nothing she had seen before. There was so much strength put into it that it almost made Queen doubt her very own skills; something she never did.

With the anbu now only on one foot, this was possibly the only chance that she would get to remover herself from this somewhat sticky situation. Just as the two limbs made contact, Queen moved her right foot forward towards the anbu, While moving into this position, Queen would twist her body towards the right in an attempt to the the wild haired woman off balance, and knock her onto the ground. Once her left hand would have blocked the blow, She would have moved her elbow outwards toward her opponent in order to further push the Anbu towards the ground, putting all of her strength and body weight into the attack. With the right timing, it would have taken place before an effective attack could have been made with her opponents other arm. The blonde fighter wasn’t sure if she could pull this off, but with the unexpected turn of events, knocking her down seemed to be her only choice. Moving at a speed of 65 and 29 strength

[pm if I don't make sense too xD writing out hand to hand combat can be tricky to explain sometimes haha. And don't feel rushed at all! honestly. I only asked earlier today since I wasn't sure if you had seen the post or not.]

I'll have to hit harder next time.

Ashi knew at once that she had underestimated the girl. Any normal weakling would have been flung across the dojo with the hit her knee delivered. However, the blonde was able to counter it with a fair amount aplomb. At this point Ashi knew the routine; she had taken more than her fair share of beatings. She was vulnerable now standing on one foot. Of course, there was not much to be done about it, the use of a leg always carried this type of risk. Such risk was one she would now pay for.

Ah, gravity, my old friend. We meet again.

Queeny moved with the surety of a fighter twice her age, which was impressive in and of itself. Though, the Inuzuka did not have time to worry about how well her opponent was doing. For now her job was to win, as it always was in a fight. After all, it would be rather embarrassing to lose to this blonde brat. Of course, the skill of the younger made it rather hard to work a viable counter. Thus, the only real recourse, was to make use of an imperfect counter. Sure, Ashi was going to fall, but she'd bring down the blonde with her and much harder.

Certainly Queeny's actions prevented Ashi from fully retaliating with the right hand that was still being drawn back from the Inuzuka's failed jab. However, the nature of Queeny's hit would cause the anbu to fall onto her left side and pushed outward. This, of course, would give Ashi an opening. A small opening, but an opening nonetheless. So, as her body rotated to the vertical plane and the blonde's elbow pushed out there was a brief moment in which Ashi attempted to grab the elbow that pushed her out with her right hand that had been conveniently rotated right into a collision course with the blonde's left elbow itself as a result of the arm never being fully drawn back to the body.

If Ashi was able to grasp any part of the elbow or arm that the Blonde so kindly offered her, then it was game on. Utilizing her prodigious strength, 80, the anbu would attempt to pull the blonde down with her. Of course, were all to go as planned, Ashi would land squarely on her back with the blonde falling right on top of Ashi. Naturally, it would not stop there. If the blonde did indeed fall, then Ashi's left arm would attempt draw across the woman's neck and her right would try to slip under the blonde's right arm in an attempt to put her in a makeshift-headlock. It would be over then and there if that happened-Ashi would bring her full strength to bear, 90. Once within Ashi's grasp the girl could struggle, but escape would be nearly impossible.

This probably looks more than a bit awkward.

Of course, on the other hand, Ashi could very well miss the arm and fall, rather embarrassingly, on her back if Queeny could somehow avoid the unexpected. Time would tell the outcome. Time always told.

(so just a few things. I thought I'd "train a tech" during this little spar since I feel like you left me no choice xD but because I figured I should train something too anyhow. Though if you have an issue with it, I'll remove it. Just don't kill me by deciding to use morning elephant or something lol. also again, if I made no sense, lemme know, because I feel like in certain parts I didn't.)

Queen’s blow seemed to be rather fruitful as the wild haired movement was knocked out of balance and began to make her descend towards the ring floor. Of course, with the woman now on a crash course with the ground, that only met one thing, so was Queen. The girl still held her right hand with a tight grasp so one way or another, Rei was going down but she’d be damned if it wasn’t going to be on her terms.  It was quite wild to think that all these actions were taking place within mere seconds of each other but t’is was true. The punch that the blonde had evaded earlier was now coming back for vengeance. As she had been nearing the end of her push, and the woman was now headed down, it seemed the anbu was making an extra attempt to secure Queen’s descent, but she had other plans.

At that moment in time, Queen was brought back to a year after she had arrived at the dojo training under Shimagi. He told her of a skill that she could user to counter enemy attacks once they were within range of the motion. The basics of the technique required the user to use their elbow and knee  in order to pin enemy’s limb during their attack. The swiftness and power placed in their technique caused it to be quite and effective counter, and it some cases could even shatter the bone of the opponent. While Queen had been told about this technique years ago, she had never used it in battle since those she faced we’re never truly skilled enough to cause her to use such a devastating attack, but she did remember practicing before and she was glad that she did.

After the millisecond used to reminisce, Queen was back to reality and ready to face the task at hand. While she wasn’t sure whether he counter would be successful against one of Konoha’s best, it was at least worth a shot. Due to Rei’s currently crouched down position, it meant that the anbu’s hand would have to come down in order to grab the girl’s elbow/limb. It was this that the blonde fighter would use to her advantage. With swift movements at a speed of 105, Queen brought up her elbow in a manner that it avoided the oncoming hand reaching down (It was weird trying to picture in what path your hand was coming from but I figured this would be possible) while also lifting her body so that she was practically standing up. Since her elbow was already bent in from the push, all Queen had to do was bring it down as her elbow rose upwards, pinning the woman’s hand at the forearm at a strength of 69. While it wouldn’t crack the dog lover’s bones, it would surely be rather painful and leave a nice plump bruise in a few hours.

If the counter went successful, Queen would hope that the damage inflicted from the attack would have left an opening for the girl to escape the anbu’s iron grasp. If it had, she would have rolled towards the other side of the ring in order to gain some space from the opponent and re-evalutate the situation. If it hadn’t, which would likely be the case, Queen would bring herself down along with the girl, but practically rolling her body towards the right so that the motion caused her to end up in a position allow her to place the anbu in an armlock on the arm holding Rei’s right hand. She would place her left hand over the older woman’s forearm and then locking it with her other hand to secure the arm being locked. Her right leg would go over he neck to secure a secondary hold before Queen would pull with all her might hoping that the anbu would tap out.

But that would just be too easy wouldn’t it?

Perhaps it was the fatigue, but Ashi found herself in quite the predicament. The blonde was quite quick, maybe faster than Ashi herself. However, in the the end, speed meant very little. Alas, this was not the end nor were anbu superhuman. Thus, Queeny's counter worked perfectly. With a well executed blur of motion, Ashi's opponent had painfully pinned the Inuzuka's forearm.

A spasm of pain shot up the woman's arm as the anbu unconsciously flashed a toothy grimace that looked almost animalistic. Of course, such a reaction would probably not be seen as in a split second it was gone. The blonde scampered off to one side of the ring while Ashi fell to the ground. Her arm throbbed ever so slightly, but otherwise she felt fine.

So much for killer instinct.

Pushing herself up, Ashi squared off against her opponent once more taking up her southpaw stance. Right foot and hand forward with left back and ready. Pressing the attack would probably be the wise move here. Though, this was not a fight to the death and Ashi was now thoroughly intrigued.

"You backed off," Ashi chided. "You should have gone for the throat. Why didn't you?"

Naturally, the anbu did not mean the literal throat, but rather the metaphorical one; why didn't the blonde try to win then and there? Certainly her opponent could talk the talk about being the best, but she seemed to shy away from it at the last moment. Ashi had made the mistake of holding back--she underestimated her opponent--she would not be doing so again.

[Sorry for the wait and my dismal post <3]

[it's okie, all my posts are dismal, especially this one <3 did I even take english in high school? who knows. ]

Success.

Queen’s counter had worked according to plan and as soon as the anbu’s grip had come loose, the blonde figher would have jump rolled towards the other side of the ring as the wild haired woman would have fallen towards the ground. Upon reaching her new destination, Rei would quickly compose herself to face her opponent, her guard placed back up in case the anbu tried to make a hasty rebuttal. Whether or not she had been holding back during the course of this fight, The blonde fighter was sort of impressed with herself and being able to stand head to head with one of Konoha’s best. Hell, she wasn’t even necessarily a ninja yet, and her Taijutsu skills were certainly way above average than that of a regular shinobi. Of course, there was still much that she had to learn, and the anbu without a doubt was holding back, but it didn’t defeat the fact that Rei was able to come out on top just now.

The wild haired woman got back up to her fight with ease, seeming to be ready for round two. Yet, she didn’t seem to be pressing forward like before. Instead, she seemed to be criticizing Queen’s choice of actions during the previous face off. It may come as a surprise, but the anbu wouldn’t be the only one who was holding back during this encounter.

“I could have.” Queen admitted rather bluntly. “But I wouldn’t want to kill you.” Her eyes were cold, staring into the anbu’s like a laser pointer on steroids (if that makes sense). “Besides, it’s clear that you outmatch me in strength, and we’re rather close to the same speed. Anything but a kill shot would have been to my disadvantage. And I’d like to think of this as a rather friendly spar.” The girl’s voice remained rather monotone while she spoke, as per usual. It was true, Queen probably could have finished off the fight right then and there after her swift counter, but with the the anbu greatly outmatching her in strength, going for any type of hold would have been rather fruitless, as would have trying to pin her to the ground. No basic attack would have worked in that scenario that Rei could think of. Then again, that might be because she usually just thinks of going for the fatal blow. Though, just from sparring with the anbu, the blonde fighter had been able to learn a lot, and she was hoping that by extending the match, there could be more that she could gather from the dog lover.

Kill me?
Kill me?
Kill...me?

The girl had spunk, Ashi would grant her that. However, it took much more than spunk to kill a man or woman for that matter. The first time the Inuzuka had killed had been horrible. She had been defending Chairomaru and a distinguished lord of the Fire Nation. To kill had not been a choice, but a nessicity and, apparently, she killed so well that she now made a living off it. However, the first time was the worst. The smell of blood stung her nose and the last patheic breath of the would-be bandits haunted Ashi to this day in her dreams. No, killing was not easy. She hoped the blonde would never have to find out how difficult it really was.

"You couldn't kill me if you tried," Ashi quipped in a much more serious tone than before. Jerking a thumb over at Chairomaru who had been watching the whole engagement with a removed interest she continued. "Chai over there wouldn't let you."

At that Chai let out a bark that echoed ereily around the empty dojo yet sounded almost cheerful as if to affirm Ashi's words. No, the woman really didn't know what she'd do without that dog. He was her second half; the brother she never had. For all intents and purposes Chai and her were one.

"Now, I believe it is your turn," Ashi said as she dropped back into her fighting stance, right side leading with the left side ready for anything. Giving a nod to the blonde she waited for her attack. Before the Inuzuka had been given the first move, now it was queeny's chance. The injury she had sustained was not life threatening and it was nothing she couldn't fix herself. However, for now she would do what she did best and fight through the pain.

Let's go.