Shedding Teeth [Invite Only]

Patience.. It was unfamiliar to Ari. Having lived with Kurisu for so long, dealing with his sporadic outbursts.. She'd rarely been forced to exercise patience. Always something to do, somewhere to go, a person to meet, a duty to fulfil.. A man that cured every ill at her side. Life with Kurisu was a never ending roller coaster, filled with all the terror and thrill one might expect; yet, all the excitement and joy as well. Ari knew after so much time had passed, if Kurisu still drew breath he would have contacted her by now. So why did she still come to the Gazebo today for her Jounin exam... Who was it for if not him. For herself? For her children? Although she knew it was wrong, Ari's love for Kurisu simply overruled the love for her children. How, or why would she pursue the betterment of herself now, without him?

These thoughts plagued Ari's mind ever since she arrived in Haven, she continued to live and train out of habit. Would seeing her children again make it easier to live, or just drive the point home that Ari's life was incomplete without Kurisu?

Once, there was only doubt in her mind for those standing against her. Ari's confidence waned with each passing day.

Despite wanting to keep her identity a secret up until this point, Ari wore no disguise for today's exam. Her natural burgundy hair flowed gently with the breeze, contrasted by her masculine figure and open karategi. Resting on the gazebo's railing by her left elbow, with the palm supporting her head under the chin; Ari's right hand was clenched firmly into a fist, to the point she was drawing some blood with the nails.

“Mrs. Ari, this way please the kage awaits you at the arena.” A man wearing a suit would say with a slight bow. Once, he was acknowledged he would begin to walk to the arena. He was rather quiet even if pressured for questions he would likely not answer unless under duress.

To open the 7^th gate and use it successfully in combat, that is todays goal, along with adding a hopefully powerful ally into our ranks. There were many benefits to having Ari work with him, if she could serve Hoshi for the better that was nice. If she could persuade Konoha to talk to him as the former kage’s wife that was nicer, but he’d settle for betterment of Hoshi if she was unwilling to do the latter.

If Ari came to the arena she would hear little to no noise. Something contrary to stories she may have heard about the Hoshi arena being full of cheering spectators. Mostly people that just wanted to watch one ninja beat the piss out of another ninja, but that was beside the point. Not a soul was even around save for the man, Ari, if she came, and Kyousuke. To even enter the area the two had to enter an area marked off by yellow no crossing tape.

The man would point to the entrance of the arena and speak. “If you go straight in you will find the kage. He can explain more of what is going on inside.” Ari didn’t seem one to back down, so Kyousuke knew this would not drive her off. Instead he hoped this pushed her stress up to a point of hyper awareness.


As the girl entered, if she chose to do so and looked around, she would spot the giant wearing a purple kage cloak and hat. Underneath his silver armor glared with bright light from the sun reflecting off its surface. He would wave, before speaking. “Good morning, sorry the exam won’t be as public as it normally is, but I want to try out this jutsu I just finished and didn’t want anyone to know about it. How good can you keep a secret?” He would ask, hoping the answer would be pretty well or something akin.

WC: 376
(Heads up, I usually can't post on Tuesdays, so I will for sure post for you Wednesday afternoon.)

The man approaching Ari managed to startle her, since she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings. So the Kage himself might be the one testing her. Ari was used to the presence of a Kage and sparring with one, she didn't feel special for this reason. It was also possible that Hoshi's Jounin exams were all run by the Kage personally. However, Ari didn't think this far ahead. Instead she gave a nod to the man and followed him to the arena. Despite acknowledging the man's existence and following him, Ari still felt distant from these events, like it was happening to somebody else.

Eventually the suited man gave her directions to which she didn't respond at all. Ari's glazed over eyes might have implied mental unawareness, although her body was slowly relaxing subconsciously. Spending years training both mentally and physically to be ready at a moment's notice were she attacked, it was all habitual bodily behaviour now. Ari's entrance to the arena was unspectacular, she took notice of the terrain with a quick glance before focusing on the object before her. Obviously said object was the Kage, Kyousuke. He immediately posed a strange statement, considering this was an examination of Ari.

The man, if only he knew how many secrets Ari kept for Kurisu. "If I couldn't keep a secret, I wouldn't be a very good Jounin." This quick reply was all Ari felt necessary before assuming a very basic stance. Her right fist positioned five inches in front of her right collar bone, the elbow of her right arm rested three inches outward from her ribs. Ari's left arm was positioned identically, save for the fist's distance from the collar bone, being a total of eight inches instead of five. Each of her knees bent inward slightly, her feet at shoulder width, the right pointed forward while the left diagonally aimed at the right's toes.

Despite the number of positional adjustments in Ari's stance, she performed all of them without a second thought at her maximum speed of 120. Ari initially stopped approaching the Kage the moment she entered the ring, leaving some distance between them. It was obvious from Ari's demeanour, all engines were now engaged both mentally and physically; a glare aimed at Kyousuke from across the arena spoke of her intention to take things seriously. Thoughts concerning Kurisu, the kids, or her failure as a parent, they all vanished the moment she was faced with a target.

With the girl taking her stance about 25 meters away, Kyousuke would get ready as well. He would take a stance and note that her from her form it seemed she was prepared for a close-range encounter. Perhaps he would entertain that plan or he would simply take to the sky the minute he said begin and shoot laser beams, until he could no longer.

Maybe, a combination of both would be in order. “Ari to test your might to become a jounin of hoshi, the test begins!” The man would say his skin turning a gray color as his sage transformation took over his body, the pupils of his eyes becoming gold while the whites turned coal black. “Sixth gate open!” Was all he would say the gray becoming mottled with red as his blood pumped harder turning the man’s body a reddish gray, his pupils would disappear leaving only the coal colored sclera.  
An enormous swirl of chakra and dirt kicked up from the ground as the man’s muscles tightened, veins began to become prominent on his skull as if his blood were pumping at a rate far beyond that of a normal human. At that same time, he called for a gate to open blades would be created on the man’s hand that appeared to be punching daggers one on each hand.


He would take a step toward Ari, had she done nothing during this sequence. What happened after this remained to be seen.

WC: 247
Ap: 809
Used: Sage Transformation BL -25Ap
Created 2 protrusions -10 Ap. Punching daggers on hands are 3 inches thick at the base thinning out until the tip. The length is 8 inches and is sharp along the sides.

Considering the man's statement, it didn't seem this would be an ordinary sparring session. "So he means to take things seriously, I guess..." Ari's thoughts were cut short as Kyousuke activated the Sixth Gate. Instinctively she formed the Ram handseal immediately as he finished the phrase at her maximum speed. Luminescent lightning strikes appeared on Ari's skin, from head to toe. They were naturally blue and formed randomly with no discernible origin point of her body. This technique was the Hiyu's Perfect Cell Transformation; the light show was purely aesthetic however, Ari's Strength and Speed were bolstered by it.

Continuing to observe the man, she saw blades form on his fists, each with a surprising speed. "Well shit." Ari considered the action he'd taken, was he a Hiyu as well? This was unlikely since he hadn't performed a Ram handseal. No, he had to be something else, possibly something similar. Time would tell what he could do; standing around wasn't ideal and Ari decided on taking the initiative. Before Kyousuke could take his step towards her, Ari dropped into a lower stance while activating the Toy Soldier Transformation once again with the Ram Handseal. Immediately her hands separated as her low stance became more cat-like. Ari's back arched upwards, her hands and feet firmly attached to the ground while her head bent backwards to look at Kyousuke.

The stance involved no excess movement, while performed at her maximum current speed of 190. Suddenly upon finishing the transformation into her strange stance, Ari pounced straight forward at Kyousuke. This allowed her to travel at 190 speed (during the pounce) in his direction using a skill developed by her known as Cat Mimic; her body remained close to the ground encase she had to switch directions. Ari's hands reached forward in Kyousuke's direction, separated at shoulder width so she could keep an eye on his entire body. Meanwhile her feet remained barely an inch off the ground, with her legs almost fully folded against her chest.

Whether the man moved or not, Ari would see soon enough to decide her next move. Attempting to plan ahead against an opponent she'd very little knowledge on was pointless.


AP: 630
Used: Perfect Cell Transformation, Toy Soldier Transformation, Cat Mimic.

She was fast, that was to say the least. Was all the kage thought as the girl made a ram hand seal causing lightning strikes to appear across her body. It seemed from this point onward things would become interesting. Before he could take a step forward it seemed she decided to make another ram seal, this time taking on some creepy stance, that had its neck bent in an odd angle.
“Doesn’t that hurt?” He would ask the moment the girl pounced at him. She had indeed become faster. Acting quickly a wall of nature charged cannons would form on Kyousuke’s back and extend to his front toward the Hiyu and fire a 3m diameter cylinder of energy toward the girl. (power and speed 65). I may need to open the 7^th gate earlier than expected, lets see how she handles this.



If Ari dodged as expected he would remove a kunai from one of his pouches and decide what to do with it, later. If she continued toward him well... He would have to battle close and for that he would make a protrusion extending from his foot and to Ari’l left foot at the place she would land, giving him a bit of distance between herself and him.

WC: 211
Jutsu used: Multiple Lotus Nonself Connected Cannons -45Ap 
Possibly creating 1 protrusion -5Ap or 0 depending.
Remaining: 764Ap or 759