Skinny Dipping. He was doing it.

It had been some time since the teen had gotten the chance to have some time to himself. He had been training so relentlessly for so long now that it felt like he was falling apart at the seams. Yoshihiro hadn't prepared for how isolating being focused on success could be. His exercise and training regimines were structured heavily, almost to the point that he did not take into account the need for any free time. He couldn't help it, he was feeling woefully anxious, especially right before the Chunin exams. He had always avoided fights growing up, but now he was about to enter an arena where nothing mattered besides that. Gah, why couldn't he bee more of an asshole or a bully, they always seemed to be the strongest types used to fighting.

The black haired boy was in the dark waters of the water, enough so that only his head and upper torso was visible. The larger parts of Naka River were more fast moving and full of rapids, but this spot right here had the nice mix that he was looking for. It was deep enough for him to swim freely in as well as tucked away where no traveler would find him unless it was their intent to do so. He felt safe here for now, his clothes thrown up on the rocks near the water's edge. Supposedly, long ago, this land had belonged to the Uchiha, yet all of that felt like many lifetimes before where Yoshihiro was now. Instead, the child simply bobbed in the water, enjoying the feeling of the cold against his aching and sore muscles.

The teen took a deep breath, submerging his head underwater, letting himself sink to the bottom until he sat on the rocky floor. He kept his eyes closed to avoid irritating them. He enjoyed the sense of meditative trance that he got out of all of this, even if the whole idea of stripping to one's bare essentials was 'lewd'. The way Yoshi was it though was that it was a childhood 'thing' for plenty of boys to do this with their friends, it was manly as heck apparently. So, since Yoshi had never really had many friends growing up, and since he was soon going to be taking the Chuunin Exams to rank up, he'd never be able to savor this quiet time of his youth again down the line. It was a questionable logic, but hey, it was better than nothing.

As he sat underwater, the boy tried to focus in on the current around him. He furrowed his brow together, attempting to see if he could tap into some kind of control over the flow. He'd need to learn a new element sooner or later, so what harm in there was experimenting a bit now? His chakra gates opened a bit, he could feel it, and yet nothing. It seemed that he would need to have extra guidance sometime down the line to master a new field such as water. For now, since the boy was running out of air. Yoshi kicked up off the bottom of the stream and rocketed up to the surface, inhaling a deep breath of oxygen before looking around... oblivious of the dastardly forces watching him and his vulnerable clothes even as he floated there in the benign stream.

575/575

The sea chanty's words resonated through the air, sung by the girl wearing a full pirate's attire. Tricorne covering long blonde hair, glossy red eyes of the Hyuga casually darting left and right as the kunoichi moved on without expectations of danger, an old parrot on her shoulders singing the refrains along with shrill voice. Even with this sort of weather, she wore a large brown leather vest on top of a black sailor's uniform and skirt, from which a bottle of liquor peeked out of one of the pockets, and a white scarf wrapped around her neck.

Walking along the river's flow to see where it would eventually lead to, Alexa was having a day off from all the shinobi business and more so from her parents. It had been a while since she had done business in Kasai, the ANBU finding her with what had been labelled a gang of smugglers bringing her to Administration for trial. She had little to say on the matter despite knowing more than she had let on, but the evidence to back her words had been destroyed by herself as she executed the missions of what she had believed to be Konoha ANBU. The whole situation was a mess. Something was off. One ANBU group setting her up to be caught by another? That sounded fishy since she was a loyal genin to Konoha, executing her missions despite her complaints and generous rebellious attitude. Plus, a kunoichi of her rank hardly posed a threat if she went missing-nin. No, there was more to this. More like two parties were playing against each other. A shadow within a shadow?

Thoughts would be interrupted as the soft mumble of the river was broken by more excessive splashing. Someone was doing something within that river. Not caring much since she was on her free day, she would eventually spot movement in the water too. Something pink swimming in the water. Not a salmon. A human. Activating her byakugan, Alexa wanted to know who it was. Friend or foe, shinobi or civilian. Preemptive knowledge was a good thing. What she saw however was... not something she had expected. Rather than spotting one set of tenketsu and chakra tunnels, she caught a handful of others lurking in the shadows and the trees. Waiting for something... An ambush?

Intuition kicking in, she ran towards the guy in the river, taking out her kunai in one hand and shuriken in the other, and threw the whirling metal projectiles towards the first that had come out of the shadows to strike at the boy. He'd dodge easily, the range between the two sufficient for him to anticipate her attack.

"Ambush!", she shouted at the boy in the waters.
"Ye mollusc-licking scalawags! I'll have yer skin for this!", the parrot added in agitation.

---

528

Chakra 240/250:

Alright, that was a good swim- WAAGH! A GIRL? HERE!?!

Yoshi's eyes flew open as he saw the stranger un at him from the trees. What in the world? Yoshi had been so secretive about finding a secluded spot to pretend to be manly and be doing manly things like skinny dipping. He was flushing red both out of embaressment and flight-or-fight instincts kicking in. The stranger yelled a single word at him, 'ambush'. Naturally, seeing a strange figure running at him out of the woods, the boy thought that it was she who was the one doing the ambushing. He flowndered towards the shoreline, "No girls allowed!" were the first words that came from his lips. He was completely vulnerable, with not even a kunai to defend himself.

He watched her throw a shuriken towards him. He barely had time to react, ducking his head under water as the sounds of metal clanking against metal chimed above him... Wait, she wasn't the one ambushing him? She wasn't going to take his clothes? The gears began to turn in the teen's mind as he realized that there was very likely someone else out in the forest line behind him on the other side of the river. Yoshi's head popped up as he swam towards the shore, "Throw me that towel next to my clothes and a kunai" the boy asked loudly as the sound of brushes rustling on the other side of the river announced the arrival of whoever it was that was hunting them.

Yoshi stumbled up onto the rock-covered shore of the river, wrapping his waist around a towel so as to be decent before a young lady. He spun around to see... something he had never seen before. It was a ship, that much was clear, a long and wide vessel manned by oarmen clad in strange silver armor. Their skin was fair with light colored hair, the headpiece of their ship appearing like a sea serpent of the open seas. The one who had thrown the shuriken stepped out of the bushes, looking to the strange foreigner on the ship as they slowly came to a halt roughly 15 or so meters downstream from the bank where the two shinobi were standing. The Long Boat had maybe twenty or so strangers on it, each leaning over and watching the young children with a suspicious glint to their gaze.

"Two shinobi, eh? A couple'a landlubbers gettin' too close to the lifeblood of the sea" the Kiri-nin stated, looking at the two as she stood on a branch of a tree. She looked malnourished and gaunt, with black bags under her eyes, yet her gaze was one both inquisitive and very much astute. She grinned at the parrot on the girls shoulder, "So, ye be want'in to be a pirate of the south seas eh? Little lass?" the woman said, looking over to the large black-fur-covered man in armor standing at the head of the ship, watching the confrontation take place. The woman barked something to the foreigners in a language that Yoshi couldn't understand. It was a harsh, guttural, and completely unable for the Konoha Genin to discern.

The captain of the ship nodded, barking what sounded like orders to the other strangers aboard the ship, earning a sereis of chants that began to ring out through the air. A gangplank was lowered, it seemed the foreigners intended to land here, something that Yoshi was apprehensive about. "Who are those men?" the mild mannered boy asked accusingly, earning a shrug from the woman as he leaned against the trunk of the tree. "Foreigners, from the far South. They've come a very, very, very long way" the woman said, watching the seafarers descend from their ship. Yoshi felt rather unnerved by that revelation, moreso that those strangers could guide their ship all the way up from the sea along the Naka River to the heartland of Konohagakure. "Well... what are they doing here? Who are you?" the teen asked, looking to his newfound ally to see if she had any thoughts on what the hell they were supposed to do with all of this information.

"Well, isn't it obvious? They're here to explore. They're people have begun to set out from their homelands, and the maps they have of distant lands are very much in the interests of Kirigakure to acquire- in return for being their guides and translators. We'd like to be at the front of the line for their trading partners" the woman said, sneering at the two as the men continued to disembark. "My name is Shibata, and I'm afraid that as a Chuunin of Kiri, I cannot let either of you two leave here alive" the shinobi stated casually, her eyes half open as the two reacted to such words... and still, the foreigners jumped off their ships to wade into the water, in awe of the endless forests and trees. Yoshihiro wondered what was going through their heads right now.

857/1432

No girls allowed? The words made a vein pulse upon her head as the girl was instantly triggered at the guy's lack of priorities. Who cared for that when their lives were at stake anyway?! She had wanted to place her fist on his cheek for his idiocy but he seemed to realise just in time there was more going on than her intruding into what had be- wait, was he completely naked?! What sane mind went skinny dipping at such an hour when every random person could just stumble in, never to unsee what atrocities had been seen? Seriously. Guys... She'd roll her eyes as she threw him the towel he requested in his face, going with a, "Ain't nothin' I aven't seen b'fore.", before she tuned in on the incoming ship with her byakugan.

Well, they had good tastes. Ship, sailors. There were worse things to fight against. Her only concern was that she had never seen a ship of that sort, neither men with their kind of helms. Sea serpent. Pretty cool. Perhaps once she beat them up she'd take one for herself. See if it matched her head, you know. Taking one of those helm might be a tough job though, what with twenty scruffy men opposing just the two of them. However, it seemed some mini-boss appeared out of the bushes first and opposed them. A kiri-nin on top of that, which was quite an oddity considering the Konoha-Kiri alliance in place. Even then, anyone could wear a disguise. Not anyone would be entitled to call her a landlubber though.

"Who are ye callin' a lan'lubber, you buggah of a sea urchin?", she shot back with a raised fist in defiance.
"I'll have yer skin for this!", her pirate repeated itself again with a brisk parade of its feathers. For all his foul words, Arrchiburd was naturally not the brightest, being an animal and all.

The conversation between the two would back and forth, with the barely naked boy asking the most obvious of questions as far as she was concerned. Strangers always had but two goals, exploration and/or plundering. What else would they do when they looked like brutes? Strong, handsome, exotic brutes. But still brutes!

The notion of trading skill for maps was not that bad a trade, Alexa guessed as she tilted her head and folded her arms. There had been far worse trades in life. However, it didn't explain why this shinobi was on Konoha grounds when they came from Kirigakure. And while that could be brushed under the carpet of the alliance between the two villages, her death threat was not that easily disregarded.

"Puh-lease.", she said rolling her eyes. "'s that the best threat ye can come up with? I hear' seagulls do better than that. That said..."

Alexa would brush off her parrot to safety and adjust her tricorne, a crooked smile upon her face as she was more than willing to go head to head with the chuunin. Win or lose mattered none to the rogue shinobi, what mattered was a good, healthy fight to warm up the muscles and get those knuckles red and burning. Taking out the bottle from her pockets, she'd uncork it and take a good swig of the rum inside before she pointed at the chuunin.

"Ye bet yer ass I'm goin' ta kick it!", then she stared at Yoshihiro. "And you, stop showin' off and get ta movin'! We're under attack 'ere."

---

598
Total: 1126

235/250:

Shibata frowned as the Hyuga girl stepped forwards. She coughed into her hand, she looked as if she were sporting a bad head cold. She wiped her nose against her sleeve, slowly pulling out three senbon from her bag and holding them loosely in her hand. Yoshi, clad only in a tightly wrapped towel, held his kunai in a ready position. The foreigners seemed to notice the tension in the air, shouting some sparse words in their native tongues as they trudged up the stony shore of the stream to get a better look at the fight. Their captain, the largest and most muscular, wearing the black furs, shouted something at Shibata, pointing to the two shinobi currently standing off against her. Whatever it was, it caused the Kiri-nin to sigh in frustration. Yoshi looked between the fellow Konoha-nin and Shibata, as well as the approaching horde of sailors.

"What do they want?" the boy asked, aware of the boiling tension between them all. The strangers pulled out their shields, forming a semi-circle around the two Konoha-nin, banging their weapons together. They were chanting something, Yoshi couldn't undestand it. Shibata watched the Hyuga girl approach, quickly identifying the clan she was facing. "They're a strange lot. They want me to fight you two to do honor to one of their foreign gods. If you win, they'll take it as a bad omen and move on elsewhere" the girl explained, grinning a tad as the two Genin approached her, the black bags under her eyes raising a tad. She sniffed loudly, "Thankfully, I won't lose" she stated.

Yoshi stepped out onto the water of the stream, aware of the sounds of the foreigners yelling and chanting behind him. The teen started by walking out onto the water and creating a quick Bird hand seal, prompting a trio of crows made out of Futon to appear above him. Shibata raised an eyebrow, but didn't seem to be all too afraid by the elemental animals. She watched as Yoshi commanded the crows forwards from different angles each to kamikaze dive at the woman, only to be left wide eyed as she moved with a supernatural level of speed, throwing her three Senbon at each of the crows to destroy them with little fanfare. The boy was left with wide eyes, how had she been able to move that fast? To strike all the different angles he had come at her from? She moved like a blur, accepting the first move taken by the two Genin.

Leaping down onto the water, she stared down the Hyuga next, stomping on the water of the stream that they were standing on. Suddenly, a large wave of water would sprout forth, tumbling towards the two Genin as it grew to be roughly 4 meters tall and wide! The width of the stream was past quickly, and Yoshi didn't want to think about what might happen if he was knocked off balance or submerged underneath the surface of the stream. The boy lept up into the air, pressing his towel down between his legs as he hopped on invisible steps over the large wave, hearing it crash onto the rocky shore behind him. This initial attack seemed to have only been a diversion though, as should the Hyuga been able to leap over the displacing attack, she would find that Shibata had broken out in a burst of speed across the stream, leaping towards her to land a flying knee to her face!

595/2027

240/250:

The weird men gathered around them, forming a semi-circle with their shield before they started some ceremonious chanting and noise. A pretty amusing thing, all things considered, for it wasn't that different from what sailors did. Singing sea shanties, rousing and jousting. Life at sea was rough, and those who lived there weren't anything different. Rough and salty as the waters carrying their ship. And superstitious just as much, by the translations this Kiri-nin had given them. If they won, they'd consider it an ill omen. Alexa chuckled. Yep, these strangers from the South were nothing better than the sailors at Konoha's ports.

The chuunin was a different matter though. She was fast. Alexa had to grant her that much. Flying birds would be taken down by senbon, reading no chakra activation. Not just fast, seemingly perceptive as well. Her tenketsu would remain visible, betraying no chakra expenditure on the counter attack. Unlike herself, the boy seemed almost shocked at the idea of having to face someone who moved faster than they did. Like he had not heard her say that she was a chuunin. Alexa felt worry for towel-man. Not worry that he'd get hurt, rather worry he took this too much as a joke. Granted, she had been in plenty of bar fights, had an 'abusive' father 'beating her up' during training and even had a taste of the war-state in the Siege of Inabayama but even then... It shouldn't be this big a surprise. The girl was a chuunin, it'd have been laughable if she didn't end up faster than them.

But enough of haughty acting. A wave of water was coming in and she had to deal with it. Four wide, four high, the solution wasn't that difficult. At worst, they had to jump two meters to the left or right. At best they... Did he just jump over the wave? So perplexed she was at the increased effort he had put into avoiding the wave, that Alexa had almost forgotten to jump to the side. The wave crashed past her just barely. The Hyuga's enhanced senses would pick up the sudden movement in her direction and towards her flank, forcing her to simply jump back as the raised knee moved past her.

The chuunin would not hesitate to make the best despite the failure, twisting her body mid-air to follow up her attack with another kick and connecting still. Alexa would find herself being kicked into the ground as the chuunin landed feet first on the ground nearby with quiet confidence. Her victory would be short lived as the sailor rolled to her side and retaliated in kind with a chakra boosted kick of her own that would send the chuunin flying - almost literally. The impact most likely doing little damage to the chuunin, she'd find herself a good 25m in the air. Plenty of time for towel-man to throw inn a move of his own as Alexa stood up, rubbing her head with her left hand. The kick the genin had come to endure had not been a bad one. Not a bad one at all.

---

539
Total: 1665

210/250:

Yoshihiro looked on as he saw the exchange suddenly take place. It seemed that despite the distraction Shibata had leveled at them both she was unable to land a decisive blow on the Hyuga girl. It was a small victory, he assumed that she'd be better off dealing with a close-quarters fight than he could. Regardless, the Genin ran forwards, towel flapping proudly as it stayed wrapped around his waist thanks to the power of plot convenience. With a strong kick, one that seemed perfectly placed, the Kiri-nin was knocked back and away from the white haired woman.

Insantly, the teen saw his moment. Forming a tiger hand seal, he focused on the disturbed Futon caused by the airborne body being knocked away. It was well within his range, he wanted to end this fight before their enemy realized she'd need to use more jutsu than just a basic chakra flow ability. Reaching out towards the air, Yoshi suddenly clenched his fist. The air around Shibata rushed inwards from all around her, crushing her form every direction with enough raw force to break her bones. The Hyuuga had made a wise move indeed, Yoshi certainly favored facing an airborne target like the rambuncious Kiri-nin. He watched in a mixture of steadfast stoicism and mild horror as the air around the Chuunin was compressed like an omnidirectional hydraulic press. When Shibata fell unceremoniously down to the ground on the other side of the stream. Yoshi momentarily felt optimistic that their combination attack had been enough.

"I'm Yoshi" he blurted out, eyes locked on the body. It would be good to know whom it was he was fighting with. This momentary calm was ended abruptly by the sight of Shibata's limp body disappearing i a puff of smoke, replaced by a log. A substitution technique! The teen wheeled around, looking over at the treeline where the girl had originally appeared. Sure enough, the woman was mid-leap, rapidly closing the distance with a speed that easily trounced that which Yoshi could achieve as a Genin. He brought his let back in a small motion, raising his hands again to form a bird seal, but it was too late. Shibata placed a single hand on Yoshi's head, flipping over him onto the surface of the water and looking over to the Hyuga girl next.

The boy moved to turn and cast one of his jutsu to combo her ruthlessly, yet, for some reason, he found that he was practically unable to move very quickly. It was like the simple act of turning was taking for more extertion and effort than it originally should have. Yoshi grit his teeth, watching in helplessness as the kiri-nin looked next to the girl, "My clan is able to manipulate firction relative to ourselves or another person by touching them. Your friend here had a hell of a finishing move, I think I'll kill you first and then take my time with the free spirit while his body struggles to fight against the increased air friction slowing him down" she said, sniffing loudly. She really should have taken a claratin or something, maybe some green tea.

Shibata would inhale through her runny nose before exhaling a long plume of mist from her mouth. The foreigners on the shore made 'oooo' sounds as they saw the strange fight unfold before them. Yoshi squinted. Gah, if he could just get unfrozen then he could use the perfect jutsu to get rid of this mist and pull a fast one on this chuunin! The sounds of the kiri-nin running along the water could be heard, along with her stuffy nose... Despite her power, she certainly didn't realize that the Hyuga's byakugan could see through her mist effortlessly, a flaw that now would come to be problematic as the guide struggled to see through the mist herself. She was hunting her prey, not realizing she was the one to be hunted.

672/2699

225/250:

The airborne chuunin would be assaulted by a fuuton technique of towel-man and plummet down into the ground. A clean hit by the looks of it, prompting him to share his name as a sense of victory overcame him. Alexa had to admit it, the two of them had made quite a good team on that matter. Taking out her bottle of rum, she'd reply to him with a, "'lexa", before taking a good swig of the bottle. The brown liquid burned through her throat, unlocking a pleased sigh from the girl as she put the cork back on the bottle and tucked it into her vest.

Then came the puff of smoke.

Oops? Out of nowhere she registered the presence of new tenketsu within the forest. Moving fast as it closed in. Yoshi reacted faster than her and yet he somehow seemed hesitant in the application of a Bird seal, the chuunin flipping over him effortlessly as she placed a hand on his head. With full confidence, she'd explain what exactly her clan was capable of doing with air itself, revealing in part as to why the boy in the towels could barely move. It was rather amusing to see if you asked the Hyuga but the awareness that it left her on her own to deal with the shinobi was not as fun as she had hoped. A one on one was not her worry, she had dealt with worse. But a one on one with a known unfair advantage was of a different matter.

Mist would then conceal the chuunin under a pleasant 'oooo' from the foreigners. Kirigakure no jutsu? A technique of good reputation and easily one that would have done in just about any genin. If they didn't have the byakugan. Of all the genin she could have met, she had to face the one where fog was the worst of techniques to use against her. Still, a slight advantage of surprise it gave the girl, it didn't remove Shibata's physical superiority in the slightest. At best, it would cripple some of her own vision. Gradually shifting her facing as the tenketsu of Shibata moved through the mist, the plitter platter of footsteps on water briefly betraying her presence to others.

"Ye really need ta clean that nose o' yers.", she called out on the shinobi, taunting her with that dumb irritation. While it ticked off the chuunin, it didn't drive her into a frontal attack just yet. She'd be replied too with another set of senbon, forcing Alexa to take another measured jump to the side. "Got a handkerchief if y' want.", she tried again as she formed the Bird - Tiger - Boar hand seals to place a technique of her own in position. Invisible though the chakra was, the wind would seemingly pick up within the mist as the dome came into existence. More senbon would be thrown and halted to a point where Alexa could simply pluck them out of the air, keeping them to herself. Why she kept them, the sailor didn't know yet, their usefulness probably being revealed later in time. Another sniff betrayed the chuunin had moved from the waters onto solid land, prompting the genin to continue her irritating behaviour, "How can ye even stealth with that noise?"

It seemed the chuunin no longer felt like playing games at that point, deciding she'd deal with the Hyuga much like she had dealt with Yoshi. It wouldn't be as glorious but stopping the girl from moving and just slitting her throat sounded just as good a plan as any other. Suddenly dashing towards Hyuga, unaware still about the byakugan, she'd feel the fuuton of the speed slowing barrier in place as she ran through it, falsely making her believe the technique had been the reason why the genin had been able to dodge her needles. However, as she stood within Alexa's range, reaching out to tap her body like she had done with Yoshi, she'd surprisingly feel her reaching hand be deflected by the Gentle Fist before a flurry of blows hitting a variety of pressure points would bring her to a halt. Finishing the counter offensive with a whirlwind kick, the chuunin would be kicked back into the mist.

"Told ye seagulls be worse."

The chuunin would feel the aftermath of Alexa's combo, her own actions feeling more sluggish as well. Perhaps not as bad as what Yoshi was enduring but at least sufficient for her to realise now that she had never held the advantage despite the mist. Even then, Alexa had to maintain quite some concentration, thinking several steps ahead in hopes to increase her advantage with every new step. Hoping she could somehow find a means to liberate Yoshi or endure long enough until the technique holding him in a bind would be released. It wasn't an every day thing to fight a chuunin by herself and the adrenaline coursing through her veins was not exactly limitless.

"Oi, Yoshi. You done slackin'? Break free 'lready!"

---

855
Total: 2520

175/250:

Yoshi watched helplessly as the mist obscured his vision. He was still fighting against the same invisible force, trying to move and break the chuunin's grasp over his body. Unfortunately, he was having no such luck. Instead, all that he could do was listen to the sounds of Shibata's footsteps running across the water, the occasional sound of her sniffling nose giving her away as well as giving Alexa a method of tracking her down and defending aptly. She was certainly going at the woman with everything in her arsenal it sounded like, hard pressed to overcome the kiri-nin as the skill gap between the two slowly began to become more prevalent. He had to get back in the fight and pull a fast one on this woman!

As he heard the sounds of punches rumbling from where he knew Alexa to be, Yoshi would charge his body full of Raiton, opening his tonketsu all at once and discharging electricity in a small area around him. The chakra disruption was enough, buzzing the foreign power that was keeping him locked in place, liberating him from the trap. That took a lot out of him though, he could feel his Raiton attempting to rebalance itself after it had been violently discharged all at once. Able to move again, the teen heard a loud and significant thudding sound, along with the pained grunt of Shibata flying towards him back into the mist. He wasn't sure about how close he was to her, but this was his best chance to knock her down!

The Genin swept his leg in front of him in a wide, arcing motion. A flurry of Fuuton rumbled out from all sides in a perfect circle around him on the water. This sudden powerful gust of wind shot straight up, disrupting the calm air that had been keeping the mist in place. In only a second, the obscuring jutsu was dissolved, the sight of Shibata flying upwards high into the sky replacing it. "Gah!" she yelled, certainly not expecting Yoshi to have broken out of her clan's ability, nor for Alexa to have seen her with her byakkugan. They had there where they wanted her now, as the kiri-nin could only flail about in an attempt to regain her balance. It seemed she had no real way to manuver in mid-air.

Unfortunately, Yoshi hadn't fully appreciated the fact that the wind would cause his tightly wrapped towel to fly upwards and press against his chest, leaving him very much bared before not only Alexa but also the foreigners on the shore who laughed at the comical sight. Blushing with enough red to be mistaken for a 3d degree burn, the teen used his elbows to try and quickly cover himself whilst forming a bird sign as he had planned to before. Right as Shibata hit the apex of her knock-up, she would hit an invisible wall, one that would slam her back down to the ground with a powerful concussive force. Dazed, and having played her ace card too early on, Yoshi could see a perfect opportunity for his partner to land a decisive blow to the chuunin!

The boy would watch, reading another jutsu whilst Shibata was slapped out of the sky and back down to the earth with a great deal of force, waiting for her to either impact the ground or be intercepted by a well-placed fist by Alexa.

583/3282

195/250:

Ah! There he was again. Towel-man back into the action with a sweep that send the girl flying. Alexa chuckled. That poor chuunin, get kicked up and around like they were two jugglers throwing her around in a circus act. Not that Alexa felt any remorse, the chuunin had threatened to kill them despite the alliance between the two nations that was in place. As the chuunin was now back in the air, a gust of wind blew away the mist and almost knocked her hat off her head, Alexa grabbing it before it would be out of her reach and putting it back on her head in place. When she was about to shot Yoshi a glare, his upper body briefly disappeared under the antics of the towel he wore and, like everyone else around them, drove her into laughter at the comical sight.

With a red face he'd continue to execute his technique at the hand of a Bird hand sign, upon which the chuunin hit an invisible barrier before she was smashed back downwards. Placing a small sprint, Alexa dashed into position and formed guns with her fingers. As she saw the girl's distress upon her face, the rogue grinned and unleashed a barrage of air bullets at the defenceless chuunin. Boosted in speed by her jutsu and going in opposite direction, the bullets hit her as if they had a speed of nearly 35 m/s, doing more damage than they generally would have upon impact. Then to add insult to injury, Alexa watched the girl crash down hard into the floor at her feet without the slightest hint towards helping, instead taking out her bottle of rum and taking a good swig.

"Ye certainly ain't no cat.", she mocked her. "I suggest ye hol' still now. Got to know when yer defeated, aye?"

She'd tuck away the bottle again and cross her arms, watching her a couple of seconds before she turned around and walked back to Yoshi. At that time, the chuunin rolled over onto their back and formed hand seals of their own, creating a javelin of water and directing it at Alexa. Turning her head but too late to react to the attack done at such short notice, the javelin would pierce through the rogue unopposed, the wound sufficient large to leave her incapacitated. Poof! Like that, a large piece of wood was taken out of the fight! Rustling in the trees nearby. Alexa dropped down from the branches, a frown upon her face at the low blow the girl had delivered, which would slowly curl up into a grin.

"Y'almost got me there.", she said without a sign of anger or disappointment at the underhanded tactics the chuunin had applied. The girl would drop her head into the ground, as if finally giving in to her own defeat.

But was she truly defeated now?

---

489
Total: 3009

155/250:

Oh how the attacks came together, and oh how they made Yoshi wince as he saw them unfold.

Shibata was sent rocketing down back to the ground, and to only add insult to injury, a barrage of condensed air bullets pelted into the helpless girl before a sickening thud was heard across the river, startling a small cluster of birds who lept from their tree to fly away. That looked like it hurt, and with no substitution to get away this time, Yoshi wondered just how tough the chuunin would have to be to be able to shrug off such an attack. Ever alert, he held his kunai at the ready, wary of whatever attack might come from the Kiri-nin. Whether inadvertently or through her own arrogance, it seemed as though she had not expected to have been knocked airborne so quickly and painfully as she had in this fight. Surely, if she could have righted herself in the air or slowed her decent, she would've by now.

Instead, the foreigners went quiet, seeing the form of their translator and guide barely conscious after diving head first down to the ground. The silence was somewhat gratifying, as was the sight of Alexa promptly shaming the chuunin in front of her bearded warrior friends. What was not so good though was what would come after, the sight of the woman sitting up to throw a javelin of water at the Hyuga. Yoshi opened his mouth to shout something, but his hands were to slow to form any kind of sign. Instead, he could only watch as the elemental weapon was flung forwards to hit the white haired girl. For a moment, his heart froze, yet with that puff of smoke he instantly felt his spirits soar.

Shibata's head hung low, a noticeable stream of blood flowing from her scalp. She tried to get back up to her feet, shakily standing, only to stumble forwards onto her knees. Not only had her pride been wounded by the unforeseeable synergy her opponents had, but also from the combination of concussive blows to her head as well as piercing shots of air. Yoshi didn't feel any sympathy for her. She had tried to kill him while he was skinny dipping, who would do something like that?! Even then, he knew it would be bad for him and his newfound partner if the warriors on the shore decided to break their little pow wow and fight. More importantly, if they didn't have a guide to get out of here, they might become prone to wandering around and becoming a problem for the villages nearby.

"You're falling apart lady" the Genin said, briefly looking to Alexa and then back to the wobbly chuunin. "If you take these folk back with you and leave Konohagakure, we'll let you go and spare your life. Deal?" he asked, waiting to see if there was a way out of this that wouldn't get even more messy. He didn't know what kind of jutsu or strength those ruffians had, nor did he want to have to find out if it came to that. For now, they just stood there watching intently, unable to understand anything that the three shinobi were saying. Shibata for her part looked disgusted with the offer, pulling out a senbon and standing up shakily again, but begrudgingly put it away.

"Fine. You win" she stated, lowering her guard and clutching at her head to wipe the blood out of her gaze. She leered at the two Konoha Genin, "I won't forget this, I wont forget either of you" she hissed, defending what little pride she had left before looking to the foreigners and barking in their strange language. The horde looked displeased, with a few shouts being raised, yet these were silenced by their leader who instead simply led them all back onto their ship to push off into the river once again. The Kiri-nin looked to the two shinobi with and indignant snort. "The world's getting smaller, this alliance, this peace between the great villages, it can't last. Sooner or later, there'll be blood for us all to pay. Either it'll be to them" she forwarned ominously, motioning to the sailors, "Or to each other" she finished. Giving a final tense look to the duo before blinking out of sight.

With that, the two were left alone, as if the previous fight had never happened...

754/4306

What a harrowing premonition. It mingled a sour taste in the sweet taste of victory the two genin were enjoying. Alexa would wash it all away with a swig of rum and a slight frown upon her face. She didn't care if these strangers claimed land on Konoha, she'd take their ship in return. Besides that sort of business was more of a Hokage sort of business anyway. But the alliance between the two... That somewhat made her feel concerned. There were already tensions between Konoha and Kiri since the Siege of Inabayama. Alexa had somewhat expected those to tone down as the Siege slipped into the back of minds yet for one reason or another this had not been the case. Was this odd invasion the reason why?

"I won' forget y' either, luv.", Alexa replied with a playful smile. Wordlessly the kunoichi would vanish from sight and Alexa would rest her hands in her neck with a deep sigh as she relaxed the byakugan. Her matte red eyes would rest upon the longboat of the sailors with a hint of sadness. She would have loved to hop on board and check it out, compare it to the schooners and galleys of the nearby docks. It looked efficient despite its plain construction but with the foreigners moving away her chances were slipping out of her hand like water. Alexa sighed again. It would be just her and towel-man Yoshi now.

Thinking about it, a most bratty idea jumped into her mind. Lowering her hands, she'd walk up to him and push the bottle with the remainder of rum in it into his hands with a, "Drink up, mate.", like he was just another sailor in a tavern yearning for a good drink to touch his lips. She'd move on before he had much the chance to return her the bottle, out of the waters and onto the shore where she'd pick up his clothes with a cheeky grin. Turning around at a moment where she'd consider him to be about done with drinking (and coughing?), she saluted him with the tip of her index.

"Enjoy yer bath, lan' lubber. 't was nice knowin' ye."

And with a wink and a blur, the kunoichi sailor would vanish within the leaves. Taking his clothes with her.

---

[EXIT]

392
Total: 3401
-2375 Stats E-3 ~> D-3 [2375/7375]
-1000 C-rank Silhouette Technique

The two were lef ton the shore of the Naka River then, seemingly wondering what to do next after their abrupt fight with the Kiri-nin and her sailors. Yoshi thought to say something, a few words of thanks perhaps or something similar, but the Hyuga beat him to it. She approached him, getting all close-like as she pushed a bottle up against his chest. S-she wanted him to drink alcohol? He was underage! Still, he had been galavanting with nothing more than a towel to his name so far, and if he wanted to get back any semblence of manliness then he had to play along with what she wanted from him! With a firm nod of thanks, Yoshi accepted the bottle and took a swig- only to immediately start gagging on the stuff. Great jehosephet, this stuff was like fire in a bottle! He coughed at the way it burned his throat, why would people drink this stuff? He could only watch meekly as the Hyuga grabbed his clothes and disappeared into the forest with little more than a small playful wink. Oh, that little pirate wannabe was going to get it when he got his hands on her!

Yoshi disappeared in a blur, beginning his pursuit of the girl.

214/4520

[EXIT THREAD]

Total WC: 4520

• Training C-rank jutsu, 'Illusory Art: Ephemeral':1000/1000
  
• Training C-rank jutsu, 'Illusory Art: Dodge no Jutsu': 1000/1000
  
• Training C-rank jutsu, 'Illusionary Art: Kura yarō': 1000/1000