Arena Five :

"Miss Sotsuji? You there?"
"Yes? I'm here. What can I do for you?"

She had not slept.

Dressed in nothing but a long sleeveless shirt and a pair of shorts cut too high to be modest, Tenmei sat by the wooden window frame, looking out over the grit covered streets of Sunagakure. In her steady hands, she held the third cup of tea for that hour, steam still pouring from it's moist rim even though it had been made nearly ten minutes ago and already had been half emptied. Half emptied like the thoughts that drifted from her mind and painted themselves across the view which had her captivated since sunrise.....
   Her silver eyes glanced to the misty surface of the glass to see the young chuunin male in the reflection. He looked around about Strafe's age despite his added height and smattering of child like freckles.  It was rather indearing the way he turned to the side, his cheeks flushing a flattering scarlet. It nearly brought a smile to the young female's lips.....though it was not in place for long.

"Sorry to disturb you Miss, but the competitors have been announced for the next round. You are to be versing Ayane Norokami. Please make your preparations and come to the arena as soon as possible.

Again, I am sorry for disturbing you"

As soon as he had left with the door closed securely behind him; Tenmei slowly peeled herself from the slightly faded Tatami mats and stretched out the hours from her legs. There wasn't really much to do to get ready. Even though she had been living in the one house for over a year now, the habits of another life still stuck tight to the vivid memories, causing her to still maintain a constant state of readiness. A change of clothes, new medicine, tea, a little reptile that barely left her side even in the coldest of climates. As soon as she had walked through the door, Tenmei was always ready to walk straight back out again at a seconds notice.
  So, knowing her bag was already packed, the female stepped away from the neglected sleeping place and headed towards the suitcase of clothes, Tenmei quickly bound her breasts with the coarse white linen and slipped on her newly repaired sleeveless vest and loose trousers.
With her Kiri  head band securely around her waist and her bag over her shoulder, she headed out of the comfortably simplistic room and over to the arena for the second time.

Head there and hope that this fight would last as long as the other one had.

---------------------------

And she thought the crowd was large last time....

It was different this time around. Tenmei hooked the bag free from her shoulders and slid it, delicately, off her arm to the cool ground at her feet. For just a few breaths, the Genin sat down on the bench by the wall, and closed her eyes, taking in the dismal surroundings of her decision. She could hear the constant dull roar of the spectators stomping around, looking for the seats and locating their friends and rivals alike. All the yelling and the cat calls, she could feel them reverberating in her ears, even while down in this room, reeking of blood and rusted defeat. Nothing was as loud as her heart beat right now which threatened to jump from her chest and run away with the doubt that had buried deep inside her memory, along with the habits.
There was no turning back now. her eyes opened to see the doors part and she was motioned to stand and make her way through to the noise. It was time for it to begin again....

Ayane Norokami
Another unfamilar. New. A mystery.

As she stepped in to the arena, Tenmei brushed her sharp silver eyes over the area, taking in the details and letting the memory take its place at the forefront of her mind. It looked oddly beautiful, the way the gnarly white trees reached from the ground like ghostly arms, clawing their way to the sky. Down on the ground there was nothing but the roughly soft sand underfoot, nothing that made any contrast to the stark pale colour of the arena insides. Even as Tenmei stepped in to the cleared out center where the proctor and her opponent were waiting, the bony twigs still seemed to reach over. 
All in all it was hugely different compared to the luscious green garden she had been around before.  It was such a shame that she had to destroy the beautifully grown Sakura trees like she had, all in order to end the fight as quickly as possible. These pieces of art would most likely suffer the same fate, and that...made her sad.

"Sotsuji, Tenmei. Norokami, Ayane. You are aware of the rules. The first person to declare that they surrender or becomes unable to fight back, will lose the match. And remember, no elemental jutsu.....
Yes, Miss Sotsuji, your ability is allowed but nothing more. Now.
Ready! Begin!"

She didn't need to say anything, he already knew the first thought of her tangled mind. So as soon as the word 'go' slipped from his lips, the dark haired female jumped back to the tree line, her sharp steel eyes never leaving her opponent. No sooner had she reached the forest of one white plants, her hand found itself pressed up against the smooth surface of one of the trunks. It felt odd underneath her hand. Smooth and cool, yet covered in a grainy substance that was thicker on the side that the wind blew. Salt. From the sand most likely.
It barely took a thought for the reaction to happen. A deep breath, a shift of the muscles in her arm. The few fleeting seconds it took to open up her chakra gates and let the heat flow through her like molten lava. Before she took her next breath, the tree behind her flared to life under her hand, bursting in to flames that danced dangerously before catching to the next tree.

And the next one. And the next one.

In a matter of minutes, the whole ring of trees were ignited in to a flaming circle, trapping both male and female Genin inside the clearing with acrid smoke blackening the air above them until the strong Suna breeze blew it away, much to the audience's relief. But while the smoke was one thing, the heat was another. The force that pressed in, thickening the very air and drying it out to make it less breathable. It was as intense as standing in the desert on a mid summers day.
 And yet Tenmei could only smile. This...was her life. The liquid heat inside her peaked to match the temperature of the air and rise above it until the heat waves danced around her skin like a flowing dress whipping about in the air. She was ready

So. Tenmei took a few steps away from the reach of the hungry flames and waited. It was his turn.

Chakra 135/150:

Ayane was all tired after his last match. Ryuu was a descendant of the Aisu Clan, one of the most known and the most honourable ninja clans in the Kirigakure. Kirigakure had a lot of powerful ninja that noone could've ever tried to count. They were a lot. Each of them had different abilities that were stimulating the user in any different matter. Ryuu's moves were more like for an assassin, that was hardly detectable. The mist he used was a perfect jutsu for a stealth attack or for a counter attack. Ayane was sitting on a chair, waiting to see who will his next opponent be. While just sitting there and waiting for the next match, someone interrupted him:

"You're that paper boy, Norokami Ayane, right?"
"This is Ayane for Sure,Do your eyes see in Blur?
"No sir, It's only that the next matches have been announced, you are to fight with Miss Sotsuji Tenmei! Please present in the backstages as fast as you can! Any other actions you'll do instead of this will result in the win of Miss Sotsuji Tenmei!"
"Don't worry, I'll be there
Now go on and take care!"

Owydelu got up from his chair. He had no wounds from the previous fight, thing that could've given him a big advantage in the next fights. Maybe he wasn't trying hard enough to win the match and that was why he didn't get any scars or wounds. He was making some exercises to get his muscles in the "Fight Mode". He didn't want to stop in the middle of the fight because of a problem with his muscles. That was something he had to get over with. He started walking to the backstages, from where he was to pop out in the arena. He was excited now. He didn't really know what kind of powers miss Sotsuji had. All that he knew was that Tenmei was a skilled Kirigakure ninja, as she made it this far in the Chuunin Exams. She was far more skilled than Ryuu, his last opponent.

"Mister Norokami, It's time to enter the arena!"

Ayane just listened to his senses and he entered in the arena. It was like a big forest in a desert. Well, in fact, that was it, a big forest in the Sunagakure's desert. Ayane didn't really know how they managed to create a forest there, but they may have asked the skilled Konoha's Senju to create it. Anything was possible. Ayane saw his enemy in the distance, trough it wasn't a really clear image. He was to get closer to her first and analyze her battle style. They were both face to face, with the guardian ninja beside them.
"Sotsuji, Tenmei. Norokami, Ayane. You are aware of the rules. The first person to declare that they surrender or becomes unable to fight back, will lose the match. And remember, no elemental jutsu.....
Yes, Miss Sotsuji, your ability is allowed but nothing more. Now.
Ready! Begin!"


"So her abilities are something,
That you can only see by bumping!"

Tenmei was a girl that had black hair, long black hair as it seemed. Her clothing was fitting her, a nice black combination of shirt and trousers. She was far older than Ayane. It was going to be a rough fight. With her "Special Abilities", she burned all the trees down, creating a circle of fire, where only the two of them were now. Ayane started rapping suddenly:

"Now, that's what I call a hot girl,
I would've liked you more if your hair was curl!"

Ayane suddenly, transformed his body into a lot of sheets of paper. His destroyed his legs to create wings for him. Then he made some hand-seals saying:

"Here they come some shuriken made from paper,
I would've used them to make a shaper!"

He was looking now as all 5 of his shuriken were getting closer to his target.

Jutsus Used:

Chakra Left:

Paper. What a beautifully curious technique.

It was a split second decision.
No hesitation, no questioning, Tenmei just....stood there. Grounded firmly to the spot, she lifted her arms to cross over her delicate chest area as the paper made shurikens came soaring towards her with deadly speed, cutting through the musty thick atmosphere, racing to dig themselves in her deliciously soft, lightly browned flesh.
  What is she doing? Why is she just standing there? They were thinking the same thing; the spectators with the scrutinizing eyes full of arrogance and safety. She could feel their doubts, peering through the rising smog.
And still Tenmei stood there, waiting to see if that strong impulsive instinct that had her stuck there, held as true as the crackling flames around her. If she was right or if the watchful eyes had been right all along in their questions.

It stung. Bit like an insect.

The relief loosened the knots in her stomach, allowing the Genin another breath. For just a moment, she allowed her cool silver eyes to glance down at the damage to her forearms, to the small bit of blood that trickled in a single tear from the minor incision on her near noticeably flawed skin. She had got lucky this time...it worried her.
Each of those pin prick thick weapons had buried themselves one inch down in to her arms, piercing the tougher skin and caressing the muscles that lie within. But no sooner had they been there, the heat overwhelmed the fragile bits of paper and caused them to burn to ashes, leaving nothing behind but a thin trail of smoke which then rose up to join with the over hanging clouds.
  Had Tenmei known that paper started to burn at two hundred and thirty degree celcius? That the structural integrity would be damaged before it even hit her skin? Had she known that they were not quite strong enough to push completely through the barrier of heat that hung off her skin like a morning's cold sweat? There was no way of knowing for sure. Just that she had been okay.....this time.

'Your turn my little candle. Make me proud'

A single dust cloud. That was all she had left behind when the young Shinobi pushed off and sprinted over with all the speed that her clan allowed her. In mere seconds she was in front of the rapping male, her fist, full of its two hundred and fifty degree celcius wrath, soared towards his abdomen from close range aiming to land squarely in his gut, potentially knocking the wind from him and leaving second degree burns on impact. The proximity alone would be enough to singe his clothes slightly. But whether that hit or not, Tenmei still used the momentum to shift her balance and spin a leg around to try and land a solid kick to his ribs, hoping to hear the satisfying crack of bones breaking the flat of her burning foot.
To the Sotsuji clan member, not hitting was equally important as a successful impact. Either way, she would determine his strength, his speed and adapt just as her family had done all those years ago.

After her initial attack was completed in the perfectly disciplined manner her father had drilled in to her, she jumped back once more and waited, embracing the heat the flames gave her in return for giving them a new life.

Chakra 130/150:

Ayane was right there, watching as Tenmei was easily waiting for the Paper Shurikens to get to her. The shurikens were just like some real ones, despite the materials they were made of. The speed and the power they were rotating with was giving a sensation that it's spinning faster than it really was. After some time, the burning female, standing right in the opposite part of the arena, took the attack from paper that didn't even make her express any hurt feelings or any damage at all. The shurikens, as all do, entered 1 inch deep into her body. After 1-2 seconds, they started burning, leaving only ashes behind. This was no good. Ayane was in a big disadvantage because of that elemental advantage. Miss Sotsuji Tenmei was so far a strong warrior with a heart on the expectings. Her skin's abilities were from the Clan she was in. The clan had special abilities known only by Kirigakure ninja and the members of the Sotsuji Clan.

After those projectiles were easily blocked, a single dust cloud, that was all she had left behind when the young Shinobi pushed off and sprinted over with all the speed that her clan allowed her. In mere seconds she was in front of the rapping male, her fist, full of its two hundred and fifty degree celcius wrath, soared towards his abdomen from close range aiming to land squarely in his gut. Ayane was pretty fast in these moments so he jumped sideways, while he dodget Tenmei's attack. That would've been a hard attack if you ask me. Ayane then made a sword out of paper and he threw it at Tenmei, right in her face direction, saying:

"This sword, right to your face,
With the papers I'm the ace
There ain't ,for real, a good place
Where I feel like I'm in Space!
~Yo"

(OOC: Sorry for the short post. I had an Headache when I made it so, I'll add more enviroiment analyzing etc, etc when I wake up)

He was fast....but Tenmei was faster.

---

He got lucky. The young female's fist grazed past his shirt as he artfully side stepped her first attack, leaving a distinctive singe pattern along the mattered hem of the flimsy woven fabric. He would have felt that, how hot she really was. How getting away was the very thing that saved him from the viscous kick that would have landed if he had not done the smart thing and backed away out of her reach. But Tenmei could only wonder if he knew that with every step away from her, he was getting closer and closer to the extensive reach of the hungry flames behind him as that cracked and whipped out towards the clearing, eager to drag in an unsuspecting Genin.
Tenmei was hot, but the fire was hotter. And where she would give him the benefit of mercy, her creation would not be as kind.

And now she knew his limits.

The very moment he had found his distance once more; Tenmei watched as he started to form another item, again out of paper. This time, it was a sword. A sword in which he threw at her, aiming it right at eye level...This was a mistake. A big mistake.
Even a paper one, swords were heavy and slower than the nimble shuriken he had thrown at her earlier. When she had swung at him the first time, Tenmei was holding back. With her Agility the girl Shinobi moved at the speed of a Chuunin as she easily dodged clear of the sword, watching it in the corner of her eye as it sailed clean past and landed on the grainy sand just behind her, point down in to the gritty, heated surface. There was no second chances.
She stepped back on to the paper creation, flattening it to the ground and causing it to ignite within those fleeting seconds of the heat, passing through the sole of her sandal.

While she was crushing the essence of his feeble attempt at hitting her, Tenmei placed a hand to the small incisions on her arm, near wincing at the warm slippery substance that trickled out. Within a breaths moment of keeping her fingers there, the skin started to sizzle and cauterize itself under the delicate touch. The bleeding stopped, the wounds numbed....but the price near brought stinging tears to her eyes....Nearly. This pain was nothing compared to that other time...
Nothing would compare to how she felt back then.

It took a few seconds....if that.
As soon as that was done, Tenmei tensed her muscles, activating the only other technique she could use during this battle, and raced forwards with a speed that was close to double of how fast she moved earlier....and this time, she was relentless.
Another delayed cloud of sand showed her take off as the Genin moved effortlessly through the heat, landing with a strong palm strike aimed straight for his chest, followed by another well placed punch that would hopefully land where she tried to burn earlier. But the attempts didn't stop there. Whether, Tenmei was successful in any of her attacks, she would also continue to attempt land a strong spin kick in to his diaphragm.
  With every strike, with every dodge he may make, Tenmei was edging him closer to the flaming forest behind him. All he had to go was get close enough for the searing hot furnace to reach....

Her beautiful creation.

Chakra 110/150:

Ayane was rapping as he was looking at Tenmei:

"This sword, right to your face,
With the papers I'm the ace
There ain't ,for real, a good place
Where I feel like I'm in Space!
~Yo"

He made a mistake, a big one. He didn't chose the right rhymes, so he tried again:

"This sword, right to your face,
With the papers I'm the ace
If It's with speed, I'll win the race
You'll leave this place,
With full disgrace!
~Yo"

It was feeling a little better now. The rap sounds better now. Then, back at the real fight. The sword was getting closer and closer to Tenmei's face. The sword was getting right in Tenmei's eye, when, she just dodged it like a real Chuunin. It was predictable that, a powerful lady like Miss Sotsuki Tenmei evolved really easily here, at the Chuunin Exams. Ayane didn't know if he had any more chances of fighting back, but he still made some hand-seals. While she was crushing the essence of his feeble attempt at hitting her, Tenmei placed a hand to the small incisions on her arm, near wincing at the warm slippery substance that trickled out. Within a breaths moment of keeping her fingers there, the skin started to sizzle and cauterize itself under the delicate touch. The bleeding stopped in just a second, in just a moment. Then, it was looking like she started boosting her powers with chakra. In just a moment, Tenmei was right in Ayane's face. She hit Ayane powerfully, with all her chakra force. Ayane was in the air, almost destroyed by the hit.

Suddenly Ayane disappeared in just a Poof. It was a simple Replacement Technique that had as a preparation the hand-signs from just a moment before this. Ayane suddenly made two paper clones and he sent them right to Tenmei. He wasn't going to give up so easily.

"You though that you got me, don't you?
I must admit that you're better than Ryuu!
~Yo"

Jutsus Used:

Chakra Left:

Enough was enough.  This had to end. Now.

Barely half an hour in to this match and Tenmei was already sick of these childish games. Back and forth, attacking and dodging, chasing each other round and round like the cat and mouse game the other little boys and girls used to play while their parents spent their lazy hours working around the villages she used to live.
If this male had been against someone else, someone other than the hot tempered, quiet little Sotsuji clan member, then he may have stood a fair chance. Even possibly won despite his woeful rapping. But it was clear that the moment she set her silvery predator eyes on this Genin, destiny had already chosen the path that he would take. It was simply unfortunate that the path was not one that would lead him to the next round. Because now....now it was his turn to learn what she was truly capable of...what Tenmei had been holding back.

---

It was not hard to recognize the all too familiar hand signs, of the academy grade Substitution jutsu. Having used it herself more than once on different occasions, and seeing Daimon perform it right before her eyes, in her last fight. Tenmei picked up on it straight away and started to mirror the movements with a skilled precision, following a mere step behind. But while she focusing on him, on the flicker of fingers as they formed in to the shapes, she didn't see the life sized, masterly crafted paper cut outs he had set to ambush her from either side. With her fingers still locked together in performing the elemntary technique, her feet grounded in the sand for balance, there was no time to block the strike that would inevitably come for her delicate ribs, further marring the already heavily scarred skin there. There was no stopping it, nothing she could physically do....

Tenmei didn't even flinch.

It was all math in her head really, numbers, probability with a hint of instinct and a dash of hope. This kekkei genkai: the hateful curse that was attached to her soul like an odd colour patch, made any jutsu with her element stronger. Mixed with his more than obvious weakness to anything to do with Katon....
The powers that worked against his clones were phenomenal. The second their narrow reach got within ten centimeters of her furnace like skin, it crumpled, turning in to spitting lumps of flame that enveloped the rest of the pathetically flimsy form within seconds.
Before she was still holding back, but with everything taking in to account, there was no escaping from the full six hundred degree heat that his jutsu stepped right in to. But before she could really examine the beautiful mess she had left, the substitution was complete and she was once again in front of him with nothing but a flaming log, and the charred remains of his clones taking her place.

It took the female a fraction of that second before she regained her bearings....but that was all it took.

She didn't stop. Using what speed she had, and every bit of her Taijutsu strength, the young female used the closeness of her own substitution to aim another punch towards his abdomen, the exact same spot as before. But this time, Tenmei didn't stop. She didn't know how. One punch became three and two chest strikes became four, all rapidly aimed with the same deadly precision she used when cutting herbs and tea leaves. But these were not designed to hurt....oh no they would hurt but that was only a side effect of her true intentions.
With every confirmed hit, with every solid impact she tried to force him back another step. And another and another until hopefully, he had trailed back far enough to get to the tree line.

If she succeeded, then Tenmei would spin and try to land powerful kick to his chest, knocking back in to the burning splinters of wood.
If that happened. If every single little detail of her perfectly executed plan worked, then she would try to keep him there until he begged for her to let him free. And there was only two words that get through to Tenmei now. Two simple, perfect little words.

Chakra 100/150:

Tenmei felt everything.  

Every time she hit, every moment of impact, Tenmei could feel the adrenalin exploding in her chest, coursing through her system like a shot of nitrous in an overheated engine, empowering her with every swing of her powerful, well formed arms. But as good as it felt, it was only an after thought to the brilliance that was happening in the mean time. What was going on while she layed out in to Iwa shinobi.
   It was always a strain to keep her inner heat in check. Keeping her chakra gates closed, letting a measly morsel out hanging drip while the rest was left to build up and move through her body like warm syrup. Months it had been. Months. The feeling of letting it all go. Releasing in to the scorched air and this unfortunate individual. It was like the claws that held her chest had slowly loosened and she could breath in the elation once more.

"Come on. Come on! Nearly there. Don't disappoint me now.
Don't hold back. Finish him"

Three. Five. Seven.

The sound of feet scraping against the grainy surface of the crusty ground, grated at her nerves as they made four perfect lines towards the ever gaping jaws of the furnace. They were getting so close now.
So close that she could feel the heat descend over her like a warm embrace, wrapping around her lungs and trying to take away her gift.
She got him right to the edge of the tree line when she suddenly let go and stepped back, her silver eyes boring in to his with cruel satisfaction. Then, she spun and planted her foot straight in to his diaphragm with enough force that it would send him rocketing back in to the loving embrace of the flames which had near devoured the whole fores. He would be next....and it would be over.
But was it really?

"Do it! No second chances remember?"

No second chances.

Her attention to where he had landed, Tenmei too walked over to the burning edge and placed her hands on the charred trunks, channeling whatever heat she had left in to the salt filled trunks, sending another plume of smoke to signal in to the air, followed by a rain of embers as they fell all around her, blessing her with their biting kisses. Soon enough the flames would cut through his clothes and lick off his flesh, tasting the sweet flesh given to them by their creator. His only hope:  that he called for surrender before the smoke took away his ability to breath or before one of the falling branches crushed it out of him.
There was no saving him now....

"Im sorry....I am so...sorry"

A sudden stream of ice cold water covered both Tenmei and Ayane, the liquid wrapping itself around Tenmei's hands and forcing itself between the two. The liquid wrapped itself around Ayane and carried him backwards away from Tenmei, before dropping him next to a young female proctor. Having saved the boy, the proctor formed a quick chain of hand seals, causing a sudden heavy localized downpour to extinguish the rogue flames inside the arena. "The winner is Sotsuji, Tenmei!"