The air stank of sweat, blood and beer. None of these scents were particularly offensive to Akane and as far as sub urban environments went this was pretty much the best she could hope for. Hell she didn't even need to hide the fact that she was a Jugo clan-member. After all everyone in this place was a scum bag liar and killer and they were looking forward to seeing some ears get ripped off and some jaws broken.

Akane's feet dug in to the soil of the arena the long nails of her toes scratching up the sawdust that covered the bare earth. In front of her was another woman, a honest to the gods Inuzuka (A clan which Akane tended to adopt as cover whenever she came into contact with townsfolk) smiling readily  and showing visible fangs. The coordinator of this event decided that things were getting a somewhat boring with the constant stream of male fighters and thus sent his agents out to seek brawlers of the fairer sex. Of course the crowd didn't just want to watch whores give a mock performance while emphasizing their assets. They wanted to see two women beat the living shit out of each other in the most brutal manner possible.

For the first few rounds it had been short matches ones to wet the crowds appetite. Several female thugs pulled  from the street who didn't look like they had crawled out of a horses arse. Next was a local Kamizuru whose claim to infamy in the underworld was that she kept her clans bees stored in very personal places and stung men to death when they attempted to get intimate with her. Against her was a Aburame who had fallen on hard times and now needed the money for opium to fuel her addiction. The match had started off seemingly equal - however the strain of addiction had eventually shone through and the Aburame ended up on the floor being stung and pummelled by the Kamizuru woman who clearly felt the clans displeasure towards the Aburame very strongly. The crowd was going wild with bloodlust and exaltation at the local champions defeat of the foreigner.

 
Akanes memories cut back into the now. There was no time for pissing around here instead it was time to pummel some face. The Inuzuka bitch was growling under her breath something that Akane could feel was making her hackles rise and giving her goosebumps across her body.  Then with a deadly quick springing motion the Inuzuka was in motion clearing the ground between them in next to no time. A flurry of punches were thrown at Akane from the canine like foe which met Akane’s forearms held up in a position of guarding.  She skidded back with the impacts and with a sideways duck came up in a haymaker that would connect to the Inuzuka’s jaw with terrible power.  

The wily dog managed to slip past her and landed a kick into Akanes stomach. The air leaving her lungs in a pained woosh Akane flew through the air to land on the sawdust gasping for air. The Inuzuka was already in motion however and she stood above Akane to bring down a foot on her neck severely limiting Akanes ability to fight if not crippling her entirely . Akanes neck moved out of the way quickly as a snake and with a lunge she had sunken sharp teeth into the Inuzukas calves. The Inuzuka though annoyed did not seem surprised at the fact that her opponent had taken a chunk out of her leg. Akane mused that it was probably not uncommon for members of the Inuzuka clan to in their own private feuds literally sink their fangs into each other. In fact the dog woman was smiling which was beginning to piss Akane off. When one went to the trouble of biting someone the least they could do was show some kind of fury or weakness to the one who did it .

 Akane followed up by punching her in the crotch which did in fact earn he a yelp of pain and a tensing of the muscles. Using this opportunity Akane dislodged her teeth from the woman’s leg and got some space in between them.  That was when the four legged mass of fur and muscle hit her from the side with a headbut that made her already somewhat tender ribs ache profusely. The crowd had opened up and over Akane was the form of a wolf like dog that was about to snap at her face.  This was simply unfair though the crowd and organisers of the fight seemed to have no moral or ethical qualms with the addition of another fighter. Fine screw all of them then it was time to get nasty and bust out the old shape shifting.
 
The transformation started from her fingers traveling up her arms in a wave of grey scales until it hit her torso causing harder carapace to form across the length of her back. She spun on the ground in a makeshift motion reminiscint of the strange martial arts dances that were practiced in far off lands. The wolf dogs paws flew from the ground and with a yelp it fell to a side. Akane used the chance to rise to her feet and give the thing a solid kick to the mouth with the top of her left foot.  She even managed to catch the descending heel that was coming at her from the sky. Spinning around Akane used her leverage in order to spin the Inuzuka around in wild circles that spun her head in cylindrical motions.  The woman was then loosed to smash into her canine companion headfirst the dull thump giving Akane reason to smile with the meaty sound.

Then something unexpected began to happen. It was not altogether unlike the way that one of her clan transformed however it was more of a union two animals forged into one singular entity. She probally shouldn’t have been too surprised by this turn of events but it was the first time Akane had ever seen someone actually fuse with their animal companions into a hyrid of two creatures in one. It made little difference however – she was not going to be put off by the simple fact of having to fight a monstrous opponent. If that were the case then no Jugo clan members would ever get anything done in their own society and while Akane was somewhat distant from that primal instincts kicked in for her.  The two headed dog howled and the crowd reeled back in shock from the eerie noise. The beasts first charge was like a comet – Akane leapt like a frog  as the wolf beast flew past a furred and fanged missile .

 It barely managed to slow itself before crashing right into the wall of the crowd , while Akane knew that if one of the charges hit her she would be in deep shit she now had an advantage that she was willing to press for all it was worth. If the Inuzuka ended up hurting the crowd then she would be immediately disqualified followed by a savage beating .  Keeping low to the ground Akane darted in landing a flurry of blows on the wolfs side as it attempted to right it’s tottering form.  As jaws turned and attempted to bite down on her she simply slipped out of the way avoiding maiming by a hair.

Plastering a shit eating grin on her face Akane began to taunt her opponent. Akane knew the effect rage could have on a person very well. This time she would turn it into her own weapon against the Inuzuka – a pleasant change from what usually occurred between herself and town guards.

“Come on whore. Think you have what it takes to hit me?  You might get by in Konoha by just sitting round and showing off your flea bitten ass to whatever man comes your way. This is Iwa though and no one wants to see your mange ridden goods.  You have to actually do something to get credit round here and from what I have seen you have jack shit in the way of actual skill.”

This was the hard part now. She needed to dodge at the exact right time – to early or too late would prove fatal and with the amount of anger the Inuzuka was feeling at the moment she probably didn’t care if Akane died under the force of her next flurry of bites. The Inuzuka spun and became unto a lupine crossbow bolt. Akane’s reflexes screamed at her and it was only the claws that now tipped her limbs that allowed her to get enough distance to actually move out of the way of the wolf woman’s mad flight. The two headed beast crashed into one of the crowd members and began to maul in a rage. The crowds exaltation quickly turned to fury and several towering men with large cudgels began to with precision beat the living shit out of the Inuzuka. The crowd pleased that retribution was being taken started to cheer again exalting in the woman’s suffering and eventual death – their companions demise completely forgotten.

It looked as if Akane was about to be paid tonight.


1560/1500 Words Mission Complete