Into the Mist, Grade please!

It had been such a long time since Kohana could actually sit back, relax, and train to her leisure, but still, that was no excuse to simply be lazy and not to try and perfect her skills. Actually, she had thought of a rather decent training method for her Byakugan, though in order to do that, she had to master a different jutsu first. It was a lowly one, a technique even a Genin could learn if they had wanted to, but the technique in itself would most likely be useful to her sometime or another in the future on her missions.

The technique Kohana had been wanted to master was called the Hidden Mist Technique. It was a move that allowed the user to expel mist from them with the use of chakra and spread said mist around the current area to help give them cover as they attacked their target. Not only that, but the mist was able to completely disregard the accuracy gain most doujutsu gave. Though that wasn’t what Kohana wanted to practice. She knew that her normal 360-degree vision would be blocked while using her Byakugan, but even through the mist she should be able to detect and see any living creatures chakra network.

All I have to do then is make this forest full of mist, and then I can begin my training…sounds easy enough, right?

Kohana took a deep breath and concentrated while making the necessary hand signs for the Hidden Mist technique. Once they were finished, she tried expelling the mist out into the forest, but nothing happened at all. She grumbled some to herself, flipping her hair a little before trying it again. Once the hand signs were finished, again, she tried expelling the mist with her chakra, this time around only the space around her was covered in mist, which wasn’t good enough for the training that she had in mind.

”I’m a well established Chuunin and I’m having trouble performing some dinky Genin level technique? Damn, I need to try harder…

With what little mist she had produced from her previous attempt, she figured that if she just did it the same way, but expelled more chakra, and then it would work like how she had wanted it to. Kohana performed the technique again, and this time around it worked perfectly. Instead of just having mist around her, or in the general area, a thick veil of mist was expelled and bled through the forest as far as she could see, or kind of see that is. It was perfect. This sort of environment was wonderful for her training.

Kohana activated her Byakugan, and obviously, all she saw was what she would have seen with her normal eyes. Instead of seeing everything around her, all she saw what was in front of her. It was as she expected, but soon that would change. She began running through the forest around the training ground, making sure not to go too far while looking for a wild animal to test her theory on still being able to see its chakra network. If she could, then that was the first step to breaking through concealing techniques like this Hidden Mist one. Maybe she could even figure out how to advance her Byakugan in order to see a full 360-degree in these sorts of techniques.

All I have to do is keep working on it and I’m sure I’ll figure out how to do it, no problem…

Even if I can’t make my Byakugan see everything in this mist, it’s still a new technique I have learned to help me out when it’s needed…

She ran around the forest a few times, circling the training area while doing so, but to no avail. It seemed that no wild animals, not even a bird was present. This, obviously, was quite discouraging, but maybe that was because any animal didn’t want to come near the training area due to the fact that it is constantly frequented by ninja who want to improve their skills, as well as used for many class meetings for those still in the academy. It made sense, or at least it did to her. Either way, Kohana decided to be brave and stray away from the outskirts of the training area and deeper into the forest, deeper into the mist she had created.

It would figure though that because of her urge to better herself, or more so, better her Byakugan, she had gone and gotten herself lost in the mist. It was probably one of the most idiotic things that she had ever done, considering it was the mist that she herself had created, but she didn’t know how to dispel it, and if there was a way, she would definitely make that the next technique she would learn. Either way, the best thing she could do was merely wander around, but perhaps that just made things worse and would get her even more lost, but just standing around and waiting for the mist to clear was definitely out of the question.

Well isn’t this lovely. I get myself lost in the woods thanks to my own mist…some professional training I’m doing. I feel like a complete idiot, like some loser Genin who just graduated…

Kohana shook her head, resting her forehead against her hands while leaning up against a tree for a moment to rest. The only perk about the day was that she learned the Hidden Mist technique, other than that she was glad no one else was around or she would never be able to live this sort of humiliation down. Though, then an idea began to form within her mind, or more so a fleeting thought, which made her start to giggle. What if someone was passing through the forest when a large settling veil of mist just came out of nowhere? She was sure that would scare someone, or at least put them on their guard.

I may have failed in training the way I had wanted to, but hey, maybe I can mess with some people. I know the academy class is in session today, so maybe they were in the woods today, on their way to the training grounds. Heh, which would definitely be fun…

She would then jump up into the branches of the tree she had been leaning on, listening for any movement, even though it probably was a lost cause. Kohana still thought it would be funny if someone were in the forest. At least it would help brighten her mood a little about her failure in today’s training. The saying ‘come out, come out wherever you are’ could definitely be used in this situation.

Note! For the purposes of this SQ I know Yanagi no Mai. I intended to have it by now, but Bende Tiancai vanished (I was learning it in an SQ with him)

Name: Adachi Janos
Level: Uh...5, I think?
Rewards: 100 LP (Hopefully) and

Sometimes I forget myself: Who I am, what I can do, it all just...slips away. I am nothing but a thought, existing on nature's whim. It seems...it seems like there is no hope. It seems like whatever fleck of light in my heart, however minute, that drove me on is dwarfed by...dwarfed by... Even now, I lose myself. I wish to scream but there is no sound, sound is as lost to me as words, as my name, as my life...

I awake. There are no tears, there is no fear but that that exists within me always. It is a predatorial reflex, for I was nothing but prey not so long ago. The reflex, the fear...that skittishness may always remain.

They tell me I am safe now.

They tell me...they tell me I have nothing to fear.

Such hypocrites. In the next breath they ask me to risk my life, and tell me I must, it is my duty, it is my calling, to be fearless and proud...Ha. It echoes hollowly even now, even in my mind I cannot be proud of what I am.

I am only alive due to cowardice, and I have no doubt that cowardice will see me through many more times of conflict. It is too valuable a survival instinct to entirely quell. It seems that my hide means much more to me than my pride.

How becoming of a warrior.

How have I become a warrior...?

He stopped, realizing he had been wandering aimlessly for some time, lost in unwelcome thought. He coughed, as if making sure his voice still functioned, and looked around; mist was everywhere. It covered the trees, the ground, pervading the landscape. He had no idea where he had came from, let alone where the way to Konoha lay. He was lost, now in both body and mind.

He looked around - he could see nothing. It was incredible, how fast the mist had sprung up, how much it obscured...Of course! His eyes jerked wide in realization.

I've heard of this before, seen it used long ago...Kirigakure no Jutsu. Hidden Mist. Now, who, or, more important, why would anyone use this here? Am I its objective, or merely an insignificant fly caught in someone else's web?

He realized the danger, realized that most ninja who made use of this technique were renowned for assassination. The technique deprived both user and any caught in its grasp of vision, so those who used it either found other ways to see, or operated on another sense entirely...

A dangerous crowd... Janos mused, but I have my own hidden surprises. He smirked, recklessly, reflecting on the potential power he could possess, were he more proficient in the ways of his bloodline. But he was not; this was now. He could only use what little skills he had thus far managed learn, which were neither plentiful nor powerful.

Pity. He realized the irony even now; if he had been training, instead of...instead of whatever it was he had been doing, he would not only not be in this situation, he would also be more prepared for it.

Again, the realization hit home; he was standing, unprepared and unarmed, in the middle of what was most likely a battlefield, and he would have no warning of the attack, if one was indeed coming. He jumped, flipping backward into a fighting crouch, and drew a kunai. His eyes frantically looked from side to side, though he knew it was futile. The user of the technique was skilled; he was almost completely blinded. But, of course, he was a ninja; he did not rely solely on sight.

He began to focus, drawing all of his energy, all of his power, into himself. For a moment, there was nothing in his world but himself, drawing ever more inward, until he was just one tiny speck of self. A minute point of consciousness, breathing slowed to a minimum, he suddenly expanded his perceptions. His senses started working in overdrive, processing far more information than, with the overload of input that comes at any given time, the brain can normally handle.

He still saw nothing, though he fancied he could almost see the individual droplets of water hanging in front of him, suspended in the air. Taste and touch revealed nothing more than a moistness to the air, smell canceled with the ever-encroaching mist. But, hearing...that brought results.

He could hear a faint patter of footsteps in the distance, could almost sense the impressions left in the layer of dead pine needles carpeting the area. He had the crazy thought that, if he was barefoot, he could feel every single needle touching the bottoms of his feet. He snapped his focus back to the matter at hand; for a technique that was meant to increase concentration, he sure was easily distracted...

The footsteps had stopped, ending in one last shove against the ground. He assumed the intruder had taken to the trees. He grinned. It would begin, now. Whatever this ninja wanted, he would get back, tenfold. He clenched his muscles, marshaling his strength and willpower for the fight most likely to come.

He moved with as much stealth as possible, reaching a spot where the tree would be visible without this damnable mist.

I can hear him breathing...Either his guard is down, or he's waiting for me to make my move...

He reached into the equipment pouch hanging at his side, drawing and throwing a kunai in one deft motion, then rolling to the side and throwing a second, a third... He waited, perfectly still, until he was sure the ninja remained in his perch, then he leapt.

His hands were clenched. Again, he regretted his lack of mastery over his kekkai genkai. He hoped his opponent had nothing to compare, nothing as powerful as he could be. As he reached the tree branch where his opponent stood, the mist began to slightly clear, visibility increasing to the point where his enemy would soon become visible.

Metal kunai in hand to make up for the bones he could barely control, in mid-air, he saw...A Konoha ninja? A Konoha kuniochi?! A Hyuuga?!?

Damnit...I can't move, I can't-- He flailed his limbs, hoping to catch something, anything at all, to redirect his attack. For he had taken in the woman's Chuunin flak jacket as well.

"SHIT! I CAN'T STOP!" he shouted frantically, hoping he could avoid a humiliating, agonizing, defeat at the hands of another incredibly powerful bloodline.

A...rather attractive kuniochi, at that... he thought, as his foot thankfully caught on a lower branch, sending him crashing to the ground. The layer of pine needles were warm and moist, an inviting embrace after his narrowly escaped pummeling.

Huh...this must feel a little like what her bre-- He mentally cut himself off. He was, admittedly, not quite on top of all the hormones coursing through his body these days, but, damnit, now was NOT the time!

She was an established Chuunin who was training as a medical ninja, and was nearly as skilled as a Jounin; because of this, Kohana had no trouble detecting the incoming kunai that was coming at her. This wasn’t because of her Byakugan, but because of her other senses, like her hearing of course. As quickly as her assailant had thrown them, she pulled a kunai from a pouch around her leg, easily deflecting the first, the second, and third kunai completely. It was rather simple considering they were thrown so poorly.

Despite this, Kohana looked in the general direction that the kunai came from, Byakugan eyes looking through the mist and only vaguely being able to make out a chakra network, a human chakra network of course. Though she was quite annoyed with the being attacked part, at least her attacker helped her in one way; she now knew that her eyes could still see chakra networks through the mist and most likely other concealing techniques, which would definitely be useful in the future sometime or another.

Kohana obviously was able to watch the attacker leap from the ground and up at her, in which she quickly took a defensive stance against, though the style itself reeked of that of the Hyuuga clan. Either way, when he, which was confirmed when he did come into her sight, finally got close enough to realize who she was, this fellow leaf ninja began flailing in the air like some helpless idiot, screaming about how he couldn’t stop, which was a lame excuse really. With the use of a replacement or body flicker he could easily escape from attacking her.

He fell though, which was funny to say the least. From what she could tell, he had caught his foot on a branch down farther and just plummeted down to the ground, which saved her the trouble of knocking him down there instead, though it would have been fun to knock some sense into such a stupid Genin. Kohana could tell he was a Genin simply by how rash, unorganized, and how his attack was barely thought out. The mist, and her presence, probably had just made him paranoid so much that he attacked on an impulse, a wrong impulse, but an impulse none-the-less.

With an easy, fluid motion, Kohana jumped from the tree she was perched upon and landed a few feet away from the lowly Genin. A smirk came to her lips as she circled him once before leaning over him and gently helping him up, like what any nice person would do, before, seemingly out of nowhere, and in quite a flash, had him by his shirt and pushed up against the trunk of the same tree that she had been standing on earlier, the same one that he had tried to jump into and attack her. The gesture in itself was hilarious. There was no way he could ever do much damage to her.

I wonder whom he thinks he is, just coming out of nowhere like this and deciding to attack someone up in a tree…

…Look at the mistake he made. By attacking so rashly, he ended up attacking a fellow ninja from the leaf village…

…So pathetic…

”So, you just thought that you could run around and attack anyone or anything that you couldn’t see the face of? What if it was another little Genin up in that tree and you killed them? You’d lose your headband and would say goodbye to your shinobi career in an instant!”

A finger began poking at different spots on his chest while she spoke, her empty white eyes straining intensely, the veins at her temples pulsating and throbbing against her skin, it also being visible for the young boy to see, even though he only looked to be two years younger than her, the ages of fourteen and sixteen still had a big difference in maturity levels, mentality levels, and just about everything else as well. It felt odd to be scolding a kid, someone younger than her, but considering what had happened, she felt as though it was what she was supposed to do in order to teach him a lesson.

”Next time you feel the urge to simply attack like that, make sure you know your surroundings, have a game plan, and fully assess your opponent, or what you can about the opponent and the situation. You want to make Chuunin someday? That’s one way to do it…”

The finger that had still been poking at various places along his chest now pressed against his chest and began moving down, making a zigzagging and twirling trail from his chest, down his stomach, and then stopping at the waistband of his pants. Kohana took a step back, though lifted the boy up further while also pushing him against the tree harder as well, before she would let go and take a few more steps back, Byakugan eyes looking him over, trying to see if he understood what she had said to him.

If he didn’t, then it’s his loss. I think I gave some pretty solid advice to a novice like them. He should be grateful. Not to mention, if his leg didn’t catch that branch, who knows how badly I could have hurt him…

…Baka..

”Anyways, my name is Kohana. Obviously, I’m a part of the Hyuuga clan.”

Though he hadn’t used any abilities that may pertain to a certain clan affinity, it was obvious he was a part of some bloodline. In actuality, it seemed somewhat familiar, like she was close to someone who may be part of the same family as he was. The likelihood was near impossible, or at least it was in her mind but considering how scattered most bloodline clans were, save for those in the leaf village of course, anyone could be related to anyone, and that thought was a little odd to think about. Wouldn’t family want to stick together and fight together?

What a stupid idea…I know DAMN well that I wouldn’t want to stick around and be able to fight against my opponents with family. I sure as hell couldn’t give two shits about the Hyuuga clan, save for a handful of people…

…What a tragedy this is…

I had hoped that it would end. In vain, it seemed, but nevertheless... Nevertheless, I hoped. I hoped that one day I could live a life free from fear, that my worries, instead of my hopes, would be vain instead of all too real. Yet, I suppose I have not waited long enough for something that good to come. But, if I wait much longer, life might pass me by...

To the victor, not the patient, go the spoils.

He lay there, trembling, in the dirt. Eyes closed, he awaited the whim of the kuniochi he only accidentally spared. Though there was no doubt in his mind that his attack, had it succeeded, would have been totally ineffectual...that in no way allayed his fear of retaliation.

He wished he could just go, run away, melt into the ground. His attack was instinctual, and maybe a little paranoid, but in this situation, reconnaissance was not an option. Though it had turned out wrong, he still believed attacking was the correct choice in that situation. Caution or not, it's sometimes necessary to leap, if looking's not an option.

Now, to convince the kuniochi he barely avoided leaping on of that fact...

She approached. He froze. He heard the thump as she landed beside him, but his mind didn't even acknowledge it; he couldn't think at all. He was petrified. She grabbed his shirt, flinging him up against the tree. He didn't even register the movement, until the bark, rasping against his back, brought him back to his senses.

He raised his head, intending to defiantly stare her down, hoping to regain whatever scraps of pride he had not already lost. But her eyes... Her eyes were mesmerizing and repulsing, hypnotic and repellent. He felt ashamed for staring; they looked sickly to him, grey and pupil-less, larger than any eye had a right to be. Then he remembered that the Hyuuga take pride in their eyes and the powers that the bestowed.

He met her empty gaze once more, and didn't look away. The fear had gone away, for now. Anger flowed through his body, mixed with stubbornness and pride. She started to lecture him! The gall...

"Excuse me?" He said, fully prepared to shoot down the ego of the visibly superior shinobi. "You were the one using a technique not native to Konoha, in an area where other people may be. What did you expect? You can't say I should have investigated! Your damn jutsu stops any chance I had of that."

She started to poke his chest, Byakugan bulging. It was an imposing sight, but he was not intimidated in the least. He would, most likely, be scared shitless once the adrenaline stopped coursing through his veins, but for now, he would deal with her as an equal.

"How am I supposed to asses you when I am in the midst of a jutsu I can't dispell? Was I to simply let Konoha face the possibility of attack? What w--"

He stopped, blushing. Her finger had gone...rather lower than he was comfortable with. He spoke with confidence he didn't have, at least...when it came to this. He couldn't help but stare again at her rather attractive... physical assets. She stopped, and stepped back, shoving him against the three. It gave him an opportunity to clear his mind and refocus his thoughts.

She will pay for that indignity.

Then she told him her name.

...Why would she do that? She was so obviously hostile. Does she expect me to forgive or forget?

...Why is she looking at me like that? She can't... Ah. Of course.

He assumed that, instead of sizing him up (as his hormones led him to believe) she recognized his Kaguya heritage. He was surprised, raising his eyebrow slightly. The Kaguya clan was not as widely known as the Uchiha, Hyuuga, or Aburame, and did not have any major physical features to identify them, such as the Byakugan eyes, or the bugs of the Aburame.

Perhaps she has met someone of my blood in the past? Curious. Well then, she'll know what to expect. He grinned, an idea striking him.

To a point. She can't expect what no one's ever seen before. The Jyuuken style, for all its strength, is established firmly and fairly well known. My gifts lead to an infinite variety of attacks. This may be suitable training after all.

He lowered his head, seemingly in subservience, but in reality focusing his chakra. He muttered the words "Kawarimi no Jutsu", hopefully completing the technique before she turned her head and noticed the replacement's lack of a chakra system. He stamped against the tree, hoping both to catch her attention, and quickly used the technique a second time.

Just as he imagined she turned her head, the first 'him' vanished in a puff of smoke, revealing a log in his place, and a second log fell from the top of the tree. He gave her a second, expecting her to scan the surrounding area with her Byakugan. He was gambling, hoping her eyes couldn't pierce this thick mist, and allowed her a few moment to fume while he was hiding in the mists beyond.

After a few more seconds, he got to his feet and strode out of the mists, appearing on the other side of her, putting her between himself and the tree. He grinned confidently, doubting she could have spotted him through the doujutsu-blocking fog.

"I'm Adachi Janos," he said, breaking the self-imposed silence his disappearance caused. "Looking for me?"

It was hard to say whether or not the little Genin had even taken in any of her words, but considering his actions, the looks he had given her, and the words he was able to mutter out, she highly doubted that. Kohana had to admit that the Genin had guts to speak up against her, considering she was the one that was right here, not him, and though he may think he was tough by speaking up, that kind of behavior would only end up getting him killed in the long run, which in fact, she couldn’t help but giggle at a bit.

What a fool. I can’t see him making Chuunin, and if he does, somehow, he won’t be a very successful one at all. All he would do is attack rashly, act brave, and try and be the hero, or someone like a hero. People like that never become good, strong shinobi. People like that simply die…

Despite the fact she wasn’t staring directly at him, as well as the cover of the mist surrounding them, in the corner of her eyes, she could still see his chakra network, something she wouldn’t let out of her sight for now. As she began to turn back to the lowly Genin, her eyes widened as his chakra network disappeared with what she could only assume was either a replacement or a body flicker. He was definitely a brave one, trying to out do her, and thinking he could escape her all seeing eyes.

She pretended to fall into his trap while she watched his chakra system flick around the woods through the mist, a fake surprised look on her face, which looked as though she was trying so hard to keep up with him. It was funny, especially his mistake in stamping the tree. Perhaps he thought it would help him by making her keep looking around, but that only helped her lock onto him still. The sound of logs dropping definitely confirmed that he was using the replacement jutsu, and that again made her giggle inwardly.

He is trying to make me eat my words. Well that surely isn’t going to happen.

…Grow up little man, you’re playing with the big girls now.

Kohana knew that he had stopped up in the trees, but she pretended to keep looking around. Did he even know that the Byakugan could see chakra networks? It was obvious her ability to see in a complete 360 angle was gone because of the mist, but seeing a chakra network through the mist was simple. It was like washing a whole bunch of tiny lights flicker about. This little boy obviously didn’t know the full extent of what a member from the Hyuuga clan could do.

He began to walk towards her, out of the mist, and she quickly turned to face him, already knowing he was going to come out there from where she had seen his chakra network stop at. She had to admit it was hard to follow him, but he still didn’t evade her. It was quite amusing though how big the little Genin thought he was. She was sure he thought he had outsmarted her and she was also sure that he was feeling rather confident with himself, doubting that she had seen him, but it was quite the opposite at that, quite the opposite indeed. Even if she couldn’t follow him with her eyes, following him with her ears could have been done quite as easily as well.

"I'm Adachi Janos,"

"Looking for me?"

Janos would be greeted by nothingness; the only thing in his sight would be the swirling of the mist. What he had seen was indeed Kohana, but her presence quickly vanished the moment he had let his guard down and began walking towards her, speaking his words of confidence and feeling as though he had won. She had used a body flicker, the mist easily concealing her while she did this, and she had reappeared behind the boy silently, where she took a few steps forward and leaned in, her lips dangerously close to the lobe of his ear.

”I’ve already found you…"

Her voice came out in a low whisper, a whisper that would send chills down Janos’ spine. They weren’t said maliciously, or said with any intent on hurting the other, but the way she did say it, the way her hot breath blew against his adolescent earlobe, it would be obvious that such a reaction would occur. The seconds passed like hours, but Kohana wasn’t nearly as done as the other might hope. She continued to invade his personal space, the lips that were so close to his earlobe dropping to his neck, placing such a soft kiss with her tender lips, the sensation of it probably doing worse then what her breath to his earlobe had done.

She held the kiss to his neck only for a brief moment, and as she would pull away, a rather distinct sting of pain would be felt at the pressure point connecting his neck and shoulder. Apparently as Kohana had kissed him, she had summoned a senbon to her lips with the Hidden Needle technique and had shot one into his skin as she broke the kiss. It was a stealthy, actually very good planned out way of doing it, and she was sure it would leave the boy with more than just his shoulder feeling uncomfortable.

Again she used the body flicker technique to appear only a few yards in front of the boy, a smirk obviously playing her face. She was better than Janos. Kohana was a Chuunin with nearly a Jounin’s skill, while this little boy barely seemed to have much experience, in fact, if she didn’t know any better, she might guess that he didn’t even know that many jutsu yet considering he tried eluding her with just a couple uses of the replacement technique.

How idiotic. This boy can’t escape me or get one over on me if he tried. This Hidden Mist jutsu was a complete joke. It is suppose to conceal things, but my eyes can see right through it…

…Guess whoever developed this didn’t take into considering those with doujutsu’s

His blood ran cold, icy rivulets of misted sweat dripping down his malleable spine. She had seen him. It was over. He had gauged her power accurately from the start, adding a bit, due to the unknown power (to him, at least) that her Hyuuga techniques posed. She had met his expectations and surpassed them. If only she wasn't so damn arrogant, she would prove Kohona proud.

The magnitude of the power he had brought to bear against himself had begun to sink in. Reality hit him like a cold slap in the face, before she did. In fact, he was rather startled that an attack from her had not yet come...then he felt her presence behind him. Though he was sure his doom was upon him, he couldn't entirely banish the mischevious smile from his face. Though she probably had sensed his presence the entire time, he had SEEN her, for just that one second.

Just that one second, he had been in control. It was a second worth striving for, worth dying for if that's what it took. The memory banished the terror that would normally come, with a Chuunin behind him and no means of defense in sight. He surrendered to it, hoping that he would receive no lasting harm, knowing that this feeling, this second, no matter what she did, would last forever.

"I've already found you," she whispered. I know, and I don't mind, Janos wanted to whisper right back, but there was no sense in antagonizing the vastly more powerful ninja. He was in enough trouble as it is, no matter his state of mind.

He could feel the luxurious caress of her breath, and then a brush of her lips, against his ear. For whatever reason, his confidence remained this time. That one brief taste of, honestly, possibly imagined control had allowed him to retain it here. He could just imagine those lips caressing other things... elsewhere...

He grinned at the forwardness his thoughts apparently had. He wouldn't shy away from the thought, but nor would he say it out loud. He was confident, not suicidal. Her lips began to move down his neck, sending an erotic chill through his body. Why she aimed to tease and please rather than exact vengeance for his defiant acts, he didn't know; but he wasn't about to complain!

Then she kissed him, for only a brief moment, sending a thrill of warmth and...pain? Why did it hurt? Why did-- His body froze. His arm hurt like HELL, seemed weakened and atrophied, and his left shoulder was like a small sun, radiating constant waves of pain throughout his body.

She uses seduction as an attack?! DAMN she's good! he thought, hormones reacting once again before pain brought them to heel. He went to turn around to face her, but pain flared throughout his whole left side, his chakra seeming oddly diminished. The 'sun' of pain gone nova, he couldn't help but to let out a groan of agony.

Grabbing the senbon she had somehow implanted in his shoulder, he ripped it out as she vanished from behind him, throwing the bloody needle to the ground. Eyes that seemed equally spurned and bloodthirsty looked around for her, but she had seemingly vanished into the mist. It seemed to grow thicker, consuming her and leaving no trace of her presence, just an empty swirl of air.

He had the strangest urge to just collapse, to give up and let her kill him if that was indeed what she desired. Even with the needle gone, his chakra still felt odd, diminished or disrupted somehow. He didn't understand it. He understood about the Jyuuken, the Hyuuga's most basic of techniques, but this didn't feel like how he imagined that would feel.

Could she have developed some new technique...?

She reappeared in front of him, and his anger roared into being once more.

"What have you DONE to me, bitch? Do you just walk around and prey on people from your own damn village? If this is what Chuunin become, I'll stay right where I am, and who I am. I don't want to have to work with monsters like you!"

His utterances started out high-pitched, like he was crying with the pain of the needle, but his voice quickly lowered into an angry growl.

"You Hyuuga think you're so damn powerful with your all-seeing eye, but there are other clans that are just powerful. What good is sight if you lack the strength to use it?"

He was breathing heavily now, mind ready, thirsting battle, thirsting blood. The small part of his mind that kept thinking as his body readied itself for combat was insulting the rest of his intelligence, knowing that the Hyuuga could dismember him almost effortlessly. But he didn't care. She hurt him, damnit!

He held his hand in front of his body; it began to shake, white bumps forming on each finger, but he stopped, realizing the weakness of the talon technique. It would take something far stronger to even scratch this talented kuniochi. Drawing his arm back to his side, he made no attempt to hide her technique. Her prodigal eyes would see it even if he did - better to not waste the chakra or effort.

His arm began to shake; slowly at first, then faster, as something under the skin began to squirm. His arm wiggled in ways an arm should not; his bone forcing its way out from the trappings of muscle and skin. He could feel the snap of every tendon, the skin grasping at the calcified weapon as it slid past the opening in his hand.

It only took a few seconds, but it seemed much longer than that to the young Kaguya child. He had used the first dance form, Yanagi no Mai. He had used it only once before, but then, it had served him well. Here, he hoped it would do the same. He tried to command the bone in his left arm to follow suit, but the Hyuuga had damaged his chakra too much to allow him to use even this relatively simple technique.

The bone, now completely formed, was sharper than steel, denser than the strongest sword. It was a weapon he alone (and, of course, others of his kekkai genkai, but they were scarce, and none were here) could use. He hoped she had not encountered a Kaguya before, hoped he had the element of surprise. He knew he had nothing else.

He lunged, and as he lunged he realized just how goddamned futile it all was. He was fighting with all he had against a ninja of his own village, for...what? For pride? For control? They were meaningless. Why was he risking his life for this, of all things? But...this was not the time to think. He was flying through the air, makeshift weapon pointed at an enemy's head. This was the time to fight.

Regardless of the meaning behind the conflict, the lines had been drawn. She was not on his side. Wasn't this what being a shinobi was all about? Fighting, when the cause was lost? When you knew you couldn't win, fighting on?

Or was he, with his blade flying through the air at a Hyuuga kuniochi, trying to gouge out those vaunted eyes, just another countless fool?

She was amused to say the least. Watching the little boy’s reactions, the way his body shuttered and flooded with warmth at her touch and caress. It was just so fun to inflict such feelings to people. When she was a Genin, she would have probably thought such acts of flirtatiousness were completely uncalled for and unprofessional, but considering that she was a woman, a kunoichi, and that the weakness of most men was that indeed, women, she would use her assets to their fullest in order to have the upper hand. Temptress? She’d say so.

Kohana could see though that after the initial shock and warmth that the little Genin had felt was completely melted away by anger. Neither of them had actually gone and hurt eachother just yet, and she had been the one to cause pain first. Perhaps this made her a bad person, but considering Janos had made the first move to begin with, he sealed his own fate with his stupidity. It was good at least for Kohana, it got her a little bit of practice and a sparring partner for the time being.

Heh…he’s so pathetic. I could knock him out right now if I wanted to—hm? This mist is starting to get thicker. How annoying. I’d better wrap this up, who knows if I’ll be able to still see his chakra points if this mist continues to thicken…

"What have you DONE to me, bitch? Do you just walk around and prey on people from your own damn village? If this is what Chuunin become, I'll stay right where I am, and who I am. I don't want to have to work with monsters like you!"

Janos’ words easily brought her away from her thoughts, though the little boy probably shouldn’t have said the things he did, because the look on her face showed how obvious the words had affected her. Kohana was pissed to say the least, her body shaking with anger. Was this boy completely daft? He did deserve it after all, for being such a rash imbecile. She was about to snap at him, but he had to open up his mouth again and spit out yet another gem of phrases that only fueled her anger.

"You Hyuuga think you're so damn powerful with your all-seeing eye, but there are other clans that are just powerful. What good is sight if you lack the strength to use it?"

Did…he…just call me a bitch…and a…monster…?

”Bitch? Monster? What right do you have to call anyone that you pathetic little kid! I mind my own business, train to better myself, and WHO was the one to attack me? YOU! I don’t prey on anyone but those who deserve it, like little rash brats as yourself!”

It was a natural ability of the Hyuuga to expel chakra, and from the anger she was feeling, she was indeed expelling chakra. It poured off of her in invisible waves, waves that could be felt as pressure riding through the air. Maybe this was a bit exaggerated on her behalf, but it only spiked and flared momentarily before it slowly became under control, though her anger had yet to subside at all. This boy had managed to get under her skin. That fact alone pissed her off, but now she didn’t care one bit, all she wanted to do was put this boy in his place, for good.

”As for being a Hyuuga? Let the Hyuuga be damned for all I care! My connection to the Hyuuga run slim and far, I don’t need my eyes to completely decimate you or anyone else, you hear me?!”

Kohana stared at the boy, stared at all of his chakra points, already knowing what she would do. Instead of using the Eight Trigrams 128 Palms, she would use the lesser 64 Palms version and completely knock him out, maybe even hospitalize him. That would surely shut him up for awhile, not only that, but it would allow her to not see his face for quite some time in order for her temper to cool down. The last thing she needed was to be stripped of her status for killing some lowly, insignificant, and worthless Genin.

She was about to attack but halted seeming quite surprised about the stance he had taken. Kohana had only seen one other person do such a thing before. Janos pushed a long bone from his palm, a bone sharpened like a sword. It was called Dance of the Willows as she recalled. It was a technique only those of the Kaguya clan could master. Kuishen had used it numerous time when they had fought two years ago, and recently on their mission to fight and apprehend Genshou Hasui.

So…so…there are other Kaguya here in the Village Hidden in the Leaves? No matter…I dealt with Kuishen and I can easily deal with Janos, especially since this comes to no surprise to me…

A smirk came to her lips, an all-knowing smirk. She watched as the over confident Kaguya boy came running at her with his bone sword coming from his palm, ready to strike, obviously taking on his clan’s roots and wanting to spill his opponents blood, her blood, but that wouldn’t be happening today, oh no, it most certainly wouldn’t be happening today. If anything were going to stop her, it’d be everything but a Genin who was way in over his head.

Kohana waited, just standing there with a smirk as Janos closed the distance between them. When he finally got close enough in order to swing, she dodged it completely and effortlessly. It was merely a fun game of cat and mouse to her, and she showed him just who was in control when he turned to her again. A palm began to glow with chakra and she would then thrust her palm under his chin, an invisible wave of chakra rushing through him and sending him flying back through the air though she was hardly done with him.

She then would use the move Whirlwind, jumping into the air after Janos and performing a flying round house kick, knocking him away even further, but still she wasn’t done. After using a body flicker, she then grabbed onto him and slammed him into the ground. Kohana was basically sitting on top of Janos, straddling his hips while she had a grip on his shirt so tight that any movement would probably rip it. Her free hand was encased in chakra, obviously like with Air Palm, only this being an attack with the Gentle Fist. Kohana pulled her palm back and held it there, body bouncing a little on top of him.

”Well?! Now what does that smart mouth of yours have to say?! HUH!? One false move and I can have your heart, lungs, and every last organ in your body collapse in failure from shutting your chakra network down!!! Even the greatest medical ninja alive wouldn’t be able to help you! You aren't the first Kaguya I've met, so you can't surprise me at ALL!”

Kohana was pissed, that was quite obvious.

I win, you lose, I hope you learned your lesson!

Her words, shrieked in fury, resonated in his ears. Insults thrown after insults; who is to judge who is truly the victim or the villain? All there is, now, is the dance. The dance of opinions, the dance of lies. The dance of power and control. He knew it all too well, and had lost too many times to give up now. He could feel her power, feel her rage even as he sprung to cut her down. He stood a snowball's chance in hell, but perhaps, just this once, that would be enough.

Her words replayed themselves in his mind, and he couldn't help but mentally laugh at their absurdity. To believe that a person with such power held herself in such high regard to judge others at a mere whim, to dispense punishment...it boded ill for humanity at large. It seemed to Janos that power and morality did not necessarily come hand in hand.

Yet, he flew at her, hopelessly outclassed by her strength. Her chakra seemed to burst from her in waves, buffeting his flight across the distance between them. It was too late to turn back; he had committed himself to the attack.

She began to smirk.

Damnit, what now? What other tricks has she got up her sleeves? She seemed so appealing before, but now she is nothing but a monster. Someone who should never have been allowed to gain power. Is it...too late for me?

He had closed the distance; her grin only deepened. A vicious thrust of her palm hit his chin, agonizingly snapping his head back and sending him flying through the air. He almost slipped away, losing his mind in the pain, searching for solace away from sanity, but she was not finished yet.

She started to use a move Janos recognized as the Konoha Senpuu, jumping into the air after him with a spinning roundhouse kick. Her foot impacted his ribs with a force he had not thought possible from such a simple technique, sending him spinning and changing the angle of his descent. His dazed mind came to the realization that he must have cut her deep with his angered words. One small victory, one huge loss.

He hit the ground. Hard. It hurt. A lot. More pain than he had ever felt at one time before. It was excruciating, but he was a ninja; one of the first techniques he learned was to focus his thoughts, his senses, his entire mind into one small point of consciousness, then expand it; taking in everything. He could ignore the pain for now, pushing it aside until he had the luxury of tears.

He almost sensed her before she was there, the fog pushed aside by her technique was identification enough for one using the Mu technique. He tried to stand up, to form a seal, draw a weapon, do anything, but all he could manage was a painful convulsion and a pathetic whimper. He grimaced inwardly; he did not want her pity, or her respect. He focused again, slowly bringing chakra to bear.

She jumped on him, slamming him to the ground and pinning him there with her weight and a rock-hard grip on his clothing. He could do nothing. He was powerless, or so he wanted her to believe.

"Well?!" she yelled, her composure forgotten in her wrath. "Now what does that smart mouth of yours have to say?! HUH?!" Janos wasn't even listening. He was focusing on his chakra with as much concentration as he could bring to bear with an incredibly hostile infuriated kuniochi sitting on him, with incredibly attractive...things, hanging practically in his face.

"One false move..." One false move, Janos echoed mentally. One false move and this is all over; my life, my ninja career, my dreams. One false move is all it takes to send me spiralling down to Hell. He chanted it like a mantra, focusing enough chakra to accomplish his goal. The one false move I will never make!

He brought his hands together, forming the necessary seals, hoping, in her rage, she overlooked his bumbling fingers, frantically not making that one fatal error that would spell his doom. He was suddenly elsewhere, further, deeper in the mist, but he kept his focus; his life depended on it. He would not release the replacement technique yet.

He focused a small amount of chakra while still maintaining the concentration necessary to hold the jutsu, making the hand seals for a different technique. "Bunshin no Jutsu," he muttered. He was not very skilled in this technique, but, right now, one was enough. The clone he created wasn't real; it had no substance, no life. Mist drifted through it and its feet made no imprint on the now-moist pine needle covering of the woods.

He commanded his clone to 'walk' towards the Hyuuga, following the sound of her vengeful voice. He remained very still, not moving a single muscle; he was bruised just about everywhere, and wished to avoid detection. He released the replacement technique just as the clone came within speaking distance, hearing the rest of her rant through its illusory ears.

"One false move?" Janos spoke. "One false move is all you get. One chance to live, one chance to die. One false move and its over." He stared the Hyuuga right in her empty eyes, at the pupils she didn't have. "Surprised?" He shook his head sadly. "And you call me pathetic. Outsmarted by a Genin...What sort of Chuunin are you?"

He continued walking around the clearing, staring at her bulging, astonished, eyes. "You think I don't have the power to win? There's more to power than strength. More to power than the number of techniques a ninja can wield. Power is found in the heart. In putting your life on the line. In fighting when the cause is already lost."

"One false move is all you get, Hyuuga. Just one. You wanted to take my life, attack my body. You've made your one false move, Kohana, and I am attacking your pride." He ran straight at her, and vanished in a puff of smoke before contact was made.

His voice rang out from the other side of the clearing, loud and true. "How does it feel to be powerless for a change? How does it feel to the tables turned? You can't see me, can you? You can't see my chakra. This mist, a thing of your own creation, turned against you. How...fitting."

The second clone, created after the first, continued to talk; covering the sound of the real Janos's footsteps. He, the real Kaguya, crept ever closer to the decreasing circle of visibility that the mist allowed.

"Who are you to pass judgment on me, or anyone else? What gives you the authority, the right, to decide how things should be? What does that smart mouth of yours have to say now, Hyuuga?" The clone inquired, sound lingering a moment after it vanished into the mists, leaving nothing but a trace.

The real Janos, bleeding from the shoulder and bruised on his chin and chest, stood up within sight of the girl. "Surprised?" The boy questioned, not smiling anymore. He wore an expression that made him look older than his 14 years; saddened, and...disappointed. He shook his head, pitying the kuniochi. "One false move is all you get..." he whispered, letting the sound drift through the fog.

He jerked his arm, bone once again piercing the skin of his palm, still dripping blood from the previous attack. To the untrained eye, it seemed to be merely another Yanagi no Mai, but that was not what Janos intended. Not in the slightest. He began to focus his chakra, feeding it all into the weapon sprouting from his palm.

He wasn't sure exactly what he was trying to accomplish, but accomplish it he did. The bone seemed to course with his chakra, his very essence empowering it. He wondered if she could see it, with those vaunted eyes... It seemed to strain, like a chained animal, at its restraints. He got fully to his feet, bringing his arm backwards, then flinging it forward once more. The bone launched from his arm, seeming to seek the Hyuuga, flying straight and true.

He didn't know if she would be able to counter the technique, but he had to assume it would be within the scope of the abilities. He shouted the name he had just coined; "Shininhone Eishou no Jutsu!" or, the Corpse-Bone Aria. A technique he hoped would come to be respected one day, if it indeed did as he hoped. He began to run towards her, hoping to surprise her with a physical assault.

"I...can't surprise you...can I? You think you've seen...everything a Kaguya can do? It's only...just begun..." he panted, calling his chakra forth once more. He visualized a needle of chakra coming into being on the index finger of his right hand as he ran, hoping to prove to her that he could match the Hyuuga. Reaching forward, he hoped to brush her skin near a vital area. Even a small touch would do...

"Ketatamashii Yubi no Jutsu!"

You're not the only one who's touch can kill.

Rage, anger, madness, her emotions in general clouded her judgment. She was a monster? How laughable. All Kohana ever did was help people and be the best she could be. She was always a dedicated kunoichi and always served the Village Hidden in the Leaves with grace and success. Her cocky attitude was a little out of character for her, even with the two years she had gained since she had first become a Genin. It wasn’t as though she was naturally like this, with the attitude of someone who is better then the people around them. In essence, she was acting like her Hyuuga brethren, the people she truly hated.

In reality, her cockiness stemmed from insecurity, as did most peoples. Though she had repeatedly said and tried to accomplish her goal of displacing herself from her clan and making it on her own, making it to where she would out do them all, and show them that they were wrong in neglecting her, and wrong in shunning her the way they did. At first, it was just her parents she had hated for all of their mental abuse, but now looking at the way the Hyuuga clan ran itself, despite Jyin’s best attempts, it pissed her off more and more every time she thought about it.

The anger she always tried to suppress was finally shining through, though it probably wasn’t the best place to do it. Later on, she would look back to this and regret it, and probably try to make amends as well, but that was probably unlikely. In fact, this little Genin boy probably would never want to see her ever again, which she would easily understand and accept. The fact that she had ruined a possible friendship would eat at her though later on to the point where she might even cry.

Kohana at the moment wasn’t even thinking of this though as she attacked the boy beneath her, her rage completely blinding her, literally, from what the Genin below her was trying to pull. He was replaced by something, but she hadn’t noticed because she was to busy screaming her lungs out. Though the next thing she would notice was an image seeming to float through the mist surrounding them. That’s when she realized she had made a rather big error in judgment. In her rage, she allowed her opponent an opening to attack, or in this case, retreat, regroup, and attack.

She found it rather ironic that now this Kaguya boy, Janos, was giving her the lecture. Though she may not have had the right to say some of the things she had said, Kohana knew that this boy didn’t have that right either. He was lucky, simple as that. If she hadn’t have lost her cool like she had did, then he could have either already been dead or knocked unconscious. Calling her pathetic, and that she made the false move, telling her that strength isn’t just power, but it comes from the heart. Despite the truth behind that, he made it sound like a cheesy adventure story where the hero comes back from behind and wins with his heart.

This isn’t a story from a book…not everything can be won by the strength of one’s heart…you’ll realize that soon enough, if not from me, from someone else…

The clone that he had made, which now came into visibility, charged at her, and she immediately took a defensive stance, thinking it was the real him. When the clone vanished though she cocked her head, wanting to hit herself for not realizing she didn’t see a chakra network, so obviously that wasn’t him. Kohana began looking all around her, knowing that she’d spot him soon enough with her Byakugan, but the more she scanned, the more it slowly started to sink in that the mist that she had created had backfired on her and gave her opponent a slight advantage.

Janos’ taunting didn’t help the situation either. It was as if he really was living in an adventure story, ‘cause how could he possibly dream of winning? Though it sounded cocky, Kohana honestly couldn’t comprehend how he could win. All she saw him use were easy parlor trick jutsu that academy students learn, along with the Dance of the Willows Kaguya technique. Each technique she was used to, and could easily come up with a way to get around it, even in the mist, though the problem was finding the kid and putting him out of commission before his head got any bigger.

Out of nowhere the real Janos appeared, which she could tell by the wounds he had, wounds that were actually bleeding, unlike the fake illusory clones that he had used to try and mess with her. Indeed Kohana was a little surprised, but she didn’t say anything. The last thing that was needed was for her to egg him on any further, since his voice was beginning to become rather grating. It was a fact though that she would have to win, or her pride and her status as a Chuunin would mean nothing if some little Genin could defeat her.

Another Dance of the Willows was expected, and Kohana was ready for it, ready to dodge, pivot around him, and deal some damage, hopefully ending this nonsense once and for all. As Janos pulled his arm back, she began to move, but after thrusting it forward it was too late. Kohana quickly stopped when she saw the bone spike coming straight towards her, but there was no way to dodge, there was no time to perform a replacement or a body flicker. The bone sliced across her cheek, leaving a rather nice gash on her, blood already beginning to pour from it.

It was amazing to say the least. She didn’t except for him to do that, but then again, as a ninja you should always expect the unexpected. Kohana didn’t take the time to panic, or to feel her face where the gash was, or try to stop the blood from flowing, all she wanted to do was pay him back for wrecking her face. Kohana caught the glimpse of the next attack he was trying to pull, a chakra needle at his fingertip as he ran at her again. He was still acting quite brave. Just because her face was hurt didn’t mean that it was the end of the world and that she was an easy target.

A smirk, much like before, came to her lips as both of her hands got an odd greenish blue glow to them. As Janos neared her, she did what she was originally planning to do against the so-called Dance of the Willows she had been expecting before. Kohana pivoted around Janos, turning and skidding some behind him, where she would then slice right down his back with her chakra, it ripping through his shirt and slicing through his skin. He drew her blood, now she drew some of his, even though she was the one who originally hurt him to begin with it wasn’t this extreme.

The chakra encasing her hands changed colors, from the odd greenish blue, to a full-blown blue color, which signified her Gentle Fist attack. In the split seconds following her use of the Chakra Razor, she unleashed a set of two attacks against the Kaguya’s back, each strike hitting against the cut she had made with her previous attack, aiming to do double the damage so to speak when it came to pain, and now even sealing more of his chakra off, effectively messing with his insides, something he would most likely despise.

I’m not quite done with you yet…Janos…

Because of the fact that she was behind him, she thought it would be a good time to use a taijutsu technique she seldom used. Of course, this was decided in a split second after the Gentle Fist attacks, which meant that her three consecutive attacks were chained together in hopes of making an effective combination. Either way, Kohana dropped down and slid underneath Janos’ legs, grabbing his thighs and pulling him down, making him fall down onto his back. Kohana, still in a kneeling position after the slide, gracefully leaned backwards and up into a handstand, each hand on either side of Janos’ body, before finally coming back down. The first heel that made contact hit him in his stomach, while the following slammed into his chest.

Kohana jumped off of Janos and waited, staring down at him a yard or two away, pondering whether he would get back up, or pondering what he might say. She walked back over to him, and though seemed to have her guard down, her body was tense, waiting for him to spring up and try to attack her again. Despite this, she crouched down next to Janos’ body, arms crossed over her chest and under her breasts, which effectively pushed them up and together more, much like when she nearly made Kuishen have a nose bleed, though the action itself wasn’t really thought to do that in this particular situation. She leaned over his some, a slight smirk on her face.

”You’re not half bad for a Genin, but you still have a long way to go….

Her anger, for the most part, had subsided, and now, she wanted to go back to how she was handling it before, cool, calm and collected, without any screaming, yelling, or letting her emotions control her. Kohana knew that the way she acted would have cost her her life out on the battlefield, so never again would she let that happen.

”Though, I doubt you have anything left. Now what? Little Kaguya…?”

The voice sounded so seductive, so sultry, the mist around her seemed like steam instead. Was this another sort of technique perhaps? Was she putting on her charm to hurt his ego even more? None of the above; this was just who she was now. Poor Janos.

Sometimes its time to take a stand, no matter who you are, no matter what force, what power guides your hand. Everything has a breaking point. Patience, restraint, sanity...all only last so long. There are times when a man, no matter how downtrodden, must speak up.

Janos knew this all too well. He had gone beyond adrenalin, beyond the thrill in the spill of blood, the lust for battle as well as other things. No, his motivation came from the mind. Pain and fatigue were, for now, out of sight and out of mind. He had to take a stand, while he had legs on which balance, force of will with which to steady his fluttering heart.

The fact that he was flying through the air towards a battle-mad Hyuuga kuniochi, of course, did nothing to help his predicament. Sometimes you had to take a flying leap...

As he suspected, to his dread, she was prepared for his attack; she slid behind him effortlessly, charging her palm with chakra, glowing green and blue. The pain was, shortly, all he knew, but he would not be silenced. Even as his blood spilled ion the dew-soaked grass, he knew he had to take a stand, before he fell. He opened his mouth, trying to organize his addled thoughts, and was hit once more. Coherence lost, his breath came out in a scream. It felt like someone was taking a knife to his insides.

He knew what it was; the Jyuuken style. He could feel her breath on the back of his neck, hear her pant with exertion. He could sense her sweat, and he would even swear he could feel the heat of her body, but at this point that could be the heat of his own blood. He turned his head, but not his body, keeping his arms pointedly down at side, and stared her in the eyes.

"It feels good, doesn't it? You enjoy it, don't you?" he asked, his voice utterly calm. She gave no indication of a response, launching into a Glass Slippers attack, kicking him several times. With a groan of pain, he slid to the ground. From his prone position, he stared at her, gaze filled with compassion. The desire to fight had left him now; with a person such as this, nothing could be settled by conflict. He grinned, foolishly, despite his wounds, as she taunted him once more.

”You’re not half bad for a Genin, but you still have a long way to go…. Though, I doubt you have anything left. Now what? Little Kaguya…?”

"You just don't know when to quit, do you?" he said, shaking his head, as he rose on one knee. "You just can't stop. You think I can be controlled, I'm guessing? You think I'll bow down to someone like you?" A funny thought occurred to him, and he burst into laughter.

"I bet you think I'm being brave!" He chuckled, painfully, and brought his other foot underneath his failing body. The blood trickled slowly down one arm as he spoke again. "This isn't bravery. This isn't courage. Sometimes... sometimes you just have to take a stand. But I bet you know that all too well," he said, seeming to stare right through her. Staggering to his feet, gasping for breath, he continued to speak.

"You can't conquer me. It's that simple. I will resist until I no longer have the ability to defy you. You can kill me, yes...you can break every bone in my body if you want to, I'm sure. You could even shut down my entire chakra system, but you would still not have won. But, nevertheless, you'll never see me make the same mistake twice. I can't fight you, I can't beat you in a show of muscles, of techniques, but that's not what this is about anymore, is it?"

His hands, deceptive in their slowness, clasped together in the form of a seal just as he imagined she would charge. "Kawarimi no Jutsu," he whispered, fading away just as he thought she would reach him. He had noticed, before, that the mist now masked the entirety of her Byakugan; now he would put that knowledge to good use.

"Do you still think you can win?" he said, raising his voice slightly so that it rang across the clearing, echoing in the misty forest. "If you find me, whatever you do to me, I will never shed a tear. I will never beg for mercy from something such as you." He began to move his aching body in the direction he hoped Konoha lay; the battle here was over. She would kill him, or she would not.

"People need strength," he called, grunted with the effort of motion through his wounds, "People need to believe they they can stand up to people like you, who try to take their strength away. I don't know why you are the way you are, but you'll never see me change into something like you."

Silence rang out over the forest. He didn't think she would fight, he thought he was hidden, far enough into the mists, but hope, and defiance, were all he had.

"Sometimes," he whispered into the mist, "you just have to take a stand."

Janos was a very persistent young Genin. No matter how much she beat him down, it seemed as though he was able to keep on getting up and keep on taking her beatings. Kohana really had to hand it to him; he could be something promising later on in his shinobi career. In fact, she was looking forward to perhaps having a rematch when he was an actual challenge, like after he became a Chuunin or more so close to a Jounin. In other words, she was impressed, but she would never tell him that, or even let him think that she was thinking that.

Between all her attacking, and all the injuries he was sustaining, he continued to talk and mumble words, words that kept digging at Kohana and really crawling in her skin. It was funny really, that a Genin had gotten her so mad and what not, but wouldn’t anyone get mad if they were facing such an idiot like him? Then again, her pride was also on the line, so that most likely was a big part of why she even kept going and trying to defeat him and embarrass him.

In the end, she knew that she would leave him with numerous injuries, bruises, and shut off chakra system, and even though it would take some time to completely heal, it would still heal. Though with all those injuries she wished he’d learn a lesson to stay down instead of keep trying to get up after each and every attack to try and prove a point. That was foolish to say the least. Doing something like that would most definitely kill him, especially out on a mission where he would have to be fighting someone either alone or with a team.

"You can't conquer me. It's that simple. I will resist until I no longer have the ability to defy you. You can kill me, yes...you can break every bone in my body if you want to, I'm sure. You could even shut down my entire chakra system, but you would still not have won. But, nevertheless, you'll never see me make the same mistake twice. I can't fight you, I can't beat you in a show of muscles, of techniques, but that's not what this is about anymore, is it?"

Kohana smirked at this, watching as he staggered and barely could keep standing. It was so stupid to keep going, but she was willing to keep dishing it out until he wasn’t going to get back up, until he realized his place; he was weaker than her and that’s how it was suppose to be. Though, when that thought actually crossed her mind she paused for a moment, and just stood there, staring at the young Kaguya boy with a blank expression, more so than what her eyes would have done to begin with.

I’m…acting just like the people I hate the most. I’m acting like a true Hyuuga…

She looked up just in time to se him form a few hand signs. At first she took a fighting stance, the stance of the Gentle Fist, but then she calmed down a bit upon recognizing the hand signs as that to the Replacement technique. Kohana watched the boy disappear into the mist, disappear far away from her to where she wouldn’t be able to attack him again, even if she wanted to. Kohana expected that he would try and provoke her more with words, or at least try and berate her some more into telling her how bad of a person she was, and she was right.

"Do you still think you can win? If you find me, whatever you do to me, I will never shed a tear. I will never beg for mercy from something such as you.”

“People need strength, people need to believe they can stand up to people like you, who try to take their strength away. I don't know why you are the way you are, but you'll never see me change into something like you."

Something like me? Something like me?! He acts as though I’m some thing, or machine, or something! Like I’m not a human being! How dare that little brat even say such a thing to me!

Kohana knew it was pointless to attack, or charge into the mist looking for him without any sort of defense against something she couldn’t see. In the end, he was right about one thing. Her own jutsu had turned against her, and she knew that she would only use this jutsu when she finally was able to not be so reliant on her Byakugan. She shook her head some and sighed, turning away from where Janos may, or most likely, would have went. Neither one of them had lost, and sadly to say, neither one of them had won either.

I guess, I still have a lot of growing to do…

She made her way through the mist and through the forest that it covered, hardly noticing as it slowly receded as she got farther from the point where she had originally cast the jutsu. All Kohana really wanted to do was get home and practice in an environment where she didn’t have to lose herself over some Genin who wasn’t worth the wasted time. Or maybe, that’s what she had to keep telling herself. Nothing had changed inside of her, and she was still the mental wreck she had always been, even as a Genin. Only difference now was that she hid it, and put on an act for everyone else.

This mask makes me look ugly. But at least through ugliness, I’ll be able to exceed those around me. No matter what that kid says, I know that my way is the right way…

Kohana
both jutsu and 105 LP

Janos
the jutsu and 100 LP