Rooftop

[hobnob]

The blue flame was gushing out of Noeru's finger as he lay on his back. It changed in size and shape as he pondered on the time he spent in Aroma country. Mainly on the Chuunin exam and how he let himself down. The exam did not go the way he wanted it to go, no fault but his own. A sigh escaped Noeru's lips as he realized the clan elders would be expecting an explenation for his short-comings. The flame grew bigger, and burned quicker than before, mirroring the frustration he felt internally. He had never taken his life seriously, everything was a bit of a joke. Living his life based on the glories of his clan was his thing, and he had this belief that being a Senju was a golden pass to anything and everything in life. Personal or career life. These few weeks had made himi realize that, his surname, or any other for that matter, means sod-all. There are people in this world who want to make something of themselves. There are people in this world who want to make their family name be as prominent as the Senju, and they were working hard everyday to make their dreams come true. A memory poped into his head, a memory of a conversation he had with one of his villages kunoichi, Aiya, he said that he could not compare himself to a warrior bred warrior such as herself. Back then he said it as a joke, to not instigate a fight, but now it dawned on him, that he really could not compare himself to her. She was determined to achieve prminance for the good of her clan. And he was just a fool, riding out his shinobi life on the glory of his clan. 'Tch...' The you grit his teeth as the blue flame moved onto his palm.

Growth is what he needed. Physically and mentally. Understanding of what is going on around him is what he needed to gain, but simultaneously that is what he did not want to do, because of the mundaniety of everyday life. Action and adventure, those were the things that mattered. Pushing through limits were his interests. Other peoples opinion did not matter, all that did was to him was strength, action, and adventure.

The flame continued to change size and shape as Noeru freed his other hand from the weight of his head, bringing it a few inches away from the other and beginning to mould the chakra into a long stream between the two. Pulling them apart to make it long, bringing it together to make it short, moving his hands in a circular motion to watch it whip around like a piece of rope attached to his hands. He needed to grow, but being bound to the hospital grounds limited that plan a great lot.

Suddenly, his gaze shifted to the left as he heard the door burst open. 'Here ya' are. I thought you pulled a runner. Immediately Noeru recognised the pretty face of the girl named Tori. She was nurse that was assigned to him after he ended up here following his final fight at the Chuunin exams. Noeru scoffed as his gaze returned to his hands that were now glowing even more than before. A warm, energetic laugh escaped the girls lips as the responce to Noeru's ignorance. Swiftly she hopped onto the water tank beside Noeru and sat down beside him, watching him with curiosity. 'You know, sitting here moping won't change the past.
'I'm not moping.' The frustration in his voice was clear, as this day. Another energetic laugh escaped her lips as she reached into her pocket a brought out a slightly crumpled packet of cigarettes. Noeru paid her no attention, as she put the cigarette into her mouth and lit it with a brass lighter. She drew the air through the cigarette into her mouth, holding it between her index and middle fingers. The smell of smoke attracted Noeru's attention and he saw her sat there casually, smoking while enjoying the view. 'That's really bad for you, you know that right?' Sitting up beside her and inspecting her features. Tori smiled and look at him, 'I do indeed, but you know what? I don't care. Coming up here and smoking... it's like a mini get-away.' then her eyes returned to the view of Aroma country.

The rooftop of the hospital offered the view of the whole city. The city itself was beautiful, but all the drama and constant stress and the pressing for time resulted in people becoming drained and burnt out. Rooftops were a get away from all of that, they put people above all those problems and offered them peace and quiet. Here people could take the time to enjoy the fresh air, to fill their lungs, and escape their everyday life. Tori knew all this, Noeru on the other hand did not. He relished any drama, it gave him something to get excited about, and so he struggled to understand what Tori meant with her last statement. But, he tried to regardles, noting it in his mind so that one day he might understand it.

'You want to join in?' The hand holding her cigarettes casually moved towards Noeru and lifted the flap exposing the tobacco tubes to the fourteen year old. Noeru looked at it was a casual gaze, and in a sudden movement the blue flame from his left hand disappeared as he grabbed one of the tubes and the lighter. He put it in his mouth and expertly lit it, causing an even bigger cloud of smoke to fill the area than Tori. She laughed as her presumptions came true. Noeru had smoked in the past, for the sheer thrill, and he enjoyed it. The chemicals filled his lungs, his blood, and eventually his muscles, and his brain. He became relaxed, almost sleepy, but it allowed him to finally take in the beauty of this moment. Not a noise to be heard for miles, just peace and quiet. His mind could finally slow down and relax. He placed his cigarett hand on the water tank to support his weight as his right hand was still glowing blue.

'What are you planning on doing with that?' Tori said as she looked at the flame, which Noeru was now trying to shape into a cube, floating above his hand. Noeru looked at it, slightly lost, his mind still adjusting itself to the flood of unneeded chemicals. All he could muster was a gently shrug of the shoulders. But then, the cube slip in half after a swift movement from Tori. Now he hand glew with a blue aure that was shaped like a blade, Noeru's eyes opened wide as he witnessed the skill with which the girl used chakra.

'Y-… You can use chakra!?' Exclaimed the boy after the awe has passed, and at which Tori laughed even louder and with more energy then before. 'I'm not just a simple nurse yanno'! A wink followed her words before she took one final puff of her cigarette and eventually threw it onto the roof, where it smoldered for a moment and died out. 'There's a lot you don't know about me kiddo.' She hopped down onto the roof and turned around, looking up at Noeru. Her hand moved to the height of her solar plexus and once again it glew with blue chakra that was shaped like a blade; a moment later, her other hand did the same, giving Noeru another display of skill in that area.

Noeru looked down in amazement, he was not sure whether his nurse was offering him a challenge or whether she was telling him not to underestimate people he does not know. Either way, he was amazed at what she could do. Shaping a blade of chakra like that was not an easy feat, she mostlikely had the skill equal to a Jounin in that area. Drawing a puff on the cigarette, he put it between his middle finger a thumb and flicked it with the wind, making it remain in the air until it was lost from sight by blowing too far away.

The flame vanished from his right hand as he stood up jumped towards the west side of the roof, and landing on his feet facing Tori. The look in her eyes said exactly what he wanted to hear. They were going to test each other in combat. The flame that arose within him before every battle began to show its signs as a smirk appeared on his face and he channeled chakra into his arms. Suddenly, hi right forearm and hand turned into a wooden blade. His left on the other hand remained the same, just wooden. Quickly, he dashed towards the girl drawing his hand to side and his blade arm skimmed the roof top, cutting through it slightly.

Tori, remained calm and moved towards him as if she were taking a laisuerly stroll. She had seen this so many times before, and she was unlikely to be caught be surprise by the youth. 'He will aim his fist towards my face while his blade will move towards my gut… This reminds me of what Shinobi life is…' She thought as she casually watched Noeru move towards her as fast as he could.

The actions that followed were exactly what she predicted. She let out a chuckle as she easily parried his attacks, pushing his wooden fist towards the centre of his body, automatically preventing his following attack from even taking place. The belitteing chuckle angered Noeru. He was not used to being mocked like that. His hand landed firmly on the roof as he used his momentum to bring his legs up into the air, and deliver a kick to the girls face. Once again, it was parried with ease as she turned anti-clockwise, allowing his foot to brush past her, and with a swift movement of her arm, and amazing control, she cut through his pyjamas, revealing his bare leg all the way up to his knee. Her energetic laugh exploded across the rooftop. The flame inside Noeru turned into sheer anger as he landed on his feet once again and took a few steps, circling around Tori.

'What's wrong master Senju? Can you not deal with a Genin nurse?' Her laugh became even louder. Noeru's frustration grew as she claimed to be a genin. 'Tch. Genin my ass.' Not showing any surprise at the fact that she was a kunoichi in the first place. With the skill she had just showed, it was obvious to him that she must have had some sort of training to be able to use chakra the way she was.

Her laugh persisted a further infuriated Noeru. Once again he charged at her at full speed, hacking and punching and kicking. But to no avail. Easily she dodged and parried and countered his moves, causing him more pain and more embarrassement and more frustration.

He stood there, panting. Arms hangin by his sides while looking onwards at his opponent, whom he hated, but at the same time adored. At the hospital she was the kindest person there, alsways making sure that eveyone who she was responsible for were comfortable and in the best state they could be. But here, she was pure evil, and he did not understand why she was doing this. All he knew was the he was furious now, and he was going to shut her up one way or another. With limited moved that he could use, he would have to focus on nintaijutsu. Land techniques were not an option, he did not want to destroy the hospital.

He dashed towards her, his left hand glowing with the same blue flame once again. But this time, his arm did not change, nonetheless something did happen, and Tori knew this, making her become more cautious. 'Finally. He's beginning to think.'

Few feet away from Tori, Noeru extended the arm which glew a few moments ago. Wooden vines shot out of his forearms and headed for the nurse. Skilfully, she hopped backwards while swinging her hands before her, slicing through the vines with ease. Noeru smirked, this was going exactly as he planned, she focussed on the four which were right infront of her, and did not see one which was crawling just above the roof. It shot forwards and caught her ankle, wrapping itself around it all the way up. His goal was to put her into a position where she had to surrended, or if she did not, just send her to sleep by cutting off her air ways. 'Master Senju… I like the sound of that.' A chuckle followed, as the vine wrapped itself around Tori, only to suddenly be wrapped in white smoke. The smirk wiped from Noerus face. 'Oh you do, do ya?' Tori's voice came from behind Noeru, and suddenly he felt something connect with his side, sending him flying into the wall that seperated him from the twenty storey drop.

Noeru slid down the wall untill his ass hit the rooftop, looking down he remained immobile for a moment. His side pulsated, throbbed. The pain was immense, he wanted to cry out, scream, shout. Tori had probably caused more damage than had been healed since he had arrived. Blood leaked out of his mouth and landed on his pyjamas. He coughed and even more gushed out, causing him to cover his mouth with his hand, before flicking the contents onto the rooftop. His other hand reached up and grabbed the ledge, slowly pulling himself up as he used the wall for support. The blank gaze fell on Tori, his chin covered in blood. The look of worry that had filled her face turned into a smirk. She expected him to give up after taking that blow, instead he managed to impress her.

With a shake of his head, his blank gaze turned into on of annoyence and determination. Blood still dripping, he looked on and ready for his next attack. Outwitting her would be a challenge, it appeared her moves where very calculated, and she seemed to know the sorts of attacks that he would use against her. He never realised when she managed to use a clone jutsu - after looking around their makeshift arena, Noeru was not able to find an object she had substituted her body with, which left only the option of the clone, or so he believed - which lead to this brutal blow he had just taken. Concentration is something he lacked most of the time, this was his downfall most of the time, it was time to address it. He stood up straight, swaying a little at first as he still tried to deal with the pain coming from his side, took a deep breath and look onwards at his opponent, the beautiful nurse who proved to be a powerful kunoichi. The air escaped him slowly as he moved forwards, waving through a string of handseals, lungs filling with chakra, before emitting a cloud of pollen out of his mouth. The pollen surrounded the youth and eventually filled the entireity of the hospital roof. A technique used to help him locate his opponents. Now he was able to track every movement that Tori made, through this cloud of pollen that was connected to his sense of touch. She would not be able to hide any more. Any movement, and breath, any flick of the hair, he would feel it as if it happened directly against his skin.

Lacating his target, he dashed forwards, once again waving a string of handseals, his arm turned into wood and dashed forwards, extending at rapid speeds, he had forsaken any principles, he just wanted to make the girl pay for the way she treated him, made fun of him, hurt him. Noeru felt that someone with her skill would be able to heal herself. He felt a movement in the distance, and shifter the trajectory of the wooden vine that gave chase to the girl. It appeared that she could not outrun this technique, and so he felt the burst of chakra from both her hands. The chakra blades severed through the vines with more ease than before, leading to another burst of laughter; 'Is this all!? Is this all you have Master Senju!?' the girl shouted and the anger burning inside him exploded. His lungs filled with chakra before another erruption of pollen. This one was different however, this one was deadly. The pollen he created now mixed in with the cloud that already filled the skies, but this bound itself to the victims lungs, end eventually made its way into the chakra system, limiting the use of chakra.

Still feeling every move the girl made, he chased after her, hearing the cough in the distance, he knew the jutsu had worked. With her main source of power reduced, Noeru stood a chance - or so he thought.

Dashing across the arena, his arm turned into a sword some what resembling a wooden spike. Concentrating mostly on the strength of the jutsu, the sword formed rather slowly, but it would be complete by the time he was in striking range. And so, his arm came up before thrusting it at the girls gut, trying to skewer her as his eyes filled with hate.

The spike caught a fraction of her flesh, as she moved at the last fraction of the second, turning her torso and allowing the blade to skim past her, grazing her belly and causing blood to leak out and trickle down onto her white clothes.

Tori took no notice, her hand moved swiftly, cutting through the wooden bladeand the other, chakra-less, smashed into Noeru back, driving his whole body into the ground. 'Ack!!!' Noeru let out as the shockwave ran through his entire body, paralysing him momentarily.

He just continued to lie there for a moment, grasping onto his consciousness with whatever energy he had left. The light was slowly going out, but a thought in the back of his mind prevented it from disappearing. 'Why…Why did she…stop herself?…' The youth thought as he led there. The cloud of pollen faded with the wind. He heard footsteps receeding, and the sound of fabric rubbing against concrete. Tori had slid down, with her back against the wall, and sat down, watching him carefully. 'There is no way you're getting up from that Little Master.' And after mocking the boy a chuckle followed.

Ruthless did not cover Toris behaviour. She was more. She did not care, she also enjoyed it. As Noeru led there motionless thought bounced around his mind about how someone would allow psychopath to become a nurse. The motionless state ceased as the pain in his back receeded. Air filled his lungs once more and he began his gruelsome battle with gravity.

Every movement of his body sent shockwaves down his nervous system. His brain, bombarded with pain, flooded with cortisol, wanted to pass out. His will, on the other end of the spectrum, pressing his body into not surrendering to this pain and ultimately to the evil, psycho nurse. With his palm against the ground, pushed his upper body up of the floor, and soon the rest of his body followed.

Trembeling, he stood with his gazed fixated on the girl. Panting, his body trying to recover from the damage he had just taken. A cough, bursting with blood. He thought he was going to die.

Tori laughed. This time it was different. It was warmer, calmer, almost as if she was was saying "I'm impressed." A smile masked Noeru's inner feelings. Pain, sadness, embarassement, his smiled hid all these emotions from the world, from Tori, or so he thought. But the older, more experienced nurse has seen all of these emotions before. Decyphering that look was like breathing to her. 'Won't be long 'till he breaks.' She thought at a glance and casually got back on her feet.

The two eyes each other with curiosity; Noeru trying to figure out what her weak spots were while dealing with his whole body throbbing; Tori trying to understand the boys approach on why he continues to fight while in an obviously losing situation. Tori gave nothing away, and Noeru continued to fight because he decided he would not allow his name, or his family name to be covered in dirt. There was something, below all those politics, that pushed Noeru further than any other reason, something that he had no idea about yet. Something he did not think he had within him.

Suddenly, Neoru's hand beamed a blue flame of chakra, before suddenly it concentrated on the gaps between his fingers, materialising into shuriken in both his hands. In a sudden and swift motion, the projectiles were released hurling towards Tori in a spiral. His feet also glew with chakra as he filled the area with his wood style jutsu. With all that has happened, the only ideas he had left was to catch her by surprise. The moment her feet touched the ground, after her shuriken evasion, vine would erupt from the roof tiles and bid her from head to toe. [color]#cd853f]'If she can't move her arms, she won't be able able to cut through them.'[/color] Noeru's face filled with an evil grin, as the faith in his master plan filled him from head to toe. Tori spotted his body language, and returned it, along with a half-cresent chakra slice, that grew larger as it dashed across the space towards him.

From the roof tiles before him, erupted a wall of wooden vines that acted as a defensive barrier for the youth against the razor sharp blast headed towards him. Cutting through them like a hot knife through butter, slowing down the further it went, until it could go no further where it would fade away like a dying flame.

One small victory led to a disadvantage, Tori had vanished. With no where to be seen, The youth improvised by manipulating his vines to form a cocoon around him. The spherical barrier in place, it was time to counter-attack. After a sequence of handseals, another cloud of pollen escaped his mouth and seaped through the tiny gaps in his barrier, covering the rooftop with the same pollen as before. Now, with an almost perfect defence, he was protected and aware of every movement outside of his cocoon.

A perfect strategy does not exist, every manouvre has its weakness. Something Tori is well aware of. Hiding within the remnants of the vine wall, she awaited where the pollen concentration was lower, she awaited for the perfect time to strike. She had seen this jutsu before, and was not going to get caught by it again. Although, still unaware of what it did exactly, she knew that a high concentration of it bade her cough visciously, she had no idea that before she fell victim to two separate techniques.

Within the cocoon, Noeru sat patiently monitoring. With his eyes closed, focussing fully on his sense of touch, feeling every little movement within the cloud. Strangely, the only thing he felt was the movment of air from east to west at a mild speed, and his impatience was growing. A perfect strategy he thought as his consciousness scanned the cloud for any sign of life within it. Only to feed his disappointment when he had not found anything. The water tank, around the washing lines, around the stair way, around the edges of the arena. There was nothing.

His imaptience reaching its limits. The cocoon opened rapidly and he scanned the area for Tori, but by then, Tori was already in the air after she hurled herself at him with both her hands burning with her chakra blades. A swift smile on his face. By remaining connected to his wooden limbs, he was able to freely manipulate the vines he had already created. And so, the cocoon that was owrapped around him a few moments ago, shot forwards resembling deadly tendrils of of a squid, wrapping themselves around Tori while in mid-air.

Stopped in her tracks, Toris attitude did not change. As if she was not fazed by the situation she was in. Noeru on the other hand, watched the frozen figure with a delightful gaze. A evil grin to celebrate his victory over the medical-nin as the vines tightened around her arms and legs. 'Oh ho ho… Master Senju, now is not the time to get ahead of thy self.' she snickered, mocking the youth as he revelled in his victory.

Not for long. The vines gripped tighter, and the tighter they got the louder she laughed. What is wrong with this woman, the youth thought as his smile became masked with worry. Tori, was enjoying herself. These vines that gripped her, did no more than tickle her, and just as easily as before, the chakra burst and sliced through the vines, not just on her hands, but all over her body, she landed with a soft thud.

Noeru's hands fell to his sides as he watched this spectacle unravel. None of his moves had any effect. With ease she sliced through them, making them drop to the ground just like a tree drops dead branches. The feeling of uselessness overwhelmed him, freezing him in place as the girl, took a step forwards, then another, and soon she was sprinting at full speed towards him. Her chakra blade bursting from her hand she went to pierce through Noeru.

Suddenly, he felt a flick to his forehead and he was sitting on the water tank, with the cigarette he had just lit inbetween his fingers. Looking around in awe, confused about what had happened, his gaze fell upon Tori who was sitting beside him, smiling wildly. 'You didn't think I'd hurt ya, did'ja?' And she brought the cigarette to her lips and took a long puff before slowly blowing the smoke out of her mouth in rings which went through one another, before expanding and forming a sort of a tunnel. Even this impressed Noeru.

The cigarette in his hand, he inspected it closely, sniffing the length of it as it smoldered to see whether there were any toxins in it that would make him hallucinate, at which Tori burst out laughing. She could not believe Noeru assumed she had poisoned him in any way, although one could argue that it was a poisoning of sorts. 'It was a genjutsu silly! She eventually blurted out through her laughter and smacked the cigarette out of his hand.

'A genjutsu? But when?' The feeling of confusion dawned on him when he tried to remember anytime when she could have cast a genjutsu of such strength on him. It hit him like a smoking train, it was the cigarette she had given him. She must have pumped them full of chakra right before handing them to him, the youth thought as his eyes locked on the cause of his despair.

Tori laughed once again. 'Yup! You guessed it! and returned to casually puffing away on her cigarette, not mentioning the fact that while he was under the genjutsu, she had fully healed his injuries. Too much of an awe for him to realise, the boy sat there contemplating how much of a fool he was, how confused he was at the whole point behind this.

Tori hopped down onto the ground, landing with a soft thud. Noeru watched her closely, suddenly very suspicios, wondering whether she had somehow cast another genjutsu upon him without him realising. She looked up and him with a kind smile, 'Come on grumpkin, hop down and lets sit somewhere else.' Noeru let out a sound she knew well, he hated all the names she called him, they made him feel childish, and he was always trying his best to prove that he was not a child. With a little fuss, Noeru followed her with a soft thud.

They did not go far, the warked in a half circle, and ended up at another water tank, this time they would have a completely different view. Instead of the city, they would be overlooking the vast landscapes in the visable distance of the city. A truly beautiful sight, the youth thought as he sat down infront of the beauty Aroma country had to offer. Tori happily perched beside him, looked over at him with a curious smirk.

'What do you think?'

'I'm confused.

'Why?'

'I don't understand why you did that.

'To teach you.'

'To teach me?'

'Yes.'

'Teach me what?

'You really are thick skulled arent'ya.

The eyebrows on his forehead narrowed in frustration. Maybe it was his age that did not allow him to grasp these concepts. Or maybe he really was thick skulled. There was no important meaning in her placing under a genjutsu, and whooping his ass. At least thats what he thought. But to trully understand the situation, he would have to take a step back from the his memories and watch them as if he were a bystander, watching a battle of people whom he had never seen or heard of before.

'How am I suppose to find meaning in you beating my ass!? the youth shouted as the anger brought him to his feet, and standing above Tori he shouted at her. He was allowing his emotion to flow from his heart, all that time of holding himself back, never allowing himself to let the real him see the light of day, but in that little moment, it all changed.

The freedom he had experienced was true, even if he did not know it. The emotional bindings, the unknown stress that he placed upon himself without realising, and for a brief moment, he stood there motionless, just taking in the beauty of the moment, the feeling of freedom he was experiencing. He had never felt like this before, and he did not know why. There was never a moment in his life that caused him to feel trapped like he had felt. He did not understand it.

Tori looked up at him and smiled, she knew exactly what had just happened, and gently, she patted the top of the water tank beside her, inviting him to sit next to her once more. When he sat, she looked out onto the vast landscaped that surrounded the city. She, too, wanted to take in the beauty the country had to offer, this pleasure of feeling free, at the top of this water tank, above all the problems of everyday life that just weigh everyone down, she wanted to feel above it all, just like Noeru felt right in this moment.

The air that entered his lungs felt lighter, the sunshine was no longer irritating, the breeze was no longer to strong or too weak, he felt whole for the first time. There were no things he like or disliked, there were just the experiences that life presented to him, and he accepted them all. Enjoying every single breath that he took, he reveled in the moment to the point where he decided to rest his back on the stony water tank and shut his eyes for a moment.

Tori in the mean time sat there wondering about the moment, about the young boy next to her, she gazed at the falling asleep youth and smiled kindly. 'You're coming to the age where you should be thinking about what you will become.' Her voice flowed from her lips like a gentle ripple in the lake. It was so soothing and only made the youth even more sleepy. 'Mmmh… I don't know…' Thinking ahead was not in the youths nature, he wanted to live in the moment; thrill, adventure, and action, were his interests, he had not given his life much thought, but lying there empty minded, created room for questions he had to Tori.

'Hey… Why are you being so nice to me… No other nurse seems to give a damn. The smile she was wearing on her face began to fade, and Noeru led there completely oblivious to the situation. Tori's whole demeanor changed as memories of the war came back to her.

'I used to have a brother… Who was only a little older than you when he… was killed in battle.' Still led down, Noeru did not know what to do and remained as he was for a moment, then he sat up and pressed rested his cheek against her shoulder before wrapping his right arm around her; 'I'm sorry.' The words left his mouth with a sour after tase, he had no idea she ever had a brother, and this was all he could do to make her feel better, her response made him forget completely about his train of thought. She returnes the cuddle by resting her cheek against his head. This cuddle was exactly what she needed, she felt like she was cuddling her younger brother again. Noeru did not think to pursue this topic anymore, he knew he had already hurt her enough, keeping his mouth closed, he realised that Tori moved her head away from him and began to get back onto her feet. With fewe quick steps he walked back to face their little arena, turned around and jumped backwards; 'Come on, round two.' the evil smirk appeared on her face once more and a shudder was sent down Noerus spine. Knowing that the last was a genjutsu did not stop him for remembering the pain of being stuck with such power, illusion or not. Then it clicked, maybe she was not as strong without it, maybe he had a chance, and with that glimmer of hope, Noeru followed her to the arena.

Each took their spot a few meters apart. The heart within Noerus chest was beating hard, he was equally scared as he was excited, he was not sure how he was to express his feelings in that moment. Tori, stood with the same evilish grin on her face as before. Neither of them made a move until suddenly a flutter of multiple birds could be heard in the distance; Noeru was the first to make a move. Both his hands moved out infront of him in a pistol like fashion, burned with chakra before concentrating in the fingers pointing at Tori, and suddenly a thorn like bullet shot out of both his guns. Dashing across the rooftop towards Tori, she stoon un fazed as the bullets hurled at her. Her hand burned with the same blue chakra as before, and in one sweeping movement, she completely destroyed the bullets, rendering his technique useless.

Noeru knew attacking her in this way would not be fruitful, he had to cause a distraction, he had to keep her occupied before he would manage to land a strike. She dashed across the rooftop towards him, and he in returned channeled his chakra into his right foot, stomped it hard and suddenly from below his foot a tsunami of vines erupted and headed for the girl. Knowing ful well that she would be able to cut through them easily, Noeru dashed to the side as once again he prepared his gun jutsu. Aiming them at where he expected Tori to burst through the tsunami any moment. And she did, just not where he expected, she was closer, making aiming, firing and evading her incoming slash near enough impossible. He had to decide, and quickly.

Chakra filled his body, the stike came towards him and the moment it connected, his body was swapped with a budle of vines that his jutsu had left behind. He was a top the pile of wood, the remnants of the once towering tsunami, his hands raised once again, filled with chakra, pointed at the girl and fired the same two bullets as before.

One was evaded with ease but the other caught her hip. The bullet carried a poison that took effect immediately, slowing down her movements by a important amount. This could give the youth the upperhand in this fight, he just had to make the most of it. More chakra was channelled, and a moment later, from the tiles below Tori, erupted an array of vines. Tori, with her quick reflexes tried to move away, but the poison showed its signs, she was slower, considerably and could not evade them. The chakra blades still covering her hands, she hacked away at the jutsu until there was none left, but the initial purpose of that jutsu had already been fulfilled. Draining her chakra was its purpose, and thats what it did.

It was obvious that the girl was struggling, the poison pumping through her body, the constant use of those chakra blaed, and that powerful genjutsu she had cast earlier, Noeru was aware that she was fighting at a disadvantage. This did not stop her from smirking at the boy. 'Don't get ahead of yourself.' She said as she looked at him. The confidence within him was growing, but she was right, this was exactly what led most shinobi into losing, not only a battle but more often than not, their life, over-confidence. This was not going to be his way.

Tori once again dashed towards him, the poison still placing the same effect on her. Both arms, she crossed them over one another in-front of her and cut through the air, sending a crescent shaped blast of chakra towards him. Her speed might have been decreased, but the speed of her ninjutsu remained the same, and it was deadly. Leaving very little amount for him to think, Noeru had to act immediately, he dashed to the side and was caught, the blast benetrating his right arm deep into his flesh, luckily for him, it was the edge of the blast, if it was the centre, he would most likely have been cut in half. His left hand grabbed the wound, and channeled chakra into it, created a wooden gauze that filled it and stopped blood from spurting out. His gaze shifted back to the girl who was dashing towards him, rapidly covering the distance between them. His for arm glew with chakra once again, and suddenly, when the girl was in range, vines shot out of it headed for the girl, trying to bind her in place, knowing full well that she would not have to use her full body jutsu to get out of these bindings, which would cost her a great amount of chakra. Beating Tori by direct combat would not work, he had to make the most of his chakra stores, drain the chakra out of her so she could no longer continue to fight. Although, his chakra reserves were not doing great either, the cine tsunami is a powerfull technique, but it places great deman on the user, sometimes not worth the cost, but this time, it was.

The bindings gripped get wrists, arms, neck, ankles thighs. She could not move, not enough to make hurt the boy in anyway that would make a significant difference. Unless, she caught him by surprise. A very basic move in her arsenal, but it very rarely failed. A quick burst of laughter, and her eyes quickly dashing to the space above Noeru, who instinctively assumed that she had placed another clone somewhere without him realising, turned around to check that he was safe, only to find nothing there and turned back to Tori to find a smaller blast of cresent chakra impaling him in the chest. The vines snapped and the girl Landed on the floor. Noeru now on the ground youched his chest to assess the damage and realised that it was not serious, but Tori was upon him.

With a swift thrust of her arm, she tried to impale the boy who was led on his back, channeling chakra into his hands to form a shield with strength higher than normal. When the two collided, the shield resisted the piercing power of her chakra blade, and in his other hand a wooded sword formed with the same kind of strength. Swinging the sword in an arc, aiming to stab the girl in the shoulder, but before he managed to do so, the girl pushed him away with a swift kick. Once again landing on his back he eyed the girl who seemed to have began circling around him. She wanted him to get up, so they could fight, and end this the right way. Noeru slowly got up and dropped the shield, and she in return dispersed the chakra in her left hand. She had style, Noeru admired that as he spread his legs apart and took a stance that he had seen other perform at sword school. Close-ranged combat was not his fortay, but he respected the way Tori behaved, so he decided to make-do with the little bit of skill that he did have. And so, he charged.

Each swing, stab, slash was parried. It seemed the girl knew much more about close-ranged combat than she let on. It seemed like her second nature, and her combination of control with her speed made her a very tough opponent to beat. But, he learned with every single move, that he and she took. Quickly spotting a pattern in how she behaved and what could possibly come next, making blocking, dodging, and countering a little easier with every move. This was not how Tori was planning on playing this game. She was doing the exact same thing that he was, analysing his movements, and with her taking the lead, it was easy for her to trick him, and so she did. When he came in with a vertical downward slash she side stepped it, and thrust her hand into his shoulder, only gently, to give him something to remember her by.

After a moment, they sat down, and showed him the medical ninjutsu they used. Noeru was in awe and listened to her explain exactly how these techniques worked. And when he was healed and ready to go, it was time for them the head back to the hospital, where Noeru was suppose to be.