[Uzumaki Atagi]

There is something to be learned from a rainstorm

Often, limitations are lauded for producing creativity. So it should've been the case, Atagi reasons, that if he's limited in aerial movement then some creative solution to getting out of the 'problem' at hand should present itself. But there was no such convenience. When he realizes that his trajectory and Urikohime's are set to coincide and that he can't redirect himself again, the Uzumaki realizes that he can't even block, since he's got to use his arms to help tumble. Not that it matters-- once he's landed, he doesn't have the necessary time afforded to avoid the tackle. Tumbling onto his back and seeing nothing save for the blue sky and the clouds it held, at first-- before then seeing the features of the konoha-nin who was mounting and grappling him in short order.

Her initial suspicions are correct-- he's not a grappler. Sure, he was springy, light on his feet, and his physique was honed from plenty of phyiscal training an exercise...but a mass of muscle he was not. Hell, he likely didn't even know any technique, when it came to a good tussle on the ground. Atagi's put into the arm bar with relative ease, pinned. There's a bit of struggling and roiling in the dirt as he tugs with all his might, even trying to throw her off...but the fact of the matter is that even if he was stronger than her when it came to raw power, he had no leverage with which to use it. Such was the power of proper technique even in a mostly physical bout.

”Nngh, haah-- pah.” There's some noise made when he's initially struggling, but he relaxes soon enough. There's a telltale redness at his cheeks from some form of embarrassment or another. At being bested? At being in this position? Well, there was also the fact that he was still in the 'outgrowing' phase of the particular, Atagi Uzumaki quirk of being uncomfortable when it came to having girls lay hands on him. Perhaps it was all of the above working in tandem to bring the touch of a red-hue to his cheeks, not nearly as dark as his hair.

Still! He finds it in him to banter back, in response to her query, never bereft of something to say.

”What were they? I can't possibly list all of them in polite company, but at least a few would be a lot like how we are now, yeah? In my far-too vivid n' active imagination, though, I somehow assumed you'd be beneath me instead of on top...

While statements as provocative as they were salacious might've seemed like some ruse or trick to get her to lower her guard, they were just another sly Atagi-ism, having resigned to officially losing the 'point' or whatever it might've been for their game-cercise.

(Kayahara Urikohime)

aeron at thq

[Kayahara Urikohime]

Frankly, Uriko was surprised with her success at being able to restrain the talkative Uzumaki. Although she had relatively little talent in taijutsu, she did know quite a number of strikes and grapples with which she could augment her fighting style. Against a taijutsu master, or someone with a decent amount of strength, she was likely to find such moves to be vain. But Uriko suspected that part of the reason for her success was because Atagi was not exactly putting in his best. The nice thing about the arm bar was that once it had been clinched, getting out would be quite difficult, unless the target was able to muscle out their way from the grip. It seemed Atagi was not doing any muscling.

While the kunoichi did not try to cause him pain, she simply held fast as he struggled, pushing her hips slightly higher to place some pressure on his extended elbow, enough to make him uncomfortable, when it seemed he would be able to break free with his struggling. Pound for pound, he was stronger than she was, after all. She had just managed to get the Uzumaki into a position wherein she had the advantage.

"Stop struggling, Atagi-kun," she said in a chiding tone. "I'm beginning to think we're both in this position because you are enjoying yourself a bit too much." In any case, the Uzumaki's unwillingness to state what he could do with Uriko, due to their not being fit for polite discussion, caught the kunoichi absolutely off guard. If Atagi had a vivid imagination, Uriko's was just as bad, if not even worse. And it didn't help that he mentioned that whatever he was thinking of involved a rather... improper positioning; perhaps it was her mind that made it seem all the more salacious. But maybe Miroru was right. If this was the fellow she had met, then he was most likely a pervert of some kind.

"You should stop saying such lewd things, Atagi-kun..." the kunoichi muttered, unconsciously looking off to the side and covering her mouth with one hand, even as her cheeks burned. Of course, the Uzumaki would perceive that she was holding him with just one hand, meaning her advantageous position could be much more easily reversed, or escaped from.

---

Uzumaki Atagi

[Uzumaki Atagi]

There is something to be learned from a rainstorm

If he could hear her musings about him not trying his hardest, Atagi probably would've pouted. 'Take the strongest man in the world and make him try to get his own arm back from you with only his rotator cuff muscles and he'll have the same difficulty!' Some sort of only half true hyperbole like that would've been the response, for sure. Since Urikohime's thankfully not trying to cause him any pain, and he's not so stupid as to injure himself thrashing about, they've got that brief moment of respite.

For what was maybe the first time ever in the Uzumaki's training career, his tendency to flirt, sometimes slyly and sometimes shamelessly, pays off. Or maybe the fact that he's under the impression getting a pretty girl's cheeks to flush is a 'pay off' makes him deserving of the 'pervert-san' moniker, as much as he constantly insists otherwise.

”Lewd things? I've hardly said anything at all! You oughta hear what I might say t'you behind a closed door, instead of in an open field.” Was there actually any worry about such embarrassing things being overheard, or was it just further blatant fuel to the fire of her imagination? That mirthful expression at his features, eyes still glued to hers 'till she looks away, says it's probably the latter.

Nonetheless, if an opening is presented, he's going to claim it without missing a beat. In fact, he'd probably argue later that it was apart of his plan all along. With only one of her hands clutching at him, the way forward was simple. Both feet planted against the ground, a twist of the hips and moving his weight into Urikohime instead of trying to pull away. It is, in fact, frighteningly easy to reverse their positions with that single roll, supplanting the green-haired kunoichi from her seat and putting her on her back, instead, his palm firmly planted against her chest to keep her down, his other snatching for a wrist to pin it, the same, a lock or two of his hair falling downward in front of his eyes. Of course, unlike her, he's got no plans on putting her in some sort of submission hold, nor what that'd even look like, so the plan stops there.

Now, for whatever reason, it's his turn to get embarrassed, suddenly removing himself (and his hands) from her form and shooting up to his feet with frightening speed, wiping at his face with a hand.

”L-let that be a lesson t'you in not getting distracted!” It would've sounded much more convincing without the stutter. ”Anyway, ah, I feel like you've hardly made use of any sort of technique in our game-cercise, yeah? You're not going so easy it's a pointless enddeavour, right?” Atagi's still talking way too fast, obviously eager to move quickly past whatever indiscretion that had doubtlessly been committed.

(Kayahara Urikohime)

aeron at thq

[Kayahara Urikohime]

The implications of what could be said behind closed doors, as opposed to in an open field, sent Uriko's mind into the void. To be fair to the Uzumaki boy, he had not really said anything untoward, if the context were not to be applied, and as such, he could easily defend himself if accused of saying anything untoward. Except this. Now, there was no way he could deny that he had any inappropriate thoughts in his own head.

In any case, whether it had been Atagi's intention to throw Uriko off balance with his suggestive words or not, he had succeeded in surprisingly getting the advantage, as he had suddenly countered her submission hold, thanks to her being distracted. The kunoichi's eyes widened as she found herself back-first on the grass. A hand moving to attempt to free herself was quickly grabbed and pinned over her head. As Atagi was almost 50 pounds heavier than she was, and she lacked any notable semblance of physical strength, muscling out of this was impossible. For a moment, her amber eyes stared upwards at his golden ones, wide as saucers, and then they dropped to the position of his second hand on her chest. She shrieked.

Atagi himself seemed to be unnerved (or maybe he was just pretending), and quickly pulled away from her, chiding the Konohagakure ninja for allowing herself to get distracted. To be fair, he was right; it was even more embarrassing for her, seeing as she had, for a while now, been considering herself to be improving in manipulation and persuasion, only for herself to be manipulated like this. The kunoichi hugged herself around her chest, as she glared at him. He wasn't even sorry! Okay, maybe if she hadn't been distracted, this wouldn't have happened, but surely he had to be punished.

"Uzumaki Atagi, I am afraid at this point..." she suddenly seemed to have ominously calmed down, "that I will have to kill you. Please kindly prepare to die! Fuuton: Karyuu no jutsu!" If it was techniques Atagi wanted, he would get them. As long as she got to smash his face in. Quickly performing handseals, Uriko blew a stream of wind at the Uzumaki. Of itself it would probably only knock him over if it hit, but Uriko's intention was to attempt to sock him in the face after unleashing the technique. It did seem that seals were more easily and more quickly performed if one did not keep their fingers too rigid, a thought that simply passed through the enraged kunoichi's mind. Maybe she would consider that matter later. For now, her interest was busting the cocky Uzumaki's face.

---

Tech Used:
NAME: Fūton: Karyu [Wind Release: Stream]
RANK: D
CHAKRA USAGE: Low
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu
ELEMENT: Fūton
DESCRIPTION:
A basic Fūton no Jutsu that a Shinobi uses to blow a powerful stream of wind from their mouth. The technique is mostly used to change directions in mid-air. In this case, the strength of the stream is powerful enough to move the source body at high speeds. On the ground, it can be used to blow up a cloud of dust, masking the caster's movements. It can also be used offensively to stagger an opponent's movement.


Uzumaki Atagi

[Uzumaki Atagi]

There is something to be learned from a rainstorm

When Urikohime wraps her own arms about herself in what's obviously supposed to be a protective gesture, glaring daggers the way of the maroon headed and rose cheeked shinobi from the grass, his expression falls, facial features overtaken by panic. Alright, fine, so his hand had ended up in an...unfortunate spot.

Or fortunate. She's pretty attractive, yeah?

Wait, there's no way my inner monologue is that perverted!

Well, is it, or isn't it, Atagi? But that was just what happened when you ended up in a situation involving grapples like that, wasn't it? How's he supposed to be blamed for it? Already, he's coming up with a million and a half fabricated scenarios where his reputation is even more tarnished than it already was. One Konoha shinobi mistaking him for a pervert could easily be a freak accident. But two...

”Wha-whu-whoa, hold on a second, I--. That was obviously an accident!! I would never grope someone without them at least mostly agreeing, don't keep staring at me with those eyes that keep telling me 'you're a piece of human garbage who's shamed me for the rest of my life'!” What an oddly specific thing to be assuming was being thought about him. He's talking fast, speech practically frenetic, but then there's a moment of tranquility at the features of the green-haired Konoha kunoichi, which gives him a little hope spot, too. That maybe she's not so pissed off, after all?

Any such hope is dashed away when she heatedly (if politely) requests that he get his mortal affairs in order before she wipe him off the face of the planet. Since he doesn't know what to expect from the technique, his arms come up in preparation to block an attack, bracing himself to take on the full brunt force of the attack...but the relative speed with which she's doing the jutsu and the distance between them means that she's blowing the gale up about him before he's actually protected himself as planned-- between the surprise and the actual force of the wind, he's wheedling with those strong arms of his to stay balanced in desperation.

Paradoxically, it would've been better to just let himself fall backward. Instead, he remains upright but without his arms prepared to catch her attack, and Urikohime decks him straight on. ”Bwah!” Knocked onto his back, he wastes little time in rolling over in the dirt onto his front so that he coulf push himself up to an upright position again with great haste, holding his hands out in what was supposed to be a pacifying gesture. ”Relax, relax!”

Because that always calmed someone down, didn't it?

(Kayahara Urikohime)

aeron at thq

[Kayahara Urikohime]

Perhaps it was because Uriko's Fuuton technique was unexpected, but even though it was a relatively weak technique, compared to a number of others out there, it managed to work its complete effect on the Uzumaki. While it did not literally blow him off his feet, it shook his balance, as well as distracted him, giving the green haired girl ample time to come in close and land a solid right on his chin, knocking the Uzumaki to the ground. The feel of her knuckles on the perceived pervert's face felt satisfying... except there was a problem. Uriko may have been trained well enough to throw a decent punch, and she may have had the skill to execute her moves decently, even if she wasn't a taijutsu major, but that was it: she wasn't a taijutsu major. The blow had likely hurt her hand more than she had hurt his face.

In that sort of falsely invulnerable high that rage seemed to afford its subjects, Uriko temporarily ignored the fact that the nerves in her hand were practically shrieking in pain, and took a few steps towards the Uzumaki who was scrambling to his feet and holding out his hands, in an attempt to placate the infuriated girl. That would not be enough, for even though Uriko was normally as sweet a girl as one could get, she tended to overdo things when she was angry. Like now. The Konoha ninja aimed a wild lick at Atagi's upper body, a kick that if dodged would probably send her spinning to fall to the ground, as the power of the kick had been generated by the kinetic energy of putting her whole body into that kick. Chances were that she would probably hurt herself again if the kick connected, but at this point, she was to enraged to care.

"DIE!"

---

Uzumaki Atagi

[Uzumaki Atagi]

There is something to be learned from a rainstorm

It was an unfortunate truth that the melon princess’s blow had, in fact, hurt a lot less than the Uzumaki had expected– half of why he had reacted in such a theatrical fashion was the surprise factor. From experience, he suspects that he might have a bruise or welt at his jaw, but that was significantly better than, say, a busted nose. The anger evident in the typically sweet but temporarily sour kunoichi’s approach prompts him to keep up a guard, fully expecting another attack, but even until the last moment his hands are held out in what’s supposed to be a placating fashion.

”That’s not relaxing at all!” He remarks, somehow surprised that practically commanding an enraged person to not be enraged wasn’t working. At his features is scribbled a cocktail of expression, one part apologetic, one part embarrassed, one part fretful. Perhaps predictably, it’s no sweat for the redheaded man to duck down,, dropping into a crouch well before the high kick reaches him. He’s not so mean nor so thoughtless, though, that he’s just going to let Uriko whirl about and tumble to the dirt in embarrassing fashion, so he throws both arms, to catch at her leg, to stop her in her tracks.

”Seriously, you’re gonna hurt yourself or sommat, yeah?” Briefly, he muses about just how easy it’d be to knock her supporting leg out from underneath her with him blocking/holding her like this…but he’s certain that’d only escalate the situation.

(Kayahara Urikohime)

aeron at thq

[Kayahara Urikohime]

"You can as well relax then, so I can kill you!" Uriko retorted, in response to Atagi's failed attempt to calm her down. Yet even while she raged, her ever so active mind was considering matters which weren't even related to her interest in ending an Uzumaki's life. Judging from the Fuuton technique she had executed earlier, it seemed that the amount of tension one had in the shoulder muscles could possibly affect the speed of one's fingers while going through battle motions like pulling and throwing weapons, or performing handseals. Even though such a thing would not be immediately obvious to the average person, as a medic it was an interesting avenue to consider, as far as improving one's effectiveness in combat was concerned.

But there were presently more important things to do than reason how to improve combat efficiency, like bloodying the face of the redhead who Uriko was presently angry with. Perhaps she could look at things in a more utilitarian light. This Kusagakure pervert's act of groping her had unwittingly given her an interesting insight to how to improve finger flexibility. True, she had to concede that. But the thought of agreeing that such an embarrassing event had somehow resulted in her learning something was presently unacceptable to Uriko.

Her kick had been a bit too committed, but Atagi had practically broken her fall by blocking her leg, though it was obvious from his motions that he could have dodged it and let her fall. That was perhaps something to be grateful for. Then again, was he simply blocking her, or holding onto her leg because 'perverted reasons'? Drawing her foot down, Uriko attempted to lean into him, with the purpose of ramming her elbow into his face. That was the problem with her; for all her niceties, Urikohime could be rather unreasonable when she was angry.

"And why would you care, perv?"

---

Uzumaki Atagi

[Uzumaki Atagi]

There is something to be learned from a rainstorm

Huh. It looks like she really just can't live and let live, yeah? he thinks to himself, though obviously he's not so foolhardy that he vocalizes a thought that'd add to her rage, like casually spattering a handful of tinder on a bonfire. While his mind is also terribly active, it wanders less, instead geared towards just how to make Urikohime's rage subside-- or at least to somehow incapacitate her 'till she stopped flailing around. Just another thing to add to the ever-growing docket of things to improve and expand upon as far as his repritoire of skills went. Or was he the sort that simply needed a bigger hammer, for the growing amount of nails cropping up in his life?

Whatever the case was on that front, the more pressing matter was Urikohime's continuous assault. Having let go of her leg and allowing her to retract it, Atagi uncorks the flow of chakra circulating throughout his body, stimulating his muscle fibers, in order to move even quicker than a taijutsu practitioner already would-- perceptibly so, depending on 'Kohime-chan's' awareness in her angered state. A foot shifts, and he turns his body to one side, leaning juuuuust enough that the elbow shoots past him. It's not just for flair, or to show off economy of movement, however. One of his arms comes up to cling at hers, to wrap about her upper arm and cling at her, part of a continuing effort to restrain her so that she'd stop.

”Firstly, even if I am a perv, it's presumptuous to assume I'm the type who'd somehow enjoy seeing you hurt, yeah?” Strangely, he doesn't say that isn't the case, probably because he's not smart enough to realize how unconvincing that argument is. ”And secondly, I'm a good guy, so obviously seeing someone get hurt needlessly is a bad thing!” he remarked, as though that was supposed to be self-evident.

(Kayahara Urikohime)

aeron at thq

Jutsu:

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Sokudo [Literally Meaning Speed]
RANK: B
CHAKRA USAGE: High [Continuous]
CLASSIFICATION: Taijutsu
ELEMENT: -
HANDSEALS: 0

DESCRIPTION:
Sokudo is a method of using chakra passively to reinforce the body's physical capabilities. Such things are movement-based rather than just brute strength would. It gives the user's muscle stimulation, allowing increased hand movement, wrist, arms, and even the legs. This can be used to just have everything work more proficiently. Though, after being used for more than seven posts, the user's muscles will be sore as if they just did an extensive workout. IF continued to be used, eleven posts will begin to break down muscle. Intense pain followed, forced technique shut down.

[Kayahara Urikohime]

Uriko's rage-fueled elbow made contact with nothing but air, as she missed her strike. Even though she was still boiling, the green haired kunocihi had to admit that whatever the Uzumaki had done was quite an impressive feat of speed, at least as far as she was concerned. Had she been in a more cordial frame of mind, she would have praised him for the maneuver and asked him how he did it. Maybe if she calmed down enough, she would ask him.

The response of the Uzumaki to her heated question was logically valid. To be fair to Atagi, he had prevented her from tumbling to the ground and possibly injuring herself when he had blocked her kick, even though he did not need to. Which meant, despite his perceived perverseness, he did care about her not getting hurt. Still, the stubborn part of the kunoichi, which was most often activated when she was angry, was calling for his punishment. He could not be allowed to go scot-free.

Or maybe he could. If Uriko wanted to be honest with herself, it had appeared as though he had not intended for that mistake to happen. In the end, the fault was hers for allowing herself to lose control simply because someone was saying naughty things to her. The Konoha ninja made a last attempt to free herself from his grip, even as he held her in place to stop her from fighting, but she failed. Physically, he was larger, heavier and stronger than she was. She struggled a little bit more, but then gave up, her shoulders falling as an indication of her resignation.

"Fine, whatever, 'Good-guy'," Uriko sighed. "Can you let me go, now? One would think you really enjoy holding me." If he let her go, she would attempt to elbow him in the ribs, a sharp, slightly painful elbow, although she would not attempt to come after him anymore. It was then she began to feel the throb in her hand. Yeah, this was why she didn't like getting angry. She had gone too far, as usual.


Uzumaki Atagi

[Uzumaki Atagi]

There is something to be learned from a rainstorm

While he's not exactly clinging 'for dear life', he flexes enough to hold firm, leaning his head backward enough that he can avoid being smacked in the face if she decided to keep on thrashing. Though he's not tense, to say that he's entirely relaxed would also be off base, eyes probing over Urikohime's form, peeled for other attacks, movements, struggles, tricks, and all other assorted and associated actions. Eventually, finally, she relaxes. He beams, at that, though he still doesn't release right away.

When she speaks once more, far calmer (or perhaps just resigned) he laughs heartily, not having to think too long or hard to have a proper retort ready, even as he's already releasing her, shaking out his arm a little as if to rid it of any tension that way. ”Oh, I dunno, I don't think I've done enough holding to know for sure, yeah? Maybe if I did it for a few more hours I could give a definit-oof!” That elbow to the ribs was wholly unexpected, and he coughs a few times, hand to his gut, putting up a smile even through that wince, raising his other hand up in a gesture of surrender. ”I, ach-. I'd say I didn't deserve that one, but we'll agree to disagree and call it even.”

Recovering his composure, amber irises curiously ping from her hand to her facial expression, lips pursed. ”You didn't actually hurt yourself too bad, yeah? I'll feel bad if that was the case, so.” There's no more given, after that, even if the sentence itself was obviously incomplete. Not that he could do much on his own about injury or duress, anyway-- hell, he was the one who had to be looked after, more often than not.

Giving a little bounce up onto his toes, the Uzumaki turns to one side, giving a dramatic high-kick in a display of vigour and energy. ”Anyway! We've still got lotsa daylight to burn, yeah? I can go at it for hours n' hours, if you'll still have my company, bahaha.”

Whether they continued the training session far into the day or he was sent off, Atagi would be happy to remark before he departed that he was 'staying in room X39 at the competitor hotel', and that they could train together anytime. Though some would accuse Atagi Uzumaki of collecting people, he wouldn't pay that sort of negative thought such mind-- how could having more friends, more connections, an ever expanding network of folk to pull experience and wisdom and levity and all other fantastical things from, ever be a bad thing?

(Kayahara Urikohime)

aeron at thq

[Kayahara Urikohime]

There was a little bit of perverse satisfaction that her elbow had connected, and she replied with a childish gesture of sticking out her tongue at him. With all having been said and done, the adrenaline high from being angry was wearing off, and Uriko began to realize that the fingers of her right hand were hurting a bit more than she would have been pleased to admit. It had been when she had punched Atagi square in the face; she had managed to bruise her hand doing so. In response to his question about her hurting herself, she gave no verbal answer, instead giving him a half-mournful, half-reproachful pout.

Whichever the case, this Uzumaki was still raring to go. Uriko had heard about the proverbial hardiness of the Uzumaki Clan, but wasn't this fellow a bit extra? For her own part, she was already feeling slightly winded, after having the deceptive energy borne from her anger wearing away. "I'll have to disappoint you, I'm afraid," the Konoha ninja replied with a sigh, "but you have too much energy for me to cope with. Still, despite how things... went, your presence did provide some useful insights into some matters I would like to look into later."

With Atagi informing Uriko of his room number, the Konoha ninja tsked and shook her head. "Why on earth would you give me your hotel room number?" she asked. "Indeed, you say the most untoward things." Or maybe it was her reading too much into the simple gesture of someone informing her of where he was staying during the duration of the exam. Still, having worked through her anger, she was happy to wish him a goodbye and agree to take him up on his offer of training together, if such a chance provided itself. He was an interesting person, this Atagi, even if he seemed to have lived up to the bad reputation that Miroru had pinned on him.

---

FIN

Uzumaki Atagi