Child of the Moon

Aki vs Shino

Aki excitedly leaped off the balcony, rolling to her feet in front of the proctor, while Shino walked calmly down the stairs. She bounced on her heels, anxiously eager to start the match and see how far she'd come.

"Yeah, go Aki!" Aiyanna cheered from the balcony.

She could see Kiba having a mini-meltdown, clearly unsure who to cheer for.

"DO YOUR BEST GUYS!" Naruto screamed at them.

Obviously, Naruto did not have the same problem.

All thoughts of the situations with Sasuke fled her mind, as she began to excitedly wait for the declaration that the match had started. Finally, Shino was standing opposite her, and she grinned widely at him.

"Let's put on a really good show, Shino," she said, holding her fist out to him.

"I intend to win this, why? Because it would be-"

"Dude, just bump the fist, and let's both aim to win," Aki chuckled. He bumped her fist with his own, and she grinned wider.

"Alright, begin!"

Aki immediately flipped back, as a swarm of bugs shot at her. Flying through handseals, she primed her chakra.

"Secret Yamada Beast Jutsu: Bird!" immediately, her body became lighter, and she was able to dodge the bugs a lot easier, moving fast with newfound agility.

"You're doing a lot of running, why? Probably because you know what my bugs can do," Shino said. "If they touch you, they will begin absorbing your chakra."

"Arghh!" Aki ducked under a swarm of bugs and managed to get into his guard. "Ostrich!"

A new hand sign and her bones became heavy. Aki twisted, aiming a kick for Shino's chest. Bugs blocked her kick, but it was still powerful enough to push Shino back.

Straightening up, Aki bit her thumb and began to flip through the seals for a summoning jutsu, when she realized her leg was going numb. Dropping to a knee, she looked at her leg to see bugs crawling all over it.

"Shoot," she muttered, finishing the seal.

"You made a mistake in trying to move the fight into close range, why? It's because-"

"Summoning Jutsu!" Aki cried a burst of smoke clearing to show a few dozen birds.

The birds immediately swarmed Aki's leg, devouring the bugs quickly and to Shino's horror.

"Alright," Aki said, getting back up with a slight stumble. "Sorry Shino, I need to win this now."

Crouching, she prepared to charge him, her jutsu giving her legs the same power and strength of an ostrich.

"Not enough," she thought. "Need some weight to get through the bugs and knock him out before they drain my chakra again."

The birds suddenly swarmed forward, and Aki shot after them. The birds forced the bugs to scatter, as she powered forward, a new seal formed as she prepared to use her technique at the last possible moment. As it approached, she took a breath and internally prayed it would work.

"Elephant!" she cried, the final step suddenly so heavy, combined with the speed she was moving at, causing the floor under her foot to crack. "Shoulder bash jutsu!"

Shifting her weight slightly, she shoulder bashed Shino, sending him flying into the wall behind him, as she followed the momentum through and rolled back onto her feet.

There was a pause where she tried to catch her breath and watch to see what Shino would do. When he didn't stir, she wondered if it was a trick, but the proctor went over and to check on him.

"AKI YOU CAN'T JUST ADD "JUTSU" TO THE END OF SOMETHING AND CALL IT A SPECIAL MOVE!" Aiyanna yelled from the balcony.

Aki grinned widely and staggered to her feet. Shino had drained more of her chakra than she had expected.

"The winner of this round is Aki Yamada," the proctor declared.

Aki gave a relieved sigh and flopped back onto her backside, releasing her jutsu so her body didn't feel so heavy anymore.

"Yaassss," she grinned.

Tsukiko appeared next to her, a large smile on her face. "Good job kid. Looks like you've started to use your head."

Aki gave her thumbs-up, and a medic came by.

"Are you hurt?" he asked.

"Just drained," she answered cheerfully. "How's Shino?"

"Unconscious, but he'll recover."

"Good," Aki said, before passing out.