Child of the Moon

Bruh, it's not good

Once the arena was cleared, there was a short break while a quick repair job was done to the ground.

Aki returned from the bathroom, seeing a strange ninja disappear around a corner. Curious, she peered around the corner - she'd thought it was Tsukiko-sensei, except they were too tall to be her.

She saw a man, with wild blond hair walking down the hall. He wore a large black cloak, that looked to be spattered with blood... or red clouds?

He paused, looking over his shoulder at her, and Aki felt her whole body freeze in terror as one red eye stared back in mad glee.

"Aki?"

She blinked, and the stranger was gone, and she turned to see Kurai limping towards her.

"You look like you saw a ghost, you alright?"

"Uh... No! I mean, yeah! I'm fine... I was just thinking about Nanami and Lee and I got randomly sad," she said.

"Really?"

"Absolutely."

"Huh," Kurai shrugged, and glanced down the hall. "Right. Carry on then. Next match is about to start."

"Right! Uh.. later?"

"Nailed it."

The two then awkwardly walked back together. When she had returned to where Aiyanna was waiting, Tsukiko had an unreadable expression. Aki gave Aiyanna a wobbly smile, trying to maintain normality even though she couldn't shake the image of that strange ninja.

"I should tell Tsukiko-sensei later," Aki thought. "If it's the same guy that attacked Kurai-sensei, then the jonin will need to know. But what if that Sound-sensei was the guy? I'm so confused... they look totally different, but they both scared me with just their eyes..."

"The next match is... Miniko Shirato and Dosu Kinuta."

"What do we know about either of their fighting styles?" Aiyanna questioned aloud.

"Uh... I'm thinking the Sound ninja are being thematic, so... something sound related?" Aki suggested.

Tsukiko chuckled, and they watched as the two made their way down.

"Your friend did quite the number on Zaku. I'll make sure to repay him in kind," Dosu said to Miniko.

"We'll have to see about that."

"Ay... the girl has some spice to her," Aki grinned, her earlier terror fading to the back of her mind. Unable to properly forget the blond ninja, she remained on guard but was still able to enjoy herself as the proctor declared the match started.

Miniko shot forward, starting on the offensive as she punched Dosu in the face. He retaliated by throwing kunai, which she twisted to avoid. The waters tested, so to speak, Minko flew into a series of hand signs as she prepared for another attack.

"Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu!"

A ball of water burst from her mouth, speeding towards its target. Dosu lifted his hand to block, and Aki winced as she covered her ears. The water splattered uselessly on the ground.

"Aki?" Aiyanna glanced at her in concern.

"Whatever he just did, hurt like hell," she muttered. "There was this high pitched noise like fingernails on glass."

Aiyanna winced sympathetically, then turned her attention back to the fight.

Dosu moved in to counter, but the water gathered into numerous smaller bullets and pelted him from behind.

"Water Style: Shattered Bullets!" Miniko grinned as she leapt out of his reach. "Kurai-sensei's training was intense, but he thought of every countermeasure when teaching me a jutsu!"

"That won't be enough to defeat me," Dosu growled.

"It better not," Miniko replied as she drew a kunai. "I would be severely disappointed."

Dosu charged, and she slipped under his arm. She swung her kunai, forcing him to back up from her. She followed it up by tossing a shuriken at him, keeping him on the defensive as he dodged the deadly projectiles.

Taking advantage of the distance she'd put between them, Miniko started on a new string of hand signs, while Dosu attempted to charge her again.

"Water Style: Coiling Serpent!"

A watery serpent erupted from Miniko's mouth, coiling towards Dosu with fangs exposed. He threw his fist forward, but instead of exploding against his fist, the serpent split into two and twisted around him rapidly.

Miniko charged forward, a battle cry escaping her lips as she cocked back her fist.

Something seemed to catch her attention, and for Aki, it was as if she moved in slow motion.

Her head turned, eyes growing wide in terror as a silent scream etched itself on her face. The loss of concentration left Dosu free to escape his bonds, and counter her.

The combined momentum of Miniko's forward motion and Dosu's punch caused the girl to throw up immediately, and the high pitched squeal caused Aki's to wince, even as she turned to see what had scared Miniko out of the fight.

Fear renewed, Aki's eyes locked with a pair of mad, red eyes. The sick grin on that man's face etched itself into her mind, and she hadn't even really noticed her body trembling. The man winked at her, and then vanished, leaving Aki unsure if he had ever really been there, except for the fear that left her frozen.

"Aki?"

Aki's head snapped back so quickly, she heard joints click and pop in protest, and Aiyanna looked extremely concerned.

"Are you... ok?"

"I... no... I mean... yes!" Aki saw Tsukiko looking at her out of the corner of her eye, extremely concerned. "Uh, Miniko lost, right? Hope she's ok..."

"Aki?"

"It was just that noise again," Aki insisted. "I feel like I'm biting into iron and it sucks."

Aiyanna didn't seem to buy it but didn't press the issue further either.

"The winner is... Dosu Kinuta."