Making the Effort (Private, Req. Ikko)

[Nanami]

There was a sting in her heart that hadn't eased. Ever since she met her a fire had been ignited, but it wasn't a gentle flame, it scorched her, left her feeling empty at times, hungry for something more. She had felt for so long like her existence had been secured squarely because when she fought she could win. She was stronger than many of her peers, not all but many and that meant she was fine. She realized she was an idiot.

I can't measure myself against the middle and presume I'm at the top.

The simple truth that was ever present was that those who failed the academy often didn't make it in one piece, the bottom, the middle, everything but the very top was often cleared away and she was in the middle, at best. She was never going to climb to the top the way she was going. She decided that her method was fine but her targets, that had to be it. Aim higher. Every bruise, every scar, every knick, cut, scrape, drop of blood spilled made her stronger and stronger. She made her stronger. That would be the trick, the technique she used to build a ladder to the very top.

Her target this time was one she found on rumors. She didn't know much about him, a couple years her senior, shorter than her and smaller even too. Looks, she trusted, were deceiving. After all, not only was he older than she, but a Genin too. He'd built himself a bit of a reputation as a slacker, which made him something a perfect target after her.

She found him in the dormitories in the hall after their evening meal. She sat squat on the surface of a table, her feet dangling down to the bench below and watched him with great interest. He was exactly what she'd heard, measuring her expectations exactly. He looked like a child, much younger than her and he...behaved like it too. He was playing around! A jutsu of some kind, something with ice. She felt her teeth press together again, but she fought off the anger this time.

Four quick hops, she stepped from table to table between each of the people gathered until she arrived at his. When she landed she put her foot down on the toy he was playing with, not attempting to break it but there may have been some damage. She pointed at him dramatically. "Ikko Funai! I, Hideaki Nanami challenge you to a match! Seeing a Genin slacker like you just makes my blood boil, do you accept or do you surrender without a fight!" Her declaration had drawn some attention from other students milling about but not much. Nanami was a relatively known quantity at this point, but challenging a Genin was new.

 

[Funai Ikko]

It had been a new trick he was getting the hang of. Clones were a pretty normal affair for the shinobi world but actually managing to create and maintain animated sculptures of ice was something that Ikko had an apparently unique talent at. Hoshi had explained it once. Ikko's genetic skill allowed him far more control and skill with all things ice and Ikko had to admit he was rather taken with the element. It was just recently that he had mastered the ice clone of, apparently, his family and he was eager to put it to use. Unfortunately, he was in a relatively public place so putting a full grown recreation of himself through its paces would be a little disturbing to the genuine public and enough people thought he was something of an idiot to begin with. Ikko grimmaced slightly at the thought, but didn't lose focus on what he was doing. If he couldn't put a full sized Ikko through its paces, maybe he could put a little one. It was with that thought that Ikko had made a tiny little ice sculpture of himself and was eagerly making it dance around the table in front of him as he ate his roll. He did not get to enjoy it for long however as the sanctity of his table's dance hall was smashed through.

Ikko stared at the foot for a moment that had been completely crushed under heel of the invader with a mouthful of bread for a moment. He knew a voice, probably the owner of the foot was speaking above him, but he didn't seem to react to it at first. Without worrying about etiquette, they were pretty far past that part once she murdered mini-Ikko, the boy reached forward and lifted at the toe of her footwear, attempting to push it up to see if any of his creation remained. Unfortunately, all that was left was a small puddle on the tabletop. Ikko relinquished the foot and turned his eyes up at the girl. There wasn't anger in his eyes, more of a quiet bemusement as his head tilted ever so softly to the side. It wasn't long until a smile crept on to his face however as he retorted with a sort of energetic exuberance that belayed the fact that he was in mourning.

"Challenge me to a match of what? Cards? Fisticuffs? Extreme Underwater High Octane Basketweaving? What are the rules? What do I get if I win? What do you get if you win? Where are we having this challenge? Why are we having this challenge? Why do you hate little ice men? If you had to choose between being eaten by a giant bear or eaten by a giant snake, which would you prefer?"

He asked each and every one of these questions like they were equally perfectly normal and reasonable things to ask and there was no signal to be gleaned from his features that he wasn't being completely genuine. The boy's head tilted to the other side as he gazed up at her with an impassive grin, as if either of their behaviors were not remarkably rude and agitating. He wasn't really the type to engage in pointless squabbles like this, Ikko preferred to better himself in more altruistic and adventurous ways, but at the same time, it wasn't every day that something possibly entertaining just showed up on your doorstep.

"And do I get to finish my dinner first?"

[WC: 583]

 

[Nanami]

It got awkward in about ten seconds, her standing half on a crushed ice sculpture woops, arm thrust out with a finger pointing dramatically at her face. He seemed to think it was a joke! Or at least he was treating her challenge like one. She was certain he knew -exactly- what she meant. For a moment her face flushed hot, she was so sick and tired of not being taken seriously! She lowered her hand and looking down at the remains realized that she'd broken the thing completely. Sheepishly she said, "Woops," as she hopped down from the surface of the table to about two feet beside him standing on the ground like a normal person.

"No, yes, no," she said with an unmistakable impatience to her voice. "The rules are beat the other person. What you get when you win is that you have achieved the impossible, what I get when I win is proof that reality hasn't completely eroded. We are having this challenge right outside, we're having it because I want to. I don't hate them, that was an accident, sorry. I would choose snake because then I could hack my way out." She answered each of them very matter-of-factly, only marred by her brief moments of staring off into space and counting by mouthing the numbers to make sure she got them all.

He was an extremely irritating little boy, she decided...but there was something else to the whole thing. Nanami didn't even mind it, part of it actually kind of amused her quite a bit, but this was important. She was serious so Nanami needed to try to do the same, at least now, at least here. She had little expectation of victory, but this was for more than that.

"You can finish your meal if you have to, but don't keep me waiting...or I'll never let you keep another ice sculpture again! I'll track them all down and break them. That's a promise!" She declared, uncommitted to the idea in the slightest as she spun on her heel and stomped off towards the training grounds without another word.

 

[Funai Ikko]

Ikko's grin just seemed to widen as she came to accept his terms, at least a little bit. She didn't quite give satisfactory answers to everything he said but, thankfully, she had ultimately done what he wanted her to and got out of his face. Ikko's eyes traced her movements as she stomped out of the dining hall to where, he assumed, she had expected him to follow her. He waited a few moments with his eyes on the door to make sure she wasn't actually coming back to bother him before immediately going back to his meal and, with a mouthful of food, Ikko conjured one more miniature Ikko out of the puddle of its predecessor and, with a little gleeful giggle, Ikko went back to enjoying his dinner time entertainment.

Twenty two minutes later and Ikko, with mini-Ikko pantomiming various routines across his shoulders and one last roll bouncing in his palm, stepped out of the dining hall to walk the grounds of the school and, to his surprise, came face to face once more with the strange little girl who had accosted him near a half hour ago. The boy's head tilted one more time as he gazed at her, perplexed, but not stopping mini-Ikko's dance across his shoulders or the roll bouncing in his hand. Not many people actively picked fights with Ikko and the last thing he was expecting was for the girl to actually be there, waiting for him. For the most part, people liked him. Even the people who got annoyed with his antics wouldn't actively seek a fight with him. Not because he was some overbearing and intimidating threat, but just because he seemed, in general, to be too sweet a person to actually target.

"Oh, you were serious?"

He had assumed all the bravado was for appearance's sake. The girl trying to get her name out there in some weird fashion and to draw attention. He hadn't actually expected her to truly be seeking such a pointless altercation, but it seemed he was wrong about a lot of things with this girl. An exasperated sigh escaped Ikko as he took a bite out of his roll. And crouched down, a strained look dancing across his face as he seemed to come to terms with her persistence. He had no interest in this, there was no purpose to this fight and Ikko, despite his childishness, was not one to do things for no reason at all, but it did not look like he was being given much of a choice.

"Alright...fine. How do I know when you're "beat?" Do I kill you? Break bones? Draw something on your face? Why do you want this and why should I care? Oh...oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh, I know!"

His words were very flat and very matter of fact, as if killing her was an equivalent act to drawing on her face, but there wasn't any actual malice behind his words, it was more like he was reading the answers of a multiple choice questions out loud, but the strained expression very quickly flashed into one of exuberance, excitement, a tinge of pride as his eureka moment came to him. He now knew exactly what he would take from this if he won. On one hand, it'd be something he could tell Minako that wasn't a lie and would get her off his back about it for at least a couple hours. On the other hand, it might dissuade the girl from continuing to attack him and engaging in this pointlessnes Either way it was a win/win for Ikko.

"If I win you need to give me a kiss, a big ole nice one on the lips. That seems fair."

 

[Nanami]

Nanami got bored, and for a bit thought he might just not show, which would have seriously cheesed her off. She was already planning ways to make him miserable for not even having the common courtesy to tell her, no I don't want to fight you crazy girl, like others did! Well, she may not have listened if he had, but he didn't even try! Ugh! Boys were seriously the absolute worst. And he was double the worst making her wait so long! "Boreeeeed," she complained out to the evening sky when he finally reappeared.

"FINALLY!" she exclaimed hopping to her face. She scowled at him, hands pressed on her hips as she leaned forward to glare. "Was I serious, is that a joke, are you kidding me, of course, I was serious! Why else would I be hopping on tables! Challenging you! Ugh! I've been waiting out here for like an hour! You're the worst. Worst. Worst. Worst." She let out a huff and turned on her heel, considered leaving but stayed, unable to resist the urge to try to kick his butt. "Don't kill me, obviously, normal school rules apply. Broken bones happen, so whatever. Draw something on my face is maybe okay for a goal. Hm. Never thought of that one before."

She seemed mollified as she thought about it and spun on her heel once more to face him. "Hm you have some idea?" She didn't like his expression, she didn't like the excitement, the look of pride on his face. She didn't like any of any of this.

Her expression was horror, she literally recoiled from him. "Bleckh! A kiss!? On your lips! God boys are pigs!" For the third time, she turned on her heels again. "I don't need to put up with this, there's plenty of people I can-" She made it a half step before she stopped and grinned, turning yet again with a neutral expression, she gave up! Of course. "Fine! Not that you'll win, but if I win then...you have to accept my challenges anytime anywhere! It's a deal!?"

She thrusted her hand out towards him, leaving an open palm hovering in front to shake on it.

 

[Funai Ikko]

He had to admit he was a bit disappointed. Not at most of her reaction, oh no, that outrage and blustering was absolutely delicious. Between her repeatedly turning around and then back like she was doing a very exaggerated furious pirouette followed by the absolute disgust at the entire male gender for what was probably the least innocuous sign of affection outside of a hug, Ikko was absolutely overjoyed at how easy she was to rile up and dissuade. No, what Ikko was not at all pleased at was that she ended up agreeing to his terms regardless. He should have gone for something more dramatic he supposed. He'd have to find a better way to avoid things like this in the future. Are there any contagions he could pretend to have? Maybe he'd use the girl as a study group afterward. Something along the lines of 'would you attempt to punch someone if they had cholera?' should do nicely. Then again, would someone her age know what cholera was? Ikko only knew because Kiri took this whole "med nin" thing seriously. Before Ikko could delve deeper into his imaginary infectious diseases however, a hand was found extended out toward him. Ikko blinked tentatively down at the girl's hand.

Despite...well...everything about him Ikko was not without his own sense of caution and discretion and as soon as he saw that hand, the first thing he assumed was that the girl was planning to use this offer of trust and honesty to in some way injure him. She had threatened him bodily harm enough as is. However, suspecting treachery and deceit and then summarily ignoring the hell out of it was also an important trait to have. An arrogant one, but also an important one. Ikko reached out and took the hand and bound their contract. Of course, Ikko wasn't really losing a whole lot, win or lose. If he won, he'd humble the girl, get a nice little treat out of it and if he was lucky, dissuade any future altercations. If he lose, well, he needed an excuse to work on that whole "stealth" part of being a Shinobi and avoiding a stalker constantly challenging him was as good of motivation as any.

"Do you want the first shot then?"

 

[Nanami]

The hand hovered for a moment longer than she liked and smiled bright when he took it. She gave him a firm squeeze and shook twice on it before letting his hand go. "Okay! It's a deal, and yeah! I'll take the first move, be nice okay? I've been working really hard to get this stuff down pat." She collected her breath to settle her nerves as she took a few steps away from him and settled easily into what could be assumed to be some kind of fighting stance.

She ran over the seals in her mind but quickly pushed them away, if she thought about it, she'd mess them up she had to just do it and not think about it. She steadied her breathing and began. Nanami didn't know the names of the Tenketsu, or even fully understand the principles that governed the creation of chakra from the stamina and spiritual energy but her place in the Academy guaranteed that she understood it on some level.

She felt the warmth spread through her body as she molded chakra, quickly applied a series of practiced to rote hand signs to form that chakra into the technique. A sharp pain ignited across the surface of her skin but passed quickly leaving her grinning wide. Her skin had a wild red tint to it, like she'd spent too much time in the sun. The air around her shimmered and wavered like the ground on a boiling day, hinting at the effect of her jutsu. She'd been practicing non-stop for months on these techniques, and Ikko was kind enough to give her a chance to exercise them for real. She'd give the Genin nothing short of her very best.

She darted forward, the heat radiating from her body as she closed the distance between them, leaped as if she was going for a driving kick towards his chest but her leap was deceptively short and she landed low, attempting to sweep his legs out from under him with a sharp pivot and strike with her foot. From this distance, the heat from her Immolation Armor would almost certainly be felt.

 

[Funai Ikko]

Ikko's eyebrow arched as the girl formed a seal. Ninjutsu, already? That was interesting. Ikko's head tilted to the side as the flames encircled her form, licking at the air around her. Fire was never an element Ikko had much affinity for so it was always interesting to him to see people attempt to utilize it. Unfortunately for Nanami however, it wasn't necessarily the best tactic to run at Ikko with. As soon as she dropped her hands and the fire finished encircling her, Ikko raised his hands above him, forming a seal before him. Then the girl took flight, jumping toward him and as she did, Ikko put a quick little wrench in her plan. The boy had no intention of waiting for her there. The second seal formed as he moved, shooting forward across the distance between them as she flew toward him and as soon as she landed, Ikko had positioned himself a few feet past her and as she landed on the ground, the final seal formed. As soon as the girl's flaming leg swept around, a torrential deluge of rain came crashing down on the pair of them, looking to severely stymie the sheer potency of the Immolation armor. Steam would be flickering off of her as Ikko dug in his leg in the path, angling it downward slightly, her kick connecting but doing little to knock him off balance as it slid up his shin and causing little more than a bit of pain. Ikko however, was not done and he delivered his own, fierce, counter attack.

Ikko's hands shot forward, splitting apart from the seal and darted menacingly toward the girl's sides and...rather quickly moved to shoot under her arms. Ikko, fighting through the steam tingling his fingers, went straight in to attempting to tickle the girl, not at all actually putting up any sort of offensive. Before she could react and take an angry swing at him, Ikko jumped away, putting another three or four meters between them with a playful, stupid grin on his face as the rain drops continued to pelt the ground around them, likely soaking both of them through. Ikko spared a glance down at his fingers. He hadn't stayed long enough to cause any real damage, but the skin was definitely flushed, as if he had held them just barely out of reach of an open flame. Even suppressed, the fire was dangerous. Ikko would need to take the proper precautions when dealing with her. Turning his grin back up to Nanami, Ikko would call out.

"What's next? Should we slow dance? A waltz? Perhaps just get the kiss over with now?"

 

[Nanami]

The rain poured down on to their little battlefield, each droplet that touched her let off a hiss and a small cloud of steam. She did it, she pulled it off, even in the rain she could feel the effect dampen significantly but she maintained it still with only a bit of her concentration spent to adjust. Her foot had struck solidly but he was skilled enough to deftly deflect most of the effect.

She didn't rest on her laurels long, her opponent was coming in, and fast. She pivoted to face but he'd already landed his attack. "Urgh da-" she began, cut off but a sudden fit of laughter. "Hey! Stop! I'll-" she started to swing out at him but he'd already danced back away from her. She shot him a fierce glare, but it gave way to a toothy grin.

"Enough of the waterworks then, huhn?!" She shot back, water sizzling along her body. She slid her foot back and drew a deep breath, eyes locked on to him as her expression grew serious. She made no sign or signal, a subtle shift of her energy to make the chakra necessary and she launched herself at Ikko. "I'm telling you, you really ought to take this a bit more serious, I'd feel bad if you got hurt, y'know!?"

As she neared she wound up for a quick jab, but swept suddenly to his side and tapped her foot on the ground behind his leg. She used the momentum of the feint to throw out a heavy right hook. The rock.

"Jan!" She cried. The second strike followed up the first immediately, a two-fingered jab at his eyes. "Ken!" The final strike came with a lunging step, driving a flat palm straight for his chest. "PON!"

She had little hope the strikes would land on their own, he seemed capable enough, the difference between them was pretty obvious, but that's why she had prepared the Gravel Shift jutsu! Her feint was sure to be seen through, but it was merely an excuse to lay her trap with the tap of her foot. Ikko might win, but she was going to do her best to make him work for it.