War of the Tiger and Dragon

Natsuki chuckled, "You sound like my mother when you say that. She nags and worries about me all the time." She then sighed heavily.

"........Sorry. Its something my Grandfather keeps telling me all the time." he chuckled a little, with a sheepish expressions. "Its just instilled in me to be sure."

Natsuki saw his expression and laughed, "It is good advice, I just don't like to listen very much. My mother is very overbearing. She just can't understand that I am an adult. While my grandfather is very harsh and thinks nothing I do is good enough." She sighed again. "But I'm sure you don't want to listen to my family drama." She laughed awkwardly.

"No....pretty much the same in my family, expect my father's standards are ALWAYS as high as the mountain and expects nothing by perfection." he said, "SO I know what you mean." he said.

"Just because I am younger...I am greatly overlooked. My older sister, who is nowhere near as strong as me gets to be head of the clan. She doesn't even want the position. My grandfather is a stickler for tradition. The role of clan leader always goes to the eldest daughter. It is really stupid if you ask me." She said.

"My father was first born and So it the same for me as well. But I keen to put my mark on the clan as well as keep old traditions." he said, "But if they heir seems not so keen that is a problem." eh said.

Natsuki was surprised to hear that Roku was next in line to be the leader of his clan. That meant she probably really should heed Nemo's warning and stay away from him.

"So...you will be the next clan leader? Part of me is jealous." She joked. "I would love to do battle with you some day to see just how strong you are. If that confrontation we had earlier today is any indication, then you are quite skilled." She said.

He smiled, "I can challenge you to a sparring match if you would like? I've always wanted to fight one of you without the need to kill." he said.

"Thank you...my father made sure to train me in the first few years, then along with his most trusted of shinobi, taught me all I need to know along the way, other things I picked up myself." he said

"Mm, very impressive." She raised her hand and reached for her neck to play with the bell on her choker out of habit, but it wasn't there since she was in her disguise. She lowered her hand and smiled at him.

"I am up for the challenge. Any time. And no holding back." She said.

"Didn't plan on holding back. But no killing." he smirked. He heard the door, "Excuse me." he said to Natsuki, going to meet some customers, and getting them tea and some of the red bean mochi he had made.

"Of course. Go ahead." Natsuki got so distracted talking to him that she forgot about the delicious spread in front of her. She took a sip of her tea and broke her chopsticks apart to dig in. She took a bite and smiled. It was delicious. She ate while she waited for Roku to come back so they could finish their conversation. It was fully dark outside now and the rain was pouring down on the small village.

He came back, "So yes. Tomorrow morning?" he smirked. He said as he got two bowls of rice and a cooked fish each for the two customers who came in.

"I'll be there. Bright and early." She said with a smirk before she finished her bowl of rice and put her chopsticks down. She finished her tea and stood up to leave. "Thanks for the meal. It was delicious." She placed a few coins on the bar to cover her tab. "See you in the morning, Roku. Don't be late." She said looking over her shoulder at him before leaving the tavern.

"DOn't plan to be." he said quietly as she left.

The next morning....

Roku was just outside the village so no one would see them in their fight. He was in full shinobi attire and had his weapons on him...except the daito Natsuki gave him, finding it distasteful to use a gift of the person who gave it to him. He sat in the shade of the tree blending in naturally, there was a light mist this morning, perfect for the fight.

Natsuki appeared out of the mist a few feet from the tree that Roku was waiting under. She too was in full ninja attire and her cloak. She snuck out and left Nemo behind this time. She removed her hood and approached slowly.

"You're early. You must be as excited about this as I am." She smirked.

He jumped down from the tree, "I am. And I look forward to seeing just how skilled you are." he smiled, he got his face mask on fully, "And its PERFECT weather for this kind of show of skill." he said, "Let's begin." he said and faded into the mist.

"Let's..." She said. Natsuki watched him fade into the mist. He was wasting no time. She tossed her cloak at the tree and took out her daito. "Come out come out wherever you are..." Her eyes glowed in the dim light of the early morning. It was still slightly dark out.

She stayed in position and used her eyes to help her find his hiding spot. She listened to her surroundings and carefully tried to fish him out. "There." She said and threw a bunch of shuriken at the bushes behind her.

Roku had gone and blended with the morning shadows, still dark enough to blend in. He listened to all the sounds of the morning, cicada's singing....the birds...a gentle breeze making the leaves rustle. But he could push ALL those sounds out and listen for her breathing, her slight footsteps......maybe a snarky remark.

'She's got a cocky streak on her.....this will be fun.' he thought with a grin unde this face cover. He jumped from the trees and rolled into the bushes, but maybe a bit to roughly, making a noise, 'Shit!' he thought.

He got dodging the flurry of shuriken coming his was and he threw a couple of Kunai at her in return.

Natsuki's plan had worked. While her eye technique was helpful, it was not always accurate. She just followed her senses and attacked the spot where he most likely would have been. She heard the sound of kunai slicing the air and quickly dodged by jumping high into the air and back flipping into a landing.

She pulled out a scroll from her pouch to quickly prepare an elements attack. Having already fused her blood with the scrolls magic, she licked her finger and touched the scroll while chanting a quick mantra. She raked her finger over the scroll and then put it back into her mouth. She knew she had to come up with a way to clear the mist surrounding them so he would have less places to hide.

She stopped and took in a deep breath. Out of her mouth came an ice cold breath the penetrated the moisture in the air and began to make the mist evaporate.

Roku moved away quick when he saw the scroll, which he knew were never a good thing. He got into the shadows when he saw the mist vanish, "So...she wants to pull out bigs guns so soon....very well." he smirked. He got out a scroll himself, opening it out, biting his thumb and smeared on the the paper and his eyes turned black.

Meanwhile, with Natsuki, another presence was was surrounding her in the shadows.

Now that the mist was cleared, it would be a bit easier to spot him. Though he was still hidden well in the shadows. Still there was no movement that she could sense. He was remaining hidden in the safety of the shadows. But she suddenly felt the air change.

"Something is here..." She looked around her in every direction. "Damn, I wish I had brought Nemo with me. He would be very helpful right now..." She said in a low voice. Still, she took out another small scroll prepared for what might come out at her from the shadows.

Suddenly something jump behind and into the shadows again and then in the front. Moving fast around her it seemed like there were many and they were moving FAST around her.

Natsuki couldn't see anything, but she knew she was surrounded. Something was moving all around her so quickly that her eyes couldn't keep up. "What is this?" She said looking around a bit frantically.

Suddenly there SHADOWS got attacking her all at once, they were all his shape but were solid black figures. He was using a technique called the shadow clones, which was used a lot with the Dragon clan since you need a LOT of chi and scroll to use this specific version.

"Shadow clones. Hmm, well played." The shadow clones came at her from all directions. She took out two kunai knives and went to town on them. She knew if she gave them a severe blow, they would disappear in a cloud of smoke. She needed to move fast before they completely overpowered her.

She struck a enough of them so she could run past them so she wasn't surrounded, but they were fast. "Alright, no more miss nice girl." She abandoned one of the kunai and gave a solid thump to the bell around her neck. It swung around wildly making no noise at all.

Within minutes, her tiger companion Nemo jumped out of the shadows roaring with ferocity. The special bell around her neck called him to her side to help her fight. "Nemo! Help me take these shadow clones out!" He did just that and began clawing and biting at the clones one by one.