Roadblock | Group Mission

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ami was sent on another mission...or rather she had decided to take another mission. Having recently proved herself somewhat worthy of her title as a Gekkousato shinobi, she was finally allowed to take on some more dangerous missions, or ones which involved higher risks for greater returns. She wasn't really in it for anything though, except for her own training benefit, treating every mission and every kill she made as an experience to better herself as a kunoichi. It was her escapism really, to be able to go places, to meet new people, and not be holed away in her compounds. Any time away from the clan grounds and her father were welcomed by her and even the most mundane of missions were took on enthusiastically as a result. There was little to no conflict in her family, her father being the all-seeing and deciding figure. Yet tension brew, and Ami was near tipping point, as she wanted to step away, to be recognized not as a Hyuuga but as a shinobi.

What better way to prove herself than that of an escort mission, as she found herself sitting on the caravan that was responsible for escorting some diplomat of the Sun village back home. She hardly ever asked questions about her targets nor her clients, under the firm belief that it mattered not whether she knew who they were or what they did. Her job was to escort them safely, and that was exactly what she would do. The girl found herself on Kataki Road once more, the ever-so familiar traveling point merchants and shinobi took when moving between one village to another. Her lavender white eyes kept to the road, an otherwise unadventurous journey would be quickly interrupted by...a roadblock. And not any roadblock...as the caravan would come to an abrupt halt. She saw a figure, the red purple hair the first thing she noticed as she stared. A man was sitting on a barrel, in the middle of the road. It was obvious he was there waiting for something, perhaps waiting for them specifically or happening upon them by chance. Whichever it was, it was clear that he wasn't budging. As the carriage drew closer he would stand, and his intent was ever so clear to Ami. There would be no words as she hopped down from her own seated position, her feet lightly touching the ground.

She observed him in silence, taking in his build, his appearance. He looked like any other person, with the exception of the glistening red purple hair. The same way she treated her clients and targets, she was not interested in who he was or why he was standing there stopping them from advancing. If he was going to attack, she would just have to defend. If not, she would not. That was her new approach. Ami realized that she had always been a little too kind to people, often wanting to befriend them or hear them out when it would be clear they didn't want that. So now there she was, her right hand lightly resting one of her two katanas as she waited for the man to either say something or draw his weapon. Her eyes would meet his, and the look of defiance mixed with seriousness would be evident in her gaze.

The living mountain that was Taro stood in the road as he watched Ami with a steady gaze, allowing her the time to slip from the carriage and start to take her place. His eyes gauged her openly as an opponent, assessing that she definitely seemed capable, meaning that this fight would be more than worth the wait. As she stepped forward, her blades becoming apparent, the man's right hand casually reached towards the small of his back. He would pull something out of his pouch, a pair of gloves that he would take a careful time to slide on without a single word to the woman. If she looked closely, she would be able to see that there were metal plates along the front and backs of the gloves, probably created so a close-ranged fighter could contend with someone using a bladed weapon. Once he was done with that, his eyes moved back towards the woman as the corner of his lips tugged, barely a smirk.

"This is simple. I'm going to crush you and then, afterward, I'm going to kill your client." The man's voice was deep and strong, almost booming across the distance that was between them as his body moved with lazy motion. His left leg bent backward to kick the barrel that was behind him, the gesture simple but upon contact with the wooden structure, it would explode backward into splinters and seemingly out of existence. Using the same leg as it swung forward, he would slam his barefoot into the with enough force to create an indentation before he dashed forward and easily closed the distance that was between them, "Now then, show me how strong the loyalty to your village burns!" And with that, the man's assault of attacks would come as he stopped his dash within striking range of the woman.

His body moved with great force, feet shoulder length apart as he brought his right hand, which was resting near his core, forward in a strike. The first strike was simple, coming in as a punch that was aimed seemingly at Ami's left shoulder but his body didn't stop there. Regardless of if she dodged or blocked, his second strike came from his left hand as it whipped around with a strike that was coming directly for the woman's face!!! But, this was all a trick, hoping to catch her attention with the more powerful hook aimed at her face while he got his body closer to her. The idea was simple, if Ami turned her attention towards the face shot, his hand from before would attempt to grab her clothing tightly as his right leg would try to come between her legs and wrap around her leg. If this worked, in a matter of seconds, Ami would be taken off her feet and whipped through the air as he aimed to throw her into a tree that was 5 meters away, with enough force to crack the bark underneath her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fighting was never her specialty nor did she really enjoy it. But she could see that whether she enjoyed it or not was secondary to the man standing in front of her. Although she had her katana with her, she would observe his movements first. If he used weapons, she would counter with weapons. If he preferred hand-to-hand combat, she would follow. It was mostly out of respect for her opponents she supposed, not wanting to give or get an advantage over the other person. And she would find that this man was definitely a hand-to-hand type, as he came at her with his fists. The girl took one small step backward with her right leg, an automatic response that came when she acknowledged that her opponents were coming at her with an attack. Although she was a Hyuuga, and was skilled in the Gentle Fist style, she was not very good at regular fist fights. It was a chance for her to learn, maybe the hard way, not to put all of her focus into one field.

His simple movements, such as that of kicking the barrel out of the way with his leg was a direct display of his strength and force, something that Ami picked up on quickly. She knew that she was going to expect a fight that was both skilled and brute, though she gathered it would lean more to brute force than anything else. She tried to recall the time she had fought someone using just her hands and feet, and would be quite disturbed to realize that she hadn't had such experience. But for the sake of her client, who was still sitting safely in the carriage behind her, she needed to give it her all or else risking both their lives under the hands of this mysterious looking man. She took in a deep breath and waited, giving him the opportunity to strike first. It was also to evaluate and to observe his movements, if one could call it that.

And evaluate she would be able to as he charged at her with multiple attacks. His first, which was a simple punch to her left shoulder she dodged, by shifting her body to the right. The girl's eyes darted to his other hand, the practice of watching both hands of a fighter engraved in her Hyuuga training. She saw that he would come at her with a punch to her face, which was not that alarming. it seemed like everyone like to aim for her face, if not her torso. Ami would raise her own right arm, to block the incoming blow, her head not turning towards him to acknowledge the punch itself. She had learned that it was not a good idea to always look at an attack straight on because it meant that she was opening her body or whatever her eyes wouldn't be able to focus on to a hit. And perhaps whoever had taught her that had taught her well because she would see the hand that had aimed to her left shoulder come back to try...and grab her clothes. By pure reflex, her left hand would try to grab hold of his vacant hand, putting a tight hold on his wrist and twisting it outward.

As both her hands were tied, her gaze would shift to her lower body, or rather the lower body of her opponent. It seemed that he would be going for a combo attack. His leg would wrap its way around her leg, attempting to make her lose her balance. Part of a Taijutsu user was to never lose balance at least in the lower body, as it was the fundamental basis of form and stability. She would attempt to turn her body to the right, her left leg coming behind so as to stop his leg, while her hand would still be holding his wrist if he had let her as she would attempt to overthrow him, to use the pressure and weight of her own body to bring him down the ground. A feeble attempt perhaps, but if it got her to not have to fly through the air, she was ready to give it a try.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

First Action: Dodge Shoulder Feint
Second Action: Block Face Feint with right arm
Third Action: Combo Defense