| [Dec. 22nd, 2013|05:02 am] |
He threw his tanto up to block her. She used the contact point of their blades as a fulcrum, pushing the hilt of her kodachi like a pendulum and slamming it into his sternum. He staggered, and Katsuko brought her leg up and kicked him in the stomach as hard as she could.
Grass and dirt flew into the air when Kakashi hit the ground. He landed sprawled out on his back; after a second he managed a faint, “Ow.”
“That’s my line,” Katsuko said, wheezing. She pointed accusingly at him with her katana. “What do you sharpen your knees with, knives?”
“The bones of my enemies,” Kakashi rasped, still staring up at the sky. Katsuko, because she wasn’t an idiot, made no move to help him up.
“Funny,” she said, dust-dry. “What was that, before? The fighting style with the reverse-grip.”
Kakashi raised his head. “Kakougan no Ken Fu? It’s from Iwa.”
“Oh.” Figured a style called ‘Fist of Granite’ would come from Earth Country. Earth Country ruined everything. “That’s why it’s so ugly, then.”
He made a sound almost like a snicker. “Seemed appropriate to go with your face.”
“Wow,” Katsuko said. “That shattered my feelings. Into pieces.”
“I can tell,” Kakashi drawled, and flipped back onto his feet in one smooth, effortless motion. “Let me apologize.”
He blurred in place and reappeared inches away, blades slicing for her throat like they hadn’t stopped to chat at all.
If their first match had been hard, their second was vicious. Kakashi’s tanto laid her shirt open from ribcage to hipbone, leaving exposed skin and a stinging line of crimson behind. Katsuko repaid him with a swipe that sliced through his belt.
Kakashi had earned his reputation. He never made the same mistake twice, arrowing in on holes in her defense with deadly accuracy. She pushed herself to the limits to keep him from gaining ground, exhilarated and breathless.
If Kakashi had his ninjutsu, she’d have been a smear in the dirt. But kenjutsu was hers, damn it, and like hell was she letting him walk all over her in her own specialization.
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