Your Careless Heart (part 3 of 9)

a Street Fighter fanfiction by Kaiser

Back to Part 2
The Kunoichi Who Would Be Woman

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ibuki stood silently in the compact courtyard of the Rindoukan Dojo. The 
challenge had been accepted. This was the first step towards the goal 
her village had for her and her own true goal. Across from Ibuki was the 
tomboyish but ever so flame-hearted Makoto. One of the proprietors of 
this Dojo they happened to be standing before. She walked back, her 
large bare feet moving inch by inch, always keeping an eye on the 
challenger. Ibuki. This girl was obviously fast. She probably had a 
rather lithe little body under all that baggy ninja wear. So Makoto had 
to be on her guard. She was no speed freak herself; just a sound 
all-round fundamentalist by style. Seconds past over slowly. Aside from 
a quiet wind and a few apples dropping from the tree, nothing could be 
heard in that courtyard. That all changed in an instant when Ibuki began 
her attack. The young woman dashed in speedy footsteps towards Makoto 
who remained fixed in place for the strike. Ibuki called out a feminine 
scream and shot her leg out at Makoto. The Karateka grit her teeth and 
ducked under it, Ibuki's leg passing right over her head and shoulders. 
Thus leaving behind an opening. Makoto took it while it was there and 
thrust a punch straight at the face of the ninja. Ibuki's face jerked 
back. As did her feet. While Makoto withdrew her fist and kicked with a 
powerful battle cry. That one was enough for Ibuki to pick up on. She 
caught the bare foot of the other fighter, stoppping the kick; and 
forced her backwards with one single shove. Makoto gasped and fell to 
the ground in with a thump, her white karate uniform dirtied by the dust 
she had unfortunately missed. Ibuki jumped backwards into the air to get 
a little distance and height. Once she was fully airborne she reached 
into a pouch at her back and withdrew one of her kunai. She rotated her 
body artistically mid-air, and threw that same kunai straight for Makoto 
with almost pin-point aim. 

Almost.

Makoto picked up on the wisp of sleek descending metal in the air and 
rolled backwards by instinct. The kunai knife stabbed into the ground 
and only the ground, a miss-hitter. Ibuki landed shortly afterwards and 
scowled at that. Then Makoto rolled up onto her feet. Back into a 
standing position. Which melted into a deft little charge. Makoto's 
young but powerful feet stomped their way across the turf of the 
Rindoukan Dojo courtyard to close down the gap of space between she and 
Ibuki. The kunoichi pulled her fists back up and waited for her to reach 
close-range proximity. Her village elders had taught her that 
close-range fighting was not the best way for a ninja to do what they 
needed to. But that was before the killing arts were scraped. Now the 
essential form of attack for them was via fists and feet. And to defeat 
someone with a simplistic but firm understanding of those basic 
principles was the point of this little challenge. 

Makoto cried out with fervour and swung her fist at Ibuki's head. The 
ninja girl dove to the left of that right-handed hook and rotated at her 
hips, extending her leg. A kick came out of nowhere. One that Makoto had 
no time to block. She was slapped across the face by the heel of the 
shinobi-in-training. She stumbled backwards until she could regain a 
little of her senses a moment later. Then Ibuki came again with a high 
punch to the face. Makoto managed to block that and then counter it with 
one of her own. Ibuki blocked that and countered with a punch to the 
ribs. It connected with a grunt from the victim as proof. Then the 
victim kicked back at Ibuki. Straight at the chest. Ibuki stepped back 
from Makoto with the hit, and Makoto herself skidded back with her eyes 
still locked on Ibuki. With her body low to the ground she ran straight 
for the longhaired Ibuki. A full body charge. The ninja was helpless to 
really counter that as she was tackled to the ground. But there was 
something she could do afterwards. The second that Makoto took her down, 
Ibuki gripped Makoto by the folds of her Gi and pressed her foot into 
the stronger girl's stomach. Ibuki yelled out and tossed Makoto 
overhead, throwing her out of close range. Makoto grit her teeth again 
whilst drifting towards the wall of her Dojo. She then got herself 
together and flipped around until she was leading in from the legs. Her 
feet pressed into the wall and shot her back with the exact same 
momentum and power. With that added boost in power, Makoto projected her 
fist and it rammed into Ibuki's face like a bullet.  

Makoto backflipped with searing skill while Ibuki staggered away. Once 
the tomboy landed she was on the offensive again. She darted at the 
child ninja and chopped at her waist horizontally. Ibuki crouched a 
little and blocked that powerful hand with the back of her left arm, 
then rushed forwards, knee-first. Makoto was nailed firmly in the face, 
her stray saliva knocked from her lips. Ibuki then crouched down to her 
fullest and stuck out her leg in sweeping motion. The fiery woman of the 
Rindoukan Dojo literally was swept off her feet. Her clothed back 
slapped the floors of the courtyard. Ibuki loomed over her and brought 
her fist down a second later. Makoto rolled to one side of the punch. 
And the kunoichi winced when her fist smacked the concrete beneath her. 
The tomboy kicked herself back up onto two feet and then charged Ibuki 
once more. A punch was cast. Ibuki caught that firm punch in one hand. 
Then used the other to try and grab a hold of Makoto by gripping her Gi 
once more. Seeing that Ibuki might be attempting some kind of throw, 
Makoto grabbed the hand that was holding her Gi. They now locked eyes as 
a struggle began for control of the fight. That was until Ibuki's grip 
became so desperate that she completely tugged at the collar of Makoto's 
ashen white Gi. Therefore pulling open the lower layer of her clothing 
and giving both girls a deep and uncovered view of the cleft of Makoto's 
breasts. 

The tomboyish girl gave a surprisingly womanly squeal from that instance 
of embarrassment. And Ibuki instantly released her grip, blushing of 
both allure and shared awkwardness. "...I-I'm sorry, I..."

But Makoto didn't waste time with words. She yelled out another powerful 
war cry and shot a kick straight into the abdomen of her challenger. 
Ibuki lurched forwards and tried to ignore what she had seen, while 
Makoto scrambled to tighten the front of her Gi for now. Once that was 
achieved she made another attack. This time with her elbow leading in. 
Ibuki looked up and sidestepped before the elbow strike could nail her. 
Makoto skidded around and came face to face with Ibuki again. Right 
before they both stepped back a little. It was now that the shorthaired 
girl figured she should amp up her game a little. Makoto tensed her 
whole body and loosened it all at once with one cleansing breath. She 
spread apart her bare feet and drew back one of her mighty hands. Her 
whole body assumed a fixed position while the yellow belt/scarf around 
her neck flocked behind her. Ibuki blinked violently as seconds later, 
Makoto's delivered a lightning fast rushing punch to her. Makoto's feet 
skidded to an abrupt stop while Ibuki was hurled backwards by the sheer 
force of Makoto's Hayate technique. Her back slammed ferociously into 
the rear wall that closed the Rindoukan Dojo off from the outside roads. 
She then slumped downwards a little whilst gripping her skull, partly 
unsure of what it was that had just hit her.

Makoto saw that as an opportunity she couldn't waste and ran for Ibuki, 
who was now backed up against the wall. The ninja girl shook her head to 
get rid of the inertia of the impact and heard those stampede-worthy 
footsteps of her adversary. She was screwed if she allowed herself to be 
hit by whatever it was that had hit her before. Ibuki crouched forwards 
and then gathered power into her left leg. But this had to be timed 
right. Once the karateka and the ninja were in full attack range of each 
other; Ibuki swiftly hopped upwards and kicked her leg up to her head in 
height, leaving behind a slicing residual energy. Makoto grunted hard as 
the Kazekiri kicking technique of Ibuki's rammed into her jaw. It was a 
stunning hit that was enough for her to escape danger. Ibuki landed to 
the ground a second later. While Makoto stepped back and wiped her jaw. 
There was a small graze there now. 

The two women locked eyes and remained silent as they watched for the 
next move to come from the other. They were more or less at a stalemate. 
Makoto was physically stronger but Ibuki had the agility to compensate 
for it. Ibuki was quicker of reflex but Makoto's style was so 
fundamentally sound that she could counter and reprise most strikes. But 
before they could continue their fight, drips of water came down from 
the skies. Both Makoto and Ibuki looked upwards and realized that the 
skies had been darkening while they were fighting. Drizzle came down 
fast. But would soon be followed by showers. And after all the time that 
Makoto had spent training in her courtyard, she could tell that a 
thunderstorm was about to hit them. 

Ibuki lowered her fists. "...I guess we'll have to put this off for a 
bit..."

"I suppose so." Makoto replied, dropping her own guard, "You might as 
well come inside until the rain dies down."

Ibuki blinked. "...You're inviting me into your house? Why?"

"My Father..." The shorthaired fighter turned around and began walking 
towards the sliding doors into the Rindoukan Dojo, "...taught me that 
the best way to show respect to a worthy opponent was to offer them the 
utmost hospitality."

To that, Ibuki smiled under her facial wrappings. "So I'm worthy, huh?"

That was a bit of an understatement. But Makoto didn't look like the 
type to actually admit that to someone. She said nothing in reply to 
that, but waved her hand at Ibuki when she slide open the doors of the 
Dojo. "C'mon, quickly now. Unless you want to catch a cold out there."

The ninja pressed her hands into her hips before following. "...Hmph! 
Yes Ma'am!"

Onwards to Part 4


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