[center][img]https://images-ext-1.discordapp.net/external/hnF6EbXf79DMQ4Id93i8yKKvir0gzk_cr01mMPjpRlA/https/i.imgur.com/Dh2sKJs.jpg?width=406&height=406[/img] [h3][color=fff79a]Kasugano Sakura[/color][/h3]
Level 1: 6/10
Location: Battling Ryu outside of Lumbridge
Word Count: 734
Points Gained: 1
New EXP Balance--- Level 1: 7/10[/center]

	Sakura spiralled back up to her feet and saw the look that briefly flashed across his face as he stood to re-engage. For a moment her heart swelled with pride, but it was time to get back to the real fighting. Unfortunately for her, Ryu was able to engage first, which was not what she wanted. She would have to attack him more next time, to stop him from going on the offensive himself. As Ryu predicted, Sakura was a skilled enough fighter to block his series of strikes. Brief impacts of blue energy emitted from her forearms as she deflected the force behind his blows. Dropping low to block his low punches and standing back to full height to stop his upper hits. Unfortunately, he wasn't committing to anything. The young woman was extremely eager to counter-attack, interrupt Ryu's offense and begin her own. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing or a sign of her impatience, just a reflection of her aggressive fighting style. 

	Toward the end of his last few probing strikes, she very briefly began to drop her guard and try to get in a punch of her own before retracting and blocking his next punch. 

	[color=fff79a][i]He's not planning on keeping this up forever. Eventually I'll counter these attacks, and he knows it. He also probably knows not too commit to any big moves because he knows I'm jumping at the chance to get in a hit of my own. But I don't think he knows that I'm not just gonna sit here and block forever. No way! He probably thinks I'm too overeager, or am waiting for the perfect moment, so he's gonna go for an overhead to break my defence. Not gonna happen! I'll take any chance I can get, even if it's small! Here it comes![/i][/color]

	Sakura grimaced and grinned as she absorbed the collarbone breaker, so strong it felt like Ryu was punching her twice with one punch. She let the strike's momentum carry her down into a crouching position and then used it against him, transition into spinning leg kick that would snap out at Ryu's knees. Not enough for a sweep, but enough to get her into another one of her combos. A striking elbow into his midsection. 

	For the final move in this combo, Sakura would do a move Ryu would recognize as a [s]rip-off[/s] move inspired by one of his own: the Shoryuken. Recognizable, but certainly different. Instead of a swirling flame fist, Sakura popped upward like a firecracker, her fist flashing yellow and cracking like gunpowder. Enough to launch Ryu into the air. Before he could land though, Sakura would finish her spin and dash underneath him, and launch her next attack. Another uppercut.

	[color=fff79a][i]"Shouoken!"[/i][/color] She shouted, the firecracker hitting his back and sending him into a backflip and landing on the ground. She knew he was going to get up fast, so unlike last time, she dashed ahead yet again to meet him as soon as he got back onto his feet. As soon as he did, she would attempt another throw. A simple but effective grab of the wrist, sticking her leg behind his ankle, and a hard spiralling push would flip him head over heels. If that worked, as soon as he got up from that one, she would do the same thing again, and again. Sakura was attempting to count on the fact that her attacks would be so predictable and repetitive that Ryu would be expecting her to do literally anything else and try to do defend against those possibilities, only to be greeted by the same move yet again. If this somehow managed to work four times in a row, she would stop at the fifth time and back off. 

	It was a bold move, to be sure, but Sakura was just that. Bold, offensive, big gambles. Often she was a fan favorite simply because she was so fun to watch, and it was certainly fun to fight this way. Here was a woman who, having trained almost entirely on punching bags, treated her foes and the world as just that. A canvas to paint her martial artistry on, to see each picture become more beautiful and better each time she attempted it. Learning more and more every encounter. Her dull red eyes were alight with the thrill of the fight.