Juri's Jaguar Chapter 3

"You can't be serious," said a young woman with two long black ponytails, "you mean you've never even thought of it?"

Makoto shrugged, eyes closed in her meditation as she sat on the floor.

"I've thought of it before, but I just don't know how to do it." She opened her eyes and looked over at the young woman in her kitchen. "I don't use them that much, Ibuki, you know that. You'll have to help me out there."

Ibuki crossed her arms.

"You should have asked for help before I went out for work! It's not that hard anyway, unless you're one of those technophobes, which you seem to be..." She shook her head and moved to her red backpack on the counter. "Come over here, I'll get it set up for you."

Sighing, Makoto rose up from the floor and walked into the kitchen. Over the years, Makoto, with her best friend's help, had managed to spruce up her dojo, adding a kitchen, guest rooms, and much more, converting it into a house for her. If she was going to commit to her dojo, she was going to have to be closer to properly tend to it. Her money was gained from winning at numerous tournaments in Japan, and various odd jobs, one of which involved her working at a local school as a substitute teacher. Hell, she had the outfit and everything! She approached Ibuki, who was rummaging around in her backpack.

Ibuki had not changed from her 'valley girl' attitude since the last tournament. She had passed all of her exams at her ninja university, but just barely. After her graduation she set out into the world, determined to get distance from the other ninjas, especially Guy. Where she landed was not very far from her starting point. Living with Makoto was not the ideal life Ibuki had her mind set to, and neither was working for a nearby diner. Still, she was free from the instructors at the university, and enjoyed living with her friend, even if she didn't enjoy the same things as she did.

"Alright, I got it." Ibuki pulled something out from her backpack. "It was buried under a bunch of crap. Just sit up to the counter."

As Makoto did so, her friend walked up and plopped the device down in front of her.

Over the years, Ibuki had shown a fondness for technology, moving from cellphones to computers. She even passed one of her exams, one on observation, by using a small surveillance camera she had designed. Her knowledge of technology was somewhat lost on Makoto, who would merely nod and smile politely at her attempts to teach her, no clue of what her friend was saying. Makoto did understand some things were needed for her home, and she let Ibuki drag her into buying a TV, internet, and other various home appliances.

Makoto stared dully at the machine Ibuki had set down in front of her. It was small and wide; square in design, with a sleek surface. Ibuki reached over to flip it open, revealing a screen and keyboard; her laptop. The dark screen began to brighten up; bringing to light a graphical display centered around two crossed kunai. After a few seconds the daggers parted to show a white box for entering a password. Mumbling thoughtfully to herself, Ibuki typed on the keyboard, imputing her password.

Soon after the seven letter password had been verified, the screen changed to show Ibuki's desktop. She had a background image of three women posing for the camera in front of Makoto's dojo, the date in the bottom right-hand corner showing that the picture was recent. The woman in the left side of the photo had her hair held back tightly in a topknot, allowing two long ponytails to stick out high above her head and down to her waist. She wore a goofy grin as she stared at the camera. The woman in the middle was wearing a simple white karate gi with a yellow scarf tied around her neck. She had her arms crossed in an attempt to appear serious, but her facial expression betrayed her body language. Finally, the woman on the right was wearing a red and white track outfit with her short brown hair held up by a white headband.

The mouse pointer moved about the screen until it came to a rest on an icon of a globe. Ibuki double-clicked the icon, opening up an internet browser.

"Alright, what I want you to do here," she typed in an address, allowing the page to load, "is to create your own Facebook profile."

"Facebook? What's that?"

"Well, it isn't the act of smacking one's face in with a book, that's for sure. It's a social networking site, which you can use to keep in touch with friends and family!"

"And this will help me... how?" Makoto asked, placing her chin in the palm of her hand. She wasn't impressed, nor was she swayed just yet.

"Well, once you get set up, people who look for you on Facebook can look at your profile to find out where you are!" Ibuki smiled and clicked into a new page for new profiles. "This can be very useful, since the whole purpose of you getting on this thing is so you can advertise this dojo!"

Nodding, Makoto took control of the laptop, typing her name in a white box. With that logic, she needed no further incentive to use the computer. Advertising meant new students. New students meant income, income that could be used to further fix up the dojo and spread the name of Rindoukan karate. Her friend grinned and leaned back, folding her arms.

"Just make sure that when you advertise for the dojo, you put the address in!"

In a rare moment, Makoto's lips curled up in a malicious smile.

"Should I include free hedge clippers too?"

Both girls began to snicker, remembering Dan Hibiki's advertising blunder. Ibuki had found and made a recording of Dan's commercial to show to her friends, leaving them in stitches. Suddenly, the ringtone of a cellphone was heard nearby. The owner of the phone stepped away to collect it, pulling it out from the confines of her red backpack. She flipped the phone open and looked at the name of the caller. Smiling, Ibuki accepted the call.

"Hello Sakura!"

The answer was a loud combination of voices; it seemed that there was a crowd nearby. Sakura, the caller, replied in a cheery tone that carried a hint of uncertainty.

"Hey Ibuki! Listen, there's some kind of commotion going on down at the Red Lotus!"

Ibuki raised an eyebrow.

"The Red Lotus?"

"Ya, you know, that diner where you work?"

"Part-time!" Ibuki growled, as if it was embarrassing to even think about working.

"Part-time, right. Anyway, you have a camera planted somewhere around that area, right?"

"Yeah, I can look through it from my computer." She looked at Makoto, who was busily working on her profile. "Want me to take a look for you?"

"Please do!" Sakura replied on the other line. "I can't see anything from where I'm at! From what I've heard, two people are fighting in front of the place!"

"Alright, I'll get the camera up then." She strode over to Makoto and bumped her out of her stool with her hips. With a yelp of surprise, Makoto toppled to the floor. "Sorry Mak, E-mail address can wait, there's a fight going on in front of the diner!"

Makoto grumbled and got up from the floor, rubbing her rump and glaring at Ibuki. She was on her stool, typing in a password for a program with one hand and holding her phone in the other. While she was known for being lazy, the kunoichi was a force to be reckoned with when motivated. Her fingers flew over the keyboard, showing her mastery of the technology. Ibuki moved the laptop over so her friend could see a video of a crowd near the diner when she was finally finished.

"Hey, the camera is up and running," she said into the phone to Sakura. In an aside to Makoto, "Boy there certainly are a bunch of people there..."

Makoto nodded as she placed a hand to her chin. Just as her friend had said, there were a myriad of people of all shapes and sizes cluttered about in the street. The karate fighter pointed to a part of the screen, nudging the camera operator. Ibuki followed her finger to find Sakura crouching down in the midst of the crowd, head down with a phone in her hand. She patted her friend on the back and spoke into her phone once again.

"Oh, we see you too! Look up, Sakura!"

The woman in the red shirt raised her head to look around. She found the camera and nodded, pumping her fist energetically as if it was an achievement to find the machine.

"Nice, I see it! Now, can you move it to the left and tell me what you see?"

"My left or your left?" Ibuki questioned.

"Your left."

"Rodger that!"

Ibuki pressed the left arrow key on the keyboard, sending a signal to the camera. It swiveled to the left, showing the operator and guest the scene. On the screen were two people, a definite man and woman. The woman had a black and purple breastplate with white and purple trousers, while the red-haired man was not wearing a shirt, instead wearing only blue and yellow shorts. He seemed enraged while the woman seemed to be enjoying the fight.

"Alright Sakura, I see what's going on here. Juri is in a fight with some guy... But I don't know who though."

"What?" Sakura exclaimed from the other end. She sighed before continuing. "Oh dear… Thanks for the heads-up Ibuki, I'll take care of this!"

"Yup! See you two later!"

She closed her phone, ending the conversation. Both women were now focused on the video, watching as Juri sent the man off with a kick to his stomach. As the man got back up from the ground, Juri spoke and turned her back to him. The red-haired man jumped towards her, performing a front flip and extending his leg to smash into her from above, but she easily dodged it without looking. She dodged two more times, darting behind him and unleashing a flurry of attacks, lifting him high into the air out of the camera's line of sight.

Shortly after disappearing, the man fell back to the ground. Juri landed first though, sending the man a powerful kick to his back before he hit the ground. She appeared to be taunting him, keeping him positioned on her foot as she moved her face closer to his. Both women watching turned to look at each other, Makoto raising an eyebrow.

"She's a bit forward, isn't she?"

"Meh, I was like that too ya know."

"Before you found Yun, that is..." Makoto drawled out unenthusiastically.

"Yup!" Ibuki replied with a grin, oblivious to her friend's attitude. "He's awesome... maybe you should think about getting a guy for yourself too!"

Makoto scoffed and looked back at the screen.

"Yeah, maybe..."

Ibuki giggled and looked back at the screen. Juri had thrown the man off her foot and to the ground, and then she moved to sit on his back. Sakura moved through the crowd with a worried expression on her face as she approached Juri. Ibuki nudged Makoto, a box of popcorn in her hand. How she got that was a mystery, but Makoto had no intention of finding out.

"Want some? This will be interesting to watch!"

Her friend stared dully at her.

---

"Juri!" The woman in the red track outfit shouted as she approached her. "What are you doing?"

Juri pouted and raised her eyebrows as if she was caught sticking her hand in the cookie jar. She pointed to the red-haired man she sat upon.

"He started it!" she replied in a way that did not accurately reflect her age.

"Did he now? Judging by the fact that you're wearing his headband, I'd say he fought you only to get it back."

She took off the headband and twirled it around on her fingers.

"Well, aren't you smart? We were merely playing a game, but it got out of control."

Sakura hung her head and slumped her shoulders, realizing that an argument here wouldn't solve anything. She was usually cheery and optimistic, but the stress of college and training was beginning to take its toll on her. Add that to the fact that she was usually the one to mediate when Juri and Ibuki got themselves in tight spots, the optimistic attitude became harder to maintain. Juri looked to the girl for a moment before standing up.

"Chin up, will ya?" she said, placing a hand on her hip. "If it makes you feel better, I didn't kill him."

"Well that's good to hear… What are you going to do with him," Sakura asked, gesturing towards Adon, "now that you've gotten the last piece for your collection?"

Juri shrugged and nudged the man with her foot.

"Well Sakura, I was thinking of letting him stay at Mak's for awhile."

"You beat a guy up, and then you want to kidnap him?" Sakura all but yelped, struggling to find the logic in her statement.

She watched as Juri bent down to pick up the man and place him over her shoulder. The Korean turned back to Sakura and flashed her a sly smile as well as a condescending wag of her finger.

"I'm not kidnapping, I'm helping!"

"How so?"

"Well, Adon, that's this guy right here," Juri said, cocking her head at Adon, "apparently hasn't been watching the news for years. He believes I still work for S.I.N. and that I'm off doing dastardly deeds, stealing candy from babies and whatnot. Plus, I think I broke his arm..."

"So... you want Makoto to take in a crazy Muay Thai kickboxer so you can talk some sense into him?"

"Adon's not that crazy anymore," Juri quickly said without a thought. "He certainly was a wild and crazy guy- I bet he still is- but now he's calmer. Maybe even a tiny bit humble. I'm not the only one who has changed over the years Sakura."

"Well, what do you think Nikki?" Sakura asked her canine companion. "Should we let her try?" The dog barked and wagged its tail, circling around its owner. Sakura giggled before looking back up at Juri, "Alright Juri, I guess you can take him over to Mak's. Just, don't try to take advantage of him when he's like that."

"Please, unlike some girls, I don't go all out on the first date."

Sakura rolled her eyes and pushed her way through the crowd with her dog heeling beside her. With Adon slumped over her shoulder, Juri followed her, grinning all the while. They made their way away from the city and back into the countryside without further incident. Soon, they encountered a small blue tent at the base of a hill overlooking Makoto's dojo. Nikki pulled Sakura towards the front of the tent and, without so much as a warning, she ran inside to sniff at a large bag.

"Nikki! Get out of there! This tent doesn't belong to any of us!"

Whining, the dog slinked out of the tent carrying a pair of blue and yellow shorts in her mouth. Her owner bent down to take the shorts away, thankfully without much resistance. She glared at her dog, wagging a finger at her in a scolding manner. Sakura then turned the shorts around to look at the inside tag, where Adon's full name was written. Juri noticed this and looked down at the young woman.

"Looks like this spastic gremlin set up camp here, close to the dojo."

"I hope he wasn't spying on the girls while he was here…" Sakura mumbled.

Although her friend didn't know Adon had been doing that, Juri did. She chose not to let her know, however, holding in a snicker. Giving the unconscious fighter a pat on the rump, she turned to walk towards the dojo.

"I'll get his stuff later," Juri said out of the blue. "Think you can get a sling for his arm once I get him settled?"

"Uhh... yeah, I think I can do that," Sakura replied, dropping the shorts and standing up.

Soon, they reached the front door of the dojo, where Sakura stepped up to knock on them. A few awkward seconds passed, and she looked back at Juri, who gave her a smirk. Anyone else would be suspicious of that expression, but Sakura knew it all too well as one of her sadistic smiles, one she usually gave to someone who was uncomfortable. Sadly, Sakura was already uncomfortable without the smirk. The door then opened, taking the young fighter by surprise.

"Sakura!" the kunoichi said from inside. "Nice of you to drop by!"

Ibuki stepped out and wrapped her arms around her, grinning. When she broke the friendly embrace, she looked at Juri, her grin turning into a frown.

"Aw Juri! You had to bring him along with you? Couldn't you have just, I don't know, left him back at the diner?"

"I couldn't have him running around with a broken arm. He'd go to the police, and I can't have that. You know that," Juri scolded. "This is my problem, and I want to fix it. Besides, Mak has plenty of beds."

Without another word, they walked in. They saw Makoto in the kitchen looking stumped as she worked on Ibuki's laptop. Seeing as the true operator was elsewhere, the karate fighter used this sliver of time to tend to her new duties. Hearing the door close, she looked up and dropped her jaw.

"What? Oh come on..." she mumbled.

"I'm afraid so Mak," Juri began, placing her free hand on her hip. She gave the unconscious Thai man a look before turning back to the tomboy. "I may have gone a little over-"

"A little?" Makoto scoffed.

"Just a bit overboard," Juri growled, pinching her fingers together. "I got an idiot who needs information, and I wanna give it to him. Mind if I keep him here in my room?"

Makoto narrowed her eyes at Juri when she said where she would put him. Keeping a battered man inside a room occupied by a promiscuous she-devil didn't sound right. However, Juri had displayed remarkable amounts of self-control and was known to be responsible when the time called for it. The woman had worked in a cut-throat organization for a long time, so it was only natural to assume she had a firm grasp on almost any situation. Makoto was simply overreacting, and she noticed this after a few seconds of recollection.

"She broke his arm," Sakura said, pointing to Adon's right arm.

"And kidnapped him," Ibuki chimed in.

"Well at least she's taking responsibility for her actions… That's the bright side..." Makoto looked up at Juri and jabbed a finger in her direction. "But listen, he's your responsibility! I don't want any of you freaking out in this place!"

"I'll take that as a yes, then," Juri said triumphantly before turning on her heel.

She carried Adon towards one of the guest rooms located in the back, near the living room. She repositioned him on her shoulder before she opened the door. A large bed had been moved to the side of the room, near the door. The end table was stuck into the closet at the other side of the room, and the dresser almost fit within. Where the dresser would have been, there was a piece of white tarp covering the tan carpet. On the tarp was a three-legged object, but, given the lighting of the room, it was hard to see what exactly it was.

Juri carefully laid Adon down on the bed, smiling as she saw his chest rise and sink with each breath he took. For some odd reason, she found herself staring at him longer than intended. Her eyes swept over his form and took in the sight of his chiseled physique, his bandaged hands and feet, and his rough but oddly attractive features. He wasn't making that pained grimace, and he looked almost tame when unconscious, sort of like a big cat when sleeping. When she finally stepped out of her room, she saw Ibuki and Sakura mulling about around Makoto, who was still trying to figure out how to work everything on the computer.

"Alright, I'm going to go get his stuff from his tent now," Juri said, nonchalantly waving her hand. Her eyes narrowed as she continued, "If he wakes up when I'm not here, knock him out again."

The women nervously waved her off, hoping they wouldn't have to acknowledge her request. Or was it a command? As soon as the door closed, Makoto turned to Sakura.

"So, are you staying too?"

"I think I have to. I have to make sure she doesn't do anything to Adon that both she and he will regret in the future," Sakura said matter-of-factly.

"Hmph, now you're talking like that British woman," Makoto grumbled, referring to Sakura's friend in England.

Hearing the name of the incapacitated one, Ibuki piped up.

"So that's his name, right? I was wondering who that guy was..."

"Don't you remember him?" Makoto replied to her friend, wondering how someone could forget a man like Adon. "He throws his name out like it's going out of style…"

"I might remember some guy who was jumping around with red hair that looked like he got into a fight with a sander and lost. I just forgot his name, that's all," the kunoichi said unabashedly.

The other two women rolled their eyes. Ibuki gave a sheepish grin and nudged Sakura.

"Hey, what time is it?"

"Five minutes to six," Sakura said, looking down at her watch. "Why?"

Ibuki held up a DVD case from who-knows-where.

"I was wondering if we had enough time to watch this movie! I"

"What movie is it?" Sakura questioned, tilting her head in the same fashion as her canine companion.

"It's a long one; Resident Evil 5!"

Sakura took the DVD case and inspected it, beaming.

"Hey! I've wanted to see that for so long!"

"As have I! The movies are so much better than the games anyway."

The two women moved into the living room, turning on the TV and inserting the disc into the DVD player. Shrugging, Makoto stayed in the kitchen. She turned around and reached up to an overhead cabinet, pulling out a package of popcorn. Mumbling to herself, she opened the door to a microwave and put the package inside.

"Guess I'll make some more popcorn then..." she said unenthusiastically to herself.