File #1; Chapter 14

Gensou shrugged his coat off. Folding it neatly, he set it on the bar and then walked to the pool in front of the waterfall. Kyosuke had done his job well and had even shut the doors between the club and the garden. Gensou perched himself atop a rock and waited politely until his two opponents positioned themselves.

Genma leaned over to Sasori and whispered to her, his eyes never leaving Gensou.

"How are you on chakra?"

"I've got about 65 of my chakra remaining," she said," I did my best to conserve during my fight with Heiko."

"Have you recovered any?"

"5 and I did that just now."

"I'm at 100."

Sasori took Gensou's right since she was left-handed and Genma took his left. They looked over at each other, gave the other a reassuring nod and prepared themselves for combat. Genma took a senbon needle out of his coat and stuck it in the corner of his mouth. He then took his shuriken, kunai, and senbon holster out of his coat, along with a short roll of bandages. He wrapped his leg quickly and fastened the holster around it. His Leaf hitai-ate headband went on next and then he discarded his coat.

Sasori undid her obi carefully and let it fall to the ground. Genma turned his head slightly, his needle sticking up in surprise. 'Why the hell is she stripping?!' he thought. The reason became apparent when she opened her kimono to reveal a black yukata with a deep red obi. The sleeves of the yukata came down to her elbows and the length of the yukata came down to about mid-thigh. Underneath, he could easily see the woven wire that looked like fishnets and that served as flexible, light armor. It came down a little past her sleeves and she rolled a bit down her right leg past her knee. Then she took up her fan and snapped it open. She held two fingers in front of her face and prepared herself for combat.

"No Leaf headband, Sasori-san?" Gensou asked," Please, put your headband on. It makes the fight that much more formal."

Sasori paused before reaching into her kimono. She grabbed her Cloud hitai-ate headband and tied it around her forehead, careful not to mess up her hair. She assumed her fighting stance again.

"Thank you, Sasori-san," Gensou said," From here on out, it's no holds barred. My manners and politeness end here. But I will give you a chance to defect and become ninja under my command. Choose to fight me and you will die here tonight."

"You are a good dancer Gensou, but my husband and I are going to have to refuse. We have our orders and we will not sway from them, no matter what," Sasori replied, a smirk on her face.

"And you?"

"Just like the wife says," Genma said, his hands in his pockets," We have our orders and we are not going to sway from them."

"Hmm. Pity, but let us begin," Gensou said.

5 hands started doing seals, the men using both hands and Sasori using just one. Gensou finished before either of them.

"Kasumi Juusha no Jutsu!" Gensou said. (Mist Servant Skill)

Immediately, seemingly hundreds of Gensous had leapt out of the pool behind him and had taken up positions around Sasori and Genma. Sasori paused her seals as Genma finished his, for once, relying on him.

"Shiranui style! Genshiun Kekkai no jutsu!" Genma shouted. (Atomic Cloud Barrier Skill)

Before the mist clones could engage them, the Cloud and Leaf ninja were enveloped in a thick cloud of... something. It felt like dust to Sasori but this dust had a pulse. It radiated with something. Either way, she felt an arm around her waist and looked over to see Genma. He was going to protect her, she just knew it.

"I've got your back, if you've got mine," he said.

"Damn right!" she replied.

Sasori moved so that her back was pressed to Genma's. Genma smiled to himself and began a short series of seals.

"Shiranui style- Shiranui Rouen no Jutsu," Genma said softly. (Sea Fire Beacon Technique)

When nothing happened, Sasori made an irritated noise and shifted from foot to foot.

"Look for a phosphorescent green light through the cloud. If you can see one, then that is where Gensou is- the real Gensou," he whispered.

Sasori squinted and peered about. Genma looked around as well.

"There," she whispered and pointed.

Sure enough, to Sasori's left and Genma's right, there was a shape outlined in glowing green light. The two smirked at the same time. Sasori snapped her fan shut, tucked it into her obi and started a series of seals with her hands. Genma clasped his hands together.

"Release," Genma said.

The atomic dust started to fade as Sasori finished her seals. Her maroon eyes were focused on the Gensou that had the flickering teal light around him. Her hands clenched into fists, her arms held before her in an "x" formation. A strange, iridescent purple-blue glow formed around her hands as she started to move the chakra to her fists.

"Dokugamoto style- Dokugaken," Sasori said with a smile. (Poison Fist or Vicious Way Fist)

Sasori bent her knees and then she was gone. Genma caught a glimpse of her dashing through the mist clones that had been intended to confuse them towards the marked Gensou. Genma readied his weapons and dashed after her a moment later.

Gensou was shocked that Sasori had zeroed in on him and was able to pick him apart from his misty clones. Her maroon eyes had locked with his icy blue pupil-less ones. Her fighting style, Dokugaken, was going to sap her of precious chakra initially but in the end, it should pay off. Sasori feigned an open-palmed strike to his left shoulder but at the last minute, thrust her other fist deep into his stomach. She was rewarded with a spray of blood from a surprised Gensou. She didn't gloat too long however. He aimed a strike at her neck and Sasori just narrowly avoided it. She did two backflips and landed rather shakily on a wet rock, her eyes on Gensou. She felt some of the chakra she had used to start her Dokugaken return to her after she had punched Gensou but now it was slowly ebbing away again.

"One," Gensou whispered.

While Gensou was distracted with Sasori, Genma came around behind the Illusion master and launched several senbon needles at the back of Gensou's neck. Gensou dodged all but two - one went in his shoulder and the other lodged itself in his upper right arm. Gensou frowned and gritted his teeth angrily as he leapt off the rock. He was met with a kick to the right kidney from Sasori that he hadn't seen coming. He spat up more blood and tried to put some distance between them. Dammit! It was hard to keep track of two highly skilled ninja such as these two. Compared to the Leaf ANBU that had been sent to kill him, these two were on a higher level. The ANBU had been difficult to deal with simply because they didn't play around. These two, especially Sasori, liked to play a bit. Gensou thought that that would make them easy prey but as he found out, he was mistaken. Sasori's combination ninjutsu and taijutsu technique was not only weakening him spiritually, but it was weakening him physically.

Sasori attacked again, barrelling through a mist clone that was close to Gensou. He could see her purple-blue iridescent hands and expected her to feign to one side again. Instead, she took him head on, her right hand striking the right side of his chest in an open-handed palm strike. Gensou felt his right lung partially collapse and groaned in pain. He lashed out at Sasori, his fist striking her in the cheek. Sasori skidded away.

Genma swung in next with a kick to the ribs as Gensou had finally gotten to his feet. Gensou gritted his teeth at the pain and produced a shuriken from his sleeve. Genma barely saw it before it left Gensou's hand and dodged it somehow, the shuriken coming so close to his left ear the Genma heard it sail by.

"Two," Gensou whispered.

Gensou got to his feet again and threw a right hook at the offbalance Genma. It caught Genma in the jaw and made his trip to the ground speedy. Genma managed to cushion his fall and swung his left leg around, trying to sweep Gensou off his feet. Gensou didn't move fast enough and had both legs swept out from under him. He landed with a thud and gasped as his right lung reinflated from the impact. How that happened, he had no idea but it worked to his advantage. The next thing he knew, Genma was on his feet and Gensou immediately followed suit. Genma was prepared for Gensou's incoming punch and easily parried it away.

"Three," Gensou whispered.

The two men had both hands occupied with the other to bother with trying their ninjutsu or genjutsu. Sasori got to her feet and watched the two, temporarily dismissing her Dokugaken so as to conserve chakra. The two ninja were both skilled in taijutsu but not experts. Blows were exchanged fiercely, some landing and some flying by the other, missing by mere centimeters. Why did it look like Genma was deliberately trying to get punched by Gensou? Sasori failed to see the merit in this tactic at all. Finally, Gensou landed a good hit on Genma that sent the Leaf ninja into the ground with audible force.

Sasori knew as soon as she saw Gensou move that Genma wouldn't be able to block the shot. Before he hit the ground, she had already fired up her Dokugaken again and had launched herself at Gensou. Sasori landed a glancing blow across Gensou's upper right arm. He grabbed his arm and gritted his teeth. He tried to punch her but missed.

Genma had propped himself up on his elbows and saw to his horror as the seventh attack missed Sasori as she parried the fist. She stepped into his space and the two slammed their fists into the other's stomach at the same time. Sasori had had the presence of mind to wear a bit of light body armor and Gensou swore under his breath as his fist made contact with the light but still hard ceramic plate beneath her armor. His swear was cut short by the blood that dripped from his mouth and that sprayed lightly onto her face. She held her fist there until he finally managed to push her away.

Gensou quickly put some distance between him and the two attacking ninja. He felt his power rise within him as he chanted the number 7 over and over in his mind. Standing on the rock he had stood on at the start of the fight, his hands moved in a flurry of seals. Genma and Sasori were getting to their feet as he called out the move.

"Magen! Ikijigoku no Jutsu!" he yelled. (Demonic Illusion- Hell on Earth Technique)

-End Chapter 14-