AN: I forgot to mention before, but Reiboshi is not my own character… he was provided very kindly by ShounenSuki. It was originally meant as a tribute to him for translating everything and helping me, but Reiboshi ended up becoming an integral part of the plot and solving a couple of the problems I was having, so I have to thank ShounenSuki for that as well .
Another couple of translations for those that don't know… A Kunoichi is a female ninja. Kuchiyose no jutsu is the summoning technique.
7- Into the Flames
Gai watched Neji as his student turned slowly around, looking as far as he could in every direction for any sign of enemy ninja. After a while, he shook his head.
"Their camp seems to be empty, but none of them are within range of my Byakugan," Neji said, looking back at Gai. Gai nodded.
"Tenten, you know what to do," he said. The girl nodded.
"Yes sir!" She replied, producing a reel of wire and a handful of kunai from somewhere.
Lee looked like he was about to burst and Gai was proud of his enthusiastic student. He was sure the young Taijutsu specialist would acquit himself excellently in the coming battle.
---
Sharino and Nekoya were keeping a careful eye out for any signs of the enemy ninja, but they had no idea where they were or which team they would attack first. Sharino just knew that the attacks would surely be coming. They paused on a tree branch to catch their breath and orientate themselves. They had just left Gai and his team and were trying to decide where to go next.
"Where are Kakashi and his team?" Nekoya asked. Sharino pointed in the direction of the river.
"That way," she said. Nekoya nodded, saying "I'll go see what they're up to, you head over to Reiboshi and our team." Sharino nodded comprehension and they set off in opposite directions.
The Smoke team had laid several traps around their area and Sharino stopped outside the boundary and cupped her hands around her mouth. She made a whistling sound of a birdcall, a signal that she and Reiboshi had often used when he took her out in the forest to train. It took a minute, but the five Smoke shinobi soon appeared beside her.
"Anything?" she said. Reiboshi shook his head. Sharino growled under her breath.
"They're out there somewhere," she said. Reiboshi nodded.
"If they are, there are enough traps in this forest that we'll catch them. They'll come out eventually." Sharino nodded.
"I just wish I knew where they were," she said, gazing out into the forest.
"I know. We must be patient," he said, giving her a lop-sided smile.
"I'll keep moving, in the hopes of finding some of them. I shouldn't stay in one place too long or I'll be easier to find," she said. Reiboshi nodded agreement. Having Sharino and Nekoya moving around would be essential if the enemy attacked any of the teams in greater numbers than they had had in the previous attacks, but alone, the Smoke shinobi were more vulnerable.
---
Jirou refilled his bowl with water from the stream, set it on his lap as he sat cross-legged and formed a set of hand seals.
"Where are the Smoke ninja?" Ketsume said. Jirou closed his eyes and muttered something barely comprehensible under this breath. Then he opened his eyes and stared into the water.
"We're in luck. The Umatatsu girl is with them!" Jirou said, smiling. "She has just left them, heading this way."
"Come Jirou!" said Ketsume. He pointed at two other ninja and beckoned for them to follow, and they set off to intercept the Smoke's genius Kunoichi.
---
Sharino made her way quickly through the forest, keeping her eyes and ears alert for anything that would indicate a nearby enemy. She heard nothing until a kunai whistled through the trees towards her.
She ducked, grabbing the tree branch she was on and swinging underneath it. Collecting chakra in her feet, she attached herself to the underside of the branch and ran along it until she reached the tree trunk. As she ran, she heard the sound of an explosive note and the tree under her moved. She jumped away as the explosion destroyed the tree, landing squarely on the ground and drawing her Katana in one fluid motion.
Looking around her she found that she was surrounded by four of the enemy ninja. Their leader was the Cloud Jounin from the group she had fought with Kakashi, but it was one of the other ninja that interested her more. She had not thought that any of the band of Missing-Nin were from the Smoke village, but this one had a Smoke forehead protector on. He had black hair that stuck out in all directions, just a little too long to still look tidy. He was skinny, but his wiry limbs did not look weak. He wore the same plain clothes as most of the others, with bandages on his hands and arms.
"Jirou!" she said. Jirou had been a Chuunin of their village. They had thought him killed on a mission. Apparently he was alive and well.
"Sharino," he said, smiling at the look of shock on her face. Then another dawning realisation struck her.
"You've been spying in the village!" she said. The ex-Smoke ninja just smiled, saying nothing. Sharino glared at him. She pointed her Katana at his throat and threatened him with her eyes, but she knew he was not her strongest opponent. She had already had her back turned on Ketsume for too long. Silent, he had completed a sequence of hand seals.
"Raiton: Shuurai no jutsu! Lightning element: Lightning strike technique." A bolt of lightning appeared out of nowhere, striking the spot where she stood. The force of the bolt created a crater in the ground, but the body of Sharino disappeared.
"Bunshin?" the Cloud ninja cried in surprise.
"Enton: Katahoukou Enmaku!" cried Sharino from above them, once more using her one-way smokescreen. She then formed a second set of hand seals, this time one of the Umatatsu clan's famous Doton jutsu.
"Doton: Ashi Haji no jutsu! Earth element: Foot-hold technique." Hands formed of mud reached up from the ground around the enemy ninja's feet and grasped their feet and ankles holding them in a bone crushing grip that even the strongest ninja could not easily escape. Now they were blind and unable to run: the perfect time to use one of her village's favourite techniques.
Unfortunately, the foot-hold technique did not immobilise the enemy's hands and as she started forming the seals for her next jutsu, she saw the four ninja below her all reaching for their kunai at once. She stopped the technique she had been about to form and made two different seals instead, just as the kunai came flying towards her.
'Fuuton! Kaze Tawami no jutsu! Air element: Wind deflection technique,' she said in her mind as she gathered chakra in her lungs and blew it out towards the incoming kunai. The winds blew the kunai away, and they landed back on the ground around the enemy.
However, this had given Ketsume enough time to form a technique that freed his feet using a narrow blade of lightning. Free, he jumped out of the smoke and rounded on Sharino. Sharino jumped up into the trees and back down to the ground a little way away from them. She bit her thumb hard enough to draw blood, and formed a quick series of hand seals.
"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" she shouted, slamming her hand onto the ground. An array of dark symbols spread out underneath her hand, and a bay horse appeared out of nowhere. The horse wore a Smoke forehead protector as a noseband, and it had guards on its legs, and spikes around its hooves.
"Umakaze," Sharino said to the horse, standing and taking hold of a clump of the horse's mane. "I need your help, please let me ride you." The horse whinnied its consent, and she jumped up on to the horse's back. She could control the horse with her body movements, so she turned Umakaze around to face back towards her enemies, all of which had now freed themselves from her Earth-hold. She drew her Katana in one hand, and her hunting knife with the other, and wrapped her legs around her mount as she urged her on to charge.
Jirou had already leapt into the trees and the Cloud ninja was well clear, but both of the other two ninja were still in Sharino's smoke jutsu and didn't see the charge until it was too late. She guided Umakaze between them and cut through them both with slices from her two weapons.
She paused and looked around for the other two Missing-Nin, but could not see either of them.
A kunai flew towards her and she dodged, twisting Umakaze around. The attack had come from above. Umakaze could do many things, but she could not climb trees. Sharino sheathed her hunting knife and stood up on Umakaze's back, using her as a platform to launch herself into the upper branches. Just as she did so, a lightning strike flew through the air towards her. She didn't have time to dodge, but it was not aimed to hit her directly. The blow and blast of electricity hit her, but she escaped most of the jutsu's full force. She flew backwards, hitting a tree with her head and back, hard.
Dazed, she didn't see as Jirou landed near her and formed one of her village's jutsu. She saw him as he completed it, but could do nothing as he breathed out a puff of smoke, and her limbs became rigid.
"Mahi Kemuri," she whispered; paralysing smoke. She realised with dismay that this was how they had caught Kenshin, her beloved former Sensei, and now they were going to do to her as they had to him.