AN: Really sorry to anyone who's been waiting for me to update this... university and work and apathy have conspired to make me to put this on the backburner... to make up for it, I've posted the last three chapters all at once. Hope you enjoy the ending (if you remember how it began).
I'm also thinking of writing a couple of sequels to this, based around my Smoke village... what do people think? Screaminpsiren and I were thinking of co-writing one, as well... once she's finished her Gaara fanfic.
15- Shiranui-ke Hijutsu: Genwakukou!
On either side of the ex-Smoke ninja, Naruto and Sasuke stood, panting with exertion. Jirou had recovered himself after Sasuke's initial onslaught and was now finding his stride. He barely had a mark on him, but Naruto had a thin trickle of blood running down from his mouth and Sasuke was grazed from being thrown skittering across the ground like a pebble. Naruto didn't know what they were doing wrong. Sakura was still paralysed, sitting some way from them now, since the battle had moved away from her. Naruto could barely make out the features on her anxious face.
"It seems you are not yet very good at using that Sharingan of yours," Jirou said, sneering at Sasuke. Sasuke looked angry at this comment, and he lunged for Jirou again. This time, however, Naruto saw that he had a plan.
Swinging low, supporting his weight on one arm, Sasuke aimed a kick around at Jirou's ankles. The ninja easily dodged, but Sasuke was fast, quickly jumping up to kick him again, this time in the chest. His kick was caught. Sasuke twisted so his hands were on the ground and his other foot hit Jirou in the face. The ninja was forced back a step, then Sasuke aimed another punch at him, hitting him squarely in the face. As the young Uchiha jumped away again, Naruto saw the exploding tag attached to the back of the ninja's leg.
"Hmm," said Sasuke, smiling with satisfaction. Jirou was about to jump at him again when the tag caught alight. His face twisted into fear and pain, and then was lost in a cloud of smoke and fire.
---
Kakashi saw the explosion on the other side of the clearing, and saw Naruto and Sasuke rushing to Sakura's side. He had noticed her sitting motionless during the battle, but now she was standing and congratulating Sasuke.
"You're so great, Sasuke-kun!" she shouted, so loudly that Kakashi could hear her clearly, even some distance away. He smiled, then turned his attention back to the fight. Despite taking a beating, eight of the nine enemy ninja were still standing. The other lay, unconscious, a little way away. Genma and Kakashi now once more stood back to back in the middle of a circle of them.
"You ready?" Genma whispered over his shoulder. Kakashi nodded.
"Will those three be affected?" said Kakashi. Genma glanced in the direction of Kakashi's Genin, then grabbed a hand that tried to punch him, gripping the arm with his other hand and throwing its wielder aside.
"They shouldn't be, but you might want to tell them to close their eyes." Kakashi nodded, seeming to disappear as he moved to warn his Genin of Genma's coming technique. The attacking ninja smiled, thinking that eight on one was better odds. Genma smiled, leaping as high into the air as he could and performing a very long sequence of hand seals.
His opponents looked up at him, wondering what technique the Special Jounin was forming. Genma glanced over to Kakashi's Genin and saw that they were turning, their eyes closed tightly. Kakashi himself was once more engaging the enemy, but Genma knew that when the technique was complete, he would also have his visible eye tightly closed.
Genma's hands formed the final seal, and he closed his eyes, shouting; "Shiranui-ke Hijutsu: Genwakukou! Shiranui Clan Secret Technique: Blinding Light." The enemy's eyes widened as the clearing was filled with a blinding white light. Those who had their eyes open were instantly blinded, but the technique did more than that. Those affected were also stupefied, rendered completely immobile by the jutsu.
Genma dropped to the ground as Kakashi and his Genin opened their eyes. All the enemy ninja were now as still as statues, blank and dazed looks on their faces. Genma half-smiled, then continued chewing his toothpick.
---
Sharino dropped down onto Ketsume, swinging her Katana at him, and calling "Fuuton!" as she did. The blade swept through the air, a powerful jet of wind gushing from the blade as she did so. Ketsume jumped back, dodging the blow, but getting some of the force of the wind in his chest none the less.
Smiling to see the worried expression on the ex-Cloud ninja's face, she rushed towards him again. "Katon!" she called this time. Again, Ketsume managed to avoid the blade, but the fire hit him in the face. He screamed in pain at the burning. Sharino smiled. "Heh," she said. She landed facing away from him, but instantly span around, gathering chakra in her feet. She jumped to the branch above him and then jumped back down towards him. Worried, Ketsume dodged away again.
"How would you like to be beaten by one of your own techniques?" she shouted. Ketsume dodged her again as she ran towards him, jumping off the branch and back down to the ground: Exactly where Sharino wanted him. "Raiton!" she shouted, jumping vertically downwards towards him, her sword ahead of her spitting sparks of lightning. The sword gave a jolt as it cut into the Cloud ninja's shoulder, slicing down with the power of the lightning in the blade.
She drew it out and jumped back, panting. She retracted the five-element jutsu in her Katana, exhausted from the amount of chakra the attack expended. Panting for breath she looked to where the Cloud ninja had been. Panic struck her as she realised that he had used Kawarimi to dodge her attack. She stood, looking for him.
His attack seemed to come out of nowhere. Bolts of lightning streaked towards her. She tried to dodge, but one strike hit her and she was thrown backwards, into a tree. The force sent jolts through her body and she shuddered, coughing up a mouthful of blood. She tried to right herself, but Ketsume was upon her in a second, already forming a hand seal as he kicked her back into the tree.
"Raiton: Raikou Shimewaza! Lightning element: lightning stranglehold." Bands of lightning extended from his hands, wrapping around her neck. She screamed, unable to prevent the attack. A memory of Kenshin's body came to her mind. There had been burn marks around his neck. The hold tightened, and this time she couldn't even gather enough breath to scream.
---
Isako watched as the dragon technique took hold of her victim, and then she watched him fall, the form disintegrating into a puddle of water. She gasped.
"Mizu Bunshin?" she said in disbelief. "Water clone." A figure appeared behind her.
"Yeah. Your jutsu is strong, but unfortunately it doesn't have any effect on water clones!" She jumped away as he slashed a kunai across where she had been. The Falls ninja faced her, grinning. "You're better than I thought, I'll give you that. But you still can't beat me!" he shouted.
Isako dodged three shurikens that were thrown at her, running straight up the trunk of a tree and onto a branch above the ninja's head. She formed another set of hand seals and glared down at her enemy.
"Doton: Kukudo Ame no jutsu! Earth element: Black Earth Rain technique." The air around her turned black as the mud and earth rained down hard against the Falls ninja. She stood, looking down to where the attack landed in time to see twenty or more kunai and some shuriken come screaming towards her. Isako didn't have time to dodge. She brought her arms up to protect herself, but several of the kunai hit her with deadly force. She was sent backwards, falling off the branch she was on and hitting the ground with crushing force. She coughed once, her eyes widening in pain. Then Umatatsu Isako was silent.
The ninja from the Hidden Falls moved towards her. He looked at her and poked her body with his toe.
"A shame," he said. "I didn't mean to kill you…"
At that moment, he heard shouting and running feet heading towards him. He recognised one of the voices as that of the Leaf Jounin that Isako had been with when they attacked. He looked once more at the motionless body, then turned and disappeared into the forest.
Gai was there in the next second. He rushed to Isako's side.
"Is she… is she dead?" asked Tenten. Gai felt for a pulse.
"No! Not quite! Quickly, we must get her help."
"What about the Falls ninja?" Neji asked. He was using his Byakugan to watch the retreating ninja.
"We must get Isako to help, and I cannot send you Genin after him alone without knowing his ability. He will escape for now. Help me." With Neji's help, he lifted the fallen Smoke ninja up and they rushed back towards where Kakashi and Genma were just finishing off their opponents.