So it's been a while... (she says two and a half years later). I promise I haven't dropped off the face of the earth!
I will NEVER give up on this story. There is too much planned out for me to stop xD
Special thanks to kutsuu25 and the Guest that left the most receint reviews. It really helped get me back in the game.
Thank you to everyone else for your continued support after all this time! ~KB

Chapter 30: Score to Settle

Manami rushed through the trees, weaving left and right through the forest floor. She kept her steps light to avoid leaving a trail. Risking a glance back, Manami didn't see Kakashi but doubted she gave him the slip.

Stopping briefly, Manami caught her breath before creating the hand seals needed for the jutsu. Focusing on the pull at her core, Manami controlled the flow of chakra through her limbs, only releasing the necessary amount. With a small pop, a perfect duplicate appeared before her. The two grinned at each other and nodded.

Manami continued running, her clone following right behind. After a few minutes Manami felt a flicker of chakra. He's here, she thought. Manami ran ahead out of sight and jumped up into the branches. She ducked behind the dense leaves, masking her chakra.

Just as planned, Kakashi had caught sight of her clone and was now chasing it rather than following her tracks. Manami jumped from tree to tree as she watched the chase. Kakashi was closing in on the clone, only a few paces behind it now.

Manami watched as the two broke through the tree line into the clearing where they began. My clone won't be able to fight Kakashi by herself for long, she thought. When Kakashi was positioned so that his back was turned towards her, Manami lunged.

The sound of metal against metal rang through the clearing. Without looking, Kakashi was able to block her katana with a single kunai.

Well crap.

Kakashi kicked her clone to the side and directed his attention on Manami.

His visible eye was narrowed and Manami felt intense pressure radiating from him. She flipped backwards out of the way of Kakashi's kunai. He continued to advance, preventing her an opportunity to attack. Manami parried his blows, inching back towards the forest again.

At the edge of the forest Manami jumped up off the trunk of a tree and over Kakashi's head. Landing on the other side, her feet sank into the ground up to her knees. She tried to pull a leg up but sank down even further. Manami followed the quicksand along a trail that lead straight to Kakashi's hands.

Manami struggled to get her legs loose. They were locked in the now solid ground. Kakashi walked over and pointed his kunai at Manami, "It's over."

Manami looked up at him and grinned, "Not quite."

She leaned forward and trapped his legs, calling "Thundaga!" A thick column of lightning struck the two, affecting Kakashi more than Manami. His body went rigid and fell to the ground, stunned from the attack. Manami heaved from exhaustion; the tier three spell zapped a good chunk of her remaining energy. Digging around her legs, Manami freed them from the ground and crawled forward.

I need to be careful, she thought. Another one of those and I'll be too weak to continue.

The soft thunk of a kunai beside her head snapped Manami out of her daze. Kakashi's third clone finally decided to make its appearance. Because of course it did.

Manami rolled off to the side and reclaimed her weapon. Her clone had pinned the real Kakashi to the ground with several kunai and shuriken to prevent a quick escape before joining Manami. They both lunged at Kakashi's clone. The force of the attack pushed it back several yards but Manami refused to let up. She knew he was dangerous and couldn't take on more than one of him, even with a clone of her own.

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Kakashi's mind buzzed. He was used to hum of electricity from his Chidori but this was entirely different. What was that? It's similar to what she used during the test, but is definitely not a jutsu. Whatever it was Manami hit him with left him immobilized and stunned. Kakashi could hear his clone off to the side, parrying blows with Manami and her clone.

His finger twitched. Aha…

Kakashi inhaled deeply and focused on the muscles in his neck. He managed to crane his neck enough to see parts of the fight. Manami and her clone were simultaneously attacking Kakashi's clone but were seldom in sync. They look more like individual attacks happening at the same time rather than complimentary blows. This made it easy for his clone to defend itself. It even landed a hit of its own a few times.

His knee jerked.

With what little maneuvering he could muster, Kakashi was able to see the whole fight. His clone had gone on the offensive and was now attacking vigorously. Manami held her ground well. She is much more in tune with her clone on the defensive, he spectated. As one defended, the other tried to strike his clone. It was quick to block the blow of course, but it kept the clone busy as Manami got into position to strike.

Kakashi attempted to sit up but was held in place. A wise decision…

A grunt to his left drew Kakashi attention back towards the fight. His clone had landed a solid blow to Manami's, causing it to disappear with an audible pop. Manami cursed under her breath and swung her katana.

Kakashi's brow quirked. Her movements were beginning to slow. The duel had finally taken its toll on her.

Taking a deep breath, Kakashi tore his limbs apart from the weapons pinning him down.

He jumped to his feet and tossed a couple of the shuriken at Manami to let her know he was back in the game. She dodged with ease. Yet slow to reposition, he noticed as she drew back her katana. Kakashi deflected a downward blow to the side and disarmed her before she could recover.

Manami stepped, hard, on his foot and shoved him back, a paper bomb plastered to his chest. Kakashi's clone grappled Manami from behind. She muttered something and Kakashi watched as his clone was frozen solid. There it is again, he wondered

Kakashi tore off the tag and threw it at Manami. She retrieved her sword in time to slice it in half, preventing him from detonating it on her instead.

While his clone was still frozen, Manami sliced through the center causing it to disappear.

It was just the two of them again.

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Manami took her position and tried to steady her breathing.

I finally got rid of the last clone, she mentally checked, but I still need to take care of the jounin himself.

She took another deep breath.

The fight needed to end. Manami could feel her muscles screaming in protest. But how can I get one over on him?

Kakashi flashed through the hand symbols and flickered before her eyes, gone in an instant. In the same instant he appeared behind her. Manami dropped to her knees to avoid being trapped and kicked at his legs. Her hand-to-hand skills were not near as good as her sword fighting.

Kakashi jumped over the kick but Manami surged upward, slashing at his torso. A giant gash appeared followed by a puff of smoke as Kakashi's body disappeared with an audible pop.

Manami's eyes widened. It was another clone! Which meant that-

Her thoughts were interrupted as something solid collided against her back and sent her flying several yards.

Skidding to a halt in the dirt, Manami felt a weight settle on top of her before she could get up. Her legs were pinned to where she couldn't kick and she felt something wrap around her wrists. A sharp point pressed against her neck. Looking up, the intense narrowed gaze from a single grey eye made Manami's blood run cold.

The game was up. She had lost.

A handclap to the side brought Manami back to reality. She glanced over to see Iruka with a small grin on his face and a clipboard tucked under his arm.

"Well done," he said "that was quite enjoyable to watch."

She blanched. How was that enjoyable? I was completely and utterly defeated!

Manami turned her gaze back to Kakashi. "How did you do it?" she mumbled, "When did you make the extra clone?"

Kakashi's brow creased briefly before his eye relaxed into an upturned smile. "A magician never reveals his secrets."

He released his grip and rose to his feet, extending a hand to Manami. She reached out and accepted his offer.

"You did well," Kakashi praised. "You've learned a lot from Iruka these past few weeks."

Manami shook her head, "I would beg to differ. It still seems like I have a lot more to learn."

"No offense, but you weren't supposed to win," Kakashi chuckled. "If you had, I would need to reevaluate myself as an elite shinobi member. It was merely a test to see how far you've come."

Manami hummed her understanding. That does make sense. She didn't feel as bad now. Iruka a taught her a lot over the past few weeks and she tried her best to demonstrate that in combat.

Back on her toes and without the thrill of combat Manami felt a wave of exhaustion. She sheathed her katana and fastened it at her side. Kakashi excused himself and stood with Iruka to the side in deep discussion. Manami casually looked away as she tried to hear what they were saying. The attempt was futile. They had clearly mastered the technique of avoiding eavesdroppers.

Makes sense for ninjas I suppose, she thought idly.

A tap on her shoulder let Manami know they were done. She turned to see Iruka holding out a large sealed envelope to her while Kakashi slouched beside him.

"I need you to deliver these to the Hokage in the mission room," he said with his usual smile. "Kakashi already has his next assignment and I have to prep my lesson for tomorrow at the Academy. Do you mind?"

Manami smiled back at him. "Of course not. I'll see you later then!"

Tucking the envelope under her arm, Manami started off back towards the main village.

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Tsunade heaved a deep sigh. Only a few more hours before she could sneak away to her secret stash. While it was her duty to approve various missions for the village shinobi, the paperwork was so boring.

The line never seemed to end and her assistant Shizune kept bringing additional documents that required her seal of approval.

The shinobi that were in her line were a courteous as ever. Yes, Hokage-sama; Thank you Lady Hokage et cetera, et cetera. She was still getting used to these types of formalities.

"Next!" she called, suppressing a yawn. Her eyes widened a bit as she saw Manami walk up and place a sealed envelope on the desk.

"Iruka-sensei asked me to deliver this to you," she explained, offering a slight bow. "Please let me know if you need anything, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade nodded her head in acknowledgement. She grabbed the knife to her side and sliced open the packaging. Just great. Another stack of papers.

"One moment please," she asked. Manami nodded and stood patiently.

Skimming through the contents, Tsunade kept a straight face but grinned on the inside. Iruka had already completed the forms for Manami's promotion from genin to chuunin. He included Kakashi's personal statement and both of their eyewitness accounts of her abilities. Tsunade glanced at Shizune standing to her side and nodded. Shizune nodded back one and went to retrieve the chunin vest from the Hokage's main office.

Looking back up at Manami, the girl continued to wait patiently. "Please wait to the side," she asked motioning to some benches at the side of the room. "I will get back to you shortly."

Manami bowed and stepped to the side. Sitting down, Manami stared out the window as she continued to wait.

Tsunade smirked to herself. She's still so young and innocent. She continued to assign missions and signed where she needed to on all of the additional papers.

Shizune finally returned with the vest and Tsunade called Manami back over.

The new kunoichi had finally proven was time to take the next step.

"Manami-san," she started, "You swore to protect this village and to fight for peace, is that correct?"

"Yes ma'am," she replied.

"And do you swear that you will continue to train and work hard to defend it?"

"Yes."

"And do you swear that you will maintain a healthy mind and body to protect it?"

"Yes."

"And do you swear to love this village with all you have and call it your home."

A warm smile appeared as she responded "Yes."

Her answers were confident and assured. Tsunade knew in her heart this was the right decision. She handed the green vest over to Manami.

"Then as the Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, I officially grant you the rank of chunin."

FIN

She finally made it! Now Manami can do real ninja stuff, lol.
Thank you again for all of your patience and support.
Love you guys ;*
~KB