This is the second chapter of Vol/Part 1 of "Way of the Ninja", and note that I'm not very good at checking the actual storyline, which means I might've mixed up a couple of scenes and made them say wrong things, but I hope you'll like it anyway :D Please review, tell me what you think and help this story get better!

The Demon of Kirigakure

They drifted quietly across the water in the motorboat. Kaji, the owner of the boat, had suddenly turned off the motor – to their confusion -, and now he was paddling them forward instead.

After a while, Sakura broke the silence. "This mist is really thick." She pointed out. "I can barely see your faces."

"Yeah." Yami said, staring into the mist.

And then there was silence.

Yami was not sure if she'd made the right choice.

Was it wise to follow these people? Why did she even come to the conclusion in the first place?

She glanced at Naruto. It must've been him. She thought of his words:

"There's no need to turn around…"

"We will finish our mission and escort the old man back home."

"I promise, by the pain in this hand… I will never step down from a challenge!"

Yami stared quietly down into her reflection in the water and reviewed her options. She'd already showed them the path. It was behind them now. She could leave them anytime she wanted. But still…

"Yami, is something wrong?" Naruto interrupted her thoughts.

She turned to watch him, considering what to answer.

Sakura and Sasuke were looking at her now too. Yami got temporarily confused about their concern. "No." she said, smiling. "Everything's fine. Thanks."

Naruto and Sakura happily returned her smile, untroubled and unknowing. And Yami looked back into the mist without withdrawing her smile. Maybe she would stay and help them. At least until they had finished their mission.

"We will soon reach the bridge that leads to the Country of the Wave." Kaji said after a while.

And just as he spoke, Yami could have sworn that she saw the shade of something big, deep in the mist. She narrowed her eyes. "Look!" she said, pointing forward.

Naruto and Sakura turned around, and despite the thick mist they could still make out the great bridge that was extending across the lake.

Sakura gasped in admiration, and Naruto gripped the railing so he would be able to lean forward without falling into the water.

"Wow! It's huge!" he exclaimed.

And it was huge, indeed. Yami stared at the great shade of the bridge, never recalling that she'd seen anything like it. Was this where Tazuna lived?

"H-hey, be quiet!" Kaji hissed at Naruto when he laughed. "We're able to sneak in thanks to the thick mist… that's why I turned off the motor." He added, and scanned the area with a concerned look on his face.

Naruto clapped his hands to his mouth, puzzled, and Sakura looked nervous and confused. Yami and Sasuke had turned to watch Tazuna, looking rather questioningly. "Who mustn't see us arrive..?" Yami asked quietly.

Neither Tazuna nor Kaji answered.

Kakashi turned to watch Tazuna. "Tazuna-san.." he said. Tazuna didn't move. "Before we reach land I need you to be honest with me."

Tazuna didn't answer, but simply looked ahead.

"Who was it that arranged the attack before? And for what purpose?" Kakashi continued. "If you're not honest with me, we'll call off the mission as soon as we reach land."

Silence. But after a while, Tazuna sighed, cowed, and finally faced Kakashi and the others. "Very well. I think it might be time to tell you the truth," he said, "I wanted to tell you earlier…"

And Tazuna explained about Gato and the great bridge, and why Gato wanted to eliminate him (You know the story if you've watched/read the anime/manga.)

"I see." Sakura said when Tazuna'd finished.

"So that's why he wants to eliminate you." Yami said.

Sasuke didn't comment, and Naruto apparently didn't understand anything, but at least he tried to pretend that he did.

"I still don't understand." Kakashi said. "If you needed to be protected from this man, then why were you keeping it a secret from us?"

Tazuna looked ahead with an expressionless look on his face.

"The Country of the Wave is a very poor country. Even our daimyos are weakened economically." He said. "I have no money. I cannot afford anything more than a C-Rank mission."

Silence.

"And if you abandon me by the shore, then I will be killed for sure." Tazuna continued. "I probably won't even make it home, but that's no problem." He sighed dramatically. "No one will probably miss me, except perhaps my little grandson who will cry and cry and cry and cry," he went on.

"Eh…!" Naruto, Yami, Sakura and Sasuke didn't know what to answer, and they looked at each other with unsure faces.

"Oh, and my daughter's heart will be filled with hatred against Konoha, and her life will be miserable, but that's not your problem anymore," Tazuna continued with a laugh.

Sakura looked down at her feet, Naruto's eyes shaped into those lines that made him look like a fox, Yami sighed and Sasuke looked extremely annoyed; Tazuna's act was obvious.

"Well, then, I guess we have no choice but to keep protecting you." Kakashi finally said after a while, chuckling nervously.

"Oh! That'd be nice." Tazuna said approvingly. Bullseye, he thought for himself.

And a while later they reached the shore.

"I must leave you here." Kaji said and started struggling with the motor.

"Thanks a lot, Kaji." Tazuna said.

"Good luck and be careful." Kaji managed to start the motor and left them alone in the mist.

Tazuna turned to Naruto and the others. "Ok, please escort me home." He said with a grin.

"Sure.." Kakashi answered, and they started walking towards the road that led into the forest, and would eventually lead them to Tazuna's hometown.

Naruto constantly shot disapproving looks at Sasuke.

He had showed off way too much during their battle against the ugly bandage-brothers. Naruto clenched his fists; he definitely wouldn't allow himself to be outshined by him. It was his turn to shine.

And he stopped so suddenly that Yami almost walked into his back.

"Wait!" he cried out and threw a shuriken, targeting something invisible a few meters in front of them. Kakashi, Sasuke, Yami, Tazuna and Sakura stopped at once, petrified. Naruto then pattered to the spot where the shuriken had hit the ground, and he pretended to examine it. After a while he turned to the others – who were struck by his sudden impulse – and laughed indifferently.

"It's okay, it was just a rat." Naruto assured them casually, waving them forward.

Kakashi sighed deeply.

"No, it was no rat!" Sakura shouted furiously at him. "You were just showing off because you wanted our attention!"

And Tazuna almost exploded with rage. "Brat! Don't scare us like that! I almost had a heart attack, for goodness sake!" he bellowed.

"Jeez… Lumpish moron." Sasuke muttered to himself and looked annoyed.

"Naruto, there's really no need for you to—" Kakashi began, but Naruto's yell interrupted him.

"THERE!" He exclaimed, and threw a second shuriken into the forest beside the road.

Sakura winced, and her face turned tomato-red, and she gripped Naruto's collar, tried to strangle him, yelling and barking with rage. "Naruto, you idiot! Stop doing that!"

"Gwah, S-Sakura-chan, you're choking me..!" Naruto gasped as he struggled to release himself, "And I promise, someone has been stalking us..! It's true, I know it..!"

"Yeah, like we'd believe that!"

And while Sakura continued to bark at Naruto, Yami walked off of the road and to the tree that Naruto's shuriken was stuck in. What she saw made her temporarily confused. "Err.." she cleared her throat. "… Naruto.. it might not have been a ninja.." she said, turning to the others. "But I think you were about to strike something else."

She pointed at the paralysed white rabbit that was trembling a few inches beneath the sharp edge of the shuriken.

Sakura squealed in terror. "Naruto! Look what you've done!"

And Naruto scurried to the rabbit, stammering with guilt. "Sorry, little fellow..! I-I didn't know..!" he apologized repeatedly, patting the terrified little animal awkwardly on the head.

"A rabbit." Tazuna said, as if to clarify the situation.

"A snow rabbit." Kakashi said. Then he fell deep in thought. Why does the snow rabbit look like that when it's not even winter?

He looked around, relaxed but serious.

It must've been raised indoors. Which means.. He narrowed his eyes slightly, … It was used as bait… and the one who used it is close.

"I'm so sorry, little buddy, I'm so sorry..!" Naruto said over and over again, "Please forgi—"

"Everyone, duck!" Kakashi shouted, and Naruto's body reacted before his mind did, and he threw himself on the ground, and the rabbit ran off. And the next moment, a colossal sword spun over them, inches from their heads, and into a tree. And when they looked up, a ninja was standing on the handle of the sword with his back towards them. He turned his head and observed them with a cool expression.

Creep, Naruto thought, but he couldn't help but get shocked.

And although Naruto couldn't see it at the moment, recognition flickered in Kakashi's eyes. "Oh," he said quietly to himself, "It's him."

Him? Who? Whatever, doesn't matter, Naruto thought rapidly and rose quickly, immediately positioning himself to fight, full of excitement. He wasn't going to let Sasuke outshine him this time. He was going to take care of this ninja, not Sasuke.

"Well, well, if it isn't the Rogue Ninja from Kirigakure, Momochi Zabuza?" Kakashi said loudly, taking a few steps closer.

Naruto hesitated. Rogue Ninja? Oh, nevermind, it didn't matter, he was going to take him down, and that's the end of it.

Ok, 3, 2, 1…!

"Wait." Kakashi's hand stopped him. "Stay away and don't get involved."

Naruto stared at his hand, then pushed it away, offended. "What?! Why?" he demanded.

"This one is greater and mightier than the previous two." Kakashi answered without taking his eyes from the Rogue Ninja. "Back off."

"But—"

"Now."

Naruto was angry, but he took a few steps back.

And to everyone's surprise, Kakashi suddenly moved his hand to his forehead protector. Really? Was he going to…?

"I recognize you." Zabuza suddenly spoke. "You're Sharingan Kakashi. The Copy Ninja."

Naruto noticed that Sasuke winced at the word 'Sharingan' and spun to look at Kakashi. Yami stared at him as well. "'Sharingan Kakashi'?" Naruto heard her mutter to herself, and he saw her frown, with a clearly puzzled expression on her face.

"Sorry, but I need the old geezer over there." Zabuza continued while gazing down at them.

The atmosphere seemed to intensify.

"'Sharingan'? What is that?" Naruto asked, bewildered. And why did both Sasuke and Yami seem to recognize the word?

"Naruto. Sasuke. Yami. Sakura. Protect Tazuna. Don't interfere." Kakashi ordered.

The four young ninjas obeyed immediately and positioned themselves in Manji battle formation. And at the same time, before Naruto knew it, Kakashi moved his forehead protector and revealed his left eye.

Sasuke let out a faint gasp, and Naruto stared.

Kakashi's red eye of the Sharingan scanned the area and seemed to pierce everything in its path.

"Wh-what kind of eye is that..?" Naruto murmured to himself. He had never seen anything like that, and even he could tell that it was made for more than looks.

Yami's frown grew deeper, and her thoughts seemed to be travelling far away from the current situation. Her eyes betrayed confusion, suspiciousness, nervousness and recognition, and if Naruto wouldn't have been so distracted himself, he probably would've wondered why.

Sasuke had started to sweat; How could Kakashi posses the Sharingan when he was not an Uchiha? That wasn't possible… Something fishy was going on here. He'd never ever heard about anyone that wielded the Sharingan without being from the clan.

Sasuke tried to figure this whole thing out, but his head was a blurr of confusion, and he was not brought back to reality until the Rogue Ninja, Zabuza, spoke. "I've heard a lot about your Sharingan. And I must say it's a real honour to see it with my own eyes," he said calmly.

Well, no kidding... it is the pride of the Uchiha Clan, Sasuke thought.

"Everyone keeps talking about that Sharingan, Sharingan all the time!" Naruto suddenly blurted out. "What is that?!"

That stupid idiot was so clueless… Sasuke closed his eyes for a moment before he spoke: "Sharingan… a power emanating from the eye's pupil. It enables the user to see through ninjutsu, taijutsu and genjutsu techniques that are used against them," he explained, and Naruto stared at him, obviously surprised that he was able to answer. He felt Yami's and Sakura's eyes piercing him as well.

"But that's not all…" he continued.

"That's right." Zabuza said. "Not only are your opponents techniques seen through… you'll also be able to copy them."

Sasuke swallowed hard.

"When I was in the Kirigakure's assassination group I had a bingo book where your name was listed." Zabuza continued. "It also said that you've copied more than one thousand techniques, as the Copy Ninja Kakashi."

Sasuke glanced at his sensei. So Kakashi was really a great ninja, after all… And for some reason, this angered Sasuke. He clenched his fists. How was this possible? Kakashi was from the Hatake clan, not the Uchiha…

"Enough talking." Zabuza said calmly but determined. His eyes flickered across them with a creepy glare, observing them carefully. "I have to hurry up and kill the geezer."

Naruto glared back at him. "Like we're gonna let you do that!" he snarled at him.

Naruto was an idiot, but he was right; Tazuna was important to their mission and this country, and they couldn't let him die.

Sasuke moved in closer to Tazua, and apparently Yami and Sakura had been thinking the exact same thing, because they did the same.

"But I suppose I'll have to defeat you first, Kakashi." Zabuza continued, staring down at his opponent. "And your cute minions." He added as he cast a glance at Naruto and his friends' battle formation.

And the next moment he was no longer standing at the handle, and the sword was no longer in the tree.

Sasuke looked around. Where did he go?

"There!" Sakura was pointing at the river.

And there he was, standing on top of the water, forming some kind of seal. Water was circulating around him.

He was staring at Kakashi, and Kakashi was staring back; it was like if the rest of them were a couple of minor characters, and in the world between the two elite ninjas' gazes, only the other existed.

Sasuke's heart was pounding rapidly in his chest; the tension between the two Jounins was causing him to panic. He closed his eyes, but it was no use. It felt like he was torn apart from the inside..

"Sasuke."

Sasuke opened his eyes, breathing fast. Kakashi just spoke.

"Don't worry, Sasuke," he said, turning to watch his student with a reassuring smile on his face, "I won't let my comrades die from me."

Kakashi's words struck Yami, and for a moment she was caught off guard.

Comrades…

She bit her lip. It'd been a long time since she'd heard that word. She glanced at Sasuke who seemed to have a panic attack, but he looked like he was calming down now.

Yami glanced at the others too; Naruto seemed fully prepared to battle, Sakura looked tense but determined, and Tazuna probably felt like he was the targeted cheese, and Zabuza was the greedy rat, and the rest of them were the mice that were supposed to guard him.

Yami suddenly noticed that the place was getting foggy. She turned to Zabuza, and then it made sense; he'd summoned a veil of mist.

Which was not good. Not for them. "We should stick together," she said to the others, though she figured that they'd probably already come to the conclusion themselves.

And the next moment, Kakashi and Zabuza had started fighting. Zabuza lunged himself forward, preparing to slice them all with his giant sword, and Kakashi raced toward them and stabbed Zabuza with his kunai just in time, but then it appeared to be a Water Clone, and Kakashi was sliced in half.

Yami and the others let out a gasp of shock, before they realized that Kakashi too had used a clone, and appeared behind Zabuza, catching him off guard, and held a kunai to his throat.

But Zabuza got away, and the fight continued, and somehow Kakashi ended up thrown into the river, and for a split second, Yami thought that he might not surface again.

But when he did – they were relieved – water rose around him, imprisoning him a cage made of water.

Moments of shock, before they realized what just happened.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled.

Zabuza appeared in front of the water cage, and the part of where his mouth was hidden behind the bandage shaped a mean grin. "You won't be able to get out of that, Kakashi. It was foolish of you to jump into the water," he added. He then turned to Yami and the others. "So…" he continued quietly, "Maybe I should take care of the geezer now?"

"No!" Kakashi exclaimed from inside the water cage. "You must flee, quickly!" he shouted to them. "Zabuza can't move from here as long as I'm in this cage!"

"That may be true…" Zabuza continued, "But I can still use my Water Clones."

"Don't worry, they can't follow you for that long!" Kakashi shouted. "They will disappear as soon as you've reached a point that is far enough away from Zabuza."

He made it sound like an easy thing.

"No way!" Sakura exclaimed. "We're not gonna leave you behind, Kakashi-sensei!"

"That's right." Sasuke agreed. "We'll fight."

Naruto was trembling, he knew it.

They could not win this. Not when Kakashi was caught. They just couldn't do it! This was madness! I can't do anything, Naruto thought. I have to flee... But just when he was about to flee, the pain in his hand stopped him.

Naruto swallowed hard. He stared at the bandage that was wrapped around his hand, and suddenly he reclaimed his determination. That's right… he made a vow.

What a fool he was. Of course they couldn't leave Kakashi behind.

He took a deep breath and forced himself to think (wow.)

He glared at his forehead protector that Zabuza had stolen at some point. And to everyone's shock, he raced forward, grabbed on to the forehead protector before he was kicked back by Zabuza.

"Naruto!" Yami exclaimed. "What are you…?" she trailed off when she noticed Naruto was holding his forehead protector.

"… Naruto…" she said quietly. "You… you went for the…?"

And Naruto wiped the blood from his face and stood up.

"Huh?" Zabuza watched him. "You're not going to run away?"

"I made a vow to never step down from a battle and never run away…" Naruto replied, glaring back at Zabuza. "And I never go back on my word. That is my way of the ninja."

Yami glared at him as if she'd never seen him before.

His determination… His words had struck her like lightning. She wondered what made him so confident in himself.

Unlike everyone Yami'd ever known, he was… well, he was different. In so many ways…

And it seemed like Zabuza was slightly impressed as well. And Sakura and Kakashi too. Even Sasuke.

"Sasuke! Yami!" Naruto called. "I've got a plan."

Sasuke and Yami looked surprised. Naruto managed to come up with a plan in this situation? The irony in this world...

But they nodded, and prepared themselves for whatever Naruto had planned.

"Let's do it."