Sensei Zabuza
A Naruto Fanfiction
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1Author's notes: Holy Hell! 700 hits, 18 Reviews, 13 Favorites, 13 Alerts and 3 C2's. And that in a month. I can only say Thank you very much. I'm also very glad that so many people like the story.
Well, most people voted in favor of "Team Demon" and I think I will use this. But note that I will also use Team 7. Both terms for the team are exchangeable.
A reviewer said that Zabuza wouldn't like to be referred to as Demon any longer. I think he is very proud of his nickname. So, he stays the Demon of the Bloody Mist. After all it was a hard earned nickname.
Anyway, please don't expect fast updates for this story. Should I update fast that only means that I'm heavily inspired. And another thing. I try to type chapters between 5k and 10k words. A. N. don't count. This naturally takes longer than typing chapters between 1k and 2k words.
One reviewer wanted to know why the two don't have the Mangekyo Sharingan. Easy one. You have to kill your best friend to gain this form of the Sharingan. And they didn't kill Sasuke. They knew he was dying and they had accepted that they were unable to do anything about this. Thus the mental stress wasn't the same as when you betray the person closest to you and kill said person in cold blood. Without remorse.
Naruto might get a weapon, and I personally like the idea of a scythe.
Just if any of you think, this will be an über powerful Naruto, this will not happen. He will be strong, but reasonably so. Godlike or so will not happen. I mean, a story where the main character can't be beaten is boring. Your only interest in such an story is "How fast will he win this time?"
Anyway I have read the reviews, some ideas I might use, but it is nothing definite. Being unpredictable is good.
Little complaining. Why are there so many Yaoi stories out there? Why do Yaoi fangirls insist on coupling Naruto with Sasuke? Or Rock Lee with Gaara? Or any other male x male they can think of? Can't they submit such stories on Yaoi sites only? Where they don't annoy someone who doesn't like Yaoi? But I don't think this will happen anytime soon. So the persons not liking Yaoi will have to bear this. Annoying.
Oh and a second one. Why do so many persons lay good ideas to waste by using the boring standard Pairings. I mean, I don't belong to the persons outright hating a pairing (except Ranma x Akane) but most stories with standard Pairings are mostly boring written. For example, when you have a second demon attacking Konoha together with Kyuubi it is almost always Kyuubis mate and Naruto must find the 'mysterious' container for the second demon for some (silly) reason. And in the most cases the second container is: Surprise! Hinata. Maybe using someone else for once? Like Ino for example. But this is almost never done. Sad, but true.
Third one. This has something to do with the excessive use of OC's in some stories I have read. Too often these OC's are almost godlike and often enough they are used to show the inferiority of a character. Most of these OC's were plain annoying to read about and they killed off a otherwise acceptable story. For me OC's are mostly Cannon Fodder. Not something I want to read about. I mean some persons seem to have something resembling an inferiority complex towards a person like Sasuke. They have to bash him like there is no tomorrow. And they use OC's for this. Unbeatable, godlike, unbelievable great persons who show that Sasuke is inferior. I admit that I like some bashing of characters. But creating someone, 'unbeatable by someone inferior like Sasuke' is just annoying to read about. Worshipping Naruto like he is some deity having become flesh is just sinewy. I don't have anything against a strong Naruto or strong OC's but creating persons who are so awesome that they together with Naruto can create an SSSS-ranked Ninjutsu and do S-ranked missions like it is nothing is just pathetic. Because the persons do often enough appear like this in the first or second chapter. And they are mostly young. Between 8 and 14. I could continue this for some dozen lines but it doesn't change anything. Poorly written OC's will exist further. And I stop reading every story where the OC's are too poorly written.
And a complaining about bashing. I admit that some bashing is fun but too much is too much. Little jabs at a persons personality quirks are mostly fun to read. But constantly showing a person as deranged, unable to see reality and being so stuck up on another persons superiority that you wonder why said person is not send to the closed ward of the psychiatric clinic is just ridiculous. Bashing like this is fun to read for a first time. The second time however it is just boring. And to give an example. Many persons do write that Uchiha Sasuke believes himself to be the greatest and an unbeatable Genius. Do you honestly want to tell me that you can believe that Sasuke thinks of himself as the greatest Ninja of all, totally unbeatable, or that Sakura can't see it if Naruto is stronger than Sasuke? Scenario for this: Standard Super Naruto comes to the Academy. Standard Emo Gay Asshole Sasuke thinks 'Dobe. Must be a weakling.' Sasuke challenges Naruto. Standard Sasuke Fangirl #1, delusional Sakura thinks 'Ha Sasuke can't loose to someone like this boy. He is the greatest!' Naruto beats Sasuke without even trying to do so. Sasuke looses badly. Sakura yells. "The Freak cheated!" or something like this. "There is no way that someone like him could win against the great and mighty Sasuke." she adds. – Scenario end. Sounds ridiculous, wretched and pathetic. Yet I often read something like this. I mean this Sakura can be sent straight to the closed ward of the Asylum and get the heavy medication that makes persons peaceful. I mean the really good stuff. A person like the scenario Sakura would never be allowed near a weapon because she might harm herself and others.
And I hate useless killing off. Mainly the sand sibs. In far too many stories they are killed. But the peak of hypocrisy is when Gaara and Kankuro get killed but Temari survives, because she has already formed a bond with Shikamaru. I read something like this once. It took all my willpower to not write a venomous and cynic Review to this story. And I stop reading every story where one or more of the sand sibs is killed off needlessly. I will not flame, but I will hate the story. I'm a fan of the Sand sibs and I don't like to see them killed.
Oh, and with the amount of Naruto worshipping and poorly written Naruto stories, I begin to like stories where the blonde is killed and will not have a second chance at life
Damn, the Authors notes are long but it was something I wanted to write. As always, you don't have to agree to my complainings, but maybe think about it?
Recommended Songs: '1916' and 'God was never on your side' and 'Orgasmatron' from Motörhead. 'Geburt einer Nation' from Laibach. "The Man with the Harmonica" and "Cockey's Song" by Ennio Morricone.
Anyway have fun with Chapter 2.
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Chapter 2: New Team and New Sensei.
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The three Genins looked at Zabuza. "You will be our new Sensei?" Sakura asked.
"Jup." Zabuza answered. He then looked at them "I promised the Copy Cat that I would train you. And I stick to my word." he told her. Then he grinned under his bandages. "I will train you hard. You will curse the day of my birth. And you will curse the sky green." he said amused. Two looks of absolute Horror where his reward. Yes, he would really enjoy torturing, em, training them.
Sarutobi had to chuckle at this. "Don't scare them unnecessarily:" he said grinning a bit.
Zabuza shrugged. "I intend to train them hard." Then he looked at his team. "Wait for me at the Konoha Memorial Stone." he ordered. The Genin nodded and left the room.
"Well, there is something you need to know. The Chunin Exams take place in about a month. I'm sure that Kakashi would have nominated his team for these." he began.
Zabuza nodded. "I intend to nominate them. They have held their own against a real threat and they understand how to fight." he answered the Hokage.
Sarutobi nodded. "Well, Haku has already an A-rank mission done. But he still needs 7 more missions done before he is allowed to participate in the exams." the Hokage said.
Zabuza nodded at this. "He will have the necessary missions done when the exams are there." he answered.
Then he looked at the Hokage. "Well, you wanted to tell me something about the two kids?" he began.
Sarutobi nodded. "Yes. Some facts. The first is, that Sakura and Naruto will need every training they can get. Naruto has the Kyuubi no Kitsune sealed inside of him. And my student Jiraiya told me about an organization called the Akatsuki. They consist of high class Nukenin and their goals are as of now unknown. There are rumors that they chase the Bijus and the Jinchuuriki but that is not confirmed. Hoshigaki Kisame is a part of the organization, too." Sarutobi began.
Zabuza growled. "This old shark still lives. Well, I will prepare them as good as possible." he said.
Sarutobi took a puff from his pipe. "I'm glad to hear this. Tell Naruto something about his Kage Bunshin. They give their knowledge to the creator when dispelled. Now I don't want to delay your meeting with your team any longer." the Hokage said and Zabuza vanished in a swirl of water.
Ten minutes later he appeared at the memorial stone. He looked at the bunch. 'Well, I will test them right now. Let's see how they fare.' he thought and grinned. "Kirigakure no Jutsu." he whispered and mist began to fill the area.
Naruto, Sakura and Haku watched as the mist came into the clearing. "A test." Sakura immediately whispered to the boys.
Haku nodded. "It was part of the Kiri Genin exam to show the ability to survive a potentially deadly situation." All three were thinking about what to do. Haku was sure that Zabuza only wanted to test them. And he decided to lean a bit back.
Naruto sprang meanwhile into action. With a yell of "Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he created an literal army of clones. A third of them henged into Sakura and another third into Haku. "Let's see if he finds the real ones." the real Naruto grinned. Sakura and Haku nodded. This was indeed a quite interesting plan. Using an army as distraction in this fog was the best idea.
Zabuza gaped as he saw hundreds of clones of his team. "Good on the spot planning." he grinned. "Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu." he said and 20 Mizu Bunshin were created. They would help him against this literal army.
Naruto looked into the mist. "Zabuza made clones himself." he whispered. He had felt how some of his clones had been destroyed. At the same time.
Sakura pondered this. "We retreat into the woods. Mizu Bunshin can't operate well on dry land." she said. Naruto and Haku nodded and the three of them retreated into the forest.
Zabuza chuckled. "Not bad. They know they can't win if I'm near water so they try to get away from it, limiting my options. Not bad at all." he grinned. This would surely become interesting. Then he followed them into the forest.
Team 7 was busy discussing their course of action. Naruto had revealed his Sharingan and was busy searching for Zabuza. But Zabuza stayed hidden. Naruto cursed.
Suddenly an eerie laughter was heard. "Quite impressive. But this ends now." the three heard. Naruto, Sakura and Haku separated.
Zabuza grinned. They had shown what he wanted to see. The ability to evade an too powerful enemy and to use the terrain in their favor. And this army of Naruto clones was plain annoying to fight against. He chuckled and let the mist vanish.
Sakura, Haku and Naruto watched from some trees as the mist vanished. "Come here." Zabuza ordered. As the test seemed over they made their way to their new Sensei.
Zabuza looked at them. "Well. I have tested you and you made it past my test. We are now a team." he announced. All three Genins were happy. Zabuza grinned. "Well. It seems that we are a team now. I will train you, so that you can become Chunin. I will not tolerate slacking off or complaining. My training is hard, but it will bear fruit for you." he announced.
Naruto and Sakura were a bit pale but they wanted to become stronger Ninjas, so they would take the training head on and improve.
Zabuza looked at Naruto. "Do you know that you learn everything one of your Kage Bunshin learns when it is dispelled?" he asked. Narutos eyes became big like saucers.
"What?" he asked.
Zabuza nodded. "Yes. Send 1000 clones doing tree climbing. I'm quite sure that you can produce so much clones. Let them practice until they run out of Chakra." he ordered.
Naruto nodded and yelled. "Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" 1000 clones poofed into existence.
Zabuza shook his head. "For almost every other person such a move is suicidal. They would drain themselves of Chakra." he commented.
Then he looked at Sakura. "Two things. The first thing is, we get you a good weapon. And the second thing will be physical training. As you are, your stamina and Chakra reserves are atrocious. This will have to be corrected. Because of this you will have to wear some weights." he said. Sakura nodded. "And you will eat some nutritious meals. Distracting an enemy with your body is quite helpful, but it doesn't always work. If your enemy is gay or doesn't care you are screwed if you can't fight properly. Because of this we will increase your strength." he added.
Sakura nodded again. "Hai, Sensei." she confirmed.
Ten minutes later Sakura and Zabuza entered a weapon Shop. The girl behind the counter raised an eyebrow. What could Uchiha Sasukes number one fangirl want in a weaponshop. And the man accompanying her wasn't someone she knew.
Suddenly Rock Lee came into the Shop. "TenTen!" he yelled.
TenTen nodded from behind the counter. "What is it, Lee?" she wanted to know.
"Have you heard it? Uchiha Sasuke is dead!" he told her, ignoring Sakura and Zabuza. "And the eternal rival of our Sensei is heavily injured." he continued.
TenTen looked at him quizzically. "Dead? How did he die?" she wanted to know.
Lee looked at her seriously. "He died the most youthful way. Protecting his teammate from harm." he said.
Sakura got a sinking feeling in her stomach. Ino would hear about this. She could only do one thing. Talk to Ino before she heard a botched version of the events leading to Sasukes death.
Zabuza had meanwhile looked at the weapons. He looked at an one-handed sword. He took it and gave some testing swings. After some tries he nodded satisfied. "Sakura. Try this sword." he ordered. Sakura broke out of her thoughts and gave the sword some swings. It felt good. It wasn't too heavy and laid good in her hand. Zabuza nodded. "I think this sword suits you." he said.
Then he went to the counter. TenTen eyed him a bit suspicious. "Hello. I want to buy this sword and some weights for my pupil." Zabuza said.
TenTen looked at him and his giant sword. "You are Zabuza Momochi. I thought you were a Kiri Nukenin." TenTen said bluntly.
"I joined Konoha yesterday. Now I'm training my own team." he said.
TenTen looked at Sakura. "Isn't Hatake Kakashi her Sensei?" she wanted to know.
"Hatake Kakashi is injured and I have taken over his job as team leader of Team 7." Zabuza told her.
TenTen nodded. "And now you train Sakura in Kenjutsu?" she wanted to know.
Zabuza nodded. "A pure Genjutsu fighter is pretty useless without some back-up. So I train her in swordmanship so she isn't helpless when fighting on her own." Zabuza explained.
TenTen nodded. "Well, the sword costs 25000 Ryo (500 Euro or 800 Dollar). Weight sets begin at 2000 Ryo for the smallest ones. They weigh 0,5 kilos per part." TenTen told Zabuza.
He nodded. "Well, I take a set of them and a set of 1,5 kilo weights." he ordered.
TenTen nodded and brought the items forth. "This makes 30000 Ryo." she said and put everything in a box. Zabuza paid and left the Shop together with Sakura.
They headed back to the training grounds, where Naruto laid, passed out. Zabuza looked at Haku "What happened?" Zabuza wanted to know.
"Naruto dispelled all of his clones at once after an hour of training." Haku answered.
Zabuza sighed. "Oh, great. Now we can wait and see if his mind is jelly or not." he said in his gruff and uncaring voice. Inwardly he was thinking along the lines of 'The gaki is better not dead or the Hokage kills me. He seems quite fond of the gaki.'
He was very relieved when Naruto sat up and groaned, clutching his head in pain. Zabuza chuckled and walked to him, hitting him over the head. "OW!" Naruto said and clutched his head.
Zabuza grinned. "This should teach you to not dispel all of your clones at once. You are lucky that your brain isn't dripping out of your head." he said in his gruff voice. Mentally he was relieved but he would rather die under torture than admit this. He had a reputation to maintain after all. Then he looked at Sakura. "Strap the weights on." he ordered. Sakura nodded and did what he told. "Give me 20 laps around the clearing. Then do 50 push-ups, 50 sit-ups and 25 press-ups." he ordered. Sakuras face fell in an image of absolute horror. But she complied. Weighed down by 2,5 kilos she began her training program.
Naruto looked at her when Zabuza handed him his weights. "Double her program." he simply said. Now it was Narutos turn to look at Zabuza with absolute horror.
Haku whispered something in Zabuzas ear. "Oh. And if your not done in an hour I forbid you Ramen for the next week." he added.
Narutos face lost the last remains of color. "No Ramen." he muttered in absolute horror. Naruto ran for his dear Ramen.
And Zabuza chuckled. "See? The gaki is motivated like nothing." he said to a slightly frowning Haku. Zabuza grinned. "You should train your skills of creating water from the air." he recommended.
Haku nodded. "I will do so, Zabuza-sama." he confirmed and began concentrating. And Zabuza thought back to his Genin days when he had to learn how to use a sword. It was helpful that he had had a simple one-handed sword like the one he had bought for Sakura today.
45 minutes later Naruto was done with his exercise. He was panting but he still grinned. He had saved his precious Ramen from the evil threat of banning. Zabuza was impressed. Weighed down by 7,5 kilos he had still managed to do his task. Even in less than the anticipated time. 'Clearly an heavy addict.' he thought amused.
5 Minutes later Sakura was ready with her task. As she hadn't had a time limit she had decided to take it slow. There was no use in over-exhausting herself. Because she assumed that Zabuza would order her to wear the weights day and night.
Zabuza clapped into his hands. "Alright. Time to grab ourselves a lunch. And no, Ramen are not a choice. You need some flesh. Steaks for example." he said. Narutos face fell. No Ramen for lunch. The sacrifices he made for training.
A while later the four of them sat in a restaurant with grill. They were waiting for their orders to arrive. Haku had ordered some fish, Zabuza had ordered a schnitzel. Naruto went for meatballs and Sakura had finally decided to eat a steak.
Suddenly Sakura spotted Ino. And Ino saw her. Leaving her team behind Ino came to the booth were Sakura and her team sat. "Hey, billboard brow." she greeted.
Sakura nodded. "Hey, Ino-pig." she began.
Ino grinned. "Where's my Sasuke-kun, forehead?" she asked and looked at Sakura. "And who are those two? Where is the perverted scarecrow?"
Sakura sighed. "Kakashi-Sensei is still in the land of Wave. He was heavily injured there. Those two are Haku and my new Sensei Momochi Zabuza." Sakura introduced her new team members. Zabuza nodded shortly and Haku gave a polite greeting.
Sakura steeled her resolve and looked Ino dead in the eye. "Ino, you will not like what I'm about to tell you." she began.
Ino nodded warily. "Begin. And I totally intend to hear why you imitate your Sensei with the hidden eye." she said.
Sakura gulped. "You know, we had this mission to the land of Wave." she began. Ino nodded. And Sakura told the story of how they had encountered missing Nins on their way, how they decided to continue until she reached the battle of the bridge. Inos eyes were wide.
Sakura continued. "This Gateau told his men that every head was worth money. One of the men decided to go after me and our client, while the rest fought against Naruto and the three others." she told Ino. The blonde nodded. "And what happened then?" she asked.
Sakura gulped again. "I was busy helping Sasuke, who had lost his fight with Haku when the lone bandit came. He tried to kill me, but Sasuke intercepted the blow aimed for my life." she told her blonde friend.
Ino didn't like one bit where this was headed. "What happened next?" she asked, not sure if she wanted to know or better not. But it was to late. She had asked.
Sakura sighed. "I killed the man, but he managed to injure me while dying. I lost an eye." she answered.
Ino was not sure if she should be enraged or sympathetic. She settled fur curiosity. "What happened next?" she wanted to know.
Naruto began telling. "We heard a yell from Sakura-chan. Kakashi-Sensei and me were distracted so we got injured too. I lost an eye and Kakashi-Sensei was stabbed with a sword. Zabuza managed to kill Gateau, he cleaved him in half. Then the villagers of Nami no Kuni arrived. They scared away the last bandits." he told Ino. The blonde girl nodded.
"What happened then?" she wanted to know. Curiosity might kill the cat but she wanted to know, consequences be damned. Sakura and Naruto were here, but Sasuke not. She held hope that Sasuke was only injured and still in Nami no Kuni, but deep down she knew what had happened. Sakura sighed and continued. "A doctor came. He examined Sasuke and told us that only Kami could help him." she told Ino.
Inos face fell. For a moment she had had hope. But this hope was lost again. "He died." she said, looking at Sakura. The pink-haired girl only nodded.
"He knew he was dying and he gave us a parting gift. A gift for his friends. He said, he had noticed too late that he even had friends." Sakura continued.
Ino was right now unsure if she should hate Sakura or feel with her. The boy she had a crush on had died protecting her best friend. In the end she settled for pity. "So he is dead and Naruto and you have each a eye from Sasuke-kun." she summed up. Sakura nodded weakly. Ino continued. "And now? Can we be friends again, now that we are no longer rivals for Sasuke-kun?" she wanted to know. She had always seen Sakura as a friend. Even when they had been rivals.
Sakura nodded happily. "Of course, Ino-pig." she said grinning.
"Billboard brow, don't annoy me or you will regret it." Ino retorted playfully.
"You can't hit me when I stand perfectly still." Sakura gave back.
"Troublesome women." Shikamaru yawned.
Zabuza nodded. "Wise words." he said chuckling.
Asuma Sarutobi and Choji came to the booth of team 7. Asuma looked at Zabuza. "Long time no see, Demon of the Bloody Mist." Asuma greeted the other man.
"Indeed, Asuma of the 12 guards." Zabuza retorted.
Asuma nodded. "You have joined Konoha?" he asked.
Zabuza nodded. "Yes. I have promised the Copy Cat to train his team while he is recovering. And in order to do so, I had to join Konoha. Training them without returning them to Konoha would have caused more problems than I appreciate." Zabuza answered.
Asuma nodded. "What happened to Kisame, Raiga and the other Swordsmen after your failed coup d'état?" he wanted to know.
Zabuza shrugged. "Raiga vanished from the face of earth. No one has seen him for years. And Kisame got company in form of some Nukenins. S-ranked company." Zabuza told Asuma. "What happened to the 4 others I don't know. Last thing I heard was that three of them had fallen victim to Kiri Hunter Nins." he continued.
Asuma nodded at this. "It should be a honor for you to hear, that Kiri upped you to an S-ranked Nukenin. Somehow Kiri heard of your fights against Kakashi and they seemingly assumed that someone holding his own against Kakashi is not an A-ranked Nin any longer." he said.
Zabuza grinned. "Quite an honor." he said sarcastically.
Now the waitress came and brought the ordered meals. Team Ten returned to its booth and they waited for their meals. Meanwhile Team 7 ate their meals. Zabuza looked at the kids. "We will do some missions today." he announced. All three Genin nodded. "Naruto, you will use your Kage Bunshin for doing some of the missions." he continued. Naruto nodded at this. Zabuza grinned. "Okay. You have half an hour free time, meet me at the bridge in 30 Minutes." Zabuza ordered. His team nodded and Zabuza left.
Naruto left one second after him. He wanted to eat some Ramen. Meat balls were good, but nothing in comparison to the Food of the Gods, Ramen. He ran into Ichirakus and yelled. "4 Meat Ramen with Miso taste!"
Teuchi grinned at his best and favorite customer. "4 Miso coming up." he said. Ayame smiled at the boy. He was like a little brother to her and it was good to see that he felt better.
Naruto grinned a bit. "I have to hurry. Our new Sensei is a slave driver from hell." he began.
Teuchi grinned. "It can't be that bad?" he asked.
Naruto shook his head. "He made me do a training exercise and said if I didn't do it in an hour he would forbid me eating Ramen for a week!" Naruto told the 2 persons behind the counter.
Ayame looked at him. "We would loose business!" she joked.
Naruto paled at the thought of a bankrupt Ichirakus. "This shall never happen!" he swore to himself.
Teuchi laughed a bit. "Well, then it is for the best if you continue to give your best so we don't go out of business." he joked.
Naruto nodded. "You going out of business shall never happen." he vowed. Ichirakus closing was one of his worst nightmares of all, after all. They were kind to him. And he liked both father and daughter.
Haku had meanwhile went to a training ground and was busy training one-handed seals. His goal was to be able to create every Jutsu he knew with one-handed seals.
Sakura had sat herself next to Ino. "So, Ino-pig. What will be our next competition?" she wanted to know.
The blonde shrugged. "Maybe who is stronger?" she suggested.
Shikamaru and Choji were right now looking at each other. If Ino wanted to become stronger that meant she had to do training. Choji enjoyed his meals and Shikamaru would rather watch the clouds than train hard. 'This becomes way too troublesome!' they both thought.
Asuma grinned a bit as he heard this. Maybe this would motivate Shikamaru and Choji to train more.
Sakura nodded at Inos words. "Yes. We will find out who is stronger. But be warned. My new Sensei isn't nicknamed a Demon for nothing." she warned Ino.
The blonde nodded. "Why is he called 'The Demon of the Bloody Mist' anyway?" she wanted to know. She looked at her Sensei, as Asuma seemed to know something.
Asuma sighed. "Zabuza Momochi, called the Demon of the Bloody Mist and Master of Silent Killing. He was the second in command of the 7 Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist and one of the best ANBU in Kirigakure." he began. Team 10 was listening intently now.
Asuma continued. "He earned his nickname because he killed the entire graduating class of the Ninja Academy of Kirigakure at the age of nine. Back then a part of the graduation was to survive a free for all battle between all graduating students. Friends against friends. This is why Kirigakure was then known as Chigiri, the Bloody Mist. Zabuza was annoyed that he wasn't allowed to enter the academy, so he got himself a sword and slaughtered the entire graduating class of this year. After this occurrence the Genin Exam of Kiri was changed because they couldn't afford to lose another 100 Shinobi hopefuls." the tale of Asuma continued.
"Later he advanced through the ranks pretty fast and was made ANBU and entered the 7 Swordsmen at the age of 16. He was the youngest person ever being accepted by the Swordsmen. He is called the Master of Silent Killing because he uses Kirigakure no Jutsu to hide himself in a fog and then kill the victim before it even realizes it is dead. And he doesn't make a sound while doing so." Asuma finished.
Inos eyes were wide. "And you are trained by him?" she asked her best friend.
Sakura nodded. "He will train me hard. He promised that." she said.
Ino looked at her Sensei. "I want to take whatever training you can give me! And I want that Choji and Shikamaru train too!" she said with a firm voice.
Sakura grinned a bit. She would have fun with challenging Ino. And she would give her best to beat her. And if hell was against her, she wouldn't lose to Ino!
Ino thought along the same lines. 'And if heaven went against me, I will not lose to Sakura!' she vowed to herself.
"This whole ordeal is way too troublesome. I envy the clouds, they are free and have nothing to do." Shikamaru said clearly unenthusiastic.
Sakura grinned. "Is he always like this?" she wanted to know from Ino.
The blonde only nodded. "It usually takes quite some nagging to get him to do anything resembling training." she told Sakura.
The pink-haired girl grinned weakly. "Good luck with getting Shikamaru to do some training." she said.
Ino nodded. "I will definitely need this." she confirmed.
As she looked at Shikamaru her face fell. The cloud gazer was napping. Ino turned to her friend and both nodded.
"Sakura & Ino Hijutsu: Double Yell of the Banshee!" they both whispered and positioned themselves at the left and right of Shikamarus head. Then they took a deep breath. "SHIKAMARU! GET YOUR LAZY ASS UP!!" they both yelled at the top of their lungs.
Shikamaru jumped almost out of his skin. "Jeez, you are way too troublesome. And I'm awake, no thanks to you both." he said grumpily. "You could wake the dead with such an annoying voice." he continued. This earned him a double smack on the head from Ino and Sakura respectively. "Troublesome." was Shikamarus only comment.
Sakura looked at her watch. "I have to go to meet my team. Until we meet again to compare our strength." she said to Ino.
"I will never lose to you, billboard-brow!" Ino answered.
"You will never win against me, Ino-pig!" Sakura retorted. Both Kunoichi glared at each other.
Then Sakura turned to the three males. "Goodbye." she said and then she left the restaurant. Motivated to the toes to show Ino who was stronger. "I will win against her! CHA!" Inner Sakura yelled.
Zabuza was already standing at the bridge. "Alright." he said as Naruto arrived as last of the three. "We will now do a mission. Maybe more. Let's see what the Hokage has for us." Zabuza continued. His team nodded and the 4 headed to the Hokage Tower.
At the tower they entered. One of the guarding Chunin glared hateful at Naruto. 'Damned Demon. And now he has even company.' he thought. If the Sandaime had seen reason this abomination would have been killed almost 13 years ago but he had declared the boy a hero. Hero the mans ass. The boy was the reincarnation of the beast that crushed his parents. This was only Kyuubi playing a human. But the Chunin did nothing more than glare. He knew that Zabuza could kill him with ease. And he cherished his life. So he stuck to glaring at the boy.
Naruto and his team noticed the glare. Zabuza appeared behind the man, startling him. "May I know why you hate my subordinate so much?" he wanted to know.
The Chunin sweated. "I hate him. My reasons are my own." he said showing more confidence than he felt.
Zabuza grinned under his bandages. "You should better not hate the boy for something he had no control over. Or you will know from first hand experience what angering the Demon of the Bloody Mist brings you. Nothing but trouble." Zabuza threatened. The man nodded weakly.
Zabuza returned to his team and they entered the tower.
The Hokage smiled a bit. He had followed the whole exchange and was glad that Zabuza seemed to show some gruff caring. Right now he looked at the assembled team. Zabuza stepped before his team. "Team 7 reporting to request a mission." he said.
The Hokage nodded. "Well, you can" he began, shuffling through the papers "catch Tora, the cat of the Fire Daimyos wife. He escaped. Again. This is a High D-rank, we have reports stating that, I quote, 'This damned furball can outrun a Chunin and pull off a damned Kawarimi!' quote ends." the old Hokage said.
Zabuza had to laugh. "I don't think that a cat can be this tricky to catch. I mean, Kawarimi. Honestly, did they drink too much?" Zabuza wanted to know.
Sarutobi shook his head. "I chased the cats ancestor. The Sannin changed another ancestor of the cat. And Orochimaru once swore to me that he saw the cat pulling of a Kawarimi. His student Anko summoned Snakes to help her chasing the cats father. You see, if this continues we will have to upgrade chasing a cat to a C-rank." the old Hokage said clearly amused.
Zabuza nodded. "All right, we chase him. Give us a picture of the target." he said.
The Hokage nodded and handed Zabuza a picture. "Most Jonin keep it. After all, almost every Genin cell chases Tora at least once a week." the Hokage said with very much amusement in his voice.
Zabuza took the picture and looked at it. "Time to chase a cat." he told his team. Then they left and the old Hokage laughed a bit, remembering how many times he had chased the cats ancestor. And Tora was young. Maybe he would become worthy of a C-rank with time. The Hokage would never forget how Anko had chased the cats father through the entire town while riding a 20 meters long python.
Meanwhile in the forest. Naruto had created an army of shadow clones. "Search the target." he told them. Zabuza had decided to only help when asked for help. If not they should handle this on their own. There couldn't always be someone there to tell them what to do or not to do. Learning to think for yourself was important. And he intended to let his team learn exactly this.
After 5 minutes the clones had found the cat. Naruto growled a bit. "This damned cat. He managed to dispel one of my clones by tripping him." he said. Sakura, Haku and Zabuza sweatdropped. 'This might be funny as hell.' Zabuza thought and grinned broadly.
Naruto, Sakura and Haku were busy discussing. Finally Narutos plan was deemed the best. An army of Shadow clones should surround the cat and trap it. Haku would then grab it. Haku and Sakura nodded.
Some minutes later the army had surrounded the cat. Haku created an Ice Mirror and stepped through it behind the cat. But somehow Tora knew he was in danger of being captured. He raced off and only a twig remained where he had been previously. Zabuza who was watching this from a tree branch almost fell from the branch, laughing. To an untrained eye it looked like a Kawarimi. But the cat was just fast. But he would sure as hell write into the report that the cat was talented at escaping.
The clones were busy shouting. "Got it!" and then "Damned, he escaped." over and over. Zabuza was howling with laughter. Yes, catching this cat was a never ending source of amusement.
Sakura sprang into action and brought out some catnip. This was her back-up plan, incase the 'trap with an army plan' didn't work.
And it worked. Tora came and she scooped him in her arms. "Target" she began, as Tora noticed her Hitai-ate. In an instant he was gone. "escaped again." She said. The clones were following the cat through the forest, Team 7 behind them and then Zabuza, who was not at full speed. The cat was just to funny.
Half an hour later they finally had found the cat again. Now it was busy fighting off one of the Inuzuka dogs. An old, strong bulldog. Well, fighting was the wrong word. Chasing the dog around was much more accurate.
Zabuza laughed again. "Haven't seen such a thing for quite some time." he said grinning. His team looked at him questioningly. "Well." he began. "When I was young, I had a tomcat. It was a big one. At least double Toras weight and strength. And he was the unquestioned ruler of his territory. Someday a neighbor bought himself a mastiff. A dog as big as an older calf. And it was quite an aggressive one too. However, the dog tried to cross my tomcat. And my tomcat showed him who was the Boss. He scratched the dogs nose and the mastiff was running, tail between his legs. And my tomcat chased him for good measure. The mastiff bothered him never again." Zabuza told the Genins.
Naruto was slack-jawed. "Cats can beat dogs?" he wanted to know. Zabuza nodded.
He then laughed to himself and remembered how Kisame hated cats. 'I swear, these damned bitches think I'm walking Sushi.' Kisame had said once. 'The Good Old Days.' Zabuza thought dryly amused.
Then he looked at the Genin. "One of you brings the dog back to wherever he belongs. Naruto, this is your job. Use some clones if he doesn't follow you willingly. Haku and Sakura catch the cat." Zabuza ordered. The Genin nodded and ran after the cat and the dog.
Some minutes later they had finally caught the two. Tora had managed to chase the dog up a tree. Zabuza was howling with laughter. It was a picture worth taken. Tora sat under the tree and looked at the dog on one of the branches. "This cat shows promise." he said. "Maybe it will be a C-rank to catch it in some years." he continued.
Team 7 's eyes widened at this. "You mean the Chunin will then have to chase the cat?" Zabuza nodded at Narutos question.
Sakura had meanwhile sneaked behind Tora and wanted to catch him, but somehow the cat noticed this and was off. Again. Zabuza laughed. "Well, I think I will step in. Call it a training session. We are going hunting in the fog." he said. Haku and Sakura nodded. They were a bit frustrated that the cat always escaped.
Naruto had meanwhile got the dog out of the tree and was walking him back to the Inuzuka compound. "Stupid cat, stupid dog, stupid D-ranks." he muttered under his breath.
As he reached the compound a young Inuzuka woman in Chunin uniform and with brown hair came to him. "You have found him. Thank you." she said.
Naruto nodded. "Stupid dog was losing against the damned cat. The damned tomcat even chased him into a tree." he told the woman.
Said woman laughed a bit. "Nothing new. He always challenges Tora head on and without thinking. And after one swipe his courage is gone." she told Naruto.
Naruto stared at the woman. "That dog loses regularly?" he wanted to know.
The woman nodded. "Yep. You would think after the 10th loss in a row he would learn, but he doesn't." the woman told Naruto.
Naruto smirked a bit. "Like me and Sasuke used to behave." he said. The woman raised an eyebrow. "I would always challenge him to see who was better. But now I can't measure myself against him any more." he said, sounding a bit defeated at the end.
The woman patted his back. "Well, I heard that the boy who arrived together with Zabuza seems to be at Chunin, maybe Tokubetsu Jonin niveau. You can measure yourself against him." she suggested.
Naruto nodded. "But Sasuke was almost like a brother for me. We challenged each other. Haku is far more peaceful than Sasuke. And frankly, when I saw him first I thought he was a very pretty girl." Naruto answered.
The woman grinned. "I think you will find someone to measure yourself against." she said.
Naruto nodded slowly. "I think so." he agreed.
"Well, thank you for bringing our dog back." she said and gave Naruto a small peck on the cheek. A sign of gratitude. "By the way, I'm Hana, Kibas Sister." Hana introduced herself.
"Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto answered. Then he took off, searching for his team.
In another part of the wood Zabuza explained Sakura and Haku the Art of hunting in the Mist. "You must use the Chakra in the mist to feel disturbances. Then you can feel where someone is. You can also feel if the person is fighting against the mist. Because then you feel blind spots, where the mist is forcefully driven away. And something else. Futon Jutsu disperse Mist pretty quickly. So the Kirigakure no Jutsu is useless against a Wind user." Zabuza explained. Haku and Sakura nodded. "Kirigakure no Jutsu." Zabuza said and mist rolled into the wood.
Sakura voiced a question. "Why can't we feel you in the mist?" she wanted to know.
"The mist is laced with my Chakra, masking me almost completely. You would need Chakra tracking abilities, which allow you to feel the amount of Chakra an enemy has, to find me. And you need an almost insane amount of Chakra control. The Slug Sannin Tsunade could maybe find me. She has such high and precise Chakra control." Zabuza explained.
Sakura nodded. "I understand." she said.
Haku and she concentrated after those words. And quite soon they found the cat. He was sitting under a tree. And doing nothing.
Haku looked at Sakura. "You have sensed him, too." he stated. At Sakuras nod he continued. "You will go first after the target, I will follow you, just as a fail-safe." he continued. Sakura nodded again and sneaked closer the cat.
Slowly she made her way over to the cat.
And then she saw it. Sitting there and watching into the fog.
Ever so slowly she crept behind the cat.
And then she jumped, managed to scoop the cat securely into her arms and lock it there. The cat struggled but Sakura wouldn't let it go. "Target captured." she called out.
Haku and Zabuza made their way over to Sakura and nodded. "Well done. Maybe I can teach you the Jutsu sometimes, Sakura. You seem to have the necessary qualities for a tracker in the fog." Zabuza told the girl.
Sakura beamed with pride. Having such a Jutsu at her disposal should ensure her victory over Ino.
Naruto came to his team. And all three noted that he seemed to be a bit distracted with something.
Zabuza decided to tease him a bit. "What happened, gaki? Got sidetracked by a beautiful girl?" he asked.
Naruto turned red, sputtered denials, while gently caressing his cheek.
"Naruto, what happened then?" Sakura asked genuinely interested.
Naruto sighed dreamily. "She kissed me." he said before he held his hands before his mouth.
Zabuza, Haku and Sakura stared at him with hanging jaws. "He got kissed." Sakura could finally say. She was jealous and curious. Because from the way Naruto acted he was right now nursing a major crush.
Naruto was red like a tomato. It was embarrassing like nothing. He hadn't meant to tell them about the beautiful young woman that kissed him. That should have stayed secret. But no, he had to tell. Naruto pondered if he should create a Kage Bunshin that should kick him some times so he learnt to shut up when needed.
Finally Haku spoke again. "Why did you get kissed, Naruto-kun?" he wanted to know,
Naruto grinned a bit and looked at his team. "Well, after I brought back the stupid dog one of the Inuzukas greeted me. She took the dog from me. We talked a bit, and as I was about to leave she kissed me on the cheek for returning the dog." he blurted out. And still he had a dreamy look in the eyes. Sakura-chan was nothing in comparison to Hana-chan. Naruto sighed dreamily again.
The three other team members looked at each other. "Major crush." Zabuza finally stated. The others only nodded.
Zabuza grinned like a madman. This would mean some major teasing for the blonde. Well, almost every boy had sooner or later a crush on an older woman. But for it to happen this early, this should become clearly interesting. But then something dawned on Zabuza. Such a crush mostly ended rather hurting for the person in love. And Zabuza was really not a person you could talk to in times of emotional distress. 'Copy Cat, you better hurry with getting well again, or I'm seriously gonna hurt you.' Zabuza thought.
Then he went to Sakura and picked up the cat. "Come here, boy. Let's bring you home." he told the tomcat and petted him. The cat purred contently. Zabuza turned to his team. "Let's head back. Our mission is complete." he said and turned to leave. The three Genin followed suit. Zabuza continued petting Tora.
As they reached the mission center, Zabuza handed Tora over to the Daimyos wife. She gave the money and hugged her poor tomcat to death. Zabuza sweatdropped. 'No wonder he runs like hell.' he thought. Then he turned to the Hokage. "You might sometime soon have to upgrade chasing this Cat to a C-Rank. I had to use the initial training for the silent killing to allow my team to catch the cat." he explained.
The aged Hokage lost his pipe. "The initial training?" he asked.
Zabuza nodded. "Indeed. I used Kirigakure no Jutsu to conceal Sakura and Haku. Naruto was busy otherwise." Zabuza told the Hokage.
Sarutobi was quite surprised. "Did the cat manage to escape this often?" he wanted to know.
Zabuza nodded. "It managed to dispel a Kage Bunshin of Naruto. It managed to flee from Haku, Sakura, an army of Naruto clones and more things. Well, I think this speaks of talent." Zabuza concluded.
Sarutobi nodded. "Indeed. I will watch future reports about Tora." he said and smiled.
Team 7 got their money and left the tower. Zabuza looked at his team. "Alright. We grab ourselves something to eat and then I teach you the Kirigakure no Jutsu." he ordered. The Genin nodded and they left to the BBQ restaurant.
Naruto was broken out of his dreams about Hana when he heard the words "Teach" and "Jutsu" as there where only few things he liked more than learning new techniques. Hana was not yet a part of these things.
After dinner they stood on the training field. "As it is quite late, I will only explain the Jutsu to you. It is one of the basic Jutsus of Kiri and known in almost all countries. There are some Jutsus who work after a similar principle. Known to me is the Yukigakure no Jutsu, the Hidden Snow technique. It works similar to Kirigakure no Jutsu." Zabuza told the three.
All Genin were listening. Haku was interested in the Yukigakure no Jutsu. It seemed like something that should go well with his Kekkei Genkai.
Zabuza continued. "The Jutsu is quite easy. You infuse some of your Chakra into a nearby water source and then let the Chakra lift up the water. Yukigakure works similar, only that you use snow there. And it's a bit more difficult because controlling snow is more difficult than controlling water." Zabuza explained.
All Genin nodded. "Ano, Sensei." Sakura began. At Zabuzas nod she continued. "Can we test it out?" she asked.
Zabuza nodded. "Okay, try it." he said.
Sakura stepped to the river, let a part of her Chakra into the river and willed it up. A small cloud was her reward.
Zabuza was satisfied. "Almost flawless. Your Chakra control is near perfect." he praised Sakura.
The praised girl beamed with pride.
Haku made the necessary one-handed seal and a area of around 10 meters was covered in mist.
Zabuza nodded pleased. "Well done." he said.
Then it was Narutos turn. The boy stepped to the river, poured Chakra into the water like there was no tomorrow and willed the Chakra up.
Zabuza wanted to intervene but it was too late. The fog expanded further and further. Until it finally stopped.
Zabuza chuckled. "Gaki, you made Konohagakure into Kirigakure." was all he said.
Naruto and the others looked dumbfounded. "What?" they all three finally said.
Zabuza grinned. "The mist covers the entire town." he stated.
Naruto danced around after hearing this. "I'm awesome!" he yelled.
Zabuza nodded. "And you have the most crappy Chakra control I have ever encountered. And I knew Kisame when he was young. But even he wouldn't be able to hide an entire town in a fog. You are full of surprises." Zabuza stated.
Naruto scratched his head in embarrassment. "Hehe, I didn't mean to." he said.
Zabuza nodded. "Well. The mist should disperse soon. I think that covers it for today. Tomorrow we will do training. I will teach you Water Walking. This should refine your Chakra control further. And Naruto, I will not teach you any of my heavy destructive Water Ninjutsu. If you would ever use the 'Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu' you would likely set half the town under water. Hell, the Bakufu no Jutsu would in your hands probably be as effective as the Daibakufu." Zabuza told the three. "Now, go home. We meet tomorrow at 0830 at the Memorial stone. Dismissed." Zabuza said and vanished in a swirl of water.
Sakura looked at the boys. "Okay. I will go home, too." she said.
Naruto was about top say goodbye, when he remembered something. "Sakura-chan. I have to show you something." he told her. "It is about our eyes." he continued.
Sakura turned around. "What is it?" she wanted to know.
Naruto looked at her. "Well. Our eyes allow us to see through any Genjutsu, meaning the most of them will not effect us and we might even be able to deflect one. Secondly do our eyes allow us to copy any Ninjutsus or remember any Taijutsu move we encounter. Being able to reproduce the move is another thing. Speed can counter the Sharingan. If we are not fast enough to keep up, we will not be able to see the move. And then there were some things I didn't understand, so my clones retrieved these scrolls." Naruto explained.
Sakura nodded. "Alright, I'm coming with you." she confirmed.
Naruto, Haku and Sakura then went to the blondes home.
Naruto opened his door. And Sakura almost fell down in shock. "This place is a dump! Naruto, you will immediately clean this place!" she ordered.
"But Sakura-chan, this will take hours!" Naruto complained.
"Then put your clones to good use. Then it will not take this long." Sakura answered.
Meanwhile in the Hokages bureau. Sarutobi had watched over his favorite blonde. And after hearing the pink-haired girls orders he began banging his head against the table. "Stupid Hokage, stupid Hokage, stupid Hokage." he said again and again. How often had he wished to have an additional pair of hands to help with the paperwork. And then he had them at his disposal all the time. Then an grin threatened to split his face. "Vile enemy of Kage business, I will defeat you once and for all." he swore to himself. From tomorrow on, Shadow clones would do the paperwork and he would busy himself reading the newest product of Jiraiyas research.
At Narutos apartment, Naruto looked at Sakura with wide eyes. Then he began banging his head against the nearest wall, muttering "Stupid Naruto, stupid Naruto, stupid Naruto." again and again.
Haku and Sakura sweatdropped.
After a while Naruto stopped. "I really should have thought about this sooner." he said while rubbing his head. Then he made the familiar cross-shaped seal and created 25 Shadow clones. "Clean this mess up." he ordered. "Ossu!" the clones said and began collecting the trash.
After 20 minutes the rooms were clean and the trash was outside.
Sakura looked at Naruto. "See, this is much better." she said. Naruto nodded affirmative. "Now what did you want to show me?" Sakura asked.
Naruto took out a scroll with the Uchiha symbol on it. Sakura opened it and began reading. "The Mangekyo Sharingan. And the true purpose of the Sharingan." Sakura read out loud.
After some silent reading she gasped. "This is horrible. The ultimate form of the Sharingan is awakened when you kill your best friend in an attempt to gain more power. This form of the Sharingan holds the ultimate Genjutsu, the ultimate Ninjutsu and an ultimate sealing technique. Well, there is no more information." Sakura stated.
Haku and Naruto were shocked. "You kill your friend for power?" both asked.
Sakura nodded. "It is the betrayal and the evil of committing such a crime that awakens the Mangekyo Sharingan." Sakura explained after some more reading.
Then she opened a second scroll Naruto handed her. "History of the Uchiha clan." she read out loud. Then she continued reading. "The founder of the clan, Madara Uchiha was said to be the one having summoned the strongest Biju to this world. The Sharingan allowed him to make a pact with the Kyuubi. It even allowed him to control the beast." Sakura stated.
Haku and Naruto where more than surprised. "This man had such power?" Naruto finally asked.
Sakura nodded. "Apparently he summoned the Kyuubi to help him fight the Shodaime Hokage. Rumors say that he is immortal." Sakura told the boys.
Both boys stared at her and were slack-jawed. "Immortal? No one can live forever. Not by normal means." Haku said finally.
Sakura shook her head. "There have been attempts at creating Jutsus to gain immortality. But this is impossible. Cells can regenerate themselves only for a set amount of time." Sakura explained. "So he just lives long. Or he has found a way to live through the times." Sakura continued. "However, we will never know, it's not like he will come to this town to search after us." Sakura joked in an attempt to light the mood.
The boys nodded. "Immortals only exist in Horror stories." Naruto finally said. Sakura nodded.
Then she saw something else in the scroll about the Mangekyo Sharingan. "The eyes cause blindness over the time. This blindness can be cured if you forcibly take another persons Mangekyo Sharingan." Sakura read aloud.
Haku was the first to speak. "These eyes are really cursed." he said.
Sakura and Naruto nodded.
After some minutes of silence Sakura spoke. "Well, I've got to go now." she said. She bowed to Haku. Naruto brought her to the door. There she turned around. "Good bye Naruto. See us tomorrow." she said and hugged him briefly.
"Bye, Sakura-chan." Naruto said and hugged her back.
Sakura nodded and left.
In the shady caverns of Otogakure, Kabuto, Misumi and Yoroi were kneeling before their master. "I have bad news, Orochimaru-sama." Kabuto began.
Orochimaru nodded. "What is it?" he wanted to know.
Kabuto gulped. What he was about to tell his master could very well mean his own death. But Orochimaru-sama had to know. "Uchiha Sasuke died." Kabuto said.
Orochimaru looked at his underling. "What?" he said dangerously low.
"Uchiha Sasuke died, protecting one of his teammates from harm. He intercepted a blow aimed for his female teammate. And this isn't the only bad news. According to what my research shows me, neither Haruno Sakura nor Uzumaki Naruto would survive the curse seal. In Narutos case it might even lead to Kyuubi breaking free." Kabuto told his master.
Orochimaru hissed angrily. "Damn it!" he growled. "This is a major setback in our plans." he continued. Kabuto only nodded. "If the Kyuubi were to break free again, Madara, or Tobi, as he calls himself nowadays, would be able to control the beast again. Well, it can't be helped. We have to kill some of the other Jinchuuriki. Maybe the host for the Yonbi is a good beginning. Send an team out, they shall search the old man and seal him away. Another team shall search Gobi. It was sealed not too long ago in Yuki no Kuni. Kill the vessel or seal it away." Orochimaru ordered.
Kabuto bowed. "Hai, Orochimaru-sama. We will do as you command." he said.
Orochimaru smirked. "Good. I will have to pay the Kazekage a last visit." he said. All Ninjas present knew what this meant. The leader of Suna was a dead man walking. "And sent someone out to retrieve cells or the whole corpse of Sasuke-kun. Maybe I can clone myself an Uchiha." Orochimaru ordered and vanished.
Kabuto stood up. "We will do as you command." he confirmed, even if Orochimaru couldn't hear him. Kabuto looked at his teammates. "I know where Sasuke-kun is buried. We will sent our team of Cannon Fodder there. They can retrieve the corpse. One of our Chunin teams heads to the Land of Snow to kill or seal away the resident Jinchuuriki. And we kill an old man." he ordered. Misumi and Yoroi nodded. Technically they were superior to Kabuto, but they both knew that Kabuto was the strongest of them. He was a Jonin in all but rank.
A while later three teams left Otogakure to do their missions. Missions that would greatly damage the plans of Akatsuki. Needless to say that all missions were a success. After all stealing a corpse, killing a baby and killing an old man does not require so much skill.
In Konoha the next weeks were dominated by training. Chakra control being the main part. Team 7 also learned to perform the Kirigakure no Jutsu quite well.
They also began the training of tracking in the mist. And here the progress was divergent. Sakura and Haku made big progress. Naruto was also a good tracker, but he couldn't stay still or be quiet enough to effectively use the mist to save his life. Zabuza had accepted this with the words "You are not the type for a silent assassination, you are a person that charges in and engages the enemy in close combat. Therefore you can use the mist to give yourself an advantage, but I doubt that you ever will be the type for a silent kill." Zabuza had told Naruto. And Naruto had accepted this. Silent killing was about patience and attention. Two things he was sorely lacking.
But on the bright side Zabuza had taken him to a weapon Shop and bought him a short sword. "This is for the first time. Later you can choose a weapon yourself. Just like Sakura, she will also get to choose a weapon that fits her tastes." Zabuza had told Naruto. And Naruto was extremely happy. A weapon of his choice.
Zabuza had made Naruto use the Kage Bunshin in masses for training Chakra control and swordmanship. The effects were showing themselves. Narutos skill with a sword grew. It was clear that it was not Narutos best weapon, but he could deal a good amount of damage with a sword.
And Zabuza had found out that Konohas resident sword master, Gekko Hayate was more than pleased to be able to spar with one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist.
-
End of chapter 2.
The next chapter contains the beginning of the Chunin Exams. At first I wanted to add some more scenes, but it would be useless. Writing more about the training would be pointless.
As for the "Chase Tora" mission, yes I overpowered the cat, because I thought this could be funny.
The match-ups for the Chunin exam prelims are as of now intended like this:
Sabaku no Gaara – Tsuchi Kin †
Sabaku no Kankuro – Yoroi Akado †
Sabaku no Temari – Haruno Sakura
Momochi Haku – Lee Rock
Hyuga Neji – Abumi Zaku (†)
Yamanaka Ino – Hyuga Hinata
Nara Shikamaru – Uzumaki Naruto
TenTen – Tsurugi Misumi (†)
Aburame Shino – Akimichi Choji
Kinuta Dosu – Inuzuka Kiba
Where I placed a † there will be a character death. In brackets means maybe. At first I thought of letting Gaara kill Neji or Rock Lee, but I might need them later. This cemented the death of Tsuchi Kin. The fights still may change. And whoever goes against Gaara is dead. No(!) matter who it is.
As for possible romances. Maybe Sakura x Naruto. But I keep options. Hana x Naruto could also happen, he has his schoolboy crush on her. But well, it's not likely. Please note that I don't understand how having a crush or something like this works. I'm way too cold to feel something like this.
Well, the nickname Team Demon will come in later chapters. Right now there is nothing that really qualifies them for this nickname.
Then, the weapons for Sakura and Naruto. I'm leaning towards a scythe for Sakura and a morning star for Naruto.
A little explanation for you, if you don't know what a morning star is. It is an iron ball with many spikes. It is usually attached to a chain. To use it you let it spin and then when its fast enough you send it after your enemy. You can also use it to keep enemies at range as nobody is insane enough to try and grab a rotating, around 10 kilos heavy, iron ball with sharp spikes. And if you intercept the chain it is likely that the ball hits you and this deals quite an amount of damage. This is the long range version. The spikes are up to ten centimeters.
The short range version consists of a varying number of smaller iron ball that are attached to a short staff with relatively short chains. Longest range maybe 50 centimeters. This is a short range weapon, usually used to bash in skulls or deal blunt damage to the body. The spikes increase the damage. The balls weigh around one kilo each. The spike are up to ten centimeters long. There are usually less spikes on the balls of this version.
The next story I update will be "Gaara and the Horned Reaper" After this I will focus on my German Fics for some time. Anyway, updates will come irregularly. I have no set schedule. The next update might come in a month. But I promise nothing.
Now, I give you a little Omake.
-
Gais New Eternal Rival
Zabuza was teaching his team. Well, grinding them to dust was more appropriate. He had created 50 something Mizu Bunshin and they were busy fighting against Narutos clones. Each Mizu Bunshin took on 4 or 5 Naruto clones. Sakura was also fighting a clone. And the real Zabuza sparred with Haku. On the river.
Suddenly a green blur came into the training ground.
"Dynamic entry!" a booming voice called out.
All 4 members of Team Seven stopped in their tracks. What they saw was a sight that should be banned. It was a man, with a bowl cut, unbelievable thick eyebrows, wearing a Jonin vest and orange leg warmers. But what was the most hideous item of clothing was the green spandex one-piece bodysuit.
"Hello, youthful friends!" the man greeted/yelled.
Zabuza managed to say "Hello."
"You must be the famed Momochi Zabuza! The man who took over the team of my Eternal Rival! Please allow me to introduce myself! I'm a man of wealth and taste. Konohas Noble Green Beast. Hatake Kakashis Eternal Rival. I am Maito Gai!" Gai shouted.
Zabuza was sweating now. This guy was more nuts than some persons he had encountered. Really, who in his right mind was wearing green spandex? "You are right, I'm the Demon of the Bloody Mist. Why are you here?" Zabuza managed to get out.
Gai made a nice guy pose with sparkling teeth. "As Kakashi trusted you with his youthful team, I accept you as my new Eternal Rival!" Gai shouted.
Zabuza groaned. Eternal Rival meant challenges for sure. And given the nature of this man they would be nothing short of insane. 'I'm so screwed.' was all he thought. "Do I get a say in the matter?" he deadpanned.
Tears streamed down Gais face. "You accepted! I'm truly happy. I challenge you!" the spandex-clad man said, teeth sparkling blindingly.
"Did you say something?" Zabuza said and turned back to his Genin. "Excuse me, but I have to torture, em train, my team." Zabuza continued.
"Curse you, my Eternal Rival! You and your hip ways! I will find a way to beat you. This I promise or I do 500 laps around the Hokage tower on my hands with a boulder on my feet. And if I can't do this I will run around Konoha 1000 times while wearing a pink Tutu!" Gai exclaimed.
"Good Luck!" Zabuza deadpanned.
And Gai was happy. He had a new eternal rival. "Train them well. So that their flames of youthfulness may burn brightly!" he yelled and vanished in a green blur.
Zabuza turned to his team. The three Genin were clinging to each other. "This is the reason why wearing spandex is forbidden in Kiri." he said.
"Ano, Sensei? Is spandex infectious?" Sakura asked finally.
Zabuza shook his head. "I don't think that there is a mini-me version of my Eternal Rival." he said reassuringly. "And if I ever catch you wearing spandex you will do 100 laps around Konoha with 200 Kilos on your back." he threatened. He better made sure that they didn't even think of wearing such atrocious clothing.
All three Genin nodded. "I don't want to become a mini-me of this man. Who would want to become someone like this man?" Naruto finally said.
In a clearing Rock Lee sneezed.
-
There you have it. Maybe it was fun. Maybe not.
Well, last but certainly not least. I thank Eisregen, Helloween, Ennio Morricone, Dimmu Borgir, Rammstein, Heimatærde, Darkthrone, Die Toten Hosen, Kreator, Laibach, Motörhead and Amon Amarth for inspiring music.