Kurenai Yuuhi was a ninja of the utmost caliber. Which is why she was able to be promoted to Jonin at her rather young age. Not only was she a master in genjutsu, but had a rather nice knack for telling when she had a tail. The blonde genin that had been following her all morning, was rather easy to sense. Finally being fed up with having a shadow, she threw a kunai without warning directly at the genin.

Surprised by the sneak attack, Naruto fell out of the tree he was hiding in with a yell. Groaning, feeling the pain from falling a good twelve feet, he slowly opened his eyes. From his current upside down point of view, it was strange to see the lovely and mature kunoichi walk towards him; not a bad view though, his mind thought for him.

Is that the jinchuuriki? What is he doing following me? The genjutsu master thought with confusion, nearing the boy. She knew who he was, mainly because of his reputation as the local prankster. It wasn't until she made Jonin that she was privy to his secret. She felt sorry for the boy, having a demon sealed in him without being able to say 'no'. Then, to have to face the villagers hate for something he never asked for. Regardless of this however, she was a little annoyed with him. "You do know stalking is a crime don't you?" she asked, not too unfamiliar with the act. She had quite a few admirers.

Naruto quickly rolled over and jumped to his feet, dusting off his bottom as he did so. "I wasn't stalking you! Kinda. . ." he muttered out the last bit sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

"Oh, then what was it you were kinda stalking me for?" she asked, her voice laced with more sarcasm and amusement than anything.

Finding his resolve he looked her in the eye. "I was following you because I want to know why you did such a horrible thing to Kenshin-sensei!" he yelled, pointing his accusing finger at her.

"It's not polite to point," she said quickly, slapping his hand away. His mention of his sensei's name however made it clear to her why he was here. "So Kenshin made one of his students come confront me?"

"No! I came here because I'm his friend." He replied, a look of anger in his eyes because of her baseless accusation.

She narrowed her eyes, being a master of genjutsu meant she was also a master of the mind. Looking him over, she saw no telltale signs of him lieing. Sighing, she placed her hands on her hips. "I did it because the idiot won't take no for an answer. He's the only guy I know who keeps trying to consistently ask me out. I've told him before I don't have time for a relationship." she answered him, revealing more to a stranger than she normally would. This kid struck a cord in her though, something that told her he was alright.

"So? What you did was still really mean to him! You weren't there to see how heartbroken and defeated he was! All because of you too!"

His words were like searing barbs against her cold, frozen heart as she winced towards the end. Lowering her eyes ever so slightly, she did feel sorry for what happened. At the time, she'd been just back from the Hyuuga household and saw how hard and overly extreme Hiashi Hyuuga was treating her student Hinata. She was in such a bad mood that when Kenshin came flying to her proclaiming his love to her, his goddess, that she snapped. In hindsight, she felt bad as she watched the poor fool prance off with a duck in tow. But, her pride wouldn't let her apologize.

"Would you believe me. . . If I said I was sorry for what I did?" she asked, still wondering what it was about this genin that allowed her to open up so much to him.

"No!" he blurted out, making Kurenai want to pummel him. But, before she could even look pissed, he continued, "I won't believe it until you say it to Kenshin-sensei!"

Her anger de-railed from his honest reply, she sighed again now scratching her head wondering what she should do. Looking at him, she saw the runt giving her a fierce stare that told her he wasn't going to take 'no' for answer. Also that if she did so, he would give her hell until she apologized to Kenshin. "Fine, fine. I'll apologize!" she gently yelled out, giving into his steady gaze.

His face finally broke from the unnatural anger and settled back into his normal happy look. "Great! Let's go find him!" he replied, already taking off. Shaking her head, she followed him hoping he knew where he was going.

Either by instinct or luck, the first spot Naruto tried was correct. Landing in a large oak tree that grew in the park by the lake. Across the lake, he saw Kenshin sitting on a park bench feeding a familiar duck. Even from here, Naruto could see the look on his face. Kenshin made no attempt to hide his broken heart and complete devastation as he slowly hand fed the duck.

Kurenai landed next to him, and saw what he saw. Her face only reflected a fraction of the guilt that plagued her. I. . . did I do this to him? She thought. He might have been unrelenting and sometimes a pain, but he didn't deserve this.

"See what I mean?" Naruto spoke, his voice low and sad.

She just nodded, then looked over at the genin. "Naruto. . ." she started, trying to figure out a good way to phrase her next words. "I'll go apologize to him." she finished, starting to put her hands into a seal.

Placing a hand on her arm, he gained her attention. "Wait, I also have a request."

Curious, she stopped the jutsu and looked at him.

"Please just go out with him once? Even if you don't like it, you'd be fulfilling his dream! He told me that. . . even though he was under a genjutsu, the date he had was the best he'd ever had, because he thought it was you."

The sincerity and tale of what he just told her seemed to put the final nail in the coffin that contained her resolve to not let any man get in her life. She decided that maybe, she could give him a chance. Not saying anything, she used the shushin jutsu and flickered over to Kenshin, leaving a leaf in her wake.

Naruto smiled, as he watched Kenshin immediately sit up and drop the piece of bread he'd been holding. Quickly, he rubbed away any tears he might of shed, as Kurenai sat down next to him. Deciding it was best to leave them alone, he jumped away from the tree and headed back into town.

As he headed towards Ichiraku to get some lunch, he noticed out of the corner he eye, a familiar hair color and cut. Having looked away from his intended course however, he failed to notice the incoming water tank that rested atop a building. As he thought that he should go and ask if she wanted to have lunch with him, he screamed in surprise as he found out how hard the water tank's surface was.

"Crap. . ." he muttered out as he fell off the offending object and plummeted towards the ground. Luckily, there was a fruit stand just below him which was so gracious enough to be broken to cushion his fall. ". . .Ow." he groaned as he removed himself from the debris and crushed food. Then, he slowly turned his head as he felt killer intent coming from behind him. A large man with an angry glare met his frightened one.

"You. . .you . . .!" was all the fruit vendor got out before Naruto just gave him a smile that said 'I'm sorry' and bolted as fast as he could towards where he last saw Hinata. Dodging fruit being used as projectiles, he rounded a corner ending both his bombardment of food and angry words. Panting, mostly from the adrenaline rush, he thought to himself, Note to self, when I become Hokage get rid of all water tanks!

After finding the street he saw Hinata in, he saw her about twenty feet away, standing in front of a shop window, looking at the products displayed within. "Oi! Hinata-chan!" he called out, running towards her.

Looking over, blushing because she instantly recognized the voice, she offered a small wave as Naruto neared her. "G-Good afternoon, Naruto-k-kun." As he neared, she couldn't help but glance back at the window she'd been using as a mirror. Wincing at the memory, she vividly recalled how viscously her father had struck her face. He didn't slap her like he normally did, this time he used a fist. She felt tears start to form, but quickly stopped her train of thought. She just hoped no one would notice the bruise under the makeup she'd applied. She didn't have much knowledge on how to apply it, but one of the branch members she'd befriended helped her.

"Ne, Hinata-chan, want to go to Ichiraku's with me?" he asked, already grabbing her hand to lead her.

Fighting the urge to faint from the combined efforts of him not only holding her hand but practically asking her out on a date, she tried to reply but it came out as a complete stutter. So instead, she just nodded her head.

"Alright! C'mon let's get going!" he shouted, pulling her along.

Before Naruto knew it, his life had almost done a complete one-eighty from his time in the Academy. Now, he had friends and two adults in his life. One who viewed him as a surrogate son and another who saw him like an annoying little brother. Now, he was rarely ever alone, he was either practicing with his team or hanging out with the Hyuuga princess. He had to admit, she was a little weird; what with fainting and always being embarrassed, but she was nice.

But in time, even he started feeling a little bored from his shinobi career. There was only so many house repairs, babysitting, cleaning, and other community service tasks that he could do before getting antsy to tackle something greater. A view shared by the rest of his team as well, including their sensei.

Summer was in full swing, seeming to try and have one last scorcher of a month before Fall inevitable came to cool things down. In the extreme heat, it made most, from shinobi to citizen, want to just stay indoors and lay comatose in front of an air conditioning unit. For one ninja, however, this heat wasn't enough to dissuade him from complaining.

"Dammit! I want a real mission already!" Naruto yelled, but soon felt a large fist slam into the back of his cranium.

"Sorry about that Hokage-sama, I've been trying to teach the boy some manners, but doesn't seem like it's working." Kenshin sighed, shaking his hand wondering who he hurt more.

The Sandaime gave the new jonin a look of pity, along with a chuckle, he had a hell of a task ahead of him. "That's quite alright Kenshin, I expect it from him." he replied as Naruto was currently yelling at his abusive sensei. After another knock on the head however, it seemed to quiet him down.

"Hokage-sama, if I may," Kazuma said, stepping forward, "He isn't alone in that sentiment. We believe to be ready for a more testing challenge."

Shin stepped forward as well bowing, "I too, want something harder. I don't think that D-rank missions will help us out anymore."

Iruka, who'd been sitting by quietly to the side of the Hokage, stood up with his arms crossed. "Look, I can understand the want for a C-rank mission, but very rarely do we hand those out to genin. Ninja start getting in actual risk of being killed in the line of duty."

The weight of his words seemed to do little to make them second guess themselves. "I can guarantee you we're in just as much risk on D-rank missions Iruka-sensei. You've never seen Naruto with a power tool." Kazuma chuckled, a rare display for the stoic youth.

"Hey! That was one time! One time!" Naruto replied, his face crimson remembering the incident with the nail gun that wouldn't shoot right.

Although he kept his look neutral the Hokage was laughing inside, imagining what the young demon carrier could of done. "Judging by the reports I've received from Kenshin, I would have to agree you might be ready for a C-rank." Sarutobi said.

"Hokage-sama?" Iruka asked, trying not offend the Hokage by defying him. "I understand that they are a rather skilled team but. . . still, a C-rank?"

The Hokage nodded and glanced at Iruka to let him know he took no offense at his words. "Indeed, we have a C-rank mission we just received yesterday that isn't dangerous beyond running into brigands. They are a heavy combat team after all, they could use the practice." As he spoke, the Sandaime rummaged through his desk, pulling out a yellow scroll embroidered with clouds. It read C-rank with a time stamp under it in kanji.

Unable to contain his joy, Naruto leaped into the air pumping his fist, "Alright! Finally some real action!"

With Iruka berating the young teen, the Hokage smiled as he unrolled the scroll. "It's a simple enough mission, all you have to do is escort our client back to his home in the Land of Waves." He explained, after giving the scroll another quick read through.

"Who's the client?" Kenshin asked, glad to finally get out of the village for a bit after being cooped up for as long as he had. Before Sarutobi could reply, all the ninjas in room heard someone stumbling down the hall.

"Ah man, what smells like booze?" Naruto asked, waving his hand in front of his nose. The smell, however, brought back uncomfortable memories of men and even women who used to berate him and throw things at him if he was ever out past dark.

He didn't have time to brood however as an old man appeared in the doorway, a half-full bottle of sake held in his hand. His cheeks were tinted red, a clear sign of his inebriation. His clothes were somewhat torn and stained with sweat, causing a slightly foul odor to permeate the room. He started to mumble something when the Hokage spoke up.

"Ah, Tazuna-san." The Hokage spoke, a little disgusted. "This is your client."

Having heard his introduction and seeing the team of three children, Tazuna looked over all three and scrunched his face. "Why am I getting some snot-nosed punks for an escort?"

"What?" Naruto yelled, about to charge the old man when Kenshin grabbed his collar holding him back.

"Tazuna-san, I can ensure you that my students are more than capable of escorting you home. They're all full-fledged ninja." Kenshin replied, trying to keep some pride out of his voice.

Tazuna just snorted, before taking another swig of the rice wine. "Whatever, just hope I don't die." He mumbled back before walking out of the door and sitting in a chair.

After collecting the necessary equipment and supplies needed for the journey, team thirteen collected their charge and left Konoha with a still piss drunk Tazuna in tow.

The trip to the Land of Waves would normally only be about a day or two for ninja jumping from tree to tree or running with chakra enhanced strength. But, because they had a civilian to escort, and an elderly man at that, they had to take breaks often and set up camp early. Because of this, the trip was doubled in length.

On the second day, somewhere around noon, Naruto let out a long sigh. It'd been even more boring than having to do D-rank missions so far. At the very least he was getting to see new sights.

Walking down a long stretch of road, he had his hands behind his head and was whistling to himself gently, trying to drown out the occasional complaint from Tazuna. They had passed through a small village three hours ago, and he didn't have enough money to buy anymore alcohol, much to the relief of everyone present. He tried to bum some money off Kenshin to get him a bottle, but he refused saying he wasn't gonna pay for his drunk habits. Ever since he'd been a pain in the ass for the team, griping about not having any sake and going through withdrawals.

Slowly, Kenshin was getting more irritated, each word frustrating the young Jonin more and more. Passing by an inconspicuous puddle of water, he didn't have much time to inspect it after hearing another complaint about how hot the Land of Fire was and how thirsty Tazuna was getting. Kenshin snapped around and yelled at him to shut up, finally not able to take anymore. All it took was that moment of distraction.

Naruto tried to say something, as he witnessed the puddle of water his sensei was standing next to suddenly transform and spawn two humans dressed in strange clothing with large metal gauntlets attached to their arms. The gauntlets each had large claws on the finger tips, and the two were attached by a chain of shuriken that fed from their gauntlets.

Luckily, Kenshin's senses kicked in and he was able to narrowly dodge the deadly swipe that was meant to sever his spinal cord in his neck. Instead, he received a light scratch on his cheek. Jumping back, he had little to time to waste. "Everyone! Protect Tazuna! Formation Delta!" he yelled, pulling out a kunai and deflecting a strike.

The three teens quickly mobilized, pulling out their own kunai and pressing their back against Tazuna in a triangle pattern looking out for more enemies. "Kick their asses sensei!" Naruto yelled out, a huge smile on his face. He was worried, sure, but he knew his sensei could win.

Dodging another swipe, Kenshin jumped back, and quickly started a jutsu. "Doton: Liquid Earth Jutsu!" as he announced the attack, the ground under the two twin ninja transformed into mud, but they were able to jump out of it in time, their shuriken chain aimed to wrap and kill Kenshin. However, he ducked under the attack and skidded on the mud, sending chakra to his feet to stabilize him and not let him sink.

Grabbing a hand full of shuriken, he tossed them at the ninja on the right, who jumped behind his teammate to avoid them. As soon as he had thrown the shuriken however, he charged forward. Thrusting his leg out, he kicked one of the ninja far enough away to yank the second back with him, not being able to let out any more shuriken chain in time to not get pulled. Putting his kunai in his mouth, he quickly started signing, forming his chakra. "Doton: Stone Prison Jutsu!" Announcing the jutsu, bedrock shot up from around the two crumpled shinobi and formed a stone prison with four walls and a ceiling, the square was just big enough that the two would only be able to stand with their arms partially spread out. Again, he started forming his chakra, his hands barely recognizable to an untrained eye. "Doton: Stone Prison Impalement and Burial Jutsu!" Thrusting his hand out, more for theatrical purposes than anything, twelve circular indents appeared on the walls and ceiling, forming inward cylindrical holes.

Muffled screams of of pure agony erupted from the prison for only a moment, before they were silenced. The prison soon then was absorbed back into the ground, the only evidence that there ever was any conflict a patch of disturbed dirt.

The three genin only watched with their jaws partially agape both in awe of the technique they'd seen and macabre curiosity of what happened inside the stone chamber.

Shin was the first to speak as he slightly stepped away from Tazuna, "Kenshin-sensei, who were those guys? Did you recognize them?"

Kenshin shook his head as he walked back to them, still on edge. "No, I haven't a clue. They looked like rogue nin's from the Land of Water, judging by their head bands. Strange that they would try something like attacking a group of ninja, unless they were after something." With that, he turned his head straight to a nervous looking Tazuna. "Is there something you haven't told us?"

Tazuna tried to blow it off as a random attack, but after a threat of being abandoned by them, he finally gave in and told them the whole story. About how his land was under the tyrannical rule of a cutthroat businessman Gato. His village didn't have enough funds to get a better ranking mission, and the money he had used to pay for the trip was a collective amount from everyone in his village.

"Please, I'm begging you! I'll be killed if you leave me by myself and my land will perish! All I'm asking is to protect me long enough to get the bridge completed!" Tazuna begged, dropping to his hands and knees, pressing his forehead into the ground.

Kenshin sighed, as he tried to decide what was the right thing to do. On one hand, he had his team to consider. If they left Tazuna, he might be okay, or he might die. If they went with him and this Gato somehow hired even stronger ninja, they would all be in a huge amount of risk.

"Sensei, I think we should see this through!" Naruto spoke, stepping forward. He could already feel the guilt of leaving an old man defenseless and leaving a country to die.

Shin and Kazuma both agreed, saying that it wouldn't be the right thing to do. "Besides," Shin started, "What are the chances of this Gato having any stronger ninja in his employ?"

Kenshin decided to ignore that thought, as he sighed, being ganged up on by his students wasn't very cool. "Listen you guys," he started, looking at his students with as serious a face as he could muster. "Being a ninja isn't always about doing the right thing, especially when that thing could be putting all your lives at risk. If they have more ninja than that, then we could all die for no reason."

"I'd rather die trying than go home knowing I left him to die." Naruto replied, clenching his fist, staring Kenshin in the eyes.

"Same here." Kazuma added, crossing his arms.

"My father always told me it's better to die for a good cause than of old age. I think risking my life for Tazuna-dono and his country would be worth it." Shin said nodding.

Before Kenshin could continue to try and sway them, his ears picked up a loud sound cutting through the air and increasing in volume at an alarming rate. "Everyone get down!" he screamed, ducking as low as he could get. His students followed suit, Kazuma tackling Tazuna to the ground.

Above them, a gigantic greatsword spun through the air, aimed to kill anyone who would have been standing up. The sword curved in mid-air and with a loud thunk, embedded itself into a nearby tree. Then, a large man with spiky black hair wearing a set of blue trousers and camouflaged arm wraps materialized on the handle, with his back turned to the group. The lower portion of his face was covered in bandages, excess pooling around his neck. It only seemed to enhance his cold eyes which surveyed the group like a hawk would pick out prey.

Kenshin felt himself pale as he recognized both the sword and face of the man perched above them. "The Demon of the Mist." he whispered to himself, cursing the fact he had to be right about there being tougher ninjas.

A shadow of a smile appeared under the bandaged face of the named ninja and he turned himself to fully face team thirteen. "Correct, I am Zabuza Momochi, and you are in the way of my prey." Zabuza spoke, his words laced with a promise of death should they stand in his way.

Shit, not good. . . I don't know if I can take him on in a fight. . . Kenshin thought nervously, gripping his kunai tighter. He knew who Zabuza was from his picture in the bingo book. An S-class criminal who was the ringleader of a failed coup against the Mizukage. If that didn't speak enough about his power, he was also one of the famed Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. A fact that chilled Kenshin to the bone.

Naruto was still crouched down, staring in fright at the new murderous face that appeared. Killer intent seemed to radiate naturally from the swordsman as he glared with an almost amused expression at them all. Looking around, he saw his teammates faces reflect what he himself was thinking. This guy was serious.

Casually studying each of the ninja there, Zabuza chuckled to himself seeing nothing but a no-name Jonin and three little genin who were probably fresh from the Academy. All not worth killing, in his opinion. "I'm going to give you Konoha ninja one chance, and that's it. I have no qualms killing all of you, even those three kids back there. So here's the offer I'm gonna give you. Leave the old man and run back to Konoha and don't look back. Do this, I'll let you all leave." Then, looking directly at the genin, his eyes turned almost sadistic with killer intent coming off him in droves. "Stay, and I'll kill you all."

Kenshin felt his mouth go dry as he knew he wouldn't be lieing. Do I risk my team and try to defend Tazuna? Or do we run, and leave the old man to his death? Looking back, he saw the pure look of utter fear on all his student's faces and their charges'. Taking a deep breath, he knew he couldn't ever bring himself to leave an old man to a merciless death by this killer. Standing up straight, he gripped his weapon as tight as he could. "All of you, this is an order." He started, not looking back. "Run as fast as you can carrying Tazuna back to the village. I'll hold him off."

"Wha – but sensei!" Naruto yelled out, not believing his ears.

"I said that's an order!" Kenshin replied back, still not taking his eyes off Zabuza who was chuckling to himself.

"Very brave of you," Zabuza started, forming hand seals, "but you aren't my target, he is. So I can't let you leave." Finishing his seals, he grinned as he spoke. "Suiton: Hidden Mist Jutsu!"

Before Kenshin had a chance to react, a dense fog creeped into the area and Zabuza was gone, missing along with his sword. Jumping back, he fell into a defensive stance, holding his kunai horizontally and chest level. "Box formation!" he shouted out, trying to keep the harshness out of his tone. Now his students were stuck here, he somehow doubted Zabuza would let them flee.

Kazuma and Shin shakily jumped to their feet and put themselves in formation, but Naruto only stayed seated on the ground with pure terror etched in his face.

He didn't know why he couldn't move, all Naruto knew was that for the first time in his life he was truly afraid for his life. He wanted his sensei to accept the missing ninja's offer, to leave Tazuna and save their own skins. Now, they were trapped in a fog that made it hard for him to breath and to think straight because of the amount of killer intent that was in the fog. His heart was beating so fast he was sure he was going to die of a heart attack.

"Naruto! What the hell are you doing? Get in –" Kenshin started, but was suddenly interrupted. His mouth stopped moving and his vocal cords froze up along with his body. Wha- what is this? Why the hell can't I move? he thought to himself, as he frantically tried to move his body. Did Zabuza put something in the fog too paralyze me? What. . . wait. . . oh crap! I was poisoned by the claws! After receiving the scratch from the two now dead missing ninja, he thought he felt a distinct burning sensation from the cut, but attributed it to getting the injury. Now he knew he'd made a fatal error in judgment as he could no longer control his body.

Then, he heard the sound of metal cutting through the air, for only a brief second before he felt a blinding pain erupt from his chest as he was thrown back into Tazuna and Shin, knocking them both to the ground. Kenshin tried to scream out, but could only breath in pained gasps as he felt his precious life blood spill onto the ground.

Tazuna, seeing this, screamed as he jumped up and started to run back the way they came, screaming to not kill him.

"Tazuna, wait!" Kazuma yelled out, but only watched as he saw his figure disappear into the mist. Moments later, a bloodcurdling scream pierced the fog as blood sailed into the air colored the mist where he went. A loud thump was heard, followed by a smaller one.

Naruto watched, still gripped in fear and horror by everything that happed as he watched Tazuna's bloody and severed head roll back into the vicinity. His eyes, however were locked onto his sensei's, which darted between him and the other two, trying to communicate the order to try and run.

A low, eerie chuckle penetrated the fog causing the three remaining genin's to freeze up. "You should have accepted my offer. Unfortunately for you, I'm a man of my word and reputation. If I let you go, how will that look to future employers? Now who should I start with? Perhaps the blonde runt that's wetting his pants? Or the chubby boy with that excuse for a weapon?" Zabuza spoke, his voice seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

Kazuma, hearing his taunts, looked over by Naruto and saw the faintest hint of a shadow. Jumping up, he ran towards the blonde youth while throwing a shuriken at the shadow. The shadow erupted into water, just as it was bringing down it's sword onto the unsuspecting jinchuuriki. Screaming, Naruto jumped to his feet and began looking around.

"W-We have to r-run! We have to go now!" Naruto exclaimed, not caring how he sounded at the moment.

Ignoring his teammates plea, Kazuma stood in front of Naruto with a kunai drawn, looking around for the next shadow.

"Show yourself coward!" Shin yelled drawing his mace, sweat running down his face. He too tried his best to look around, but it was all he could do to just not break out in a run from the psychological effect the mist had.

"Coward?" Shin heard behind him, but before he could turn around, he felt the strangest sensation pass through him. Then, without feeling any pain, his top half of his body slid off his lower half, as his legs stumbled for a moment then crumpled. Shin weakly grasped at mace before he felt another sharp pain pierce his back. Then, he knew no more.

Zabuza appeared clearly in the mist, his body and sword both covered in blood; His gigantic zweilhander protruding from Shin's back. His eyes were filled with bloodthirsty glee as he surveyed the last two standing genin. "There is a huge difference between cowardice and tactics. Something all ninja should know. Too bad you'll never get to apply that lesson. . ." Zabuza spoke, as he slowly disappeared into the mist again.

"S-Shin. . . no!" Naruto cried out as he started to run towards his friends body but was held back by Kazuma, who just shook his head grimly.

"Stop Naruto, we can't do anything for him now. If we don't work together now, we're both dead!" Kazuma yelled, starting to feel frustrated with his friend who was loosing his mind.

Before Naruto could reply however, he watched Kazuma's face light up in surprise as he quickly pushed himself and Naruto forward. But, he wasn't fast enough, and while he saved Naruto from the horizontal swing which would of decapitated them both, it instead bit into Kazuma's skull and sliced off the top half of his head, killing him instantly.

Naruto, who was about to say something in retaliation, stopped as he watched his last friend's body fall to the ground, his head horribly disfigured from the attack. Kazuma! Shin! Kenshin! NO! Was all he could scream in his head, as he didn't know what else to do, as he felt his bowls release and tears streaming down his face.

Then, again the haunting voice of Zabuza pierced the mist, but this time he showed himself in front of Naruto, his greatsword slung over his shoulder. "Your sensei is dead. Your teammates are dead. Your mission is a failure." With each word he spoke, he took a step closer towards Naruto.

Naruto tried to back pedal as fast as he could, but sitting the way he was, he couldn't move faster than the slow advancing missing ninja.

"Look at you, at least the other three died trying to fight. You're even worse than a kid playing ninja. You're just a straight coward." With a sneer and glare he swung his sword at a screaming Naruto but didn't aim for his body, rather his right arm. It cleanly cut through bone and sinew at the shoulder as Naruto could only watch as his dominant arm fall to the ground.

Pain flooded his every sense, as he screamed a blood curdling yell. Clutching the bloody shoulder where his arm once was, he continued to scream. Rolling on the ground, his thoughts a jumbled and erratic mess, he looked up at the Demon of the Mist with terror filled eyes.

Raising his sword, Zabuza looked down at the pathetic excuse for a ninja and shook his head. "You should of never even picked up a shuriken, coward." Letting his sword fly, Naruto watched as it neared his shoulder. He felt the entire blade bite into his bone and continue into his chest before he felt himself black out.

But not before he swore he felt a surge of energy flood into his system, and an ominous, evil, and ancient voice creep into the last bit of his consciousness.

-Not yet, not just yet. . .-

And there we go, the next chapter. Sorry for the long update, but I've been really busy the past week. That and I had a bit of trouble making this part sound right, but I think I was finally able to nail it. As always, reviews are welcome and encouraged! Let's me know people are reading! ^-^ 'Till next time, Shinobi no Ryu.