Hello again, I bring with me a new chapter!
Now, before we go on I'd like to ask something. As you know this story is for pairings that are rare or never get their own stories. However, this does not mean that every girl who qualifies under those terms will be added to the harem. What I want to ask is if you think I should add Tsunami to the harem. Whether you want her in the harem or not I'd like our opinion on this. Please, if you have the time let me know what you think about this.
With that out of the way I hope you all enjoy the story!
(Marshalanime does not own Naruto)
Opening his eye the first thing Kakashi saw was the wood plank roof of the room he was put in to rest. Laying in the futon the man was covered up to his neck. 'I think I over did it with my sharingan' Kakashi thought with a groan.
"Waking up, huh? Are you alright?" hearing the question Kakashi glanced over to his side to see a woman with long, black hair, a short-sleeved pink shirt with the ends of the sleeves and collar being red, and a long blue skirt staring down at him.
"I've been better. It'll be a week before I can move normally" Kakashi told her as he tried to sit up.
"See? It's better if you don't move, so just lay down" the woman advised with her hands on her hips. After a short moment of staring at the woman Kakashi agreed and laid back down on the futon, followed shortly by his team and Tazuna walking into the room.
"Hey look, Kakashi-sensei's up" Naruto commented as they walked into the room.
"Listen sensei," Sakura began as she sat down next to Kakashi, "your sharingan is amazing but if it puts that much of a strain on you then maybe it's not worth it".
"Sorry" Kakashi apologized for over exurting himself.
"Heh, well, he did take down one of the most powerful shinobi assassins so we'll be safe for a while" Tazuna commented as he wiped his face with the towel he always carried around his neck.
"Right..." Sakura agreed with a bit of concern in her voice. "That girl with the mask, what about her?" the pinket asked.
"She's from the elite tracking unit of Kirigakure. Those masks are only worn by the most elite shinobi" Kakashi said.
"What exactly do they do?" Sakura then asked.
"The ANBU black ops, also known as the inferno squad, destroy all trace of a rogue shinobi's corps. The shinobi's body contains many secrets, ninjutsu, chakra, special medicines used on his body, these are the secrets of his village. If his enemies find them his people will be in grave danger. For instance, if I were to die at the hands of an enemy he'd try to analyses my sharingan. In the worst case, my entire jutsu could be stolen and used against the village. It is the sacred duty of the shinobi trackers to prevent this and keep the village secrets safe. If a shinobi betrays their village the trackers hunt them down, eliminate him, and obliterate every trace of their existence. That's their specialty" Kakashi explained.
As the man was explaining a nagging thought kept pestering him. 'What is this? If Zabuza is dead then why do I feel this way? Something's wrong. It's like I missed something' Kakashi thought to himself.
"Is something wrong?" Naruto asked, seeing the look on the man's face.
"Hm? Oh yeah..." Kakashi said after being pulled from his thoughts. "As I was saying, tracker shinobi deal with the body immediately, on the spot so there is no room for error" Kakashi told them.
"Is that really important?" Sakura asked.
"Think about it, remember what that tracker did with Zabuza's body?" the jounin asked.
"We don't know what he did. I mean, I guess she took it away some where" Sakura answered.
"Exactly, but why? She should have worked on Zabuza right there, as quickly as possible" Kakashi told them. "Think about the weapons she used for the take down. Do you remember what they were?" the man asked.
Sasuke was the first to answer. "Senbon needles" the Uchiha said as he realized what Kakashi was getting at and his eyes widened.
"Exactly. None of it adds up" Kakashi responded.
"What are you all yammering about? You demolished that assassin" Tazuna interjected.
"Here's the truth, Zabuza is still alive" Kakashi said, surprising everyone except for Sasuke and Honoka.
"But we saw his body!" Naruto reasoned.
"Kakashi-sensei, you checked him yourself! You said that his heart stopped" Sakura added.
"His heart did stop but, that was just a temporary state to simulate death. The weapons that tracker used can pierce deeply, but rarely kill unless they hit a vital organ, not in the neck. They're modified from medical needles used in treatments like acupuncture. Trakers are trained to know every detail oh the human body. Causing the heart to stop temporarily while keeping the body alive is a simple task for them. First, she carried Zabuza'a body away even though it's much heavier than she is. Second, she used senbon which have a precise effect but are rarely fetal. From these two factors we can conclude that the tracker wasn't trying to kill Zabuza, but safe him" Kakashi told them.
"Come on, you're over thinking this aren't you?" Tazuna asked, not wanting to believe what he was hearing.
"Encountering suspicion a shinobi prepares quickly, hesitation leads to disaster. Every shinobi knows this saying" Kakashi said as his eye darted over to Naruto. By the look on the blond's face he was exited to hear that Zabuza was alive. Perhaps this time he'll get to show what he can do.
"So with you out of commission we'll have to rely on Honoka?" Tazuna questioned. The girl may not have fought for long but she certainly held her own. With her skills they should be sa-
"That's not a preferable position to be in. Honoka can't sustain a long fight with her level of training and after rescuing me from the water prison they'll know not to use physical attacks on her. If it came down to a one on one fight, I'm not sure she'd be able to protect you" Kakashi bluntly told the bridge builder.
"Well... if we can't rely on just Honoka then what are we suppose to do?" Sakura asked.
After a few chuckles Kakashi told her "Just because I have to rest my body doesn't mean I can't train you".
This came as a surprise to the pinket and she mae sure to voice it, "Now hold on Kakashi-sensei! A little bit of last minute training wont prepare us for Zabuza!".
"That may be true, but after that fight Zabuza will undoubtedly need as much time to recover as I do. Between now and then you'll train so that you can better support me while we have our rematch. On top of that, we can expect his accomplice to take part in the fight now that we know they're working together. If you're under-trained then you risk the lives of both yourself and those we're here to protect" Kakashi tells the girl.
"Right!" Naruto exclaims after Kakashi had finished. "We'll get stronger and protect the bridge builder. Everything's going to be alright, believe it!" the blond continued with a grin and was immediately followed after by a new voice.
"We I don't believe it and nothing's going to be alright!" a young boy standing in the doorway said. The kid wore a green jumpsuit with a yellow shirt and a simple pair of sandles. On his head sat a white bell shaped hat with two blue stripes on it. He had short spiky brown hair that poked out from under his hat and dark colored eyes.
"Guah, Inari! Where have you been?" Tazuna greeted the boy as he threw his arms out.
"Welcome back grandpa!" Inari cheered as he rushed over to hug the old man.
Walking over to her son Tsunami once more placed her hands on her hips as she stared down at the boy. "Inari, that was very rude! These shinobi helped your grandpa and brought him here safely" the woman scolded her son.
"It's okay, it's okay. I'm rude to them too" Tazuna commented as he patted Inari's head.
After taking another long look at the shinobi Inari turned to his mother. "Mom, don't you see? These people are all going to die! Gato and his men will come back, find them, and wipe them out!" the boy told his mother.
"What did you say brat?" Naruto questioned as he shot up to his feet. "Listen up! Do you know what a super shinobi is? That's me only a lot better! This Gato guy is no match for a real hero like me!" Naruto told the kid.
"Ha, there's no such thing as a hero" Inari scoffed as he rim of his hat hid his eyes. "You're just full of stupid ideas!" the boy said as he raised his head to stare at the blond.
Naruto was about to storm over and get in the kid's face but Honoka's hand grabbing the bottom of his jacket quickly put an end to that idea. "If you want to stay alive you should go back were you came from" Inari said before he turned to walk away.
"Inari, wait, where are you going?" Tazuna asked the boy.
"To look out at the ocean. I want to be alone!" the boy answered before leaving the room.
Turning to their quests Tazuna apologized for Inaries behavior.
A little later and Naruto was making his way upstairs. He didn't care if the kid was the clients grandson, he was going to knock some sense into him. Once he got to the second floor and started to make his way down the hall the blond began to hear something he hadn't expected, the sound of someone crying. Approaching Inari's room Naruto peeked in through the slightly opened door. What he saw was Inari sitting on the wooden desk in front of his window that looked over the ocean. In his hands was a small photo from with a picture of a man that looked to have been torn from a larger image.
As tears ran down his face and dropped onto to frame Inari softly cried out for his father. Seeing this the anger Naruto had felt moment earlier just washed away. Lowering his head the blond just turned and headed back down the hall. However, he was not the only one to overhear Inari's sadness. Above the boy's window, looking out at the vast ocean Honoka sat on the roof with her arms wrapped around her knees.
'This land has lost so much. We have to help them' the red haired woman thought as buried her face in her knees. She was powerless once to stop a horrible evil from destroying so many innocent lives. She didn't want to see something like that ever happen again.
Later that day had Kakashi walking around with the aid of crutches. And with his ability to walk around the man had led his three students out into the woods. "Alright, training begins now!" Kakashi told the three after he'd found a suitable location. "First, we will begin with a review of chakra, a shinobi's basic source of power. Understanding chakra is essential" Kakashi told them.
"We know that" Sasuke told the man, finding an explanation unnecessary.
"Yeah, mom drills it into my head all the time!" Naruto told the man as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Is that so?" Kakashi asked them. "Then surely you're already aware of the tree climbing exercise, correct?" the man questioned. This, is where the two of them faltered.
"The, tree climbing exercise?" Naruto questioned while Sasuke turned his head with a 'humph'. Despite being from two historically powerful clans the pair had yet to enter into more advance chakra training. Aside from the leaf exercise all academy students are shown it doesn't seem like they've even touched the subject. This should make the fact that they can use more advance jutsu such as shadow clones or the fireball jutsu even more impressive but perhaps it should be chalked up to luck.
"When performing a jutsu one combines both their physical energy and their spiritual energy. Each jutsu requires a different mix of proportions to work. Up till now you've only been guessing. Even if you produce a lot of chakra if you can't balance and control it it's all worthless. Either the justu wont work or it'll just be a joke. You waste so much energy that way and then you're out of chakra and you can't fight at all! You're just a target" Kakashi explained.
"So how do we fix that?" Naruto asked.
"Train so hard that controlling your chakra becomes second nature" Kakashi tells them.
"So what do we have to do?" the pinket asked.
"Simple, climb a tree" Kakashi answered with a smile. Obviously this was a surprise for the genin as they questioned what he told them. "Well, there is one catch. You're not allowed to use your hands" the man told them.
"What? You're kidding" Sakura commented after hearing that.
"Am I? Let's see" Kakashi responded as he turned and walked towards the closest tree. Before the three's very eyes the man walked straight up the truck as if he was strolling down the treet, even coming to stand upside down on one of the branches. "Well, you get the idea. Focus your chakra towards the souls of your feet and use it to conect to the tree. This is one way to apply the power of chakra" Kakashi explained.
"What a minute!" Sakura called out. "That's a nice trick sensei, but how is it going to help us fight Zabuza!" the pinket asked.
"It's the only way to fight him, Sakura" Kakashi quickly responded. "That's the whole point of this training. First you'll learn to focus a precise amount of chakra to a precise point in the body. This type of climbing requires a subtle mix of physical and spiritual energy and the bottom of the feet are the most difficult to focus chakra too. Are you getting the picture? If you can master this then you will be able to master any jutsu!" Kakashi told them before adding at the end, "Well, theoretically". "The second point is to maintain chakra levels. In battle it's even harder to maintain and control chakra levels, a deadly mistake. To avoid this maintaining chakra must become second nature. Effortless" the man told them.
"Well, I could go on all day but that wont advance your skills now will it? You need to apply the power of chakra, through training" Kakashi said as he pulled out three kunai and tossed them to his student's feet. "Use the kunai to mark the tree at the highest point you can climb, without using your hands. Then try to get past that mark the next time, and the next. At first you'll need to run at the tree so your momentum will take you as high as possible, until you get use too it. Ready?" Kakashi instructed them.
Else where, among the islands that make up Wave, a large cone shapped building was located among many large trees. This building was Gato's main hub for his illegal activities within this small island nation. It was here that Zabuza was recovering.
Sitting beside his bed Haku watched over her master, her face no longer hidden behind her mask. She had delicate features and deep, caring brown eyes.
Hearing the doors creak open the girl looked over her shoulder to see Gato stroll into the room accompanied by two of his thugs. Both of them claimed to have had samurai training in the past and both of them lacked any honor. "Some jounin. The unbeatable shinobi just got beat. Limping back home like some pathetic hasbeen" the corrupt businessman remarked. "Demon of the hidden mist, Hahaha, more like coward of the hidden mist" the short man insulted.
Hearing this Haku stood up, the wooden chair she'd been sitting in clattering against the stone floor as Gato's thugs reached for their blades. "Drawing swords?" Haku asked as she watched the men from over her shoulder. Honestly, it was more amusing than anything else.
"Hang on a minute" Gato instructed his men as he walked by them. "Alright, let's hear what you have to say about this fiasco" Gato said as he walked up to Zabuza's bed. "And don't play possum. I know you can talk" Gato said as he reached out for the man, only to wince in pain when Haku grabbed hold of his arm.
"Keep your filthy hands off of him!" Haku lowly growled out as she glared daggers at the man and squeezed just a bit harder.
"Aaaaaagh! You're gonna break it!" the man shouted.
Seeing the guy who writes their checks in danger the two samurai thugs drew their swords and rushed the girl. However, they were unprepared for her speed and skill as they were quickly disarmed and had the tips of their own blades brushing up against their throats. "Don't push me. I'm in a really foul mood" Haku warned before tossing the swords to the other side of the room.
As Gato and his men backed off towards the door he made one last warning. "One chance, that's it! If you fail this time I'll cut you off and then they'll be no one left to cover for you!" the man yelled before leaving with his hired men.
"Haku, that wasn't necessary" Zabuza told the teen once they were alone. Under the blanket he held a kunai in his hand having been fully prepared to plunge it into Gato's throat.
"Perhaps, but it's to early to take out Gato" Haku argued. "He's still our best cover. Think about it, the murders would draw their attention. Then they'd be after us again" Haku said, referring to actual tracker shinobi from Kirigakure. "We need restraint" the girl told him with a smile.
"Ugh, right" Zabuza reluctantly agreed as he closed his eyes and tried to rest. The moment Gato no longer served a purpose, he was a dead man.