Team 7 plus one walked along a dense forest, each lost in their own little world. They had just left a very distraught boatman who seemed in higher spirits as he left them.
Sakura thought about the fight. She focused on how she froze immediately when her sensei was 'killed.' Even now her hands were still shaking, not from the memory but from nervousness and the tension she senses from Tazuna.
The bridge builder was faring no better. He had seen some of the thugs Gato kept around, and if what Kakashi said was true, there would be a lot tougher missing-nin working for Gato too. Tazuna shuddered as his thoughts turned to his daughter and grandson who were in constant danger because of the threat he posed to Gato. 'My poor, sweet Tsunami…'
Kakashi feigned indifference by having his nose in his book, but he was seriously concerned. 'If Gato could buy the "Demon Brothers", then who else is under his employ…' he wondered.
Meanwhile, Sasuke and Naruto thought along the same lines.
Sasuke was feeling excited. He has a beautiful new blade, he could feel his strength increasing and he made his first kill. Now he needed a style to utilize with his Chokuto. Naruto had given him the conditions set by the blacksmith, and Sasuke immediately complied. He hadn't had a chance to test running his fire chakra through the blade…or maybe Kakashi could teach him how to use other elements.
Naruto had a devious grin plastered on his face. He could smell his enemies moving in the cover and he could feel their suppressed bloodlust. Naruto's own started to flare and he resisted the urge to 'shadow meld' over to them and engage.
Unsealing a kunai, Naruto spun it around his finger a couple times before releasing it in the direction of his targets. Naruto heard it thud against a tree.
Everyone started at the sudden sound and watched as Naruto made his way over to where his kunai had landed. He came back holding a white rabbit.
"Naruto! You almost killed it!" Sakura yelled, quickly rushing over to take it from Naruto.
Kakashi, however, was thinking along different lines. 'A white rabbit…and it is spring…that must mean…'
Kakashi's visible eye widened. "EVERYONE DOWN NOW!" He commanded as he grabbed Tazuna and dove, Sasuke and Sakura following his example.
Naruto however, unsheathed 'Ame-no-Habakiri' waiting for something to show up.
A split second later a large sword cleaved through the air. Naruto deflected it and spun around to see a man in a tree branch.
He was tall, not overly muscular but muscular all the same. He was pale with brown eyes, short spiky black hair, small practically no eyebrows, a sideways hitae-ate, bandages wrapped around the lower half of his face, shirtless with a belt around his chest, baggy pants, elbow length wrist warmers and leg warmers with a striped pattern on all three, and black sandals.
"Oh…" the mysterious man said in a deep voice, "You deflected it? Not bad kid…"
Naruto smirked. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze. I would like to fight you Mr. Swordsman." He said, breaking his team out of their stupor and give incredulous looks to the blonde.
The man laughed. "Zabuza Momochi. Let's hope that attitude…" Zabuza disappeared, reappearing behind Naruto with his blade poised to strike.
"…doesn't belly your skills!" Zabuza yelled driving his blade down hard.
Naruto held up 'Ame-no-Habakiri' catching Zabuza's sword and making a deadlock.
Zabuza smirked under his bandages. 'This is going to be fun…' "You ready Naruto! The next level begins now!"
Both swordsmen disappeared from view, trading vicious blows all around their limited space.
A second later, both stood on the surface of the water, blades poised for another fierce exchange.
"It's been a long time since I've had a challenger as good as you." Zabuza said honestly.
Naruto straightened and sheathed his blade. "Well, it's been fun so far. Level three?"
Zabuza fell out of his stance and sheathed his large blade as well. "You won't win in this level kid!"
Zabuza flew through hand seals then calling his jutsu. "Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu (Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique)!"
Naruto went through his own hand seals. "Fuuton: Josho (Wind Release: Rise)!"
Naruto blasted wind chakra toward his feet, successfully dodging the waterfall. Midair he started on another set of hand seals. "Fuuton: Kaze Senbon (Wind Release: Wind Needle)! He called, raining down a large number of wind chakra needles on Zabuza.
The former Kiri-nin was hit by a few but dodged the majority. He was surprised when he was hit in the back by a flaming projectile.
Sasuke went through the same hand seals for the Gokakyu and soon sent another large fireball speeding toward Zabuza as he was getting up.
It hit him dead on and Sasuke couldn't help but smirk until 'Zabuza' collapsed into a puddle of water.
Sasuke's eyes widened before he was sent flying into a tree.
Zabuza watched Naruto, who stood calmly on the surface of the water. He turned to see Kakashi in front of him, Sharingan eye exposed. "Sharingan no Kakashi huh?"
Zabuza unsheathed his blade and made a 'come-on' gesture.
Kakashi whipped out a kunai and engaged in a blade match with Zabuza…or blade vs. kunai in this case.
Both combatants leapt back going through the same 'seals.
"Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique)!" They called in unison.
To large columns formed shooting up and then forming into large dragons with pale yellow eyes. The two techniques collided cancelling each other out, drenching each other in the process.
That's when Naruto made his move. He dashed forward flying through hand seals.
"Raiton: Jibashi (Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder)!" Naruto yelled releasing a powerful stream of lightning at Zabuza's back taking him by surprise.
The missing-nin screamed as his wet body was assaulted by the powerful lightning attack, his sword falling from a limp grip.
Kakashi caught him as he fell forward unconscious.
By this time, Sasuke had awoken and had seen the whole thing.
A split second later a Kiri hunter-nin shunshin'd into the clearing. "I'll take him." Came the simple command.
Another second and he was gone.
Kakashi watched and turned to his team. He eye smiled and nodded at Sasuke and Naruto for their efforts. He opened his mouth to say something but instead fell forward unconscious.
Naruto smirked, absently twirling 'Ame-no-Habakiri' before sheathing it. He then noticed Zabuza's sword about to sink. He grabbed it and hefted it onto his shoulder. He took a step back from the sudden weight with a bemused expression on his face.
'How the hell can he be so fast with this heavy thing?!' Naruto asked the Kyuubi who laughed.
'That man has had years to build up the necessary strength and speed to effortlessly use that blade.' Kyuubi replied smartly.
Turning back to his team plus one, who had assembled around Kakashi, and considering the situation.
"Come now kids. Grab your sensei, my house isn't far from here." Tazuna said, waiting for them to get Kakashi up and then led them to his house.
(Shadow In The Leaves)
The door was answered by a pretty dark haired woman who broke out in tears at the sight of her father.
"Hello Tsunami…yes yes, I'm fine." Tazuna cooed, trying to comfort his daughter.
After she was finished, Tazuna introduced Team 7 and then she led them to some where they can lay their sensei down.
After Kakashi's wounds was dressed, they gathered in the dining room for dinner.
Inari, Tsunami's son as she introduced him, dejectedly ate his food.
It was silent as everyone enjoyed dinner,
Until…
"What's the point…?" Inari mumbled.
All eyes turned to him.
"What's the point of DYING JUST BECAUSE YOU WANT TO BE A HERO!?" Inari cried.
Naruto picked his ear with his pinkie. "Come again Inari. I had something crazy stuck in my ear."
"It doesn't matter what you do…GATO WILL KILL ALL OF YOU!" Inari shot back before running from the room.
Naruto shrugged digging back into his delicious meal. "This is really good Tsunami-san."
Tsunami smiled her thanks, before shooting a concerned glance in the direction Inari ran.
The other occupants in the room slowly returned to eating their meals.
(Shadow In The Leaves)
It had been three days since the battle with Zabuza. Kakashi had been up on the second day and decided to teach Sasuke and Sakura the tree walking exercise. Naruto was excused, seeing as he already knew it and how to walk on water.
Naruto had been studying Zabuza's sword. He had drawn basic details that he would show to Tenuchi after the mission. He had trained with it a few times to train his own strength and speed.
Sasuke had been working on his Kenjutsu and Sakura had worked on increasing her reserves more. Naruto told her if her reserves got up to a certain level he would teach her a technique.
WARNING!
It was a bright early morning and Sasuke opened his eyes to the sky. He had overworked himself on training a new technique he made up. He didn't have a name for it yet.
He heard the crunching of grass underfoot and watched a beautiful girl in a pink kimono approach where he laid, her head down focused on her task.
When she looked up she seemed surprised to see him.
'I must have her…' Sasuke shakily stood to his feet and crossed the distance separating them.
She said something but Sasuke couldn't hear her, his attention was focused on one thing.
He grabbed her in an embrace and pressed his lips against her. She responded pushing the kiss back, all though with a lot less ferocity than Sasuke.
Sasuke broke the kiss and took a step back. 'Wow…' he thought.
"Listen, before you say anything…My name is Sasuke Uchiha and I would like to take you as my wife."
"My name is Haku…" the girl said, finishing her herb picking.
She turned to him and gave him a dazzling smile. "…and I'm a boy…I hope we'll be able to see each other again…" Then she left.
Sasuke picked up the pieces of his face that had fallen off.
'Wait! She-HE is a boy?! He is way to pretty to be a boy…but that means…'
Sasuke fainted after coming to a startling realization.
He kissed a boy…and he liked it…