Kakashi glared at us with what he must have believed to be a dark look. He must have been out of practice because I've seen the sun give me a darker look.
"Give it up. Not one of the three of you . . . will ever be a ninja."
I got bored quickly, since there isn't much you can do while tied to a log. So I decided to do what every other twelve year old would have done when bored. I screamed at the top of my lungs the first random thing that popped into my head.
"What do you mean give up? Give me a brake! Okay, so maybe gretel and pinky didn't do anything besides hide like a perverts in a bush. But why the heck should we quit over that?"
"Because not one of you . . . has what it takes!"
Sasuke wasn't to pleased with that. Probably because that it meant that he couldn't kill the guy he was after. He bolted from his spot of depression and other emotions on the ground and attempted to rush kakashi.
"Sasuke!"
Dear god woman! Just because your infatuation goes for a run, doesn't mean you get the right to burst my eardrums with your handsignless super-sonic jutsu.
THUMP
Damn, I was to busy mentally berating pinky for her screeching and I missed out on seeing sasuke get his ass kicked. Well at least I get to see the after math, kakashi sitting on sasuke. Kinda reminds me of a mother duck and her ugly duckling. Sasuke's hair also reminds me of a duck.
Kakashi stared down at the now sat on sasuke.
"What you are is a trio of spoiled brats . . . "
The girl was freaking out.
"Don't sit on sasuke! Get off of him!"
Kakashi glared at the pink one.
"Are you trying to make fun of the shinobi with your behaviour? Well, are you? Did you even stop to wonder for one minute . . . why you were divided into teams?"
That one stumped the brain trust.
"Uhh . . . excuse me?"
"Obviously not. So you missed the entire point of the exercise."
Finally! About time kakashi started following the script we came up with.
"It had a point . . . ?" I said with a dramatic pause that seemed to be overused in all of kakashi's conversations.
Hopefully my words would stimulate the only two gennin who hadn't figured it out yet.
"Of course. And that point determines whether or not you would succeed."
The girl was further confused by this.
"But . . . you haven't explained what it is!"
" . . . I don't believe this."
I was getting impatient, I had better things to do than being tied up.
"Aw, come on already! Tell us!"
"It's . . . " Kakashi started with yet another dramatic pause. " . . . teamwork. If the three of you had come at me . . . together . . . you might have been able to take the bells."
The girl saw what she believed to be a flaw in what he was saying.
"If we were expected to function as a team, why did you have only two bells? Even if we'd worked together, one of us still would have had to go without lunch. You're preaching teamwork, but you played us against each other!"
Kakashi stared at pinky with a look of disbelief on what little of his face we could see.
"Of course. This task was designed to cause dissension in your ranks."
"What?"
"The situation was set up to reveal which of you . . . would set aside your individual interests . . . and propose to the others that you work together for the good of all. Instead of which . . . you sakura ignored naruto, who was right in front of you . . . while you focused your attention on sasuke, though you didn't know where he was. Naruto tried to do single handedly what should have been the work of all three! And sasuke had already decided that the other two just got in his way . . . and was better off going solo. You are a team! Learn to act as one! Yes, it's necessary for ninja to have individual skills but . . . what is even more important is teamwork! Making a play as an individual is bad for the team and exposes your comrades to unnecessary danger. You might as well kill them yourself. . . . Here's an example."
Kakashi pulled out a kunai and pushed it against sasuke's throat.
"Sakura! Kill naruto. Or sasuke dies."
The pink banshee freaked out, but she looked like she actually would have done it! Bitch!
"The day could come . . . when one of you may be taken hostage, and you're forced to make such a choice. When you are on a mission, your lives will always be on the line."
Kakashi got off sasuke and walked towards a block on stone and stood before it. Sasuke sat up not looking to pleased with being sat on. There goes my 'sasuke is gay' theory . . . for now . . .
"Look at this marker . . . and all the names carved in the stone. Heroes of our village. Ninja . . . who have died on the line of duty. This is a memorial. It includes the names of my best friends."
Kakashi stared at back at us with a stern look on his face. " . . . Pay attention . . . ! I'm giving you one last chance. One that will be far more difficult than our last little game with bells. If you're prepared to continue, you may eat one of the bento boxes. But no sharing with naruto. He goes hungry."
"Why?" sakura asked.
"He brought it on himself when he tried to take both of the bells, which would have left none for you guys. If either of you feeds him, you fail the test right there. My word is law. Do you understand?" kakashi said with gloom and doom in his voice before vanishing off to god only knows where.
I spent twenty minutes there trying to think of a way I could subtly get my teammates to feed me and pass this stupid underneath the underneath test. After a while I managed to get my stomach to growl which caught the attention of sasuke. He stared at me for a moment as though he was having an inner battle on whether or not to help me.
"Here" he said as he held out his lunch to me while looking at anything but me. The theory is back people.
The girl flipped for what had to be the fifth time that day. Maybe she's part dolphin or something. I wonder how iruka's cadaver's doing?
"Bu . . . But master kakashi told us-"
"I'm not worried. He's probably miles away by now. And we'll need our full strength if we're going to work together to get those bells. Naruto's no good to me if he's just going to be a liability."
The girl seemed to think over sasuke's words for a while, putting that big head of hers to more use than coming up with more ways to say sasuke's name in every sentence she says.
She looked at her bento box before shoving it in front of me as though it was an offering to appease me . . . That's not a bad idea, I should remember that for later after I've crushed this cesspool of leaf vermin.
Suddenly smoke filled the clearing as kakashi came back for his big finale.
"YOU!" he howled as he appeared like a demon from the smoke
Sasuke to my disappointment didn't scream but got ready for a fight, shame. The pinky however did what she was good at, and screamed like she was set on fire.
" . . . Pass!" kakashi said with a smile.
My teammates were yet again dumbfounded.
The pinky spoke up.
"We pass! But . . . why?"
"The three of you have just taken a giant step forward."
"Ummm . . . How?"
"Up until now, all any of you have ever done is listen to me unquestioningly to everything I say . . . like mindless, little drones."
Hey, I had figured it out first! Why is he including me with this rabble?
"A true shinobi seeks for the hidden meanings within hidden meanings. In a ninja's world, those who violate the rules and fail to follow orders . . . are lower than garbage. However . . . those who do not care for and support their fellows . . . are even lower than that!"
"Oh!"
Now they're getting it.
"This exercise is now concluded. You all pass! That's all for today, team seven. Your duties will commence tomorrow!"
"Finally! Now let me down!" I said to my relieved teammates.
"Lets go home" kakashi said as my so called team left me tied to the stump.
"Ignorant bastards!" I called after them as they left me hanging, literally.
How dare they! They left me! What was all that preaching about teamwork for if they just abandoned me! Fuck that! I only need myself! I never needed others! I was a fool when I was younger!
And then it happened. I don't know what it was but it happened. My right eye felt weird and my chest and arms felt empty, as though they were hollow. I fell from the stump and crashed into the ground head first, not expecting to slip off the stump.
"What the . . . hell?" I asked no one in particular as I looked back at the stump in confusion.
The ropes were still tied to the stump and yet I was free. It was as though I had fazed through them, becoming translucent to the degree that not only light but matter slipped though me.
"BITCH!" I howled when I felt a headache drop in for a visit.
But how could that be? I only ever got a headache when I used my right eye. Does that mean that my right was responsible for my escape? That would mean that somehow, through my thoughts of hatred and going solo it reacted and freed me. The ropes were not harmed and neither was I or the stump. So this reality wasn't damaged then maybe I wasn't in it when I escaped. Could it be that I slipped out of this reality and back?
I smiled evilly. Oh this is too good. The headache is worth it, to find out that my right eye has the ability to control whether or not matter exists in this realm of reality. I will have to experiment with it though, to find out the extent that its power go's and what it can effect.
Can I only pull myself out of reality when I use it or can I use it on others? If I continue to use this new ability then will it harm me or make me stronger? What are the visual aspects of the technique? Do I change colour, become clear, go blurry or is there no change in visual appearance at all? What are the costs of such a technique? Chakra, body energy, life force or is it for free?
I will discover all that there is to know about this new aspect of my right eye and use it to bring my life's ambitions to fruition earlier than planned. But I better do that at my little lab of horrors . . . after the headache fucks off that is.
A couple of weeks later I was standing in front of old man 3rd for squad seven's next mission assignment. So far we've done everything from weeding the front lawns of the academy to wiping windows in the market district. These were considered tasks that would give us the experience we need to become fine shinobi in the future.
I honestly don't see that happening. Unless by some freak turn of events the village is attacked by weeds with dirty windows I think what we're doing is a waste, though it does leave me with lots of spare time to research my right eye. But if we were to be attacked be an enemy that was intent to killing us I reckon that my teammates would be slaughtered. If we're to be shinobi we should be given missions that shinobis take, not chores that should be done by servants. I decided to voice my opinion to old man 3rd.
"Fuck off and go blow yourself! I demand that you give me something different to do, not all this kiddy crap. Something important that's a challenge!"
Kakashi and pinky both seemed to be shocked that I just said something that disrespectful to the leader of this village. Sasuke seemed to agree with me though and old man 3rd himself just stared at me as though I kicked his puppy in front of him, again.
"Apparently naruto, you are in need of an explanation as to how the leaf village works and distributes missions. You see, every day, our village receives many requests for everything from baby sitting to assassination. We take that tremendous variety and sort them into categories from A to D, based on the degree of skill they require. We have also divided the shinobi into classes based on the level of their skills. Those shinobi rankings from lowest to highest are gennin, chunnin, jonnin and hokage. After we of the upper echelon have sorted all the requests we distribute them to those of the ability deemed most appropriate. And if the ninja in question completes those duties successfully then the grateful person he has helped pays him a fee. Thus far, the three of you have only attained the lowest rank, level D tasks are the best you could aspire to."
I soaked up every word he said. If I know their system of funds and ranking it could be used to my advantage for when I turn on this pitiful excuse of a shinobi village.
"But how are we supposed to become stronger if we are not challenged?" I said eager to get my way and get at least C class mission.
"Yes I agree that experience is necessary for a shinobi, but it's useless to us unless it is tested by something that causes us to recall our experiences and use them to guide our intentions and reactions to events that happen in the future."
Old man 3rd smiled at me.
"Well . . . since you put it that way . . . I will permit you to attempt a C grade task, usually reserved for shinobi of the journeyman level . . . the protection of a certain individual . . . "
I smiled a genuine smile, probably my first in years. Maybe I won't kill old man 3rd, I mean I've always wanted a butler. I could rename him jeeves, or trent.
"Whose life are we in charge of?"
"Don't word it like that naruto, compose yourself. I'll perform the introductions straightaway. Please invite him in . . . "
Old man 3rd motioned towards a door we used to enter the room. We turned to look at our assignment. A drunken old man with a piece of rope tied around his head stumbled into the room.
"What's going on here? They look like a bunch of wet nosed brats. Especially . . . the midget. He's got the face of sadistic madman. It's a joke right? You kids aren't really ninja, are you?"
I looked around for this so called midget. He said brats so since he's older than us he must have referring to us. But sasuke and pinky have hairdos that make them look taller so that would mean . . . BASTARD!
"Die!" I howled as I threw a kunai at the ignorant drunk's head, only for it to be caught by kakashi as he gripped my shoulder to prevent me on going postal in front of the hokage.
"Naughty. No killing the old man you've been assigned to protect."
The old drunk looked spooked at the fact that he was almost killed by a twelve year old. Clearing his voice he introduced himself.
"I am tazuna, a bridge builder of ultimate renown . . . until I am safely back in my own country, where I'll be completing my next bridge, you'll all be expected to protect me . . . even if it costs you your lives."
The moment kakashi looks away I'm gonna put this old coot in a ditch with his throat slit.
Later that day, after I had gone to my lab and picked up a few . . . items that wished to try out I met my squad members and our charge at the konoha gates. I was estatic to be leaving the hell hole that ruined my childhood.
"All right! C'mon elizabeth, turn that frown upside down! We're going outside the village!" I taunted sasuke.
The old fart that I was planning on killing when I got the chance just stood there with a look of disbelief on his face.
"Am I really expected to place my life in the hands of this fool?"
The moment there's a ditch, I swear.
Kakashi sighed at my antics.
"There's no call for concern. I'm an elite ninja and I'll be along too . . . "
This old coot would have to be the worst client in history. I'm not gonna let him give me any crap.
"Listen, you old geezer! You don't ever wanna mess with shinobi! Especially one like me! Remember that sadistic comment? Well you old coot you got me right on the mark. I want to kill you and leave your mutilated corpse in the sun to rot. So stay out of my way and stick with elizabeth and you'll live to be an arse another day!"
The old man shivered and hid behind kakashi who was rereading 'A Tale Of Nihilism'. Maybe he's torturing himself so that when it comes to real life he can toughen the fuck up? And what's with the two shinobi sitting in the tree behind us? I can sense them, there chakra feels equivalent to a chunnin's. I guess it doesn't matter now, since they're fucking off to whatever hole in the wall the call home.
Later that day when we were walking down what had to be the most boring path in the history of dirt roads, pinky did what I thought I would have to train into her and spoke without the use of her vocal sonic jutsu.
"Um, Mr tazuna . . . ?"
The drunken sod stared at the girl and grunted.
"What now?"
"You come from the land of waves, right?"
"What of it?"
The pink one looked to kakashi with a blush adorning her face.
I wonder if its because she calls him Master kakashi. Little BDSM suck up.
"Um . . . master kakashi . . . "
I knew it.
"Are there ninja in that country too?"
Of course there are! That's why this shit head came all the way here to get us. Cause its fun to get drunk and travel and even more fun to irritate someone while doing it.
"No. Not in the land of waves. But, as a general rule, even with all the differences that exist in local customs and cultures . . . Most other lands have their own hidden village where a ninja clan resides. There are five ninja villages that are considered the strongest. Konohagakure the village hidden in the leaves, Kirigakure the village hidden in the mist, Kumogakure the village hidden in the clouds, Sunagakure the village hidden in the sand and Iwagakure the village hidden among the stones. For most countries on this continent, the ninja villages serve as the military force. They protect their own people and handle the ongoing relations with neighboring countries. Yet, the villages do not answer to the rules of their native countries. Instead, they are equal footing with the government. In the case of very small island nations where an invasion would be difficult to mount, a ninja village is regarded unnecessary. Among the various ninja villages, in particular, those located in the lands of konoha, kiri, kumo, suna and iwa are large and their strengths are immense. Those are the five great lands of shinobi. They are also the only places where the shinobi leader calls himself a kage, or shadow . . . Those legendary
Leaders, Hokage or fire shadow and Mizukage or water shadow for example, plus Raikage, Kazekage and Tsuchikage are known to the ninja everywhere as the five shadows . . . The ultimate commanders of all the tens of thousands of shinobi throughout the world."
"Really? Lord hokage is so amazing!"
"You obviously don't really think so. There's nothing to worry about. You wont face any duels with ninja from other clans while your handling C level duties."
"So I don't have to worry about encountering any foreign shinobi . . . ?"
Kakashi laughed as he patted pinky.
"Of course not! Ha ha ha!"
I noticed the drunken sod looked a bit down. Sasuke seemed to notice it to. I also noticed the two chakra signatures from before were up ahead, but all I saw was a puddle. As we walked past it, kakashi and I both stared at the puddle for a moment. Kakashi was content but I wasn't, I knew there was someone in that puddle, hiding. I smiled evilly. Since kakashi wasn't gonna do anything to these puddle play pals, I was.
"Gimme a sec, I gotta go" said with my back to the group as I faced the puddle.
"Naruto you're disgusting, at least go in the bushes."
"But I wanna go . . . right . . . here" I said as I pissed in the puddle. Let's see how our guests like to hide in piss.
The said puddle of piss exploded and two cloaked shinobi wearing masks jumped out.
Lame. Everyone has a mask but me.
"YOU LITTLE SHIT!" they howled.
"HOW DARE YOU PISS ON US! YOU'RE GOING DOWN LITTLE PIGGY"
They bum rushed me with a long jagged metal chain connecting ones right gauntlet to the others left gauntlet. I stood there waiting for them. When they reached me one of them jumped over me and flipped the chain, which looped around me and pinned me on the spot.
"One little piggy" they said as they were about to yanked the chain.
"Access denied" I said as I exploded, engulfing the road in black smoke.
I could hear the two enemy shinobi coughing.
"Bloody brat knew a jutsu to make clones explode."
"Yeah, but what's with the black smoke? I can't see a thing."
I uncovered my right eye, the smoke blocking kakashi and the rests view of me so it was ok to use my right eye. I smirked as I clearly saw two human shaped chakra sources with the smoke. It's time to play with my food. I stalked my pray in the smoke, keeping myself between them and the outside. The smoke will linger around and stay thick enough to keep visibility down to about a foot for about a minute. More than enough time.
"One . . . two . . . I'm coming for you . . . " I called out slowly through the blinding smoke.
"Three . . . four . . . dread my call . . . Five . . . six . . . I see through your tricks . . . Seven . . . eight . . . your life's at stake . . . Nine . . . ten . . . your never gonna live to see the sky again . . . "
The two shinobi wandered though the smoke, only knowing about their teammate's location and health because the chain held up between them. They couldn't see each other even though they were a meter apart. I shepherded them next to each other.
"Where the fucks the brat? I cant see a thing?" they swore at each other.
"I'm behind you, piss face."
They both span around with their claws poised to kill but where greeted with only more black smoke and a glaring red eye.
"What the?"
Kakashi was staring at the smoke, probably trying to decide if I needed back up.
"What hell is he doing in there?" the drunken old coot asked him.
"To be honest, I don't kn-"
Before kakashi could finish his reply, two tortured screams came from the black smoke. They screamed as though they were being torn apart piece by piece by a relentless beast who hungered for flesh. Pinky screamed as she covered her ears as she fell to the ground, sasuke froze and stared at space as though the screams were making him remember something he would have rather have forgotten, the old coot fell to the ground and shuffled back and kakashi looked alarmed and rushed towards the smoke.
"C'mon kakashi, gimme some credit. Did you honestly believe those were my screams? Hm?" I called from the black smoke as it started to clear.
Kakashi looked relieved when he saw me standing on the two completely whole and knocked out enemy shinobi. I had my right eye covered and a smirk on my face.
"They were as easy as getting elizabeth over their to glare at me."
I got a glare from sasuke for that. Kakashi sighed and turned to the old coot on the floor.
"Mr tazuna."
"Wha . . . What is it?"
"I need to speak to you . . . "
Kakashi tied the two ninja I knocked to a nearby tree. He stared at them and noticed the markings on their masks.
"Our attackers appeared to be journeymen level ninja of the Kirigakure clan, mist ninjas. They are shinobi renowned for their willingness to fight on until their goal is achieved, even at the cost of their own lives."
Willing to fight on until their goal is achieved, even at the cost of their own lives huh? Sounds like the perfect place to start an organization. Get me some minions, followers as such. Maybe I should pop in and say hello to the reigning Mizukage when I'm older?
"Obviously, they were watching and waiting for us. I noticed them and was going to wait and see what they would do but due to . . . naruto's unusual display earlier they revealed themselves earlier than expected. I could have killed them at any time . . . but . . . I want to find out . . . who their real target was."
The old coot started to look nervous . . . I think I can smell urine . . . no wait, that's the mist nin from earlier.
"Huh? What do you mean by that?"
"Were you really the one they were after? Or was it one of us ninja? There has been no word of any shinobi seeking to take your life. The request that was relayed to lord hokage was that you have an escort to protect you against any roving bands of thieves and brigands. In any case, it's clear this is more than a 'B' ranked mission. To protect you from ordinary dangers until you complete the bridge you're currently constructing . . . would be simple thing. But if you expected to be the target of a ninja assault . . . then it is beyond question that this would have to be classified and priced as a mission for elite ninja. You may have had you reasons, but it's never a good idea to conceal the facts when you're asking for help. As it is, this task falls far beyond the boundaries of the job we were assigned."
The pinky spoke up, "We're not good enough yet to handle something like this . . . can we quit?"
"Hmmm . . . This is . . . complicated. Do we go back now so we can report this error to the hokage . . . ?" kakashi asked himself.
" . . . Master . . . Mr sensei, sir . . . " the old coot said to kakashi.
Kakashi turned to the old coot with his eyebrow raised.
"I . . . have something I need to say . . . "
We were on a boat of a friend of the old coot's, traveling across the sea that was covered in a thick unmoving mist.
"Wow. This is some fog. I can barely see a thing" pinky chirped.
The boat driver looked at her before replying, "We'll be able to see the bridge in a minute. On the other side of it is nami no kuni, the land of waves."
Kakashi looked up, as did me and my squad as the bridge loomed into view. I whistled.
"That's a big fucken' bridge."
The boat driven hushed me as he turned the boots engine off.
"Hey! Keep it down! This mist'll keep us hidden. But from this point on, we have to turn off our engines and row. We'd be in big trouble if gato caught us!"
I stared at the bridge lost in thought about our situation. I wasn't really paying attention to the old coots babbling, but I did hear something about chocolate wanting the bridge stopped because of money flow. Or something. I dunno.
The boat driven spoke up again, "We'll be there soon! Tazuna . . . so far it looks like we've been overlooked . . . just to be on the safe side we'll take an inland waterway through town to point where we can make landfall under the cover of mangroves."
"Thank you."
The boat driver steered us under a bridge and into the open waters of nami no kuni's main town. It was a tarnished village of collapsing buildings that were little more than shacks. There were waterways randomly flowing in between houses and a large central lake in the middle of town that had a forest of mangroves. The boat driver guided the boat through the floating forest and dropped us off at a wharf.
The boat driver looked at the old drunken coot apologetically.
"This is as far as I go. Take care of yourself."
The old coot turned around as we walked off what I assume they call a boat. That is if you can call something that looked like it was built from front doors a boat that is.
"Thanks . . . for taking such a risk. I shouldn't have asked."
The boat driver started up the motor and speed off down the river. The old coot turned to kakashi as we set off.
"Ok! Now, if I can just make it home in one piece . . . l"
"Yeah, yeah."
Kakashi looked a bit down. Probably because this mission reeks of trouble. There's bound to be another attack, and next time they wont send chunnin. I'll probably get to test myself against a jonnin, a rogue one at that! I can kill him and kakashi will probably just say 'Oh, that was unnecessary naruto. You didn't need to kill him'. Oh I cant wai-
My senses went nuts as I span around and threw a shuriken at a at a nearby bush. Everyone was shocked by sudden attack on islands foliage.
"Get over it" I said in a harsh tone as I approached the bush. "We're shinobi, you know. The people who are suppose to be alert at all times? See all things, hmm?"
I reached in and pulled out my target. I grinned as I heard the pink banshee gasp. I held up my kill and showed it to the group like a trophy.
"It's wabbit season" I smirked as I held up the corpse of a snow white hare with a shuriken lodged into its head.
Sasuke simply stared at the dead mammal while the old coot and the pink banshee tagged teamed on me and used every word their little two watt brains could think of that was connected to the word disgusting to describe their current thoughts and feeling on my treatment towards those who are small and fluffy. I looked at kakashi and he nodded. We both new what this meant. The enemy was nearby, in a tree behind us if I'm correct. And judging by the amount of chakra I'm sensing. This is a big fish. Lucky me. The scum of a the village I'm from has little fish for sale. Time to broaden my diet to new flavours. Me and kakashi both reacted the sudden movement of the hidden shinobi.
"Everyone take cover!" kakashi shouted as a giant sword launched out of the bushes and span around like a buzz saw , cleaving all that got in the way which unfortunately, no one did.
We looked up at the owner of the blade that was lodged in a tree. The owner stood on the handle with his back to us, looking over his shoulder at us. He looked like a man in his late twenty's, wearing horizontally stripped pajamas with blue, gray and black cameo leg warmers. He also wore another pair from his elbows to his wrists, a pair of open sandals, a mask made of bandages that covered the lower half of his face and a piece of leather with metal pads wrapped around his neck and attaching to his pants. He also had short messy black hair, no eyebrows and wore his forehead protector at an angle on his head, the metal plate facing the sky.
I stared at him. Why does he have no shirt on and yet he has leg warmers on over his forearms and legs? Is he afraid that his arms and legs will get cold and fall off but doesn't give a shit about his torso or was it just a wardrobe malfunction?
Kakashi broke into my thoughts.
"Well, well . . . if it isn't momochi zabuza, the kid who ran off and left the land of mists!"
I stared at the browless wonder for a moment, sizing him up before I rushed forward. Kakashi put his hand in front of me and spoke, eyes never . . . eye never leaving the enemy.
"Hang on naruto, don't interfere. I know you are always eager to test yourself but give me some room. This one is on a different plane from our previous opponents."
I glared at kakashi.
"I know. That's why I wanna fight him. I've got this knew jutsu I've been dieing to try out on a living target that can fight back."
"You are eager to seek powerful opponents and learn new ninjutsu, yes?"
I stared at him for a moment before I smiled as I realised at what he was trying to tell me. Sit back, relax and enjoy your front row seat to a battle of the elite. I grinned with glee at the idea of seeing high level jutsu and techniques that I haven't seen before, I'll have to hide in a tree and watch it all with my right eye if I want to catch every detail.
Kakashi reached up for his forehead protector and began to lift it up from his left eye.
" . . . Like this . . . this may be a little rough."
Huh? What the fuck was that meant to mean? I was about to ask kakashi if he had been smoking some bad weed when zabuza spoke up.
"Kakashi of the sharingan eye, I presume? If it wouldn't be much trouble . . . could you surrender the old man?"
I looked from zabuza to kakashi to zabuza again. Sharingan? Why does that sound familiar? It's as though it is the name of an old friend I cant remember. It's just on the tip of my tongue. I looked at the rest of the group behind us to see if there 'less than picture perfect' faces could spark something in my thought process. The girl and old man looked confused but sasuke looked like he had seen a ghost and was doing a double take.
Kakashi spoke to us as he stared down his foe.
"Assume the manji battle formation! Protect Mr tazuna . . . All of you, stay out of the fight. That means you naruto, this is the kind of teamwork I've had you guys practice these past couple of weeks. And this situation demands just that. And now . . . zabuza . . . "
I gasped as kakashi finally lifted the forehead protector and revealed his left eye. It was exactly the same as my right eye. The iris bathed in glorious blood, three black commas chasing each others tails around the pupil. It was the same. Zabuza called kakashi 'kakashi of the sharingan' and considering that he keeps his left eye covered then that must mean that his left eye is the sharingan. So using logic, that must mean that my right eye is also a sharingan. When I get the chance I've got to find out more on the sharingan. Its history, owners, powers, origins etc. I will know it all!
I growled as a revelation came to me. I thought that I was the only one in that pitiful excuse of a village that had an eye like mine. If kakashi has one, how many more have them? Are there any with two? Would that be double the headaches or half? God kill the poor bastard that has two and suffers twice the amount of headaches, that's a fate worse than death. Well . . . maybe two pink banshees for teammates would be worse.
Zabuza seemed pleased that kakashi had revealed his sharingan.
"Ahh . . .to face the legendary mirror-wheel eye so early in our acquaintance . . . this is an honor . . . "
The girl seemed confused about what the sharingan was.
"Ah . . . master kakashi . . . ? W-what's the sharingan?"
Sasuke spoke up when kakashi gave no reply.
"Shinobi who have the sharingan eye . . . have mastered a form of ocular ninjutsu. It enables them to penetrate and see the reality behind any illusion or spell . . . and to reflect the power of the magic they penetrate back on those who cast them! A mirror-wheel eye, or sharingan eye is one of several types used by the masters . . . "
Penetrate any illusion, huh? Thanks for the for that bit of info, sasuke. I've seen through genjutsus before with my right eye but they were my genjutsus so I already knew that there was an illusion, which kinda defeats the purpose of an illusion if you know whats really there.
"And there's more . . . "
More? How could sasuke know so much about such a powerful ability? Does he have one? If he does then why hasn't he flaunted it?
Zabuza began to laugh.
"Heh-heh . . . exactly. There is indeed more. Most formidable of all is the acuity to which the sharingan . . . can discern and then duplicate its opponent's greatest skill. When I was an assassin for the kirigakure . . . I possessed the usual bingo book, a kind of who's who of our enemies. It had quite the extensive write-up on you . . . including a mention of your impressive record . . . the man who had penetrated and copied over a thousand different techniques . . . kakashi the mirror ninja. . . . Enough. Pleasant as this conversation has been . . . the time for talk is over. I'm on a very tight schedule to polish off the old man."
The stupid old coot gasped as though he had just realised that the shirtless assassin standing on top of a huge fucking sword looking at him with blood lust isn't the sort of guy to skip around and ask for him not to build the bridge. He's gonna cut of the drunk's head and play with his organs. The girl and sasuke rushed to take their positions of the manji formation around zabuza. I darted off into the trees, eager to watch the whole fight with my right eye. The pink girl screamed after me as I darted into the foliage above.
"Naruto you jerk! What the hell are you doing!"
Zabuza stared at the spot I had disappeared into the trees before returning his attention to kakashi.
"But . . . kakashi . . . it looks like . . . I'm going to have to kill you first."
I sat high up in a tree above a masked nin that was watching the fight. I didn't want to miss a single second of this fight so I'll kill the foreign shinobi later. So I uncovered my right eye up and focused on the two tensed jonnin.
Zabuza grabbed the handle of his huge fucking sword and kicked off the tree his foot, dislodging the sword and sending him soaring away from his high perch with his weapon. He land on the surface of a nearby lake and placed the sword on his back. It just hanged there as though it was magnetized to the little metal pad he had on his back. He flashed through some handsigns, all of which I saw and stored away in my memory bank for later use. The water around him began to stir as though an unseen force was agitating the water. Mist began to rise up from the lake and it slowly blanketed the land around us. I used my right eye to see through the mist and could just see zabuza's chakra. If it was any thicker the mist would masked his chakra since it is already jam packed full of the stuff. I heard his voice eerily echoing through the clearing around us as the mist slowly creeped in.
"The finest of the shinobi arts . . . the kirigakure jutsu."
He faded from sight as the mist continued to creep in.
"He's gone!" the old fart shouted, using what little brain power he had left from breathing and being an arse to point out the obvious.
Kakashi stared at the spot zabuza vanished from for a moment before explaining what he thought would happen.
"He will come after me first . . . momochi zabuza . . . of the kirigakure assassin corps . . . is a famous master of the art of silent killing. Letting your guard down around him buys you a direct trip to heaven. I haven't necessarily mastered every aspect of the sharingan eye . . . so all of you stay on your toes . . . that includes you naruto, don't get yourself killed. The big boys are playing right now, so join your squadmates in the manji formation as soon as possible.
I grinned as I heard zabuza's voice echo through out the mist that surrounded my so called 'squad'. I could see where he was but I doubt that sasuke and the girl could see more than a few meters at the most. His voice was beautiful, full of malice, hanging threats and blood lust. I wish he was our sensei.
"There are eight targets."
The girl freaked out and looked around in vain.
"What? Wha . . . what was that!"
"Throat, spinal column, lungs, liver, the jugular vein, the subclavian artery. Heart, kidney. . . . So many choices. What vital, vulnerable place shall I choose? Heh-heh."
Me and kakashi watched as zabuza ran through some more handsigns, kakashi mimicked them while I just watched and remembered them for later use. Sasuke began to sweat, what a pussy. I few words with a spooky voice effect and he turns to jelly. I mustn't have been the only one to notice sasuke's current emotional status because kakashi spook up to calm him down.
"Sasuke."
Hmm. Kakashi used his conversation to draw attention away from the fact that he just switched places with the water clone he just created. I wonder what he's up to?
"Calm down. Even if he gets me, I'll still protect you. I will . . . never let my comrades die!"
"I wouldn't bet on that . . . "
I chuckled as I heard zabuza's reply as he revealed himself to be standing amongst the groups manji formation.
"Game over."
Kakashi span around and rushed zabuza as he brought up his huge fucking sword to cleave off the old coots head. I will admit that I was surprised that kakashi could move that fast, zabuza and I underestimated him. Kakashi tackled zabuza and in the process stabbed him in the kidney with a kunai before he could do any harm to our client. Zabuza wound began to leak water as another zabuza loomed out of the mist behind kakashi. He lifted his blade to decapitate kakashi and succeeded. A pity it was just a water clone. The real kakashi appeared behind zabuza and held a kunai against his throat.
"Don't move . . . Game over."
The girl began to congratulate kakashi on his capture but was interrupted by zabuza's laughing.
" . . . Heh-heh-heh . . . Heh . . . You think this is over? You just don't get it . . . It will take more to defeat me than mimicking me like an ape . . . a lot more. Heh-heh . . . But you are good! In that short time . . . you duplicated my water clone technique . . . And by making your clone say something you'd have said yourself . . . You ensured all my attention would be focused on it . . .While you yourself used the kirigakure technique of hiding in the mist, watching my every move! Too bad for you . . . "
The real zabuza appeared behind kakashi and growled, "I'm not that easy to fool!"
He began to swing his sword around in a arc, intending to take kakashi's life.
The girl screamed, "Zabuza was a water clone too!"
Kakashi ducked as zabuza's sword missed him by inches as it cleaved the air above him. Zabuza continued the arc and dug the sword into the ground, using the momentum he had gained from his previous attack, he span around on the spot and kicked kakashi in the chest before he could react. Kakashi flew through the clearing and dropped some caltrops on the ground as he soared over and into the nearby lake. Zabuza grabbed his sword and rushed towards the downed jonnin but stopped just short of the caltrops.
"Foolishness!" he shouted as he ran threw some handsigns and water body flickered shortly after with his sword on his back behind kakashi, who had just resurfaced from the water.
Kakashi seemed to stare at the water for a moment as did I. The water was full of chakra, zabuza must have prepared it earlier.
"Hah! Gullible fool!" zabuza laughed as he flashed through some more handsigns.
That makes four new jutsus for me. Kakashi looked alarmed as the water around him wrapped around him and formed a sphere of water, which zabuza had his hand in.
"Heh-heh-heh . . . That prison is inescapable. You're trapped. You running around free makes it too hard for me to do my job. I'll finish you later . . . " zabuza said as he brought his free hand up did a handsign.
" . . . After I've dealt with the others . . . " A water clone rose from the water in the shape of zabuza and walked across the lake and onto the land. The water clone began to laugh as he approached my squadmates.
"Heh-heh-heh . . . Little ninja wannabe. Trying so hard to fit in, you even wear a hitai-ate headband. But a true ninja is one who has crossed and recrossed the barrier between the lands of the living and the dead. Clothes don't make a shinobi. You need skill good enough to rate a listing in my bingo book of enemies . . . Before you deserve to be called ninja. We don't call your kind 'ninja'. We call them . . . "
"Brats" the real zabuza said, still holding kakashi captive.
Kakashi began to issue out orders.
"Everyone listen! Take tazuna and go! It's a fight you can't win! If he wants to hold me in this water prison, he cant leave this place. If his water clone gets more than a certain distance away from his real body he loses control of it. So get out of here!"
"Is that a challenge?" I shout as I dropped into the clearing after covering my right eye.
Damn, I can feel a headache coming. A weak one but a headache none the less.
I smirked at the water clone as he seized me up.
"No! Stop you fool!" kakashi pleaded from his watery prison.
"Why? I just wanna have fun" I said as I winked at my enemy.
Zabuza's water clone glared at me.
"Heh-heh . . . You're very sure of yourself. But . . . Do you really think you stand a chance against me?
Kakashi pleaded with me again.
"What's the matter with you? I told you to run. It's over . . .it was over the second he caught me! You have to do your duty. Keep that in mind. We're here to protect Mr tazuna!"
I laughed, "You really think he wants to spend more time with me? I'm yet to repay him for that smart arse comment earlier at the mission assignings, I think he'd prefer it if I was as far away as possible as I could be from him. So I'm gonna play with wonder brow here for a while."
"Heh . . . "
Zabuza's water clone began to laugh.
"Heh heh heh heh . . . Apparently you don't care whether you live to be any older! Playing at being ninja like it's a child's game . . . I, however. By the time I was your age . . . had already dyed these hands of mine in my enemies blood . . . "
Kakashi glared at zabuza.
"The demon . . . zabuza!"
"It would seem my reputation has exceeded me" the original zabuza said proudly.
"Long ago . . . In the village hidden in the mist, also known as 'The village of the bloody mist' . . . The final step toward becoming a full-fledged ninja was the most in-humanly difficult test imaginable."
"So . . . You've heard about our little graduation exercise."
"Graduation exercise?" I asked, curious about the village that I planned to visit.
" . . . Heh heh heh."
"Quit cackling and give me a fucking answer you eyebrowless fuckwit!"
Both zabuzas glared at me, I could feel their killer intent wrapping around me. It felt like a warm blanket to me.
"It's a kind of 'killing spree' . . . among classmates."
"Where do I sign up?" I said looking at sasuke with an evil grin.
"Heh . . . You ain't that bad brat . . . pity I'm going to kill you . . . "
"Like to see you try."
"That can be arranged . . . " zabuza's water clone said as he reached for his huge fucking sword.
Kakashi shouted at me from his little sphere of owned.
"No, Naruto! You don't understand! The students who'd been friends, eating from the same dish, as undergrads were divided into pairs who were forced to fight against each other . . . to the death! Think of it. Comrades who had trained together, lived together, shared each other's every hope and dream . . . "
The girl gasped, " . . . That's terrible."
"Ten years ago, the elders of the village hidden in the mist . . . were forced to enact a sweeping reform of their barbaric graduation ritual . . . because of the appearance, during the previous year . . . of a human fiend who made reform essential."
"What kind of reform? . . . What are you talking about? What did the fiend you're talking about do?"
"Without a moments hesitation . . . without any hint of a qualm . . . a boy who hadn't even qualified yet as a ninja . . . butchered over a hundred members of that years graduating class."
Cool, that sounds like a dream come true for me. Killing all those ignorant imbeciles who harassed me when I was weak. I'm getting giddy just thinking about it.
Bandage face was using the same 'you don't see my face but you know I'm smiling' technique as kakashi at me.
"Ah . . . yes. I see you share my glee, brat. Those were some good times . . . I used to have so much fun."
He glared at me and sasuke before attacking. Sasuke took a knee to the stomach, sending him flying across the clearing before zabuza slammed him into the ground in a way that you'd expect "KO!" to suddenly echo out of no where. I'm glad to see that sasuke's training is coming along nicely.
"Gaaah!"
Gaaah? Did he just cry 'gaaahh'? LAME!
"Oi, elizabeth! If you don't want to die, here's a tip that you should take to heart. You see the trick to surviving is to avoidthe killing blows. It works every time, I promise" I taunted as I admired zabuza's swift brutality.
Zabuza's a top level missing jonnin from the village hidden in the mist. I'm yet to see what he's fully capable of so I better test him with some doppelgangers. Then I'll formulate a plan on the intel I've gathered, execute my plan and then execute zabuza. Sweet, I'm gonna go against a jonnin. All right then, lets get started.
I flashed through the handsigns I saw zabuza and kakashi use earlier and created ten water clones. My clones lept off the lake they spawned from and surrounded zabuza.
Zabuza looked around at my clones while reaching for his oversized butchers knife.
"So . . . water doppelgangers, eh? And quite a lot of them . . . "
All of my doppelgangers pulled out a kunai and got into their fight stances.
A twisted smile crept onto my face. "Sic em boys."
My clones ran at him two at a time, to test the range of skills they could with the amount of chakra I had gave them. Nothing too complicated, just the basics. What would he do if his target jumped just out of reach of his sword when he swung it, how would he react to be attacked by groups, how would he defend himself from a ranged attack, what's his fighting style like compared to mine and so on and so forth.
My clones were defeated in minutes. This annoyed me that my clones were defeated so easily, but considering that they're copies of the original they probably realise that if they 'die', the fight's not over. So they're enjoying every second of their little game of 'I don't care if I die so I'm gonna have some fun with this situation'. Heck, I'd do it but being the original, I must soldier on.
I looked at sasuke, who had the brains to get out of there while he could. He looked pretty beat up. Probably too tired to be of any use.
"Elizabeth . . . " I called out with a grin forming on my face. "Watch. And. Learn."
