Berore the Storm
Chapter 4: Zabuza Momochi
After reaching the decision to help Tazuna out after all, Team 7 continued on it's journey towards the land of the waves. Once the six of them had reached the half way point, they had to resort to traveling by boat. The group heavily relied on Satella for directions as the mist grew thicker and thicker the closer they got to their destination.
"Over there. That's the bridge I'm working on." Tazuna said once they passed a large unfinished structure.
"Wow! It's huge!" Naruto yelled out in surprise. Sakura quickly covered his mouth and spoke.
"Quiet! We dont want the enemy to hear us." Naruto nodded and silently apologized. Satella frowned and turned to Tazuna.
"Mister Tazuna, it's about time for you to tell us who's after you."
"If you don't, I'll end the mission right here." Kakashi added. Tazuna sighed at this and spoke.
"His name is Gato. He is a very short man who casts a large and deadly shadow. One of the wealthiest man in the world." Satella raised an eyebrow at him.
"Gato? Isn't he just a buisnessman?"
"He is. But he also sells drugs and contraband using ninja to enforce his methods. He came to the land of the waves a little over a year ago. He has held control over who ferries in and out of the country ever since. The only thing he fears is a connection to the mainland. Which is why he is after me."
"So that means those guys we fought back in the forest were working for Gato." Sasuke stated.
"That's right. The reason I kept this from you is because the land of waves has become very poor over the last year. The populace are the ones paying for the completion of the bridge. Simple, hard working people. All of the nobles are on Gato's payroll by now." Satella crossed her arms and spoke.
"Well then, aren't you happy Naruto vouched for you?"
Once Team 7 had reached the shore, the mist seemed to disipate almost immediatly. The land was a little run down, but the surrounding area was quite beautiful. Satella wasnt able to enjoy much of it though. She was too busy keeping an eye out for potential attackers. Even though they had reached the land of the waves, the journey wasn't over yet. Tazuna's home lay further inward, beyond the majorty of the forest. On the way there, it became clear that Satella wasn't the only one worried. Naruto became so overcome with paranoia he nearly killed a white rabbit. Which was odd to say the least. White rabbit's usually didn't make an appearance until winter. Satella turned to face Kakashi who nodded back at her. They were being watched. Satella clossed her eyes and focussed all of her energy into her sensory abilities.
"Look out!" She yelled as a huge cleaver came flying their way. As soon as it hit a nearby tree, a shirtless shinobi jumped on top of it. Kakashi widened his eyes and spoke.
"Well, well. If it isn't Zabuza Momochi."
"You know this guy?" Naruto asked him quietly. It seems he was still a little shaken up about from before.
"Yes. He is a rogue ninja from the Hidden Mist."
"Whoever he is, I can take him!" Naruto yelled out, after which he began running towards Zabuza. Satella stopped him almost instantaniously.
"No, you cannot." She said sternly.
"This guy is in a whole other league." Kakashi added. Zabuza smirked at him and spoke.
"Kakashi of the Sharingan. Am I right? Together with a Senju no less." Satella frowned at this. How come he knew about both her heritage and Kakashi's Sharingan?
"Ah, so you know? I guess it doesn't make sense hiding it anymore then." Kakashi told him as he moved his headband out of the way.
"Hand over the old man." Zabuza demanded. Satella frowned and turned to address the Genin behind her. "Protect Tazuna at all costs. This man is out of your league. Leave him to us." Sakura nodded and instantly moved in front of Tazuna. Naruto frowned and took out his both of kunai's and held them out in fron of him. Sasuke however seemed to have a look of genuine panic in his eyes. Satellla gave him an apologetic smile and placed a hand on his shoulder. She made a mental note to explain the orgin of Kakashi's Sharingan to him later on.
"I guess I will have to take on the both of you then. No matter." Zabuza smirked and activated one of his jutsu's. Within seconds, a thick fog surrounded them, making it impossible to see through to the naked eye. Luckily for the Team 7, this was a non issue for both Kakashi's Sharingan and Satella's sensory abilities.
"I know you can still track my movements. The both of you are described thorougly in the Hidden Mist's bingo book." Zabuza stated. He probably used the mist to get rid of the Genin behind them. Satella frowned and spoke up.
"Enough talking. If you are so confident, then why dont you come at us while we're still young?" Zabuza laughed at her words and jumped down from the tree taking his sword with him. As soon as he did, the mist around them grew thicker and thicker. The only way Satella was able to track him now was through her senses. She couldn't even see anyone anymore. Satella closed her eyes and focussed on Zabuza's chakra. It was jumping all over the place! That can only mean one thing.. Satella smirked and jumped backwards. She threw ninja stars mid air and heard them slicing through the clones around her. Everywhere, except for one. She turned on her heels and held out a kunai to the left of her. As soon as she did, the mist around her dissipated. In front of her stood Zabuza holding his knife out in front of Kakashi. Zabuza grunted in amusement and quickly twirled around, in an attempt to slice through both Satella and Kakashi. But to his dismay, the both of them disapeared into thin air.
"Battle of the clones, eh?" Kakashi said as he jumped down from above. Zabuza jumped up to meet him, and the two of them disapeared once again. This gave Satella the oppertunity to look for Zabuza's origional body. She jumped up onto a tree branch to the left of them and meditated. It took her a little while to sort out which of Zabuza's chakra signatures was the origional one, but once she did, she took a Shuriken from her backpack and jumped down towards the group of Genin below her. It was going to be a long shot, but she had a plan.
Both Sasuke and Naruto listened intently as Satella explained the plan to them.
"Do you think you can handle it?" She asked them reluctantly. Sasuke smirked at her and nodded.
"Believe it!" Naruto said as he instantly summoned a legion of shadow clones around them. This quickly caught Zabuza's attention, causing him to send a water clone their way. The clone jumped in between the shadow clones, looking for the real Naruto. This distracted him long enough for Satella to throw a Shuriken towards his real body near the lake. As soon as she did, Zabuza caught it. Unfortunatly for him, Sasuke threw a Shuriken of his own immediatly after Satella did. Zabuza barely managed to dodge it, but as soon as he did, the Shuriken behind him turned into Naruto.
"Eat this!" Naruto yelled out as he threw a Kunai into Zabuza's shoulder, forcing him to movr away and break both of his technique's.
"Clever little brat." Zabuza said angrily as he removed the kunai from his shoulderblade. The battle wasn't over yet though. As soon as the Mist dissapeared Kakashi summoned water clones of his own and charged Zabuza head on. Zabuza dodged most of their attacks and jumped backwards until he reached land.
"How dare you use my own jutsu against me!" Zabuza yelled out in frustration. He pulled out his sword and turned to attack Tazuna again, but before he could even get close him, 2 small needles hit him in the back of his neck, knocking him out instantly.
"What the..?" Kakashi said turning to face the source of the needles. Behind them stood a young man wearing an old fashioned tracker mask. Satella stood behind him, holding a kunai to his throat.
"You're quick, I'll give you that much." She said as the Shinobi turned to face her. "You should be grateful. I just saved your lives." Satella ignored the shinobi and turned to face Kakashi who was checking Zabuza's neck for a heartbeat.
"No vital signs. He's dead." Satella nodded and slowly lowered her kunai from the shinobi's throat. "Explain yourself."
"I am a tracker ninja from the Hidden Mist village. I have been after Zabuza for a very long time." Satella raised an eyebrow at him. From his size and stature, Satella believed him to be no older than Sasuke. Something about him didn't quite add up.
"Why did you kill him?! Who do you think you are?" Naruto yelled out all of the sudden.
"Calm down, Naruto." Kakashi said. "He is not our enemy."
"That's not the point. Zabuza was huge and he took him out with a single blow. How am I supposed to accept that?!"
"It happens. In this world there are people who are both younger than you, and stronger than me." Naruto looked down at his feet in shame. Meanwhile the tracker ninja teleported towards Zabuza's body and lifted him up on his shoulder.
"I apologize but I must take care of the body. There are many secrets within that must never come out. Farewell." With that, he was gone. Satella sighed and turned towards the rest of Team 7. "
Atleast that's over." Sakura said quietly. Kakashi nodded and spoke up.
"While the battle may be over, we still have a mission to complete. Tazuna hasn't completed the bridge yet." Tazuna chuckled.
"Sorry for causing you so much trouble. You can rest at my house once we reach the village."
"All right." Kakashi said, turning to walk away from the battle site before suddenly collapsing on the floor.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled out. "What's going on?" Satella sighed and knelt down next to Kakashi with a sad smile on her face.
"Don't worry, he simply passed out. The Sharingan places a heavy toll on the users body. He's exhausted. How far from here is your home located, Tazuna?"
"Not far. We're only a few miles away." Satella nodded and pulled Kakashi up on her back.
"Are you sure he's going to be okay?" Sakura asked her.
"Positive. Let's go."