As it turns out, the reason it couldn't be refused is because Sasuke and Naruto would not let us go back to the village. They thought we could handle it. I wasn't so sure, but seeing as I had no choice in the matter…

We continued on our journey. Along the way, Naruto noticed something in the bushes. I immediately went on edge. Kakashi-sensei said that higher level ninja would come after us this time, and I wasn't taking any chances. Who knows what kind of- it was a rabbit. Wait, a white rabbit? At this time of year? I screamed at everyone to get down milliseconds before Kakashi-sensei did the same. I pulled down Tazuna, as a huge sword whirled over our heads before imbedding itself into a tree, as a man appeared on the handle.

"I'm impressed. One of your genin noticed before you did, Kakashi of the Sharingan. Does that speak for her skill, or for your ineptitude? I suppose we'll see." The man stated ominously, as he hopped off his hunk-of-sharp-metal that I am refusing to call a sword. I noticed Sasuke clench his fists at the mention of the Sharingan, and was about to reply to the man just as a wave of killing intent paralysed us.

Well. Tried to.

The Gamer's Mind meant I was completely unaffected, and as I saw Sasuke raising a kunai, I placed a hand on his arm, trying to placate him. "Stop. We'll make it through this, Sasuke-kun."

The eyebrow-less man laughed. "Oh, so it is skill! It must be for my killing intent to have such a small effect! Oh, too bad you met me. You must've had such a bright future ahead of you."

Kakashi readied a kunai and stood between us. "Protect Tazuna. I can handle Zabuza."

I knew he could, but still, I wanted to help. So I threw a kunai at the man's – Zabuza's – eye. He easily leaned out the way, and looked at me.

I shrugged.

"Worth a shot."

I thought we were screwed when Kakashi-sensei got caught.

I activated Chakra Enhancement, and readied a Power Strike, and with that I threw a brace of shuriken at Zabuza, but he just blocked it with his metallic lump. Thought that wouldn't work. Naruto and Sasuke seemed to be planning something, though, so I just thought I should try and assist whatever it was they were trying to do.

Oh, a Shadow Shuriken technique with Naruto using a solid transformation to be the second shuriken? Nice.

Wait.

Solid transformation?

He's so teaching me that. That and shadow clones. And I should get Sasuke to teach me fire techniques, too. I'll teach them stuff too, as thanks. That's what teammates do, right?

Dammit, focus. Now's not the time. I flung another Power Strike brace at Zabuza as covering fire, and it seemed to have worked. Yep, Zabuza let go of the jutsu, and Kakashi-sensei got freed. Now they're fighting again.

Wish I had a snack.

I didn't get any windows popping up when Zabuza got killed by that guy, even though I helped, even if it was only a tiny bit. That means I either had to land the killing blow to get rewards, which is inconvenient, or that Zabuza wasn't considered defeated, which is slightly more inconvenient.

Aren't hunter-nin meant to remove the heads of the bounties they collect?

Crap. Zabuza's still alive, and Kakashi-sensei just collapsed. Great.

Lugging Kakashi-sensei to Tazuna's house was a chore. I of course insisted on taking him all the way there, in hopes the added weight would help me train my stats faster. My VIT did go up, but considering how low it was before, I didn't view that as an accomplishment, more as catching up. However, I had forty points unallocated now, and the fight with Zabuza was coming. Now was the optimum time to boost a stat in preparation. But which one? I thought that WIS had been the best option, since it was playing to my strengths and hard to increase naturally, but all of them had their merits, and all of them built upon each other. A specialist could be beaten by a generalist who knows how to counter them.

But, I decided to continue on my path with WIS. It was my highest stat, and like I said, hard to increase naturally. So I dumped the whole forty in, and watched as windows popped up.

For raising WIS above 50, you are granted one skill and one random skill related to your above average understanding.

You have gained the skill 'Elemental Mastery'.

You have gained the skill 'Chakra Lunge'.

I was very surprised. I didn't know that I got skills for passing certain milestones. It seemed the specialist route really was the best choice.

Elemental Mastery (Active and Passive) LV1 EXP: 0.00%
The art of bending the elements to your will and controlling them in any way you see fit.
Grants the status 'Elemental Mastery (Low)'.
Passively increases all elemental affinities by 10.
When activated, doubles all elemental affinities.

Chakra Lunge (Active) LV1 EXP: 0.00&
The user uses their chakra to quickly and instantly charge the opponent.
When activated, increases user's movement speed by 300%.
When activated, covers user in chakra shroud.
User can only move towards the opponent when active.

I immediately went to check what the Elemental Mastery status did, but all it said was that it allowed me to use elemental techniques lower than my affinity. I also checked my affinities.

Earth Affinity: 25
Water Affinity: 10
Wind Affinity: 10
Lightning Affinity: 10
Fire Affinity: 40

It seemed that I was naturally fire natured, with a secondary earth nature. Makes sense, as Konoha is in the Land of Fire. In the hopes of testing out just what I could do with these two skills, I asked Naruto if he could help me with something. The moron – okay, he's not a total idiot, but still – agreed instantly, and we went out to the back.

"Are you ready, Naruto?" I asked.

"Yeah!" he shouted back. I nodded, and activated Chakra Lunge, and immediately and uncontrollably charged him at an insane speed. I tried to right my body mid-flight, ending up shoulder-checking him. He got hit pretty hard by it. After I checked he was alright and could take another, I then thought back to the skill. It had sad it covered me in a chakra shroud, so this time, I activated Elemental Mastery first, and then activated it while trying to tap into my fire nature.

A skill has been created through a special action! Through manipulation of fire and momentum, you have created the skill 'Blazing Tackle'!

I smiled.