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Last Time:
. . .Hoping that his secret was still secure Tazuna attempted to redirect the focus of his bodyguards, "Pretty soon you all will be able to see my masterpiece Hi no Kuni doesn't have many large bodies of water, so you probably have never seen any quite like this bridge.
Sakura now curious decided to get some more information about the country they were traveling to. After all, it was her first time on a mission outside of the village, no need to make a fool out of herself by not knowing about the local customs. "Tazuna-san, what is it like to like in wave country?"
Tazuna stopped walking, a look of nostalgia on his face, if one were to look carefully, they would notice amongst the emotions present in his eyes pain. Pausing a moment to regain his composure, Tazuna turned to the Kunoichi. "Wave Country is composed mostly of small fishing villages and some major trading ports. Wave country does not have a Hidden Village unlike some of the other small countries, instead there is a standing Militia, or at least there was."
Kakashi after hearing this last piece of information became very interested in the conversation; perhaps there was more to the mission than what was initially apparent.
All of the members of team seven had taken note of the last statement made by Tazuna, and each was eager for an explanation. Sakura voicing the general question, inquired "Tazuna-san what do you mean by 'there used to be a Militia'? What happened to it?"
Tazuna ignored the questions for a moment, deep in thought about the situation. When he finally found his voice he turned to face the ninja he had hired. Before he had a chance to speak Kakashi tackled him to the ground shouting "Everyone get down"
The other members of Team seven reacted immediately, throwing themselves to the ground, a large blade passing through the air that they had just vacated.
From the shadows, a man grunted he had been hoping for an easy kill, then again if his assumption was correct, he now had an opportunity to face the legendary copy-nin, Hatake Kakashi. Chuckling softly, he formed a ram seal with his left hand, gathering the chakra for one of his favorite techniques. Soon he would have the money he needed and then . . .
Naruto near immediately felt the buildup of chakra coming from the foliage. It had only taken him a moment to start actively searching for chakra signatures in the immediate vicinity; anyone brave enough to give away their position like that must have a good reason to feel confident. To his dismay Naruto detected 3 additional signals, one of which was too faint to get a lock on. With four enemy ninja closing in on his position, he could only hope that he would survive this encounter.
Naruto didn't bother drawing a kunai; it would be useless unless he held a distinct advantage over his hidden opponents in either speed or physical strength, something that was not willing to risk his life over. By keeping his hands free, Naruto could more easily use jutsu such as kawarimi that could save his life.
Remembering Kakashi's admonition, Naruto slipped around to Tazuna's right side, standing in between him and the foliage. Protecting the client took precedence to his own survival, he didn't like it, but that is what he was being paid to do.
Sakura slowly rose back to her feet wary of any other projectiles, 'It wasn't supposed to be like this, we just left the academy a few months ago' she mused. The whole situation seemed so unreal, and Sakura could not help but to think back to the conversation from last night, 'Is this what being a ninja is really like, none of the books I've ever read talked about the danger and the things you have to do to make it as a ninja'
Sakura drew a kunai, and moved to guard Tazuna 'I guess I will find out soon'.
Sasuke quickly rolled to a standing position and activated his Sharingan. He could feel a sense of dread welling up as he got a better look at the size of the sword the group had avoided. Anyone capable of using such a weapon would be impossible for him to take on in hand to hand combat and he did not have the chakra to keep a fight mid-ranged indefinitely. He could only hope that Kakashi had something up his sleeve.
With this in mind Sasuke moved into a defensive position in front of Tazuna.
Tazuna was at fist stunned when he was tackled by one of his bodyguards, He quickly realized why such an action was necessary when he saw the large sword embed itself halfway into the trunk of a nearby tree.
'How did they find me so soon?' he wondered as he returned to a standing position.
Suddenly the air became humid, too humid to be natural. A low chuckle was heard before a figure appeared on top of the part of the sword now protruding from the tree. The man wore white pants with black vertical stripes, standard issue combat boots and two grey arm warmers. The lower portion of his face was obscured by bandages. The figure soon disappeared from view as the moisture in the air condensed into a thick mist.
Kakashi groaned inwardly. He had instantly recognized the man standing atop the sword to be Momochi Zabuza, a rather infamous member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. Normally fighting Zabuza would not present much of a problem to him, as his greater speed would allow him to dodge nearly everything in the Nuke-nin's arsenal.
However, while tasked with defending a civilian and his own Genin team, dodging everything could play into Zabuza's strategy by leaving the others open to attack.
As the mist settled in Zabuza's killing intent flooded the area, Kakashi easily shrugged it off; Zabuza had nothing on Minato, Hiruzen or any of the other Konoha legends for that matter.
Tazuna was instantly sobered by the intense blood-lust that permeated the mist. 'This is just what I was afraid of; hopefully these ninja can handle that guy.'
Nearby the Genin all felt the killing intent. Sakura nearly collapsed to her knees under the pressure, never in her life had she been exposed to this feeling, being a ninja was nothing like what she had imagined. Sasuke froze, remembering this same feeling from the night of the Uchiha Massacre, as images of his clan's demise filled his mind Sasuke deepened his resolve to survive and clenched his fists at his sides. Naruto felt the killing intent and grimaced, the situation was more dismal than he had imagined. Years of experiencing killing intent from Konoha shinobi had somewhat hardened him to the feeling but it did not prevent the shiver from running up his spine.
Almost as soon as it appeared, the feeling was dissipated by a burst of chakra from Kakashi that also served to clear some of the mist from the area.
Realizing the need to calm down his charges before they panicked and attacked Zabuza or worse, abandoned the client, Kakashi spoke slowly in a calm voice. "Don't worry, I will be protecting you guys, stay near the client and watch each other's backs."
The three Genin nodded, in acknowledgment of Kakashi's words.
Zabuza's voice echoed through the mist "Surrender the Bridge Builder and you will live, if not" ,he paused before laughing menacingly, "well my Head Cleaving Sword hasn't seen much action recently."
Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the declaration, what could someone like Zabuza want with Tazuna? The only possibility was that Zabuza had been hired to kill him. 'Hiring someone like Zabuza has got to be expensive, why would anyone want a bridge builder dead so badly that they would spend that kind of money?' pushing that line of though away for the moment, Kakashi spun around releasing two kunai into the mist, his efforts were rewarded by a splash.
With reflexes honed through years of combat Kakashi leaped back dodging a horizontal slash intended to bisect him, as he pushed off the ground, he dropped a kunai with a primed explosive tag, causing more of the mist in the area to be blown away. As he landed Kakashi brought left hand up to his Hiate-ate and slid it into place on his forehead, uncovering his transplanted Sharingan.
As the smoke from the explosive cloud dissipated Kakashi spotted Zabuza standing on the small lake in the area. Realizing the disadvantage presented by the environment, Kakashi knew that he could not let the fight drag out. Fighting an experienced Suiton user with such a large supply of water in the area would be difficult, and the more time he spent using the Sharingan the more likely he would be to make a mistake due to fatigue.
Zabuza gritted his teeth in frustration, not only had he lost the element of surprise, he was up against Sharingan no Kakashi. Realizing that now was not the best time for bravado he sent up a kunai wrapped in an explosive note.
Kakashi ignored the kunai, years of experience teaching him that it is never wise to take your eyes off of your opponent. The three Genin however had no such knowledge and followed the kunai's path into the sky to make sure that it was not headed their way.
Finally the explosive note completed its task, the Genin who were still watching the kunai had to shield their eyes from the intensity of the explosion. In that moment, Zabuza's men made their move.
Gouzu and Mizu emerged from the canopy, as soon as they heard the explosion they knew that they would need to act quickly. Trained ninja, even Genin, could employ lethal skills if given time to act; Gouzu and Mizu were certain that the brats had been observing the kunai when the tag went off and thus the would be disoriented for a moment, a perfect opening.
Gouzu and Mizu had been chunin in Kirigakure, but their collaboration abilities put the pair on par with most jounin. They had even managed to gain some notoriety with their signature bladed chain and the attack patterns they had mastered that employed the chain.
While Kirigakure was primarily known for the skill of its swordsmen, the vast majority of its' ninja forces were unable to wield swords on the level of the (Seven Swordsmen of the Mist). Sacrificing speed for the strength needed to wield any of the greatswords was simply out of the question for the bulk of the ninja population, only masters of the (silent killing technique) such as Zabuza Momochi, or chakra powerhouses such as Kisame Hoshigaki could afford to move slower in a serious battle.
The chain employed by the (Oni Brothers) was made up of a series of shuriken shaped links, each link was razor sharp. The chain was attached to the brothers by the gauntlets, forming a physical link that further solidified their teamwork. Performing combinations attack with the chain was tricky when facing off against a high level opponent, but against a few disoriented Genin, it would be almost pitifully easy.
I will be updating this chapter later, I finally have some time to work on this story again.