The next morning found Kakashi's team and their client assembled at the Gate, ready to depart but for one member -Kakashi himself. Naruto had decided to dress in a more stealthy brown in deference to Ebisu's suggestion and though there were still more touches of muted orange than anyone could possibly care to count, the unusual attire earned him many half-hearted snickers and taunts from his teammates. Eventually, they tired of this amusement and went back to sleeping until their sensei arrived, leaving the blond free to entertain himself without their distraction.
Naruto yawned while reading his newest book, one introducing taijutsu concepts. It was surprisingly helpful to Naruto as it went into details that not even Ebisu had covered. For instance, while he had learned from his remedial training that taijutsu had three main aspects which could not be neglected (speed, precision and force), this book mentioned how various standard strategies and combinations mixed the different aspects. In the Goken style, extreme speed and force were necessary, whereas precision was only a concern insofar as the user remained able to intercept incoming attacks and hit their targets' central axes. By contrast, the exclusive Jyuuken style used by the Hyuuga went to the opposite extreme, replacing physical force entirely with chakra surges while focusing attacks by viciously striking tenketsus. The Uchiha's Taka style was perhaps the most balanced of the three, requiring extreme precision even while pushing strength and speed to a level comparable to that of the Goken.
Fascinating though the text was, Naruto had been reading it for several hours already and noticed his mind wandering away. He had taken to the habit of combining different aspects of training together ever since he attempted the leaf floatation exercise while running, and he found his concentration faltering without a sufficiently diverse workload to occupy his short attention span. To remedy the problem, Naruto started listing his own progress.
He still couldn't apply the Kaze no Teisei while running. If Naruto were honest with himself, he would admit that the technique was currently rather useless to him, as he needed absolute concentration and stillness while spreading the chakra to an acceptable density. While those requirements were not enough to prevent proper use in combat, the fifteen minutes during which Naruto "listened" to the chakra feedback before it stabilized was a period no enemy was likely to ever grant him.
However, Naruto cheerfully ignored such considerations and was happy to now have two "kick-ass jutsu." He was therefore temporarily satisfied with his ninjutsu arsenal and devoted his energy to improving taijutsu and genjutsu instead. While he limited his progress in genjutsu to detecting and dispelling illusions expediently, he wanted a more thorough understanding of taijutsu. Thus, here he was, immersed in yet another book. Or at least, that was the intention.
"Gaki, reading those won't help a baka like you. I mean, you probably don't even know half the words in there and you wouldn't know how to use whatever you learn even if you did by some miracle understand the words."
"Why, you… I'll show you what I learned, you filthy..."
For the nth time since the crack of dawn, Sakura had to physically restrain Naruto from murdering their client. While Naruto may have enjoyed the close proximity to his Sakura-chan if he were aware of it, Sasuke's next taunt drove all reason from his mind.
"Hn. Tazuna's correct: if even Sakura is able to stop you, you really have no hope of learning any half-decent taijutsu."
This time, Sakura was hurt enough to slacken her arms, allowing Naruto to lunge at Sasuke in blind fury. Luckily, both boys were able to escape injury when Kakashi interposed himself between them, holding them both at bay with an index on each hitai-ate.
"Maa, maa, we haven't even started yet. Why don't the two of you reserve your energy for the trip?"
Surprisingly, it was Sasuke who ground out the next word. "Kakashi!"
"Yo!"
"You're late. Again." Whereas Naruto and Sakura both expressed themselves by sheer volume, Sasuke emphasized his point with a cold tone and by leaking the slightest bit of killer intent.
"Yes, I do believe I am. Congratulations on your observation; I'm sure it required almost as much effort as telling me I'm late. Now, if everyone's ready?"
Tazuna, who was not used to Kakashi's antics, face-faulted. An interested ninja would have been able to discern some mumbling, and an observant one would have heard something akin to "Was he supposed to be the mature and responsible one?" However, as neither interested nor observant ones were nearby, Tazuna's pleas for a better team leader drifted off in the air without ever receiving acknowledgement. As he laid on the ground, the alcohol he ingested over the previous days caught up to him and knocked him out.
It was finally Naruto who noticed their missing client. "Ne, Kakashi, wasn't the old man supposed to be with us?"
"Why, yes Naruto, he was indeed supposed to be with us. It seems you are just as observant as Sasuke. Would you be interested in rectifying the situation?" Kakashi's eye-smile corresponded with his jovial tone, yet none of the Genins were fooled.
"You just want me to carry that smelly flea-bag, don't you? Fine!"
With a harrumph, Naruto retraced his steps to carry Tazuna over his shoulder much as one would a sack of rice. None of the others offered their assistance, as they had learned while helping a store owner relocate that neither of Naruto's teammates could match the blond in terms of sheer stamina. Once everyone was finally set, Kakashi's team departed from Konoha, and they were in the forest growing on the outskirts of the Hidden Village before long.
Four hours later, Kakashi's group had to pause yet again.
"Dammit, old man, why can't you go any faster? This is boring!"
"Gaki! Not everyone favors brawn over brain; in fact, only idiots like you would do that."
"Like an idiot like you could be smarter than me, ha!"
"Only an idiot like you would think that a super bridge builder could be an idiot."
"And only an idiot like you would call his protector an idiot."
"Only an…"
Kakashi had had enough of this. Naruto and Tazuna had gone at it for fifteen minutes straight when they left the village, and only Sakura bopping Naruto's head harder than usual had put an end to that. Currently, however, she was scouting up ahead with Sasuke, and therefore the role of peacemaker fell onto him. "Naruto, please be nice to our client. And Tazuna, please do remember that though it has never been used in the entire history of Konoha, we still have the right to cancel the mission if we find the client's behaviour too abrasive. You would be reimbursed in full, and left alone in here. Is that what you really want?"
To Kakashi's relief, his only answer was silence from both of the squabbling group members. Unfortunately, this silence only persisted until Sakura and Sasuke approached, their voices preceding their presence.
"I do not consider that stroll through the forest as romantic, I do not want to start a relationship with anyone right now and I do not foresee having a relationship with you in the future. Am I clear enough?"
"But, but… What about re-starting your clan? What about your future? Don't you want…"
"Whether I wish to re-instate the Uchiha as a major clan or not is none of your concern, as I do not want a relationship with you. I have already told you that you're annoying. In our weeks together, you have shown that you are also weak and rather air-headed. Why in the world would I consider you a good mate? Really, are you somehow more dense than even the dobe?"
Tazuna looked at Kakashi in askance while Naruto left toward the voices. Kakashi simply hung his head onto his palm, shaking all the while. "Oh dear, out of the frying pan…"
Right on cue, Naruto's voice pierced out. "Teme! Don't insult Sakura-chan!"
"Dobe, are you admitting that you're dense?"
"Huh? What the heck are you talking about? That's not what I said!"
"Naruto," Sakura said, sounding rather defeated, "it's alright. Don't bother."
The trip proceeded in silence over the following hour. However, despite having his wish granted, Kakashi felt ill at ease with his team being so sullen. Sakura seemed to finally understand that Sasuke really had no intention of starting a relationship anytime soon, Naruto was sulking because Sakura was and the Uchiha was as brooding as ever. Not only was it detrimental to their budding teamwork, but it also cast Konoha shinobi in a bad light in front of foreign clients. It was for this reason that Kakashi resolved to command them to cast their differences aside for a later date, only for a puddle on the road to throw all of his plans into the water.
While Kakashi had retired from ANBU quite a while ago, he had yet to lose his paranoid habit of cataloguing his surroundings continually while analyzing them for any unusual patterns. A body of water in the middle of a forest road would not be suspicious under normal circumstances, but to encounter one when it had not rained for days in the middle of an otherwise dry path was another matter entirely. Thus, instead of stepping toward his Genins to admonish them about proper conduct in the presence of a client, he left them in their petty moods while he stood further apart to encourage the ninja to attack him instead.
Just as Kakashi had predicted, two men emerged from the water –probably Kiri Chunin, if their silence was any indication. Once Kakashi felt their entire chakra signature separate from the water, he focused on a log of wood safely hidden within the trees overhead and waited for their attack. As expected, all three genin whirled around the very moment the Mist Chunin stepped out of the puddle of water, just in time to see a serrated chain held between the two Kiri Chunins wrap around Kakashi and tear their prey asunder, a shower of blood obscuring all other details.
Naruto was shaken to his core. Kakashi had acknowledged Naruto and offered genuine help whenever Naruto asked for it, despite being constantly late and aloof. Thus, regardless of how infuriating Kakashi could be when bestowing his help, this was still more than enough to include him alongside the Ichiraku, the Sandaime, Iruka and Ebisu, making him the newest addition to the list of Naruto's precious people. Each of those persons had been nice to Naruto when they needn't be, and each of those was rewarded by Naruto's fierce loyalty. Indeed, Naruto would gladly give his life on a whim for any of them.
Yet here Kakashi was torn to shreds while Naruto had done nothing -could do nothing, though the blond was but a few paces away from the carnage. How could this happen? Wasn't Naruto's training sufficient to protect those few persons of any significance to him? Hadn't he worked himself sore enough every day? Why did this hurt so much?
So immersed in his misery was Naruto that he failed to register the subsequent actions of the Kiri ninjas, standing stock-still in the path of one of those deadly claws mounted on the Chunins' gauntlets until Sasuke pushed him out of the way. Unfortunately, Naruto was still stabbed in his left hand.
When Sasuke saw Naruto remain catatonic even through the pain, the raven-haired ninja attempted to taunt his teammate out of his stupor. "Are you hurt, scaredy-cat?"
Sasuke's words had the desired effect, snapping Naruto back to reality in time to help with their opponents just as they rebounded off of a tree and went back to charge at the Genins. Though Sasuke had accomplished much by forcing their favored serrated chain out of commission via a few strategically-placed kunai, the Genins were still grossly outmatched.
"Three Genin," wheezed one of the attackers through his water respirator. "This'll be a breeze! We'll get rid of the target in no time! We promise we won't let you suffer needlessly."
Naruto and Sasuke worked fluidly together as a team, each one always knowing where the other was and easily surpassing Kakashi's prior expectations. However, their opponents, the Oni Kyoudai, had enough experience to not even need to know where their partner was: they simply fought together instinctively in a manner that could only be gained through years of work together in life-or-death situations. Even worse for the Genins, though, the Oni Kyoudai were Chunin-level ninja. Unlike Mizuki, their rank was earned through their core abilities rather than psychological trickery. They were better trained, and for far longer, than the Genin, and also had experience on the field where none of the Genins had truly faced a single deathmatch before.
As promised, the enemies danced their way through the concerted attacks from the Konoha ninja to stab their claws toward vital areas, only for Kakashi to suddenly reappear in front of the Genins, a clawed gauntlet in each hand. With a simple somersault, the Jonin pulled the Chunins off balance and put them out of commission by knocking their heads together using his feet while still vaulting in mid-air.
"Kakashi! You're still alive," finally voiced Sakura.
"Hm? Oh, yes, I'm alive. These two are Gouzu and Meizu, better known as the Oni Kyoudai, the 'Demon Brothers', missing-nin from Kirigakure with some skill in silent assassination techniques," Kakashi informed his audience as he tied up the Kiri ninjas. "They're solid Chunin-level ninja, much above what any Genin can expect to face even outnumbered, but not nearly enough to eliminate me. Tazuna-san, you mentioned in the mission scroll that there were no ninja attacks expected, didn't you? I believe we need to talk. But first, Naruto, the Oni Kyoudai always coat their weapons with some poison. We'll need to check that first."
"Aw, man, poison? Not again." Naruto heaved a long-suffering sigh even as he removed a kunai from his pouch to slice open the blood vessel leading away from the previous injury. The movements were automatic, thoughtless -Naruto was still brooding over his lackluster performance. Naruto forcibly pushed poisoned blood out from the new wound, his mind still on the confrontation. "Next time, I won't be a scaredy-cat. No more! I will no longer be useless to those precious to me."
"Naruto?" Unlike the usual shriek with which Sakura addressed the blond, the pink-haired Genin was now cautious and rather skittish, warily eyeing Naruto as the latter wound bandages over his cut. "What were you doing with the kunai?"
"Huh? Oh, that? Um, well, Kakashi did just say that the claw was poisoned, right? I'm just, y'know, driving out the poison."
"But how would you know where to cut? And how much blood to push out?"
"Experience."
The darkness tinting Naruto's tone, sharp in contrast to the lightness Naruto typically preferred, warned Sakura not to push the topic. She readily complied with his silent request, already unsettled enough. After all, learning that one's teammate had been attacked regularly enough with a poisoned weapon to instinctively know the proper method to deal with such injuries was rather disturbing and clashed with her idea of a carefree Naruto, of one living without a care in the world.
Sasuke, on the other hand, was still sulking over his poor performance against the Oni Kyoudai, and he found a convenient outlet in Naruto's behavior. "Tch. The dobe just wants to sound cool."
"Sasuke, what Naruto just did was the method we were recommended to do in ANBU. Show some respect for your teammates at least some of the time, will you?" The shock that Naruto really did know the proper way to treat poisoned wounds was enough to cease that train of thought. Seeing his point was made, Kakashi turned to the bridge builder. "Tazuna, let's go to that clearing. The three of you, set up the tents."
One hour later, Kakashi emerged from the clearing.
"Yo, everyone. I dragged the story out from Tazuna. He's the target of ninja alright; he simply lied because he isn't be able to afford anything higher than C-rank. You're in way over your heads. We're going back to Konoha."
Unsurprisingly, Naruto bleated his protest. "Wait a minute; we're not getting the whole story here! Why's a drunk old bridge builder like him getting targeted?"
Kakashi sighed. He felt compassion for the bridge builder and knew his Genin would, too, if they knew of the circumstances Tazuna contended against. However, the Jonin's duties were to his Genin squad before clients, even foreign ones. This was why he had skimmed on the details in order to convince his Genin to return to Konoha before they faced a situation they were not yet ready to handle. However, it now seemed there was little hope of that.
"What do you know about Wave Country?"
Naruto started reciting details even before Sakura did. "It's a small country comprised of many small islands to the West of Fire Country. It doesn't have a Hidden Village like Fire Country, and the economy is based on exporting goods, mainly seafood. I think that's about it."
The other members of the squad looked at Naruto in interest. It was Sasuke who voiced their question.
"Dobe, when did you become smarter?"
"Teme! Bet you didn't know about Wave Country, huh? Hah!"
Sakura brought Naruto back from his tirade. She would have retaliated against the insult, yet she was more interested in Naruto for once. "I also want to know, Naruto. When did you learn all that?"
"It was in the book I was reading, 'Geopolitical Landscape' or something like that."
Kakashi cleared his throat to bring his students back into the main discussion. "As I was about to say, good job on profiling Wave Country, Naruto. As Naruto just said, the economy is based almost exclusively on exportation of seafood. There are no bridges out of Wave Country; therefore the citizens rely on shipping companies. It seems that Gatou of Gatou Industries and Shipping has monopolized the exportation business since a short while ago, and is abusing that monopoly to drive the country to poverty. If Tazuna finishes the bridge, the people will be able to trade freely once more, which is bad for Gatou's monopoly. Hence, Gatou wants Tazuna out of the way and has apparently hired ninja to do it. We were just attacked by Kiri Chunins, making this a B-rank mission at the very least. And that's why we're going back to Konoha."
Kakashi's tone brooked no argument, yet Naruto was oblivious to it. "Hey, we can't just leave the old man like that! You know he needs it; we have to go on!"
"Dobe! If you froze at the last encounter, do you really think you'll have a chance later on?"
"That was a good point Sasuke just made. You three were outmatched in the last encounter; the next ones are certain to be even harder. Do you really want to continue?"
"Of course," said Naruto. His teammates were pensive, however, and didn't answer.
"Sasuke, Sakura, do you also think we should still continue?"
"Ne, Kakashi," Naruto interrupted, "why did you wait so long before fighting them?"
"I needed to confirm their target. They could have also just been waiting to ambush Konoha ninja. So now, Sasuke, Sakura, do you think we should still continue?"
"Ano… I don't think it's right to just leave Tazuna-san here."
"That's not nearly enough, Sakura. Do you think we should complete the mission?"
"Kakashi," Naruto interjected once more, "why didn't Tazuna just request a B-rank mission?"
"Dobe, Kakashi said it already. Tazuna can't afford it."
"Oh. Makes sense, I guess."
"Hn. And you're injured, dobe. We can't go on expecting ninja attacks with one team member injured."
"Hey! I'll have you know that I'm perfectly fine. See?" Naruto flexed his hand as proof. Then, Naruto's eyes hardened with determination. "But if Tazuna can't afford anything better, we have to take this mission. It's too important to just drop!"
"Whatever. If Naruto's physically fit to do so, then I agree with the dobe ("Hey, teme! Watch it!"): we should take the mission."
Kakashi eyed Sakura. "And what do you think?"
"I also think we should finish the mission. It's just not right to let him on his own after we've learned about Gatou."
Kakashi still tried one last time. "We could also ask more experienced ninjas to take the mission, you know. You don't have to take it. Or we could ask for reinforcements and complete the mission with the support it warrants. We don't have to face this; not by ourselves. We could bring Tazuna back to Konoha, and have him promise to pay the remaining funds for a B-rank mission after the bridge is completed."
This time, it was Sakura who disagreed. "No, I think we do have to complete this mission. If we request another team to complete it for us or with us, the Hokage might refuse because Tazuna lied to him. No, we have to do it or it won't get done."
Kakashi sighed. He agreed with the reasoning: either they returned and left Tazuna -along with the entire island of Wave- to Gatou's machinations, or they completed the mission. Much as he valued his team, he also knew his own worth, and therefore that he should be able to dispatch the vast majority of nukenin a civilian like Gatou could hire.
"Alright, then. Since you gave valid reasons, I'll overturn my previous decision: we'll carry on with the mission. I'll send a message back to Konoha to let them know about the two Kiri nin tied up here. Now go get some sleep; we're getting up early tomorrow."
The next morning found Kakashi and his group members trudging along, yawning widely every few steps. By the time the sun gilded the forest leaves from its birth far in the horizon, they were already on the road for well over an hour. Tazuna had stopped irritating Naruto after the previous day's show. After all, that he still had a ninja escort was mainly due to the blond's intervention. Instead, the bridge builder was now observing Naruto in a new light: how could he have mistaken Naruto's brashly phrased insight as stupidity? And how could one so young and full of life stab himself so easily to remove poison?
Currently, Tazuna noticed the blond seemed even more on edge than earlier. At first, Tazuna had assumed that this was due to the increasing humidity that resulted from being near a body of water, yet Naruto dispelled this notion quickly when he threw a kunai into a bush even as they finally reached the shore.
"Naruto, don't throw your kunai randomly," yelled Sakura as the blond went to retrieve his weapon. However, it seemed that he had indeed heard suspicious noise: a white fluff of fur stood quivering in fear below the kunai. However, Sakura was not so easily distracted. "See, you almost killed that poor innocent little cute bunny! Here, bunny-bunny," Sakura soothed the rabbit while Naruto stared at her bug-eyed. Never before had he seen anyone turn so quickly from shouting at him to cooing at an animal. His incredulity didn't last long, however.
"Get down!"
Obeying Kakashi's order, the Genins saw a massive blade part the mist and barely miss severing Tazuna's head as Sasuke pulled Tazuna to the ground. The blade continued whirling on its path only to lodge itself soundly into the trunk of a tree. Soon enough, the owner of the blade showed himself, perched casually atop his makeshift plank. Except for a leather strap that allowed him to heave the holster of his sword on his back, his torso was uncovered while bandages were wound tightly over his lower face. When he spoke, his voice came out in a harsh rasp.
"Give me the old man and I'll let you live."
Kakashi was a hardened war veteran, however, and such measures were grossly insufficient to faze him. "Yo! I presume you would be Momochi Zabuza, Kirigakure no Kijin, master of the infamous Muon Satsujin Jutsu and owner of the Kubikiri Houchou, right? Nice to meet ya!"
Zabuza did a double-take at the jovial tone until he saw his interlocutor. A lesser ninja would have missed the way Kakashi's hand angled towards his kunai holster as well as the fighting stance of his feet. However, Zabuza had been part of Kirigakure's ANBU long enough to deduce that Kakashi took Zabuza as a serious threat. "Ah. Hatake Kakashi, also known as 'Sharingan Kakashi' and 'Kakashi of the Thousand Jutsus'. Nice to know my reputation still precedes me. Surely you don't expect to face me while protecting all those charges? Just hand Tazuna over and we'll be done; no need for unnecessary bloodshed."
"This coming from the Demon of the Mist? I'm afraid no can do, my dear Zabuza-kun." Though his words were still as carefree as before, there was now a glint of steel in his tone. "You see, I'm duty-bound to protect him, so you can't have him until our mission is done."
"There's no way around it, then," concluded the Momochi. "My mission is to kill the old man as soon as possible. I'll have to fight you. Heh. Did you know the bounty on your head doubled in the past five years? I'll make a nice profit from you yet!"
Zabuza jumped down from his Kubikiri Houchou, the fabled "Guillotine Sword" trailing his descent, while Kakashi revealed the Sharingan eye normally hidden under his hitai-ate.
"The Sharingan so soon? I'm so honored, Copy-Nin Kakashi! However, that won't help you."
As soon as Zabuza finished speaking, both Kakashi and Zabuza's killer intent rose, permeating the environment until the others were nearly suffocating. Sasuke seemed most affected of all, his breath drawn raggedly and his eyes glassy. Kakashi noticed this. Since the confrontation hadn't truly started yet, he took the risk of turning back with a smile in his eyes. "Don't worry; I won't ever let my teammates die. That's a promise! Now form a defensive perimeter around the client and let me take care of the rest."
"Nuh-huh, my dear Kakashi; that's one promise you won't be able to hold, I'm afraid." Zabuza's voice was as pleasant as sandpaper grating on glass, drawing the attention of the Konoha ninja back to an opponent who was now standing on the water. "Kirigakure no Jutsu!"
A thick mist soon washed out the entire area, reducing visibility to none. Even worse, however, was the effect of Zabuza's voice in the mist. "Well, well, well, what should I target first?" Rather than helping the Konoha ninjas locate his position, Zabuza's little speech disoriented them further, as the sound seemed to come out muffled and from everywhere at once. "The larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugulars, collarbone, kidneys and heart: which of these vital points should I target? What should I do? Ah, burden of choice, thou art cumbersome indeed!"
The Genins were shaken by the ominous words still reverberating all around them. The lack of visibility did nothing to alleviate the ambience and soon they were no longer sure where their position relative to each other was. It was then that Zabuza seemed to coalesce from the very mist, well within the defensive perimeter they had set. Sasuke and Naruto, being the closest, rushed to intercept the missing-nin. However, even they knew they would be too late to prevent the death of Tazuna, as Zabuza was already swinging his blade by the time they noticed his presence.
Much to their surprise, they found a kunai embedded in Zabuza's back a mere blink of an eye later. They traced the probable trajectory of the weapon to see Kakashi with another kunai already in hand, body tense and eyes alert. His caution was explained when Zabuza started bleeding water, only to entirely dispel in a large splash even as another Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi with the Kubikiri Houchou at Kakashi's neck: clearly, it was only a Mizu Bunshin that suffered a hit.
However, it turned out to be naught but a Mizu Bunshin of Kakashi, as the silver-haired Jonin reappeared behind Zabuza as soon as the latter decapitated Kakashi's Mizu Bunshin. This game of ninja-style hide-and-seek persisted all the way to the very lake, until the real Kakashi dispelled a Mizu Bunshin created by Zabuza. However, this was not a standard Mizu Bunshin, but rather a ploy set in advance by Zabuza and water exploded outward as the clone dispelled, enveloping Kakashi while the real Zabuza flashed through more handseals than the Genins could follow. Before the water from the latest Mizu Bunshin had fallen, the sequence was completed and instead of falling down, it compressed into a sphere with Kakashi trapped inside, unable to move.
"Suirou no Jutsu. Heh! Turns out the Copy-Nin can't keep his promise, after all. This slight bubble of water is actually stronger than steel, though I suspect you have enough chakra to be able to keep breathing." Zabuza concentrated for but a heartbeat, a Mizu Bunshin emerging from the water as a result. "Too bad Thousand-Jutsu Kakashi didn't offer me the old man when he had the chance: you three might as well be sitting ducks."
"Take Tazuna and flee!" Kakashi was frantic. "This isn't a battle you can hope to win. If you get away, he won't be able to follow you with his Mizu Bunshin: his clones lose strength with increased distance."
His endeavor might as well have fallen on deaf ears. All three were too shocked at this latest turn of event for the danger to themselves to register just yet, much less derive the proper action to counter Zabuza's advantage. It was only when the Mizu Bunshin stepped on the shore that Naruto shook his head and settled down into a fighting stance –at least, Kakashi mused from his watery prison, he now had a respectable kiba-dachi, in sharp contrast to the brawling skills he had shown in his Genin test. However, surely Naruto knew that even this improvement wouldn't even put a dent in the large gap in abilities between Naruto and Zabuza, didn't he? After all, Zabuza had shown himself a formidable foe to Kakashi, thereby providing a helpful indicator to the missing-nin's abilities for the blond. Yet Naruto stood resolute, kunai firmly held in both hands, while Sasuke and Sakura held their ground on either side of Tazuna, numerous shuriken readied at their fingertips.
Seeing this scene, Zabuza's Mizu Bunshin stopped his progression to cock his head to one side, puzzlement clearly etched in his eyes, while the original Zabuza's shoulders shook enough from laughter that Kakashi had dared hope his captor would accidentally release the water prison. However, Zabuza soon gained control over his mirth.
"Do you gaki really believe you can stand up to me just because you wear hitai-ate? Let me tell you a secret: a piece of cloth does not a ninja make. Being entered in a Bingo book might, but wearing a simple shiny little headband? Even back in the good old days of Chigiri no Sato, where the Academy graduation exam was to kill one classmate, no piece of cloth could possibly mean that you're a ninja. You need to have entered enough life-or-death situations where the only means of survival is to kill strong opponents before you can call yourselves shinobi. Still don't believe me? Why don't you try fighting with my Mizu Bunshin, a clone that has only a tenth of my strength?"
With this invitation Naruto sped towards the Mizu Bunshin, only to see it disappear into the mist. As Naruto paused to puzzle out the location of his opponent, the Mizu Bunshin suddenly reappeared to the right of Naruto in the middle of a roundhouse kick. When it connected, the impact was enough to jar loose Naruto's hitai-ate while sending the blond flying off until he crashed into a tree nearly six feet away.
Seeing his teammate's plight, Sasuke threw a volley of shurikens, all of which were carelessly blocked by the clone's sword. As soon as Sakura joined the fray with her own projectiles, Sasuke sped towards the Mizu Bunshin much as Naruto did earlier. Instead of a kick, however, he was greeted by a hand gripping his throat in mid-lunge before he too was discarded to the side, the fate of his momentum left to the tender mercy of a rough-barked tree.
Naruto and Sakura were both frightened. While they knew from the start that Zabuza wasn't an opponent they could challenge, much less overcome, they hadn't realized how desperate their situation was until Zabuza's Mizu Bunshin had batted away the projectiles much as he probably would a mosquito. Naruto considered making a hopeless dash for his life, anything to get away from this… this demon. How could anyone simply toy with enemy ninja as Zabuza just did? And was that a gleam in the clone's eyes as he stomped his foot on Naruto's hitai-ate?
Yet when Naruto prepared to flee as Kakashi had instructed, a twitch in his left hand reminded him of his earlier promise to himself. Overcoming his fear, Naruto made a single unorthodox handseal to immediately flood the area with his own clones. As one, the sea of clones swarmed towards the single Mizu Bunshin. Zabuza would not be so easily defeated, as proved by the rapidly expanding smoke surrounding the water clone. Barely a second later was Naruto sent tumbling head-over-heels from the cloud, landing in the bush right besides Sasuke. When the debris around Zabuza's Mizu Bunshin cleared, the clone was standing as dispassionately as before, even though his shirtless sleeves were infinitesimally more worn than before.
"Dobe! Did you think greater numbers would help?"
"Teme! Of course it did." Naruto shared a brilliant smile while tying back the hitai-ate he had miraculously retrieved, enjoying Sasuke's dumbfounded expression. Naruto briefly considered using his Kaze no Teisei, yet the significance of the long preparation time he currently required for the jutsu was finally clear to him. Therefore, he needed another trump card capable of toppling someone of Zabuza's caliber. It while was listening Sasuke complain ("If only you had retrieved Kakashi instead of some stupid hitai-ate") that Naruto suddenly remembered the true strength of Konoha nindo and immediately formed a far-fetched plan that just might be foolish enough to stump Zabuza.
"Now, here's my plan," whispered Naruto before launching into a long series of mutters directed solely at Sasuke. For once, the raven-haired Genin listened with rapt attention to his blond teammate. The Mizu Bunshin, on the other hand, was rather put out by his lack of a conversation partner. "Hey, gaki, are you done muttering sweet nothings to each other? 'Cause I've gotta kill y'all sometime this century, y'know?"
Apparently, Naruto had finished imparting his plan to Sasuke, as the former shouted back: "Kill us? We're gonna get you!"
Naruto put his fingers once again into a familiar cross-shape while Sasuke sent a veritable shower of shuriken, kunai and wooden twigs of varied length and mixed sharpness onto the Mizu Bunshin. As before, the clone parried the attack with a makeshift screen of water-simulated steel. However, Sasuke had succeeded in distracting the Mizu Bunshin long enough for Naruto to complete his Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.
As before, the hordes of orange-clad Genins assaulted the Mizu Bunshin and, in a repeat of the previous attempt, the water clone emerged victorious with nary a scratch on his body. This was possibly why the Mizu Bunshin was caught flat-footed when a gigantic fuuma shuriken flew straight towards his head. At the last minute, Zabuza's clone managed to dodge, though this much was apparently foreseen by the Genin if the curving trajectory of the shuriken leading it towards for the real Zabuza were any indication.
Snorting, the Demon of the Mist lazily fetched the weapon with two fingers before, wide-eyed, he was forced to dodge the smaller fuuma shuriken hidden in the shadow of the first one, almost letting Kakashi go in the process. It was when the fuuma shuriken popped into the form of Naruto that the true purpose of the maneuver was revealed. Indeed, when Naruto threw three kunai at Zabuza, the latter was forced to let go of Kakashi's Suirou no Jutsu in favor of keeping his head properly attached to his body.
Zabuza snarled. It was a sound so ferocious that even the most primal thoughts of fight-or-flight fled from Naruto mind. When Zabuza lunged, it was only due to a hasty tackle by Kakashi that the blond avoided getting impaled by the Kubikiri Houchou. A throw later, Naruto was safely back to the shore.
"Your fight's with me. This time, I won't fall for a simple trick like that. This time, I'll fight you seriously." Seeing Zabuza's attention was properly drawn, Kakashi completed his speech. "This time, I'll kill you."
"Hah! You're welcome to try. Let's see you get out of this!"
Zabuza started performing handseals at an alarming rate. However, Kakashi seemed completely at ease while mirroring his opponent, handseal for handseal. When both ninja completed their sequence, two dragons of identical size rose out of the water and headed towards each other simultaneously. The impact from the collision of the monstrous bodies of water was felt even by Tazuna, who was the furthest out on shore.
Though shaken, Zabuza plowed on to his next technique only to see Kakashi still matching him with the Sharingan whirling madly. 'How does he know what I'm doing? Is he really…'
"Seeing the future?"
Hearing Kakashi complete his thoughts out loud almost shocked him into misfiring the next handseal. Fortunately, his training was quite thorough enough to still continue performing the jutsu, though his speed had been slightly dented. What really did make him pause for a full beat, though, was Kakashi's next maneuver. 'Could he be able to...'
"Read your mind? Yes, in fact, I can read your mind, just as I can also see the future. And I see your death!" The words themselves would have been ignored, but Kakashi had also cast a minor genjutsu. Zabuza saw himself get crushed by the very jutsu he had been preparing; one that Kakashi had not yet even finished copying.
Yet by the time he brought his mind back to reality, Kakashi was performing the final seal. "Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu," whispered Kakashi even as a giant wave of water rose and smote Zabuza in the chest, washing the missing-nin ashore and crushing him through countless trees before the water receded. Barely conscious, he was still aware of an unfinished fight still supposedly going on and forced himself to stand. Kakashi was also tired even if not nearly as damaged as Zabuza and still in perfectly acceptable condition to deliver the coup-de-grâce. However, this final blow was denied him by several senbons suddenly lodging themselves in Zabuza's thick neck muscles, causing the latter to slump down as a mask-wearing boy barely older than Kakashi's Genin landed softly beside Zabuza.
"Greetings, Konoha-nin."
"Greetings. From your mask, I assume you are a hunter-nin from Kiri." It was Kakashi who had taken the role of spokesperson for his group. "Am I correct?"
"You are correct indeed; this is the mask of Kirigakure hunter-nin. You have saved me a difficult battle, and for that I thank you. However, I must now reclaim Zabuza's body. I trust there are no objections?"
"None from us. Please proceed."
"I thank you for your cooperation and bid your group good day and safe travel."
With that, the boy formed a single-handed handseal and disappeared with the distinctive swirl of a Shunshin no Jutsu. Kakashi's Genins were all stunned into silence by this latest development. After a long while, it was Naruto who broached the subject that had them all baffled.
"Ne, Kakashi, aren't hunter-nin elite trackers with extremely high combat abilities?"
"Yes, Naruto, that's right."
"The dobe is right. How could a boy that young be powerful enough to be a hunter-nin?"
"I'll admit that I find there's something off about this scenario, but the age of the hunter-nin isn't it. You'll have to learn that in our world, age has very little correlation with ability. For example, I myself was a Jonin by the time I was thirteen, just one year older than you are. You must always assume that there will be someone stronger than you are at a fraction of your age." His spiel done, Kakashi let through the weariness he had felt from overusing the Sharingan. He still had enough left to edge in two more sentences, however: just enough to issue his instructions. "Now, if you don't mind, I need a good rest. Take me and Tazuna safely to his house, would you?"
Unable to resist gravity any longer, Kakashi fell face-first into the shore. Fortunately, they were close already to Tazuna's meeting point, thus reducing grumbling from Naruto's Kage Bunshin as they complied with his orders. Really, who would have guessed that a skinny scarecrow like Kakashi could weigh this much? Neither Sakura nor Sasuke were willing to handle the weight, and it was fortunate that Naruto's clone had enough stamina to last the five-minute walk to the hidden pier. Once they arrived, it still took all three Genin (as well as one of Naruto's clones) to load Kakashi onboard.
They arrived safely in Wave Country shortly afterward. Despite having been warned by Tazuna, the pervasive poverty and sheer hopelessness hanging in the air still struck them hard, especially Naruto. Alleys were rampant with street urchins, frayed threads barely holding clothes together, and every stall sold at best week-old food. Many people had turned to theft for survival, however clumsy they may be at that art. Sakura had more than once mistaken a pickpocket for a pervert. By the time the Konoha ninja arrived at Tazuna's house, they were thoroughly disheartened by the conditions even as their resolve to help the bridge builder coalesced into steel. More than ever, they were convinced they had taken the right decision, regardless of the course of action the ninja code of conduct would have them follow.
Tsunami greeted them at the end of their trek, opening the door to Tazuna's house with a smile.
"Welcome to our humble abode, Konoha ninja. I am Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter. We hope that you will find your stay here enjoyable."
The house was in significantly better shape than the rest of the village, though it was clear that it had seen better days. While it was spacious and well-kept, the furniture was showing signs of age and the belongings few. However, the Genin had more pressing matters than gawking at their temporary residence.
"Ne, old man, where can we put down Kakashi?"
"Naruto!" Sakura had apparently returned to form, hitting Naruto over the top of his head. "You're impolite! We should introduce ourselves first." Sakura suddenly changed back to a demure young lady as she turned to address their host. "Thank you for your welcome, Tsunami-san. I am Sakura, the blond knucklehead is Naruto and Sasuke is on my right. Kakashi is our sensei, though he is currently unconscious from overexertion. We will protect Tazuna to the best of our abilities."
Tsunami had to hide a grin at Naruto's indistinct grumbling. She was at first both shocked and concerned over his health when Sakura casually bopped him so hard, but he seemed to have no problems from sustaining such a blow. Reminding herself of her duty, she could sympathize with Naruto's plight and thus promptly offered the nearest room to Kakashi rather than the one at the top of the stairs that she had intended. After all, an unconscious person couldn't complain much about the sorry state of the tatami, could he?
Kakashi finally cracked open an eyelid the next morning. To his relief, he saw his Genin settled around him, though his eardrums did not appreciate Naruto's bellow quite as much.
"Kakashi! You're awake!"
"Hai, hai, I'm awake. Where are we and how long was I out?"
"Naruto, don't shout like that!" Sakura faced Kakashi before answering his questions. "We have arrived at Tazuna's house. You were unconscious since your fight with Zabuza yesterday and it's now morning."
"Good! It seems that you'll have to train hard, because Zabuza isn't dead."
"What!" This time, Sakura had added her own voice to complement Naruto's while Sasuke had dropped his insouciant façade in favor of wide-eyed shock.
"I finally pinpointed what was wrong about that hunter-nin. First, he struck the meaty part of the neck, which you may remember is not one of the vital points. Second, he didn't destroy the body on sight, but left with it. Hunter-nin are supposed to destroy the corpse as soon as possible to prevent divulging Village secrets such as jutsus. Taking one body to another location doesn't make any sense, as that would increase the risk of having a fight over the corpse. However, that hunter-nin did just that, instead of following protocol."
"So he must have been a pretender, which means that Zabuza is still alive," finished Sakura. As usual, she was the brightest of the three.
"Indeed. I really should have noticed that, being an ex-ANBU captain and everything, but it was so difficult to focus back there. I only now remembered that the acupuncture points the fake hunter-nin struck would induce a death-like trance. It will take at least a week for Zabuza to recover from that. Luckily, it should also only take a week for me to recover my chakra. However, we now have to face Zabuza's accomplice as well, which is why you'll need to train hard."
"But how, Kakashi?" This time, it was Naruto who interrupted Kakashi. "You're still injured."
"That's easy: I have just enough chakra to show you what you'll be doing."
Sasuke decided to grace the conversation with his input. "But that… hunter nin. He's much more skilled than we are. How could we hope to face him in a week?"
"Don't sell yourselves short," reprimanded Kakashi. "You've managed to force Zabuza to release me when you cooperated with each other. I'm sure you'll be ready in a week. Now, for the training, we need to go outside to the trees."
Kakashi led his team to a clearing in the surrounding forests before elaborating further. "Let's start with a basic review of chakra."
Surprisingly, Naruto was the only one not muttering darkly. "Ne, Kakashi; are we going to learn to master chakra?"
"Dobe! We can already use jutsus, which means we've already mastered chakra."
Kakashi was rather amused: the dead-last had finally grasped something before the top-ranked Academy graduate or even the brightest ninja of their generation had caught onto the game. It seemed the remedial training had done wonders to Naruto's knowledge base. He'd have to report as much the Hokage upon his return, as well as congratulate Ebisu on a job well done.
"Sasuke, Naruto is in fact correct. However, it would seem from your comment that you need a refresher. Sakura?"
The pink-haired Genin beamed brightly before answering. "Hai. Chakra is the energy used by ninjas. It is made of two components: physical and spiritual. The…"
"We know all that! How else could we use jutsus if we didn't?"
Kakashi sighed. He had hoped to make sure that everyone knew enough to understand the point of the exercise. It would seem he'd simply have to hope that the Academy did cover this section properly. "The point of the review was to let you know that you haven't actually mastered chakra yet. Naruto was correct: I'll be giving you the first step to mastering your chakra. I'll also have you know," Kakashi added to pre-empt Sasuke's reservations, "that no one will ever truly master their chakra. It's a life-long pursuit that even the Hokage still strives for. What I'm doing is giving you somewhere to begin."
Seeing all of his students were attentive, Kakashi launched into the main part of the introductory speech. "In order to perform jutsu correctly, you'll need to learn to mix spiritual and physical energies with the right proportion to mold chakra with the required properties. What you'll be doing today is mixing them to generate a 'sticky' type of chakra. The exercise will be to use that chakra to climb trees…" Kakashi waited for his students to react and he was not disappointed. Whereas Naruto had seemed excited all the way through the speech, even he now joined his teammates in their incoherent mumbling. Kakashi waited for his Genins to quiet down to continue issuing his instructions, as unperturbed as ever.
"As I was saying, you'll be climbing trees without your hands." After a dramatic pause, Kakashi walked to the base of a tree. "Like this."
Kakashi formed the Ram sign and concentrated enough chakra toward his feet to form a slight wind pushing the grass away. Kakashi waited for the Genin to notice this before he walked straight up the slope of the tree as if it were level ground and then walked alongside the first large branch of the tree upside down. "Any questions?" he asked while maintaining his unusual position.
Naruto surprised everyone by asking a practical question. "How will we control how much of each component we use?"
"Ah. That's the goal of this exercise: you'll have to learn to feel the physical and spiritual components of your chakra. You might have noticed that I also have to remove my feet from the tree to walk. That's accomplished by changing the composition of chakra in my feet rather than removing chakra altogether." Kakashi threw down three kunai, each landing a short distance in front of a Genin. "Use those to mark your progress."
His goal done, Kakashi walked back and slumped down in the shade of a tree even as he sent both a Kage Bunshin and a Mizu Bunshin to protect Tazuna. Most Jonin sensei would berate his foolish expectations: very few rookie Genins could identify the physical and spiritual components of chakra within a month, much less clear both tree-walking and water-walking exercises within a week with enough time to spare for jutsu afterward. However, he wasn't quite as disconnected from reality as he would have people believe. After all, he had been pushing his team's basic foundations and closely monitored their growth during their month together, just as he now watched Naruto and Sasuke run full-tilt towards their trees while Sakura stood before hers while trying different ways to mold her chakra. It was obvious from this alone who would be the first to complete the exercise. Or perhaps not, mused Kakashi as he noticed Naruto tripping when one of his feet accidentally glued itself to the ground. With interest, he watched as Naruto tried different combinations before abandoning this method in favor of returning to running.
Kakashi barely restrained a snort. So much for that hope! It seemed he'd be in for a long wait after all. Kakashi brought out his orange book and started reading. After turning the page, he finally deigned to soothe his conscience by taking a look at his charges' progress. Sakura was heaving heavily, but it was clear that she had understood the principle as she stood at least fifteen feet above ground. Sasuke and Naruto, on the other hand, had yet to clear seven feet.
"Good job, Sakura. I'll show you the next exercise when you can run up and down the entire length of the tree twenty times in a row. Sasuke, might it be that the Uchiha aren't all they're said to be? And Naruto," he added when Naruto was about to snicker, "perhaps you should let Sakura be Hokage, hmm?"
All three Genins responded to his comments by working harder, renewed determination fueling their efforts. However, when Naruto failed to progress beyond ten feet, he relented and went to Sakura's tree, waiting for her to descend before asking her for advice. Soon enough, the kunoichi flopped down from her precarious perch on the tree, barely managing to land on her feet.
"Ne, Sakura-chan, how do you do it?"
"That's… hard to describe. You have to let your resolve and your physical strength merge together in the right proportion. It's like…" Sakura searched for a way to describe the whole spectrum of possible combinations. After a while, an apt analogy popped into her head. "It's like making all the possible colors using just red, blue and yellow dyes. You have to take them in the right proportions and mix them together to give out something entirely different."
Naruto thought for a while, pondering Sakura's advice. "I think I see what you mean. Thanks!" With a huge grin, Naruto scampered back to his tree and stood there, lost to the world while he tried different proportions.
Meanwhile, Sasuke was still trying to force his way through the exercise. After all, that was how he'd learned to breathe the Goukakyuu no Jutsu and that was also how he'd learned the Taka-style taijutsu. This couldn't be any harder than that, could it? Yet he'd made no progress in the past hour. He still left Naruto in the dust, but the latter was improving quite quickly. Except that he wasn't even trying at all right now, but rather seemed deep in thought.
"Dobe! What are you doing?"
"Teme! I'm concentrating here; stop disturbing me."
"You, concentrate? Ha! Why are you trying to concentrate anyways?"
"Urusei!"
Without another word, Naruto returned to forming the Ram seal while standing still and closing his eyes. Intrigued, Sasuke watched as Naruto stood stock-still for another minute before opening his eyes and slowly walked towards the tree, determination etched in his face. Slowly, he started walking up the tree and kept going long after he passed his own record. It was only when he was within inches of Sasuke's current perch that he slipped and placed a marker where his foot had been. When he fell down to the ground, Sasuke was suddenly more appreciative of the blond.
"What did you do different? How would a dobe like you improve so much?"
"Urusei, teme! If you want help, go beg Sakura yourself! I'm working here!"
With that declaration out of the way, Naruto returned to performing the Ram sign while closing his eyes. Sasuke looked at Sakura before shaking his head in disgust. Uchiha were above begging anyone for help, much less a weakling like Sakura. Sasuke tried to reverse-engineer the source of Naruto's progress instead. Looking at Naruto's feet, Sasuke was amazed to see the strength of chakra-generated winds vary in force and area of effect. It was then that the raven-haired Genin remembered Kakashi's introduction. Perhaps he could try Naruto's method, just to see if it was any good. After all, while the Uchiha would never need help, they weren't above copying what was shown to be effective.
By the time evening came around, both Sasuke and Naruto were fiercely competing for the spot of second-best. They could now usually run the length of the tree without hiccups, yet every so often their concentration would falter, leaving them back to start over. Thus, both of the Genins were sweating profusely, still attempting a perfect run of twenty round-trip travels. Kakashi was secretly pleased when he dragged them back to the house, kicking and screaming. While Sakura had learned the hard way about the importance of stamina, the male members of the team now held a healthy respect for their resident kunoichi. In addition, they had improved tremendously in a single day. By his estimation, they should be able to attempt the water-walking exercise by noon tomorrow.
The next morning, Naruto and Sasuke were both gorging themselves with more food then they could handle while Sakura retrieved Kakashi down to the dining room. Soon afterwards, both boys were retching despite trying to keep their breakfast down, much to the amusement of their hosts. Sakura alternated between admonishing her teammates and apologizing profusely to Tazuna and Tsunami for her teammates' waste of valuable food, though they both smiled and waved away her concerns. It was another hour before everyone had calmed down enough from the morning's early excitement for Naruto and Sasuke to get up, ready to resume training. However, a small boy made an unexpected appearance by the doorway, blocking both Naruto and Sasuke.
"Why do you all try so hard? You'll die anyways. You should all just go back where you came from. No one can win against Gatou!"
Tsunami was immediately by the boy's side. "Inari, don't say such things! You should be more polite; they're here to protect your grandfather!"
"But don't they know it's useless?"
Naruto couldn't take it anymore. "Hey, I'll have you know it's not useless! We've saved your grandfather's life twice already. We're heroes who won't abandon no matter what!"
"Idiot." Inari sniffed, looking down at the much taller Naruto with all the contempt a six-year-old could manage. "Heroes don't exist," he elaborated before taking off to the stairs.
"Please, let him be," said Tazuna when Naruto was about to dash after Inari. "He's suffered through a lot. He didn't mean to insult you; he's just become too cynical of the world."
Sakura voiced the question lingering in the air. "What happened?"
Tazuna related Inari's childhood: how he was often bullied and how he had no father to protect him when that happened. When a stranger by the name of Kaiza came, the first thing he did was save Inari who had been pushed to the sea. His selfless acts didn't stop there, and soon after his arrival, the entire village saw him as a hero.
"But why would Inari say there aren't heroes?" interrupted Naruto.
"Ah. That's because of the night this village was robbed of its courage. You see, we're a fishing town, which means our economy is based on exportation of our goods. Since we don't have a bridge, it means trade has to go through shipping. Unfortunately, Gatou decided to cut off our trading routes. Kaiza protested and fought against Gatou. That was when Gatou decided to make an example of Kaiza: his underlings took Kaiza prisoner and executed him in front of the entire village. Ever since that day, no one has dared confront Gatou. That's why I want to build this bridge: to protect my loved ones from Gatou's reign."
Tazuna's words resonated with those Naruto had made to himself just a short while ago: "I will no longer be useless to those precious to me." It made Naruto look at Tazuna not as an old drunkard as he did back in Konoha or as a worker deserving of protection, but as a strong leader worthy of Naruto's respect, thus prompting the latter to answer Tazuna's heartfelt declaration with one of his own. "Hey, old man, we'll help you finish your bridge no matter what!"
"Maa, maa, Naruto, that's all nice and well, but don't you have a tree-walking exercise to learn?"
Without bothering to answer, both Naruto and Sasuke bolted out the door towards the same clearing they used yesterday. While Inari's impromptu speech this morning and Tazuna's subsequent explanation had taken quite a chunk of time, Kakashi hoped his estimate from the previous day would still hold, though the deadline was more to cater to his ego than any real necessity. After all, he still had well over half a week to finish whipping his team into proper shape.
Remembering his third charge, Kakashi addressed Sakura. "Sakura, don't you have a water-walking exercise to practice? As it was, I only saw you walking around, not running."
Sakura groaned in anticipation of countless cold baths, yet she still gathered herself before leaving for a remarkably isolated pool that Kakashi had found yesterday. While she wouldn't put it past her teacher to spy on her given his preferred literature, Sakura still acknowledged her teacher's commitment to the mission. Hence, she knew her sensei would be unlikely to partake in an illicit peeping session, occupied as he would be in keeping Tazuna safe.
By noon, Kakashi's guess was realized: both Naruto and Sasuke had demonstrated their skills to him. He had sent them to Sakura, leaving the kunoichi to explain the new chakra control exercise. If all went according to plan, all three Genin would be ready to learn a jutsu by the day after tomorrow. While Sakura had a head start on learning the exercise and had already gotten the hang of it, she didn't have the stamina to walk on water for any length of time, much less run fifty laps around the small pond. Both Sasuke and Naruto, on the other hand, had more than enough chakra to run circles around Sakura, yet neither had the control required. All in all, his team should be ready to learn the three new skills Kakashi had placed his hopes on. Hopefully, there would still be enough construction workers for Tazuna to work with by then, as the mission would be otherwise become pointless. Just today, two more workers had abandoned Tazuna, courtesy of Gatou's threats.
It took exactly two days for the entire team to be able to run fifty laps around the edge of the water, much as Kakashi had surmised. As soon as that was done, he gave each of them the specific skill he expected of them: a genjutsu for Sakura, a Katon jutsu for Sasuke and a Fuuton jutsu for Naruto. To his great surprise, all three of them mastered the jutsu within the day, even Naruto. Of course, those were low-grade jutsus –low C-rank and high D-rank if used properly. While the Katon: Housenka no Jutsu was a common enough jutsu, the Reppuutoppa he gave Naruto was a rare technique Kakashi had only seen once during his travels. This was due more to the limited effectiveness of the jutsu rather than the rarity of Wind affinity, as the latter was not a requirement for its use. The Reppuutoppa consisted of blowing a wind behind a thrown weapon. The jutsu was awkward to use, as generating winds from the hand was counterintuitive, but that was really the only hurdle to learning it.
However, Kakashi had been considered a genius long before he had received his Sharingan and Kakashi had applied that analytical brilliance of his to create an entirely different (and much more deadly) attack by combining those three low-level jutsus. Theoretically, Sakura with her near-perfect control would ensnare the enemy in a minor genjutsu, sending the target straight into a Fire/Wind combination attack. The tricky part was hitting the Housenka. While the fireball was several times the size of a kunai, control of the Reppuutoppa could prove problematic. However, Kakashi had managed it himself in trial runs and was confident Naruto would in time as well. The synchronization would still take the rest of the week to refine into a viable tactic by Kakashi's estimation. Certain that his Genins would be able to work out the details once he gave them the general idea, he handed them a scroll with his instructions while he personally went to assist and protect Tazuna.
"Hey, Tazuna, may I speak with you for a minute?"
Even from the corner of his eyes, Kakashi could recognize the skittishness that had plagued the other workers who had been threatened. This would not bode well for Tazuna's motley crew: they were already down to five workers aside from Tazuna himself.
"Ayamu, is there something I can help you with?" Tazuna watched Ayamu from hooded eyes. Clearly Tazna had anticipated the request.
"Is it okay if I stopped coming here? I mean, I have my wife and kids to think about."
As soon as Ayamu had drawn Tazuna's attention, the worker kept his gaze firmly fixed on his sandals. Kakashi was quite adept at reading people and Ayamu did not make much of an effort to hide his situation. The worker would have wished to keep helping in the construction of the bridge, in building the salvation of his people even at the cost of his own life. However, the price had just jumped higher, well beyond what Ayamu could afford.
"Do you need more time to think about it? You may take an extended leave for an undetermined period of time, if you want." Not too surprisingly, Tazuna gave Ayamu the same offer as he had shown all of the others: an honorable way out of a no-win situation. Ayamu's relief shone unbridled through his face.
"Yes, I'd like that very much. Thank you and I hope everything eventually works out."
Smiling darkly, Tazuna answered: "I hope so as well. For all our sakes, I hope so as well."
It was then that Kakashi decided to step in. After all, his chakra had recovered faster than expected and he was nearly at full-strength already.
"Tazuna, if you wish, we ninja also have some experience with building monuments. If bridge building is similar, I could offer you three workers for the price of an escort."
"Those young ninja of yours? They're brave and they've got good hearts, but I thought they were doing necessary training, weren't they?"
"They are, but they weren't who I meant." Forming a tiger seal, Kakashi summoned two Mizu Bunshin. "This is what I meant. I'd offer greater numbers, but I would compromise my recovery rate if I did just that."
Tazuna chuckled, mirth finally seeping into his voice after a long year spent under Gatou's yoke. "I'm happy to accept your services, m'lads."
The team and Tazuna reunited for supper. From the way Sakura's clothes were rumpled, Sasuke's were cut and Naruto's were singed, their training had not gone without trouble. Even worse, they made no effort to speak to each other, barely muttering grunts that passed as requests for salt or soya sauce. This most certainly did not sit well with Kakashi.
"So how's your training going?"
Sasuke initiated the complaint session. "Dobe here apparently doesn't have any semblance of an aim."
"Urusei, teme! I wasn't the one who used a Goukakyu instead of a Housenka."
"Hn. A dobe will always be a dobe. If your aim was any better, I wouldn't have had to make a bigger fireball."
"Baka teme! I diverted my aim because you messed up! If I'd hit your Goukakyu, Sakura'd probably be dead right now."
It was right in the middle of this spat that Inari decided to show up. "You're all idiots! Why are you training anyways? Didn't I tell you already that you'd die? What does it matter if one of you dies earlier?"
Without waiting for their answer, Inari fled up to his room. Everyone finished their meals in silence afterwards, the ambience now as gloomy as the one from the day before. However, instead of going to bed, Naruto decided to train some more.
Sakura's chiding was soft. "Naruto, you'll be no use to us if you have chakra exhaustion."
"I know. I'll be sure not to overdo it. But I'm still gonna prove that there are still heroes around!"
When Naruto left, Kakashi asked Sakura her assessment of the situation. "Could you have escaped if Naruto had hit the Goukakyu?"
"Probably not, but surely Sasuke-kun would have stopped the Goukakyu if Naruto was about to hit it!"
"Sakura," Kakashi intoned solemnly, "do you know why I expect these really low-rank jutsus to work against someone with much more experience and much fuller skillset?"
"Sure! It's because the combination of Wind and Fire produces a new jutsu that's exponentially more destructive than either jutsu alone."
"That's only part of the answer. What's your role in it?"
"To distract the enemy and to lead the enemy towards the combination attack."
"Why would such a simple strategy work?" When Kakashi was greeted with silence, he dared hope that he reached through the girl's shuttered worldview. "No matter Sasuke's parentage, a Genin won't be able to touch a hunter-nin, or even an imitation thereof. And have no doubt: that fake hunter-nin is at least high Chunin level according to his skill with senbon, quite enough to qualify as hunter-nin if he has any special abilities at all. He may even be Jonin-level in his core abilities. Remember that the Demon Brothers you fought earlier were only mid-level Chunin. Yet I'm leaving him to the three of you. In fact, I expect this strategy to work because Naruto's technique is nearly untraceable, whereas a higher-rank one like the Daitoppa leaves tell-tale signs of the technique's path: sounds of a rushing wind, or direction of the face. However, if it's just the Goukakyu no Jutsu, a hunter-nin would guess the target of Naruto's Reppuutoppa, even if the hunter-nin wouldn't know when the strike would be."
Knowing his pink-haired student was smart enough to figure out the corollary, Kakashi left to speak with Sasuke. "Yo! Let me guess, you pushed yourself with the Housenka no Jutsu and Naruto couldn't keep up, right?"
"The dobe really doesn't have any type of aim."
"Do you have any idea what could have happened if Naruto hit it? Let's assume that Naruto didn't have the presence of mind to avoid the Goukakyu but instead persisted, and let's say that Naruto hit the jutsu. No," Kakashi added when Sasuke was about to protest, "you can't just claim that Naruto wouldn't have hit it, or you'd have wasted your energy making the Goukakyu. Let's assume that Naruto hit it. From what I heard, it was moving towards Sakura, and was pretty close to her. Let's assume you are not shocked that Naruto succeeded and reacted immediately. What do you think would happen?"
"Hm. Of course the jutsu would be cancelled and Sakura would be fine. I wouldn't put her in that much danger."
"Wrong. Dead wrong. The moment it succeeds, it would no longer be a Goukakyu or a Repputoppa. It would be a combination jutsu, and obey different rules. Very different, in this case. Because Naruto still held the Repputoppa, it would have continued to exist. End result: Sakura dies. Let's say Naruto also drops his part of the jutsu. The combination jutsu would destabilize and explode. End result: Sakura dies.
"I'm sure you remember what I said about ninjas who abandon their teammates. Well, ninjas who murder their teammates simply because they are annoyed are much worse than that. Anyone stupid and incompetent enough to let that happen have no reason to even live. Ninjutsu isn't a game, it is very much a deadly art. When you received your hitai-ate, Konoha trusted you to respect and handle the ninja arts with care and responsibility. Luckily Naruto did it for you this time. Make sure there is no next time."
Kakashi was about to turn around and leave Sasuke. The latter was indeed cowed by the stern tone, much as Kakashi expected. Yet there was still an issue that had to be addressed. "Also, let me tell you a secret: very few Genin would have the aim to hit a moving target with the Reppuutoppa, much less five. After all, what makes the Repputoppa perfect for this task is that it's nearly undetectable. However, because it's so stealthy, it's also hard to aim."
"Don't make excuses for the dobe. Hn. What kind of lame jutsu would be hard to aim?"
Kakashi sighed. Perhaps he should have left the matter for later disposal: it seemed he'd undone the effects of his previous lecture. "The Reppuutoppa is one. It wasn't meant for hitting moving targets, but to increase the effectiveness of other projectiles as they are thrown. In that case, the user would first 'hit' a stationary target before guiding that 'target' as a spearhead. What I'm suggesting is hard, because the Repputoppa has to hit full-force while being essentially thrown blindly. Now do you see why Naruto has such a hard time?"
"Hn."
"I'll take that as a yes. Now, just remember that the combination jutsu is a very dangerous one. I don't want to hear of any accidents -if I do, you will be assumed guilty until proven otherwise." Kakashi was glad when Sasuke blanched. "Just a hint: even if your Housenka aren't as fast as they could be, Naruto can speed them up midway-through." Seeing Sasuke nod, Kakashi briefly considered looking for Naruto. 'Then again,' reflected Kakashi, 'from the sounds of it, he could use the practice. After all, this particular application of the jutsu is high-Chunin level.' With a mental shrug, Kakashi set off to sleep.
Naruto still couldn't quite aim his Repputoppa accurately enough, and the frustration had mounted until Naruto decided to take a break. Rather than persisting when the few targets available were much smaller and less flashy than the Housenka, Naruto decided to work on another Fuuton jutsu: the Kaze no Teisei. Naruto discovered that he could now shorten the time required for the Kaze no Teisei from fifteen to ten minutes. While this was still much too long, it was encouraging. This breakthrough was not the source for Naruto's elation, however. Rather, what had Naruto whooping with joy was an accidental discovery: when he had neglected dispelling the "listening field" of the Kaze no Teisei, he noticed that he could "hear" where his Repputoppa and deduce its location relative to Naruto from the field. Thus, without having to wait for the chakra feedback to stabilize, he would still be able to direct his Repputoppa as precisely as if he had a projectile tagged into the attack.
Naruto had failed, as usual, to immediately capitalize on this discovery. Questions about the sensitivity and range of the "listening field", the types of signals it could collect or the sheer offensive nature of combining two Wind jutsu completely eluded his mind, just as he did not wonder how he could summon such a practical sensor jutsu with but a common handseal. Instead, it was the Kyuubi who began plotting all different sorts of application for this uncommon jutsu. To Naruto's credit, he had managed to stay just on the safe side of his chakra limit. Thus, it was no wonder when he suddenly fell asleep in the middle of the field.
AN: I would like to thank "Fuyutaro son" for pointing out flaws in the previous version of chapter. Hopefully I've fixed them properly. Also, there were some complaints about how Team 7 fared worse against the Demon Brothers than in canon despite being more powerful. That's because in this version, the Demon Brothers were much stronger -if they managed to defect from Kiri after gaining Chunin rank, surely they must be stronger than what we saw in canon.