A/N: I've found a better name or at least made a better name for Sakura's kekkai genkai (bloodline limit). It will now be changed to hakkyougan – the "hakkyou" part means "illusion" or "deception"

Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto.



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Chapter 6

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"Muo! When are we going to get to the Wave country?!" Naruto pouted.

"We're almost there, you brat! And you call yourself a shinobi…" Tazuna muttered the last part.

All of a sudden, Sakura stopped immediately in her tracks. Sasuke, who was walking beside her, stopped as well and sent her a questioning look.

"Something's strange…" Sakura surveyed their surroundings suspiciously, as mist started to slowly creep towards them.

"What is it." Sasuke muttered.

"Why is there such a thick fog rolling in…"

"Oh, that's quite normal in the Wave country. We're near the port and we're surrounded by the ocean, being an island. The mist rolls in early, before the sun even sets, on most days. And it can get pretty thick as well." Tazuna explained.

"That's not it. This isn't just any normal mist…There's a strong…presence within it…But I can't pinpoint it's exact location – DUCK!!" Sakura yelled, grabbing Tazuna and Sasuke, pulling them down with her.

Kakashi reacted quickly and grabbed Naruto as they too ducked to the ground just in time for a large sword to swing over their heads and lodge deeply into the trunk of a tree. Everyone stared at the sword that would have taken their heads if Sakura hadn't noticed.

'I was right…And this chakra…it's monstrous!' Sakura gritted her teeth.

"Well, you're not bad, girl. To be able to detect my presence so well when I've covered it as best as I could." A voice rang out as the mist completely covered the area, blinding everyone.

Sasuke's body tensed, preparing for a fierce battle as well as Naruto. Kakashi stood calmly and stared straight ahead of him. There lay only a thick mist but slowly, a shadow appeared before it flickered.

"Hm? These are the brats that took down the Mist brothers?"

Everyone quickly turned to where the sword was lodged into the tree. There on top of the sword stood a man with bandages covering his face like Kakashi's mask and a headband tied around his forehead in a slant. There, clearly on the metal plate of the hitae-ate was the symbol of the Mist country.

"Momochi Zabuza…The Demon of the Hidden Mist…" Kakashi narrowed his eyes.

"Ara? You know who I am? Well, I'm flattered." Zabuza chuckled. "…silver-white hair…You must be the infamous Hatake Kakashi, the Copy-Nin of Konoha!"

"Naruto! Sasuke! Sakura! Stay back and protect Tazuna! You are no match for him!" Kakashi ordered.

"What?! But sensei - !!" Naruto started but was cut off.

"Momochi Zabuza is a S-class criminal! You are not yet ready to face him!" Kakashi said strictly. "By your age, he had already earned the title of The Demon of Hidden Mist! And it isn't a light title either!"

"What do you mean, Kaka-sensei…?" Naruto muttered.

"I've heard of him…" Naruto turned to Sakura.

"I remember seeing his picture in nii-sama's bingo book…" Sasuke said.

"Momochi Zabuza. Mist shinobi. Or at least, rogue shinobi now. He became chuunin at the age of 12 through Mist's own personal Chuunin Exam. The task…was to kill all the participants and emerge victor…" Sakura said with disgust. "After that, he became an ANBU for the Mist and was known for his 'silent killing'…the ability to kill a large amount of shinobi without making a single sound…"

"N-nani?!"

"That's right. Before I was even sent on a mission, I already had blood on my hands." Zabuza sneered from his perch.

Zabuza un-lodged his sword before flickering again and disappearing in the growing mist.

"You three! Team 7 formation!" Kakashi yelled before Naruto could say anything else. 'If it's a fight with him…I'm going to have to use that…'

Kakashi reached up to his hitae-ate and slowly lifted it. When fully resting on his forehead, he opened his concealed eye to reveal a blood red pupil with three tomoes.

'The Sharingan!' Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura shouted mentally, staring at their sensei's rumored eye.

The three surrounded Tazuna. Sasuke on the left; Naruto on the right; Sakura in the middle.

" Don't let your guards down…or you'll be dead before you know it…" Kakashi said as he is swallowed by the thick mist.

"S-sensei!" Sakura shouted.

The four were then surrounded by silence as the mist slowly caressed their skin, leaving a cold, wet feeling behind. Goosebumps rose on their skin as they stood in anticipation.

"Eight points…" A deep voice like black nothingness echoed around them.

"N-nani?!" Naruto stuttered.

"The larynx, spine, liver, lungs, jugular, vein, collarbone, kidney, and heart… Now then, where do you want to be struck at…?"

Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto instantly unsheathed their katanas, knowing they would be needing it for this fight. Suddenly, the mist was blown away and Kakashi was once again in their sight. His chakra flared around him, the source of the mist's disappearance.

'Such killing intent! One tiny blink…one miniscule movement and I would be detected and killed…That's what the atmosphere feels like right now! If we stay here for an hour, I think we'll go crazy!' Sasuke stared in rapture at Kakashi's back.

"Sasuke, don't worry. I'll protect you three. I won't let anyone on my team die." Kakashi smiled back at the three of them.

"Hm…We'll see about that…" Zabuza's voice sounded right behind the three genin and Tazuna.

Quickly turning, their heads, they see Zabuza crouched low to the ground, his sword at Tazuna's neck. But before he could make a single nick on Tazuna's neck, Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura acted at an invisible speed. The next thing Zabuza knew was that he was skewered by three katanas. One where his heart lay. Another pierced his lungs. And the third went straight through his abdomen.

"Guh -- !" but instead of falling dead to the ground, Zabuza burst into water.

"Eh?!"

"Tch! Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu (1)!" Sasuke frowned.

"Oh? Not bad for a bunch of brats…" Zabuza's voice resounded from behind Sasuke.

"Nani?!" But Sasuke was too slow to parry Zabuza's oncoming sword.

But before it could touch him, Zabuza's weapon was stopped by a katana.

"Get. Away. From Sasuke-kun." Sakura enunciated coldly as she sent Zabuza the fiercest glare she had.

Using her super-human strength, Sakura pushed Zabuza back with only one hand – the one holding onto her katana. She closed her eyes before reopening them, revealing icy blue eyes with a black ring surrounding her pupil.

"Hakkyougan…" Sasuke stared at Sakura. "If she's using her kekkai genkai…"

But before Sakura could do anything serious with her ability, she was stopped by Kakashi. "Don't waste your energy, Sakura. Zabuza is mine to deal with."

She stared at Kakashi for a moment before complying with his wishes and closed her eyes, releasing her kekkai genkai.

"Oh? Such an interesting technique…" Zabuza said hungrily, itching for a fight.

"You're quarrel is with me, Zabuza." Kakashi glared, stepping in front of the ex-Mist nin.

"Hn. Very well." Zabuza jumped back before making a series of seals.

"Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu!" Zabuza shouted as two clones appeared at his side.

The two clones rushed at Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto. As Kakashi raced to go hinder the clones, he was stopped by the real Zabuza.

"Ah, ah, ah! Your fight, as you said yourself, is with me." He smirked underneath the bandages.

"Tch!"

Sasuke and Naruto jumped in front of Sakura and Tazuna to take the clones head on. But the clones split – one headed for Sasuke and Naruto while the other headed for Sakura and Tazuna. Sasuke and Naruto were too occupied with their own Zabuza clone and could only hope that Sakura would be fine on her own for the time being.

Sasuke spared a glance back at Sakura but had to revert his eyes back to the fight quickly in order to block a well placed kick aimed at his head. The force itself was so great that it pushed him back a bit.

'Ugh! It's still this strong despite being a clone?!' Sasuke thought.

He looked to Naruto and their eyes made contact for a split second. But it was all they needed to understand what to do next. Pushing the clone off of him, Sasuke quickly made familiar seals before putting two fingers in front of his mouth.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (2)!" A large fireball shot from Sasuke's mouth, heading straight for the clone.

Just as Sasuke predicted, the clone jumped back. But waiting for the clone was Naruto. He had his katana held up in a practiced stance, his sharp cerulean eyes focused on his target.

"Senmōfū (3)…" Naruto whispered to the wind as he twirled with his sword in a dance of blades.

His spinning, added with his chakra, created a small tornado. The clone couldn't move, still in the middle of jumping backwards from the incoming fireball. Naruto's chakra-infused wind-blades cut into the clone and it burst into a puddle of water.

"Heh! He wasn't that hard to defeat." Naruto smiled cheekily at Sasuke.

"Hn. Show off…" Sasuke smiled, more like smirked, back.

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Sakura on the other hand, was having a bit more difficulty with her clone since she was the only one fighting it while trying to make sure Tazuna wasn't hacked into uneven pieces.

'Shannaro!!!! This is ridiculous! I don't care what Kaka-sensei says!! I'm using it!' Sakura closed her eyes before opening them up again.

"Hakkyougan!"

"Oh? I see now. It's a bloodline limit. Doujutsu, I'm guessing since it's only your eyes that change." The Zabuza clone said, amused.

"Hmph. But from the looks of it, it seems you know nothing of it. Giving me the advantage." Sakura smirked.

"We shall see, after you dodge THIS!!" The clone swung his sword at her with great force and speed.

Sakura quickly brought up her katana to parry the blow. The two were then caught in a competition of strength as their swords scraped against each other, causing sparks to fly. Sakura had to use her super-human strength to keep Zabuza's sword from overpowering her's since his was so much larger and heavier than her lithe katana. Because they were so close to one another, Zabuza stared right into Sakura's eyes.

'Gotcha'…' Sakura smirked before whispering. "Hyakka Ryōran (4)…"

And right before the clone's eyes, Sakura dispersed in a flurry of sakura flower petals. Her katana fell to the floor as the petals then swirled around the clone in a wild cyclone. Before the clone knew it, it was covered in nicks and cuts, then burst into a puddle of water. In front of the clone, Sakura stood and watched the clone get caught in the second stage of her Doujutsu – the ability to instill genjutsu of any kind or type into her opponents' minds.

As she put her katana away, she was joined by Sasuke and Naruto. They then proceeded to protect Tazuna with Sasuke and Naruto standing guard while Sakura checked Tazuna for any injuries.

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The real Zabuza flinched and stared in the direction of where he sent his clones.

"What's the matter, Zabuza? Did my students defeat your clones already?" Kakashi mocked.

"Hn. They got lucky. Besides, if it was the real me they were fighting, they wouldn't stand a chance." Zabuza sneered.

"Oh, I beg to differ. They all come from prestigious lineage and each have their own very special power. It would do you no good to underestimate them…" Kakashi patronized.

"Urusai (5)!" Zabuza growled before taking a swing at Kakashi, who dodged easily.

Kakashi jumped away and got into postion as Zabuza tried to make another set of hand seals. But Kakashi, with the Sharingan activated, was one step ahead of him. As Zabuza was making the seals, Kakashi did them right along with Zabuza, not missing a beat. They both finished at the same time and shouted, "Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu(6)!"

Two large dragons made of entirely water rose out of the lake.

'What the - ! That's not possible! The Sharingan can allow the person to copy ninjutsu, but to perform them at the same time as they copy them..especially in this mist..it's not possible!' Zabuza thought, as panick slowly started to rise.

"What's the matter Zabuza? Shocked that I'm doing something impossible?" Kakashi taunted.

'Nani?! Can he – "

"Read your thoughts?" Kakashi smirked.

Narrowing his eyes, Zabuza's water dragon raced towards Kakashi as an all out water battle commenced. In the end, both their dragons negated each other and water returned in a giant wave to the lake. Kakashi stood facing Zabuza, his breath slightly off as he panted.

"I can't keep the Sharingan on for much longer…It's taking up too much of my strength and chakra reserves…I'll have to end this soon…' Kakashi grimaced.

Kakashi then rushed at Zabuza with a kunai in hand. But Kakashi never reached him because Zabuza swung his sword to throw Kakashi off. Flipping in mid-air, Kakashi landed on the nearby lake, a few feet away from Zabuza.

"Hn. You forget one thing, Kakashi. You're in my territory now." Zabuza smirked.

He quickly formed a series of seals before shouting, "Suiton: Suirō no Jutsu (7)!"

Water from below Kakashi's feet rose and encircled Kakashi into a small water prison. 'Shimatta (8)!'

"It's the end…Kakashi!" Zabuza shouted.

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The mist slowly started to clear.

"Ara? The mist isn't as thick as before…" Naruto muttered.

"You're right…Does that mean Kakashi-sensei won?" Sakura asked.

"Shit!" Sasuke cursed.

"What is it, teme?" Naruto scowled.

"Look, dobe!" Sasuke glared at him and pointed to the front of them.

There, on top of the lake, was Zabuza with what seemed like a giant bubble of water. And upon a closer inspection, that bubble of water was imprisoning Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei/Kaka-sensei!!" Sakura and Naruto shouted.

'That's impossible! Kakashi-sensei is strong! How can he get captured to easily?!' Sakura thought. 'The Sharingan!! Of course! Nii-sama has told Sasuke countless times that over using it can cause chakra depletion and extreme exhaustion!' Sakura concluded in her head.

"Sasuke-kun, Naruto. We need to end this quickly so that I can get to Kakashi-sensei." Sakura whispered to her teammates.

"Why, Sakura-chan?" Naruto whispered back, keeping his eye on their foe.

"Hn. It's the Sharingan, isn't it?" Sasuke stated more than asked, having experienced fatigue more than once when using the Sharingan too much, causing him to be vulnerable in battles against Itachi during training.

"Ah…" Sakura muttered.

"Sakura. You stay here and make sure Tazuna doesn't get in the way. Naruto. Let's go." Sasuke said.

Sasuke and Naruto dashed forwards to where their sensei was being held.

"Hn. You kids think you can take me on?" Zabuza smirked. Without having to make any seals, two clones rose out of the lake. Wordlessly, those clones headed straight for Naruto and Sasuke. They both went separate ways – Sasuke to the left and Naruto to the right. The clones followed them before stopping as Sasuke and Naruto stopped. Sasuke and Naruto tried to take care of the clones as quickly as they could. Kicks and punches were thrown and dodged before the clones burst after a long fifteen minutes. Sasuke reached behind him and pulled out his fuukin shuriken and tossed it to Naruto.

"Naruto!" Sasuke shouted as heads up.

When Naruto caught it, he instantly knew what Sasuke was up to. Twisting his body, Naruto twisted the giant shuriken open and flung it with all his might. It spun towards Zabuza, who only jumped up to dodge it.

"Hn. You're going to have to do better than that to get to me - !" Zabuza started but stopped.

Heading at his floating body was another giant shuriken. The one Naruto threw was just a diversion so that Sasuke could get ready and throw another one at Zabuza. Gritting his teeth, Zabuza released the water prison he was keeping infused to his hand and teleported a few feet away. Kakashi was released from his watery prison and landed in the water.

"I'll take it from here, boys. Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu (9)!" Kakshi shouted, placing his chakra inlaced hands on the surface of the lake. In front of him, a large column of water shot up and headed straight at Zabuza. The force was too much for him to stand still and he was thus knocked back and consumed by the strong current. When the water died down, Zabuza was knocked against a tree, depleted of energy. Kakashi walked over and held a kunai to his throat. But before he could do anything, two senbon needles shot out of nowhere and struck Zabuza in the throat. Zabuza then fell to the floor, dead before he hit it.

Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto, Tazuna, and Kakashi stared in shock. A masked boy appeared in a whirl of wind on a branch abover where Zabuza was pinned. On the mask was the symbol of the Hidden Mist.

"Oi! Who the hell are you?! Why did you kill him!" Naruto shouted at the intruder.

"Naruto, it's ok. He's a hunter-nin from Mist." Kakashi said calmly, though he didn't not take his eye away from the new presence, his Sharingan trained on the masked boy.

"Hunter-nin?" Naruto asked.

"It's an equivalent to our ANBU, dobe." Sasuke sighed.

"S-shut up, teme! I-I knew that!" Naruto stuttered, red in the face. Sakura sighed in the back.

"I have been hunting Zabuza for some time. I thank you for weakening him enough for his guard to be down." The masked boy said.

"It was no problem." Kakashi stated back.

The boy disappeared in antoher whirl of wind before reappearing next to Zabuza's body.

"If you'll excuse me, I must dispose of the body. Good day." With that, both the dead body and the masked boy disappeared.

There was a moment of silence before Sakura decided to break it.

"Sensei…"

"Hm?"

"Don't you find something wrong?"

"Ah, ever the observant one." Kakashi smiled.

"Eh? What are you guys talking about?" Naruto asked.

"Hunter-nin are shinobi that are trained solely to 'hunt' those that have abandoned their village. Their mission is to kill the rogue shinobi if they cannot persuade him/her to return and to dispose of the body immediately." Sakura explained.

"Dispose of the body?" Sasuke asked now.

"That's right, Sasuke. Despite being dead, the body can still tell many stories about where the shinobi has trained. It can reveal village secrets and various jutsu that is only known to the particular village they ran away from." Kakashi explained.

"But isnt' that what that guy was going to do?" Naruto asked.

"Yes. But there is one problem." Sakura muttered, getting Naruto's and Sasuke's attention. "It is protocol for the hunter-nin to dispose of the body at the very spot they killed them. They are to get rid of the body as soon as possible. But this hunter-nin carried the body away…" Sakura said as her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Maa. Let's just get Tazuna to his home first." Kakashi said.

"W-wait. So does that mean I'm safe now?" Tazuna stuttered.

"…For now." Kakashi smiled.

Kakashi took the lead again, but after three steps, he stopped.

"What's the matter, Kaka-sensei?" Naruto asked.

The next thing they knew, Kakashi fell to the floor snoring. "K-kaka-sensei!!" Naruto screamed.

Sakura sighed and walked over to Kakashi's body. She handed her pack to Sasuke, who wordlessly took it and threw it over his shoulder where his pack was resting. Sakura infused chakra to her limbs and used her super-human strength to lift Kakashi's body over her shoulder. Because she was still only twelve, Kakashi's height was almost double her's so his feet and hands almost touched the ground as Sakura carried him.

"Let's just get to Tazuna-san's place as quick as possible so that I can tend to Kakashi-sensei." Sakura sighed as they continued their trek onwards.


(1) Mizu Binshin no Jutsu – Water clone technique

(2) Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu – Great fireball technique

(3) Senmofu – Rotating ferocious wind

(4) Hyakka Ryoran – Profusion of flowers

(5) Urusai – shut up

(6) Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu – Water dragon technique

(7) Suiton: Suiro no Jutsu – Water prison technique

(8) Shimatta – shoot; shit; crud; crap, etc.

(9) Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu – Great waterfall technique


Chapter six is finally done! Please review!

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