Hello readers! Looks like I'm back on schedule, kind of. Actually, more like being a little ahead of schedule. I've decided to grace you amazing readers with an early chapter, considering how long it took to post the latest one. xD This chapter is 1/2 of the climax of the wave arc! Good for me, cause I really wanna move onto some other ideas I have planned for the story line of this fic.

I'm going to give a brief description for what is in store for the near future. Judging from what I have so far, there will be one more arc, filled with new plot devices, before the Chunin exams. So there are about three chapters left before some newer stuff is introduced(including this one). …..So...Stay… tuned I guess? Hahahaha.

Chapter 7: The Showdown Begins

For the seventh time, Inari tripped over an overgrown root. Biting back a curse, he stood once more on shaky legs and ran deeper into the woods. It mattered not that he knew the woods like the back of his hand. It mattered not that there was a good chance that Haku was still going after him, to tie loose ends by getting rid of Inari. All that mattered was that if his mother knew there was danger, she'd either go into town or hide in the old tree house his step dad had built for him on his seventh birthday.

He stopped in front of the old oak trees, hands reaching out for the once familiar ladder. He climbed up, his feet slipping twice. Here, at least, he'd be safe. Here he could form some sort of offensive.

Even if his 'weapons' were nothing more than an old wooden bat and an old iron frying pan. They would work fine against unsuspecting samurai, but if it was a ninja who trailed after him...

He curled up in the corner, his two meager weapons in hand. If it was a ninja, he was done for.


If he twitched one more time, she swore, even though he was Sasuke and she loved him, she'd kick the shit out of him. Or at least, that's what Inner Sakura swore. The more passive (at least when it came to Sasuke) kunoichi looked away, forcing a smile.

They both were sitting on the ground, both with their backs to the same wall. Sakura's legs were curled on her side while Sasuke's were slightly bent at the knee, while his elbows rested on his knees. They weren't touching, but they were close to one another, both craving some sort of heat but too prideful to scoot over the extra inch. The wall that they sat against was the one that was the most intact, and while insulating them from some of the chill, didn't keep them warm at all.

The Uchiha rolled his eyes, not seeing how she could smile. They were trapped in a freezing prison, and she acts like they're on a picnic? Not to mention that it took three times to tell her to shut up and one glare before she stopped fussing over him. Women.. Sasuke sighed, cracking his knuckles. Steam poured out of Inner Sakura's ears.

'Get out of my way! I'm kicking his ass!' her more violent personality exclaimed, a tire iron appearing out of nowhere. Sakura folded her hands in her lap, tensing slightly.

"You're really annoying." they both said at the same time. They both snapped out of their own thoughts, looking suspiciously at one another, the beginnings of a scowl on their faces.

"No, I'm not." they said in unison. Their scowls deepened.

"Stop copying me." Again, their voices were in harmony.

"No, you stop copying me." Finally Sakura saw the hilarity of it.

"Jinx!" she called it. "Haha. You owe me a soda." Sasuke's scowl lessened slightly.

"That's stupid." he said, feeling annoyed that he forgot to call it first. Sakura was grinning.

"Would you rather owe me a date?" she said, a sly smile that reminded him of Naruto on her face. He immediately paled, then tried to hide the expression behind a cold facade.

"Fine. I'll get you your damn soda. After we get out of this hell." Again, Sakura looked amused.

"Hah, hell froze over." When Sasuke gave her a dry look, she shook her head. Sakura was suspicious that Sasuke didn't have a single humorous bone in his body. "Never mind." She sighed, a look of boredom settling back in. The corners of Sasuke's mouth twitched upward. "Wanna play 'I Spy'?

"In two rounds, we'd be back to ice." he said, glancing at her. The red had settled down, leaving only onyx eyes.

"How about we try to guess what each other is thinking?" she randomly threw out another, knowing it was probably going to be sent back with a big, fat 'NO' on it.

"No, I am not thinking about you."

"Ugh, darn. How about we count the number of planks on each wall?"

"North wall, eleven. South wall, eleven. East wall, twelve. West wall, eleven and a half. In total, forty-five and a half." he said in a monotone.

"And a half?" he nodded. "Fine then... Um, we could throw kunai at the knot in the wood over there."

The look Sasuke gave her made her feel slightly insulted. "No challenge." Her eye twitched. "I assume I am not that much entertainment." Sakura gave him a look.

"You assume correctly." she said flatly. "Who knew that a guy who seems so interesting would actually be so boring?" She detected a slight challenge in his previous statement, which was why she baited him into a verbal battle. Normally, she'd try to sooth his wounded ego, but she was just too damn cold, too damn bored, and too damn interested what he'd say in retaliation to care much about wounded egos.

"I am very entertaining." Sasuke said with a mocking air. "You're the one who's boring. Besides, any one of my... fan girls would kill to be in the same situation as me." Sakura had to stifle a laugh. He was almost pouting.

"So... then you'd prefer to be glomped on than yawned at?" When he seemed like he was thinking it over, she cracked up. Sasuke finally smiled.

"You really are spending too much time around Naruto." they said at the same time. This time, Sasuke jumped for it.

"Jinx." he said. Sakura pouted. "I nullify the part where I owe you a soda."

"Damn. You suck."

Sasuke stretched and stood, holding out a hand for her. She accepted it, pulling herself up. He walked over to the doorway, the constant glaring reminder that they were trapped in a dome of ice. Earlier observations told them that the ice was about four feet thick and had a nasty habit of reforming itself whenever it was damaged.

"We need to get out of here." Sasuke said, sobering up. "Dobe's out there somewhere, getting himself killed and Ammy's in a trap like us. Not to mention Tazuna and Kakashi." His stony face, softened a little by worry, was reflected back at him in the ice.

Sakura joined him, looking over his shoulder. She bit her lip, the beginnings of a plan forming in her mind. "Um." she tugged on his sleeve. He turned to her. "I think I got something. Hear me out, okay?"

She started pacing in the middle of the room. "So there's an opposite to everything, right? Yin and yang. Guy and girl. So forth. Ice's natural enemy is fire, isn't it? But when ice is melted, it becomes fire's natural enemy, water."

"Yeah. So even if I used a fire jutsu against the damn ice, it would be extinguished before it could reach the other side. And because there's more chakra in this ice than in normal ice, even ice created in ice jutsu (damn that guy and his blood limit), it would just reform in ten seconds." Sakura nodded, snapping her fingers.

"So therein lays the problem. Because of the water, the time, the chakra factor, we can't get out of here with a basic, chunin level fire jutsu. It doesn't have enough chakra in it to hold its form." The way she looked excited made Sasuke feel like he should know the solution to their dilemma. Then it dawned on him. Ice was weak to fire and a chunin level technique wouldn't work so… they'd need a higher level or boosted technique.

A bang echoed throughout the small hut. They both whirled to the entryway where they saw Naruto casually standing in front of where the door would have been. "Hmmmm… Looks like Ammy was right. You were going to be trapped."

"Dobe!" "Naruto!" was heard from the duo in unison.

"Hey. Sup? Looks like you two are having trouble there."

"No shit. Help us out? Please?" Sakura asked, big green eyes peering at Naruto.

"Hahaha, sorry, but I can't help that much. I'm just a clone. I'm headed to the bridge right now. Almost crashed into Haku earlier, so I had to find a way to find you guys. I have a special fire tag of Ammy's and a few explosion tags. Ammy's tag boosts fire ninjutsu. It's really powerful. Reduces amount of energy put into the attack and boosts it. She said she had a copy of the design somewhere else so this one's free to use. Said it was from her brother, too."

"…That's….. Strangely convenient. Any ideas on how to get it past the ice?" Sasuke asked, surprised.

"Nope. Maybe…. Wait a second…" The Naruto-clone poofed out of existence, the tag he was holding fluttering down to the ground.

"That…..IDIOT!" Sakura yelled angrily bashing on the ice. The two slumped to the ground and thought of other ideas to break the wall open.

"Hi again guys!" multiple voices rang out in the clearing before the hut. The two lifted their heads, realizing that Naruto WASN'T being a total idiot.

"So Naruto had others scouting for us…." Sasuke murmured looking wide eyed at Sakura.

"And the first one dispelled to tell the others…" Sakura mumbled back. "I think we seriously underestimated Naruto."

"You don't say?" Sasuke drawled back sarcastically.

"Hey, if you two are done yammering, can we get on with this?" A single clone spoke and was responded with murmurs of agreement.

Sakura and Sasuke shared a shrug as they stood up.

"Okay, you guys should stand back." The clones all pulled out fire explosive tags and begun to strategically place them on the door frame.

"U-um, Naruto? That would probably get us outside…" Sakura murmured.

"Hmmm? Oh. I guess, but if it doesn't work, I'll try to get the tag in. Need a plan B right?"

"Alright. Let's do this." Sasuke agreed.

"Remember, we only have a ten second leeway." Sakura said encouragingly while a small smile grew on her face.

"Okay. Everything's set. In 3...2…..1!"

*BOOM*

Immediately heating up the small space, the tag induced fireball issued from the slips of paper. With a roar, the mass of flames slammed head first into the doorway, burning the wood and melting the ice. With a resiliency that was due entirely to the excessive amount of tags that built the mass of flame, it pushed through the water and the ice, punching a hole right through it, leaving a wide gap for its creator to go through. It met its end when it hit a tree, failing to ignite it because of the wall of ice it had went through weakened it to a sixteenth of its size.

The gap started to close. Cursing, Sasuke grabbed Sakura by the back of her dress, ignoring her yelp of surprise, and tossed her through the hole, jumping through right after. The walls had nearly closed in on him, but it was ironically the water, a blessing in disguise, that quickened his impromptu slide and got him out before he became a Sasukesicle.

He put his arms in front of his face to take the impact, rolling with the movement until he landed in a crouch. The ice closed behind him. A few feet away, Sakura rolled over, giving the best glare she could manage through her chattering teeth. He winced, realizing the water that had spurred him forward and now drenched his shirt had hardened into ice.

He really hated that kid. What kind of blood line was the masked mist nin a part of that had ice powers this powerful and resilient?

"Y-you deserve it." Sakura said, trying to hold her dress out in front of her to avoid contact with her skin. "You b-big meanie."

Grimacing, Sasuke slid off his stiff shirt. "An unseen complication, but over all, not very serious." Sakura turned a bright red at the sight of his bared, pale skin.

"Not v-very serious! I'm a girl, I can't just take off my shirt!" she yelled, but slid off her dress, revealing shorts and a tank top. Her shirt and shorts were in just as bad of shape as her dress.

Sasuke slammed his shirt against the rock, shattering the ice into small crystals that scattered on the ground, more likely to melt because of decreased surface area and the decrease of chakra running through each shard. "There's a bush." he said nonchalantly. Sakura opened and closed her mouth a few times before she figured out the best revenge for this transgression.

"When we get home, I'm so going to sic Ino on you!" she sputtered, walking behind the clump of bushes and trees. A moment later, a sound like breaking glass reached Sasuke's ears. He slipped his shirt back on.

The Uchiha, even with his hands busy and his mind full of plans to aid the rest of their team, couldn't stop smiling.

The clone grinned at his two teammates that seemingly forgotten about their viewers, as he laid the tag on the ground. "I guess that worked out after all." He disappeared in a poof of smoke.


Kakashi leapt out of the way of the sudden showering of ice needles from above. A soft whistle of something going through air at a high speed was the only thing that warned him of Zabuza's incoming blade. He rolled to the side, the sword scraping the ground in its descent instead of cleaving him in half.

He hated being double teamed. The sharingan was set up mostly for one on one battles. It wasn't helping him too much in this particular battle.

Tazuna, half hidden behind one of the large metal crates that he had yet to take off his bridge, bit his nails nervously. He could see three lower level ninjas fighting a higher level ninja and living to talk about it, like Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto did, but he just couldn't see their teacher winning against two ninjas of the same level as he.

'If only I could do something!' he thought, both scared of what would happen if Kakashi failed and died trying, and guilty that he was the one to drag Team Seven into this mess.

"Tazuna-san." Kakashi said, his back to the old man. "Leave now. I cannot promise your protection."

"He won't be leaving." Zabuza said, scraping the tip of his sword against the ground and pretending not the notice the high pitched screech it made. "He's our mission." Haku stayed silent.

Kakashi slid his foot back, a kunai held horizontally out in front of him. "You can finish your mission... over my dead body."

"Why, I think I'll take that invitation..." Zabuza said with a chilling laugh.

"Tazuna, go!" Kakashi shouted, defending himself against Zabuza's sudden attack. The mist nin swung his blade horizontally. Kakashi jumped, landing on the thick metal. He dashed forward, kicking Zabuza in the face. The other man slid back several paces, a hand coming up to cover his bloody nose. Haku wasn't in sight.

A gust of wind ruffled the jonin's hair, immediately making him turn to look at Tazuna's quickly retreating back. An ice mirror opened up several meters above the running man. Haku slipped out of it, a mere blinding shadow darting down on his prey like an over grown hawk.

'No!' Kakashi thought, his heart pounding. He started to run toward them, even though he knew he'd never make it in time. What little chance that he could, however, was depleted when Zabuza leapt in front of him, attacking him swiftly with basic taijutsu.

Tazuna happened to look up, seeing Haku bearing down on him. His jaw dropped, his eyes reverting to the size of dinner plates. 'This is the end!' he thought, cringing.

Just then, a dark streak zipped over him, impacting heavily with the masked boy. Ammy, dwarfed by Haku's size, had tackled the boy, digging her shoulder into the other boy's stomach, before Haku could complete his mission.

Haku broke Ammy's hold on him, landing a few feet away. Ammy landed in front of Tazuna, a smirk on her face.

"I did warn you that I'd escape. Now you're going to get your ass kicked!" she cracked her knuckles.

"Heroes always show up at the last minute, don't ya know," a voice rang out from behind. A blonde boy made it out of the forest, grinning and waving a hello at Ammy. His eyes met Haku's, and an intense look entered his eyes.

'Ammy. Naruto' A weight lifted from Kakashi's shoulders with his sigh of relief. "Oi, Ammy! Naruto!" Naruto broke his staring contest with Haku to look over at him. Ammy glanced over, rolling a small pill between her fingers. Kakashi smiled warmly, although the gesture was wasted behind his mask. "You both take care of him." Two sets of blue eyes widened at the trust the jonin had for the genin.

Naruto grinned even more, giving the jonin a thumbs up. "Right! Got you covered, Kashi-sensei!"


Tsunami rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. The man she had run into was certainly no samurai, yet when she was startled by his sudden appearance, she smacked him across the face hard.

He rubbed his red cheek, looking sheepish himself. "I forgot. People in this country aren't used to randomly appearing ninjas." A grin meant to comfort only served to nearly blind her with its whiteness.

"Ninjas? You're a ninja too?" she asked. She started to look for his headband, for she was informed from Sakura that anyone who had a leaf etching on his or her plates were probably allies, while any other symbol could possibly mean that they were Gatōu's hired hands. She sighed in relief when she saw his belt was similar to Team Seven's forehead protectors. "Konoha."

The man beamed. "Yes! That is where I am from! Knowing our symbol, you must surely have met my rival, Kakashi!"Tsunami nodded, blinking in surprise when the strange looking man started to shake her hand. "Yes! My name is Maito Gai, Kakashi must talk so much about me! We are here to back up his team. The stirrings of youth are strong on that team, but sadly, they are merely passionate rookies." This he said all in one breath.

"Uh..." was the only intelligent sound that came from her. Gai merely grinned.

"Ah, I see you know of my name! I am very popular in the ninja world." he said with a forcefully modest look, his hand on his chin. "They call me the Beautiful Green Beast of Konoha!"

I see green... and I see beast. Tsunami thought, swirly eyed. Then she sobered, remembering the would-be fate of her son. 'If he knows Kakashi-san, he must be strong!'

"Please! I need your help! I am the daughter to the bridge builder, the man that Gatōu has been targeting. He sent some samurai after us, and I cannot find my son! Can you please help me?" she begged.

"Yes!" Gai said, taking her hands in his. "With the power of youth behind me, I shall help you find your family!" Without explanation, he swept her off of her feet and started to run. "I shall follow every young chakra I can sense in the forest until we find the one that is your son! Or my name is not Maito Gai!"

"They're not in here." Neji said flatly, deactivating his Byakugan. A strange dome of pure ice had caught their attention, many different colored lights reflecting off of the surface of the ice. It appeared to be a prison. But no one was in it. Crouching on the ground, Tenten called her team over.

"Look, foot prints! Two different pairs, Sasuke and Sakura's most likely. The unique print of Konoha sandals, you see?" she pointed out the almost unnoticeable swirl near the heel and the toes of the foot print.

"And shards of ice." Lee said, a few feet away from her.

"They must have figured a way out." Neji concluded. "And like their foolish team mate, decided to go 'help' out." Where the Hyuuga sounded uncaring of their fates, both Tenten and Lee frowned.

"I hope they'll be okay." she muttered to Lee. Lee sighed, nodding in agreement.

"And now we are to go to the village and stay there." Neji said in a sharp tone, overhearing them. "Just like Gai told us." Normally, Lee would have been tooting his horn about how they were supposed to be obedient and listen to their teacher and blah blah blah, but the normally loud boy was quiet, his thoughts full of ways he could get away from his team to help out.

Neji sensed rebellious thoughts churning in his team mates' heads. He had to crack down on those thoughts, for they would only lead to injury or death for supposing a noble role. It was really for their own good.


A thousand curses sprang up to his throat, yet he beat them down with a control that would have surprised any who knew him. Instead of being helpful to Ammy's case, he found that he was completely unable to help at this point in time, the two combatants moving at a pace too fast for him to try and match.

Kakashi was fighting Zabuza, but not all that seriously, as Naruto had yet to see a dangerous jutsu appear. Still, the sharingan was a major threat, but it wasn't an assassination technique. Hiding behind several crates, Tazuna peered at them, too stubborn to run away, yet too cowardly to move closer. Biting his lip, Naruto realized he and Ammy needed to do things fast, or else someone was going to die today. He refocused on Ammy waiting for a moment to attack.

Ammy had attempted a capture maneuver that he barely remembered from the Academy, only forced to stop to avoid what would have been a stab to her shoulder. She was nicked though. The only good thing that came from her attempt was that Ammy's scent of blood now marked the mist nin, which might eventually help Naruto out later on, but not even he knew if it would.

Haku frowned. The changes were slight, but it was obvious that with each passing minute, Ammy was getting faster and faster, her reflexes saving her from more blows, and her strength increasing some. Of course, neither ninja knew that her body had been slowly adjusting to the increased speed, though she was used to training without seal weights. The soldier pill was helping the progress along, as her chakra was rapidly replenishing itself with her strength.

Several senbon were thrown her way. She managed to block several of them with her kunai, but one lodged in her side. Cursing, she yanked it out at threw it back at Haku. She had always wanted to use senbon, but had never been able to get her hands on a teacher. Needless to say, she was proud to say that it flew towards its target in a straight line.

Haku caught it between his fingers. "Thank you."

Sighing in frustration, Ammy put her kunai away, beginning to mold some chakra experimentally. Seeing this, Naruto automatically formed familiar hand seals. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Seven Narutos charged, taking their own kunai out of their pouches and attacked the mist nin, buying Ammy a bit of time to find her bearings, jutsu-wise. Haku jumped, parrying each attack with his own weapon. He grabbed one clone by the front of his vest and threw it at two others. They exploded into smoke. The other four Narutos jumped back.

Something landed at Haku's feet. He looked down, a kunai with a burning tag attached to it catching his attention. He jumped back just in time to get out of the way of the explosion. But before he regained his balance on the ground, Naruto was attacking him again, all of the remaining clones attaching on to him firmly like leeches.

Ammy slid in front of him, keeping her body low to the ground. When Haku was too busy trying to knock the four off of him, Ammy pushed all of her weight onto one hand, launching her foot into Haku's jaw. The mist nin flew back, the kage bunshins that were on him suddenly disappearing. He landed unsteadily. The bottom of his mask cracked and broke off, paling in comparison to the aching pain in his jaw. He reached up to touch it. And… was that a burn?

Ammy was on the ground in a low offensive position, hands balled into fists. White flames flickered around her fists, heat menacingly licking at Haku. "Hakuen o sōsa," A smirk ghosted over her face before vanishing without a trace. The flames died down to a typical yellow and orange flame.

Haku frowned, a now visible sight. 'It seems like Kasai-san is not planning to fight me at full power. That can only be a good thing for now. Her power far surpasses my own. I must finish this quickly, before she steps up her power.'

Similar thoughts ran through Naruto's mind. "Haku." he said, looking serious as he walked up closer to the combatants. "You and that guy will die if you continue this. Please, just back down. No one will think any less of you."

"Zabuza's orders are of a higher priority than my life, as are his well being and happiness." Haku said firmly. "Anything other than that means nothing to me."

Naruto's temper flared, as he stopped. He marched up right beside his teammate and opened his mouth to yell. "Didn't you hear me! You both will die! What would you rather do, watch Zabuza get killed without moving a finger, or prevent his death! What means more, his damn orders, or his life!" Haku drew back slightly, not saying a word. He closed his eyes, deep in thought.

"Naruto!" Naruto tore his angry eyes away from Haku, looking over at the two genin running toward him. Kakashi glanced at the two himself, before having his attention snagged back by Zabuza, who didn't like to be ignored. He jumped out of the way of the missing nin's wild swing, then darted forward, snapping his hand at the hand holding the hilt of the massive sword. He reflexively spasmed in pain, as Zabuza's fingers let go of the sword. Taking no chances, Kakashi kicked the sword over the side of the bridge.

'One hurdle down, how many more to go?' he thought. Zabuza's hands lifted and started creating seals. 'Ah, crap.'

"Sakura-san... Sasuke." Ammy murmured. They looked like hell. Sasuke had multiple puncture wounds and a nasty gash along his left check, as well as bandaged hands. Sakura had a makeshift bandage around her thigh that wasn't doing much to stop the rapid bleeding.

Out of the corner of Naruto's eye, he saw Haku flinch at the sight of Sakura's blood. "Huh?" 'Why the sudden hate of blood?'

Ammy seemed to notice too, as she replied to his unasked question. "Sakura-san isn't a fighter. You, Sasuke and myself are. He'd fight and kill us, and it wouldn't put any burden on his conscience, but," Ammy drawled,"attacking someone who rarely fights would. Not to mention she's a fellow girl."

"What's gender got to do with anything?"

"Well…..With the 'devil' as your shadow, do you think you'd see very many females in your life? Very rarely." Naruto shrugged in response.

"Glad to see you understand," Ammy chuckled. She turned her attention to her incoming teammates. "Stay near Tazuna!" she shouted.

"Me and Ammy got Icy covered!" Naruto hollered.

"Like hell, dobe!" Sasuke yelled back. "You screw everything up! If there was a way to burn water, you could find it! I can't trust you to keep yourself alive!"

Naruto's temper flared. What did Sasuke know? "And why the hell not!"

"Because you care too much about everyone else!" The Uchiha shouted, his hands forming seals. "Katon Gokakyu no Jutsu!" A huge, boosted, ball of smoldering heat and flame issued out of his mouth, zooming straight for Haku. The mist nin jumped, unnerved when the ball seemed to follow his every move, though that was Ammy's work. Haku twisted out of the way of the flames' reach, setting up ice mirrors everywhere to both improve his speed and also to slow down the attack.

"Care..?" Naruto echoed.

"Oh, please. No need to be modest. You must have already known that..." Ammy chuckled halfheartedly, focused on maneuvering the fire ball. "What, you need examples?"

"Alright! I get the picture!" Naruto said to her sullenly.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cheered. Naruto looked over. "You did it!" The Uchiha didn't seem to hear her, his eyes suddenly glassy, his body swaying slightly. Ammy's eyes widened, recognizing the symptoms. "Aw, crap. He used the tag wrong. Must've not known how to activate it properly."

Naruto walked over, his eyes once drifting over to the busy mist nin before returning to his friend. "Sakura-chan, get him out of here, he's about to drop." Ammy interjected, "That tag eats up extra chakra if you forget to run chakra though it before beginning the jutsu." Almost as if to prove Naruto and Ammy's point, Sasuke's knees weakened underneath him. With an audible thud, he hit the ground. Immediately, he felt slim arms curl around his shoulder and his waist, hoisting up his suddenly weakened body.

"L'ggo." he said drowsily. "Nothin.. the matter.. with me."

"Chakra depletion." Sakura said to herself grimly. She walked toward one of the crates, dragging a weakly protestingSasuke along with her. Sensing her need for assistance, Tazuna stepped out from behind his crate; taking Sasuke's other arm and helped Sakura carry the nearly unconscious boy behind one of the crates.

Ammy seemed to contemplate something, as she reached into her short's pocket. She made a clone, and put something into its palm and sent it to Sakura with a message. Sakura nodded and put that something into Sasuke's mouth. He woke up a few seconds afterwards, still groggy. The clone nodded to itself for a job well done as it dispelled. Ammy turned her attention back to her opponent.

Haku's ice once again proved to be stronger than any fire jutsu. The mist nin straightened, his chakra burning an intense blue around his body.

'Damn, that barely put a dent in him at all!' Ammy thought, facing him. She took a few steps back for good measure, finding himself back to back with her teacher.

Ammy could feel Kakashi's deep sigh. "Wanna trade for a moment?" Blinking, Ammy made a noise of agreement. Kakashi knelt, hooked arms with the much shorter girl, and in a fluid movement, flipped the genin over him.

"You know, we could have just switched places the normal way." Ammy whined amusedly while rubbing her slightly sore spine. She mock glared at the jonin.

"Where's the fun in that? Keep tall, dark, and ugly busy." Kakashi reached inside his vest for a summon scroll. Ammy locked eyes with Zabuza who grinned wickedly at her through his parted bandages. She seemed to deflate before reentering the previous stance that she held before her fight with Haku had been interrupted.

Naruto had spun around to back up Amy as he was before. He found it hard to swallow as his eyes caught hold of their new opponent.

"Gotcha." Naruto squeaked.


"Are you Inari, son of Tsunami, the lovely lady right here, the grandson of Tazuna- What?" Gai broke off his speech when Tsunami whispered something in his ear. "Oh... OH! Uh, sorry little girl." Traumatized by the huge leprechaun that thought she was a boy, the little girl wandered off in search of her friends.

"One more chakra left! I'm sure this one's your son!" Gai said to the woman.

"Yes, and I thank you for helping me look for him, but do you think it's really necessary for you to carry me-"

"And off we go!" Once again, they were moving at blinding speeds that made Tsunami's head spin. She couldn't tell if he was being deliberately evasive, or if his mind was too occupied to hear her. It turned out to be the latter of the two.

'Hahahahahaha! I shall gain one more point against you, Rival Kakashi!' Gai thought, his eyes burning in passionate flames. 'I don't recall you helping ever saving a family from breaking apart! Young Inari, we are coming for you!'

He slid to a stop under a tree, nearly burning a trail under his feet. Tsunami nearly sighed with relief when she felt the jonin put her down.

"There appears to be..." Gai squinted up at the top of the tree, drawing the woman's own attention to it. The sudden recognition of the old tree house made tears spring in her eyes. She could see her husband grinning down at her from the roof, all sweaty and tired, but happy because he put a smile on Inari's face.

Gai pushed back his sleeves importantly. "I'll go up. You stay here." he climbed up the planks nailed into the tree as a makeshift ladder. He pushed up the flap and poked his head in. "Hello?"

Tsunami flinched when there was a metallic thud. The jonin fell out of the tree, going splat on the ground. She leaned over, looking at the huge bump on the ninja's head. His eyes were swirling, but his injury didn't seem that serious.

"Green… fishies... ate... my Lee." he mumbled incoherently. Tsunami sweat dropped.

"Are you alright?" she asked, kneeling by his side. Gai only laughed oddly before mumbling about perverts, monkeys, and rivalries. At the sound of her voice, whatever attacked the jonin poked his head out of one of the windows, a bent out of shape pan in one hand.

"Mom?" he whispered. The woman's head snapped up, her eyes glowing in relief. She jumped to her feet.

"Inari!" At her answering call, her son's head disappeared, and then his body appeared, climbing down the ladder so fast that his feet slipped and he fell the rest of the way. Tsunami caught her son and collapsed to the ground with him in her lap, crying in relief.

"Oh, sweetie..." she whispered, hugging the boy to her. He hugged back just as fiercely.

"Oh Mom, I'm sorry. I was a jerk and I can never repay you guys. That guy was right, I'll never not appreciate you again." he rambled, quieted only when he buried his head into her shoulder. Tsunami rocked him, although he was eight and too old to be rocked. Eventually, he stopped crying, but his eyes still remained bright.

"The fact that you're safe," she murmured, kissing his forehead, "that's payment enough." Inari sniffled, rubbing at his eyes while he pulled back. His eyes drifted over to the guy he hit with his now deformed frying pan.

"Who?" he asked simply, a hand running through his wild black hair.

"A Konoha jonin." she said, looking back at him. "An ally. Who's now delirious."

("Barney is jealous of my mad ninja skills." Gai muttered, only to be tuned out.)

"Oh, oops." Inari said sheepishly. Tsunami laughed like she never laughed before. She ruffled his hair.

"I love you, kiddo." Inari grinned at her, a mischievous look on his face that Tsunami had missed for such a long time, ever since her husband died, taking all of Inari's warm personality with him.

"You'll do, Mom."


Neji crossed his arms across his chest, leaning against the wall of what was Tazuna's home. The other two watched him warily, knowing that even with his eyes closed, the Hyuuga prodigy could still see them. Lee pushed himself off of the ground.

"Where you going?" Neji asked sharply.

"To the bathroom. Wanna watch?" Lee said in a low tone that was almost too sarcastic to be his own. Neji's eyebrow lifted. Tenten's eyes softened in pity. 'Poor Lee. He's probably so worried about that team.'

Neji tossed his head, choosing not to answer. Lee left, his shoulders stiff with a grim look on his face. He took off for the woods. After a moment, Tenten stood.

"And you?" he said, his eyes half open. She stiffened and hid her nervousness with a sharp glare.

"I'm stretching my legs." she stretched to prove her point. "Can't you tell? I'm going to the market. You want anything?" The Hyuuga shook his head, preferring to stay in the same spot. She took off to the market.

With a faint smile, she stopped when she was exactly fifty-one meters away from Neji, thus out of his seeing range. Keeping a fifty-one meter distance from Neji at all times, she doubled back, taking the same route that Lee did. Tenten couldn't help but feel giddy and guilty at the same time. She rarely did anything that Neji disagreed with, but desperate times call for desperate measures. She wasn't about to let any of her own people die without doing something to help them out.

Before she could talk herself into going back, she saw Lee who was patiently waiting for her. He nodded to her and started walking. She ran after him.

"How did you-" Tenten stuttered, shocked by his appearance. Lee smiled.

"You're my friend. I saw the same desire to help out in your eyes that I feel right now." he said easily. Tenten made it to his side, a small smile on her face.

"If you know me so well, does Neji?" she asked. "Is he going to figure out that we... well... ditched him?" He shrugged.

"He expects certain things out of people instead of accepting what they do or want. He's pretty demanding... but he'll figure it out. Come on, let's go." They jumped up, taking to the trees. It would only take them fifteen minutes to reach the bridge at their even pace.

Seven minutes later, Neji felt his eye twitch in annoyance. 'Dammit. They left.' He turned to the bridge and took off after them at double speed. 'They're tempting fate to pass them a bad hand.'

In eight minutes time, Tenten and Lee would reach the bridge and Neji would be there two minutes after. What will Team Gai see? A lot of things can happen in eight minutes.

Yes, I do realize this chapter is a bit on the short side compared to my usual, but hey. It works. It's not too bad of a cliffhanger, right? (*nudge nudge* *wink wink*) xD So….Yeah.

Thanks to:

Akashi Ookami

Sayonara Yasashii Akumu

Amy Saelee (Very, very random, but I'll take it. O.o)

cute

Interesting

Digital brownies to you guy xD And to you newer readers…Review please! It's like a motivation booster. No wait… It is a motivation booster. xD I'll be explaining some of Ammy's abilities very soon! Stay tuned!

P.S. I've forgotten to do this for a while now.

~OkamiAmaterasu2015 signing off~