Chapter Seven: The Oath of Pain

Kakashi shouted a warning and they responded. Sasuke rolled away. Naruto ducked. Sakura pulled Tazuna down and all of it was just in time for a massive doublehanded blade to spin over their heads and implant itself in a tree. A moment later and all three of them would have lost their heads.

A ninja landed on the handle of the blade as it stood sticking out of the tree. He was gigantic, with huge muscles. He wore no shirt and his skin was tan. His hair was short and black and he wore white bandages over the lower part of his face.

'Here it is.' thought Naruto 'My chance to shine. Believe it! I'm ready this time! I'm not going to lose out to Sasuke!''

'Well, well,' said Kakashi 'if it isn't Zabuza Momochi. Ex leader of the Hidden Mist Assassination unit.'

'Rogue ninja?' scoffed Naruto 'Whatever. Nothing is gonna stop me.' And he rushed forward.

But a hand blocked him. Kakashi looked at him with one hard eye. 'You're in the way. Get back.'

Naruto stepped back. 'But why?'

'He's not like those other ninja.' said Kakashi. 'He's in a whole other league. If he's our opponent I'll need this.' And he drew up his headband to reveal a flaming red eye. 'This could be treacherous.'

'Kakashi of the Sharingan Eye.' said Zabuza 'Did I get that right? Your profile was in our bingo book. The man who copied over a thousand jutsu. We had standing orders to kill you on sight.'

Sasuke looked up in shock at those words.

'It's too bad, eh?' asked Zabuza 'But you'll have to hand over the old man.'

'Sharingan? What is that?' asked Naruto to himself.

'Now quick!' said Kakashi 'Manji formation. Protect the bridgebuilder and stay out of this fight. I taught you teamwork. Now it's time to use it. I'm ready.'

'Well,' said Zabuza, turning round. 'looks like I get to see the Sharingan in action. This is an honor.'

'Everyone keeps saying Sharingan.' said Naruto 'What is it?'

'Sharingan is a rare power that resides in the eyes.' said Sakura 'The wielder can instantly comprehend any ganjutsu, taijutsu, and ninjutsu use it for themselves. But this can't be right. The Uchiha clan are the only ones' who should be able to use it, and Sasuke is the last.'

Before anyone could say anything a great mist began to arise around them, obscuring them from view.

'Enough talking.' said Zabuza.

Then he moved. One moment the sword was there on the tree and he was standing on it, the next he was surging towards Tazuna. Naruto rushed to defend him, as did the others. But they wouldn't get there in time. There was a clash of blades and then Zabuza slid back a few feet. Kakashi was between them, a kunai in hand, and they took their places.

'So I'll have to eliminate you first, eh, Kakashi?' asked Zabuza.

Then he surged away onto a nearby lake and landed on the water Taking a stance the wind began to blow, yet the mist stayed. Naruto could feel something building in the air.

'Ninja art: Hidden Mist Jutsu!' cried Zabuza.

The mist grew ever stronger and soon the whole world was white. Zabuza could not be seen. Kakashi was hardly visible ahead of them. Kakashi moved forward gradually. Outwardly he seemed relaxed, but Naruto could tell he was worried.

Looking into the mist Naruto began to get worried. It seemed like Zabuza could come at them from anywhere. From behind, from above, from underground. If Kakashi sensei was this worried, what could Naruto hope to do against someone like that?

No, Naruto had to do this. He had to.

The mist got still thicker. There was a sound of footsteps, or was that Naruto's imagination?

Soon Kakashi was out of sight. They were alone. No, no he was probably still out there, just hiding or something.

'Eight points.' said a voice. 'Laryx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian artery, kidneys, heart. Now, which will be my attack point?'

Gradually Kakashi came into view. He began to channel a jutsu, and Naruto felt suddenly like he couldn't breathe. One tiny movement, and all of them could die. Sasuke looked just a worried and that got Naruto even more worried. Sakura looked terrified too. Somewhere in the mist was Zabuza and in front of them was Kakashi.

Two jonin fully intent on killing eachother. It was like they were being choked already.

'Sasuke,' said Kakashi 'calm down. I'll protect you with my life. All of you. I will not allow my comrades to die. Trust me,'

Their heart slowed its beating. Their breath slowed. Then another voice spoke. 'I wouldn't be so sure.'

And Zabuza was there amongst them. He swung his sword and Naruto knew this was it. They scattered, knowing it would be too late. But the blow never came. Naruto looked up from where he had ducked for cover and saw that Kakashi had surged forward with his kunai.

A kunai that was sticking out of Zabuza's chest. He'd done it.

Wait. Why was Zabuza bleeding water?

Then Naruto saw another Zabuza. The real one. 'Sensei, behind you!'

It was two late. The great blade fell like a guilotine and Kakashi, the copycat ninja, was cut in two at the waist. Yet even as the body fell, it dissipated into water. A moment later a blade was put to Zabuza's throat.

'Don't move.' said Kakashi. 'You're finished.

Even in the mist sensei had copied Zabuza's water clone thingy and used it against him. Kakashi sensei was awesome! 'Alright!' cheered Naruto.

Then Zabuza began to laugh, 'Finished? You really don't get it do you? Your technique is nothing but a crass immitation. I'll never be defeated by a mere copycat ninja like you.' He started to laugh louder. 'You are full of surprises though. You'd already copied my water clone jutsu when you made your little speech.

Nice try.'

Then Zabuza dispersed into water and another Zabuza appeared behind him. 'But I'm not that easy to fool.'

A blade was swung. Kakashi ducked and Zabuza's strike went wide. But even as he was exposed Zabuza used the momentum of his swing to bring around a foot and kick Kakashi in the face, sending him flying backward. Kakashi fell backwards and landed in the water.

Zabuza surged after him, only to slow to a halt before he could get there. Why? Then Naruto saw the makibishi spikes all over the ground. 'Trying to slow me down? Foolish.'

Kakashi surfaced. He seemed to be trying to get out when Zabuza landed on the water behind him and began making hand signs. 'Fool! Water Prison Jutsu!'

'No!' cried Kakashi.

But he was too late. The water pulled Kakashi into the air and formed around him in a perfect sphere. Zabuza had one hand on it. 'This prison is made of water, but it's stronger than steel. It's hard to fight when you can't move. So much for the great Kakashi. I'll finish you off later.

But first, you're little friends will have to be eliminated.' He raised one hand. 'Water clone jutsu!'

Zabuza laughed as a clone formed before them. Naruto felt colder than he ever had as the guy who beat Kakashi approached them. 'You think wearing a headband makes you a ninja. When you've hovered between life and death so many times it doesn't phaze you, then you may be called a ninja. When you've become so deadly your profile is entered into my ninja book, then you may have earned the title ninja.

But to call upstarts like you ninja is a joke!'

The mist arose and Zabuza disappeared again. Then he was in front of him. Naruto staggered backward just in time for his blade to miss him. But the edge caught his headband, the headband Iruka sensei had given him, and sent it flying into the air. Naruto staggered back.

Zabuza seemed to tower over him.

'You're just brats.' said Zabuza.

'Listen!' said Kakashi 'Get the bridgebuilder and run! You can't win this fight! He's using all his power to keep me in this prison, so he can only fight you with his water clone! But the clone can't go far from his real body! If you get away from him, he can't follow, now run!'

'Come on, let's go!' said Sakura 'You heard him!'

'Run away?' asked Sasuke 'That became unthinkable the moment he got caught.'

'He's a jonin!' said Sakura 'We can't beat him!'

'If we try to flee no matter how far we run he'll hunt us down and wipe us out!' said Sasuke 'In the end, if we're on our own, we're finished. Our only chance of survival is to rescue Kakashi. We've got to do it!'

And he charged at Zabuza, hurling shurikens. Sakura charged with him. Naruto tried to move, but he couldn't.

Zabuza's water clone batted them aside with absolute disinterest. Sasuke leaped into the air and surged towards him stabbing, but Zabuza caught him by the throat with ease and began to squeeze. 'Too easy.'

Sakura rushed at Zabuza, but the man hurled Sasuke so that he slammed into her, sending both tumbling head over heels. Sakura got up painfully. This Zabuza guy had beaten both of the others so easily. And he was just standing there. He could have killed them at any time.

Naruto had to get away. Every fiber of his being demanded he run, run and flee for his life. If he didn't he'd die. Kakashi sensei himself had ordered it. Old Man Hokage himself would say there was nothing else he could have done. He began to get to his feet to do just that. Then he saw the bandage on his hand.

He'd sworn never to run again. That was his ninja way. If he quit now he'd be a liar. He'd never be Hokage. He'd have proven everyone who talked down to him right.

He stood up, shaking, trying to get ahold of himself. He forced himself to stand still and tall. He would not lose to Sasuke. He'd sworn an oath of pain. He wouldn't run away.

It was the most terrifying thing he'd ever done but he managed it. He charged at Zabuza with a battlecry. Wait a minute what was he thinking? This guy had a sword bigger than Kakashi sensei and Naruto was going at him with a kunai?

He ducked low just in time to avoid being bisected. He too a blow to the face from one of Zabuza's knees and was sent sprawling, but he felt his hand hold what he had been seeking. Reeling back he pulled up Iruka sensei's headband. His headband.

'What are you thinking charging in by yourself you idiots?!' asked Sakura 'We're only genin! We can't defeat a jonin on our own! We need a plan!'

'I needed this.' said Naruto, putting on the headband before looking at Zabuza. 'Hey you, the freak without eyebrows. Put this in your bingobook. The ninja that will become Hokage of the Village… the Village Hidden in the Leaves…

He never backs down. His name is-'

'Time's up.' said Zabuza behind him.

Naruto ducked on reflex and nearly lost his head. He rolled away just in time to avoid being cut in half and hurled a kunai at Zabuza which he caught and hurled at Tazuna. Sakura leaped in the way and pushed the bridgebuilder down. The blade shot over them, but sliced through Sakura's shoulder and pinned Tazuna's hat into the ground.

Zabuza was on him in a moment, bringing down his sword to cleave both in two. Sakura raised her kunai and blocked it, but was forced to her knee and with another strike lost her weapon. Sasuke came at Zabuza from behind and promptly took a backhand to the face, sending him tumbling head over heels to land with a crash.

'What the hell!' said Naruto 'I was talking!'

'I am not being paid to stand around while a collection of untried children make speeches and come up with ridiculously convoluted plans to free my captive.' said Zabuza 'I'm here to kill the bridgebuilder and no one else. If you run right now I will not hunt you. I have no interest in fighting you. You are beneath me. When I was your age I already killed hundreds.'

Hundreds? He'd killed hundreds? No, don't think about it.

'Like hell!' said Naruto 'I'm not letting you kill the old man! I'm going to beat you and free my sensei! Believe it! Now listen up Sasuke, I've got a plan.' He then leaped away just in time to avoid being cut in two.

He backed away as Zabuza loomed over him, hoisting his sword over one shoulder. His eyes were narrowed and Naruto had the feeling he was smiling. Then he started laughing. 'Well, if you've got a plan then I suppose I'd better kill you before you can tell him what it is.'

Naruto gulped. This was gonna suck.

Sasuke and Sakura watched as Naruto ducked and weaved while Zabuza moved to cut him into ribbons. The jonin slashed and attacked with ease and it was all Naruto could do to survive. Then he multiplied into dozens of clones and began to attack Zabuza, who quickly began picking them off with absolute ease.

Sasuke moved to enter but Sakura caught him by the shoulder.

'No, don't go after the clone!' she said 'Naruto is distracting him. Go after the real Zabuza! He can't take his arm off that sphere!'

'Right,' said Sasuke 'good thinking Sakura.'

He charged at the real Zabuza, throwing kunai and shuriken, but the man dodged nonchalantly. When Sasuke got into melee he began to use one hand, unarmed, to fend off the boy. Zabuza was hardly even looking up.

Naruto was running out of clones. And Zabuza wasn't letting them summon more. Sakura realized that what happened next was up to her. She made the signs.

'Shadow Clone Jutsu!'

She couldn't created dozens like Naruto. All she could make was two. But that would have to be enough. The three of them charged at Zabuza even as he knocked Sasuke back, hurling daggers. Zabuza's foot went down to crush Sasuke to the ground so hard he spat blood. At the same time his one good hand moved at lightning speed to catch one kunai and knock the rest back.

Then as they closed in he reached for his sword. Sakura had an idea and lagged behind her clones. As she did so Zabuza brought around his sword to destroy both. But she used another jutsu.

A replacement jutsu.

She was targetting Zabuza's sword.

Suddenly she was being swung through the air by her leg. Zabuza looked up in surprise at her. Before he could react Sakura had drawn a kunai and was stabbing it down toward Zabuza's hand. She was inches away-

Then she felt her leg wrench and screamed as she was flung across the ground and landed with a crash. The agony of her leg was horrible and she tried to suppress the pain. Looking up, she saw that her leg had been wrenched at an unnnatural angle.

And then Zabuza was there, descending toward her with his blade.

Sakura closed her eyes.

There was a scream and blood spattered.

Authors Note:

Okay I'd just like to respond to a comment which was made by a guest here regarding the story. Believe it or not I'm not bashing Sasuke. That speech Kakashi gave him was straight out of the anime. The only reason it is harsher is because Sasuke is the only one who screwed up.

As for it being a three man team, Sakura never contributes ANYTHING to Team 7 until the Chunin exams and then drops off the map until the next series. Team 7 may as well consist of Naruto, Sasuke and a blow up doll until that point. Since Kakashi was pleased with their teamwork before then I'm going to assume that Kakashi considered a two man effort acceptable. Either that or he's sexist.

Moreover, they did cooperate with Sasuke to get the bells, Sakura timed her attack so it took place while Sasuke was fighting Kakashi. Kakashi would have passed all three of them, but Sasuke decided to steal Naruto's bell before he could, destroying the group dynamic. This pissed Kakashi off and caused him to fail Sasuke.

Anyway I don't consider Sasuke a bad character. I just feel that he got way too much focus at the expense of much more interesting characters. I also feel he should have been killed off, but that's just me.

Also keep in mind that in this continuity Sakura doesn't like Sasuke. So she is completely unsympathetic to his plight. We're talking about a girl who broke off her friendship with her best friend for years simply because they were after the same guy, a guy she didn't even know. Sakura is not a very good person. She's incredibly mean to Naruto, even though he arguably has it far worse than Sasuke, and constantly mistreats people around her in her singleminded pursuit of her crush.

Sakura, in short, is a huge jerk. It's just that in this continuity she's a jerk to Sasuke instead of Naruto and Ino. The reason she is more sympathetic in this storyline is because Ino is on another team. This forces Sakura to focus on things other than romance. Also, Sasuke is a pretentious prick who takes himself way too seriously. Tragic backstories are nothing new in Naruto and I see no reason why Sasuke should get special treatment.

On a separate note, Kakashi Vs Zabuza is a really cool fight. That said it takes a lot longer than it really should have, thanks to all the exposition. And there are way too many lengthy conversations in the middle of said fight.

One of the problems I had is that it is my goal to make Sakura a contributing member of the team. The problem is that in this fight Naruto and Sasuke pretty much had everything handled with their plan. So my solution?

Just have Zabuza beat the crap out of them without giving them time to plan. I'd say it worked out well.

Oh and just for the record, I condensed about three episodes into eight pages. This is what I was talking about last chapter.