Chapter 7
As the small group walked along the dirt track, Kurenai watched each of her students in turn. The red-eyed kunoichi did her best to decipher their feelings about their first mission outside the village. Ino seemed her usual brash self, walking as if she owned the immediate area. Hinata walked with noticeably more confidence than a month a go, but still a world away from the platinum blond that walked beside her. There was something she had wanted to ask her male student since they had met up at the gate, but it had been the wrong time. "Naruto, I notice your uniform is different." Ino and Hinata did not hear over their own conversation, from their forward position.
It was not so noticeable at first. The body armour he was now wearing was matte black and didn't stand out noticeably from his usual black sleeveless top. What was more noticeable was that he wore the separate full arm length sleeves that ANBU also tended to wear, which didn't quite connect up to his top. On his right arm his forehead protector covered the gap, leaving very little exposed skin on his upper body. He also had forearm armour on, but again this was matte black, so as not to stand out. His teammates hadn't noticed, because they were up ahead of them and when they had left they had been far too excited to pay attention. What struck Kurenai the most was that Naruto wore a sword on his back, which he seemed to wear very comfortably.
"It was a gift from my father. I thought I would wear the complete outfit in honour of my first real mission." This was actually the truth, though he also felt better with the armour. It paid for a shinobi to be prepared. As for the sword, Naruto couldn't be more at ease with the weapon. As he had trained with it more and more, the harder it was to leave it at home. He had taken to carrying it around in a small seal scroll, from which he had brought forth the sword and sheath earlier. Unseen by the others, he also wore the two bracelets he had received at the age of ten, one each hidden under the forearm armour. Both could be slipped out at a moments notice, the chakra shield on his left and the torch on his right. There was also his two Kama's under his body armour; a leather flap had been sown inside the armour to come between the blades and the boy's abdomen.
As they walked on, Naruto began to detect faint chakra signatures ahead, and soon he could see something that to him stood out the proverbial mile. In their path sat a puddle, blatant in the middle of the hot road as it miraculously resisted the bright sunshine. Looking to his sensei, Naruto saw that she had also noticed, not surprising considering that she was known as the genjutsu mistress. Any ninja worth their kunai would see such an obvious trap.
Naruto's mind began to race as he reached a battle ready state. He and Kurenai were guarding the rear, meaning they would be the first to be attacked. Naruto knew his sensei could fend for herself, and that the genjutsu mistress was not a Jounin for nothing. His concern was that she would try and protect him if he didn't defend himself, and he wouldn't put anyone in danger for his 'secret'. If he could think of a way around it, he would be happier. He would just have to wing it for now.
Kurenai watched her students subtly, not wanting to let the group know about the ambush. That would alert the enemy and was likely to cause a drawn out battle. She'd have to be quick. Her taijutsu and ninjutsu were not as good as some of her peers, but she was no slouch. Kurenai prepared herself.
Naruto was not surprised when two ninja jumped from the puddle, which quickly faded. He saw Kurenai begin to move, going for the nearest ninja and punching him in the chest with surprising force for her size and build. The ninja dropped his end of the long chain they had been wielding, when he was knocked back with a grunt, but the other end was being held by the second ninja. Naruto had to hand it to the ninja, he compensated quickly as he whipped the chain solo and threw it around the blond boy.
Kurenai cursed, having underestimated the enemy's adaptability. She moved to save Naruto, but was already too late and she watched the chain wrap around the blond. The enemy ninja pulled hard.
The ninja, who had been forced back and to the ground by the female Jounin, watched in satisfaction as the chain tightened. His face fell as the chain broke and two of the now three pieces fell to the ground, leaving the third and shortest piece in his comrade's hand.
Kurenai was surprised, but reacted instantly. Moving with impressive speed, she brought a fierce elbow to the side of the still stunned ninja's head. He was knocked out before he even hit the ground. She turned as she watched the other man jump up with an angry look. She threw a kunai, handle first, which struck the man hard in the head, knocking him out also.
Naruto was impressed, having underestimated his sensei. One heard genjutsu specialist and assumed her other skills were lacking, but she was faster and stronger than he would have thought.
Hinata and Ino had spun around when they heard the attack begin, but they had hesitated and by the time they forced themselves to move the battle was over. Tazuna looked on with worry and more than a little shock.
Kurenai quickly tied the two unconscious ninja to a tree with wire, wrapping their hands as well so they could not perform seals and escape. Having restrained the enemy ninja, she then turned to Naruto.
Naruto suddenly noticed that all eyes were on him, but that was not really surprising considering a huge chain had literally fallen to pieces around him for no apparent reason.
Kurenai's eyes narrowed slightly. "What happened Naruto?"
Furasshubakku no Jutsu! (Flashback Technique)
Nine year old Naruto sat cross legged opposite his favourite pink-haired medic. Akiko had finished her paperwork for the day and, with no one to treat for injuries, she had decided to put the time to good use.
"Naruto-kun, I want to teach you something this morning that I hope you never need to use, but could save someone's life someday...chakra scalpels." Akiko focused chakra into her hands and a very faint green light came from her fingers, stretching about six inches and coming to a point. "With these a medic can perform certain operations inside the body without damaging the intervening tissue. It's also a very good chakra control exercise."
Akiko explained exactly how to manipulate his chakra, which should have been within the boy's scope of learning. The manipulation required focusing chakra into the palm and then into the fingers, with as tight a focus as possible and then pushing it past the fingers.
Naruto tried to do as was explained to him as the med-nin watched intently. Normally the fox-boy picked techniques up quickly, but after two hours he could not manage anything at all.
Akiko smiled at Naruto, even though she was a little surprised by his lack of success. Chakra scalpels were a very difficult technique to learn, one that would never normally be taught to a child. She almost forgot he was a child, when she taught him, because the young boy had a talent for learning complicated techniques. "It's okay, Naruto-kun, we can try again tomorrow. Medical jutsu are the hardest for you because of your masses of chakra. Go get some lunch and I'll see you later for dinner."
Naruto gave the woman a quick hug as he decided to have lunch speedily and head to one of the training grounds. He didn't have much to do with his days except train.
Naruto was training with a dozen of his clones, having set them all the same task as Akiko had set him earlier. After an hour of training and dismissing the clones, he still had no luck.
The blond boy tried to suppress his annoyance with himself. He had to think carefully about the problem he was facing. Medical chakra was harder for him to use than normal chakra, therefore he wondered if he practiced with normal chakra first, maybe he could use the special green chakra successfully afterwards. If his face had been visible then people would have seen a resolute expression. Naruto produced another fifty clones and got them to work.
Three hours later Naruto was beginning to get tired and he grimaced, knowing that it would only get worse when he got rid of his clones. What was worse still was that his idea had not worked, at least not completely. He could extend chakra from the end of his fingers, and a faint blue line was visible as it extended three inches from his fingers to a fine point, but he just couldn't do the same with medical chakra.
Now unable to repress his annoyance, Naruto's hand began to make a fist. He was surprised to feel a sharp pain in his hand and he looked down to see there was a cut in the heel of his palm. The wound was not very deep, since his reflexes had made his clenching fist spring open. Examining the small injury more closely, he could see that it was a very clean cut. He realised, as the blue light faded, that he had forgotten to stop the flow of chakra.
Naruto knew a lot about chakra for his age, in fact for any age, and it did not take him long to understand what had happened. He had read about ninja who used their wind affinity with special weapons to extend and sharpen blades, but never from their fingers. He doubted this really was the first time it had been done, but the fact that he had heard of no one performing a similar feat surely meant it was at least rare. He hadn't realised at the time that he had been automatically using his wind affinity, which was the easiest way for him to extend the chakra from his fingers.
The blond boy decided that he had trained enough for the day, as it would not be long until he was due to meet Akiko. As he walked away from the training ground, the bleeding from his hand was already beginning to slow. He didn't know whether he was pleased or not. On the one hand he'd done something which was undeniably impressive, but on the other he had failed to succeed with his actual objective.
Naruto showed Akiko the next day and the two came to the conclusion that he could not use normal chakra scalpels yet, but she was impressed with his new skill. Any attempted medical scalpels just turned straight to wind nature chakra blades and this was unlikely to change in the near future.
Furasshubakku Kai!
Naruto kept a straight face. "I think the chain was designed for two people, not one. Somehow using it by himself must have put strain on the metal and the weapon broke."
Ino's confused expression turned to a scowl. "If you were less lucky, you'd be dead."
Hinata was just relieved that her teammate hadn't been killed, which she been certain had been his fate.
Naruto was glad that no one thought to look at the chain. If anyone had examined the weapon, they would have found that chain had snapped in clean breaks, and not the twisted breaks one would expect from stressed metal.
Kurenai didn't believe Naruto's reasoning for a moment, knowing chains like that didn't just break; however, she had other things to worry about. The red-eyed kunoichi said nothing until she turned to Tazuna. "You lied to us, Tazuna-san. This is not C-Rank mission. We expected bandits, perhaps, but not trained shinobi. You can consider yourself lucky none of my team were killed."
The three students noticed that Kurenai's warm demeanour was completely gone and the old man shivered. "Alright…." The old man gave a defeated sigh. "I'll tell you the truth..."
The bridge builder proceeded to tell the group the full story of the Gatou Corporation and the horrors taking place in the Wave.
Naruto's blood ran cold as he listened to the ordeal that the people of the Wave country were forced to endure. Starvation was a horrifying way to die, so much worse than dying by a blade, the slow gnawing away of your life's energy as the agony of your body consuming itself made it excruciating. Right then and there, the boy decided that the greedy, vile man would die. He had been taught by his mother that life was precious, and some would think this meant he would not want to kill Gatou. For Naruto, his concern for the lives of others was exactly what drove him, the people Gatou had killed and was still killing. As far as Naruto was concerned, Gatou's days were numbered.
Kurenai was still facing the bridge builder and didn't notice Naruto's eyes harden. "This is at least a B-Ranked mission Tazuna-san, by rights I should leave you her-"
"No!" Naruto surprised everyone when he shouted. None of them had heard him so much as raise his voice, but now they noticed that Naruto seemed to be shaking. "No. We must continue, Kurenai-sensei. Tazuna should not have lied, but we cannot blame him. He's only trying to help his country and I would despise anyone who didn't try and do the same thing. Please, Kurenai-sensei, we cannot let such atrocities persist."
Tazuna was grateful to the blond boy for his words. Somehow the boy seemed to understand his desperation.
Hinata spoke up, even more surprising than Naruto's outburst. "Naruto-kun is right, Kurenai-sensei. We cannot let the people of the Wave suffer like this." Even more surprising than the fact the shy girl had spoken up at all, was the fact that her voice was firm and she didn't stutter at all.
Ino nodded too. "If you two are going, someone's going to have to look after you. No offence, sensei."
Kurenai gave an amused smile. "I was just actually about to ask you all if you wanted to continue before Naruto interrupted."
Team eight saw an expression in Naruto's eyes they had never seen before, as he sheepishly put his hand behind his head. "Sorry sensei."
The genjutsu mistress shook her head. "Don't be." The female Jounin was impressed by her student's sense of justice.
Before long, the group walked on, the mood sombre but determined. Naruto knew there was no way they would get to the end of this mission without him using some, or perhaps all, of his strength. Surely a Jounin level ninja was next.
The mood in the small boat was sullen as the passengers looked upon the large bridge. They kept their voices down and there was only the faint noise of water rippling around the boat as they moved through the water, the motor no longer running.
The group disembarked from the small ferry and the boat quickly drifted off once again. The journey continued.
It was only a short time later that Naruto heard a rustling in the bushes and he turned to his raven-haired teammate. "Hinata, can you look to see what that was?"
Hinata nodded and brought her hands together. "Byakugan!" Her face showed relief. "It's just a little white rabbit."
Naruto didn't share the Hyuuga girl's relief, though. Things didn't look good for the small group. He knew there was no way that a white rabbit should be walking around the countryside at this time of year. He saw that Hinata had let her eyes return to normal, as he tried to sense anything unusual.
Suddenly a giant sword seemed to come from nowhere and the blond acted on instinct. "Down!" Naruto pushed Ino and the old man down, not taking the time to be gentle about it. Hinata was a few feet further away from him and was safe for the moment.
Kurenai looked at the man she saw standing on the giant sword that was embedded in a tree's trunk. The red-eyed kunoichi had to admit to herself she was worried as she recognised the figure. "Momochi Zabuza. Demon of the Mist."
Zabuza looked at the kunoichi, examining her for a moment. "Sorry, but I don't know you. Just hand over the old man and I'll let you go."
Naruto knew exactly who this man was - ANBU HQ always had an up to date bingo book - and he also knew some of the man's past. He was bad news….very bad news.
"I think you're underestimating us, Zabuza." Kurenai hoped she sounded more confident than she felt.
Zabuza just laughed as he began to emit a killing intent at the group, and three of them soon found it hard to breathe. "Let's see how well you do. Kirigakure no Jutsu!" (Hiding Mist Technique)
A heavy mist began to fill the area and in seconds the Konoha ninja could only see a few feet in any direction.
Zabuza's voice seemed to come from everywhere, though he was not speaking loudly, and he seemed to be speaking from right beside each of them. "Which one should I go after? Liver, lungs, spine, clavicle vein, jugular vain or brain."
Hinata once again activated her bloodline limit. "Byakugan!" She looked through the mist, but it took a little focusing as the mist seemed strangely hard for her pearl eyes to see through. Her eyes widened suddenly and her mouth shot open. "Sensei, watch out!"
Kurenai leapt aside just as a huge sword swung down where she had been standing. With his sword still down, Kurenai caught the mist-nin off guard and stabbed him in the side of the chest with a kunai. She knew it would not be that easy and this was confirmed as water began to leak from the wound. The mist-nin burst into water. "Water clone."
Naruto watched as Kurenai cast a genjutsu on herself, which effectively made her turn invisible. Naruto could just about sense her presence, but couldn't pinpoint her location, and he hoped the same could be said of the mist-nin.
Kurenai wandered cautiously in the mist, heading in the direction of the body of water in front of her. She had a feeling the mist-nin would be near the lake, where the supply of water would be nearest for him to use. The Jounin hoped she was right as her students' and client's lives were on the line.
Naruto sensed another presence nearby and moved towards it. He steadily moved away from the group and his teammates were too scared to say anything as the blond vanished from sight. The blond met what he assumed was another water clone and he looked it straight in the eye.
"You're different….." The simulacrum of the nuke-nin paused only a moment before it slashed the huge sword down at him. Naruto nimbly stepped forward and to the side of the attack, before he slashed the clone with a wind scalpel. A surprised expression appeared on its face as it burst into water. Naruto headed towards his hidden teammates once more, feeling no other presence near by.
Kurenai reached the edge of the lake and could now clearly feel the mist-nins chakra presence. She walked slowly on to the lake and approached the enemy.
Zabuza seemed unaware of her approach, even when she was only feet away from him, until his hand suddenly moved "Suiton: Suiro no Jutsu!" (Water Release: Water Prison Technique)
Kurenai found water rapidly surrounding her and her genjutsu collapsed. Soon the kunoichi was trapped in a sphere of chakra-enforced water.
Zabuza stared into the sphere at the captive Konoha Jounin. The infamous ninja's mouth was hidden, but an observer would have little doubt there was an evil looking grin there. "Genjutsu doesn't work in my mist Kurenai-san." He chuckled to himself. "Oh I know who you are now I have seen your technique. An impressive genjutsu I have to admit, but my chakra imbued mist renders it useless."
The Jounin woman cursed herself as the mist began to fade, revealing the nuke-nin and his prisoner to the Genin group.
Hinata had seen what had happened. The Hyuuga girl found it hard to talk at the best of times, but now her terror rendered her speechless.
Kurenai faced her students and client, her face showing fear. "Everybody run. This guy's out of your league!"
Naruto was suffering a powerful emotion of his own, but it was not fear. It was anger. Naruto was angry with himself for having held back this long. If he'd have shown his real abilities earlier this might not have happened and Kurenai might not be in danger. Knowing that he could not change the past, he turned the anger to the nuke-nin. "I'll give you one chance, Zabuza. Release Kurenai-sensei." The boy's voice became gruff. "Now."
Everyone looked at Naruto as if he had gone insane and the enemy Jounin just laughed. "You may have destroyed my clone kid, but it was only one tenth as strong as the real thing. Back down before you get hurt."
Naruto's eyes narrowed. Kurenai might not be his friend yet, but she was a kind woman and a loyal shinobi. The secretive blond was not about to let her get hurt. He slowly pulled out his sword from its sheathe on his back.
Kurenai wanted to scream with frustration at the boy's seemingly suicidal bravado. "Naruto, what the hell are you playing at?!"
Naruto just ignored the woman and held the sword tip pointing in Zabuza's direction. He moved it slowly back so that it lay against his arm, the point aimed behind him and the blade facing outwards. His hand loosened around the handle and he uncovered a bracelet from under his left forearm guard.
Only the Jounin saw Naruto move as he seemed to flicker towards Zabuza. The sword arm came back and the forearm came forward, while blue light began to glow faintly from his left bracelet. The light expanded out into a disc as the metal spokes spread out and conducted the boy's chakra.
Zabuza's eyes widened and he moved to swing his sword at the blond, who was almost upon him.
Naruto saw the blade coming and, in what seemed like an insane tactic, blocked with his shield. The mist-nin was shocked when his massive blade stopped dead. Naruto tilted his forearm so the large sword slid off abruptly and, as he let the blade fall to his left, he moved around to the right. Speedily, he brought his sword arm forward and made as if to hit the nuke-nin with the hilt of the weapon, but at the last second Naruto flicked the blade away from himself and upward. As he brought the hilt to the left, the length of the blade was aimed at the nuke-nins throat.
Zabuza had to jump back to avoid the strike, dragging the end of the blade through the water, and he landed several yards away. His new opponent stood calmly, while holding his blade.
Kurenai was so surprised at the events she had witnessed, that she almost forgot to stop herself falling into the water as the water prison collapsed. At the last second she expelled chakra and caught herself, before she moved over to the blond boy.
Naruto glanced at his sensei before turning back to face a motionless Zabuza, who seemed to be thinking carefully. "Sensei." The blond boy let the shield fade and the metal spokes wrapped themselves back into the bracelet. The shield was not a problem for the boy to use in short burst, but was not designed for prolonged use.
Zabuza had no idea who or what this kid was, but he had recovered from the surprise. "I'm impressed kid. I've never seen a shield quite like that and to be able to use that at your age is a rare thing. It's a shame I have to end your life really, you could have proved useful."
Kurenai's eyes narrowed at the demon ninja. "Don't forget about me Zabuza, you caught me off guard but that won't happen again." She turned to the blond, knowing she would have to question him another time. "Thanks Naruto, but this is my battle."
Naruto nodded acceptance, though part of him wanted to take on Zabuza himself. He knew that it would be irresponsible to take on the nuke-nin himself. Kurenai was years more experienced than himself. "I'll be here just in case Kurenai-sensei….now kick his ass."
Kurenai gave a smirk at the boy, preferring his spunky attitude to his normal laid back nature. "I will." The kunoichi turned her attention back the demon, who wasn't stupid enough to take them both on. The red-eyed Jounin said no more as she pulled out a kunai and began to run.
The nuke-nin watched the fierce looking woman move towards him as she began to form seals. "Magen: Jubaku Satsu no Jutsu!" (Demonic Illusion: Tree Bind Death Technique).
Naruto had read about this technique before, though it was known as a Kurama clan technique. He'd never seen it used on water, but as he watched it seemed to be working and he could only imagine what Zabuza was seeing.
Zabuza felt roots shoot out of the water below him and immediately wrap around his feet. The roots continued to wrap around his body and he saw that Kurenai had disappeared from view. He knew this was a genjutsu and kept sending chakra to the soles of his feet lest he sink and drown. The demon of the mist couldn't seem to move his hands when he tried, meaning he could not release the genjutsu.
Kurenai approached Zabuza, knowing as she did that another large root was growing in front of him. She held a kunai ready to strike the man down. As she moved in for the kill, she saw Zabuza viscously bite his own lip and she cursed once more.
Zabuza saw the plant that had been revealing the red-eyed Jounin fade away as the genjutsu collapsed. He didn't pay attention to the blood running down his chin from the large cut in his lip. "Nice try…but not good enough."
The two Jounin dashed at each other, kunai meeting blade, and sparks flew. The two jumped apart only to go at each other once more. This went on for several minutes and nothing seemed to change. Kurenai knew that this could not go on for long, even though she wasn't having trouble with the enemy's blade yet. She only had to deflect the mist-nin's blade, rather than block it entirely but she could tell that her opponent's strength and stamina were greater than her own. She wasn't being given the chance to cast another genjutsu, she knew she had to think of something and fast.
As if he had read her mind, the male Jounin quickly put his blade away and began to form seals. She was too far away to perform an effective genjutsu on him. The female Jounin was adept with taijutsu and weapons, but she tended to use genjutsu over ninjutsu. Her ninjutsu was admittedly her worst asset.
Zabuza wasn't going to give the kunoichi a chance to act, knowing her genjutsu could be dangerous if he gave her more than a moment. The demon ninja smirked under his bandages. "Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!" (Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique). The water behind the Jounin began to surge violently before gushing up in a long vortex of water, which shot towards the female ninja.
Kurenai watched with wide eyes as the massive water spiral shot towards her. She could move, but the attack was so large that she wouldn't avoid the whole thing and if she was caught off guard she'd be killed. There was nothing suitably close enough to use for a substitution. Her only chance was to stand her ground and brace herself against the attack. She crossed her arms as she used chakra to reinforce them, readying herself for the assault.
Naruto saw what Kurenai was doing and he formed a single seal as fast he could. Two clones appeared beside the blond in a puff of smoke and immediately one of the clones began forming seals. Hands moved in a blur as the water attack was just about to hit the Jounin female.
As water sprayed everywhere Zabuza grinned victoriously; however, his smile faded when he saw movement in the corner of his eye. He turned to see two blond Genin standing some distance away on the lake, one of which caught the red-eyed kunoichi he had been fighting as she fell. The kunoichi was wet and had sustained some injuries, but apparently had escaped most of the damage from the attack. Seeing the second blond catch the woman, he realised that it was a solid clone and realised what had happened. The blond boy had created a clone, which had used the Kawarimi no jutsu to switch itself with the genjutsu mistress. The smoke from the destroyed clone had gone unnoticed in the blast of water. The demon of the mist had underestimated the blond once again. He'd used his most powerful ninjutsu attack with the intent to destroy the red-eyed woman in one move, but he had failed and used a significant amount of chakra in the attempt. Under his bandages he frowned.
Kurenai's body hurt like hell, but she was surprised she didn't feel worse. She opened her eyes and looked up to a masked face beneath blond hair. "N-Naruto?" Her head was spinning a little, she tried to move her body but it wasn't responding properly.
"Sort of." The blond nodded his head over in one direction. "He's the real one." Kurenai turned her head slowly and painfully toward a second blond. The Jounin felt her carrier begin to move away from the original Naruto.
"Naruto?!" Kurenai hurt even trying to speak loudly and it didn't help her chakra was exhausted from keeping up with the mist-nin.
Naruto nodded to his sensei, who his clone was taking to the shore. "I'll finish this, sensei, don't worry." Naruto then turned to Zabuza who looked to be thinking.
The demon of the mist was indeed thinking carefully about his new opponent, since the boy had already surprised him twice. He was usually the type to go straight on the offensive, but at two thirds full strength he decided to be wary.
Kurenai was beginning to come to her senses, but her body was still not very responsive. The blond clone placed her on the grass gently, leaning her against a tree facing the original Naruto. At the moment, neither opponent was moving, as if each was sizing up the other. "Will you….will he be okay?" She watched the clone nervously, who apparently wasn't going to be dispelled any time soon.
Ino, Hinata and Tazuna arrived on the scene, having been further on along the lake side. The three headed towards the Jounin and the blond clone, catching the injured woman's question.
Ino and Hinata glanced at the two on the lake and then at the clone. Ino spoke first. "Well?" She was too worried about her blond teammate to interrogate him on his abilities.
The clone gave a shrug. "I…he….we have never had a real fight on this level. I honestly don't know the outcome, but we shall see." The blond figure stood stoically, intent on providing some measure of protection to his creator's team.
Naruto watched Zabuza's eyes, the other returning his hard stare and neither breaking eye contact. The tension between the two built until it became killing intent, rapidly building. Even those on the shore could feel the tension, until Naruto's chakra and killing intent soared above Zabuza's own for just a moment before it disappeared.
Naruto decided enough was enough and charged chakra once more into his left bracelet, dashing in a straight line towards he mist-nin.
Zabuza grinned maniacally under his bandages and lifted his sword, sweeping it around horizontally into the blond's paths. The speed of the attack was much greater than his usual vertical slash.
Naruto pushed chakra into his feet and pushed with his legs as he leant his head forward, forward flipping just over the blade and through Zabuza's guard. He flicked his smaller sword across Zabuza's chest and ducked under the nuke-nin's right arm as the man brought the hilt back violently into the blond's back. Naruto took the blow around his kidney area.
Naruto ignored the pain and continued to run before he slid and turned, sending a spray of water up as he faced Zabuza once more.
Zabuza grimaced at the gash across his chest, knowing he was just lucky the boy hadn't had time to turn the blade round and stab him. Blood soaked through his outfit and drops of the red fluid dripped to the water, to disperse in a cloud of red before vanishing altogether.
This time, Zabuza ran towards the blond who stood waiting, keeping his sweeping movement constricted, with the point of the blade down. He swept the massive blade across the space in front of him.
Blade met with blade in a loud clang of metal and the large sword pressed against the smaller weapon. The Jounin level nuke-nin was surprised that the boy was able to match his physical strength.
Naruto was forcing a large amount of chakra into his arms to keep his blade steady. With the chakra he was sending to his feet, and his shield, he was burning through a lot. Luckily he had a large reserve, but it would not last indefinitely. Deciding to take a gamble, Naruto focused chakra to two further areas of his body. Chakra flowed to his right hand, in which he began to charge wind imbued chakra, while he prepared to let go of the blade with his right arm. He also concentrated chakra to the left side of his rib cage.
Zabuza was surprised when the resistance to his blade disappeared and it sped towards the boy's chest. When it hit the shield some of the force was absorbed, before it slid off again. The blade continued towards the blond, but the young ninja didn't dodge as would have been expected. The boy moved right and forward as the large sword slashed across the blond's rib cage. The blade didn't penetrate deeply though, thanks to the boy's body armour.
Naruto ignored the pain and continued his forward movement, pushing his right hand towards the Jounin. As the large sword continued its downward path, the boy stamped on it with his right foot. Using the impromptu platform, he sprung forward and attempted to strike the nuke-nin with his wind blade.
In a flash of realisation, Zabuza dived to his right, since he was already leaning that way from trying to compensate for his sword's sudden movement. The wind blade cut into his side, slicing a couple of inches into his flesh. In a reflexive response to the pain, he rammed the hilt of his sword into the side of the blond's head, sending him flying to land on the water some yards away.
Hinata, Ino and Tazuna watched the battle wide-eyed and unmoving, as if hypnotised by the scene playing out on the water.
Zabuza ignored the injury and the blood which was running down his side. He watched as the blond boy slowly stood up, shaking his head to clear it before standing up straight. Impressively the boy still clutched his blade in his left hand. "Enough sword play." The mist-nin put his large sword away.
Naruto smiled and put his sword away, while it made a satisfying noise as the sheath's embedded sharpening stones met the blade. "Fine by me"
Zabuza began to perform seals quickly, noticing that the blond did nothing. "Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu!" (Water Release: Water Dragon Blast Technique). The water behind Zabuza began to move, and as it rose it contorted into a long shape. It rapidly formed into the head of a dragon.
The water attack rushed towards the blond, who began to dodge, but it looked too late. The dragon just caught the boy and water was thrown up everywhere. The ascending water and mist hid the two figures from those on the bank and each other.
Zabuza was still alert when the water began to fall, but he could see over to where the boy had been and he gave a smirk. The blond boy was floating in the water, his face to the sky and his eyes closed in unconsciousness. The demon of the mist sauntered over to the prone figure, determined to put an end to his life.
Kurenai's eyes went wide and she struggled to move, but could not. Even if she could, she would never have made it in time to help. "No." She didn't even shout, fear of losing her student filling her.
Ino couldn't believe what was happening before her eyes. The mission had become a far cry from what she had expected when she asked for a C-Class mission. They had been attacked by two ninja earlier. They had then been attacked once more by some eyebrow-less, but very strong, psycho. Most unbelievable was that Naruto, who had always been a loser and general non-entity to her, had shown he was stronger than anyone had imagined. Now it looked like he was going to die and she could do nothing. "Naruto." Guilt swamped her, as it was her who had asked for the higher ranked mission.
Hinata's pearl eyes were becoming damp as she watched the imminent demise of her teammate. She had hoped to befriend him as she had her female teammate, but it looked like she would not get that chance. "Naruto-kun."
Tazuna felt guilt gnaw at him. True the boy was a ninja and an impressive one, but the child was in over his head thanks to the bridge builder. "I'm so sorry."
Zabuza unsheathed and lifted his sword, pausing as he took a second to enjoy the moment. He looked across the lake, to the five figures there, for a moment and the demon ninja moved his blade down in one quick motion. The blond's neck offered little resistance and was severed easily.
Both Naruto's team, Tazuna and Zabuza were surprised when the blond turned into a puff of smoke. Zabuza's eyes widened as the water underneath him began to bubble ominously.
Naruto had never thought about performing ninjutsu from underwater before, but he finished his seals and tried to speak out. "Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu!" (Water Release: Water Dagon Missile Technique) The words were heavily distorted, coming out as bubbles, but as he focused towards the sight of Zabuza's feet it didn't seem to matter.
Zabuza was completely surprised when a dragon's head made from water emerged beneath him and flew upwards.
Naruto pushed chakra into his feet and shot to the surface of the water, emerging and landing on the surface. This time he stayed on the surface of the water, taking deep breaths.
Everyone watched as Zabuza was carried into the air, towards the bank of the lake. The speed of the dragon did not allow him to escape off of the head and the demon of the mist's eyes widened in fear as the dragon headed towards a tree.
The dragon hit the large tree, which cracked under the powerful impact, and the water dragon exploded into water. Zabuza lay against the tree, just barely conscious and apparently unable to move.
A tired Naruto headed to the figure of Zabuza, who was shaking his head side to side as if to ward the boy off. He stopped right in front of the bandaged nuke-nin. "You underestimated your opponent, Zabuza-san. You don't have to be bad to be devious." Naruto unsheathed his sword once more. "I will make it quick, Zabuza-san, and for what it's worth I won't enjoy doing this." Naruto had never killed before, but he was prepared nonetheless and lifted his blade. This time he did not follow his sword style as he began to swing the blade sideway towards Zabuza's neck.
Naruto felt a presence closing in with his heightened senses. He saw senbon shooting towards the nuke-nin, but he moved fast and used his sword to block the airborne needles.
Haku was more than a little apprehensive, having watched the whole battle from a distance and only moved closer when the fight had gone bad for Zabuza. Her plan to save her master had been ruined by the boy.
Naruto watched as a hunter-nin stepped from the bushes and stood up to reveal a shinobi of roughly his height. He focused intently on the person; the way they walked, the scent from them and the sound of their slightly panicked breathing. "Hello Hunter-nin-chan." He voiced his words casually, but made a few things clear.
Haku always made an effort to hide her gender, though the manner was complicated. She used a double bluff by dressing in a very feminine manner. Most people would not think a boy pretending to be a girl was in fact a girl in the first place. The reason behind it may have seemed whimsical, but her master had told her the only thing keeping her from being a perfect tool was her gender. The demon of the mist thought females were too emotional to be good ninja. Because of her precious person's belief, she pretended to be a boy and repressed her emotions. The young kunoichi froze mid-step. It seemed the charade was up and that the boy knew her gender. She reached behind her back, forming seals with her one hand. "I have a warrant here from the Tsuchikage for Zabuza's execution."
Naruto frowned, not believing her, and prepared himself for battle just in case. He did not realise that the girl was able to perform one handled seals.
"Sensatsu Suisho no Jutsu!" (Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death Technique). Haku's attack startled Naruto and he began to dodge before the attack even manifested. A thousand needles formed from the puddles at their feet and shot towards where he had just been standing.
He was still in the air when Haku grabbed the man he'd been about to execute and vanished in a cloud of mist. Naruto landed a fraction of a second later. "Damn."
With the battle over, Naruto walked back across the lake towards his waiting team and client, noticing the odd looks he was getting. Stepping onto the bank, Naruto dismissed his clone and moved towards his team, before falling on his ass. The quickly vanishing adrenaline and the heavy chakra use were taking their toll; however, he wasn't about to be given the chance to rest in peace.
"What in the hell was all that!" Ino shouted at the top of her lungs, having finally found her voice. It was a question that he saw the group shared.
Damn. Was his thought on the matter.