Bonds
Ch.7
The Demon of Mist…
"Hey Old-Man Hokage, what kind of mission do you have for us?" said a cheerful Naruto with hands at the back of his head. It was a month now that he had become a genin of team 7 and after doing one B-rank mission they had been promised to now take a C-rank mission. You can call catching Tora, the cat of the wife of daimyo, a B-rank mission right? They really didn't know why it was labeled as D-rank. After doing that mission Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura thought they will become the laughing stock for the whole village because of the marks Tora gave them, but much to their surprise, they were sympathized by every ninja, chunin or above, that crossed their paths and recognized those marks. They even met a retired jounin on their way back to the hokage tower who told them about how Tora was called 'the cat from hell' in his childhood and how it has been turned to 'the hellish cat of pure terror'. This lead to them thinking of how old Tora was.
How much can a cat live again? Oh yeah, up to 9 lives.
"Naruto! Show some respect to the hokage!" Sakura bonked him on the head before moving to hokage and bowing to him respectfully, completely forgetting how she gave Naruto a concussion. Everyone sweat dropped at this but Kakashi coughed at his hand gaining everyone's attention, "Hokage-sama, as they have successfully completed that mission, I have brought them to take one C-rank mission as promised."
Hokage breathed in his pipe making a small cloud of smoke arise from it, the cloud dispersed as soon as it was formed and he looked at the kids with a grand-fatherly smile, "Ahh, what a perfect timing," he took one scroll from the box on the desk and threw it towards Kakashi who caught it with ease, "We happen to have a newly came C-rank mission. It's an escort mission. You have to escort your client back to The Land of Waves." he flicked his fingers and an ANBU appeared out of nowhere, scaring the genins shitless. Kakashi rolled his eyes at the obvious display of Hokage but didn't point him out for gaining his amusement by scaring his genins, he was always so tired and had to deal with the paperwork and the village's problems, he can only find some laugh in these little moments so how can he take even that from him?
"Bring our client here," he ordered the ANBU who nodded briefly before shunshining away to the guest room and coming back to the office with the client, albeit in the normal way through the door for the sake of the client, literally. That guy was a monster when it comes to his sake. He gulped down 7 bottles of it already, and had the eighth one in his hands, he had already knocked out 3 chunin level ninjas with just his rattling alone, needless to say that the ANBU was not at all curious to see what more that guy can do.
"What the-!? These are the ninjas I hired!?" he all but shouted upon entering the office and taking account of the team offered to him, "The girl looks like she will faint at the sight of a bleeding rabbit!"
The man drunk more from his bottle of sake, completely oblivious to the fuming Sakura being held back by Naruto and Sasuke, with Kakashi standing at a safe distance from them. He sighed; this was the first C-rank mission of his genins and they got a difficult client or 'Snake tongues' as they call them in their ninja language because they really spit poison from their mouths, and ninjas have to endure them while doing their missions.
"I assure you Tazuna-san that my genins are more than enough for this kind of mission, also you have me with you so do not worry about anything" said Kakashi not losing his cool to the drunk old.
He mumbled something before looking back up to him and nodding, "Allright, I am Tazuna, a master bridge builder from the Land of Waves and your client."
Kakashi nodded before turning and looking at the Hokage, "We accept the mission," he turned to his genins, "You all will meet me and Tazuna-san at the gates in exactly 1 hour. Prepare your packs; I have a feeling it will be a long journey..."
(After 1 hour, at the gates)
For the first time from when they had met him, Kakashi was exactly on time. Naruto and Sakura had their jaws at the ground while Sasuke was pinching himself saying it was a dream. Kakashi shook his head in amusement before clearing his throat to gain attention; he had been doing this a lot lately, "Ok, so now that we all are here I would like to tell you your formations. It may seem to be an easy mission but one never knows what will happen, so it's good to be ready for anything…." Tazuna eyed him nervously from the corner, "Sasuke will be at the front, while Naruto and Sakura will be at Tazuna-san's sides and I will keep a look at the back." He looked at his genins getting a nod out of all of them, "Good, now let's begin the journey." And they started towards The Land of Waves.
The way towards the east gate of Land of Fire was mostly eventless. Naruto spared a few glances towards how Sakura was trying to flirt with Sasuke who gave her a cold shoulder every time. During one of their private training sessions Sakura told him how Sasuke used to be an admirable kid with a bright smile on his face until that night. After that, everything changed. He became gloomy and cold. Naruto was amazed when Sakura told him that she fell for Sasuke during their childhood not because he was Uchiha or something but for his generosity and confident nature which showed great promise of achieving something big. His Uchiha status and popularity just added to fuel. Naruto was sure Sasuke will at least acknowledge her if she put down her fan-girlishness and becomes a little serious about his kunoichi career. Naruto was also sure that he will get a punch for that suggestion but much to his amazement Sakura took it rather well and even seeks Kakashi's help for the matter. Now-a-days you can find both of them training at every Sunday at training ground 7.
He was cut out of his musings by some rather loud screams coming from all the sides. Suddenly a ninja clad in grey and black with a breather on his face came riding on the veins of the trees and hit a startled Sakura at the side making her propel in the air while screaming in pain and shock.
The ninja then looked at Tazuna with an evil gleam in his eyes and charged towards him before being stopped by Naruto as he made one clone to take Tazuna to a safer spot and engaged the ninja himself.
"SAKURA!" shouted Sasuke before he jumped in the air to catch her. He putted his arms around her and landed on the bark of a tree.
"Hehehe…"
His eyes widened as he looked backwards to see another ninja with a breathing mask on his head ready to plunge his hand covered with metal claws in his back. He tried to jump away but with Sakura's added weight it was easier said than done. It was too late now….or at least he thought. Kakashi appeared out of nowhere, kicking the ninja on the gut. He rammed two kunais at his hands pinning him to the tree and making him scream out in agony.
Upon hearing his scream the fellow ninja grunted, "Damn you…!". He punched Naruto at his ribs, making him gasp for air before doing a reverse sweep kick to make him fall. He then unsealed a chain-sickle from his scroll before running towards Kakashi's direction. However, before long, he spun on his heels and blocked three kunais coming at him and caught the fourth. He saw Naruto standing there with blood trickling from his lips and a little winded.
"You certainly don't know when to give up, do you?" grunted the ninja before changing his trajectory and running towards Naruto instead.
"Nopes" said Naruto with a smirk before making two clones and charging at him. The clones charged at him from the sides while Naruto came at him from the center. In a smooth motion the ninja swung his chain-sickle in a 270 degree position while simultaneously doing a reverse sweep at the original Naruto.
The sickle cut down the first clone while the spiked chain took care of the second. Original however, jumped over him and the chain, twisted in the air, and landed a cartwheel kick at the ninja's head. The ninja pulled back his chain forcing Naruto to do a quick kawirami with a nearby plant or else taking the risk of being chiseled away by the chains. The ninja muttered some curses under his breather before dashing towards him again. He made three quick handsigns and 5 mud clones appeared out of the ground and charged towards Naruto at different sides. Naruto wanted to make his own clones but the ninja was faster than he expected. He closed the distance between them within a blink before engaging Naruto in a duel. Naruto ducked the first clone's punch while grabbing the leg of second and pulling it with force to make it fall on the first one and dispelling them both in mud. However, he was not fast enough for the third clone as it grabbed him from behind in a firm hold restricting his movements.
"Hehehe…now you are mine…" said the original while coming towards the restricted Naruto with the remaining two of his clones. All of them with a wicked look on their faces. The original lifted his chain-sickle over a frightened Naruto and brought it down with full force. But…
CLINCK!
Sasuke was there, between Naruto and the ninja, holding the sickle with a kunai. He looked back at Naruto with a smirk, "1-0". He then looked at front and plastered a powerful kick in the belly of the original and used his hands as support to swing both his legs in a 360 degree hitting all the three at the same time. The clones dispelled to mud upon the hit while the original fell on his back, out of wind.
"Sasuke!"
Sasuke looked back and saw Naruto, still held by the clone's powerful grip. The clone placed a kunai at Naruto's neck, the tip contacting his neck and taking out a little blood, "One more step and your friend will be dead!" threatened the clone.
Sasuke grunted, "Damn..."
" *sigh* You guys still have a lot to learn."
3 shurikens made contact with the clone's head, neck and vertebrata with a deadly precision forcing the clone to earth. Naruto and Sasuke looked upto the direction of the shurikens to see Kakashi looking lazily towards them while spinning a kunai in his finger. Behind him was a very enraged Sakura beating the crap out of the other ninja pinned to the tree. Naruto and Sasuke sympathized the ninja. Really.
Their attention was diverted when they heard the slow mumbling of the ninja Sasuke had knocked out. He stood up with shaky legs and shook his head to clear out the concussion, "Damn brats. 'm gonna beat the fuck out of them someday…"
"Oh yeah?"
The ninja's head sky-rocketed upon hearing the voice. He felt two strong hands grip his shoulders and when he focused, he saw that he was grabbed by Sasuke and Naruto, both holding him with one hand each.
They both looked at each other with a smirk, "Let's see if you are good to your words."
The ninja grunted and began cursing both of them profusely.
Both of them sighed before nodding to each other, "Good Night."
And the ninja was awarded with two punches on his face.
Kakashi and Sakura jumped off the tree and watched the knocked out ninja with two blue swells under his eyes. Tazuna also came back from his hiding position, his clone having been dispelled when Naruto was hit.
"Who are they!? And why did they attack?" asked Sakura more to herself than anyone.
"Beats me.." said Naruto while slumping down besides a tree and unsealed a drink can from his scroll. He drank a little from the can before continuing, "But I don't think they were after us." He threw the can towards Sasuke who caught it with ease and sipped the content, "Of course they were not. Who in their right mind will go after some fresh out genins?" he passed over the can to Sakura who happily drank the rest of the content.
"From us I meant him" said Naruto while pointing towards Kakashi who was silently leaning over a tree watching the exchange between his genins.
He sighed, "Naruto is right. They were after someone else…" he said while looking towards Tazuna.
"Wh-what do you mean by that!? How can you say they were after m-me!?" Tazuna backed away a little in fear. Fear of being caught.
"First of all, your muttering indicates that you are hiding something, but it can be a post fight trauma as you are not used to daily life-death fights so I will not say much about this. But when that ninja kicked Sakura he went after you instead of me, which should have been the most logical thing to do in this situation. It shows that they were given the orders of just killing you and to vacant the area as soon as possible. All the attacks on my genins were just for distraction." He ordered Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke to bring the ninja pinned on the tree and to tie both of them. "But the real question is, why they were targeting you? You can answer now…"
He walked towards the tied ninjas and grabbed one by hair forcing his head upwards, "…or you want me to get it myself? I prefer the first option as the second on will be painful…not for them, but for you."
Tazuna sighed heavily and sat down, "So you found out at last…" all of the team 7 sat on the ground to hear him, "I assume you have heard the name of Gato?" he started.
Confusion sprayed over Naruto and Sasuke's faces while Sakura and Kakashi nodded, "Of course, he is the current largest shipping magnet in the whole Elemental Nations. He is even richer than some Kages." Said Sakura, "Everyone knows him."
"Not everyone.." said Tazuna while pointing towards Naruto and Sasuke who were giving owl like tilted neck expression at the name of Gato. Everyone sweat dropped.
"Uhm, how is this attack related to him?" asked Kakashi.
"He came to our lands 7 years ago. Our island always has been low in economy due to being small and the only mode of transportation to other nations is through the sea. When he first came, he brought trade opportunities with himself. He gave work to the poor, hired the villagers and gave them proper money to run their families. He even used to give occasional parties when he had huge profits." Told Tazuna while taking another shot of his sake. All of the team 7 was sitting on the ground to hear the story.
"But this was all an act. A cover to hide his hideous deeds from being disclosed. He acted all nice and generous and continued to do his evil work under the villagers' nose." Tazuna looked up to the sky in nostalgia. He remembered how Gato has deceived them, used them for his evil purposes and then disposed them off when they ran out his use. He remembered how he killed all those who stood against him. He still remembers his son-in-law.
A pained look came over his face and his eyes began to moist. He started talking again with soaked, grumpy voice "I decided to make a bridge that connected Land of Waves to Land of Fire. All the bridge-men and carpenters agreed to this plan and we started to discretely make that bridge. It is a huge bridge, it has to be in order to be able to connect those two lands, as such it was hard to keep it a secret for long. Gato got the wind of our plans and he started attacking us and halted the progress of the bridge. It is only halfway done. All those brave men who decided to start the work again were killed on the spot…" tears began to fall from his old, weary eyes, "I lost many of my friends…"
Naruto's heart clenched at the sight of this crying old man, he can't see anyone sad. Not when can help it. He stood up with a determined face, "Don't worry old man!" everyone looked at him, startled by his sudden loudness, "We will help you! We will kick Gato's ass so hard that he is gonna remember us every time he sits!"
"Naruto! Sit quietly!" ordered Kakashi, "This man lied to us. It is no short than a B-rank mission. His story maybe sad but being a ninja you faces these kinds of problems all the time. It does not mean that you will always break the contracts and go with your heart. A ninja always thinks logically. Remember that." Kakashi did not mean anything he said. He also wanted to help this guy but decided to improve his team's decision taking skills using this situation as a tool. 'Let's see how they respond to that.'
Naruto was angry on his sensei. While travelling with Jiraya he saw many places which had become no more than a pile of empty land because of the war, he saw many people who had lost hope on life because no one helped them out when they needed the most. He had experienced firsthand what it could be like when you are in a dire situation and someone helps you, the hope it gives to you, the feeling of being saved….he had made a promise to himself that day, that he will help all those who need help. If no one, then there will always be Naruto Uzumaki to help.
"This man needs us!" said Naruto pointing towards Tazuna who was looking the exchange with fear, "I am not gonna leave him without help!" he picked his backpack and stood before Tazuna, "I am going with him to his village no matter what." And he started moving.
"Are you coming or not?"
"Ahh y-yeah, coming!" and Tazuna started to move too.
"Wait, Naruto" Sasuke picked his backpack before continuing towards Naruto. Sakura did the same before Kakashi stopped them. Naruto was looking at them all the while.
"You are not possibly trying to disobey me, do you?" asked Kakashi threateningly.
All of them but Sasuke gulped, "I am sorry sensei, but we are just following what you taught us." Everyone looked at Sasuke in confusion, "Those who break orders are scum, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum" Kakashi's eyebrows rose in surprise, "right sensei?"
"Hahaha, of course Sasuke" he began to chuckle, earning a surprised look from all of the watchers, "I'm sorry I had to do this. I was trying to improve your conscience and decision making skills. I must say you passed with flying colours."
He gave an eye-smile to which Naruto broke a grin and everyone of them laughed.
"Wait, what to do with them?" asked Sasuke while pointing towards the tied ninja duo.
Kakashi took out a scroll from his pocket and began to write something on it. After writing the scroll he bitted his thumb to draw some blood and did some hand-seals before ramming his hand on the ground. Suddenly a seal array appeared from his hand and in a puff of smoke a small dog with a blue vest and a Konoha headband appeared from it.
"Pakkun, you have to deliver this scroll to Hokage-sama."
The dog took the scroll in his mouth and nodded and disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"There, the ANBUs will take care of them now." Said Kakashi before continuing forward.
Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were still in awe of what had happened.
"That…That was seriously cool!" Naruto managed to say.
Everyone agreed.
(At the east gates of Land of Fire)
They had decided to take a small boat rather than a large one as all the large boats were used to trade something or other and had to be checked before they are allowed entry in the Lands of Waves.
They met a man who assured them that he can take them to the Land of Waves unnoticed and fortunately his boat also had a motor so they would arrive to their destination faster than they would have if they had to peddle their way.
This also gave them privacy and enough time to plan a course of action if they were met with more enemies, which Kakashi said was very likely to happen, and they also changed their positions to better keep Tazuna safe.
Now, Kakashi was at the back as he thought the next enemy will be more cautious and well, more silent than the last one, so he will most probably choose to hit at the back. Naruto was at the front with Sakura and Sasuke at the sides.
They were currently sitting on the boat and resting while Naruto suddenly have a random thought.
"Sensei, have you ever been to the Lands of Waves before?"
Sakura looked at Kakashi with interest and even Sasuke, who was trying to meditate, cracked open one of his eye.
"Yeah, I have been there. Though, it was almost 15 years ago." replied Kakashi while still reading his book.
"Were you on a mission?" asked Sakura.
"Yes, but the mission was to reach to Uzushiogakure, the land of Uzumakis. It's just that the safest way to there goes through the Land of Waves that I had to go there first."
Sakura's eyes widened as she looked at Naruto. His clan also has their own village? Why he never said anything about this?
"But wasn't it destroyed during the Second Ninja War?" asked Sasuke while still in his meditating pose, with eyes open, "I know this because in our clan it was compulsory to learn about every major and feared clan that stood after the First Ninja War." He replied after seeing the questioning look of his sensei and rolled his eyes.
"But why was it destroyed?" asked a puzzled Sakura.
Kakashi closed his book for a moment and glanced at Naruto who was quiet all the while and was looking downwards, 'He knows more than he lets out' thought Kakashi before sighing and replying Sakura's question, "As I told you Uzushiogakure was the land of Uzumakis. Uzumakis were good ninjas but the thing for which they were most feared was their Sealing Techniques. Their seals were very complex and hard to master and were just as effective and powerful. After their demise the world was left with just handful seal masters and even in them only some were above level 8."
"Level 8?" asked Sasuke with interest. Kakashi nodded, "Yes. This knowledge is not very common but seal masters have levels that indicates their proficiency with seals and power. It's just as like ninja ranks. However, there are some differences in them, for example, a C-rank ninja can perform an S-rank jutsu with practice and dedication but a level 4 apprentice can never perform a level 8 seal. Also, a ninja have some jutsus that comes from bloodlines and cannot be learned or copied by anyone else, however, a seal master can copy or study any type of seal. A very talented seal master can also duplicate the effects of bloodlines to some degree."
Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise, 'so a seal master can re-create the effects of bloodlines? What a frightening power…no wonder they were annihilated out of fear'
"How many levels does a seal master has?" asked Sakura.
"Well, there are 12 levels to becoming a seal master. A level 12 seal master is said to be equally powerful as two kages combined. But it's just a rumor. After all it was never tested."
"Unbelievable…"said Sakura in awe.
"Are there any level 12 seal masters around?" asked Sasuke in curiosity.
"Becoming a level 12 seal master is even harder than becoming a kage. Even at the times of Uzushiogakure there was no level 12 seal master. Nidaime hokage was a level 11 seal master and that is saying something about level 12 seal masters. Even Jiraya of the sannin is a level 10 master. The only known level 12 seal masters in history were The Sage of the Six Paths, the creator of the Uzumaki clan, and the Yondaime."
"Yondaime was a level 12 seal master!?" asked Sasuke in disbelief. "No way…"
"Yeah…after the Uzushiogakure was destroyed Konoha helped them and gave shelter to the handful people who got away in time. Yondaime was exceptionally talented from the start. He was as powerful as a high level chuunin when he graduated from academy. He was always interested in seals. He learned through one of his friend who was the sheltered inhabitant of Uzushiogakure. He also learned some of the Uzumaki's most powerful techniques and also created some. His signature jutsu, Hiraishin (Flying Thunder God), is fully based on seals and is a level 11 seal jutsu." told Kakashi with a prideful smirk.
"Wow…" said Sasuke in awe.
"But why do you know so much about him?" asked Sakura. Kakashi looked at her with an eye-smile, "Because, he was my sensei."
Naruto's eyes widened in surprise. 'Ero-senin…I'm so gonna get you for this!' he thought in anger.
Kakashi looked at Naruto from the sides of his eyes. He was silent during the entire conversation and was never curious for anything. It looked to him like the boy was having trouble talking about his clan's grounds. He will have to talk to him soon.
"Looks like we reached our spot." said Tazuna.
The mist surrounding the sea dispersed a little to reveal a huge island with the largest bridge they had even seen.
"I thought you say it's half done?" asked Sasuke while looking at the bridge in awe.
Tazuna grinned, "It still is."
The travel towards Tazuna's house was more troublesome than they thought it would be. They had to get past Gato's man without being noticed as they were keeping guard over the whole island. After getting away unnoticed, they continued the path that Tazuna has described. After 20 min. of walking, they were suddenly surrounded by thick mist that made it impossible to see ahead.
"Damn, this mist is thick,"
"hmm.." Tazuna looked around for a minute, "This is strange…"
"What is?" asked Sasuke with a frown.
"The mist," He putted his finger along his chin in a thinking posture, "The region around here is always covered with mist, but this one is exceptionally thick. It almost feels unnatural..."
Kakashi narrowed his eyes, 'this mist is laced with chakra…looks like the ambush has begun' "Don't mind it; it might be a fluke of nature. Let's continue ahead." He said giving them a false eye-smile.
"But how?" asked Sakura with a frown.
"Naruto, if you would…?" asked Kakashi earning a nod from the blond. Naruto quickly made some hand-signs, "Wind Style: Great Wind Breakthrough!" a powerful gust flowed out of Naruto's surroundings blowing away all the mist with it.
"There, now lets conti- DOWN!" shouted Kakashi while forcing Tazuna to crouch with his hand on his head. The rest of the team followed quickly missing a giant butcher's sword by a hair's strand. The giant sword embedded itself on a tree's bark and the mist surrounded them again. A voice boomed out of the mist from practically nowhere, '7 vital points of human body – Heart, Lungs, Kidney, Ribs, Brain, Spine and Throat. Where do you want to be hit in first? Maybe you prefer the painful death..? Hehehe…'
Sasuke was not scared of his threat. Itachi's words to him were scarier than this threat ten folds. But what shook him was the laughter at the end. Covered with cold anger, laced with malice, the laughter of an insane killer whose sole purpose in life was to kill just for the sake of fun of it. It shook him to the very core.
Naruto saw Sasuke trembling from the corner of his eye and grunted. His hands passed in blur as he made same hand-seals he had made a minute ago, "Great Wind Breakthrough!" The mist decapitated a little, to reveal that the large sword was nowhere in sight.
Then suddenly a shadow formed over Kakashi's head and he looked up to see the sword crashing on his head with his owner holding its hilt.
"KAKASHI SENSEI!" shouted Sakura as they all saw how the ninja cleaved his head clean off his neck. However…
PUFF!
The beheaded Kakashi turned out to be a clone. The ninja grunted lowly as a voice came from behind him, "So Gato sent you after the Demon Brothers failed, huh? Looks like he is pretty serious about all this,"
Kakashi rammed a kunai in the ninja's back who turned out to be a water clone and splashed out of existence.
"I don't know if he is serious or just precautious, but he hired me and that means that he is going to get his work done no matter what. I give full value for money after all," came the reply from the man who was standing on the small river just ahead of them.
"Sensei who is this guy?" asked Sakura with fearful eyes.
Naruto took in all about the ninja. Short spiky hair, demon like eyes, mouth, hands and torso covered with bandages, an overgrown butcher's knife in his hands. Yup. This guy is a real deal.
"He is Zabuza Momochi. One of the Seven Swordsmen of Mist. An A-rank ninja," told Kakashi, "Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura protect Tazuna-san. This guy is too much for you at the moment. I'll fight him myself," he shifted his hitai-ate to reveal his second eye. His second eye had a scar running down from his forehead passing through the eye-brow and stopping at his left cheek. But the most peculiar thing about it was its pupil which was bloodshot red in colour. A blood-red eye with three tomoes…
"That…That's a Sharingan!" Shouted Sasuke looking at his sensei's eye in disbelief, "But how can you have it? This is Uchiha's doujutsu!"
"It's a long story which I'll tell you some other time. Right now focus on your task." Said Kakashi as he took his battle stance. Naruto patted Sasuke on his shoulder and nodded. Sasuke backed away reluctantly and made their formation around Tazuna.
(A/N: OST Emergence of Talents PLAYS)
Kakashi charged towards Zabuza with all his speed with a kunai in hand. He jumped at the bark of a tree and then jumped on the other and then other and kept it going for a second. Zabuza grunted and held his sword in a defensive manner intercepting from where Kakashi will attack. Suddenly, he moved his sword in the back holding it tightly to protect from the stab from behind and spun on the ground before Kakashi could gain anymore ground. He backhanded Kakashi who blocked the attack and kept on with his own counters.
The genins all watched the fight in awe, "Kakashi-sensei is awesome," said an impressed Naruto.
"Look at his speed, he is always super lazy around us, who could have thought he has speed of monsters?" said Sakura voicing her thoughts.
"Duh, he is a jounin. He has to be powerful. Though, the other ninja, Zabuza was it, is keeping his ground fairly well," said Sasuke with a frown.
Naruto had to agree with Sasuke on this, no matter how bad it was for them. If it continued like this he and Sasuke probably will have to help Kakashi to win this fight. He was sure Sasuke was thinking the same thing. The calculating look in his eyes and his twitching hand indicated he was thinking of what to do.
CLICK!
His focus went to the fight again were he saw Kakashi and Zabuza in a deadly duel, the former having kunais in each hand the later attacking with his sword. Zabuza swung his large sword in a major arc forcing Kakashi to jump backward. He jumped at the retreating shinobi and tried to plung his sword in his chest with a powerful stab. Kakashi moved his kunais in a cross position taking the full force of the attack on them. The force of the attack shot Kakashi to the ground who skidded a little before charging back at the rogue ninja.
They traded some blows before Zabuza replaced his sword on his back and jumped on the small river that was flowing throwing the area, "This is taking too much time," he made some quick hand-signs and suddenly the mist surrounded them again, "Hidden Mist Technique!"
Kakashi braced himself and looked in the mist cautiously. His sharingan was able to differentiate chakra with colors. A different color for different chakra types, however, the mist was laced with chakra, as if it was wrapped by a thin layer of chakra that made it all the more difficult to see in it.
He felt someone on his side and ducked at the crucial moment to avoid being beheaded by the monster blade. He punched the man on the gut who splashed into a puddle indicating it was a water clone.
'Oh shit!'
"PROTECT TAZUNA-SAN!" he shouted towards what he believed his genins were.
"You should care about yourself…"
Kakashi looked ahead to see several sets of preying eyes coming out of the mist. In a second he was surrounded by 50 water clones all looking at him with merciless glint.
He growled in desperation. He needed to reach to his genins as soon as possible. He formed a cross hand-sign and four shadow clones appeared around him. They stood back-to-back, each holding a kunai, "I have to finish this quickly!"
(A/N: OST ENDS)
Sasuke tensed upon hearing Kakashi's shout and closed in to Tazuna. His hands twitching and eyes darting towards each direction. Suddenly, something grabbed his throat from behind and lifted him in air, choking him in the process. Sasuke helplessly grabbed the long masculine thing in order to free himself but his efforts were for naught.
'An arm? Who c- oh crap!'
"Hehe.. Miserable genins fresh out of the academy. You have not seen much of this world. Well, I'll be doing you a favor by ending your life right now. This world is nothing but misery and pain. A foolish dream made on the hope of peace. I may seem to be a demon but I actually save people to experience this misery… now, it's your turn of salvation…" Zabuza lifted Sasuke higher, his sword ready in the other hand. He pulled back his sword but the moment he was going to swung it he was forced to drop Sasuke or else take the leisure of having his skull blown open by the hard staff of the blond ninja. He blocked Naruto's attack but was forced to jump back when another one came at him from above. The clone strikes the ground hard and was dispelled by the backlash of the force.
Naruto stood between Zabuza and Sasuke. He looked back at Sasuke with a wicked smirk, "1-1".
Sasuke didn't even pass him a glance. He was more focused on Zabuza. The look in his eyes frightened him to his bones. He stood up with shaky legs only to fell down again in fear. It was his most near-to-death experience till now. Even itachi spared him saying he was weak, but this monster was ready to kill him at the moment's notice and had done so if Naruto had not diverted his attention.
Naruto… why was he not afraid? How can he fight this monster!? How was he so calm..?
"Sasuke! Come out of it!" came Naruto's stern voice pulling Sasuke back to the real-time world, "If you can't fight then go away and protect Tazuna-san! We have a mission right?" he formed a cross hand-sign and hundreds of clones formed around Zabuza. He just laughed and started blasting away chunk of clones with just his sword and kicks.
"Sakura! help Sasuke and protect Tazuna-san! I'll keep this guy back!"
"On it!" came Sakura's reply as she helped Sasuke to stand. Sasuke pulled away from Sakura and eyed Naruto angrily, "Naruto! What do you think I am!? I can fight all I want damn it!"
"Don't be a fool! You think you can fight the way you are now?" Naruto formed quick hand-signs and a great gust of wind blew over the area blowing away the mist with it. Zabuza formed three hand-signs, "Water Style: Torrent Spears!" the water in the puddles around him started rotating at a violent pace. The spinning water rose from all the puddles before circling him and rotating around him. He formed another hand-sign and the water burst out in all directions. The droplets of the water turned into pointed needles, stabbing all the things in the vicinity. All the clones were stabbed by thousands of tiny spears and in a second the whole area was filled with smoke of their dispelling.
The original, who was shielded by a wall of clones, looked at Zabuza with awe. All of his clones were gone. With just one attack.
'This guy is way out of our league…'
"Hmm… atleast you had the backbone to stand," said Zabuza while walking towards the genins. He leaked more of his killer intent which made the genins froze on the spot, "But your efforts are in vain,"
Naruto tightened his fist, sweat forming on his brows. His whisker marks grew darker and thicker. His eyes turned red with slit like pupils. His nails grew sharper and his hair gained a more feral look. A strange chakra began to radiate from his body which was felt by all of them. Those with doujutsu would have seen that Naruto was surrounded by a strange mist of red chakra which was coming out of his body.
'I have to protect them! I'll never let anyone get hurt for me… not again'
Zabuza looked at the boy with several looks. Shock, anger and...happiness?
"You remind me of someone. Someone I want to kill. Someone who made my life hell…"
Naruto's danger sense was howling in his skin. Even with kyuubi's help he was nowhere good enough to beat this guy himself. But, he has to protect his friends. He made a promise and he never breaks a promise. 'That's my nindo! My ninja way!'
"Enough"
Zabuza stopped in his tracks but any sane person with fair eye-sight would have guessed that he was smiling under his mask. Naruto felt a hand on his shoulder and looked back to see Kakashi with a serious look on his face.
"You have done well by stalling him till I come here. Now go back to them," he said while jerking his thumb backward, "They need you."
Naruto looked at Sasuke and Sakura. Both of them were shocked seeing Naruto like this. They could feel the pressure, the power radiating from him. Naruto's eyes softened a bit as his face lost its feral look and his eyes turned back to blue with normal black pupils. He nodded to Kakashi before going back to them.
"Come on, we still have to guard Tazuna-san" he said without looking at any of them and continued towards the old bridge builder.
'Was that Naruo?' thought Sakura.
Sasuke grunted in annoyance. Naruto was able to fight with Zabuza. He never once looked frightened. 'And what did I do? Fell down from fear?' Seeing Naruto like this, sensing the power coming from him irked something inside him. Why was Naruto so powerful? It doesn't matter. The thing that mattered was that he was not powerful.
"Sasuke-kun?"
Sasuke looked at Sakura who was eyeing him with worry. His eyes calmed down a little before he looked away, "I-I am allright"
They both went to Tazuna and reformed their formation around him. Naruto didn't even pass them a glance as he continued to look at the battle between Kakashi and Zabuza.
(A/N: OST Experienced Many Battles PLAYS)
Kakahi charged at Zabuza with all his speed, who in turn swung his sword horizontally. Kakashi ducked under his swing and punched him at his jaws. What followed was a vicious kick at his throat and a powerful back-punch on the ribs. Kakashi tried to punch him again but Zabuza cought his wrist and kicked him in the abdomen. This gave him enough time to make some distance between him and Kakashi.
Zabuza quickly formed several hand-signs, "Water Style: Dragon Bullet Jutsu!" the water of the river rose forming a dragon with yellow eyes which roared and crashed on Kakashi. Kakashi jumped out of the way and skidded on the splashed water before forming hand-seals of his own, "Water Style: Snake Guard!" The splashed water around him rose and took the shape of a giant anaconda which crawled towards Zabuza much faster than someone would hope by looking at its size. Zabuza jumped over it and started making hand-signs again but was interrupted by Kakashi, "Oh no you won't!" "Water Style: Droplet Gun!" the anaconda opened its mouth and shot thousand of water droplets with a speed which made even the water droplets feel like iron. Zabuza thought quickly and pulled his sword in front of him, guarding himself from the bullets. But the purpose of the attack was not to harm him. Kakashi knew he could defend himself from the bullets. This jutsu do a lot more than that. The anaconda closed its mouth and whirled around the falling Zabuza, gripping him and squeezing him. But Zabuza couldn't feel any pressure. His arms were free to move and he could even move his legs as much as he wants. A quick look around him told him that he was now in fact inside the belly of the large snake. The air started to fade away as it was getting more and more difficult to breathe.
Zabuza looked at Kakashi from inside the snake. The look on his face told him that he was not finished. Zabuza tried to form hand-signs but had to fight from the force of the water that repelled his efforts. He could make hand-signs but have to put lot of effort in doing so.
Kakashi looked at him with weary eyes. The stress of using chakra consuming techniques one after another was finally starting to show its effects.
"It was a pleasure fighting you. But, I have my responsibilities," he said referring to his genins, "It's too dangerous for them to just leave you." He formed his last set of hand-seals for today, "Lightning Style: Electro Web" Kakashi rammed his hand on the water snake and stream of electricity started to form out of his hands. The electricity moved like ropes, tangling the whole snake while shocking it all the while. Zabuza shouted in agony, electricity coursing in his body. After what seems like eternity to Zabuza but was actually 5 seconds, the electric web faded away and the water snake deformed in to just water, splashing out and leaving Zabuza to fall down on the ground.
Kakashi slumped down on the ground with exhaustion.
(A/N: OST ENDS)
All the genins of team 7 looked at Kakashi in awe. Naruto looked at Sakura who in turn looked at Sasuke who looked at Naruto again. They all smiled at the same time, "YEAH!" and shouted at the same time.
"Sensei! It was AWESOME!" shouted Naruto running at Kakashi.
"You showed him!" said Sakura
"Hey, he is moving!" noted Sasuke pointing towards the fallen ninja.
Kakashi looked at Zabuza who was trying to stand by using his sword as support. All the burns on his skin and lack of breathe showed that he was in no condition to fight but still he tried to stood. What a monster.
Then from nowhere a senbon striked his neck and he fell down to the ground. Completely unconscious.
A figure jumped down from the nearby tree in front of the team. That guy was wearing a light blue kimono with light orange linings with white mask covering his face. The mask had some swirling flower petal design of red colour over one of the eye-holes.
"Hey who are you?" asked Naruto with a frown. This guy defeated Zabuza with just one attack!?
"This mask… You are a Kiri Hunter?" asked Kakashi with weary eyes.
The figure nodded before walking towards Zabuza, "Yes. I am sorry I couldn't help you fight this guy. I was looking for the right moment to strike." The mask muffeled the voice making it all the more difficult to tell if it's a boy or girl.
"This body holds many secrets of Kirigakure. It need to be disposed."
Kakashi nodded, "I understand," he stood up with some difficulty, "Then we will leave him to you"
The hunter nodded and shunshined away with the body.
"Woa… what's wrong with him?" said Sasuke observing the spot where the ninja was just a moment ago, "He defeated Zabuza so easily… it made us look like some weaklings," he said with a snarl.
"And we can't even tell if it's a he or she…" Said Naruto hands folded.
"Who are Hunters anyway? Huh sensei?" asked Sakura but didn't get any reply, "Sensei..?"
They looked at Kakashi who had fainted from the exhaustion.
"Let's take him to my house. It's not far from here." Said Tazuna finally speaking something.
The genins nodded and lifted their sensei before heading towards the old bridge builder's house.
(At a lonely dark room)
A dark figure stood in the middle of the room with another figure lying on the bench with many medical appliances on it. The figure removed a senbon stuck in the later's neck. The light from the lamp revealed the standing figure's face which was covered with a white mask.
"You really out-did yourself today" said the dark figure while working over the lying figure's body.
"I enjoyed the fight atleast…" said the lying figure with grumpy voice.
"Yeah I can see that,"said the figure and stuck one senbon in the lying man's ribs making him shout in pain.
"You enjoyed too much," said the figure sarcastically.
"When will I be able to walk again?" asked the lying man not showing any gratitude to the person who was treating him.
"The amount of injury you took will render you weak for atleast a month. But knowing your stubbornness you will be fine in half the time,"
"Hehe… good. I can't wait to fight him again…"
A/N: Yes, I did not forget about the story. The previous month was too hard on me with examinations and all.
Well, I made the chapter long as a compensation at least.
Next chapter would show some glances of Naruto's life with Jiraya.
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