Standing pressed up against a tree, Naruto poked his head around trunk carefully. "Target spotted, approximately five meters out." A small movement amongst the bushes confirmed his assumption, even if he couldn't see well. Stupid tree shadows.
"Sakura, here, target is four meters behind me. Naruto-kun, no chains. Those hurt, and we don't wanna hurt this thing."
"Sasuke, here. It's standing still right now, but it'll bounce off in the relative direction of Naruto the moment it gets spooked."
"Careful, Sasuke-kun," Kakashi said, "don't rely too much on your sharingan, it can be misleading when the target isn't human. In any case, be ready to jump."
"Now!" Naruto rushed the target, followed by his teammates. Within ten seconds, the small brown cat, Tora, was safely snuggled in Sakura's arms. Since she was the only one of them that had experience with cats, she snuggled it and scratched the little menace's head affectionately.
"Well, that works. 'Mission: Capture Tora the Cat', success!" Kakashi said. The team chatted on their way back to the mission's desk. This was their fourth mission today, and the Sandaime had forbidden Naruto from using Kage Bunshin during this mission to allow the other teams a chance to pick up a few missions of their own this time.
When they got back to the mission's desk, Tora was immediately smothered by her owner, the wife of the Daimyō. Of course, the Hokage gave his normal congratulations, and began to read through the missions scroll… mostly babysitting missions and others that Naruto couldn't blow through with his Kage Bunshin.
"Oi, jiji!" Naruto called, "I'm sick of these boring missions! Can't we have something more exciting?"
Umino-sensei, sitting next the Hokage, scoffed. "Uzumaki-kun, it's always boring. But these jobs are extremely necessary for the function of the village, in that they make up a large portion of the village's income. You've only been Genin for two months. I was doing D-ranks for almost two–."
"Fine," the Hokage interjected, "if you truly insist, I'll give you a C-rank. We don't have any Chūnin teams on hand at this very moment to take it, so you can have it. But be warned, Naruto. If one of your teammates comes back in a bag, it will not reflect well on your record, or that of your team."
"Whatever, it'll be fine; I'm awesome enough to keep them all safe! So can we have it or what?!" Naruto asked.
"Fine, fine," Sarutobi said. He leaned over to one of the Chūnin standing next to the door. "Head out into the waiting room, bring in the bridge builder. You know the one." The Chūnin bowed and left the room. A few moments later, he returned with an old man holding a bottle of sake.
"Eh?" the old man slurred, after taking a swig. "These brats are the ones who are supposed to protect me? They look pathetic, especially the redhead with the dumb face. He doesn't even look like a shinobi!"
All feeling of his surroundings vanished, with the exception of feeling worry well up in Sakura. That old man had just insulted him personally. He clenched his fists and focused his chakra to tie up that stupid old man, when he felt a hand stroke his cheek. Damn it! Why?! After a few moments, the annoyance started to subside, being replaced by a buzzing happy sensation. Unconsciously, his throat began to emit a sound a lot like a cat's purr; had Naruto been consciously aware of it, he might have been embarrassed.
When he finally regained control of his senses, he realized that Sakura had a hand on his cheek and her thumb was at the end of one of his whisker marks. He blushed deeply before muttering a 'thank you' under his breath.
"So that's how you always managed to calm Naruto down," Sasuke said, "a lot more reasonable than what Ino said."
"Wait, what did Ino-buta say?!" Sakura asked loudly. Sasuke walked up and whispered it into Sakura's ear. He couldn't hear what Sasuke said to her, but judging by how her anger flared up afterwards, he could assume.
"THAT'S DISGUSTING! I'M TWELVE, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! NARUTO-KUN IS ONLY ELEVEN!" Sakura screamed. "Next time I see her, I'm going to turn the blonde gossip into a blonde pincushion!"
"Hey, Sakura-kun~! How about we don't discuss killing our fellow Konoha-nin right now and focus on our new mission?" Kakashi said.
"Fine," Sakura said after a moment. "Now, for what purpose have you hired Team Seven?"
"Glad you asked! I'm a veteran bridge builder and carpenter from Nami no Kuni! You'll protect me to the maximum as I make my way back home and finish my bridge. Name's Tazuna," the man said. It followed by a loud belch that reeked of alcohol.
"Well, then, Tazuna-san. We'd be happy to escort you back to Nami no Kuni. Team Seven! Head home and pack your things. We leave at 9AM tomorrow morning!" Kakashi said.
"Yes, Kakashi-sensei!" the three of them said.
-D&D-
The team, sans Kakashi, went to Ichiraku to celebrate getting their first C-rank mission.
"Teuchi-ji-san! Miso Ramen with spinach and extra pork, 'ttebayo!" Naruto called. The old man smiled at him and nodded as he went and sat on the side counter with his team. Not a minute later, Konohamaru came running into the ramen stand with tons of other kids chasing him.
He ran up to Naruto with an excited face, and before the kids could follow him in, Ayame marched up with a ladle and pointed out the 'VIP Customers Only' sign for that area. The other kids' faces went from shock to annoyance almost immediately.
"Hey! No fair! Why do both Omago-sama and Uzumaki-shi get to go into that area but someone like me can't!" a young girl wearing the crest of the Shimura Clan yelled at Ayame.
"Sorry! But Konohamaru-kun is only allowed in because Naruto-kun got him on the list! Only special customers are allowed on the list for here!" Ayame said.
"Thanks, Ayame-chan!" Konohamaru called. "Teuchi-san! Shoyū Ramen with extra pork belly, kore!"
-D&D-
After a happy dinner with Naruto, Sasuke, and Konohamaru, Sakura walked home. Strangely, she was walking home alone, something which almost never happened. But Naruto was going off with Konohamaru for one last training session before their mission, and Sasuke never came to the Uzu District.
Of course, her parents were off in Tetsu no Kuni; they had finally been invited to come and meet with her grandfather; to become part of the family again, effectively. So she was left at home with… her aunt, Haruno Sōka. Sakura tried not to groan as she opened her door. If she gives me any grief, I'm just gonna stay at Naruto's.
Sōka was her father's sister, the only member of his family that hadn't ostracized him for years. She'd been the one to bring her father to Konoha in the first place, after all. After wandering for business, he'd met her mother while on a business pass into the Uzu District, eventually moving there and marrying her.
Sōka, on the other hand, had stayed in the main part of the village, and mostly managed her father's department store these days. She was really technically only there on orders from her grandfather, to keep her father from disgracing the family name. However, the past few years, her and Sakura hadn't been on good terms… mainly because, in direct opposition to Sakura, she hated Naruto.
Sakura had found that out by accident after Sōka had chased Naruto out of the house with a knife during a study session, and hadn't had any relationship with the woman since. Not helped was the fact that Sōka had refused to apologize for that instant, and her complaints to that end had ended up with an angry mob started, only to end up starting a brawl between the residents of the Uzu District and other citizens of Konoha, that ended with more than one person dead, several injured, and others entertaining T&I for weeks.
Somehow, Sōka had managed to get off scot-free, probably by brown-nosing everyone and feigning apology and remorse. Yet, no one but Sakura remembered the knife incident. But if she went to her father about it, no way would he believe her— he trusted his sister, and she'd lied to him about her before. No way would he would trust her now. Sakura shook her head and tried to put it out of her head as she walking to her room and prepared to pack.
Of course, she needed to make sure to pack everything she needed in scrolls. Food, kunai, shuriken, extra clothes. And of course, her med kit— Kakashi had appointed her as team medic, as she was the only one really suited to it. While she wasn't sure she wanted to be an iryō-nin, at least she could keep Team Seven alive until they made it to a hospital. Thankfully, using a med kit didn't require much training, just following the instructions. Just in case, she also sealed an empty backpack into a scroll, just in case she found something she couldn't seal.
Placing her kunai and shuriken into her inrō, she tossed her scrolls backpack in the corner and sat down on her bed and attempted to do some meditation. Staying perfectly still, she focused on feeling her chakra. She could feel the Suiton and Doton swimming around in her from her practice earlier. Suiton seemed to have more use, especially with her teammates both using Raiton, but Doton could block a bunch of random things, not just jutsu. At least she learned how to use them rather quickly— even if the only jutsu she'd learned so far were Suiton: Suiben and Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu.
Then, of course, Sōka stormed in, yelling at her. "I said, dinner is ready, but you obviously don't care! You're just sitting here and nt doing anything!"
"You're right, I don't. I'm trying to focus on some things that are important right now, far more important than you," Sakura said. "And for your information, I had dinner already— with my team and Naruto-kun's kōhai. It was fun."
Sōka scoffed. "'Fun' would be not being around Akuma-gaki so much. He's dangerous, and being around him so much makes you more vulnerable to that danger," Sakura opened her eyes from her meditation and focused straight on in a blank glare, "and I told you that I was making dinner to catch up tonight. Since you obviously didn't care, you're grounded until further notice. You need to work on your attitude and your filial obligation. No leaving the house without me escorting you."
"You do realize I'm a Genin now, right?" Sakura asked, eyebrow raised, "I just got assigned a C-rank— we leave in the morning."
"Well, that must suck," Sōka said, completely uncaring, "but you've got to live with the consequences of your actions. I'm tired of you spending more time with the one who caused Sora-kun's death than your own family!" When she remained nonplussed, Sōka had stormed out of her room, slamming the door behind her. After some more time of meditation, Sakura went to sleep, hoping that what she expected would occur. She could have just jumped out the window and went to Naruto's house, but this would be so much more enjoyable. She had already packed properly, after all.
The next morning, Sakura woke up at her normal time and did some stretching to prepare for a long walk, as well as some walking on her walls to warm up her chakra coils for the day and wake her up. After that, she changed into her travel clothes, placed her backpack in an easy to access location, and sat down on her bed to meditate and focus on the chakra around her. While she wasn't a kanchi-nin like Naruto, she could feel when someone got close to her. But that was pretty much it.
When she felt three chakra signatures outside her house, she smiled and got her stuff, ready to move.
-D&D-
Kakashi sighed as he walked up to the door, his team right behind him. Thankfully, Naruto had gotten them into the Uzu District with little fuss, and showed them where Sakura's house was. Apparently, Sakura's aunt was in charge of watching over her while her parents were away, and the rosette gotten herself into something.
Walking up to the door, Kakashi considered just kicking it down and collecting his student. Unfortunately, that would require far too much paperwork afterwards. There was a reason he wasn't going to be nominating himself as Hokage anytime soon, after all. Sighing, he settled for a firm triple knock on the door. When he got no answer, he knocked hard again. As he reached to knock a third time, the door was thrown open, and a young woman with dark auburn hair and almost golden brown eyes opened the door.
"Hello, and who might you be, Shinobi-san?" the woman asked. Kakashi decided to simply play the role of the messenger, discreetly shooting an ANBU sign behind him for Naruto that he should stay hidden right now.
"Hello, I'm here looking for Haruno Sakura? Her sensei is waiting for her so that they can start their mission," Kakashi said, in the most innocent voice he could muster. The woman's face fell.
"Well, you can run back and tell her sensei that she's grounded and not allowed out of the house— I'm sure her team will function just fine without her for a bit," she said, starting to close the door.
Before she could, though, Kakashi's hand shot forward and grabbed the door. The charade was up, so he might as well play hardball. "No, you misunderstand. I'm here to collect my student, who is a member of the Shinobi Armed Forces, and who you are effectively holding hostage here," he growled, signing behind him for Sasuke to come forward. "Sasuke-kun, go and get your teammate so we can get going."
"You can't, the charter for our district puts us under Clan protection!" the woman yelled, desperately trying to close the door. Kakashi and Sasuke stopped.
"You're right," Kakashi said, "how silly of me." The woman smiled lightly and she continued pushing on the door, but that smile immediately fell. "Aka-bō! Go and grab Sakura-kun!" Naruto immediately walked from around the corner and walked up to the door, where the woman glared daggers at him.
"Get away from my house," the woman growled at Naruto.
"It's not your house, it's your brother's," Naruto crossed his arms. "Nii-san! Do whatever you want here! I'm gonna go get Sakura-chan!" Kakashi smiled.
"Certainly," he said with a fake smile, as a small Raiton jutsu came to life in his hand and started carving clean through the front door. Sōka stumbled back as Naruto ran up the stairs. After a loud crack and slam that Kakashi recognized as a door being ripped off its hinges and smashed into a wall – which shook the entire house – Naruto ran back down the stairs, holding Sakura's wrist as she ran behind him. As the two reached him, he took their hands and flickered over to the gate. While Sasuke wasn't used to it, he'd flickered with Sakura and Naruto before.
"Sorry, Sakura-chan," Naruto said, looking down, "if I'd known your bitchy aunt was causing you problems, I'd've gone and grabbed a bigger crowd."
"No worries, Naruto-kun. I'm just glad to be away from her. Come on then, we have an old drunk to walk home," she said.
"Oi!" their client called, still surprised from seeing them just pop into existence, "I'm not just an old drunk!"
"The keyword there being 'just!'" Sakura called, taking point.
-D&D-
They'd been out of the village for four days, and Naruto could barely contain his excitement the entire time. However, this time, when they were walking, he spotted a random puddle. They'd just crossed a wide stream, but it hadn't rained in weeks. Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto saw Kakashi watching it carefully. Signing to him 'acknowledged,' followed by Sakura's confirmation, he carefully moved his hands down to his inrō and grabbed a single kunai.
When Kakashi stopped moving for a moment, Naruto felt the chakra level swell behind him. He quickly spun around, pinning the chain between the two shinobi to the ground with a thrown kunai. After his teammates recovered from shock, Sasuke was the next to move, running to the immobile shinobi and smashing their heads together. Even though they were likely concussed, they managed to release their chains before Sasuke could finish them off, and rushed the position of where Tazuna and Sakura were standing. Only for Kakashi to simply move behind them and knock the two of them out with simple swipes to the neck.
"Good instincts, team. Naruto-kun, nice throw with the kunai. Sasuke-kun, good job taking the initiative and attacking while distracted. Sakura-kun, good thinking of the mission first and moving to defend the client while your teammates engaged the enemy," Kakashi said.
"Well, who are these idiots?" Naruto asked. "I don't recognize their appearance from okā-sama's shinobi book."
"That's called a bingo book. And they wouldn't be in it, that thing is twelve years old. These are Gōzu and Meizu, the Demon Brothers of Kirigakure. Or, at least, they were. They're B-ranked nuke-nin now, with pretty high bounties on them," Kakashi said.
"Alright then, let's slit their throats and put them in a storage scroll. When the mission is over, we'll take their bounty as a bonus!" Naruto said. When his teammates looked at him rather shocked, he shrugged. "What? It's quick and they're unconscious. They won't feel it."
"Naruto-kun..." Kakashi said, before sighing loudly and shaking his head. "Well, we did get the info we needed out of them. Fine, I'll make it quick in a moment," Kakashi said, pulling out a scroll from his vest and to seal both future bodies into it. Naruto nodded in understanding. Kakashi then crossed his arms and looked at their client. "What I would like to know is… why were shinobi targeting a simple bridge builder?" Tazuna gulped audibly.
-D&D-
As Team 7 sat around the fire, Sasuke heard their sensei sigh dramatically. "So, let me get this straight, some old businessman took over your country by buying it out, essentially, and is now targeting you because you're about to break the stranglehold with your bridge?"
"Pretty much, yes," Tazuna replied, "he only sent low level shinobi when he was angry about something. I thought that we'd manage to get the bridge done only encountering the bandits and thugs that he usually sends."
"Exactly who is this businessman?" Sasuke asked.
"That would be the ultra-rich Gatō," Tazuna said, before taking a swig of his sake.
"Nuh weh!" Sakura said with a mouthful of venison.
"Swallow first, Sakura-chan," Naruto called. The girl promptly did so before continuing.
"You're kidding me? That guy? Of all the stupid-" Sakura muttered.
"What? You've heard of him, Sakura-kun?" Kakashi asked.
"Sensei, my family are a bunch of rich merchants. How could I not have heard of him?" she asked, "besides, he's… close, to put it simply, with some of my older relatives, from what tō-chan tells me. My family has a lot of shares in the Gatō Company."
"So, what can you tell us about him?" Naruto asked.
"Not much— he plays himself up as a legitimate businessman, and he does some real business involving shipping, but has a heavy involvement in the black market," Sakura explained. "He once built a dam and blocked a river, just to force a town to let him set up mining facilities on their land. He never demolished the dam, either, even after he got the mining rights."
"What a dick," Naruto said.
"Language, Aka-bō. You're right, though. However, this is beyond our pay grade, honestly," Kakashi said. "We can escort him home, but beyond that we really ought to leave and let some more experienced people take over. If you were chūnin I'd say 'Go for it,' but you're not."
-D&D-
The next day, Team Seven crossed the channel to Nami no Kuni in silence. Kakashi kept looking in all directions, terrified of something going wrong.
It doesn't really matter what I said, those Chūnin couldn't have been working alone. Their employer likely knows that they failed… more than likely, they'll send Jōnin after us next. Kakashi could handle Jōnin, mostly, but he needed to keep his team safe. If only they'd had time to call for backup; he certainly could've used it.
Suddenly, Naruto stopped. Behind his back, he was holding up the ANBU hand sign for 'enemy.' I really need to teach that kid standard shinobi hand signs, he's not supposed to know ANBU ones— that, and Sasuke cannot read them. Carefully watching around him, he heard movement, and Naruto did as well, tossing kunai hard into a bush.
The only thing that popped out of said bush was a rabbit. That hadn't shed its winter coat even though it was nearly autumn. Oh shit. "EVERYONE! GET DOWN!" Kakashi yelled, grabbing Tazuna and hitting the dirt. His Genin followed him down, and none too soon, as a giant sword impaled itself above them in a tree.
Kakashi glared up as a muscular man with bandages around his mouth landed on the flat of the sword. Fuck. Just what we needed. Kakashi thought, looking up at who landed on the sword. Not just a random Jōnin, but an ex-ANBU S-ranked nuke-nin. Fantastic.
"Eh?!" Naruto yelled. "One of the Seven Swordsmen of Kirigakure?! I thought you said this was B-rank, Nii-san! These guys are S-rank!" the boy exclaimed, waving his arms wildly, and turning to look at Kakashi. Just at the right angle for the nuke-nin to see the symbol on Naruto's jacket.
"I did say that," Kakashi replied, "but that was before I realized who our opponent was. This makes this mission A-ranked. All we need now is a jinchūriki and it'll become S-ranked." Kakashi waited, but nothing happened. "Good, I was worried there for a moment.
"So, Momochi Zabuza, S-ranked nuke-nin of Kirigakure no Sato. Ex-ANBU."
"Heh," the man said, looking down at them. "Sharingan no Kakashi. Ex-ANBU of Konohagakure no Sato. A-ranked shinobi with flee on sight orders in Kaminari no Kuni and Mizu no Kuni. In Tsuchi no Kuni, S-ranked shinobi with an observe notice. And the one who killed my ANBU Captain— The Great Dragon of Kirigakure."
Kakashi glared up at the man. That much was true. He had killed the Great Dragon of Kiri, but that was on a mission. It wasn't like he'd explicitly targeted the man, even if he had gotten a rather nice bonus for his head.
"Not only that," Zabuza continued, "but we got an Uzumaki, from what I can tell, too. Don't see many of those around anymore. It might be fun to see if Kubikiribōchō still remembers the blood of Uzushio flowing down it. Now, I'd rather us get this over with. I have an old man to kill, and a paycheck to collect."
Kakashi put out his hand behind him. "Don't interfere," he said, moving his other hand to his hitai-ate. "This enemy is far beyond any of you. You'll only get in my way." He could almost see his Genin sputtering in annoyance. "You'll get there one day. But not now. Not now." He pulled up his hitai-ate and opened his left eye. "I accept your challenge, Momochi Zabuza!"
Kakashi's sharingan flared to life and began taking in the surroundings. In response, Zabuza grabbed the handle of his blade, backflipping off the tree and landing on the surface of the water. Glaring at Kakashi, chakra began to swirl around him. "Suiton: Kirigakure no Jutsu!" A thick mist settled over the battlefield, completely blocking his vision.
Damn it. You know, Obito, sometimes I wish you were a Hyūga. The Byakugan could see through this stuff. And you can turn implanted Byakugan off, at least. Kakashi thought. I could always… no. I can't use my Mangekyō. If I screwed it up, everyone would be in danger. Then, Kakashi heard the sound of clanging weapons, repeatedly. Then, a loud cry of "Fūton: Reppūshō!"
-D&D-
When the mist had come up, Naruto had joined Sasuke and Sakura in the manji formation around Tazuna. Of course, that had come with a startled realization— he could feel where Zabuza was. He supposed that came from him being a kanchi-nin. Feeling the nuke-nin come up from his left, Naruto chucked a kunai at him, only for the man to deflect it with his sword. Unfettered, he threw another one, and three shuriken for good measure. It simply bounced off again and again.
Okay, I need Sasuke and Sakura to be able to see… "Fūton: Reppūshō!" he called, clapping his hands together. A gust of wind flared up around him and blew most of the mist away. Perfect.
"An Uzumaki using Fūton, huh? Well, isn't that just a treat," Zabuza said, suddenly behind them. All three of them jumped out of the way of the man's sword swipe. At the last moment, Naruto threw a chain from his right arm, grabbing Tazuna and dragging him away from the nuke-nin. Zabuza glared up at him as he landed away from him. "That settles it. Hard to believe that after all this time, there are still Uzumaki here. Your Clan is a stubborn bunch."
"Of course we are, dattebayo!" Naruto yelled, pulling out another few shuriken and throwing them. As Zabuza raised his sword to block, he quickly flashed his hand seals, "Kaminari Bunshin no Jutsu!" he called, the lightning shooting from his hands and scattering all about. Almost as quickly, he substituted with one of his clones a bit further away. When Zabuza leapt into the air, sword in hand, he slashed right through the Kaminari Bunshin— returning it to lightning. It was rather shocking for him.
Of course, the shock also travelled back to Naruto in a way— the Zabuza that he'd been fighting was a Mizu Bunshin. The real one used the distraction to sneak up on Kakashi and kick him into the air and into the water. The swordsman had quickly run up behind Kakashi, flipping through hand seals. "Suirō no Jutsu," the man called, forming a sphere of water around Kakashi. "You let yourself get distracted. I thought your fabled dōjutsu could see which ones are clones?"
No, Naruto thought, I think that's the other great dōjutsu.
"It really doesn't matter though. Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu!" the nuke-nin yelled. Another Zabuza appeared on the shore with his sword in hand. Angry, Naruto attempted to just charge straight in. He got a knee to his stomach for his troubles, causing him to spit up blood. The nuke-nin stood above him, sword ready to bisect him. Before he could, though, Naruto felt a hand on his arm, pulling him just out of the way. Looking up, Naruto saw Sasuke standing there with his sharingan active. Quickly taking his teammate's hand, Naruto stood up. As he stood up, he signed two words to Sakura behind him— 'plan' and 'quickly.'
Alright, let's see if I can pull this off. Naruto flipped through the hand seals for Kaminari Bunshin, before crossing them in the Bunshin seal. "Raiton: Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Nearly twenty more of him flickered into existence— and were filled with Raiton chakra, to boot! All of them rushed the Zabuza Mizu Bunshin, most getting cut down for their troubles. Man, ex-ANBU are no slouches.
After the remaining clones had gotten close enough to Zabuza, Naruto dispelled all of the Kage Bunshin except one, electrocuting the Mizu Bunshin out of existence. Above the light, Sasuke appeared and threw two Fūma shuriken, one hidden by the other. Zabuza caught one, and dodged the other. The one he dodged, however, poofed into smoke, revealing a smirking Sakura. Said girl reached into her inrō and threw several shuriken and a kunai.
The nuke-nin dodged out of the way with a yell of annoyance, releasing the water prison, only for the kunai to be replaced by the last of Naruto's Raiton Kage Bunshin, who flew forward and smashed his fist into Zabuza's face, before dispelling and zapping the man. Sakura slid on the water's surface as she touched it and skated along the surface back to shore. Naruto grinned as the memory of Sakura's plan rushed back to him from his Kage Bunshin; using herself as a shuriken and then using Naruto's clone as a kunai, it was brilliant.
Meanwhile, Kakashi, with his armoured glove, smacked the Fūma Shuriken in Zabuza's hand off into the distance, as they jumped apart.
-D&D-
Sharingan active, Sasuke watched as the two Jonin landed on the surface of the water, and Zabuza started flashing through hand seals, with Kakashi doing so at almost the exact same time. Ushi → Saru → U → Ne → I → Tori → Ushi → Uma → Tori → Ne → Tora → Inu → Tora → Mi → Ushi → Hitsuji → Mi → I → Hitsuji → Ne → Jin → Saru → Tori → Tatsu → Tori → Ushi → Uma → Hitsuji → Tora → Mi → Ne → Saru → U → I → Tatsu → Hitsuji → Ne → Ushi → Saru → Tori → Jin → Ne → I → Tori. While Sasuke also used his sharingan to copy it, he didn't use the jutsu— he wasn't going to touch Suiton, he had no affinity for it. "Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!" both of them called. Two giant dragons made of water burst simultaneously from the river and destroyed each other with a giant wave created in the aftershock.
Surging forward, Kakashi moved to overwhelm the man, flipping through hand seals that Sasuke also copied. "Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!" Kakashi called, a great swelling of water swallowing the nuke-nin as several kunai were thrown into it. When the water subsided, Zabuza was crashed against a tree with several kunai imbedded in his torso. Kakashi landed in a tree branch above him.
"You forget, Zabuza. This eye lets me see the future," Kakashi said. "And it sees your death."
Zabuza started to slide up the tree, only for a burst of blood to shoot out of his neck as two senbon embedded themselves there. Looking in the direction they came from, he saw a white ANBU mask with the Kirigakure crest on it. Oh right, oi-nin. Sensei has complained about them stealing his kills more than once.
"Thank you for that. I was waiting for an opportunity to kill him, and now I have," the oi-nin said.
"You stole my kill," Kakashi said simply.
"I highly doubt Momochi was your target on this mission— but unfortunately, he is mine. Now, I must dispose of his body," the hunter said, grabbing the bodies arm. Naruto quickly ran up with a kunai and raised it above the head of the nuke-nin. "What are you doing, Konoha-nin?" the hunter asked. Naruto turned.
"I'm taking his head. We did most of the work, and I want his bounty for my trouble. I'll let you check it for secrets, but he—" Naruto promptly found himself flung off the nuke-nin with a brutal punch to his face that sent him tumbling across the ground.
"Oi!" Kakashi called, jumping to the ground, his hand clenched around his other wrist, "don't touch my students, or I'll end you just like I have many Kiri ANBU in the past!"
"Apologies. But, I need to do my work in private. So, why don't you make like you Konoha-nin do and, well, Leaf," the hunter said. Seeing the blank reactions from the others, the hunter-nin simply flickered away with the body. Kakashi moved his hitai-ate back over his sharingan.
"Crap, I should have stopped him," Kakashi said, "that oi-nin was fake. He would have continued with his threats to leave if he was genuine. They dispose of the bodies ASAP. They never move them. Therefore, I think he's an accomplice."
"Damn it!" Naruto yelled, "and we almost had him, too!"
"That means that we may need to fight him again. The best case would be to finish the bri-" Kakashi began, but slipped halfway through and fell on his face, completely unconscious.
"Oh shit! Nii-san!" Naruto yelled, running over to Kakashi. Sasuke joined him immediately, checking for a pulse.
"Calm down, Naruto, he just has chakra exhaustion. Help me carry him," Sasuke said. "Tazuna! Show us where your home is. He'll be resting there, if you expect us to continue guarding you!"
"R-Right!" Tazuna said, nodding, before turning and walking along the forest path, Team Seven right behind. After a tense walk, the group reached a small village, and walked into a house behind him, laying Kakashi down on a futon to rest. All of them looked at each other worriedly. They were stuck in a foreign land, with no way to call for help, with an S-ranked nuke-nin after them and their client. If there was a worse "first time out of the village during peacetime" mission, then none of them had ever heard of it.
A/N: Jutsu list
Suiton: Suiben - Water Release: Water Whip
Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu - Water Clone Technique
Suiton: Kirigakure no Jutsu - Water Release: Hiding in Mist Technique
Fūton: Reppūshō - Wind Release: Gale Palm
Kaminari Bunshin no Jutsu* - Lightning Clone Technique
Raiton: Kage Bunshin no Jutsu - Lightning Release: Shadow Clone Technique
Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu - Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique
Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu - Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique
*original technique invented by me.
Japanese terms:
Aka-bō: "Red", but in a way you'd address a small boy.
kanchi-nin: Sensor/Perception Ninja
Oi-nin: Hunter/Tracking Ninja
Okā-sama: very formal and respectful way of saying "mom."
Tō-chan: very informal and familiar way of saying "dad."
Nami no Kuni: Land of Waves
Tsuchi no Kuni: Land of Earth
Mizu no Kuni: Land of Water
Kaminari no Kuni: Land of Lightning
Thanks to everyone for reading this chapter! And thanks to GarnetMonstrosity for beta-reading, as usual. Remember to Follow, Favourite, and Review, especially telling my what you liked or disliked. I'll see you all next chapter!
