Author's Note: Well back finally with Chapter 6. I really think I'm going to have to change the rating of the story to M with all things considered. The ideas I've thought up for the plot are going to take a far more sinister and dark tone than it did in the manga or anime so it looks like this may be one of the last chapters that stay T. In regards to the reviews, it's kinda cool how people keep guessing about issues I plan to address in the next chapter when they post one (i.e. the scroll or Kushina's involvement in the story). Anyways, to those of you who read or reviewed the last chapter, thanks. Now that that's out of the way, chapter time.

"I…" indicates speech.

"I…" indicates inner thought.

"I…" indicates Kyuubi is speaker.


Chapter 6: Within The Mist, Part I

"Kushina, you do realize that if you go with this that you may and will be removed from your son any time you are dispatched, don't you?" Jiraiya asked nervously. It wasn't often that he would get worked up over something but this was not exactly an every-day situation that was taking place in front of him. This was a decision that could change Naruto's life for the better or worse forever. The fact that she could make such a monumental choice in such a short period of time after what had happened the previous week was not something that he could easily overlook. "You won't be free to check up on him or even to remain in contact with the two of us to keep an eye on any new developments that may arise. "

"I understand that fully, Jiraiya." She replied, outwardly remaining calm as she folded one of her legs over the other. Inside her however, he stomach had begun to churn and toss. "I have put much time and though into this course of action. Believe me when I say it's not one I take lightly."

"But…" Beside him, Sarutobi raised a hand to quiet his old pupil. Jiraiya looked at him for a moment, as if wanting at least some little explanation before he simply nodded and closed his mouth. The ancient Sandaime knew there would be no changing her mind in this regarding this issue and that it was just best to allow her to make her decision. Quite frankly, Naruto would question her enough the next time he saw her so she really didn't need to have the two of them working her over anymore than they already had. Whether or not they believed this was wise, they really had no grounds to deny her. All they could do is just sit back and allow this to happen.

"Your request is approved." Sarutobi said with his usually placid tone. Adjusting the pipe that almost never left his mouth, he flashed a wiry and wise old grin as he leaned back in his chair. His gaze slowly drifted downward to the small item on the desk in front of him that represented an ideal of so much significance for the village despite its size. He let his mind wander for just a second as he poured over all the reasons she had given them regarding her wish, finally just accepting the fact that she would wear the article as honorably as her son would. "From this day forward, you are no longer viewed as an ex-shinobi from the Land of Whirlpools but are now a full-fledged jonin of this village, Konohagakure no Sato. Take your hitai-ate and join our ranks."

"Thank you, Lord Hokage." Kushina replied stoically as she tied the headband over her head where she had once worn her own village's symbol with such pride before she had become a mother and given up the ninja life.

(I)

The path to the Land of Waves

Two days later.

Naruto was tired of walking. They had been walking for the last two and a half days save a brief respite earlier that morning when they had ridden a little ferry from the edge of the Land of Fire to a small landing about a two-hour walk away from Tazuna's village. It had been a mentally and physically exhausting journey from Konoha all the way out this far to the middle of nowhere to get the lying bridge-builder's home. Luckily, after today they could finally turn back around and go back the way they had come for the last two days until they reached Konoha, at which point Naruto would disappear for a day beneath the covers of his bed until he had fully slept off the exhaustion and, more importantly, memories of the last week for once and for all. Quite frankly, he needed some time to himself to collect whatever loose thoughts might have been rattling around inside his skull.

Judging by their mostly silent and sour expressions, his teammates must have been feeling the same way. Hinata kept glancing over in his direction every few minutes as though she were trying to telepathically ask him if they were done with the mission yet while Kaname just kept his distance from everyone. Naruto could only guess his behavior was because of what the blonde had done to the Demon brothers.

Anko, finally, was probably the most out-of-sorts of their cheerful little band of misfits and assassination targets at that moment.

Ever since she had gotten the crap kicked out of her by one of the two piles of ash that now lay on the side of the eastern road, she had become quiet and focused, every part of her entirely dedicated to not allowing such a life-threatening situation to befall any of them again. For the first time since she had become their jonin sensei, she was actually acting like their teacher in the manner that she held herself with the brave and business-only attitude she had so thoroughly adopted over the last two days. However, Naruto knew she was still scared; she was absolutely terrified about all the what-ifs regarding that day that still lingered in the air and suffocated all the talk out of the five of their throats. Thanks to the changes that he was going through, he could almost taste it on her in the chemicals her body was producing.

"Tazuna is there any other path or road to your village from the port we arrived at or is this the only one?" Anko's voice rang clear with a false calm, a façade for her genin pupils.

"This is it," He replied flatly, adjusting the straps on his shoulder pack for what seemed like the fifty thousandth time this trip. From behind his wire-rimmed bifocals his eyes were beginning to show the same wear that Squad Nine was exhibiting but, then again, he had had to go the whole way knowing that there were people coming to try and kill him at one point or another. With a stressful situation like that, it was only natural for him to be weary. "We're still about two hours out but we should be there by one this afternoon."

"As I thought." Anko responded gravely. Her stone-cold gaze shifted immediately to the three charges walking behind her, catching each of them in a stare that seemed to perfectly convey the potential direness of their current situation. Even brand new Academy graduates like the three of them knew what she was thinking because of the fact that Tazuna had a hit out on him: if they were going to be attacked again, now would be the time for their enemy to do it. Once they got into the town it would be too risky but, out here, it could simply be explained as a bandit attack. "Hinata, Kaname, Naruto; take up the defensive formation around Tazuna for the rest of the journey. I'll take point, the rest of you form up around him and be on your guard."

Naruto and the other two nodded gravely. This wasn't the time for objections or for questions, this was time to just obey and get the mission over finally without the five of them losing their lives to some unknown enemy.

They walked on, heading down the same dirt path that had taken them toward their destination for the last hour since they had left the port town where they had hit this island. On the left side of the road was a lake with murky blue water that seemed so dirty Naruto would not have been surprised if it carried the disease of an entire fish nation with in its dark depths. It was as if the forest around it sensed this dirtiness from the lake and was affected by as the very air seemed stale and tasteless.

"I do not know if anyone else has noticed but the air has become laden with fog lately." Kaname said, taking notice of a detail that seemed rather irrelevant to Naruto. The dark-skinned boy had been uncharacteristically silent since the Kyuubi's little display two days prior but Naruto could only imagine what he was trying to process after having seen another boy do something like that. If it had been Anko that had performed such a devastating jutsu, that would have been a completely different story; she was a jonin, after all. He, however, was a twelve-year-old boy who had been in the bottom half of the class since he had started at the Academy that had made it a regular habit to show off and then fails in all types of class. For him to suddenly begin to show a usage of chakra more potent than the two Kiri ninja he had killed there had to be some explanation as to how. Naruto, though, did not feel like really telling him or Hinata what he was. "It has been clouding out the sun ever since we reached the edge of this lake, my friends."

"That is a rather commonplace sight in areas near the coast." Tazuna said dully. "I do have to admit, though, it's thicker than it usually is today."

"Naruto, where were the chunin that attacked us from?" Hinata asked him in a near whisper. Her pupil-free eyes were growing wider and wider as a look of realization slowly crept across them, the milky gray irises almost twitching. He could pick up some inflection of fear in her voice as he turned to face her, noticing subtle changes in Hinata's personality that were not there a moment ago before Kaname had started talking about the fog. "They were… from Kirigakure no Sato, right?"

"Yeah," He replied flatly. Despite his bland response to her, his mind began to ask questions he hadn't thought to ask a moment ago, forcing him to begin to take in their surroundings. His mind… or rather the Kyuubi's keen instincts… started to pour over what her fear could indicate, thinking about the connection to Kiri-nin and fog. 'Why would she care where the ninja were from if they're gone now, and what would that have to do with the fog? Wait… fog and Kirigakure… the Kirigakure no Jutsu! She has seen me do it during Academy exams for the last year and a half since I learned the technique and… and–!'

His eyes shot open as he realized the train of thought that his Hyuga-clan teammate had been following.

"It's not fog, it's mist!" He nearly shouted out, immediately catching Hinata's gaze with his own completely horrified stare. In front of their little group, Anko instantly whipped around to face her students, as though about to ask them what they were talking about before her mind processed the information too. Naruto didn't know if she had any experience dealing with Kiri ninja but it was common knowledge that shinobi from the Land of Waves, like their previous assassins, favored water-style jutsu. It was just like the prevalence of fire-related attacks from so many of the genin, chunin and jonin from the Land of Fire. One of most common ninjutsu in Konoha was the fireball technique as it fit the country's element. The same being said about Kiri-nin meant that…

"Everybody down!" Kaname shouted, pushing Tazuna to the ground.

Naruto grabbed Hinata's hand and jerked her down with him as he hit the floor. Across from them, Anko dived down to cover Tazuna's body with her own.

She hit the ground within a hair of a second of getting her life snuffed out as a gargantuan sword flew over the five bodies on the dirt.

The massive blade cleaved a scar through the empty air where their heads had been only a split second earlier, tearing right over the five of them as it sailed only inches away from their bodies. It brought in more of the steadily thickening mist with it, a thick gray cloud of water-vapor that slowly settled around them and painted the surrounding area a dull, eerie gray. The mist only served to just barely conceal the movement of the sword while the blade itself slammed into one of the ancient trees that lined the edge of the small lake.

Naruto slowly raised his eyes to view the blade; it was a beastly thing that was easily longer than he was tall. It was mainly just a single blade save for a semi-circular notch that had been cut out of the back of it and sharpened. From the tree it was embedded in, the blade was sticking up at an angle like a fake metal branch.

"Guard Tazuna!" Anko roared as she climbed to her feet while her eyes darted from tree to tree all around them for any speck of information that might give away the assassin's location. Whoever it was, Naruto could already tell the killer at least wielded a massive sword larger than any the boy had ever seen and was a ninja of Kiri based on the jutsu he had used to conceal his movements. Those to facts coupled together led his mind to only one conclusion based on the fact that, unless the village had significantly changed in the last four years since he left, almost no one wielded swords like that. It had to be one of the missing-nin of the Seven. "Where is he?!"

"Don't worry about finding me, that's not going to be the hard part." Standing atop the handle of his giant sword was now a gaunt and ghastly-looking masked man.

'Oh Kami, it's him! It's actually him!' Naruto's mind shouted, looking on a man who had been one of the blonde-headed teen's idols since he was a kid, even despite the fearsome reputation that he had. His eyes were filled with a strange mixture of fear and admiration, a gaze born partially of the situation and also of the village he had been raised in. Naruto had always looked up to the Seven, just like any other kid in Kiri had because they represented the best of the best in the village: they were the best at genjutsu, ninjutsu, and taijutsu. They were the royal guards to the Mizukage himself and their name was a source of pride for the village but of fear for their enemies. He could only react in a hushed whisper of sheer wonder, "It's really one of the Seven; it's Zabuza Momochi!"

Anko looked at her blonde student as he exclaimed these words before her wide-eyed stare went back to the sword-standing shinobi. She had heard the name before; it was in the bingo book she had been given by the village when she had rejoined the ninja ranks again. The description that had accompanied it was of a sadistic, murderous psychopath who had abandoned his own village and even tried to assassinate his own Mizukage.

"So the old man is the target and all he has is a couple of brats and their babysitter to defend him? Disappointing." Zabuza spat as he stared down at the five of them. Naruto, Hinata and Kaname had all stood with their squad leader and had surrounded Tazuna to at least hopefully prevent a direct attack against the old bridge builder. Kaname looked as completely calm and collected as normal, as though he were used to looking his own imminent death in the face time and again. Hinata, meanwhile, was looking at the wild Kiri-nin with complete fear because of the massive razor-edged sword that had nearly decapitated all of them only a moment earlier. Naruto, though, just couldn't believe it was actually him. "To think that Gouzu and Meizu were defeated by this pathetic group; heh. They deserve to be killed for such an insulting loss."

Anko spoke up finally, reading a shuriken in her hand as she opened her mouth. "Well if it makes you feel any better, they were. Leave this place and we'll consider not killing you as well."

Naruto could feel his teammates and Tazuna both staring at him when Anko spoke those words; his actions were not something anyone could have easily forgotten, after all. However, he found himself caring less and less about what had happened with the Demon Brothers. As Hinata had said during their few minutes of time together back in the Land of Fire, the duo would have probably raped her and Anko as well as killed all five of the group had they not been stopped. Naruto still did not like the fact that he had been the one to kill them but he had done what needed to be done to save the lives of Squad Nine so why should he let it affect him?

"Heh," Zabuza laughed as he leaned in and looked directly down at their jonin instructor. His voice was deep and gruff with evidence of years of hard life, like that of a smoker who had done a pack a day for the last decade. "So you really killed the Brothers, did you? Well then I guess I owe you a thank you because you just saved me from having to pay them after I kill you all."

"I'm telling you, leave!" Anko roared, bringing up her shuriken as she readied herself for the battle that was inevitably approaching now.

Zabuza started laughing manically, his tone sending shivers down the spine of each and every one of the five of them. With the skill and grace of a feline, he leapt high and flipped down from his perch atop his sword, grabbing the hilt of the blade as he fell past it. The sword came clear of the tree easily and swung around with its master as the shinobi strapped it back around his back. Landing on his feet no more than ten feet away from Anko and the group, Zabuza just stared up at them with a look of pure disgust. His eyes glimmered with an intense blaze of murderous intent that seemed to burn Naruto in the very spot he stood in. Beside him, the blonde could feel Kaname and Hinata's bodies tense up as well while Zabuza's eyes slowly moved over each of them, sizing them up as though he were judging which one he would kill first.

"You really aren't in any position to boss me around... My Zanbatō is going to carve you up." He said menacingly as his body straightened up and he stood up fully. His hands began to shoot through a set of signs with rapid efficiency, each position formed in perfect unison. Even with the speed of his signs, Naruto could tell the jutsu he was about to use; it was one that the boy had been using since he started at the Academy, after all. "Kirigakure no Jutsu."

It rolled in quickly.

The mist began to seep in from all around them, encircling the six people with the simplest of ease as it dyed the air a murky gray that chilled each of them to the bone. Zabuza took only a few steps back and he was gone within the fog, a silent and unseen demon that haunted the three genin, their instructor and client all entirely. From within that fog, Naruto could still feel Zabuza's murderous gaze locked squarely on him, possibly the effects of some horrifyingly maddening genjutsu that tried to eat away at what little ounce of sanity the boy still had at that moment. It terrified Naruto to know that someone like Zabuza existed, someone of such an immoral conscience that he could kill all of them and not even twitch in the least.

"Naruto…. Naruto, I'm scared!" Hinata fiercely whispered. Even though she was covering another side of Tazuna, her tiny fragile hand slipped in to his rapidly, catching the kitsune boy off-guard. "He's going to kill us!"

"Kaname, you and Naruto concentrate on protecting Tazuna and Hinata," Anko ordered harshly, not even turning to face them as her eyes continued to scan the mist for any sign of their attacker. Of all of the five of them, Naruto could feel the most calm emanating from her but it was coupled with a dark and sinister presence, an almost evil that seeped from her chakra as she focused it. "Hinata, activate your Byakugan immediately."

"Y-yes, ma'am!" Hinata squeaked. In his hand her grip tightened instantly as she forced her eyes to see more than what was possible for a normal human. The Hyuga clan's kekkai genkai was truly a remarkable trait because of how it allowed any member of the clan to see anyone's chakra with just a little bit of practice. It made Hinata a marvelous tracker-nin and the perfect tool for penetrating the fog and finding Zabuza as he hid within it.

"I want you to locate Zabuza using your Byakugan but do not say his location loudly. Whisper it to me." Anko whispered intensely, turning to face her students for the first time since Zabuza had landed on his blade. She was truly skeptical that this rag-tag group of genin could possibly take down a true jonin-level ninja like Zabuza, even with Naruto's little 'gift'. However, the only other option she had was to sit here and wait for the master of mist to step out and face her. Seeing as he could be hiding anywhere within the deep fog and was supposedly known for his silent assassination skills, she severely had her doubts as to whether or not he would do such a thing.

"I-I've found him, Anko-sensei." Hinata murmured into their jonin sensei's ear. The girl was still holding onto Naruto's hand fiercely, as though it were some kind of life raft and she were drowning in the open ocean. "He's… still exactly where he was w-when he conjured this mist. He's just standing there."

"Interesting talent..." Whispered Zabuza's menacing from directly behind Naruto.

His head whipped around only to see Zabuza standing there with his sword drawn, kneeling down in the midst of them.

Naruto felt his head go dizzy and the breath escape his lungs as Zabuza's foot slammed into his chest, sending him sprawling through the mist like a rag doll. The swordsman spun on the spot to follow up by delivering a devastating backhand to Kaname which sent him in the opposite direction of his orange-clad teammate. Naruto watched wide-eyed as the brutal missing-nin started to swing his giant blade around towards Tazuna with the simplest of ease, preparing to slice right through the bridge-builder to complete his mission. Anko beat him to the attack by just a hair of a second, sending the shuriken in her hand clear through the Mist ninja's neck.

Instantly his body – sword and all – were reduced to a puddle of rank water that fell to the ground like someone had just poured it from a bucket.

Naruto gawked at the familiar technique. He had used it time and time again since he had first learned it back before he enrolled in the Konoha Academy but he had never seen it used by another person before, let alone so skillfully. Naruto himself couldn't conjure up clones that were that completely powerful; his water clones were always weaker than he was and were never able to be as stealthy as the clone that had attacked them. He couldn't help but exclaim when he saw it, "A water clone!"

"No shit, kiddo! Hinata, cover him!" Anko shouted from where she was standing. The jonin pushed Hinata back towards Tazuna with the simplest of ease as she turned her attention back to the spot that the Hyuga girl had said Zabuza was standing. Her hands began to shoot through the signs for snake, ram, monkey, boar, horse, and finally tiger as she gathered as much chakra as she could focus into a single blast. She knew the attack was a long shot but she needed to be able to see and, with all the mist that surrounded them, it was her best chance. With an intense glare plastered on her face, Anko raised her right hand in front of her mouth to form a funnel. "Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu!"

The colossal fireball shot from her mouth like a rampaging bull, creating a huge heat wave that burned the mist from the air itself while it soared towards where Hinata said Zabuza was standing. Even before it reached its target, her two bare hands flashed through another four symbols. Beneath her feet, a pile of leaves that had been kicked up in the blast swirled about as though twisting in a small whirlwind/

"You missed me!" Zabuza roared as he dove down at her with his Zanbatō from the same tree he had originally planted the blade. Through the now-clearer sky, he fell like the angel of death as he brought his blade down, cutting right down through Anko with the slightest effort. Instantly killed by the attack, she fell lifelessly to the ground as her blood spilled out and began to stain the ground a deep crimson. The sight and smell of it all assaulted Naruto's over-worked senses horribly while his mind spun with what had just happened to his sensei. Zabuza, however, didn't seem fazed at all by the terrible scene before him. "Pathetic."

"Come on, that the best you got?!" Anko's voice rang out clear as day from her perch on a tree behind Tazuna.

The body that had been laying lifeless on the ground in front of them disappeared instantly leaving behind no trace of its existence, even the blood that had so thoroughly seeped in through the ground vanishing when the genjutsu ended. Instead, there was nothing more than a blank patch of dirt that had been sliced into when Zabuza brought down his sword. Naruto, Kaname and Hinata's eyes simultaneously darted from the dirt to where Anko's voice had resounded from only to see their sensei standing there completely unharmed. The woman looked completely focused and utterly merciless as she returned their stare but her opponent meanwhile just looked dumbfounded by her impressive tactic.

"Naruto, Hinata, Kaname; defend Tazuna! Zabuza's mine!" She shouted.

Naruto nodded and forced himself up off the ground before rushing over to where Hinata was standing. Taking her left flank as Kaname took the right, the three of them formed a human barrier between Tazuna and the psychotic mist-nin. From behind them, Anko leapt down from the branch she was on to land gracefully in front of the three of them, staring down Zabuza with a cold and unflinching gaze.

"You might be more fun that I thought." Zabuza spoke coldly, laughing as he stared down the female jonin. "But you're still nowhere near my level."

He ran at her, bringing his Zanbatō around to attack as she brought up a pair of shuriken to fight back. The masked ninja of the mist swung about his weapon horizontally with a bone-crushing force as he tried to take her out, connecting with nothing but air as she dodged beneath the swing. Anko immediately countered with a lunge as she attempted to drive the knives into his chest but he jumped back in time to fall out of her range. Anko's eyes shot open in fear as she stumbled forward, caught momentarily off-balance by her own movements.

Seeing this brief opening, Zabuza sliced down at her body, connecting with nothing but the ground again as she rolled to the right and just narrowly avoided his strike. Climbing back to her feet, the sensei took a step back before she brought her shuriken up again in preparation for their next clash. Zabuza acted first, lunging directly for her with his ridiculously long Zanbatō but she dodged the attack as easily as she had the first.

The two of them fought with the skill that came from years of intense training as their movements became a dance of fatality. With each step that the two took, their individual blades twisted and spun about in the murky sunlight and were mirrored by the lake next to them.

It was something truly horrifying and yet, at the same time, awe-inspiring to watch.

Now right at the water's edge, the fight was becoming even fiercer as the two jonin battled each other with merciless determination. Facing the water behind his opponent, Zabuza slashed at the sensei's side but Anko brought up the shuriken in her right hand just quick enough to stop the blade. Whirling about, she brought down the other one across the broad-edge of his sword and slammed it to the ground still in his hands. Zabuza went to his knees while Anko attempted to follow up with another quick lunge toward his now-exposed face but the mist shinobi had been anticipating this. With the simplest of ease he spun around on palms and slammed his boots squarely into her chest, knocking her back into the water behind her.

"Anko-sensei!" Hinata screamed as Anko hit the water and sank under it quickly. Naruto shared her fear as he watched the overwhelming power of the enemy shinobi in front of them: the man was too good for them to be able to handle by themselves if Anko was taken out of the picture.

Zabuza was already reacting as though he knew she wasn't out just yet. His hands flew through the symbols for the water clone technique and within a moment there stood a second shinobi identical to him. Instead of turning their attention to the three genin and their charge though, the deadly master of the mist just kept his focus geared right on the water, waiting for Anko to surface. His dark brown eyes were glimmering with a dark and horrible gleam and, from beneath his mask, Naruto could faintly see the barest lines of a sadistic grin. It was as though he were watching his opponent die already even though he knew she could easily swim out of the water; it was the kind of look that made Naruto think that the battle was about to be over.

To the blonde's relief however, their sensei broke the surface of the water a moment later, choking as she spat out the murky fluid that had rushed down her throat. She seemed to be struggling in the swampy water, fighting just to stay afloat in the liquid as she coughed up. On her face was a look of pure horror, one not aimed at her enemy but at the water itself, as though she had just then realized something was not right about the substance. "What the hell is this?!"

"You're mine," Zabuza menacingly laughed as he shoved his right hand down into the water. "Suirō no Jutsu!"

Naruto watched completely stunned as the mist ninja brought up not only his sensei but a solid sphere of water all around her, completely surrounding her on all sides. The name of the technique that Zabuza had shouted out was 'Water Prison' and that was by far the most accurate title for such a move. Anko floated helplessly and still within the center of the five-foot across sphere, looking out in total fear as she watched her three shocked genin and the elderly bridge builder behind them. Her eyes betrayed a completely surprise that she had been caught in such a utterly useful ninjutsu coupled with the fear of death that soon approached now that she had been captured. She didn't seem to be choking for oxygen in the orb but rather just floated there completely locked in a state of horrified peace.

"GET OUT OF HERE!" She screamed out of sheer terror, staring at her frozen genin. "TAKE TAZUNA AND RUN!"

Zabuza's laughter was once again filling the air with sinister echoes as he simply held her there in the space above the water. From in front of him, the clone he had conjured before sealing Anko in her liquid prison stared heartlessly at the three kids and one old man standing there. His left hand slowly crossed his chest to grab the handle of the massive Zanbatō that it, like the original mist ninja, wore upon its back. Returning the stare with his own petrified azure eyes, Naruto could feel the clutching, choking fear welling up right inside in his throat as he watched the ruthless missing-nin prepare to finish his assignment once and for all. Zabuza was just too powerful for a couple of genin and a useless old man to take on all by themselves, especially if he had defeated a full-fledge jonin so easily!

"NARUTO, RUN!" He could hear Anko's voice but his mind was already drowning in the water-clone's clutches as the clone slowly advanced towards him and the rest of Squad Nine. His sense of touch was telling him that Hinata was desperately pulling on his arm to get him to run away. He knew he should turn and take off, that he should save his own skin but his legs refused to work. He had to do something!

"Time to die, you worthless brat." The clone held its sword down to his side, preparing to cut right through the blonde to kill his target.

'I am no worthless brat.'

His hands moved like lightning as he knocked back the clone. Immediately the weak reproduction dissolved back into the water it had been made from, showering the four of them in a thin mist that seemed to instantly burn off his skin as steam.

Naruto's lips curled up into sadistic smile as he watched Zabuza's stunned reaction to his clone's dispersal. From within his body, the boy could feel all the extra excesses of chakra just pulsating like perfectly destructive waves that washed over him again and again and again. He had given again and called upon that side of himself that wanted so desperately wanted to taste the sunlight as much as possible; he had forced his body to release a little of the Kyuubi that he was and now the fear that had gripped him so thoroughly was just a thing of the past. Naruto knew he was strong enough now, strong enough to fight back. And as he stared down the mist shinobi with his slowly reddening irises, his mind thought up exactly how he wanted to.

"Kaname, Hinata." Naruto smirked inwardly as he heard himself talk. His own voice sounded so ominous now that he was being changed by the chakra within him. He could feel the fangs that had always rested within his upper jaw growing just slightly as he stared ahead with a smirk, feeling all the more in touch with the side of himself he was just beginning to meet.

"We should leave, my friend. You heard Anko-sensei!" Kaname pleaded from behind him. Naruto refused to turn and face either of his teammates and show them the beast he was so willingly becoming. Unless they were completely utterly stupid, he knew that they must have known something was happening with him considering all that had taken place in the last two days since they left Konoha. Yet even still, he did not feel like trying to explain what he was to them when he did not understand it fully himself. So, for the moment that meant just enjoying the feeling that coursed through him then without losing control again. "If we stay here, we will only get ourselves and Tazuna killed by that monster. He is too powerful for just the three of us to take on, especially with Anko-sensei incapacitated as she is. I am sorry, my comrade, but we need to get out of here."

"Listen to me." Naruto spoke in a near whisper to his two teammates, still staring at the speechless Zabuza that stood maybe twenty feet in front of him at the edge of the lake. "In just a moment, I'm going to attack him."

"Naruto, no! It's suicide!" Hinata gripped his hand tighter once again as she pulled at his arm to try and shake him from his chosen course of action. By just barely focusing on her, Naruto could hear the desperation in her voice and smell the terror-induced cold sweat that was clinging to her body. He could almost taste her emotions on the wind, could see the look of her face as she spoke her words to dissuade him without even turning to look at her. Thanks his Kyuubi side, his senses whenever he gave in to what he was were becoming like that of a true animal and, for him, it was an awe-inspiring feeling. He knew her better than she knew herself just by the chemicals he could smell from her at that moment. He knew who she was.

Now with all the information his senses was receiving, he couldn't help but smile a little at the fact that she was truly that worried about him. "I-if you go in there and try to fight him, you'll… you'll get yourself killed! Anko-sensei told us to go so we need to go, now."

"Just listen to me for a moment, Hinata." He whispered as he still refused to face her, returning her fierce grip with a gentle hold as he tried to comfort her. Naruto knew what he was doing; the Kyuubi knew what he was doing. Calming himself, he let his voice drift back to its normal pitch and tenor while he focused solely on keeping his chakra exactly at that level of strength he needed. "I am going to attack him using my shadow clones. When I do, immediately take out three shuriken and get ready to throw them but don't let him see. He will probably knock me back as I attack but when he does, I want you to throw those three shuriken each at the different kill points up and down his body. Do you understand me?"

He turned his head back so very slightly to watch Hinata's face out of the corner of his blood-red eyes. Looking back at his irises she did not seem the slightest bit surprised by the almost feral appearance of his slitted pupils but rather her face betrayed a sense of understanding at what he was becoming. The horrified gaze she was shooting him from behind a pair of Byakugan-enhanced gray pools was not aimed at him but rather at Zabuza, a fear she held for his life instead of a fear of him. Sensing this, Naruto couldn't help but turn and show her a little more of him; she was proving as loyal as a friend as Kiba so she deserved some measure of trust from him.

"Ready?" He asked, watching her still.

"Naruto, we really should not do th–"Kaname began before Hinata raised her free hand to silence him.

Knowing that the blonde would not and could not be talked into taking a... weak way out of this situation, she had no choice but to just accept his judgment and give it her all. Her mind was reeling as the apprehension that still gripped her tried to fill her head with a thousand different what-ifs regarding the young shinobi's potential fate but she just quieted herself. 'He's stronger than that.' Steeling her own nerves, she gave Naruto a small nod before releasing his hand finally.

"Then here I go."Naruto's eyes shot back to Zabuza and locked in on the mist shinobi.

"So you actually think you can fight on my level?" Zabuza spoke up finally, watching Naruto as he prepared to enact his plan. The mist-nin was not stupid, he knew they had something planned but he just didn't know what. However, they were nothing but a couple of useless genin brats so even with his left arm held in place to keep their instructor from fighting, he had no doubt that he could handle them with relative ease.

With his hands he quickly went through the symbols of ram, snake, and tiger while he pulled up as much of the free-flowing chakra he could from every part of his body. He knew this was a stupid move but if everything worked out like he planned it, then they would at least have a one in a million shot at taking Zabuza down.

"KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"The air around them was suddenly full of a brief cloud of thin white smoke, concealing for just the slightest moment the most crucial part of his whole plan.

When the smoke cleared, there now stood a good thirty identical clones, each one of them staring down their jonin-level opponent with the utmost focus and dedication to the quick but all-important battle that was about to take place.

"As one!" The chorus of voices shouted as they rushed at Zabuza. In front of them, their enemy just stood tall, a sinister grin plastered on the face beneath his mask as he watched the amateurish maneuver, not having taken any notice the Kaname and Hinata as they rapidly each drew their shuriken and readied them in between their fingers. His gaze was solely focused on the thirty orange and black-clad clones that ran at him with white-knuckled fists. Reaching back, he calmly undid the strap that bound his Zanbatō on his back and gripped its handle tightly, already feeling the splatter of fresh genin blood as it fell on him like rain.

He swung wildly in front of him as they reached him, a wave of white smoke shooting past him as he took out a good eight of them in just one simple swing. Zabuza could feel more than a few of them trying to grip his free arm and legs as the final line dove down from the air in an effort to knock him down at least once. Their strength, however, was nothing compared to his.

Naruto covered his chest and face with his forearms as the massive blade swung back around, feeling nothing but supreme pain as it slammed down all the way to the bone through his thin jacket. The three clones around him disappeared immediately while the force of the blade began to drive him back; he knew he had to focus and do what he came to do. He had one shot at this before the blade knocked him back to his teammates. As the blade dug deeper and deeper into the bleeding flesh of his arms, he forced all of his weight to swing with it and kicked his right foot out at Zabuza's free arm. With all the chakra he could muster he slammed his right foot squarely into the mist demon's wrist. A darkly infectious smirk rose to his cheeks as he heard the satisfying crunch of bone that he had sought after.

Zabuza howled in exquisite agony and let go of the sword that still remained lodged in Naruto's profusely bleeding arms.

Naruto forced the pain from his mind, focusing all he could on the mission. The blade flew with its victim back to the feet of his two Squad Nine mates, landing with a resounding clang against the dirt as Naruto immediately shot his attention back at his Squad. "NOW!"

Hinata and Kaname didn't even look down at him as they let their six knives fly. Each one of them was aimed at one of the kill zones that they had been taught back in the Academy, bringing with them Zabuza's defeat. They flew at their victim with pinpoint precision, sailing through the air at the now unguarded shinobi as he tried to bring up his broken right arm to defend himself. Naruto smiled as he watched Zabuza's useless motion; he had sent enough force through his foot to shatter his wrist and forearm as well as at least break his upper arm. So with his arm broken and his blade gone from his grasp, the mist shinobi would have no other choice but to use his left arm.

Zabuza's eyes went wide in horror. Time seemed to slow down as he drew his left arm back from the sphere that Anko remained contained in.

Naruto, Kaname, and Hinata all watched as the mist shinobi lifted it just barely quick enough to cover the spots that they had attacked, six perfect throws lodging themselves into Zabuza's arm and legs while he defended himself. Zabuza blocked them as quickly as he could before trying to turn back to Anko to keep her contained. Beside him, the water was beginning to fall away and in a split second she would be free. He had to stop her!

The sensei's foot slammed squarely into the back of his head just as he turned his eyes back to her.

"Now, you're mine." Anko spoke mercilessly as he slammed down to the ground.


Author's Note: Chapter turned out longer than I had anticipated this time but, on the bright side, it did allow me time to get a good picture of what I want to do with the rest of the Land of Waves arc. Also, I went ahead and updated the prologue with a little bit of what may become a teaser of later on in the story. Enjoy it. Anyways, I'm off finally so enjoy the chapter and drop a review with your thoughts. Peace.