AUTHORS NOTE: So procrastination is a thing... Anyway's I won't bother you all with an extended A/N. Shoutout to Kenichi618 btw! If you have never read his fic's they are leaps and bounds better than mine and a great example of excellent writing.


Naruto Uzumaki

It had been several hours since Naruto and Sasuke had defeated the two shinobi that had ambushed their team. In the time that followed Kakashi had informed them that they had just defeated two rouge Chunin from the Hidden Mist Village. According to the most recent updates of the Bingo Book they were highly talented shinobi and were even more dangerous when they worked together. The fact that they could defeat them so easily was a testament to their strength. Naruto however was not as pleased with his performance against his adversary. In his first real conflict with a ninja he was put in a position where he had to use his reiatsu, and thus reveal a portion of his strength. What was even more frustrating was the ability displayed by his teammate Sasuke. His usage of a high level fire style jutsu showed his level of growth as well.

Much to his surprise Sakura did not probe Naruto on his technique, which was equally surprising to him as well. Instead he was tasked by Sakura with carrying an unconscious Tazuna to the boat that the kunoichi chartered for their travels. In addition to this Shirukitsune had taken the initiative to critique Naruto on his performance in his last fight.

Your blade work was fine, if you were fighting someone with a sword, but your opponent was not a swordsman, his zanpakuto told him, you must compensate for the difference in range Naruto.

Yes MOM, Naruto replied having grown frustrated with the exchange.

You know what I say is true boy, do not give me attitude, Shiru replied. The young swordsman mentally dismissed the comment, not wishing to continue the exchange. From his shoulder the elderly bridge-builder had finally regained consciousness. Without a word Naruto tossed the man off his shoulder, just to hurry the man's awakening.

"What the hell!," Tazuna exclaimed as he dusted himself off the ground.

"Get up old man we are almost at the boat," Naruto stated gruffly.

"Yeah that's nice! You didn't have to drop me like an asshole!" Tazuna shouted.

"Whatever" Naruto grunted, "You're awake now aren't ya."

"We're here" Sakura said, interrupting the exchange between Naruto and Tazuna. Without any reason to continue bickering with Tazuna Naruto looked off into the distance and saw the fisherman that was hired to ferry them to the Land of Waves.

"You the Leaf ninja that need to get 'cross the river," The fisherman asked.

"That is us yes, and we would like to be as discreet as possible," Tazuna said to the fisherman.

"Why would discretion be an issue Tazuna? Is there something you need to tell us?" Kakashi asked in a mildly sarcastic tone. Tazuna looked at Naruto and inhaled deeply, obviously nervous at what he was about to confess.

"Well… you know Gatou? The man who I said was after me…, "Tazuna began, "He is probably the one who hired those two ninja earlier, and I fear that with his deep pockets they will not be the last."

Naruto maintained his deadpan expression throughout Tazuna's attempt at honesty. Much of what Tazuna went on to explain was already discerned by Naruto and his teammates through pure logic. This fact escaped Tazuna however, and he continued to spill his guts to the ninja. After he concluded his confession the entirety of Team 7 stared at him.

"Look if you want to leave now that's fine, I don't expect y'all to help me knowing that your lives are in peril." Tazuna said.

It was Sasuke who took the initiative and decided to set the record straight, "You done," the Uchiha said, "We are not dumb, anyone with half a brain could do the research and figure out the resources that Gatou had. The village had all that information given to us in our mission briefing. While I appreciate your attempt at honesty it is unneccesary."

Tazuna opened his mouth to speak but Naruto took it upon himself to add on to what Sasuke stated, "Plus, we are ninja of the Hidden Leaf, we are not going to give up on a mission just because it has gotten a bit complicated."

"Couldn't say it better myself," Kakashi said gleefully, "Now Mr. Fisherman can we get going, as you now know we have to be a bit more discreet in our travels."

"No worries Mr. Ninja, I've dealt with your kith before, I knows how it works with you shinobi," the fisherman said. He signaled for the small group to load onto his boat and cast off as swiftly as he could.

For the next few hours the ninja of Team 7 lay silently in the raft of the fisherman as they glided across the calm waters. As they traveled a cool mist began to surround their vessel. The mist grew dense with time, obscuring the view of the shinobi. Naruto kept his senses alert throughout their travel into the Land of Waves. Through the mist an outline of the great bridge could be seen. A massive structure of steel, concrete, and mortar that would serve as the lifeblood of the region.

"I'll take us through the vegetation, just to avoid any prying eyes," The fisherman said softly to the ninja. Silence was the only response the group made, not seeing any reason to break their silence. It took a few more minutes but they made landfall in the Land of Waves with little incident.

"We can take this road to my village," Tazuna said to the ninja as they dismounted, "Not too long of a trip."

A road is an easy place for an ambush Naruto, ask if there are any other avenues of approach, Shirukitsune said. "Is this the only road from here to your village?" Naruto asked, agreeing with his sword spirit.

"Yes it is? But with this fog I doubt that anyone will notice us when we go inside." Tazuna said. Naruto looked to his teammates, hoping that they were of equal minds on the matter.

"A perfect place for the enemy to set up an ambush," Sakura said.
"Yeah…, " Sasuke added, "And I doubt that it will be a chunin leveled opponent again. If Gatou has as much wealth as you say Tazuna, we should expect a jonin level opponent."

Kakashi spoke up next, "Good thinking team, but if our opponent is at that level leave him to me. As strong as you all are I don't think you are quite at that level."

"Kakashi-sensei I think we can at least hold a jonin down long enough for Tazuna to be kept safe." Sakura said, extremely confident in herself. The pink-haired kunoichi made eye contact with her teammates, her viridian eyes shining with brilliance as Naruto saw her create a plan.

"What makes you say that?" Kakashi said.

"Well, I have an idea," Sakura said.


Zabuza Momochi

Waiting. When one becomes a ninja the amount of waiting you do seems directly proportional to your ability as a ninja. And this seems to be doubly so for a rouge ninja such as Zabuza. His task was to eliminate the bridge builder Tazuna for the fat merchant Gatou. The shinobi that feel under Zabuza's control had fallen under hard times in this time of peace, so much to his chagrin Zabuza as forced to take a less than ideal job.

Despite his personal disdain for the man that hired him, the proud Demon of the Hidden Mist did not make it a habit of half-assing a job. While he would gladly admit to being many less flattering aspects of his personality, his professionalism was not one of them. So it is with this mindset that Zabuza currently found himself waiting for the bridge-builder and his escorts. Whoever the group was they were competent enough to defeat the Demon Brothers, even after their enhancement by Gatou's jester. Zabuza's adept sensory abilities were enough to take note of the two distinct spikes in power right before the deaths of the Demon Brothers. The smaller one was dark and dense and filled with power. The larger of the two was wild and full of life but seemed omnipresent in nature. The two powers were certainly greater than the twin chunin but posed little threat to Zabuza.

Choosing to err on the side of caution Zabuza cast his iconic Hidden Mist Jutsu across what he gleamed as the bodyguards' avenue of approach. It took some time but he felt six people enter his mist, moving stealthily as to avoid detection. The group made landfall and whomever piloted their boat left hastily.

Four enemies, Zabuza thought to himself, simple enough. Now with the number, distance, and direction of his foes Zabuza ended his long wait and moved towards his targets. In moments he was atop his charges, maintaining his distance to get an eye on his mission. He looked to see his target, Tazuna, escorted by… a Genin team. He internally laughed to himself, those idiotic Demon Brothers got killed by Genin, he thought to himself. Pathetic. Upon closer examination the demon swordsman saw what he figured was the real issue; Kakashi Hatake, the Copy ninja.

Zabuza reached for his massive blade and readied his first attack, "Time to see how good you are Kakashi." Zabuza flung his blade at the group, causing the team of ninja to duck in response. With his speed the demon swordsman leaped atop his blade and addressed the shinobi in front of him, "No wonder the demon brothers had trouble with you."

Silence. The four ninja said nothing choosing to adopt a combat stance. The one to the left wore a high collard blue shirt and a black duster. His eyes were as dark as his hair, cold and unmoving as he stared at the Demon of the Mist. The one in the middle was a young kunoichi with a pink tank top and a sleevless black vest atop of it. Small scrolls were strapped to her arm as well as in various pockets on her outfit. Her eyes had the same steadfast determination as the other boys. The one on the right had a katana strapped across his back. Wild blonde hair fell just over his eyes and a brown vest with orange highlights covered chain mail. While his eyes were blue they maintained that same distance as the prior two. Kakashi moved to the rear, staying near Tazuna as a deterrent of attacking the bridge builder.

"It was actually my students that dealt with them Zabuza-san," Kakashi stated, "And they apparently want to fight you too. Have fun!" The S-rank ninja looked in awe as Kakashi finished his statement. What sort of psychopath would allow his students to fight the Demon of the Mist? Before the swordsman could attack the three Genin charged him. The three young ninja attacked with taijutsu in unison. Quickly falling in sync and forming a rhythm of attacks. Zabuza was caught off guard by their aggression but quickly recovered and drew his blade to cut them down. Despite the density of the mist Momochi had conjured the Genin seemed to have no problem keeping track of his movements. Any time he believed himself to have created the distance needed to use ninjutsu he was flanked and forced back into close quarters combat. Any attempt at striking the little ninja seemed slightly off, just barely missing his target. In addition to that his attempts to track the shinobi using the sixth sense his Hidden Mist jutsu granted him did not seem to work against the three.

While the Genin were hardly pushing him to use his full strength it is obvious that they were more than enough to handle the Demon Brothers. The black-haired Genin launched a flying kick during one of Zabuza's horizontal slashes, just barely missing the blade as well as Zabuza's head. Before Zabuza could grab the boy the black haired Genin was pulled out of the air by the blonde sword user using a piece of steel wire. The three Genin stopped their offense, staring blankly at the Demon of the Mist apparently unaffected by their rapid attacks.

"Your students are very talented Kakashi. I should expect no less from the students of a ninja such as yourself." Zabuza shouted as he fixed his blade upon his shoulder.

"That is a pleasant compliment coming from you Zabuza, but you haven't really seen anything yet I'm afraid," The Leaf Jonin replied, smirking beneath his face mask.

"Let's see if you are still smug after I destroy your students," Momochi growled. Using a bit of his dense chakra Zabuza charged straight through the defending Genin and attacked Kakashi and…

Nothing. Zabuza's blade made contact with air much to the confusion of the missing-nin. Instead in front of him the three Genin stood just as they had before with Kakashi still to the rear defending Tazuna. It did not take long for Zabuza to realize he was under the effect of an illusion, but how? He would have noticed if he was placed within an illusion. Didn't matter now, all he had to do was break the illusion. In an instant Zabuza stopped his chakra flow, ending whatever illusion he was under, and then released a portion of his power as a display of strength. As the illusion faded Zabuza saw only the pink haired kunoichi standing in front of him. Kakashi and Tazuna were no where to be found but before he could open his mouth he felt a strong killing intent to his right as the blonde sword user attacked.

Zabuza shifted his grip and turned his massive blade to defend the strike. The blonde was not finished and managed to use his momentum to flip over Zabuza's head. The demon swordsman brought his blade down on the blonde but was blocked by the young swordsman own weapon. As the blonde struggled to maintain his guard the whistle of a large shuriken was heard behind Zabuza. Drawing from years of experience he snatched the throwing star out of the air, making eye contact with the black-haired Genin who was still airborne.

"NOW NARUTO!," He shouted. Before he realized what was going on the blonde shinobi had used his free hand to grab Zabuza's wrist. In a fluid motion he pulled the Demon swordsman closer, throwing him off balance briefly. In a blink of an eye the blonde had managed to place his hip below Zabuza's center of gravity throwing him over his shoulder while maintaining control of Zabuza's blade hand. Knowing what would come next Zabuza kicked the Genin with all his might, sending him flying into a tree. Before he could stand up the black-haired ninja was now above him, having just finished a series of hand seals.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Fire Jutsu," He shouted while releasing a torrent of flames that spread out like a blazing sunflower around him before converging on Zabuza. With little time to react Zabuza was forced to release a surge of chakra. The burst of power was enough to throw off the fire technique, saving Zabuza from taking damage. What was injured however, was his pride. A group of Genin had managed to hold him and forced him to exert effort.

"Well shit…, I thought that would have done something," The blonde one named "Naruto" mused with a slight hint of exhaustion in his voice.
"He is an S-ranked ninja, what did you expect Uzumaki," The black-haired ninja stated rather bluntly.
"Careful fellas, I think we just pissed him off," The kunoichi said to her teammates.

The Genin readied themselves, waiting for Zabuza's next move. These three were strong, there was no denying that. However they were also in his way. A lesser ninja would have been picked apart by these three, but Zabuza was most certainly no 'lesser ninja'. He was the Demon of the Hidden Mist. His name was known and feared across all the elemental nations, and he would instill this same fear into these young shinobi before slaying them before their master's very eyes. He allowed his rage and hate to churn inside him as he let his devilish chakra bleed off of him. To the Genin it would seem as if a demon hovered around the swordsman. He allowed his murderous intent to radiate off his body, allowing the Genin to know just how outmatched they truly were. Then he charged.