A/N: Ok, first sorry for the long wait, but in exchange I brought the longest chapter ever. This one is a full 4,655 words (not including authors notes.) So I'm really happy that.
Please review, follow, favorite or all of the above and, most importantly, enjoy.
Chapter 8: The Missing Missing-Nin
"This is as far as I'll take you." Spoke the man controlling the small boat. Naruto and his group nodded when he said this. They had stopped at a small wooden dock that was built out from a small island. Naruto was the first out of the boat, and was soon followed by Kakashi, Sakura, Sasuke, and Tazuna. The small group watched the boat slowly drift away and into the mist that surrounded the wave. When they could no longer see it, Kakashi spoke,
"Well, lets get moving." He turned around and walked straight into the woods that made up the island. Naruto found himself walking in front of Tazuna, with Sakura and Sasuke on either side of him. Naruto kept himself on high alert, knowing that Zabuza would appear fairly early during this walk.
The wave country was made of many different islands stuck together with bridges made of wood or stone. They were currently walking on a island that had not been inhabited, but worked as a forest area. However the normally beautiful sights that would accompany such a walk were marred by the uneasy silence between them.
Naruto cringed as he heard a rustling in the bushes, but put it off as some animal messing around. Zabuza had thrown his sword at them when he attacked not hid around in the bushes. They continued on and soon Naruto could see the break in the island where Zabuza should be hiding.
As they moved forward the rustling in the bushes got louder and less discrete. By this time the entire group had noticed it and was keeping a watchful eye on the bushes. The noise coming from the bushes became louder and louder and Kakashi had stopped the group and was watching it. Naruto saw him slowly slip a kunai out of the pouch strapped to his leg.
Naruto was on the verge of pulling out one of the small knives that was strapped to his leg like him, but he just watched with bated breath along with the rest. The rustling became louder and soon the bush right in front of them began to part.
They all let out sighs of relief when a small white rabbit came hopping out of the bush. Naruto couldn't help but laugh that they all had been so on edge because of a rabbit. Naruto started to walk off again but then some kind of warning went off in his head.
Naruto stopped as the memories of his first time in the wave country came back to him. His eyes widened as he remembered the rabbit that was placed there to distract them. As soon as he realized this he jumped on top of Tazuna and screamed for everyone to duck.
The attack never came.
Naruto lifted his head and gazed around. The forest was calm, completely undisturbed. He warily stood up and brushed himself off.
"You ok Naruto?" Sakura asked. "You don't look too good." This comment worried Naruto even more. The first time he took the wave mission Sakura had told him off for overreacting. He must have looked terrible. Naruto tried to mask his pale face by giving her a wide smile.
"Yeah, just thought I heard something." He lied "Potential B-ranked mission and... stuff." He finished with a forced laugh. But Sakura frowned at him, obviously not fooled. He turned back to the path and started walking ahead of the group, keen to get away from this particular patch of woods.
Suddenly something grabbed his shoulder. Naruto whipped around and was about to punch whoever was insane enough to bother him at a time like this. He found Sasuke with a overconfident look on his face. He casually pulled ahead of Naruto and spoke,
"If your scared, why don't you just go home and leave this mission to the professionals?" he said, the cocky smile still on his face. Naruto's reaction however, was not what they expected. He nodded slightly and let Sasuke take the lead, still eying the trees. Naruto could feel Kakashi's gaze directed at him, but he didn't bother to look back. Zabuza was much more important than what they were thinking right now.
They started moving again and not once did Naruto take his gaze away from the tree line. After what seemed like a few seconds the ground beneath him changed feel and sound. He spared the ground a glace and saw they were already on the stone bridge connecting the islands. They had been walking for much longer than he thought.
Naruto took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself. He forced himself to look forward at Sasuke's back. He could see the smirk on Sasuke's face and thought that Sasuke probably took his relenting as a personal triumph.
They continued along the bridge at a brisk pace. Naruto could see his nervousness was starting to rub off on everyone else. It was just too quiet for anyone to be calm. No birds were singing, there were no crickets chirping, no rabbits moving in the bushes, there was nothing but their own footsteps.
As they stepped off of the stone bridge Naruto heard a soft whistling. He dove out of the way of the incoming senbon just as they hit. Almost instantly it seemed, every ninja present surrounded Tazuna and took out kunai.
Naruto glanced at the senbon that were now imbedded in the ground and realized that from where he was standing he would have been killed if those hit. That eliminated Haku being the attacker. Even on the bridge, Haku was only aiming to incapacitate, not kill.
Suddenly Naruto felt himself become calm, strange how being attacked was more relaxing to him then being left alone. He looked to his side and saw Sasuke giving him a confused look.
"Aren't going to chicken out on us are you Uchiha?" Naruto joked.
"Your one to talk." Sasuke said. "Weren't you the one who was terrified a few seconds ago?"
"At least I know that we're being attacked now. So my intuition was right, ha!" Sasuke just shook his head and turned away.
"Sasuke, Naruto! Were in the middle of a battle of a potential jonin level opponent!" Kakashi's voice effectively stopped their small argument. More senbon came speeding towards them and they all dove out of the way. Kakashi grabbed Tazuna and pulled him along with him.
More senbon came at them but they were aimed at Sasuke, who batted them out of the air with a kunai. More came at Sakura, who copied Sasuke. Naruto glanced around, despretly trying to find their opponent. The senbon started coming from all angles and at a much faster rate.
Naruto saw Kakashi doing the same thing as him while simultaneously protecting Tazuna. He jumped away from another barrage of senbon and landed on the other side of the bridge. He desperately looked around to try and find the culprit of the attacks but to no avail.
His gaze finally fell to the tree line behind him. More senbon suddenly came speeding towards him from the trees. He dashed under the senbon and jumped up and towards the tree where he saw the senbon be thrown. Just as he was about to reach a branch, something hard slammed into his chest. Naruto was thrown backwards and landed on the ground, hard.
"Naruto!" He heard Kakashi shout. Naruto tried to stand but something landed on his body. He felt something sharp press against his chest. Naruto raised his head and gasped when he saw the attacker.
"What have you done with Zabuza?" Haku asked menacingly. He was holding a senbon directly over his heart. Naruto swallowed nervously as he felt the senbon lower and the point press against his skin.
"W-what do you mean?" In response Haku lowered the senbon away from his heart and pressed it into his skin.
"What did you do with Zabuza?" He asked again. Naruto had never seen an expression of rage on Haku's face, let alone one this fierce. Naruto ignored the pain and turned away from Haku. His teammates were frozen on the spot, Naruto could see Kakashi's face screwed up in concentration while he was trying to think a way out of the situation.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Naruto said turning back to face Haku. What began as a small stinging sensation in his chest started growing in intensity as Haku pressed the senbon deeper into his chest.
"Listen," Kakashi said, deciding to take the direct approach. "Whatever Naruto has done to offend you I doubt it was intentional." After he said this Haku slowly got off of Naruto. Naruto sighed in relief as Haku pulled the senbon out of his chest.
"Well I'm glad you und-" he started to say when Haku released him but Haku's foot slammed him back into the ground. Haku pulled more senbon out of a pouch strapped to his waste and held them in his hands.
"You seem like the leader." He said. Kakashi's eye narrowed as he and Haku stared at each other. Haku raised the senbon and prepared to throw them. "Tell me what you have done with Zabuza." Haku said. Kakashi raised his visible eyebrow,
"Zabuza Momochi?" Kakashi asked.
"The same."
"Why would a young boy like you be worried about a low life missing-nin like Zabuza?" Haku pointed the senbon in his hand at Kakashi,
"Take that back." He said. Naruto saw Kakashi's eye flicker to him and he saw him sigh. Naruto glanced at Haku's foot firmly placed on his chest and growled. This was embarrassing, the most powerful ninja in the leaf being held down by a genin. Not only was he making things much harder for Kakashi but also this was a major blow to his pride.
He sighed and rested his head against the ground. Naruto lifted his hands to try and pry Haku's foot off of him. Haku noticed however, and turned his other hand filled with senbon so it was facing Naruto.
"Don't move." Haku said plainly. Naruto slowly lowered his hands, but not before he noticed the claws that were currently on his hands. He smirked as he remembered he was using the nine tail's chakra. He took a long and deep breath and filled his lungs with the demon's chakra. Haku noticed the sudden spike in Naruto's chakra a second to late. He desperately threw the senbon at Naruto's neck but Naruto released the built up chakra in an animalistic roar.
Haku was thrown off of Naruto and sent crashing into the forest. Naruto jumped up and pointed his finger at where he thought Haku had landed,
"I'm not your damn hostage!" He yelled. Naruto pulled out a kunai and deflected the senbon speeding towards him. Haku jumped out of the bushes and charged at him. Naruto sped towards Haku and their weapons connected, entering them into a battle of pure force.
It became clear that Naruto was the better in sheer power. Haku was soon forced backwards as Naruto pushed himself forward. Realizing that he would lose like he was, Haku raised his free hand and started going through seals. Naruto realized what Haku was doing and jumped away from him. His escape was stopped when he collided with something smooth.
Naruto fell back to the ground and landed with a large crash. He sat up and looked around himself and realized he and Haku were currently surrounded by mirrors. Naruto could see water from the lake below the stone bridge they had just crossed flying into the mirrors and forming more.
"I'm going to ask you once more." Haku said menacingly. "What have you done to Zabuza?"
"We haven't done anything!" Naruto yelled back.
"Lies." Haku turned and ran straight into one of the mirrors surrounding them. The mirror seemed to ripple like water as it sucked Haku into itself. Naruto glanced around at all the mirrors around him, trying to find the one that was hiding Haku.
Haku appeared in the mirror above him for just long enough to throw a few senbon at him. Naruto jumped out of the way and backed into one of the mirrors. He felt a small jab at his skin and jumped to the side. The senbon flew out of the mirror behind him a second later. Naruto knew he could probably defeat Haku if he used chakra but Kakashi and his team were watching.
"Haku!" He shouted, attempting to reason with the boy. "We didn't-" But he stopped when Haku appeared in the mirror in front of him. Haku glared at him before stepping out of the mirror,
"How did you know my name?" He asked calmly. Naruto cringed as he realized his mistake.
"Lucky guess?" Naruto lied. Haku was obviously unconvinced as his eyes narrowed and he began to walk back to one of the mirrors. Just as Haku was about to enter the mirror, it shattered. Haku jumped away, but Kakashi appeared behind him and delivered a chop to the back of his neck.
The mirrors around them turned into water and fell to the ground with a loud splash. Naruto saw jumped out of the large puddle and landed next to Sakura. Kakashi slung Haku over his shoulder and followed Naruto.
There was a long and tense silence after that. Naruto looked around and found Kakashi staring at him suspiciously. Naruto realized with a jolt that Kakashi had heard the conversation between him and Haku. Then Sakura, his saving grace, broke the silence.
"So," She began. "What do we do now Kakashi-Sensei?" Kakashi visibly shook himself. He adjusted the boy on his shoulder before he responded,
"I say we wait till this boy wakes up and then question him. He didn't seem be after Tazuna." They all nodded in agreement. Kakashi walked over to the stone bridge and placed Haku on it. Kakashi rested Haku's head on the railing and stepped back. Kakashi turned towards Naruto and to him it looked like he wanted answers.
Then, suddenly and without warning Naruto felt as if his head had spit open. The pain was so intense and it came without any kind of premonition. He clutched his head and screamed. Naruto could hear the worried voices of his teammates but ignored them. He fell to his knees as the pain in his head intensified. He pressed his hands into his heads with more force but the pain did not subside. Naruto's vision became blurry, and he finally fell uncurious.
Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief as he felt the warm liquid rush down his through. He lowered the cup of warm tea in his hands and took yet another deep and calming breath. He was brimming with confidence at their success so far. They had defeated three attacking ninja and had protected Tazuna throughout the entire thing.
"How is it?" Asked a female voice behind him. Sasuke turned toward Tsunami and put on a small smile.
"It's very good." He said. Tsunami seemed satisfied with this answer and, after giving him a warm smile, walked out of the room. He took another sip of the warm tea and set the cup down. Sasuke put his hands behind his head and lied down. A soft chirping of birds from the night greeted his senses. He was getting very relaxed when he heard the door beside him open.
Sakura sat down next to him, fully dressed in her pajamas. Sasuke heard Sakura sip from the glass of tea before she set it down.
"Are you sure its ok if we keep that boy here?" Sakura asked. She sounded worried to Sasuke. He glanced around Sakura and into the hall where there was a door in the middle of the wall. Naruto and the boy were currently sleeping in that room, but the boy was tied down with a seal that Kakashi had made in case he woke when none of them were around and attacked someone.
"Kakashi sealed him to the floor, remember?" Sasuke responded. "And besides, if the loser can hold his own against him, we've got nothing to worry about."
"But what if he was holding back before?" Sakura asked. Sasuke had thought that Sakura had seemed worried once they decided to take the boy with them, now he knew why.
"We get Kakashi to take him down again. I mean he's our age, what could he possibly do to a jonin?"
This seemed to reassure Sakura, as she dropped the topic of the strange boy that was currently sleeping in the room next to them.
"Who is this Zabuza?" Sasuke asked after a particularly awkward stretch of silence.
"You mean that guy the boy kept going on about?" Sakura said. Sasuke nodded,
"Kakashi-Sensei said that he was a missing-nin, but if he was, why was this boy so worried about him?"
"I guess we'll just ask him when he wakes up." Sakura said. She took another sip of tea before letting out a large yawn. Sasuke repressed a sigh after hearing it. She was probably staying awake so she could spend some 'alone' time with him. Sasuke stood up and walked towards the sink across the room.
"Better get some sleep. Kakashi said he's going to teach us something new tomorrow." Sasuke gulped down the last of his tea and set it down on the counter in front of him. Sakura chose to take her tea up with her and stood up as well. She started to walk towards the stairs that led to the upstairs when she stopped at the door that led to the room where Naruto and the boy were sleeping.
She quietly opened the door and checked inside it before nodding and walking away. Sasuke soon followed suit and walked towards the stairs. He noticed Sakura had left the door to their room open and looked in it himself.
The room was pitch black and Sasuke could barely see the outlines of the two boys in the room, but that wasn't what unnerved him. A pair of blood red eyes with silted pupils were staring right back at him. They seemed to glow and illuminate parts of the room.
Sasuke's vision was suddenly obscured by flurry of green. He realized he hadn't stopped walking and was currently staring at a wall. Sasuke jumped back to the opening in the wall to see if the eyes were still watching him. He saw Naruto and the boy sleeping soundly in the blankets they had set out for them.
Sasuke glanced back at the empty glass on the counter at the opposite end of the room. He walked towards it and picked it up. Looking the glass over brought no new knowledge except reassurance that Tsunami was not trying to poison him. Sasuke set the glass back down and walked back to the door.
There was no change in the two occupants. Sasuke ran a hand through his hair and walked away from the door. Deciding he was just too tired for his eyes to work properly, Sasuke entered his room and fell asleep.
Sasuke was awakened from his peaceful dream by a loud crash. He opened his eyes and was greeted with the blurry outline of the ceiling. He lay there, half asleep, for a few more moments until another crash sounded. He shot out of his bed and looked around for the source of the crash.
Another crash sounded from below and Sasuke ran towards it. He dashed into the kitchen area where he found the Tsunami surrounded by several broken dishes surrounding her. Right in front of her was Kakashi holding the boy in a headlock with a kunai raised to his head.
"He attacked as soon as Kakashi released him." Sakura said as she appeared behind him, making Sasuke jump. Sasuke nodded as Kakashi began interrogating the boy.
"Why did you attack us?" Kakashi asked. Sasuke saw the kunai lower until it was touching the top of the boy's head.
"I won't answer any questions until you tell me where Zabuza is." Haku said defiantly. Kakashi pressed the kunai closer to the boys head,
"What makes you so sure we did anything to him? There are a lot of people other than us at the wave country." Kakashi asked.
"You are the only jonin ninja in the wave country that I know of." The boy said. "Zabuza is a high class ninja, no ordinary civilian could ever take him down." Kakashi then did something that surprised the entire room, he released the boy.
"Your intentions are admirable, but next time make sure you have the actual culprit before you attack someone." He said, stowing the kunai back in his pouch. Sasuke turned to Sakura, who's expression was even more surprised than his, looking for answers.
"How do I know you're not lying?" The boy asked. Sasuke saw Sakura tense up after this comment. "This could just be a trap to-" But he never finished the sentence. Sakura had walked up to him and slapped him across the face. All was silent for a moment, and then Sakura exploded.
"How much lower could you get? We take you in, nurse you back to health, give you food and all you say is that were setting a trap!" She yelled. The boy did nothing but raised a hand to the point where Sakura's hand connected. "Do you know what would have happened if you had met some other team across that road? You would have been left, or even killed! But we dragged your stupid unconscious body to this house and let you rest."
She raised a hand to the door that led to the room that Naruto was currently sleeping in. "Our teammate is still unconscious and thanks to you, now he had a hole in his chest!" Her hand lowered to the smashed glass that once was able to hold food that lay at Tsunami's feet. "That food was for you! Tsunami and I worked to make that because Kakashi-Sensei told us you were really a good person, but now I'm not so sure."
After that she walked away and up the stairs. The boy did nothing but stare at where Sakura had giving her speech, his hand still raised to his cheek. He slowly lowered his hand and turned to Kakashi.
"I apologize." He said. Then he turned to Tsunami and apologized to her as well. Then he bent down and started picking up the shards of glass. A loud bang echoed through the room as Tazuna entered.
"What's going on?" He asked, staggering a little.
"Nothing to worry about Tazuna." Kakashi answered, "Our guest just woke up."
"Did you beat him up?" Tazuna asked. Sasuke smirked as he saw the boy drop a few of the glass shards after he said this.
The rest of the day was uneventful. The newly dubbed Haku had tried many times to get inside Sakura's good books and failed every single try. It had become somewhat comical to the other residents of the house after the first few attempts. Sasuke had the feeling Sakura was starting to forgive him, he never saw Sakura as someone to hold a grudge.
Tsunami had seemed to take to Haku after his apology, when he helped pick up the broken dishes and remake the meal. Tazuna seemed suspicious of him at first, but at dinner that night Haku had managed to hold his own in an argument with Tazuna about wooden bridges and stone bridges. Tazuna seemed to take to the stone bridges, but Haku liked wooden ones better because they were more traditional. By the end of the day, Haku had managed to befriend everyone but Sasuke.
Kakashi had postponed their training until the next day in order to welcome their guest and get him used to things. So Sasuke found himself sitting in the same room he sat the previous night, with the same glass of tea. Sasuke heard the door beside him open and turned to find Haku, not Sakura.
"Hello," Haku said, putting on a warm smile. Sasuke raised his hand in greeting and took a large gulp from his tea. Haku sat down next to him and drank a much smaller amount of tea. "I'm going to leave tomorrow." He said plainly.
"Why?" Sasuke asked, pretending not to care. He heard Haku sigh,
"I have to find Zabuza." He said. "He is precious to me, and I have to protect him."
"You sound just like Naruto." Sasuke said. He knew he had heard Naruto make the same pronouncement a while back. Though it was only because his wallet had been stolen.
"The boy in there?" Haku's voice sounded slightly guilty as he looked at the door. Sasuke finished his tea and stood up,
"Well, feel free to leave whenever you want. Just wait until the morning, I don't want to deal with all the complaining."
Sasuke did not sleep well that night. No matter how hard he tried, he could not get to sleep. After a good two hours of tossing and turning Sasuke leaped up from his bed, resisting the urge to yell. It was if some divine being was forcing him to stay awake.
Sasuke threw open the door to his room and shuffled angrily down the stairs, hoping that getting something to drink would help him sleep. He reached the kitchen area and pulled out a small cup of juice left over from dinner. He began to walk back towards the stairs when he noticed the door to Naruto's room was hanging open.
He looked into it and felt his heart stop. Naruto was sitting up and staring at him, his eyes seemed to glow in the darkness of the room. Sasuke closed his eyes and opened them again, trying to convince himself he was under some juice-induced dream.
When he opened his eyes the red eyes in the room were gone, but so was Naruto. Sasuke turned around to rush back to his room but was impeded by Naruto standing right in his path. Sasuke jumped backwards, spilling the remains of the juice he was holding down his front.
"Staring at me while I'm sleeping Sasuke? That's called stalking." Naruto said with a cocky smirk on his face. Sasuke frowned, something about Naruto was off. The smile was different than what Sasuke was used to and the Naruto he knew was nowhere near this fast.
"Anything you need?" Naruto asked. Sasuke warily eyed the boy in front of him.
"No." Sasuke said. The smirk on Naruto's face was starting to get to him. It was as if Naruto had just succeeded in becoming hokage, and was desperately trying to hide it. Sasuke walked away from Naruto, but never took his eyes away from him. Just as he was about to reach the stairs he heard Naruto say,
"Sasuke, wait." Naruto grabbed onto Sasuke's arm and pulled. But instead of pulling Sasuke toward him, it ripped the skin from Sasuke's arm. Naruto retracted his arm and Sasuke noticed the claws on Naruto's bloodied hands. Naruto stared at his hand for a moment before waving Sasuke away.
"Goodnight." He said plainly and walked away. Sasuke, completely forgetting the fact his arm was now bleeding profusely, forgetting that it hurt like nothing he had ever felt, ran. There was no way that could ever be Naruto, the way he looked at the blood, the concealed joy within him leaked for a moment. Sasuke reached the stairs and was going straight to Kakashi.
Sasuke ran up the stairs as fast as he could, but as he was about to reach the top he slipped and his head crashed into the edge of the stairs. Sasuke felt the sensation of falling down a long tunnel, and fell unconscious.
A/N: This chapter I felt did a lot. We made friends with Haku, arrived at the wave, and Naruto is acting suspiciously. I want to ask you if I'm going to fast. I've seen stories with every chapter longer than this and there still on the bell test. So what do you think? should I try to slow down? I know exactly what I'm doing plot-wise though, everything will make sense when this is finished.
So please review and I will put the next chapter up as soon as I can.
