I struggled to my feet, my headband gripped firmly in my left hand. "Hey you!" I growled. "The guy with the smart alec attitude."
He looked at me with a growling expression.
"Put this in your Bingo book," my head was down and I lifted my headband and put it to my forehead. "The sole survivor of the Haruta Clan," I tied my headband behind my hair and looked up, tightening it. "Is going to take you down!"
"The Haruta Clan!?" the real Zabuza exclaimed.
"Yes," Kakashi smiled. "Her real name, is Kaya Haruta, heir to every Kekkei Genkai of that Clan, and, the daughter of Yukio Haruta himself."
Zabuza's eyes were wide. "I heard that that Clan was wiped out!"
"Not all of them," Kakashi said. "This one, Kaya, holds something dangerous within her."
"And what is that dangerous thing?"
"You don't need to know that," I growled. "Because I'm taking you out right now!"
Zabuza looked at me and I was suddenly gone.
The clone looked around for me, but I hit him in the side, sending him flying.
"What is this new power!?" Tazuna exclaimed. "I knew she was fast and quick to think, but I never imagined she'd be able to hit him!"
"You haven't seen her real power," Sasuke smiled. "She's a lot stronger than this, trust me."
"What do we do?" Naruto asked.
"AH!"
Sasuke and Naruto looked around for me, and they were wide eyed when they saw me, back against a tree and the clone's hand at my throat, a kunai stabbed into my right shoulder.
"Kaya!" Sasuke exclaimed and went to run forward, but the clone lifted me away from the tree and threw me over to my friends.
"Stop this now!" Kakashi yelled. "Even as a clone, you can't match his strength. Get the bridge builder and get out of here!"
"We can't leave you here!" Sasuke called. "Zabuza will kill you!"
"Zabuza's using all his Chakra to keep me in this prison, and his clone can't go far without its real body, so get out of here!"
"No, that became unthinkable the moment you got caught!" I growled.
"You're not thinking!" Kakashi growled back at me. "Your mission is to protect the bridge builder. Stay on mission!"
I turned and looked at Tazuna. "Bridge builder?"
Tazuna thought for a moment and sighed. "Well, I guess it's my fault you're in this mess. So go ahead, do what you have to to save your sensei."
I nodded. "Thank you."
"You hear that?" Sasuke smiled at Kakashi. "Now we're gonna get you out of there."
Kakashi sighed.
"Sakura, stay out of this," I instructed. "Stay with Tazuna and protect him."
Sakura nodded. "Got it."
"What about us?" Naruto asked, meaning him and Sasuke.
"You two take care of the clone," I said to them. "I'm going for his real body."
"You sure?" Sasuke said.
I nodded and a grin came to my face. "I'm turning tiger."
Sasuke and Naruto smiled and nodded as I ran forward, trying to dodge around the clone, but it came at me.
"Let's go," Sasuke said and he and Naruto ran forward, getting in the clone's way and running at him.
I smiled and nodded, running towards the real Zabuza. I stopped at the edge of the lake, I didn't know how to walk on water like he did.
"What do you think you can do?" Zabuza laughed. "You can't hurt me. And my clone will take out your friends without a problem."
It was Kakashi that laughed now. "Don't underestimate this girl, she's got powers at a Jonin level."
"What!? That's impossible!" Zabuza growled as I made hand-signs.
Tora, Ushi, Mi, Tatsu, Saru, Inu, I! I smiled. "You're gonna regret calling me weak!"
"Oh really?" Zabuza tried a bluff and my smile turned into an evil smirk.
"Yes, really," I grinned, closing my eyes. "Shadow Tiger Jutsu!"
"Oh.." Kakashi smiled. "Now you're really in for it. She's ending this one quickly."
"Huh!?"
Zabuza looked at me as my body began to change, my teeth became fangs and I sprouted a tail, then I grew bigger and bigger. In moments, I was a huge tiger with shiny white teeth, beautiful white claws, shining orange coat with black stripes.
"Now, it's over," I snarled. "I'm going to free Kakashi-sensei and make sure you never come after the bridge builder ever again!"
"Oh, and what can you do in a tiger form?" Zabuza's voice was getting shakier and shakier.
"Oh, my teeth and claws should be enough to do a massive amount of damage," I purred. "But you're going to die with my very special, deadly attack. Tiger's Roar!"
"Uh oh," Kakashi smiled, making a mockingly scared voice.
I took in a huge breath and let it out, and it became a fierce breeze, circling around Zabuza.
"What is this!?" Zabuza exclaimed as he was suddenly unable to move. "Is this your attack? Are you planning on crushing me with air?" he started laughing.
"Nope," I smiled and took in another breath. "This is what my deadly attack is!"
I let my breath out and Chakra escaped my mouth, becoming a visible blue color, taking the shape of senbon, and then the fire surrounded it.
"What is that!?" Zabuza growled. "Is it Chakra!?"
"Yes," Kakashi said. "Even I couldn't escape that attack."
"She hit you with it too!?"
"Yep. But I was lucky she healed me with her Healing Palms Jutsu. And lucky for me, I'm in this cage so I won't get hurt."
Zabuza's eyes were wide and he looked up at me.
I smiled and the senbon Chakra needles came down, attacking everything in front of me. They struck the Water Prison Kakashi was stuck in, but it didn't get through. Others stabbed into Zabuza's body and the water.
"Aaahhhh!!!!!!!!!!!" Zabuza cried out as they cut into him and his right hand came out of the Water Prison.
My body began changing again and soon, I was me again, on my hands and knees, breathing heavily, knowing that I did my job.
I looked over my shoulder at the clone, it was still standing, fighting against Sasuke and Naruto. Sakura was doing her job, protecting Tazuna in case anybody went at him.
I turned back to the real Zabuza, he was mad, and he was extremely weak. I could see the smoke rising from the wounds I inflicted on him. He barely managed to stand up, and he looked at me with eyes full of hate, I didn't even need to see it, the feeling of hatred burned into me like a fire burning my body.
He pulled out a kunai and spun it on his finger. "I'll crush you!"
I tried to get up and move, but my body wouldn't let me. I put so much energy into the Tiger's Roar that I had no energy left, my body needed to recover quickly, or else I was as good as dead.
Zabuza prepared to throw the kunai at me but something got in his way and stopped the kunai from being thrown.
I looked up at Kakashi, the top of his hand was against the blade and blood rolled down his fingers. He looked up at Zabuza with anger in his eyes. "Don't even think about hurting her!"
Zabuza looked at Kakashi and they both jumped away from each other, but Zabuza was wobbly, weak from my attack, which would give Kakashi the advantage.
"Kaya!"
I looked over my shoulder but Naruto and Sasuke were on either side of me. "You okay?" Naruto asked.
I nodded, still breathing heavily. "Just tired."
"Water style, Swirling Vortex Jutsu!"
We looked up at Kakashi and Zabuza, water swirled around Kakashi and went straight for Zabuza and the water went everywhere, hitting us like an explosion.
I held my breath as we were dragged by this new current and when the water went away again, I coughed out mouthfuls of water.
"You alright?"
I looked up at Sasuke, realizing that I had fallen on top of him, he was against the tree and I sat up, looking at him. "I'm fine," I murmured. "What about you?"
He nodded. "I'm okay."
Slowly, we both stood up, Sasuke had to help me stand properly. "What happened to Zabuza?" I wondered.
We looked around and we saw Zabuza against a tree, looking like a drowned rat, kunai's stabbed into his body and Kakashi up on the tree branch above him.
"Now it's over," Kakashi said but before he could strike him, Zabuza was struck, by senbon to the neck.
I looked up into another tree and saw another person, a boy around my age, but he had white and red mask on and long black hair.
"Who's he!?" Naruto growled, pulling himself out of the lake. "He just killed Zabuza!"
Kakashi looked at the boy. "By the looks of you, you're a tracker ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist."
"That is correct," the boy nodded.
A tracker? I thought.
"My job was to track down Zabuza and kill him, so that the secrets of my people will not be passed on to others."
"What's a tracker?" Naruto asked.
I sighed. "You missed the lesson on it as usual. I'll explain; A tracker is a very talented ninja, who is trained to be able to hit very vital spots in the body. When a ninja breaks away from their village and becomes a rogue, trackers are assigned to hunt them down and kill them, so that the secrets of their people, remain secrets."
Naruto looked at me for a few moments before looking back at the tracker.
"Thank you," the boy said. "Because of you I was finally able to bring him down."
"No problem," Kakashi said.
The boy made hand-signs and appeared down at Zabuza's body. He picked up the body and put it over his shoulders. "I must deal with the body. There are many secrets in this body, I must not let them get into the wrong hands. Your troubles are over for now. Farewell."
The boy made a hand-sign with his left hand and he was suddenly gone.
"Where did he go!?" Naruto said and ran over to the spot where the boy disappeared with Zabuza's body.
"He's gone, Naruto. Leave it," Kakashi sighed.
"But didn't you see him!?" Naruto growled. "He, who is no bigger than me, took down Zabuza, and he was huge!" Naruto fell to his knees and started punching the ground. "What are we doing!? We're just fumbling around! We're nothing!"
I walked over to Naruto and grabbed his arm to stop him from hitting the ground again. He looked over his shoulder at me. "Save your energy," I murmured quietly, trying not to show the pain in my left arm that held his in the air. "For the next energy. I know you don't believe what happened, Naruto. But it did happen."
"Yes," Kakashi jumped down beside me. "There are ninja younger than you, and yet.... stronger than me."
I noticed he looked at me, I looked back at him and he smiled.
Naruto relaxed and I let him go. "Kaya, for example?"
"Yes," Kakashi replied. "She is at Jonin level already. When Yukio was a kid your age, he was the same. I remember watching him when I was a toddler, he was at Jonin level then too, training and always challenging the older ninja, winning every time. Kaya is exactly like him, strong, brave.. fast."
I laughed and my voice rang out around the clearing, but then I suddenly felt dizzy and I began to fall.
"Kaya!" Naruto exclaimed and turned around to catch me before I hit the ground.
"I'm okay..." I murmured. "Just a little dizzy..."
"You've used up a lot of Chakra," Kakashi sighed. "Take it easy."
"My home isn't far from here," Tazuna said and walked over with Sakura and Sasuke. "And, thank you all."
I looked at Tazuna and smiled, nodding. Then my vision went blurry and my eyes closed, my body going limp.
"Kaya!?" Naruto exclaimed.
"She's fine," I heard Kakashi say.
"I'll carry her," Sasuke said and I was lifted up as Sasuke took my weight on his back. Then I fell asleep.
I blinked open my eyes and sat up, trying to ignore the pain all over my body. Maybe using that much Chakra in the Tiger's Roar was more than necessary.
"You should lie back down and rest some more," I heard someone say, I didn't recognize the voice and so I looked around the room to see a blue haired woman smiling at me.
"Yeah, okay," I lied back down and I heard more footsteps and I lifted my head to see my teammates, sensei and the person we had to protect.
"How are you feeling?" Sakura asked.
"I'm okay," I murmured. "My body just hurts."
"It's because of the use of Chakra," Kakashi said. "You went overboard against Zabuza."
I shrugged. "Not my fault."
"And there's something I need you all to know," Kakashi said, his eye showed the seriousness that I felt churning inside of him.
"What is it?" Naruto asked.
"Zabuza is still alive."
"WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!" everyone exclaimed, my eyes were wide with shock.
"But.... that kid killed him!" Sasuke pointed out.
"Think of the weapons he used, and the attack point he chose," Kakashi said.
"He used senbon to pierce the neck," I murmured, and then I understood. "Wait a minute. Senbon are used as medical needles, and there's no point in the neck that could be struck to cause a lethal blow, unless he hit that huge vein in the side, but it was on the other side..... He wasn't trying to kill Zabuza.... That kid was helping him!" I sat up quickly, my eyes shining. I ignored the pain that screamed at me to lie back down and relax again.
She's actually happy to hear that Zabuza is still alive, Kakashi thought with a smile. Means she's got another shot at him. She'll try and kill him again next time we come across him. And she'll go over the top, again.
"We'll get him next time!" Sasuke smiled.
"Ha! You're all just a bunch of jokes!" came a voice and I looked to the door to see a kid standing there, he was looking at us with eyes full of hate. "You'll never be a match for them. Gato will send his thugs and they'll destroy you!"
The kid turned around and left. "Who was that kid?" Naruto asked.
"I'm so sorry," the woman said. "That's Inari, my son. He's always been like this ever since his father died, never having trust in anybody and not believing anyone can be a hero."
"How did his father die?" Naruto asked.
"He was the only one that stood up to Gato," Tazuna replied, his voice tight with grief. "But he was only one man and Gato got to him, killing him in front of all the people in this land. Inari idolized him and they did everything together, but he was taken away from the young boy, all because his father wanted to bring freedom to our land once more."
"But we're very sorry about his rude behavior," the woman murmured.
"That's okay," Kakashi murmured.
"So, when do I fully recover?" I asked, changing the subject.
The woman looked at me. "Not for a week."
I sighed. I wouldn't be up and running around for a week!?!?!?!?! No way!!!!!!
"Get some rest, Kaya," Kakashi said. "I have these three to train."
"NO FAIR!!!!!" I yelled. "YOU'RE TRAINING THEM!? WHAT ABOUT ME!?!?!?!"
"You're already at Jonin level," Kakashi laughed. "These three are not. And don't even try to get up and come with us. You won't be able to focus your Chakra with those injuries."
I grumbled something and everybody started clearing the room, Sasuke stayed behind. He turned to look at me with a smile. "Knowing how stubborn you are, you'll be up and running around in just a few days. Three days at the least."
I smiled back and nodded, he nodded back to show that he was right. "See ya later, Kaya."
"Bye, Sasuke," I sighed and watched him leave the room. I lied back down again and fell asleep almost instantly.
"Kaya, are you getting up for dinner?"
I opened my eyes and blinked at the roof before noticing Naruto. "Huh?"
"It's time for dinner," Naruto smiled. "Aren't you hungry?"
I slowly sat up, sighing as I felt the pain again in my body. I managed to stand up and Naruto helped me to the kitchen.
I sat down at the kitchen table in between Sasuke and Naruto and began eating dinner; cooked fish and rice.
"Good afternoon, Kaya. How are you feeling?" said Tazuna's granddaughter.
"I'm feeling better, thanks," I smiled a reply. "Getting stronger all the time." I cast a glance at Kakashi and quickly looked away. He didn't miss it.
Kakashi sighed. "Kaya, wait four more days and I'll start training you again."
I rolled my eyes. "But I'm fine!" I growled. "I want to start training now! I don't want to sit around and wait for my injuries to fully go away."
"But if you don't, your injuries will get in your way and bother you whilst you're trying to train. And if we end up having to fight Zabuza again, it will be even worse," Kakashi argued.
"But what if we have to fight him.. I don't know.. tomorrow? What'll happen if I'm not prepared to fight him like Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura?"
"Who cares! You're just going to wind up dead for interfering in something that doesn't concern you!"
I had my arms leaning on the table, not really hungry, and my chin resting on my arms. I tilted my head to look at Inari. "What did you say?"
"None of this is your business so why don't you just go back where you came from before you get killed for butting in!" Inari growled.
"Listen kid," I raised my head and sat up straight. "We were asked to come here and help you, by your grandfather. So this is our business and we're not leaving here until we help your country be free again."
"Listen to yourself!" Inari growled again. "All this stuff you talk about, training and fighting Zabuza and other people who are out to stop the bridge from being built. You're all just mucking around, pretending to sound like heroes! But you know what, there's no such thing as a hero!" Tears came down his face.
My mind went straight to one thing, and my eyes turned dark. My head came down and I rested my chin on my arms once more. "Listen to yourself whining and complaining like some sorry little victim!" my voice was a snarl, I was angry, half with Inari, half with myself. "Who are you to decide who can help and who can't!? So why don't you just shut up and let us do our job! You can never understand what it feels like to try and help someone, only to find out that the one you wanted to protect had been struck down. So stop thinking everything is about you and try putting faith in people!"
Inari looked at me as if he couldn't believe it, so did everybody else.
"Kaya, you went too far!" Sakura growled in a murmur.
So what, I thought and stood up, walking to the front door. I opened the door and walked outside, shutting the door behind me.
Sasuke sighed. She was right though.
I walked around the village, looking up at the night sky. The stars were glittering brightly, and the moon was full. Father, I thought and I saw an image of him in the sky, smiling down at me. I smiled back, but then the picture turned horribly wrong; blood covered his whole body as his hands were in a hand-sign. A huge snake had embedded its teeth in my father's neck, where the main vein was located.
My eyes widened with fear as I looked up at my father, looking at me, his eyes going blank. And then, the image faded and I saw nothing but the dark, star-filled sky.
"Look at you," a voice in my head laughed. "You're nothing but a sorry little victim."
Tears welled up in my eyes as flashes exploded into my mind. The Triple-Tailed Tiger becoming a bright white light and absorbing into my body. My father covered in blood, lying dead on the ground. The man that killed him was laughing, his golden eyes showing no sympathy.
"Father..." I murmured and looked at the ground, not bothering to try and hide my tears.
The moonlight shone down on the house where Tazuna lived. Inari was sitting outside, his feet dangling off the planks of wood surrounding the house and hanging above the water. He didn't look very happy, in fact, he was close to crying.
Footsteps appeared behind him and he looked up over his shoulder to see Kakashi. "Can I talk to you?" he asked.
Inari nodded and Kakashi sat down beside him. It was quiet for a few moments before Kakashi sighed. "Kaya can be a little, harsh, sometimes. But she doesn't hate you."
Inari looked up at him, but Kakashi was staring out at the ocean. "Your grandfather told us what happened, to your father." Inari looked down at the water. "You probably don't know this, but Kaya also had her parents taken away from her. In fact, she had her entire Clan taken away, by one man."
Inari looked like he had just been struck by a kunai and he looked back up at Kakashi. "What happened?"
"Kaya was only five, younger than you were, and her life changed forever," Kakashi's voice was quiet as he relived that day. "One ninja brought his followers to attack our village, and they brought a huge demon to help them destroy it. Kaya's father saved the village by sealing the demon inside of her, but the ninja wasn't happy about that. You see, he wanted the demon to kill Kaya to gain more power that would make it unstoppable, and so, in his fury, he killed Kaya's father, who was right beside her. And then..."
"And then, what?" Inari asked.
"That ninja killed every member of Kaya's Clan."
Inari's heart thumped as he thought of the pain Kaya must have endured.
"After that, Sasuke's family took her in and raised her, but the way she grew up was not a happy life for her. She always had a solid face, and she never let anybody close enough. She barely trusted anyone for eight years, and she barely spoke. She never laughed or smiled, and she never cared about the things other people were laughing about. She was always, lost, within her own thoughts. She cried a lot when she was alone, because her heart could never escape the darkness it had been trapped in after that day. When things seemed impossible, she gave it a go, but after one shot, she gave up. She never cared if it would always be impossible to accomplish. All she wants is to be able to protect the ones she cares about, because she doesn't want to lose anyone else, and she'll put her life on the line for them in a heartbeat. My guess is, she just got tired of crying, and decided to do something about it."
Inari thought about it for a moment, but Kakashi wasn't finished.
"Even though she's young and still learning, she knows what it means to be strong, like your father did. I think she knows better than any of us, what you're going through," Kakashi looked down at Inari. "What Kaya told you earlier, as cruel as it sounded, she's probably told herself that a thousand times."
Inari looked up at the night sky, looking at the shining stars, trying to imagine the life Kaya went through, trying to think whether or not he could understand her pain. He only lost one person, but sh lost her parents, and her entire Clan, and that would be more painful than anything else.
"Where's Kaya?"
"No idea."
"Calm down everyone," Kakashi sighed as he and Inari walked in. "I'm sure she's fine. You know her, she just needs to blow off some steam."
Sasuke sighed. "But you know how she does that, right?"
Kakashi looked at Sasuke, and Sasuke looked at Naruto.
"I know," Naruto also sighed.
"What does she do to calm down?" Tazuna's granddaughter asked.
Sasuke stood up from his seat, Naruto was the same. Sasuke looked at everyone in turn, his gaze resting on Naruto's understanding expression. "She goes to the forest and destroys everything around her."
Sasuke and Naruto turned and headed for the door.
"Be careful," Sakura murmured.
The two boys walked out of the house and went in search of Kaya.
