Chapter 9 - Something About Us

'Thinking'

'Mind talking'

"Talking"

I do not own Naruto or any references made in this story to movies, books, TV-shows or games.

The Next Day

In the morning, I woke Naruto up. "Time for the test Naruto. You better get some grub down your neck or you'll be hungry."

"But Kakashi said I'd throw it all up!"

"Well then you throw it up. Your choice."

Naruto decided to ignore my advice and skip breakfast. I didn't. After my breakfast, I shifted into Kaonashi and made my way to the third training ground with Naruto. I decided not to bring all my weapons as that would be overkill.

It was just past dawn when we arrived at the third training ground, and only Sasuke was there. "You're late, deadlast."

"Shut it asshole. Kakashi's still not here is he?" Naruto retorted.

Sasuke looked over at me. If he was surprised by my appearance, he didn't show it."Hn. Who's your friend?"

"Kaonashi."

I decided to shift myself a face, my old face should suffice for now. After giving myself facial features, Sasuke asked, "What's he doing here?"

"He might be on our team. We'll find out when Kakashi gets here."

We waited for a few hours until Kakashi finally arrived at 10:00. "Hey! Good morning!"

"You're late!" Naruto shouted at him.

"Yeah, well, a black cat crossed my path so," Kakashi coughed. "Anyway, as I'm sure you've noticed, Sakura isn't here."

"Yeah, I thought she knew how long you'd be so she was coming later. Where is she?"

"She's off the team. Well, the not yet formed Team 7. Instead, Kaonashi here will be replacing her."

'What? This wasn't in the plan. I'll have to revise it now that Sakura isn't in the picture.' This is a major change I didn't foresee.

Sasuke wasn't exactly displeased by the news. "Good, a Kunoichi as weak as her shouldn't even try to be a ninja if she doesn't want it enough." 'I can't say I disagree.'

"Kaonashi, introduce yourself"

"Sasuke, you met me yesterday. I was the wolf."

"How?"

"I have a kekkei genkai that allows me to shapeshift into any living creature, within reason, and assume all physical abilities and traits they have. I cannot copy chakra abilities though as I cannot use it. I assure you, it would be unwise to underestimate me as a result. The reason I introduced myself as a partner, like a ninken, is because I had hoped it would get me on Naruto's team. It seems that won't be necessary now. Anyway, my likes, dislikes and hobbies are the same."

"Well then," Kakashi set a clock down on the clock and hit the top. "The alarm has been set to 12:00." Sasuke and Naruto looked surprised. I just looked bored.

He held two bells up. "Here, are two bells. Your objective, is to take these from me before the time is up. Whoever doesn't have a bell by noon will miss lunch. I'll not only tie you to one of those posts over there, but I'll eat right in front of you."

'By the look on Naruto's face, I'd hazard a guess that he just figured out why Kakashi told him not to eat.'

"As you can see, there are two bells, not three. That means one of you will be tied to the stump. One last thing, whoever fails to get a bell, fails altogether and will be sent back to the academy. So at least one of you will go back to the academy. Use any weapons you like. If you don't come at me with the intent to kill, you won't be able to get a bell."

Naruto laughed. "Psh. You're so slow you can't even dodge a blackboard eraser. We'll definitely kill you!"

"In the real world, those without talent bark the loudest." Kakashi looked away from Naruto. "Well, let's ignore deadlast-san, and start when I say."

Naruto got pissed, grabbed a kunai and attacked Kakashi right away. Kakashi simply shot past him, grabbed his wrist on the way and maneuvered the kunai in Naruto's hand to point at the back of his head. "Don't be so hasty. I haven't said start yet. Well, at least you seem to have the intent to kill me, it seems you've finally acknowledged me. I think I'm starting to like you guys. Ready, begin!"

Sasuke shot off and hid in the trees, while I did the same. The only difference was that I shifted my appearance to match the trunk. It'd be impossible to see me at the angle Kakashi was looking at me. Especially with only one eye.

"The most important thing for a shinobi is to be able to hide your presence.

Naruto on the other hand, stayed exactly where he was.

"COME HERE AND FIGHT ME KAKASHI! I SAID FIGHT ME!" 'He actually seems to look even stupider when I see it personally.'

"You're a little off Naruto."

"The only thing that's off is your haircut!" 'Wow Naruto. Low blow.'

Naruto slid to a halt as he saw Kakashi rummage in his pouch.

"Shinobi fighting lesson #1: Taijutsu." He pulled out his infamous Icha Icha Paradise book and started reading. "What's wrong? Weren't you gonna attack me?"

"Yeah, but what's with the book?"

"I want to know what happens next. It won't make any difference against you guys though."

"I'll kick your fucking ass for that!" 'I think my mouth rubbed off a little on Naruto.'

Naruto jumped and tried a backhand against Kakashi. He blocked it with his palm. Naruto jumped and swung his leg at his face. Kakashi ducked. Naruto landed, threw a punch. Kakashi disappeared. At least from Naruto's view. I could see he was behind Naruto, crouching, with his two first fingers on each hand pointing out. "A shinobi isn't supposed to get caught from behind, idiot." Kakashi said. 'I should at least try to save Naruto from total humiliation.' "Naruto! Move!"

Naruto tried to spin around.

"Too late! Hidden Leaf Ancient Taijutsu Supreme Technique: 1000 Years Of Pain!" Whatever Sasuke on Naruto expected to happen, didn't. Kakashi simply thrust his fingers into Naruto's backside and propelled him far into the air. 'Did he use chakra for that? There's no way Naruto would fly that far otherwise. It's no wonder it'd hurt so much.'

I heard Sasuke mutter. "Two complete idiots."

Naruto landed, ungracefully into the water, too surprised to use his water walking. Kakashi started reading again, giving no more thought to Naruto. Two shuriken flew out of the water and spun right at Kakashi. He simply raised two fingers and inserted them inside the shuriken to catch them. Kakashi started laughing at the feeble attempts to take him down. 'I would help, but this is a good learning experience for him, not to underestimate anyone.'

Naruto crawled out of the river, coughing.

"Hey, what's wrong? If you don't get a bell before lunch, you'll really go hungry."

"Yeah, yeah."

"You're pretty weak for someone who's going to surpass the Hokage."

"Screw you! I can still fight on an empty stomach! I was just a little careless, that's all!"

"Carelessness can be your worst enemy you know?" Kakashi nonchalantly walked away.

Seven of Naruto's shadow clones burst out of the water.

Kakashi looked back. "Eh?"

"Carelessness is your worst enemy!"

"No matter how many you create Naruto, you can't beat me with it."

A clone latched onto Kakashi from behind. "What?! Behind me?!"

"Weren't shinobi not supposed to get caught from behind? I sent a shadow clone out of the water earlier and had him sneak up behind you!" Six of the shadow clones grabbed Kakashi while one went to punch him." My ass hurts! Here's some payback!" Naruto punched at Kakashi but hit, another Naruto. Kakashi had replaced himself with Naruto using a Kawarimi. Naruto's clones started accusing each other of being Kakashi and started a fistfight. One of them eventually had the good idea of releasing the technique and upon the release, only one was left. Looking beaten, Naruto stood by himself. I could feel the annoyance just rolling off Sasuke at this moment.

Naruto looked about and spotted a bell. "Yes! He must have dropped it in a rush to get away!" 'Did you listen to anything I taught you Naruto?'

Upon reaching for the bell, Naruto got his ankle caught in a rope trap and was hung upside down from a tree. "What the hell is this?!"

Kakashi walked over to the bell and picked it up. "Think before using any technique, it could be used against you otherwise. Also, don't fall for such obvious traps, idiot."

"Dammit!"

"A shinobi should be able to see whats underneath the under-"

Naruto interrupted him. "I know that!"

"Um, I'm saying this because you obviously don't." I saw Sasuke shift and launch a load of kunai and shuriken right at Kakashi from behind. They hid Kakashi right in his side and took him down.

"Sasuke you asshole! You went too far!"

Suddenly, they were looking at a log with kunai and shuriken in it. Kakashi had used another replacement. 'I'm surprised they're not used more often. They seem to be very effective.'

Sasuke took off. He knew Kakashi gave him an opening on purpose, so he could determine Sasuke's position.

Naruto cut himself down, flipped to land on his feet and promptly was pulled back up by another rope trap. He screamed in frustration. I silently moved to Sasuke's position.

Sasuke was standing in a clearing when Kakashi caught up to him. "I'm better than he is."

"Say that after you manage to grab a bell."

They stood still for a moment when Sasuke threw some shuriken and kunai at him. Kakashi dodged to the side.

"Such obvious attacks are useless," Kakashi taunted.

One of the kunai flew and cut through a rope. Kakashi jumped out of the way again as a barrage of kunai sliced through the air toward him.

As he landed, Sasuke appeared behind him and launched a flying reverse roundhouse kick at Kakashi's head. Kakashi blocked it with the back of one hand and grabbed his ankle with the other. As he did, Sasuke twisted and threw a punch at his. Kakashi grabbed the fist with his remaining hand. Sasuke took his shot, twisted upside down and launched a kick directly at the top of Kakashi's head. Kakashi moved the arm holding Sasuke's fist to the side and blocked the kick with his forearm.

Sasuke was in the perfect position now. Upside down, right next to the bells with both of Kakashi's hands occupied, he made a grab at them. As Sasuke's fingers were curling around a bell, Kakashi let go of him and jumped back.

"Well, I guess I have to agree that you're different from Naruto."

"Bah." Sasuke started making handseals. Ending on Tiger, he took a deep breath.

Kakashi started. He knew a fireball was coming so he waited for the final possible moment and sunk himself into the ground.

After the fire settled, Sasuke looked around for him. "Below you." Sasuke froze, he barely had enough time to look down when a hand shot out of the ground, grabbed his ankle and pulled him down, burying him up to his neck.

Kakashi was now crouching, facing Sasuke. "Shinobi fighting lesson #3: Ninjutsu. It's a shame Kaonashi doesn't have chakra otherwise I could have showed you the second lesson. Well, I will admit you are better than most of the rest at both ninjutsu and taijutsu, but hey, they say the nail that stands out, gets hammered down. Heh."

"Damn you!"

Kakashi left, he'd find Naruto about to chow down on some lunch boxes when he got to him. I decided to give Sasuke a helping hand. 'Foster good teamwork and all that."

I jumped down to Sasuke's head. "You know, you should use your head more."

"Hn."

"Hey, I thought it was pretty funny. Anyway, need a hand?"

"No, I can get out myself." I watched him shuffle about for a few seconds before pulling him out. "I said I could do it myself."

"Yeah, I know. It's just that we won't be able to take any jonin down without working as a team. Especially Kakashi."

"Why 'especially'?"

"Because he's arguably the strongest shinobi in Konoha. All I'm saying is that if you want to take him down, we should work together. Let's grab Naruto."

"Hn. Fine."

The bell rung.

"12:00. Times up. Let's head back."

Back At The Logs

Sasuke and I sat on either side of a tied up Naruto.

"Well, you guys seem pretty hungry," Kakashi said. He then looked at me suspiciously. "Some of you, anyway."

"Yeah, I had breakfast. I figured it'd be better to eat and maybe throw up, than not eat and have no energy. Told you Naruto."

"Screw you!"

"Right. Well anyway, about the training, I don't think there's any need for you to go back to the academy."

Naruto was ecstatic. "Really! Then, all three of us?" He left the question unfinished.

"Yes. All three of you, should quit as shinobi!"

Naruto was pissed. "What the hell do you mean?!"

"Exactly what I said. You three are simply punks who don't deserve to be ninjas.

Sasuke rushed at Kakashi and tried to punch him. Kakashi had his foot on Sasuke's head and was sitting on him in less than a second.

"That's what I mean by you're all just punks. Don't underestimate what it means to become a shinobi. Why do you think you were divided into teams and are doing this training?"

Naruto was confused.

"To put it simply, you don't understand the answer to this test."

"Answer?" Naruto asked.

"Yes. If you knew the answer, you would pass."

"Damn it! What's the answer already?!" Naruto shouted.

Kakashi glared. "It's teamwork." Naruto's and Sasuke's eyes widened. "If the three of you worked together, you may have gotten the bells."

I put my bit in. "But Kakashi, there are only two bells! Wouldn't that mean one of us would fail? That'd discourage teamwork."

"Of course. That's the purpose of this test. To cause you to fight amongst yourselves. To see if you can overcome that, forget about your own interests and successfully work as a team, in these circumstances. Yet you guys, Naruto, you just ran around by yourself. Sasuke, you just assumed that everyone would just get in your way, and Kaonashi, you just observed, not even helping."

"Hey! I helped Sasuke out of the ground after you left!"

"Yes, well that makes you a better team player than the other two combined. The point is, duties are completed as a team. While superior abilities are important to any ninja, the most important aspect is teamwork. Going lone wolf in a way that places your team in danger, even get you killed. For example," Kakashi pulled out a kunai and held it to Sasuke's throat. "Kaonashi! Kill Naruto or Sasuke dies!"

"WHAT!" Naruto seemed a little scared.

Kakashi pulled back his kunai and got off Sasuke. "You see? If a hostage was taken, you will be forced to make tough decisions, it will usually end up with one of you dead. After all, a shinobi must be willing to risk their lives in their duties." Kakashi made his way over to the memorial stone and placed his hand on it. "Look at this stone. The names carved upon it for all time. These names are the ones of ninjas who are recognized as heroes of Konoha."

"Hey! I want my name on there too! A hero! That's what I'll be!" Naruto shouted at him.

"Not too soon, Naruto," I said to him. He looked at me, confused.

"But, they aren't just normal heroes," Kakashi said.

"Oh yeah? What kind are they?" Naruto asked. Kakashi was silent. "Well?"

"They are all heroes who died in the line of duty."

Naruto looked down, ashamed.

"This is a memorial. My best friends name is also carved into it." Kakashi turned around and faced us. "You guys. I'll give you one last chance. But after lunch, I'll make it even tougher to get the bells. I'll let those who still wish to challenge me to eat lunch. Naruto or Kaonashi won't be having any though."

"Hey! Why can't I?" I asked. 'I already know the reason why, probably because it wouldn't be much of a sacrifice to hand Naruto my food. It wouldn't be much of a sign of teamwork.'

"Because you've already eaten. Naruto, you can't eat as punishment for trying to eat by yourself." Kakashi picked up one of the two lunchboxes, opened it and started to eat. "If anyone gives him their food, they will fail immediately!" Kakashi locked his eye on us. "I am the rules here. My word is law. Got it?" He shot off.

"Hey, I don't need any food! I'm fine!" Naruto couldn't lie very well when his stomach was betraying him with it's rumbling.

Sasuke started eating. Naruto looked down.

"Here." Sasuke held his lunchbox in front of Naruto.

"But Sasuke, didn't Kakashi say you'd fail if you tried to give Naruto any?" I asked.

"Don't worry, I can't sense him anywhere near us. After lunch, we'll work together, like you said, to get the bells. Without food, he'll just be a reliability. It'll just harm our chances."

I grabbed the box. "Here, I'll feed you Naruto."

"Sure nii-san."

I was about to place some food in his mouth when Kakashi burst on the scene.

"WHAT IS THIS?! YOU GUYS," He was standing right in front of us, glaring. His face brightened. "All pass! Heh."

"Huh?" Naruto was speechless.

"You guys are the first."

"The first?"

"The first team I've passed. Everyone else would simply follow my orders and abandon their teammates. They were all morons. A ninja must be able to see underneath the underneath. Those who break the rules ans codes of the ninja world are trash. But those who would abandon their comrades, they are even lower than trash."

Naruto was looking at him as if he was the coolest guy to set foot on this planet. "Jeez Naruto, why don't you build a shrine dedicated to him."

"Oy, piss off 'Nashi."

"Woah, don't blow a gasket Naruto. I might get worried about you."

"Whatever."

Kakashi cleared his throat. "Anyway, that ends the training." He gave us a thumbs up. "All of you pass! Starting tomorrow, Team 7 will begin it's duties!"

"YAY! I DID IT! NINJA! NINJA! NINJA!" Naruto seemed pretty happy about it, flapping about, tied to the log.

"Let's go." Sasuke and I got up and followed Kakashi.

"HEY! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE!" Naruto screamed at us. "Dammit! I knew this would happen! Untie me!"

"Hey, you're a ninja now," I said to him. "You should be able to get out of a couple of ropes."

"What the hell?! You're my brother! Shouldn't you be helping me?"

"I could help you, or I could give you a chance to try out your skills."

"You just can't be bothered!"

"That too." I admitted.

"Damn you nii-san!"

As we walked away from Naruto's screams, Sasuke asked me about my relation with Naruto.

"Oh, I'm his brother. Not biologically though. More like an adoption." Sasuke decided not to pry in more. Probably didn't care enough.

A little later, outside Kakashi's house with him, I asked him what happened in the council meeting.

"I wasn't there but the Hokage gave me a brief summary of what happened. Basically, when the Hokage put forward the idea, the council wouldn't have any of it. For one, you can't enter the Chuunin exams with four people. Never mind the advantage you'd have."

"But what about what I said about my power restrictions?" I asked.

"That swayed them a little, the numbers problem was still something that needed to be addressed. In the end, Danzo simply proposed that we take Sakura off the team and allocate her to the next batch. In his opinion, she is nowhere near what a shinobi must be, or even act like. I don't disagree."

"Me neither. She's too boy obsessed, or more specifically, Sasuke obsessed. Being away from the source should allow her to train herself better."

Kakashi continued. "After the Hokage told the council about the possible, and probable threats to the two, they didn't take long to come to the conclusion that you would be allowed on the team. Sakura was off, you are on. The Hokage made sure that the secret wouldn't get out of the council room."

"That's something at least. Now that you know about the threats, what do you think about the decision?"

"I am one of the most elite jonin in Konoha. I used to be an ANBU. But even I can't watch both of them at the same time. In the chuunin exams, I'll have to part with the team and if there was any other reason for me to be separated, there needs to be someone strong enough to protect them. At your full power, even I couldn't beat you. At your restricted power, I could beat you, at a push."

"I agree. Although, with my ability for instantaneous explosive increases in speed, I could easily get the drop on you." To prove it, I activated Quicksilver to it's current, full power. I had improved it down to 5% so I could move 20x faster than normal. Quicker than he could see, I shot my hand out into his pack, grabbed his Icha Icha book and hid it behind my back. I deactivated it.

"Well. That was fast. I couldn't see what you did though." I showed him. "Hey! Give that back!"

"Sure." I chucked it to him. "That's what I mean by getting the drop on you. With your eye, you could follow my movements. Your other eye I mean."

"Probably. I couldn't say if I could keep up with you though. You're pretty fast when you do that."

"Right now, I can only go up to 20x faster. When I've fully mastered it, I can go up to a maximum of 100x faster. Not only that, but an ability will unlock, related to this one. I don't know what it'll be though. Anyway, I better get going."

"Bye."

Some Days Later, In The Forest

"What's the distance to the target?" Kakashi whispered through his mic.

"Five meters. I'm ready when you guys are." I answered.

"I'm ready." Sasuke replied.

"Me too." Naruto added.

We waited tentatively for the order. After a few seconds, it came. "GO!"

Sasuke and Naruto circled around the back of the target while I shifted into the biggest, baddest looking, Siberian tiger and roared a command for the target to stop, asserting my dominance.

Needless to say, the target must have been about to have a heart attack. It froze and I walked over to the target, lowered my head and picked up the small, brown cat, 'Tora' in my jaws. After I was sure it wouldn't scarper, I shifted back to Kaonashi and held the cat in my arms.

"You know, if I have to catch this cat one more time, I'm gonna eat it and hand the remains back to that woman." I threatened.

"Real mature 'Nashi." Naruto said.

"We've caught the target Kakashi." Sasuke told him over the radio.

"Good. Lost pet 'Tora', search mission, complete."

We made our way back.

Hokage Mansion

"Oh Tora-chan! I was so worried!" The Fire daimyo's wife, Madam Shijimi, was currently hugging the life out of the cat.

"Thank you for finding him again!" She said to us.

"No problem." I replied.

She left and the Hokage began reading out our next missions.

"Now, Team 7, your next duty is, hmm, babysitting an Elder's grandson, shopping in the neighboring village and help with the potato digging."

Naruto was a little miffed at this. "No! No! NO! I want a better mission! If I have to keep doing that crap I'll go crazy!"

Iruka was annoyed at Naruto's outburst. "Naruto! You're just a rookie! Everyone starts with the small jobs and works their way up!"

"But all we're getting is the crappy jobs!"

Kakashi knocked Naruto on the head. "Be quiet."

The Hokage intervened. "Naruto! It seems I will have to explain the reasons for these duties. Listen, every day, the village receives numerous requests, from babysitting, to assassinations. Each request is written down, and given a ranking, from D-rank, to S-rank, based on difficulty. The village is also divided based on skill. Starting with me, followed by jonin's, chuunin's and finally, genin's. The missions are then handed out to us based on our skill level and the difficulty of the mission. If the mission is completed successfully, we receive payment from the client."

He pointed at us. "You guys, you have only just recently become genin. D-rank missions are perfect for you."

Naruto was muttering to himself about ramen, looking away from the Hokage.

"Hey! Listen to me!"

Kakashi apologized.

"Geez! All you do is give lectures. But you know something? I'm not the same brat I used to be!" Naruto exclaimed.

The Hokage and Iruka smiled. "Ok," The Hokage said. "If you want it so much, I'll give you a C-rank mission. It's a protection mission for the client."

"Who?! A princess? A feudal lord?"

"Calm down, I'm about to introduce him." He looked over to his right. "Hey, you can come in now."

A man stumbled in. "Hey, what's this?" He had a bottle of alcohol in his hand. "They're all a bunch of brats. Especially the shortest one with the stupid face."

Naruto started looking at us to find out which one he meant.

I pointed at Naruto. "He means you dumbass. It's no wonder he thinks you have a stupid face."

"I'LL KILL YOU ASSHOLE!" I grabbed Naruto before he managed to fail the mission before we even started, by killing the client himself.

"Naruto, you wanted a C-rank, you've got one. Try not to get all bent out of shape and kill the client." I chided.

The client introduced himself. Taking another swig of his beer, he said, "I am the bridge building expert, Tazuna. I expect you to provide me with top quality protection until I get back to my country and complete the bridge."

After we sorted out the fine print, we left for the main gate.

Main Gate

"Alright! Let's go!" Naruto shouted.

"Jeez Naruto, just because this is your first time going further out of the village than the woods, you make it sound like we're going to the other side of the world." I said to him.

Naruto was still looking about when Tazuna expressed his doubt of the abilities of the blonde ninja.

"Well, I;m a jonin, so don't worry." Kakashi said.

Naruto was displeased at the lack of faith. "Hey old man! Don't mess with ninjas! I'm an awesome ninja! One day, I'll become the Hokage! The name's Uzumaki Naruto! Remember it!"

"The Hokage is the villages #1 ninja, right? I doubt someone like you could be one."

"Shut it! I'm willing to do anything to become Hokage and when I do, you'll have to respect me!"

Tazuna took another swig of his beer. "No I won't. Even if you did become Hokage."

Naruto's eye was twitching. He exploded. "I'LL KILL YOU!"

Kakashi grabbed him before he could do anything. "Stop it, moron. Kaonashi already told you."

"Yeah Naruto. Stop fucking about." I ordered him. Even if we were the same rank in this appearance, I was still his older brother, and a jonin.

"Alright." Naruto pouted. "But if he keeps annoying me, I can't say I won't punch him."

"Fair enough. Tazuna? Try not to annoy the little kid."

"Oy! I'm not a kid!"

"Well if you're not, stop acting like it."

Naruto stopped shouting and we started to walk.

On The Way

Kakashi had explained to us the reasons for Hidden Villages and why some countries don't have them, to pass the time. After walking for a while longer, I noticed a puddle on the ground. 'I thought it was a genjutsu. I guess it's a ninjutsu otherwise it wouldn't affect me.' I saw Kakashi glance at the 'puddle' as we walked past and a few seconds later, one of the two, threw the other over and past Kakashi. When he landed, the chain attached between the two from gauntlets on their hands, coiled around Kakashi and tightened.

"One down." They pulled the chain tight and pulled Kakashi apart.

As the remains fell to the ground, Naruto shouted. "Kakashi-sensei!" The two enemy ninja appeared behind Naruto.

"Second one." As the chain was about to wrap around Naruto, Sasuke jumped in the air and launched a shuriken to pin the chain to the trees, and a kunai to secure it.

The two enemy ninja were stuck. Sasuke dropped down on their gauntlets, grabbed them with his hands and launched both feet into both their faces.

The two detached the chain, ran around to attack both Naruto and Tazuna simultaneously, so Sasuke wouldn't have a chance to stop both of them.

"Sasuke! Stop the one going for Naruto!" I shouted. Shifting into my favourite boxer, Takamura, I stood in front of Tazuna. I couldn't see what Sasuke did but as the ninja approached me, with his gauntlet pointing at me, in an orthodox boxing stance, I stepped forward, slipped my head to the right of the arm and launched a devastating uppercut right his jaw. I shattered his mask, probably his jaw as well. He dropped to the ground, instantly unconscious.

As Kakashi appeared with the other ninja under his arm, I shifted back. "So, how did we do?" I asked.

"What the hell Kakashi?! I thought you died!" Naruto shouted.

"Naruto, sorry for not helping earlier. I seem to have got you hurt. At least Sasuke managed to stop the ninja before he hurt you too much. I didn't think you wouldn't be able to move." Kakashi turned back to us. "Good job Sasuke. Kaonashi, you performed excellently. You seem to be a natural leader. I reckon you could be in charge of the team if I am indisposed." 'It's the only logical choice. If either Sasuke of Naruto was the second in command, neither of them would listen to the other. Both of them respect me and my abilities at least.'

"Thank you Kakashi." I said.

Sasuke turned to Naruto. "Hey, are you hurt? Scaredy Cat?"

Naruto almost blew a gasket. "Naruto! Don't rise to it. Sasuke, I'm sure that the first time you were in a situation like this, you froze too." I said.

Sasuke looked reproachful as he remembered that night. "Sorry Naruto." He said.

"No problem." Naruto replied.

"Right, now that you've finished your lover's spat, Naruto, the claws on the gauntlets were laced with poison. You'll need to get that treated." I said. "We'll have to open the wound and let the poisoned blood out. Try not to move too much, or it'll spread quicker."

"How do you know that they're poisoned?" Naruto asked.

"I checked, after I decked this sack of shit over here." I told him.

Kakashi told Tazuna he needed to talk to him, and tied the ninja he was carrying to a tree. I threw the one laying here, over to him. "Oy Kakashi! You forgot one!"

"Thanks." He said, and tied the other one to the same tree.

Kakashi informed us where they were from. "These two are chuunin level ninja from the Hidden Village of Mist. Ninjas there are known to keep fighting, no matter what."

"How did you read our movements? The one with the busted jaw, managed to ask.

"On a sunny day like this, when it hasn't rained in ages, a puddle really shouldn't exist." Tazuna asked why Kakashi let us fight them, knowing they were there. "If I wanted to, I could have killed both of them instantly, but then, I wouldn't know how well my team would do in an actual fight. Also, I needed to know who they were after. Us, or you. We hadn't heard of any shinobi after you. Our mission was to protect you from thieves and gangs, not ninja. This is now at least a B-rank mission. Simple protection from simple threats is a C-rank. You were dishonest with the threat level. If we knew about the ninja, you would have paid a much more expensive amount for a B-rank. I don't know the circumstances but what I do know is, we are now operating outside of our duties."

I piped up. "Naruto needs someone to look at his wound and let the blood out. We can't continue with him in his condition."

"Well. This is a pickle. I guess we'll have to go back home to cure Naruto." Kakashi watched Naruto out of the corner of his eye.

Naruto couldn't take it any longer. He realized now that he was nowhere near the level he needed to be. Grabbing a kunai, he stabbed himself into the back of his hand, where the poisoned wound was and blood flowed out.

"Naruto! Be careful with that!" I said.

"Upon my blood, with this kunai, I will protect the old man." He grimaced. "We're continuing the mission!"

"For fuck's sake you nob. While I admire your spirit, you're gonna bleed to death if you don't bandage that." I told him.

Naruto started sweating.

"He's right Naruto, you need to stop the bleeding. Seriously." Kakashi said.

"NO NO NO NO NO! I DON'T WANNA DIE!" Naruto started waving his arms about.

"Give me your hand Naruto." I told him. He gave me his hand but was still moving about. "STOP FUCKING MOVING ABOUT BEFORE I CHOP THE THING OFF NARUTO!" I screamed at him. He stopped immediately and sat down.

"Thank you." I watched the wound very slowly heal and bandaged it before Sasuke, or Naruto noticed. "There you go. You'll be fine."

Tazuna was talking to Kakashi behind us about the man who was after him. Gatou. He was explaining about his operation and how he was bleeding the country dry. "The only thing we can do is build that bridge and bring in a new source of income. Without that bridge finished, we have nothing. That's why Gatou wants me dead."

He looked down. "Well, if you quit the mission now, I'll definitely be killed."

"But-" Kakashi said.

"Don't worry! If I die, my cute little 8 year old grandson will only cry for a few weeks! Oh yeah, and my daughter will live a sad life hating Konoha ninja forever! But it won't be your fault at all!"

Kakashi rubbed his head. "Well, I guess we'll finish the mission after all."

I could have sworn I saw a smirk on Tazuna's face.

We left after Kakashi sent a message to Konoha about the ninja. They were to be taken into custody.

On A Boat To Wave Country

We sat silently on the boat as the oarsman took us to the bridge that was being built. "Wave country starts at the base of the bridge." He told us.

It soon came into view. "It's huge!" Naruto exclaimed.

I grabbed him into a headlock and clamped my hand around his mouth. "Naruto? Did you forget that we're sneaking in here? Why do you think we're not using the engine?" 'The technology of this world is very weird. This boat has an engine. Why isn't there any other type of engine knocking about?' I let it go, Naruto too.

"Sorry," Naruto said.

The oarsman informed us that we were almost there. Upon rowing us under a low bridge arch, we were greeted by a clear view of a lush landscape. We were rowing up a calm river, with the town, either side. After the oarsman dropped us off, he left.

"Alright! Time to take me home!" Tazuna said.

"Yeah yeah." Kakashi replied.

We walked for a while until Naruto got a little itchy and ran in front, looking for an enemy.

"There!" He threw a kunai into the bushes. Tazuna almost shit his pants. Nothing happened. "Heh," he smiled nonchalantly. "Just a mouse."

"Dammit you midget! Don't do that!" Tazuna shouted at him.

"Please don't use your weapons like that Naruto." Kakashi told him. I was barely stifling a laugh. Naruto had started looking again, saying how he's seeing enemies everywhere.

Kakashi glanced over to his side. Naruto threw another kunai right to where he looked. "There!" He shouted.

"Naruto, stop pissing about." I said.

"But I really sensed someone that time!"

"So, you didn't the first time?" I asked.

"Uh," he looked at Kakashi. "What's Kakashi doing?" He changed the subject. Walking over to him, Naruto saw he had almost hit a white rabbit with his kunai. The poor rabbit was shell-shocked. Naruto started comforting the poor rabbit and apologized to it. Kakashi though, he was searching for an enemy. He had realized that any rabbit in this climate wouldn't be white. The more sun it get's, the darker it's fur, therefore a white rabbit couldn't be wild. I increased the sensitivity of my hearing and listened in for the location of Zabuza. I knew he was watching. Suddenly, I heard a slicing in the air and Kakashi yelled for us to duck. A second after I narrowly dodged the huge, cleaver-esque sword, it spun and embedded itself into the tree behind me. Another second later, a man fell from the air and landed on the handle, back to us. He was shirtless, with arm warmers and bandages covering the lower portion of his face. 'Momochi Zabuza.'

"Well well, if it isn't the infamous Demon of the mist, Momochi Zabuza." Kakashi greeted him. Naruto was about to rush Zabuza before Kakashi stopped him. "He's way above you're level Naruto. He's at least at the same level as me." Kakashi raised his hand to his headband. "He'll be a tough to beat, unless I do this."

"You appear to be Sharingan Kakashi." Sasuke turned his head sharply at this, eying Kakashi. "Sorry, but the old man is mine."

Kakashi grabbed his headband. "Surround Tazuna-san. Stay out of the fight. That is the teamwork here. Zabuza," He slowly lifted his headband, uncovering his scarred eye, and the famous dojutsu. "I'll be your opponent."

"Ah, I already get to see the oh so famous sharingan. I'm honoured." He turned to face us fully.

Naruto couldn't hold it in any longer. "You've been going on about this 'sharingan'. What the hell is it?!"

Sasuke answered him. "The sharingan. It is said that some dojutsu have the ability to read and completely defeat all genjutsu, taijutsu and ninjutsu. The sharingan is one of these types of dojutsu. But, that's not the only ability the sharingan has."

Zabuza chuckled. "That's right. The scary part is, the sharingan can copy your opponents techniques, just from seeing them once." A mist descended onto the area. "When I was a member of the hidden mist assassination squad, I kept a handbook. There was information of you in it. It said, 'The man who has copied over a thousand jutsu, Copy Ninja Kakashi'.

Naruto started praising the awesomeness that was his sensei at this point. Sasuke, on the other hand, was very suspicious. The sharingan only manifests in the Uchiha clan after all, and Kakashi was obviously not, an Uchiha.

Zabuza crouched. "Let's end the chit-chat. I'm gonna kill the old man."

I gave some orders. "Naruto, Sasuke, either side of Tazuna. I'll take the front. Naruto, make a few clones to keep an eye out for any surprise attacks."

"Okay." Naruto made four clones who made a square formation a few meters around us. Naruto and Sasuke grabbed kunai while I left myself bare handed.

"But, it seems I'm gonna have to kill you first." Zabuza said, moments before grabbing the hilt of his sword, and kicking off the tree, taking his sword with him.

Naruto shouted out. "Over there! He's on top of the lake!"

Zabuza was using an odd handseal, releasing a high amount of chakra. "Ninpou, Hidden Mist no Jutsu." Zabuza faded into the mist.

"He disappeared!" Naruto said.

"He will try to take me out first, but, you should be very careful. His name is Momochi Zabuza, e was in the Hidden Mist's ANBU and renowned for his silent killing techniques. The effectiveness of my sharingan is reduced in this mist, be careful. If you're not, you'll be dead before you know it."

The mist thickened and Kakashi disappeared from view. "The mist is getting thicker!" Naruto said.

"Thank you Captain Obvious! If I wanted to hear you point out something I already know, I'd start paying you. You're very good at it." I said jokingly.

"Well you're pretty laid-back nii-san," Naruto replied.

"Of course! You don't think some lowly ANBU missing-nin who is renowned and in the bingo books for his impressive silent killing techniques, and earned the moniker 'Demon of the Mist' for killing the entire class without even entering the academy, could beat me, do you?" I asked.

"Probably not." Naruto said.

"Thank you."

Sasuke was just looking at me, with a raised eyebrow like I was crazy.

"8 choices." Zabuza's voice cut through the mist. "Liver, lungs, spine, larynx, jugular, brain, kidneys, heart. Now, which vital organ do you want to be killed by?"

Kakashi expelled a burst of chakra which cleared some of the surrounding mist. I felt a strong chill down my spine. 'So this is what it feels like. Bloodlust. I would have thought it wouldn't affect me since I have no chakra. I'd thought it was a form of genjutsu. I thought wrong. It really is making me shiver a little. The upside is that I might be able to do this someday.' Sasuke gripped his kunai tight.

Kakashi called to him. "Sasuke! Don't worry. I'll protect you with my life." He looked back. I don't let my comrades die."

"Let's put that to the test." Zabuza said, his voice coming from right above us. He landed right in the middle of the group. 'Fat lot of good those clones were.' "This is the end." Kakashi's eyes widened as he was about to come to our aid.

As Sasuke and Naruto jumped backwards,I snapped a lighting fast back kick and hit Zabuza right in the stomach. My foot went right through him and he bled water. "It's a water clone Kakashi! Watch out!" Zabuza had appeared in Kakashi's blind spot and swung his sword at him. Cutting Kakashi in half, Kakashi dissolved into water. Zabuza froze as he realized first hand, the power of the sharingan. Kakashi held a kunai to his throat from behind him.

"Don't move." Kakashi ordered. "This, is the end." Kakashi repeated Zabuza's comment.

Zabuza just laughed. "Is this the end?" He asked.

"You don't understand," Kakashi said. "You cannot defeat me with such indiscriminate imitations. I can assure you of that."

Zabuza chuckled. "That was pretty impressive. You'd already copied the water clone technique before I even got into the group. You had your clone say those words to attract my attention, while the real you stayed in the mist and watched. Nice plan, but," Another Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi. "I'm also not that easy." The Zabuza in front of Kakashi dissolved as the real Zabuza swung his sword diagonally upwards to eliminate Kakashi.

Kakashi dropped down to dodge the first swing, the sword continued until it embedded itself into the ground. Zabuza let go, grabbed the sword again with one hand and used his full power to launch a kick to Kakashi's midsection. Kakashi flew backwards. Zabuza started running towards him, dragging his sword along with him. Suddenly stopping, he muttered, "Foolish." He'd noticed the caltrops Kakashi dropped as he flew through the air. Kakashi landed in the lake, and pulled himself up, with more effort than seemed necessary. Zabuza appeared behind him. "Heh. Fool." He quickly made handseals, and using the chakra imbued water, performed a water prison jutsu to hold Kakashi. Kakashi was surrounded by a sphere of water.

Zabuza placed his hand inside the sphere. "You fell for it." Zabuza taunted. "This is a special prison you can't escape from. You gave me a hard time when you were on the move. Now then Kakashi, I'm going to finish you off later. First, I'll get rid of them," He faced us. Making a one handed handseal, Zabuza created a water clone. Naruto was bricking it right now.

"Hehe. You think that wearing those forehead protectors make you ninja. You aren't a ninja until you've survived numerous brushes with death. In other words, you're only a ninja when you're in my bingo book. You, are not ninja." He thickened the mist once more. I activated my infrared vision to track him. 'Finally get to have a proper use for this.' Tracking his heat signature, I moved over to Naruto, who I knew he'd be attacking first. Standing aside Naruto, Zabuza appeared and launched a kick to Naruto's head. As his foot hit Naruto's forehead protector, it came loose and I grabbed his foot with my hand. "Naruto! Are you alright?" I asked.

Naruto fell back, scared of the power of a true ninja.

"Pathetic. At least one of your little group has some balls." I'm at least 80% sure he's referring to me.

"Take Tazuna-san and run! As long as he's keeping me trapped, he can't move! The water clone can only go so far away from him before it dissolves! Just run!" Kakashi shouted.

Naruto looked like he was about to follow his advice before picking up his dropped forehead protector. "Good choice Naruto." I dropped the clone's foot.

"Listen to me you eyebrowless freak." Naruto tied it on his head. "The one who'll become Hokage, is me! Uzumaki Naruto!" He faced Sasuke and I. "Listen! I have a plan."

"I guess I'll follow your lead on this one Naruto." I jumped away from the clone.

Kakashi seemed to have more faith in the team this time though, as he didn't tell us to run away again. After all, I was here to make sure the two were safe.

"Are you ready?" Naruto asked.

"Pft. Do you even need to ask?" Sasuke replied.

Zabuza started laughing again. "You guys'll never grow up! Still playing at ninja. When I was about your age, my hands were already caked in blood."

"You're not gonna go on your little spiel about how you got the name Demon of the Mist are you?" I asked.

Zabuza seemed both pissed and surprised. "How do you know that? You're just a genin."

"I make it my job to know. Besides, I told these guys a minute ago. Didn't you hear? Well I only told them you killed a class before entering the academy, I'll let you tell them why." I allowed him.

He raised an eyebrowless eyebrow. "Fine. In the hidden mist, there was a graduation exam, different from everyone else's."

"What was it?" Naruto asked.

"You had to fight to the death with the other students." He said. "Friends who had trained together, laughed together, friends who had shared one anothers' dreams, were pitted against each other in a fight, only ended by the death of the other."

Naruto was shocked.

"10 years ago, I came in. I was not even a ninja then I walked straight into the academy, and slaughtered over a hundred students." He smiled. "That sure was fun."

He looked straight at Sasuke and, moving faster than he could see, appeared next to him and threw an elbow into his gut. After Sasuke stopped tumbling from the force, Zabuza was about to drop an elbow onto Sasuke again before I sprinted up to him and attempted a dropkick. He noticed me before I connected, leaned back and watched as I flew past. I righted myself mid air and landed ahead of him.

Naruto spammed about a hundred clones who piled atop Zabuza, stopping him. It didn't last long though as Zabuza started spinning with his sword and slicing through them all. Naruto grabbed a fuuma shuriken from his backpack and chucked it to Sasuke. Sasuke jumped in the air, caught it, landed and unfurled it. He jumped back in the air and launched it. The water clone barely had time to react as the shuriken didn't go for him, but past him and headed for the real Zabuza.

"I see, you're aiming for the real me. But," He caught the shuriken mid air with his remaining hand, "that's not enough!"

Another shuriken appeared in his view, coming from right next to the first. "Another?!" It was heading right for his waist.

"But," he jumped over it. "It's still not enough!" Suddenly, the shuriken he dodged, exploded into smoke and revealed Naruto, wielding a kunai.

Instantly, Naruto launched the kunai he was holding right at Zabuza. Zabuza had both hands occupied and he wouldn't be able to jump away from this one without disengaging the technique. As his eyes bulged, he realized it was his only choice. Removing his hand from the sphere, he jumped away and almost completely dodged the kunai. It ended up cutting his cheek. Zabuza was pissed. "Damn brat!" He got ready to throw the shuriken at Naruto, but as he was about to throw it, Kakashi stopped it with the back of his hand, drawing blood.

Naruto landed on the water, surprising Kakashi. Sasuke didn't look surprised though. "Great plan Naruto. You've really grown." Kakashi praised him.

"When I made a load of the shadow clones, they weren't supposed to beat Zabuza but distract him so I could transform into the shuriken without him noticing. I had another clone act as me to fool him. You know the rest." Naruto said.

"Heh. I just got distracted and released the technique." Zabuza said.

"No, you didn't release it. You were forced to." Kakashi countered. "I'll tell you now that I won't fall for the same trick twice. Now, what will you do?"

At that moment, both of them jumped away from each other. Immediately, Zabuza started making handseals. Kakashi mirrored him perfectly. After making the thirty or so necessary handseals, they both shouted, "Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!" Twin dragons of water rose from the lake and started circling each other. After a few seconds, they crashed into each other and destroyed themselves. There were massive waves now, on the lake. "Naruto! Get over here! It's dangerous to stand and watch two high level ninja battle, while on the battlefield!" I shouted to him. Naruto started running towards me, around Kakashi. As he reached dry land, the land wasn't so dry anymore. Nor I. The waves had crashed onto the land and drenched the four of us. As the waves started to settle, I could see Zabuza in front of Kakashi, trying to overpower him with his sword. Kakashi was holding him back with just his kunai.

They jumped back from each other again. Kakashi still mirroring Zabuza. They circled each other 180 degrees and stopped. They then both made the same seal Zabuza made, before disappearing into the mist. As they moved their arms down, Kakashi said, "predicted by him."

Zabuza was stunned. They both made a handseal. "Freaky eye is pissing me off! Right?" Kakashi finished Zabuza's thought again. 'From my viewpoint, Kakashi just looks crazy, saying random shit.'

"All you're doing is copying me, nothing original." Zabuza said. Then simultaneously, they both said, "You can't beat me, you monkey!"

Zabuza got really pissed. "I'll make sure you won't be able to open that copycat mouth of yours again!" He started making handseals. Kakashi finished first. A giant funnel of water exploded out from in front of him and pummeled Zabuza. Once The water cleared, Zabuza was leaning against a tree, battered and bruised.

"It's over," Kakashi said, crouching on a branch above Zabuza.

"How?" Zabuza looked up. "Can you see the future?"

"Yes, and I see your death." At that moment, two senbon pierced Zabuza's neck, dropping him instantly. Zabuza fell lifelessly to the ground and everyone looked for the attacker.

"You're right. He did die." A masked man said from the trees. He was wearing a porcelain mask, with the Hidden Mist symbol on it, a dark green haori and a brown sash.

Kakashi jumped down and checked for a pulse on Zabuza. He found none. "He really is dead."

"Thank you very much. I have been tracking Zabuza for a long time and have been unable to find an opening to strike. Thankfully, you gave me that opening." The man said.

"That mask," Kakashi stared at him, "You're a Hidden Mist hunter-nin, right?"

"Impressive, you're correct."

"Hunter-nin?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto, don't you remember? I told you about them a while ago," I said. "They're the guys who track down and eliminate missing-nins. It's pretty impressive for a kid as young as him to be a hunter-nin."

Naruto looked from Zabuza to the masked man again. "What the hell! Who are you!" He suddenly shouted.

"Naruto! What the actual fuck?! I just told you who he is!" I shouted back at him.

"That's not what I mean! That Zabuza, the one who even you had trouble taking down, was taken out by a kid!" He said.

"Naruto," I said. "Don't get pissed because he showed you up, get stronger."

"He's right Naruto," Kakashi added. "In this world, there are people who are younger than you, but stronger than me."

The masked man, Haku, disappeared and reappeared next to Zabuza's body. "Your battle is now over. I will take the body and dispose of it. After all, it is a body that holds many secrets. Farewell." He disappeared again.

"He's gone!" Naruto exclaimed.

I punched him in the back of the head. "Naruto, what did I say about my not wanting to be told about every obvious little thing?"

He rubbed his head. "Whatever."

Kakashi replaced his forehead protector over his eye. "Well, we still have to get Tazuna-san back home. Let's go."

"Thanks guys!" Tazuna said. "Come to my place and relax!" At that moment, Kakashi fell flat on his face. 'Ooh, maybe I should have caught him. Well, whatever. I'll be carrying him anyway.'

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked.

"It's chakra exhaustion." I told him. "I'll carry him to the house." After we picked up the weapons lying about, and I picked up Kakashi, we made out way to Tazuna's.

Author's note: Pretend I wrote something meaningful here. I can't think of anything.