Narutoverse

SO SO SO SO SOOOORRRRY! My lovely reviewers and fans of this piece, I know I've been gone a very long time. But I'm making it up to you now by updating and planning on finishing the story! (I've graduated and am no longer involved in ten thousand activities… so yeah '^.^)

Shira: YOU! YOU ABANDONED US! FOR FOUR FREAKIN' YEARS!

Kat: I still don't remember anything! D:

OblivionRose: Ehehehe… Well, I was busy… you know… with High School…

Kat: You mean I missed my high school years? D:

Shira: Actually, Kat, time is frozen in our world so… wait… YEAH! YOU –explicit- HEY! DON'T CENSOR ME!

OblivionRose: Well, how 'bout we end this little argument and I get on with the story, hm?

Shira: No! You're not getting out of this that easy you-

Kat: Oblivion Rose does NOT own Naruto. And again, she apologizes for the hiatus.

Shira: Good thing she doesn't own it. The show would only be updated once every year. :(

OblivionRose: Ehehe… Enjoy!

Recap: "Kat! MOVE!" Naruto yelled.

It was too late. Kat was too slow to move. The sword was inches away from her when Kakashi appeared right in front of her and pierced Zabuza in his side. Kat fell down on her butt startled and put a hand over her pounding heart. 'Need to move…' She thought as she tried to get up.

Instead of blood seeping out of Zabuza, water leaked out of the wound Kakashi made. Soon the form of Zabuza turned into a glob of water and fell to the ground. Kat was about to stand when Zabuza's presence was behind her again."Crap…" Zabuza paid no heed to her, but went to strike Kakashi, his sword ripping their Sensei in half. Taking this chance, Kat rolled out of his way and watched with horror again as their Sensei was sliced in half.'No... He's not dead...'

She was right, Kakashi turned into a glob of water.

So he's already copied the water clone technique, huh? Zabuza thought. Soon a kunai was placed right by his throat as Kakashi stood behind him. "Don't move." Sakura was sitting on the ground staring. Sasuke was kneeling from behind. Naruto was on both knees and Tazuna had fallen back in front of the two jounin. Kat was near Sakura panting and staring.

"Now it's over." Kakashi stated.

'Did we win? No… It's just beginning…' Kat thought not knowing why she was sure of that thought.

Naruto and Sakura looked relieved as they thought the fight was over and their sensei had won. Sasuke and Kat, however, were more cautious. Even with a weapon to his throat, Zabuza let out a demonic chuckle that sent shivers down Kat's spine.

"Hehehe… 'It's over?' You don't get it. There's no way you can defeat me with your monkey-like imitations." Kakashi's eyes widened in surprised as he waited for the next strike from Zabuza. "Hehe… But that was impressive of you," Zabuza continued. "At that time… You had already copied my Water Clone no Jutsu. You had your clone say those words of protecting your comrades to attract my attention while the real you hid in the mist and watched me. Nice plan, but…"

The others gasped as the real Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi and the one supposedly held hostage by Kakashi dispersed into water. "I'm also not that easy." Zabuza stated.

"THAT ONE'S A FAKE, TOO?" Naruto exclaimed in shock.

Kakashi turned around in time to counter Zabuza's attack. He dropped to the ground as Zabuza slashed his sword above him, just barely missing him. As Kakashi was on the ground, Zabuza let the blade plant into the ground as he used the leverage to swing his leg into Kakashi, kicking him across the ground into the lake nearby. Tazuna gasped on the ground as the others watched in shock. Zabuza pursued Kakashi until he was halted by the nails thrown onto the ground to stall him. "Foolish." Zabuza mumbled as he prepared his next attack.

"Sensei!" Naruto exclaimed, not able to believe his teacher could be caught off guard.

'Kakashi Sensei got knocked down?' Sakura thought, nervous about what would happen next.

'He's also strong in tai-jutsu.' Sasuke noted by the sheer power of the shirtless shinobi's kick.

'Oh no…' Kat was distraught as she watched her Sensei get kicked. "Kakashi-Sensei get out of there now!"

As Kakashi rose to the surface he could feel the water dragging him down. 'What? This water is heavy…'

"Heh, fool. Water Prison no Jutsu." Zabuza said while making handseals behind the silver haired shinobi. Soon Kakashi was enveloped in a sphere of water connected to Zabuza's hand.

'Damn…' Kakashi swore as he was trapped.

"You may have been trying to escape to the water, but that was a big mistake. Hehehe… I now have you in my inescapable special prison. It makes things tougher if you can move, you know?" Zabuza stated as he looked towards the shore and began to form the seal to make a clone. "Now… Kakashi, we can finish things later. First I'll take care of them. Water Clone no Jutsu."

'He's stronger than I expected…' Kakashi thought as he watched the water in front of him morph into a second Zabuza. The clone was hunched over with arms dangling in front of the others who could feel their hearts beat even faster. The clone spoke to them, "Hehe, wearing forehead protectors and acting like real ninjas… But you know what? A real ninja is someone who has survived numerous brushes with death. Basically, once you're good enough to be listed in my handbook then you can start calling yourself a ninja." Zabuza's clone started to disappear into the mist as his final words rang through the air, "You guys should not be referred to as ninjas."

'He disappeared again!' Naruto thought as he stiffened. Out of nowhere a powerful blow hit him in his side as he flew backwards, skidding on the ground as his headband flew off.

"Naruto!" Sakura called worriedly, as Sasuke stood silently just as shocked. Kat gripped her sword tighter worried for her teammate.

"Just a brat." Zabuza muttered as he watched the orange clad ninja fly.

"Guh!" Kakashi knew that Zabuza would kill him so he risked some of his oxygen to give them a message to save themselves. "You guys! Take Tazuna and run away! You have no chance of beating him! As long as he's keeping me trapped in this prison, he can't move. The water clone cannot go very far from his real body. Just run away now!"

The others couldn't believe what their teacher was saying. 'But Kakashi can't die… We can't leave him…' Kat thought as she bit her lip and saw Naruto start to panick on the ground, his eyes wide and mouth apart, gaping.

'This is a Jounin, a real ninja. At this rate I'm really… really… going to die!' Naruto contemplated as he stared at the man's clone only a few feet away from him. He rolled over his side to run away only to feel a sharp pain run through his left hand as he put pressure on it. "Ow!" He looked down to see the bandaged hand he wounded earlier vowing he would never run away again. Thinking about how Sasuke had called him a "scardy-cat" Naruto found a new sense of courage as he turned to glance at Zabuza. 'I won't lose to Sasuke!' He clenched his left hand slightly as he saw the man standing on his headband that Iruka had given to him. Images of Iruka giving him his headband; Kakashi saying they couldn't be ninjas, but then saying they all passed the bell test; he, himself, proclaiming how he would be Hokage one day… All of these memories fueled his courage as he stood up.

Kat watched in surprise as she saw Naruto's expression change from terrified to determined. During this silent transformation she saw glimpse of images and heard familiar voices. And then she heard Naruto's thoughts ring clear in her ears as she grimaced from the pain sprouting in her head.

'That's right… I became a ninja and decided I wouldn't run away anymore… I won't run!' "Uaahhhh!" Naruto charged towards the man as the others proclaimed protest.

"No! Don't!" Kakashi exclaimed.

"He…" Sasuke couldn't believe his brash attack. 'Is he insane?'

"Naruto, what are you thinking?" Sakura shrieked as she gasped in shock.

"Baka." Zabuza stated as he kicked the annoyance away from him, sending him flying back to his teammates.

"What are you doing jumping in all by yourself? We Genin have no chance against him!" Sakura yelled, angry at his idiotic decision. But she was silenced by the way Naruto got up grabbing his forehead protector that used to be under the enemy's feet. 'The headband…?'

"Hey… You eyebrowless freak… Put this in your handbook." Naruto grinned even though blood dripped from his mouth. "The man who will become Hokage…" He grabbed the headband and tied it around his forehead. Giving it a forceful tug he finished his statement, "…is the Leaf Village Ninja… Uzumake Naruto!"

His teammates felt inspired by this new found courage Naruto had expressed. Even Tazuna couldn't help but smile by his change in expression, 'Oh… That midget. He's not as super useless as I first thought…'

"Sasuke! Lend me your ear!" Naruto called.

"What is it?" Sasuke questioned, still unable to believe this kid was able to recover so quickly.

"I have a plan." Naruto smirked.

'A plan in this situation?' Sasuke had to admit that the idiot wasn't as dumb as he seemed. "Pft… Teamwork from you?" Of course, he could never admit that he might be better than him.

'What's this feeling? This is Naruto…' Sakura could feel a blush form on her cheeks as she listened to Naruto's plan.

"Awesome, Naruto! I think it'll work." Kat chimed as she heard the plan. She had a good feeling about this, like nothing bad could happen at all.

"Now… Let's do this!" Naruto grinned as he and Sasuke prepared their attack.

Zabuza allowed the genin to formulate their plan, curious what it could be. "A lot of arrogance but do you stand a chance?"

'This is bad…' Kakashi stirred in the sphere of water, distressed that his students might be killed. "What are you doing? Run away! This fight was over the moment I was caught! Our duty is to protect Tazuna! Did you forget that?" He exclaimed.

Naruto looked back at Tazuna, "Old man…" Asking for permission to save their teacher.

"Well…" Tazuna began. He knew that he needed to stay alive, but he could see the fire burning in this kid and felt that he might actually stand a chance to save his teacher. "I planted this seed myself. I'm not going to now say that I desire to live so much that I'd stop you. I'm sorry guys… Fight as much as you want." He grinned at them to confirm his response.

"Pft," The Uchiha snorted. He knew he wouldn't say no. He looked at Naruto and inquired, "You hear that?"

Naruto smirked and nodded his head, "Are you ready?"

Zabuza couldn't believe the nerve of these kids. He started to laugh with the ridiculousness of this situation. Did they really think they stand a chance against him? "You guys will never grow up." He insulted.

"WHAT?" Naruto yelled, miffed that he would underestimate them. He thought he had just grown up a bit in these last moments.

Zabuza grinned underneath his mask. "Still going to keep 'playing' ninja, eh? When I was about your age these hands were already dyed red with blood." His eyes were wide and one could only imagine the demonic grin that lay beneath the bandages of his face. He took pleasure in seeing the disturbed faces on the weaklings in front of him.

"Demon… of the Mist. Zabuza." Kakashi spoke.

"Ah… so you've heard a little about it." Zabuza replied, impressed by the man's knowledge.

"Long ago, in the Hidden Mist village, also called the Blood Mist village, there was a final obstacle in becoming a ninja." Kakashi recalled the tale he had heard.

"Hm… You even know about that graduation exam…" Zabuza said.

"That exam?" Naruto was confused as the Mist ninja began to chuckle manically even more. His curiosity growing, he had to ask, "What's this graduation exam thing?"

As Zabuza laughed some more Kat could feel paralysis take over as her vision blurred to seeing everything in red. She gasped as the images of dead students flashed before her and she saw a small Zabuza standing over their dead bodies.

"Fights to the death between the students. Friends who have trained and eaten at the same table are pitted against each other and go at it until one of them loses his life. These are friends who had helped each other and shared dreams…" Zabuza narrated.

"…terrible…" Sakura could only mutter, wide eyed. She could see Kat just as scarred and in a trance, almost as if she was witnessing the deaths.

"Ten years ago, the Hidden Mist graduation exam was forced to change. This change came after the previous year when a demon appeared." Kakashi told them.

"Change?" Sakura glanced at the enemy before them, now second guessing their decision as she questioned her sensei what was changed. "What change? What did this demon do?"

Kakashi replied, wanting them to know the danger they were faced up against. "Without pause or hesitation a young boy who was not even a ninja had killed over a hundred of the students."

Kat was drawn out of her trance as she heard the yell of pain come from Sasuke. Zabuza had kicked him to the ground and kept his foot on him to keep him from coming up. Blood spurted from the boy's mouth due to the impact.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried.

"Die." Zabuza said bluntly as he drew his sword to kill him.

'Damn it!' Naruto swore as he made the right hand seal to form a clone. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Soon Zabuza was surrounded by hundreds of Narutos, all poised to attack with kunais in their hand.

Zabuza took his foot off of Sasuke to prepare for the attack. "Ah… Shadow Clones… And a large amount."

"Here I come!" Naruto roared as he charged towards the swordsman.

Sasuke got up on his feet as the large mass of Naruto dog piled on Zabuza. Zabuza flung them all off by spinning his sword around himself, turning them all into a puff of smoke. The Narutos yelled due to the force and the real one was sent flying.

Tazuna grimaced seeing the boy thrown off like he was just a pesky fly. 'It's useless… He can't be beaten!'

'This is the only way to defeat him!' Naruto thought as he quickly grabbed his pack and pulled out a large fumma shuriken. "Sasuke!" He alerted as he threw the weapon towards his comrade to catch.

Sasuke dove for the weapon and caught it understanding what he had to do. He opened the four blades and held it in front of him. "Evil wind shuriken. Shadow Windmill!" Sasuke ran and jumped high into the air aiming the weapon at its target.

"A shuriken won't work against me." Zabuza stated with his hand on his blade, ready to block. But the weapon flew around the clone and towards the real Zabuza holding Kakashi hostage.

"I see… You're aiming it at the real me. But, that's not enough!" Zabuza proclaimed as he caught the weapon. He was taken aback when he saw a second giant shuriken coming towards him. "Another one in the Shuriken's shadow?" Zabuza watched as it came towards him but he jumped over it, dodging it. "Still not enough." Zabuza mocked.

While Sakura was shocked, Kat knew this would have a good result. The shuriken that Zabuza jumped to avoid transformed back into Naruto, who threw a kunai right at Zabuza. Caught in mid air, Zabuza had to shift to try and dodge, unconsciously using his hand holding Kakashi captive to block. The kunai cut through the sphere of water, breaking the prison holding Kakashi. Zabuza glared at the boy as the kunai skimmed his cheek. Angered by the wound and already equipped with a weapon in the other hand he lunged to attack the boy, only to be blocked by a soaking wet Kakashi, his hand bleeding from the impact of the blade. Kakashi glared at him with his Sharigan eye, catching Zabuza off guard.

"Kakashi Sensei!" Sakura shouted relieved he was free while Naruto appeared from the water catching his breath.

Kakashi couldn't help but grin underneathe his mask as he praised his students, "Naruto, great 'plan'. You guys have grown up."

Still holding the weapon against Kakashi's hand Zabuza snorted, "Heh, I got distracted and released the jutsu..." He would never admit a kid outsmart him.

"Wrong. You didn't realease it. You were forced to release it." Kakashi replied. Zabuza eyed him as he put up his guard for Kakashi's next attack. "I'll tell you that I don't fall for the same jutsu twice. What will you do?"

Zabuza and Kakashi simultaneously jumped away from each other and performed an array of various seals until they released the same jutsu at the same time. "Water Dragon Blast no Jutsu!" The two water dragons raised from the water and attacked each other, cancelling each other's attacks. The resulting collision created a rush of water that pushed the others back. Sasuke and Naruto braced themselves, while Sakura and Kat helped Tazuna. They were shocked by their Sensei's skill in copying.

Zabuza was taken aback as Kakashi mimicked his moves perfectly. 'My movements... He's complteley...'

"...reading them." Kakashi finished Zabuza's thought. Zabuza began to freak out as he thought about the white-haired man reading his mind. The sharingan eye seemed to hypnotize him as he was caught off guard by Kakashi's moves.

"All you're doing is copying me." Zabuza said.

"You can't beat me you monkey bastard!" Kakashi finished for him, making the demon of the mist feel even more uneasy.

"Damn you! I'll make it so you can never open that mouth again!" Zabuza shouted as he performed a barage of handseals. As he watched Kakashi he noticed a vision of himself standing behind him as he realized he was under some sort of gen-jutsu. But before he could finish his jutsu, Kakashi finished it before him.

"Water Explosion no Jutsu!"

Just then a huge wave erupted from the lake (AN: like a water explosion :O Hehe...) and egulfed the entire area, the brunt of its force hitting Zabuza and crushing him against a tree. The others on the side had to brace themselves in order to not drown. Zabuza was stabbed by four kunai as Kakashi stood in the tree over him. "It's over"

"How..? Can you see the future?" Zabuza gawked underneathe his bandages.

"Yeah... You're going to die." Kakashi stated as he prepared to attack him.

Just then two needles flew into Zabuza's neck instantly killing him. Hell fell over on the ground as the others watched in shock. All this fighting and it suddenly ends like this? They looked over and a boy wearing a mask stood on a tree branch. "Hehe... You're right. He's dead. 3" The boy said as he stared at the dead body.

Kakashi teleported from his tree branch to Zabuza's body and checked for a pulse to confirm his death.

"Thank you very much. I have been searching for the opportunity to kill Zabuza for a long time." The masked boy spoke from the tree.

"That mask... You're a Hidden Mist Hunter-nin..." Kakashi replied.

"Impressive. You are correct."

"Hunter-nin?" Sakura inquired.

"Yes my job is to hunt down Missing-nins. I'm a member of the Hidden Mist's Hunter-nin team."

Kakashi observed the boy, impressed by the fact he's a hunter-nin and probably only around Naruto's age. He also noticed Naruto eyeing the boy, too.

"What the hell? Who are you?" Naruto yelled.

"Don't worry Naruto, he's not an enemy." Kakashi said.

"I'm not asking that! That Zabuza... He-He was killed! A guy that strong... A guy that strong was killed by a kid! By a kid not much different from me! We look stupid! How can I understand that?"

"Well, I know how you feel but..." Kakashi replied, "But this is also the truth. In this world, there exists kids younger than you yet stronger than me." He then ruffled Naruto's hair to try and calm him down.

The boy who once was in the tree teleported to Zabuza's body. "Your battle is now over and now I must dispose of this body. Since it seems to be a body with many secrets. Farewell." The boy draped the body over himself and made a seal. In an instant he disappeared in a swirl of leaves, wind, and smoke.

"HE'S GONE!" Naruto exclaimed.

Kakashi sighed and pulled his headband over his sharingan eye. "Now, we have to get Tazuna-san back to his home. Let's go!"

Laughing out of relief Tazuna was glad the battle was over. "Super thanks, guys! Come over to my house and relax for a while!"

Meanwhile, Kat watched the scene unfold and had a sense of de'ja'vu, like she'd seen this before. She had looked in awe at the boy who took down this scary demon of the mist and then disappeared with his body. She wondered why there was a clenching in her heart as she saw him, as if the boy had some sad story abou him. As the invitation to Tazuna's house woke her up from her thoughts, she noticed Kakashi begin to wobble and collapse on the ground. The other's gasped in surprise worried for their Sensei. Even Kat gasped and ran over to help him out.

"He's exhausted. Let's get him to Tazuna-san's house." Kat said as she tried to drape his arm over her shoulder. Naruto quickly draped his other arm over his shoulder to help Kat. Sasuke, not wanting to be outdone by Naruto and noticing Kat struggling with Kakashi's weight, offered to take her place and she thankfully allowed him as they all followed Tazuna to his home.

Soon Team Seven was resting in Tazuna's home and his daughter, Tsunami had Kakashi in a bed resting. Kakashi had informed them that if he overuses the sharingan it puts much stress on his body. After informing the team about the jobs of hunter-nins he soon fell into a deep sleep.

"Man, that was a great battle, wasn't it? I still can't believe that kid took him out at the end, believe it!" Naruto stated.

"Of course a wimp like you wouldn't be able to comprehend it, dobe." Sasuke retorted.

"Shut up, Teme! If it wasn't for me, we wouldn't have been able to save Sensei!"

"Don't instult Sasuke-kun! He helped save Sensei, too!" Sakura defended as Sasuke remained silent.

"Eh... well, let's be glad we're all okay. And Naruto, try to be a bit more quiet, Kakashi-Sensei's sleeping." Kat spoke up finally trying to be peacemaker.

"Kat's right. Though you've been really quiet lately, are you okay? You look a little pale." Sakura asked the girl.

"Huh? Oh-oh I'm fine! I guess I'm still recovering from the battle. You know the tension an all gave me a horrible head-ache but I'm fine now. Really." Kat replied, smiling to hide the pain that still peirced her head. It was as if another part of her mind was acting on its own and every once in a while she would see visions of people or hear voices, but she had been able to shake it off now as they all rested.

The group was quiet for a bit as they watched their Sensei rest quietly. Just then Naruto got an evil smirk on his face. "Hey... Have you ever wondered what Kakashi-Sensei looks like beneathe his mask?"

"..." The others understood what he was saying and Kat smirked, too.

"Maybe just a peak while he's sleeping? He'll never know..." Kat said.

"Yeah, I've been interested, too." Sakura admited.

"Hn." Sasuke even chimed in.

They all creaped over to their Sensei's make-shift bed and leaned over to get a good look at his sleeping face. Naruto and Sakura looked at each other as Sakura went to grab his mask. They were closer, closer, just about to grab it when Kakashi suddenly opened his eyes. "Kyaaa!" Sakura and Kat screamed by surprise, as all four of them fell back away from their now awake Sensei.

Tsunami and Tazuna came in worried about the screams. "Oh, Kakashi-sensei, you're awake." Tsunami replied.

As he slowly came to his senses, he grabbed his face in thought. 'What's this? Zabuza is dead... What's this feeling? I feel like I'm missing something very important...'

"You, too, Sensei?" Kat said, thinking he had said his thoughts out loud.

"What? What are you talking about Katana-chan?" Naruto asked.

"Didn't you...?" She was going to ask them if they heard them but she discovered she did it again. 'Crap... They'll think I'm weird... umm... cover... cover...'

Kakashi glanced at her wondering if he had spoken that out loud but by the other three's quizical looks he knew he had been silent.

"Well, just look at Sensei! The way he wakes up suddenly and goes straight into thought... doesn't it seem like he's worried. Like there's something we didn't finish?"

The others nodded and agreed as Kakashi looked at the girl. 'This one... I'll have to observe her more, too...' He thought as she scratched her head nervously. "You're very perspective, Kat. You're right, something is bothering me."

"What's wrong, Sensei?" Naruto asked now noticing how Kakashi looked after Kat pointed it out.

"Well, body erasing teams usually dispose of the body of the person they killed right there." He replied.

"So what?" Sakura said.

"Don't you see? How did that masked boy dispose of Zabuza's body?"

"How could we know? The masked buy took the body with him." She replied.

"Yeah... If he needed proof of his work, he could have just taken the head. And the weapon that he used to kill Zabuza." Kakashi stated as Sasuke thought about how he used needles.

Kat's sinking feeling in her stomach sunk even deeper as she realized her premonitions were correct.

Sasuke had come to the same conclusion and couldn't help but mutter, "No way..."

"Yeah, exactly." Kakashi replied as Sakura and Naruto were still confused by everyone else's doom and gloom attitude.

"What are you guys talking about?" Tazuna said, worried himself by the sullen atmosphere in the room.

"Most likely... Zabuza is alive!" Kakashi said bluntly.

Tazuna, Sakura, and Naruto all wore shocked expressions on their faces while Sasuke even looked taken back a bit as his theory was proven correct. Kat held her head as a piercing sound hit her, though this time no visions or sounds came, instead it was the result of her noisy teammates.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN?" Naruto screached.

"Kakashi-sensei, you checked and said he was dead!" Sakura yelled.

"Yeah, I did. But that was most likely just a momentary death." Kakashi replied.

Kakashi continued to explain how the needle used by the hunter-nin had a low probability of killing someone unless it hit a vital organ. Even though hunter-nins do have knowledge of the body and would know where to hit, the fact that he used a weapon least likely to cause death and took his body away could possibly mean he was trying to save him, not kill him.

Tazuna was doubtful as he said, "Aren't you thinking too much? Hunter-nins are supposed to kill Missing-nins."

"No... With all the suspicion we will prepare before it's too late. That's a shinobi rule. Plus, whether Zabuza is dead or alive there's no assurances that Gatou hasn't hired an even stronger shinobi." Even though Naruto was shaking a bit with anticipation, a grin spread across his face. 'Heh, he's actually happy that Zabuza might be alive...' Kakashi thought.

"Sensei, what do you mean preparing before it's too late? You can barely move." Sakura pointed out.

"Hehe..." Kakashi chuckled, startling his students a bit. "You guys will receive training."

"Huh? Training?" Sakura replied. "Sensei! What's a little training going to do? Our enemy is a ninja you struggled against even with the sharingan!" 'Are you trying to get us killed?' Inner Sakura screamed.

"Sakura... Who saved me while I was struggling? You guys are growing rapidly. Especially Naruto! You've improved the most." Naruto blushed getting the compliment, happy to be praised. "But obviously, this is just training until I get better. You won't be able to defeat him without me."

"But Sensei, if Zabuza is alive he could attack at anytime, so should we be training?" Sakura questioned.

"Do you want to get out of training that bad?" Kat couldn't help but mutter to Sakura quietly.

"No-no! I'm just concerned about Tazuna... and Kakashi can be a bit of a slave-driver..." Sakura admitted at the end quietly. Kat nodded her head in understanding as she looked at their sensei.

"Don't worry, Sakura, we'll have plenty of time to train because a person put in a momentary death state will take a while before their body returns to normal. So we train until then!" Kakashi stated.

"Sounds like a lot of fun!" Naruto said.

"That's not fun." A young boy said as he entered the room.

"Ohh! Inari! Where were you?" Tazuna said to the boy holding his arms open for a hug.

"Welcome back, Grandpa." He replied as he kept a sullen look on his face. He took off his shoes and went over to his grandfather to give him a hug.

Tazuna pat his head calling him a goodboy as his mother spoke up, "Inari, say hello to these people. They are ninjas who protected grandpa."

Inari looked over at the four genin and bluntly stated, "Mom, they're going to die."

Different reactions came from this response. Sasuke looked annoyed, Sakura's eye twitched as she was surprised by his words, Kat snorted, and Naruto blew up shouting, "What did you say you little brat!"

"There's no way you can win against Gatou." The child stated, irking Naruto more.

"You brat! I'll-" Before Naruto could say anymore, Sakura was holding him back and scolding him for yelling at a kid.

"Hey Inari! Listen! I am a super hero who will one day become an incredible ninja called Hokage! I don't know this Gatou guy, but he's nothing against me!" Naruto shouted and pumped his fist to prove he was confident.

"Pft..." Inari replied. "What are you, stupid? There's no such thing as a hero!"

"WHAT?" Naruto was about to pounce on him again as Sakura held him back telling him to "Stop it!"

"If you don't want to die, you should leave..." Inari warned as he began to walk away to another part of the house.

"Where are you going Inari?" Tazuna asked.

"To look at the ocean from my room." He replied as he closed the door behind him.

"Sorry..." Tazuna said to the quiet group as they stared at the closed door. Naruto was still miffed by the boy's reaction and ran after to follow him.

"He's been through a lot, hasn't he?" Kat stated to break the silence. Inari's mother and grandfather could only nod their heads as they looked back at the door. Soon, Naruto came back with a calmer expression.

Kakashi cleared his throat to get his team's attention. "Well, let's get ready to train. We need to be prepared for the enemy."

OblivionRose: There you go! The long awaited update! I'm sorry it was mostly storyline, but I'm working on getting through the Zabuza arc. I think it'll be done with the next chapter. Thought the next chapter has actually been half-way typed so it'll be up soon!

Shira: I thought you said I was going to be in this chapter!

OblivionRose: Sorry, this chapter was getting to long. You'll be in the next chapter and later you'll be in the story more often.

Shira: I better! Now, where did I put that lipstick... Time to change the color of Kankuro's face paint."

OblivionRose: I want to thank all of those who favorited and reviewed this story even though it hasn't been updated in a long time. I would put all of your names on here but there's too many to list, but I especially want to thank the individuals who asked me to continue writing this piece. You planted a seed of guilt in my mind that would tell me to update this story as I went on with my daily activities. That seed has finally sprouted into production and blossomed into a new chapter! I really do have this story planned out, I just need to write and update. So please continue to send me reviews, it definately motivates me to continue posting these chapters. Again, I'm sorry, and thank you for liking this story. (By the way, sorry for any typos, I'll go back and edit later, I just wanted to finally update this thing)