Lessons in Living
Hey everyone! Chapter 9 of LIL, the next instalment of the wave arc! This one has a bit more action, and twists to it … I really hope you all like it. And please favourite? Pretty please, with a cherry on top?
Chapter 9
Naruto's POV
We had left those crazy mist ninjas a while back and had made our way to a dock. Currently we were sitting in a boat, making our way to old man Tazuna's village.
"Wow this is some fog!" I said looking around slightly nervous; sakura just nodded, looking around nervously just like me, while that stupid teme just hn'ed.
"Yeah, but it's advantageous for us… we can slip through with less chance of someone spotting us" Natsu said, keeping her eyes focused on our surroundings. "So, don't you think it's time you told us what you've been hiding, Mr. I-am-the-greatest-bridge-builder-ever?" she asked, her voice leaving no room for disagreement.
The rest of us were pretty curious too, so we all leaned a little closer to finally find out who we were really against.
Tazuna seemed really frightened, almost hesitant to tell us who we were up against, and it made me all the more nervous. I think all of us were a little freaked about how worried the old man was.
"About this mission… you were right. I'm being chased by a powerful man; this job is most likely out of your job scope." He said not meeting any of our eyes.
"Who is it?" Kakashi sensei asked, the rest of us leaning forward anxious to hear the name of our supposedly powerful enemy.
"The wealthy shipping magnate, Gatou" Tazuna whispered fearfully.
"You mean that short, fat guy with the weird glasses and moustache?" Natsu asked, surprising us all.
We all turned to her with weird looks on our faces, varying from shock to surprise.
"Who are you and what have you done to the real Natsu?" I asked, teasing my quiet teammate.
Her cheeks turned light pink, "hey, I might not talk much, but I do keep up with the times." She muttered clearly embarrassed, much to our amusement.
"Anyway" Kakashi said giving us all strange looks, "isn't he one of the world's richest people?"
"Yes… that's the official story; secretly he sells drugs and other illegal items. He uses ninjas and gang members to takeover businesses and countries, and since the last year he has his eyes on the wave country. That's why he wants to get rid of me, the bridge I'm in charge of building will ruin his plan and weaken his hold on the country" Tazuna replied.
"Okay let me get this straight, there is a short, psychotic rich man who controls ninjas and gang members, both of which he has sent after you in the hopes of killing you, and we're supposed to protect you?" Natsu asked.
"Uh… yes that about sums it up" Tazuna replied.
"Fun" Natsu said monotonously, while I slapped my fisted hand down on the palm of my other hand, "Now I get it!" I yelled finally understanding what they were talking about, causing sakura to face palm.
And that's when the old man guilt tripped us with how upset his family would be, even our resident 'ice princess' Natsu seemed to melt. The old man was good…
"Well, I guess we have no choice we will continue the mission." Kakashi sensei said sounding kinda defeated.
"We'll be there soon, we've actually managed to get here unseen thanks to this mist…" the boat man said sounding relieved.
"Wow" I breathed out as we made our way to the harbour and getting out of the mist, the place was beautiful with clean water and tree like plants growing in the water. I knew the others were in awe as well due to the wide eyed stares while looking around.
We jumped off the boat as soon as we reached the harbour, eager to reach old man Tazuna's village and complete our mission. I could see that Natsu and Kakashi Sensei were worried about something, and I was kind of worried too, to be honest, however I would not allow stupid Sasuke to steal the spotlight anymore.
I looked left and right anxiously searching for any sign of movement, or enemies so that I would be the first to react. I noticed the bush on my right rustling ever so slightly and quickly threw my shuriken, only to see a rat running out of the bush.
"Oops, only a rat" I muttered looking kinda sheepish, while Sakura yelled at me and Natsu face palmed. I half-heartedly listened to Sakura, my eyes scanning through the bushes checking for anything suspicious. I had noticed that both Kakashi and Natsu had both stiffened ever so lightly before relaxing and continuing like nothing had happened, something was definitely about to happen.
"THERE" I yelled throwing a shuriken into the bush, positive that this time at least I had got something.
"I SAID STOP" Sakura screamed while hitting me on the head, while I watched from the corner of my eyes as Natsu shook her head, fighting off a slight smirk.
Kakashi's POV
I moved towards the bush Naruto had thrown his shuriken into, pushing the leafy twigs aside to come face to face with a quivering snow white rabbit. I watched as Naruto grabbed the rabbit, hugging it close to his chest while apologising to the quivering bundle of fur.
'A snow rabbit… during spring?' I pondered; normally rabbits would shed their snow white fur that they had during winter for a coloured coat during spring, seeing that the fur colour changed based on the amount of light. I glanced at Natsu who was looking at me, obviously she had gone through the same deduction and right now the same thought was running through both our minds, 'they're already here…'.
I stood relaxed while analysing the trees around us, scanning for the hidden enemy, while Natsu mirrored my movements. Honestly I was glad she was here, she was an ex-Anbu and though she was not extremely strong she was quite fast having been trained more in stealth and intelligence, I was glad that her quick mind was on our side; after all she was trained at noticing the subtle things. I noticed a sudden movement from among the trees.
"GET DOWN" I heard Natsu yell along with me as she pushed Sakura out of the way and threw herself on Naruto, pushing her body flat against his.
'Bet he liked that' I thought with a slight snicker looking away from the two red faced kids who were getting up, instead shifting my gaze to notice that Sasuke had pushed the bridge maker to the ground as well.
I looked at the man who was standing on the large sword that had embedded itself in a tree trunk after sailing right where we had been standing. The man was tall, pale and muscular with short spiky hair and brown eyes. His forehead protector was placed sideways and the bottom half of his face was covered in bandages similar to a mask. He was shirtless and wore baggy, vertically striped pants along with elbow length wrist warmers and matching leg warmers.
"Well if it isn't the Hidden Mists missing Nin Zabuza Momochi" I stated, glancing at Natsu who seemed to have recognized him as well, but was glancing at his sword. I stopped Naruto who was getting ready to run towards Zabuza, "Everybody step back, this one's on a whole other level" I stated never taking my eyes off the missing nin before me.
"It will be a little tough… unless I do this" I said lifting up my forehead protector that covered my eye.
"So you are Sharingan Kakashi, sorry but the old man is mine" Zabuza stated.
"Protect Tazuna, Zabuza… fight me first" I stated, hoping that we would be able to come out on alive, as Zabuza stated how honoured he was that I was using my Sharingan against him.
"Are you sure we can't trade the old man for his sword?" Natsu asked interrupting the tense silence, her odd question causing everybody to stare at her while she gazed almost lovingly at Zabuza's sword.
'Of course her obsession with unique weapons just had to kick in now, didn't it?' I thought face palming at the young girl before me. "Not now Natsu, you know this is a mission, and how do we feel about failing missions?" I asked getting her back on track.
"But Kakashi, it's so pretty and shiny and sharp…" she whined, her puppy dog eyes begging at me while Zabuza snickered.
"A minute please…" I said to Zabuza before turning to my little weapon obsessed, almost like a younger sister, team member.
"Natsu, how many times do I have to tell you? You can't obsess over other peoples weapons… it's rude and a little creepy!" I stated as the others discussed about what a Sharingan was.
"Can I atleast touch it? Please?" she begged the highly amused assassin who had been standing and watching us.
"Sorry" I murmured to him while I heard the other three of my team discussing the possibility of Natsu being slightly bi-polar.
"Enough, as amusing as this is, I still have to kill the old man. Uh and sorry kid, no one touches the sword…" Zabuza stated, the last bit obviously directed to the slightly disappointed girl, who had a passionate love for… er… dangerous pointy objects.
Zabuza leaped off the sword, pulling it out of the trunk, and landed on the surface of the lake which was present in the clearing. He released a large amount of chakra, and stated hidden mist no Jutsu before disappearing, while the mist started thickening.
"Careful, he's an expert in silent killing, you won't even realise until your already dead" I stated, while Natsu snapped into her usual self, slightly embarrassed that the others had seen a side of her that she had shown to only her most trusted friends.
"Eight choices to kill, liver, lungs, spine, clavicle vein, neck, vein, and brain… wonder which one I should choose to kill you…" Zabuza whispered through the mist, scaring Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke and Tazuna while Natsu and I kept our senses alert.
I noticed the three of them were unbelievably scared, even Sasuke was trembling at the amount of chakra and the tension that was making the air heavy.
"Relax Sasuke" I stated, flashing a reassuring smile to the three of them, hoping to quell their fears as much as possible.
"He's right you know… we'll protect you no matter what the cost, we do not let our comrades die" Natsu said flashing a tiny smile, she was getting attached to the group and her barriers were tumbling down faster than I had seen before. I couldn't help but marvel at how well the Hokages little scheme was working. I quickly moved, and pushed my students and Tazuna aside as Natsu moved beside me, deflecting the huge sword with a kunai.
There was no way Natsu could win against him, it had taken a lot of strength on her part just to deflect the sword; she wasn't used to this kind of fighting style. She wouldn't be able to deflect too many more attacks like that, I was sure of that much.
Natsu's POV
I groaned as I deflected the first attack from Zabuza. I had to admit the man was super strong, my arms hurt from just deflecting one slash. I watched as Kakashi stabbed Zabuza in the gut, I couldn't believe it was over that soon.
"SENSEI BEHIND YOU!" Naruto yelled.
I watched in horror as Zabuza turned into water, just as another Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi and sliced him into half.
"Don't move… it's over" Kakashi stated from behind Zabuza, his kunai against his throat.
"WOW" Naruto yelled, while Sakura smiled in relief and Sasuke continued to watch silently. I had expected Zabuza to be much harder to corner, something felt off. This was much too easy, almost like he wanted to get caught…
"It's over? Ha! There is no way you can defeat me with your monkey-like imitations" Zabuza stated sounding confident, even though he had kunai against his throat. "Heh, it was an impressive plan though, you had already copied my water clone Jutsu. You had your clone say all those things to get my attention, while you hid in the mist and watched. Very nice… but I'm not that easy" Zabuza said appearing behind Kakashi.
I felt a cold almost clammy feeling in my heart; it was unlike anything I had ever felt. No that was wrong… I had felt it before, a long time ago…
"ANOTHER FAKE?!" Naruto yelled, as the 'Zabuza' Kakashi had captured turned into water. I held my biting remark about how we all had eyes and could tell it was a fake. Instead I opted for observing the fight.
I watched with bated breath as Zabuza swung his sword at Kakashi, who managed to duck out of the way by falling to the ground. I could hear the relieved sighs from next to me, but my eyes were glued to the ninjas before me. My eyes widened as I realised what was about to happen.
"Kakashi!" I yelled as I ran towards him, getting into a defensive stance before him. The next thing I knew, I was flying through the air. I managed to twist my body in mid-air by using the momentum of Zabuzas kick, my feet and hands skidding on the ground as I managed to land in a crouch; I could taste the salty, coppery tang of blood as it filled my mouth and I coughed it up. I could hear someone screaming, something that vaguely sounded like my name though I wasn't really sure as everything was slowly flickering black and I sank to my knees, I could feel my eyes roll back slightly.
I felt my eyelids flicker letting in light, after what felt like hours. I slowly sat up, checking for broken bones at the same time, relief flooding me when I realised I had no broken bones but I knew I'd be black and blue tomorrow.
"It's good to see you're up…" I heard Sakura murmur, causing me to turn towards her, "Naruto moved you here away from the fight, we weren't sure how badly you were hurt" She whispered from where she stood. I turned slightly to look at Naruto who stood closer to the fight, just little ahead of me.
I slowly stood up and spat out the blood that had remained in my mouth as I surveyed the battle before me, "Sakura… How long was I out?" I asked quietly as I watched Kakashi struggle in a Water Prison Jutsu. I hoped it hadn't been too long; I really didn't want to jump in to save Kakashi without a few minutes to figure out the situation but if he'd been stuck in there for a while I had no choice.
"A few seconds, not much… Zabuza struck almost immediately after he kicked you" she replied her confusion at the question written clearly on her face.
"God damnit Kakashi, I look away for a few seconds and look what happens" I grumbled under my breath, this was the worst possible scenario. I had three Genin to look after as well as I had to think of some way of freeing Kakashi.
Zabuza created a clone to fight while he held Kakashi captive. I glanced at the three genin noticing the panic in their eyes as Zabuza gave a long speech about real ninjas and life and death situations, before he moved. I watched as he headed towards Naruto.
"Not again" I muttered before sprinting towards Naruto. I managed to reach just as Zabuza raised his leg to kick Naruto. I quickly caught Naruto by the waist while I used my other arm to grab Zabuzas leg and push the both of us safely away.
"Real Ninjas also do not underestimate their opponents" I hissed as I pushed Naruto behind me as Zabuza stepped on Narutos forehead protector. I glanced behind me to make sure Naruto was alright when I noticed him staring at the bandage around his wound from the fight with the two mist ninjas and then glancing at his protector.
'This is good… really good, impress me once more Naruto' I thought as I stepped back allowing Naruto a free hand to handle the situation. I watched as he ran straight at Zabuza and was sent sliding right back skidding to a halt at where Sakura and Sasuke stood. I watched as Sakura started yelling but she abruptly stopped as Naruto slowly stood, the stunned look on her face piqued my interest.
I watched as Naruto shakily got to his feet and that's when I noticed the leaf symbol glinting in his hand. 'Impressive' that was the only thing in my mind, he was standing up to Zabuza and that in my mind was something that earned him a little bit more respect in my eyes.
"Hey eye-brow less freak… put this in your handbook, the man who will one day become the Hokage, Leaf village ninja… Naruto Uzumaki" Naruto stated as He tied his leaf village band. "Sasuke, listen… I have a plan" He stated a determined glint in his eye.
I couldn't stop the smirk forming on my lips, Zabuza was going to regret underestimating us… especially Naruto. He was in for a shock if this was anything like the Naruto I had seen standing up against Mizuki.
I quickly stepped back, receding to the background; I had no intention of interfering with this fight unless they needed help. I was standing to the side watching as Zabuza told them his story and that's when I felt it. Someone was watching us.
'How did I miss that? This is not good…' I thought as I pulled out a kunai. I glanced at the others only to see Sasuke being flung around by Zabuza.
"Kage no Bunshin Jutsu" I heard Naruto yell, before Dozens of Naruto appeared and attacked Zabuza while Sasuke got free, just as Zabuza dealt with all the clones that had caged him in.
"SASUKE!" Naruto yelled as he threw something towards Sasuke.
"Evil Wind Shuriken… Shadow windmill" Sasuke stated holding a large Shuriken. I hoped that they would be alright but right now I had another problem to deal with. I quickly sprinted towards the woods moving away from the fight.
I quickly flipped back, avoiding the senbon that were now embedded in the ground where I had been standing just a few seconds ago. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, trying to calm myself and push all the pain away. I quickly brought up my kunai and deflected the senbon that had been thrown my way.
"It isn't nice to attack someone who has their eyes closed" I stated, my eyes still closed. I heard a soft chuckle; I gave a slight grin as I threw my kunai in the direction of the sound.
"Got you…" I murmured as I heard the wet 'thwack' of my kunai piercing skin and muscle. I felt a sharp sting on my neck and my body was getting heavier, I reached up and felt for the senbon that I knew had hit a pressure point.
"Looks like you got me too…" were the last things to leave my mouth as I felt my body turn numb and my vision began to blur. I felt a pair of hands catch me before I hit the ground, placing me down gently instead and after that I lost all consciousness.
Oh my god, I'm finally done! I'm really sorry about how long it took and I'll do my best to get the chapters out faster but with classes going on, it's going to be hard.
If anyone is interested in a song-fic I am currently accepting requests. Just send me the name of the song, character info and other particulars, if any.
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