Kakashi's POV:

The next day came fast and I had my team to split up. I sent Sakura along with Tazuna, to watch over the under-construction bridge. Sasuke and Naruto returned at the clearing, to continue their training. I decided that it was the perfect time to help Akuma train. Right now, we were walking through the woods and a silence was between us until she decided to break it.

"So, Kakashi sensei… where are we going?", she asked and looked at me with her crimson red eyes.

"We are going to train… Well, you actually"

"What are you going to teach me?"

"You will see", I said and we continued our way in silence. "Here we are", I said after a while as we had reached our destination. It was another small clearing, only that there was a river at the middle of it.

"So, what are you going to teach me here sensei?"

"Since you mastered the climbing technique with ease, I believe it is time to try something harder"

"Like what?"

"Like walking on water"

"What?", she asked me in a shocked and a scared expression.

"Relax it is quite easy. All you have to do is concentrate chakra at your feet but you must maintain and keep it steady all the time since the surface of the water, changes all the time"

"Okay…", she said and I could hear the hesitation in her voice.

"Go on, try it. You must have more confidence in yourself, you know", I said as I placed my stretches to lean on a tree trunk and I carefully sat on top of a rock.

"Here I go", she said as she closed her eyes and placed her hands on the right sign.

I lifted my headband and opened my Sharingan. I know, I know that I should not use it but I was curious about that she had told me yesterday. Without opening her eyes, she started to walk on water. At her first two steps, she almost ended up falling but she managed to keep her balance.

I smiled as I observed her carefully. For someone her age, she definitely knows how to control her chakra but, why hers is so different? I wondered. After a few more steps, she opened her eyes, only for a small smile to appear on her face as she noticed where she was.

"I did it sensei!", she shouted full with excitement.

"Yes, you did it but can you keep it while you are under attack?", I asked her as I made a shadow clone and both of us grabbed a peddle.

"What are you doing sensei?", she asked, panic in her voice.

"Just focus on maintaining your chakra steady and at the same time, avoiding my attacks", I said as my clone and I started to throw some peddles close to her.

She managed to avoid some of them but I threw one that hit her on her leg and made her lose her balance. I smirked as she started to swim towards the soar. When she was finally out of the water, coughed a few times, lied on her back and tried to control her breath.

"It is not the time to stop Akuma. Do it again", I said and she groaned but eventually stood up.

We had been practicing like this for a few hours now and let me say that she has been doing it very well. She had managed to avoid most of my attacks when it came to rocks and peddles but when I started throwing some shuriken…

Well, she got a few scratched and then fall on the water. However, for her first day of training and for someone of her age, it was quite impressive.

"Okay, Akuma. One more time", I said as I grabbed some shuriken from my weapon pouch.

"Just *pant* give me *pant* a minute *pant* sensei", she said while having her hands on her knees.

"There is no time to stop. In the battlefield, there will be no second for you to rest. Do not tell me that you are finished", I teased her.

"Oh no *pant* I am far *pant* from *pant* finished", she said as she started to concentrate chakra on her feet.

She walked in the middle of the river and waited. I smirked at her stubbornness and determination and decided to raise a little the difficulty. I threw her some shuriken but at the same time, a kunai with an explosive tag attached to it.

She managed to block or avoid the shuriken but she missed the kunai that exploded a little in front of her. She raised her hands in front of her face, in order to protect herself from the explosion. When the explosion and the smoke cleared, she was nowhere to be found.

My eyes widen, as I did not see her coming to the surface. My heart started to beat faster as I grabbed the stretches and "run" at the sore. I searched for any sign of her but I found nothing. I was ready to dive into the water when I felt someone, tapping me on the shoulder. I quickly turned only to see that it was Akuma.

She was completely wet, her raven hair was covering her eyes that were looking at me in a threatening way. From her expression, I could see that she was not happy at all.

"The paper bomb was too much sensei", she said in an angry voice and pushed me.

I was caught off guard and before I knew it, I ended up falling at the water. I quickly grabbed the stretched and swum at the surface. The moment I was out of the water, I struggled for some oxygen.

"I guess we are even now huh?", I asked her as I swam at the shore.

She did not answer; instead, she turned her back and started to walk towards Tazuna's house. I climbed at the shore and quickly followed her.

"Hey!", I said as I managed to catch up with her and grabbed her shoulder.

"What?", she asked me in a threatening tone.

"Look, I am sorry. I just wanted to test something. I know, I overdid it. I am sorry", I said as I passed my hand through my now, wet grey hair.

"*sigh* it is okay sensei. I am sorry that I pushed you. When I am angry, I act a little out of character sometimes", she explained as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"It is okay. You did very well today. By the way, how are you feeling?", I asked as we started to walk again.

"I feel like I could sleep for a week… maybe more", she joked and we both laughed.

Her laughter was quite odd actually. I expected her to laugh just like any kid, but hers was more nice and melodic. I quickly shook the weird thought aside as we continued our way.

"Thank Kami I left my book home"

"Yeah, you were lucky sensei", she said and it was then I realized that I had spoken my thoughts aloud.

"What happened to both of you?", Tsunami asked us as we entered the house.

"Nothing, just training and a cold joke", I said as I looked at Akuma who was rubbing the back of her neck.

"Oh, okay. You should better change or you will grab a cold", she told us she returned to make dinner.

"Where are the boys and Sakura?", Akuma asked.

"Sakura in on her room and the boys have not come yet", she said, not taking her eyes from the food.

"Thank you Lady Tsunami", Akuma said as she climbed the stairs. I left out a sigh and smirked as I started climbing the stair at my own pace.

Akuma's POV:

I had changed into a pile of fresh clothes and thank Kami that I had thought to bring them with me. Now, we were sitting at the table, ready to eat dinner but the two boys had not returned yet.

"We are back!", Naruto said as he and Sasuke opened the door and entered.

They were covered completely in dirt and bruises and Sasuke was helping Naruto to stand.

"What happened to the two of you?", Tazuna asked them.

"We climbed a tree"

"Really Naru? You made it to the top?"

"Believe it Akuma!", he said and caused me to smile.

"Good, now we move on. Starting tomorrow, you both are Tazuna's bodyguard", sensei said.

"Aright!", Naruto cheered and made both him and Sasuke to fall to the floor.

"You are such a loser", Sauske complained as Sakura helped him to sit while I did the same with Naruto.

We all laughed before we take our places around the table and start eating. No one was saying a word and a nice silence was between us. When we had almost finished eating, Tazuna cleared his throat spoke.

"A few more days and the bridge will be finished. I have to thank you for that!", he said and I along with Naruto smiled.

"You have done a great job but you still have to be careful", Tsunami said as she started picking the dished.

"Let me help", I aaid as I stood up.

"Thank you Akuma", she said as she gave me the dished to wash them. Yes, I was tired and I really wanted to sleep but it was not nice for her to do all the chores. I mean, this woman opened her house to us and cooked for us as well. Knowing how hard things were in this village, sharing your limited food with strangers is not something advisable but she did it anyway. It was the last thing I could do to help her and return the favor.

"I have been meaning to ask you this but I did not have the chance until now. Why did you stay and protected me even after you found out that I lied to bring you here?", Tazuna asked and looked at Kakashi sensei.

"Those who stay away from the path of justice have no courage but under the wing of a strong leader the cowardness cannot survive", he said and both Tazuna and Tsunami were looking at him confused. "That was a quote from the first Hokage"

"But why?", Inari said as tears were rolling down his cheeks.

"What you say?", Naruto asked.

"All this stupid training is just a waste of time!", Inari shouted as he stood up and slammed his hand on the table. "Gato has a whole army, they will beat you down and they will destroy you! These cool things you all say, they do not mean anything! No matter what you do the strong always win and the weak always lose!"

"Just speak for yourself, it won't be like that for me got that!. Why won't you be quiet?!", Naruto shouted.

"Just looking at you makes me sick! You do not know anything about this country, you are just bidding in! You are always laughing and playing around, you just do not know what is feels to suffer and be treated like dirt!", Inari said and I looked at the ground.

"Listen to yourself whining and complaining like some sorry little victim! You can whimper all day for all I care! You are nothing but a coward!"

"Naruto, you went too far!", Sakura scolded him.

Naruto did not say anything; instead, he just stood and left the kitchen. I left out a sigh, placed the last clean dish down and looked at Sakura.

"You know he is right Sakura. I am not surprised you do not understand"

"What?"

"And you Inari. Yes, you are right that we do not know the country but do not think you know how we feel. Yes, the situation here is bad but so the rest of the world. However, instead of just crying and complaining about it just like some weak crying baby, we do something. We train and we fight for what we believe and for what we want. You say that watching Naruto makes you sick. Well, I am sick when I see you. You use your sad past as an excuse of your cowardness. If you really cared about what would happen, you would do something to change it, instead of sitting here and wit for some sort of miracle because miracles do not exist!", I said and left to find Naruto.

Kakashi's POV:

After Akuma finished her small speech, I could not help but leave out a sigh and look at the ground. She and Naruto's words were words that came from experiences and they were right. I looked at my team who seemed to be shocked but at the same time skeptical about it. Inari, did not say anything, instead, he also stood up and left. I left out another sigh as I also stood up.

"Kakashi sensei where are you going?", Sakura asked me.

"I am going to talk to Inari", I Said as I started searching for him.

Finally, I found him sitting at the shore, looking at the water with sad eyes.

"Can I talk to you?", Kakashi asked as he sat next to him. "Naruto and Akuma can be a little harsh from time to time but they do not hate you. Your grandfather told us what happened to your father. You probably do not know this but Naruto and Akuma also grew up without a father, in fact, none of them knew either of our parents. As for Naruto, he did not have a single friend in our village except Akuma and she did not have any friends except Naruto. Still, I had never seen both of them cry, sulk or give up. Naruto always is eager to jump in and Akuma is ready to do everything in order to protect the ones she cares. Naruto wants to be respected and Akuma wants to be accepted. That is their dream and they will put their life on the line for that. My guess is, they got tired of crying and decided to do something about that. Even though they are young and still learning, they know what it means to be strong like your father did. I think they know better, than any of us, what you are going through. What they both told you, they probably told themselves a thousand times" I finished and stood up. I looked at him one more time before I walk back inside the house.

Akuma's POV:

Morning came sooner than I expected and we had to escort Tazuna back at the bridge. Naruto would stay behind to sleep as he had exhausted himself yesterday.

"Okay, I will leave Naruto to you", Kakashi sensei said to Tsunami. "He pushed his body to the limits, overdoing it as usual, so he might not be able to move at all"

"What about you? You are still recovering yourself", Tsunami told him.

"Why? Do I look wobbly? I will be okay"

"Come on, let's go", Tazuna said as the five of us took the way for the bridge.

I left out a sigh, feeling guilty that I had left Naru behind. However, I did not had any other choice since he could die if he pushed himself even more. I looked at the clear blue sky and thought of the village. It was nice here. The sea breeze in the morning, the birds that were singing and the forest next to the house were all just perfect. It was not that I hated the village, no I could never do or feel that no matter how hard the villagers where.

It just, that all this time it was nice. Training with the team, eating as a big family. No villagers to call Naru and me names, no need to be, eat and train alone, no need to feel lonely and without a family anymore. The team was our family but in the village, we had our own lives while here. Wanting it or not, we had to stick together and be together.

Is it bad that I did not want this to end? I knew that eventually, we would face Zabuza again and if we manage to defeat him, the bridge will finally be completed and we would return to the village.

"What's going on? What happened?", Tazuna's worried voice snapped me from my thoughts.

I noticed that we had finally arrived at the bridge but the sight in front of us, was terrifying. All the builder and workers were lying on the ground, all seriously wounded but thank Kami alive. I was ready to run and help them but I stopped as mist appeared from nowhere. I quickly grabbed my fans and stood in position.

"Sasuke! Sakura! Akuma! they are coming", sensei warned us and I quickly stood in front Tazuna.

"Say Kakashi sensei, This is his… hidden mist jutsu right?", Sakura asked.

However, sensei did not answer. Instead, he continued looking in front of us as a voice echoed through the mist.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting for Kakashi… I see you have those brats with you as always. He is still trembling. Poor thing"

I quickly turned my head and looked at Sasuke, who was indeed trembling. However, he did not seem to be frightened the opposite actually. A gasp escaped my lips as clones of Zabuza suddenly surrounded us.

"I am trembling… with excitement", Sasuke said and I smirked.

"Go Sasuke!", Kakashi sensei said and in a flash, Sasuke sliced in half all the clones.

"Oh those brat have gotten a little better", Zabuza said as he stepped out of the mist, a young boy next to him.

I immediately recognized that boy as the hunter we had met at the very first day. I knew it that he was not a real hunter, I thought and mentally smiled as my suspicions and doubts were correct.

"Well well, it seems my prediction was right on the money. However you look at him, he must be a comrade of Zabuza", sensei said.

"With this bad acting… I hate brats who think they are cool", Sasuke said.

"Sasuke, you are so cool", Sakura started to fan girl once again and caused me to roll my eyes.

Suddenly, the masked boy charged and threw some senbone needles that Sasuke quickly deflected with his kunai. The two started to attack and deliver blows to each other.

"Sakura, Akuma, surround Tazuna and do not let him alone. Sasuke can handle this on his own", sensei said and we both did as we told.

The fight between Sasuke and the masked boy continued, both of them moving at an incredible speed that my eyes could hardly match. Suddenly, the masked boy blocked Sasuke's attack with his one hand and with the other, started to do hand signs.

My eyes widen and I noticed that so and the rest of them. Doing jutsus with only one hand was actually and considered impossible. However, that kid seemed to doing it without a problem.

"A thousand needles of death", the masked boy said and the water around us started to float into the air.

Then, it froze and almost every drop took the shape of a needle. Sasuke however smirked and when the needles were sent at him, he jumped high in the air. The masked boy did the same but gasped when Sasuke appeared behind him.

"You know you are quit stupid, from here on… you will only deflect my attack!", Sasuke said as the two boys landed on the bridge.

Sasuke attacked with his kunai but the masked boy's needles blocked it. Then, he used his free hand to throw another kunai, which caused him to duck in order to avoid it. Sasuke only smirked as he grabbed the chance and kicked the masked boy at the head, sending him flying back at Zabuza.

"It seems that I am faster than you", Sasuke said, the smirk never leaving his face.

"I can't have you mocking my team and calling them brats… he may not look like it but Sasuke is the number one rookie of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Sakura is the sharpest and Akuma is the most loyal. Last but not least, our number one knuckleheaded ninja Naruto Uzumaki", Kakashi sensei said and you could hear how proud he was in his voice.

However, Zabuza started to chuckle and my eyes widen as the masked boy had finished doing hand signs. The water around Sasuke started to take the form of endless mirrors and the masked boy entered one of them.

"Damn it", Sensei said as both he and I run to help Sasuke.

"I am your opponent, aren't I? Since that jutsu has appeared, he is done for"Zabuza said as he stood in front of him, blocking his way.

"Not as long as I am here", I said as I infused chakra on my feet and jumped, only to use Zabuza's head to eject myself towards Sasuke.

"What the…", I heard Zabuza say as I entered the dome of mirrors the last second. I landed on my feet, fans ready.

"Akuma? What are you doing here baka?", Sasuke asked me, shocked but at the same time angry.

"I came to help. No matter how strong you are, you stand no chance here if you are all alone", I said and a small smile appeared on his face.

"How touching, however since you entered. There is no escape", the masked boy said as he suddenly appeared on all the mirrors.