Naruto: Sage of Konoha
Chapter 9
Demon of the Hidden Mist
"Surround and protect Tazuna-san," said Kakashi, grabbing the bottom of his forehead protector. "And if I tell you to run, you do it. Understand?"
"Yes Sensei," the Genin said simultaneously, pulling out weapons and surrounding the bridge builder, with Sasuke facing Kakashi and Naruto and Sakura behind them. Sasuke tried to get a good look at Kakashi's face, but was at a bad vantage point.
When Kakashi pulled up his forehead protector, he turned to look at Sasuke. The last Uchiha's heart leapt into his throat when he saw it. A red eye with three spinning tomoe around the pupil.
Kakashi turned back to look at Zabuza.
"You know Tazuna," said the Copy Ninja, pulling out a kunai and twirling it in his hand. "You're going to owe me quite a bit after this is over. This just became an A-ranked mission."
Tazuna gulped and nodded.
"So," said Zabuza. "I already get to see the famous Sharingan. It truly is an honor."
"What is a Sharingan, exactly?" asked Sakura, looking at Naruto.
"My Pa taught me about it a long time ago when we were talking about Konoha clans," said Naruto. "It's the Uchiha bloodline technique, or kekkei genkai. It can read and defeat any taijutsu, genjutsu and ninjutsu. It's can even copy techniques by memorizing chakra flow and hand signs. Its freaking scary, but really powerful."
"You have smart kids Kakashi," said Zabuza. "Too bad they'll have to die here with you."
"You'll have to kill me first," said Kakashi.
"That won't be easy," laughed the Kiri ninja. "When I was an assassin for Kirigakure my Bingo book had a section on you. The man who has copied over one thousand ninjutsu… Hatake Kakashi."
"Wow," said Naruto with a snarky tone. "You da man Kakashi-sensei."
"How?" Sasuke asked himself. "The Sharingan only comes to the most elite in the Uchiha clan. How can someone who isn't even an Uchiha have one?"
"Enough talk," said Zabuza, swinging his sword over his head. "The old man is mine!"
Zabuza leapt off of the tree and into the lake near the road.
"What is he doing?" Kakashi whispered to himself.
Zabuza slowly came out of the water until he was standing atop it.
"He's standing on the water!" gasped Sakura.
"So?" asked Naruto. He didn't understand why that exercise was so damn hard for everyone else.
Zabuza made a one hand sign in front of his face and stuck his left hand into the air.
"He's unleashing a lot of chakra," said Kakashi quietly. Zabuza looked Kakashi in the eye.
"Kirigakure no Jutsu," he whispered. A massive body of mist covered Zabuza, concealing him from view. When it cleared, he was gone.
"He's going to come for me first," Kakashi told his team. "He's an expert in silent killing."
"So we might not even notice when we die," said Sasuke, backing towards Tazuna. "Insane."
"I can't use the Sharingan perfectly," said Kakashi. "So be very caref—"
He looked around quickly and noticed that the mist was encroaching on them quickly, and only thickening faster with every passing second.
"Shit!" hissed Naruto, his hands ready to sign at any given moment.
"Liver, lungs, spine, clavicle vein," whispered Zabuza's voice from the mist. "Jugular, brain, kidneys, heart. Which one should I go after?"
Everyone cringed as they felt his killing intent coming down on them from every angle. It was one of the most intense pressures they'd ever felt. All three Genin began to sweat and shake with fear.
"Don't worry guys," whispered Kakashi. "I'll protect you even if it kills me. I don't let my comrades die."
He turned around and smiled, but gasped when Zabuza appeared in between Sasuke and Tazuna.
"We'll see about that!" roared Zabuza, swinging out his sword. Kakashi shoved Sasuke out of the way and stabbed Zabuza in the gut, but Zabuza's body dissipated into water. A second Zabuza appeared behind him and slashed Kakashi in half, but Kakashi turned into water as well.
"He copied it in this mist?" growled Zabuza.
"I see you like clones," croaked Naruto, swinging his sword at Zabuza. Zabuza dodged and sliced Naruto in half, but Naruto became a mere puff of smoke. "I do too!"
Two more Naruto's appeared from the mist throwing fuuma shurikens. Zabuza dodged the weapons and appeared before the blondes, carving into them quickly, but they turned out to be clones as well. When he spun around he dodged a flurry of kunai and Shuriken thrown by Sasuke. Zabuza looked around and didn't see Tazuna or Sakura anywhere.
Naruto and Sasuke jumped in behind him with weapons in hand, but the missing-nin shoved his sword into the ground, using it to lift himself and kick both Genin in the faces. They cried out in pain as they tumbled into the dirt.
Sasuke regained himself first and ran through hand signs.
"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!"
Sasuke spit four small fireballs at Zabuza, who danced around them. He hissed when he realized the fireballs were beginning to follow him so he responded by swatting them away with his sword and dispelling them with swift slashes and cuts.
He turned on the Genin to see two Narutos charging at him and smiled under his bandages when they came at him with their swords. He humored them by moving around their sword slashes and blocking a few of the more lucky strikes before just slicing them both in half, revealing nothing but clones. He was about to attack the Genin when Kakashi appeared behind him with a kunai.
"Don't move," said Kakashi, pressing a kunai to Zabuza's throat. "It's over."
"Not even close," said Zabuza. "You copied my jutsu before we even started fighting. When you spoke to your students it was already a clone and the real one was in the trees waiting. I'm not stupid Kakashi."
Kakashi's eyes widened as Zabuza appeared behind him, the one he was holding turning into water.
"Not by a long shot!" shouted the Demon of the Mist, swinging his sword. Kakashi just barely managed to duck under it. Zabuza swung his body around and kicked Kakashi, sending him tumbling into the lake. Zabuza tried to approach but spotted nails all over the ground. A single step and his feet would be impaled and he wouldn't be able to walk anymore.
"Damn you Kakashi," he said, leaping over them and running towards the lake. When Kakashi emerged he was struggling to swim.
"The water is heavy," he gasped through his soaked mask.
"Suirō no Jutsu!" shouted Zabuza as the water came up and trapped Kakashi in a ball. Water prison technique. Zabuza kept one hand inside the water prison to keep it going. "This prison is denser than steel despite being made of water. You aren't getting out. Now to finish the brats."
He performed water clone jutsu with a single hand seal. Unfortunately he had to make this one weaker than usual so he would have enough chakra to keep the water prison up long enough to drown Kakashi.
"Sensei!" shouted Naruto. The water clone appeared in front of him and kicked him so hard his forhead protector flew off and Gamakichi came out of his robes. The little toad scrambled into the bushes and hid.
Kakashi wanted to tell them to run. He wanted to, but he couldn't or he would drown.
"You don't deserve this thing," said the Zabuza clone, stepping on the forehead protector. "You can play ninja all you want, but until you appear in my bingo book, you aren't worth shit!"
Naruto struggled to his feet and spit some blood onto his hand. The Zabuza ran forward, ready to cleave Naruto in half.
"I'm gonna be a sage someday," said Naruto, running through hand seals. "And I won't let you stop me!"
He slammed his palm into the ground and a toad appeared in front of him, blocking the sword strike with its own katanas. It was Haashin of the Tatakai no Hikigaeru.
"I'm your opponent," said the Toad, leaping forward and striking at the Zabuza clone. The clone had to move as fast as it could to block the rapid strikes of the toad.
"You're done here!" shouted Naruto. The toad nodded and poofed into smoke. Naruto sprung up from the smoke, goggles on and hand sign ready. "Now Sasuke!"
Sasuke appeared behind the clone as the Genin spat out their oil and fire, meeting above the clone and exploding in a massive fireball.
The clone landed near the lake, having narrowly avoided destruction and saw Naruto grab his forehead protector.
"Hey you eyebrowless freak show," said Naruto, tying on the forehead protector and gazing at Zabuza from beneath his goggles. "I'll be in that book soon enough. Look for my name in a few years. Naruto Uzumaki, Toad Sage of Konohagakure no Sato! Let's get wild!"
Naruto summoned five clones who came at Zabuza with wind chakra enhanced swords.
"Shit!" said the water clone. "How strong are these fucking kids?"
He suddenly found himself on the run, avoiding any and all sword slashes from the clones, which was hard considering the clone was made with the intent of conserving chakra therefore could not use any water jutsus, and could not block or his sword would be sliced in half, thus dispelling the clone, leaving the real Zabuza vulnerable to attack.
The clone narrowly avoided another barrage of fireballs from Sasuke and continued do dance around the clones. He finally found an opening and began carving them down one by one.
When he'd finished the last one, he felt someone grab his legs. He looked down to see a pair of hands gripping them and looked up to see Sasuke performing some hand seals. Just as Sasuke's Great Fireball Jutsu left his mouth, Zabuza slashed his sword into the ground, killing the Naruto clone holding him and allowing him to jump over the ball of flames speeding towards him.
Suddenly an army of Naruto's with swords unsheathed burst out of the trees, charging at Zabuza. The real Naruto grabbed Sasuke and pulled him into the forest.
"Got any good plans this time?" asked Naruto as he watched his clones get slaughtered by Zabuza's vicious sword strikes.
"I'll find Sakura and Tazuna to confirm that they are safe," said Sasuke. "You and your clones try and do something about Zabuza and I'll come up with a way to free Kakashi."
Naruto made four more clones.
"Got it covered," said Naruto with a smirk.
The Zabuza was making short work of these Naruto clones. He was shocked at how many there were though. Shadow clones took a lot more chakra than any elemental clone.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw two clones running past him, protectively guarding another who was holding a fuuma shuriken.
"The real one!" he hissed. Zabuza made his move and tore into the two clones protecting the real Naruto, who gasped and threw his fuuma shuriken at the real Zabuza, who ducked under it. The Zabuza clone sliced into Naruto, only for him to see that it was a clone.
Sasuke and a Naruto clone ran through the trees, looking for their team mate.
"Down here," said Gamakichi, hopping up next to them and moving at their pace. "I found 'em."
They followed the toad to Sakura's location.
"Good, you guys are okay," said Naruto.
"This is a super amazing battle," said Tazuna quietly, crouching next to them.
"We've already got a plan going to save Kakashi-sensei," said Naruto. "I have another plan to finish his clone, but it's gonna take all four of us."
"What do you need?" asked Sakura.
"Here, take these sealing scrolls and explosive tags I made," said Naruto. "Sasuke made this plan."
"Here's what we're going to do," said Sasuke.
Behind Zabuza, the fuuma shuriken suddenly turned into another Naruto clone, who threw four shuriken at Zabuza. Zabuza turned and saw it almost too late and had to release his jutsu, and in turn Kakashi.
Kakashi lunged at Zabuza and the Demon of the Mist had to block his kunai with his sword, locking in a struggle of power.
"I love my students," grunted Kakashi. The two of them went full on, slashing, blocking dodging as they engaged in close combat. Kakashi had the advantage of speed, but Zabuza had power, and each sword slash was disrupting the water and kept Kakashi mostly on the run.
With the Naruto clones, fifteen of them were left and they had the Zabuza clone surrounded.
"Fūton: Kazekiri no Jutsu!" they shouted in unison, carving the area the clone was in to bits. The Zabuza clone leapt high into the air and came down at the Naruto clones. Two of them jumped above him and struck him with his Godly Wind from the Mountains jutsu, the vortex of wind nearly hitting the clone as it used its sword to protect itself. It pushed through the vortex and broke it, slashing through both clones like they were nothing. When the clone landed it was panting.
"This kid is more trouble than he's worth."
The remaining Naruto clones dispelled, creating a massive cloud of smoke. When it cleared, the real Naruto was standing off with the Zabuza clone, his goggles helping hide the expression of fear on his face. A moment later he was joined by Sasuke and Sakura.
"Tazuna is safe," said Sakura with an edge of fear in her voice.
"Did you use those seals I gave you?" asked Naruto. Sakura nodded.
Zabuza jumped forward and prepared to carve them all down. Suddenly all three of them made a dog hand sign and shouted out. Six kunai with ninja wire launched from sealing scrolls attached to the trees and cut the clone off, a wire fence covered in explosive tags acting as a barrier in between him and them. He tried to turn around but they made the boar hand sign and even more kunai, wire and tags came out of the trees and boxed him in. He looked up and kunai flew in from the trees, parallel to each other horizontally. He was caged in.
"Damn," said the clone. "I don't have enough chakra left for a Kawirimi. I didn't expect a bunch of fucking greenhorns to require that much effort do defeat. I'm fucked."
"Konoha's Team Seven Secret Technique!" said Naruto dramatically. "Burning Cage ofSeals!"
They made the snake hand seal and their explosive seals began to explode, one after the other, a massive inferno towering over the lake. The clone did not escape.
Kakashi and Zabuza stopped fighting momentarily to stare at the massive explosion. Zabuza knew his clone was dead and turned to glare at Kakashi.
"I guess you should start giving a shit," said Kakashi, just as the Genin burst onto the shore, avoiding the flames. Zabuza growled and the two of them leapt away from each other and began running through a total of forty-four hand signs: Ox, Monkey, Hare, Rat, Boar, Bird, Ox, Horse, Bird, Rat, Tiger, Dog, Tiger, Snake, Ox, Ram, Snake, Boar, Ram, Rat, Yang Water, Monkey, Bird, Dragon, Bird, Ox, Horse, Ram, Tiger, Snake, Rat, Monkey, Hare, Boar, Dragon, Ram, Rat, Ox, Monkey, Bird, Yang Water, Rat, Boar, Bird.
"Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!"
Two massive dragons made of water shot up from behind their users and roared, colliding in the middle of the lake. The splash of water was so great, it flooded the clearing momentarily and put out most of the fire from the explosion. The two opponents got their bearings and stood across from eachother.
"I can't believe how well he's—"
"Reading your movements?" Kakashi interrupted Zabuza's thoughts.
"Is he—"
"Reading your mind?"
"All you're doing is copying me!" they shouted in unison. "I'll make it so you never open your mouth again!"
Zabuza started running through hand signs but stopped cold when he saw a vision of himself behind Kakashi.
"A genjutsu?"
"Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!"
Suddenly, a massive vortex of water erupted in front of Kakashi, sweeping over Zabuza and tearing him off of his feet, along with several trees along the shore. Zabuza impacted on a large tree near the shore, breaking many of his bones. The missing-nin slid to the ground, shaking and gasping for breath. Kakashi appeared on a tree above him with a kunai in hand.
"How?" pleaded Zabuza, looking up at the man who had defeated him. "Can you see the future?"
"Yeah," said Kakshi. "You're going to die."
Before Kakashi could act, two senbon needles suddenly found themselves embedded in Zabuza's neck. Kakashi and his team looked at the thrower with shock as a very young ninja with his hair in a bun, a white mask and a turtle neck sweater revealed himself.
"Yes," said the ninja in an effeminate voice. "He is dead."
Naruto looked behind him to see Tazuna approaching.
"Thanks for slapping those tags on the trees Tazuna-san," he said, turning back to look at the new arrival.
"No problem," said Tazuna, obviously sober at this point.
"Who are you?" asked Kakashi. "Your mask tells me that you are a Kiri hunter-nin."
"Very perceptive Kakashi-senpai," said the hunter-nin. Kakashi darted to Zabuza's corpse and checked for a pulse.
"He's dead," he said to his team and Tazuna.
"I've been after Zabuza for a very long time," said the hunter-nin.
"You can't be older than we are," said Naruto, crossing his arms. "But you're skill is amazing! How could a kid like you sneak up on Zabuza?"
"Listen to me Naruto," said Kakashi, looking at his student with his Sharingan eye. "There are kids way younger than you in this world… who are even stronger than me."
Naruto nodded, scowling at the thought. Was he really so low on the food chain?
The hunter-nin came down from the tree and picked up Zabuza's corpse.
"I must dispose of this body," he said. "As it holds many secrets. Thank you, and goodbye."
With that, he vanished in a swirl of mist.
Kakashi lowered his forehead protector back over his eye and looked at all of them.
"Let's get Tazuna-san home," he said with a smile. Everyone took a few steps forward, but then stopped cold when Kakashi collapsed to the ground.
"Are you okay sensei?" Sakura squealed, pulling out a first aid kid.
"I used the sharingan for too long," he groaned. Everyone sighed and Naruto made a few clones to carry their sensei into town.
"You guys did great," said Kakashi, who was tucked into bed in one of Tazuna's guest rooms. "I'm very proud of you."
"How long are you going to be in bed Sensei?" asked Naruto.
"Probably a week," said Kakashi. "I've got pretty bad chakra exhaustion. A lesson learned well before you have to experience it. When your body runs completely out of chakra, you'll die so if you have the option to, retreat when low on chakra."
"Got it," said Sakura, nodding at her sensei's wise words.
"Good," said Kakashi. "Since we're here, I need you guys to do different jobs. Naruto or Sasuke should go into town and see what Gato has been up to. Sakura, I need you at the house to keep an eye on things for me."
The Genin nodded at their tasks and went on their way.
With Kakashi safely tucked into bed with chakra exhaustion, the Genin took different assignments. Sasuke opted to go to work with Tazuna to keep guard there, Sakura was put in charge of caring for Kakashi until he woke up and Naruto's job was to find any information on Gato he could.
Naruto's decided to go incognito on his first visit into town, so he put his forehead protector in his backpack and put his goggles on his forehead. He went to the bathroom before he left and saw that he was a mess from the fight with Zabuza. He had no injuries, but apparently his face had been bleeding in several places and his face was covered in soot from that explosion, so he took a shower before leaving.
Naruto said goodbye to Sakura and the resting Kakashi, as well as Tazuna's daughter Tsunami. She was a sweet older lady, almost thirty, but still retaining her youthful good looks. He had to remember to do a bit of research on her while she was in the shower later.
Gamakichi was outside waiting for him, sleeping on the porch. He told Gamakichi to stay with Sakura while he went out because it would be too easy to identify him as a ninja if he were to walk around with a summoned creature.
Things were awful. People everywhere were on the street, huddled together for warmth. Many were begging for food and he had to avoid some of them to remain inconspicuous. He was fairly hungry as he hadn't eaten since before they'd fought Zabuza.
He sighed and decided to find a place to hide and eat the bento Ma had made him. He'd been saving it because it looked so damned good, but the shops didn't have anything to sell to him besides some vegetables and fish. Even fish was being monopolized by Gato.
"Little piece of shit," he grumbled, heading to the beach where he was sure no one would see him. He bought a map of the village from a nearby vendor and took a look. He found a small beach on the map and decided that would be a good spot for lunch. He ran over there and looked around to make sure no one was watching.
Naruto crouched down and pulled his backpack off, pulling out his bento box and opening it, revealing the goodies hidden within. He was about to dig in when he heard a whimper behind him. He turned his head slowly and saw a girl his age with a little boy about half his age.
The girl was very pretty. She had bright green eyes and sandy brown hair, tan skin, her shirt a bit skewed by the boy tugging on it showing distinct tan lines. She seemed to be developing well for someone her age. She wasn't quite malnourished yet, and it showed. Naruto dropped the omelet held in between his chopsticks and stared at her.
"Um," she said quietly. "We haven't had anything to eat since yesterday morning. Someone stole from our mom's vegetable garden… is there anything you could share?"
Naruto couldn't help but stare at her more. He slowly handed her the bento box, unable to take his eyes off of her. She blushed and took it, shying away from him a bit.
Naruto sighed and reached into his bag for a sealing scroll. He unfurled it and summoned its contents. Another bento box. It wasn't the one Ma had made, but it had a few sandwiches in it, so it would have to do. He unfurled another one and a few bottles of soda pop poofed out into existence as well, which he handed one to each of them, opening one for himself.
"That's all you're getting from me," he croaked, digging in to his sandwich. "This is my last one, eat it quick."
They nodded and sat with him, quickly sharing the contents. The girl let her little brother eat a bit more.
"How did you do that?" the girl asked. Naruto looked over at her and tilted his head in confusion. "I mean making the food appear on the paper."
"Oh," he said. "It's just sealing. My dad taught me. It's a ninja art. Not really appreciated anymore."
She nodded and continued eating.
"So you're a ninja?" she asked. Naruto scratched his head and looked for the best answer he could.
"Yeah," he said. "But don't tell anyone I'm here. I'm supposed to be undercover…"
"What for?" asked her little brother. He looked to be about five or six. Naruto scooted up to them and whispered.
"Do you guys know where Gato is?"
The girl and her brother looked at each other and nodded slowly.
"Where is he?" he asked, taking out his map of Wave. "Can you point out his office or something for me?"
The girl nodded and pointed to a building on the map.
"What are you going to do when you get there?" she asked.
"If I can get any of his files I can really disrupt his business here," said Naruto. "But if I can kill Gato myself, then everything will be good and done and over with."
"Kill him?" the girl asked incredulously. "Why would you want to kill anyone?"
Naruto stared at her for a long time before speaking up again.
"What's your name?" he asked.
"Nami," she said. "We live right next to the beach and my mom named me after the waves."
"I'm Naruto," he said. "And I'm from Konhagakure no Sato. I was hired to save this country from Gato. So I have a job to do."
"But you're just a kid," she said, standing up while her brother kept eating, unaware of the conversation that was quickly heating up. "You can't just go around killing people!"
"I don't!" he croaked, standing up and glaring at her. "I've never killed anyone before! I know Gato, and he's an evil person. If I don't kill him, he'll just buy his way out of jail!"
"Do what you want," she said, crossing her arms and turning away from him. "If you just kill people without a second thought, you'll be no better than that Gato."
"Oh screw you," croaked Naruto, grabbing his backpack and stomping off. "If he survives, you'll just go hungry again!"
Nami stared after him and huffed.
Sasuke and Tazuna were overseeing the building of the bridge. Tazuna was helping with the actual building, while Sasuke was training. He was shadowboxing with an invisible opponent and looked to be winning. Tazuna rolled his eyes and approached the Genin.
"Hey kid," said Tazuna. "Why don't you stop that for a minute and help me with this stuff?"
"I can't," said Sasuke. "I need to get stronger. Naruto did more against Zabuza than I could and I can't let that go."
"Listen kid," said Tazuna. "That Naruto brat is good, and its okay to want to beat him. Nothing wrong with a friendly rivalry. But if you dedicate yourself to nothing but getting stronger, you'll end up letting your work slip. You'll get sloppy!"
Sasuke stopped what he was doing and looked up at Tazuna.
"So what do you expect me to do?" he demanded.
"Do some work," said Tazuna with a friendly grin. "Nothing will get you stronger than some backbreaking labor."
Sasuke thought about it for a moment. It could help with his physical strength to just help around the bridge. He was probably stronger than any of the men there, so if he worked hard and fast, it could count as some training. He nodded and picked up a huge pile of lumber.
"Where does this go?" he asked. Tazuna laughed and pounded him on the back.
"That's the spirit!" he shouted. "Let's get going!"
They worked for a long while, Sasuke helping to hand stuff down to the workers building the base of the bridge as well as mixing and laying concrete. Eventually Sasuke and Tazuna took a lunch break and ate some sandwiches while sitting on the bridge with their legs hanging off of the end, looking down at the ocean below.
"So how come you're risking your life to build this bridge?" asked Sasuke. "Wouldn't it be easier to just cut your losses and move out of the country?"
"That's not the right way of thinking," said Tazuna. "I'm risking my life for this place because I love it. It means a lot to me, and my family. I should tell you about my son in law. He was a good man, and he had very strong principles. My grandson Inari looked up to the man despite not being his real father."
"What happened to him?" asked Sasuke.
"Gato happened."
Sakura spent the day with Tsunami, helping her with household chores and with feeding Kakashi since he still couldn't move. For the moment the women were hanging up laundry while her son Inari ran around with some toys. The boy was a bit mopey, but having his grandfather back seemed to help his mood.
"Sakura-chan?" said Tsunami. "Could you go inside and check on dinner?"
"Yes Tsunami-san!" said Sakura cheerily. In her mind she was thinking about how boring her ninja career was. She was stuck babysitting Kakashi while the boys were out and about. It wasn't fair. She had barely done anything during the fight with those assassins, but at least she had helped with Zabuza, even if just a little.
"Hey Sensei?" she said to Kakashi when she went into his room later.
"Yes Sakura?" said Kakashi, staring at the ceiling.
"I know I'm not as talented as Sasuke-kun," she said a bit dreamily, then snapped out of it. "Or Naruto-moron, but is there a way you can teach me to become a medical ninja?"
Kakashi continued to stare at the ceiling before speaking again.
"No I can't," he said. She looked down at the floor. "But Tsunade-sama's apprentice Shizune has a medical ninja program back in the village. I'd be happy to sign you up for it."
Sakura looked up brightly and thanked her sensei repeatedly.
"It's no problem," said Kakashi. "You're my student. It's my job to look after your interests."
Sakura smiled happily and went back to doing chores with Tsunami.
"She certainly has grown," thought Kakashi. "She's finally gotten around to realizing her responsibility as a member of the team. Good for her."
Kakashi continued to stare at the ceiling.
"My butt itches. I wonder what that Hunter-nin did with the body... Aren't they supposed to... Oh... shit."
"Sakura!" he shouted. "I need you to go find Naruto and Sasuke right now!"
When Naruto made it to the building he'd been directed to by Nami, he recognized it as the right place due to the big Gato Industries sign on the front wall. It was honestly the nicest looking building he'd seen in Wave with its red brick outside and what seemed to be gilded doors.
"How rich is this asshole?" muttered Naruto. He looked around and saw an alley leading to the back of the building. He was about to go around and look for an alternate entrance when someone grabbed his robe. A Kunai shot out from his sleeve and he spun on the person, pointing it at their neck.
"Nami?" he said when he saw it was the sandy haired girl from before. She had a terrified look on her face when he removed the kunai. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"
"Sorry," she said, rubbing her neck and glaring at him. "I forgot, you were a ninja."
"Announce it to the whole world why don't you," he said. She was alone this time, no little boy following her. Naruto shook his head and was about to go on his way.
"Stop!" she said. "That place is full of thugs and ninjas!"
Naruto stopped and looked at her.
"Is it?" he asked. "That's actually all I was going in there for. Maybe a few documents."
"To fight?" she hissed. "Are you stupid?"
"No!" he hissed back. "To see what we're up against! I'm not the only ninja here you know!"
She looked around.
"None of them are going to come up and assassinate me are they?" she asked sarcastically.
"Funny," he said. "No, I was put in charge of intelligence gathering. My squad leader is incapacitated because we fought an elite missing ninja on our way here and my team is guarding the bridge while its being built."
"You're here to protect the bridge?" she asked him, not glaring anymore.
"Yeah," he said. "That's our job. But Gato is trying to keep it from happening so it's my job to make sure he stays out of the way. I've dealt with that bastard before."
"What happened last time?" she asked slowly.
"I cut off his hand!" Naruto lied, grinning proudly. His dad could let him have credit for that one.
"That was you?" she exclaimed. "How insane are you?"
"Insane enough to be a shinobi," he said, laughing heartily. "Now if you'll excuse me I have to—"
He turned around and prepared to walk into the alley but bumped right into a tall man. Naruto looked up to see he was a man in his early twenties wearing a Kiri headband.
"Well shit," said Naruto. "I didn't expect to see you here."
"Do I know you?" asked the ninja slowly.
"No," said Naruto. "How much did you hear?"
"Nothing," said the ninja narrowing his eyes. "Is there something I should know?"
"Yeah," said Naruto, gesturing the ninja to come closer. The ninja leaned in to hear what Naruto had to say. "There's a squad of Konoha ninja in town. They killed Zabuza and are coming for Gato!"
The Kiri ninja's eyes widened.
"Oh shit!" the ninja hissed. "He's dead?"
"Yeah," said Naruto. "Tazuna has been bragging about it all day."
"That old fuck," said the Ninja. "I'll just kill him now and get that money for myself!"
"One more thing," said Naruto.
"What kid?"
"Greetings from the Leaf motherfucker," Naruto said, shoving the hidden kunai into the kiri ninja's throat and dragging him into the alley.
"What the fuck?" Nami shrieked.
"Shut up!" said Naruto, shoving the body into a dumpster and leaning over, breathing deeply. His first kill. It didn't feel as good as he'd hoped. It felt… dirty. Naruto stood up straight and took a shaky breath, his eyes shut as tightly as he could get them.
"That's not going to get any easier," he mumbled, doing a Henge and transforming into the dead ninja. He looked at Nami who was staring at him in fear. "Go home."
She shook her head.
"I know you didn't like doing that," she said tearily. "That couldn't have been easy. Why do you want to be a ninja if you don't like killing?"
"Because," Naruto said, changing back for a moment and crouching down, looking at the floor. "If I don't kill people like him, then more people like you are gonna die for no reason. I have to protect the people who can't protect themselves. I'm going to be a sage someday and it's a Sage's job to protect the world from people who kill for fun or kill for money. I do it because someone has to. That's what my Dad taught me."
"Who is your dad?" she asked quietly.
"Jiraiya of the Sannin," said Naruto with an edge of determination. "The Toad Sage."
Naruto is planning on breaking into Gato's base of operations! Will Nami stop him? Who was the Hunter-nin? Is this the end of Zabuza? Only time will tell!
Stupid site maintenance wouldn't let me upload for the longest time. Hope you liked this chapter.