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I DON'T OWN NARUTO, IT BELONGS TO MASASHI KISHIMOTO

"Kyubi talking"

'Kyubi thinking'

"Normal speech"

'Characters thinking'

Sorry for any mistakes.

Now with the story

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"A NINJA'S LIFE"

Chapter 11

'How?' Sasuke asked himself incredulous, looking at the sharingan Kakashi's left eye was housing. 'Only the members of the Uchiha clan are supposed to posses that technique. How did he come with it? How is it possible?' The Uchiha felt outraged, but luckily his common sense told him that this was not the time to ask questions. He'll wait for the answers.

Kakashi was staring at Zabuza's figure standing a few feet ahead of him, but he was discretely observing Sasuke's reactions on his sharingan. Luckily the boy didn't ask anything, but he was not going to escape from the questions later on. The missing ninja started to move. Kakashi shifted his eyes towards him.

"This will be fun. I wonder who I am going to kill first." said the shirtless ninja. Zabuza jumped backwards, so he was standing over a small river, standing over the water.

"Cool." Noted the blond. "Hey sensei, when are you going to teach us to walk on the water?"

"Naruto, this is not the moment for asking that." Warned Kakashi.

"It seems you haven't thought your students to be serious in a battle. Let me give them a lesson." Commented Zabuza, positioned his arms in a technique style.

"Kirigakure no Jutsu*" he said. The water underneath him started to rise around him. Mist started to form out of nowhere. Kakashi alarmed. The kids formed a circle around the terrified bridge builder, with their kunai ready.

"Listen kids. This man is way beyond the abilities of the chuunin that we defeated earlier. His specialization is the silent killing. He'll come out of nowhere and kill you, and you'll be dead before you realized what happened." Warned the jounin. "Be ready for any attack."

The kids tensed up. Sakura was shaking but maintain her stance. The mist was getting so thick that you could hardly anything a few feet away from you. Soon, Zabuza was nowhere to be seen.

"W-Where did he go?" asked Sakura. Kakashi was slowly fading from sight too.

"Sensei?" the frightened girl asked. 'My sharingan can't see through this fog.' Noted the Konoha jounin mentally. The jounin concentrated chakra all around his body and released in one impulse, making the mist disperse.

'Now we're talking.' commented the blond mentally, focusing on perceiving the enemy's presence, but so far, he sensed nothing. 'C'mon, where is he?' the blond closed is eyes, focusing harder. 'Why can't I sense him? C'mon C'mon C'mon!'

"Watch out!" yelled Kakashi towards his team.

The blond opened his eyes in shock. He heard Sakura screaming. He didn't need to turn his head to know that Zabuza was behind him. Not only that. The mist assassin was right between the circle the kids had made around their client. It was amazing that he had gotten so close and he couldn't sense him at all. But what caught Naruto's attention, was that he had felt a presence of someone over a tree, not too far from where they were. Watching. 'But who?'

Naruto had to stop wondering about the other presence to watch how Zabuza was stabbed by his sensei that had come to their aid. The blond turned to see that the "Zabuza" Kakashi had stabbed was a water clone. The whiskered boy reacted, along with his teammates. Sakura and Sasuke leapt backwards, away from the assassin. The blond caught the old man's arm and carried him away quickly.

"He got so close." Sasuke said, trying to dissimulate his disorientation. The Uchiha never thought he'd be caught off guard.

The kids watched as their sensei fought against the assassin. Their attacks were so strong, that the kids could feel the chakra blowing.

"Protect the old fart." The blond said to his comrades, signalizing the bridge builder who looked like he was going to suffer a heart attack.

"I won't take long." He turned towards the place the mysterious person was and started running.

"Wait a moment." Sasuke yelled. "Where do you think you're going you coward?" Naruto ignored him. He turned his head towards his sensei. Kakashi leapt away from Zabuza and gave the blond a nod of approval, Naruto nodded back.

'Don't get too cocky.' thought the grey haired man, as he watched the Kyuubi container go.

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"I'm sick of doing such lame missions!" spat the tattooed boy with a dog over his head.

"I'm not planning to do more D ranked!"

"Kiba! Show some respect." Kurenai scolded. Team 8's sensei sighed. This routine had been going on since last week.

"I'm very sorry Hokage-sama." The black haired kunoichi as she bowed apologetically. She observed as the young boy grunted in discontent and crossed his arms. His two other teammates were behind him. Shino seemed impassible and Hinata as quiet as always. The Sandaime sighed. It was the same thing with Naruto yesterday.

"We've already talked about this. You are not supposed to do C ranked missions just yet." She said, her red eyes looking directly towards his.

"But-"complained the Inuzuka, but was interrupted when a chuunin entered the room.

"Hokage-sama, Kakashi-san has sent a messenger." said the chuunin bowing respectfully to the old man.

"Send him in." the Hokage said. The chuunin bowed again and left the room. Few moments later a little dog with the leaf headband on and a scroll on his mouth came through the door. Akamaru lifted his head in curiosity. Pakkun walked over to the Hokage's desk, every person in the room staring at the dog. He jumped over the table, placing the scroll in front of the third.

"Long time no see, Pakkun." greeted the Sandaime warmly.

"Same here, Sarutobi." said Pakkun, saluting him with a movement of his paw. The old Hokage unfolded the scroll and read its content. 'Chuunin level ninja attack. Under more possible ninja assaults. Will continue mission until further instructions.' Was what Sarutobi read. Hmm. 'I knew it.' Said the man to himself. He sensed that the old bridge builder wasn't telling the truth. Should he call them back? 'No.' Kakashi was one of the best shinobi in the village. He could handle almost any enemy confronts. They should be fine. He was sure the sharingan user wouldn't let anybody on his team to get hurt. Sarutobi raised is eyes from the scroll to the young kids in front of him and their female instructor. He pondered for a minute. 'Just in case…'

"Team eight." He called. The kids raised their heads immediately. "I happen to have a C ranked mission available. It consists as a reinforcement mission. What do you say Kurenai?" asked the Hokage directing to the team sensei.

"Uhm." The black haired jounin looked at her team, Kiba specially. She was sure that if she didn't agree, the Inuzuka boy was never going to stop complaining.

"Sure." She replied. Kiba produced a loud "yahoo" followed by his dog celebrating with him, barking in joy.

"What is it about?" asked Shino, not showing any expressiveness.

"You're to help team seven in wave country to-" began explained the aged man.

"Wait a minute." Kiba said abruptly, interrupting the old Hokage. "That's Uzumaki and Uchiha's team isn't it? I'm not planning to receive any orders from them." 'That's Naruto-kun's team.' thought Hinata, feeling her adrenaline raise. Sarutobi sighed once more.

"You're going to protect a bridge builder." The Hokage said. "I doubt there are orders involved. You are going to work together to fulfill this mission. Am I clear?" asked the Hokage, his tone not giving room for anymore discussions. Kiba was going to complain but he caught the sharp gaze from his sensei and desisted.

"All right." Concluded Sarutobi. "You depart tomorrow morning."

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'Someone's coming.' He thought. The unknown observant jumped from the branch he was standing to the ground, prepared to flee. Just as he was about to make a hand sign to disappear, a kunai was thrown his way and had to move rapidly to dodge it. 'They've discovered me.' He thought, although he did not worry. He'd have to face the newcomer.

"Don't move." A voice said. Within the trees emerged a blond, wearing bright orange combined with blue. He was wearing a Konoha hitai ate. The boy halted a few feet away from him.

"Who the hell are you?" Naruto demanded fiercely. The stranger stood calmly facing the blond. He had long, dark hair and some kind of dress on. He was wearing a mask, resembling the ones ANBU wore and had a kirigakure headband.

"My name I cannot tell, as for I am a member of kirigakure's hunter ninjas." replied the mysterious ninja in a soft voice. 'Hmm' The blond analyzed him. The mist ninja's voice told him that he was somewhere around his age. 'Is unusual to see someone my age be part of the elite ninja.' Thought the blond. Then again it wasn't impossible. 'Still… There's something catchy about this guy.'

"What is your business in here?" inquired the blond, lowering his kunai and leaving his fight position, but still alert.

"My unit has been after Zabuza for a long time." Responded the dark haired ninja. "It is my mission to destroy him before he reveals my village's secrets." Every second that passed, made the blond more suspicious. He was determined to find out who this guy really was.

"Where's your team then? I'm sure you weren't sent alone to hunt down Zabuza. And why didn't you attack him when you had the chance?" shot the blond and smirked mentally, seeing that he intruder did not respond. 'He's got me.' The young dark haired boy concluded. Just as he was considering his options, Naruto faded rapidly just to appear immediately next to him and threw a kick aimed at his face. The impostor blocked just in time with his hands but the blow came with such strength that jolted him backwards. 'His speed is impressive.' thought the shocked boy, as he watched the blond land in front of him. 'It seems I'll have to fight him.' The masked boy took out a senbon and positioned in his fighting stance, ready to engage in combat. 'It's a shame he'd discovered me.' thought the fake ANBU sadly. He really didn't want to hurt anybody.The blond readied his kunai. 'Oh well, one less obstacle for Zabuza-sama.' And with this he launched forward, as did Naruto.

Their weapons ran into each other. When the blond tried to strike blows they were dejected by the counterattacks of the masked boy, and vice versa. As the fight progressed, the boys were increasing their speed. You could just see blurs out of them and hear continuous sounds of metal clashing against metal. 'Damn it.' The blond thought as his charges were deflected yet again by his opponent. 'He's fast.' Naruto jumped back and landed on a tree vertically, just to charge directly towards the enemy with his kunai ready to hit. The mist ninja blocked them with his own. They stood in the middle of the trees with their weapons against each other. Both ninjas were trying to excel its opponent by pouring all their force into their weapons.

"Your skills amaze me." The long haired ninja praised behind his mask.

"You're not bad either." The blond replied with a vehement smile in his face. It was his first real fight since he'd become a ninja. Mizuki was crap compared with this guy. Suddenly a great amount of chakra was released not far from them. Naruto noticed that the masked ninja stiffened for a moment.

"Surrender." The dark haired boy said smoothly but lightly hurried. "And I won't kill you." The blond smirked.

"Why would I surrender? We're in the same conditions here." The blond replied, regarding that each of them just had one free hand.

"My advantage consists of my capability of doing this." Responded the masked boy as he made a few signs with his left hand. The blond looked stunned. He'd never seen anyone doing techniques with just one hand. Just who this guy was? The boy finished and a shadow clone appeared besides him. Seeing that he was in a dangerous situation, Naruto jumped rapidly into the air away from them. Each of them took out another senbon and threw the needles towards the boy. 'Shit.' cursed the whiskered boy mentally. Four senbons where flying towards the whiskered ninja. The blond grabbed one needle with his hand briskly before it hit him and repelled another with his kunai but couldn't do anything else with the other two. He felt a sharp pain. One senbon hit his right arm and the other his right leg. As soon as he hit the ground he turned his attention where the enemy was. The clone disappeared in a puff of smoke and the masked ninja in a swirl of wind and leaves.

"Goddamnit!" the blond yelled in frustration. "Why the hell did I jumped?" he asked out loud. The blond now turned to his wounds. The needles were sticking out of his body. The wounds weren't that bad, in fact they barely did any damage. Naruto took them out and winced slightly, a small trickle of blood followed but ceased almost immediately. He could feel the healing powers of the fox acting slowly. The blond sighed as he ran his hand through his hair. If he saw that masked guy again, he'll punch his face so hard, his mask will shatter along with his bones. That guy was with Zabuza for sure. The blond stood up quickly and started running where he had left his team and the old bridge builder fighting the huge sword wielder, not minding the recent wounds. 'That guy went over to help Zabuza.' The blond deduced as he ran. 'I'd bet all my ramen on that.' Naruto couldn't let that bastard trick their comrades as he tried with him.

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The forest floor was flooded. Water trickled down the tree's leaves. Naruto got to the scene promptly. He saw Kakashi lying on the wet ground, with Sakura, Sasuke and Tazuna formed around him worriedly. It seemed like a big fight had exploded. The blond scanned the place for Zabuza but didn't found him. 'I guess I'm too late.' The blond sighed to himself.

"Naruto!" he heard Sakura called. The blond walked over towards his group . "Where the hell did you go?" asked the pink haired girl worriedly, ready to lecture him.

"What happened to sensei?" asked the blond worriedly, ignoring Haruno's interrogation.

"He collapsed for overusing his sharingan." responded Sasuke, emphasizing in the last part. The blue eyed genin relaxed visibly.

"And Zabuza?"

"He was killed by a hunter-nin from the mist village and taken away afterwards." Said the bridge builder delighted. The blond lowered his head lightly, his suspicions being confirmed.

"Answer my question!" Sakura urged, her eyes landing on his wounds. "And what happened to you?"

"I spotted a complice of Zabuza not far from here and had to engage combat." The blond explained. "He wore a mask pretended to be a kirigakure hunter-nin. In the middle of our fight he fled, but before that he stuck two needles in my body." The blond said bitterly. His team stared at him for a moment, their mouths open in shock, until Tazuna broke the silence.

"Y-You mean Zabuza is not dead?" asked the bridge builder incredulous.

"That's impossible!" The Uchiha said. "That masked guy killed him with two senbon in his neck and even Kakashi-sensei checked his vitals and confirmed Zabuza's death." Naruto shook his head.

"I don't know how he did it, but believe me, Momochi Zabuza is not dead." Naruto said as he crossed his arms.

"You're wrong." the green eyed girl stated, not wanting to believe was she was hearing.

"Maybe he's not." Intervened Sasuke thoughtfully. "Think about it. Hunter-nins supposedly use fatal weapons to kill their target on the spot. He used senbon that are mostly used in medicine. Perhaps Zabuza is not dead after all." Concluded the Uchiha genius.

"But you saw how he fell dead in front of us!" claimed the old man.

"He might have used his needles to strike a nerve that induced Zabuza in a partial dead state." reasoned the blond.

"So that masked boy is not who he said he was." Stated Sakura now more convinced.

"Well, he did attack me after all." The blond said matter-of-factly. The pink haired girl sent him an annoyed look. For the bridge builder it was still hard to believe.

"Aren't you being a little too paranoid?" asked the old man hopefully.

"Let's take sleeping beauty over here to the old man's place." The blond said, ignoring Tazuna's question. He took Kakashi's right arm and put it round him.

"Teme, come here and help me with your big and masculine arms." The blond mocked. Sasuke rolled his eyes and went over to Naruto and put their sensei's other arm around him. They pulled him up and started walking towards the bridge builder's house. 'Let's just hope Zabuza is too weak to try anything soon.' The blond thought worriedly but was quickly put aside as he searched in his sensei's pouch and took his little orange book.

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*Kirigakure no Jutsu – Hidden Mist technique

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- Patty