Author's section

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 12

Kakashi opened slowly his only visible eye, just to close it quickly at the presence of the sunrays hitting his face. He tried to move but the stiffness of his body. He grumbled deeply.

"Look Sasuke-kun!" he heard Sakura saying not too far from him. "He's awake." The grey haired jounin felt steps coming his way.

"Sensei!" the pink haired kunoichi exclaimed as she entered the room, followed by Sasuke. "How are you feeling?" Kakashi looked around, analyzing the unfamiliar room.

"Are we in Tazuna's house?" he asked, supposing it was the only possible answer.

"Yes you are." answered a tall, long dark haired woman coming along with the children.

"Welcome to our home, Kakashi-san." She greeted politely while she opened the curtains.

"My name is Tsunami. I am Tazuna's daughter. And I'm very grateful that you had put your lives at risk to protect my father." Tsunami said with a kind smile. Kakashi was about to thank the woman for her hospitality when he remembered his fight.

"Zabuza!" He said pushing himself up trying to sit down, feeling his body stiffness again, but was stopped by Sakura and Tsunami.

"You can't move so brusquely. After your fight with Zabuza you were so exhausted you collapsed." Kakashi returned to his original position.

"I overused my sharingan didn't I?" Sasuke nodded. Kakashi sighed.

"Well, It had been a while since the last time I used it." Kakashi stated. Every time that happened, he'd be out of action for a week or so. The masked man sighed.

"Where's Naruto?" he asked, recalling the blonds' personal mission.

"He's still in bed." Replied Sasuke in a bored tone.

"He's been sleeping all morning, like you." Sakura responded. Kakashi relaxed, his obnoxious student was alright.

"Has anything else happened?" he inquired, feeling uneasy about his appearance in the fight. Sakura and Sasuke look at each other nervously.

"You see…" the kids told him everything that Naruto had deduced yesterday. They told him about the mysterious ninja's fight with Naruto and their suspicions about his real identity and Zabuza's 'death'. Just as Kakashi had suspected. He had also doubted the kirigakure's hunter-nin real goal, but as weak as he was after his combat, couldn't do anything. Zabuza was not dead. But something was sure. It would take a while for him to recover. 'Lets hope I recover first.' Thought Kakashi grimly.

They also told him about the blonds' verbal fight with the bridge builder's grandson, Inari. It had all started when the little child told them that their efforts of fighting Gato didn't make any difference. Gato was still going to kill them and they were too weak to do anything. Naruto, being as he is, replied rather rudely that he wasn't going to stand a coward telling him to give up.

"If you're too afraid to do something and help, fine! But I will not stand here crying while I can provide help to those who need it!" were Naruto's exact words. This caused a crying eight-year old, a scolding Sakura and a pissed Naruto that went upstairs to sleep, not willingly to listen to Sakura's lecture. Kakashi smiled slightly at this. It seemed that for Naruto age and gender didn't matter, he was still going to tell the truth no matter how harsh it was.

"What are we gonna do now?" asked Sakura. They grey haired man turned to the kids.

"Well, my body won't be able to move normally for a week or so." Explained their sensei.

"What if Gato's men attack again?" she started, but then a more horrifying possibility came to her mind. "What if Zabuza attacks again?"

"Don't worry Sakura." Kakashi said reassuringly. "After getting hit by a kunai in each limb, he won't be attacking soon."

"What about the Hokage's new orders?" asked Sasuke from the corner of the room, recalling Kakashi's dog sent asking for new instructions.

"I was supposed to summon Pakkun an hour after he delivered my message to the Hokage, but in my current state, I can't do such thing. We'll have to wait."

"I want you all to be alert in case someone comes near this house." Kakashi commanded. "Gato will send men only during night, knowing that Tazuna's got ninja watching him. You'll be taking turns to guard the house. You'll have to train alone for a while until I'm strong enough to walk." The kids nodded.

"I'll start preparing lunch." said Tsunami, standing up.

"Lunch already?" asked Kakashi perplex. The woman nodded with a smile.

"Yes, you and your other student have slept all over the morning." After saying that, she left the room.

"Well, guess it's time to wake Naruto up." Kakashi said turning towards Sasuke. The Uchiha sighed but stood up.

"Fine." The raven haired boy said leaving the room. Just after Sasuke left the room, a very familiar little book landed on the grey haired jounin's chest.

"What the-" Kakashi said in confusion. It was his beloved Icha Icha Paradise.

"You're a pervert." Came Naruto's voice from the window. Sakura and Kakashi turned to him.

"How did yo- Don't you ever do that again!" the grey haired jounin yelled towards the blond mocking face.

"I just wanted to know what the big deal with this book was." The blond said as he entered the room, with Kakashi's furious gaze still on him.

"Why do you mean with pervert?" Sakura asked confused. The blond smirked to his sensei's raging face.

"It's porn." He responded plainly, with a big grin on his whiskered face. The pink haired girl blushed from embarrassment for a moment as she discovered a new phase of his sensei, but that was quickly replaced with an angry frown.

"Men!" she exclaimed as she exit the room.

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The blond was in the forest near to Tazuna's house, jacket lying on the ground, ready to start his warm up. He'd just have lunch a while ago and was ready to train. Kakashi had eaten on his mattress while the other habitants of the house ate in the dining room. This time Inari didn't say anything to Naruto or the others and the blond kept silence as well, much to his team relief.

His fight with the masked ninja had made him realize that he needed to improve more. The whiskered boy pondered about his battle last night. He reviewed his move and attacks. The blond played the battle in his head over and over again, surveying his mistakes and movements. 'What if I had taken my weights off?' He asked himself. He could have defeated him, probably. But if he had trained more, he could have won without taken them off. He needed to get stronger. He wouldn't call the fox right now. The all mighty Kyuubi had given him instructions on taijutsu techniques and the blond still needed to refine some of the combinations he was working on.

"All right." The blond said when he finished his push-ups and summoned ten clones to begin with his taijutsu training. He started fighting with his clones two weeks ago, so he could practice his combos on them. He'd learned to control the amount of chakra he put in his clones, so that they could stand more than one hit. This off course involved more chakra than normal, but the boy's huge chakra reserve made it possible for him. The more chakra you give a clone, the more hits it can take, the fox told him.

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The last clone disappeared in a puff of smoke. Sweat trickled down the boy's face and covered all his body. It took him almost two hours to get rid of all his clones. Naruto sat on the ground panting softly when his ears perked up at the sound of someone approaching. He stood up quickly and focused. It sounded like a group of four. Could it be Gato's men again? No, sending men during the daylight was too foolish. Also they seemed to walk calmly. 'Might as well find out.' He suppressed his chakra to avoid being noticed and went in the direction of the visitors.

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The group of tree kids, one woman and one dog directed towards their client residence. The eight thought they were heading onto a simple C ranked mission, where they only needed to stay until a bridge was finished. That was until they passed a forest area just a while ago, more like a battle arena that had housed a big fight. A ninja fighting ground, Kurenai was sure about that. Worried that the fight might be related with team seven, she rushed her pupils towards their destiny, to find out about their comrades fate.

The lavender eyed girl was walking behind her sensei. She paused as she sensed someone coming.

"Kurenai-sensei." She called softly, in a worried tone. Her eyes had captured a shadow moving towards their group. Her sensei also stopped.

"I know Hinata." The black haired woman said turning to her.

"Huh?" asked Kiba. He glanced at the two females of his group and then to Shino, who had also stop walking.

"Don't worry." Kurenai said reassuringly, with a small smile. "I think I know who it is." Kiba was still questioning the situation, while Shino was expecting something or someone to appear. Hinata was about to call for her blood limit when the shadow suddenly cleared to reveal a gold haired boy landing on the top of a tree.

"What are you doing here?" asked Kiba demandingly to the whiskered boy.

"I should ask you the same question." Replied the blond coolly, turning to the red eyed woman. The tattooed boy huffed in displeasure. The black haired jounin was about to explain when she noticed the boy's wet shirt.

"Why are you soaked?" she asked pointing the blond's shirt. Naruto looked down.

"Oh, that. I was training." He responded casually. The woman nodded.

"Anyway, we are here to help with your mission." Kurenai responded. "I thought Kakashi's dog had informed you." She added. The blond raised a brow in confusion.

"Ah yeah, Pakkun." The blond said, remembering the canine going for new orders. "No, Kakashi couldn't summon him back." The blond responded. Kurenai sent him an inquisitive look.

"We kinda got attacked by this missing-nin. He and sensei fought, Kakashi beat his ass, but he collapse from overusing his sharingan, you see." The blond informed with a smile. "Now he's in bed and can't move, much less perform a summoning technique." The members from team eight stared at him perplexed.

"Wait, you got attacked by a shinobi?" asked Kurenai bewildered.

"Well, four to be more precise." The blond said. "I think it'd all clear after you talk with Kakashi-sensei.

"Uh, yes." The dark haired woman said. She sighed. 'This must have been serious, for Kakashi to have used his sharingan.' The woman thought. 'No wonder why lord Hokage sent reinforcements.' The blond spotted the shy Hyuuga behind her sensei.

"Hey Hinata." He greeted with a smile. "Long time no see." The pale eyed girl emitted a soft 'eek'.

"N-Naruto-kun." she said fidgeting with her fingers nervously. "I-It's good to s-see you again." She blushed a bright shade of red at the sight of Naruto without his jacket, and his black t-shirt sticking to his body, making noticeable the forming muscles. She quickly turned her eyes to the ground, avoiding the blond's confuse eyes. The blond cocked an eyebrow. 'Why does she always do that?' he questioned himself. Besides her, Kiba was glaring daggers at the puzzled blond.

"We will continue our way to the bridge builder's home." Kurenai said, noticing the looks Kiba was throwing Naruto. The whiskered boy nodded.

"I'll go get my jacket and be there in a while." He blond said turning on his tracks.

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After a brief introduction to Tazuna's house residents; Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke and team eight were sitting around Kakashi's bed. The masked jounin explained the situation to Kurenai. From the mist chuunin and Naruto's fight with the false hunter-nin to Kakashi's fight with Zabuza and how they were fooled by the impostor. Team eight had thought that was just an escorting mission, so it was reasonable that they were shocked by the information and, in Hinata's case, intimidated by the fact that they were to confront strong shinobi.

"So Uzumaki got his ass kicked by a homo-masked guy." Kiba stated with a mocking grin, pronouncing the words with delight.

"Tch. I got caught off guard, you mutt." Answered the blond annoyed. The kids were waiting outside the house, after being asked to leave the room so their sensei's could discuss their new strategy so it include both teams. "Also, I've never seen someone capable of performing jutsus with just one hand." The blond said thoughtfully, recording the fight.

"Well, that was your fault." said Sakura sitting over a fence near the entrance, next to Hinata. "If you haven't gone after him alone, you wouldn't have to fight him yourself, much less being stabbed by needles." She scolded, signaling the tiny holes in the blond's clothes where the needles had hit.

"If I haven't gone after him, we wouldn't have known he was an impostor." countered the blond leaning against the trunk of a tree nearby. He glanced over his tore jacket and pants, sighing. "Man, I need to sew my clothes."

"That's right, you stay here and sew." The Inuzuka boy laughed, who was standing in front of the Hyuuga. "Leave the real combat to Akamaru and me, we'll defeat that faggot with one blow, right boy?" The tattooed boy asked the dog lying by his feet, who barked in respond.

"Well, if he smells your toxic breath, no doubt he'd die of suffocation." The Kyuubi container replied with a smirk. Kiba growled.

"Why yo-"

"Alright kids." Came Kurenai's voice from the entrance. "It's all been settled up. Each of you will guard the house at night. You'll be taking turns and switch each hour." The red eyed kunoichi explained.

"If you sense someone coming, you'll return immediately and announce it. You're not to fight alone." She marked the last words gazing at the blond, who scratched the back of his head with a smile.

"First goes Sakura, then Shino, Hinata, Naruto, Kiba and finally Sasuke." She concluded. "Is it clear?" she asked with her hands on her hips. All the children nodded. Tsunami walked towards them with a pleasant smile on her face.

"I've finished preparing your beds. The boys will stay in the room where Kakashi-san is and the girls in the room in front of them."

"Thank you for your hospitality. Sorry for being a bother." Excused Kurenai embarrassed.

"Oh, it's nothing. We have plenty of space in this old house." replied Tsunami kindly. "Besides, it's not the first time various persons have stayed here. My father once brought fifteen of his comrades against Gato who had nowhere to go, and we managed just fine."

"Arigato." Thanked the red eyed jounin again.

"All right then. I am going to make some snacks."

"Oh! Can I help?" asked Sakura, raising her hand.

"Off course you can honey." responded the black haired woman.

"I would like to help too, if you don't mind." The raven haired girl said shyly. Tsunami nodded. The blond raised his eyebrow yet again. 'No stutter this time?'

"Both of you!" she replied.

"Why don't you help too, teme? I'm sure you'd like to wear that pink apron." teased the blond with a chuckle.

"Baka." retorted the Uchiha from the branch above the blond. Naruto continued to laugh until he remembered something.

"Uhm, missis." called the whiskered boy hesitantly, the word sounded alien for him. Tsunami turned to him. "Is there a river anywhere near?"

"Yes there is, Naruto-chan." responded the woman with a smile, the suffix making the boy blush lightly. The only woman that had treated him nicely was the daughter of the owner of Ichiraku, Ayame. "There's one east from this house. No more than half mile."

"Thanks." he said starting to walk. "I might be back in three hours." He informed to the rest of the group as he started moving.

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Naruto had just his underwear on. His jacket, shirt, pants and sandals were on the ground. He will learn how to walk on the water, just like Kakashi and Zabuza had. He had a feeling it'd be very similar to climbing trees, but he'd ask the fox anyways.

'Hey fox!' shouted the blond in his head.

"I'm already awake, you brat! You don't have to be so noisy." The Kyuubi said in a growl. He seemed annoyed, as he always has.

'Well, that's surprising.' The blond said lazily.

"Did you think I sleep all the time?" asked the fox.

'Well, yeah. What else do you do?'

"Wander through your mind." The fox replied with a sadistic smile. The blond felt a chill run through his spine.

'Anyways. I need you to show me how to walk on the water.' The blond said, putting the fox's comment aside.

"Hmm. I don't think you'll have much trouble learning. It's pretty much the same as tree climbing, just a bit more complex."

"Complex how?"

"For tree climbing, all you had to do was to find the right amount of chakra so that you didn't fall nor break the bark of the tree. Water fluctuates. You'll have to mold chakra around your feet and adapt it constantly, so you don't sink." The red haired beast explained.

'I see.' The blond said scratching his jaw in thought. 'Mold the chakra and balance it.'

"Good, cause I'm off to sleep." The fox said with a smirk as his presence vanished.

'Hey! Come back here you lazy-ass!' The blond yelled, but there was no reply. 'Goddamn furball.'

The blond headed towards the river.

"Just mold it according to the water." The blond reminded himself as he sent chakra to the soles of his feet. As soon as he stepped in he started to drown. 'I need more.' He started pumping more chakra to his feet, and his drowning stopped. He had half his legs under the water. 'More.' He thought as he continued sending more chakra. He slowly started to rise.

"Yeah." He said triumphantly. "This is not so ha-" he didn't get to finish his phrase, when he drown completely. 'Maybe I was mistaken.' He thought as he pulled himself up to the ground.

"Here I go again."

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