The Makings of a Hero

by KillamriX88

A strange man finds a young Naruto and warns him of a great danger. He then tells him he must leave the village with him... now.

12. With Help From Friends

WARNING! If you hate bratty, angsty, annoying Uchiha's... this IS the chapter for you! It's gonna mostly be about everyones favorite Uchiha prodigy! No, not Itachi, Sasuke! Oh wait... nobody actually likes Sasuke. Well, regardless, it's about him. And no, it doesn't involve him getting his ass kicked... or, well, maybe it does. Whatever! Just read! (and review)(and read the note from me at the very bottom please)

Warning#2: The following chapter is rather long in comparison to previous chapters. You might want to make sure you have an hour or so to spare.

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With Help From Friends

"Oh... my... god..." Ino's eye twitched wildly, "What is that!?"

"What is what?" Lee asked.

"That awful green thing that you're wearing!" Ino pointed at Lee, and more precisely the horrific green jumpsuit he was wearing, "And your hair, it's a bowl cut now! What have you done! You'll never attract girls looking like that!" Ino ranted in dismay.

"I... but... Gai-sensei..." Lee stuttered, confused. Was Ino right? Or was his sensei right? The jumpsuit was supposed to be the conduit to achieving greater youthfulness!

Ino sighed and put an exasperated hand on her forehead, "Ugh, whatever! Look, I just wanted to tell you that I'm having my genin exam today." She explained.

"YOSH! You will become a true ninja like me, I have no doubt, you are very youthful! You even beat Sasuke right?" Lee asked.

"Heh, yeah, that was awesome." Ino remembered the third student of the year contest fondly. Once more Mia had been pissed that she had lost out, and this time, Sasuke had been decimated. Ino still couldn't match him at hitting targets, but she had managed to outdo him with the academy jutsu, though it had been a close call, and then she had left him in the dust at running laps... literally. Lee's training had payed off big time there. She had lapped the Uchiha so badly she was sure Sasuke's head must have been spinning when it was over. She hadn't even been too tired afterward.

"Well good luck! Let youth guide you!" Lee saluted.

"Right, youth, got it." Ino gave a lazy salute in return just to humor then boy and headed off, "I swear, I will not be surprised if he starts a religion about youth..."

- - -

"Yamanaka Ino." Mizuki, another of the Chuunin teachers said, "Hmm, excellent grades and student of the year twice, I don't see why she should even have to do the test, just pass her."

"Rules state that every student must do the test, don't get lazy." Iruka scowled, "This should be a piece of cake Ino, just make three bunshin and I'll give you your headband."

"No problem!" Ino grinned and made the hand seal... less than a minute later she was putting her headband on.

Once those who were going to pass did, everyone was assembled before Iruka and Mizuki,

"You in this room are those who passed, and I am proud to see that, well, all of you did." Iruka said.

"Come back tomorrow and your teams will be announced." Mizuki added.

"Now go, your parents should be waiting outside to congratulate you." Iruka said, and the class rushed to do so.

- - -

Outside, Ino saw her father,

"Hey, what is that thing on your forehead, are you supposed to have that?" Inoichi asked as he walked over to his daughter.

"Duh, I passed obviously!" Ino put her hands on her hips and posed proudly.

"Don't let it all go to your head or it'll explode." Her father chuckled, "So, when do you get your team, tomorrow right?"

"Yeah! I hope I get Hinata on mine." Ino answered.

"Hm, that's highly unlikely." Inoichi sighed, "It's rare for more than one kunoichi to be placed on a single team."

"Wh-why?" Ino asked, suddenly not so happy.

"It's just how things work, two men to handle the hard stuff, and a girl to handle the... other things, though I'm not saying you can't be just as strong as a man, just that there are certain things women can do that men can't." Inoichi hastily explained, trying not to sound like a complete chauvinist.

"Well it's not fair." Ino pouted, crossing her arms.

"Oh come on, cheer up, it's not like you'll never see her again, it'll be fine." Her father tried to cheer her up, failing.

"I wanna go home..." Ino muttered.

"But you just made Genin! Don't you want to celebrate? Go see if you can get Hinata to go along, knowing her father I doubt they'll be throwing a party." Inoichi rolled his eyes.

"Fine." Ino said and ran to find Hinata. Maybe the day could still be salvaged.

- - -

Indeed the day had been salvaged, she had even asked if Hinata's father Hiashi wanted to come... he had said no, not that Ino really cared, the man was more boring than waiting for paint to dry while watching grass grow in her opinion. However, it was now the day after, and Ino was anxiously awaiting her team.

"As long as it isn't Sasuke, Mia, Chip Boy, or that lazy loser Shikamaru, I don't think I'll mind." Ino said. She just wanted to know, and then she and her team would become legendary ninja even more renown than the Sannin themselves! So far a only few teams had been chosen.

"The next team will be Team Seven," Iruka said, "It will be Sasuke Uchiha..."

"Oh Kami, don't pick me, not me not me!" Ino pleaded in her mind.

"... Kusabana Emi, and Tsuchi Saburo!" Iruka finished.

"YES! I wasn't picked! Ha, and Sasuke got stuck with that loser Emi! Gah! Don't be mean, Sakura used to be pathetic too... and Hinata... ugh, I feel like such a hypocrite..." Ino thought.

"Team Eight will be Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino, and Inuzuka Kiba." Iruka announced.

"Aww, I guess tou-san was right..." Ino thought as Hinata was placed on another team, "Well, Kiba's a bit... energetic and rough and Shino's creepy, but I don't think they'll be mean to her or anything..." In her thoughts she missed the announcement of Team Nine, only catching that Mia was in it.

"Team Ten will be Yamanaka Ino..."

"Ah! This is it! Please oh pleeease be good!" Ino prayed.

"... Akamichi Chouji, and Nara Shikamaru." Iruka called out her teammates.

"NOOOO!" Ino's head thudded down on her desk.

- - -

It had been five days since teams were announced, and Sasuke wanted to kill himself. Emi, and small girl with short black hair and green eyes, was quite possibly the most useless, pathetic person on the face of the planet. He actually would have preferred Ino.

"At least Ino is actually skilled..." Sasuke thought. Saburo, about Sasuke's size messy brown hair and brown eyes, wasn't so bad, although he was extremely arrogant and was constantly bragging about how awesome his sword was. In Sasuke's opinion, it wasn't that great. His brother's sword was cooler, and longer. Not to mention Itachi didn't constantly go around decapitating flowers with his... Saburo did. It was now a daily ritual to pray that the boy cut off his own foot or something equally painful. OK so Saburo was that bad. And to top it off, their sensei was always, without fail, late.

Hatake Kakashi, a man with a mask and his forehead protector over one eye. He had given them an annoying bell test. It was probably the one time Emi had done anything of note. Though that thing certainly wasn't amazing. She had distracted Kakashi by tripping over her own feet. Sasuke and Saburo had then swooped in and attempted to nab the bells, and failed. Kakashi had pinned Emi down with his foot, and at the last second, Saburo had decided to play hero and instead of helping Sasuke grab a bell, he had tried to free Emi, only to receive a foot to his face. Sasuke had hoped to grab the bells then, but Kakashi was just too fast.

In the end, Kakashi had tied Emi to a post and told them that due to her getting in the way of the mission by tripping, she would not be allowed to eat, and in an hour they could try again. Sasuke had almost killed Saburo when he tried to feed her. He was glad he didn't as that action caused them to pass. According to Kakashi, "Those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their friends are worse than trash." It definitely gave Sasuke something to think about.

At the moment, they were receiving another mission. So far they had all been D-Ranks which were little more than chores that he hadn't done since he was six. Even then he hadn't had to do much, a privilege of being in the Uchiha clan.

"That's it, I am gonna ask for something better than a D-Rank!" Sasuke decided. The team walked into the Hokage tower, and then up to the room that gave away missions. The Hokage began to list off a few boring D-Rank missions, but the Sasuke interrupted,

"Can't we have something better than these chores?" Sasuke asked, "It's... demeaning."

"You think so?" The Sandaime replied before Kakashi could say anything, "Well let me tell you about how missions work." The Sandaime launched into a boring lecture about mission income and mission ranks that nobody, except maybe Emi, payed any attention to.

"So can we have a C-Rank then? You said genin can do those right?" Sasuke asked. That was probably the one thing he had actually remembered from the lecture.

"I don't know, your team is still inexperienced." The Hokage stroked his beard.

"But I'm an Uchiha! And we'll have Kakashi-sensei, we can handle it easy!" Sasuke crossed his arms.

"I agree with the jerk." Saburo spoke up.

"Shut up loser." Sasuke glared at his teammate.

"Hey! I'm not a loser! I have a sword." Saburo glared back.

"Fine!" The Sandaime interrupted them, "You can have a C-Rank, it will be an escort mission."

"A wealthy and beautiful noblewoman from a foreign country!?" Saburo asked excitedly.

"No, Tazuna come in." The Sandaime said, and in walked what was the exact opposite of what Saburo had described. A scruffy old man in a straw kasa... he looked drunk. In fact he had a bottle of sake in his hand,

"What... hey, they aren't my escort are they? Three of them are kids dammit!" Tazuna scowled and glared at them.

"Hey! I'm an Uchiha! I'm better than anyone else my rank." Sasuke crossed his arms,

"You got beaten by a girl." Saburo smirked, barely holding in his laughter, "Twice."

Sasuke twitched and then glared at him, "You know what? Go shove that sword up your-"

"Guys, guys, calm down!" Kakashi stopped them, "You're giving a bad first impression..."

"It was a bad impression the second I saw them." Tazuna muttered and took a gulp from the bottle of booze in his hand.

"Right, well, this is who your team will be escorting Kakashi, you can meet him at the gate after you and your students have packed, you will be escorting him to the Land of Waves." The Hokage explained.

"I see, well, you heard the man, go pack some bags for a trip." Kakashi said to Sasuke, Saburo, and Emi, "Well, we'll be on our way then Hokage-sama."

"Good luck," The Hokage nodded.

"I'll need it with this team..." Kakashi sighed.

- - -

Team 7 and escort met up again at the main gates.

"Alright, last chance, are you all ready?" Kakashi asked. The three genin all nodded, "Good, alright Tazuna-san, we're ready."

"About time..." Tazuna grumbled, "A bunch of kids, I can't believe this shit."

Kakashi chuckled nervously, "They were all trained well enough to pass their exams so they are all fully fledged ninja, and I'm a Jounin so I'm sure everything will be fine." He tried to placate the man.

"Bunch of bull if you ask me..." Tazuna muttered, "Fine, sure, whatever, let's just get moving." He said.

"Right, come on guys." Kakashi began to walk towards the open gate.

"I wanted a wealthy, beautiful noblewoman, but nooo..." Saburo muttered.

"Saburo, shut up." Sasuke glared.

"Are you saying you prefer a cranky old drunk?!" Saburo retorted.

"Saburo, show some respect." Kakashi glanced back at the boy.

"But he-" Saburo tried to argue.

"Is the client, so keep it to yourself." Kakashi finished scolding and looked back ahead. The five were now outside of the gate.

"Stupid kids..." Tazuna muttered.

It was not going to be a pleasant trip, ten feet out and everyone was miserable.

- - -

"I thought you were gonna help me impress Sakura!" Naruto argued, "You haven't shown me any cool jutsu yet!" The boy was on the verge of puberty, but not quite there yet, so his clothes still fit him. Even that awful orange jacket, at least it matched his orange pants... and shirt... The kid was a damned target, but he just wouldn't wear anything else. He might as well wear a sign saying, 'aim here.' On the bright side, at least it looked OK on him, with the bright blond hair and blue eyes, he was probably the only one who could look good in it.

"You want a cool jutsu? Well fine, you're old enough now, and I did promise, so alright, I'll teach you one of my best." Mitsuru said.

"R-really!? Your best!?" Naruto's eyes shone with excitement.

"Not the best, but close. You've already seen it too." Mitsuru explained.

"The snake mouth?" Naruto guessed.

"Way off." Mitsuru replied.

"Ummm... wait, I'm wind right? My element?" Naruto asked.

"Yep."

"So... a wind jutsu!?" Naruto asked.

"Bingo." Mitsuru gave a thumbs up.

"So... wait... the only wind jutsu I've seen you use wasn't that great." Naruto frowned, "It's only good for trapping people! It's useless unless I have something to use it with!" He argued.

"Wrong and right. I didn't use it at full power because I didn't want to risk that Uchiha escaping before I could use it as a finisher, it can kill, but not quickly. However, yes, it is a very good jutsu for combos." He explained.

"Oh... OK." Naruto chuckled nervously, "So teach me!"

"Right, well first, an example, watch closely." Mitsuru said, and made the hand seals, but slowly so Naruto could see, "Fuuton: Arashi Fungeki!" Mitsuru shouted, and a strong wind began blowing, he then directed the wind to a certain area, and then to a specific tree which began to get torn apart, and the rate at which the damage was done increased until the tree was little more than sawdust and a few chunks of wood with shredded leaves sprinkled on top.

"Awesome..." Naruto stared at the wrecked tree.

"Your turn, remember the seals?" Mitsuru asked.

Naruto nodded, "Yeah!" He went through the same seals, and then attempted the jutsu. However, instead of starting a gale, he ended up launching a huge gust of wind. Instead of tearing something apart, it instead just caused a few trees to lean back under the pressure, and then it was over.

"Right, well that's a start, but you have to control and maintain it or it will just go away. Sure that might knock someone off their feet, but that's not gonna do you much against a skilled opponent." Mitsuru said, "Try again, but this time, focus on controlling it, try directing it with your hands, it'll make it simpler."

Naruto nodded, "R-right!" He went through the seals again, and then held his arms out, palms facing forward. The wind kicked up again, but this time it kept blowing and swirling in the area... until there were two tornadoes before Naruto.

Mitsuru twitched, "He ended up making two separate tornadoes... one for each hand... how does he do this shit?" He shook his head, "Err, try uh, bringing them together."

Naruto didn't answer, focusing on the wind he was barely keeping controlled, he moved his arms so his two hands were side by side, and the two tornado's collided, and then combined to become one huge twister. Barely keeping control he managed to speak,

"H-how is that?" He asked, voice strained.

"Not bad, you could mess someone up if you caught them between two tornado's like that." Mitsuru said, "Even if it's not really how you're supposed to do the jutsu, then again, it's really just supposed to be a wind jutsu allowing you to mold a gale to your will... so I guess this is just how he does it."

Naruto ended the jutsu, unable to concentrate on it and talk at the same time, "Really? I did good?"

"Yep, nice work, but you'll need to learn better control, you should be able to start the wind blowing, and then make it focus on one point, if you do it your way, they might be able to avoid the tornado's before they get close enough to trap them." Mitsuru explained.

"Ohh, I get it!" Naruto started making hand seals again.

"Hm?" Mitsuru raised an eyebrow.

Naruto did exactly what he did before, except this time, he quickly pointed his hands at a tree, and a tornado formed right around the tree, ripping it apart.

"Ah, I get it, the first time he just focused so hard on his hands, all the wind got focused to two points before him, but this time he chose a target... but that means he can't actually keep the gale blowing..." He sighed, "He really needs better control..."

"Right, well, looks like you can use it effectively, even if not perfectly...." Mitsuru said, "Hmm, hey, keep practicing with it, see if you can maintain it without making a tornado form, I'm gonna go do something real quick... or maybe not so quick, we'll see."

"OK, I'll keep going then!" Naruto grinned.

"Right, uh, just wait until I am at a safe distance..."

- - -

"Hmm, a puddle, yeah, it just stopped raining... a week ago... what?" Saburo crouched before a puddle.

"Saburo... it's a puddle, leave it alone." Sasuke sighed.

"Y-yeah, you'll get left behind..." Emi warned timidly.

"Yeah right, I can run fast enough to catch up." Saburo waved her off.

"B-but..."

"I'll be fine, jeez, stop worrying so much." Saburo sighed.

"Come on Emi, leave him to his stupid puddle." Sasuke shook his head and turned to follow Kakashi and Tazuna.

Emi looked at Sasuke, then back at Saburo, and so on until finally deciding to follow Sasuke.

"Hmph, I remember that rain, I ate ramen." Saburo stroked his chin, "A week old puddle? Maybe someone spilled something? Weird... eh, I guess it is just a puddle, oh well." He got up and shrugged.

"Saburo! Hurry up before you get left behind!" Kakashi called out, "Now!"

"Alright alright! I'm coming!" Saburo ran after the group, "Sheesh, he doesn't have to get all strict..."

However, he didn't notice as a head rose from the puddle, "Damn, a little longer and I could have ripped his head off and no one would have noticed..."

- - -

"So Emi, how did you pass the test to be a genin?" Saburo asked.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Emi replied.

"Well your grades sucked..." Saburo said.

"I-it wasn't that hard." Emi looked at the ground and sighed softly, "Even now I am still insulted..."

"True, yeah, I guess anyone could have passed that." Saburo stroked his chin, "They should have made it harder."

"D-did you want me to fail?" Emi asked nervously.

"Well if it was harder only people truly qualified would be able to be ninja." Saburo explained.

"Yeah, then I wouldn't have you on my team." Sasuke smirked at Saburo, "Or that loser Emi..."

"Sh-shut up you jackass, you got your ass handed to you by a girl!" Saburo argued.

"Yeah, well, one of the legendary Sannin is a woman, right sensei?" Sasuke asked Kakashi.

"Rig-" Kakashi was then promptly tied up and shredded by razor sharp chains.

"SENSEIIII!" Emi shrieked in horror, "NO! NO! THIS ISN'T HAPPENING! No, Kami, no!!!"

Two heavily armed shinobi then made their presence known, their most notable features were their metal masks and clawed gauntlets.

"Wh-what... sensei...." Sasuke was frozen in shock, "What am I doing, I'm an Uchiha! This is my chance to... to what!? They just shredded a jouinin like it was nothing, I'm screwed... brother... why didn't you prepare me for something like this, what do I do!?"

The two shinobi then charged forward, ready to kill...

"Th-this is it... my first mission... and I'm going to die... die... I... I don't want to die..." Saburo thought as the shinobi grew closer and closer, "I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" He shouted once they were within only a few feet of him. The one closest to him raised his gauntlet-covered hand to smash him out of the way, but was forced to instead hop back to avoid being gutted by Saburo's sword.

With a mad scream, Saburo charged at the shinobi, wildly slashing and chopping in an attempt to kill him, but all of them missed. Soon however, his sword was easily knocked out of his hands, but it didn't stop him, he jumped at the man, biting, clawing, kicking and punching in an attempt to hurt him in any way he could.

"What in the hell is up with this little psycho!?" The shinobi thought as he shoved Saburo away. He wasn't thinking for long though as suddenly his eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed. The other shinobi was in a similar state.

"Wh-what, what are you sleeping for!" Saburo shouted at the unconscious man.

"Saburo, calm down, I knocked him out." A familiar voice said.

"Wha? Who!?" Saburo's eyes widened when he finally noticed Kakashi standing before him, "B-but... you d-died..."

"I used kawarimi, I'm a jounin, it wasn't that hard to avoid the attack, look." He pointed at where his shredded remains were supposed to be. Instead of gore, there were sliced up tree branches.

"R-right... kawarimi..." Saburo stared at the logs, not looking entirely there.

"S-sensei... i-is he OK?" Emi eventually asked, once she had managed to calm down slightly.

"I think he is just a bit shocked, hopefully he'll snap out of it soon, if not, well, not everyone is mentally able to handle the life of a ninja." Kakashi sighed, "More importantly, are the rest of you OK?" He got a nod from Emi and Sasuke.

"Hmph, I knew a bunch of kids couldn't be a good escort." Tazuna grumbled, "The insane one is only one who actually did anything, and now he looks like he's completely out of it!"

"Hm, well, actually, there is a reason they weren't ready for this." Kakashi said.

"Oh really?" Tazuna replied.

"Yes, these two men are chuunin from Kirigakure." Kakashi explained, "Meaning this is now officially at least a B-Rank mission. Not only that, but they were after you, why?"

"Ugh, my village is poor, or I would have payed for a B-Rank, or maybe an A-rank, though that might be a bit excessive. Never hurts to be careful though." Tazuna began.

"And?" Kakashi asked, starting to get annoyed, "What would make him think he would need an A-Rank?"

"I'm a bridge builder, as you know, and as you should also know, we're an island nation. We want to be connected to the mainland, that way we can trade more freely and improve our economy. Obviously not everyone likes that idea." He gestured to the unconscious Kiri-nin

- - -

A while later, they were in a boat, and Tazuna had finished explaining.

"So, that rich guy Gatou wants to keep you form building the bridge so he can keep extorting everyone. Makes sense I guess." Sasuke muttered.

"Yeah." Tazuna nodded in confirmation.

"But if you're already poor, how can he keep extorting money? It sounds like you don't have any left to give." Saburo asked. He had started to calm down. Perhaps the boat ride was having a calming effect.

"It's not just us. He controls the trading ships. He keeps most of the trade profits, and we get what little he is willing to give up, which is definitely not enough." Tazuna sighed, but then looked the the side, "Well, there it is if you were curious anyway, the bridge, or what's been done so far anyway."

Everyone looked up to see the huge construct, looming out of the mist like a multi-legged behemoth. They could only imagine what it would be like when completed.

"It's at least as tall as the village walls." Emi stared.

"Not quite, but pretty close." Kakashi nodded.

"Yeah, it's big, and I don't want the effort put into building it ruined." Tazuna grumbled, the thought of the project being canceled, or worse, the bridge being destroyed angered him, "I know that this was an escort and all, but, I don't suppose you'd stick around and make sure we can finish the bridge, it would be a waste if you went through all this trouble just to have all of use builders get killed and the bridge left incomplete."

"I don't know, the mission parameters didn't cover enemy ninja." Kakashi said.

"Well, yeah, I guess you weren't paid for this, and I wouldn't want your genin to be hurt. Oh well, I'm sure we'll be fine, and if not, my sweet little grandson will just cry for a while... and my daughter will despise Konoha, but it's OK, it's not really your fault that we're poor." Tazuna said... laying it on nice and thick

"Wow... that was pathetic." Saburo twitched.

"Hey, it's not like I made it up." Tazuna replied, crossing his arms, "I really do have a grandson and daughter... who would be sad if I died."

"Well guys?" Kakashi asked.

"Hmph, this Gatou guy sounds like just a fat thug, and you handled those ninja like they were nothing, shouldn't be too hard to just guard Tazuna-san for a while right?" Sasuke shrugged.

"Yeah, I'm not going home with my tail between my legs!" Saburo nodded.

"Y-you were the only one who fought Saburo, me and Sasuke were the ones who did nothing." Emi reminded.

"Hey! I would have fought too, but Kakashi stopped them before I had a chance!" Sasuke argued.

"Of course... I-I believe you Sasuke." Emi smiled slightly.

"That had better not be sarcasm." Sasuke glared.

"No..." Emi shook her head. She hadn't intended sarcasm. However, she also wasn't sure if she really did believe him.

- - -

They exited the boat, and continued on. They were close now, only a short distance through the outlying forest and they would be in the town. Well, that and after they,

"DUCK!" Kakashi shouted, quickly getting low to the ground. Sasuke and Saburo quickly followed suit, and Emi managed the pull Tazuna, who didn't have the reaction time of a ninja, down as well. The warning was a good one, as soon after, a huge sword passed overhead. When they looked up again, the sword had embedded itself into a tree, and a large muscled man with cloth wrappings covering his mouth was standing on the hilt. Yeah, it was so big, a man could stand on the hilt.

"I want one..." Saburo stared.

"Not... the time..." Sasuke gritted his teeth nervously.

"Hm, Momochi Zabuza." Kakashi muttered.

"You recognize me, I'm flattered, copy-cat ninja Hatake Kakashi." The man, Zabuza, replied gruffly.

"Who is he? Just another of Gatou's thugs?" Sasuke asked.

"What? Are you kidding, look at his freakin' sword, he's not just a thug!" Saburo shouted.

"The boys right, I'm not just a thug, but I suppose there's no point in keeping it a secret, yeah, I work for that fat bastard, but he pays well." Zabuza jumped down, ripping his sword out of the tree while he was at it.

"He's dangerous, I want all of you to stay back, guard Tazuna, I'll deal with him." Kakashi said, "And to make it clear, he's a member, or at least former member, of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist, you don't stand a chance."

"Whoa..." Saburo's eyes went wide, he recognized the name of that group.

"What, you know of them?" Sasuke asked his teammate.

"Yeah... I'm a sword user, of course I would have heard of them. They're a group of jounin who are master swordsmen. It's not like they're the best ninja in the world, but they come pretty close." Saburo gulped nervously, "Better than us, that's for sure."

Better indeed. Kakashi, who had made two Chuunin look like two-bit academy students, was having difficulty fighting Zabuza. Even though he had revealed why he had been called the copy-ninja. He had a sharingan in his left eye. And then, just when it seemed Kakashi had gained the upper hand, he got trapped in a prison of steel-hard water.

"RUN!" Kakashi shouted, voice just barely reaching the ears of the genin through the water. However, Zabuza had a water clone that was ready to kill them, how could they run? "His water clone can't follow you that far!" Kakashi informed them. Oh.

"It won't matter, he'll just kill sensei and then chase us down if we run..." Sasuke muttered.

"Well then we have to save sensei somehow." Saburo said.

"Yeah." Sasuke nodded.

"Got a plan?"

"Maybe, you gonna freak out this time?"

". . . depends." Saburo twitched.

"On?"

"How close to dying I come."

"That's comforting."

"Will you stop talking and do something!" Tazuna shouted.

"Alright, you two, try to distract that clone." Sasuke said.

"What? That's your plan?" Saburo looked at him incredulously.

"Well obviously there's more to it, you just do that, I'll handle the rest." Sasuke said.

"Fine, Emi, you think you can help?" Saburo asked.

"I... uhh... wh-what should I do?" Emi gulped nervously. Saburo just sighed,

"Gah, just stay there and protect Tazuna or something." He muttered.

"B-but." Emi tried to argue.

"Last time you tried to help us with a plan you got in the way." Saburo reminded her of their bell test.

"We don't have time to argue, go!" Sasuke ordered and took off running, aiming to go past the water clone.

The clone just scoffed and swung it's zanbato at Sasuke. The young prodigy ducked, but the clone followed up with a kick. Sasuke brought his arms up to block, but was still knocked back harshly. However, he managed to flip to his feet, ending up in a crouching position. But damn did his arms ache... though his arms would be the least of his problems in a moment, as the huge sword was now about to cleave him in half vertically.

He was saved by Saburo however, as the boy managed to deflect the blow with his own sword. He was not even close to being strong enough to block it completely, but as he held the sword with one hand on the hilt, his other hand supporting the blade end, palm against the dull side, the huge zanbato slid off and into the ground, missing the Uchiha by inches.

Sasuke didn't waste the chance and quickly dove past the clone, breaking into a run before the clone could turn to stop him. Saburo wasn't quite as lucky. He had now dropped his sword, and was clutching his wrist, something must have broken when he saved Sasuke.

"Grrr, don't forget about me!" He tried to forget the pain, pulling out a kunai, lunging at the clone which had tried, and failed, to catch Sasuke before he had gotten past. However, Saburo was too slow and the clone's large hand wrapped around his neck and hoisted him high. With it's other hand, it lifted to zanbato, ready to take Saburo's legs off at the waist.

The strike never came, as the clone instead looked down at it's chest... and the kunai embedded in it. It then collapsed into a puddle freeing Saburo. The young swordsman looked at where the kunai had come from... Emi.

:"I told you to stay and protect Tazuna!' Saburo shouted.

"I... I did." Emi replied. Indeed that was the truth, she hadn't taken a step, but she sure had good aim. In this case, born out of desperation.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was hoping he could at least get Zabuza to move away from the prison Kakashi was stuck in. He remembered what he had brought with him, and pulled it out. Fuuma Shuriken. He spread the blades out and spun around to gain momentum. He then released the spinning metal instrument of death.

"You'd think it would work, wouldn't you." Zabuza scoffed, and then plucked it out of the air with ease.

"Don't think that's all I have!" Sasuke shouted, "Katon: Gougakyou no Jutsu!" He had taken the few moments Zabuza had been distracted by the Fuuma Shuriken to get closer. He couldn't launch a huge fireball like his older brother, but he could definitely let a nice burst of fire out at closer ranges. Zabuza couldn't catch this. Instead, he was forced to awkwardly flip backwards into the water. He then quickly pulled himself out, standing on the very surface of the lake he had earlier used to trap Kakashi.

"You little punk!" He shouted, and unfolded the Fuuma Shuriken that he had just caught, ready to throw it back at Sasuke.

"I don't think so!" Kakashi rose out of the water in front of Zabuza, grabbing his wrist before he could throw the weapon, "You should really keep track of things better, I could have stabbed you just as easily as stopped you from throwing this."

"Hmph, you have two hands." Zabuza reminded.

"Good point." Kakashi whipped out a kunai, attempting to drive it into Zabuza's chest.

"But so do I!" Zabuza shouted, swinging the zanbato clutched in his other hand. Kakashi was forced to abandon his stab with the kunai. He had plenty of time to finish Zabuza, but he would have most likely been killed shortly after. It just wasn't worth it. He quickly released Zabuza and spun out of the way. He waited until Zabuza finished his now useless attack, and then lunged forth once more with the kunai.

Zabuza refolded the Fuuma Shuriken, and used it as a close range weapon, knocking Kakashi's kunai to the side with it. He then kicked him back and aimed for a horizontal slash across the chest with his zanbato. Kakashi blocked with the kunai at the last second, though the force of the blow chipped the smaller weapon. Despite the weapon damage, the block was successful, and the then he rammed forward with his shoulder, pushing Zabuza back.

Zabuza growled, jumped back some more, and then threw the Fuuma Shuriken at Kakashi, sick of both hands being full. However, Kakashi caught it as easily as Zabuza had earlier, spun around, and threw it right back.

"This isn't a game of Frisbee!" Zabuza shouted, batting the projectile out of the air with his sword, "Damn you Kakashi, you're becoming a real annoyance." The ex-Kiri-nin then began to make hand seals. However, Kakashi began to mimic them soon after. "Oh, great... hmph, no wonder he's called the copy-nin." Zabuza grumbled mentally. When the hand seals were done, both men shouted the jutsu at the same time,

"Suiton: Suiryuudan no jutsu!" As they finished, the water began to undulate until two massive serpentine dragons rose up and clashed, and beneath them, the two jounin clashed as well. They struggled, kunai against massive blade, each trying to out muscle the other, but even with the ridiculous size difference of their weapons, it was even. Eventually they disengaged, water dragons dispersing into the small lake with a splash.

"Hmph, so that jutsu didn't work eh?" Zabuza scowled, "Then how about..." He quickly began making more hand seals, and again Kakashi mimicked them... and then finished first,

"Suiton: Daibakufu no jutsu!" Zabuza only had time for his eyes to widen before a large vortex of water swept him away like a leaf. He felt like a rag doll, any attempt to escape or even tell which way was up failed miserably. Finally he stopped, though it was only to be smashed against a tree with a ton of water tearing at him as it went past, crushing him into the tree.

It took everything he had in him to not collapse the moment the water went away. However, his strength was failing him and his knees were trembling. It was pathetic. How could he have been beaten, and with a water jutsu no less! He couldn't take it... he couldn't stand anymore. As he was about to just let himself fall, kunai flew out and pinned him to the tree. His eyes widened in pain,

"You can't even let me collapse... damn you Kakashi! You'd better kill me now, or I swear... you'll regret it." Zabuza raised his head to glare at the Konoha ninja as he walked towards him. Certainly he would die now. He'd die with his body broken and his pride crushed. It wasn't quite what he had had in mind. Everything went black.

- - -

"Sensei! Sensei!" Saburo shouted as he ran. Kakashi was fast. One moment he had washed Zabuza away, and the next he was out of sight. Eventually though he, Sasuke, and Emi arrived at where Zabuza was pinned to a tree. Strangely, he had two needles stuck in his neck as well.

"Sensei, what's going on?" Sasuke asked.

"There's someone else here." Kakashi looked up into the trees and pointed. Indeed, in the tree was another ninja, wearing a red and white mask. It was similar to an ANBU mask, but not in the shape of an animal. The boy jumped down,

"I'm sorry you were required to do this. I also thank you. I have been tracking him for some time, I wasn't sure if I would be able to handle him on my own." The boy said in a soft voice, "His body holds many secrets that can't fall into the wrong hands." He walked over to Zabuza, removing him from the tree and lifting him onto his shoulder. Despite being much smaller, it didn't seem to take him much effort. He gave a final nod to Kakashi, and then with a single hand seal vanished in a swirl of leaves.

"Whaaa?" Saburo raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"I... uhh... that was... Kakashi-sensei... what just happened?" Sasuke actually didn't have a clue, which was surprising considering he knew a lot for his age.

"That was a hunter-nin." Kakashi sighed, putting his headband back over his sharingan eye, "I can explain more later, we should move on."

"Heh, I guess you guys are all right." Tazuna said as he walked over, "You can stay at my place when we reach the town. You've earned it. I expected to be cut in half and here I am without a scratch." He laughed nervously.

"I told you we could handle it." Sasuke said smugly.

"We can brag later Sasuke, let's go." Kakashi said, and began to lead the way on to their destination. However he suddenly froze,

"This... isn't good..." Were his last thoughts before his vision faded and he felt himself falling.

- - -

"He's awake!" Emi called out. It had been nearly three days that Kakashi had been unconscious, exhausted from fighting Zabuza.

"Do you hate me that much Emi?" Kakashi groaned, "That you have to call those two in the minute I wake up?" He asked jokingly. Though it was kinda true.

"S-sorry sensei." Emi giggled slightly, "Should I tell them to go away?"

"No no, it's fine. I need to talk to you guys anyway. Might as well be now." Kakashi sighed.

"Finally awake huh, well, I suppose you must be tired after kicking that much ass!" Saburo grinned as he walked in, "You have to teach me how to do stuff like that!"

"S-Saburo, language." Emi scolded. Of course, saying it with a stutter made the effect rather weak.

"Oh come on Emi, really? That bothers you? You saw a guy pinned to a tree a day ago!" Saburo rolled his eyes.

"I didn't like that either." Emi hung her head.

"Well you should get used to it, we're ninja, we'll probably see worse some day." Sasuke sighed.

"Yeah, if she doesn't get us killed by tripping over a trap or something." Saburo scoffed.

"Hmph." Sasuke smirked, "Didn't she save you? Be nicer to your knight in shining armor."

"And this is why I said that Emi. This is why." Kakashi sighed, "Kami, there is no way I could have gotten a worse team. No other team could possibly have been as dysfunctional or argue this much."

"What?" Saburo asked.

"It's nothing." Kakashi raised a hand weakly to dismiss the question, "But I've actually been awake for a few minutes now, I just had my eyes closed. I've been thinking about something and it's bothering me."

"What is it?" Sasuke asked.

"I think... Zabuza's still alive." Kakashi said, dropping a bomb shell with no warning what-so-ever.

"Say whaaaaaa?" Saburo's jaw dropped.

"You heard me. It's that hunter-nin actually. There was something wrong with him, in how he dealt with Zabuza specifically. They're job involves dealing with traitors, and then disposing of them completely to make sure other villages don't learn any of their secrets. They're supposed to do this as soon as possible, on site. Now can anyone tell me what that hunter did?"

"He took that body!" Emi's eyes widened.

"Oh son of..." Saburo face palmed, "C-could it be a fluke or something? Maybe they didn't want to work in front of us?"

"I doubt it. No reason not to as far as I can tell. Not to mention they said they were alone. Sure hunter-nin can work alone, but for someone like Zabuza... not to mention they said they weren't sure they could handle it. Why would they send someone under qualified to deal with such a threat? Also, they used senbon, and senbon are rarely fatal. He could have just put him in a near death state. In fact I'm almost sure that's what happened."

"Well, what do we do then?" Sasuke asked.

"I give you some training and do my best to prepare you. Well, when I can walk again that is. Using my sharingan like that is exhausting, I haven't had that kind of challenge in a long time." Kakashi sighed.

"Training? You want us to fight him?" Saburo asked.

"Well, the stuff I'll teach you needs to be learned eventually, and no, I don't, but I want to give you something new to work with. Just trust me OK?"

The three nodded, though they were filled with uncertainty.

- - -

Chapter 23:

They never told us this, but being a sensei can be difficult. OK, so they did tell us that, but they leave out a lot of details. I know this... because I've gotten my first team. I'm not quite sure what to think honestly. They're bloody annoying as hell. A girl with a little too much spunk, one who doesn't talk enough, and one who talks too much. Akira, Kyo, and Mitsuru. Akira is a handful, but at least she listens for the most part. Kyo is a good kid, but he doesn't seem to like talking. And Mitsuru... I'm not sure what to think about him, he's gifted, but he's a pain in the ass like no other. Quite the trouble maker, and he doesn't like listening, seems to think he can do everything himself. He's clearly the one who's going to need the most work to make into a decent ninja. Of course, that is if Akira doesn't kill him. She doesn't like him at all, she's just as annoyed as I am. I don't say it to her face, but she can be annoying too though. Like I said, a bit too much spunk.

Take it from me, only become a sensei if you have much patience, and a hell of a long temper. It is easily the most arduous trial a ninja can face. Take from this... that it's a pain in the ass.

Chapter 24:

Well, things have been going well enough with the team. I've got them reined in a bit, and they get along a bit better now. Kyo will actually talk to them, and I think Akira's done a 180 when it comes to her feelings for Mitsuru. I think he's unintentionally charmed the poor girl. And when I say unintentionally he doesn't seem to have any idea that she likes him. Or if he does he doesn't feel anything for her. Well, at least not in that way. One thing that hasn't changed? Mitsuru still annoys the piss out of me on a daily basis.

Naruto had to laugh. Mitsuru a trouble maker? Sure he could make some jokes here and there, and he had a unique way of doing things sometimes, but to be that obnoxious? Naruto could see himself using this as blackmail. Oh most definitely.

"Oi Naruto, I'm back. Ah, reading again?" Mitsuru spoke as he walked over.

"Hehe, yeah." Naruto chuckled.

"Amusing this time?" Mitsuru raised an eyebrow, "Last time you stopped reading for weeks it was so depressing."

"Well, I suppose you could say it's amusing, yeah." Naruto replied slyly.

"I suddenly feel like being somewhere else, but against my better judgment I suppose I'll stay..." Mitsuru shifted uncomfortably. He knew there were some chapters in the book that mentioned him.

"So what were you up to?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, this and that. Let's just say I didn't accomplish anything." Mitsuru shrugged.

"O...K... hey wait, what happened to your hand?" Naruto pointed, and indeed Mitsuru's hand was scuffed up and a bit swollen.

"Oh... that... well, I suppose I did manage to sprain my wrist. Not the greatest accomplishment though." Mitsuru sighed.

"But what were you doing?"

"Stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

"Jutsu stuff?"

"What kind of jutsu?"

". . . the hard kind?"

"Why won't you give a straight answer." Naruto scowled suspiciously.

"Because to speak at length would hurt my delicate man pride..." Mitsuru said, "And I need to stall so I can think of a convincing lie..."

"Come on! Tell me! Just a little?" Naruto begged, attempting a puppy dog look that worked rather well.

"Damn you're pathetic looking. Fine. I was trying to figure out a jutsu called the Rasengan. It's way more complicated than I thought and I nearly broke my hand, OK?" Mitsuru muttered.

"Rasengan?" Naruto asked, "What's it supposed to do?"

"It's a ball of pure spinning chakra that can smash through just about anything, or at least I think that's what it is. I only saw it once, though for me that's usually enough." Mitsuru explained.

"Cool! But... why couldn't you just say that? And don't tell me it was your 'man pride.'" Naruto said.

"Great, I just had to be evasive. He would have probably just left it at that but noooo!" Mitsuru sighed, "It has to do with who invented it... it was the fourth Hokage."

"Oh..." Naruto's mood immediately darkened, "Hmph, well I wouldn't want to learn it then."

"And why not!? Why are you trying to keep your father out of your life so much!?" Mitsuru shouted.

"You know why!" Naruto argued.

"Fine, he put the demon in you, I get it. So then, whatwould you have done? HUH!?"

"I... uhh... well I wouldn't have sealed the demon into my own kid!" Naruto looked away.

"What then? Just let it destroy the village? Then we'd all be dead, you, me, Sakura, EVERYONE!" Mitsuru roared.

"Bu-"

"EVERYONE!" Mitsuru repeated angrily.

"Well that's easy for you to say." Naruto muttered dejectedly.

"He was a good man Naruto, he didn't have any other options. He would have sealed it in himself if he could have I'm sure, but obviously for some reason he couldn't!" Mitsuru tried to get through to him somehow.

"It doesn't change anything. How many people can actually say their life is better living in the woods on the run from their own village?!" Was Naruto's angry retort.

"And you think your father wanted this to happen!? That he looked into the future and figured, 'oh, he can handle it,' is that what you think?! He didn't want this to happen!" Mitsuru argued back, "you're blaming your father when it's the villagers' fault for being ignorant! I don't care if you're angry, I'm angry too, but at least direct it at the people who deserve it!"

"I hate everyone in the village." Naruto muttered, "I only wanted to be the Hokage so I could shove it in their faces."

"You don't mean that, you're just upse-"

"I DO MEAN IT!" Naruto cut Mitsuru off, "They can all drop dead! That's how they feel about me, so that's how I feel about them!"

"Naru-"

"No! I'm done talking to you!" Naruto quickly turned and ran off into the woods before Mitsuru could stop him.

"Hey wait! Stop! COME BACK HERE!" Mitsuru shouted after him, "DAMMIT NARUTO!"

- - -

"Kakashi-sensei... no offense, but did Zabuza hit you in the head?" Saburo asked, staring at a tree.

"Saburo... that's rude..." Emi mumbled.

"It's fine Emi, I don't expect you to get it until I explain." Kakashi said, though he was slightly annoyed at the boy, "You'll be climbing trees yes, but you're not using your hands, you'll, well, just watch." Kakashi said and made a hand seal to gather chakra and, even in his crutches, walked towards a tree... and then walked up it, body sticking out fully horizontal.

"That's... that's..." Sasuke stared.

"Cooool!" Saburo grinned.

"Why didn't Itachi ever show me how to do that!?" Sasuke growled.

"Well you'll be learning it today." Kakashi said, and explained the technique even as he hung upside down from a branch, "Alright, that's the basics." He said as he finished, "Ready?"

"Hell yeah!" Saburo grinned, and the other two nodded.

"Well then," Kakashi threw three kunai down at them, startling the genin slightly, "Use those to mark your progress. Begin." He said and began to slowly walk back down the tree.

- - -

"My... everything... hurts..." Saburo muttered as he leaned against a tree, panting.

"You should be more careful." Emi said. She was just as tired, but nowhere near as scuffed up as Saburo was from falling so many times. She wasn't doing much better, but at least she didn't crash every time she messed up.

"This sucks, Sasuke's making me look bad..." He looked over at Emi's treed and suddenly felt like crawling under a rock, "E-even you're doing better than me!" He groaned.

"Not really." Emi said, "It's not that much higher." She tried to make him feel better. Not that it did much.

"Hmph, don't deny it, I don't need your pity!" He grumbled, "If you're doing better then good for you!" It hardly felt like a compliment. Suddenly Emi's eyes widened,

"I-I have an idea!" She said, actually sounding excited.

"You're enthusiastic all of a sudden, what idea?" Saburo asked.

"G-give me your kunai!" Emi held her hand out.

"Err... OK? I suppose you don't need two to stab me so I assume that isn't your plan..." He handed it to her.

She shook her head and turned to the nearest tree, second kunai in hand. She then gathered her chakra,

"Hey, uh, you're kinda close to the tree, don't you need a running start?" Saburo asked.

"I have a better idea... I hope." Emi said.

"You don't expect me to catch you I hope..." Saburo muttered.

"It... would be nice... if necessary..." Emi mumbled, not feeling very confident thanks to that.

"No promises." Saburo replied... chipping away at Emi's confidence even further. The girl gulped and placed a foot on the tree. After a few moments she tried to pull it away and found it required some effort. She quickly replaced it and then, taking a deep breath, lifted her other foot off the ground and placed it on the tree as well. She was fully horizontal.

"I-I did it?" Emi asked.

"Err... uhh... t-try walking?" Saburo suggested, shocked. Emi nodded, and took a wobbly step upwards, and another... and another... and... she slipped. However she had asked for a second kunai for a reason and stabbed both into the tree, catching herself and quickly adjusting her chakra.

"I think I'm getting it!" Emi giggled happily.

"Awesome! You'll teach me right?" Saburo asked.

"It's not too hard once you get used to it..." Emi replied.

"Cool, let me get Sasuke so I can rub it in his face!" Saburo said and ran off.

"I-I'm not that... confident... yet..." Emi whimpered, now unprotected if she was unable to catch herself again. However, she just took another deep breath and continued slowly upward.

"Hmph, no way, there's no way she's already figured it out!" Sasuke grumbled as Saburo led him back towards Emi.

"Yeah yeah, just wait and see!" Saburo smirked, "Look!" He said once they were there. And sure enough, Emi had beaten all previous team records. By a lot.

"Impossible!" Sasuke didn't want to believe it. Once again, beaten... by a damn girl.

"Hey Emi... stop shrinking!" Saburo laughed.

"H-hi Sasuke!" Emi called down.

". . . hi . . ." Sasuke muttered. What else could he say?

"D-don't worry, I'll help both of you if you want." Emi said, "It's not that ha-" So busy talking was she, that she lost focus and let her chakra control slip. She she reached out to try and catch herself again, but she had turned to talk to the boys below and didn't have time...

"GAH! EMI!" Saburo shouted in alarm.

"Crap, out of the way!" Sasuke quickly pushed past Saburo and ran up the tree. If he could make it a least a little ways up he could lessen the fall, "Alright Sasuke, this is not the time to screw this up!" He thought, but it proved to be irrelevant. Emi slammed into him before he could lose contact with the tree on his own. They both hit the ground hard, but at least neither broke anything.

"Th-thanks Sasuke..." Emi said timidly.

"Crushed beneath an 80 pound girl... yeah... I think I'm done for the day..." Sasuke groaned, "Please get off now..."

"Oh, s-sorry!" Emi shakily stood, wobbly, but Sasuke had taken the worst of the fall.

"Ugh, and I thought I hurt before." Sasuke stood up after a few seconds more.

"Eh, shake it off, be a man!" Saburo teased.

"Shove it... I'm going back to rest." Sasuke said.

"B-by the way Sasuke..." Emi spoke up.

"What?"

"I'm only 73 pounds..." She said.

"Oh... well... what does that have to do with anything!?" Sasuke asked incredulously.

"It's not polite to talk about a girl's weight, especially if you get it wrong like that." She smiled innocently, giggling slightly.

"I... err... bu-..." Sasuke twitched. But after a moment he couldn't help but to start laughing.

"Well hey, at least it means you were less likely to break something yeah?" Saburo laughed and slapped Sasuke on the back in a friendly manner.

"OW! Broken no, bruised yes!" Sasuke stiffened painfully from the blow.

"Are you done laughing now?" The three nearly shit themselves in surprise at Kakashi's sudden interjection, "Very good Emi, though you can't lose focus, there might not be anyone to catch you next time." He said, "Why don't you all rest, you can finish training tomorrow, with Emi's help it shouldn't be a problem right?"

"R-right..." Sasuke muttered, embarrassed. Emi of all people teaching him something... it was... hard to believe.

- - -

"Wow! I can see... everything! I'd be cliché and say I can see my house, but I can't..." Saburo laughed from the top of a tree.

"Isn't that a bit contradictory? You just said everything." Sasuke replied from the next tree over.

". . . I hope your tree breaks." Saburo glared.

"What? It's true." Sasuke crossed his arms.

"You just ruined a beautiful moment you know that?"

"Hmph, fine. I'm hungry, I'll leave you to your damn view." Sasuke grumbled and began climbing down.

"Fine!" Saburo stuck his tongue out. An hour later and he was asleep in the tree...

- - -

"Ugh... ow... mother... ow..." Saburo groaned, "Genius, freakin' genius. Sleep in the tree, real good idea." He complained as he climbed down the tree painfully, "I think I have a stick in my ass..."

Eventually he reached the bottom of the tree, and was surprised to see someone there, gathering small plants into a basket, but it wasn't anyone from his team,

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Saburo asked. The person jumped slightly in surprise, but turned to face him and smiled,

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there." It was a rather pretty girl.

"Well I did come out of a tree..." Saburo laughed slightly.

"A tree?" The girl asked.

"Yeah, I'm a ninja, I was learning to climb trees without my hands and fell asleep up there." Saburo pointed to the top of the tree, "Little advice, don't sleep in trees... it hurts..."

The girl laughed a little, "I see, that's umm... good advice I guess." Suddenly she looked down at his wrist, "Oh, you're hurt."

"It's no big deal, I thought it was broken but it was just a nasty sprain. I got it saving my friend's life, you know, ninja stuff." He said, leaving out the part where Emi saved him.

"I see, well, maybe I can help it heal faster, I know a few things." The girl offered.

"Oh, cool, thanks." He held out his hand and she unwrapped the splint he had on and began doing something with a plant she pulled out of her robe.

"You said you were a ninja?" She asked while she worked.

"Yeah," Saburo nodded, "why?"

"I'm just curious, what made you want to be a ninja?"

"Well my grandfather was, my dad wanted to be one too but he was born crippled... he tried to learn our family's sword techniques but he could never become a ninja, so I guess it's up to me now. I like swords anyway so it's a win-win I guess." Saburo shrugged.

"I see, but is there something or someone important to you? Truly precious that you want to protect?" The question caught Saburo off guard,

"Err, p-precious?" Saburo blinked, mind completely devoid of an answer, "I... uhh... never really thought about that... I just kinda did what my father asked for the most part." Saburo sat down near the girl, thinking, and also resting since his legs were cramped.

"I see. Well you're still young, maybe you'll find something someday." The girl smiled.

"M-maybe." Saburo smiled back, "Hey, you know you're kinda cute, I'm not gonna be here for long but maybe you and I could..." He let it trail off with a wink.

This time it was the girl's turn to be caught off guard, shrinking back slightly in surprise, eyes widening, "Err, wh-what?" What followed was a moment of extremely awkward silence. Eventually it was broken, "I... uhhh... d-don't go that way..."

"Oh shit I just hit on a lesbian..." Saburo thought, "Oh... uhh... I-I didn't know you were that kind of girl... sorry." He tried to act calm.

"G-girl?" The other stared back for a moment, thoughtful, but then starting giggling madly, "I'm not a girl." They smiled amusedly.

"N-not... a... girl?" Saburo twitched slightly upon realizing what they meant, "Oh crap... even worse... I just hit on a freakin' guy, didn't I?"

"Yeah, I'm a boy, sorry." The boy said apologetically, realizing it must be twice as awkward for the other.

"But the hair, the voice, the outfit, all so... feminine. HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE!? I'll never live this down, thank kami Sasuke isn't here." Saburo lamented mentally, "Err, it's uhh, not your fault. I guess I have bad eye-sight or something."

The boy laughed slightly, "Maybe."

"Hey, you don't have to agree with me!" Saburo whined.

"Sorry... umm, can I finish with your wrist?"

" Oh, sure." Saburo held his hand back out, "Dammit, it was better when I thought I was being taken care of by a cute girl..." He grumbled mentally, "Hmph... hey, what's your name anyway? Seems kinda silly that I don't know considering... well... what is it?" Saburo asked.

"Oh, my name is Shiro." The effeminate boy replied, and finished taking care of Saburo's wrist..

"Saburo." Saburo nodded, and then looked at his wrist, "Hey, it doesn't even ache any more, awesome!"

"Well, it was nice to meet you... but I should go, I have things to attend to." Shiro stood, picking up his basket.

"Oh, uhh, OK, bye." Saburo said, he would have stood as well, but the pain of sitting on the ground was marginally preferable to standing, "Well... this was a weird morning. I wonder what's for lunch?"

- - -

"So, tomorrow we begin the final stages of construction. Then you guys can stop sitting around just to protect an old geezer and go home. I assume it's pretty boring for you." Tazuna said that night as they sat at his family's dinner table.

"Nah, Kakashi-sensei's been training us on the side so it's not so bad." Saburo shrugged.

"Speak for yourself, I had to follow Tazuna-san around town today." Sasuke sighed, "It's pretty bad, they really do need that bridge."

"Y-yeah." Emi nodded, she had been there as well.

"Well thanks to you it should be better in a few months once the trade gets flowing." Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter, said.

"Well for a hero like me it's just part of the job." Saburo said casually, leaning back in his chair, causing Tsunami to laugh slightly.

"Yeah, mister hero with the busted wrist getting saved by girls." Sasuke mocked... and then nudged his chair, making him fall over, "And poor balance as well."

"Screw. You." Saburo grumbled from the floor.

- - -

The next morning Saburo woke up and noticed he was pretty much alone in the house, "Aww man, they left me here didn't they?!" He stood up and instantly regretted it, "Huh... the morning after really does hurt twice as bad..." He said, doing his best to stretch out his sore muscles from sleeping in the tree the day before. He quickly gathered his equipment and went to go meet up with his team who were likely waiting for him at the bridge when he heard arguing in the kitchen, "Hey... that doesn't sound like my tea-"

That's when he heard Tsunami screaming, it sounded like she was being dragged off,

"Definitely not my team..." He said and quickly ran into the kitchen. He saw Tazuna's grandson cowering in a corner, terrified,

"Th-they took mom!" He stuttered fearfully, "Save her!"

"Well, time to prove that I really am a hero." Saburo thought, nodding to the young boy and then rushing out. Fortunately they hadn't gotten far and he saw Tsunami struggling in the arms of two thugs, "Oi, that's not how you treat a lady." Saburo said, drawing his sword, "Huh, that kid did a good job, doesn't hurt at all to hold my sword."

"Ugh, one of those ninja. It's just a kid, deal with him, I've got the bitch." The bulkier of the thugs said.

"Yeah yeah." The other replied, drawing his own sword.

"Ooh, sword fight. Awesome." Saburo grinned, "I lived through a fight with Zabuza's clone, this'll be cake."

The thug rushed at him and started off with a diagonal slash that Saburo blocked easily, though the shooting pain in his arm was unexpected, "WRIST IS NOT BETTER! DEFINITELY NOT BETTER!" However, he gritted his teeth and managed to hold against the blow. However, he realized something. Whether or not he was more skilled, these thugs had one big advantage over him. Physical strength. "Looks like I have to play it smart then. Dammit, smart's never been my strong point. I'd rather just hack these bastards to bits." He complained mentally, though his thoughts were cut short as the thug struck again, however this time Saburo jumped to the side and jabbed the man in the ribs with the pommel of his sword, the pain causing the thug to stagger slightly.

While he was off balance, Saburo quickly moved behind him and slashed him across the back of the knees, taking him down. He then turned to the other thug... but noticed he had taken the chance to drag Tsunami a fair distance away, "H-HEY! GET BACK HERE!"

"Don't move or I kill her!" The thug warned.

"Err... crap..." Saburo twitched, what the hell was he gonna do now? "Uhh, y-you know the second you kill her I kill you right? Just drop her and get out of here and you get to live!" He tried to act tough. Fortunately the thug was too stupid to see the obvious way out of that and paused for a moment. Long enough for Tsunami to bite his wrist. Hard. The thug dropped her, cursing in pain and clutching his wrist. Before he could do anything else, Saburo nailed him in the shoulder with a kunai,

"Screw this!" The thug whimpered in agony and ran off, abandoning his partner.

"Y-you saved me." Tsunami said, rather shaken from the near kidnapping.

"Like I said, I'm a hero. It's what I do." Saburo shrugged.

"Yes, well, you should go tell your sensei what happened here. I should be fine, they won't send anyone else for a while... I hope." Tsunami said as she calmed down.

"Right." Saburo nodded, quickly running off to the bridge. The second he was out of earshot he took a deep breath and, "SON OF A BITCH! OW!" He clutched his wrist, "Dammit, I need to learn more swear words for situations like this..."

- - -

"I guess Zabuza really is alive." Sasuke muttered, trying to see through the thick mist that had suddenly rolled in.

"Yup." Kakashi sighed.

"Wh-what do we do?" Emi whimpered.

"You die, simple as that." Zabuza suddenly spoke. Before any of them could respond, numerous mizu-bunshin appeared around them.

"Sasuke, think you can handle the clones?" Kakashi asked.

"Right." Sasuke took a deep breath, and then leapt into action, slashing them apart with a kunai, "Perfect." He thought.

"Yes yes, very impressive, except those clones aren't really comparable to myself. Try that with me and you'll need a new pair of legs to jump around with." Zabuza growled, "In fact, why don't you deal with him Haku?" Zabuza glanced down at the smaller figure next to him who nodded. They fake hunter-nin dashed forward in a blur of speed towards Sasuke,

"Fast!" He thought, just managing to block their first strike with his kunai. While to two skirmished, Zabuza turned to Kakashi,

"I suppose I have to deal with you now, don't I?" He said, hefting his large sword.

"I suppose so, yes, if you can." Kakashi replied calmly.

"Of course I can, I've figured out how that damn eye of yours works. You don't stand a chance." Zabuza replied, and with a hand seal, the mist got even thicker.

- - -

Saburo arrived at the bridge and stared at it from the side, "Huh, I am really late aren't I...?" He said, peering into the unnaturally thick mist. However, he spotted something strange near the edge of the mist where it wasn't quite as thick. It looked like a large formation of floating... mirrors? "What the hell? Where is everyone? For all I know they're right in front of me, stupid... mist... crap Zabuza's here isn't he?"

- - -

Sasuke struggled to his feet, his entire body covered in stinging cuts from Haku's relentless assaults. Part of him wondered why he hadn't just killed him, another part of him was glad he hadn't. OK so most of him was glad he hadn't. However, that would probably change soon unless he found a way to fight back. Haku just kept jumping form mirror to mirror so fast he couldn't even see him.

"I want you to know this brings me no pleasure." Haku said, his voice coming from everywhere.

"Save it." Sasuke growled, looking at the dozen Haku reflections, wondering which was real. This earned a sigh from Haku, and then another attack came as he jumped from a mirror, becoming no more than a blur as he cut Sasuke up with a hail of needles, aimed so precisely that they didn't even stab into him once.

"Hey Sasuke, what the hell are you doing in there?!" He suddenly heard from outside the mirrors.

"S-Saburo?" Sasuke groaned, looking up. The other boy nodded and took a step to enter the circle of mirrors, "No no no, don't come in-" Too late, "Dammit."

"What? Wait, why do all these mirrors have a reflection of that hunter-nin we saw before?" Saburo asked.

"Well I didn't cut myself up, that's for sure." Sasuke retorted angrily, "Now we're both stuck in here, good job idiot!"

"How the hell was I supposed to know!?"

"IT'S NOT THAT HARD TO FIGURE OUT!" Sasuke shouted.

"Well it's too late now, what do we do?" Saburo grumbled.

"Die probably." Sasuke muttered.

"What happened to the great Uchiha?" Sasburo mocked.

"Yeah... well... wait, I have an idea... maybe." Sasuke took a deep breath, "I'm going to need all your kunai and shuriken."

"Wh-"

"Do you want to live or not?!" Sasuke snapped, "How much longer do you think he's gonna let us sit here and talk?"

"Touche." Saburo quickly handed over his throwing weapons.

"I was hoping I wouldn't have to take more than one life." They heard Haku sigh.

"Oh, well don't worry, you won't even have to take one." Sasuke grinned, weapons in hand, "Be ready." He added to Saburo in a whisper.

"For wh-" Saburo didn't have a chance to finish as Haku began another attack. Sasuke quickly threw a single kunai, but it was deflected by a needle. He knew he didn't have much time now, he needed to do this perfectly. It felt like time slowed down, maybe it was the adrenaline, but for once he might be able to pull this off just like his brother. He threw the rest of his kunai and shuriken, having one deflect off the first kunai he had thrown, which redirected it, and then causing a chain reaction making in a deadly spread of steel. Haku tried to knock them out of the air as well, but for once, he was just a little to slow, getting grazed along the arm and falling to the ground. He hadn't expected that.

Saburo now knew why Sasuke had told him to be ready, and quickly ran towards Haku before he could get up, putting his sword to his throat,

"We win." He grinned.

"I'm afraid that's an incorrect assumption." Haku replied calmly, and with a barely perceptible morion sent a senbon needle into Saburo's sword arm, paralyzing it and making him drop his blade. Haku quickly got up, and moved to finish saburo off, when suddenly his wrist was grabbed by Sasuke,

"OK, this time we really win." Sasuke said. Haku turned to face his other opponent and paused, shocked to see that Sasuke's eyes were now red,

"Sharingan. So he's like me, with a kekkei genkai." Haku thought, however, he wasn't ready to give up yet, and pulled out a senbon to use as a melee weapon, but with his sharingan, Sasuke caught his other wrist easily,

"Oh, how sweet, you want to hold hands." Sasuke smirked... and then kicked Haku through a gap in his mirrors, "I don't hold hands with guys." he muttered and quickly followed Haku. The last thing he wanted was Haku tog et back to his mirrors, it was a pain in the... everything really.

"I think the universe is mad at me. Or at least my arm. First my wrist, now a damn needle. At least it doesn't hurt anymore." Saburo muttered, clutching his numb arm as he followed Sasuke out of the mirrors. He saw Sasuke had managed to pin Haku against a railing.

"Like I said, you're not killing anyone." Sasuke raised up his last kunai, ready to end it, when Saburo suddenly spoke up,

"Hold on! Take off his mask." He said. Saburo realized that the boy's voice sounded strangely familiar.

"Wh-what?" Sasuke turned to look at Saburo.

"Please?" Saburo sighed.

"Ugh, fine." Sasuke muttered and ripped off Haku's mask, "There, hap- whoa, wait, is this a girl?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"Sh-Shiro?!" Saburo's jaw dropped.

"That's... not my real name." Haku looked away, not wanting his death to become awkward.

"Oh what, you two know each other?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah, I thought he was a girl too at first so I hit on h-" Saburo stopped mid sentence, twitching in annoyance at himself, "I just said that out loud... in front of Sasuke... great."

"You what?" Sasuke stared at him strangely.

"Nothing."

"Right... I'm going to stab him now, any objections?" Sasuke asked.

"I don't know. It feels weird to stand here and watch you stab someone I know who isn't even fighting back any more." Saburo mused.

"That's because I have him pinned... and my arm is getting tired..." Sasuke grumbled.

"Just get it over with. I'm useless now." Haku muttered.

"Useless?" Saburo and Sasuke looked at him, confused.

"I live to serve Zabuza-sama, and you've humiliated me. He won't need me anymore. Just kill me!" Haku said more forcefully.

"Wait, you want to die just because you might have disappointed him?" Saburo asked, "That's retarded."

"He rescued me and I pledged myself to him. I have no other reason to live." Haku looked down, depressed.

"Wimp." Saburo muttered.

"Wh-what?" Haku looked at him, annoyed.

"That's the wimps way out. You saved him didn't you? So the way I see it, you two should be even by now. Make your own way to live, don't just cling to him like a lost puppy." Saburo scoffed.

"Huh, so you're not a complete moron." Sasuke said.

"Thank you." Saburo said.

"Surprisingly deep."

"I know, I amaze myself sometimes." Saburo shrugged.

"What's wrong with you? Why are you having a conversation right now?!" Haku asked, bewildered.

"Don't interrupt it's rude." Sasuke said. Haku was now completely taken aback by their awkward behavior. This was not how he wanted to die... an afterthought to their random conversation.

"Well technically we are talking about him." Saburo said.

"I guess so." Sasuke shrugged.

"Are you going to kill me or not!?" Haku snapped, starting to lose his usual calm demeanor.

"Should we? The whole adrenaline rush is wearing off now. It feels weird." Saburo said.

"Yeah." Sasuke admitted. Haku sighed, but suddenly his eyes widened.

"Get off." He suddenly kneed Sasuke in the stomach, "I have to go." he said, mostly to himself, but as he moved forward, making a hand seal for the shunshin technique, Saburo slammed the pommel of his sword into his forehead,

"Yeah... no." Saburo said, "Where do you think you're going?"

"Get out of my way!" Haku tried to get up, but paused as Saburo's sword was placed at his neck,

"It's my off hand, but I can stills tab you no problem." Saburo threatened. However, he saw the desperation in Haku's eyes and risked looking away to see what was going on. The mist was fading slightly, and he was just in time to see Zabuza get impaled by Kakashi's lightning covered fist, ". . . oh. . ." Was all he could say.

"NO!" Haku cried, and this time Saburo was too slow to stop him as he rushed to Zabuza's side. It was too late, he was dead. Haku began to sob at his loss, but then he looked up at the man who had just murdered the most important person in his life, glaring daggers,

"Please don't, I'm almost certain I'd kill you, and I'd rather not. You're still young." Kakashi said, seeing the murderous intent in Haku's eyes.

"I d-don't care..." Haku said, his voice breaking from the grief that wracked his body.

"Oho! So the big bad swordsman is dead eh?" A rather arrogant voice shouted, "Hmm, looks like I have to do his work for him, he just can't seem to do it right. I know they have that whole second chance saying, but I probably should have known better."

"Gatou..." Haku growled, angered at the insults to his dead mentor, "He's insulted Zabuza-sama too many times... at least let me kill him..."

"No objections." Kakashi shrugged, glad to have Haku's focus taken away from himself.

"You're dead Gatou!" Haku shouted.

"Right right, well, this time I have more than just those two buffoons guarding me, so have fun with that." Gatou laughed, joyfully anticipating the sight of Haku's dead body. His arm still ached from when Haku had crushed his wrist.

There was a lot of water in the air, left over from Zabuza's Kirigakure no jutsu. It began to solidify around Haku, first as swirling water, then as floating ice crystals. Large, sharp ones. Gatou noticed this and gulped nervously. Haku pointed a hand at Gatou, and the shards of ice darted through the air at him. Unfortunately the fat man was rather fast when he was pissing his pants in fear, and he managed to use his own men as meat shields against the ice as he ran.

Haku gave chase, rushing right into the large crowd of hired thugs. He acquired a sword form one of the dead, and, while he was no master swordsman, he was much faster and more agile than the thugs and a mass slaughter began. And then Haku stood before Gatou, covered in the blood of dead men,

"C-come on, we can work this out. I have money, a lot, you'd be rich..." Gatou pleaded.

"I already lost the only thing I care about. Money won't bring him back." Haku glared.

"N-" Gatou didn't have a chance to cry out as Haku stabbed him through the heart, letting the dead body topple over the edge of the bridge. He fell to his knees, with the thugs and Gatou dead all that was left was Kakashi, and after the exertion of all the killing, he knew he didn't stand a chance. He was pathetic. He just knelt there, staring almost longingly at the sword in his hand...

"D-damn." Saburo gulped, now thoroughly frightened of the boy, "Thank Kami he wasn't mad at us."

"Well, we did stop him from saving Zabuza." Sasuke mentioned.

"Dammit, think he'll remember that?" Saburo glanced at his teammate.

"Let's hope not. And... what is he doing, he's just staring at that katana." Sasuke said, confused.

"I... don't... know..." Saburo said. But even as he said it, he realized exactly what Haku was doing. He took off running towards the boy. He knew he was right, because even as he ran, he could see Haku turning the sword in his hand, making the blade face towards himself, "DON'T DO IT!" He shouted, causing Haku to pause in surprise.

Now Saburo had intended just to tackle Haku to stop him from stabbing himself. What he hadn't intended... was to send them careening over the edge of the incomplete bridge. Oops.

"Huh... this is probably going to hurt... ah crap... I can't swim with only one arm... is this where my life flashes before my eyes?" Saburo thought on the way down.

- - -

"Come on, wake up!" Saburo heard, however his head was far too fuzzy to comprehend it properly, "Don't die!"

"D-die?" He muttered weakly.

"Thank Kami." The voice sighed.

"You sound like a girl... mommy?" Saburo asked dazedly.

"No..."

"Then... ugh, my head hurts." Saburo forced his eyes open and sat up, "Y-you?" He was surprised to see Haku kneeling next to him.

"You're an idiot, you almost died doing that!" Haku scowled.

"Yeah... well..." Saburo blinked a few times as everything came back to him, "I'm not the suicidal one, so... there..." He said, making Haku wince at the memory.

"You should have l-"

"Shut up." Saburo interrupted.

"B-"

"Shut up! My head hurts to much to make a rational argument right now. I'll yell at you later." He grumbled. Haku just sighed,

"I think your teammates will probably find us soon. I don't think I could carry you very far. I'm too exhausted." He sighed.

"That's nice." Saburo flopped back down onto his back, "Ow... rocks... pain..."

A few moments later Sasuke, Emi, and Kakashi arrived,

"Well well, look at you , let me guess, you almost drowned and the person you were trying to save rescued you." Sasuke said.

"Yeah, well, if it wasn't fore me they'd have been too dead to save me.' Saburo grumbled from the ground.

"Well if you hadn't bothered in the first place you'd still be on the bridge." Sasuke argued.

"You forget, with what I did, both of us are alive." Saburo said.

"Dammit, you win." Sasuke growled.

"Yes, well this is nice and all, but can we trust you to not cause any trouble." Kakashi said to Haku. Said boy glared at Kakashi, but eventually nodded. Figuring he owed Saburo that much at least, "Good, now we need to get you someplace dry to rest." Kakashi turned to Saburo.

- - -

"I'm glad you're OK." Emi said to Saburo once they were back at Tazuna's place.

"Define OK." Saburo groaned.

"Alive?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm excellent in that regard." Saburo shrugged, "As long as you ignore the limp arm and broken ribs."

"I-I thought what you did was very brave." Emi said.

"Well, that's better than what Sasuke had to say. Nice to see someone appreciates my work." Saburo muttered.

"Oh shove it." Sasuke rolled his eyes from his spot on the other side of the room.

"Oh, I also saved Tsunami from two of Gatou's thugs who came here. I will accept applause now." Saburo said... and was greeted by a few claps from Emi... mostly out of pity, "I hate you all."

"Best friends ever eh?" Sasuke smirked.

"Considering I don't have any other friends..." Saburo sighed.

"At least we make a good team when we have to."

- - -

Being alone wasn't as comforting as Naruto might have thought. The last four years had gotten him used to at least Sakura or Mitsuru for company. Thought right now he didn't want to be around Mitsuru, and Sakura... well... who knew where she was.

"I thought he was on my side..." Naruto growled, "baka-sensei!"

He continue slowly walking down an old animal path until he found himself at a man-made road, "Huh? Are we near a town?" He wondered. Suddenly though he heard something, and then there was a female voice,

"I FOUND YOU!"

---

CLIFFHANGER!

So yeah... I guess it ended up being more about Sasuke's teammates rather than Sasuke. Not sure how that happened, but I don't feel like changing it. And though I'll admit it wasn't my original plan, yes, Haku lived. Yay. If anyone feels like I skimped on the whole bridge fight, that's cuz I was getting fed up with this chapter and wanted to get it over with. For some reason it was harder to write than previous chapters. Maybe it was the utter lack of Sakura that did it. Maybe because it ended up being 14K words long. Maybe even because I finished it at around 4am. Regardless, I'm not sure if I even did a good job, it felt awkward at times, forced even, as I was writing it... (that's why reviews are nice... tells me if I'm doing good or not)

Anyway, you may have noticed something. That's right! Sasuke's not an emo prick! He's just a regular prick. This is just one thing, pay attention in the coming chapters now that we've reached the actual cannon time-line and you'll see a number of changes due to the fact that Naruto and Sakura aren't in the village. What kind of changes? Well, who knows. Oh right, I do. I'm not tellin'! Haha!

Well, anyway, the next chapter will get us away from Sasuke and back to the good old Naruto and Ino storylines. Yay! Lastly, if you're wondering why I did this chapter in the first place, well, it was for character development and all that rot. Needed to establish Sasuke's new personality and his team for their later appearances.

Consider this massive chapter your (2009)Christmas present from me. Let's just hope I didn't disappoint.
If you're in the Christmas spirit, you can do me a favor and help me achieve 100 reviews before January 1. If you do, I'll write a special bonus chapter that extends after my planned final chapter for this. Otherwise you can forget about it! I beleive only about 40 reviews are necessary, so come on, do a guy a favor, hell, go back and review older chapters if you want. Tell me what you liked, didn't like, what made you laugh, cry, get mad. Anything relevant is acceptable. I'll even take advice/suggestions. I'd really appreciate it... because I made a bet with a friend... and I want to rub this in his face. Cuz he's an ass sometimes.

Til' next time.