The wait was long, but I feel like I really did good with this chapter. The Wave Country arc was hard to write for some reason, but I have a good start now, so things will get interesting. By the way, I'll be starting a poll on my profile on whether or not Haku should be male or female. As of right now I can't think of a logical reason for a male Haku to follow Naruto back to Konoha without there being more gay jokes. So unless you have a reason that would work, then either choose male Haku and he dies or female Haku and she lives.

Sorry about the repost. I just had to say that I finally put the poll on my page. I made it and forgot to display it on my profile XD

CHAPTER 14

After returning to consciousness, Tazuna shook his head vigorously then sighed. "I hired ninja to assist me and save my country, so I should expect the unexpected…" the man thought as he slowly came to terms with the talking wolf. It was only due to his desperation that he could accept the information at hand, but his nation was much more important than even his sanity so he pressed onward.

"Finally done pissin yourself?" Rend smugly asked.

"You might be alright…" Regaining his rhythm, the bridge builder continued, "But look that blondie over there! He's clearly a failed Tetsujin knock-off!"

Rend's fur seemed to lose color and before any of the others knew it, Naruto ducked his body down will dashing forward. It was Tetsujin's trademark step-in. Kakashi simply watched, he didn't sense any intent to harm the man so he would do nothing to stop it. Tazuna's eyes widened, noticing the step-in was flawless and fearing what would come next. Naruto stopped once he knew he was an inch away from striking distance, and unleashed the same brutal combo that defeated Sasuke in the Academy test.

"While I'm glad you respect Ossan, don't you fucking DARE INSULT HIS ONLY STUDENT!" Naruto roared

Shocked once more, the man simply opted to be silent for the time being while hopefully regaining his buzz. The team was dismissed to pack for two or three weeks' worth of equipment and regroup at the gate at noon. Each of them headed out quickly, packing their things at an unusually fast pace. They all have different reasons to want to make a bit of free time before six. Sakura wanted to get more Intel on who this "Tetsujin" character is, Sasuke had similar thoughts but mostly wanted whoever they were to teach him instead. He NEEDED that type of power, though unconsciously he liked the idea of them training together. Miki wanted to talk to the Okami brothers about training methods so she could become stronger in her own way. Naruto and Rend simply wanted to spend a bit of time with Teuchi and Ayame before the mission. Since the first of the two were gathered their info rather quickly, the entire group managed to reach Ichiraku at the same time. The other two customers happened to be Shino and surprisingly Tazuna.

"and since you disrespected him, he woulda kicked ya ass if he was still a civilian." Teuchi was already mid reprimand

"It's not every day that somebody pops up in your old gear! How the hell was I supposed to know?" Tazuna countered

"By not underestimatin me cause I'm short! Drunk sonuva…" Naruto quipped

The bridge builder handed Naruto a bottle and said, "Here's an apology gift."

Ayame was already working on his ramen and away long enough to be too late to prevent what happened next. Naruto didn't even look at the bottle before downing it quickly, oblivious to the horrified expressions on every face except the two adults who were ecstatic. Things will get interesting REAL soon. Miki was the first to shrug off her shock and started talking to the Brawling chef about tactics, which surprised Sakura and made Sasuke notice what Naruto and Rend had already figured out. Miki was a true shinobi. With a well-placed question, Sakura interjected and changed the conversation to become about why he was famous. By now Ayame had brought out the food which Naruto started consuming at a slow pace for him. He was too busy trying to get his mind right to speak up at the moment and Rend was wondering how this little incident would end.

"Are you ok, Naruto?" Shino finally asked.

Naruto replied with a heavy handed slap on the bug user's shoulder, "Yup! I'm fuckin fabolusss!"

Rend just laughed. "All he needs now is a freak in the bed and a hotel room."

In a very unShino like display, he placed his arm in front of Miki. Said girl had already started a few of her special training sessions to allow her a vast skillset. With her first lessons being seduction, she immediately closed the distance between them and pressed herself against him. "Already staking your claim on me, Bug Boy? Isn't that cute?" Miki said while licking the side of his neck, causing him to crumple.

"Thass some GOOD shit there…. I'm impressed." Naruto said in drunken awe.

"What can I say? While being around you guys he's grown on me." She had the decency to blush.

Sasuke didn't show it, but he started feeling like an outsider in the midst of this seamless interaction.

Naruto started toward Sakura with surprising speed while stumbling a bit. "Why ain't you like her?" he said while letting his hand slide up her thigh. "Um sure you gots a lot too offer too." His trademark grin was distorted into a lewd look.

Her shocked state only lasted a short while before she slugged him in the face and charged him sloppily. Even while drunk, Naruto was trained for taijutsu so he dodged most of the blows. "So you likin it kinda rough huh?" he taunted as the fight made its way out of the Ichiraku. Within her rage, she somehow started to attack more efficiently. "You PERVERT!" Sakura yelled while starting to take advantage of his state of inebriation. "You lik em perverted too? Umma hafta take her off ya hands Sasuke!" Naruto countered, while sealing his fate. He turned and gave Sasuke a smug expression, which gave a gigantic hole in his defenses. Sakura placed a heavy blow to the back of his head, which made him hit the floor snoring.

"Now that that's over with, wake him up and give him at least six bowls of Ramen ready. Can't have him disappointin me on his first C Rank mission because he was too drunk to perform" Teuchi chimed in

Sasuke and the recently conscious Shino picked him up and brought him back to his seat, using the food as smelling salts to wake him up. Sakura made a bit of distance from the inebriated blond with good reason and Miki made the mental note to stay away from him when he drinks. She had already heard that he was a hardcore flirt, but seeing it in action made the information more potent. With more food in his body to soak up the liquor, he had the sense to know what he did.

"Sorry bout that Sakura… I went too far." Naruto said with his head down.

"Try that again and you'll be missing a very important part."

"My bad."

The rest of the time spent at Ichiraku was spent sobering up Naruto and the others learning more about Teuchi's exploits before becoming a chef. Team Seven and their still amused client made their way to the gate to see that Kakashi was apparently ten minutes early. He watched in interest as he saw the ragtag group approaching. Sakura was glaring a Naruto while Tazuna and Rend was smirking at the duo, Sasuke didn't have his usual scowl today in favor of a slightly sullen look, and Miki seemed to be thinking of something serious.

"I assume since you're hear that you've prepared yourself already, so well head out immediately." Kakashi stated in a professional voice.

The walk was mostly uneventful, save the recently inebriated bridge builder trying to give the now sober blond. Sakura stopped this immediately with a glare that made her sensei proud. Miki was mulling over her conversation with Teuchi about tactics, wholeheartedly wanting to become powerful in her own right. Sasuke found himself not thinking about power, but wondering if he should stop sealing himself off from others. Kakashi simply observed the changes in his genin before notice a puddle of water that stood out on such a sunny day. He kept moving forward though, thinking that he could test how prepared they were for their ninja careers. Because of that thought, he was glad when the enemy commenced their attack. He let them enemy appear to kill him off, to gauge his team and to figure out who the ninja were targeting. The others could only see chains "wrap" around his body before the two enemies yanked the chains to leave the man's body in bloody little pieces.

"One down…" The enemy nin said calmly.

There was a group unified screaming of "Sensei!" while the ninja quickly made their way toward Naruto, thinking he was be another easy kill. This was furthest from the true since he and Rend sprang into action, stopping the duo's combination kill. Naruto rushed toward the ninja attempting the pincer formation from his left side with a liver blow that was barely dodged. Rend unsheathed his weapon and attempted a swift downward cleave that was dodged as well. The other three ninja were frozen, though admittedly Sasuke froze only because he was startled out of his inner musings. Miki and Sakura just couldn't handle the bloody sight. Naruto stepped in on his opponent, bobbing and weaving out of range of the claw attacks while Rend noticed his brother's actions and drove the two ninja far apart from each other. The enemies were too surprised by the competent skills of the pair to notice that their chains length was stretched completely out, so when they attempted to dodge the chain yanked the two awkwardly into attack range. This allow Naruto to unleash a swift combo that dazed his opponent enough to drive the two closer together. What they didn't expect was for Kakashi to appear between the two and quickly knock them unconscious.

"Naruto, Rend, great work. As for the rest of you… Sasuke you were too lost in your own thoughts to notice your surroundings and because of that you froze. Miki and Sakura, you both failed to do anything due to being squeamish. That is NOT allowed when you are a ninja. We fight, we live, and we DIE around this type of display. You survived so I won't be too hard on you, but make it your mission to prevent this from EVER happening again. Am I clear?"

The two nodded and Sasuke held a look of genuine remorse. Thinking of such things made him weak in battle, and he resolved himself to never be a hindrance again.

"In order to assist your teammates, I want you two who acted immediately to tell the others how and why you could continue the mission."

Naruto spoke up, "It's because of two things actually Sensei. One, Teuchi Ossan prepared us for these types of things and said that it's a man's duty to possess an unbreakable will. Two…" Naruto started to look a bit ashamed.

Rend took over, showing his mature side and demeanor "Two, every now and then the civilians and some ninja would let their hatred for us to be expressed physically. Because of that, we both know from experience how bloody things get…"

Both of their eyes shined with painful experience far beyond something that people their age should have. Kakashi made a mental note to talk to the Hokage about this.

"And Tazuna we have to have ourselves a talk." His tone leaked a bit of barely contained anger. "It's apparent that those ninja were after you and their skills were chunin level so this would be considered at least B ranked. So you lied about the mission. Tell me why I shouldn't end this mission here and now?"

"I knew that there would be someone after me… I knew that this mission was worth more than I paid. Just now that Wave Country is super poor right now, and this was all that we could afford. The bridge that I'm working on is our only hope for a stable economy with Gatou around…"

"Gatou, the owner of the shipping company?"

"The very same, but he's got his hand in multiple illegal practices from drug dealing to slave trading. He has control over all of Wave's trading."

"So in essence your bridge threatens to open up other means of trade so he wants you dead." Turning toward his team Kakashi asked, "Well what do you think? Should we continue?"

The expressions on their faces ranged from sorrow for the people of wave, disgust at Gatou's ways, and anger toward the way that he bullied the citizens. The decision was unanimous. "We'll continue on!"

The group continued on until they were led toward a well hidden boat with barely enough room for the entire group to ride in. This would be their transport into Wave Country. After traveling to a port, the ferryman made his leave and the ninja continued on their path. Kakashi and Miki were positioned north of the bridge builder, with Naruto and Rend guarding his side, and Sasuke and Sakura guarding his back. Naruto noticed a bit of movement in the grass and flung a shuriken. Checking his target, it proved to be a false alarm. After walking for a bit more Sasuke noticed movement and launched his own attack, startling a snow rabbit. The boy just hmphed and kept going, but Kakashi noticed the oddity. Its coloring was more suited for wintertime and it was clearly summer. This observation was followed by a faint whistling sound. Kakashi yelled out, "Get down!"

Everyone dropped to the ground while assisting Tazuna in crouching (yanking him to the floor) as a gigantic blade flew were their heads just were and clashed into a tree. A man stood atop the massive blade, back turned to the group, and looking back toward them with an unreadable expression. The man wore snow based camouflage boots and sleeves, with no shirt and light blue pants. The most noticeable details were the fact that his face was bandaged and that he had no eyebrows.

"Well if it isn't the Demon of the Mist, Zabuza Momochi. You'll all have to stay out of this, he is out of your league. This will be challenging, unless I use this…"

Kakashi pulled his forehead protector, he revealed his second eye. His pupil was red, with three comma-like dots in his eyes. It was the Sharingan. The identified man known as Zabuza spoke up, "So you must be Sharingan Kakashi… Sorry, but the old man is mine." He started turning again. The jounin called out, "Surround and protect Tazuna. That is the teamwork here." Zabuza snatched his weapon out of the tree and swiftly stepped atop the water with one of his hands high in the air and the other with a handsign.

"Ninpou: Kirigakure no Jutsu."

With that said, a mist started to cover the area. "Be alert! Momochi is an expert of silent killing!" Kakashi warned, hoping that his genin would survive this encounter. "Eight points. Liver. Lungs. Spine.

Cervical vein. Neck. Brains. Kidneys. Heart. Which one should I go after?" Zabuza said from an unidentifiable position. Kakashi readied himself for a fight, and the pressure in the air rose significantly. The genin found themselves almost weighed down by it, falling deep into a despair that was enough to drive them crazy. Sasuke started to reach for his kunai to end his suffering when Kakashi shook him out of his desperation. "Don't worry Sasuke, I'll protect you all even if it kills me. I don't let my comrades die."

The simple speech saved the group from the oppressive feeling in the air and they fell right back into the shinobi mindset. Zabuza used the distraction to appear between the genin and Tazuna, and attempted to cleave them all down until Kakashi intercepted and stabbed him with a kunai. Said Zabuza exploded with a pop and droplets of water as the real one appeared behind Kakashi and cleaved him in half, only to see the same effect as earlier. Kakashi had copied his Water clone. The Leaf jounin held his kunai on Zabuza's neck and said, "It's over."

"Impressive. You copied my Mizu Bunshin and had it say that little speech in order to draw me out while you hid in the mist. Nice plan…. But." Zabuza said before bursting into water.

The real Demon of the Mist was right behind him and already slicing for the kill when Kakashi dipped beneath the blade, but was countered with a kick to the side of his head. He landed into the water nearby and attempted to get out. His attempt to get out was interrupted when he heard. "Fool. Suiro no Jutsu." The water around him swirled and captured him inside a bubble filled with water, with Zabuza's hand stuck within.

"With the worst of you out of the way, time to get rid of the children. Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu." Watching as another clone rose from the water Zabuza spoke again. "Wearing your little headbands, playin ninja… A real ninja is someone who has had many run-ins with death and still stands to fight again! Until you're good enough to be in my handbook then you are NOT real ninja!"

After his little speech, he used his superior speed to dash toward Naruto with a swift kick. Naruto dodged on instinct alone before being struck with a more efficient follow up kick that knocked his headband off and sent him skidding back. The others were worried about their comrade, as Kakashi yelled, "Take Tazuna and run! There's no way you can face him!" Naruto got up and noticed right off where his leaf headband was, trapped under the missing nin's foot. His resolve grew even stronger as he stood tall, before using his step-in and suddenly leaning backwards with a retreating dash. Zabuza was surprised by this seemingly useless tactic until he said the genin next to his squad placing his forehead protector back on. The will of fire shined brightly in his students' eyes and even trapped he had no choice to feel proud.

"We won't run!" Naruto and Rend shouted in unison.

"A ninja who abandons the mission" Miki added.

"Is trash!" Sakura yelled, for once not screeching.

"But a ninja who abandons a comrade." Sasuke stated

The all said in unison, "IS WORSE THAN TRASH!"

Zabuza was more intrigued than anything, so he let the genin start their counterattack. This was a foolish maneuver. Naruto and Rend both used the Kage Bunshin to replicate themselves fifty times for a joint attack while Sasuke channeled a large amount of chakra into his handsigns. Miki started her own handsigns, while Sakura started throwing kunai at a speed that would reach the enemy before her comrades. Her analytical mindset plotted the trajectories in a way that wouldn't harm her comrades and it served to throw off the missing nin's concentration. Naruto and Rend's clones went forth with a fearsome attack coming from a pair of genin. Rend's usage of his wakizashi and Naruto's taijutsu were beyond that of normal genin abilities. Zabuza quickly started to take down as many clones as he could before they suddenly jumped back and he heard. "Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!" Sasuke's unveiled jutsu sent for a large volley of small fireballs that chased Zabuza to the point of defending.

What the missing nin didn't notice is the slight sound of rumbling coming toward him due to the sounds of the many clones moving around. "Mole tactics: Earthen Spike!" Miki cried out as her attack attempted to pierce the real Zabuza's hand, which forced him to dodge and release Kakashi. The true fight had just begun.

Since the two haven't had a dream this chapter, there will be no hidden scene this time. And I will also add that if I create a filler that it will be more original than you're most likely used to. I hope you like my slight escape from canon.