The Konoha Cobra
Chapter 21: Water Cobra Part 1
By: MikeJV37
Aithor's Note: The end of Chapter 20 has been rewritten, and the chapter spell checked, so it should be better now. Pease reread it and comment in this chapters review, if you give one. Oh, and if you review any of my fics, don't do it with a backhanded compliment. If you're going to complain about how unrealistic and/or impossinle the characters are, I'd rather you just stop reading and reviewing my fic comletely and find an author that fits into you idea of realism in fanFICTION..
-August 18, 9:02 AM, Wave Country-
"It must be in the nineties already, but why aren't you sweating?" He asked as he walked..
"The heat doesn't bother Naruto-kun, Tazuna-san.." Tenten said from Tazuna's left.
"I don't mind it, but the humidity is higher here than in Konoha." Sakura said from Tazuna's right.
"It hasn't rained in weeks, but it'll cool off when we get closer. You're only sweating a little Tenten. I don't want to be rude... I won't make that mistake again, but I've noticed that your right arm isn't sweating." Tazuna said slightly cautious. He'd rudely underestimated them when they'd first met 2 days ago, and the blonde kid he now knew as Naruto, had scared the hell out of him with a simple look, he didn't want to really upset him, he was no match for normal bandits, nevermind a trained ninja, even if he was a Genin. Their Sensei,.despite apparently only having 1 eye, was obviously a war veteran, he was no expert, but he'd met enough retired soldiors to know a battle hardened killer when he saw one.
Everyone , then Tazuna did and glanced around a little nervous. "Did I say something wrong?" Tazuna asked, praying he hadn't just lost his escort, which meant he'd be dead in a few hours.
"That's personal. It'd rather not talk about it right now... maybe after the mission is over." Tenten said calmly but firmly.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you." Tazuna said. What ever the reason, if she didn't want to tell him, he wasn't going to pry. A civilian was no match for even a low level ninja. He was relieved when they started walking again, apparently ignoring his question even happened.
-9:43 AM-
Glancing down a moment Sakura moved a little closer to Tazuna. "Don't look at me just keep walking... didn't you say it hasn't rained in several weeks?" Sakura said quietly. When Tazuna nodded she clenched her jaw briefly. "I was afraid of that, be ready to do what we tell you, we're going to be attacked any minute." Sakura said quietly then glanced at Tenten who subtley nodded she was ready. She knew Naruto and Kakashi saw it.
Suddenly a bladed chain shot out fom the right and wrapped around Kakashi, but the instant it was pulled to tighten it and cut him to ribbons Naruto lunged forward and grabbed it with his left hand.
"You okay Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked calmly.
"Of course." Kakashi said as he walked out of the woods to their left, and his other self in the chain poofed into a log.
"Tenten, off your twelve, two-o-three by forty-six.." Naruto said.
Tenten immediately whipped her right arm out, stopping a hair from hitting Tazuna's chest, there was a quiet whoosh of air and 2 objects flew out somewhere along her throw arc, literally at lightning speed, and a moment later there was a scream and an armored and camoflauged nin in mostly black half fell from the trees out in the street, half buried in each of his shoulders was a foot long steel spike.
A moment later from the right side an identical nin leapt from the trees behind and above Tazuna, a huge bladed guantlet on his right arm drawn back to strike, Sakura quickly spun around behind Tazuna and with a yell drew back her right fist and drove it into the nin's chest with a 'CRACK' and 'THOOM', sending him rocketing backward and slamming into a tree truck, half buring himself in it. "Naruto?" Sakura yelled.
Naruto tilted his head slightly to both sides a moment. "Clear."
Kakashi walked over to the first nin and with a quick punch knocked him out, then stood and walked up to Tazuna. "They're C-Ranked Chuunin assassins... you lied to Tsunade-sama about this mission, tell me the truth or I'm cancelling the mission." Kakashi said coldly.
Fear obvious on his face, Tazuna swallowed nervously. "I, uh... we can't afford an A-Rank mission, we only had enough for a C-Rank, I swear."
Kakashi sighed, noticably annoyed. "A deal could of beem arranged if you're in as much danger as I think... I want the whole story before we move another step... Sakura, Tenten, tie'em up and disarm'em carefully, their weapons will be poisoned. I'll decide what to do with them after I find out what they know."
"No problem Kakashi-sensie, I'll disarm'em, their poison can't hurt me." Tenten said.
Tazuna's eye got a little bigger. "Your..."
"Shut up you lying piece of shit!" Naruto said angrily and he pulled his ninjato from his back under his trenchcoat.
Tazuna paled.
"Calm down Naruto, I'll handle this. I will not ask again Tazuna... tell me everything now or I might forgot I'm protecting you and leave you alone with Naruto for what you could of cost him, and especially them. This was suppossed to be a safe C-Rank bodyguard mission, bandits only, no threat at all." Kakashi said and nodded to Tenten and Sakura who were taking care of the Demon Brothers.
"Anything, please, just don't leave me alone... if you leave, I'm dead." Tazuna said then told them everything he knew.
-10:07 AM-
"If you were a normal Genin team I'd cancell this mission, but because you two are strong enough to be Chuunin, because it's you Naruto and your teamwork is exceptional, I'll let you decide if we continue the mission, but let me remind you we'll most likely run into an A-Rank or even S-Rank missing nin hired to kill Tazuna, that'll be the real threat. And if something happens to any of you Anko will do things to me you don't want to know about." Kakashi said seriously.
Naruto smirked. "She will to, and NOTHING will happen to them. I say we continue, I have total faith in Tenten-chan and Sakura-chan, we can handle this." Naruto said, with heavy accent on 'nothing'.
"I want to continue." Tenten said calmly.
"Me too, he lied to us, but I still kinda like the old pervert... he kept looking down my shirt." Sakura said calmly.
"You too huh?" Tenten said with a small smirk.
Kakashi was smirking pervertedly beneath his mask. "Agreed, from here on I want everyone on full alert, diamond formation two."
"I have a better idea Kakashi-sensei, since our job is to protect him from an assassin, I say we remove the target." Naruto said and smiled..
"Naruto-kun, are you thinking about trying that? We haven't even practiced that yet, and Tazuna is a civilian." Tenten said.
"We can do it Tenten, I know we can." Sakura said.
"What are you three talking about?" Kakashi asked curiously.
"Remember how my Snakeskin Clone works?" Naruto said with a devious smile.
Kakashi recognized the very Anko-like smile on Naruto's face and nodded. "What's the idea, if we can slip past who ever is waiting for us without a fight I'd prefer it, as tough as Anko is, no offense Naruto, but there are missing nin out there that would beat her, rape and then kill her without even breaking a sweat, and that's if they're in a good mood."
Naruto nodded, he didn't like it but Anko had told him that. "I know, I just wish it was perfected. Basically we..."
-11:13 AM, Forest, 2 Miles From Shore-
"How many did those losers say were escorting the old man?" A powerful man said.
"Four." A soft female voice said.
"Give me the binoculars." He said, then took and held them to his eyes. "One, two, three, four, five... six. They don't look like shinobi. If those two talked, and they probably did, fucking pussies, any decent Jounin knows a henge won't fool someone like me... stay hidden in the trees, I want to know if they're using henges or it's just a bunch of civilians, killing civilians is no fun, I'd like a little excitement before we collect our money and leave this little shit Gato to finish sucking dry." He said.
"Hai." She said then banished.
He continued to watch the group from a mile away, scanning them carefully for any signs that they were shinobi, chakra signatures, the way they moved, any clues that would give them away. 'Place reminds me of home, might of been a decent place to live before Gato.' He thought, then lowered the binoculars. "Well?".
"They're civilians. If they knew an asassin was waiting for them, they could of turned back, we know they didn't have the money for him to hire proper protection Zabuza-sama." She said.
"Maybe Haku...those leaf nin are brave, not stupid. I want to check them myself before we go looking for the old man. If he finishes that bridge we don't get paid, and if that happens I'll be seriously pissed off." Zabuza said.
"Hai, Zabuza-sama." Haku said.
-11:26 AM-
Stepping out from the trees he blocked the path of the group. "Excuse me folks, I'm looking for someone, have you seen this man?" Zabuza said, pulled a picture from his pocket and handed it to the man over the heads of the 2 girls in front of him, and gave a perverted smile to the very busty brunette standing next to the thin man.
He took the pic and looked at it. 'Zabuza Momochi, Demon of the Mist.' He thought. "I saw him with a man about your age and a couple kids about an hour or so ago. Is that right honey?" He said.
"Yes it is, we saw them around ten, I think the younger man was upset about something." She said.
"Describe him for me." Zabuza said firmly.
"He was about my hieght, black pants and long-sleeve shirt, green vest with pockets, thin, spiky silver hair, he wore a mask that covered the lower half of his face and his headband was pulled down over his left eye." He said.
"Kakashi." Zabuza said almost smiling, then scanned them quickly with all his senses. "Thanks." He said then vanished..
"Come on, we can't keep your Aunt waiting, if we're late we'll all be in trouble." The dad said, ruffled his son's hair then they started walking again.
-12:20 PM, Tazuna's House, Livingroom-
After closing the front door she looked at them, slightly nervous and cautious. "You're really my dad?" Tsunami said.
The dad held up a hand in the 'wait a minute' gesture.
A few moments later a small brown dog walked in from the kitchen wearing a blue coat. "All clear." The dog said.
Tsunami gasped in shock.
The son made a hand sign. "SNAKESKIN CLOAK: RELEASE!" He said, the family of six all went up in puffs of smoke, leaving a man and 3 kids Tsunami didn't know, and her father, the blond boy immediately fell to his hands and knees sweaty and breathing heavy. On instinct she ran over to him and knelt down. "Are you okay young man?" Tsunami said in a concerned motherly voice.
He looked up at her and smiled. "I'm fine, I just need to rest a few minuuh..." He said then faceplanted on the floor, spread eagled.
"What's going on dad?" Tsunami said, concerned.
"They'll explain in a few minutes, these are the shinobi I hired from Konoha. Their Sensei Kakashi, that's Sakura, Tenten, and that's Naruto, I might not be here right now if it wasn't for him. There's a spare bedroom upstairs, second door on right, left side of the hallway." Tazuna said.
"I'll take him." Sakura said, then with her left hand picked up Naruto with ease that she saw amazed Tsunami, casually tossed him over her shoulder and headed for the stairs.
-22 Minutes Later, Kitchen Table-
"That's incredible!" Tsunami said in awe, her eyes open wide.
They smiled and glanced at each other. "That's my Naruto-kun, mister incredible." Tenten said proudly.
"He was doing things like that when I first met him six years ago when we started the Academy." Sakura said with a smile.
"How long will he be asleep?" Tsunami said.
"That depends, do you make good ramen?" Kakashi said, smirking beneath his mask.
Tsunami raised her eyebrows, confused. "Yes, not to brag, but I'm one of the best cooks around, I was head chef at the best resturant in Wave Country before it closed... why?"
Kakashi, Tenten and Sakura all smiled at each other. Tazuna smirked. "How about fixing our guests a big lunch, we haven't eaten since seven this morning.,,, and make some of your special ramen please."
"Okay dad, if you can really help us that's the least I can do for you right now." Tsunami said, stood and headed for the kitchen.
"Eight minutes." Tenten said glancing at the clock on the wall.
"Six minutes, I was his live-in maid remember?" Sakura said.
"And I was his girl while you were still just, that pink-haired bitch, or did you forget Sakura-chan." Tenten said smiling.
Sakura glared at Tenten and huffed. "Fine."
Kakashi chuckled. "I knew him years before either of you even met him, four minutes."
"Care to bet on that?" Sakura said strongly.
"You're picking up her old habits Sakura... but what the bet?"
"Winner gets the pay of the other two when the mission is finished." Sakura said.
"Done." Kakashi said.
"Agreed, but I want a side bet. If either me or Sakura are right... we get to see your face." Tenten said with a devious smile.
Sakura smiled "I'm in... but if you win Kakashi-sensei, what do you want?"
"I'll take the bet on one condition, if I'm putting up my mask, you two have to bet something equally important." Kakashi said seriously.
Tenten stood, waving Sakura to follow her.
Kakashi watched them move out of earshot and turned so he couldn't see their faces. 'Two minutes thirty seconds down."
At almost 3 minutes they returned, and Tenten walked up to Kakashi as Sakura sat down. Tenten whispered in his ear a moment.
Kakshi's visible right eye opened wide as he looked at them a moment. "Are you sure both choices are acceptable and possible?"
"Hai, Kakashi-sensei." They said together.
"I'm going to get some water, I'm suddenly rather thirsty, would you like some?" Tazuna said as he stood, sweating slightly.
"Thank you Tazuna-san, we would." Tenten said politely.
Tazuna went into the kitchen.
"I hope you're ready in case you two give him a heart attack." Kakashi said seriously.
"I am." Sakura said.
"Second choice. Deal?" Kakashi said.
"Deal." They said together then all shook hands.
Kakashi silently sniffed the air, his sharp nose told him Tsunami had added the noodles to the about to start boiling water, with some spices. 'I got this won,... the scent will reach Naruto's room in under ten seconds, and when it does he'll come down the stairs like a starving dog.' Kakashi thought as he watched the clock reach the 3 minutes 30 seconds mark he also enhanced his hearing.
-3 Minutes, 52 Seconds-
"Time's almost up Kakashi-sensei... fifty-six, fifty-seven, fifty-eight..." Sakura said smiling.
"IS THAT RAMEN I SMELL?" Naruto yelled excitedly as he landed after leapung the rail of the stairs.
"DAMNIT!" Sakura and Tenten yelled in unison.
"Did I miss something?" Naruto said calmly, but slightly confused.
"The Legendary Sucker is reborn... congratulations Sakura." Kakashi said trying not to laugh.
"I'm gonna kick her right in the cunt... she always said she was cursed, now I am. She should of warned me." Sakura said annoyed.
-Konoha, That Moment-
"Is something wrong Tsunade-sama?" Shizune said when Tsunade suddenly shuddered.
"I'm fine Shizune, nothing is wrong." Tsunade said smiling. 'Not with me anyway... welcome to my old life Sakura.' Tsunade thought, amused.
-1:04 PM, Wave Country, Behind Tazuna's House-
"Now that we're all rested and full, you can explain that jutsu Naruto." Kakashi said.
Naruto removed and put away his glasses, looked at Kakashi, Sakura and Tenten then sighed. "As you all know my Snakeskin Clone is undetectable as anything but a real person, and except by Hyuuga even as a ninja unless he uses chakra. A couple days ago we were talking, just relaxing and messing around, well I don't remember exactly what lead to it, but Tenten make a joke about wearing my Snakeskin Clone like a coat, we all laughed at the image of Tenten wearing a Naruto suit, and that gave me the idea for the jutsu. Before you ask, I can still only make one, that hasn't changed... basically what I did, with Kyuubi-chan's help, is combine it with a Henge. What it does is summon a clone like normal, but its already henged, that was the easy part... where the jutsu really shines is that instead of half my chakra, the clone only has a quarter of it, the remaining chakra is used to make what essentially amounts to a cloak over the other selected targets, which was the four of us and Tazuna. You look and feel like a real person, but that's only on the surface. Its like a group of clones without the mind. There are two downsides to it though. The first, as you noticed is that it slowly drains the clone of chakra. Based on what happened I'd say to use it on five people it can be maintained about two hours, and when he depells any chakra drain is passed back to me, which is why I collapsed. The other downside is the range, I've been thinking about it and I figure everyone covered by this Snakeskin Cloak, have to stay within maybe twenty feet of my Clone or me, I'll have to do some testing to find the limits of this jutsu, but for now that's basically all I have. Well, except that as you saw the man that stopped us who had to be Gato's assassin, couldn't tell we were under a jutsu, so it works as I thought, and since this is a version of my Snakeskin Clone Jutsu, only I can do it. That about cover it Kakashi-sensei?"
Kakashi thought for a few moments before looking at Naruto. "For now, yes... but while you're testing it I want either myself or Jiraya there. Once you master it we'll add it to the list with your other jutsu. Until Tsunade can officially rank it, I'm declaring it an A-Rank jutsu and you won't use it without my permission, Oh, and for the record... I was very impressed, and I know Anko and Kurenai will be too.".
"Agreed... and thank you Kakashi-sensei. Did anyone have any side effects?" Naruto said.
"No." Sakura said.
"I feel fine, everything is normal." Tenten said.
"I'm good." Kakashi said.
"Good... now I think we better get to work on what we're going to do about the assassin." Naruto said.
"I agree, and I already have a few ideas." Kakashi said.
"The big guy with the sword, right?" Tenten said and saw Naruto nod. "I'd love to have that sword." Tenten said with a big smile and sperkling eyes.
Naruto and Sakura glanced at each other, smirked and laughed.
"What? Oh come on, I''m a weaponsmith... don't give me that look Naruto, this is not sexual... not completely, I really do want to examine it!" Tenten said, slightly annoyed.
"Riiiiight, Tenten-chan" Naruto said with a smile then caught a kunai Tenten threw at him.
"Drop it Naruto... trust me, you won't win this." Kakashi said, smirking beneath his mask.
Naruto walked over to Tenten, handed her kunai back to her and gently kissed her. "I'm sorry Ten-chan, I was just having a lil fun. To make it up I'll give you one of my special massages later."
"And upgrade Blade Arm Six, I don't think this arm could block his sword, he'd probably cut right through it, and I will not risk our future in a close battle with him if I don't have to, but I want to be ready in case we do." Tenten said matter-of-factly.
"Deal, I'll do it after dinner in my room so I can seal it off, the noise could bother Tazuna and Tsunami." Naruto said and kissed her again..
Tenten smiled. "Then you're forgiven."
End Chapter 21